TEARS THAT TOUCH THE WORLD

“But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for such pride; And my eyes will bitterly weep and flow down with tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive…Jeremiah 13:17.”

What is it that makes a true prophet of God?   A true prophet walks with God, witnesses for God and warns the people.  Yes, he does all of these things and more.   But the main and defining characteristic of every prophet of God is tears because he/she weeps the very tears of God.

Maybe some of you have Jeremiah’s in your church.   He/she is always warning people.  Everything is going well but still he/she urges you to return to faith. He stands up in church meetings and says you need to pray instead of spending thousands on some church activity.   You want to lock this person up.   This is what happened to Jeremiah. Everyone was saying to Him, please shut up.

If your tears are from the heart of God, they will affect the view you have of your nation.   The true prophet of God will say things that are totally against the prevailing view of the world and indeed many in the church.

How many of the so-called prophets in the church today are preaching with tears? Lots of preachers are loud.   They shout. But it is not how loud the voice of the prophet is; it is the number of tears he/she sheds.

Let me finish with this.  First, a word to the people in fivefold ministry – the shepherds of the church.  When was the last time that you wept? When was the last time you preached through your tears in agony?   Are you acting like a Jeremiah in your pulpit – preaching with tears?   When was the last time you agonized before God for your church?

A word to the rest of us – tears are important for us as Christian’s in deep repentance to God, in compassion for the world and especially the hurting and deprived; for a passionate love of the brethren.   Surely the place where tears need to be shed are first and foremost the prayer closet, where they are surely filter into the pulpit and then into every member of the congregation.

When we have shed tears ourselves, we can identify with others who will come to us crying.  So often someone comes to us and we say ‘why is this person crying’?  Maybe this is because we have never known what it is to weep ourselves.

Many of the strongest men of the Bible wept; men such as Paul, Jeremiah, Nehemiah and Jesus Himself. So why can’t many of you men become like a little child?   Strong men do cry; they do agonize for their families and their communities/churches.

It is time for tears in the church; tears of repentance towards God; tears of speaking the honest truth like Jeremiah did.   It is time to understand that people are shedding tears all around you.  Only when you shed tears yourself can you touch their lives with the love of God; because as you have been comforted, you can bring the comfort of God to others. (Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Please take time to read the whole of the book of Jeremiah.   Yes, all of it.   Maybe you will learn how to cry biblically.   A final thing believer… remember one day there will be no more tears…amen!!!

GOD BLESS YOU

KK

REVELATION 3

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 

22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

IS JESUS KNOCKING ON THE DOOR?

This is the final letter to the seven churches and is probably the most severe. This church was rich beyond measure, but Jesus had a terrible verdict on this church.

When I came to faith this verse was used, but it doesn’t relate to salvation. Indeed, it is both an invitation and a rebuke to the church.

Why should Jesus be standing and knocking on the door of the church? Surely the handle of the church is on the outside, and doesn’t Jesus have the key?

If He had either, then surely, He wouldn’t be standing outside knocking. It is because He wanted His church to invite Him in, but sadly, like this church, many of today’s churches lock Jesus out of their lives.

Surely if someone knocks at the door of your house you let them in! So what are the reasons Jesus has to knock? Here are several:

Each of the five churches that are criticised in these chapters in Revelation have a reason for not opening the door.

The Ephesian church had left their first love. They wouldn’t open the door because they didn’t want to show Him the extent of their sin and falling away. Basically, they were ashamed to open the door. The Ephesian believers started off burning all their books of enchantment and witchcraft, but maybe this was slowly creeping into the church again? Are you afraid to open the door because you have fallen from your first love, though once you would have gladly opened the door, however now the door stays firmly shut?

A church or an individual believer doesn’t usually slam the door shut on the Lord… we close it one push at a time. It starts with the something small. Maybe you prayed for one hour per day, but now you only pray for 10 minutes. Maybe you read your bible and loved to dig into the word every day, maybe now it’s every week or maybe you read your bible just on Sunday or on bible study night. You still carry your bible, and everyone sees you with it, but do you currently read and obey it?

The church at Ephesus had everything right and they were active in sharing the gospel, they discerned error and would not tolerate false teachers and they were doctrinally sound.. yet they had one thing wrong…they had left or abandoned their first love, the flame of passion had been put out, what was once burning passion for Christ, was now only a flickering flame. 

Are you/ Am I like that?

I know that I although I love the Lord, it is not with the same passionate first love I had.

It’s like when you fall in love, your whole life is consumed with the other person, it’s the same with Jesus. When you become his, there is something radical that happens in your life, a new love.

Have things crowded out your first love?

It could even be good things such as ministry and preaching, all these things are good, but they are not the best. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, he said she had the best part. Luke 10:38-42

The church at Pergamum had a serious problem with false teachers. So why would they open the door? If you have false teachers in your church, they are not likely to answer the knocking of Jesus on the door. False teachers will never answer the door to Jesus! Why? Because they will be exposed by Jesus. False teachers will not answer the door to Jesus, they do not want their churches or their followers to learn about Jesus.

The church at Thyatira had a real problem with sexual sin, as it was rampant in that church. Let me ask you… if a church or an individual is full of sin, will it open the door? No, it will keep the door closed. Look at what Adam and Eve did after they sinned: they hid themselves. Psalm 32 says:

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity;

   I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Is your life or the life of your church full of sin? If it is, then you will find it very hard to open the door. You don’t want to expose your sin to the piercing stare of the Lord. You try and hide it, but Jesus sees everything and knows everything. Do you think by keeping the door closed, that you can hide your sin?

The fourth church was Sardis: the church that had a great name, and many people called it alive, but in the opinion of Jesus it was dead. How many churches say this? We are alive, but whose opinion is that?

In fact, they are dead. That is why Jesus is knocking at the door. He is trying to wake the church up, but how can dead people open a door?  Do people think you are alive? The question isn’t what people think of you, it’s what Jesus thinks of you. You need to wake up from your spiritual sleep and deadness and open the door, because Jesus is knocking.

The final church is probably the worst culprit. Why was this?

The Laodicean church had everything, so their door was closed. If you have everything in your house and a door-to-door salesman comes to your house, do you open the door to him/her?. No… because you already have everything.

So many churches today think they have everything, and they do. They have programmes, great buildings, great sound systems, great worship teams, but they lack one thing, and that is Jesus. The door is closed on Him, He knocks on the door.

Maybe you have everything, but again in whose estimation?

In all these churches, there is one remedy and it is this… REPENT.

If you have lost your first love.. you need to repent.

If you have false, teachers invading your life or life of your church.. you need to repent.

If you have sin, in any shape or form in your life, or in the life of your church.. you need to repent.

If you are dead and lifeless and need to wake up.. you need to repent.

If you think you have everything and need nothing.. then you need to repent.

But the promise to all who do truly repent and open the door to Jesus is intimate fellowship with Him. Some of us are fearful to open the door, because we are frightened to let Jesus see what is behind the door. But Jesus knows what is behind the door! He sees right through the door! He sees your heart believer, and you cannot hide anything from Him.

So repent, open the door and have intimate fellowship with your Saviour.

The church and the individual Christian need to open the door to Jesus. He must not be shut out of our lives, or out of our churches. He wants and desires for us to put Him at the centre of our lives.

Don’t leave Him knocking at the door… let Him in.

God bless you,

Keith

MICROSCOPIC OR TELESCOPIC?

PSALM 119

9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.

Of all the earthly treasures we have, the word of God is probably the greatest.

So how do we read and study it. Christians use different methods, some read thee bible once per year using various schemes, some just read the bible in large chunks, such as five chapters per day.

Some read randomly, they don’t follow any scheme, they read in John one day and Psalms the next, is that helping them?

I used this method for many years and to be honest, did not grow in my faith very much, I had favorite passages that I constantly read, which kept me away from the books I felt were difficult, such as Job, Jeremiah, Joel and Ezekiel ( this last one is still a struggle!)

Now I am using a method, that could be of help to you.

When I read a book such as Acts, which I will start next month, I will read the whole book, splitting into sections to gain an overview (telescopic) and then read it slowly, taking as long as it takes (microscopic), examining it section by section.

The bible is a treasure trove, it is full of rich diamonds, which we often miss, it is a book to dwell on, it is a book to be meditated upon, it needs to be examined closely and carefully.

Let me make a suggestion, say you are reading Revelation, read all of it, splitting it into sections, and then take time to read it slowly.

Use a good commentary , go online and seek to find Matthew Henry’s concise commentary or the reformation study bible.

We miss so much, for the first time, I have read the psalms one by one, some of these I have never focused on, Oh yes, we read all the popular ones such as Psalm 23 and 51, but have you ever read psalms 12, 38, 75 and 148

but we forget the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Thomas brooks said these wise words:

Bible reading…

by Thomas Brooks–

https://www.gracegems.org/2001-1/bible_reading.htm

“Remember that it is not hasty reading,but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths,that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul.

It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time on the flower that draws out the sweet.

It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian.”

I say a big amen to that, it is not how many pages you read, it is how much does the bible affect your life.

In Nanjing, we are surrounded by mountains, the most famous being purple mountain, when you climb to the top of that mountain, you can see the whole of Nanjing including Xuanwu lake, that is the telescopic view , but it is only when you get down to ground level, can you experience the full intimacy of the Lake.

You can explore every path, every hidden corner. I have walked round the lake several times, but every time I do, I find something new.  That is like reading the bible, when we put a microscope to scripture, you see it’s full glory and we constantly amazed as Gid reveals new things. The bible is inexhaustible, we can never plumb its depths.

I remember I tool three weeks to study John chs 1-3, there was so much it.

Christian, it is good to read many chapters at once, there is nothing wrong with it, but to get the nuggets out of scripture, you must dig deeply and this takes time and effort. 

I am a Christian devotional writer, I hope people read what the Lord has shard with me, but what I write and share are primers for you to go away and dig some more.  

Have you ever done a word study. following a word through the bible. You could start by doing the word Redeemed or Redemption, or choose a word for yourselves.

You need to study the bible for yourself, relying on others and picking up someone else’s manna is not good, we are to dig deeply into the word of God for ourselves, not rely on some teacher or pastor, these again are useful, but they are only primers to drive you deeper into the word.

Poem by Keith

Search the bible, meditate on it’s truth.

So, its transforming power has free reign in your life.

The power of the word gives light to your path

The authority of the word gives meaning to life

Fall in love with God’s word.

Let it become your greatest treasure and deepest pleasure.

Let me run to it and never away from it

Knowing that it is the book of books

Written by the King of Kings

To bless and comfort his children

May we fly to the word.

The final word goes to Don Fortner

Bow to the Word

by Don Fortner

https://www.gracegems.org/2001-1/Bow%20to%20the%20Word.htm

I bow to the Word of God.

There are many good creeds, confessions, and catechisms written by men, clearly setting forth the gospel of the grace of God; but I do not pin my faith to the writings of any man,or any group of men, no matter how much I may admire them.

The Word of God alone is my rule of faith and practice.

I bow my will and my reason, my experience and my feelings, to the Word of God. I do not understand all that is written in the Scriptures; but I believe it all.

I bow to the authority of Holy Scripture.

I do so unreservedly.

Let men call it bigotry, ignorance, or whatever they may, I am not even open to the consideration of any thought, idea, or evidence which contradicts the Book of God.

God bless you

KK

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

PSALM 119 

97 Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.

Over the past year, I have been struck that the best way for me to move forward in my walk with God, is to read the Bible in short segments.

I am currently reading the psalms one by one, making notes on each one. Earlier this year, I spent ten days in John chs 1-3, now I am not seeking to glory himself in doing this, this is what is working for me at the moment.

You know we are told to study 2 Timothy 2:15, let the word dwell.. or take up residence  Colossians 3:16 and meditating on God’s word Psalm 119:99.

Let me give you two illustrations, a number of years ago, we went to Oslob in the Philippine’s to dive with whale sharks, my wife and daughter dived with them and I sat on the boat and saw them, but not as close up as they did. Let me ask you, which one of us, had the best experience? Surely that was the one my wife and daughter had as they came face to face with these wonderful creatures. This is like bible reading, we need to go up close and personal with the word of God to dig out it’s treasures.

My friend Adam, loves to scuba dive. If he went to the Great barrier reef in Australia and used a jet ski to skim over the surface of the reef, would he of seen the reef?. Only when we went below the surface could he truly see the reef in all it’s beauty. Again it’s like our bible reading, are we prepared to ride on a jet ski or are we prepared to scuba dive and go below the surface.

My aim is for you to go below the surface  and dig out the treasures from God’s word.

I often say about God’s word, we have our own personal gold mine, so why do we stick a sign on ours that says.. unused. To get gold you must dig for it, you must take time and it takes time and effort.

Most Christians spend more time on social media that they do studying the Bible.

When reading the Bible:

Pray open my eyes to see your beauty

Pray that God would speak a personal word to you

Meditate on a particular verse or promise throughout the day

Take notes of what you have learned

If you have learned something, share it with your wife, pastor or friends.

The Bible is like no other book, it cannot be rushed, it is beyond any other book. Let it’s words, it’s promises, it’s truth, take up residence in your heart.

Get yourself off Facebook and get your face in the book.. amen

God bless you

KK

NUMBERS DONT COUNT 

JUDGES CHAPTER 7 

2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

4 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.

5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.

6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

7 And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

As a finance major, I love numbers,  at school I hated maths, so obviously I took business and accounting qualifications at college!

But numbers don’t and can’t tell the whole story. Since I have been writing in 2003, sometimes I have been consumed by numbers.

How many replies have I received?

How many hits has my website received?

How many people are in my group?

To be honest this has been my Achilles heel, when it comes to ministry, you know social media can be a great trap for the Christian worker.

In times past, I have been on up to twelve social media groups, and that doesn’t include Facebook, but now I am on JUST ONE

So often we want to be on all these groups, just to say:

” look at all these groups we’re on, we must be spiritual”

I remember I was on one group called bible study on a platform, it had 1138 members, but no one posted for two-three years, what is the use of that?

This is the case on most social media groups, in China, we don’t have Facebook, here it is called WeChat, I have two groups, many friends have up to 50 and above.

Numbers to God are not important:  

In the Welsh revival of 1907, Evan Roberts and ten women were used of God to bless the whole world.

In the Hebrides revival in Scotland, God used two old ladies and Duncan Campbell.

The revival in the USA in the 1850’s started with a prayer meeting that started with 7 people in it’s first week.

In the book of Acts chapter 2, 120 unlearned fishermen were filled with the Holy Spirit and this led to the salvation of 3,000 souls.

In Judges 7, 32,000 came to help Gideon, but this was too many. 

Twenty two thousand disappeared because they were afraid, Gideon had told them the situation, you are going to war.

In today’s world, we can tell our contacts on all our social media groups about our situation, and the people will not respond or respond with fear. It is time to break free from these people, they will bring you down.

What would of happened if Gideon had taken these people with him to battle?

But still that wasn’t enough,  there were now 10,000 but that was still too many.

So God had a test for the ten thousand, he asked them to drink from the brook.

Have you even seen a dog lap water?

Although they lap from the water, they are aware of the slightest sound, they are always alert to any danger.

These are the people who you want on your side, they are always alert, always focused.

When I came to China, I had over 2000 on my email address book, I had many social media groups, now I have two WeChat group and less than 150 email contacts.

Does God need great numbers, no?

My pastor in the UK, Mark Johnstone said we live for an audience of one, it is not about numbers, it is about HIM.

You may say ” well I need to be on all these groups, to share the gospel”.

Recently the Lord has challenged me to get out from behind my computer, it is easy to sit behind a computer and share on this group or that group.

Here in China, it is difficult to share the gospel, near Helen’s mother house is a community square, where we have had many good conversations with people and met several believers. I do not say this in pride, indeed when Helen says, come and share, I am reluctant and have to be dragged out of the house.

Ray Comfort of Living waters says ” he goes out to witness dragging his feet, but after witnessing, he comes home clicking his heels”.

Do you know that less than 5% of Christians share the gospel actively on the street, they think that the church will do it, if they invite a person to church, I’ve done my duty.

Soulwinning and discipleship is the job of the individual believer, if every believer, won one soul to Christ and trained him up, we would win our community and country to Christ.

Now some of you are called to share on social media groups etc, but many of you have up to 50 groups, especially in China, it’s time to get off these groups, and get back to the word, prayer and witnessing to the world.

There are many instances in the New testament especially, that show one to one witnessing, especially look at the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.

God said in Matthew 28, go into all the world and share the gospel, he did not say Go into every social media groups and share the gospel.

Many of these Christian social media groups are very insular, they are reaching out to believers, very few unbelievers will come to a Christian social media group.

The first two of the words gospel is GO, it is not go onto social media.

No wonder we are so weak in prayer and knowledge of the word, it’s because we are constantly posting on social media.

Get off these groups and get into the word and onto your face in prayer.

。

Numbers don’t matter, less is more to God. This is a lesson, I am constantly learning.

GOD BLESS YOU

KK