Lessons from Jonah Part One

"Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”  3But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord".    Jonah 1:1-3.  NKJV

There are four lessons that I want to highlight in todays session:

NO 1  BE CAREFUL WHO YOU ASSOCIATE WITH

Jonah was a preacher whom God ordained to go to Nineveh to evangelise the great city there. Unbelievably, Jonah refused and went off and caught a boat to take him to Tarshish. Now usually when God calls someone to mission, they are greatly encouraged and can't wait to get there. Not Jonah, he was having none of it and went his own way. At this point, God could have wiped him off the face of the earth for disobeying Him. But instead, God took it all in His stride and waited. Jonah caught the boat to Tarshish and when they were into the journey, they ran into a major storm. The sailors were petrified they would sink and started throwing things overboard to lighten their weight. However, it didn't work. The captain came to Jonah and asked if his God could save them. He told them He was a Hebrew and that he had refused God's orders. Straightawy the buck stopped with Jonah for his disloyalty. After a discussion, Jonah told them to throw him overboard and the storm would stop. Reluctantly they did and the sea became calm. The lesson here is be careful who you associate with. The captain had taken him aboard on trust and he was now paying the price. We can't always be sure about new people in our lives. we should welcome them but until they are tried and tested, we should wait on God to give us the go ahead or be careful sign. 

NO 2  HE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE YOU

As Jonah entered the water, God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and as he struggled in the deep, the fish swallowed him up and he spent 3 days and 3 nights in the fish's belly. Now I don't know about you but if this had been me I would have begun shouting to God almost straightaway. Jonah may have done this but, the scripture leads us to accept that he waited three days and nights before he shouted out to God. We do know that Jonah was a hard-headed person and had a strong will and it seems right that he waited to see what would happen initally. There are two areas of thought here, (a) He decided to be stubborn and wait for God to help or (b) He prayed for help straightaway but God allowed him to wait the 3 days and nights before He responded.  Whatever happened, God did answer and the fish vomited Jonah onto dry land. 

In lesson (b) we see that God is the only one who can help us in times of need. We need to be careful with Him though. Jonah appeared to become stubborn with God and almost had the feeling that, ''You put me here God, so it's down to you to get me out.' This is a dangerous thing to do, God will not be mocked or be treated with dishonour. He is God Almighty and should be treated as such.

We'll look at Lesson (c) and (d) tomorrow.

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. 

Why do I keep sinning when I want to do good

"For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do."                      Romans 7:15   NKJV

Paul talks about his constant struggle with sin and indicates that the power of indwelling sin, even for believers, is so strong that it can take what is good and twist it to become sinful beyond measure (7:13). And it is true, sin keeps us locked in a struggle.

Paul had the same struggles with sin that we do. We've all said at times, 'Why am I doing this?" "What's wrong with me?" The reason is, it's because we are in a war, a battle between good and evil - spiritual versus humanity. Like us, Paul knew that he was doing wrong, he simply couldn't stop doing it or break free. 

The closer our walk with Jesus is, the more sensitive to sin we become v18. Paul says that nothing good lives in him and we can echo this statement. Our old nature died when we were crucified with Christ. Sadly though, our flesh wasn't. Our sinful nature was put to death but our flesh overcome this and still rules within.

Saying that, I must reiterate that if you have Jesus in your heart, you are born again and are totally redeemed. The bad bit is that you live in a contaminated, fleshy body. So when you sin, you are no longer the one doing it; it is the sin living within you v20. Paul is not excusing our sin though, you need to realise this; he is reminding you that your true identity is no longer found in your actions, even if you keep on sinning.

Paul brings us a word of praise and encouragement in verse 24, 'O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  25I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!' It seems like Paul and ourselves have been struggling in quicksand, the more we move, the deeper we become trapped. Paul lifts his eyes to heaven and quotes this verse confirming that, we cannot do a thing on our own but, when we come to Jesus, we can be made free to overcome these hurdles. The only excuse that we can make is not choosing to ask Him for help in the first place. 

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. 

Losers talk, Winners take action

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ".

                                                                                 1 Corinthians 15:7   NIV

Just look again at the title of our study today. 'Losers talk, Winners take action" In other words 'You are a Winner' Jesus Christ has given you the victory and will keep on doing so as long as you do things in Him and for Him. Many can sit around and talk about things - what they'll do and what should be done. Winners say it and do it. They get on with what needs doing. The losers will still be talking about it when the winners have won the battle. Look at the formula:

CONQUEST  This is something acquired by conquering, especially territory

VICTORY       Final and complete defeat of the enemy in a military engagement. 

TRIUMPH.     To be victorious or successful, win or prevail. 

And if you know Jesus, you are a winner. Through Jesus, He has signed our acquittal papers, we are not guilty. The enemy can no longer have dominion over us (Colossians 2:14-15). Jesus has given us the victory and whatever we do for Him we will have the victory too.

Therefore, Jesus wants us to stand firm, letting nothing move us or stop us. He wants us to give our everything for Him as He did for us, abounding in the work we are given to do. 

In fact, we are recognised by God as More than Conquerors (Romans 8:37. We are the people who never say, 'I can't' No, we say, 'I can, through Jesus.' We are winners so declare that, say, 'I am a Winner'. Don't ever be tempted to say, 'I think I can.' Turn it round and say, 'I can.' You don't think in this situation, you know. Jesus can do anything and when you are walking in His strength, you are a warrior for God.

Look at David's confession in 1 Samuel 17:45: 

'Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.' Let me remind you that you have the same spirit within you as David did. David relied on the Word. He shifted the battle into the winner’s realm. You can do the same because you are a winner and you have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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. 

Don't be covetous, Be grateful for what you have!

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”        Hebrews 13:5    NKJV

You know, sometimes we are never satisfied; we see what others have got and we want it or something better. Many of us may feel this way but, we have control over our desires. Others don't have, and they spend their life wanting a better house or car or perhaps that dream job; in fact never satisfied. It's not that having money is bad or having a large salary. It is the love of this money and the status symbol it can give us that can lead to greed and other people to covetousness. God wants us to be grateful and satisfied with what we have and free from wanting what others have, that we perceive as better. 

In verse 5, the author writes 'Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.' Basically the author is saying, 'Be satisfied with what you have.' He wants us to be grateful for what we have been given. Some have been able to make better choices in life or have had the chance of being highly trained. This is where the class distinction may come in and it is only called that if you believe in it. Be pleased that God has blessed them and then He will bless you too.

Be content, but to do that, you have to trust and believe that Jesus promises to never leave you or forsake you. He is your helper, there is no need to fear; what can man do to you? Jesus is with you and if you spend time with Him, He will turn you into what He intended you to be. Have you realised yet that Jesus has a plan for you that no one else has. He has created you for this purpose. Just because it is taking a long time could be that, you are not ready at this time; He has some more refining to do with you. It may be that the actual time is not here yet. Don't forget that Jesus reminded Mary of the time factor when she told Him that the guests had run out of wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:4). There are times that are scheduled for us all and God is always on time, never late, never early just bang on the dot. So your time may well not be have arrived yet.

But it will, and when it does there will be no stopping you. But until that time is reached just enjoy what Jesus has given you; it may not be much in comparison to some others but, what you have been given is a royalty status compared to Christians in the poorer countries. But look at their faith, they don't have much but it doesn't stop them from blessing God and others daily.

Enough said, just praise Jesus for what He has given you and what is yet to come.

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. 

Don't quit now, the promise is coming

"But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:  33partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated;  34for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.  35Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  36For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise"         Hebrews 10:32-36 & Psalm 51:12   NKJV 

You may have been waiting for God's promise to come but, up to now there is nothing and it is frustrating. Have you considered that He may be waiting for you to do your bit first. Look at the early Israelites, God had told them He was giving them The Promised Land. However, He wanted them to get their house in order and obey Moses who would be leading them into this land, first. Sadly, they refused and therefore only two of the original generation got there - Joshua and Caleb. God couldn't give them His promise because they wouldn't keep theirs.

Now, you may be in this place. try and remember from where you came from - a world of sin. You met with God and from thereon it was like time stopped and you were so blessed that you couldn't take it all in. Such was the love of Jesus to you that you were practically flying around. Suffering used to come upon you but, at that time it didn't matter, you were on a roller coaster of blessing and you didn't let anything bother you. You didn't quit, you just bit the bullet and got on with things knowing Jesus was taking care of things.

Then, this honeymoon type of time was over and you entered the real world. Jesus was still with you and you still enjoyed fellowship with Him. The thing is, it was like He didn't seem to help you as much as He had been. It was not that He had let go of you, He was still there, He just wanted you to learn to stand on your own feet. As you did, He promised He would be with you. It was time to grow.

As time went on, you were still enjoying your new life in Jesus but, some things were getting quite heavy to handle - criticism of your faith, people telling you to stop this 'Jesus talk thing.' Some people were ignoring you because all of a sudden you were different, 'freaky' in fact. They couldn't recognise it was Jesus and they didn't want to. Then things started testing you at home; things breaking down, loss of jobs, bills, bills and more bills. The list was endless. You remembered that Jesus had told you that He would bless you beyond your wildest dreams but, up to present, it was just problems. At this time you may have felt like giving up, 'I was happy until I became a Christian' type of speech. You may still feel like this. If you do, don't quit, instead have a deep thinking session with yourself, invite God to it and listen to Him. He may throw some light on why things are difficult.

Let me ask you; are you doing what God wanted you to do? If He has asked you to tithe some of your money, have you, or are you refusing to do this? This could be why God hasn't sent His promise. Is there something that He wants you to give up but at this moment, you don't want to. The Israelites were like this with their refusals. Don't get me wrong, God is not a bully; He wants to teach you the right way to go. He also wants to bless you but you are holding things up. 

Whatever you come up with, God loves you and wants to pour love and blessing into your life. Just have the confidence in Him to do what you feel He wants you to do and then watch the promises begin to arrive. 

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. 

Just call on Him He'll do the rest

"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need".    Hebrews 4:14-16   NKJV

Jesus is all we will ever need. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Therefore, He was there at the beginning of our life, and He will be there when it comes to an end on this earth. He saw you as a child and watched you grow. He remembers your excitement when something wonderful was going to happen to you and, He can't wait to see this again when you enter into His heaven. That's a day that we just can't understand because, our brains are limited and we can't see that far into the future He has for each one of His people. Up to now, you have spoken to Him and He has spoken back to you. But try and imagine Him doing this when you can look into His eyes and see Him face to face. That time will come.

Jesus knows your heart - every inch of it. He knows all that you want to do to please Him but, because of human weakness can't do it because something always gets in the way. Usually, it is distraction. The devil will throw a covering over you that is intended to take your mind off Jesus and put it into the land of pleasure. He knows what you like and so he'll lead you to this place of weakness. When you are standing there, you feel helpless; you're being stretched two ways - to walk towards this temptation and enjoy it or, call on Jesus for help. If we can choose the latter, Jesus will reach down and hold us tightly until the temptation has passed. This is why at the end of verse 16 we read: 'that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need'.

The term 'in time of need' could also be quoted as 'in the nick of time. G. Campbell Morgan. This is because, Jesus is always on time. The scripture tells us 16 'Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace'. Quite simply, this means to pray to Jesus. As you do, He hears you and acts accordingly. You see, Jesus knows all about the ways of the devil. He was tempted as we are but didn't sin, in fact, He was tempted in all points as we are yet, without sin. He knows what our human life is like; He knows the trip flares and where that sniper is ready to take a shot at you. He knows all about what the devil has planned so, call on Him when you need to and keep on praying until He rescues you.

What a true friend He is!

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. 

Preach the Word and build the church

"I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;  4and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.  5But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry".                                2 Timothy 4:1-5.   NKJV

What does the Word say here? It tells us to Preach the Word. Now this usually is meant for a pastor or evangelist to do. But, if you go down to verse 5 in this text, we read, 'do the work of an evangelist'. Now some may say that you're not a pastor or an evangelist and that may be so, if you were trying to do that in church on a Sunday morning. But, when you're not and when you're at home or out and about and the opportunity arises, it's not much use to say, 'hold on, I'll ring a pastor to come and speak with you.' that may be very inappropriate, especially when the person needs to Word of God there and them. 

We are all called to go and make disciples (Mark 16:15 Jesus Words) so we are qualified to do this and then, if needed, invite them to your church to see for themselves. We should always be ready to do this, when it's convenient and when it is inconvenient. This is what Paul means when he says 'Be ready in season and out of season.' Sometimes we are tempted to water the gospel down a little by missing bits such as hell and damnation. But people need to hear this. On one hand, it may not help to go in with guns blazing. However, then again, what is the use of wrapping someone up in cotton wool and saying that all will be well, 'I'll pray for you.'

As we saw yesterday, there are people in the world who will lead people astray by preaching what they want to hear. They will preach to itching ears - the people who want to hear a satisfying gospel, one that sounds good. If we don't speak the truth to someone who asks us about Jesus, they may go to these people who have the power to lead them astray. It's far better to preach the truth, even if people don't want to hear it.

Why is it that people are so attracted by the sects of the world? It's probably because, the teachers there tell them what they want to hear. They use persuasive talk and lure the people in and before they know what happened, they're hooked. It seems so attractive in comparison to some churches who have lost the way themselves and have fallen asleep.

God is life; He wants life in you and He wants life in the church but who will do it? 'Here am I! Send me' (Isaiah 6:8). Isaiah, the one who stood up and made a voluntary offer to tell people what God wanted them to hear. I ask you, have you the willingness to stand up and offer yourself to God this way? If there isn't an appropriate church in your vicinity, how about building one yourself, starting in your house. It's a thought and, many have done this and built great fellowships. Pray about it!

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.