Frustration to Hope Part 2

"Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.  8But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish.  9Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread.  10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”

                                                                             John 21:7-10. NKJV

'It is the Lord' shouted John. With that, they all swung into action, but Peter took the lead, jumping into the water and dragging the boat towards dry land, which was about 100 yards. The others followed in the boat and there probably, was not a dry eye around.

Peter was the first to reach Jesus and dragged the net containing 153 large fish towards Jesus, who promptly began frying some of them. This must have been an amazing moment for them all - back together with Jesus, just like before. But it would have been much more wonderful for Peter. Don't forget, he had let Jesus down and walked away denying that he had anything to do with Him, when He was arrested. 

Even though, Peter was the first to race towards Jesus, he didn't know what kind of reception he would have. He may have thought that Jesus would have turned him away or, at least, given him a good telling off. However, none of this happened, he was accepted warmly, just like the others.

This is what Jesus is like. In a similar way to the Prodigal Son, who had left his father, going off and squandering his money and then returning home and finding his father still there, looking for him. The disciples had left Jesus after He had been crucified, but on the day He had risen, He had stood there waiting for the disciples to come back to Him while cooking them a hearty breakfast.

There was rejoicing; Peter was restored back to His rightful place and they were all primed and ready for their next mission - Jesus' ascension, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the world turned upside down. Biblical history was in the making.

Lives were changed that first Easter Sunday. A hope was born that has never diminished and never will. The next great move Jesus will make is the rapture when we will be rescued from the Tribulation that is about to come. But until then, Jesus is alive and we are forgiven our sins. In fact, all who believe in Him and ask Him into their heart, will be saved. Thank God Jesus is alive! Amen? Amen

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

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

If you would like to contact me email grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard. 

Frustration to Hope Part 1

3"Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing".                                                  John 21:3   NKJV

Some of the disciples had seen the risen Jesus, but there was still an attitude of confusion about it all. It was also frustrating; was Jesus alive? Had He returned as He said He would. There was a feeling of lethargy about it all. Had they seen Jesus, or was it a dream? Some among them were saying He had appeared to them. Peter wasn't so sure; He was still struggling with letting Jesus down before the crucifixion.

Peter, probably fed up with it all, said he was going fishing and the others agreed to go with Him. However, after battling through the night, they caught nothing. This added to their frustration.

You know, at times like this, it would be easy to throw the towel in and get back to what you were used to. Probably this was what Peter was beginning to do. But nothing was easy, as he was finding out. This led him to be more grumpier than ever. He'd let Jesus down and now he couldn't even do what he had trained for - to catch fish. He more than likely had a 'What next' type of feeling.

Through the early morning mist, they saw a figure on the beach and it appeared to be shouting at them, 'Have you any food? Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.' Peter looked at the others as if to say, 'Who is this guy, why should we listen to him, what does he know?'

They continued to peer through the mist and John began to become excited. 'Look who it is?' He shouted giving a little skip as he said this to them. 'Look' He repeated.

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

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

If you would like to contact me email grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard. 

He did it for us

"Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. 17And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head,  18and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”  19Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  20And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him".   Mark 15:16-20   NKJV

No one will ever be able to know the pain that Jesus suffered prior to and on that cross. It was too awful. It was straight froward murder - He had done nothing wrong. Yet, in the Pharisee's opinion He had uttered blasphemy, claimed His Father was God and He was equal with Him and, He was nothing but an embarrassment. If the truth were known, He had challenged them but they were having none of it.

So, through a false trial, He was prepared for crucifixion and the soldiers were totally evil towards Him. Bullies are everywhere, and mostly are surrounded by a gang for support. They are the spokesperson, as can be seen here- taunting and intimidating Him. A crown of thorns were forced on His head and, these were not your average thorn; they were about 2 inches long. They would have ripped His scalp. He was whipped until He bled profusely. He was then taken out to the cross where he endured 6 - 9 inch nails hammered into His hands and feet. He hung there for hours until He had died. 

Some of the crowd loved Him, others hated Him and were loving every minute. Just consider that day. This was your Lord on that cross. He bled for you; He suffered for you; He was spat on and wounded for you He died for you because, He loved you and through this action, He was taking the sin of the world - yours and mine - on His own body. That day, your sins were wiped out, forever.

Are we worth it? Jesus thought so. Do you feel the same? No? If you feel this, then you are wrong. Jesus thought so; God felt the same. Therefore, you need to feel the same because, Jesus deserves the praise for what He did that day, and for you to feel different, you are taking the glory away from what He did for you. How dare you?

Jesus had a mission and nothing was going to stop Him from completing it. And, what's more, nothing is going to stop Him from taking you and I to heaven when the time is right.

So praise Him, thank Him and offer yourself to Him anew. He did it for you.

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

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

If you would like to contact me email grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard. 

Betrayal

"When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. 2And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.  3Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.  4Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”                                                        John 18:1-4.  NKJV

It is an awful thing to be betrayed by someone that is close to you. You may have had so much trust in this person and they threw it in your face and betrayed you. It would have been like this for Jesus, although He knew this would happen, it still hurt Him and the other disciples were totally in shock.

Judas Iscariot had agreed to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver which would had been roughly around the cost of two months work by a labourer. Today, this could equate in certain quarters, to around $25,000. He arranged to take a detachment of soldiers to where Jesus would be found. Now, a detachment would be 600 men, but here it was more likely to have been a third of that - 200 men. Still a lot to catch one man. Judas had agreed that, he would walk up to Jesus and kiss Him and this would show them who He was. Judas blatantly did this; he walked up to Jesus and pointed Him out.

How could he do this to Jesus? How could he betray the Son of God who was about to give him much more than 30 pieces of silver? It's difficult to know why he did it. It may have been greed; it may have been that Judas was governed by Satan and persuaded to do this. Whatever it was, it was pure evil. Let us not forget that Jesus told us that wolves will come in sheep's clothing: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 

As I say, betrayal is horrendous and very difficult to accept - 'How could they do this to me?' You may have suffered this in the past or, just lately. You may be in the state of shock. You may have lost your money on a deal that you were assured was certain, only to find that you have been scammed or chested out of everything. Your spouse may have walked out on you, taking you by complete shock. Together with this, your bank balance may have been cleaned out and you are left with nothing. It is called being betrayed!

Jesus knows all about this type of thing; He knows the pain and loss of it all. However, He didn't react like you feel you'd like to right now. When Judas had done is dirty deal, He stood and addressed the soldiers and asked them who they were seeking. They replied they were after Jesus of Nazareth. His reply was amazing, 'I am He. With this, they all drew back and fell to the floor. They hadn't a clue what had happened to them. But Jesus knew - He had just declared that he, Jesus, is God and the Holy Spirit came down at that moment. Jesus though, still had His duty to complete at the cross before His suffering would end.

One more thing Jesus did, was to ask His Father to forgive everyone, from the cross because they didn't know what they were doing. He was suffering that is true but, there was more to come until His mission was over.

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

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

If you would like to contact me email grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard. 

The Benefits of Belonging to Jesus

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him.16With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”     Psalm 91:14-16   NKJV

We saw yesterday how God expects us to walk by faith, there really is no other route we can take except through the gateway of faith. Today, God is speaking much more to us through Psalm 91, our text for today.

He recognises that we have made a choice to follow Him. because, we have set our love upon Him. Once a person meets with Jesus, one can't forget Him and at that moment, we have the opportunity to choose Him or walk away. We chose to set our love upon Him. He reciprocates this and from that day onwards His eyes are on us, keeping us protected.

Just look at the benefits that He offers us: 

Deliverance. He takes us from nothing and turns us into someone He adores. We will call to Him and, He will hear and respond to our call. Whatever trouble we may find ourselves in, He will be there, right beside us. He will deliver and honour us. He will offer us long life to enjoy and, He give us His salvation.

These are just a few of the benefits Jesus offers to us, as we set our love upon Him.  We will spend eternity with Him and all other believers. We will see Him face to face in heaven. We will also see some of the bible heros such as Moses, David, Joseph, Peter, Paul and many, many more. If you're a musician, you may even get a jam session with David. That will be the concerts of all concerts.

After the hustle and bustle of this world, can you imagine the peace and quiet that we will be able to enjoy. Soft flowing water as it runs into a stream that is so crystal clear. I can think of nothing better and we'll have this for eternity. No pain, no sorrow or bad memories. No sickness or death. We'll have all we need too, no queuing up at sales for the latest gadget. Will we have laptops and mobile phones, I doubt it. There'll be so much joy filling our lives, that we won't have the time for earthly gadgets anymore.

And Jesus has made all this possible for you and I. Thank you Lord.

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

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

If you would like to contact me email grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard. 

Are you living by faith?

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 

                                                                                Hebrews 11:1   NKJV

What is faith? Well. it is something that God holds most important because: 'But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.' (Hebrews 11:6). Put this alongside 2 Corinthians 5:7 'For we walk by faith, not by sight', and we begin to get the idea that this is what God expects of us. Everything Jesus did was built upon faith - great healings, miracles and this included turning water into wine (John 2).

Faith makes things hoped for as real as if we already had them, and it provides unshakable evidence that the unseen, spiritual blessings of Christianity are absolutely certain and real. In other words, it brings the future within the present and makes the invisible be seen. 

We must have faith in our lives and walk with Jesus. After all, we haven't seen Him, and yet, we pray to Him and trust Him to takes care and provide our needs. How can we do this without faith; we would be talking to someone who is not there. Jesus is here and that is for sure and, what's more, He wants us to walk in faith more and more. Think of it this way, if we may pray for someone to be healed but, do not believe that they will be. This is not faith, it is unbelief. In the great commission, Jesus said  "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  18they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17-18. Jesus said we would do these things but, do we believe that, thinking that was back in bible times? We need to believe that as we pray for healing in Jesus' name, that they will get well. It may not happen instantly sometimes, but we carry on in belief for them. At other times we may see a miracle. Don't let doubt or intimidation stop you.

The subject of faith has been given a bad name over the years because of the way a small minority have abused this. Jesus didn't mention that if people gave Him money great things would happen to them. A small contingent of TV evangelists and others have used this approach. But, I don't believe that Jesus encouraged this kind of thing.

We are called to live by faith in Jesus. We are commissioned by Him to carry out His commands (See end of Matthew and Mark). Therefore, don't get misled, act on the Word of God.

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

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

If you would like to contact me email grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard. 

He's always with you!

"and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  

                                                                                               Matthew 28:20   NKJV

Let us look at this statement that Jesus makes. First of all, He gives the disciples and, the rest of the church, three commands:

(1)  Go and make disciples of all the nations

(2)  Baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

(3)  Teach them the basics of Christianity, so they too may do the same

And then He promises to be with them (and us) always.

It is so important that when we bring people to know Jesus that, we don't just leave them on their own. In a church setting, it's possible that the evangelist does this, but from thereon, it is down to the church to take up their duties and teach them. However, we may lead someone to know Jesus in a none-church setting, so, we need to consider what we can do to help this person to spiritually grow in their faith. Obviously, if you are a member of a church, this may be the way forward. However, we need to check if the church caters for this, not all churches provide disciple training. In that case, there is a need to find a more spirit-filled church where the person can be taught, baptised by submersion and be a blessing to one and all.

Many people are saved but fall away after a short time because there is no follow up. This can happen at big crusades where some new believers are overlooked and left to cope alone and again, they slip away. Most churches that hold crusades or do an altar call after the service, may offer initial prayer and give out tracts and information and invite them to church,, but that is all. Busy-ness seems to take over. Think for a moment, could you offer this counsel to a new Christian? If this appeals to you, talk to your pastor and see what he thinks about it.

After Jesus had said all this to His disciples, He gave them a promise "and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” I wrote in my bible some years ago: 

'Wherever I am - at work, home or the garden etc, Jesus is with me - always. How I need to remember this! When I don't feel His presence, He is still there because He promised to never leave me.'  Grahame Howard

Jesus never speaks untruthfully; He is honest and true. Dr Robert Livingston once commented on this: 

'The Word of a Gentleman! - The promise of a Gentleman of the most sacred Honour.'

Jesus has made you a promise; He is with you always, especially when you are witnessing for Him in the most darkest of places. He is right there with you. He is with you when your day begins and the tasks of the day try to get you down. He is with you throughout the day, when you are tempted to say something nasty because of your frustration, and He is with you as the day comes to a close and you're worn out and tired. He understands, after-all He has been with you every minute of the day. A word of warning though, if through frustration, you decide to walk away from  Him, rather like the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, He won't stop you but, He will continue to wait and look for your return.

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

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

If you would like to contact me email grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard.