Has God opened a door for you?

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open"    Revelation 3:7   NLT

Yesterday, we looked at the daunting realisation that we have to make some changes in our life. We saw that we need to do this because, for many of us, our lives may come short of God's requirements. Today we look at verse 7 of Chapter 3.

One way to look at this is, when God opens a door, salvation is assured. Once the door is closed, no one can open it again and judgement is certain. But, another way of looking at it is when we choose to honour God in every way that we can. We show Him that we are committed to Him and want to serve Him to the best of our ability. He is not an ogre, not at all. He is a very loving and caring God and wants to bless us because, we are His children. Therefore, When He knows that we mean business with Him, He opens doors for us to walk through. The doors He opens are tailor-made to our ability. Such is His knowledge of us, that He knows what we can do well. This door, is a door that no one can close. It is also a door that only God can open for us. What I mean by this is, that we can take on tasks that we are totally unable to carry out. We may feel that we are able to do this work, however in a way, it is way beyond our capabilities and things begin to crumble. This is common where promotion takes place. Before the promotion, we were doing well in our job. However, since the step up, it is too much responsibility and we find it too difficult. This is called The Peter principle  (Dr Laurence J Peter & Raymond Hull Souvenir Press) 

God though, knows exactly what is right for us. You may know the door that God has opened for you, but it may not be the right time (Remember Joseph and his dreams). On the other hand, you may be waiting for God to show you. There is always a waiting period because God is a great planner and will not be rushed.

If you mean business for God, then He will be the same towards you. He is the great door opener. I remember all those years ago when I applied to University. Even though, I knew it was God's will and I had the right qualifications, I was told that there was no room that year. Ten minutes after I had ended the call, the telephone rang and it was the same person I had spoken to. She told me that someone had just dropped out, would I like that place? Of course I confirmed I would. You see, when God opens a door, only he can close it.

If God has closed a door on you, It may not be the right one for you, or it may not be the right time. If you are certain it is for you, then pray it in and wait for the call to go. God has a place in His Kingdom business for you. Whatever it is, you are ably qualified. Don't give up; just hang in until it is the right time or, until God shows you another direction. 

God's door is always open. No one can close that. This means that you can always spend time with Him and get a clear picture of what He has in store for you. Never be tempted to cut corners, going in your own strength. You will fall headlong sooner or later. Just wait for the right moment. It will come and when it does, it may come like rocket, so get ready.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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Time to get your life right

" 1 Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. 2Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. 3Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief".   Revelation 3:1-3  NLT

Jesus was not happy with the church at Sardis. It had a reputation of being alive but, on examination, most of the people were dead in hypocrisy and religion. They had lost that wonderful feeling of salvation. Can you remember yours? It was a wonderful time and words can't even express it. Salvation meant everything and most people would have done anything just to please Jesus. Many have called this the honeymoon of salvation.

What has happened when a church begins to die? Quite frankly, the fire of the Holy Spirit is almost stamped out. Whereas, once the church was thriving, now services contain a degree of apathy and may have become more like a club than a meeting place to welcome people and praise God. Once there was joy and laughter and the fire of the Holy Spirit used to literally floor people; but now, the fire has been quenched. The Word is preached but it is not power-packed with the Holy Spirit so, it falls on deaf ears. 

It may be that there has been no particular enthusiastic welcome for new Christians and they have decided to go away and try elsewhere. However, there is a need to check yourselves out. Has hypocrisy crept into your life? Do you read your bible every day and pray? These are total 'musts'. Without the Word in your heart, you cannot expect to be in touch with the Holy Spirit. The Word of God needs to be preached all the time, with conviction and if there is no fruit from it there is a need to find out why not. 

Have you and/or the church become dry and arid? Are you religious or a Christian? There is a big difference. Jesus Christ is Lord and there is no other God, no matter what anyone else says. The early church were not multi-faith, they were Christians and so should you be. Jesus says, 'Wake up', They are strong words when Jesus says, 'I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God." These are Jesus' words, not mine, please don't shoot the messenger. I believe that Jesus is giving His church a wake-up call and if we fail to take notice of it, we will pay the awful price, because He is not pleased.

Just look at the state of the church today; need I say more. If we don't take notice of this, people are going to go to hell and that, is the awful price. It's time to get your life right. It's time to measure up to what you believe. It is time to check yourself over and honestly see if your actions fit the requirements of Jesus Christ. If they don't, it is time to ensure that they do!

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

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Turn your worries into prayers

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. 7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7   NLT

We all worry at certain times but, some people make it a feature to worry about most things that come their way. They lay awake at night trying to find a solution to what  they're worrying about. When they've reached a solution, they worry about whether it is the right one, and on it goes.

God did not create us so that we can worry about things. He tells us not to worry (Matthew 6:31). 

Worry is the result of listening to the devil's lies. he breathes fear into our lives and we start to become anxious. These worries begin to attack our minds and our bodies and are responsible for many illnesses that come upon us, including heart attacks and cancers. When we worry, we lose our focus and the Word that God has planted within us is stolen. Worry attacks our faith because, fear is the total opposite of faith. When we live in fear, it is difficult to believe that faith can change things for the better.

Jesus told us, 'So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." (Matthew 6:34) Planning about tomorrow is time well spent but, worrying about tomorrow is time wasted. Today, we have enough things to contend with - a lot on our plate - so don't add to this by worrying about something that may happen tomorrow. What is the point in this, it may not happen but, if it does, God will help us sort it out. We all need to make plans and yes, it will include tomorrow. However, there is a difference, plans for tomorrow are important - we have appointments, holidays, day's out etc. etc. But we need to be flexible in this planning so that we alleviate fear and worry.

Paul's advice to us here is, to turn our worries into prayers. If we want to worry less, pray more. In fact, we need to make it a normal thing that, whenever worry pops up we stop what we're doing and pray. Don't worry about anything and pray about everything. This way, God will envelope us in His peace, the type of peace that guards our hearts and minds. Surely this is what we want, isn't it?  And it is part of our Daily Life with Jesus.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

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Don't give up on your dream

"He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises"                             

                                                                                  Romans 4:21   NLT 

Abraham was fully convinced that what God had told him would happen. he never doubted for a moment and, because of this, he received the blessing. Many men and women of God are serving Him now totally relying on His promises to provide for them (Matthew 6:33). One notable example was a man called James Hudson-Taylor. He started his working life training to be a chemist, but soon felt the call of God to serve Him. When his training was completed he eventually went to China as a missionary. He had no money and was totally reliant on God, who had sent Him. Taking Matthew 6:33 as his baseline he wrote in his diary: ‘If we can only wait right up to the time, God cannot lie, God cannot forget. He is pledged to supply all our need"  Such was Hudson-Taylor's faith and trust in God. He totally believed His Word and nothing would convince him to the contrary. His dream was to obey Jesus and, if He was meant to be there, he knew God would finance this dream. And He did. There were many testing times though, times when many would give up but, Hudson-Taylor never did and he was blessed for it. He was fulfilling his dream.

And this was the same for Abraham. God had told him that he would be the father of many nations and, he and Sarah would have their own son despite being very elderly. Abraham would not give up on this dream and because of this, Abraham received God's promise.

What is your dream? Has God promised you something that is probably beyond belief? If so, you need to hang on to this and pray it in. Don't ever be tempted to give up on this dream. If God said it, then it will happen. Don’t talk yourself out of it because you have been waiting a long time and nothing has happened yet. Just believe and it will come. If you have shared this with another person, don't be surprised if they try to talk you out of it, 'It's not going to happen. You need to consider that you have it wrong. God didn't promise you this.' If you are convinced that God said this to you then. don't believe the lie; remain totally convinced that what God told you, he will bring about.

Many people who speak this way to you, are caring and well-meaning people. They don't want to see you made a figure of gossip. But remember, God said this to you, not them. So as I have said, if you are convinced then, keep believing, don't give up on your dream. When it will come I don't know but, if he said it, it will happen. Your dream will be fulfilled. 

As we saw yesterday, there are doers and talkers. If you are totally convinced then, you are a doer so, get ready to live your dream

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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Do it, don't just talk about it!

"But don't just listen to God's Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves."               James 1:22   NLT 

For the last ten years of my professional career, I worked in a hospice helping people with pre and post bereavement issues. One thing that used to crop up on a regular basis was, 'There is never enough time.' A lot of the people who were at the last stage of their lives, would quote this phrase when they said that they had always planned to do a certain thing or go to a special place. Now of course, it was not so easy to do and they had a deep regret.

Life is short and, we should do what we can now and not leave it on the back boiler until it is too late. In life, I have observed that there are doers and the one's that speak about it but, never seem to get round to doing what they should do or have promised to do. James brings this home to us with the above verse, 'But don't just listen to God's Word. You must do what it says.' In plain terms, stop just talking about it, make it a reality and put your thoughts into action, while you can.

It is very important to listen to what God's Word says, but it is far more important to put it into action by doing it. We often read the bible and a gem pops out that you know is for you. However, do you act on it? It may be that God is calling you to do some work for Him, you may agree that it is needed, and be excited that God has chosen you, but what next? Do you put this word into action? Do you get on with the mission - whatever it may be, or do you sit on it in the guise that you want to give it some thought before you do anything? Consideration is good but, not at the cost of sitting there and not doing anything.

Be honest, in the past, has God asked you to do a particular task for Him? It may have been large or small. The thing is, did you do it? If so, what was the outcome? If not, why not? God trusts you and when He gives you things to do, he ensures that you are ably qualified to carry this out. Don't worry, if you didn't do what He asked you to do, He is not going to block your way into heaven but, you do need to tell Him that you're sorry and ask if the task is still open, will He give you another opportunity.

Like the people I mentioned at the beginning of this commentary, don't allow yourself to live in regret. God only has the best for you and, this may be to start a new career, business or to work for Him. You'll never know until you try though.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Don't let things get you down

"We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed "     2 Corinthians 4:9   NLT 

Disappointments can turn up in our life when we least expect them. We may be looking forward to a certain thing and suddenly, it has been changed and there appears to be an empty space in our hearts. At this stage, if we're not careful, it would be easy to become upset. However, these things happen and we need to make a space for them.

Some people have a lived a life of disappointment and therefore, find it very difficult to accept when they are let down. They can take it personally feeling that it is the story of their life. This is not the attitude to take, things happen and even though being let down hurts, they can't be avoided and there is always the room for things to be re-negotiated.

Our text today, tells us, 'We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.' Being let down hurts, it's true but, we need to be open to change. James tells us, 'when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy'  (James 1:2). Notice that James doesn't say 'if trouble comes your way,' but, 'when it does.' James knew that troubles come to all of us and we need to find a way to handle it. He tells us to 'consider it an opportunity for great joy.' James is not saying that we should pretend to be happy when we are not by putting a smile on our face. Not at all, but he is encouraging us to have a positive outlook about it all. Things will change, there will be other opportunities.

This is how we can get back up again when we are knocked down. This way, we avoid being destroyed and keep our peace about it all. Can you remember those inflatable, blow up children's toys from a few years ago. They were about three feet high and one could knock them down but they would spring back up again. They had a happy smile on their faces. This is how we need to be - not putting on a false smile but, having the grace to let people or situations off the hook when they have let us down. 

Don't allow yourself to become hurt by discouragement and disappointment; it's temporary and will soon be changed and re-scheduled. This includes something that you are waiting to have delivered or someone who was due to visit you. Don't let these things get you down. When you get knocked down (and you will,) spring back up again like the children's toy. 

Just find an opportunity to praise God and be joyful. That is how to live.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Being led astray

"Those who lead good people along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the honest will inherit good things."                  Proverbs 28:10  NLT 

As I was walking Charlie, our Dog this morning, I felt God showing me the perils of being led astray. Even though we are dog owners and we should have control of them, a dog will always push its luck and head for whatever direction it fancies. If we allow this, we will end up in the road, with lots of traffic; we'll end up going the wrong way or they will chase after some other dog with us hanging on frantically. Charlie is like this. If he is on the short lead he pulls but he is under control. However, when I extend the lead, if I am not careful he will pull me anywhere he chooses.

As I thought about it I saw the analogy God was pointing out. If we are not careful, we can be led into situations that we shouldn't be in. This could be people leading us into situations, or us being foolish enough to test things out that we know are wrong. This easily happens when we are in a crowd of people. Some are very persuasive and make things sound as if there's no problem here, 'it'll be all right.' Many times it isn't and we can end up regretting what we have done.

Drinking too much alcohol can be unwise because it can lead us into the 'It'll be all right' mode. If we're not careful, we can be led into drinking endless shots until we don't know what day it is. We'll have been led into a dangerous position. Also, spending money that we really can't afford can be unwise. Peer pressure can lead us to using our credit cards. It's easy when you don't have to part with the money at the time. However, when the bill comes in, we can hold our heads in terror when we see how much we have spent. 

Many husbands and wives may have separate nights out with their friends. If this includes alcohol, pretty soon when the drinks take over, they can end up getting involved in relationships that should never happen. Just one act of adultery can shatter a marriage and your life forever. Is it worth it? Don't be led astray, be led by the Holy Spirit.

Scripture says: ‘So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves,'  Galatians 5:16 NLT. The Spirit of God will always lead you into the truth of Jesus Christ. He should never be left out of your life for a moment. It is essential that He accompanies you wherever to go. Live each day controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Then the words of Christ will be in your mind, the love of Christ will be behind your reactions and the power of Christ will help you control your selfish desires.

This is the way to live your Daily Life with Jesus.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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A Walk in the Garden

'I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees."   

                                                                               Ecclesiastes  2:5.  NLT

 Picture the scene, God just ambling along through His garden enjoying His creation. There is something very refreshing and comforting when we have the time to just stroll through a nice garden or park on a summer evening. The smell of the flowers, the bees humming as they hover around the flowers. Although there are more creatures around, the blackbird appears more prominent as he sings his song, so loud and melodic. It is so rewarding and the stress and busy-ness of the day, seems to disappear as one enjoys the serenity of it all.

We need this time out. The stress of life can bring us down and make us a wreck if we allow it. Whether we have a full time busy job, work from home or are retired, the pressure can be intense and a relaxing walk in the peace and quiet of the countryside or park, is so beneficial. We see from our text today that, God instructed Solomon to create gardens and parks. God Himself walked through His own garden Genesis 3:8, so God knew that we needed this kind of relaxation and exercise. 

Exercise is good for the human body. The average person spends about 40 hours or so every week watching TV. Reckon that up and that's a lot of hours slumped on the sofa, eating chocolate, popcorn, crisps and other stuff. The only time they get up is to go to the bathroom and then it's back to the sofa. Then, when their clothes don't seem to fit, they consider that losing weight would be a good idea. They may start some exercise but, this lasts a week and they're back to the sofa.

Going to the gym is good; so is jogging but if you don't do something about your diet, you're on a hiding to nothing. Walking is so easy to do; just a stroll around your neighbourhood can be beneficial. However, with just a little more determination, you can quicken your pace and before too long, you will begin to feel better.

Many of you reading this right now are coming under conviction about this. You know God has been whispering in your ear about getting fit, but it's so easy to think, 'That's me, not God'. If that is so, why do you feel convicted about this? Be honest, you know you need to shed some weight and you know you're out of breath just thinking about it. God's not asking you to be the next Olympic Gold Medalist; He just wants you fit. So, why not give it a go today - yes today! Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today, otherwise you'll never do it.

Just go for a walk in a garden or park for 30 minutes or so and, make it a regular habit in your life. Your Daily Life with Jesus will benefit.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Honesty

"The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. 3Potiphar noticed this and realized that the LORD was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. 4This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned."   Genesis 39:2-4   NLT

Being hardworking, honest and reliable, opens door for people; they are noticed because they stand out in the crowd as different. Joseph was an honest young man. Even though he was treated abysmally by his brothers and sold into slavery, there is no reports that he was angry about this, kicking up a fuss. He appears to have taken it on the chin and accepted the position he was in from the start. Pretty soon, Potiphar noticed his honesty and reliability and placed him in charge of his whole household. Sadly though, all did not go to plan, and because of his good looks, Potiphar's wife sought to have sex with him. Joseph refused and fled from the house. Potiphar's wife called rape, and he was found guilty of this act and thrown into prison.

Note, just because you are honest and reliable, this does not exclude you from spiritual attack. The devil does not like you. Most of the people around you, show you favour but, the devil offers hate and contempt and he will go flat out to discredit you. This is what happened to Joseph, But Joseph didn't make a big scene out of it, he just gave it to God and prepared for His 'get out of jail card'.

Being honest means you are reliable. Someone can trust you to look after their house while they're away, a boss can place you in charge of his company and knows he can trust you. Being this way, brings you favour with people - it opens doors. God knows that He can entrust you with greater works. He sees your hard work, your reliability and the fruit you bear. Therefore, His favour is upon you and He blesses you for your faithfulness.

You may be honest and reliable but, have been treated very badly by someone which has led you to lose your job and/or, your credibility. God has seen this and how you have handled it. If you have handled it well, God will sort it. If you've handled it not so well, repent and then God will sort it. You don't have to do anything, unless God tells you to. He will bring about success out of this bad episode. Just continue to be honest, reliable and faithful and, He will do the rest.

The words for your Daily Life with Jesus today is, 'Don't worry!'

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

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