Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

Monday, 16 March 2026

It's never too late

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days." Joel 2:28-29 NKJV

We struggle and worry over the state of our unsaved family members, and in a way, it is right to do that. None of us want to enter into heaven and leave behind those we love. On the one-hand, we can believe that they have been told time and time again but, have failed to respond. But, that is not what we want. We want them saved. The thing that we have to remember, is that we have all been given free will, just like Eve had the choice to pick the fruit from the tree and eat it. It was a choice, but, not the right one as it invited sin into the world. Therefore, what can we do? Dr Michael Youssef gives us his thoughts on this matter:

'As a born-again Christian, you can fervently and persistently pray for the salvation of your unsaved family members trusting that God desires all people to be saved. While you
cannot force salvation upon another person due to their free will, you can exercise your faith by interceding for them, binding spiritual deception, and asking God to draw them to Himself, open their hearts, and send labourers into their path'. Dr Michael Youssef

So there you have some good advice. The great thing about this advice is that they don't know that you're doing it. Whereas, you could promote tension by keeping on about them being saved, this is a far better approach.

There is not a day goes by that God doesn't guide these unsaved family members into the path of believers. It may be just walking by a church and seeing a big message outside mentioning 'HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD'. They may see this and ignore it, but when we're praying for them, the Holy Spirit can open a part of their heart and mind about this truth. Some people make death-bed confessions and this is better than not making them at all. However, it is a blessed family when you're all on the right side.

This affects us all; we probably all have someone who we want to be in heaven. So why not start praying for them - everyday.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today. In Jesus' Name. Amen
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Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard.

Sunday, 15 March 2026

Your will or God's?

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven."

Matthew 6:10. NKJV

Jesus had been having a very in-depth discussion with His disciples on the subject of prayer. Out of this teaching, came The Lord's Prayer which we learnt all those years ago in school. It's a prayer that is often neglected in our free churches today but, is perhaps one of the most important to pray. If you have stopped praying this each day, change this and make this the main part of your time with Jesus.

One day Jesus will come to claim His church. By the state of the world at this time, it could be sooner than we think. Therefore we need to pray this in for when Jesus does come. We all need to be ready and have things in place in our lives and within the church itself. When I say the church, I don't mean the building, but the body - the people, themselves. We need to look inward and purge everything that should not be there.

We need to pray God's Word into this world of ours. Think about it this way, there are two kingdom ways in which we can travel: (1) The kingdom of self, where we rule, or (2) The kingdom of God, in which Christ rules. It is the second that we need to be attempting to achieve.

(1) This kingdom is self-centred, it only wants things for its own pleasure and, will do all it can to attain this. It is a ME, ME, ME attitude one which the devil knows so well and the one that bought his downfall. It has very little thought for others - just a fleeting thought, because there is so much more that they can achieve instead of wasting time on things that can be checked on later. This was the attitude that the Prodigal Son had when he wandered off with his inheritance to a place which he thought would satisfy his needs. Fortunately, he came to his senses and travelled back in repentance to his father, and was received with open arms. Don't make this mistake yourself, you may not be so lucky.

(2) This is the route to take, placing God in the driving seat and allowing Him to show the way you should go. If only world leaders could adopt the Word of God and throw themselves in repentance on the way of Jesus Christ. Of course, they may if we pray without ceasing.

Whatever you do, be sure to place Jesus in the driving seat and follow His rules. You can't go wrong if you do this. It's the way to go

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now

Saturday, 14 March 2026

Are you a perfectionist?

"Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Matthew 5:48 NKJV

In many areas of life, a great amount of people struggle to be better at everything they do, even to the extent of outdoing anyone they feel in competition with. They have a strong competitive spirit and must win at all times. This can be in the area of work, where they will strive to shine in their work, always trying to be better than the other workers. We can see it in sport, such as football or tennis to name a couple. Football can be hard going when players are trying to score goals, leading their team to win and themselves to be a hero. If they don't shine or win the match they can tend to sulk, being a bad loser.

These people are possibly perfectionists and although it is a positive thing to be, it has its negative side too. The main thing is, the root of perfectionism is failure. The perfectionist will strive to bring about the finest piece of work that is possible. However, when they can't bring this about., they class themselves as a failure and allow this to go deep within their very soul. An article I came across says this:

"A perfectionist is an individual who relentlessly strives for flawlessness, setting high standards for themselves and others. Driven by fear of failure or judgement, they are highly self-critical, often leading to procrastination, anxiety, burnout and difficulty delegating. While producing high-quality work, they often struggle to feel satisfied.'

Google Literature

Be honest, do you see yourself in the above statement? Over the years I have had to work hard to allow God to free me from this stronghold - and it is a stronghold, believe me. Like many others in the same position, I have used the above scripture as a defence of how Jesus appears to be saying His Father wants us to be this way. He does, yes of course He does but for another reason. As we read from William MacDonald:

'The word perfect must be understood in the light of the context. It does not mean sinless or flawless. The previous verses explain that to be perfect means to love those who hate us, to pray for those who persecute us, and to show kindness to both friend or foe. Perfection here is that spiritual maturity which enables a Christian to imitate God in dispensing blessing to everybody without partiality'

William MacDonald Believers Bible Commentary second edition

The meaning of our verse today, that Jesus was explaining, is not about being a perfectionist in the human form but, displaying maturity, wholeness and growing in love like Jesus.

Perhaps you may consider the negative side of perfection that you may be displaying. It is not easy to change this behaviour but, with God's help and some discipline from yourself, you will be able to manage this.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now

Friday, 13 March 2026

An Attitude of Gratitude

"Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV

Let your minds take this in:

(1) REJOICE ALWAYS Now this means in the good times and, in the bad ones too. Pretty easy for the first one but, not so for the second. But we know that joy is our strength and this can be promoted by laughter. Laughter is linked to rejoicing so this gives us our joy. So whenever we are able to rejoice at whatever is happening at any given time, our strength should be strong enough to help us cope with what we are facing.

(2) PRAY WITHOUT CEASING This means we don't give up when no answer is imminent, we press on. When we pray in the Spirit, our prayers have an energetic power about them, and we become even more bolder. As we adopt our prayer language - (Speaking in tongues), we are given words that we could never dream of; words that fit the occasion much more than our ordinary language can. No matter what, we are seeking the answer and praising Jesus until He shows us to stop. If you don't speak in the Spirit, seek out your pastor or someone who is able to pray and guide you through this process. It is a heavenly language and, not everyone knows how to speak it and some even frown at it.

(3) GIVE THANKS We have so much to thank Jesus for. Some times we may think, 'Why does He still bother with me - I let Him down so much.' But this is His love for us, it really does have no end to it. These are the times when we need to cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude, to Him. He is so faithful; so loving, in fact, it is hard to put into words how kind and loyal He is to each of us.

Joel Osteen, an American pastor of a huge church in Houston Texas says this, 'Choose to live your life in enjoyment, despite the circumstances, every day and every moment. Every day, choose to be happy' This guy knows what he is talking about, he has one of the largest churches in the world and it is growing by the week. These words are typical of what Jesus wants us to be - happy, contented and enjoying life. You know, life is too short for petty arguments, bad feelings and stress. We need to strip off every inch of criticism and hand it over to Jesus. It robs us of happiness. We are all subject to moaning and groaning, criticising, judging and finding fault. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE THIS WAY.

We were not created to be this way. Therefore, why not adopt the plan that God gave us above. It makes so much sense.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now

Thursday, 12 March 2026

Let Your Father speak to you

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love." John 15:9-10. NKJV

Just for a moment forget all about what has been troubling you just lately and focus on Jesus. Don't speak a word. Just close your eyes and think about Him because He loves you more than I could ever tell you.

He knows what problems you may have. He knows who has hurt you. He knows the people who have been bad-mouthing you and spreading vicious rumours, and He knows how this has affected you. But He wants you to just sit and think about Him, nothing else.

Just because He hasn't waved a magic wand over you, rescuing you from all the worry and pain, doesn't mean He doesn't love you. He's not a magician anyway, He is Jesus. He doesn't use fancy tricks to prove His might; He just whispers in your ear, 'I love you.'

And the love that He has for you, knows no end; He is always there, even when you're laying wide awake in bed, worrying. In fact, He probably sits on the bed right next to you taking your hand and just reassures you. You may not know this, but He is there. Why? Because He can't resist you, that's why.

The more you speak with Him, the more He loves to listen. The more you tell Him that you love him. His heart fills with joy. One day He will take you in His arms and hug you but, until then He is still there beside you.

But sometimes He doesn't want you to speak; He just wants to look at His beautiful created child, like the loving father of a new baby does. When you don't speak, you can concentrate much more on Him and allow Him to do the talking. We all miss so much when we forget to remain quiet.

There are moments to praise Him, that is essential but, there are also many times when you are alone, to just be quiet and allow Him to refresh with His Spirit. We all need this.

Why don't you try it now. Try not to answer the door; don't answer the telephone, just sit or lie down and listen

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now

Wednesday, 11 March 2026

What's in your storeroom?

33“Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit 34Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. 35A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil 36I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak.37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Matthew 12:33-37 CSB

Today, I want to look at the words that come out of our mouths on a daily basis. You may have been a Christian for a very long time but, every now and again, our words come from the storeroom of evil. Notice that the CSB uses the word 'storeroom' instead of the heart. I like this because it paints a picture very clearly. So, this is why I ask the question, 'What is in your storeroom?' Evil or good?

When we open our mouth, we reveal what's deep down inside - good or evil. It's almost as if God has a tape recorder and records what we say for future purposes, therefore, we have to be careful. For every idle word we speak we will have to give an account to God on judgement day, unless we have repented. However, should those words be in our storeroom in the first place? What you will have in your life tomorrow, will be determined by what is in your storeroom (heart) today. (Proverbs 4:23). Basically, to a degree, you're the prophet of your own destiny.

We need to recognise that when we are overworking, tired or totally stressed out, these are the times when we are at risk. These are the times when our storeroom is so filled that it overflows through the mouth and, this overflow tells us the real condition of the heart.

But, even then, as I said a moment earlier, we shouldn't have them in the storeroom anyway. But, let's agree, we're not perfect yet but, we can come a close second. But how?

We need to bring discipline into our life by taming the tongue, and this is not easy as you know. But it is achievable. We need to examine the storeroom, find out what is overcrowding it and recycle the drab bits to the refuse bin. We do this by devoting our hearts to Jesus and His agenda, not our own.

Because we belong to Jesus, the penalty for careless speech has been paid through the death of Jesus. However, our careless speech will result in loss of reward at Jesus' Judgement Seat, unless we have confessed this to Jesus and received His forgiveness.

So this is where we stand. There may be stuff in our storeroom that needs clearing out. If we ask Jesus, He will help us to deal with all of this. Also, if we ask Him each day, He will help us to be in control of our mouths, thoughts and behaviour. Tall order? Not at all if you trust Jesus. He'll play His part if you, play yours.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now

Tuesday, 10 March 2026

Temptation is all around

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.7And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”

Genesis 39:6-7 NKJV

At times our hardwork, honesty and faithfulness are not enough and we still are treated with injustice. Through no fault of his own, Joseph was targeted by his master's wife and had to pay the price. She had no doubt noticed that he was a good looking young man and she lusted after him - 'Lie with me'.

Now Joseph had been accepted in Potiphar's house and had worked his way up to be the top man. He was well thought of and trusted. This showed when Potiphar's wife made a play for him - he flatly refused her attempts to lure him into a sexual relationship. But most days she tried this on until one day, she made a play for him, grabbing his garment. Joseph ran out of the house. She shouted rape to her staff and Joseph was thrown into prison. He had done nothing wrong!

Many people today are falsely accused of doing a wrong, and whether or not people believe the accusation, mud sticks and they are labelled. This may have happened to you at some time. It was difficult for Joseph because, if he had told Potiphar what she was doing, he may not have been believed and may have suffered the same consequences. It's similar today but, we should always be alert to the fact that sin is all around and it may well attack us.

Adultery is a regular sin where people cannot control their urges and think that, 'no one will know anyway'. They will and it will be costly. But, many temptations can grab our attention, such as, stealing, fraud, gossip, judging people and many others. Do you realise that something as small as a pen, note pad or other stationery can be classed as stealing if you take it home and use it for your own means. Yes, I know you may feel it's splitting hairs and very extreme, but, ask God what He thinks about it; you may be surprised, because, they are all the same in God's eyes.

What do people see in you? Do they see integrity? We can easily say that it doesn't matter what people think but, if you want to honour God in your life, then it does matter. God wants you to carry the fragrance of Jesus wherever you go. When you are like this, people notice and may even ask why you handle things much better than they do. I call this, impact evangelism; you don't have to say a thing, just carrying Jesus around with you will be the biggest witness here.

But this can't happen if you are falling to the same old temptations. Really, only Jesus can break this bondage from you, you are not able to do this alone. So, ask Him to make you clean in every area of your body, soul and spirit.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now

Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

Monday, 16 March 2026

It's never too late

Sunday, 15 March 2026

Your will or God's?

Saturday, 14 March 2026

Are you a perfectionist?

Friday, 13 March 2026

An Attitude of Gratitude

Thursday, 12 March 2026

Let Your Father speak to you

Wednesday, 11 March 2026

What's in your storeroom?

Tuesday, 10 March 2026

Temptation is all around

It's never too late

Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

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