Alone with God

"Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place and there He prayed."           Mark 1:35.  NKJV

Don't neglect prayer and time with God. There's a time for praying in public and it's very important. But there is also a special time that we need to be alone with God.
During the times that we are alone with God, we can pour out our heart without fear of anyone hearing our personal stuff. It's also a time where God can speak to us clearly and minister to us. We are more likely to lay on the floor, shout out loudly or sing praise to Him, when we are alone.

William Barclay says:
'It may well be that we often go wrong, simply because we never try to be alone. There are certain things which can only be worked out alone. There are times when no one else's advice is any good. There are times when it becomes necessary to stop acting and start thinking. It may be that we often make mistakes because we do not give ourselves a chance to be alone with God.'

Being alone, we have time to think things through. We're away from the hum drum of life and our thinking can be energised because of it. It is essential that we do have time to think things through, because then we can offer them to God in prayer.

Jesus was very popular, as we know. Wherever He went, He drew crowds of people to Him. Now, we may not be that gregarious, but if Jesus needed to be alone, we definitely do.

When was the last time that you put on a worship CD and just laid on the floor and let it minister to you? Have you ever done that? You can do this when you're alone with God much more than in a crowded room or church hall. In fact, many of us, wouldn't think of doing such a thing in public, but if we did, we may miss that very special time when the Holy Spirit wants to reveal things to us. If Jesus did this, then He demonstrates how important it must be.

Praying in the car is a good opportunity to spend time with God, that's if you're alone. However, please don't lay on the floor while you're driving. 
There is so much Jesus wants to reveal to you. He loves spending time alone with you, because you're His child and He has so much to give you. 

Timing is important though. If you notice in our text, Jesus got up a long time before daylight. This way, He was less likely to have any followers around at that time. What would work for you? Early morning? Mid-morning or evening? It would be determined by your circumstances obviously, but you would benefit from a regular time. Your body clock would then get used to this time.

Being alone with God, in a solitary place has huge advantages for your spiritual walk, so I encourage you to give it a go. I am certain it would benefit you; and your prayer and study life would escalate. You would also have a deeper walk with Jesus.

Give it a try!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Surprises

"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all, with one accord, in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting."   Acts 2:1-2.  NKJV

The people of God were all gathered together - in one accord - when the power of the Holy Spirit came down upon them. Things always happen big time, when God's people are together in unity. The Holy Spirit loves this and can work with the togetherness. If you want your church or group to grow and have power too, make it a practise to be together in harmony with God and each other.

God really shook that place and the people that day, and things were never to be the same again. It was a 'suddeny,' a powerful surprise from God. God loves surprises, I do too, don't you? I had a lovely surprise the other day. One of my Grandson's had missed my birthday - no surprise there Lol. He telephoned his Grandma, my wife, and told her that he wanted to buy me a vinyl album, did she know what I would like? Strangely enough, we had only been talking about my favourite singer who had released a new album that I would like. 
Without any knowledge of this, I was relaxing at home when there was a knock at the door. Wondering who this could be on a Sunday afternoon, I opened the door to see a delivery man with a parcel in his hand. When he had left, I opened the parcel, still wondering what could be inside, as I had not ordered anything myself. I was overjoyed to find the album of my favourite singer, that we had been discussing a few days earlier. I was stunned and speechless at first and reading the piece of paper inside, I saw that my Grandson had purchased and sent it to me. What a wonderful surprise this was. It was a suddenly! God is like that; He loves surprising and blessing His children. 

God is the God of the suddenly. A suddenly is something that happens quickly and unexpectedly. It's a happening without warning or delay. It can happen instantly, all at once. And God can change things Suddenly, in the blink of an eye or perhaps within an hour. It may take a day for things to happen or just one moment. God is a good Father and likes to surprise His children.

If He hasn't already, God wants to surprise you too. He loves it and loves to see the joy these surprises give us. He's our Father and parents love to bless their children. Rather like the delivery to myself, things can happen very suddenly. It may be so quickly that it takes your breath away. 

You may be thinking, 'I don't get any surprises.' Well you had better watch out for them because they're headed your way. Just get on with your daily life; include God in all you do and say, and God, who listens to all of our conversations, may send a beautiful surprise your way - suddenly. In fact, it may be in the pipeline right now. 

Just enjoy your daily life with Jesus

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Repentance

"Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
                                                                Matthew 3:2.  New Living Translation

John the Baptist, was the forerunner to Jesus. He was the son of Mary's relative, Elizabeth who Mary visited prior to Jesus being born. He was a strange character, who wore clothes woven from camel hair. He also wore a thick leather belt around his waist. His diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. Perhaps, not the diet that we would find appetising.

John came to the wilderness of Judea and preached: 'Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.'

The Greek for repentance is a word called metanoeo. Meta means 'after' and Noeo means 'to think'. Repentance therefore, is a decision that results in a change of mind, which in turn, leads to a change of purpose and action. (data from The Spirit Filled Life Bible)

So repentance is a change of direction; a change of attitude towards God and conduct of life.

William Barclay wrote:
'The true penitent, is he who has the opportunity to do the same sin again, in the same circumstances, and who does not do it.'

There is one question that seems uppermost in my mind as I read this part of scripture, and that is:
Why was Jesus baptised by John? When you ponder this it just doesn't make sense. Jesus had come to save sinners. He was God and no sin had ever dwelt within Him. So why did He ask to be baptised?
One of the reasons may have been Jesus demonstrating by example. He was willing to do what He was asking others to do. He knew that there was no need for Him to do this but it may have been an act of, 'I want you to do as I am doing.'This was very likely along with the fact that follows.
The most possible answer is the fact that, never before in Jewish history had any Jew submitted to baptism. It was for converts to Judaism from other faiths, not for them. It was for sinners not for the Jew, after all, they were God's chosen people. 
However, it may have been Jesus' intention to approach John the Baptist, at the Jordan and undergo baptism to allow the Jews to witness this; and therefore come under conviction, that they too, were sinners and all though they were God's chosen, they still needed to accept Jesus and be baptised. This is what Jesus told Nicodemus, a prominent Jewish religious leader, when he secretly met with Jesus.  Nicodemus had spoken with Jesus and Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God. (John 3: 1-21)

The Jews who witnessed Jesus being baptised were shocked at the act but as Jesus intended, they were more than likely under conviction that they too, needed to do this. It also caused many of them to become hostile towards Jesus too.

The fact of the matter is, unless we repent of our sin - our behaviour and attitudes, and change direction towards God, Jesus' words will be relevant for us too and we won't see the Kingdom of Heaven either. Sobering words, but we need to take notice of them and if need be, repent.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard 

daillifewithjesus@protonmail.com







                    

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