No Compromise

"(1) Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD. (2) Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts. (3) They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in His paths. (4) You have charged us to keep Your commandments carefully."   Psalm 119:1-4   New Living Translation

One of the biggest temptations in this world, is for us to fall to the level of compromise. It is all around us. We have television that show us films and dramas, that although they are good entertainment value, are suspect in presentation. There are DVD's that also present us with the same kind of thing. Further to this, there is certain types of music and some bars to visit that really should be avoided, and that's just a start. 

At the risk of being a spoilsport, this is serious business. Most weeks, we hear of rapes, stabbings, people being mugged and beaten up and even some people being shot or murdered. We live in a dangerous society and we have to make a stand and draw the line of what we do and where we we go. 

Colossians 2:8 states:

'Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.'

The word 'capture' here, means to plunder or take you captive; also to lead you away as prey. Think about those meanings for a moment. There are many ways that people can become hoodwinked by evil or taken in with scams and false beliefs. Many times, certain people from other religions knock on our doors, or stop us in the street, intending to tell us all about their faith, which they say is the truth. Most of them are very convincing and many fall to the things that they say and offer. 

Then of course, there are the people who push drugs or try to get us involved in activities that we know are wrong and against all that God stands for. You may think, 'that could never happen to me, I've got my head screwed on and I know what to look for.' This may be true, but you may get caught out one day if you're not careful.

There are so many scams about and it is only going to get worse. Oftentimes, you may receive emails that somehow have avoided the Junk mail and ended up in your inbox. The content may sound so convincing, and let's face it, that is the nature of a scam. Many people have fell foul to these scams and have been conned out of a lot of money. The people that conduct these scams, are not our friends. Therefore, we need to wise up.

It is nice to go out and have a drink, especially if a meal is included too. However, we need to be careful that we know our limit. That one drink too many can lead to much embarrassment, shame or disaster. 

God wants us to enjoy ourselves and there are a lot of ways for us to do that. He has blessed us with so many things in life. We have beautiful music, really good books, great hobbies and of course, our families and friends. There is no need to compromise, but we can if we're not careful. Really, it is being in control of ourself, walking in the Spirit and being guided by God in all we do. 

'My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk, stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet, stay on the safe path. don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.'

              

                                                                      Proverbs 4:20-27.  New Living Translation

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Alone with God Part 2

"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

It must be noted that being alone, even in Jesus' presence, can be a vulnerable place to be. Jesus discovered this when He went out to the wilderness - a solitary place and the devil came and attacked Him spiritually. Therefore, we can be sure that he will do the same to each of us when we choose to be alone with God. Satan came along and tempted and tested Jesus with all that he had. 

Spiritual attacks usually follow great moments in our lives. Jesus had just been baptised and the Holy Spirit with the appearance of a dove, fell upon Him. It was a great moment, one in which the devil was not amused. Immediately, the Spirit took Jesus into the wilderness (Mark 1:10-13) and there Jesus met His tempter.

It was similar with other great men and woman of God and still is today. You may have noticed this. You've just had a wonderful blessing and shortly afterwards, some sort of attack comes along trying to steal your blessing. This kind of thing will never stop until we are in Heaven - a place where satan will not be allowed.

It's interesting too, that Jesus must have relayed this account to His disciples. Don't forget, He was alone, so the only way it could have been included in the Gospels, was if Jesus had mentioned this.

As much as it is a blessing and very much needed in order to develop a deeper relationship with Jesus, we must realise that the devil will not be wanting this to happen. He knows that we will a stronger threat to him if we become more like Jesus. So, he will throw all he can at us to try to prevent this happening. There will be distractions - things that will be sent to take us away from this special time with Jesus. These distractions, may come in the way of, the telephone ringing and the feeling that we must answer it because it may be very important. Someone may turn up at the house unexpectedly, or there may be other things that appear so important that we've got to attend to straightaway.

God will be the perfect gentleman as we spend time alone with Him. However, He may bring things to our attention that we don't wish to hear about. There may be someone brought to our mind who we have wronged and He may want us to go and put this right with them. There may be people brought to our attention that we need to forgive for hurting us. Or He may wish us to address a very difficult time in our life; a time where our heart was broken. We may have tried to bury this, but like painting a cracked wall with whitewash, the cracks soon come back to the surface. He may wish to bring us healing on this matter. 

Let me say here, He can be trusted and will treat you like a treasured piece of china that may shatter if it's handled roughly. Trust Him. He knows best and the thing is, you will end up more liberated than you ever have been before. 

There are great benefits in being alone with God, but it will not always be easy; but it will be fulfilling!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

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