The Sounds of War

“Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry… Jeremiah 4:19.”

Jeremiah was a watchman on the wall. He saw and heard the sound of the invading armies. The church is fighting a desperate battle, and in many cases, it is being invaded and we are losing the battle. Well, the armies that we are facing today are not soldiers, but they are the ideas and ways of the world.

The false prophets in Jeremiah’s day were saying, “Peace, peace,” and there was no peace. What are many pastors and church leaders saying today? They are saying it’s ok to behave like the world; it’s ok to bring worldly music or worldly entertainment into the church; it’s ok to bring the prosperity gospel into the church.

Have we a heart like Jeremiah? His heart was stirred and so were his lips. He couldn’t keep silent. We are not at peace, one day we will have true peace, but until then, we are at war. Have we heard the sound of the trumpet? Jeremiah had heard it, and he couldn’t keep silent. Pastors are the principal watchmen on the walls. They are to sound the trumpet, the warning signal, if you aren’t doing it, they must question why they are in the ministry.

Ministers of the gospel are not here to tickle ears or make people comfortable. The Bible warns tin 2 Timothy 4:3: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” Many churches are so dead, that even if a preacher of the Word came in and sounded the alarm, the church would remain dead.

Is there a sound of war in your life? We are in a war; a daily battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. Are you responding to the sound of the trumpet? The enemy is seeking to break down the wall of the church.

We are to defend the gospel, fight back and take action. Pray God would grant us a heart like Jeremiah.

God bless you, Keith 

1 TIMOTHY 6

 20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

GUARDING THE DEPOSIT

When I was young, I went to buy bottles of pop from our newspaper shop, i received something back if I kept them unbroken, so My mother and Father made sure I was careful with these bottles, but being me, I sometimes broke them.

Timothy is Paul’s protégé, he is the one earmarked by Paul to take over as leader of the churches. He has been trained by Paul, he has had time and effort invested into Him.

Paul has deposited the knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ into his heart, throughout these two letters of 1 &2 Timothy, he pleads with his protégé to keep strong and to keep the true gospel safe. 

Paul knows more than most that there were many false teachers who were trying to steal the gospel.

The words of Paul echo down to us, each generation has been entrusted with the gospel and NOW it is their responsibility to deposit it with the next.

Let me ask you this:

How much depositing of the gospel have you done to the next generation?

Now I am a bit older, it is my responsibility to deposit the true gospel unto the next generation of Timothy’s.

Many of us need to have a legacy and that legacy should be the one Paul has, one of not just sharing the gospel, with his current generation, but passing it on to the future generations.

Older Christian, are you mentoring a younger Christian?

I have a dear friend in China, who I taught English too, when I first came to China. I have been able to pass on books, sermons etc to encourage not just him but others. There are older Christians reading this, who may have books at home that are just lying there, if they are good, get them into the hands of a young Christian’s.

Also, to the Timothy’s, guard the gospel you have been given with your life. It is the very power of God unto salvation unto all who believe, it has been deposited in your life, now it’s time to pass the deposit on.

Don’t break or lose the deposit, like I did when I broke the bottles (that only happened once or twice), but my father wasn’t half mad.

If you do break or lose the deposit, it will be God himself that you will answer to, so guard WITH YOUR LIFE.

Are you guarding your deposit or have you lost it？

God bless you

WORKING TOGETHER WITH GOD AND EACH OTHER

1 Corinthians 3

4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

I really want us to concentrate on verse 9. 。

We are workers together with God 

You know there are many gifts among the body of Christ. My brothers and sisters, we are not in competition with each other, we are workers together with God and with each other. 

I am blessed to write and share and to be in ministry, as are many others, that doesn’t mean I am in competition with other people who are writers and indeed write fifty times better than myself. 

A dear sister writes beautiful poetry, that is her gifting from God. I can’t write poetry, am I jealous?.. No. Do I thank God for her ministry?….Yes. 一

Maybe you think you can do something someone else is doing.. but are you prepared to pay the price.. to go through the difficulties that person may have encountered. The Lord does not give out gifts until that person is ready to handle it.

。

I always remember when the Lord started me writing.. I had never written before and I put emoticons at the bottom of the messages .. but the Lord has helped me and taught me.

We are to thank God for the different offices and gifts that people hold. Let us remember it is the Holy Spirit who gives out the gifts and ministries and every one he gives out is to the person who can uniquely do that role within the body of Christ.

Please read and study 1 Corinthians Chapter 12.

You have your own unique role in the Body of Christ, one that has been chosen for you by the Father and given to you through the operation of his Spirit, who also gives you the power to operate in it. 

Be very careful believer, not to be unhappy with the spiritual gift you have been given, that would be to grieve the Holy Spirit and to tell Him, that he doesn’t know what he is doing, when he clearly does. 

For those of you, who do not know what their gift is, then seek God’s face on the matter, he will reveal what He has in store for you and he will give you the strength to operate in that gift. 

When the Lord is looking for people to use, he does not look at what denomination you are in, what size church you are in or what the size of your bank balance is.. he looks for a willingness to serve Him and to also serve the Body of Christ.

Let me finish with a question.

If the Lord said your gifting was washing up and serving tea every week after church, would you accept that or would you complain? Be very careful not to complain, the Israelites got nowhere and died in the desert because of their complaining and critical spirit. see Numbers 14

God Bless you all

JEREMIAH 4

19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

HAVE YOU RESPONDED TO THE TRUMPET?

Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet, he was in agony about the situation in Judea.

The whole country was being invaded by Babylon, the whole country was in serious trouble, the trumpet was to be blown chapter 4:5.

The situation that was happening in Judea is similar to the situation that is happening to the church in today’s world, we are surrounded by enemies big and small.

When we read these verses, we need to ask ourselves some questions:

Is your heart in anguish over the situation in your country/church? To be in anguish means to be in intense pain.

Can you hold your peace? If you see the situation and you keep quiet, God has appointed ALL of us to be watchmen Isaiah 62:6. If we do not speak, we are guilty of people’s blood Ezekiel Chapters 3 and 33.

In Verse 5, of this chapter, we hear that the trumpet is being sounded. Are you sounding it? Are you hearing it?

This is an alarm for war.

We are in a battle not a playground. Too many Christians hear the sound of the trumpet and ignore it.

It is an alarm for war, believer, get up, gird yourself with your spiritual armour and start to fight.

Amen

God bless you

---

MARK 5

35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe.

WHY TROUBLEST THE MASTER?

This is what many in the church say to people who have been praying over something for a long time.

Maybe it’s time to stop asking God for this or that. You have been praying for a husband/wife for twenty years or more and still no answer, look your dream is dead.

They will say to you, why are you still troubling God with this request? He has obviously given you his answer and it’s no! Sometimes that is the case, but more often than not, it is not God’s time… yet.

I prayed for a wife for many years, gone through many heartaches and tried to do it myself, it was only when I got to the end of myself and said I am giving up Lord, that the Lord graciously acted and brought my beloved Helen into my life.

Nothing could be more dead than a dead body and yet as soon as Jesus heard the words, your daughter is dead. He spoke these words and said to Jairus, “Be not afraid only believe.”

He says the same to you believer, your dream may seem dead, but it isn’t. Jesus is going to breathe life into it. His timing is perfect because he knows all. Ask for his will to be done in your situation and see how God works. It is truly amazing to witness.

Don’t be afraid only believe.

God bless you
kk

JOSHUA 4

5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

ALSO VERSES 20-24

WHAT DO THESE STONES MEAN TO YOU?

We all have days we want to remember, special days in our lives.

One of my special days is on the 30th June, that was the day I first landed in China, another special day is the 28th October, our wedding day.

To remember those days, we may take pictures or create a keepsake of the moment.

Here the children of Israel placed twelve stones in the Jordan River, one for each tribe.

The Lord wanted these stones to be placed for a memorial so that future generations would see what the Lord did to bring the children of Israel into the promised land.

There were two miracle crossings: one to get the children of Israel out of Egypt and another to get the children of Israel into the promised land.

What do these stones mean to you? to me, they mean the following things:

They mean that we serve a mighty God.  Consider what God did to the waters of the Jordan and the Red Sea

They mean that we serve a God who keeps His promises, and that what he says he will do

They mean that God is gracious and merciful, not only to Israel, but to you and me

They mean that God’s love never fails. He never gives up on His people

They mean that we serve a faithful God, who never leaves us or forsakes us

They mean that God has been with me throughout my journey, and He will be with me until I take my last breath

These stones are a reminder to me, that God is the one who has led me, guided me, helped me and provided for me and is the very reason I live and have my being

What do these stones mean to you?

God bless you

KK

UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE 

” And he said unto them, where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, what manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him…Luke 8:25.”  

This is the question that the Lord asked his disciples, ‘Where is your faith?    If we read the story carefully, Jesus is with them in the boat, but he is asleep, after all Jesus was human like us and sometimes got tired.  

So often in our lives, we act if Jesus was asleep, we don’t ask Him to guide us until we like the disciples have our lives filled with water and are in danger of sinking.    We so often go to Jesus as a last resort, after all our efforts have failed. The disciples tried to row to shore but they tried in their own strength.. just like us at times.  

Are you trying to row your own boat.? to borrow a metaphor.. you are up the creek without a paddle.    We have Jesus in our lives, but we act like he is asleep, he is there for us, to go and call on in prayer and he will come and calm our storm. But we must ask Him.  

Jesus knew what was happening and what the disciples were going through, but he waited and waited for them to call Him. God is waiting to hear your call, in the midst of the storm, don’t try to row to land or empty the boat of water.    Jesus asked the disciples.. and he asks us, where is your faith?   Is it in your own efforts, in your own methods or in ME?    Go to GOD IN PRAYER, who is the STORM CALMER.    Until you do, you are up the creek without a paddle  

God bless you 

Keith

ANSWER GOD’S QUESTION

” And the Lord said unto Moses, how long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws…Exodus 16:28.”  

The Israelites have just come across the Red sea and that’s a true miracle.  God had provided food in the form of manna and quails, he had given them instructions, how they had to collect it and still some of the children of Israel went out to collect it on the seventh day.. 

Throughout the history of the children of Israel, God told them the consequences of associating with the people in the land of Canaan, but they did not listen.  This is the same in the church today. God gives specific instructions to his church.  Many Christians see obedience to the word of God as a pick and mix option but you cannot choose which commands to obey and which to ignore  

We are told not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers but how many Christians marry non-Christians saying they love them? (See 2 Cor 6:14)   Obedience to God’s word is paramount. Saul failed to completely obey God and it hurt God’s heart (1 Samuel 15:11). Obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22), God wants your obedience. . After all you claim to call him Master and Lord.   You say you are a soldier in the King’s army.   Well, soldiers are to obey their commanding officer.

God bless you 

Keith

GENESIS 1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

AND GOD SAID

So many people think that Biblical creation is a myth. Well, I have news for you…it isn’t! As a born-again Bible believing Christian, let me assure you that it is true.

How you ever seen a bookcase with bookends?

If you take one of these away, every book will fall. It is the same with creation. The creation account is one bookend on which the rest of the Bible stands. If the creation account is not perfect, then the whole Bible falls.

Let us share with you some of the doctrines that are taught in the first three chapters of Genesis:

The Trinity – Ch. 1:26

Original sin – Ch. 3

The fall – Ch. 3

Man’s depravity – Ch. 3

The cross – Ch. 3:15

Redemption of man – Ch. 3

Marriage – Ch. 1-2

Creation shows us the power of the Word of God.  Hebrews 11:3 says, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God.” It is not our job to prove that the world was created by God; we believe it by faith, and we declare that faith to others.

So many in the church question to Bible’s account of the creation.  Belief in the creation is not anti-science; it is faith in God’s Word.  Some of our greatest scientists are Christians.  Many of them are working on a vaccine to combat the Coronavirus.  There are doctors and nurses who believe the creation who are saving lives around the world by providing medical treatment to those with this deadly disease.  

Many years ago in the UK, there was a popular Christian magazine called Buzz. One month it had an article by Dwayne Gish of the Creation Research Institute. Many so-called Christians wrote in the next month, stating he was wrong to defend Biblical creation, and the next month, the believers who believed in Biblical creation had a chance to reply, me included. I have never done this before or since; I asked a question, “if we don’t believe the Creation account, why believe the rest of the Bible?”  

Nearly forty years later, I stand with the same conviction today. Why do I believe it?  BECAUSE GOD SAID IT.

GOD BLESS YOU

KK

ISAIAH 58

13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,

    from doing your pleasure on my holy day,

and call the Sabbath a delight

    and the holy day of the Lord honourable;

if you honour it, not going your own ways,

    or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;

14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,

    and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;

I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,

    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

MAKE SUNDAY SPECIAL

Is Sunday special to you?

We say we will go to church, Sunday school (if you are in America), or if we are really spiritual, we may even go to the Sunday evening service.

What about the rest of the day? Is that yours to enjoy? Once we have attended church, do we say, “We have done our duty?”

It is not enough to go to church: we are called to delight in the day that is set aside to worship our God. After church, it is so difficult not to watch TV and do our own thing. I am not saying that you should sit in the pews from sunrise to sunset, but you should have an attitude of worship that extends beyond the typical church service.

One of the best things to do is not to talk idly, especially after church.  To talk idly, is to engage in gossip and conversations that lead to discord among fellow believers.

A final question: How will you glorify God on the day set aside to worship Him?  Will you limit your worship to the time you spend in church, or will you give God praise in your home, and throughout your day?

God bless you

KK

QUIET QUICK AND QUALITY SERVICE

Matthew 6

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Service standards go up and down in the world, some people serve you well and others leave you with a sour taste in your mouth. but as Christians, how are we to serve people?

Jesus makes it clear that our service is not to be like the world, the people in the world, parade their good works to everyone, they want everyone to know what they have done.

First of all, our service has to be done Quietly, as my Dear friend and Pastor, Mark Johnstone said to me, live for an audience of one. This is what our Lord is saying, serve selflessly, do not trumpet your service.

Secondly, it has to be done Quickly, many times we have opportunities for service, but we don’t take them. they are fleeting and come and go very quickly, we need to pray that opportunities will come along to serve. I have learnt, that although i don’t particular like washing the pots, taking out the trash, when I see it as an opportunity to serve others and glorify God, it takes on a new meaning.

Thirdly, I should always be done, with Quality. After all, look at who we are serving, yes, we are serving others, but we are serving Jesus. when we cook food for others, it should be good enough that Jesus would enjoy it.

All our service, should have one motive and that is the glory of God. Yes, we should serve our fellow believers, but we do things for an audience of one.

The service, we do silently is seen by God, he sees what we do. He will reward, and remember, service done in secret, that nobody sees, will have a reward, if you give a cup of cold water to someone, it will be rewarded, this is the smallest thing we can do and yet the one, who sees all things, will reward you.

We love picking up reward points at our local store and online, let me ask you.

How many reward points will the Lord give you。

Remember to serve like Jesus did Philippians 2:5-11

God bless you

Keith

GALATIANS 3

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”[d] 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 

CURSED AND CONDEMMED

Are you relying on your works and the works of the law?

Then you are under a curse, if you don’t obey all of it, James says in chapter 2:

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Listen, you cannot obey the whole law.  No one can; if you fail in only one point, you have failed to keep the whole law and stand condemned.

The law takes us to court. Imagine if you break the law: Let’s say you break the speeding law, you go 55 in a school zone, you come before the judge and you will have to take your punishment.

The defence of so many people, is well, “Judge, I have kept every other road rule and I have done many good things to help people.”

Just because we have kept some of the law does not mean we can rely on it for protection from it.

Likewise, when we come before the Judge of the universe, we cannot say, “I have kept virtually every part of the law. Yes, I have failed in a couple of points.” This won’t cut it.

A Christian or righteous one lives by faith. He is not obsessed in keeping the law, but lives through the power of Christ, as Paul said in Galatians 2:20, that he is crucified with Christ. He is living life through Christ and not in adherence to the law.

The law brings us to court and condemns us; we are under its curse, the weight of sin on us. We cannot remove this curse; the curse is stuck on us and however hard we try; we cannot remove it.

So, stop trying to be justified through observance of the law! The justified shall live by faith.

What is that faith? It is faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. That allows us to be imputed with His righteousness and able to do the works that are pleasing to Him.

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives 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.

Romans 3:9-18 state that no one ever seeks God. Yes, we seek after religion and our self-importance. When I was an unbeliever, I went to church, I glanced at the Bible, but I couldn’t say that I ever sought God.

9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understand Eth, there is none that seeks after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

13 Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:

17 And the way of peace have they not known:

18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

The curse of the law cannot and will not be removed by serving the law, because none of us can keep the law perfectly.

It needs someone who can keep that law perfectly and therefore can remove the curse of the law. JESUS stands in our place.

Praise be to God, that He has provided a way that we can have peace with God.

God bless you

KK

GALATIANS 3

13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hanged on a tree:

14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

COMMENDED AND NOT CONDEMNED

The law curses us and condemns us; we stand no chance if we are matched against the law, and we are found guilty and have no answer to its requirements.

We have violated God’s law and deserve the full force of God’s judgement and condemnation. We stand in the dock, condemned by the law, the judge is ready to pass just sentence, but instead of condemning us, in Christ He forgives us, because the curse has been taken by someone else.

The full curse has been taken by his sinless Son, who has taken the curse for us.

We have a wonderful picture of what the Bible calls imputation in Zechariah 3:

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.

4 And he answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

We are brands plucked out of the fire, literally we have been plucked from the very edge of hell, by God’s grace.

Now we stand before God, righteous, because the curse has been removed; it has been taken and destroyed by One who is perfect. He fulfilled the law in every point and so we are now justified.

Look at what Paul says in Romans 3 and 5:

3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

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;

5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

In verse 20, no one is justified by the works of the law, no one.

But in Chapter 5, if we trust Christ and him alone for salvation, we are justified, we have access to God, we have peace with Him. We stand in this grace; we can stand before God, clothed in the righteousness of CHRIST.

As Paul again says in 2 Corinthians 5

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The curse removed! We no longer stand condemned, but stand commended to God. There is no condemnation for us! What an amazing truth; this should make us shout HALLELUJAH!!

Romans 8

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Look at verse 2, we are now FREE! The curse has been removed by Christ.

Look at verse 3; what the law couldn’t do, God did through His Son.

Now that too should make you shout HALLELUJAH!!

IT DOES ME

KK

DEUTERONOMY 4

39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in

thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven

above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

NO ONE ELSE IS LIKE YOU O LORD

All through Scripture there are many verses,

that virtually say the same thing.

There is nothing that comes even close to the Lord.

He is above everything. It says that His

thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not his ways.

The Lord is on a level that is ten trillion times above us.

You know, we should consider this in our heart,

because when we truly think on this, we will

just be lost in wonder and amazement.

How can the Lord who is so mighty and so glorious in

majesty have any interest in me? For the Lord to love me,

is completely mind blowing.

The Lord is so totally awesome; He is so wonderful..

and yes He loves me and He loves you. The One who is

like no other loves you like no one else can.

Ponder this in your heart… and let it sink deep into your spirit.

Oh one day, we will spend eternity in His presence… with joy beyond words!

God bless you
KK

Philippians 3

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

All that we say should be focused on heavenly things, I completely, fail in this area.

How often is our speech filled with the rubbish of the world?

We are to speak about Heaven, and that should be our focus in all we say.

Our focus should be on Heaven.

Secondly, we should speak in a way that glorifies Heaven.

We are citizens of Heaven. Amen.

We are just passing through this world, on route to our true home.

Yes, one day my friends, we will be with Jesus.

It’s often said “home is where the heart is”, and for the Christian that is true.

Do we live as if we are citizens of Heaven?

In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, it says we are Ambassadors for Christ.

I am British, but I live in China, all the average Chinese person knows about Britain comes from what they see in the limited number of British people they see and meet.

I am the only reflection of Britain that many Chinese people will ever see.

Likewise you are, the only reflection of Christ that many people will see.

Is your speech and conduct reflecting your citizenship?

Do you glorify God in everything you do?

Do you bring a little peace of Heaven to everywhere you go and everyone you meet？

If you were taken to court for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Such as the fruit of the spirit?

DL Moody once said,

1 person will read the Bible, but 99 would read the Christian

Someone else said

You are the only Bible someone would ever read.

After meeting you, would they ever want to read that Bible again?

God Bless You,

KK

EZEKIEL 34

2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

FALSE SHEPHERDS

Over a period of 400 years, prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and others warned the people to put away their idols and return to the Lord.  Israel not only rejected the message, they killed some of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  In the Book of Ezekiel, the children of Israel are in captivity in the land of Babylon.  In this passage, God condemns the leaders of His people for serving themselves, while neglecting those who were under their care.  In this passage, God refers to His people as “His sheep.”  Jesus also refers to those who follow Him as “Sheep.” (See John 10).

Ezekiel is not the only prophet God used to show His anger towards the leaders of His people.  In the book of Jeremiah, God displays His utter disappointment with the pastors and prophets.  One of the most powerful chapters of the Bible is Jeremiah 23.  While Jeremiah was preaching repentance and impending judgment,  these preachers were lying to the people, saying that there would be peace.  

The Babylonian army had come twice and taken people to Babylon; Jeremiah warned the people not to resist, but his message was rejected.  The people did not believe that judgment would come until King Nebuchadnezzar broke through the walls of Jerusalem.  For Christians, the question is, “What does God have to break in your life before you realize that He is trying to get your attention?”

It appears that the church has learned very little from Israel’s failings and faults.

We have preachers that refuse to preach against sin, enriching themselves with tithes and offerings, while neglecting to teach the whole counsel of scripture.

Churches are crumbling, saints are struggling and pastors are saying that everything will be okay.

Let me give you an example. The website Covenant eyes says that 65% of Christian men view porn images once a month.  Also, it is reported that 49% of Christian’s believe that there are multiple ways to heaven. The purity and belief of the pew is directly linked to the purity and power coming from the pulpit.

Ezekiel tells these false shepherds that they have sought to “tickle people’s ears.”  Look at what he says in verses 2 and 3, the shepherds “feed not the flock.”

As a pastor or teacher reading this:

Are you feeding the flock of God vs 2-3?

God is calling for preachers and pastors to be true to His Word and His people.  To place the cross above popularity, politics and profits.  Let us pray that we do not relive the pain and suffering experienced by the children of Israel.  

Luke 4

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

    and recovering of sight to the blind,

    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Jesus is the true shepherd.  He will feed his flock, He will open the eyes of the blind, and bind up the wounds of the broken.  He will lead HIs sheep to green pastures.

There is an old hymn which says, “What a friend we have in Jesus!  All our needs and griefs to bear.  What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.”  There is no need too great for our Lord.  He is our Shepherd.  He is our Savior.  He is our Friend.  He is our all.  Trust Him today.

If you are looking for peace in these troubling times, give your burdens to the Lord and receive HIs rest.  

God bless you

ISAIAH 62

6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silent.

ARE YOU A WATCHMAN?

Nanjing is surrounded by high mountains and it has a wall that is over 200 feet high.  It stretches around the entire city providing a defence against potential invaders.

There is a big wall like Nanjing or York in the UK, but if you don’t have anyone on the wall to sound the alarm when it is attacked, then the city will be taken by the enemy.

Nowadays more than ever, we need people who will sound the alarm…especially to the church.

The walls of the church are being attacked by misguided believers, the world and the devil.  Where are the Christians who will sound the alarm?

In Ezekiel chapters 3 and 33, the prophet is commanded to warn the people when he sees judgment coming. If he failed to do so, then he would be held accountable for what happened to the people.  Has God called us to warn the people of our day?  I believe He has…Spurgeon said ” If you have no desire to see others saved, then you are not saved yourself”

You can be a watchman by:

Warning the church of dangers…that is telling them about false teachers

Warning the unconverted about the judgement to come

It’s time!

Time to get out of our comfort zone!  

Time to get off the sofa!  

Time to turn off the TV and get onto the wall and sound the alarm!

God bless you

NUMBERS 11

27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

28 And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men answered and said, my Lord Moses, forbid them.

29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!

MOSES BEAUTIFUL RESPONSE:

The children of Israel were complaining again; this time, they wanted flesh to eat, instead of manna. 

God had provided seventy people to prophesy around the tabernacle, and two of them were undertaking prophesy in the camp.

Joshua, who was Moses’s assistant, is pretty upset and comes to Moses to say that these two men should not be doing this in the camp.

The response of Moses is so beautiful, and it can teach us so much.  

So often, we have people who are doing something outside the box, so, to speak. That doesn’t mean they are wrong.  

We try to put people in a box, and the Spirit of God cannot and will not be confined.

MATTHEW HENRY (Commentary) SAYS THIS:

(1.) We must not secretly grieve at the gifts, graces, and usefulness of others.

It was John’s disciples’ fault that they envied Christ’s honor because it shaded their master’s, John 3:26-36.

(2.) We must not be transported into heat against the weaknesses and infirmities of others. 

Granted, Eldad and Medad were guilty of an irregularity, yet Joshua was too quick and too warm upon them.

Our zeal must always be tempered with the meekness of wisdom: the righteousness of God needs not the wrath of man (James 1:20).

(3.) We must not make even the best and most useful men heads of a party. Paul would not have his name used to patronize a faction (1 Corinthians 1:12-13). 

 (4.) We must not be quick to condemn and silence those that differ from us as if they did not follow Christ because they do not follow him with us (Mark 9:38). Shall we reject those whom Christ has owned or restrain any from doing good because they are not in everything of our mind?

Our response in today’s church should be the same as what he said in verse 29.

 What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 14:1-5? He is of the same heart as Moses. Amen.  

Finally, he says that he wishes that all people would have the spirit of God upon them?

Let our prayer be that: (capitals are my words), is this your wish that all the people of God are holy and full of his spirit) would God that all the Lord’s people were HOLY, and that the Lord would put his spirit IN them!

Instead of trying to restrict believers from serving God because they do things differently to our rule book, and yes, we need to careful to discern false teachers. Still, we need to encourage people with true spiritual gifts to use them.

We should want all of our brothers and sisters to use their gifts. There are too many pew-sitters in our churches, after all.

KK

JOB 42

3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

JOB’S CLEAR VISION

Job had gone through a lot and now God has responded to him in the form of a whirlwind.  God did not tell Job why he permitted the devil to afflict Job. Please note that this affliction did not come from God; He allowed Satan to afflict Job up to a point.  Satan was allowed to take everything from Job except one thing…his life.  

It says later in the Bible, that the thoughts of God are far above our thoughts.  Our finite minds are unable to fully comprehend the purpose of God.  This is especially true when it comes to suffering.  God rest on top of Mount Sinai, and we like the Children of Israel or at the base of the mountain.  

Job’s vision here is beautiful, it is like the one given later to Isaiah. Both of them knew God, they had heard God, they were in fellowship with God, God had spoken to them, but now through divine revelation, God had revealed himself to them.

Note both of Isaiah’s and Job’s vision had some similarities:

They both knew God, he had spoken to them, but this was something deeper. You know you can go to church for years and you can say like Job, I have heard thee by the hearing of the word, but now I see you. We need to have a vision of the glory of God like both Isaiah and Job had and indeed like Moses did. John had the same thing, he knew Jesus personally, he was the one who leaned on Jesus, but in Revelation 1, he had a vision of the glorified Jesus.

They all had the same response, they all fell on their faces. Moses, John, Isaiah and Job all fell on their faces in light of the awesome majesty of God.  Confronted by the majesty and holiness of God, Isaiah and Job became aware of their sinfulness.  And in each instance God showed them mercy.  And He longs to show us mercy as well.

Too many Christians spend their lives listening to good preaching, and enjoying great worship, and yet they never experience a deep and moving relationship with the Lord.  

What about you?

Have you heard the word of God, but have not responded to it?  When we meet Job he is very religious.  The Bible calls him “ blameless.” Was he saved?  He certainly had faith in God, and in the end the Lord honored that faith by healing his body and restoring all that was lost.  Today, we do not need for God to appear in a whirlwind in order to experience His presence in our lives.  We have His Word.  Jesus said, “That if any man comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.  Here’s a question:  Have you experienced the presence of God?  Is He real in your soul?  The same God who spoke to Job is speaking to you today.  Turn away from your sins and make Him Lord of your life today.  

God bless you

Keith

ZEPHANIAH 3
17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

A FORGOTTEN GEM

So, how often have you read this book? Be honest now.

In its closing verses, we have this absolute crackerjack of a verse, and yes it does refer to Jerusalem, but it holds so much for us.

First of all, it states that God is mighty, too often we forget this, we worry and are anxious about every little thing, if only we remembered that the LORD IS MIGHTY

Secondly, he dwells right in the midst of us, in the OT he dwelt in the midst of his people, in the NT, he dwells in his people, this is the glorious truth, whatever we are going through, Jesus is there with us, whether it is a time of grief, a time of joy or a time of suffering. Hebrews 2

Thirdly, he will save. This is something he has done, will do and will continue to do. He saves us from sin at salvation, but also he saves us from making so many bad decisions throughout our lives, through his guidance by his word.

Three things here are totally amazing, we always wonder, what people think of us, when we should be thinking about, what God thinks about us, here in these three short statements is what he thinks about us:

He rejoices over you with joy, you are his child, you are his treasured possession.

The ESV says, he will quiet thee with his love, Jesus says come unto me and I will give thee rest, truly being loved by God is the best thing in the world, it soothes the anxious soul and calms the wounded breast.

He rejoices over you with singing, I can imagine, that this is what the Lord was doing with Job, he was rejoicing over him with singing. This is what we mean to the Lord.

I started this devotion, by saying that this verse, is a forgotten gem, let me finish it, by saying, you are not forgotten believer.

To God you are the richest ruby, the prized diamond, the sparkling sapphire, you were bought with the precious blood of Christ, you are God’s special treasure Ephesians 1:3-14 1 Peter 1

Treasure this verse, treasure its truths, carry them with you and repeat it, next time the devil seeks to tell you, that you are worthless.

Amen

God bless you

KK
ISAIAH 1
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?

I have read many books and none start quite like this, Isaiah jumps right in, it’s like what we say in my home county of Yorkshire, he calls a spade a spade, he gets straight to the point. amen.

The Lord is making clear to Judah, their sin and iniquity, he is making clear his hatred of their so-called worship, which is nothing but idolatry covered up with a veneer of worship.

I wonder if the words of these verses, resonate with you.

They certainly do with me, you may say, oh that is Judea, it’s not like the present day, it’s more like the present day than we think.

Even our sacrifices and our meetings are not acceptable to God, God wants people to worship him in Spirit and in truth John 4:24.

Although Isaiah starts off his book like this, there is hope even amongst this first chapter, look at verse 18:

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

He is always reaching out to his church, however much we rebel and disobey him. What us disobey and rebel against God?

Look at the book of Revelation chapters 2-3, five out of the seven churches were flawed, if that was the ratio then, we should be very worried.

Isaiah though is a book of hope, it is a book that throughout its pages offers a way back, glorious chapters such as Chapter 6, 52-53 and 55, offer glorious hope. Verses that tell of the coming messiah such as Chapter 7:14 and 9:6, bring us hope along with many others.

God is saying to his church in this chapter and in many chapters in Isaiah:

DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?

The point is:

ARE YOU TAKING NOTICE?

GOD BLESS YOU

All Glory to God



“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. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us… 2 Corinthians 4:6-7.”

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. But the real reason, He saves us is to bring absolute and total glory unto Him and Him alone.

God saves us and, therefore, He deserves all the glory. That is why Paul can say we do not give up even though our outer person is being destroyed for our inner person is being renewed day by day.

It is all of God and none of us, and if we know this we can say our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

I hope and pray that you can.

God bless you, Keith

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.

David poses a wonderful question in Psalm 24:

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?

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

KK

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.

Those that are babes cannot tell what is good and what is evil, they are under the control of the evil one, those who are able to handle meat can tell between good and evil.

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

MATTHEW 23

1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:

3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

MOVE YOUR FINGERS

Jesus spoke harshly and exposed the religious leaders of His day.  Many times Jesus warned His disciples about the Pharisee’s hypocrisy;  And He sternly charged His disciples to not follow their example of self-righteousness and pretentious worship.  Which raises the following question: Where did the Pharisees go wrong?  Well, here are three things amongst many:

   PRIDE: The Pharisees sat in the seat of Moses.  Not only did Moses lead Israel out of Egypt…he also judged them.. The seat of Moses is a place of prominence and influence.           

   It is a place where everyone can see and applaud you. This high place caused them to be lifted up in pride.  Proverbs reminds us, “Pride comes before a fall…”

HYPOCRISY: The Pharisees placed burdensome rules upon the people that they themselves were not willing to follow.

CORRUPT: The Pharisees abused their authority by setting expectations on the people to keep them in bondage.

We are not to be like them, in these three ways:

Firstly, we are not to sit in judgement over people. I wonder do we like to sit in the place of judgement and decision making. (See Matthew 7:1-3). Are you craving the best seat in the house?   Do you seek your own glory?

Secondly, we are to do what we say. The greatest form of hypocrisy is to tell people to live a life that we are not willing to live ourselves. For example, if I say to someone, that they must share the gospel and never share it myself, I am acting like a Pharisee. Romans 2:19-25

Thirdly, we are here to liberate people by the gospel of Christ. The Galatian church had a rule book longer than my arm.  Their useless rules were like a ball and chain around their leg, stopping them going forward.  The gospel is not about rules, it is about relationship.  It is about grace.  It is about mercy.

Jesus said that the Pharisees didn’t move even one of their fingers to ease the burden of the people.  And moving your finger is the smallest movement you can make.  We need not only to move our fingers…but we are to move our hearts to serve and to love and to liberate those in bondage by sharing the gospel of Christ.

God bless you

Keith