Jeremiah 45 5 And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest. 

。

” WHY DO WE SERVE GOD?

It is always good to do some self examination. 

 The Lord uses this verse to question us: 

Are we serving God to further our own agenda?

Are our motives pure before God? 

God requires not just outward purity in our service for him, but our motives/inner life must be pure.

God says us to, are we seeking to further ourselves and to enhance our standing in the world? 

 It is dangerous, especially for people who share gospel truths online, to seek their own agenda, God says: 

 SEEK THEM NOT 

All of us, me especially need to check our motives, we must remember we are not here to promote ourselves but Christ. 

 God bless you’ 

 KK

JOB 42

Then Job answered the Lord and said:

2 “I know that you can do all things,
    and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
    but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
    and repent[a] in dust and ashes.”

THE FIRST TIME

One of my favourite songs is the first time by Mercy me. It sort of sums up this passage.

When we meet Job in chapter 1, he seems like a mature believer, but through his suffering, he can have his eyes opened to the true majesty and power of God.

You know,  we can know all about God in theory, in head knowledge, but we have to encounter him dynamically and directly.

Could Job of come to this realisation if he hadn’t gone through all he had been through, probably not. To teach us and stretch us, God has to put us through the fire, not to hurt us, but to burn off all the dross and unwanted things from our lives.

Job felt like many new believers do, a stunning realisation of God’s majesty and power, a freshness and joy that no one could contain.

Look at what it made him do; Come to a realisation that he was nothing and God was everything, come to a place of repentance, an ability to forgive the three loudmouths, his so called friends.

What did God do?. He gave him twice as much.

May you and I come to not just know God in the hearing of the ear, but may our eyes see the glory, beauty and majesty of God.

Here are the words to the song;

Day after day
I try to explain You
Like I can contain You in so many words
You are the ocean
And I’m on the shoreline
Thinking I know you like You could be learned 

It’s so amazing that You’d ever save me

I thought I knew Your face
I thought I tasted grace
But I had never felt anything close to this
Just when I’d seen it all
New mercy breaks the dawn
With my eyes open wide
It feels like the first time, first time
It feels like the first time, first time

This sums up Job’s words and sum up my thoughts, God is so much bigger than me. He is the ocean and I’m on the shoreline.

Job thought he had tasted grace, but he had never come face to face with the living God.

We need to meet with God, not just know Him in theory, but to meet him in person through constant communion and quietness.

May you and I have that deep communion, He desires it, but DO WE?

GOD BLESS YOU

KEITH

Breaking or Closing the Box

“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 broke the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whomsoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come a forehand to anoint my body to the burying. 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. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them… Mark 14:3-10.”

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? 2 Corinthians 4:6-7: “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 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

The Power of One

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance… Luke 15:7.”

The gospels record many accounts of Jesus preaching and teaching to thousands of people during His ministry on earth. In fact, the word “multitude” occurs 40 times in Matthew’s gospel. But His most powerful experiences came when He was ministering to the individual. Consider the following examples:

Nicodemus John 3
Woman at the well John 4
The leprous man Luke 5:12-14
The woman with the issue of blood and Jairus’ daughter Luke 8:40-56
The thief on the cross and the centurion at the cross

The early church also reached large crowds, but also touched individuals:

The Crippled Man Acts 3
The Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8
The Philippian Jailer, Lydia and the Young girl Acts 16

In Luke 15, Jesus teaches us that the lost have value in the kingdom of God. Heaven’s greatest celebration is not over the multitudes who know Christ, but over the one who comes to Him in faith.

Do you know of someone who needs to respond to Christ’ gift of salvation?

Consider this: You would not have come to Christ, if someone hadn’t prayed for you and shared the gospel; Not only can you pray for the one, you can share the gospel with the one.

Let’s pray and then share the gospel and then let the precious Holy Spirit do his work of grace.

How can we reach the world? One sinner at a time.

Think of how many souls we could reach if each one of us would take the time to share the Good News with one who is lost.

Which One will you pray for? Which One will you share the gospel with?

God bless you, Keith