The King of kings

What woman doesn’t want their fairytale ending? I am yet to meet one! And what man doesn’t want to arrive at the end of his life concluding, “Now that was a great success!” Eulogies at funerals are mostly misaligned, if only an entire life could be accurately professed! Some have great stories and they leave a pleasant taste in the mouth of the masses; take Nelson Mandela as an example, even the staunchest Afrikaner who was once all for apartheid could tip their hats to him. Madiba a man who I met in person on a number of occasions was always approachable; be that as it may where is he now? His soul has left his earthly body and he has now entered the spiritual realm where the chapter of eternity exists! We will eventually all arrive there! From the least to the greatest; all will stand before the King of kings and bow their knee to Him. The Christian, the atheist (if there truly be such a man of which I am doubtful), the Moslem, the Hindu, the Apache, the Dali lama, the pope, the Jew, the Barbarian, and the Guru. Every single knee will bow to Jesus Christ the Lord, the Christian gladly and willingly, the unbeliever forced by the Hand of God!

The Gospel is a very simple message; God sent His Son to live here on earth as a man without breaking one of His laws or statutes. He then was falsely accused of crimes he never committed and then crucified on a cruel Roman cross on a hill call Golgotha. He was then buried and on the third day God raised Him from the dead. He was the perfect sacrifice which allows mankind the opportunity to find forgiveness for their sins. Acknowledgment of this truth must be confessed by the individual and a sincere cry to God for the forgiveness of their sin is needed. For those who find this truth making it their own, will find saving forgiveness! But for those who reject it for whatever reason will face the judgment of God! Both camps will however confess this truth with their mouths! If not in this life, then most certainly in the life to come! Forget all the other dogmas that are bandied around, you will never come back as a cow!

This world has been tainted with so many lying lures that most pursue the wrong end. King David’s son Solomon has written a detailed account in the book of Ecclesiastes of what we chase and his conclusion is this; “vanity of vanities all is vanity!” I have also lived enough to understand his conclusion, “Have you?” True fulfillment can and will only ever be found in the person of Jesus Christ! It is time to stop chasing the trivialities! He is the happy ending and nothing else will satisfy!

Signing off

Tyrone

Genuineness!

(1Peter 1:6-7) “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

“Do you believe?” Is a question I find myself asking over and over again! I wrestle with this reality as the doubts of hardships press home, they squeeze as if there is no tomorrow. What do I believe? I positively believe that heaven is as real as hell! I absolutely believe that God so loved the world that He gave His “only” begotten Son to die for the sins of the world and on a personal note, for my sin! I am convinced that there is no other being seen or unseen with more authority than God Almighty! The entire universe is subject to His authority! There is much more I could add to this list… however I have lived enough to understand that nothing precious comes easily!

The Lord Jesus is the pearl of great price! He died so that we might live! And yet as we live we to must now learn to die! It is through the hardships of life that we learn this lesson! Worldly comforts work against us; they are of no benefit when sharing in Christ’s sufferings! In fact they weaken our faith! Nevertheless, who welcomes hardships? These hardships have been orchestrated to conform us into His image and without them there will never been any change in our characters. How volatile are we, or rather am I? And yet, as hard as it is at times and when all has been considered, I wouldn't want it any other way. I know better than to want to shirk this call upon my life! Although I only understand in part, I know enough to realise that it is working together for my good.

The trappings of sin cries out, “why put up with it, you needn’t!” It is just another lie!

Life is our test and we will be tried with fire, and those who overcome will appear on the other side refined having tasted in part what it meant for Jesus Christ our Lord to die on that cruel roman cross. There is no avoidance of this reality! Unfortunately most want the best of both worlds, forgiveness of sin with the hope of glorified bodies for eternity as well as the comforts of this world! We will never find peace pursuing both! Joshua had this to say; “choose this day whom you will serve”. It is impossible to serve two masters! As we will be more committed to the one over the other! Disloyalty will be our lot in life!

Words roll off our tongue with great ease, but the reality of those words are proven by our actions! Words do not convince, actions do! It is by our actions that we understand where our commitment lies. It is not a rocket science degree we need to understand where our treasure lies!

I am not making light of the “trial of life”, that is why it is a test, it is trying! But “hope” if it burns brightly enough will be the oil needed to fuel our lamps.  

Did you know there is a day coming when even the apparent Christian will turn on his brother to save his life? If we do not at the very least acknowledge that we need to be trained up in the ways of righteousness how will we ever handle the possibility of death for our faith? If it is the comforts of this world that drives us, we have much to be concerned about.

Testing proves our genuineness in our commitment to God, without it we are like a clanging symbol without any melody; hard on the ears!

Let us say that we realised that we were overweight and we determined to lose 5 pounds. Half the battle would be conquered, we have so willed it! The dieting will not be easy but our objective, the hope of attaining that end will fuel us to stay the course. We may even fail on the first couple of attempts but if the goal is so tantalizing we should eventually arrive.

Back to my original question; “do you believe?” Testing proves where our treasure lies? It helps us realise our own reality. May we all search out God’s grace to endure the trial of life!

Signing off

Tyrone

Worldly Sorrow!

(2Corinthians 7:6) “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by…”

I have intentionally left out the end of that verse; it is open ended for the sake of each individual finding their own comfort as they fill in the blanks. The Apostle Paul found comfort when his brother in Christ, Titus, arrived! If we are tired and weary we needn’t go far into the vault of our memories to draw on the recollections of God comforting us; just yesterday we broke bread and I was freshly reminded that the death I deserved was paid for by God, Jesus Christ hung and died on a cruel Roman cross in my stead! What sweet comfort to my soul! It is those reality checks that should bring with them a multitude of comforts. What of the times when sin seemed to have its clutches holding so tightly it was almost impossible to breathe, when everyone else had thrown in the towel or so it seemed; It was there that my God mercifully corrected the error of my ways. O what comfort! In hindsight, even the severe lashings as it were, have been comforting, to know that my God cares for me, is too wonderful for comprehension!

It is one thing to know God but quite another entity to be known of Him! Do not let hardship rob you of your joy in the Lord; in fact it has been orchestrated to teach us obedience. If grief teaches us to repent and rely on our God we know that we have not veered from the path that leads to eternal life. If pity overtakes us in a worldly manner be sure of this fact: we have turned right instead of left at the last intersection. There is a repentance that leads to life without regret, once it has run its course we will be smothered with the joy of the Lord! No one enjoys the throws of discipline, but when we understand its purpose we will learn to welcome it! So long as our repenting is after a godly sort. “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” (2Corinthians 7:10) – Who hasn't somewhere in life been subjected to the “woe is me” syndrome Club? Worldly sorrow is nothing more than a destructive cancer that if left untreated will bring forth death!

I recently drove a friend around who was severely infected by that vicious disease; he withered away to nothing just prior to breathing his last; in fact it didn't only shred pounds from his weight, it also left him speechless and being fed through a “peg” (feeding him through a syringe directly into his stomach). It was a very trying time for him as well as those around him! Radiation did not help, he was too far gone! Cancer achieved its objective, he died last year!

If “worldly sorrow” is allowed to brew; the results can be catastrophic, treatment is needed sooner than later! I have another friend who was also diagnosed with exactly the same cancer but he treated it sooner and now by God’s grace is in remission. He nipped it in the bud! We must nip “worldly sorrow” in the bud and the only effective medication for that is “repentance after a Godly manner”! When we find God’s forgiveness we are set free from the decay of “worldly sorrow”. We must call on the One who has the power to save! Psychologists will only ever do repairs, patch work is their specialty, they can only help people to cope with their symptoms, but they will never free the individual from death! The only way we will find freedom is through the gospel, as it is the power of God unto salvation! We must all find forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ, if not death will be our lot in life!

Sin has in one form or another latched onto mankind but until we acknowledge that we are in fact the sinner and not the victim we will never find freedom as we remain in the clutches of “worldly sorrow”. The Lord Jesus has this to say; “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3)

I implore you; do not let the trickery of sin trap you into the justification of the past actions of another as it robs you of finding forgiveness. We can do nothing to change the past but we most certainly have it in our power to change our futures; “For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."” (Romans 10:11) “Worldly sorrow” will only ever lead to shame! We can all be saved from its destructive powers; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13)

BUT CALL WE MUST!

Signing off

Tyrone

    

Revenge!

Distraction is exactly that, a disturbance to prevent someone from reaching a desired outcome or destination. It is designed to get someone to shift their gaze! For the Christian, the will of God is our target, with the Lord Jesus locked in the cross-hairs; however the enemy who roars and make such a racket, appears so bullish and brutal, in fact he has no teeth when it comes to the child of God; he is no more than a lion that roars! He has been defeated! Our Saviour conquered him on Calvary! When we remain focused on our Lord and King, we will be at peace but when we allow any distraction to supersede our focus, which is when we find the lions rumble over powering and we often forget that it is no more than a roar. Our minds begin to imagine that the lion’s teeth are sharp and able to rip us to shreds in seconds. We forget that we have the greatest of shepherds! If we keep our eyes fixed on the finished work of Calvary we are most certainly secure in the arms of our God! In fact even when we have carelessly wondered off into the dangers, His hand has kept the lion at bay. Praise His name!

Revenge is part of the “first fruits of repentance” and some have let that reality slip, I too am guilty as charged, but it is the goodness of God that leads a man to repentance; it may just be the time to seek out His grace and right our wrongs in this area of our lives! Sin taking hold of me and at will throughout life has got me to behave is such a way that on reflection I am disgusted and disappointed and even now find myself asking the question, “what was I thinking?” Or rather “what wasn't I thinking?” If we seek out God’s grace to appropriate, the victory that is ours in Christ; how sweet it could be when we are capable of taking revenge on the hold sin had on our lives in a particular area. Our God will be exalted in and through it and we will echo the words of James; “I will show you my faith by my works”. Many may not see the little victories that we now have that where once impossible, but we shall understand and our God will witness the progress in our lives. It will be a sweet smelling aroma in His nostrils. To be capable of calling on our God, and looking to Jesus the Author and the Finisher of or faith as we find the hurdles that were once impossible to clear, now simply part of our daily walks, how sweet the taste of revenge will be to us. How peace will begin to flood our souls and locked our focus will remain on our Saviour and the will of our Father for our lives.

Signing off

Tyrone

Confusion!

Confusion hinders the progress of any objective…

The businessperson has an objective and that is to reach their desired goal. The soccer sides at the Brazilian World Cup’s objective, is to hold up the trophy, they train hard for the possibility of this accomplishment, it is the greatest prize in soccer, which only comes around every four years. And if there is confusion on or off the field this will not stand them in good stead to fulfill their once in a lifetime dream to be branded world champions! This then is what they strive for, to go down in the history books as world champions!

How often have these types of goals been hindered by confusion? More times than I would care to mention; “confusion” is a tactic that if used correctly can have the hostile effect hindering the objective of a person or a group of people.

What ploy did Satan use with Eve in the Garden of Eden? Was it not a plot to confuse her understanding? It most certainly was! "Did God actually say”, was the approach he used when endeavouring to get her to sin. Deception and confusion have very similar intentions and that is to delude someone from reaching their required intention. In Eve’s case she was forbidden to eat from a particular tree, “the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”! Satan attained his objective through deception and she ate from the tree, in spite of God’s commandment!

Remember the account soon after the flood when the then known world was so unified that God felt the need to confuse them, to stop them from reaching their objective, which was to build a tower into the heavens; they wanted to make a name for themselves with unity as their goal. “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."” (Genesis 11:1-4) – However because of the fall of man and the fact that sin was alive and well, God opposed their plot; “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.” (Genesis 11:5-8) – God through Confusion achieved His objective!

With that point now established why do we as Christians sometimes feel confused, sometimes we do not know for sure what we should do in any given circumstance; should we move, should we get married or not and so on. God is not the God of confusion! “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints.” (1Corinthians 14:33) – It is obvious that God, our God has used confusion to hinder the plans of men who oppose Him, but it is clear to see that in the verse above “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” His objective would never be to confuse His children! Satan on the other hand strives to achieve confusion amongst the saints of God!

Why then do Christians face confusion throughout varying times in their lives? I believe it is when we are all about “self” and when the will of God gets pushed aside; it is at these times in our lives that we open ourselves up to confusion.

Did you not know that the objective for maturing as a Christian is the “unity of the faith”? “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:13-14)

There was no confusion in Christ, He was the perfect man, and He came to do the will of His Father. He was never confused! He may well have sweated drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane and cried “my God my God why hast thy forsaken me” when he hung on the cross, but He was never confused! He came to do all the will of His Father and He achieved this end with perfection, praise His name!

My conclusion then, the closer we align ourselves to the will of God for our lives the less “confusion” will play its part in it.

Signing off

Tyrone

   

The "Camel"

The camel is of unique design, when we consider the way in which God created them. Its name means “to go without”; they are capable of surviving in deserts under harsh conditions, going without water and food for extensive periods. They have been created with the capacity to store fatty deposits in their bodies and to draw sustenance from them, where and when they are needed; somewhat like a reserve tank! Nevertheless even those stashes will run out if there is no food and water intake.

The Christian must always be aware of this truth, we may well be on a spiritual high with our treasure troves full of bounty, but if we neglect fellowship with our God it won’t be long before those chests become bare and we will find ourselves suffering loss. “Take nothing for granted”! Remember Joseph’s interpretation to Pharaoh’s dream? When I reflect on the years gone by and I consider the highs of my spiritual life, without exception I was at the very least contending for the faith, fighting wars within and contending with persecution from without, I will confess even though at times I was misguided in one way or another, I was still able to draw from the resources of heavens treasure troves; with an urgency to find grace or forgiveness; as wayward as I may have been my God was still willing to supply what was needed, as I grappled with sin and its hold over me, I would nevertheless approach the throne room of grace and the One who has the power to forgive! What a gracious and merciful God we serve, but never let us take Him for granted; He has moved mountains for His children and we owe Him our all! 

Regardless of where you may find yourself on this sometimes treacherous, rocky road to heaven, it is imperative that we drink from the living brook and we eat heavens manna along the way. We, like the Camel, may go without food and water for weeks but that is a dangerous approach to our journey. We have all been afforded the same opportunity and that is to freely drink from the “rivers of life” as often as we would! There are no tariffs to open the taps of God’s supply; the price has been paid in full, praise the name of Jesus Christ the Lord, my Lord and King!

“Idleness” is a land full of harmful lures; misguided commitment to worldly sustenance is another well laid deadly trap that many are lured into. Thank God that the Lord Jesus holds the office of “High Priest” and He makes intersession for all of His flock. With this objective in mind; to conform us into His image! He alone is worthy of all honour and for us to even slightly begin to resemble Him we must remain well-nourished with a well-balanced diet and from one source only, “THE WORD OF GOD!” This is where we receive Gods direction into our lives and then prayer is just as important; this is where we bear our hearts to our God and we then find grace to get through the trial of life! If we neglect either one of these instructions it will be to our own peril and soon the fatty deposits stored to sustain us will soon dry up, leaving us exhausted! It is all about the will of God for our lives and not our own wants! The sooner this reality captivates our minds and souls the happier we will be. The easier it will be to face the trial of life, for there are many trying tests along the way!

“Pharaoh’s dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of sloth have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous industry; my seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm; and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and peace. If I neglect prayer for never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which I had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the cankerworms of worldliness, and the palmerworms of self-indulgence, lay my heart completely desolate, and make my soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing whatever. How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favoured hours! If every day I journeyed towards the goal of my desires I should soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far off from the prize of my high calling, and robs me of the advances which I had so laboriously made. The only way in which all my days can be as the “fat kine,” is to feed them in the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord, in His service, in His company, in His fear, and in His way. Why should not every year be richer than the past, in love, and usefulness, and joy?-I am nearer the celestial hills, I have had more experience of my Lord, and should be more like Him. O Lord, keep far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to cry, “My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!” but may I be well-fed and nourished in thy house, that I may praise thy name.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

the strength of the Spirit

LED Lights seem to be the new lighting flavour of the month; they are phenomenal! As they are now part of my daily bread, I have experienced them first hand. What I appreciate about them is the amount of light they generate, there are far worse things I could be selling at least “in type” they remind me of the Light of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ; “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.” (Genesis 1:1-3) – We all know what it is like to fumble in the dark!    

That is why I love the Word of God; whenever I am faced with a crisis in my life and that is more often than I would like to count; it has been the Word of God that has given light to my path. The times I have neglected to make the Bible my first port of call, I have always without exception lost my way! Life has a very cruel way of teaching us lessons! So without the correct counsel it can become insufferable. We can fish as hard as we would throughout the seas of this world and our nets will come up empty. If not there could well be reason for concern! How so? If we as the children of God receive sustenance from this world without His counsel we should at the very least be asking the question, why? What earthly father would give his son a stone if he asked for bread? How much more then will our heavenly Father look out for those who belong to Him? He must always be our first port of call, if this then is not our experience, it may be time to check our birth certificate!

I am convinced that this is the lesson God is now steering me through, times are tough and there is much destruction in the wake of my past, BUT God is with me so who then can be against me! I suppose as Christians we will all have to learn this lesson along our journey here on earth! And the sooner the better! We have an enemy that looks to lead us another way by targeting our weakness, the flesh! “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” (2Corinthians 10:3-4) – Hence when Christ died in our stead He opened up a spiritual arsenal of weaponry to every true born again Christian believer! To overcome the weakness of the flesh we must engage our souls to walk in the Spirit; it is time like never before to “Lock and Load”! As we all fly this flag into battle, with this slogan lit up in neon lights; “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”  (Romans 8:31) 

                                                

Our God shall supply all our needs, not our wants but our needs! It may well be time to make the decision to drop ones excess baggage as we make our way to the front lines. You needn’t worry if that seems far from your ability to choose what to keep and what to let go of, God will make it clear to you over time, all we need do is trust and obey! Remember the disciple when they lost hope and they decided to go back fishing? They toiled for hours without a catch, but as soon as they recognized the call of their Master, everything changed! “Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.” (John 21:4-7) – It may well be the time for us to voluntary strip down and to throw ourselves onto Him, instead of Him needing to disciple us no differently to a father would discipline his son. God only disciplines His children, he is not concerned with the bastard, praise His name! And yet the invitation has gone out to all! Repent and believe in His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and He will welcome you into the fold! 

Where have so many of us gone wrong? We have not learnt to hate wickedness as we ort! We have not taken the sin in our lives seriously enough; “As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." (Hebrews 3:15) – The storerooms of grace are open and available to every believer from the weakest to the strongest and from the youngest to the oldest. It is crucial for us to understand the Apostle Paul’s teaching; “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” (Romans 6:12) – And the only way we will overcome these passions, which at times press hard, will be to walk in the Spirit! To be honest with ourselves about anything that looks to steer us away from God’s righteousness. This then is my prayer; “order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me!”

Signing off

Tyrone  

Honouring God

(Romans 1:21) “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God…”

It is one thing to know God, even the demons are aware of His existence and they tremble knowing that their time is short; It is one thing to be historically aware of the exploits of Christ but unless we lay down our lives for Him just as He laid down His life for us, honouring Him as God and Saviour we have missed the mark completely!

We honour our judges and we witness advocates addressing them with much reverence; “your honour may we approach the bench?” is a manifestation of that respect! The judge will then decide whether or not to grant them permission in approaching the bench.

The Lord Jesus Christ has died for the sins of mankind; we all have now been afforded the opportunity to approach HiHHhHis bench. The way we have been instructed to do that is by seeking out His forgiveness for our sin. We must come with an attitude of humility. In order for this to be relevant we must first acknowledge that we are sinners and that we need to be forgiven for our sin.

What is it that keeps so many from approaching the bench? The trickery of sin leads them to believe that they are good. Mankind is not good; not one of us can actually claim that we are good! God is good, He has not been tainted by sin, and we needn’t look far into our pasts to understand that sin has had its part to play in our lives. What make one a sinner? Obviously sin! A particular sin! What then is sin? It is a breach of God’s laws in any form. There is no such thing as a white lie! A lie is a lie!

The only true and everlasting God, the great “I AM” has no sin and will never be subject to sin! Mankind on the other hand sins naturally; no one teaches someone to lie, they do it instinctively when they think it will help them.

“Birds of a feather flock together”, is a well-known phrase often quoted and it is easy to understand. Nature even teachers us this reality; you do not see a lion sharing a pen with sheep. And yet mankind expects God to dwell amongst sinners! Or accept them as sinners! It is impossible! Light and darkness will never co-exist! Flip a light switch and the darkness has no choice but to flee. These types of common laws are easily understood by all.

The reality of it all! Until God stepped in, mankind was doomed to live lives outside of a relationship with Him. But God has made a way! "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

What was the catalyst in and through the Lord Jesus Christ that allows sinners a relationship with God who has never sinned nor ever will? God sent His son, the Lord Jesus Christ to live a life as a man but he was never allowed to sin. He could not even break one of the smallest of God’s laws; if he did his mission would have failed! He accomplished His assignment with flying colours, he never broke a law! Thus qualifying him as the Saviour of the world! No other man has ever achieved this, nor ever will!

The only possible way for sinners to approach God is through the Lord Jesus Christ who has been raised from the dead. There is and will never be any other way to approach God. We are sinners and He is not! This is what it means to be sanctified by His blood; he paid the price for our sin and this was only possible because He had no sin.

With that now established and hopefully understood what is left for us to do? It is simple; we need to approach God in and through His Son. How? By believing that He has made a way for sinners like you and me and then through repentance confessing our sin as we seek out His forgiveness for it. Nevertheless everybody will have to decide for themselves!

Will you call out for forgiveness?

Like I said it is one thing to be aware that God exists but quite another to call on Him as our God. It is not enough to know God, it is imperative that we are known by Him! And the only way that is possible is through His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”” (John 14:6) 

We are left with a very simple choice; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13) – Will you cry out unto Him in repentance for your sin or not?

Signing off

Tyrone

"ABBA"

(Galatians 4:6) “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"”

Another familiar morning as I sit at my desk surrounded by the bliss of peacefulness as I ponder my standing before such an awesome God. What words could I find to glorify His name? Where to from Here? He is grand and I am so small! Even my thoughts are so puny in comparison to His brilliance. What message could I relay to my God that would bring a smile to His face? The answer is an easy one, we needn’t venture far searching our grand words or looking to make extreme sacrifices hoping that will find favour from our God, we need only remember His Son our Saviour the Lord Jesus as we spend time considering what He has done and not what we could or should do. The whole of creation revolves around the Lord Jesus Christ! Without Him we would not exist! Without Him we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins! Nay but now we are alive in Him; our eyes have been opened to heaven and all its glory, capable of praying to almighty God and knowing that he hears our cry! While others pray and they are not heard because they have rejected the Lord Jesus, it is not so for the Christian, in fact we cry “Abba” (my) Father, a very intimate and personal relationship with the great I AM! How often have you heard someone call out in prayer like this, “to you up there who ever you are please help me”? It is not so for the Christian; I am able and with confidence to cry “MY Father”! And all because of Jesus Christ our Lord, our Saviour; the reality of this thought sends tears down my cheeks, thank you Jesus! God the Holy Spirit fill my mind with less of me and much more of Him. Even more, do not stop; Endurance is my cry! Joash the king of Israel only struck the arrow three times, but give me strength to strike until I can bare the pain no longer and even then I would pray for a little more forte! Fill my mind, open the floodgates  of thoughts on Him, all the words penned in every book ever written would not be able to exhaust His majestic attributes, do not stop, open my eyes show me His glory I pray! And to think that He died for me, THANK YOU my great God and King! Thank you for interceding for weak and feeble old me, so many mistakes to my life and here I sit reassured that He belongs to me and I belong to Him; to know that my God now cares for me.

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:26-27) – Why is it that we spend so much time on self, whether it is by accusing or excusing our conduct when we have such a perfect Saviour who has died for all those whom God has given Him? He has done it all! God help us to look to Him!

Thank you God the Holy Spirit for the perspective you lead the children of God into, you open our eyes and you show us JESUS, praise His name! And because of Him we can cry ABBA Father, God the ruler of this universe and beyond cares for the Christian; He cares for me!  

Signing off

Tyrone

A Test for the Christian!

In accordance with sound doctrine should we as Christians be tested?

Let us explore further…

Let’s face it, who actually thrives on assessments? Only those who ace them! As for the rest of us, every effort is made to avoid them where possible. And yet some tests are simply unavoidable. Take my son Mongi he is nineteen and now needs to get a driver’s license and the only way to achieve that is to take the test and furthermore pass it, for him to legally be allowed to drive a vehicle on the roads. I see his mind now maneuvering to achieve this goal; he has begun to factor in what driving lessons will cost and how often he will need to work to achieve his objective. He has begun to strategize! There is another way that some have obtained their drivers licenses in South Africa but it is the way of the criminal, for the right price and with the right contact they can be bought! However, even though these documents may fool the authorities, it will never be genuine!

Now with that principle established, let us consider our original question; “must we as Christians be tested?” Yes! “Why?” one may ask. Let us explore further…

There are numerous examples we could glean from for us to arrive at our conclusion, here is but one; when the Lord, by Moses lead the children of Israel out of slavery from Egypt these were His words; “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.” (Exodus 16:4) – Here is the reason for the test; 1. It was God who now made provision for them by raining manna from heaven, He fed them! Nevertheless they had their part to play; they were only allowed to gather what was needed for a day, they were not permitted to gather manna for the following day. It was to be done daily! Their temptation could well have been to gather twice as much as was needed, the schemer would have possibly considered making life easier for their families by gathering more that was needed and hoping that it would make life a little easier. However that was not permitted, no differently I suppose in principle to an individual buying a driver’s license instead of obtaining it legally! The test was a simple one, to prove whether they would walk in God’s laws or not! God tried them to find out whether they would trust him, and walk in the law of faith or not, whether they could live from hand to mouth, and be satisfied with the bread of the day in its day, and then depend upon God for fresh supplies tomorrow. There was also another reason to see whether they would serve him through faithfulness. Whilst on earth the Lord Jesus taught us the very same principle; “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:31-34) – Do you see the similarity in the instruction? Their dependency was on the Lord and His righteousness, so too should our dependency be on the Lord and His righteousness; will we learn to trust, obey and to walk by faith? That is the test! Or will we look to make our own plan by using the systems of the world to further our careers becoming self-sufficient? The more I study this the more I realise how Satan’s ploy has been included by so many; even many a Christian has embraced this trap! God seeks a people who will solely depend on Him and not on their degrees and bank balances!

Before what I say gets taken out of context let me make it very clear, that does not mean we needn’t work! If a man does not provide for his family he is worse than an unbeliever; we are clearly taught this from scripture. It was still up to the children of Israel who journeyed through the Wilderness to go out and gather bread. The lesson is a simple one, will we walk by faith or will we depend on self?

Jacob would be a good example to glean from; He left his home with staff in his hand, nothing else! He then found a job working for Laban, where he most worked hard “by the sweat of his brow”. His employer then plotted against him in an unfair manner to benefit from his hard work. This is where his God/our God stepped in and blessed him abundantly. Why? Jacobs trust was in His God and not in his labour!

The Christian must and will be tested, God give us the resolve to find His grace for correct application throughout this day and well into the future. We have this hope that one day in the not too distant future this expectation shall become our reality; “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:7)   

Signing off

Tyrone

The reality of it all!

(2Corinthians 6:17) “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will welcome you.”

Gratefully the closer we draw near to Christ the nearer He draws unto us. However the same applies for the world with all its smut! ““Yes,” says the world, “be spiritually minded by all means, but do not deny yourself a little gay society, an occasional ball, and a Christmas visit to a theatre. What’s the good of crying down a thing when it is so fashionable, and everybody does it?” Multitudes of professors yield to this cunning advice, to their own eternal ruin. If we would follow the Lord wholly, we must go right away into the wilderness of separation, and leave the Egypt of the carnal world behind us. We must leave its maxims, its pleasures, and its religion too, and go far away to the place where the Lord calls his sanctified ones.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Remember the father of faith’s example, Abraham! We too can learn much from his flawless example; after affording Abraham his long awaited promise, Isaac; did there not come a day were God said, “Let me test Him?” He was asked to go on a journey, to leave the comforts of home and to sacrifice his son Isaac! Let us dwell here, pause and contemplate the enormousness of God’s request… I am not sure there could be any greater test for a father! And yet God gave up His Son for us, the enemies of the cross! There is no one greater than God our Father, praise His name!

The testing of our loyalties to God must become ubiquitous in our lives, one way or the other! The closer we draw nigh unto the Lord the more obvious testing becomes a reality! Although separation from this world is require we articulate to ourselves that it is very lonely place to be and we ask the question is that really necessary? Those types of thoughts have been designed to keep the fruits of the Spirit far from us. “O to be more like our Saviour”, must be our cry! “The further from a viper the better, and the further from worldly conformity the better. To all true believers let the trumpet-call be sounded, “Come ye out from among them, be ye separate.” (Charles Spurgeon)

What chance do we have with so many loitering attractable lolly-pops beckoning us to come a little closer, appealing to our senses? They appear so palatable and yet they are so fattening to the soul; leaving us sluggish and unfit for the Masters use! They leave our minds off-balance and cause us to lose our way and before long we find ourselves asking the question, “How did I end up here?” I have heard many reputable preachers say, “God doesn’t mind people having abundance.” Be that as it may, the greater our need the more we will cry out unto our God! The more we will depend upon Him! Maybe I speak out of turn but that is most certainly my experience! Either way it is imperative for the sake of our souls to remain far from the viper! And yet at times we like to see how close we can actually get. May God forgive us! Thank you Father for your patience even with your wayward children and thank you for your willingness to teach even me! O to get a glimpse of what it means when God says that He is able to save even the most unruly of men; “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25) – Thank you Lord Jesus!

All I know that when David was idle in the palace while his trusted men were at war, with the palace indulgences available to him. It was at that indolent time of his life that he fell into sin with Bathsheba and in turn that became a very trying time of his life! There where consequences to his sin; he lost his son and later on in life his son Absalom rose up against him, looking to overthrow him and kill him! But it was at that time of this hardship that his fellowship with God was sweet! Away from the comforts of this world, far from the comforts of the palace; fleeing for his life, enemies pressing him hard on every side; “David was now in great grief; when, in his flight, he went up the Mount of Olives, he wept greatly, with his head covered, and marching bare-foot; yet then he composed this comfortable psalm. He wept and prayed, wept and sung, wept and believed; this was sowing in tears. Is any afflicted? Let him pray; nay, let him sing psalms, let him sing this psalm. Is any afflicted with undutiful disobedient children? David was; and yet that did not hinder his joy in God, nor put him out of tune for holy songs. 2. He was now in great danger; the plot against him was laid deep, the party that sought his ruin was very formidable, and his own son at the head of them, so that his affairs seemed to be at the last extremity; yet then he kept hold of his interest in God and improved that. Perils and frights should drive us to God, not drive us from him.” (Matthew Henry) – Exposition from psalm 3  

So here then is the instruction and the reward, which will be very sweat for all who obey the voice of God. Although sacrifice will become part of our lives, it is obedience that God requires from His children! God help us to instill this mind-set deep within the hidden ravines of our minds and souls driving us to find His will for our lives. Remember it is God the Holy Spirit’s work who turns our eyes away from self; but Satan looks to do the exact oppose; let us be of this mind to constantly look to our God as we find His grace looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith!

“Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." (2Corinthians 6:17-18)

Signing off

Tyrone

The hope of glory

Considering the history of South Africa; segregation, with apartheid a norm to the average white South African. We were sheltered from the reality of it all! Outnumbered eight to one and yet we did not have one black pupil at either of my schools, as a junior nor a senior. In fact I only ever saw whites on the soccer or rugby field. To be honest I never gave it much thought, it was the norm! How things have changed, the wall of apartheid a thing of the past and without question a proper change. However with change if the principles of the Lord Jesus Christ are pushed aside, how positive is any amendment? Sin will take on another form doing what it does best and that is to destroy as it thrusts to bring forth death!

How we as a country have deteriorated, abortion legalized with pornography on every corner. What chance do we have to avoid God’s judgment? I am thankful for the account of Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham’s deliberation with God for his nephew Lot. It is up to the individual Christian to intercede for the state of their country and for us to be effective we must seek out God’s will for our lives. As long as there are true Christ centered Christians living a life of obedience, we know that God will spare a city for the sake of the righteous. “Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."” (Genesis 18:28)   

We must take refuge in our King! And just like Sodom and Gomorrah if it is to be destroyed the Christian will be saved from the destruction! How one may ask? Remember Noah! How God warned him of the destruction to come, how he followed God’s instruction by building the Ark. Our “Ark” is the Lord Jesus, so we needn’t fear! We must cling to our hope through all of life’s calamities fixing our eyes on Him and it will be well with our souls! It is obvious that the trial of life will begin to squeeze even tighter from here on in. Who deliberately actually goes out of their way to look for hardship? It was a cold night last night and so I made sure I had enough blankets on my bed to keep me snug, I didn't say to myself let me rather sleep in the tree house without any blankets. It may seem like a silly example but hopefully it will stress the point. I can vividly recall a time in my military training that seemed an absolute waste of time, to enforce such strain on our bodies seemed such a futile exercise; at the time anyway! However on reflection I understand how that time of my life taught me so many valuable lessons. Our God is preparing us for a great office in the life to come; we must learn to settle our minds on hardship; it will stand us in good stead! It will only be for a season and then once we have learnt what is needed our God will say, “Enough” and He will bring relief! Remember our kin; how they were destitute wandering around the desert is sheepskin. That was a very tough time for them but God was with them and He commended them for their resolve. Where are they now? They are in heaven waiting for the trumpet of God to sound when they will be changed and receive their glorified bodies.

The day will soon arrive in the not too distant future when the trumpet of God will sound and we shall be caught up in the air to ever be with Him! “Let me tell you a secret. Not all of us will die, but all of us will be changed—in a moment, faster than an eye can blink, at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will be raised never to decay, and we will be changed.” (1Corinthians 15:51-52) – There are 10 virgins but only 5 of them were wise! Let us make every effort to focus on what counts, the will of God for our lives! We needn’t be consumed by the need for electric fences to keep us safe from the dangers we find in South Africa. Our God will give His angels charge over us! And even if we were to lose our lives we will open them in heaven. What a splendid hope the Christian has!

However we must not be passive and rest our assurance on our partners or parent’s relationship with Christ; we must secure our hope in Him! “Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, two will be seated on the same couch that night. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind. Two women will be grinding grain together. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind." (Luke 17:32-35)

Let us find grace to run the race with patience; it will be worth it all! This then is what we are striving for, for all those who finish the race will be crowned with this reality; “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won't be death anymore. There won't be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared." The one sitting on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new!" He said, "Write this: 'These words are trustworthy and true.'" Then he told me, "It has happened! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give a drink from the spring of the water of life to the one who is thirsty. The person who conquers will inherit these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:4-7) – Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!

Signing off

Tyrone   

   

The lessons of life

A question often asked, “What is life all about?” The answer stares the Christian smack between the eyeballs with God’s will the over-arching theme behind it all. Come what may, He shall be exalted and His will shall come to pass!

When we consider the vastness of that objective we will soon be lost trying to unstitch it all. However when we break it down on a personal level, we can all then find the answer to life. It is now no longer so involved; we needn’t make head or tail of all the filth we witness throughout our lifetime; rape, child molesting, murder, armed robbery and the like. I am comfortable to leave all that apparent negativity in the hands of my God as I know He is in perfect control. What is it then that I need to do? I must simply work out the will of God for my life!

The Apostle Paul teachers that we must learn to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and work out; through testing, the acceptable, good and perfect will of God. I needn’t worry about what Joe Soap is doing; I will have to give an account to God for my life and not the life of another. Do I believe He is in perfect control, does He own the cattle on a thousand hilltops and is He a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him? Without question He will look out for all who resolve to give Him the Honour He deserves. Our God is good!

Many like me may feel we have made a hash of it up until now, what is a man to do? The past has run its course and there is nothing we can do about that. Nevertheless we can latch onto the time we have left and make the most of it! We can by the grace of God search Him out to make straight our crooked paths. When I consider the goodness of Jesus I am gob smacked and yet forever thankful! What a merciful God I serve! “While we have breath we have hope!” God help us to latch on to Him with all our might as we diligently search out His will for our lives.

Where then do I start? His righteousness must be the first thought I clasp onto in the morning and then as the day progresses when I find myself doing something that pleases Him I must cleave to it as I search out His grace to make it part of my character. We must rid ourselves of trying to conform to this world but rather look to renew our minds with God’s wine; forget the messages of Hollywood as they are nothing but lies! We must make every effort to conform our minds to the will of God which will help us understand what our Heavenly Father finds proper, pleasing and perfect! Our body is for the Lord as well as the Lord for our body! We must learn to glorify God with our bodies! The deceitfulness of sin looks to trick us into believing that we will lose out if we do not conform to this world, it is a LIE! God blesses those who seek Him out! "Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest. Place my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls, because my yoke is pleasant, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30) – When we learn that sin is our burden and we acknowledge that we want no part of it our God will step in and lighten our load, He will reward us for our obedience! We will find rest for our souls, we will cry out with confidence, “it is well with my soul!”

Signing off

Tyrone 

  

The answer to life...

When I consider the brilliance of God this morning my thoughts mathematically begin to equate something far more complicated than Newton's second law of physics and then when I throw myself, a simple man, into the mix, I am left with absolute opposites. No wonder, without Christ’s selfless sacrifice how on earth would we ever arrive at a usable formula, let alone an accurate conclusion.

To you O Lord belongs righteousness and I am but a perpetual sinner; “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these”; and the end of my life results with death! This reflects the very core of my existence; in fact all men have this make up, because we resonate from the same substance, bodies of flesh tainted by sin. But you O God are loving, full of joy, peaceable, patience, kind, good, and faithful, gentle beyond belief, full of self-control, eternal, omnipresent, sovereign, all knowing, eternal and to searching you out there is no end.

How then with complete opposite characters will we ever co-exist? Man has tried numerous times throughout the ages to arrive at some meaningful conclusion, but to no avail! Philosophies, religions, cults, scientists and evolutionists have tried to make sense of it all! BUT only God has the power to arrive at a workable calculation that is accurate and true.

Here is the ANSWER; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  - Consider a mathematical equation; by applying the correct formula to the calculation if followed correctly we will arrive at the precise answer, if not our answer will be wrong!

The only way man is capable of having a relationship with the only true triune God is through the finished work of Calvary! It was a perfect sacrifice that bridged the gap between the man and God! Why do some still then oppose the formula that will open our eyes and enlighten us to the truth?

Here then is the reason; “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:18-21)  

There are some points we need to consider, firstly all those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus are condemned. If the formula tells us to multiply and we ignore that which has been tried and tested and instead we decide to subtract we will never be accurate. Our answer will be wrong! Why do men then ignore the formula? The Lord Jesus is light and they love darkness rather than light, sin which is evil is more attractive! If we come to the light and continue practicing our wicked habits, the light will then expose how wicked we actually are and for this reason men avoid the truth and continue to look for alternative formula to the answers of life; There is no other correct Formula! Search high and low but to no avail! “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)   

And this is all I have to say about that!

Signing off

Tyrone