Values No 8 - Wisdom

"Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock."                       Matthew 7:24.  NKJV

Wisdom is a unique and important value; it helps us to decide on the right choices in life and helps us to learn through the mistakes that we have made.

In our text today, we see two men who built houses. One worked really hard, building on rock but the other one, took the easier route and built his house on the sand. To the world, the houses looked identical - their outward appearance was the same. However, their foundations were different, one had a firm foundation, the other was the risky option. 

Note what Jesus says in our text above. 'Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them.'   
Wisdom tells us to abide by what Jesus tells us to do: 'But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.'  (James 1:22). Wisdom shows us that we should always obey Jesus and carry out what He tells us; and this parable shows the foolishness of disobedience. (Read Matthew 7:24-27.)

When the storms came, the house that had a firm foundation by being built on the rock, survived and was still intact. The house that was built on sand, collapsed and was washed away. 
Timothy tells us:

'And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.'  

                                                       2 Timothy 2:5

To be a winner, we have to work according to the rules that are set out before us by God. The rewards for Christian service, depend on our faithfulness - doing what God tells us to do. He knows best and He knows the way forward and it is total wisdom to believe Him and trust His direction. 

Outwards appearances can be deceiving. It is what is on the inside that shows a person's true character and what they're building on. To survive the storms of life - and they will come fast and furious at times - you will have to build your life on the rock, the foundation of Jesus. It is the only way.

We started this piece on wisdom helping us to make the right choices. How wise are you? Are you wise enough to realise, that your foundation at this time may be a wobbly one; or are you certain that you are building on solid ground. A good test is whether you are able to get through the storms of life and still be standing firm, praising God.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Values No 7 - Peace

"Peace, I love with you' My peace, I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you.   
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."   John 14:27.  NKJV

The Greek word here for peace, that Jesus used, is called eirene and means, a state of rest. It also includes quietness, calmness, absence of strife, tranquillity, perfect well-being. In addition it means, harmonious relationships between God and man, men and men, nations, and families. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and will give this peace to all who call upon Him.

Jesus wants to give you His peace. Yet, things of the world rob us of this on a daily basis. From the moment we awake and start to get on with the day, we are a target for the evil one to attack us and rob us of this peace. If you have children, they need to get to school and are demanding this and that. Sometimes they appear to do everything that you don't want them to, or it seems that way. Telephone ringing, burnt toast, late for school, the dog needs walking and don't forget about the washing. Off to work, stuck in the traffic, then the car breaks down or you drive through a police speed camera because you had lost concentration. This is all a recipe for stress.

What can you do differently to avoid all of this? There is a way, it's just finding it. However, trying to find peace when you are totally wound up is a 'no-go area.' This is why we read"

'You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist'

                                                    Golda Meir/Indira Ghandi

All things can be worked out; it just takes a little time and patience to find the way; and do you know something? God has the answer. He told us to not to be troubled or afraid; He told us that He had left His peace with us - He has given it to us, so seek Him out and allow Him to show you how to apply this to the areas that you are tripping up with each day.

You may have a short fuse, so get it fixed. You may be prone to flap around, then like the eagle, find a way to soar through it all. Crazy? No it isn't. 

God wants you in a state of eirene peace. A place of calmness and tranquillity. It's attainable but YOU must reach out and grab hold of it. 

Therefore, find some time today to do just that. Spend time with our Peacemaker and let Him alter a few valves within you.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Values No 6 - Compassion

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion."                                                        Luke 10:30-37.  NKJV

Today we look at the value of 'Compassion,' and it is wonderfully demonstrated in the parable of The Good Samaritan. A man left Jerusalem and walked along the road to Jericho. Now this road was famous for attacks so it was always recommended that going it alone was dangerous and risky. This turned out to be a true, some robbers and thugs, jumped out on the man from their hiding place, robbed him and severely beat him, leaving him to die.

After a time, a priest came along. The man seeing him, immediately had a hope that he would be helped and taken to safety. However, the priest walked by on the other side. Later, a Levite also came along and he did the same - walked by on the other side. The man must have been devastated. Then, a Samaritan came along and without hesitation knelt down, bandaged the man's wounds, gave him a drink and took him on his animal to an Inn and paid the Innkeeper to take care of him until he returned from his journey.

Now the man that showed the injured man compassion, was a Samaritan- one of the most hatred breed to a Jew. There was racial division towards the Samaritans, and yet, this despised source, showed the man love, care and compassion; whereas, the priest and the Levite, decided to pass by without helping.

Let's think about this for a moment. It could have been very costly for the Samaritan to stop and help. He didn't know if the man was a decoy and as soon as he stopped to help, he may be attacked and robbed himself. It was a risky decision. And let us not be too hard on the priest and Levite. It would be so easy to judge them. However, we don't know the circumstances why they didn't help. What would you have done in the circumstances? Bring it forward to today's problems and tragedies like terrorism in our cities. It takes guts to stop and help. However, stop and help the Samaritan did; and because of the compassion that he showed, the man would never forget his kindness. 

Compassion is being able to recognise when somebody needs help. It's the ability to recognise that someone needs to talk to you and have you listen. That's the secret, listening - we tend to talk too much at times.

Is there someone you need to show some compassion to today; or would it be easier to pass by on the other side and leave it to someone else? Many people are messed up, hurting and confused. A listening ear and heartfelt compassion towards them, can be just what they're longing for.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Values No 5 - Thankfulness

"But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death, through our Lord Jesus Christ."                                           1 Corinthians 15:57.  New Living Translation

We need to be thankful for each minute that God allows us on this earth. Each and every morning of your life, let thanksgiving be the first thing that you do; even if it is only a hurried, 'Thank You Lord for my life.'

Remember to always thank people for what they do for you. I remember when I was a manager, that I always tried to thank everyone in my team for their work each day. Being told, 'Thank you,' makes you feel appreciated and valued. People love to feel appreciated and wanted. Each day, God gives us 86,400 seconds; surely we can use a few of them to thank God and others for what they have done.

We have so much to be thankful for:

*  That our parents gave us life
*  Our schools and teachers helped us to learn
*  Doctor's and Nurse's who fixed our ailments
*  Bosses who gave us a job so that we could pay our way in this life
*  Friends who have stuck by us
*  Wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends who have given us love and friendship
*  That we are alive

There are many other people and organisations that should be on our Thank you list. However, most of all, there is God who created us and gave us life in the first place. There is Jesus - God in human form, who gives us His friendship and died in our place for our sin. Then, last but not least, there's the Holy Spirit who dwells within us and gives us the power, the victory and the guidance to approach all things with confidence.

'The faithful love of the LORD never ends!

His mercies never cease.

Great is His faithfulness;

His mercies begin afresh each morning.'

                                                    Lamentations 3:22-23   New Living Translation

Each day that we wake up, God has given us a new day to enjoy, and share His love to all we meet. Why not make it an every day occurrence to say, 'Good morning Lord, thank You for this new day that You have given me.'

As you do this, great things will begin to happen.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Values No 4 - Respect

"Love your neighbour as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these."
                                                                        Mark 12:31.  New Living Translation

The Greek word agape is commonly known as Christian love. It means, respect, affection, benevolence, good will and concern for the welfare of the one loved.

Respect means, showing appreciation for what people have done for you or others. It means treating people with honour and being considerate. It also means, being polite, showing proper attention to someone. One can't have a proper conversation with someone while they speak to another on the telephone.

Respect includes extending Christian love to all people, and that means to those that we don't particularly like. For some reason, you may not like a person but you can still show them the respect that they deserve. Let us not forget The Golden Rule:

'Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.'

                                                 Matthew 7:12

How would you feel if someone totally ignored you and didn't show you any respect at all. I know what you're thinking, This has happened to you a lot, hasn't it? Jesus would tell you to rise above it; to not act as they do. Whatever, show them love and respect. You may not want to do this; you may have a better idea, which would show everyone the wrong way. No, be the better person and love them.

Ask yourself:
'Do I want people to show me love and respect?' Then show the same to them!
'Do I want to be respected?' Then show respect to all you meet. 
If your partner does something for you, are you grateful or do you take it for granted? This could be doing the weekly shopping' cleaning the house while you're at work or cooking you a meal. 

As I have said before, many times, we give off signals by our body language. If we see someone we don't like or don't wish to speak to them, we might quickly walk the other way or even blank them totally. It would be awful if Jesus did this to us, wouldn't it? At times, we can have the glare that conveys the message, 'Whatever happens, don't talk to me.' Have you this glare? I must be honest, I've had this a few times and I'm not proud of it. At the end of the day, as Christians, we'll all be together. Yes, we may be different then, but it would be nice if we begun showing love and respect now, before we go to Heaven. 

Why not make an effort to show your appreciation and gratitude to someone you see today. They may be feeling as if they're being taken for granted by someone and you just blessing them, may make them feel so good about themselves.

Go on, go and do it

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Values No 3 - Be honest

"Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbours. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honourable behaviour, and they will give honour to God when He judges the world."   1 Peter 2:12.  New Living translation

It is so easy to not fully tell the truth when we are speaking to someone. Some people want to be the one with the best story and can be known to stretch the truth somewhat. What we are talking about is exaggeration. Which one of us has not exaggerated at some time in their lives? I think that it's fair to say, that we have all done that from time to time. Some people, do it all the time and for them, it can be difficult to stop.

We've all heard of Chinese whispers, where one whispers something to someone and then say this to the next in line. Usually, by the time that it gets to the very last person; it is totally different to how it started out. This is what exaggeration can do.

Honesty and integrity are important values in the Word of God. Dishonesty leads a person away from the truth. It can be a false statement and can also be innuendos that can deliberately paint a bad picture of someone. It is used almost daily within businesses, where targets have to be met whatever the cost. Cutting corners can take place and bodge jobs done to save costs and reach the deadline. Many sales people, are gifted in the art of making the deal and can be known to colour the whole deal, making it seem like it is not.

As Christians, God would have us live our lives in such a way that no one can make a false accusation against us and make it stick. But, if they are successful, God can be relied on to rescue us out of the situation, if we allow Him to, without trying to sort it out ourselves.

Dishonesty, can also be committing adultery, where someone risks their whole life, marriage and family, on a fling that may lead to a very costly results. Dishonesty can also be having a secret addiction that is ruining not only our health but our bank balance too. Dishonesty can ruin any integrity that a person may have had. To split hairs, even taking a company pencil home, is stealing; yet we've all done it.

Just look at the world today. It is in total chaos. Why? Because God is not central in decision making and man wants dominion above anything and will stop at nothing to grab what they can. The world is dishonest; but we, as Christians, are called to live honest lives. Lives that will make a difference wherever we are.

Do you make a difference wherever you go? Do people know you are honest?

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

daiylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Values No 2: Don't hold a grudge - forgive

"You shall not take vengeance, not bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD".  Leviticus 19:18.  NKJV

'I'll never forgive that person; you just don't know what they've done to me." Does this sound familiar? You know, Jesus wants there to be, no place for hatred, holding a grudge, revenge, retaliation or getting even in our lives. He set us free from all of that when He died on the cross. If you think differently, sorry, but you've got it wrong.

A grudge can fester away within a person like a cancer. It can spread until it causes total devastation. It destroys the grudge-holder and quite often the person who is the reason for the grudge, knows nothing about this. 

Forgiveness is probably the most important of Christian Values. Without it, we're lost and destined to a very dark and terrible place, when we die - hell. If we hold a grudge and refuse to forgive that person who you believe is responsible for you feeling this way, then you will not be forgiven yourself:

'But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses.'
                                                                                         Mark 11:26   NKJV

'Yes, but you don't know what she did to me.' No, I don't, but Jesus does; leave it with Him and let Him deal with it for you. When we say that, 'I'll never forgive,' we are actually making an inner vow, and a vow is very hard to break. A vow is a solemn promise or declaration - a pledge. When we make an inner vow such as, 'I'll never forgive that person,' that vow is a promise that we have made but it is breakable. However, you may need prayer for this purpose if you can't manage it yourself. Usually, it requires a change of thought and you making the decision that the vow will never rule in your heart again. It other words, you're breaking the stronghold:

'For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds; casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God; bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.'
                                                                           2 Corinthians 10:4-5.  NKJV

If you're holding a grudge, it is ruining your Christian walk. Make a firm decision - today, that from this moment you will release the grudge; forgive the person and get on with your life.
It may mean that you have to make a telephone call to someone to confess, forgive them and allow them to forgive you. That will be difficult but God will be delighted.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com