Examine yourself

"But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another."                                              Galatians 6:4.  NKJV

There are a few questions that we would benefit from asking ourselves, periodically:

WHEN WE DO SOMETHING FOR GOD, WHAT IS OUR MOTIVE?
It is so easy to try and compete with someone else. We see a person carrying out some amazing stuff for God, and they appear highly favoured by all, so we may try to do better. If this is the case, if we're not careful, competition can take place between ourselves and the other person - yet they may not realise this. We may try to out-preach or out-teach them or be more successful at leading the worship than they are. We may have more words to give out from the front of the church or just try to be the centre of attention when in that person's presence. So therefore, we need to check ourselves and see if our service is given from selfish motives, instead of wanting to please Jesus.

DO WE GO TO CHURCH FOR THE RIGHT REASONS?
Has church become a habit or do we genuinely go to meet with God. Has going to church become a place where we can meet together and hear the latest gossip about someone? 

When we do things for Jesus out of a pure heart, we will having rejoicing within ourselves. It makes us feel good that we have pleased God; that we have helped someone in their daily walk or we've shown someone the love of Jesus, that they badly needed.
We're not rejoicing because we have competed well with someone or maybe, done better. That will only lead to guilt pretty soon and lead us far away from God. Remember, He will never leave us, but we can move out of His presence by selfish and sinful acts that lead to pride.
The rejoicing that our text today mentions, is believing that we have received God's approval for what we have done or said.

Examining ourselves is very helpful as it gives us a good idea of how we're doing in our walk with Jesus. It is a self-assessment and if done properly, can help us weed out the things that we know should not be there in our lives.

I once heard a preacher say that at the end of the day, when he retired to bed, he would ask God, 'Lord, have I pleased You today?' Just think about that question. That should be our goal on a daily basis, to please God, not any other person; but God first. If we set our sights on this, we will easily please others as we go about our day.

Wherever we go, we will be spreading Jesus all over the place. People may not want us to, 'Preach about God,' to them, but they will not be able to stop us pleasing them.
When I worked in a busy social work office, one worker was notorious  for his small jokes. One day, someone brought him a mug of coffee but the handle was at the back of the mug. He looked over at me and asked if I would turn his mug around so that he could reach the handle. To his surprise, I did. I walked over to his desk and turned the mug round so that he could pick it up without any effort. He was flabbergasted and also embarrassed about this and he never used this again, as far as I know.
It was no hardship for me to do this. I wasn't in the habit of doing this type of thing, I just felt, as he asked, I would please him.

Examining ourselves, and having our sights set on pleasing God each day, has got to be the way forward. If we adopt this attitude, we'll be on the way to living for God.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."                                            Matthew 5:10    NKJV

Sticks and stones will possibly hurt, but insults will never get me. I'm not too sure about the latter part of this phrase, as many people have been devastated by what has been said to them. Words can hurt and the affect, can last a lifetime.

This phrase, I remember, was around when I was at school, you may remember it too. It was mainly used when we were on the receiving end of verbal bullying. Nowadays, this phrase has possibly been adapted to fit into some streetwise saying.

Words do hurt and come from people we never thought would say them. It's quite difficult to shrug off insults and persecutions.The early Christians had much to contend with on this subject. Under Nero, the Roman Government persecuted Christians terribly. Some were murdered but before that, they were tortured, some had body parts cut off and were forced to watch the parts being roasted and thrown to dogs. Many had their eyes plucked out too. It is said that Nero, had some people covered in hot tar while they were alive and then set fire to. They were then used as lamps to illuminate his living quarters. Also, as Emperor, he was recognised as a god and people had to worship him. If they didn't, they paid the price.

I read a book many years ago. I can't remember the title, or the author but it was set in China. The Chinese Authorities were clamping down on Christianity and believers were ordered to denounce Jesus, or they would be shot. The father of one particular family refused to do this and just before the family were all killed he turned to his wife and children and said, 'Don't worry, tonight we will have supper with the King.'
What an amazing testimony. I have never forgotten it and it made me wonder if I would be able to do that if ever I was in this position. I'd like to think I could but how difficult that would be.

I don't know about you, I become upset and then angry when I'm persecuted for something which is much smaller that what I've mentioned. Many people today, around the world, are suffering for their faith. They're being falsely imprisoned, raped, tortured and killed. And yet their faith is much stronger than mine could ever be. I whine when someone says something bad about me and yet, I'm not facing what many others are.

We may moan and groan; and feel that we're hard done by. We may say, 'It's not fair,' and yet this is child like to what others in this world are suffering for.

Let me ask you; what would you do if all of a sudden, where we live, it became a state where Christianity was forbidden? If this was the case, how would you react to being threatened, by death, unless you denounced Christ? It is unlikely to happen where we live, but with the state that the world is in, it could be a threat.

We take so many things for granted and we show ingratitude at times for what God has blessed us with. However, at the blink of an eye, it could all be taken away from us.

I feel God is wanting His people to be grateful for all He has done and will do in the future. You may be ill; you may be disabled; you may be short of money or not have what others have, but you are alive!

Be grateful and thankful to God for that. Amen? - Amen!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard 

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Let your light shine

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works  and glorify your Father in Heaven."                                                Matthew 5:16.  NKJV

The world is a dark place without Jesus. Just think how it was before creation; darkness was on the face of the deep. (Genesis 1:2) and it remained until God said, 'Let there be light,' or 'Light be,' and then there was light. Therefore, wherever Jesus is, there is light. He shines in the darkness and brings everything to the light. He reveals all. It is hard to see in the darkness. Lots of things happen that we cannot see, but if you're of the Light, and walking in it then He reveals it to you.

If you've ever done any night walking, you'll remember the feeling of satisfaction when a light appears in the darkness. I remember my early army training days when we used to trek for miles across the moors in the pitch dark of the night. All we had with us was a compass and even that was hard to see at times. As we walked on in blizzard conditions, using our precious night sight, the feeling of exhilaration was amazing as we saw a light shining in the darkness ahead. It was still very dark, and still freezing cold but somehow, the light brought a glow as we realised that we were nearly home and dry.

As Christians, we have to learn to walk in the Light. Ephesians 5:8 says:

'For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.'

Darkness prevents you from seeing clearly. Light opens the way, it illuminates everything around. This is why the devil doesn't like the light. It shows up the evil schemes that he has planned. The light will also shine on the deeds that evil people are plotting against you. Not everyone is your friend, you have to believe that. But as you walk in the light, God will reveal certain things to you. He will give you discernment about situations and people and as you pray about this, He will reveal the truth about what He is showing you. Be careful here, because He may reveal certain things about you to someone else, if you are in sin!

Having said this, God does not want us to be paranoid, suspecting every person we come into contact with and that we are entering into a den of iniquity, every place that we go. But He does give us wisdom. He lights up the way through the darkness. As I've mentioned in previous commentaries, we can find our self in a position where we suffer a power-cut; one in which we cannot feel the power of God within us. It is not always a power cut when the light goes out; the bulb may just need changing, and this is where we can find ourselves. There are certain changes that we have to make and surrender to God, before we can be sure of walking in the light of God. It may only be a simple thing that is preventing you walking in the light, but the Holy Spirit is very sensitive. Play the video back of your life, before you began to feel that you're in darkness. You may need to repent of something; you may need to put something right. As you check out your personal video, God will cast a light on this. You can then rectify it and get back on the road of light. It makes so much sense!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Take away the stone

"38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, 'Lord, by this time, there is a stench, for he has been dead four day."
                                                                            John 11:38-39.  NKJV

Jesus knew that He was in the supernatural and the only thing preventing Lazarus being brought out of the tomb, was a large stone. However, others, including Martha, were coming from a natural position, and felt that it was wrong. Lazarus would be resurrected, yes, but at the last day, not this day. When Lazarus came out of the tomb at Jesus' command of, Lazarus come forth,' (John 11:43) people were amazed, some bewildered, but Lazarus was overjoyed that he had his life back.

Our walk with Jesus can be a difficult road to travel along at times. Things come our way that trip us up, and there are temptations everywhere. We have opportunities, if we're not careful, to do things that we know are wrong and it's almost like a voice is saying, 'It's ok, no one will know.' Oh yes they will! You'll know and God will know too and if the devil can have his way, pretty soon all the local area will know as well. We have to be careful.

At times, we can feel that we are in a cold, dark cave or tomb ourselves, and a stone is keeping us prisoner. We may be tired and therefore very low in spirit. It may be that we've overdone things by taking on too much. Sound familiar? When this happens, we can end up irritable; snapping at our loved ones, saying things we'd never, normally say.

The stone of tiredness captures us and tries to keep us in a place where we, 'Must do this and I must do that.' Guilt can kick in like, 'I should have done this,' and 'I feel awful for letting such and such down.'
The shopping may need doing; clothes need washing and ironing and the grass is so long that at one time you had a dog, but now you can't find him.

Stress - tiredness - Stress - anxiety - Stress - illness

Hey, stop just there! God didn't create you to be on the go all the time. You've allowed a stone to be rolled into place and you're behind it - trapped! You need to do some Behavioural Therapy in order to put things back into perspective, so follow this:

MAKE A LIST

Write down all that you need to do. There may be pages of things that need your immediate attention, so

PRIORITISE

Put things into priority order - not everything needs doing today. Once you have your list.

BREAK THEM DOWN INTO MANAGEABLE BITS

Bite-size chunks is the common term for this. The idea is to look at your list of priorities and then make a decision what you can do today. Do not look at everything as a whole and attempt to do it all. If you do, it will be disastrous.

Get your chores into bite-size chunks and then, if possible, break them down further into manageable bits.

This works, believe me, but you have to work at it. You'll be tempted to think that you can't do this, things need doing NOW! You'll also be tempted into believing it's a load of cod's wallop, but don't listen because it's not.

Be strict with yourself. Manage your time more effectively and take the pressure off. You'll then have more time to yourself and more time with God, and - that stone of tiredness will be taken away.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

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Understanding people better

"Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy".  Matthew 5:7.  NKJV

The Greek word for merciful is eleemon, which literally means to show sympathy to people and to feel sorry for them. It is coming to people from the outside.
The Hebrew word for mercy is chesedh, and means not only being sympathetic with a person and feeling sorry for them and for what they are going through, but it means the ability to get right inside other people until we really know how they feel. It means seeing things through their eyes, thinking just like them and being in touch with their feelings. This is being on the inside and counsellors know this as being in a person's internal frame of reference. In other words, it means, being able to sit in their shoes and view life as they are doing at this time. When a person being counselled realises that the counsellor is in this place, they are more likely to open up and trust the worker with what is bothering them.

The difference between eleemon merciful and chesedh mercy, can be seen between Martha and Mary when Jesus visited them. Luke 10:38-42. Even though Martha loved Jesus dearly, she was coming to Him from the outside. Jesus was days away from His crucifixion; He had this on His mind and needed to rest and strengthen Himself. He didn't need stressful conversation. Martha couldn't see this. On the other hand, Mary could and she came to Jesus on the inside and just sat at His feet, listening to Him.

Jesus Himself, comes to people from the inside. He operates with chesedh mercy. Other people may not. Often we are worried or have great hurt within us and people come along, and say they'll pray for us and then depart. This is eleemon merciful, which is sympathy. They may try their best, no doubt, but they fail to get to the inside of a person, the chesedh mercy - the internal frame of reference, where they sit in our shoes knowing, to a degree, just what is happening to us.

You must have been on the receiving end of  eleemon merciful sympathy. People may say all of the wrong things or not say much at all. This is because they are on the outside of you, not the inside. When they leave, you feel no better.

Our text says, 'Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.' As a person gets closer to Jesus and learns, thoroughly, what He is teaching, the Holy Spirit will enlighten them, and as above, the merciful will receive mercy; and what they give to others from thereon, they will receive also.

The next time that you are faced with someone who is going through a bad time; spend time with them, just listening. You have no answers until you fully understand that person and where they are coming from. Get into their shoes - the inside, so that you can be a blessing and a help to them.

Then, you'll be pleased; they will be pleased and more than that, God will be pleased!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Has there been a power cut?

"When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own, but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future ."
                                                                                 John 16:13.  NKJV

The Spirit of God is our guide. He will speak with us and lead us in the way we should go, act and speak. When we visit a castle or Stately Home, it is always helpful if we know something about the place; its history and who lived there. This is where a guide, whether in human form or a written brochure, comes in handy. Jesus has provided us with the Holy Spirit who will fulfil  this role and much more.

Have you fully realised that you have the power of God within you? The Spirit that hovered over the waters prior to creation, is the same Spirit that dwells within you. That fire that is in you; the stirring up of your spirit and that power that you feel.

It is essential to have power; without it we dwell in darkness. Anyone who has undergone a power cut just lately will know how miserable it can be, especially if it is winter and there is no other way of heating your home. It can be dark, cold and lifeless.

In the supernatural, it is essential that we have the power of God - the Holy Spirit, working within us. But at times, it can feel like we've had a power cut. You know what I mean, those days when we seem to be walking around in thick treacle, getting nowhere and totally stuck to all kinds of things that are unhelpful.

What has happened? One moment we were flying high and praising and worshipping God. Now we are completely flat with no motivation to do much at all. At times such as this, we need to check our hearts. What have we been saying, doing or thinking about that we know, we shouldn't have? 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says: 'Do not quench the Spirit.' What does this mean? Well it gives the idea of dampening down the flame and fire of the Holy Spirit. We may have offended the Holy Spirit by gossipping, judging someone, using bad language or any other thing that you know is wrong and sinful.  God will never leave us, (Hebrews 13:5) but we can quench His Spirit, losing that fire that we had.

Is that where you are today? If so, repent. Ask God to forgive you and forgive yourself and then move on. Don't beat yourself up when you've fallen into sin. The devil will do that. Be mindful of:

'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'   1 John 1:9.

And that means the feeling of guilt and having a bad conscience about what you've done. If God has forgiven you, you're forgiven so forget about it, because He chooses to.
Just get on and have a great day!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Are you teachable?

"But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you,"                                                     I John 2:27.  NKJV

Be careful here. This verse is not saying that you do not need any further teaching, because you do, we all do. If you read an earlier verse in 1 John 2, we hear:

'But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.'    1 John 2:20

As a Spirit-filled Christian, we have the Holy Spirit and He gives us revelation in all things and will guide us through situations. We still need to receive teaching in the Word from when we attend church; join a home group; watch Christian TV or study a Christian teaching manual. In fact, it is essential. However, what the teaching can't give us, is what the Holy Spirit can, and that is revelation; a deep insight into a God-given plan or situation. In fact, God-breathed.

Good bible teaching gives us wisdom and understanding and is an essential part of our daily requirements. Proverbs 9:9 says, 'Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.' We need to be teachable, in fact, we need to have a hunger and a thirst for good, solid bible teaching.

The Holy Spirit will give us revelation in things. Suddenly  our eyes are opened and the answer is there staring us in the face. Now this can come directly from the Holy Spirit during your personal quiet time or a session of prayer, or you may receive anointed teaching from someone. You know when you're in the presence of an anointed teacher; they keep you hooked and on the edge of your seat. You just can't get enough and all that they say, you saturate yourself in it because it is reaching the place within you - your spirit. That is the hallmark of a gifted teacher. Other people may teach, but it doesn't have the same impact and you may feel yourself drifting off into your own thoughts. There's nothing suspect about the teacher, it is just not their gifting. It's rather like a song writer. Some writers create their work and it just hits you and pretty soon it may be in the charts. Other writers create something and it just doesn't seem to have the get up and buy to it.

We need to be teachable. No one is above this, even if at times, we may feel that we are. In William Barclay's Commentary to Matthew, he quotes a statement by a great Roman teacher called Quintilian, who was a teacher of oratory. He said of certain scholars:

'They would no doubt be excellent students if they were not already convinced of their own knowledge. No one can teach people who know it all, already.'

We don't know it all, and if you think that you do, then you are so misguided. In fact, it is pride that makes a person feel this way. If a person becomes too puffed up, pretty soon they're going to pop, and that will be disastrous.

We are know all's, God's Word here tells us we are. But we only know what the Holy Spirit shows and tells us. As we walk daily with Him, He will open our minds to what He wishes to teach us. This may not happen all of the time, so we need to supplement this with good, solid teaching from a gifted teacher. There are Lot's around and we all have our preferences. Find one who works for you and get right into God's Word until you are bubbling over with wisdom, knowledge and the anointing of God.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com