The Appearance of the Son of Man

"Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."

                                                                  Ezekiel 1:28   NKJV

Even though we need rain to be able to exist, when it is ongoing it can be tedious. Some jobs have to be delayed because they just can be carried out in such conditions; and then. there is the risk of floods which many parts of the world have had these past few months. However, when we see the sign of a rainbow in the sky, we know that God is in charge and taking care of us. It is comforting.

Ezekiel describes it well in our text today. To see the rainbow on a rainy day, we can have the peace and assurance to know that the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord is all around us. This can also be described as the Son of Man as described in Daniel:

'Look', he answered, 'I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God' Daniel 3:25.

The king could not explain this any other way. He had sent three men into the fiery furnace, now there were four and they were all walking around unharmed. In his mind, there was no other explanation.

This was truly a miracle but God doesn't stop there, no matter what the weather; no matter what the problem or no matter what you feel like, there is always a way through the situation. The old song. 'God will make a way where there seems to be no way' really lifts our spirit when we speak or sing it. It is true, there is not a way that is blocked for God. A door may be locked but, He can get in as described in Acts 16 when He set Paul, Silas and the other prisoners free. There may be no money left to buy essential goods or pay desperate bills, but God knows the way. You may be struggling with illness, the doctors may not be able to cure it but, God can because, God can make a way where there seems to be no way.

The appearance of God, by His Holy Spirit, is all around us, all the time. He walks with us, talks to us and watches over us. Take HIs hand and watch how He can change something in the blink of an eye. There is no need to worry or be fearful. He is right there with you.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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 

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You need the Password

"Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King 

of glory shall come in. 8Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. 9Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors!

And the King of glory shall come in. 10Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah".  Psalm 24:7-10  NKJV

It seems like everywhere you go these days and most things you do, they all need a password. This can be very frustrating as I found out yesterday. Having just updated my mobile phone, I carried out the transfer of my apps and data, a simple job the mobile screen told me. And it was, until this morning when I tried to access my online banking, it kept blocking me and refused point blank to give me access. After a few hours of messing around with this, I gave up and knew that I would have to ring the bank and go through all of the; 'Your call is important to us, stay on the line and I will try to connect you.' After what seemed like hours, the problem was solved.

This got me thinking. There is a password into heaven and this is Jesus. Without Him no one will have access. God's Word says: 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.'

So we need this password - Jesus to be able to gain a place in heaven. However, there are many benefits to having Jesus in your life before you even get to heaven. He leads the way for us (if we allow Him) each and every day. He gives us peace while the rest of the world are frustrated with many issues. I remember a time when I was in a position that appeared hopeless. But I did what was the only thing I could do, I called on Jesus to help me, and He performed a miracle for me and rescued from this problem. If I had not known the password, I would have been sunk.

If you know Jesus, perhaps things are going really well in your life. On the other hand, things may be grim. Without trying to teach you to suck eggs, why don't you call on the name above all names - Jesus. He will help sort things out far better than you know how.

If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, then there is a prayer below which you can pray. Things may not change for you immediately but, you will know the password - Jesus, and that's all you need.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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 in Grahame Howard books.

When you don't know what to do. Part 2

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight".  Prov 3:5-6. CSB

Let us examine this topic a little closer today. The Hebrew word for Trust means to lie down on

- to put your whole weight on something. For example, when we go to sleep, ordinarily we lie down on our bed because we believe it is strong enough to support us. So, when we trust Jesus for something, we are putting our whole weight on Him to take care of us and show us the way forward and what to do in any situation. In a way, He is our compass and instead of getting lost in the wilderness, we have our compass to take us to the correct point.

Verse 5, also says with our whole heart which means entirely without exception, therefore, God says, 'Trust Me completely and I will sustain you, you won't make it on your own understanding.' When we rely on God in all we do, He will make our paths straight..

Here are three questions by Tony Evans that you may find helpful:

(1)  Why is trust necessary to live according to God's kingdom agenda?

(2)  What are some of the crooked things in your life that need straightening out?

(3)  How do you currently plan to address these areas?

                                         

Basically, when we are faced with the fact that we have no idea what to do in any given situation, we need to remember that God does. However, be honest, do you stop and ask Him for direction, or do you dash ahead blindly hoping for the best? There are many times when we just have no idea what to do or, what we are doing is the right thing to do. This is where we need to consult Jesus. As I've said, if we were on a trek through a forest or desert and became lost, it would be helpful to have a compass to show us a point to concentrate on. Jesus acts as our compass and willingly points the way forward when we consult Him. 

Don't ever try to make it on your own

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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 in Grahame Howard books.

When you don't know what to do

For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”  2 Chronicles 20:12  NKJV

We can have times when we just do not know what to do. It seems like we have tried everything to put things right but, alas, nothing changes. What can we do? Jehoshaphat was faced with a mighty problem; enemy forces coming at him from all directions and he feared that they would never be able to cope. He called the people together and informed them what was happening. Then Jahaziel, a prophet spoke out:

'Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.  15And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  16Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.  17You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.'  2 Chronicles 20 14-17  NKJV

Jehoshaphat accepted this as a direct Word from the Lord and bowed to the ground in praise and thanksgiving. And it was as the prophet had said, they had the victory.

We don't always know the way ahead but we must remember that, God does and it is wise to call to Him. This is why Solomon wrote: 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.'  Proverbs 3:5-6. It is essential that we remember these words as we never know when we will need them.

You may be going through a time of uncertainty; we all do every so often. Take what you are wrestling with and present the problem to God, just like Jehoshaphat did. Note, he was straight to the point and basically said 'Lord, we don't know what to do, but You do and we're counting on You.' God prefers us to get straight to the point and He will answer such kind of prayers as we have just seem. 

We need to cultivate a strong, intimate relationship with God, one in which we are totally reliant on Him, and He knows it. This is where He wants you to be in the situation you are faced with. Just trust Him. Remember, you will not have to do a thing, God will do it all for you - if you leave it to Him.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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 in Grahame Howard books.

Jesus is willing

"Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”41Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”  42As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.  43And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once,  44and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

                                                                       Mark 1:40-45   NKJV

This passage shows us the compassion of Jesus. It must have been a scary time for the leper as he approached Jesus and knelt down before Him saying, 'If you are willing, You can make me clean.'Try and picture the scene. Jesus had been 

on a preaching mission throughout the area, and no doubt He would have felt weary. However, people would never leave Him alone, He was notorious. This man would have been like an outcast at this time - the leprosy would have excluded him from 

any contact with anyone; yet, here he was kneeling before Jesus begging Him for help - 'If you are willing, You can make me clean.'

Of course Jesus was willing to make him clean. He even touched him putting Himself at risk of contamination, something that the crowd noticed and spoke about, alerting this fact to the Sadducees and others looking for an argument. The Man was healed instantly from this terrible disease and Jesus warned him not to speak about this but to go straight to the priest offering cleansing as directed according to Moses Law. Sadly, he didn't obey Jesus and went outside declaring his cleansing wherever he went.

Now before, we begin to judge this chap, let us consider how we would have felt. He may well have had Leprosy all of his life and suddenly, he is healed by Jesus. Of course this was something to shout about. Doing this though, meant that Jesus could no longer enter the city. It hindered His ministry.

The man healed of this terrible condition would have disappointed Jesus but, there is no sign that he lost his healing because of his disobedience. Jesus doesn't give us something and then take it back. However, it meant that Jesus had to cope with the many people who had heard about this and, wanted to see Him. It also would not have pleased the officials who were trying to stop Jesus preaching such things about God.

This piece of scripture leads us to think about the many times we have disappointed Jesus and prevented His work in certain areas. Thank God that Jesus is so forgiving and holds nothing against us for the wrongs that we still do.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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 in Grahame Howard books.

Be careful what you confess

 “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”    Mark 5:28.  NKJV

There is power in the words that we speak and we need to take notice of them. How many words do we allow to just fly from our lips without even considering what they mean? Take for instance these selection of bad phrases below, and don't add anymore:

'I can’t do it. My leg is killing me. This is difficult. I’m never gonna get through this. This is going to be a bad day. I could never go to university, the work would be too difficult.'

Can you see the negativity of these words. They're what psychologists call Self-fulfilled Prophecy.There is a lot of power in the words that you and I confess. Remember with words the world came into existence. In Proverbs we are told that 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.' Prov 18:21. This verse is very evident in the story of the woman with the issue of the blood for 12 years (Mark 5:25-34); She said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”  Her confession about being made well after touching the hem of Jesus’ garment brought about her healing and freedom.

Our text today, is what I want us to concentrate on. This lady, as we know, had been debilitated for 12 years, had spent all she had on so-called doctors and had no relief from her condition. She was desperate and when she heard Jesus was coming to town, she was determined to see Him. When she did, she bustled her way through the crowds and touched the hem of His gown. Notice two things here:

(1)  Determination. Nothing was going to stop her from seeing Jesus. He was her only hope. Sometimes it takes knocks in life to help us to see the way ahead.

(2). She was not going to let this opportunity go by. She may not have the chance again and her determination gave her the strength to force her way to the front of the crowd. And she received what she was hoping for.

We really must choose our words carefully. Proverbs 18:20 says "A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled.'

Get into the habit of choosing what comes out of your mouth wisely and watch the bad phrases.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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 in Grahame Howard books.

Struggling in Quicksand

"For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do,  

but I do what I hate”. Romans 7:15.  CSB

We are in a battle. Note Paul's words above. He wants to do what is right - obeying Jesus and living 

a Christian life but, he ends up doing what he hates - what he knows he should not be doing. Sound familiar? 

The battle is between  our new life in Jesus and our flesh. The flesh wants to hold on to our previous life, before Jesus entered our hearts. We know that what we do in the flesh is wrong but we do it anyway. It is a mighty struggle and we end up thinking, 'What is wrong with me? Surely I'm not a Christian doing this all of the time.'

Paul knows it is wrong but, he can't break free (v16). The closer we get to God, the more conscious we are of sin and failure. And it becomes like wading through quicksand, fighting the struggle not to sink and get swallowed up in the mirey mess. We know it is our flesh and that nothing good lives in our previous life (v18). Remember, even though we have crucified our old self on the cross with Jesus, our flesh hasn't and it will try and pull us in the direction it has always known. Our old self was put to death but our flesh wasn't.

When we come to Jesus, our identity changes; we become like Him with a new direction. We are totally washed clean; our sin is forgiven. However, we are still living in a body that is contaminated by flesh. Therefore, what we don't want to do, we end up doing it but, we are not the one who is doing it, it is this sin that lives within our flesh (v20). Now this is not a feeble excuse or a licence to carry on with our sinful life because we are not responsible for it. Not at all. It is a reminder that we have a choice to make and that is to call on the only one who can rescue us from this quicksand - Jesus. Notice, that Paul gives a shout of 'Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.' (v25).

Remember, we are all the same, we make mistakes, we commit sin and always will until we are safe in the arms of Jesus in heaven. But until then, we have Jesus, who knows what it is like to endure this temptation:

'Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.'   Hebrews 4:14-16. CSB

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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 in Grahame Howard books.