Watch out for that snake!

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”                    Genesis 3:1    NKJV

Snakes are cold-blooded creatures and can usually be found on heaths and woody areas, basking in the sun on summer days. They do this to warm up their bodies. In the UK, there are three types: grass snake, smooth snake and the adder (viper). The adder is the only poisonous one and can be a danger to dogs, children or anyone who either tries to get too close to them, or stumbles on one accidentally.

Now a snake is a crafty animal that has four characteristics:

(1)  A deadly tongue

(2)  Crawls into situations

(3)  Lies in wait

(4)  Strikes and bites

This can be seen in the first few verses of Genesis 3:

Deadly tongue  Notice how the serpent (Satan) approached Eve with half-truth comments. This is something he will always do. He tricked Eve, He tried to trick Jesus in the desert and he most definitely tries to hoodwink us on a daily basis. And the sad thing about it is, we nearly always fall to his lies. So therefore we need to wise-up.

Crawls into situations  There was no mention of there being a snake in the garden until, he crawled up to Eve. This because he is also sly and sneaky:

'In fact, did he crawl or did he have legs. This has been a much discussed subject over the years In Genesis 3:14, God curses the serpent, stating it will crawl on its belly and eat dust. Some interpret this to mean the serpent originally walked on four legs and the curse caused it to become legless. Evidence suggests snakes did have legs in the past, according to a HowStuffWorks article.  many Christians believe they did. Apparently, there is a lot of proof that they did' 

I'm not suggesting that this is fact, but it would certainly explain God's rebuke to the serpent in v14-15:

'Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.15And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.'

Lies in wait  Just the fact that the serpent approached Eve shows that Satan lies in wait to attempt to tempt us. He is not with us all the time, but he is never very far away from us. All the more why we should be on guard at all times - ready. 

Strikes and bites  If we allow him to get too close, he may be successful in leading us into sin. We know when it is Satan talking to us because, there is only half-truths to his word, whereas God is always full of truth. This is why we need to be alert. Eve wasn't and fell for the lie, but let's face it, so did Adam because he should have put a stop to it straightaway.

Just make sure that you keep your eyes and ears open because you never know when that snake is going to strike and bite.

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 on Grahame Howard books.

Dabblers and Divers

"When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”    Luke 5:4.  NKJV

Today, let us look at diving into the deep - such as water. When Peter was having problems getting a catch from his boat, Jesus said told him to launch out into the deep. Why was this? Mainly because the choice fish - the ones that would profit Peter, swam further out into the deep water.

Look at the bird world for instance. Ducks fit into two categories, dabblers and divers. The dabblers can be observed mostly with their heads under the water and their rear end on show for all to see. Mallards for example fit into this category. They mostly stick to the water's edge where they can easily negotiate their bodies to find tasty morsels just under the water. Some church visitors, especially recent converts can be a little like this. They stand or sit on the edge of the church, in the background and rarely show their faces probably because they are nervous to do this among the throng of other church members.

Now the divers - for instance, Hooded Mergansers, abandon all to explore the deeper waters. Other birds such as the Kingfisher and various sea birds like Cormorants and Gannets, to mention a few, also adopt this behaviour. Once under the water, they discover an assortment of fish and other goodies to satisfy their hunger. What can't be found by sticking to the edge, can always be found by going deeper. Do you get the idea?

When it comes to the Christian life, dabbling might be just enough to keep you alive until the next church service. But how much richer, how much more rewarding it is to dive to the depths of sanctification and sacrifice. There is so much we can do when it comes to getting to know Jesus much more. Bible reading, from a version that you understand better - a study bible is very helpful. Then there are Christian teaching books by well known and grounded teachers of the Word. Private study groups and much more.

Think about Peter that day. They had been struggling all night to get a significant catch, but nothing. However at Jesus' request he said 'Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”  6And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  7So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.'  Luke 5:5-7. Notice the difference in going deeper?

If you’ve been dabbling on the edges in your commitment to serve Christ and to serve in your local church, row out to the middle, step out of the boat, and dive in. I assure you, the water’s great! That’s the difference between dabblers and divers!

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 on Grahame Howard books.

Fight the good fight of faith

12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses

                                                                             1 Timothy 6:12    NKJV

As Christians, we have certain standards and this means that we try to live our lives modelling ourselves on Jesus. So, when we strike up a friendship with a neighbour or work colleague, we avoid certain gossip or certain things that they may say, including some jokes which do not give witness to our faith. This can tend to label us as 'Religious' and some people may avoid us like we have the plague.

It takes a special person to  live in this world with a label such as we have been given and, this in itself can be hard going. When Paul mentions to fight. He is not referring to being a fighter such as in a boxing match: 'Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.  27But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.'  1 Corinthians 9:26-27. He is actually describing life as a Christian being difficult to live, it can be a fight at times.

Being committed to Jesus does not mean that we have to isolate ourselves from unbelievers, not at all. If we did that, how would people get saved? What it does mean is that we do not divert from our Christians standards - we can mix with them but not be a part of them or their ideology. Some people have nothing to do socially with an unbeliever, possibly because they don't want to be sucked into their beliefs. This is wrong in my opinion; we can still be friends with them without being tainted with the same brush.

Let us not forget that we are lights in this world (Matthew 5:14-15), we shine up the darkness all around. However, we don't put a basket over the light when we are with non Christians friends; in fact we can be just as we are when we are with Christian friends. The last thing we want to portray is being called a 'Holy Joe'. Jesus went where unbelievers were present and so should we

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 on Grahame Howard books.

A Priestly Blessing

24“The Lord bless you and keep you; 25The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” 

                                                                    Numbers 6:24-26   NKJV

Moses discussed The Priest's Blessing here in his fourth book that was called Numbers. There are some powerful statements to be found here and it would be helpful for us to walk our way through them. Firstly, there is the phrase to:

(1)  BLESS YOU   This means to take care of us and watch over us. Next there is:

(2)  KEEP YOU   May we be protected, sustained and guarded. It also means to be kind and gracious towards us. Rather like sheep, God wants to protect us and place a guard around each one of us.  

(3) HIS FACE SHINE UPON US  In other words, this is the idea of God smiling down on us. What a lovely description to have of Him. He smiles as He blesses us. What parent doesn't want to smile at their child when they are blessing them. Well God is our chief parent and He loves to smile at us.

(4)  GRACIOUS TO US No matter what, Our Father wants to bless us with all that He has.

(5)  LIFT UP HIS COUNTENANCE UPON US He shows us His favour on a daily basis. He'll even show you favour when you're driving around  searching for a car parking space. If there isn't a space, He'll create one. He's interested in the small things as well as the large.

(6)  GIVE YOU HIS PEACE This is the full meaning of peace that Jewish men greet one another, Shalom, Shalom - peace in all of its fullness.

God offers us happiness (Blessing) and His love, and let's face it, He knows more about love than we can ever know in a lifetime. Love is God's name. He is love. 1 John 4:8 tells us so - God is love and so Love is God. He fills the heavens with His love. Do you know, God can't help loving us. He longs to spend long periods of time with us, His children. Tony Campolo used to say that God has a photograph of us in his back pocket, 'Have you seen my children?' It's a nice thought. His angels even have instructions about protecting and watching over us (Psalm 91:11-13). He just cannot hide His love and blessing for us. He would love us to do the same for Him and show Him our gratitude, thanks and love at all times

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 on Grahame Howard books.

A True Friend

• "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."                 Proverbs 18:24    NKJV

  
  

  This verse says it all about real Christian love. When you consider these words, they describe the love that Jesus has for each of us. But there are friends and there are true friends, and 

  this scripture is describing this; a true friend will always be there for us, no matter what.

  Bible Gateway gives a good example below:

  Depth of Friendship:

  The proverb contrasts the superficiality of many companions with the deep and enduring quality of a true friend. It suggests that real friendship is not merely about shared experiences or familiarity, but about a bond built on trust, loyalty, and a deep commitment to one another. 
• Loyalty and Support:

  The phrase "sticks closer" implies a relationship where a friend remains steadfast in times of need, offering support and strength even in the face of adversity. This type of friendship can be a source of comfort and encouragement, going beyond the comfort of mere companionship. 
• Transcendence of Family Ties:

  The proverb suggests that the bond of a true friend can be stronger and more intimate than even the closest family ties, highlighting the unique power of chosen relationships. 
• Example of Christ:

  Some interpretations draw a parallel between this proverb and Jesus's relationship with his disciples, emphasizing his unwavering love and support. Jesus is seen as the ultimate friend who lays down his life for his friends, exemplifying the depth of loyalty and commitment described in the proverb. 
• Biblical Context:

  The proverb is rooted in biblical teachings, particularly Proverbs 18:24, which emphasizes the importance of choosing wise and reliable friends. 

In essence, "a friend sticks closer than a brother" serves as a reminder of the profound value of genuine friendship and the special bonds that can be forged through trust, loyalty, and a commitment to one another. 

Merely having large numbers of "friends" does not always mean having many deep, committed allies in times of need. In this context, a "man of many companions" suggests a person who seeks popularity and shallow relationships. When times are good, those kinds of associates can be a source of pride, or entertainment. But when times are rough, one finds out quickly who their true friends really are. Therefore, to have a good, reliable friend is something worth cherishing. However, to be a true friend is a two-way commitment and needs nurturing at times to maintain continuity, rather like our relationship needs this with Jesus.

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 on Grahame Howard books.

Don't let a thorn rule your life

"And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  9And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."      2 Corinthians 12:7-10   NKJV

Paul knew what it was like to be frustrated because what scripture describes as a thorn in the flesh. No one really understands what this thorn was but, many have speculated. Whatever it was, it was beginning to drag Paul down, in fact, he was becoming frustrated by it all. The Lord told him 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' And Paul accepted this for what had been making him weak, he was now able to be strong. 

Notice that Paul didn't moan about this thorn, not at all. He decided to look at the situation from another direction and instead of being negative about his situation, he decided that without God he is weak, with Him, he is strong and that was all that mattered to him. There were some things that he couldn't do because of the thorn, but, there were many more things he could do by changing his attitude to it.

Many Christians are afflicted with some type of disability. This may have been the results of a serious illness. It may also have been caused by an accident of some sort or a medical condition that was caused by surgery or medication. When a person can't do what they used to do because of this condition, frustration can take up residence, quickly followed by depression and anger. The frustrating thing is, no matter what they say or do, it cannot be changed, unless Jesus intervenes and alleviates this problem. Sometimes He does but at other times He doesn't. We don't know the answer to this but it is not because He doesn't 't care, He does but there is a deeper purpose that He has in mind. 

How better qualified is a person who has their own kind of thorn and who can help a person in a similar situation? You may be one of these people who has carried a thorn for sometime and you may be struggling with the affect of it all. Consider that God just might, want you to help others in this situation. You won't know until you ask Him. And you won't be in any condition to help anyone if you don't accept what has happened, so think on that one.

There are a few things that you can't do anymore, but there are a host of things that you can do. As long as you have breath, you are a candidate for God's work. So let Him know that you are available.

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 on Grahame Howard books.

Allow God to instruct you

 8I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you. 9Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.                                                                                     

                                                                          Psalm 32:8-9.  NKJV

God gives us many promises that we can trust and rely on; this is one of them. These verses have given me the victory every time I have claimed them. Perhaps you would benefit from claiming them too.

If you are at high school, college or university, you will have noticed that it is not always plain sailing. Much study has to take place to be able to achieve  success and it can be very tiring and stressful at times. Look at our two verses again, God tells us that He will instruct us and teach us the way we should go. I know for a fact that this is true. Like most people, I had exams and essays coming out of my ears years ago and when I initially read through the requirements, I had that negative feeling that, 'I can't do this, I'll never cope. However, I was wrong and I accomplished all of my requirements with good results. But it was not my academic skill that got me through them, it was God showing me this promise. I firmly believed it and it paid off.

You may have done this as well. On the other hand, you may be sitting there with your head in your hands thinking, 'This is impossible.' It is not but,there is a condition with this promise. Check out v9: ' Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.' Basically if we kick and scream, refusing to understand or take note of God's promise, then you will have to find your own way through all of this, and, it may not be successful.

God wants the best for you; you're at the centre of His thoughts daily and He always wants us to be obedient to His Word. Why? Because He is right and He knows the way to go. He has all of the answers and what's more, He is willing to share this with you. But, if you remain stubborn, sadly you are on your own until such time you ask Him again for help.

This promise is not just for academic concerns but also, for everything in our lives. He wants to show us the way forward, teaching us and protecting us. But He will not force His help upon us; we have to ask and if pride takes over you, you will struggle big time. It's far better and easier to do it God's way!            

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 on Grahame Howard books.