Reflection - Cryptic Clues

 

It takes time to wake up from our slumber, and we should be climbing the cliffs of understanding the older we get, however we are often dull of hearing or maybe just rank rebellious. Needless to say it’s up to us as individuals to evaluate our own hearts and seek out God’s grace for true change. There is a time for all things; a time to eat, sleep, live, die and then the judgement and as Solomon teaches, judgement is coming and that the sole purpose of man is to “fear God and keep His commandments". How many view this gem of wisdom and live by it, or at the very least endeavour to be consciously aware of our plight. Is God our priority?  

 

With any good spy thriller the author/producers spends time on the hidden detail to bring their productions to life, God has given us His book, the Bible. He is the Director and everything will pan out in accordance with His will, in other words, life as it unfolds is all part of the script. Sure, most of us would say we could do with less evil in this world, however the harder the struggle the sweeter the victory, it’s a principle we can all relate too. This brilliant tome, the Bible is filled with hidden truths, or clues if you like that open the gateway to eternity with some irony thrown in as we are reminded of the brilliance of an unseen God who is behind it all, whilst reminding us that He is in control, Perfect control! Whilst the masses are oblivious to it all.

 

Here is a verse that sprung to life for me many years ago; “For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” (1Corinthians 1:19) – The world and its wisdom asserts so many claims with its spokesmen and God laughs at much of it. How often have you heard this expression; “hindsight is the perfect science”. To know the beginning from the end is easy but to know the end from the beginning is impossible, but not for God, that is His domain and it’s well within his grasp. The question that needs answering is do we believe this to be true or not? And if so will we respond to His overarching instruction, which is to repent and call out to the Lord Jesus Christ in hope that He may rescue us from the trappings of this world and the web of deceit we have allowed ourselves to swallow. You see, although deception is rife, we have swallowed the rot and therefore guilty as charged. It’s only after we find rescue that we have any chance to right our wrongs.

 

· We once believed that the earth was flat, it is round (Isaiah 40:22) penned approximately 800 years before the birth of Christ

·        Atmospheric circulation (Ecclesiastes 1:6).

·        Field of Gravity (Job 26: 7)

·       Blood to life and its biological importance (mentioned in the law in the book of Leviticus)

·        Confirmation of dinosaurs (Job 40:15)

 

And so on…

 

All clues aiding to help us believe. The Bible is filled with warnings and what to be on the lookout for. Such a clue is just over the horizon and is soon approaching, a blast of a trumpet. It would be foolish not to pay special attention to the voice of our Lord. And yet, so many willing to leave fate to chance, madness! I don’t think there are too many people alive today that have not heard about the second coming of our great Lord, it is common knowledge, even if it is laugh at by most. Then there are the Apostles, ordinary men who have a lot to teach us, if we would only be attentive to their voices. Paul has much to say and an abundance of what he teaches is tried and tested, prior to the instruction. These instructions are priceless. To be able to make a comment like this and with a clear conscience to unload it is liberating; “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” (Philippians 4:11) - It is one thing to accept our positions in life but quite another to be content or at peace with our position at any given time. This is the lesson and the sooner we resist, the freer we will be. Then Peter teaches us this very valuable lesson; “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1Peter 2:11) – Here we see Peter bringing our natural default buttons into question, and the need to keep them in check as an enemy and not a friend. To turn those areas of our lives that had once enslaved us and now by the grace of God applied to them, we are able to break their shackles, bringing our God the glory. What about the elephant in the room, the flavour on the decade which is in complete contradiction to Paul teachings. Men claiming woman’s roles and women claiming men’s roles. Women leading and men following; “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” (1Timothy 2:12) – Why would he make such a statement? Read the rest of the text in your own time and it will soon be obvious. I realise that this is a very hard pill for most to swallow, but that does not mean once it has been swallowed that it would not achieve the required results. We all have our own cross to bear, but accept it we must! If not it will most certainly be to our own detriment. Of that truth I am completely convince. It’s to find the grace and the strength to push through it all with smiles on our faces, just as our beloved Saviour endure his cross; “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:2)  

 

God help us to endure as we learn along the way, bless His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

The Bigger Picture

(Revelation 21:7) “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

 

Counting the cost to the Christian calling is something we all need to consider if we are to become effective for Christ. For us to become operational in the building of God’s Kingdom we must envision our eternal reward. We must learn to appropriate this verse to our daily gaits; “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)

 

What we are witnessing must motivate us more than it did yesterday or the day before, Covit 19, looting, vandalism and even deaths are rife and escalating, the sign off the times is beginning to heighten, nevertheless it’s the goodness of God that shackles the outpouring of such calamities. But why would He allow such behaviour? Simply put, so that we may come to our senses and cry out to Him for help. Some may cry “foul”, whilst others will look a little deeper and in turn be brought to their knees. If we begin to study the book of Revelation and begin to understand the looming Judgements, did you know, a third of the earth will be destroyed and Billions of people will die and there is nothing we can do about it. However, through it all some will see the bigger picture and realise it’s the goodness of God giving mankind one last chance to be saved. Any difficulty should result in us falling to our knees acknowledging our sin before a Holy God and then crying out to Jesus for rescue. God giving mankind their last chance to repent with the offer of salvation in and through the finished work of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Simply put we need to honour Him as God and pledge our allegiance to Him and not another. If not we will suffer the full burden of His wrath, which will happen, no ifs and buts in play. Regardless of how you feel about that, the creator of the universe has declare His intent in and through the penned word, THE BIBLE! It’s up to the individual to decide where they will land.  

 

The summons from the only true and living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must dictate the way we live from here on in. I realise that this will only ever become apparent when we understand that call; when we are persuaded that it is God who has called; regardless of our blunders throughout our lives, if and when God calls will we obediently respond to His voice. For when we understand that this is the reason we were born, to honour and worship Him, He is the creator and we are the created. Society teaches us to believe in ourselves but God commissions all to believe in Him…

“For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." (Romans 10:11)  

 

When an athlete trains it is a painful process but they endure their training so that they may be crowned champion. Their goal is very specific and it is no different for the Christian, we must learn to lay our lives down so that we too may one day reap our reward, which is to hear Gods approval when we enter the gates of the New Jerusalem. There is a grand event coming known to us in scripture as the “marriage feast of the Lamb”, a wedding ceremony. It is very dress specific and only those adorned with the correct garments will be allowed to partake. It is a celebration reserved for the bride of Christ and only those who have their names written in the Book of Life will be allowed to attend. So how do I receive an Invitation? I acknowledge my sin, then repent by asking the Lord Jesus to forgive me, when that happens, I am born again and I am immediately invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb, included on that guest list, it’s as simple as that. These invitations have been carefully selected and have not been penned with ink but with a quill dipped in blood of the Lord Jesus. Those selected for this great event must make Him their prized possession. In order for this to happen we must learn to walk by faith and place all our dependency upon the Words of God, THE BIBLE! As it is the treasure map to that beautiful occasion in a glorious land. Study and then study some more. Be sure of that which has been charted out and leave nothing to chance. If you have doubts to whether you will eventually make it into that magnificent land do not rest until you hear the voice of God speaking clearly to you! It is one thing to know that God exists but quite another to be personally known by Him. Are you convinced that you are on that guest register? Are you at liberty to converse with Him? Are you sure that you have been invited? These are questions that you need to answer with total assurance. Only you can have that eternal conversation with yourselves. 

 

Examine your own hearts…   

 

What is it that drives you? Money, lust, the pride of life, power; the list is endless or is it the hope that one day you will hear God speak these words directly to you? “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” If this is not your motivation to life then I would suggest that you rally around those who have that as their ultimate goal and spend as much time with them as humanly possible. This is where we will be able to buy the oil for our lanterns that will be needed up until our bridegroom returns to take us home. Without oil in our lamps we will miss out and that is something we can all ill afford, for it will have eternal consequences. It Crucial that we understand the consequences, what must now ring the loudest in our doctored ears, is that we’ve been saved from a place of total devastation, we were doomed for destruction from the time we took our first breath. “BUT GOD”! He has so loved us that HE has intervened, by sending the darling of heaven, His beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ to sand in the gap of our rebellion, Emmanuel has paid the price of our sin, and HE was judge for sin in our place. Its seems unthinkable to think that God would judge Him, who knew no sin as a sinner to make a way for us to escape His judgement, and make no mistake, the out pouring of God's wrath is just over the horizon and it is coming on all who reject His love. The only question you need to ask yourselves is do you believe in the finished work of the cross or not. To my Jewish friends, examine your wittings, read Isaiah chapter 53 and then see if you are able to conclude that who is spoken of there was not the Lord Jesus, the true Messiah. It’s where you land on this question that will determine your eternal existence. I have done what I can to point you in the right direction, the rest is up to you.

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone

Gloves off...

 

But by the grace of God here we stand, and I thank God for His written Word, no doubt the Holy Spirit has His influence over our lives and without HIM we would be at a loss when it comes to unpacking scripture. However just as the Holy Spirit leads me into all truth, He does the same for all other Christians. We must not forget that we are not the only ones that receive revelation. Beware of the pride of life, we may just be playing into the hands of the enemy. He (God the Holy Spirit) works in all of Gods people, those called and sealed by His Spirit. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." (John 16:13) - Nevertheless, there is nothing new we need to grapple with, save possible our understanding of the end times, as we are taught that “knowledge will increase” the closer we get to our Lord’s return, the wiser we will become concerning certain truths behind God’s upcoming judgements. It will be a procession of events with Gods implicit voice crying repent in the disaster, who will hear His voice? Covit19 but a mosquito bite in comparison of what is to come. Knowledge is a wonderful thing, to understand what is about to happen allows us to prepare. It’s the unpacking of Scripture that allows us to understand. All of you who have held to a certain mind-set about the Lords return I need you to pay careful attention; “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:4) - The book has been sealed, for a time and that time is the time of the end. The time leading up to the rule of Satan and the Lords return and everything in-between. The trumpets, seals, woes and a judgment upon the earth and its inhabitants. A time where potentially 5 billion people will die. God’s last act of mercy as HE allows his creation to turn from their wicked ways and repent as they look to His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ for rescue. As I have said in times past and I will say it again that without the Lord Jesus’ sanctification in your life it will be impossible for you to avoid the judgment of God and the Lake of Fire will be your final destination. But while you have breath there is hope, cry out to Jesus, seek out His forgiveness for you sin and you shall be saved. Bend the knee to him now, as there is a day coming when your knees will be force to bend, the day of judgement; “for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12)              

 

Another reflection that would be good for us to digest, is to be pliable in our makers hands, be humble when taught that what we once held firm has not stood up to scripture. If our understanding has been found wanting then we need to be pliable in the Lords hands and seek out his forgiveness as we right our wrongs. It not about our voices in as much as the Lords voice. Every word must echo his sentiment, period! If not, we are becoming as obstacle hindering His glory. And God forbid we would dare to run with that type of mind-set for any length of time. Personal prophecy, carries the exact same weight, people wanting to be the person of the hour, be warned, danger lurks! Any value added to our personal worth is a warning that endangerment prowls. “The pride of life” is wanting to pounce. Lord help me to always steer my message towards the foot of the cross, so that those who arrive may look up and see the accomplishments of Christ. How they arrive will soon be forgotten as they stand in awe of HIS accomplishments.      

 

There are two camps at war with one another, those for Christ and those against him. Those who reject the message of the gospel, those who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus. They have been blinded by the cunning deception of Satan and His followers, The Bible refers to them as the sons of disobedience, who for most, unknowingly follow Satan; “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) - What amazes me, is that even though it has been penned for all to read, many remain oblivious to the fact. Why? They have been blinded by Satan cunning schemes. How do I know this to be true? “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.” (Revelation 19:20) -“and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

 

Everything I have given you has already been penned, God has spoken and He still speaks in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection. The only way to avoid the wrath of God, which is coming, is to be clothed in Christ righteousness. In other words be seal with His mark.

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone   

Objectives Re-visited

Objectives! We all have them, but the key is to attain, to conquer, to win. To overcome is the ultimate goal, wouldn’t you agree? Take the simplest of examples in our everyday lives, pick an experience that belongs to you, a memory we call upon to find motivation, hope, joy and the will to push on. There could be numerous recollections to draw from…

 

On occasion I am taken to my military training and the lessons I learnt there, not about becoming a soldier per say but the heights I reach on a mental and physical level that I once believed to be impossible, I was wrong. Although we are fallen creatures and tainted by sin God has designed the human body with phenomenal ability. We are capable of so much more than we could ever imagine, it's only when we are put to the test that we really understand this valuable lesson. When the pressure is on we always look for the easy way out. Our default is to tap out far too soon. The Lord Jesus stayed the course, he drank a full cup of every permutation possible to man and even though the anguish at times was so severe that his sweat glands bled blood, he never tapped out. His objective to overcome sin in a human body, he was victorious. His aim, to please his heavenly Father, which he achieved in spades. As Christians surely this then needs to become our overarching objective in life, to please our heavenly Father and the only way to actually achieve this is too, as Paul puts it; “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son.” But why the emphasis on “my spirit”? This is the nitty-gritty of it all, we have to learn the difference between walking in the flesh (our natural ability) as opposed to the spirit. Faith is needed to accomplish this. This is my observation, if we serve in the spirit, if we truly have consciously “put on the mind of Christ” we are in a different zone and we begin to process information differently. The cares of this world are not so monstrous and we find a strength (grace) to endure, come what may. We believe that we are exactly where God wants us to be. We must fly this flag with confidence; our God is in control of all things. However when the flesh dominates, and when the pressure is on our mind-set is one of panic.

 

I do not professed to have mastered it, far from it, but I am able to call on memories when I was happiest and a peace surpassed all rational understanding. Why?  My conclusion, I was walking in the spirit. The man Jesus always walked in the spirit although he was a man, his body like every other, flesh and blood. Why? He saw way beyond the grave. His focus was on eternity and the will of God, that’s what drove him and others have followed, will we? It would be almost impossible to forgive a perpetrator in the throes of their actions, whilst their intent is to kill. Stephen did it! A man filled with the Spirit of God and dressed with the whole armour of God.

 

I am convinced this is the lesson. Our flesh will suffer when we are walking in the spirit, it has to give way for a better approach and it’s the only way we will ever truly please our heavenly Father. The difficultly we face is acceptance of our new found reality; Peter understood this well and this is his instruction; “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” (1Peter 4:1-2) – All three points tied up in the same verse, arming our mind with Christ’s mind, the flesh suffering to stop its wicked behaviour and finally to be about the will of God.

 

The clear water behind this instruction can become muddy if stirred incorrectly. There are two sets of rules, or at least that is what I wish to explore when it comes to application from the instinct of an individual prior to salvation and after the switch is flip. I do not wish to spend time debating the actualities of this truth, salvation, when does it happen? But the realisation of our own understanding when our lives are turned on their heads for the first time, when people look at you as if you are mad, etc. That beautiful day when tears of joy flooded your soul and you cried out “I can see, I can see.” And then we begin to grow, time ticks by and we become weary, there are many questions that need answering, not that salvation and the truth behind it is every question, NEVER! But in hindsight, muddling the flesh and the spirit into one pot becomes a world of pain. I know and yet I really knew very little, if I was wiser, folly would not have encapsulated so much of my life. However, He who is in us is greater that he who is in the world (Satan and every affiliated plot) and thankfully we are brought to our senses. God continue to have mercy on the struggling pilgrim’s souls, not because we deserve it but because you have it in your power to be merciful. And all because of what your amazing Son our beloved Saviour achieved on our behalf.

 

What is my conclusion? Our objective; we must learn to walk in the spirit, put on the mind of Christ, dress for battle, putting on the whole armour of God (see Ephesians 6). When these application are in place, we will be walking in the spirit and therefore never be tripped up by the lusts of our flesh. So it’s easy to gauge; lustful behaviour of any sort and acting upon it proves but one thing that we have the flesh dominating, we are walking in the natural, our behaviour is that of the individual prior to salvation. The old man/woman dictating. When we walk in the spirit, with God’s Spirit directing our paths we radiate HIS glory and through the trial of life the light of Christ shines in us, which will obviously affect the onlookers for the sake of the gospel. Either way people will be affected. I suppose the actual proof for me would be a tranquility, the peace of God. It’s when baffled onlookers see the apparent hardships that accompany that peace. This is where God is glorified, the peace of God in a believer’s life is impossible to fabricate, because it comes from the Spirit and not the natural.

 

Understanding the theory is one thing, but application to it is the actual test. God give us the strength to put off childish things and to dress for battle. How can we be of any use to others if we cannot find grace to master our own lives?

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

Pleasure Receptors

Pleasure receptors once activated needs quenching. Satisfaction of these receptors is immediate and can never totally be quenched, we have been created with an appetite that needs quelling. The longer we are kept from water the sweeter it becomes. Most of us will know what it is like to be thirsty, at least to some degree. God given pleasure receptors are there to be enjoyed. Quench a thirst and there is an explosion of satisfaction. Some signal sent to the brain that brings with it immense pleasure. We need to go back to the beginning to deepen our understanding on the subject. Way back when God created the universe the time came when he purposed to create man; Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)

There has been much debate on what that actually means but let me conclude with this, we were created with the capacity to engage with God and to understand certain attributes that He holds dear unto himself, such as, “pleasure receptors.” We have our senses that feed those receptors. The problem we had at conception or rather Adam had, was he was not ready to awaken his understanding of differentiating between “good and evil” under the banner of righteousness. That domain belongs to God and him alone. Hence the reason Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from a certain tree; “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  (Genesis 2:17)

We know they ate, sin entered in and death became our reality.  With sin now thrown into the mix we have new receptors that are in play, which opposes the will of God and His character. As Christians we have our spiritual body housed in our earthly bodies. With a constant conflict raging in our minds determining good from evil. However, the problem we have, once a sin receptor has been awakened it is impossible to naturally suppress. And the world is filled with avenues where these cravings can be met. As Christians I am realising how easily we are trapped by so many of them. Our gaze must be fixed upon the Lord Jesus and not the "free", we must align ourselves with His will and not our selfish wants, if not, there is no chance of escape and there is no exception to the rule. Forget what the liars want you to believe, the liberals and the like, it’s the blind leading the blind and they will all fall into the ditch.

How much time in the day do you allocated to our Saviour? Let me leave you with this thought; “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:1-2)

 

It amazes me that God has allowed such a detailed life, full of indulgence, riddled with sinful behaviour in the book of Ecclesiastes to teach us so many valuable lessons about ourselves. It’s the preacher who exposes every intent under the sun and then he comes to an awesome conclusion, are you ready for it? “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 12:8) – So much time and effort spent on this life, which is temporal and so little of our day is burnt storing up treasures in heaven, which is eternal. So then what is the soul duty of mankind according to the preacher? “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) 

 

Here is my conclusion, God in His BRILLIANCE has made a way for us to live in a body tainted with patterns of sinful behaviour to then wilfully choose His will for our lives at any given time, and sure we fail at times. But that was never the intent, we must learn to “let go and let God”. The Christian has a storeroom full of grace to draw from. But acknowledging  our own sin is imperative, we must own it and look for grace to eradicate it from our lives. Let’s not be fooled into believing that we can live like we once did and then expect a warm welcome into the portals of heaven when our time eventually arrives. Paul gives many warnings to those who habitually continue in sin so that grace may abound as if it’s not that serious, because it is!

 

“To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen” 

 

Signing out

Tyrone