ONLY JESUS

I have just had another birthday, life goes fast doesn’t it, the older I get the more I focus on what is truly important.

So many things are calling for our attention, so what is important?

Life goes very quickly; it is over in a flash. I wonder where all those years have gone, it seems like yesterday that I was 16.

What is truly important today?

Jesus asked some of the most penetrating questions anyone has ever asked, he asked:

Who do you think I am?

This is the question everyone must answer.

The answer to this question will define you, it will not only define you here on earth, it will be the deciding factor to where you spend eternity. 

What is your answer to this question?

The apostles said in Acts 4, Now is the appointed time , now is the day of salvation.

The writer of the book of Hebrews said harden not your heart.

Jesus offers you life, don’t put him off, don’t put him aside and don’t harden your heart.

For those of you, who have trusted Christ and him alone, there is an ongoing relationship. Once you are his, it is the start of a relationship that will go on for eternity.

What are you living for believer?

Here are some reasons, why I should be living for Jesus

I HAVE A MANSION

People often say I have many flats/houses, many people in the world say look at my house isn’t it brilliant, but all I can say, look I have a mansion John 14:1-6.

I HAVE A REWARD

We have a reward, Paul is striving for a heavenly reward, look at Philippians 3 and 2 Timothy 4. We see so many people get rich and have many rewards, we may envy them, but we have no need to envy them, we will have the most amazing reward for our service to Him.

I HAVE AN INHERITANCE

We have an amazing inheritance, that will not rust or be taken away, so many people have money in the bank, but we have treasure that will never fade away 1 Peter 1.

I HAVE ETERNITY WITH GOD

We have our Jesus, we will be with him for eternity, whatever we go through here on earth, in terms of persecution, suffering etc is worth it, because of the glory we will have when we spend eternity with him in his heavenly home. Romans 8

What matters to you believer?

What will be the legacy you will leave?

Will your legacy be one of spiritual or monetary value?

I want my life to count for God,  I want to remembered for the grace of God in saving a sinner like me.

Whilst here on earth, I want to do two things:

I WANT TO KNOW HIM Philippians 3

I WANT TO MAKE HIM KNOWN MATTHEW 28:19-20

Make your life count, if you have never trusted Christ, trust him today, if you are serving him, strive for that heavenly crown, for your heavenly reward.

Because LIVING FOR AND LOVING JESUS IS THE ONLY THING THAT TRULY MATTERS

GOD BLESS YOU

KEITH

John 15:5

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, 

and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: 

for without me ye can do nothing.

I can do nothing to save myself

It is only through Christ

Through his saving work upon the cross

He saved me through his supreme sacrifice

I can do nothing to satisfy my deepest longing

Only Christ, can give me living of waters

Filling my life and flowing out of me

Supernatural rivers of joy

I can do nothing to forgive others

It is only by looking at the cross

At the One who has forgiven me

Can I forgive the people who have caused me hurt

So much forgiveness, has been given me

I have to forgive as Jesus did

I can nothing to love my enemies

Seeing the hurt they have done to my soul

But I hear my Savior’s words

Father forgive them, and I must follow his word

I can do nothing to love and serve Christ

But He gives me a job to do

To bring light, life and love into people’s lives

Sharing His love to a dark and depressed world

I can do nothing to love my wife

But I know that Jesus loves her so

And He calls me to selfless sacrifice

and to love her as He has loved the church

I can do nothing to share His gospel

I am slow in speech and in tongue

But like Peter, Christ gives me the speech 

To share His gospel and to reach out in love

In my own strength, I can do nothing

But in His strength

through his spirit

I can do All things

Philippians 4:13

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.

Without Christ, I can do nothing

All these things, I cannot do in my own strength, 

but in His strength and being filled with His Holy Spirit, 

I AM ABLE TO DO ALL THESE THINGS!

written by Keith

1 Corinthians 1

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,[c] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

WHY?

I often think on this question, WHY HAS GOD SAVED ME?, after all, in my family, both my brothers are smarter and better looking than me, one is a business owner, another one was able to communicate effectively with many different people.  I am not business savvy or an able oral communicator.

My nephews and nieces are intelligent and clever people, one nephew is a PHD, another is a computer whizz, so why did God choose me?

You look at the people God choose, twelve disciples, who if you were being honest, you wouldn’t touch with a barge pole! They were a motley group of low life’s, but filled with the power of God, they turned Jerusalem and ultimately the world upside down.

So why does God choose the so called foolish things to confuse the wise?

It got me to thinking, and so I asked the question WHY

Below is a little poem/prose, that asks  the question?

WHY?

I know that he has saved me

From sin and from death

My only question is Why?

1 John 5:12-13

He has given me grace and mercy

Things that I do not deserve

My only question is WHY?

Ephesians 2:4 and Ephesians 2:8

He has called me by name

To serve him day by day

My Only question is WHY?

Isaiah 43:1

He has loved me with an everlasting love

His love will never leave me or forsake me

MY only question is WHY?

Jeremiah 31:3 Hebrews 13:5

He has saved me from the pain of hell

Saved from the fire of the second death

My only question is WHY?

Revelation 2:11

He has saved me, so I can say

I know my redeemer liveth

My  only question is WHY?

Job 19:25

He has saved me, so I can know

Without a doubt, that I am saved.

My only question is WHY

Romans 8:31-39

He has saved me, out of the pit

And placed my feet on the rock

My only question is Why?

Psalm 40:1-4

He has saved me, and called me his son.

Allowing me to approach his throne with confidence.

My only question is WHY?

Hebrews 10:19-22 and Romans 8:14-17

He has saved me, and given me the robe of righteousness

Christ’s righteousness is now mine.

My only question is WHY?

Isaiah 61:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

He has saved me, and given me peace with Him.

Through Christ, my sinless substitute

My only question is Why?

Romans 5:1

He has saved me, and given me a place in heaven.

My name is in the lamb’s book of life

My question is WHY?

Revelation 21:27

He has saved me, nothing can separate me from him

For time and eternity

My only question is Why?

Romans 8:38-39

He has saved me, and he has justified me

Now I am declared righteous, through his precious blood

My only question is WHY?

Romans 3:24, 5:1 and 8:30

He has saved me and graven me on the palms of his hands

Never will he forget me

My only question is WHY?

Isaiah 49:16

He has saved me, and rescued me from his righteous wrath

That I fully deserved because of my sin and rebellion

My only question is WHY?

Romans 5:9

I have no further questions

As I have all the answers

They are given in his word

By strong and faithful promises

Given by the living God

That stand the test of time

And will never ever fail

God’s promises are like a rock

That s immoveable

Thanks be to God, that I know the answer to the Question

WHY

There is no human reason that God choose me, I know that he has set his love upon me.

Thanks be to God.

One day, we will not ask Why.

When we gaze into our Saviour’s face, we will know the answer to the question

WHY?

Thanks to God, who has saved me.

If you are reading this, and haven’t yet trusted Christ, please read the following verses.

Romans 10

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Belief in the finished work of Christ and confession of Christ are essential ingredients of Salvation.

We need repent, believe and confess.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Please take time to read the stories of how three thousand souls on the day of Pentecost and how the Philippian jailer, in Acts 16, had their question answered.

Both asked

What must we do to be saved?

But you know the answer?

The question is:

Will you do as they did?

Acts 2

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Acts 16

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer[e] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Thousands upon thousands every single day from every country, come to faith in Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross and his glorious resurrection.

God’s offer is open, but one day it will close, it’s time to trust Christ.. tomorrow may be too late.

This is a poem written in response to a song by City alight, please listen to the song below

He is and will be  

Malachi 3:6   1 Thessalonians 5:24

Faithful,  Gracious and Merciful

Is our God who never changes

He and He alone is the one I trust

All my hope is based on Him

And what He has promised in His precious word

If He says something in His word

He is faithful to do it

His promises are backed up by his very nature

The only true God

Who keeps covenant for generations

The true God who cannot lie

His promises are backed up by the testimonies of thousands of believers

From Abraham to the present day

Gods’ promises and are steadfast and immoveable

He does not change,  His mercy,  love, and grace stand secure

Day to day, year to year, they remain constant

Based on the solid rock of His word

For me, they are life transforming

I know like Job that my redeemer lives

And that He can be trusted

Despite my doubt and despite my wandering heart

My redeemer gives me what I don’t deserve

That’s why, He is worthy of all glory, praise and honour.

Because I know that he has been faithful true and gracious, throughout my life and will be till He calls me home.

Then I will sing with millions of saints

Worthy he has been and worthy now is the lamb 

to receive glory honour and worship for evermore

He is my Redeemer

He is my Sustainer

He is my Saviour and sin bearer

He is my deepest desire

Jesus is worth it,  

because He is worthy

Amen

All glory to God

NANJING PHOTO FILM

I have only seen excerpts of this film, but what I saw made me sick, it is heartbreaking.

My heart goes out to the people of Nanjing, innocent people were slain, but as the gospel says 

Where sin abounded, Grace even more abounded.

I love the city of Nanjing and it’s people.

GENESIS 18

That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

The film called Dead Man’s Rights has made a great impression on me. I am a foreigner who lives in the city where these terrible events took place, all the way back in 1937.

I have lived here since 2012 and live every day with the Chinese people. During this time, I have walked all over Nanjing, I have walked all round Xuanwu Lake, the centerpiece of Nanjing, and I walked on the impressive city walls.

So what can we, as Christian believers, learn from this film?

The first thing is that we realize that man is out of control because of his sinful heart and his rebellion against God.

Jeremiah 17 says:
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Man is the highest piece of God’s creation, but he acts like the lowest. He parades his sin and rebellion as a trophy.

Sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. In James 1, it says:
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Romans 1 is a devastating critique of man’s condition. Listen to these sobering words:
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:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Many times, it says, God gave them over, literally, he said, you want to go this way, go ahead.

The second thing is that the gospel is desperately needed; it is the only answer to man’s depraved and broken heart.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only solution to man’s heart problem. Man needs a new heart as outlined in these verses from Ezekiel 36:
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
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 a 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.

Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3), Peter said to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, and Paul to the Philippian jailer in Acts 16: you need to repent and trust Christ and Him alone for salvation. It is only through trusting Christ that we can be rescued from a life of sin and misery (Psalm 40:1-3).

The gospel changes not only individuals but cultures. It is cultural and yet counter-cultural; it challenges the deep-rooted prejudices within societies and transforms them with its radical power.

The gospel also brings forgiveness. When you have been forgiven from all your sin, you can then truly forgive. This film will bring to life great hatred because one nation will not face up to its past, and another finds it hard to forgive. The gospel deals with the past; it wipes the slate clean for people.

Forgiving people from the heart is probably the most difficult thing to do, but it releases you from the pain. 

The gospel also brings people together. God saves people not on the basis of country of origin, skin color, age, or background. He saves them because of His great grace and mercy through Christ. He is bringing together people from every country, language, and people group for His glory.

In Heaven there will be millions of Chinese and Japanese there will be no more anger between them, Christ brings all his people together, the Lord will save from every nation and culture.

There has been great suffering inflicted by one country on another. The suffering runs deep, but the gospel brings people in contact with the suffering servant who went through terrible suffering for us. He is completely able to empathize with our suffering; He knows everything we have gone through (Hebrews 4:14-16).

The gospel is one of eternal justice. People are brought into contact with the One who sees everything perfectly and who one day will deal out perfect justice. Did those people in Nanjing get real justice?  NO

One day they will. Everyone will have to give account, and everyone will be judged with perfect justice.

Hebrews 9:
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Revelation 20:
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

So, the gospel is the answer, but what lessons can we learn from this sorry episode?

Three hundred thousand innocent people were killed in a short time; terrible and evil atrocities were committed, but 250,000 people were saved. Foreigners in Nanjing, including Germans, British, Americans, and others, started a safety zone where many people were saved.

In today’s world, we have the chance to invite people to come to Christ; He is their safety zone, He alone is their refuge. How many people have you invited to the safety zone of Christ?

The ark was a place of safety, and Noah was a preacher of righteousness, but no one accepted the offer. Everyone thought Noah was nuts: “It’s going to rain? It hasn’t rained for years, don’t be so crazy.”

It should teach us to pray. The Japanese people number 120 million, but less than 1% follow Christ. My friend Michael tells me it’s a very difficult mission field; the ground is very hard.

Also, pray for the deep wounds of the Chinese people to be healed. There is deep pain for this country; wounds take time to heal, but through the healing balm of the gospel, they can be healed.

What did we learn? We learned that although man seeks to bring disaster and pain, God can bring love and grace through the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

The gospel brings hope, it brings healing, it allows people to have new hearts and gives them the ability to forgive.

It teaches us that the greatest need of the hour is to share our glorious gospel; time is of the essence.

In closing, remember these words of the Apostle Paul from Romans 10:
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?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

The walls of Nanjing are very high, they are very wide, indeed at some points 5 -8 cars can drive alongside each other.

Ezekiel 62:6 and Ezekiel Chapter 33 say we are watchmen on the wall, we see the enemy coming, we have to warn the people.

Likewise we have to warn the people around us about the coming of our  Lord again, time is running out.

2 Corinthians 5:8-15

LET US TELL THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, THAT THERE IS REFUGE TO BE FOUND IN CHRIST AND ONLY IN CHRIST, THAT THEY CAN BE FORGIVEN AND GIVEN A NEW HEART, A NEW START, A NEW LIFE AND LIVE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND HIM ALONE

AMEN

Keith

This is the story and my testimony of my wasted years, one thing, you will get from me, is my honesty. May this testimony inspire and challenge you. My name is Keith Hobkirk, I am a simple Christian servant of the Only true God, who redeemed  from sin, death and hell. I hope my story touches you life.

MY STORY                       

I am going to be seventy soon (well in 2029), just before my sixteenth birthday I trusted Christ as Saviour, but he never had total control of my life. My wilderness years were between 1986 and 2001, from the ages of 27 to 42. These were the best years of my life.. I cry with pain often because of this.

Most of my life, spiritually speaking has been wasted, why because I didn’t obey God, I went my own way, did my own thing.

Life lived not being obedient to God for the Christian is wasted. You have him as Saviour, but never as Lord.

I trusted Christ, but have spent most of my life sadly fighting against him, rather than living for Him.

Has he restored me?

Yes, and he is my everything, I owe God everything, without Him, I am nothing.

My story is a warning, to any of you, follow God with your whole heart, never take your eyes off Jesus.

The devil comes to kill steal and destroy, he has taken some of the best of my life, deceiving me that I could live without God.

Don’t let him fool you Christian, keep your eyes fixed on Christ.

I cant change the past, but I can do two things.

I can warn others of the mistakes I made and then live like never before for my Saviour and Lord.

I am restored and completely forgiven, but the sadness still remains.

William Borden once said

No reserves

No regrets

May you live for Him, without reserve and having no regrets

In Christ

Kk