You are Blessed

"Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it."   Luke 11:28.  NKJV

When things come against us like a hurricane, trying to rob us of what faith we have left, it is very difficult to believe that God cares for us. But He does. He never promised us a bed of roses. He asked us to follow Him and that is all. We did and picked up our cross and walked with Him. We can hardly complain when things go wrong and irritate and hurt us. We signed up to follow Him. He is our Commanding Officer; we've signed on the dotted line and we are soldiers of Christ. And soldiers get shot at from time to time.

At times such as this, we need to remember, all He has done for us and realise, all He will do in the future, including a place in His mansion in Heaven at the end of our road. I like the words of the old chorus:

'Are you ever burdened with a load of care,

 does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear;

Count your many blessings every doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.

Count your blessings name them one by one,

Count your blessings see what God hath done,

Count your blessings, name them one by one

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

                                                     (Count Your Blessings Copyright Johnson Oatman Jr)

Our text for today says, 'Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.' When the flak comes against us, these are the times that we need to keep God's Word and encourage ourselves in it. Whatever you are going through at this time, think of all God has done for you. Think of the many times that He has rescued you; the times that He accompanied you to somewhere you were frightened to go; the times when He has supplied when you had nothing; the job He has given you, together with your family and friends; your pets. 

You know, God has done so much for each and everyone of us. It helps us to write things down and just be grateful and surprised at those times when all was lost and He turned up and helped us. These are called blessings and He has many for us.

Don't give up - Look up - and you'll find Jesus right at your side.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Do they see Jesus Part 2

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which your were called; with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."              
                                                                                            Ephesians 4:1-3.  NKJV

The Apostle Paul talks about:
Our calling
When I was very young, my aim in life was to be a vicar. But my motivations for this was in question. I wanted to be a vicar because, they only worked one day a week - Sunday; the rest of the week was their own. I was only five at the time but that was my observation. How wrong I was. Someone, not long after that told me, that their's was not a job but a vocation and they needed a calling from God for this ministry. It took a little time for this to sink in, but I finally fathomed it out.
To serve God, He calls us out; rather like when He spoke to the early disciples by saying to them, 'Follow Me.' (Matthew 8:22). If we're willing to serve Him, he will take us up on it, but it will not be an easy road. It takes all we've got.

Lowliness
God expects us to follow Him and do what He asks of us. This is not a time to get puffed up because we're serving Him, but an honour and one that we should take very seriously. He trusts us enough to ask us to follow Him. When amazing manifestations of the Holy Spirit accompany our walk with Him, it is Jesus who needs to take the glory, not us. Our reward is being grateful that Jesus Himself, has asked us to go along with Him.

Gentleness
Everything about Jesus and the Holy Spirit, is gentle. There is never hustle and bustle; stress or division. He is a gentleman and treats us with respect and kindness. He expects us to do the same to all we meet. The world offers disunity. Jesus offers unity and that is what we should be striving for- togetherness. When we work at things together, things go comparatively well. When we're divided, and out of step with each other, things can go haywire. Be gentle as Jesus is gentle.

Long-suffering/Bearing with one another
Long-suffering has the power to take revenge, but never does. It is forgiving and generous. This can be difficult when people are rude and arrogant to us and when we are used and abused. Jesus doesn't want us to be a doormat, but equally, He doesn't want us squaring up for a fight every time someone wrongs us. We see how fiery Peter was in the early days of his calling. However, as he spent more time with Jesus, gaining more and more experience and then the baptism of fire at Pentecost, Peter was never the same again. But this takes time. Until then, we are in training.
Bearing with one another is very similar. We're all different, with different personalities. Some are laid back, some charge into a china shop like a bull. We're totally different. However, we serve the same God and He looks upon us and sees no difference at all. He has no favourites and wishes that we don't either. He hates little huddles where the elite are invited in but others discouraged. At times, it can be like the scene from the cowboy films, where a stranger walks into a saloon bar and suddenly everything freezes, even the music, as everyone stares at this person. It can be very much the same in some churches. This shouldn't be and God would have us change this and bear with everyone with an attitude that all are welcome.

For people to see Jesus in us, He wants us to stay humble; God is our source and no one else. Every step that we take must be synchronised to the beat of the Holy Spirit as we serve and obey Him out of gratitude. Finally, He wants us to deny temptation; beating our bodies into submission and not be promoting our own agendas but Gods.

If we can get this right, people will begin to see Jesus in us wherever we go.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard 

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Do they see Jesus? Part 1

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which your were called; with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."   Ephesians 4:1-3.  NKJV

Mostly, unbelievers don't go to church, except for special occasions. What they pick up of Christianity is what they witness in us. We are the bible to them, in fact, we represent Jesus to them. But just what do they see? Unbelievers have been heard to say, very often, 'If that is being a Christian, I don't want to know; they're hypocrites.'

Many times that may be true. But just because a person attends church each week, it does not make them a Christian. They may be seeing the wrong side of Christianity because the person they look at, may not be walking with Jesus. They may be just a churchgoer and that is all. Let me explain:

Keith Green used to say:

'Going to church each week, or having the biggest bible does not make you a Christian, anymore than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger.'

Being a Christian means that a person has recognised that they are sinners and that they need Jesus Christ in their hearts to forgive and cleanse them from their sin and be their Lord and Saviour. 
Therefore an unbeliever may get an unclear message about Christianity from someone who has never made a commitment to Jesus. However, if a person is a Christian but isn't walking with Him, they may give off this hypocrisy to the watchers. And this is where we have to be careful and clean up our act. We cannot serve Jesus and the world. One of them has to go. It's clean up time!

For all of us who accepted Jesus into our hearts, we have a calling from Him to do a certain task. It is finding out that task that can trip people up. Some people's calling are not that clear but it may be that your calling is to honour Jesus and let Him be seen in you. Yes, there will be times when an unbeliever sees the wrong side of you, but it shouldn't be on a regular basis. 

Tomorrow let us look at this area in a little bit more detail


Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

You are loved so much

"I in them, and You in Me, that they be made perfect  in one and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me."
                                                                                         John 17:23.  NKJV

In my opinion, this is one of the most treasured verses in the New Testament. It is awesome and confirms the love that God has for each one of us; that he loves us as much as He loves His Son, Jesus. I don't know about you, but every time that I read this, it overwhelms me. I mean, what have we ever done that deserves such love- nothing; we just receive it by grace, God's unmerited favour.
 I felt God speak to me about this verse  20 years ago. Quite simply, I felt Him say, 'If people would grasp and believe this truth, it would revolutionise their whole life.' And it would too. There's a lot of hurting people in this world. People are grieving because their wife or husband has left them and may have committed adultery. Another may have lost all of their hard-earned money on a scam, that seem to be everywhere at this time. Couples may not be able to pay their mortgage and are near to eviction, and the ultimate - death, may have struck someone very close to us. Pain, pain and more pain.

At times, it can feel that there's no one in this world that we trust and no one appears to love us. Actually, some may love us, but it's extremely difficult to believe this when you have been hurt and betrayed so much in your life. The suicide rate is going up each and every day because, to some, there's no other way, it's a quick exit to ending all of the hurt and rubbish that is being thrown against us.

If that's the way you are feeling at this moment, STOP AND LISTEN, Jesus Christ loves you, the Father sent Him to this earth to shed His life for us, so that we could share in His eternity - Heaven and be protected and loved for ever. This is what this verse is all about. God couldn't demonstrate anymore than He has. He allowed Jesus, His precious Son, to die in our place so that we could have a hope. Please don't feel that no one cares. Jesus does; the Father does.

Today, before you do anything else, get down on your knees and pray:

'Father, thank you that you sent Jesus Christ to save me, and love me as You love Him. I need You. Jesus please forgive me for all of my sin and come and live in my heart. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and be my Lord and Saviour from this day forward.
I ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.'

It doesn't matter what the world thinks about you, not when you have the most amazing friend - Jesus. Cherish Him and walk with Him from this day forward.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

God & Co

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."   Ephesians 2:10.  NKJV

I recently saw a van travelling along the road which inspired me to write this piece today. On the side of the van, the sign read, 'DAD & SON'. It made me think about our relationship with Our Father and how much He wants to spend time with us, each and every day.

I remember trying to wallpaper a room in my house and how it went terribly wrong at first. The paper was all creased up, one piece was pasted upside down and other pieces were falling to the floor after  a short time. I said, 'Why is this all going wrong?' My wife, having heard this statement, replied, 'Have you asked God to help you?' And then I realised where I had gone wrong. I had left God out of the equation. We prayed straightaway without hesitation, asking Him to help me get it right. After that, it was soon finished with no more problems, and the result was amazing. It looked like a pro had done it, instead of a total novice.
I jokingly said to my wife, 'I thought Jesus had been a carpenter, not a decorator.' She replied, 'He's s decorator too, in fact, He can do all things! And there we have it. We are God's workmanship and He wants to help us with everything. All He wants us to do is place things into His hands and His help is guaranteed. 

Have you been the victim of trying to do things on your own? Attempting to carry out tasks without the direction of Jesus? It is much harder to try on our own and much better, and easier, to ask for His help. He wants a partnership with us. He wants to join us in our daily business, whatever that may be. It may be at work or at home; in our business or doing a task. He wants us to to invite Him to join us. We can then coin the phrase, 'God & Co', because that is what it is. We are in business with Him. To Jesus, our business is His business too and that covers everything from our career to our family life. 

Genesis 18:14 says, Is anything too hard for the LORD?' The answer to this question, is no. Is anything too hard for us? Yes, everything is. Without His help we are lost. John 15:5 says, "without Me you can do nothing," and this is so true.

Listen to me, God wants to be involved in all you do. He's seen the disasters that you made trying to fix this and sort the other out. He is the master of all things and He is inviting you to join forces with Him. He won't force this upon you. He's a gentleman and waits for you to ask Him for help.

Don't you think it's time you just that?

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Treasuring God's Word

"Oh how I love Your law; it is my meditation all the day."   Psalm 119:97.  NKJV

Study and Research it
Do you want to be successful and blessed in all ways? Then read your bible. If you haven't got one, invest in a good, modern version. These make for easier reading. However, a good study bible is a diamond to have, as it will offer you a wealth of information and knowledge.
Studying God's Word on a daily basis is a recipe for wisdom. It is a must, because God speaks to us and shows us a mountain of interesting things, together with the road ahead. Because it is a living word, we see things differently although we may have read a particular passage many times.
As we meditate on God's Word or expound it, which is searching for a deeper explanation, we go to a newer depth in our reading and walk with Him.

Absorb and Remember it
As we meditate on His Word, a fresh excitement is attained as we become so absorbed in it. It is then difficult to stop because we become energised and want to see and know more. We also find answers to many of life's problems and we obtain a newer understanding of how we should live our lives.
It's important to remember key issues, so a notepad is a handy thing to have around, as is marking things in your bible. This is a brilliant way of bringing things to mind when we need them.

Meditate and keep things in your mind
As we meditate on God's Word, it is important to keep certain things in our mind. Then, as we go about our daily chores, we can also be considering what we've read and how we can handle things God has illuminated - things that effect you personally.
Reading the Word daily, is a life-saver. It equips us as we go through our day and you'll be surprised how God will flag up things that you've read, possibly the same day.

The Psalmist said:
'Oh how I love Your law; it is my meditation all the day.'  Psalm 119:97

and the Apostle Paul wrote"

'Let the Word of Christ, dwell in you richly.'    Colossians 3:16

As you do this, you'll be equipped for every situation

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard 

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Flattery

"The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And a man is valued by what others say of him".  Proverbs 27:21.  NKJV

It's so easy to give in to flattery. We all like to hear nice and constructive things said about us. It makes us feel good about ourselves. However, where does God fit into this. Shouldn't He be receiving the glory, not us; after all , He created us to be like Him and gave us the power to perform things.

A flatterer is someone who will pat you on the back with one hand and in some cases, stab you in the back with the other. If we're honest, we may have all done this in moderation, at some time. I own up to it right now. Really though, it is from the pit and we must beware of doing this.
Bob Gass says:
‘When you think about flattery it is really, insincere praise from an insincere motive and the bible warns us to be aware of it.’ Check out Proverbs 20:19:

'He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, therefore, do not associate with one who flatters  with his lips.'

It really is serious business and we need to be on guard for one who is ready to sing our praises, too much. We really should watch how we give praise to people. We should give it with the sincerity it deserves, but without overdoing it. When people start to give praise to us, we should be very wise in how we receive it. As I've said, it is ok to have someone speak a good word about us, but if they are overdoing it, perhaps we need to mention that we couldn't have done it without God's help. It is so easy to get puffed up with pride.

Don't get me wrong on this subject. We have all learnt to flatter people at times. However, there are people around who are very good at this type of thing and use it all the time. It may be their way of dealing with people; or they may find it difficult to socialise and use flattery in order to be accepted. Then again, there are the ones that we need to beware of because, if we're not careful, we can easily get sucked in. Solomon warns us in Proverbs 5:

'My son, pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion, and your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman, drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood.' 

                                           Proverbs 5:1-4

Adultery has always been around; but it seems to be attacking today's church more and more, especially ministers. Only the other day, I saw on the news that a vicar had been having an affair with a lady from his congregation, and also with a 16 year old young lady. Adultery has a root in flattery. Men and women use this type of thing to get the attention of the opposite sex. The words can be so carefully chosen to reach the target, this is what flattery does.

It's time to wise up. There's any enemy out there and he is skilled in tripping us up if we take our eyes off God. Don't forget, he's a thief and if he gets a chance, he will rob you of every bit of happiness that you have.

Walk wisely!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewith jesus@protonmail.com