Monthly Archives: November 2026

ACTS 20:24

Acts 20

ACTS 20

24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Paul is here talking to the elders of the church at Ephesus, he is giving them a farewell address, he will see them no more.

This is a sad time for all, Paul is sharing all that he has done, he is warning them, encouraging them.

Paul is like his saviour, he is focused. Jesus set his eyes to go to Jerusalem, so did Paul, both of them knew what to expect at Jerusalem, Jesus suffered death on the cross, Paul will suffer persecution and imprisonment but to both of them, this meant nothing.

They were completely focused on what they had to do, Paul did not count his life of any consequence.

Constantly, we hear people ask, what is your purpose in life?

You must have a reason for living, well for Paul it is summed up in these words in Galatians 2:

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

So why are you here On earth?

So that Christ can be seen in you and be glorified both in death and in life, your life is not your own. Paul has given his whole life joyfully to Christ, because he knew what Christ had done for him.

Our purpose is to testify of Christ, in the final words of this verse, we have our commission to testify the gospel of the grace of God, this is our purpose.

Our focus, should be on two things:

Giving our lives solely unto Christ in joyful and heartfelt surrender and testifying of the glorious gospel of the grace of God, then like Paul, we will be able to say these wonderful words, that he said in 2 Timothy chapter 4:

6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

I hope and pray all of us, will be able to say these words.

God bless you

Keith

Acts 21:10-14

Acts 21

ACTS 21

10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.

13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

BOUND BUT FREE

Paul was a very focused man, he was never disobedient to the heavenly vision that he had seen on the Damascus road all those years before.

Jesus said that he would have to suffer greatly for his names sake, and he had suffered beatings and imprisonment on several of his missionary journeys.

Agabus, a prophet came down from Judea, this was the same one, who had prophesised that there would be a famine fifteen years earlier.

Now he was telling them, that their beloved Paul, was going to be arrested if he went up to Jerusalem.

They were shocked, they were going to lose their beloved leader, the man who had built the church.

They tried to persuade Paul not to go, but Paul would not be moved, his words in verse 13, should stir us, they stir me.

What Paul said in verse 13, is Don’t stop me!

Why this weeping, this is God’s will for my life. God is going to use this as never before, he is going to unlock the doors to speaking to kings and even to the emperor himself.

You see sometimes, we don’t see the big picture, God does.

Sometimes, we have people in our churches, who will go to dangerous places, we will say, why are you going there, it’s so dangerous.

The words of Paul in verse 13 are the cry of every Christian:

I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

Although Paul was bound by chains in Jerusalem and in other places, he has greater opportunities to share the gospel with influential people, who probably would have never had the chance to hear it, if he had remained a free man.

Paul saw this as an opportunity not an obstacle to the spread of the gospel.

Let our cry by always that of verse 13, I am ready not only to be bound but to die for the gospel.

Every day, someone is killed for the gospel, people are killed because of the name of Jesus.

Am I/you prepared to say the words of verse 13?

God bless you

kk

Acts 12:5

Acts 12

Prayer Opened The Gates 

Acts 12

5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

Prayer Opened The Gates

It seemed impossible, James had been killed and now Peter was imprisoned, what is happening the church is losing it’s leaders. What shall we do?

What would be your response to all this?

In verses 6-19, we have the miracle of Peter’s release from prison, the prison door opening by themselves the word used here, is translated and now forms the English word, automatic.

Wait a minute, these things, don’t happen. Do they?

Yes, they do, not because of the number of people praying or the amount of prayer undertaken, but because God is pleased to answer prayer.

Great things happen, because God answers prayers, he alone is the only one, who answers prayer. God deserves and takes all the glory when a prayer is answered, but he also loves to hear the prayers of his people, it says the prayers of the saints come before the throne of God Revelation 5:8

And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.All through the Old testament, we are encouraged to call upon God, in Psalm 50:15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Isaiah 64:7
And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. Look at this last verse from Isaiah, let me ask you, is there anyone in your church, who is rousing him/herself to take hold of God in prayer. This is what the church in Jerusalem, were doing, when we call upon God in prayer, he moves.

Look at the example of the church in Acts 4:

23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,[d] said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’[e]—

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

This was the church taking hold of God in prayer, the whole church praying in unity, for Gd to work in power. WS Dowd said: Prayer is weakness, leaning on omnipotence.

Prayer can open doors that can’t be opened, it can do things, that amaze the human eye and heart, it is God acting, just because he loves to show his glory in response to the earnest and fervent prayers of his people.

Let’s rouse ourselves to pray, God wants to hear us.

God bless you,

Acts 8:30-31

Acts 8

GETTING INTO THE CHARIOT

“Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I [understand] unless someone guides me [correctly]?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
…Acts 8:30-31.”

The story of the Ethiopian eunuch is so wonderful, and it not only concerns Him, but also Philip, who was obedient to God’s voice. Remember that he was in the middle of the Samaritan revival when God told him to go to the desert.

I want us to focus on these verses. God wants us to know that there are lots of people around today that are searching deeply. They are reading the Bible and want to know more about God, but like the Ethiopian they have no one that will share it with them. What would have happened if Philip hadn’t obeyed God’s voice and been on that desert road?

Philip did two things, the first was that he ran up to the chariot and there was urgency in what he did. Let me ask you this. Do you have an urgency to share the gospel and a deep passion for the lost? Secondly, he heard what the Ethiopian was saying. We need to keep our ears open, and mouths shut my brothers and sisters.

People are talking all the time, people are hurting. They are seeking answers. The phone is ringing for the church but they refuse to answer it. We need to be aware of what people need. Philip was looking at the Ethiopian and he wanted someone who could answer his questions.

Philip was invited into the chariot, and he could have said, “Oh that’s uncomfortable, it’s a rocky road and there’s only room for one”. We need to get into the chariot of people’s lives and get involved with them. We need to share Christ and not wait and say maybe someone else will do it.

We have to be aware that it was the Ethiopian who invited Philip into the chariot. Philip did not force his way into it and likewise, we need to wait until we are invited. We are not to force ourselves on people, God will open people’s hearts, and it is up to us to be ready and willing to seize the opportunity when he does.

Look at the result of Philip’s obedience, it wasn’t only the eunuch that was saved, but the gospel was spread to the whole nation. At this point in history, there are over 10 million believers in Ethiopia, all because of one man’s obedience to God’s call. Are you seeking those lost souls who are seeking the Savior? Are you listening to those who are seeking the Savior?

Are you prepared to get into their chariot and share Christ?

God bless you, Keith

Acts 17:22-24

Acts 17

ACTS 17

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands…

THE “UNKNOWN” GOD

The story of Paul’s visit to Athens is an amazing account of how to engage a world that is steeped in false religion and philosophy. Paul is distressed over the spiritual indifference in Athens; he sees the whole city given over to idolatry.

He has been brought to the centre of Mars Hill, the intellectual capital of the world. He starts his short but powerful sermon, by the words, “Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.”

When you consider the times, we are living in today, you might say that not much has changed.  The world is still coming up with its own paths to God. Superstition abounds.  Idolatry is everywhere.  Not the kind that existed in Paul’s day.  We have a new set of idols: Money, Power, Sex, Greed, Freedom, etc.  

Paul declares Christ unto them, starting with the creation and ending with the resurrection of Jesus.

Let me ask you, on the altar of your heart, do you have the inscription…TO THE UNKNOWN GOD?

Let me use the words of Paul in verse 23, “I will declare the one who you ignorantly worship.”  He is the Savior of the world; He is the King of kings; He is greater than Caesar and any other ruler; He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  He is Jesus, Son of the Living God.  He is the Lord of Heaven and earth; He is the One who holds everything together.  And He will soon return to reign, rule and judge all the earth.  

Now that you know who He is, do you trust Him as your personal Lord and Savior?  

  God bless you

KK

Acts 6:5,6 and 10

Acts 6

ACTS 6:5, 8, 10

5 Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 

WHAT ARE YOU FULL OF?

This passage speaks of a man by the name of Stephen, whom the Apostles appointed to be a Deacon in the early church. Stephen is a beautiful and glorious illustration of what each Christian should be known for…being full of faith and the Holy Spirit. To be full means to be “under the influence.” Stephen was influenced by his faith and the Holy Spirit. This resulted in two divine attributes: 1) The ability to perform great wonders, and 2) Divine wisdom that gave him the ability to use the scriptures to defend the message of the gospel against those who sought to attack it. 

When the enemies of Christ could not withstand the wisdom that was in Stephen, they decided to silence him by taking his life. Stephen is the first martyr of the church, and while he may not have lived a long life, his legacy is one of faithfulness, compassion for his enemies and a profound love for Jesus Christ.  

As believers, we have the choice of being full of the Spirit, or full of ourselves. Here is the thing: When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, there is an abundance of joy and peace. When we are full of ourselves, there is an emptiness, a void, that leaves us frustrated and defeated.

The good news is that what Stephen was full of, is available to us. God’s Spirit is still the same! His power is still the same!

So, What are you full of? Let’s be full of what Stephen was full of, because when we are, no one will be able to stand against us.

God bless you

kk

Acts 4:13

Acts 4

ACTS 4

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

HOLY BOLDNESS

The apostles had just said one of the most amazing things in all scripture,  they had told the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the only way to salvation, meaning that their religious practices were of no use at all.

These apostles were just uneducated men, fishermen etc, but here they were telling the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the only answer.

What was the thing that stood out for these Jewish leaders about the apostles?  There was something about them, what was it?

They had been with Jesus. Great men and women are not filled with human knowledge, they are filled with the knowledge of God and his word. They haven’t spent much time at human agencies, but they have spent much time at the feet of the Master. Luke 10:38-42.

It is the same for us, when we spend time with Jesus in prayer and Bible reading and just listening to his voice.  It is evident to those around you. Look at Moses, when he came down from the mountain, his face shone. 

You do not have to be of high education to be able to speak for God, you need to spend lots of time with Jesus listening to his voice, personally as he speaks to you and by reading the bible.

These apostles had spent time with Jesus…  have you?

Matthew Henry says

 Note, Those that have been with Jesus, in converse and communion with him, have been attending on his word, praying in his name, and celebrating the memorials of his death and resurrection, should conduct themselves, in everything, so that those who converse with them may take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus; and this makes them so holy, and heavenly, and spiritual, and cheerful; this has raised  them so much above this world, and filled them with another. One may know that they have been in the mount by the shining of their faces.

God bless you

Keith

Acts 2:5-11

Acts 2

GOD’S DIVINE OPPORTUNITY

ACTS 2

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

In every age, God has used new openings to spread his word, in NT times, the Romans built good roads, so the gospel could go forth.

During the reformation, the Lord used the printing press to get the word of God printed and available to more people.

Recently, the Lord has used the internet, to spread the gospel, but there still remains the problem of language.

Hundreds of Languages are without the scriptures in their own language, bible translation is costly and time consuming.

But now God has opened the opportunity of AI, what can this do to help the gospel?

Now the bible can be translated into many languages, many Christians today are nervous and frightened about AI, they will tell you it is dangerous, self-drive cars etc,  that these things are truly terrible.

But God uses every opportunity to further his gospel, Jesus said this in Matthew 24:

Matthew 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; andthen shall theendcome.

God uses human inventions to further his gospel, he has everything in his hand, he used craftsman in the time of the Exodus to create the Ark of the covenant.

Now he is giving us, this opportunity to reach out with the gospel using AI.

So the next time, you hear about AI, don’t be frightened of it, this is a divine opportunity.

Sermonaudio.com, now has a facility where all the sermons posted on there, can be translated into multiple languages, they have translated thousands of Sermons by Spurgeon into languages such as Chinese, what would Spurgeon have thought of that?

Look at what the people said in Acts 2:

6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?

How can people hear?

How can people come to faith?

Romans 10:17

So then faithcomethbyhearing, and hearingby the word of God.

What can the word of God do?

Hebrews 4

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and 

We should not be frightened of AI, we should be saying:

Psalm 118:23

Thisisthe Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.

God bless you

Keith

Galatians 1

Noonday

GALATIANS 1

11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

THE REVEALED REVELATION

Paul the great apostle to the gentiles, had to defend his apostleship in virtually every epistle, the Holy Spirit urged him to write, as false teachers had crept into the church and sought to bring the gospel into disrepute and disgrace.

The Bible… The written word of God is given by God, it is His love letter to Man.

The gospel is the good news…Amen.

The gospel that Paul preached and that we preach does not come from some far-fetched ideas, it is not man’s words, it is God’s words.

We receive it by the teaching of the teacher, blessed by the Holy Spirit.

He takes Christ and shows it to us.

Christ has been given everything of the Father and now Jesus is giving it all to us.

The gospel is so precious and indeed we should protect it with our lives, as the apostle Paul did.

We can learn vast amounts of information from books, conferences, and sermons.

God uses those methods to teach us, but the best method is to sit at the feet of the master with an open Bible.

When I read my bible every day and I don’t get anything out of it, then I know that something is wrong.
当

The Bible is not a collection of stories, but it is a life-changing and life challenging book.

What has God revealed to you from his revelation today?

God bless you
kk

GALATIANS 1

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace

16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

TWIDDLING OUR THUMBS:
Now I know the subject of election is a sore point with some Christians and I understand some of you will disagree with me.
Scripture clearly teaches election, but it also teaches free will; there are two sides to any coin yes.

Whatever side you are on, let’s work together for the glory of God…Amen (please don’t write to me, disagree but in love please)

Paul says he was separated at birth by God; As Paul, those of us who belong to God are chosen by God.

Let me explain it in the best way I can.

When I married Helen, I chose her and she chose me, but we had our own free will to say yes to each other…Amen.

My main focus is verse 16.

Why Did God choose us?

What is the point of salvation?

God saved us so that He may display to the world the riches of His grace through Christ.

Paul says that Jesus would be revealed in Him and that through Him the gospel would be preached to every nation and every tribe.

Now to fight and argue about things like election may seem justifiable to some, but consider this:

There is a world out there which is dying; we talk of Nero who fiddled whilst Rome burnt to the ground, but are we fiddling with doctrinal issues, whilst the world is dying.

Let’s get over our differences and glorify Christ by declaring His gospel.

An atheist once wrote a letter to Ray Comfort saying these words,

If you believe one bit that thousands every day were falling into an eternal and unreachable fate, you should be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness.

That’s equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly directly into the path of a bus and die, yet you stand idly by and do nothing.

You’re just twiddling your thumbs, happy in the knowledge that one day that ‘walk’ signal will shine your way across the road.

Think about it.

Imagine the horrors Hell must have in store if the Bible is true.

You’re just going to allow that to happen and not care about saving anyone but yourself?

Let us spend each and every moment seeking to glorify Christ and reaching the lost…Amen

Time to stop arguing over points of doctrine and start loving each other.

Jesus said, “All men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

The world is dying and God is saying to his church…WAKE UP!!!!!

God bless
kk

Numbers 13

Noonday

NUMBERS 13

26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.

27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

THE BIGGEST BUT IN THE BIBLE

The word isn’t in the passage. It’s disguised, but can you see it?

At the start of verse 28, we have the word: Nevertheless.

They told them of everything that was good, and there was much that was good, and indeed the good outweighed the bad 10 to 1.

The conversation of these twelve spies would have been interesting. On their way, they were filled with excitement and anticipation, but coming home they had spilt into two distinct camps. Maybe Caleb and Joshua were cold shouldered by the ten? We don’t know.

All twelve spies saw the same things, but they came to two different conclusions. The answer lies in what the Lord said about Caleb in Chapter 14. He had a different spirit. As for Joshua, who the assistant of Moses, surely some of that rubbed off on him.

They said good things about the land they had seen, but there was a catch and that was the “But.” It turned out to be the but of unbelief, the but of failing to believe the promises of God. These people knew what God had promised, they had seen him deal with the Egyptians; a more powerful force than even the Children of Anak and yet they still didn’t believe.

The ten spies saw everything through the eyes of man, but Joshua and Caleb saw everything through the eyes of God.

The ten spies saw the giants in the land.
Joshua and Caleb, saw the power of God?

Whose eyes do you see through?

If you see through man’s eyes, there will always be a BUT.

Remember that saying BUT cost the Children of Israel dearly.

Don’t say But, say like Caleb and Joshua.. let’s do it!!

God bless you,
，

KK

Galatians 1

Noonday

GALATIANS 1

9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

NO OTHER GOSPEL

Paul is reading the riot act to the Galatian church, they have left the gospel and have become trapped in legalism and false teaching.

He sets out his stall here, he states what his calling was and how he has shared the gospel.

He tells the Galatian church that if any person preaches any other gospel that he has preached they should be accursed.. strong words you may think, but it is so important because if you get the gospel wrong, then you get your whole christian life wrong..

So how can we tell the true gospel.. first of all

It does not seek to please men, it seeks to Please God.

This is one of the reasons, we can tell the true gospel and true ministers. Those who were preaching the false gospel always preach Jesus plus something, when in reality , the gospel is Jesus only.

The second reason is that those who preach the gospel are under the Lordship of Christ. They seek to serve Christ, they are not serving their own pockets etc.

The third reason is that the person who preaches it, acknowledges that it doesn’t come from him/her, but comes from God.

Grace is nothing to do with man and everything to do with God.

Paul puts it so beautifully in ! Corinthians 15

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures:

This is the true gospel, it doesnt come from man, it is not grace + something else, it is grace alone through faith alone through Christ alone.

God bless you

Keith

Luke 9

Noonday

BUT .. BUT .. BUT

Luke 9

57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.

62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

BUT…BUT..BUT

Jesus calls us to radical discipleship, the reasons given by the last two people seem very reasonable, after all aren’t we supposed to respect our parents?

The first man wanted to follow Christ, but Jesus told him that he would lose his comfortable life. When we follow Jesus, we leave our comfort zone. Jesus had no place to lay his head, he had no comfy bed to lie in. He was saying to the first man, you want to follow me, do you? Realise this, if you do follow me, you may have no place to lay your head, earlier in Luke 9, Jesus makes this strong statement.

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Jesus said many times people had to count the cost, are you prepared to count the cost?

The final two said they would follow Jesus, BUT gave reasons, why they couldn’t. The first one said he had to bury his father, was his father dead? If he was dead, then this son, had to stay with the family for one year after his death, he said he would follow, but in his time, he wanted to set the agenda, he wanted to say to Jesus, I will serve you, but in my time. It doesn’t work like that.

Obedience has to be immediate, God sets the agenda.. not us.

The second man made another excuse, he said
but let me first go bid them farewell

He put himself before anything else, it seems he cared about his family, when in fact, he didn’t want to lose his comfort.

Jesus makes it clear that you cant start something and then turn back, you do one thing or another, you either follow Christ or you don’t.

He makes this clear in this passage:

Luke 14

28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,

30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Count the cost, Jesus repeats this over and over to the crowds, he lost followers because he said it.

Joshua 24

14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Jesus says:
If you follow me, you must count the cost, are you prepared to count the cost?

God bless you
keith

1 Samuel 9

Noonday

The Wow Factor 

“And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on), but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God…1 Samuel 9:27.”

Chapters 8-10 are the story of the anointing of King Saul, and the Lord has laid this particular verse upon my heart. Before Samuel anointed King Saul, he did one thing. That was to tell Him to stand still so that he could show Him the Word of God.

Before God places us into ministry, He will tell us to do this, because you cannot be in ministry, handling God’s Word, before you know God’s word and its author intimately.

Many Christians are doing much activity. They are busy doing something, but they are not studying and meditating on the Word of God. Even after nearly 50 years of being a Christian, the Word of God gives me things that make me go wow!

Moses before he was sent to Pharaoh, was trained on the backside of the desert. The Apostles spent 40 days being trained by Jesus after his Resurrection and Paul spent time training after his conversion. Note that Samuel says to Saul, “Stand still”. We have to be still before God, so that he can train us. He also says that it will be for a while; God does take us aside for a time, until he feels that we know His Word enough.

God’s Word is a double-edged sword. Let me say this, you do not give a double-edged sword to a child and neither does God give ministry of the Word to people until they are fully mature in Christ.

Let me use a personal example, the Lord told me in 2003 that I would write devotions and articles, and so I started to write, but it was not until he trained me and through people He used to help me and studying His Word, have I come to the level I am at now…which is not all that high…as I am still learning all the time.

The Lord wants his children to stand still and know His word. Are you prepared to do this? The Lord says to people wanting to do ministry of teaching and preaching etc., that they have to be like Mary in Luke 10:38-42 and spend much time at His feet and in his Word. You need to sit at his feet before you can stand up and preach/teach to others.

Jesus spent 33 years on this earth; he spent the majority of these in a carpenter’s shop and only 3 in public ministry. Let us learn from His example. God is the ultimate trainer. He has the ultimate training tool – The Word of God. Sit at his feet and let Him open the book of books to you. You may well be a minister with many degrees, or you may be a babe in Christ, it doesn’t really matter. The Bible is the only book with the WOW factor… Amen. Have you had the wow factor as you HAVE read its pages today?

God bless you,

Keith

Daniel and Ecclestacies

Noonday

DANIEL 4

29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.

30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?

Nebuchadnezzar’s pride

The 4th Chapter of Daniel is one of the greatest examples in scripture of a changed life.

In the verses above, we see an arrogant man, one steeped in pride, walking in his palace, looking at all he had.

Does this remind you of anyone, yes David, walking on his palace roof, probably thinking, I’m ok, no sin, can touch me here, how wrong he was!

In the intervening verses, we see that God deals with this arrogant king, he brings the king of the whole earth at that time and makes him eat grass and act like a dog.

It not only shows God’s power but his mercy too, God could of swatted Nebuchadnezzar out of existence, but he didn’t.

God has and always will have control, man thinks he is in control, but that is not the reality. When we see some leader shouting off and saying how wonderful they are and how much money they have, may they remember what happened to this king and how he was brought to the lowest point in his life.

Let us not be anxious what is happening in the world, what some people are saying about themselves, it is God who is in sovereign control.

AMEN

ECCLESIASTES 5

2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

FAST WORDS OR FEW WORDS

Solomon was full of wisdom, apart from the Lord Jesus, he was the wisest man, who ever lived.

What we are to remember is that God sees and hears everything we say, you mutter under your breath, he hears that, he hears every little bit of gossip people say.

We think the more words, we say the better, we look and think, if I say this or that, I will be recognised. Job’s friends were ok, until they opened their mouths!

Their words did not edify Job, they did not bring Job closer to God.

How many words are you saying?

What words are you saying?

Are they words of encouragement or words of blessing?

Do your words draw people closer to God or drive them further away from him?

Remember God is in the heavens and hears everything, he weighs all our words.

God bless you

Daniel and Luke

Noonday

DANIEL 4

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:

35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.

37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Nebuchadnezzar’s praise

Bible scholars have differing opinions, but it seems to me, that this man is truly saved and repentant.

He acknowledged his sin and also acknowledged that he was nothing, this king who was so high in his eyes, now had the right view of himself and God.

He realized that God can do and does do whatever he pleases Psalm 115:3

He acknowledged the absolute authority of God over the affairs of men, no one, not even him, could tell the Lord what to do.

The words What doest thou?, are so true. Job in chapters 38-42, was asked by God, who are you to question me?

Do we say What doest thou?, to the Lord.

We are have no right to do say those words, they should never pass our lips.

Not only did he have a repentant heart, he had a praising heart, praise was coming from his lips, where there was pride before, this is what happens when someone acknowledges God as Lord of their life.

Every judgement and decision the Lord makes is right and true, his whole heart, had been turned around.

God rewarded him, not only did he get back his sanity, but his kingdom and influence was increased.

This truly is the story of a saved man.

LUKE 18

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you; this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

RELIGIOUS OR REPENTANT

So, which one are you?

The pharisee sought to justify himself, he was arrogant and prideful. Everyone thought he was addressing God, but he was in fact addressing himself. You see these people in church every week, they are just a little bit better than the rest, but that’s only their opinion.

The publican was a man who knew what and who he was, he was a sinner and he was aware of his sin. Unlike the pharisee who knew only one thing, his so-called righteousness.

This publican talked to God, but he couldn’t even look up to heaven, but he showed a holy reverence for God, the beating of his breast or his chest was a sign of sorrow and repentance c/f Chapter 23:48.

So, which are you?

Are you a hypocrite or holy?

Are you someone who goes to church twice a week and give their tithes and has a form of religion, but is like a tomb full of dead men’s bones? You have a form of godliness, but you deny the power of God. Do you know Him when you pray or are you talking to yourself?

There are many like this, they may even hold high office in the church. They are filled with self-righteousness and of their own importance. Jesus will say that he never knew them when it comes to judgement day.

How do you become Holy or justified?

You come like the publican, he stood afar off. Remember the prodigal son, when he was a great way off the Father saw him and ran to Him. God sees your heart; he sees the heart that is repentant and he will accept you right where you are.

There must be a real sorrow for sin, there must be an admission that you have sinned before a holy God and that you are guilty before Him.

The publican beat his breast for there was deep repentance and sorrow for his sin. So, who are you like? Are you like the self-righteous religious person who talks to himself or the repentant sinner who talks to God and is justified because he is truly repentant?

God bless you

2 Timothy 1

Noonday

2 TIMOTHY 1

16 The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:

17 But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.

18 The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.

THE REFRESHER

In verse 15, Paul says that everyone deserted him, well not everyone.

Here is one person who didn’t.

Paul was in prison, he felt very deserted, after all he had given much of his life to these churches, but no one had come to his aid.

In Acts 23:11, the Lord had stood by him, and Luke in Chapter 4 was the only one left, that is why he asks Timothy to come urgently.

This man although he was a stranger to Rome, sought Paul out. He came to Rome and had no idea how to find Paul. He refreshed Paul, not once but often.

He brought refreshment and encouragement to Paul, maybe he wasn’t highly educated or a great bible scholar, but by his very presence, he made Paul feel better, after he left, Paul felt better.

Let me ask you the following questions:

Do you actively seek out your fellow brothers and sisters? Would you go out of your way to visit them?

Are you ashamed of your fellow believers? Onesiphorus wasn’t, Paul was public enemy No 1, why be associated with him?

This wasn’t a one-off thing; his ministry to Paul was a consistent thing. Maybe he showed Paul hospitality, maybe he gave him lodging, maybe he gave him money, we don’t know.

How often have you sought a believer to refresh and encourage them?
Are you a consistent refresher?

To this man, it was not an option, but it was a lifestyle.

Is it your lifestyle?

God bless you

KK

1 Peter 1

Noonday

1 PETER 1

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time

INCORRUPTIBLE INHERITANCE

Have you ever received an inheritance?

It usually comes in the form of money or some gift, but these inheritances are subject to rust and decay, they fade away, you use money once and it is gone.

The inheritance we receive is God’s gift, it is grace and mercy combined, we do not deserve it, we should not expect it, but still God gives it to us.

He through his great mercy has caused us to be born again, literally to be made alive or to be reborn Ephesians 2:1-8.

This living hope is based on facts, it is based on the death and resurrection of Christ, it is not based on myths or legends, it is built on the solid ground of the finished work of Christ and what God’s word says. We can have confidence for the future based on God’s sure word.

We have an inheritance and this is called Salvation, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ Romans 8:16-17, all that heaven is, will be ours, to see and have fellowship with the Father and the Son, worshipping them for evermore, this is our inheritance.

During our life here on earth, we get a little taster of this, but the full payment, will be in eternity.

We are kept for the last time by the power of God, but again we have to exercise our faith. We are kept by God’s power as a soldier guards a fortress.

So, we rejoice because one day the inheritance gained by Jesus for us, will be fully realised.

What a glorious day that will be.

YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!

God bless you

kk

1 Peter 2

Noonday 2

THE CROSS OF CALVARY

1 Peter 2:24-25

24 He personally bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.  25 For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have come back to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

彼得前书 2:24-25

What a wonderful declaration of Christ’s sacrifice for us!

I have been a Christian for a long time, and sometimes the joy of my salvation can fade. This passage reminds me that my salvation is totally beyond words and totally beyond my comprehension.

In verse 24, it says that Christ personally bore our sins in His body. The sacrifice of Jesus, was personal.  It was horrific.  The pain was unimaginable. Every wrong thought, every wrong action, every wrong motive, was laid on Him…the spotless and faultless Lamb of God.

To me this is the greatest antidote to a Christian sinning. Looking at the cross, how can we can continue to sin? It is also the greatest motive for living full out for God Amen. Seeing what Jesus has done for us, How can we not live totally sold out for Him?  Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we have been brought back to God. Jesus has won our salvation.  We are restored to God, because of Jesus and His sacrifice at Calvary.

The Cross of Calvary puts all our service for God into perspective. The cross humbles us.  It grips us.  It sets us free to serve the living God.  I love what the Amplified says in its margin, because of Calvary, we have ceased to exist.  We are no longer our own.  We are under new ownership, the ownership of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

I hope this blesses you

Keith

Philippians 3:20

Noonday 2

Philippians 3:20

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

DIVINE CITIZENSHIP

Last year I got a new UK passport, it is completely new and It lasts for ten years.

I am privileged to be a citizen of the UK, I am protected by this, I can have confidence in this. This passport allows me to travel widely, back in 2024, we travelled all over Europe and I didn’t need a visa.

However amazing it is for me to a British citizen and for anyone else reading this, to be a citizen of whatever country you are a citizen of, it is nothing to being a citizen of the Kingdom of heaven.

In Pilgrim’s progress, Pilgrim was given a certificate that he had to hand in at the celestial city, entrance is given to Him, but to Ignorance who had no certificate, admission was denied.

Having this citizenship gives us supreme confidence in God’s care and his comfort, this is the sure confidence that the apostle John told us about in 1 John 5

11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Our heavenly passport, never runs out, it is our entrance pass for heaven, why because it has been purchased by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ

Ephesians 1:7

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

1 Peter 1:19

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSED ON?

HEAVENLY THINGS OR WORLDLY THINGS

We are to be focused on heavenly things, our thoughts and actions must be focused on the things that pertain to heaven.

Heaven and the second coming of our saviour, has to be our focus, so often we are too caught up in the world’s affairs to focus on these things which really matter.

In Titus 2, Paul says this:

Titus 2:11-13

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Further on in Philippians, he says this:

5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Our constant conversation and focus should be the Lord Jesus Christ, not on what’s happening in politics or in sports.

The Lord is coming soon, let’s behave like citizens of heaven and let’s look forward to the day, when we will see HIM as he is.

Looking forward to that day?

ME TOO

GOD BLESS YOU

Job and Jeremiah

Noonday 2

JOB 17

9 “Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his ways And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger. 

HOLD ON TO CLEAN HANDS 

Job is one of my favourite characters in the Bible. He went through so much! Allied to that he had a difficult wife. 。 It seems that she went the course with him as he had more children at the end! 

He also had the three friends. These guys were ok… until they started talking!!! 

Do you remember what Job’s wife said to him at the end of chapter 2, “Curse God and die.” 

Do you remember what happened to Job at the end of the book?, although he was told off by God, the final word was that Job hadn’t sinned against God with his mouth. 

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 

Job was one who could stand in the holy place of the Lord? Why? Because he had all the attributes outlined in verse 4 above. 

If you have clean hands like Job had, you will grow stronger. Both Job and David were blessed by God, because their hearts were right with God.

How clean are your hearts and hands? 你的心和手有多洁净？

God bless 

kk

JEREMIAH 17

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

THE HUMAN HEART 

How often have we heard this phrase:

He/she has a good heart.

Jeremiah speaking over two thousand years ago, said these true words, he pulls no punches. 

The human heart is deceitful, look at Romans 1：

29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,  31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: ：

You may hear people say they are good at heart, have you watched the news, been to a prison? ？ The human heart is full of deceit, rebellion and unclean thoughts and motives. 

So is there any hope for the human heart, God sees everything, nothing is hidden from him, if anyone could see inside your heart, they would never talk to you again, ， your thoughts, motives and actions would not be a pretty sight, they aren’t to God either.

So what’s to be done, is there any hope? Christianity is the only answer, why? it addresses the heart of the problem, it deals with the blackness of the human heart, Jesus died and rose again, so man could have a new relationship and a new heart, the prophet Ezekiel said in chapter 36:

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 。 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Every believer has had a heart transplant, ， the old heart has been replaced and the new one put in, does that mean we don’t sin and fail? No our mind hasn’t been and that is being changed constantly as we are renewed by the word of God. Romans 12:2 

My question is, have you had a heart transplant? You can only get one by coming to the foot of the cross in faith and repentance. 

Come and have a heart transplant today. 

God bless you 

Galatians and Hebrews

Noonday 2

GALATIANS 1

9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

NO OTHER GOSPEL

Paul is reading the riot act to the Galatian church, they have left the gospel and have become trapped in legalism and false teaching.

He sets out his stall here, he states what his calling was and how he has shared the gospel.

He tells the Galatian church that if any person preaches any other gospel that he has preached they should be accursed.. strong words you may think, but it is so important because if you get the gospel wrong, then you get your whole christian life wrong..

So how can we tell the true gospel.. first of all

It does not seek to please men, it seeks to Please God.

This is one of the reasons, we can tell the true gospel and true ministers. Those who were preaching the false gospel always preach Jesus plus something, when in reality , the gospel is Jesus only.

The second reason is that those who preach the gospel are under the Lordship of Christ. They seek to serve Christ, they are not serving their own pockets etc.

The third reason is that the person who preaches it, acknowledges that it doesn’t come from him/her, but comes from God.

Grace is nothing to do with man and everything to do with God.

Paul puts it so beautifully in ! Corinthians 15

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures:

This is the true gospel, it doesnt come from man, it is not grace + something else, it is grace alone through faith alone through Christ alone.

God bless you

Keith

Hebrews 5

12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

MEAT OR MILK?

The wonderful book of Hebrews gets really tough here, it poses one of the most important questions in the whole of the bible.

This question is this: What are you eating/drinking?

So many in the church are like the people in verse 12, they should be teachers, but they need to be taught.

If you have a baby you feed him/her milk.. YES, but do you feed a 20 year old milk constantly.. NO, they graduate onto meat. so why are so many believers still on milk when they should be eating meat.

Believers nowadays like comfort and they like to hear what they enjoy. An example, how many times do you hear the books of Ezekiel or Leviticus preached in churches. How many Christians read their favourite bible chapters time and time again?

Have you graduated from milk to meat yet?

You should be a teacher, but you still need to be taught.

Vs13-14 make it clear that those who are still babes are unskilled in the work of righteousness, they cannot use the word of God properly.

 Why is this, because they are skilled in the use of the word of God. Remember the word of God is a sword, and you don’t put a sword into the hands of a child.

Remember Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 2

15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Are you eating meat or drinking milk?

So how can you move from milk to meat?

You have to study, that means you have to dig into the word of God. You have to dig deep to get anything, babes scratch the surface, but mature christians dig deep.

Are you able to handle strong meat?

God bless you

   kk

1 Timothy 1

Noonday 1

1 TIMOTHY 1

16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as an example to show everyone how patient he is with even the worst sinners, so that others will realize that they, too, can have everlasting life. (living bible)

WHY WE HAVE FOUND MERCY?

Mercy is God withholding what we truly deserve.. Amen.

Of all the people in the Epistles, Paul truly was the ultimate example of God’s mercy. After all, here was a man who was the sworn enemy of Christ and his church.

It is put very well in the early verses of Acts 8. Stephen had just been killed by stoning, and now Paul lets rip… Read these words.

Paul was in complete agreement with the killing of Stephen.

And a great wave of persecution of the believers began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles fled into Judea and Samaria. 2 (But some godly Jews[a] came and with great sorrow buried Stephen.) 3 Paul was like a wild man, going everywhere to devastate the believers, even entering private homes and dragging out men and women alike and jailing them.

But God had mercy on him. In spite of all this terrible rage, God saved Him.

Why does he show mercy to us?

He saves us to show people that his grace and mercy can save even the worst sinners… like you and like me. There is no one beyond the realm of God’s mercy, and we are saved so that people can know that they too can receive the mercy and grace of God.

Believer, you are a living testament to the mercy and grace of God.

Do others realise by your life that they too can receive the wonderful mercy and grace of God?

God bless you

kk

1 TIMOTHY 1

17 Now to the King of the ages [eternal], immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.

ALL GLORY TO GOD?

What is the ultimate point of salvation?

Why does God save us?

Surely it must be for our benefit… Well yes, there are wonderful benefits to us.. Amen.

But the real reason, he saves us is this…  TO BRING ABSOLUTE AND TOTAL GLORY UNTO HIMSELF.

Look at these wonderful verses in 2 Corinthians 4:

：

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the p

Check out the end of verse 7, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not us.

Here is the main reason: God saves us and, therefore, God deserves all the glory.

That is why Paul waxes lyrical here, because he can say Amen to all the things that have happened in verse 12-16.

It is all of Him and none of us, and if we know this we can say the words in verse 17.

I hope and pray that you can.

God bless you

Daniel and Luke

Noonday 1

DANIEL 4

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:

35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.

37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Nebuchadnezzar’s praise

Bible scholars have differing opinions, but it seems to me, that this man is truly saved and repentant.

He acknowledged his sin and also acknowledged that he was nothing, this king who was so high in his eyes, now had the right view of himself and God.

He realized that God can do and does do whatever he pleases Psalm 115:3

He acknowledged the absolute authority of God over the affairs of men, no one, not even him, could tell the Lord what to do.

The words What doest thou?, are so true. Job in chapters 38-42, was asked by God, who are you to question me?

Do we say What doest thou?, to the Lord.

We are have no right to do say those words, they should never pass our lips.

Not only did he have a repentant heart, he had a praising heart, praise was coming from his lips, where there was pride before, this is what happens when someone acknowledges God as Lord of their life.

Every judgement and decision the Lord makes is right and true, his whole heart, had been turned around.

God rewarded him, not only did he get back his sanity, but his kingdom and influence was increased.

This truly is the story of a saved man.

LUKE 18

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you; this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

RELIGIOUS OR REPENTANT

So, which one are you?

The pharisee sought to justify himself, he was arrogant and prideful. Everyone thought he was addressing God, but he was in fact addressing himself. You see these people in church every week, they are just a little bit better than the rest, but that’s only their opinion.

The publican was a man who knew what and who he was, he was a sinner and he was aware of his sin. Unlike the pharisee who knew only one thing, his so-called righteousness.

This publican talked to God, but he couldn’t even look up to heaven, but he showed a holy reverence for God, the beating of his breast or his chest was a sign of sorrow and repentance c/f Chapter 23:48.

So, which are you?

Are you a hypocrite or holy?

Are you someone who goes to church twice a week and give their tithes and has a form of religion, but is like a tomb full of dead men’s bones? You have a form of godliness, but you deny the power of God. Do you know Him when you pray or are you talking to yourself?

There are many like this, they may even hold high office in the church. They are filled with self-righteousness and of their own importance. Jesus will say that he never knew them when it comes to judgement day.

How do you become Holy or justified?

You come like the publican, he stood afar off. Remember the prodigal son, when he was a great way off the Father saw him and ran to Him. God sees your heart; he sees the heart that is repentant and he will accept you right where you are.

There must be a real sorrow for sin, there must be an admission that you have sinned before a holy God and that you are guilty before Him.

The publican beat his breast for there was deep repentance and sorrow for his sin. So, who are you like? Are you like the self-righteous religious person who talks to himself or the repentant sinner who talks to God and is justified because he is truly repentant?

God bless you

Matthew 21

Noonday 1

MATTHEW 21 

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

FALLING ON OR UNDER THE STONE

Jesus is quoting from several Old testament passages in Isaiah and Daniel, and using the illustration of a stone.

Jesus is our rock and, in the NT, he is called a rock of offence and a stone of stumbling to those who do not believe.

Ever started talking about your faith to someone and then you mention Jesus. Oh, they just don’t like it or they change the subject.

Jesus here is warning people that they have two choices. the first is to fall on the stone, they will be broken, but then Jesus will put them back together.. He will give them a new heart and transform their lives.

But those who choose to reject Him, the stone, which is Jesus, will fall on them, at the final judgement and crush them to powder.

There is a final judgement and there is a place called Hell, it is for all those who reject God. believe me there will be many in Hell who have gone to church, even served as ministers.

To us as believers, the reality of judgement and hell should make us more focused to reach the lost with the precious gospel.. we are watchmen on the wall, like Ezekiel said in Chapter 33 of his book.

CT Studd said this “Some people want to live within the sound of chapel bell, but I want to have a rescue mission within a yard of hell’.

Please fall on the stone.. don’t be crushed by it.

God bless you

Colossians 2

Noonday 1

COLOSSIANS 2

6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

歌罗西书 2

6 你们既然接受了主基督耶稣，就当遵他而行，

7 在他里面生根建造，信心坚固，正如你们所领的教导，感谢的心更加洋溢了。

WALK AS YOU RECEIVED CHRIST

像当初接受基督那样行事为人

We often wonder, how do we walk as Christians? 

我们常常会想，作为基督徒，我们究竟该如何行事为人？

Paul says in verse 6, that we should walk, as we received Christ when we first came to faith, so how did we come to faith? 

保罗在第 6 节中说，我们当初怎样接受了基督，就当怎样遵祂而行。那么，我们最初是怎样归信基督的呢？

We came in faith, we came as little children and with a humble and contrite heart. 

我们凭着信心而来，像小孩子一样，怀着一颗谦卑与悔碎的心而来。

When we came to faith in Christ, we came in repentance, we came completely dependent on Christ and upon him alone for salvation. 

当我们信靠基督时，我们是在悔改中而来，完全仰望并唯独倚靠基督的救恩。

Coming to faith in Christ, was amazing to us, we received Him with joy and were praising God. 

归信基督对我们而言是无比奇妙的经历，我们满怀喜乐地迎接祂，止不住地赞美神。

We should walk in the same joyful manner, that we came to faith, for me, I can remember every moment of that special night, it was and is a joyful memory. Oh to walk in that same freshness of joy. 

我们今日行事为人，也当带着当年初信时那份满溢的喜乐。对我个人而言，那个特别之夜的每一个瞬间我都记忆犹新，那至今仍是一段无比欢欣的回忆。多么渴望能一直活在那种新鲜而充沛的喜乐之中！

The famous hymn says: 

正如那首著名的诗歌所唱：

Where is the blessedness I knew when first I sought the Lord?

我初寻见主时的福份如今安在？

Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and His Word?

耶稣与祂话语那令人苏醒的属灵看见，如今又在何方？

So we are to walk in the same way, if we walk in faith, and as little children completely dependent on Christ with a humble and contrite heart. 

因此，我们就要以同样的方式去行：凭着信心，像小孩子一样完全倚靠基督，存着谦卑与痛悔的心。

We should walk with a repentant and penitent heart. 

我们当怀着悔改与忏悔的心行事。

We should walk with a heart full of praise. 

我们当怀着满有赞美的心行事。

We should walk with a humble heart. 

我们当怀着谦卑的心行事。

When we came to know Christ in salvation, we came humbly to the foot of the cross, we came without pride, not trusting in our own works, but crying out to God for salvation. 

当我们蒙恩认识基督时，我们谦卑地来到十字架脚下，毫无骄傲，不靠自己的行为，唯有向神呼求救恩。

We came without hope and without anything, we came with nothing. 

我们来的时候毫无指望，两手空空，一无所有。

We only brought our sin. 

我们带去的，只有我们自己的罪污。

We need to walk as believers in the same way we came to salvation, we had nothing to offer God, when we came to faith, but he forgave us all our sins and filled us anew. 

作为信徒，我们今天行事为人，依然要像当初蒙恩时那样——信主时我们对神毫无贡献可言，但祂却赦免了我们所有的罪，并用祂的生命重新充满我们。

Believe me, don’t I know it. God took a useless sinner such as me and filled me full of his holy spirit. 

相信我，我深有体会。神救赎了我这样一个毫无用处的罪人，并用祂的圣灵将我完全充满。

Pride was completely thrown out of the window at the cross, so it needs to be when walking daily with our Lord. 

骄傲在十字架前早已被彻底抛到九霄云外，在我们与主同行的每一天里，也理当如此。

It is never about us. 

这永远与我们自己无关，一切都是关于祂。

If we walk in the same way, as we came to faith, we will be rooted deeply in Christ and we will have stability in our faith. 

如果我们能始终像最初归信时那样行事为人，我们就会在基督里深深扎根，我们的信心也会无比稳固。

So often we lose the joy of our first love, just like the church in Ephesus. 

我们常常像以弗所教会一样，失落了起初那份爱心的喜乐。

Let us seek to keep that freshness of our first love, and to walk with Christ, as we received Christ. 

让我们切切寻求保持起初爱心的新鲜与纯粹，当初怎样接受了主基督，如今也怎样与祂同行。

God bless you 

愿神赐福予你

kk

Mark 14

Noonday 8

MARK 14 

3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

4 And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, why was this waste of the ointment made?

5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

6 And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

7 For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

9 Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

10 And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.

BREAKING OR CLOSING THE BOX

Look at the contrast here between the woman and Judas, both had boxes or bags.

One used their box to bless and one used it for himself and indeed complained when that box was broken in service to Christ and for Christ.

So often we are like Judas, we see someone giving wholeheartedly to the work of God and we say what a waste, it could be used for such and such a thing.

This woman was commended by Jesus; indeed, his words are so true, this woman is now one who shared with millions around the world as a dynamic example of selfless service.

We have the treasure of Christ in earthen vessels,  so can I ask you this question?

Do you break your box of perfume or do close your box?

We have treasures of the perfume of Christ, to share with the world. In another passage the perfume fills the whole house. Remember that the perfume of Christ cannot reach a needy world, if you don’t break the box.

We have the good news of Christ, but do we share it or do we hide it?

Let’s finish with the passage in 2 Corinthians 4

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us

Have you broken the box that you have containing the gospel or are you keeping the perfume of Christ, to yourself?

God bless you

Keith

Galatians 1

Noonday 8

GALATIANS 1

9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

NO OTHER GOSPEL

Paul is reading the riot act to the Galatian church, they have left the gospel and have become trapped in legalism and false teaching.

He sets out his stall here, he states what his calling was and how he has shared the gospel.

He tells the Galatian church that if any person preaches any other gospel that he has preached they should be accursed.. strong words you may think, but it is so important because if you get the gospel wrong, then you get your whole christian life wrong..

So how can we tell the true gospel.. first of all

It does not seek to please men, it seeks to Please God.

This is one of the reasons, we can tell the true gospel and true ministers. Those who were preaching the false gospel always preach Jesus plus something, when in reality , the gospel is Jesus only.

The second reason is that those who preach the gospel are under the Lordship of Christ. They seek to serve Christ, they are not serving their own pockets etc.

The third reason is that the person who preaches it, acknowledges that it doesn’t come from him/her, but comes from God.

Grace is nothing to do with man and everything to do with God.

Paul puts it so beautifully in ! Corinthians 15

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures:

This is the true gospel, it doesnt come from man, it is not grace + something else, it is grace alone through faith alone through Christ alone.

God bless you

Keith

Galatians 5

Noonday 8

GALATIANS 5

24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Galatians 2

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

LOSING YOUR GRIP

The Christian has a new master, he/she has a new relationship, a relationship of grace.

He/she is in union with Christ, but to do that he must get rid of something.

Our old life needs to be crucified, we do have two natures and the one we feed will have the upper hand, the flesh and the spirit are in conflict

Galatians 5

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

What are you to actively crucify your flesh?

Are you staying from rubbish on the tv and internet?

Are you staying away from bad company?

Christians can not come to church on Sunday and live a worldly life from Monday to Saturday.

The power of sin has been broken at the cross, it has no power over us, the presence of sin is still with us, but its presence can become less and less as we walk after the spirit.

Now that doesn’t mean we will ever reach perfection, we won’t, but we will be victorious the majority of the time.

We have to walk after the spirit:

Galatians 5

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

We will know when we are crucifying the flesh, when the fruit of the spirit are evident in our lives and that the works of the flesh are becoming less and less.

Which is it?

Galatians 5

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Are the works of vs 19-21 or the fruit of vs 22-23, taking over your life?

If it is the latter, then you are truly losing your grip and crucifying your flesh.

God bless you

Matthew 6

Noonday 8

MATTHEW 6 

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

PRIVATE AND POWERFUL PRAYER

This is probably the greatest need of the church today. Yes, it is good to pray together, with your family, spouse and your church.

But this is the blueprint for us as individuals to spend time in prayer.

First of all, we have to go into our closet. If you have seen the film War room, it may be a special room that Miss Clara had or you may have to make one like the heroine in the story. Even if you don’t have a specific room,  it is good to have a special place, where you can get away from everything and everyone. This may mean you have to turn off the computer, tv or goodness me, your cell phone.  [The point is to focus on the Lord.]

You need to spend time alone with God, you are following your Master, as He arose a great time before the day began and went to a desert place to spend time with his Father. You will be rewarded by God, He will speak to you, not only will you be able to speak to Him, but He will speak to you, your communion with God will be sweet. What is your reward? It is the presence and communion of God.

When we pray, we don’t have to say many words, as so often we go on and on and on. But we need to say things once and leave it at that. Do we think God is forgetful or deaf, or both?

When we come into God’s presence, He knows exactly what we need, before we ask Him. He knows our hearts and is pleased to answer our prayers according to His will.

Coming into the closet or special place is one of the most amazing things. Your closet may be by your bedside (for me it is). When I lived Back in Heysham Uk, I used to have a special place where I would just sit/walk and talk to God. I used to spend time sitting/walking on what is called Heysham Barrows, which overlook Morecambe Bay.

Spend much time in prayer, because not only do we get our prayers heard and answered, but our biggest reward is that we feast on the presence of Lord. We get to know Him better as he communicates with us one to one.

Moses had a closet time with God, up on the mountain for forty days and what happened?

His face shone like the sun.

When you spend private time with God, it is never wasted. Half an hour will fly by, you will drink of the glory of the Lord.

Take time today and every day to find that special place and spend time in communion with your Father.

[And remember that the Bible is part of our communion with Him too.]

God bless you

Kk

1 Peter4

Noonday 8

1 PETER 4

 1 For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

LIVING IN GOD’S WORLD

Wow, what words!!

Christ suffered in the flesh, and so we are to arm ourselves with the same attitude he had when dealing with suffering and persecution. As I think about these certain things come to mind: Jesus could have called upon 12 legions of angels to protect Himself. He didn’t. He went willingly to the cross; He did not complain about it!

He had complete and total dependence upon God. When we are going through hard times; when we are in the wilderness, we need to acknowledge that God is completely in control and that He is teaching us something through these times.

We need to realise that the reason for God taking us through these times of persecution and suffering is to drive sin out of us. The person who is fully surrendered to God in these times is less inclined to sin. Why? Because this suffering comes to drive us to God and not away from Him. It doesn’t mean we totally stop sinning, but this is God’s pruning to root out sin in our life. Remember 1 Thess 4, what is God’s will for our lives… our sanctification!

God does not want us to waste our time living in man’s world. He wants us to live in God’s world, vs. 2. He wants us to live in the will of God, and what is the will of God you say?

We have already mentioned it, I Thess chapter 4:

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honour,

5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God

That is what I would call general sanctification. It is God’s will for every believer to be free from things like sexual immorality and sin, but how a person gets there will be different. God has personal sanctification; look at verse 4, each one of you, it’s personal.

So, we arm ourselves with the same attitude Jesus had, because that will lead to our sanctification. God is interested in making us like His Son. We won’t see perfection until we get to heaven, but we need to aim high.

 God doesn’t want us to live in man’s world; He doesn’t want us to live in a cesspool of sin, but to be a clean and useful vessel to honour Him.

 Amen

 God bless you

kk

1 Peter 1

Noonday 8

1 PETER 1

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time

INCORRUPTIBLE INHERITANCE

Have you ever received an inheritance?

It usually comes in the form of money or some gift, but these inheritances are subject to rust and decay, they fade away, you use money once and it is gone.

The inheritance we receive is God’s gift, it is grace and mercy combined, we do not deserve it, we should not expect it, but still God gives it to us.

He through his great mercy has caused us to be born again, literally to be made alive or to be reborn Ephesians 2:1-8.

This living hope is based on facts, it is based on the death and resurrection of Christ, it is not based on myths or legends, it is built on the solid ground of the finished work of Christ and what God’s word says. We can have confidence for the future based on God’s sure word.

We have an inheritance and this is called Salvation, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ Romans 8:16-17, all that heaven is, will be ours, to see and have fellowship with the Father and the Son, worshipping them for evermore, this is our inheritance.

During our life here on earth, we get a little taster of this, but the full payment, will be in eternity.

We are kept for the last time by the power of God, but again we have to exercise our faith. We are kept by God’s power as a soldier guards a fortress.

So, we rejoice because one day the inheritance gained by Jesus for us, will be fully realised.

What a glorious day that will be.

YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!

God bless you

kk

2 Chronicles 31

Noonday 8

2 CHRONICLES 31

20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. 21 And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.

SERVE, SEEK, SPEAK AND SUCCEED

Hezekiah was a good king, as we have already said, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. 

Can we say the same thing?  Is everything we do right before the Lord?  Would the Lord approve of all we do, how we act, how we respond, what we watch?

Let me give you the 4 S-words that Hezekiah did: 

He SERVED the Lord: It says that he undertook the work of the house of God.  He walked in obedience to the commandments Of God. He did not by-pass or shortcut God’s commands.  All of his service was in accordance with what the Lord wanted. Remember, it’s not about King Hezekiah…it was all about the King he served!

He SOUGHT his God, not just privately.  He encouraged all of the people to seek Him as well.  Fellowship is two-fold: It is being in communion with God in the secret place and in communion with fellow believers in public. King Hezekiah was a man of both private and public prayer.  Like King Hezekiah, we need to be active in our personal and public relationship with the Lord. You must have an authentic relationship with God that enables you to bless those around you.

He SPOKE.  Everyone knew about King Hezekiah.  They knew that he was a man who declared the glories of the Lord. Everyone in Judah knew about this new relationship with God, King Hezekiah made sure of that. His words was like a trumpet blast going through the whole nation. As a result, everyone knew to serve the Lord and to follow Him. How often do we speak of our Lord?  How often do we exalt Him among the people?

He SUCCEEDED.  Note the last two words…he prospered. When we have our priorities right, we will succeed, but we have to serve, seek and speak before we can have any success.

Have you got your priorities in the right order?  Maybe you do all the four S-words, but you do them for the wrong reason.  There is no “magic formula” for experiencing God’s favor in your life, but if we serve, seek, and speak of Him with our whole heart, we will experience a peace that passes all understanding, from the God who never fails.  God does not want us to just go through the motions of serving Him…He wants us to love and cherish Him, and declare His goodness to the world.

God bless you

KK

Numbers 13-14

Noonday 8

NUMBERS 13:30


And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

NUMBERS 14:24


But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
因他另有一个心志，专一跟从我，我就把他领进他所去过的那地；他的子孙也必得那地为业。

HAVE YOU A CALEB SPIRIT?

Right in the midst of this uproar, Caleb stood up; he would not be silenced.

Caleb was one who was not going to go along with the majority. Oh how we need Caleb’s today, and Joshua’s for that matter. Remember that in the book of Joshua, even at age 80, he said, give me this mountain.

He is one who is like Paul in Philippians 3; always pressing on. He is seeking always to go forward, and to claim more ground. He wants to claim the prize, because there was no retirement for him.

Caleb did not put his sword away. He was ready!

Note the wonderful promise given to Caleb. Please note who one of the first judges of Israel was, that’s right, Caleb’s nephew:
：

9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

10 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.

When you honour God, He will give you honour. God granted the promise He made to Caleb.

My question is:
Have you a Caleb spirit?

Have you an attitude that goes against the flow, even when the majority say you are wrong?

Are you prepared to say: Give me this mountain?

I will be 80 in SEVERAL years, I hope by the time, I reach that age, I will be saying:
GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN

I want to go higher, further and deeper.

Then you have a Spirit like Caleb.

God bless you,

KK

2 Chronicles 31

Noonday 8

2 CHRONICLES 31

 3 The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the Lord.  4 And he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the Law of the Lord. 5 As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. 6 And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been dedicated to the Lord their God, and laid them in heaps.7 In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. 8 When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. 9 And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. 10 Azariah the chief priest, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed his people, so that we have this large amount left.”

RESPONSE BRINGS RESULTS

Along with Josiah, King Hezekiah was a wonderful king. In fact he was one of the last was one of the last things of Judah, for soon the Nation of Israel would to be taken into captivity in Babylon.  

Giving to the Lord is often a challenge for Christians.  Most believers refuse to tithe, claiming that this form of giving is based on the Old Testament.  This claim raises an interesting question?  If the Israelites gave a tithe of their substance during a time in which goats and lambs were offered, how much should we give in honor of the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ?

In this passage, King Hezekiah gives a command to the people to provide for the Levites; note the response of the people, and secondly the results of their giving.

Their Response:

Their response was immediate:  The words AS SOON AS,  the people heard the order by  King Hezekiah, they responded immediately. How quick do you respond to God’s commands, especially the hard ones?

They gave in abundance: Maybe they had little, but that did not prevent them from giving abundantly. Does their response describe us, or does it convict us?

They gave of everything:  They did not hide anything.  They gave with a cheerful heart. Are we like Ananias and his wife who tried to hide a portion of their offering from God?

Their giving was consistent: It was consistent and continuous giving, lasting from the third to the seventh month.  Do we give on a one-time basis? Do we give to a special event, but neglect to give to ministries and to our home church?

Look at the response of the King, the people were willing to give, because they had seen the example of Hezekiah in Verse 3.  If you are a pastor, you need to be the example to your church in the area of giving.

The Result:

But look at the result of their giving in verse 10: “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed his people, so that we have this large amount left.”

Malachi 3 tells us to bring our tithes and offerings into God’s house; it goes on to say that the Lord will open the doors of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that we not have room enough to receive it.  We think that if we keep our money, we will have more, but in reality, if we come and pile our offerings and tithes in heaps, we will experience the promise found in the Book of Malachi.

God never gives His children “enough.”  He always gives us more than we could ever need!

Sometimes, ministries will host telethons on TV to raise money for a project and then someone will match the amount raised. The point is that when we give to God, he doesn’t just match it, he gives so much more!  God is not in the “matching” business…He is in the blessing business!

Don’t be afraid to give your best.  Trust God, and experience His blessings in your life.  

God bless you

KK

Galatians 2

Noonday 8

GALATIANS 2

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

DEAD BUT ALIVE

How can a person be dead and yet be alive at the same time?

Something has to die before we can live, what is it that dies?

What dies when we are crucified with Christ?

Well: it is the old life of sin, despair, and guilt.

Jesus was nailed to the cross, he became a curse for us, so that his righteousness could be imputed to us 2 Corinthians 5:19-20.

In Colossians 2, we have these great words:

11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

We are now alive, but it is not Keith that is alive, it is Christ, living in Keith, through his Holy Spirit. Christ is now living inside of me, through his Spirit.

Yes, I am still living in a fleshly body and yes I still have a fleshly mind and emotions, but I am not living in fear, I am living by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me, we have sure and certain promises.. amen.

What are these promises, they are yes and amen.

2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

We live to the beat of a different drummer, we are not dancing to the flesh anymore, we are under the tune of Jesus. He is our life, we march to a different captain, which is Christ.

Paul says in Philippians 3:

AMPLIFIED BIBLE
10 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

My life is now lived by faith in the Son of God; it is lived because of the death and resurrection of my Savior.

My past life is gone, as Paul says back in Philippians 3:

4 Though for myself I have [at least grounds] to rely on the flesh. If any other man considers that he has or seems to have reason to rely on the flesh and his physical and outward advantages, I have still more!

5 Circumcised when I was eight days old, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew [and the son] of Hebrews; as to the observance of the Law I was of [the party of] the Pharisees,

6 As to my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church, and by the Law’s standard of righteousness (supposed justice, uprightness, and right standing with God) I was proven to be blameless and no fault was found with me.

7 But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [one combined] loss for Christ’s sake.

8 Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),
has to die.

The death is daily, and is constant.

Paul thought of his past life, as dung.

Would you go near a pile of dung?

Stop returning to the dung of your past life, that is gone.

Someone once said these words and this is true:

ALL MEN DIE, BUT VERY FEW TRULY LIVE

Let me say this:

Only those who have died to self and live to Christ, have truly lived.

Let me finish, with a man ten thousand more qualified to speak on this subject

MATTHEW HENRY SAYS
[1.] He is crucified, and yet he lives; the old man is crucified (Rom. 6:6), but the new man is living; he is dead to the world, and dead to the law, and yet alive to God and Christ; sin is mortified, and grace quickened.

[2.] He lives, and yet not he. This is strange: I live, and yet not I; he lives in the exercise of grace; he has the comforts and the triumphs of grace; and yet that grace is not from himself, but from another. Believers see themselves living in a state of dependence.

[3.] He is crucified with Christ, and yet Christ lives in him; this results from his mystical union with Christ, by means of which he is interested in the death of Christ, so as by virtue of that to die unto sin; and yet interested in the life of Christ, so as by virtue of that to live unto God.

God bless you
kk

Numbers and Joshua

Noonday 8

NUMBERS 33

51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

FINAL INSTRUCTIONS

This is one of the final instructions given to the children of Israel, they were to destroy all evidence of the people who lived in the land of Canaan.The instructions given to us in the New testament are the same, we are to destroy all the works of the flesh。The destruction that the Israelites had to do was a complete one.. nothing had to be left. To do this they had to go to war.. it was to be a tough battle; it took time and it took resources.

 It takes all their effort.. likewise, it will be a battle for us. This is no part time battle. You cannot sit back and expect to win the war.Likewise, with us, we are at constant warfare, Ephesians 6 tells us to take up our weapons.

The children of Israel had their weapons and we also have our weapons, which are outlined in the verses of Ephesians 6.

Our warfare will be constant, we need to be full time not part time to complete the task..although we will never fully get rid of sin until we get to heaven. Does it mean that we shouldn’t fight?So many Christians have put down their weapons? They think this task is too difficult. They think sin will never be cleared from their lives, so why should they start this task.The Israelites did not deal with the people who lived in the land, they left some people in the land and what happened, these people compromised the children of Israel, this is the situation with us, if we do what the children of Israel did, we will be tied up by the power of sin.In the second devotion, we will see what compromise leads too.Have you believer driven out all the bad habits in your life?

Have you torn down all the idols in your life?God bless you

Keith

JUDGES 210 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.THE LOST GENERATIONSomeone once said that Christianity was one generation away from getting totally wiped out.All through their wilderness wanderings, the children of Israel, were told to train the next generation, they were told to pass on the great works of God. They were told to bind the word of the Lord

 on their wrists and to keep his word before their eyes.How was it then that this new generation did not know God? In Joshua 24, when Joshua asked the children of Israel,  if they would serve the Lord, they said Oh yes we will serve the Lord.What were they doing?, they had forsaken their responsibilities to train their children. Look at verse 10, this generation did not know the Lord, they didn’t even know what God had done for

the children of Israel. They didn’t even know what God had done with Jericho.What was the previous generation doing?More to the point, what are you in this generation doing for the next generation?Has your church got a Sunday school?Is it reaching out to the youth in its locality?As a parent…are you teaching your children and grandchildren the truths of the bible?As I said at the start, Christianity is one generation away from being lost, we need to make sure

 we pass on this glorious faith. One of the jobs of the church is to train and teach the next

generation of leaders.Like Moses did with JoshuaLike Paul did with Timothy and TitusLike Barnabas did with MarkLike Jesus did with the twelveWhat are you doing to prevent the next generation from being lost?God bless youKeith

2 Corinthians 1

Noonday 8

2 CORINTHIANS 1

19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea.

20 For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

YES AND AMEN 

Man is incapable of saving himself from the penalty of sin which is death.  All of his attempts to improve himself can do nothing to make him right with the living God.  As Jesus said in John 15,  “Without me…YE CAN DO NOTHING.”

Becoming a Christian is the most significant thing anyone can do, because it deals with the root cause of their pain – alienation from God.

Paul who was preaching the gospel in Corinth, says in verse 19 that the gospel he had been preaching was not yea or nay, or yes or no, but it was the truth completely and utterly. Jesus does not say one thing and mean another, he is not yes and no…but YES.  To love, He says, YES.  To Joy, He says YES.  To Peace, He says YES.  To you, He says YES!

Therefore every promise that we have is based on Him and if He is truth then we can depend on the promises He made. When He says that HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US…count on it.  A promise is only as good as the person making it.  In Christ their is “no variableness or shadow of turning.”  His promises are sure and His Word is truth.  Lean on Him.  Depend on Him.  Trust in Him.

MATTHEW HENRY PUTS IT LIKE THIS:

 For God is true, and the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is true. The true God, and eternal life. Jesus Christ, whom the apostle preached, is not yea and nay, but in him was yea (v. 19), nothing but infallible truth. And the promises of God in Christ are not yea and nay, but yea and amen, v. 20. There is an inviolable constancy and unquestionable sincerity and certainty in all the parts of the gospel of Christ. If in the promises that the ministers of the gospel make as common men, and about their own affairs, they see cause sometimes to vary from them, yet the promises of the gospel covenant, which they preach, stand firm and inviolable. Bad men are false; good men are fickle; but God is true, neither fickle nor false. The apostle, having mentioned the stability of the divine promises, makes a digression to illustrate this great and sweet truth, that all the promises of God are yea and amen. For, 1. They are the promises of the God of truth (v. 20), of him that cannot lie, whose truth as well as mercy endureth for ever. 2. They are made in Christ Jesus (v. 20), the Amen, the true and faithful witness; he hath purchased and ratified the covenant of promises, and is the surety of the covenant, Heb. 7:22. 3. They are confirmed by the Holy Spirit. 

Have full confidence in God’s promises.  He will speak peace in the midst of your storm.  Keep praying.  Keep believing.

God bless you

Keith

1 Cor 16

Noonday 8

1 COR 16

 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

WHEN GOD OPENS A DOOR, THE DEVILS SEEKS TO SHUT IT

Has God opened up a door for you to do ministry, he had for the apostle Paul in Ephesus, great things were happening, but whenever great openings for the gospel were happening, there was also great opposition.

You only have to read the Book of Acts, the story of the gospel is that God does great things, he opens not just doors but people’s hearts. But where progress for the gospel is being made, opposition is close behind, the devil does not like any forward movement of the gospel.

All through the bible, God blesses his people, from Abraham to Moses: from Joshua to Nehemiah, the latter suffered constant opposition from the enemies of God as they were building the wall.

If you are doing a work for God, expect many adversaries, as Nehemiah experienced they can come from outside the church or even inside the church, yes believe it or not, there can be opposition from inside the church.

Note that this is a wide door, despite adversaries, the devil cannot shut it, however hard he tries, it will be an effective work, it will change people’s hearts.

Has God opened a door for you to do effective ministry? Walk right through it, do the work of God despite opposition, do like the people in Nehemiah’s day, they had a mind to work, a mind to do God’s work, you may HAVE your own Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s, but you need to take your sword in one hand and your trowel in another and build God’s work. 

Build Gods work, he has opened a door for you to do an effective work, you will face many adversaries, but remember: 

GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE

God bless you

KK

Psalm 92

Psalms 3

UNENDING PRAISE

“It is a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises [with musical accompaniment] to Your name, O Most High, To show forth Your loving-kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night… Psalm 92:1-2.”

What a wonderful start to this psalm… amen.

It is truly a delight to praise God and to do it with music…whether it be guitar, organ or saxophone!

But it is verse 2 that I wish to concentrate on… because we can praise God in the morning and in the evening… amen.

For his loving-kindness… for Him keeping watch over us while we are sleeping; to his faithfulness and care throughout the day… amen.

So may I suggest, and I must do this… to praise God first thing in the morning and last thing at night… oh and yes to praise Him every moment in between… amen.

When I don’t wake up with an attitude of praise and go to bed without an attitude of praise… it leads to a bad day and a restless night… Amen.

After all, you can’t praise Him enough and you never run out of things to praise Him for… amen.

 God bless you all, Keith

Psalm 138

Psalms 3

GOD’S UNCEASING FAITHFULNESS

PSALM 138

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

8 The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

The title of this Psalm is THE LORD IS A FAITHFUL GOD. When we are in trouble, like David was, one of our greatest encouragements, is that we can always trust GOD because HE is completely faithful to us.

David is walking in the valley of the shadow of death again, but he says I will fear no evil, that is amazing confidence in God. In this psalm, David is growing very weary, he is surrounded by his enemies, but he prays for revival in his life and leaves his enemies to God. Note that he doesn’t try to fight these enemies, he gives them over to God.

Romans 12 about not taking revenge on your enemies. Instead, if you are hated by someone, love them back. David has some amazing advice for us in verse 8, his confidence for the future is placed in God alone. Why? Because God is faithful.

Have your given your life into the safe and wonderful hands of God, if you have then you can completely trust his faithfulness.

He abideth FAITHFUL.. AMEN

God bless you,

Keith

Psalm 18:1-2

Psalms 3

WHO IS GOD TO YOU?

“I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower…Psalm 18:1-2

This psalm should really be called the Me psalm, especially these first two verses.

I just love how it starts, I will love the Lord, what a wonderful statement for the psalmist to make. We all need to say every morning, in every moment. That we love the Lord. In fact, have you ever just spoken to God and said out loud? I love you Lord. try it, because it is so beautiful and our Lord loves to hear it. God loves us so much, and gives us his love unconditionally, how often do we tell Him that we Love him?

There are 9 “my” statements in these two verses, all of these apply to us in different ways, my strength may apply to someone more than it applies to another person.

For me, the one that stands out is the one right in the middle. My God. its right in the middle. Maybe you don’t find that significant. That’s what ties all these together, all the others are important, God is all these things and more to me, but He is My God. my personal Lord. The one who is Lord over my life, who has control over it.

Make these verses personal, whatever MY is yours. make it personal.  God is not some far off figure, He is MY/YOUR …, He is ours and we are His. amen.

God bless you

Keith

Good news.. bad news part 2

Witnessing for the King 2

GOOD NEWS BAD NEW PART 2 CHINESE

P

God’s promise.

Right back in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3:15, God promises to bruise the head of the serpent and that the serpent would bruise the heel of the Saviour.  That promise was kept at Calvary. If you look at your heel it is the place on your body, where the skin is toughest and thickest.  The devil bruised the heel of Jesus at the cross, but Christ crushed Satan’s head.  God’s power.  Not only did Jesus die on the cross; He rose from the dead!  And it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that makes Christianity unique from every other religion or faith.  

So many great religious leaders have lived and died, but only one has ever risen again from the dead…JESUS.

E

God Entering into our world…We cannot reach God, so He came down to us.  In the form of a helpless baby born in a stable, living as a carpenter, spending three extraordinary years ministering with twelve men. No man has ever impacted this world like Jesus.

No one has spoken the words Jesus spoke…

No one has done the miracles Jesus did…

Jesus coming into the world was the defining moment of history.  His is the only One who lived a sinless life, and His resurrection changed the course of human history.

God giving us Entrance into His world…

When we become Christians we become children of The King.

We were changed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

But not only that, one day Jesus will come again and will take us home to be with Him in heaven.  He will allow us to come home, where He lives with his Father, but before then, we have a glimpse of that glory, as we walk with Him day by day.  

L

It is about God’s Life, Light, and Love living inside of us.  When we become Christians, we are given a new heart.

Back in 1851, a young man was told to look to Christ for salvation.  The preacher used the text of Isaiah 45:22, and that young man was Charles Spurgeon. Since then, millions have looked to Christ for salvation.  HAVE YOU?

To experience salvation, please pray the prayer below:

“Father, I have sinned in thought, word and deed and stand guilty before you.  I need your mercy and grace.

I ask that the blood of Jesus would cleanse me from all sin; I repent from my sin and ask you for forgiveness.

I offer my life to you.  I offer my all to you. Thank you for saving my soul. In Jesus’ name, Amen

YOUR NEW LIFE

If you prayed this prayer, then you have a new life, and that’s good news!!  You are a new creation in Him.  

I have been a believer for over 50 years.  Through all that time, God has held and sustained me, but He wants us to commit our lives to Him every day.  It is a daily journey.  Sometimes I/we may fail, but Jesus is enough. He will never let you go!

Receiving Jesus into your life is only the beginning of your new life in Christ.  As a Christian, you and I are called to be fruitful by allowing His Spirit to lead and guide us.

Your lifestyle will change.  You will no longer love the world.  You will no longer want to waste time on worldly activities.

You will:  

Love to pray.

Read God’s word.

Fellowship with God’s people.

Share the gospel with others.

Please know that the same God who has forgiven you of your sins, is the same God who will lead you in every area of your life.  Trust Him and He will direct your paths.

God Bless You

Good news …bad news part 1

Witnessing for the King 2

Good News. . .  Bad news

Recently, good news has been in short supply, but there appears to be no shortage of bad news.  Coronavirus, Protests, Economic downturns.  Yes, there is plenty of bad news to go around. 

But today I want to share some Good News…the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The word Gospel means “good news”, and we are going to look at each letter and what the gospel truly means.

The word Gospel means “good news”, and we are going to look at each letter and what the gospel truly means.

G

This letter stands for:  

God’s grace.  Literally “undeserved favour.” 

God who exists eternally and has no beginning or end, had no need to create the world or indeed man.  He chose to create you and me.  Why?  To love us.  To cherish us.  To bless us.God’s grace. Literally “undeserved favour.” 

All His acts are gracious; He gave you breath and created you. He is gracious.  He provides for your daily needs.  Grace is God’s gift.  As we will see later, salvation is not about us, it is God’s gift.  (Ephesians 2:8)

God’s grace in salvation can be summed up like this:  

G – GOD’S

R – RICHES

A – AT

C – CHRIST’S

E – EXPENSE

God’s glory…Have you ever washed a white shirt and it comes out of the washing machine gleaming?  That is what God’s glory is like.  His holiness is ten thousand times more radiant than anything we will ever see. 

God is completely pure.  He is pure and holy in his very being.  That is why sin cannot come anywhere near His presence.  That is why Satan was thrown out of heaven before time began, and that is why our sin has to be dealt with before we enter into His presence.

God’s greatness. There is no one like God.  The Bible says He is great and greatly to be praised.  He is the One and only true God. He is alive in millions of people’s lives throughout the world. He is the only one who has and is transforming lives through His power. 

God’s goodness.  Everything that is good comes from God.  He gives every good and perfect gift to man. He is totally good, holy, and perfect, so how does a perfectly good God interact with sinful man?  By saving man from his sins.  How does He save man from his sins?  Through faith in Jesus Christ.

O

God’s Order.  God created Man and Woman perfect.  He made everything perfect.  God commanded them to not eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden.  What did man and woman do?  They ate it.  As a result of Adam’s disobedience, sin entered the world, and all who are born of a woman, are born into sin.

O

God’s ordinance. So how does this sin problem get solved?  Well, in Old Testament times, in order to approach God, the Children of Israel had to offer animal sacrifices.  Indeed, the High Priest was allowed into the presence of God once a year with the blood of a spotless lamb.  All sacrifices had to be of lambs and bulls without spot or blemish, pointing the way to the sinless lamb of God.  Jesus!

God’s offer.  When Man fell in the garden of Eden, God didn’t go back to plan B.  There was no plan B.  He knew perfectly well that man would fall. Throughout history, God sought to establish a covenant relationship with people. First through Enoch and then Noah and then through Abraham and his sons.

This offer of salvation is extended to all people today.  God calls everyone to repent and to follow Him.  Will you take up his offer and receive Christ into your heart?

S

God’s solution. God always knew the solution to the problem.  As we said earlier, he wasn’t surprised by what man did.  In the Bible, blood is very important.  In the Old Testament it took the blood of a pure sacrifice to cover sin but in the New Testament the pure sacrifice of Jesus is shown as God’s final and perfect solution. Jesus was always going to come and live on this earth and die for us. 

S

God’s Son.  Jesus is co-equal with the Father and Holy Spirit.  He was there at creation.  Jesus is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.  (See Colossians chapter 1 and John chapter 1.)

God’s sinless Sacrifice. The greatest act of sacrifice ever was Christ, the Son of God.  He suffered, bled and died on the cross for you and for me.  When God looked on Him, He saw the sin bearer and at that moment in history when Jesus said “it is finished” the work of redemption was done.  The Father’s justice was satisfied. A Pure Lamb had taken

your sin and mine upon Himself.

God’s sacrifice had to be perfect.  It had to be pure.  It had to be Jesus.

God’s salvation. Man has always tried to reach God, but sin has always prevented him from doing so.  Romans 3:23, says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  

We Can never reach God, no more than we could reach the sun, but through Christ, we can know Him by faith.  And Christ is the only way that we can have a relationship with God.

Christ’s sufferings. No one has ever suffered like Jesus.  The suffering Christ endured at Calvary was beyond description and totally outside of our understanding and comprehension.  God bruised his own Son for us. It says his physical form was so marred, so that He was unrecognizable. We are healed because of what Christ endured on the cross (see Isaiah 53:5).

Christ’s sufferings. No one has ever suffered like Jesus. The suffering Christ endured at Calvary was beyond description and totally outside of our understanding and comprehension. God bruised his own Son for us. It says his physical form was so marred, so that He was unrecognizable. We are healed because of what Christ endured on the cross (see Isaiah 53:5).

Romans 15:15-19

Romans 15

FULLY PREACHING THE GOSPEL

ROMANS 15

15-16 But even so I have been bold enough to emphasize some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder from me; for I am, by God’s grace, a special messenger from Jesus Christ to you Gentiles, bringing you the Gospel and offering you up as a fragrant sacrifice to God; for you have been made pure and pleasing to him by the Holy Spirit.

17 So it is right for me to be a little proud of all Christ Jesus has done through me. 18 I dare not judge how effectively he has used others, but I know this: he has used me to win the Gentiles to God. 19 I have won them by my message and by the good way I have lived before them and by the miracles done through me as signs from God—all by the Holy Spirit’s power. In this way I have preached the full Gospel of Christ all the way from Jerusalem clear over into Illyricum.

No one could accuse the Apostle Paul of not doing the above. It is the most amazing privilege to stand before a gathering of your Christian brothers and sisters and expound the gospel. As I often say, it is the most humbling place and a place where you are alone with only the Spirit to lead you.

Paul is drawing the letter of Romans to a close, he is bringing all the strands together of this glorious masterpiece. He surely has preached the full gospel of God to the Roman Church. The gentiles of the Roman and Greek world, had largely been won by the preaching of this wonderful man of God. Look at what he calls them at the end of verse 16, a fragrant sacrifice. It is a wonderful thing to lead people to Christ and to present them as a fragrant sacrifice to God.

I wonder how many fragrant sacrifices you have offered to God? Have you ever had the privilege of leading someone to the foot of the cross?

Look at what Paul says in verse 18, he has been used by God to bring the gentiles to God. Has God used you to bring anyone to HIM? It is God’s will that we are all soul-winners (Proverbs 11:32). God used Paul’s message, Paul’s life and testimony and the miracles done by Paul. As Paul says it’s all by the Spirit’s power.

Believer, Paul’s God is yours the same Holy Spirit that dwelt in Paul dwells in you and me. Let’s follow the example of Paul and fully preach the gospel of God, wherever we go. Amen.

God bless you,

Romans 1:`15-16

Romans 1

ROMANS 1

15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and to the Greek.

PREACHING CHRIST IN A DANGEROUS PLACE

Paul loved to preach the gospel; his whole being was focused on sharing Christ.

Paul had been in a lot of dangerous places sharing the gospel, but here was the ultimate Lions den, Rome was the centre of the empire.

Paul did not shy away from preaching in this dangerous place and he certainly wasn’t ashamed of the Gospel, he knew that the gospel was the only hope not just for Rome but also for the whole world.

Maybe there is a difficult place to share the gospel in your town or city, maybe there is a neighbourhood that people seem to out of bounds, people say to you ‘ don’t go there, they won’t listen to you’.

You should reply to them as Paul did, I am ready to preach in the place because I know that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

Go in that confidence, knowing that Jesus can and does save and transform lives.

Don’t be ashamed of the gospel; be prepared to share it, in season and out of season, every day and in every place.

God bless you
kk

Romans 10:9-14

Romans 10

CAN YOU SAY YOUR ABC’S?

ROMANS 10

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

One of the first things, we learn to do in life, is to speak and one of the first ways we learn to speak is to learn our alphabet.

We are taught when we come to faith that we are to Admit, Believe and Confess as shown in the passage above.

Let us dig down on these thoughts:

What are meant to admit:

That God is.

Hebrews 11

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We need to realize who God is, we must believe that he exists, an atheist has to come to the realization that there is a God. Not only must we be made aware that he is real, but that he is both just and loving at the same time. As the verse says, we need to be aware that if we diligently seek him, he will be found.

We must acknowledge that God is just and is justified in his righteous anger against sin and against the sinner.

Romans 3

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

God is not being unfair, he is being just towards sin, we are rebels against God in our hearts and actions, he would be totally justified in sending me straight to hell, I deserve it, but he acted in mercy towards me. 

Psalm 103

We Must admit that we are sinful and have strayed from God

Isaiah 53:6

The example of the publican in Luke 18, he realized that he was a sinner, not deserving God’s forgiveness.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalted himself shall be abased; and he that humblest himself shall be exalted.

Only when the holy spirit enlightens your heart, so that can truly see yourself as a wretched dirty sinner, can you start to come to faith.

We need to admit that we cannot save ourselves and only Christ can save us

The thief on the cross saw this, he had no option but to admit this, like all those who come to this point, such as the publican, such as Zaccheus. We need to realize, we have no hope, only in Christ do we have hope. 

Ephesians 2

Isaiah 64:6

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

So we admit all these things, this brings us to the B

We have to believe

The great story in Acts 16 of the jailer, the story on the day of Pentecost, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

We believe on the finished work of Christ

John 19:30

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, Itisfinished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Would you believe in a half-completed house? No, you can only trust in something that needs no further work. 

We have belief in what Jesus did on the cross, we know that when we believe, we can trust God completely

The third letter is C

We can have confidence, when we believe in Christ, we believe on the true God, the one who cannot lie, he is the truth and he gives life.我们能够

We are convinced or as Paul puts it, we are fully persuaded.

Romans 4:21

And being fullypersuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

What God says he will do..  HE DOES amen

Romans 8

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,因为我深

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5

24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

The next C is that we confess, once we are convinced and confident, we will confess our faith and one of the ways, we will do this is by baptism and also be sharing the gospel ourselves.

A convinced Christian is probably the best witnessing tool, God can have, you have to believe the whole bible to share it, that’s why so many Christians, won’t share it, because they don’t believe it.一位信服的基督徒

Christians with the three traits above will continue in the faith, that will be steadfast and immoveable as it says in 1 Corinthians 15

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

I hope this message has allowed you to learn your ABC’s

God bless you

KK

John 1 :11-12

John 1

JOHN 1

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

WE ARE GOD’S CHILDREN

So many people today have rejected Jesus.. times haven’t changed.. when he came to his own people, they rejected Him and many in Israel today are still looking for the Messiah today, they don’t understand that He has already come.

Only a very few will welcome Jesus into their hearts, but look at what they become, they become Sons and Daughters of God.. wow.

You may not be anything in people’s eyes, but in God’s eyes, you are a son and daughter of the King of Kings. Your father is the One who made the universe.

How is this done, if we go forward two chapters to the discourse of Jesus to Nicodemus, it is through the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit as the person concerned puts their faith and trust in the finished work of Christ at Calvary.

It’s the greatest privilege anyone can have.. to be a son and daughter of the kings of kings.. YOU ARE A KINGS KID!

Wow that should make you so happy.. it does me!!!

God bless you

Keith

John 4

John 4

JOHN 4

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”

33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”

34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

WHAT ARE YOU EATING?

It’s important to eat well.

The disciples had gone into the Samaritan village to buy food, they thought Jesus was hungry.  But he had real food to eat.

The food that Jesus was to do the will of his Father and to finish the work given to him by his father.  We are following in his path.

Let me ask you these questions:

Are you doing the will of God?

Are you accomplishing the work God has given you?

Food is important to the body, without it, we won’t survive, likewise if we don’t do the will of God, we won’t survive spiritually.

Are you doing the will of the Father and doing the task God has given you

God Bless You

KK