Did you think you'd blown it?

"(15) Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?"                   John 21:15-19.  NKJV

Have you ever felt that you've blown it - big time? I mean, have you ever said or done something and you think God won't forgive you, this time, because you've gone too far? This must have been the way Peter had felt when he denied Jesus three times, to save his own skin. He was heartbroken that he had let Jesus down in such a way, especially when he had told Jesus that he would lay down his life for Him. (John 13:37-38).

Peter was a broken man and although he still hung around the other disciples, there was no real spiritual flow from him. He had gone from being, Peter the Rock to just plain Simon Peter and this was the way that Jesus addressed him when He had been resurrected. Three times he asked Peter if he loved Him, and Peter answered, 'Yes Lord, You know that I love You'. The type of love Jesus asked Peter this question in the first two times, was in Agape love, the highest expression of love. Peter answered in Phileo love, an expression of friendship. This was all Peter had at this time, and Jesus knew it. On the third time that Jesus asked the question, He met Peter at his level and asked the same question in Phileo love. Peter was grieved when he heard this again and this caused the Holy Spirit to speak through him when he answered, 'Lord, you know all things; You know that I love You.'

Jesus met him where he was, came down to his level. built him back up again and once more he was Peter the Rock, with a list of instructions, to feed the lambs, tend the sheep and feed the sheep.

When we have messed up big time we need to remember that, Jesus knows our heart. He knows that our intentions are not to walk away from Him but to serve Him the best way we can. However, occasionally we get it wrong, and that's where you may be at this time. 

Listen, Jesus knows your name; he knows your heart and he knows that you are sorry. Accept His forgiveness and let Him build you back up and set you back on the road again.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

How do you see things?

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."                                               2 Corinthians 5:7.  NKJV

When we look at something - sickness, lack, loneliness, injustice or whatever, we are tempted to believe that this is the way it is; there will be no change at all. But are you open to the fact that you may be looking at things through the world's eyes, not by God's. Our scripture tells us, 'For we walk by faith, not by sight.' Is that just a throwaway statement that the Apostle Paul wrote just to fill the space on a page? No, it is fact!

Let us back up to Chapter 4:18. This reads:

'While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.'

Jerry Savelle quotes this verse as,"Subject to Change'. Think about that for a moment. If we walk by faith and not by sight, then the things we see - bad stuff, sickness, hurt, trouble and all the rest, are subject to change. How? By prayer and what we confess.

If we say, 'I've lost my job, I'll never get another one like it,' then you probably won't. If you confess sickness upon yourself or others, you or they, will remain sick and so on. We must change how we look at things and what we say about them. If your child is not doing very well at school, confessing, 'He's not academic, he'll never do much in life', then he probably won't. The child needs faith-filled words putting into him, not doubt.

Proverbs 18:20 reads, 'A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth'. What we confess, we get. What we see, happens. We need a mindset that Jesus had, that things are subject to change.

Take it on board that you can walk by faith, not by what you are seeing. What you see and hear about is subject to change. After all, you were!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

What if?

"But Moses protested again, 'What if they won't believe me or listen to me?' 'What if they say, "The LORD never appeared to you?"                                                              Exodus 4:1.  NKJV

'What if?' This phrase appears to be widely used by many people throughout the world. This phrase is used by people who worry about certain things. They become anxious because they are being asked to do, something that seems to be a mammoth task - alien to their thinking. 

Mose here, was no different. God had commissioned him to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let His people go. This had caused all sorts of excuses to come to the surface from Moses. 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?' (Ex 3:12) 'O my Lord, I am not eloquent,' (Ex 4:10) Excuse after excuse. What if this and what if that. Moses had a great fear - a Specific Phobia which can be an irrational and unreasonable fear about doing a particular thing, a thing that one will attempt to avoid at all costs.

Many of us can relate to this at some time in our lives but if it is a common part of a person's life, help may be required to overcome this. Counselling and prayer are a great remedy but worries and fears such as these, can take some time to work through. The 'What if?' is very similar to the, 'But.' They both flag up reasons why something shouldn't or cannot be done. It may just be an excuse because someone doesn't want to do a particular thing. But there may be a deeper root to it and discussing this with someone may help find what the problem is.

Anxiety is associated with a lot of worries and 'What ifs'. What if I lose my job, how will I pay the bills? What if I can't find another job? What if I go to uni and fail; I'll look stupid? What if I go on holiday and get burgled? Or what if the car breaks down? Worry, worry, flap, panic. 
I feel that we all may go down this road from time to time but for some people, the anxiety is massive and can cause a lot of problems.

It's difficult to stop worrying if you are a worrier. It's not easy to control the fear when we have to go somewhere or do something that is scary. But try and remember that Jesus tells us not to worry (Matthew 6:31). His Word also tells us to cast our care upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). Therefore, write down the things that are a worry and look at each one of them seeing if there is an easy solution. Often, the things we worry about never happen anyway. The things that seem stubborn - the ones causing anxiety, hand over to Jesus and try and leave them there. It really is the only way but it is a winning formula.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

See the real picture

"(1) Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God's right hand. (2) Think about the things of heaven not the things of earth."                                            Colossians 3:1-2.  New Living Translation

A photographer uses light and dark to produce excellent images. If it is too light or too dark, depending on what he or she are trying to create, it may need a little post-processing. Normally, the image would need to be focused properly, not too sharp and not blurry, unless this is planned.  At times, filters can be used to produce a sky that isn't as blue as required or grass as green as would be liked or whatever else is required for the image. Composition is a major requirement all the time so that the eye can see what the photographer is attempting to produce. Finally at the end of the shoot, the photographer may enhance the image in post-process, to give it that added attraction.

This can be a wonderful analogy of our Christian walk. We want to walk in the light, because that is where Jesus is, and yet occasionally, we will push our luck and be tempted to try the dark side of life. We need to be careful here. The world would have us to walk the way it does, but we are different, we belong to Heaven not to this earth. This is just temporary for us before we receive the bigger picture.

We need to focus our sights and our thoughts on Jesus and what He requires from us. We need to get the clear picture of where we are going and what we are doing each and every day. We may have to change who we hang out with and where we go for entertainment. We all need to relax and chill out, but we need to edit this so that we are not at risk of compromising our faith.

Filters enhance a photograph and at times, help the viewer to see what isn't really there, such as a very dark sky when it is really quite light. In the same way, we need to keep a check on our walk - where we go, what movies we watch, what bars we visit etc. We need to be aware of what is there. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to : 'Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.' Don't let it be you!

Composition is important. It allows us to fill the picture with what should be there and what shouldn't. It helps us to get rid of the clutter that ordinarily is not needed. It is the same with our lives - our picture, there are things that are just a clutter. They need discarding so that your picture - your walk with Jesus, is a prize winner.

At the end of the day, don't try to put into your picture what shouldn't be there. Be yourself; be you - not a copy of someone else. God created you as you, not a photo-enhanced, out of focus, over-exposed composition of some other Christian.  

Make your life what it is, not what it isn't.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Logs and Splinters

"Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye."                                                                     Matthew 7:5.  NLT

Jesus used a rather humorous example here so that it may be more memorable. The example of a man with a log in his eye trying to remove a speck in someone else's eye, would have been rather funny, as it can be now if we think about it. However, He was making an important point here; at times we can go about fault-finding but overlooking our own short comings. This is why Jesus mentioned the term, 'hypocrites'. Hypocrisy, is something that we can all become involved with. We are generally more tolerant to our own sin than we are to the sin of others. 

We may have the capability of noticing someone we feel has great sin in their life. The people that we criticise or 'judge,' are no different to ourselves because what they are doing, we may be doing also but no one knows, except us. We may consider our sin as just a splinter in comparison to the log in this other person's life. But, don't forget, splinters, if left untreated can fester and become really painful causing lots of suffering. 

Therefore, let us consider the splinter and put it into biblical terms. If a person has a certain sin in their life and leaves it without getting any help and prayer, they can find themselves in a place where that particular sin has become so great, that they are being ruled by it. It has become out of control. This can be sexual sin which can lead to adultery, homosexuality or pornography. Or it may be gossip, where a person tells other people things that they have been entrusted with. There are a host of different things that one can become involved in and without help, it will just become worse.

How do we measure sin? Sin is sin in Gods eyes. In the eyes of the law, unlawfulness covers a penalty and that penalty may be a fine or a prison sentence. That is the law and we must abide by this. In God's eyes, sin has no measurement. There really is no sin that is greater than the other, the same as a lie being, 'its only a white lie.' A white lie is a lie the same as  sin is sin. There really is no measurement. 

Therefore, a splinter is just as big as a log. Possibly the only difference being, that the splinter may not be seen at first. However, as we have seen, if left it will come to the surface.

If you've a splinter, get it attended to before it becomes much bigger.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Re-focus and Move On

"(13) Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, (14) I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God, in Christ Jesus."   Philippians 3:13-13.  NKJV

Paul was having his struggles and he wasn't there yet, but he was not going to let anything stop him from fulfilling the work of Christ and then, later on, receiving the prize - being with Jesus forever.

Life can be difficult at times. Even though you're a Christian, it does not hide you from what is happening around you. Things may come your way and floor you and you're left with a, 'Why?' There's no answer to this question at times. Things happen. As a Christian, people may lose their jobs, their house and their marriage may fall apart. There may be much more that happens but they all have to be faced and worked through. Sadly, for some, they may lose their partner - wife or husband, or perhaps other family members. There's no words that can bring comfort to these times. But as time goes on, there comes a realisation within, that something must be done in order to survive - it's an in-built thing.

The Apostle Paul speaks here about four areas that may help:

No 1
Press on. In other words, don't give up; find a way to keep going. Soldier on and keep right on to the end of the road.
No 2
Forget the past - that is the hurtful stuff. Don't think about the hurt that has been caused you. You can't change it, whatever may have happened. Don't drag the hurtful part of the past up; it slows down your progress and growth.
No 3
Take the happy memories with you. These keep a person going and are a treasure to hang on to. Let go of the bad ones, that is the pain of it all - there's life out there and God wants you to live it. Let go of the pain and grab the new.
No 4
Re-focus your thoughts about the future. Test new areas and seek your goal. Have a target to work towards and take a step forward.

None of this is easy but it is essential to ones survival. This is what Paul was discussing. He said, he was not there yet but he would keep on pressing on and that is what you need to do. 

Obviously, it depends on what has happened in your life; what pain has been inflicted upon you.     
Loss of a job or house can be devastating but, with time, can be resolved. Loss of someone very special takes much more time. 

Whatever you may be going through at this time, there is a way forward but take one step at a time - don't rush; take one day at a time. However, try and begin to realise, within your spirit, that as you press forward, Jesus will take your hand and never leave you.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Heed Good Advice

"Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the Helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul."

As much as you may think it, you do not know everything and at times, a little advice from someone can be so rewarding and helpful. Here we see Paul on board ship bound for Rome. They had made slow progress because the wind was so strong and eventually came to shelter in a place called Fair Haven. Paul being full of the Holy Spirit, attempted  to warn the centurion and the crew, that he felt the journey would end in disaster if they carried on. However, the centurion was persuaded by the crew that they would be okay and decided not to take on board Paul's advise. This later resulted in the ship being wrecked off Malta.

At times, we can become so determined that what we are doing is the right thing that we become blinkered to advice from anyone. We feel that we know it all and no matter what anyone else says or thinks, that is immaterial. If things go wrong, and it appears that the advice that we ignored was right, we then reap the results of our bad choices.

A lot of times, we can become so busy; so wrapped up in doing this, that and everything else, that it can becomes like walking on egg shells around us. Taking on too much can lead us to frustrations when things are not going the way that we had hoped they would. We become tired and stressed out. Some people may be quite tolerant for a time in such circumstances. However, if they have a short fuse, then this is a recipe for throwing a wobbly. At such times, it would be wrong to approach such a person and say, 'Well, I did tell you so.'

If you have a short fuse, then this is part of your make up. Knowing and accepting that you have, can be a way that you can work towards avoiding such areas that could cause you a blip, but it take some practise. One remedy, is to pace yourself. Avoid taking on too much. Avoid trying to do two or three jobs at once. You can't do it. Before too long, the plates will begin to fall and you'll be shipwrecked. If someone offends you and you are angry about it, have a cooling down period before you do anything - if at all - about it. Do not send that text to the person who has wronged you, while you're angry. It will not be a blessing to either of you.

More than anything, remember the words:

'Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledged Him

and He shall direct your paths.

                              Proverbs 3:5-6

Seek God's direction. Be willing to take advice from people and run it by God for clarification. Stop and think before you take things on and be happy in all you do. Life's too short.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com