KEEPER

Keeper

A keeper is one who takes responsibility to protect or take care of someone or something. I believe true ‘Keeping’ involves love. Love desires and works towards the best for the one who is loved.

According to the ‘Urban Dictionary’, A Keeper is ‘Someone who you'd likely spend the rest of your life with if you found him or her.’ If there were more keepers in the US, the divorce rate would be MUCH lower!!!
Interestingly, the Bible records this about the first brothers.
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the Lord." Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Genesis 4:1-2

Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:8-9

The Almighty GOD not only created us, and formed us, He also redeemed us when we were lost! We belong to the LORD, twice over! He is also our Keeper.

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. Isaiah 43:1

 The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. Psalm 121:5

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A keeper Who is Able to Keep to the End

Only the Almighty GOD has the ability to keep you and He will keep you until the end!

 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." Genesis 28:15

A babysitter takes responsibility for a short period. She lays down all other work to sit by the baby and watch the
baby constantly. When her time slot is over, she leaves the
baby in the care of someone else. The LORD keeps us until
that Day - The Day that CHRIST is fully revealed in us.

 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. 2 Timothy 1:12

Whatever is not committed into the safe-keeping hands of GOD,

is in danger of being stolen by the evil one, the devil!

Have you committed your physical body to the LORD,

including its weaknesses and infirmities?
If you do, He will either heal your body, or give you sufficient grace

to yet live victoriously for His glory!

Do you believe that the Eternal GOD, The GOD of the
universe is able to keep your life? 

He has got the whole world in His hand and He has you in the palm of His hand.

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Loving Keeper

"He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. Deuteronomy 32:10

He keeps you ever so lovingly, as His own, not as a hireling.

 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,
and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." John 10:27-30

The LORD takes responsibility for His children.
He is their Keeper. When we commit our lives to Him,
we recognise Him as our Keeper. It usually takes time for us to grow spiritually
and get to know our Keeper. The more we know Him, the more we can trust Him. The more we trust Him,
the more we can surrender to Him and yield our lives into the hands of our Faithful Keeper!

Are you struggling and striving to keep yourself
in this wicked world? Entrust your life to GOD
through the LORD JESUS CHRIST. He is your Faithful Keeper.

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Faithful Keeper

Our life consists of our spirit, soul, body and positions
and possessions. When we entrust each of these to the LORD,
He takes responsibility to keep every part of our lives
until the end. He keeps us by His power, through our faith.

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

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Kept Sanctified and preserved

The LORD doesn’t just keep us, but He also sanctifies us and preserves us.

The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. Psalm 121:7

 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body
be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

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Keep Your heart

We can therefore be rested! We can release
our possessions, positions, people and plans to the LORD
and be at peace knowing that He is well able to keep them all!
We can also release our rightful possessions to those
who would forcibly take them from us. We don’t need to stress and strive with people over possessions or even positions,
people and plans! If GOD is the Keeper of all we have, He is able to keep,
or even restore to us what is lost and what is rightfully ours!

Can we see our Keeper in these
situations through our eyes of faith? 

What we need to keep however in all situations,
is our heart. That is our responsibility.

None else can keep our heart.

 
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23

We must be willing to let go of all else to hold relationships
with people as most valuable!

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Keep GOD’S laws

What is our responsibility to keep?

"If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

If we desire to obey the commandments of GOD, we need to diligently study His word.

The Bible is the mapbook for our lives!

Now by this we know that we know Him,
if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him,"
and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word,
truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

1 John 2:3-5

My son, keep my words,
And treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. Proverbs 7:1-2

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Keep GOD'S Wisdom, Discretion and Instruction
And He will keep Your Foot!

My son, let them not depart from your eyes-- Keep sound wisdom and discretion; Proverbs 3:21

While we journey along the path of the mapbook,
the voice of the navigation system instructs and guides us.
When we live according to GOD'S written word, the gentle
Holy Spirit instructs and guides us. The GPS is the Gentle Promptings of the Holy Spirit!
Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life. Proverbs 4:13 For the Lord will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught. Proverbs 3:26

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Keep Love, unity and purity

GOD’S commandment is love.
First we need to love Him with all our heart and then love others with that pure love.

keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 1:21

endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3

Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure. 1 Timothy 5:22

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Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Revelation 1:3

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25

In the world but not of the world

In the world but not of the world

 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
1 Corinthians 2:12

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
John 16:33

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6:7-10

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:15-17 

 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.
Genesis 7:17-18 

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
Revelation 21:1

The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.' Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like this great city?' They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.'
Revelation 18:15-19

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
Revelation 13:1 

Daniel spoke, saying, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
Daniel 7:2-3

I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
John 17:9-21

And the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
Exodus 14:15-16 

"Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity! Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts That the peoples labor to feed the fire, And nations weary themselves in vain? For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.
Habakkuk 2:12-14

So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
Matthew 8:27

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
Revelation 15:1-2

The JOY of CHRIST JESUS!

The JOY of CHRIST JESUS!

Even as the merry- making of the season wanes, let the deep joy that comes from the LORD JESUS linger and increase in our hearts until it becomes full!

Wouldn't it be more meaningful for us as Christians, not greet each other, "Merry Christmas!" but a "Blessed and Joyous Christmas!"

The LORD never asked us to be merry. He asked us to rejoice and desired that we experience His joy!

Being merry means enjoying the things that make our fleshly or carnal self satisfied and happy.

The 'Beatitudes' speak about being blessed, which means being extremely happy!

Being blessed means having the favour of GOD upon us.

GOD'S word commands us to 'Rejoice'! It is a decision we are asked to make regardless of our circumstances and despite our  difficult situations.

When we abide in CHRIST, we experience and bring forth joy as a fruit of the Spirit!

So I commended enjoyment, 

because a man has nothing better under the sun
than to eat, drink, and be merry; 

for this will remain with him in his labor 

all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 8:15

 And do not become idolaters as were some of them.

 As it is written, 

"The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
1 Corinthians 10:7

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:3 

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, 

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

  "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, 

and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 

  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, 

for great is your reward in heaven, 

for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

Matthew 5:10-12 

Rejoice in the Lord always. 

Again I will say, rejoice! 

Philippians 4:4 

 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 

  But let patience have its perfect work, 

that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4 

 These things I have spoken to you, 

that My joy may remain in you, 

and that your joy may be full. 

John 15:11 

Until now you have asked nothing in My name. 

Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 

John 16:24 Prov 

SAGO

SAGO

 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4


 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
Colossians 3:14

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12

We can understand a Christian principle while cooking Sago!

When you purchase a packet of sago, you will see the separate white balls of sago pearls. You boil water in a pan and put in the sago and start cooking it. You will notice that the sago pearls gradually become transparent. when they are completely cooked, each pearl is completely transparent and they stick together.

We are all full of our sinful self like the raw sago pearls. When we are born again, we begin a new journey with CHRIST in us. He is the hope of glory in us. As we progress spiritually, He increases in us and the sinful self decreases, like the sago boiling in the pan! In due time, when all of self is replaced with CHRIST, we are one with each other in CHRIST! Then, we are ready to appear with Him in glory!!

Let us begin this journey towards glory!

I 'SAY, GO' for it!!

The Terror of Bushfires

The Terror of Bushfires

We form our own opinions of a person from the information we have gathered from others. But when we meet that person and get to know him, we realise that many things we had heard about him were false! It is so also with GOD. Do you know GOD? It is possible to know Him for yourself personally! It is important to know Him so that you may know how to conduct this life that He has given you!!

Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:1-13 

The Bible says that GOD is love. Why then does He bring about or permit such sufferings for humanity?

As a parent, would you simply leave your child to progress on a destructive path without counselling him firmly and if necessary discipline him harshly? If your little child puts his finger into electric sockets that can endanger him, would it not be wise for you to spank him? That little pain of the spank associated with putting the finger in the electric socket will make him think twice before doing it again.

Our Heavenly Father's love is purer and stronger than the love of any earthly father.

You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 
Hebrews 12:4-7 

A little child will not understand why his mother takes him for a vaccination and makes the nurse give him a painful needle prick. The mother knows the long term benefit of the momentary pain her child has to endure.

Similarly, the people of the world do not understand 'The Big Picture'! Eternity is a reality. This earthly life is short and insignificant compared to eternity. If some painful experience we are put through, can benefit our spiritual life preparing us for eternity, it will be well worth it!

 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 

We look at disasters like bushfires and our hearts go out for people who have suffered much loss. We think that we are compassionate and we look at GOD as though He is a hart hearted, fierce terror! Let us know the truth! It is man who has broken his relationship with GOD. It is GOD Who is seeking for man to restore this relationship for eternity, forever. GOD revealed Himself to Moses. 

 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."
Exodus 34:5-7


He is the same yesterday, today and forever!

Although we have fallen and continue to fall short of His standards, He is very gracious. He has made a way for our salvation through His own Son, JESUS, Who came down to earth as a living sacrifice. JESUS, through His suffering and death on the cross, paid the price for all the sin of mankind. Thus GOD Himself has made a way for us to be restored to Him and to live with Him eternally!

The devil, who caused the fall of man, continues to oppose every good GOD has for human beings. Man has made the devil 'the prince of the air' by obeying him. Each of us has the choice to either obey the devil or obey GOD, Who has a good plan for us. Our fallen nature tends to follow the devil and his evil and wicked ways. If we repent of our sins and give our lives into GOD'S hands, the Holy Spirit of GOD comes into our hearts to strengthen us and to guide us in the path of truth and eternal life. He also speaks to us through His written word, the Bible.

Imagine a vast area of land that is dangerous to walk on, with one narrow but clean and clear pathway across. If the one who constructed that pathway gives you clear instruction to keep to that path of safety, whose fault is it if we neglect such clear instruction?

 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
Hebrews 10:26-29

GOD does not punish the way we deserve to be punished and He blesses us more than we deserve to be blessed!

during the bushfire crisis, an urgent plea was made by the authorities to those who were in danger areas. The message was, "Please heed our warnings and do not refuse to move out if requested to do so."

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: "And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow." And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.") But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:18-29 

It is the responsibility of those of us who know GOD and understand His ways and are under His covenant of grace, to humbly stand pleading for His mercy on those who are yet to receive GOD'S salvation. Although GOD is a Holy GOD and a consuming fire, His heart is full of love. His heart is to save and not to destroy. Therefore He is looking intently down for an intercessor, so that He might save!

 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 22:30-31

Wisdom and Knowing

Wisdom and Knowing

 However,
 we speak wisdom among those who are mature,

 yet not the wisdom of this age,
 nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,

 the hidden wisdom which God ordained
 before the ages for our glory,

which none of the rulers of this age knew;

 for had they known,
 they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

But as it is written:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared
 for those who love Him." 

But God has revealed them to us
 through His Spirit.

 For the Spirit searches all things,
 yes, the deep things of God.

For what man knows the things of a man
 except the spirit of the man which is in him?
 Even so no one knows the things of God
 except the Spirit of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
 but the Spirit who is from God,

 that we might know the things
 that have been freely given to us by God.

These things we also speak,

 not in words which man's wisdom teaches
 but which the Holy Spirit teaches,

 comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man
 does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,

 for they are foolishness to him;

 nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.

But he who is spiritual judges all things,
 yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.

For "who has known the mind of the Lord
 that he may instruct Him?" 

But we have the mind of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 

For now we see in a mirror, dimly,
 but then face to face.

 Now I know in part,
 but then I shall know just as I also am known.

  And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;

 but the greatest of these is love. 

1 Corinthians 13:12-13

When we reach Heaven, we will have a 'Knowing' that we can never understand while on earth. Although as believers in the LORD JESUS we know and understand many spiritual truths through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual sight is dimmed by our carnal nature. We do not see spiritual things with our natural eyes but through eyes of faith, which is based on the word of GOD. We also live according to our faith. Such wisdom and such living is foolishness to those of the world. We live constantly with the hope that our faith will become sight one day!