IS GOD’S FEAR IN YOUR LIFE?

JEREMIAH 2

19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.

20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

I love Jeremiah. He is called the weeping prophet for a good reason for he certainly had something to weep about. I wonder if we weep like Jeremiah did.. and if not why not?

The prophet is reproving Judah, to no effect as it turns out! Solomon says that the fear of the Lord is the very start of wisdom, so these people were not wise, because there was no fear of God before their eyes. I wonder is it the same with us?

Verse 20 is especially sobering for the believer; doesn’t that tell the story of most of our lives. Look at what God has done for us. He has broken the yoke of sin from off us and burst the bands and fear of death that once bound us and we say that we will live lives controlled by His spirit. But in reality, we are playing the harlot.

Am I making anyone squirm yet? Yes, it speaks to us today. It speaks to us individually and as the church. We love all the benefits that God gives us and we make promises that we can’t or won’t keep. Most of the promises we make the Lord aren’t worth anything. They are worthless words. Believe me, I know because I have made these promises to the Lord.

We say we will get rid of some pet sin, but we hold onto it, like a baby holds to a stuffed animal. Why don’t we keep our promises? Because we think the Lord is either forgetful or ignores us but He does neither. He weighs everything we say. When we don’t fear the Lord, I know that I/we have no idea who we are dealing with. This is the one who created the universe in six literal days. This is the one who created every single creature, who made you, who understands all the thoughts of the 7.5 billion people all at the same time.

Maybe we should start to fear him, then we wouldn’t wander far off from HIM and continue to play the harlot. We need to be truthful in our words for we can’t fool the Lord. His thoughts and ways are far higher than ours. God is our father, but he is holy and awesome and deserves our respect and godly fear. Amen

God bless you

Keith

EATING WHAT GOD GIVES YOU

EZEKIEL 2

8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe

Chapter 3

Moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.

2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

Jeremiah said that Judah would end up in exile and like everything God says, it came true. It now comes to Ezekiel to tell the children of Israel some difficult things. As you read the book of Ezekiel, you find he has to say things that are very unpopular. Ezekiel is here receiving his commission from the Lord. Here is one of the most important things any Christian worker can be told.

The first thing is to hear what God says to you. Many Christians are so busy talking, they fail to hear God. They are so busy that they block out the words that the Lord wants to speak to them. Literally, the Lord can’t get a word in edgeways.

Ezekiel was told to eat what God gave him and it wasn’t good. It was mourning and woe. But Ezekiel obeyed. He digested the word of God that the Lord had given Him. Do we digest and meditate on the precious word of God that has been given us, even the parts that we have to dig down into?

In verse 1 of chapter 3, Ezekiel is told to go and speak to the house of Israel, a daunting task as this people were not going to listen. They were rebellious and wouldn’t hear his words. As servants of God, we are told to hear what God says to us and through his word, eat and inwardly digest it so it becomes part of us. Then we speak out it’s truth both within the church and to a needy world.

Are you one who says speak Lord for your servant heareth? Do you digest and meditate on the word of God? (Col 3:16) Do you speak the word of God whether it is in fashion or out of fashion? (2 Timothy 4:1-2)

God bless you

NUMBERS 21

8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

LOOK AND LIVE

Israel had complained again against God and he had sent forth fiery serpents amongst them, and all those who were bit by the serpent died.

This is a picture of sin, the sting of sin is the law:

1 Corinthians 15
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

Sin has bitten all of us, we have been bitten by sin, and we are now dead spiritually.

But there is hope, God told Moses to put a fiery serpent on the pole, so everyone, who was bitten by the serpents, could look and live.

This is one of the greatest pictures of Jesus in the old testament.
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John 3
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Jesus was lifted up, he has placed on the cross and everyone who looked at the cross and acknowledge their sin and trusted in Jesus, could have everlasting life.

But you have to look, you can see the pole with the serpent on it, you can read about it, you can admire it, but do you look at it?

Everyone, who looks at the serpent, lived.

In verse 55-58 of 1 Corinthians 15, the sting of the law was removed:

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

The Christian can say in verse 55, death has no fear for me. I have looked at the cross and now I can live.

He/she can say in verse 57, that he/she has the victory through Christ and that now they can serve God in a new and living way.

Have you looked at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you do, you can experience life in all its fullness.

God bless you
kk

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. （2）我

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). （3）即使是最优秀、最有用的人，我们

 (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.

ISAIAH 40

9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

THREE SIMPLE WORDS

The book of Isaiah is totally amazing and can be divided into two parts.

The first part (chapters 1-39) describes the deep problems of God’s people.

And the second part (chapters 40-66), outlines God’s answer to these problems.. and the answer is summed up in one word.. JESUS.

The children of Israel failed to keep the Law of God; now what they needed was God’s grace.

But to receive that grace they first needed to hear God’s voice.

What is our message to the world? It is the same as the Prophet Isaiah…BEHOLD YOUR GOD!!

We have to get ourselves up into the high mountain, and shout from the heights of the hills, Behold Your God!

You and I cannot reach the world sitting in the pews of the church.

We go to church to worship Christ…we go to the world to do the works of Christ, proclaiming Him to the sinner.

Think about it. Most of the people we meet, will never darken the doors of a church, so how will they hear the gospel?

We have to take it to them.

We are not to tell them that they can have their best life now or gain prosperity by believing in Jesus.

We are to tell them, “Behold your God!”

We tell them that God is real and he offers salvation and eternal life to those who believe.

Are you lifting up your voice with strength and sharing the good news of the gospel?

Are you afraid to share the gospel?

Ask God to give you the boldness to share His Word to the lost.

Do you know someone who needs to hear the gospel?

Take the time to tell them that you love them and to “Behold Your God!”

God bless you
kk

EZRA 7

8 And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

9 For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him.

10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel.

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PREPARING YOUR HEART

Ezra is a forgotten hero of the Bible, he was the priest who came back to Jerusalem to help the Jews rebuild the people.

This journey was a long one, it would have taken months, but God’s hand was upon him.

Why was the letter given to Ezra, what made him qualified to not only carry that letter, but to teach the people?

Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, this man had set his heart to study the statutes of the Lord, but not only to study it, but to do it, you know we can study the word of God, but unless we do it, it is absolutely useless, in the new testament, look at what James says in Chapter 1 of his book:

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Study and meditating on the word of God are good, indeed writing about the word of God is good, but if there is no doing or obedience, then it is worthless.

If I constantly encourage people to read their bible and pray and don’t do it myself, what does that make me? That’s right, I am a hypocrite.

He could teach the statutes of the Lord, because not only did he study the word, he did what he said.

The people recognised it, the King recognised it. If you are true to the word of God and sit under its lordship, you will be able to share it with others.

Note the words in verse 10

set his heart to study the Law of the Lord

Ezra set his heart to study the word of God, he did not set his heart on how many friends he had on Facebook or how many likes he had to his posts, his whole focus was to study and intently know the word of God.

We sometimes ask, why haven’t I been given responsibility to share the word of God?

Maybe, you haven’t been studying and doing what the word of God says.

The word to you is Colossians 3:16, when God’s word takes up residence in your life, it can start to mould you, so like Ezra, you can teach the people, because you are a man who not only studies the word, but does it.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

JC RYLE SAYS THIS:

Doctrine is useless!

(J. C. Ryle)

“If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” John 13:17

Doctrine is useless—if it is not accompanied by a holy life. It is worse than useless; it does positive harm. Something of the ‘image of Christ’ must be seen and observed in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings.

Practically speaking do we set our heart to study the word of God every day, especially when we go to church.

I often think that Saturday night is really important, it is then when we set our hearts on either good or bad things.

If we fill our hearts, with rubbish from the TV on Saturday night:

How do we expect to get anything from the Lord on Sunday morning?

That’s why so many Christians see their bible as a hot potato, they put it down as soon as they pick it up, reading a short devotion is not enough.

Study the word and then do it, like those in Berea

11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

Note, searching the scriptures, led to believing, led to changed lives..amen.

Meditate, practice, pray

(Thomas Brooks, “The Unsearchable Riches of Christ”)

You must meditate and dwell upon what you read; otherwise your pains and mine will be lost.

The more any man is in the contemplation of truth, the more deep and firm impression is made upon his heart by truth.

Heavenly meditation brings out the sweetness that is in divine truths.

Not those who get most–but those who keep most, are richest.

So not those who hear most, or read most–but those who meditate most, are most edified and enriched.

You must also practice and live out what you read.

To read much and practice nothing–is to hunt much and catch nothing.

Ah! what cause have most to sigh, that they have heard so much, and read so much–and yet done so little!

You must also pray over what you read.

Many read much, and pray little, and therefore get little by all they read.

Galen writes of a fish called Uranoscopos, that has but one eye, which looks continually up to heaven.

When a Christian has one eye upon his book–the other should be looking up to heaven for a blessing upon what he reads!

Amen

JEREMIAH 6

15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.

16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

THE OLD PATHS

The tale of the nation of Judah is our story. It is the story of today’s church, surely not! Have we been carried to Babylon?

Obviously, we haven’t been physically been taken away, but we have in a spiritual sense.

Have we also been taken into captivity by some sin and carried off to be far from God?

Why were the children of Israel/Judah taken into captivity?

The first thing is that they weren’t ashamed of their sin, their sin did not make them blush. When sin dulls your mind and you start making excuses for it, then you need to beware, you are on a slippery slope to being taken captive.

Secondly, they were told by Jeremiah how to avoid this, but they refused to respond to rebuke. So many times, they had been told to repent and ask for the old paths; they were presented with the right way; they knew that these paths were good, but they refused to walk in the right path.

Do we know the right path, but still refuse to take it and walk on it?

There is the sound of the trumpet, you think people would listen to it, but again they refused to listen.

You hear the sound of the trumpet every Sunday Morning and Evening, but your mind is so numb that it has little or no effect. Millions and millions of so called Christians go to church every Sunday, but they leave the church no different to the time they entered it. They are one of two things, spiritually dead or spiritually dormant; which are you?

The nation of Israel/Judah had plenty of chances to repent and to turn back to God, but they refused, so they were taken into captivity. This will happen to us, if we don’t return to the Old paths.

It’s like the church in Ephesus in Revelation, we have to return to our first love.

Jesus says let him who has ears to hear to all seven churches, we have not just to listen but to act in repentance and obedience.

God bless you,

KK

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.

THE SOUNDS OF WAR

I love Jeremiah! He 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. What you say, 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.

What were the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day 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.

There is a sound of war church, and what are we doing?

Have we a heart like Jeremiah?

His heart was stirred and so were his lips. He couldn’t keep silent. This is a war situation church, we are not at peace, one day we will have true peace, but until then, we are on a war footing.

Have we heard the sound of the trumpet? This is warning the church! Jeremiah had heard it, and he couldn’t keep silent.

To all the pastors: you are the principal watchmen on the walls. You are to sound the trumpet, the warning signal, if you aren’t doing it, you must question why you are in the ministry.

As ministers of the gospel, we are not here to tickle ears, we are not here to make people comfortable.

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,

So many preachers can’t or won’t speak the truth, they won’t sound the alarm.

Many churches are so dead, that even if a preacher, came in and sounded the alarm, the church would remain dead.

Is there a sound of war in your life?

You are in a war, a daily battle with the world, the flesh and the devil.

Are you responding to the sound of the trumpet?

Are you as a pastor sounding the trumpet?

Are you calling your church members to war?

The church is being invaded; the enemy is seeking to break down the wall of the church. We are to defend the gospel and fight back and take action.

Oh, for a heart like Jeremiah’s… amen

God bless you

GENESIS 41

38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

THE SPIRIT FILLED MAN/WOMAN

Asked this question long ago, and it is still relevant today, indeed God is asking this question all through the bible and indeed all through human history.

Someone once said that man is looking for better methods, but God is looking for better men, and that surely is true.

Joseph had come and explained the dream of Pharaoh, so the answer was staring him right in the face, it seemed a bit of a dumb question if you ask me.

Did Joseph had that made him so Spirit filled, what were his characteristics？

He had the spirit of Wisdom

He was discerning

He had a fear of God

He had a deep hatred of sin and offending God （Genesis 39:9）

He had a quiet patience, not once do we hear Joseph complaining about his circumstances.

God prospered this spirit filled man, because Joseph ultimately brought glory upon His God and not upon himself. He sought to uplift God, he told Pharaoh and others that it was God who give them an answer, not him.

In the first World War there was a poster that said

YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU.

God is calling and his word says,

I NEED MEN AND WOMEN LIKE JOSEPH FULL OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

Are you full of the same spirit that Joseph was?

God will and can use you.Amen. It is time to fill ourselves up to the brim with God’s holy spirit （Ephesians 5:18）

God bless you

Keith

LUKE 5:3-5

3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

TRUE FAITH

True faith is taking God at His Word.  There are many examples of true faith in the Bible, and in this passage, Peter is about to learn that lesson.

To many of His day, Jesus was the new teacher in town, and when He talked, people listened. In this text, Jesus requests the use of a boat in order to keep the crowd from smothering Him as he spoke. The boat that He got into belonged to Peter.  What Peter did not realize is that the moment Jesus stepped into the boat, life would never be the same.  After preaching to the multitude, Jesus turns His attention to a crowd of one: Peter.  He directs his future disciple to launch the boat out into the sea for a catch.

Peter’s response was based on experience. He was being real with Jesus.  Many times, when Jesus asks us to do something that appears not to make sense, we feel the need to get real with Jesus, and tell him our situation, we often stop at the first part of peter’s answer, we often say, we have tried everything, but no result. The response from Peter is incredible, here he is an experienced fisherman and he is trusting this carpenter turned teacher, would you of trusted Jesus.

Remember that Jesus was and is God, he knows everything, he understands everything, his deity shines through in this story, He knows the us totally, he knows our needs and he provides

Peter shared with Jesus the fact that he and his friends had been fishing all night long and caught nothing.  However, Peter did not stop there.  What he says next would change his life forever: “Nevertheless, at Thy Word I will let down the nets.”

Faith looks beyond our obstacles! Perhaps you have toiled all year at your church and seen no fruit…don’t give up!  Keep letting down your nets.  The fish will come in due time.

Peter obeyed Jesus, even when it did not make sense.  After all, Jesus knew little about fish other than how to cook them and eat them.  And now he was telling men with years of experience at sea to let down their nets and get ready for a catch.  Listen carefully: Jesus did not need to know anything about fishing, because He was in control of the sea and the fish that were in it!

 As soon as Peter let down the nets, Jesus called for the fish to fill them!  And that principle works for you and me today.  Jesus knows what we are dealing with, and He has the power to command every situation to bow to His will.  So take Him at His Word, and wait patiently on Him to move on your behalf.

Faith is summed up in this verse in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Peter and his fellow fishermen were tired.  They were frustrated.  They were demoralized.  But, this one act of obedience by Peter transformed a long night of failure to a moment of overwhelming success!  However, there is another important lesson that we must consider here.  After looking at the abundance of fish, and the financial benefit that would come from the catch, Peter took another leap of faith:  He walked away from the fish, and the financial success to follow Christ.  As Christians, there are two insights we gain from this passage: First, We need to take God at His Word and let down our nets.  Second, we need to be willing to walk away from the “catch” and follow Christ, depending on Him and Him alone to meet our needs.

God bless you,

Keith