Trust in Christ Today

To trust a God who is merciful, righteous, abounding in grace and loving kindness, just, long-suffering, unchanging, forgiving, sovereign, and holy is to possess a true genuine living hope. This redemptive seal can only be found at the foot of the cross - the place where the lost son says to his father, “’Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” and where the father responds by saying “…for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:21,24 NKJV).

Then begins a life of sanctification where your inward man was and is being renewed day by day as you abide in Him who purchased you with His own precious blood. Trials and tribulation will arise and temptation will always come knocking at your door, but you shall overcome as you submit to Christ who overcame. You shall overcome as you find rest and security in His character.

With King David, you can declare, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me...” (Psalm 23:4). With Job, you shall say, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him.” (Job 13:15a) With Paul, you too will be persuaded that “… neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:38,39)

And when the rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow and beat on your house, you may not receive the answer as to why. All that will matter is whether or not you had been likened to a wise man whereupon your house stood on the rock of Christ who has promised to be with you in the midst of the storm. Shortly before Brother David Wilkerson went to be with the Lord, he wrote, “When everything seems to fail, God’s love will always prevail.” Indeed it will. Will you put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ today?

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief of pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end…

- hymn, Be still my soul

Because He Lives

Is your life without meaning and hope? Let me share some good news with you. In 1 Corinthians 15:3,4 Paul writes one of the most important truths penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

Your hope, and the only hope that still remains for many in this fallen world is that "God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Your one and true hope rests upon the risen Lord and King of kings. Jesus is alive and alive forever more.

Dear reader, have you ever considered the impact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? The impact of the resurrection on humanity, this fallen world, and eternity, is that it gives hope, assurance, and eternal life to those who put their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. This is perhaps best captured in John 6:40:

“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him from the dead.”

Throughout human history there have been many so-called religious leaders. Many of these men claimed to hold the keys to life’s most important questions and even the “mysteries” of the afterlife. Each of these men lived and died, never to be seen or heard from again. In contrast, Jesus proclaimed that He is the Son of God and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can go to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). The greatest sign and seal of this fundamental truth is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. For those who come to Christ by grace through faith, the afterlife is no mystery. As Jesus said to Martha in John 11, so He says to a fallen world:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though He may die, he shall live.” - John 11:25

Because Jesus rose from the dead, those who put their faith in Him shall someday, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet” … will be “raised incorruptible, and shall be changed”. (1 Corinthians 15:52). Although it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2) As for the present moment, if you repent, turn from your sins, and believe that Jesus is the Son of God will all your heart, then you can now sing these words with confidence, hope, and assurance … Because He lives I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

Spiritual Depression: Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones

Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures, 1

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope"

In the book of Daniel chapter nine, Daniel identifies himself with the sins and transgressions of Israel through his prayer and supplication. Through visions, Daniel perceived that the calamity that was to come was a direct result of the unfaithfulness of God's people.

"we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgements." - Daniel 9:5

It was God Himself, not the surrounding enemies, who had driven His people from their land (v.7). At some point, Daniel must have recalled the curse and oath written in the Law of Moses in Leviticus 26: 17-45 and Deuteronomy 28:15-58. Daniel's heavy heart of conviction remind me of how it must have been for the people of Israel when Ezra read the law aloud and "all the people wept when they heard the words of the law." (Nehemiah 8:9).

Daniel must have also clearly recalled to mind the blessed hope and promise that remained for those who "return to the LORD your God and obey His voice" in Deuteronomy 30:2. After Daniel's confession of sin against the Lord, he then begins to pray for what all true followers of Christ depend on in the daily victory over our sin nature through the overcoming power of the Holy Spirit - God's mercy and forgiveness.

"To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him." - Daniel 9:9

Daniel was a man who knew his God. In the light of his own sin and the people's sin, Daniel looked to Him for mercy and forgiveness. In doing this he did not seek to establish his own or the people's righteous deeds that the Bible describes in Isaiah 64:6 as "filthy rags." Rather, by faith Daniel submitted to the righteousness of God.

"... for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteousness deeds, but because of Your great mercies." - Daniel 9:18

God's mercy has nothing to do with who you are, but everything to do with who He is. Amidst life's trials, followers of Christ are prone to forget about the truth of God's mercy and grace. Through much anguish and despair, the prophet in Lamentations remembered and boldly declared:

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:21-23

Dear follower of Christ, remember, "we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy in and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:15,16). The Lord delights when we boldly come to Him to find grace to help in time of need.

Perhaps you are a person who has never known or heard about the everlasting love, grace, and mercy of God? You can find forgiveness today by repenting of your sins and put all your trust and hope in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

As the scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame." (Romans 10:11). Do not run away from Him, but come to Him. Chose life both for yourself and the future generations after you. Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

"that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." - Romans 10:9,10

A Tribute to David Wilkerson

A Tribute to David Wilkerson

To gain that which you cannot lose

What will it cost me to follow Jesus Christ? It wasn’t until recently when I heard of Detrich Bonoeffer’s book, “The Cost of Discipleship”, where he boldly speaks of costly grace verses cheap grace. I have yet to read the book, but the title alone speaks of a longing desire to be a true Christ follower.

Shortly after work today while parked and sitting in my car, the Lord took me on a journey through Matthew 19: 16-22, where Jesus counsels the rich young ruler.

"Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

For the first time while reading this passage I noticed that Jesus mentioned almost all but the most important commandment to “…’love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ …” Rather than directly answer the man’s question, “All these I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack?” (v.20), the Lord choose to reveal the heart and expose what is so often found in many Christian hearts today. The young man did well in keeping all those commandments from his youth, but we discover that his first love was found in his "great possessions” rather than his God. Remember the Lord’s word to the church of Ephesus?

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ – Revelation 2:4-7

As my wife said while driving home, “Jesus will not ask what we are willing to give up, but those things that we are unwilling.” How much of my life has not been completely surrendered to the God who loved me and gave His life for me? Is there anything in my life that I am unwilling to give up? It is by this measure that my heart has yet to be fully yielded.

O heart, I appeal to you to come to Jesus and surrender all at the foot of the cross! Only at this place of worship and surrender will you gain that which you cannot lose and find your first love.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, in order to gain that which he cannot lose." - missionary martyr Jim Elliot

"...now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

As dear friend once told me, "Shane, tomorrow doesn't belong to us. We need to thank God for each day." Indeed life is uncertain and we need to be prepared to meet our God. Are you prepared to meet Him? Dear friend, please consider this question as you continue reading my testimony below.

My name is Shane Wright. I am 35 years old, married to a wonderful wife. Please allow me to first share some of my background with you. As with many women (and men), my mother carried the task of working full time while raising both my sister and myself. Early on in my mother's life she had been influenced by her older sister who was a Jehovah's Witness. Years later, following the divorce of my parents, my mother again became reacquainted with the Jehovah's Witnesses and we soon found ourselves sitting in a kingdom hall (church) each Sunday.

As early as I can remember the uncertainty of life wore heavy on my heart. The thought of returning to the ground as dust and no longer existing for a period of time, as JW's believe, was quite frankly, frightening. I was perplexed by the thought of the afterlife of nothingness. We were called to go to door to door and give people hope, and yet, I had no real assurance of this hope within me. My troubled heart was like "a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind ". There was no peace, and nothing seemed to fill the void my heart longed for.

It wasn't long until I began to drift further into the depths of darkness falling head long into rebellion. Consequently, the wages of sin only brought me further away from the light of hope and purpose that I had longed for. The Bible says that there is pleasure in sin, but only for a season. I am reminded of this in the life of Moses who rightly chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin" (Hebrews 11:25). In hindsight, I clearly remember those days of passing pleasures with temporary highs followed by long lasting hangovers of emptiness.

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." - Proverbs 14:12

The way of life that I had chose was taking me on a path of destruction and ultimate eternal separation from God. Life only seemed to get worse and it wasn't long until I was excommunicated from the JW organization. From that point on I could no longer speak with most family members and friends. According to JW doctrine, any further association with me was strictly forbidden.

After spending a year in Japan teaching English, I returned home. My quest in searching for life's meaning purpose continued. As much as I deeply admired the nation of Japan, I did not find hope in any temple or man-made buddha statue. I was also reluctant to return to the JW's despite the promise of restored relationships with family and friends. Not even the dating relationships that I been in over those past years had brought me closer to a fulfillment of heart. So my quest continued. I searched and searched. Eventually I found the One eternal hope that I had truly been searching for. I quickly discovered that He had never been too far. His name was Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus that had always been familiar to me, but the Person of Jesus Christ had never been made real in my heart. This is why I am sharing this testimony with you. It is hard to find the words to describe how awesome and wonderful Jesus is. Despite the trials and problems that arise in life, it is an amazing feeling to have a blessed assurance and living hope that Jesus is alive and lives in my heart. Jesus loves you and I pray that He would become real in your heart today.

It was in front of a coffee shop at Mount Royal College (now University) when I first began to open the door of my heart to my dear Christian friend. From the very the very first day we met, Shane (same name as I) took a genuine interest in my life. Shane and I would get together for coffee for at least once a week. We would talk about life, classes, and the common interests we shared. At some point of the conversation, Shane would begin to talk about the love of Jesus Christ. "Here he is goes again..." I would say to myself, as I sat and listened to him speak so passionately about a Person he seemed to know so intimately. As Shane spoke about Jesus, I would watch the countenance of his face glow with such joy. Tears of joy seem to always be at the threshold as he shared about the love of Jesus Christ. "God loves me?" ...."He sent His Son to die for me?" I had never heard such life giving words before! Without fully comprehending what it all really meant and its profound implication in relation to my life, a cry deep within my heart simply responded saying, "Yes, this is truth! This is what I have been searching for!" It was as if something on the inside was beginning to awaken. I was awakening to the love and truth of Jesus Christ as the Spirit of God was drawing me to Himself.


On February of 2004, I made the most important decision I could ever make by trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation. I called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and asked Him to be Saviour and Lord of my life. Jesus answered my cry and saved my life and He wants to save your life and your family’s life too.

The problem of sin

It was sin that had separated the human race from God. It is though faith in Jesus Christ that one is saved from God’s wrath and eternal condemnation. Dear reader, God does not want to condemn you but He wants to receive you with open arms. However, the wages of sin is death and sin demands just punishment by a Holy God. I heard someone say that there are those who say God is too good to punish sin, but in reality God is too good not to punish sin.

A person may ask, “Who are we to define what sin is?” It is important to remember, as I once heard a preacher say, that sin is not what we think it is, but rather what God says it is. One could also argue that “If you feel in your heart that it is right, then it must be okay?” However the Bible says that the heart of man cannot be trusted. Jeremiah 17:9 says that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

Sin entered the human race in the Garden of Eden through the lives of Adam and Eve who disobeyed God and ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The first human couple and our first human parents willingly chose to believe the lie of satan who said, “ you will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4) after God said, “…for in that day you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17). Since the fall of man, the curse of sin and death has come to all people conceived, born, and who live in this fallen world. Sin is against the very character of God and it is in this fallen condition that a person separated from Him.

Have you been angry with someone without a cause? The Bible says that this anger is equivalent to murder (Matthew 5:21,22) and that a person is in danger of being judged as a murderer on the day of judgement. Have you ever looked at woman to lust for her in your heart? God’s word says that when a person lusts for a woman in his heart, he has already committed adultery with her and will thus be judged as an adulterer. (Matthew 5:28). Furthermore Jesus said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man.” (Matthew 15:19). The Bible calls those things which defiles people sin. The inherited curse of sin from Adam and Eve has not only brought both physical and spiritual death, but also separation from God.

If you see what is happening in the world today there is so much evidence of the consequences of sin. Instead of an improved world with all the medicine, increased knowledge, and technology, the world we live in is getting worse. Murder, wars, violence, broken homes, suicide rates, disease, substance abuse, and mental illnesses have all risen to unprecedented figures. The Bible says that in the last days you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. It also says that many will be offended and will betray one another. Jesus also warned that there will be many false prophets and they will rise up and deceive many. Because of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:5-13). The Bible accurately depicts what we see all over the world today. Can you see how destructive sin is not only to our own lives, but more importantly, in relation to the character of a Holy God?

The Way back to God

"Jesus said to him, " I am the way, the truth, and the life." No one comes to the Father except through Me." - John 14:6

If you were to die today, do you know for sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that you would go to heaven? There was a point in my life when I was faced with this same question. It is not God’s will that any should perish in hell but for all people to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Being a good person, or doing good works and charitable deeds, will never be sufficient to cover your sins. It is not about what you have done or who you are, but it is everything to do with who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. We can only come to God by His grace through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus’ shed blood on the cross and resurrection broke the power of the curse death and sin. God loves you and He has a plan for your life.Will you call upon His name today?

Here are some promises from the Bible that tell of God’s plan of salvation.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23.

"The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ." Romans 6:23.

"Whoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved." - Romans 10:13

Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and He died for your sins? Just as you are, right where you are at, you can call upon his name by repenting of your sins and surrendering your life to Jesus Christ. This will be the most important decision that you can ever make, not only for yourself, but for your family and possibly future generations. Ask Him help you change, to wash you, and help you to fulfill the plan he has for your life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Begin a new life of prayer and thank Him every day for allowing you to live another day and life in Him. Read His word, the Bible daily, and ask the Lord to help you find a good church where the cross is preached and the Bible is taught. Be in fellowship with other Christians, praying for each other daily as you grow the knowledge and love of Christ. Jesus also came to heal the broken hearted. Allow Him to heal wounds in your heart and of your broken past. The Bible declares that you are fearfully and wonderfully made created in the likeness and image of God. Let your light shine and allow Him to channel His love through you to others, and use you to share the good news, the gospel of salvation. Never forget, but always remember, that nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:39).

“Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.” – 2 John 1:3