The Just!

Have you ever heard your name called out, whether audibly or consciously when the likelihood of that call coming was totally unexpected? Today was such a morning. Up and out of bed ready for training at 3:15 am. A call, I cannot pin point how I arrived at that awareness, whether in a dream or some other means I nevertheless heard someone addressing me by name. What was I to do, roll over and continue to sleep or to enquire after it? The latter was my persuasion. Why? I have in times passed been blessed in abundance through stints like these; the times when God used His amazing Word, the Bible, to speak into my life and fill me with an amazing amount of peace. Is today such a day? I eagerly await the outcome.

As it is written, “The just will live by faith”. – “The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.”

It is time for me to unpack this verse, personalizing it and hopefully live by it like never before. But before that can be implemented a true understanding must be realized. If not, it will be misdirected and amount to nothing of substance.

My mind is now taken to the account of Moses and the burning bush; something persuades me that there is a lesson for me there; what I find interesting about this account is that Moses was away from the luxuries of life and tending his livestock and it was there that he came to Horeb (the mountain of God). I suppose we will never clearly hear the voice of God for our lives if and when our lives are filled with clutter and when we are busy with self indulgences. Moses saw a burning bush and enquired after it. He turned aside to investigate. It was through this action that God revealed Himself to Moses; “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."” Observe and learn; have you ever been prompted to enquire after God’s instruction for your life but found a reason not to respond? It’s no wonder life continues like it always has with the peace of God eluding you. Let’s shoulder that there have been those times in your life but the thought of it was so ridiculous that you ruled it off as folly and nothing ever came from it. Moses was not like that “he turned aside to see”. There is a very valuable lesson in that, so let us learn from his example and follow suit whenever we hear that call, even if we are convinced it is our minds playing tricks on us. Nothing venture, nothing gained rings true.

I am not suggesting that we become perverse in our thinking as we go down every rabbit hole seeking out the gobbledygook of false religion. Looking for signs in misdirection; the Lord Jesus had this response to those seeking a sign; “And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."” (Mark 8:12) – We do not need signs as we have the Word of God as our reference, God has spoken in and through the Bible and we will find all we need in it. Study it to show yourself approved by Him. There is no need to test God at His Word, all that proves is that we are no different to the Pharisees of old. As Christians we have been given “the mind of Christ”! It is a gift that God has richly lavished us with. Bless His name now and forever more, Amen!

With that in mind how do I follow suit when it comes to the just living by faith?

It is an instruction to help us preserve our relationship with the only true almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It will keep us on the right road which will in turn lead us to heaven and give us the wherewithal to overcome. For we know that not all who claim Christianity as their heritage will stand guiltless before a holy and righteous God on judgement day; “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:7) – It is imperative that we find grace to conquer and it is our faith towards God that will equip us to hear these words; “His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'” – As Baptist’s we like to ride on the back of “once saved always saved”, which is true for the true believer, but we have a job to do and that is to walk by faith! We will all eventually see the true convert from the false on that great day. Our lip service will account for nothing if we do not appropriate what God is instructing us to do as obedient Children of God.

Some may find themselves as I once did in a state of disobedience chasing the lusts of this corrupt world but there must come a time in every believer’s life where God disciplines us in order for us to return like the prodigal son seeking out His forgiveness for our folly. Because of His love toward us we will be disciplined for our rebellion, that is if we are a son indeed! Pay careful attention to these verses and learn from them; “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:5-11) – Therefore if and when God’s discipline encapsulates your life, take joy in this truth that He is looking out for you. “You are in training”!  But if you are without correction then I fear for your soul, fall to your knees and call upon the name of the Lord and seek out His forgiveness for your sin and begin your journey with the One who has it in His power to condemn you to total destruction or pardon your sin and give you eternal life. There are sadly many who serve God for their bellies’ sake. Let us be sure that we are not amongst that number! And just in case you do not believe me here it is; “"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” (Matthew 7:21-23) – And; “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18-19)

The faithful do not set their minds on earthly things. Let us make every effort to have these truths inscribed deep within our minds for they will hold us in good stead for this life and the life to come. Just as Christ gave of Himself freely so too must we learn to give of our selves freely helping those in need and especially those of the household of faith.

In conclusion we must learn to trust God in and through every circumstance that life throws at us if we are to be amongst that number, to be part of the ones that God refers to as children who are just and live by faith!

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with all the saints across the globe and may our loving Father continue to hone us into that beloved image of the darling of Heaven, our glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Exhort one another...

(Hebrews 3:13)  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

To all the Christians out there I too would like to echo the sentiments of this verse’s encouragement and call on us all to daily exhort one another. For, there is a day coming when darkness will soon be upon this world as Satan causes havoc and misleads an already blinded world deeper into it’s sin and hate for God. Not that he hasn’t already corrupted this world for millenniums now, causing mayhem amongst the nations across the globe. But a day will eventually arrive when he will claim what God has already predetermined from before the beginning of time which was always part of His “production” (the plans of God unfolding in accordance with His Sovereign will).

Satan’s power will always hinge on deception, a lie that will always twist the words of God to have his way. In fact, because we have now been tarnished with the brush of sin there isn’t too much work needed on his behalf, our own sinful natures drive us away from God and His will. The Lord Jesus made reference in scripture to those in that state as sons of the devil. Let us not be fooled, if we are not for God’s will then we are against Him. Prior to salvation we were all under Satan’s sway and influence; and yet there is an interesting phenomenon that God in His brilliance had already singled out certain individuals to walk in the mind of Christ from before the beginning of time. Men and women born under the curse of sin with all the baggage that goes with that, selfish and sinful traits attached to our lives as we are swayed by our sin and yet even in that state kept by God who eventually brings us to an understanding that we were in desperate need to be saved from ourselves.

Sure, Satan has his part to play, but because we are naturally sinful by nature, we didn’t need much assistance along our journeys to prove that we were haters of God. Sin in and through our flesh (our natural sense) was alive and well, never needing steroids to fatten up that beast. From birth we produced the fruits of the flesh without any wilful effort attached to it; “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. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21) – Note; the evidence of our behavioural patterns is obvious if we are honest with ourselves; but how many people claim to be good people and yet it is clear they are in breach of the sinful pattern above by the way they live. Sin even tricks us into believing that we will be ok with God on judgment day even when the Word has clearly stated that some will stand condemned. Do you understand how powerful sin actually is? Hence the reason for God sending His Son to conquer it as a man in the flesh; a mammoth task accomplished!

Every person ever born outside of the person of Jesus Christ has been tarnished with that brush, we are sinful by nature, so when we start to look for our own justification before God it is hopeless and it will never free us from our wicked selves. This was not our choice; we are all born sinners and are sinful by default. However, Eve our great great… grandmother; was not created as a sinner but chose sin instead of life; sin was made alive and we have inherited the consequence to their (Adam and Eve) disobedience. Cry foul as much as you like, that is the way it is and we need to deal with the matter at hand. The intention of Satan and his workers is to keep feeding you the lie “All will be well when you die”! There is a judgement coming and for us to escape that judgement we need forgiveness for our sin and we need God’s Spirit to give us life. We need to be born again! Without both of these events taking place in our lives we will remain enslaved to our sinful patterns, which is very easy to deduce from scripture; “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Romans 7:18)  

     

It is the ones that are alive in Christ that Satan seeks out and lures with sin. Now sin’s traps are often disguised as something pleasurable with an echo to make one wise. Knowledge often puffs up with egotism. Pride is often a tell sign linked to sin filled behaviour. We need the grace of God fully operational in our daily lives if we hope to overcome. Pride on the other hand exalts the individual to believe that grace isn’t required; even if our understanding is not consciously aware of that truth; “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."” (James 4:6) – Life is all about learning to put on the mind of Christ, we already have His mind; “"For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.’” (1Corinthians 2:16) - And through testing we need to implement that God given gift.

How do we understand His mind? We must all study the scriptures, by the prompting of God the Holy Spirit and finally in and through our application of faith towards God.

We must be mindful as Christians that sin in any form will harden our hearts and lead us away from God’s will for our lives instead of towards it. Let us not be fooled into believing the lies that oppose the Word of God. May God give us eyes to understand the importance of the implementation towards His will for our lives for I am convinced that when we see with the eyes of the Spirit it will be well with our souls!

Signing off

Tyrone

       

Trusting God to get us home

As I consider faith mingled with the mind of Christ as they work together in perfect harmony completing the saint, I am struck by a thought that is rather worrying and as I look around the statistic states there are millions of professing Christian across the globe and yet most of it when judged in accordance with the scriptures proves one thing, most of them seem to be caught up with pseudo-Christianity. It is clear to see where any organization stands with regard to the voice of God. See how seriously they apply the Word of God to their lives or “Declarations of Faith” (evidence to what they believe and stand upon). It isn’t rocket science, in fact it is rather simple to see the sheep from the goats. Test the value of scripture in the context of any organization and it will soon become evident to whether they are true or false converts. If an organization claims to have Christian principles but blatantly disregards the voice of God, they do not belong to Him, they do not have the mind of Christ and they are wolves in sheep’s clothing looking to prey on the weak.

Who will fall privy to these lies, most certainly not those founded upon the truth of God’s Word? Who have their own house built upon the chief cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ! He is a solid foundation that will never be moved. He has overcome and His quest has been conquered, “it is finished”!

Condoning sin as if it is our common right is an error we can never excuse. Same sex marriages are just one of those voices that prove those claiming it as their God given right, highlights that they are the enemy of the cross. They are still blind and in their sin. There may be some that are yet babes in Christ that would be taken by these lies, but not for long, it will soon become apparent where we all stand with our God. For if they are truly born again God will bring them around. How do I know this to be true? Because the Word of God teaches me that my heavenly Father has no worthy opponent that will sway His will and breech His purposes. That is cast in stone! If God is for the believer who can be against them? “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:29-31)  

I am persuaded of these truths but are you?

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

When a person begins to toy with the Word of God all it proves is they are carnal by nature and they haven’t understood the importance of putting on the mind of Christ, which every believer has been given. If we look to twist it to accommodate our own fleshly lusts we will end up like Eve looking for fig leaves to cover up our shame. Trust the Word of God, believe it and then seek out the abundance of God’s graces to live it out and we shall live. That is a given! Let no one fool you with empty promises as they twist God’s instruction just as Satan did in the Garden of Eden. Receive God’s instruction plain and simple, do not look to complicate its instruction and it will be well with your soul. “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.” (2Timothy 2:16-18) – In other words do not get in disputes concerning the obvious with those who look to bring in heresy.

Regardless of you maturity as a Christian; TRUST GOD AT HIS WORD AND IT WILL BE WELL WITH YOUR SOUL!

Signing off

Tyrone   

    

    

     

Trusting God at His Word!

(Psalms 113:1) “Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD!”

We have been created to praise the Lord, and when we learn to praise Him as we ort, our lives will be full of unspeakable joy. Here the psalmist encourages us to praise the Lord. Why would he do such a thing? He understood the benefits of such an action! In context to the Word of God this is what I have learnt and by the grace of God that is available to me I am in the process of seeking to establish a way of life that revolves around God’s instruction more than ever. Why? It has an unlocking power that unhinges the shackles of death. It is ever authoritative and if and when we learnt to trust it as we ort, we will most certainly reap God’s reward. If we can learn to become obedient to it in spite of our logic that at times drives us in the opposite direction it will bring with it life in abundance, of this I am convinced. The true confessing Christian whom God has saved will all echo this sentiment; the brilliance of God who can know it, who can fathom the depths of it and yet we have been given the mind of Christ what a glorious God given tool, we are now able to see heaven through the eyes of faith but how skilled are we with those God given senses? We must continuously learn to walk by faith!

It is a very simple equation to understand, follow God’s instructions and live. Second guess it at your own peril. There is no greater example than the serpent (Satan) and Eve as they conversed over God’s instruction. Gods command was clear with no ambiguity; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" - A clear instruction with a very perfect warning; if you eat it you will die! Because we sometimes do not see immediate consequences to our disobedience that does noes no mean we won’t bear the brunt of our actions. Trust God’s Word, apply it to your lives in faith and the joy of the Lord will be our reward. In fact the warning goes even deeper, “neither shall you touch it”. Why? If we flirt with the forbidden fruit we prove that we are not being careful but rather reckless with the call God has placed upon our lives as Disciples of Christ. What then in context is our forbidden fruit? Anything and everything that is pitted against the Word of God; Why? Because its sin looking for an occasion to rebel against the voice of God. I heard someone once say that they believe that the Bible is a book filled with broken telephone messages; what do you believe it to be? If it is filled with truth then our understanding of it will change the way we receive instruction from it. If not we will continue in the way we always did! Therefore test yourselves by studying the Bible and it will soon become apparent to what level we have understood God’s instructions for our lives. If it becomes your first port of call we know that we are on the right road, if not then maybe we are but babes in Christ or worst still, we do not belong to Him. Repent therefore and ask God to be merciful to you and to give you sight.

I love God’s Word because it is the greatest leveler as it silences the gainsayer and yes our old natures will always look for justification if we run contrary to God’s instruction in and through His Word, the Bible! God has given His children the wherewithal to apply His tuition into our lives but we need His grace to apply it the way we ort too. Therefore seek out whatever message is require for the day thanking the Lord for His goodness and mercy that He so freely gives us equipping us to glorify His name, now and forever more, Amen!

It’s never about us and our accomplishments, but it’s always been about His goodness, let us never overlook this truth.

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” (Psalms 115:1)   

Signing off

Tyrone

       

Renewing my Vows

I will praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart. Has He considered you, then consider others and proclaim His wonders from the rooftops.

Today is a day which, I resolve like never before, in the abundant grace of the finished work of my Saviour’s wonderful accomplishments to go on record that I, Derek Tyrone Arthur, declare that from here on in I will make every effort to trust the Word of God and implement it as instructed to the best of my abilities within the bounds of God’s mercies. When faced with choices I will look to the Word of God for counsel with greater intent and believe it’s instructions as a child trusts in their father’s ability to keep them safe. I will not let the nagging voice of apparent reason influences your instruction. “Let God be true and every man a liar”… I know in whom I believe! There is none like you; you are all knowing; perfect in all of your character and you have instructed your children to walk by faith, which feeds our hope and in turn energizes us to find your will for our lives.   

Teach me these valuable lessons; give me a deeper understanding of what the men of old went through in regard to their commitment to you. My prayer is that you would help and teach me like never before to glorify your name as you equip me to walk by faith. I am thankful that these lessons have already kicked into gear, here I am Father God take me where you need me to be. I will not be as bold as I once was in my youth when I publically cried out “thrash me if I am out of line”. Moreover, how I needed that trashing, but I will forever be indebted to you for it. I stand in awe when I think of the goodness of Jesus and I think of what He has done for me. Thank you for being patient with me Father God. I love you my King.

How merciful you are to some; those who are in desperate need to be saved from themselves. I consider Samson a Nazirite whom you called to free Israel in a desperate time and how things played out in his life with all those who once relied on him, eventually giving up on him; “But God” after allowing him to travel down a very slippery slope as he flirted with your promises, he eventually came to his senses; “But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.” (Judges 16:22) – People often write off others as spent, but you Father God are the final authority on all things and you look into the hearts of your children and determine their outcome. My plea is that you renew a right spirit in me, teaching me to wait patiently. Open my senses to the Word of God like never before, as a hunter hones his knife ready for use when called upon. What else does a man have that will stand the test of time; the pleasures of this world are temporal with lures to take my eyes off what really counts, YOUR VOICE and YOUR WILL!  

 

When we study any given subject there will come a time when we are expected to write an exam. Am I ready for the test? On reflection many tests have been failed dismally and yet a resolve that can only come from the Spirit of God has driven me to pursue your will for my life; please continue to drive me towards your will and not my wants, and I am persuaded that you my great God will give me the desires of my heart. Thank you for who you are Jehovah God, Amen!

I am convinced that you are true and that it is impossible for you to lie, not that my validation would add any value to your awesome character but this truth helps me with my application of “putting on the mind of Christ”. Gracious Heavenly Father you are perfect in every facet of your being, and how do I know this to be true? You Word so declares it, the Lord Jesus said; “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

God can and will never be enticed by sin. It is out of the reach of His brilliance, Satan thought he was immune to sin but proved that he was taken by it, in fact he is the author of it, at least when it involved mankind. Was he not the one to entice Eve with mankind’s very first sin? Ay! Therefore it is imperative for my mind to be captivated by these truths; “if God is for me who can be against me”, but in the same breath if you are for me, I too must be as equally committed and take up my cross and follow you with new vigour. This I will only ever achieve if you enable me to apply my wishes. Restore the resolve the vigour I once had when I was newly saved so that I may take up my cross and follow my beloved Saviour even to death if need be for your name’s sake. But not with zeal without knowledge, I could never repay the debt of your kindness to me in spite of myself, thank you Father God for your undying love and commitment toward me; I just want to go on the record and thank you. THANK YOU MY LOVING GOD AND KING!  

Sure, I am fully aware of the weakness I still have as the old man looks to rob me of this, but the truth has been declared in and through your Word that I am a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away and all things have become new; “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Corinthians 5:17) – It is this truth that I long to embrace, restore what the cankerworm has eaten from my life and thank you Father that as I make this request I am persuaded that you will oblige, bless your name now and forever more, there is no One like you and because of this I can cry Abba Father, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone       

Whose voice will you obey?

The greater the struggle the sweeter the victory is something that lingers somewhere in my mind as I hope for it to be validated by scripture. Because let’s face it, we should all understand that if a perceived truth isn’t validated by scripture it will bring about death. Death may elude an individual’s perceptions for a while but eventually at the end of its course, when it has fully played out it will be clear, and it will have its part in eternal damnation. Sadly we are all governed by our carnality, which is enslaved to sin, and therefore our design is about the here and now, our nearsightedness steering so many of our perceived perceptions into believing lies.

Do you recall the very first enticement before sin was conceived? Satan engaged Eve in conversation, with one intention, to deceive! To get her to follow his instruction at the expense of God’s command and our human natures are the same in character, by default it always looks to pull us in the opposite direction to God’s voice. The flesh and the Spirit are at war with one another and yet it is obvious that in these fierce battles there can only ever be one victor. Harmony is not something the flesh and the spirit will ever share. We have been asked to choose whom we will serve and I suppose that would imply a daily action on our part. It is not enough to confess the Lord as our Saviour once and then to forget our commitment to Him and then to live like we once did, enslaved to our sinful habits. Today must be a day where we make a choice and confess our heavenly Father, God or Satan, the Spirit or the flesh, sin or righteousness, life or death. It is a constant war that continues to rage on and this will be our lot in life until we take our last breath. It is now part of God’s design; we have choices that constantly need to be made. Knowledge helps us make informed decisions. If and when we learn to understand the Apostle Paul’s argument concerning our characters we will learn to shift gears and prepare for battle; this is his conclusion after a lengthy synopsis about his own fleshly character; “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25)      

The strength of sin resonates in this clue; Satan said to Eve “you shall not surely die”. She ate of the fruit and her eyes where opened to another realm, “the knowledge of good and evil”. It was not as if the fruit was filled with poison that killed instantly, she woke up the following morning and still breathed. Her fleshly mind now believed Satan and not God. However where is she now, she is dead! Her carnal body has decayed and become part of the earth, there is no more trace of her and yet her soul is alive and awaiting judgement. She has entered the spiritual realm with great regret. The moral of the story is that she was told that if she disobeyed God’s voice she would die. Satan tricked her into disobeying God’s command and she ate of the forbidden tree. She may well have believed the lie for a time, for she didn’t die immediately, physically that is! Her understanding of death was carried out over a process of time, but she is now fully aware of the magnitude of what God meant. We too will all come to understand the extent of our actions if we neglect the Words of God; it is therefore imperative that we make every effort to hear the voice of God before we too are filled with eternal regret. As Christians our minds must learn to serve the law of God.

And yes my initial thought can be validated by scripture. Samson was filled with the Spirit of God when a lion attacked him and he was able to kill the lion. On his return a couple of days later he came across the corpse and what has his reward; a swarm of bees had nested inside the carcass and he was able to eat something sweet. Life with all its challenges can be trying, they are meant to be, but if we put on the mind of Christ and abide in the Word of God through it, it will reap reward. But it is not only the individual that reaps the reward but those closest to us will also benefit. Samson gave some of that honey to his mother and father.

Signing off

Tyrone

   

God's Gift

Our lives are filled with special days, specific days that mean more to us than others. A birthday is often such an occasion. As a youngster it is a highlight to the toil through life. It’s a day that focuses on us and others who are normally favoured within a group take the backseat, at least for a while! Obviously I write to you using carnal understanding for many are yet to understand the importance of putting on the mind of Christ for carnality always dominates and has victory if we continue to reason as we always did prior to salvation.

Life is geared to mislead us in every area of our lives if and when we apply earthly reasoning to our mentality. In a nutshell when we strip all of our objections away from their menacing justifications it will become clear that if we continue to resist the Word of God all this proves is that we are yet babes in Christ, or worse yet we do not belong to the Lord Jesus; we are not one of His.

Let me use an example to depict the difference between a man that is carnal and a man that has put on the mind of Christ; in a trying circumstance the man who reasons with his natural mind will always ask the question why or how come. Whilst the spiritual man will understand that he has been called to live a life of trial for the sake of endurance. The natural man complains about sufferings while the spiritual man understands that it will bring about patience, endurance and character in his life, which ultimately will bring glory to his God. And a man that has matured into a spiritual adult will welcome suffering for he has learnt to understand that it’s for his benefit as well as those around him.   

Here is some instruction from the Apostle Paul to help cement these truths into our brains once and for all, and in so doing, free us to serve the living God with a clear conscience; “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

I understand that one can know something theoretically, but it is quite another matter to live it out; you shall know a tree by its fruit, does a man gather figs from an acacia tree? Therefore it is not rocket science when analyzing our own lives with regard to our maturity as Christians. We have been commanded to put on the mind of Christ. Take any given circumstance within your lives and apply the Word of God to it and it will be clear to us where we stand in Him. Try and apply human wisdom to the equation outside of the mind of Christ and it will always produce fruits of the flesh. In other words we will continue to look for figs from a tree that is filled with thorns. Have you not understood that if we set our minds on the flesh it will only ever produce death? “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:6-8) – Test your circumstance; is your life filled with peace in spite of your situation? It will soon become obvious with regard to your maturity in Christ.

Having established that let me now reflect on this day, my fiftieth birthday! I have much to thank God for, He is perfect in Character, in fact, He is faultless in every facet of His existence. He cannot change nor be taught anything, but our lives are filled with valuable lessons if we pay careful attention to them.

As I look around me I see many differing faces that have played an important part in my life. And I know that many would be questioning my example as a Christian because let’s face it, my example has been dismal at times and for this I ask for your forgiveness. However although I have been slow to learn, my Saviour never gave up on me and He continues to apply grace to my life teaching me to put on His mind and for this I will be forever thankful.

For so long folly has followed me but God who is rich in mercy has now begun to favour me and all because of the perfect work that Christ accomplished upon the cross of Calvary. His finished work has allowed me to begin to understand the values of putting on the mind of Christ and before I am misunderstood let me make it very clear that this in itself is a gift of God, I most certainly never deserved His favour and yet I have found it, thank you my great God and King. True salvation and maturity in God will never be capable of boasting as it will never be linked to our own works. It is a gift of God! Today is a day that I thank God for the greatest gift of all, the mind of Christ!

On reflection there is a psalm that illustrates my journey to a tee and here are a few verses from it; “Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.” (Psalms 107:17-20)

Signing off

Tyrone  

   

       

      

The worlds greatest event in history

If I had to ask you what you thought the greatest event in history would be, what would be your retort? If your mind begins to flash through varying events as you consider differing individuals contemplating their merits as judges would critic any given contest; I would have to conclude that I fear for you...

The answer should be instinctive, forget the intellectuals or the inventors that advanced technology, the answer is an obvious one; “Jesus in my place”, the death of Jesus Christ, God the man; a time in history where God became a man and lived under the Law of Moses without ever breaching a single one of God’s decrees. That’s right from infancy to adulthood. He never stole nor told a “white lie” (there is no excusable sin within God’s economy). Sin had no power over him, but it cost him his life. His mission was no walk in the park and it would make the greatest combat training seem like child’s play with all things considered. In fact no one ever born up until then and since has ever passed the test the man Jesus was asked by God to complete, it was no picnic, in statement there was a time when Jesus the man cried out to His heavenly Father pleading with Him to remove the trial he was about to face, his cry was; "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." Jesus hoping to avoid the cup he was now about to face, which was a trial of mammoth proportion. His plea was for God to be merciful to him, but the reprieve did not come. God had prepared a cup of testing for His only begotten Son and he was sent to drink it all and not even the dregs at the bottom of the cup was avoided, HE DRANK IT ALL! His testing was so severe that he began to sweat drops of blood combatting the temptation of sin. All the times we have known what should be done in any given circumstance but we never found the strength to conquer, he did! His body was taken to the blink of death whilst having to endure the temptations of sin, WOW! Without his victory over sin and its power we (all of mankind) would be doomed and tried as sinners before a Holy God on judgment day. However because he subjugated life without a single blemish when it came to sin; he made a way for all to escape the eminent sentence just over the horizon. God will judge both the living and the dead. Provision has now been made by God for sinners like you and me to find forgiveness for our rebellion and sin against God, which is in breach of His character. “Jesus in my place”! 

If anyone would even dare hint a suggestion that all religions lead to heaven, they are blind and those who follow their voices will both fall into the ditch. It’s only the Christian, the true Christian that will escape God’s judgement. Why? The answer is obvious, no one else has lived a sinless life whilst alive on earth and therefore it’s only Christ that can forgive us of our sins and there is no confusion within the Christian message. The only question a person needs to answer for themselves is do they believe that they are sinners and need to be forgiven for their sins? It is as simple as that, but a decision needs to be made.

Why God became a man and died for His enemies is beyond most of us and yet we do understand His reasoning for this merciful act for He has shown it to us; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.” (Ephesians 1:3-8)   

God is love! Did you know that? I’m sure your mind has comprehended that fact to some degree but has it fully understood? Who of you would send your child to die for your enemy? God did exactly that, WOW! Because of His great love He chose to save us from ourselves. No greater love can a man have than to lay down his own life for his enemies. This is exactly what Jesus the man did for us roughly 2000 years ago. Do you believe you would have any chance to escape judgement if you turn a blind eye to God’s gracious offer? It’s not enough to echo the sentiments of so many religions that Jesus was a good man; only a liar and a false prophet would claim to be equal with God and that was exactly Jesus’ entitlement; ““I and the Father are one."” (John 10:30)

The day is at the door where the goats and the sheep (the true and false converts) will be separated and there will be no mistaking the allegiance of some when the true test of faith presents itself. God give me the strength to glorify your name even with my life if need be, and all of God’s people cried out “Amen”! It is time to make straight the crooked paths to our lives, where there is lack we need to cry out for grace and God will give it to us in abundance, the shaking of the earth, the test is about to present itself like it never has, at least in our lifetime, will you stand up to the test, will I? Like a wise man once said, “we will see” or “time will reveal all”.

I have not been the greatest of example of how a Christian should live, many of my friends have been privy to my sinful actions and for this I ask for your forgiveness. I too have been hoodwinked through varying situations and failed, BUT GOD who is rich in mercy has it in His power to forgive even someone as foolish as I have been over time, but there must come a time in a believer’s life when they cry out “enough foolishness” and they seek out God’s forgiveness for their sins and they make a telling decision. I have made up my mind and finally admitted to the sins in my life that I previously looked to excuse, no more is my cry! We have no more excuse for our sin, sin has been defeated by the finished work of the cross and although we will continue to sin in some form we must never make allowance for the practise of sin. Ultimately it’s not how many times a person falls and grazes their knees that counts but how often they are willing to get up and dust the dirt from their knees and find grace to march on. However if we do not take our sin seriously all it proves is that we haven’t understood the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice.   

In conclusion it is imperative for us all to understand that God will never accept any man made attempt to find His favour, there was only ever one man whom God was completely satisfied with and that was the man Jesus, God in the flesh paid a price for sin and yet he committed no sin. He became the off-scouring of the earth so that all those who would learn to understand their sinful state before God and their hopeless because of it all and then would somehow find the urge to cry out for forgiveness to the only ONE who has it in His power to forgive, the Lord Jesus Christ, only then will we find exact forgiveness in Him. NO ONE ELSE WILL ESCAPE GOD’s JUDGEMENT. I cannot put it any plainer than that…

Signing off

Tyrone

Senses...

In order for us to appreciate and enjoy the pleasures of our senses we need them operating at full capacity. I am now entering a phase to my life where my senses are beginning to fail. My eyes are not what they once were, I should wear glasses, but that wasn’t always my reality, there was a time when I had 20/20 vision or I was certainly very close to it: Why do I mention the obvious? It highlights God’s brilliance in pointing us towards the truth about our existence and what can be learnt from the clues, the hints of our experiences throughout our ongoing journey whilst we live here on earth, with all of them pointing us heavenward in order to enjoy Him. Sins effect has robbed us of these valuable lessons and distracts our minds with complaints and the like.

Let me use an example to help you understand my thought process and then if applied with vigor it should help us live differently. A blind man has four senses that function and not five, a deaf man the same and so on. The greatest of our God given senses in my humble opinion must be sight which works together with our brain which processes the information it witnesses and at times leaves us gob smacked. What we see can impact us positively or negatively, our eyes the gateway to our souls. What our eyes expose themselves too most certainly has an impact on our characters. Grow up feeding them with pornographic filth and that will become a thorn in our sides. The principle applies to every area of our lives, what we see affects us on a deeper level; it is as simple as that. However the beauty of sight if used correctly should work itself out for our benefit if we are skilled in what we expose them too. Sin drives us away from God and not towards Him. Apply my thought to a given circumstance and test if what I say has any factual evidence to it.

Let’s say we decide to venture into a game reserve and we experience what is on offer, one sprightly morning we see a breath taking sunrise and whilst in the throes on that beauty it must drive our imaginations towards God as an awesome creator; even the unbeliever has something that nags away at his conscience about God’s brilliance under those conditions. Even if they are convinced that it was evolutions big bang, they understand that the event must have been epic. It obviously was God spoke and it happened, phenomenal but precisely accurate, praise God! Beauty in creation certainly gets me to ponder the brilliance of God when I take it all in.

But what about the scandalous things I see on the internet? Have you ever seen horrific acts through video clips like the beheading of the “innocent”? In like manner without spiritual vision it leaves us questioning the atrocities we witness. It is horrific! It leaves so many questioning God instead of praising Him. Without spiritual sight we will never understand the carnage of this world, similarly to a blind man trying to imagine a sunrise. Without sight we need a stick to guide our steps and it is no different for those who are spiritually blind. God must give us sight to see heavenly things. If that eludes us we will only ever grope in the dark tying to imagine heaven with all its glory. Where does then leave us? In need of God’s grace to equip our eyes to see and how is this achieved? It is rather simple; we must be born again, or if you prefer made alive by the Spirit. “Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."” (John 3:3-8)

Let’s unpack the importance of these verses; the practise of philosophy and traditional religion will only ever leave an individual with a sense of thinking that they can see when in fact they have been hoodwinked. Trickery of one’s mind, thinking that all will be well with their souls when in fact it is a lie. Professing to see when in fact they are blind. Imagine that sunset seen in the Game Reserve we considered, take a blind man with you and ask him to describe what he sees, his imagination may be honed to see beauty in some other amazing way but I can assure that it will never be accurate, it will never depict the truth, that would be impossible not differently to a religious leader who in fact is blind teaching you how to get to heaven. Man’s interpretation on what should suffice in order to attain God’s blessing. The writer of Hebrews refers to this as “dead works”; dead because no matter how appealing the effort may seem, if it springs from death it will only ever produce death! In fact it can’t even do that as it is dead! Unless you leave a corpse to rot and stagnate, before long it will decay and cause disease. Thankfully I was saved from such decay and by God’s grace found life in Christ I was rescued out of Roman Catholicism. An organisation when the layers are peeled back it is very easy to see the error of their ways and sadly they trap so many into believing their lies. But I take comfort in the Lord’s conclusion; “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  

Were the confusion reigns is a carnal perception about spiritual realities. Here was a man, a ruler of the Jews, a spiritual leader who up and until now was as blind as a bat concerning spiritual truths. No different to most of the so called Christian organisations of today, test if what I say has any truth attached to it. Here is the crunch verse; “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” a clear distinction evident. Therefore if I try and add spiritual precepts to my flesh (my carnal mind) it can and will only ever result in feeding the flesh and my soul will be unaffected. My mind may feel good about itself but that is far as it gets me. Not enough to open my eyes spiritually, for that to happen I need a miracle in my life. So how do I become a candidate for that miracle? I need God’s grace to take effect in my being; I need to be born of the Spirit and without unpacking the Sovereign call from God on the lives of some and not others, the gospel has gone out to all. The requirement remains the same for all, which is this; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13) – BUT CALL YOU MUST! Without that call your thoughts on religion may continue to deceive you into believing that all will be well with your soul when in fact it is no more than a lie… 

Signing off

Tyrone   

          

God's GOODNESS...

Considering that we have been commanded to put on the mind of Christ, to think and act like Him. How many people actually know what He would be thinking in any given circumstance? I have heard some appalling remarks from those who should know better and sadly in hindsight I have been part of some heinous annotations over time, looking to justify my actions whilst accommodating my sinful behaviour. We serve a very gracious God, who is perfectly HOLY and slow to anger. He is full of grace and is LOVE personified. Without all of His beauty playing out the way it does I would surely be dead and in the grave by now, but God, my God and heavenly Father has been extremely patient with me; all I ever deserved was the opposite and yet I am gladly beginning to witness the benefits of God’s ingenious mercies beginning to play out favourably in my life, praise God! I trust He is also noticing the change! Thank you Father for your abundant grace and mercy in my life; thank you for the unmeasurable love you have bestowed upon me…

It is one thing to know God, every creation is a reflection of God in all His glory; we needn’t travel far to prove to our enquiring minds that God exists. He has given us creation as an awesome witness of His power and glory. Just step out a door and into a garden, or look up into the night sky or turn on the TV and flip to a National Geographic channel and not another word is required proving God’s brilliance in and through His creation. In fact the evidence is so compelling that the Apostle Paul pens an explanation about the very topic in question in the book of Romans, condemning all who oppose the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the only true God and mastermind behind all of creation which leaves mankind without excuse. Objections like, “what about the man in the Amazon Jungle how does God show him mercy?” All of us witness God’s brilliance in and through His creation; even the bushman tucked away in an isolated corner of the globe can understand that God exists.

All anyone needs to do is cry out to God for mercy and they would certainly find understanding about God’s existence. If mankind is so divided on this issue, why and what happened to leave us with so many varying opinions on this particular topic?  Let us go back in history to deepen our understanding…

History should teach us about the errors of our ways and help us to right our wrongs. Hindsight is the perfect science! If as a toddler I begin to explore my surroundings and I came across a live wire that was exposed and I handled it, what would happen? I would get a shock! But before long I would learn to avoid the experience by eluding the hazard. Experience therefore equips me to avoid making the same mistakes. History is my friend if I learn from it. God has given us the greatest History book, it is up to us to pick it up and read it. The Bible is our friend! Make use of it and learn to understand the lessons in it.

Considering creation and the mistakes we made over the process of time should equip us to right our wrongs, here then is the lesson about mankind’s downward spiral and historically how we moved away from God’s will for our lives instead of towards His favour; “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:19-24)

Although we as Gentiles were never apart of God’s law like Israel was and given the Law of Moses depicting His character to them as a nation; God did not leave us without witness of His brilliance, creation proves His existence. But professing to be wise in ourselves we became fools. And for this reason God gave us over to varying sins, we needn’t look very far to see the error of our ways for they have become evident. Today is a day where same sex marriage is no longer frowned upon. It has become our right! Unless we find God’s favour in and through His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ we will continue in our downward spiral of self-destruction. But God who is rich in mercy and full of love has offered mankind a lifeline in spite of our errors. Unless we turn to Him in repentance for our rebellion and our sins it will end badly for us all.

The time for our mutiny must now end and we must cry out to Him and seek out His forgiveness for our sins and our revolt. Today is the day of salvation, for us to put it off for another day only proves our folly.

“For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” (Romans 10:11-12) – The offer is available to all who would dare to call upon Him, but call we must!

Signing off

Tyrone   

   

       

Our Lord is coming...

“That our Lord is coming, is certain; that his coming may be at any moment, is a matter of faith; and that we are ignorant of the time of his coming, is a matter of fact: “Ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”” A quote literally penned by Charles Spurgeon.

A time in history where a thought like the internet was absent from the perceptions on those back then. How times have changed, with technology echoing threats of world domination. Movies screaming “beware the machine may take over” and the like; not very far from mankind’s imaginations. Changes throughout history continually evolve, and yet through it all, there are some constants that we are able to cling too. In fact we have been commanded to hang onto every jot and tittle; the Word of God is one of those beauties; praise the name of Jesus my Lord! Many churches have disregarded the power and safety of the Word of God, which sadly will be to their own peril and for those who teach that change is acceptable, they will receive a stricter judgement; a current topic would be same sex marriages. Here is the warning; “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1) – We all have our weaknesses, one in this area while another in a different capacity. Our sinful natures have taken care of that but when we twist God’s Word to accommodate our sin, then we are in danger of eternal judgement with ceaseless consequences that will carry with it God’s judgments, and who in their right mind would look to challenge God? God forbid that we would ever accommodate such a futile mind-set.      

Just as it was in the days of Charles Spurgeon’s era where the same message was preached from the pulpit that the Lord Jesus is imminent, so too is it a given in our day and age that the message remains the same, the Lord Jesus is coming, His second return is looming, it is constant and there has been no change to it, “HE IS COMING!” He will return like a thief in the night, there are no ifs and buts to this message and for those who look to denounce that memorandum they will surely be caught off guard. Although we understand that many will grow impatient with this message and look to discredit it, the Lord Jesus shall return, this is a fact and will never be altered; God has set this truth in stone.

Christians must cling to this truth will all of our resolve and although it is very clear that we cannot be sure of the day we can most certainly be on the lookout for clues that God shall warn those who are looking for that day to unfold.

“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:42-44)

With this truth alive and well where does that leave the Christian? The proceeding verses give us an indication to what we should be on the lookout for; "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.” (Matthew 24:32-33) – We have the warning signs which our dear Lord and Saviour has warned us about and we must be prepared if and when we notice the signs of the times. It is clear that we are on the brink of this event and therefore we must not be overtaken by it. It would be expedient for us to treat each and every day from here on in just as if today could be the day of that trumpet blast where the Lord will return to gather His people and where we will be caught up into the air to meet Him. What a day that will be, even so come quickly Lord Jesus, we long to meet you in the air, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone  

  

   

Examine yourselves...

(2Corinthians 13:5)  “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

Here we have an instruction and it asks us to gaze into the mirror and to be brutally honest with ourselves about ourselves. It is a reflection test and must be stripped of any aids; make-up will not help but only hinder our advances in working out our own standings before a Holy God. This inspection calls for brutal honesty and any application of base will hinder our assessment. Who I am, and how I am perceived by others must be part of the evaluation, however the pressing issue is to test myself in the light of “faith” and how I stand in that regard with my commitment towards God. Do I serve Him, or pretend to serve Him so that I may benefit today for today or am I driven by something far deeper, which is the laying down of my life for the sake of my Christian family? Because if we have the Spirit of Christ, if Jesus is in us we must now learn to behave differently in every area of our lives; hence the test! Rebellion to that call must begin to dissipate into an afterthought of the Oldman’s conduct.

Prior to arriving at this understanding we all lived in a very rebellious state towards God but thankfully the mercies of God covered me even back then and it was often the rod that was used to drive folly from me. I was an aggressive, unfaltering, self-centered individual and one who shunned authority at all costs. It was all part of my sinful character which God patiently allowed to play out in order to teach me how desperately I needed Him, bless His brilliance. He is ever wise even when others only see destruction, He adequately works miracles into any given situation and graciously saves individuals from themselves; this is my testimony; it took me 22 years to come to that understanding and the need to find forgiveness for my sins. And although many of those unwanted traits of my old character miraculously seemed to disappear without any effort on my part. After a while those hindering traits would look to rear their head and dominate any given situation when challenged. Nothing more than rebellion!

I have noticed through my experiences and encounters with other Christians that many deep rooted traits from the old man, our old lives prior to salvation sadly often never leave us, which can be very damaging not only for ourselves but for those who witness our appalling behaviour. This however does not excuse us in the light of being covered by the grace of God. Sure we find repentance for our actions from day to day in and through the finished work of Calvary; this is commonly known as part of our ongoing daily sanctification. Our lives must be filled with a measure of self-reflection as we have been commanded to put on the mind of Christ. In other words we must change the way we once conducted ourselves and apply ourselves to that change not with a carnal understanding, which at times may even seem as if we are doing the right thing on a moral level, if it is contrary to the mind of Christ it will only ever ensnare us deeper into our rebellion of self.

It is easier to pick out a fruit that is marred on its outer shell than one that is filled with worms which are hidden and feed off the inside of the produce. And yet both are equally undesirable. Let us not be fooled into excusing certain types of behaviours while picking on the more obvious easy targets. Our minds must now become obsessed with the “mind of Christ” and we must make every possible effort to understand what that looks like. Forget everything you thought you once knew, because some of what you may believe to be kosher may in fact be the very thing which hinders you from going onto maturity. It is God who hinders or accelerates a Christians progression; “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.” (Hebrews 6:1-3)

As a Christian, there is a process we must get to grips with no differently to a newborn baby familiarising themselves with their new surroundings, from the womb into the world and for the Christian; from the Oldman’s reckonings to the mind of Christ. If we resist this transformation we will sadly not be allowed to go onto maturity. Who in their right mind would want to be an adult with an infant’s understanding, how long would that individual last amongst the wolves of this world? Now before I am misunderstood; all of salvation is subject to the grace of God, however we must pay careful attention to the Spirit’s direction. The apostle Paul gives us this instruction and it would be extremely beneficial to examine ourselves in light of the tutoring; “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.” We must test ourselves and our conduct compared to the mind of Christ. We are new creatures in Christ, if in fact we have His Spirit in us, if not we kid ourselves and try to kid those around us that we belong to Him, when in fact we have a form of religion but it carries no power in our deliberations. We will eventually be found wanting, driven by our old characters where sin dominates our lives. There is nothing hidden from God, therefore we must examine ourselves; we must be honest with ourselves so that the necessary steps may be realised and then appropriate action through repentance in the finished work of Calvary can be taken. This is a very important facet of what it means to put on the mind of Christ…

Signing off

Tyrone