Friday 13 December 2019

Opportunities

"I know your works. See I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it, for you have a little strength, have kept My word and have not denied My name."      Revelation 3:8.  NKJV

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, was an imminent Baptist preacher in the 1800's. It is said of him, that: 

'A man once came to Spurgeon and asked how he could win others to Jesus. Spurgeon asked him, "What are you? What do you do?" The man said, "I'm an engine driver on a train." "Then," said Spurgeon, "is the man who shovels coal on your train a Christian?" "I don't know," said the man." "Go back," said Spurgeon, "and find out and start on him."
                                                                                                          Source Unknown

Often, many Christians feel the urge to go out and do great things for God and yet neglect what is on their own doorstep - our families, our neighbours and our friends. This may be due to embarrassment or the fact that familiarity is difficult for us to overcome. People have wanted to go out knocking on doors to tell people about Jesus but have avoided going around their own area, possibly for similar reasons.

Thomas Edison said, 'Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed up in overalls and looks like work.' This may also be true to some of us. We want to be involved in church planting and street evangelism until we are asked if we would join the team. We can then come up with all the excuses in the world why we can't do this.

Another area where we may struggle is when we have an opportunity to do something we have dreamt about. In our dreams, it seemed marvellous but now we are faced with it, it puts great fear on us. "What if this happens?" or "What if I cannot do this?" Someone said, 'For of all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest of these is It might have been."
Think about this for a moment. Picture all the times when opportunity has knocked and nobody answered. Let me ask you, "Are you standing before a door of opportunity today? Are you afraid to walk through it? Don't be; God is with you.

Many people reach the end of their lives with regrets. Many wish that they had taken that risk; gone to this place or started that business. Memories and wishes that never came to fruition. Don't be like that. God may have opened a door for you. It may be wide open, the opportunity may be there. God won't push you through this door. He provides the opportunities but the choice is yours. If you share this opportunity with other people, they may try to talk you out of it - in other words, close the door. They can't, because if it's from God, it will burn away within you. Only you can say yes or no. But the door is open and you know it, so why not go for it. If you do, God will not let you down. If you don't, He will still love you and take care of you. He just loves you so much and gives each of us opportunities because He can see the potential in us.

You may have felt God speaking with you today and you may need to shut yourself away and ponder on this. Don't rush things but on the other hand, don't leave it too late. You know in your heart that God is faithful and you know that He will never let you down.

Today is your day. Your day of opportunities!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Thursday 12 December 2019

The Beatitudes Part 8

"(10) Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sakes, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. (11) Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. (12) Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in Heaven, for they persecuted the prophets who were before you."                Matthew 5:10-12.  NKJV 

We come to our last study of the Beatitudes today and these last three verses are extremely important to us. The cause of persecution is loyalty to righteousness. It is the price that we pay for Love and the Love I speak about here is God. Let's take a look at 1 John 4:7-8 for more detail:

'Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is Love.'

Do you see it? It says God is Love. He can be known as Love because that is what He is. He operates in Love, He creates in Love, He walks in Love and He is Love. God is Love. Because of our love for Him, we present ourselves to the enemy and all who do not know God, as fanatics, religious and pious people who live hypocritical lives and all the other stuff that is loaded upon Christians. It all comes in the form of persecution.

Why is this? Quite simply it is because we make stands. There are things that we will not accept. Jesus didn't accept it so neither do we and this causes divisions and hatred towards us. Some of the major topics are:
HOMOSEXUALITY
The bible says that it is an abomination for a man to lie with a man as with a woman, or a woman to lie with woman as with a man. Leviticus 18:22; 20:13. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul called it 'shameful,' the result of being given up by God to 'vile passions,' Romans 1:24-27. God loves the homosexual but not the act of homosexuality. He created man in His image and declared that a man should leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Ephesians 5:31.There is no compromise here, even though the world may say that - today, it is ok, we've moved on. We have not, not in God's eyes. He holds us accountable.
SAME SEX MARRIAGE
Another major topic today is same sex marriages. Modern churches today may say that it is acceptable, but as the above states, God does not accept this type of thing.
ABORTION
The murder of a child is not acceptable unless there are very strong reasons, medically, why this should take place. If it means that the child has died in the womb or that the mother will die giving birth, then this may be deemed as acceptable. Children are a gift from God and every effort should be made to preserve the child's life.

These are just a very few of the topics that are contentious and where a Christian will be persecuted if they make stands against them. However, persecution can take place in the home, where families are divided, because one of the members become a Christian and the remaining family members refrain from this. It can bring heated arguments, in fact, some families throughout the world can evict family members who have been born again and in extreme circumstances, murder them. Christianity will always bring division, it can be a never-ending battle.

Our work life can suffer too as a believer. Many times we may be asked, or even ordered to do something that is totally against our faith. To make a stand, can bring problems, even dismissal; to compromise means that we are being disloyal to our faith and to Jesus.
As Christians, the road can be difficult and as we've seen, the price of love - of following Jesus, can be very costly. People can rebel against us and even tell lies so that we will be disciplined. When you look at things, we are in a war. We're on active service and our Commanding Officer- Jesus trusts us to do battle for Him when it is required. He hung on a cross for us. That is the price that He paid. Is it too much to ask that we, as His chosen people, can make a stand for Him when we need to?

The world when you look at it is in chaos. The ever-rising violence and murder, accelerated drug use, child trafficking, abuse, lawlessness and so on. Isn't it about time that we, as Ambassadors of Jesus make a stand for Him, refusing to compromise? Times running out, we're possibly the last days of decay. Jesus may be returning soon. Let us be ready. God has promised that a great reward for us is in Heaven and we have His Spirit and the protection of our angels too. Let us get the job done.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com






















Wednesday 11 December 2019

The Beatitudes Part 7

"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God."   Matthew 5:9.  NKJV

God is the supreme peacemaker and as His sons and daughters, we need to follow in His example. There's a lot of unrest about, therefore we need to establish peace wherever we are.

David Guzik says: 'This verse does not describe those who live in peace but those who actually bring about peace, overcoming evil with good.'

One way that we can do this is through evangelism - the ministry of reconciliation - 
(2 Corinthians 5:18). We help bring peace between people who have never known God and of whom they have hurt and rejected. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. The meaning is that peace always means everything which makes for a person's highest good.

When you're out and about, take a look around you and note the unrest; the lack of peace and the aggression and violence that is on the increase around every corner. It may be unwise for us to stand up in the middle of all this and try to bring about reconciliation, unless God tells you to do this. We need to be wise. However, we can be on the lookout for people who want to offload and are willing to speak with us. We may not be counsellors but we have the Counsellor within us - The Holy Spirit, and He will guide us and give us the words to say. Often, people just want to pour out their frustration and it is helpful to allow them to do this - to vent their pent up frustration and unwind a little.  As we just sit and listen to them, hopefully they will notice that there is something different about us - and that is Jesus. 

Many people ridicule Jesus and openly curse Him but when the chips are down - when they have hit rock bottom and are in a situation they cannot get out of easily, who is that many call on in prayer? The same one they have persecuted - Jesus. He is the main peacemaker and has lots of experience in bringing people's lives back together and He wants to use YOU to let this happen. YOU are His chosen vessel. YOU are His peacemaker. YOU carry the words of Eternal life and can bring salvation to the desolate and hurting crowd. 

So that is what He is calling you to do, each and every day. Are you willing?

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Tuesday 10 December 2019

The Beatitudes Part 6

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."                          Matthew 5:8.  NKJV

William Barclay writes some strong words on this beatitude:

"Here is the beatitude which demands that all who read it should stop and think and examine themselves.
Jesus says it is only the pure in heart who shall see God. It is a warning thing to remember that, as by God's grace we keep our heart clean or as by human lust we soil them, we are either fitting or unfitting ourselves some day to see God. "
                                                                                            Copyright 1956 William Barclay

These are very serious words and may cause us to sit up and take notice and perhaps we need that because salvation is serious stuff, it's not a Santa Claus kind of fairy tale. It determines where we will spend eternity. The choice is down to us. We need to live our lives in such a way that we don't disqualify ourselves of the prize (Heaven), 'But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.' 1 Corinthians 9:27)

The Greek word for pure is katharos which actually means without blemish. Jesus has actually redeemed us 'with His precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.' (1 Peter 1:19). We're redeemed but we need to remain in this condition by walking with Jesus on a daily basis and not veering off the path.
Katharos means clean, undefiled and pure. The word describes physical cleanliness and inner purity. Sin pollutes and defiles but the blood of Jesus washes the stains away.

Katharos is regularly used for corn which has been winnowed or sifted and cleansed of all chaff. Do you get the idea? David Guzik says, 'Ultimately, this intimate relationship with God must become our greatest motivation for purity.'

So, we need to aim for purity. We'll never be perfect until we're standing before Jesus, but we can become close. There is no pressure or stress to perform this. Jesus has done it all for us and declared us not guilty. But we still need to do our part and that is by way of honouring Him, giving Him all the glory and totally living for Him. There really is no other way!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

















Monday 9 December 2019

Christian Teaching Books

Order for your Christmas Presents

TODAY

The Beatitudes Part 5

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

The word 'Merciful,' in the Greek is a word called eleemon. It demonstrates active compassion, especially to the poor. It is kind, compassionate, sympathetic, merciful and sensitive. A person with these qualities finds outlets for their merciful nature.

Usually, the one who gives out this type of mercy is one who has received it. They know just how it feels to receive mercy just when they need it, when all is lost and suddenly, someone shows them mercy. The merciful one will be forgiving to others, always thinking the best of them wherever possible. To receive mercy ourselves, we need to show mercy to others. It is rather like forgiveness. If we forgive people we in return are forgiven. If we don't forgive people, neither will we be forgiven. (Matthew 6:14-15).

William Barclay describes how Queen Victoria was a close friend of Principal John Tulloch of St Andrews. When Prince Albert died Victoria was left all alone. Around the same time, Principal Tulloch died also. Therefore, Mrs Tulloch was also left all alone. Totally unannounced, Queen Victoria went to call on Mrs Tulloch. When she arrived Mrs Tulloch was resting on a couch. When she saw the Queen, she struggles to get up and curtsey, but Queen Victoria said, 'Don't rise. I'm not coming to you today as the Queen to a subject but as a woman who has lost her husband too.'   (William Barclay 1956 The Gospel of Matthew).

God showed us mercy also. He came to us in the form of Jesus. He showed each one of us love and mercy; forgiveness and friendship. This is how He expects us to be with all we meet. Yes, people hurt us but don't we hurt Jesus just the same? Yet He still shows us His love and mercy. Let us go and show that mercy to all we may meet today.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com



Sunday 8 December 2019

The Beatitudes Part 4

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."
                                                                                                                Matthew 5:6.  NKJV

The term here, hunger and thirst, is the same feeling as starving for natural food and drink but with a spiritual tense. There is an ongoing passion which is never satisfied. It is extremely intense. It is a hunger and thirst for God and all He stands for and it is never quenched; and it won't be until we see Him face to face.

Many Christians seek, hunger and thirst for the things of this world - power, authority, success, comfort and happiness but the hunger and thirst here in this verse is for righteousness.

King David had a dream within his heart to build a temple for God. However, it was denied him and his son Solomon, was the one who built it. David could have thrown a wobbly and been totally angry and upset about all of this. But David was a warrior; a man of God and he accepted this. Solomon was God's choice to build the temple but God said to David, 

'Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.' 
                                                                                                   1 Kings 8:17-19   NKJV

You also may have been holding a dream within your heart to do something special for God but you've not been able to. You have had to watch someone else fulfilling your dream and it has hurt quite a lot. Don't be sad or crestfallen. Be encouraged because God wants to say to you, 'You did well that it was in your heart.' Your intentions were good and God is pleased and He has noted your intentions. You will be rewarded.

The Ancient Greek had an interpretation for hungering and thirsting. If they needed bread, they were happy to settle for just a piece, not the whole. It was the same for water and really anything else. They settled for a portion not the whole.

William Barclay writes:

'This Beatitude says that it is not enough to be satisfied with a partial goodness. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the goodness which is total.'

God does not want you settling for second best. He doesn't want you settling for a piece of righteous and blessing. He wants you to have it all: 'For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.'  2 Corinthians 5:21.

Therefore, you righteous person of God, rise up in Jesus because you're blessed and your hunger and thirst for Him will be satisfied.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com




















Grace

" Then Paul stood up, and motioning with  his  hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:   17  The God of this people  I...