Humility

By now it should be obvious that humility is a requirement needed in the Christian’s armoury which needs to be drawn upon regularly, for it pleases our heavenly Father when we are humble. But we must not mistake humility for weakness; it is strength in faith. It drives us towards our dependency upon our God and Father and away for our independence where we rely on our own abilities to get it done. The part which needs working out is God’s stamp of approval on what should or shouldn’t be done. We need to prove what is acceptable before our Holy Father, its through trial and error where this will be realized. But a good place to start would be to follow David’s example throughout his lifetime, whether he was tending the sheep, fighting off lions and bears, hiding in caves or sitting on his throne, his life was habitually about the will of God. He also had his weaknesses but who hasn’t got flaws; our failings teach us a lot about ourselves. When we stumble and fall we learn to appreciate the value of mercy in our lives. It’s God alone who has the power to forgive our transgressions which will keep us out of hell. But we need to learn this lesson well in every area of our lives. We need God’s mercy and He has offered it to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.

If our focus is anything outside of the finished work of the cross it will be hard to find approval in what we do, we may be praised by men but not by God. Everything we are is because of our Saviours sacrifice and when we move from that mind-set we begin to skirt on the edge of that dark precipice which we could fall from. There are many lures which parole the gaping mouth of that abyss. And the attraction named “pride” has trapped many. But it can be avoided if we know what we need to be done. For example, we must first seek God’s will for our lives and the rest will follow the way it should. But when our eyes shift from our Saviours sacrifice and onto our own merits, we now open the trap door to pride and if not corrected we are not far from a fall. It then becomes our story and not HIS. God was “well pleased” with Christ’s obedience; let us never forget that in lieu of anyone of our achievements.  

Miraculously as I now reach the age of 51 and I flip through the chapters of my life, this is what I have learnt. Many proverbs now ring true to my ear; “a dog returning to its vomit”, although this obviously speaks of my sin concerning the obvious, things like wine, women and song; repeatedly erring in those areas of my life, with many other things interwoven into that equation whilst growing up. In hindsight, a journey I needed, to see the wood from the trees but not with Pride as my brother, but rather learning to understand Grace as she taught me a better way, God using His unmerited favour to shape my understanding. Pride does not acknowledge Grace but pats oneself on the back as it blows its own trumpet, crying out, “look at me, I was like that but now I am like this.” Pride is impossible to avoid when our gaze shifts from God’s mercy onto ourselves. The more I give this thought and the longer I look into the mirror the more I am convinced about this truth; “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)

Signing off

Tyrone

The goodness of Jesus

When I consider the goodness of Jesus and what He has done for me in light of the failures throughout my lifetime as I sit and contemplate why it is that I am still loved by Him, I am blown away. But why am I still loved by God even though I don’t deserve to be? It’s the Christ in me, the hope which consistently drives me towards repentance and humility when it is needed to find favour from God as the Spirit of God leads me into His truth. It’s not my natural abilities that drive me to be humble before an awesome God. This type of understanding that some may be driven by, is the lie of pseudo-religions.

Humility must be a priority when approaching the throne of God which must always be accompanied with repentance, with the echo of one of the greatest songs ever written and with the melody of “Amazing grace” ringing in our ears. Pride drives us to a place of self-worth, with a mind-set that wills us to believe that we can outdo the next, and if we don’t we have failed and we must be better next time. But God requires a person to be humble and to own their sin without blaming someone or something else. And yet with this said; it is always the goodness of God that leads a person to a place of repentance. Without the Spirit’s intervention in our lives we will never find true repentance. It’s God who initiated our rescue in sending the Lord Jesus to die in our place. But this must be realised if we are to find forgiveness.

Faith is an essential ingredient which we need in order to believe in the only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Which in turn gives us the ability to trust our God and Father to get us through whatever is needed alone life’s journey. A crucial tutor which lead us and prepares us for our hope in Christ which will at the end of our journey here on earth be objectified with heaven as our eternal home. Faith then will no longer be needed for we will see God in person and understand the fullness of who He is, praise God and Amen!

I do believe the law with all its instructions proves to us that there is much to consider when arriving at a verdict. However to cut through the lies and the trickery of our own minds is an obstacle that needs overcoming. The deeper the realisation of a person’s predicament becomes the more desperate they will be to find rescue from themselves. Until we reach this place in our lives sin holds us in bondage with its ability to disguise our wickedness as acceptable, with thoughts and statements like these; “I’m a good person and I am not as bad as that individual.” With so many saving the planet but ignoring the brilliance of the creator; as the World Powers gain momentum in their unity but ignores the true purpose of God. Strip what I say down and it will soon be easy to understand, the majority of the worlds population serves the creature (creation) and not the creator. God will have the final say!          

We can learn from a man like John Newton. Here was a man who penned words to a song from personal experience. A former slave trader penned the stanzas to a hymn that is estimated to be sung more than ten million times annually and has appeared on over eleven thousand albums. “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me”, is this your understanding of yourself outside of Christ or do you feel that you had or have some merit within yourself to warrant His consideration to save you? Until we arrive at a place of absolute worthlessness as we stand before almighty God we may very well miss that chance encounter to find the true meaning of life.

Signing off

Tyrone  

Questions that need to be answered

Here is a question for you, is it sheer determination and will power that will get us to heaven or is it simply Christ in us, the hope of glory? Some radicals believe that if they strap a bomb to themselves and blow up others in the name of Allah that they will have a grand entrance into heaven, their entrance shall be remarkable but it won’t be into paradise. Whilst other religious fanatics have agendas that determine where they will end up depending on how faithful they have been to a set of ordinances, a life filled with work based obligations in order to enjoy a rich reward in heaven; theologically this is simply known as “dead works”. But in order to understand this we need to have the mind of Christ, if not, it will be missed. What of the evolutionists that state categorically that the big bang is indeed a fact and can be scientifically proved? Creation must have been a remarkable exploit as God spoke it into being, was there a big bag, an explosion? There could well of been, I cannot say with any certainty, but one thing I am sure of, God spoke and it happened.

I see a similar tend with science as I do with the endeavour of those looking to save the planet; both schools look to creation for their answers, with many discounting their creator. Then we have the hypo-charismatic, the one who comes to Christ looking for “faith- handouts”. Those who believe that Christianity is the vessel which will transport them from rags to riches and I am not making reference to the spiritual reality of that truth which will be ours when we get to heaven, but rather in the precise sense, receiving gain here and now; with this type of mentality; all one needs is enough faith, or rather sheer determination dressed as faith; a lot of mumbo-jumbo ruling their world.

There are many schools of thought which governs individual’s lives. It is impossible to be neutral in this regard. So the crunch question I have is why are there some who understand and not others? Is it what we do or what God does for us? Without rehashing sin and its origin, all I need to say is it sin which keeps us from freeing our understanding. No matter how you dress it, it blinds us to the truth and until the scales from our eyes are removed we will continue to grope in the dark. Without God’s mercy in our lives we would all be lost in a world of pain, grappling at straws, running around like chickens without heads.

The wisdom of this world is laughed at by God and he will not tolerate fools. And yet we have all been fools somewhere along life’s journey, blind to God’s truth, “Jesus in my place” and then God has mercy on our souls and opened our eyes to the meaning of it all. The Lord Jesus the first of many sons, wow! With this understanding our minds must shift gears, it has too. If not, we haven’t really understood anything.

True Christianity can be easily tested; ask yourself, why have I turned to Christ? If your answer falls outside of the fact, that you are a sinner, guilty as charged and that the Lord Jesus Christ died in your place. He took the punishment that you deserved. If we are not in that category, we need God to expose the rot in our minds and turn us in repentance towards Him with no added motive, except to be forgiven for our sin and our rebellion against a HOLY God. I understand that God is far greater than any wiles of the devil or the schemes of men; at times He restrains even the greatest of schemes and turns them to His advantage; it here that we witness His majestic brilliance personified as He silences the gainsayer, saving some of them; “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1Corinthians 1:21)   

However, even the true Christian, gifted with the mind of Christ battles to let go of this type of mental assurance, the “I” in our worlds. Everything in our lives points us towards these types of mind-sets, the harder we work the more we shall achieve and many get lost in that web of deceit; sadly these are the things we teach our children from a tender age instead of pointing them to Christ’s sacrifice for their sin. Faith on the other hand trusts God for deliverance. Not only with our daily struggles, but it is certainly the catalyst that will drive us towards heaven with all its glory. The enemy of faith is sin which in turn robs us of the assurance we have in the finished work of the cross. When we do what we believe should be done we are confident towards God and the calling which He has placed on our lives, but when we stumble and fall, what then? This is where we are weakened and where we learn the most, at the feet of Jesus.

Here is a conclusion that we cannot afford to miss; God has great compassion towards the humble, but He resists the proud. We have a natural tendency to become filled with pride when we outdo the person next to us. It is something that continuously needs to be checked in our lives.

As schooled as David was, it is obvious that he understood the work of God in his life as the most important factor throughout his lifetime. Could this have been the reason why God had this to say about him, “he is a man after my own heart”? And yet David understood that if God didn’t change him, he couldn’t change himself. David needed Gods voice to ring clear in his ears prior to entering the battles of life. How do we compare? We need to be continually reminded that we are but clay in the potter’s hands. We need to constantly cry out to the One who has the power to change us, we must cry out to our heavenly Father, “Abba Father, renew a right spirit within me”. In other words please change who I am, remove the arrogance that looks to dominate. This is a type of prayer that I believe James refers to in accordance to the will of God. It’s not about our lusts, but its all about change and conformity into the Lord Jesus’ character. God favours these types of prayers and He will grant them because it will always be in accordance to His will if we look to be changed into our Saviours character.        

The next hurdle that rears its head is “balance”; we are taught that “balance” is healthy. Too much of something causes distortion; eat too much starch and we will soon become unproportioned. Go to gym and only ever train a single muscle group and we will look odd. Our minds have been geared to believe these laws as conclusive. It’s the world we live in. Sadly we do not leave this type of reasoning behind after our eyes have been opened to heaven. But thankfully, Christianity may begin on earth but is will last into eternity, with the only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as our Father forever and ever, Amen!

Salvation begun with the mercy of God and it will remain that way for all eternity, we having nothing to boast about and yet there is so much bragging, even when played down with modesty. David understood this, because God gave him his understanding, may God teach us this lesson well and also give us understanding. He is the potter we are but clay in His hands. How does choice then play out? If we are programmed right we will chose right. It’s a virus that looks to get software to make bad choices and play up. “If God is for us who can be against us?”

Once our minds are spiritually opened to our heavenly calling, once we are born again, chaos infiltrates the things we once believed. Change becomes the order of the day. We stop drinking and swearing, just to mention the obvious. But what about a persons work ethic and many other areas of our lives? In short, when we understand that we had been destined to hell because of our sin our lifestyles begin to change. Without sound doctrine and God’s intervention in our lives, which moulds us into Christ’s image we will continue to make similar mistakes which may leave us looking different on the outside, whilst been driven to be Christian like in character and ambitious with parallel intentions without an inward change. Leaving us filled with pride as we outdo the person next to us. We forget that it is the Christ in us who has caused the change. We become knockoffs of the original and hypocrisy is our lot in life until God opens our eyes to our error, praise His name, Amen!      

It’s the goodness of God that leads a person to salvation in true repentance and let us never overlook that truth, for when we do, pride is not far from us and we know what will follow, the resistance of God in our lives. Grace is what is needed to combat the filth of this world; therefore we must be kept humble. Thank you Abba Father for you persistent work in our lives, thank you for you intercession my great Saviour and thank you Holy Spirit for your comfort and the way you constantly remind us about your truth.

Signing off

Tyrone

Being lead by the Spirit 2

(Galatians 5:18)  “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

The only time we could ever truly claim being led by the Spirit, is when God is in the picture. Imaginations and claims of hocus pocus will never cut it. It will soon be obvious to all whether or not we are led by the Spirit of God. It’s God in us that causes a change in our life-styles. How could a man be tearing down a road of self-destruction and then the next day he does an about turn with onlooker’s gobsmack as they consider the outcome? There was no 7 step program that was followed, Satan looking to mimic the brilliance of God’s intervention with decoys, leaving people with words like, “she’s a good person” or “you deserve it”, self made individuals looking to be recognised by their own accomplishments with people praising their efforts giving them the glory.

Christians may find that they have been misled along their journey as born again believers, having slipped into the ditch that they had been once saved from. However, there will come a time in a true believers life where the Spirit of God will lead them out of that ditch. He will bring about a change in their lives. If and when God is in the picture there will be no mistaking His presence. People may ridicule, and explain true conversion away with ridicule, but the evidence will be unmistakable. Christian will make mistakes, it is part of our growth and the Spirit of God will lead them into all truth, if and when they have truly been called and saved by God. It is God, who calls according to His purpose and not mans covetousness, and it’s God who foreknew those whom He predestined to be conformed into the image of His Son and the reason for it all is that we might be the first born amongst many brothers. The Spirit led Christian awaits an inheritance that will be shared with Christ in eternity, Wow! It is these individuals that “are not under law”.        

We cannot claim that we are freed from the law and use grace as a licence to continue living in the yokes of bondage that once held us captive. The strength of sin is the law, it’s the law that determines whether we are in breach or not. Without the knowledge of the law we would not be guilty of a transgression. It is the enemy’s objective to lure us back into our old habits, which at times may have happened. However in the life of a Christian there must be progression through it all. We must be maturing in grace where we will eventually begin to resemble our great Saviour and His character, it cannot be any other way for the same Spirit that is in Him is now in the born again believer and for this reason He will lead us into righteousness. If led by the Spirit we will not be under the law. Why? Christ has broken the shackles of sin, once and for all, never to be repeated. Which implies that our shackles have now also been broken; the things that once governed our lives are no longer ruled by those actions. We are new creatures in Christ. Paul made this statement because the world is watching; “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1Corinthians 9:27) - I know I have regrets and have had to seek out God’s forgiveness for not sharing his sentiments. But thankfully God is gracious and long suffering towards His children of which I am most certainly guilty as charged, but with the Spirit of God leading me, I was not able to continue down a road of self destruction, praise God for His mercy; a testimony of many a Christian. Thank you Father God.        

   

When we begin to understand this, verses like these begin to make a lot more sense; “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Our old natures and Satan with his deceptive lures looks for entrapment. However the Spirit of God will always have the final say, of this I am convinced. It’s God in us who works out salvation for our benefit and to His glory. We must all learn to walk in the Spirit and the truth of the matter will be this; “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:16-18) – The believer can never excuse sin away as the norm, if so we are not being Spirit led in the fashion that God has ordained. Our lives must begin to mimic the pattern of our great Saviour. This is where we learn to have confidence in the finished work of the cross. Praise the name of Jesus and His accomplishments.

This is what the Christian will guard against and not excuse it away as custom; 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. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:19-24)

Lord willing we will look at all these points in a lot more depths, as it is important to be aware of the enemy’s arsenal and then to put on the whole amour of God to withstand the fiery darts of the devil.

Signing off

Tyrone

Being Spirit led

(Galatians 5:18)  “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Introduction

This is a remarkable verse that could be missed entirely if not understood correctly. Throughout the ages God has established covenants with mankind. After the great flood which destroyed the world some four thousand years ago, He made a promise to Noah and the creatures that were rescued from His wrath that had entered the ark. Here is what has been recorded; “Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." (Genesis 9:8-11)  - What was the purpose and result of this covenant? Just as it had been in the beginning, in the days of Adam, they were to replenish the earth through procreation. Through those eight souls, the global population now stands at 7.5 billion people. We all originated from those eight souls. The same must be said for our wildlife; what ever came out of the Ark leaves us with what we have today.

God then singles out Abram and establishes a covenant with him and promises him a son who he gives to him once his wife Sarah is past the age being able to conceive and give birth, miraculously God intervenes, leaving no doubt that He is behind Isaacs’s birth, the child of promise. Who then goes on to father Jacob, whose name is later changed to Israel. God deals with a sect of the world population, whose offspring is known today as the Jews. Moses then arrives freeing them from Egyptian slavery and God then uses him to introduce the Law, God’s Law, which we know today as the Ten Commandments. There are obviously laws within the law, 613 of them. And in order for these people to find forgiveness for their sins, sacrifice is introduced as a way of life. Without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sins. Eve’s sin had taken care of that.

Then the grand finale of the brilliance of God’s plan is ushered in, a child is born in a manger, the arrival of God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; the One who was to take away the sins of the world. He grew up into manhood breaking the shackles of sin, He lived a life without ever breaching one of those laws that God had given to Moses. He then dies for the sinners of the world and He pays the price we could never wage giving us an out from the judgement to come. He died to set sinners free; “Jesus in my place” now a reality for mankind; bless His name now and forever more, Amen! The second covenant now much better than the first. A covenant of grace and not law, wow! “This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.” (Hebrews 7:22) – It is phenomenal when the Spirit of God begins to unravel His plan to wretches like you and I. God sending His Son to die for me, who can fathom it, WOW! But when we begin to understand the depths of it, it is remarkable. Thank you Father, I love you with all my heart.

As a grown man of 50 years old and with tears streaming down my face as the Spirit of God has given me a fresh glimpse of what He has done for me in Christ is extremely humbling; thank you Jesus for loving me.

Lord willing we will endeavour to explore this topic in much more depth in the weeks to come.

Signing off

Tyrone

The Spirit within

Here are just some instructions concerning our relationships with God, the Christians Father, the ones who have received the Spirit of God whereby they cry “Abba Father”, my Dad! The Christian is extremely privileged; the angles could look upon mankind and our lifestyles at times and venture to question God, but DON’T! They wouldn’t dare. Those who followed Satan in his rebellion against God in heaven are now awaiting their judgement, the Lake of Fire, which will eventually be objectified.

I trust the Holy Spirit will press home the privileges we have as Children of God and what He has given us to combat sin and the snares of this world, the Spirit of God now alive in us, wow! My prayer is that we would be given the slightest glimpse of our reality in HIM and His invisible role in our Christians walks. He is always at work never resting, feeding our faith in Christ opening our eyes to see beyond the veil. Heaven is our home and this stage of our lives is but a fleeting breath. He allows our minds to pull down previous stronghold that once had us enslaved to their dominance in our lives. He gets our priorities to change and the more His work becomes evident, the radicular the change. “Where have all the good men gone”, is a song sung amongst the hopeless. God is at work, He always has been. The heathens may rage but their time will eventually lapse. There is a day coming where all of God’s children will see Him as He is and how I long for that day. But until then let us focus on eternal matters with a clearer understanding and our commitment to God instruction.        

Here are some truths that we sadly often overlook as Christian and we need to be reminded; seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open unto you, ask and you shall receive more than the bare minimum, do you remember the analogy of the bread and the stone? “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:8-11) – What is crucial for us to come to grips with is the “good things” that God our Father is willing to let us have. Sadly our minds have been thwarted when it comes to what is good and what is covetousness. Our intent if influenced by anything evil will no longer be something good even when we believe it to be moral. The Apostle James understood this and this is what he has to say on the subject; “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:1-4) – For I am persuaded on the authority of God’s Word that if we learn this lesson well we will sore on the wings of eagles. Our lives are no longer our own, they belong to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and He loves us with such a great love, which is incalculable and He has proved it by sending God His Son to pay the price for our sins. The Holy Spirit helps us grasp our position in Him with absolute clarity and there is a yardstick by which our understanding of this can be measured. The less we are entangled with the mundane of this world the greater the work. As children we are in a privileged position that the world knows nothing about.

It’s all about learning to apply ourselves correctly and not to waste our time asking for things that will in the long run be detrimental to us; we will not receive those requests outside of the discipline of the Lord, we may receive that which could be detrimental to our journey’s and teach us the value of the power of sin within our own lives. Remember the story of the prodigal son? He received, squandered but eventually he came to his senses. The sooner we understand this, the earlier we will be freed from the rot. It is God who looks out for His own, praise His name.

Our journey is about finding the will of God for our lives and with that comes many different allowances concerning our daily requests. The Apostle Paul gives us this teaching; “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2) – With this as our baseline concerning our prayers, we will receive all we ask for, of this I am persuaded. It obviously pleases God to see His children walk by faith in Him and he loves to reward the faithful. How I am learning to hate the clutter that hinders our growth in Him. Thank you Father God for the work of the Holy Spirit within and forgive me for the times I stand in the way of that work. I do not only pray for myself but for all those who believe in their hearts that you raised Jesus from the dead and confess Him as Lord, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Looking to Jesus

(Hebrews 12:2)  “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith …”

Looking to Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith is the instruction, for we have not been instructed to look to men or organisations, or even Christian communities, which can at times be our mistake. Why the instruction? Well I suppose there are many differing factors we should consider, so here goes; Men a fallible, even when they may think that they are exempt. There is something in us all that loves to value our opinions and views above those around us and it can be at times fuelled by pride and arrogance. There is not one amongst us who hasn’t originated from fallen flesh. Our minds have been tainted by sin, through our own thoughts and not the views of another. It’s all what our eyes and ears have been exposed to along life’s journey. Our God given senses are rather phenomenal but can be twisted and misused, exploring forbidden pleasures that are sinful and an abomination before a holy God.

SIN is the cause of it all; therefore we have been instructed to look to the ONE who has no sin, our great Saviour the LORD JESUS CHRIST! For He is the founder of our faith, the One who knew no sin and the One who died for sinners like you and I. Not only did He live a life that was sin free through the trial of it all, but He learnt obedience through suffering; perfecting the path to righteousness and the conduits we as Christians have been instructed to follow. Following men could set us up for a fall, we could be caught up by one of their “hobby horses” believing it to be gospel and the outcome of that journey could bring with it great despair with lots of repair work needed to mend certain truths. Thankfully our God is long- suffering and He is patient with us all. Christianity is a marathon and not a sprint. Our eyes need to be fixed on Christ; He is the start, finish and everything in-between.    

Men and women who fly the Christian flag are not without the blemishes of sin and therefore at times have chinks in their minds eye when it comes to their “pastimes”. The Lord Jesus had one “hobby horse” and that was to do the will of His Father and nothing else, regardless of the cost to His flesh, praise His name. Without His singleness of eye we would all be heading for a Christ-less eternity and the Lake of Fire. He has given us a hope that will eventually be achieved, heaven with all its glory.

The Apostle Paul had this to say; He commanded those whom he taught to follow his example, but only as much as he himself followed Christ.

The Lord Jesus is not only the “founder” but the “perfecter” of our faith and no one else can claim that position. He alone walked that road, and this was one of His summations concerning His journey; “Foxes have holes and birds have nests but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head”. He has been given the right to free us up to serve God and there is no one else who can complete that miracle. It is the sole purpose of mankind to have their gaze fixed upon the finished work of the cross. The rest of our lives are filled with so much clutter that we will lose sight of this at times when we shift our gaze. Satan’s objective is for that to happen and so he lures us with all kinds of counterfeit traps; fear, doubt, sin and hopelessness are just some of the fuel use to feed the fire. It’s the Word of God that rights our wrongs, and our great Saviour is that Word. Hence the instruction; “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith …” The Lord is faithful and His tribute which has been penned for all who would dare to seriously explore between the covers of the Bible will understand. He will not turn one away who is thoughtful with that endeavour, of this I am convinced.     

Having established our necessity to follow Christ and His example under the direction of His Spirit’s guidance we are also instructed to observe like minded individuals and to learn from them so long as they are truly grounded upon the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ; “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” (Hebrews 13:7-9)

Many of our loved ones have crossed over the river Jordan and into the Promised Land where we will once against meet up with them, if we hold onto the finished work of the cross with all we have, looking unto Jesus the founder and the finisher of our faith. Have nothing to do with the waves of uncertainty they will only ever fuel doubt which in turn will lead to unbelief.

Signing off

Tyrone 

Rich in mercy

(Ephesians 2:4) “But God, being rich in mercy…”

With mankind’s position established and understood by those willing to learn from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and for us who acknowledge that God is true and that every man who opposes His Words is a liar; we are now in a position to bask in the goodness of God and His rich mercies. This is why Paul brings us to a place of understanding of where we were in our plight to find God in our lives prior to God being rich in mercy. Its God who was merciful and not mankind that is wise, sin had taken care of this actuality. Somewhere within the Christians existence here on earth our lives began to take on new meaning and the life we once lived began to shift; for me it was “wine, women and song” and it was brought to an abrupt halt; in hindsight it is obvious that it was God’s guiding me with a gracious hand which was and still is filled with mercy toward a person who was once dead in my trespasses, twenty something years ago Christ became far more attractive and everything else was placed on the back-burner; an impossible self propelled shift in my understanding with new found deliberations my reality. The Word of God was now the champion in my life, nothing else really mattered. How did this happen? “But God, being rich in mercy…” There was no “quantum physics” attached to me being born again, save the miracle of God having mercy upon my soul. We have no platform to boast from concerning our involvement in our salvation. How could a wretch like me have any boast in his involvement towards God’s mercy?  

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved—“ (Ephesians 2:4-5) - If it wasn’t for God’s intervention in our (the Christian) lives we would still be dead in our trespasses and our sins (even when we were dead in our trespasses), its from that state that we were made alive together with Christ; a miracle of mammoth proportion. And then Paul rounds his hypothesis off with a truth that is unavoidable and it must never be overlooked, even through our arrogance and pride likes to accredited salvation to our choice at times; “by grace (unmerited favour) you have been saved”.

Once we understand the passive role we had with our Spiritual birth and the mechanism used to impart the Spirit of God into our lives, the One who gives us eyes to see Spiritual things in the correct perspective, it is then easy to understand the mercies of God in our lives as an astounding phenomenon. We did nothing to deserve His mercy; in fact we did everything to force God’s judgement upon our lives with the Lake of Fire looming as our punishment. BUT GOD was RICH in MERCY! Thank you my great God and Father for you love towards me and I also speak for all those who believe that you raised your beloved Son from the dead and for those who now confess Jesus as Lord. Some may only understand this in part, but you mercy covers us all, praise your name!

Father God you are truly Merciful and we thank you from the bottom of our heart for remembering us, all honour, power and glory belongs to you; Hail KING JESUS for the work of Calvary. How I long for the day when I will see you as you are, without any veil protecting my perishable flesh from your brilliance. But until that day arrives, continue to renew a right spirit within me is my cry, there is much still to be done, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Dead - Children of wrath

(Ephesians 2: 3) “… And were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

We just like the rest of mankind were never exempt to the curse of sin, and so many of us in times past loved to play, “I’m the not so bad” card, hoping to excuse ourselves from the wrath of God; just another magic illusion found in Satan’s bag of tricks which the world loves to hold onto with all they have got. Test if what I say fits; how often are you quick to shoot someone down for there disgraceful conduct? And yet when God looked upon us we were the disgraceful ones, guilty as charged. Sure, the rapist and the murder will be judged but so will the fornicator, or the gossiper and what of the one who is filled with fits of anger, or the converter and so on; all of us guilty before a holy God. And until that penny drops we will never apprehend what it is we (the Christian) have been saved from. Like I have mentioned many times before blinkers where designed for race horses and not humans and yet sin blinds its captives with varying illusions that others often recognize while the perpetrator is blind to their own breach.  

What amazes me is how seemingly successful the psychologist is when they get their patients to take ownership of their own actions when looking to repair damaged lives and yet Satan has blinded the world to their own pity-filled states before a Righteous God. A prodigious quandary the human faces, trapped by their own sin; “and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” A fact that should never be overlooked as a “light thing”! Sin is extremely destructive and it is what kept us (the Christian) from finding the true meaning of life.

This is how the miracle of repair happened; Jesus Christ the man came to live a life without sin influencing him, which in itself was filled with unspeakable opposition looking to derail him. Satan failed, and the Lord Jesus was victorious breaking the shackles of sin, once and for all time; but only for those who are born again and have been covered by the righteousness of His finished work upon the cross of Calvary. Those who are now sanctified by the risen Saviours shed His blood; those who where once blinded by the traps of sin. God became a man to rectify what Satan had destroyed, WOW! Do you understand this? I pray that God will expose our hearts concerning this truth and renew a right spirit in us where needed. 

Last night I had the most disturbing vivid dream; it was so tangible that I felt trapped by the weight of it. I was in a hopeless state and I could do nothing about it. The damaged had been done and it was time to face the music. The wake of destruction that it left in its path affected so many people. I was travelling in a vehicle with a loved one in another car which shadowed me. And just like any dream we never remember how we arrived there, that’s were it started; we were in transit travelling at a snail pace. Something urges me to exit the vehicle, and so I did without engaging the handbrake and before I realised what had happened my automobile was tearing down the embankment and gaining momentum. The other driver was in the process of trying to bring my vehicle to a stop using the other car as a barricade, it was a hopeless scenario, the harder she tried, the more havoc she incurred, it was no longer one car crashing through a campsite but two and eventually the damage done couldn’t be undone.

Sin is exactly like that, we try and conceal it and we go to specialists to deal with the damage created by the sin of others and the results of our own foolishness but all we will ever achieve is a band aid repair for a fatal wound (Jesus is the only solution for true freeing forgiveness). The joy of waking up and realising that what I had been apart of was only a dream; it was the most reviving feeling I had for some time now. To be freed from the weight of that experience was most welcome, whilst the dream was not wanted at all if I had any say in the matter.

The curse of sin is like an unwelcomed dream, it finds us out, regardless of how we feel about it. Hence the words of Paul referring to each and every one of us; “and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” It’s only once we wake up to the fact, that we are indeed sinners and in desperate need to be saved from our sin that the penny drops and we find relief. We must understand that it’s not our neighbour’s sin that has kept us from God but our own.

This is a crucial step in our conversion, without it we will view our rescue from the wrath to come, a “light thing” and hence the reason for Paul highlighting our standing before God prior to Him extending a lifeline to those who were helpless and doomed to face His judgement because of our sin against Him. It has been penned for us to sit up and take note, so let us remember who we were prior to the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. “We owe it all to Jesus”, praise His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

The struggle of the mind

I have most certainly notice how we may believe something to be true but not favour the reality of that truth unfolding in our lives. I say that “God knows best” and that He is in control of all things which is obviously an indisputable fact. But as soon as my life pans out in what seems to be apparently an adverse outcome I get my hackles up. I may have cultured the concealment of it rather well, but I know my heart on the matter. The question of “why” begins to dominant my thoughts all over again. I then begin to play my works out against my rewards. O wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death? I need to be freed from myself and the wars within. The consolation I find whilst reasoning it all out, is that I am not alone on this score, as I look around I see others fighting similar battles; the war within continually rages.

Struggling and suffering of all kinds is part of God’s design to help us understand the hope which we have in Him, that one day we will be like our great Saviour. We will not only be with God, in his presence, but we will be LIKE HIM. No more struggles with the flesh, no more pity parties and so on. In my experience the clearer we begin to see this reality as our actuality the tighter the screw on the trials of life will tighten. The whole of creation was created to bring Glory to God and reveal His character. Sin has interfered with that process, or so it would seem, where in fact even sin will be used to the glory of God as it drives people to Him in and through repentance because of its destructive power. Even creation has been effected by sin. Look at a rose, filled with aphids, or a dessert without vegetation, its all because of the effect of one mans sin and His rebellion against God. However even in the chaos of it all, God is in perfect control and this is what I find at times hard to comprehend.

When life is running smoothly and all of its challenges are systematically slotting into place without to much resistance, life is bearable and manageable. But when it seems to capitulate towards hardship beyond the norm, this is when our faith is severely tested and if we faithfully come out on the other side without doubt dominating, God is glorified and His name is lifted up.

The sole purpose of God’s creation is to bring glory to Him. If this is an obvious fact why do I still struggle with the “no” answers to my prayers? Why is there this constant war that always looks for a reason why something hasn’t panned out the way I had hoped? Is my selfish ambition looking to dominate or not? Introspection is something every Christian is summonsed to do. We must judge ourselves so that we shall not be condemned with the world. It is important for the Christians survival, but when that gets thwarted out of perspective, it then can become unhealthy. Where do we draw the line? This is my struggle, back and forth with these thoughts, over and over again. Always looking for some formula to apply that may stick and have a positive outcome to my current predicament.

The answer is obvious even if my mind looks to overlook it at times and find something deeper which is nothing more than humanism rearing its head. The answer is God first and His righteousness and then the rest will follow according to His good pleasure. With unpredictable tests alone the way which will examination our faith. There will be times where we will nose-dive but the times that we find the grace to thrust through it all, they will be sweet and will strengthen us beyond understanding. We need to regularly trim our sails when it comes to the trials of life and the reasons for them, if not we will soon find ourselves groping in the dark and asking the question “WHY?” over and over again.

When I say God is in control, hoping that I may find a favourable outcome concerning a deal that I am hoping for and it doesn’t pan out as expected, this is when my battle begins. Exonerate me Father as I try to force your hand. At the very core of my heart I am hoping that you will intervene and act favourably and when it doesn’t happen I am disappointed, forgive me! But I would also be lying if I didn’t say that release is often a comforting emotion which releases tension.

Help me to rest in you is my prayer and I also pray for all those who face similar struggles, all honour and glory belongs to our God and to our King, praise the name of Jesus Christ the Lord now and forever more, Amen!

There is a day coming when the whole of creation longingly awaits its change, where sin will no longer be consequential, and what I find amazing is that day will only ever arrive when the saints are changed into the likeness of Christ. The universe in its entirety, the seen and the unseen worlds of this universe waits for our (the Christians) transformation before it will receive it conversion, Wow! We serve an awesome God who is filled with unmeasurable mercies and we await an inheritance that we have no actual idea of.

Our current sufferings are a light affliction in comparisons to what will one day be ours in Christ. Christian focus on the hope that is set before us and we will get through another day and each and every other day that then follows. But we must remember to continually “trim our sails” with the WORD of GOD.  

Signing off

Tyrone

The chicken or the egg

(Acts 2:39) “…everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."

How often have you heard reference made to the chicken or the egg? What came first the chicken or the egg? This is a fabulous example of what should be an obvious deduction of the Christians relationship with the only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is obvious the chicken came before the egg; God created and then “they” (all of His creation) were instructed to go forth and multiply. The chicken first and then the egg, God first and then the saved individuals change in character. It is impossible for it to happen the other way around. If you are amongst the sect of Christians that believes that you chose God before he chose you, or God could see how good you would become in the future on your own merits and this is the reason why you can now claim to be a Christian. It cannot be so, I am convinced that it has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him.

If it’s the egg mentality that looks to dominate your reasoning all that illustrates is that you are still acting out of a carnal understanding pertaining to humanism, which lacks faith altogether. How so? It is the same mind-set of the chicken and the egg. What came first and if you are one that gravitates towards the egg, it denounces creation as we have come to understand through the teachings of the book of Genesis. Without God’s intervention there would be no egg. This is a point we must grasp with clarity, if not we will be opening ourselves to a whole lot of potential dangers when it come to our pride an arrogance. Until we truly understand that it is God who chooses and calls and we can only ever respond favourable when He initiates that call. Until then we will never see Him for who He is. This understanding frees our minds up to honour Him with due benevolence.

Let us reason this out; why do we pray for loved ones that aren’t saved. We need God to hear our prayer and intervene on our behalf. If this was not so, we could send a lifetime with well constructed deliberations to try and persuade people to see what we have seen, that Christ is the only true answer to our existence. How often have you been shut down when you have approached loved ones with that type of presentation? God must initiate life into a person that is dead in their trespasses and their sins before the light switch is flipped. Saul who later became Paul is a classic example of this truth. A man who persecuted the church and had Christians killed, hell bend on his own ideas of what he thought was right until God intervened in person; “Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”” (Acts 9:3-5) – Its when we understand this that we will be free to serve God without any hint of pride feeding our attentions with that nagging voice that we once believed that salvation had something to do with us. God is merciful and gracious and without His role in our conversion we would still be groping in the dark for the answer to life.      

We need Him for everything in our daily lives. The sooner this becomes our actuality, the easily life will become to bear whatever is thrown in front of us. “If God is for us who can be against us?”

With this understanding in tow, let us explore David’s psalm; “A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalms 23:1-6) - David certainly understood this…

Spend time in this Psalm and see what God reveals to you about His interference in your life Christian and it will be sweeter that honey, praise God for His involvement in our lives, without it we would still be dead in our trespasses and our sins, praise His holy name now and forever more, Amen and Amen! Thank you Lord Jesus for the call that you placed upon my life, you are truly worthy of all praise and honour. Boasting has been excluded. I am truly a by-product of your grace and please continually remind me of this fact, which will keep me humble, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Dead 2

God has reckoned every person ever born to a woman except for the Lord Jesus Christ, dead and trapped by the power of sin and unable to approach him in righteousness. His rescue was an event that needed to happen in order to change the dilemma of mankind; Hence, the miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation now available in and through the finished work of the cross.

Verse one of Ephesians chapter two makes this very clear; “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”.

Verse two then addresses the Christian reminding us that we also once walk like the rest of the world; “in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—“ (Ephesians 2:2)

Lets us unpack this in more detail…

There are three plugs that need to be understood concerning our state before we found forgiveness in Christ. - The first point that needs to be unpacked is that we were no different to the rest of civilization, even though we all chose our identity within the differing sects offered to us in the world. I was one that liked to be associated with the jock, whilst others liked to roll as an academic. The rich makes fashion the be all and end all of their existence and so on. And then there are those on the breadline who will at all costs want to be associated with the rich by wearing branded clothing, even though they can barely sustain their bodies with the necessary supplements required to keep them in a healthy state. The list is endless, I am convinced that no one is an original, we all take on an identity that we think fits us the best and then we do what we can to live within that reality. If honest with ourselves, we all need to conclude that we all once walk after the course of this world. Secondly unknown to us back then, we were all swayed by the devil, sin had taken care of that; following the prince of the power of the air, each and everyone of us was under the sway of the devils influence; Resulting in an obvious fact the same spirit that now works within the sons of disobedience; all those outside of God’s influence.

We are by nature bond-slaves to sin and Satan; it is obvious that the devil has some power over mankind (by God’s permission) here on earth or in the lower regions of the air. There he is at hand to tempt mankind and to be as destructive as he can. Prior to us receiving the Spirit of God as our helper when we were “born again” or truly saved through our repentance for our own sin if you prefer; where we found the light switch to God’s existence and it was flipped becoming our new found reality. Nevertheless we were all once under the sway of the devil. Do not think for a second that this was not your truth. It important that we understand this, for if not we will also miss the wonderful rescue that is now ours in Christ. It’s the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that has saved us from Satan’s power; the mercies of God, who can fathom them?

Therefore, once we start to see what we were prior to our rescue from the world’s sway, Satan’s influence and our hopelessness outside of God’s intervention in our lives, we will understand the miracle of salvation in a new light, with the mercy of God in the forefront of our minds.

Let us never forget where we have been saved from; a place of absolute despair and destitute for damnation. BUT GOD felt a need within the character of His mercies to intervene and save some of us, all praise belongs to our God now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Dead!

(Ephesians 2:1) “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”.

The promises of God are steadfast and sure, they can never be breached. His treaties will speak into the ages of eternity, of this I am persuaded. It has nothing to do with the faith that I have been given to believe in my great Saviours finished work. His promises remain true, and only because God is who He is, the great “I AM”! Praise God for this certainty in a believers understanding, God will see His children through this life and into the next. Faith drives our hope which will be encapsulated for all eternity by the love of God. Faith and hope will pass away, but the Love of God will remain forever.

If honest, I suppose there is a thought that plagues my conscience as it looks for justification in and through my own works. When I am doing what I think is required from me I have peace with God, but when I stray onto the curb of God’s highway my faith is challenged. This is why we need the Word of God constantly reminding us of His truths which reveals His character. We serve an awesome Father who is filled with merciful attributes. However for us to understand the gravity of His mercy in our lives we first need to understand who we were and if unsaved who you are outside of Christ’s finished work on Calvary. Without this observation illuminated with extreme clarity we will miss God’s beauty altogether.

We serve an AWESOME GOD! And we are a privileged people who have His Spirit housed in corruptible flesh, which now entitles us (the Christian) to cry ABBA FATHER, Wow! This means “my Daddy”! God was willing and able to send His Son to die for those dead in their own trespasses and sins; opening a door that was once locked and impenetrable for pathetic sinful creatures like you and I.

I need you to stay with me now as I endeavour to unpack what Tyrell Hagg unpacked so well in our weekend’s morning service. The portion of scripture that needs unpacking is our understanding of Ephesians chapter two; these were some of his thoughts, with Ray Comfort’s deliberation of repentance interwoven into my understanding of the subject and then of course the greatest influence of all, the Holy Spirit, who quickens my brain cells in conjunction with the scriptures, without whom I would remain brain dead on all of Gods matters.

It would be good for us to spend some time here, so God willing we will break this up into a number of posts so that we do not miss the richness of God’s mercy.

The more desperate our plight the greater the rescue; the evidence of hopelessness begins to snuff the life from us. Most of us can relate to those types of experiences somewhere within our journeys here on earth. But in order to survive something needs to drive us towards a motivated mind-set. Whilst in the marines many years ago, I can vividly recall falling ill with Pneumonia and whilst being drilled I collapsed with my drill instructed having much to say about how pathetic I was. He assured me as well as the rest of the platoon that I would not qualify as a drill instructed, “I didn’t have the salt for it”.

When I arrived at Oudsthoorn Infantry School where I was to complete my infantry leg of my marine training and although I still had a note from the hospital excusing me from training because of my infection; a sick note excusing me from all strenuous activities for the next week but all I could visualize was my instructors mouth pronouncing off on how I would fail. It was enough to motivate me; “I’ll show him”, so I crumpled up the note and later finish the course with distinction. On returning to Simons Town, the marine head quarters I can recall the adulation I felt as I looked him in the eye as an equal. All I needed to motivate me was pride, which in itself is sin; in hindsight proof that I was dead in my sins.

This is the fact of our existence outside of Christ; “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”. Prior to salvation everyone is dead, spiritually dead regardless of what we or others may think about our own spirituality. Religion as a whole lies to us on this matter. Until we understand our state before a holy God and until the hopelessness of our plight dawns upon us we will never appreciate the life we now have in Christ. “Born again there has really been a change in me”, is a song the Christian now sings with true understanding.

However until this reality births upon us, we will never truly understand what it is we have been saved from. We were dead and our sinful actions proved the fact. Hagg used this example which has thrown many off the true understanding of what that really means. We could be shark or spider bitten dead, one is easily seen because of the destruction to the corpse whilst the other a pin prick bite not easily seen and yet both just as dead. Prior to salvation we were all dead in our trespasses and our sins. Whether we were guilty of murder or whether we thought our lives were squeaky clean, with a minimal amount of sin attached to it. Both, in God’s reckoning, just as dead!

God willing we will unpack this in a lot more depth over the next few weeks.

Signing off

Tyrone