"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" 1 John 4:4 NKJV
There are many false prophets in this world who appear genuine but do not give the glory to Jesus Christ. Here John is saying, that if Jesus Christ is not the central part of their teaching or discussions; if they do not give Him the deity, then they are false prophets and are there to lead us astray if we allow them to.
We have the Spirit of God dwelling in us who will guide us every inch of the way, if we remain in tune with Him. We need to study the Word and live it every day. We will then be able to discern what is of God and what isn't.
Have you ever stopped and considered that the Creator of mankind dwells within you? Many powerful people who we meet each day, may have more human power and authority than we have - outwardly. However, inwardly, we have the Holy Spirit who was hovering over the face of the waters prior to creation (Genesis 1:1-2). We have Jesus Christ who was with God and was God in the beginning (John 1:1-5). And we have the Creator - God Our Father. Together, this is the Trinity; three divine Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - each fully God. The Father is the fountainhead of the Trinity, the Creator. The Son is the 'Logos - the Word,' the expression of God. Jesus is both the agent of creation and mankind's only Redeemer. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity who proceeds from the Father and is worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son. All three Persons of the Godhead are Eternal. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. (Sourced from The Spirit Filled Life Bible)
And they dwell within us! Isn't that amazing? We need to get a full realisation of this fact. We read it but we need to fully realise it and flow in this knowledge and truth. There is no mountain or problem that can stand in our way as long as we walk with them. They're all one, so we can say we walk with God, with Jesus or we walk in the Spirit. There's no difference; they're all within us and we need never feel weak, frightened or alone again. Philippians 4:13 says, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
We walk in the Blessing. We walk in Favour. We walk in Righteousness through Jesus Christ. We really are loved and cherished and destined to spend eternity in Heaven one day. Until then, we have have an exciting walk ahead of us, each and every day. We have a mission to fulfil; a calling that no one else has. God has chosen you because you are so special!
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
This is a blog that centres on Jesus Christ - my Lord and Saviour. My aim is to describe how He has helped over the years, together with offering daily teaching and encouragement
Thursday, 19 December 2019
Wednesday, 18 December 2019
He gives Hope
"He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." John 8:1-11. NKJV
Try and picture the scene here. A woman was caught in the very act of adultery and was publicly humiliated by the religious leaders as they brought her out to stand before Jesus. Now, adultery usually includes two people, so where was the man? Why wasn't he brought out as well? It seems a strong case here of discrimination. An act full of injustice. Now, I am not supporting the woman here. She would have known it was wrong to commit adultery and so would the man. There could be excuses - yes; perhaps she had been divorced or been made a widow. She may have been trying to gain future security for herself. Who knows. But adultery was wrong in the eyes of God and the Law of Moses, but the act of stoning seemed quite barbaric too. She was desperate possibly for love, companionship, security and a better life. She needed to hope in something good happening. This is not unlike some of the many people in our present times, when they become involved in things that they shouldn't out of desperation and lack of hope.
Jesus was being set up here. The religious leaders were not really bothered about this case of adultery. They wanted to entrap Jesus and wanted to hear what His comments were on the subject. If He were to say, 'Let her go,' that could be seen as breaking the Law of Moses. If He said, 'Stone her,' they could have accused Him of being hypocritical - after all He had been telling people about love and forgiveness. It really was a tricky situation for Him.
When He said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let Him throw a stone at her first.' v7. That cleared the place straightaway. It's interesting here because, Jesus would have qualified to have thrown the first stone because He had not sinned - ever. He was the only one who was sin-free, but He was the only one who was giving her hope as well.
After the place had been cleared because of the conviction that the religious leaders felt, He looked at her and said these important words, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'
Jesus had stooped down to her level and then brought her up to His level. He had given her the hope that she was searching for. She had met with Jesus; she would never get involved in this type of sinfulness anymore. She had seen Jesus - face to face. She had felt the compassion and care that He offered her. She had seen that there is a love in this world after all, that wasn't just take, take.
There are many people in this world today who are desperate for this type of love. They are lonely, hungry and hurting and long for something to brighten their lives. Jesus is the Light of the world. (John 8:12). He can brighten this for them. You may be one of them. You may need some type of miracle in your life today. Or you may know of someone, who is desperate and down on their luck. Christmas is almost upon us; a time when we celebrate Jesus and the hope that He offers. Why not make this the best Christmas that you have ever known and receive the best Christmas present too:
Lord Jesus, I give my life to You. Please forgive My sins and come and live in my heart. Fill me with You Holy Spirit and be My Lord and Saviour. I desperately need Your love today. Please come Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen
If you've said this prayer, you are now born again. Get yourself a bible, read it and join a caring church. Email me to let me know as well.
If you already know Jesus, why not brighten someone else's life this Christmas by introducing them to Jesus.
Be Blessed
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
Try and picture the scene here. A woman was caught in the very act of adultery and was publicly humiliated by the religious leaders as they brought her out to stand before Jesus. Now, adultery usually includes two people, so where was the man? Why wasn't he brought out as well? It seems a strong case here of discrimination. An act full of injustice. Now, I am not supporting the woman here. She would have known it was wrong to commit adultery and so would the man. There could be excuses - yes; perhaps she had been divorced or been made a widow. She may have been trying to gain future security for herself. Who knows. But adultery was wrong in the eyes of God and the Law of Moses, but the act of stoning seemed quite barbaric too. She was desperate possibly for love, companionship, security and a better life. She needed to hope in something good happening. This is not unlike some of the many people in our present times, when they become involved in things that they shouldn't out of desperation and lack of hope.
Jesus was being set up here. The religious leaders were not really bothered about this case of adultery. They wanted to entrap Jesus and wanted to hear what His comments were on the subject. If He were to say, 'Let her go,' that could be seen as breaking the Law of Moses. If He said, 'Stone her,' they could have accused Him of being hypocritical - after all He had been telling people about love and forgiveness. It really was a tricky situation for Him.
When He said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let Him throw a stone at her first.' v7. That cleared the place straightaway. It's interesting here because, Jesus would have qualified to have thrown the first stone because He had not sinned - ever. He was the only one who was sin-free, but He was the only one who was giving her hope as well.
After the place had been cleared because of the conviction that the religious leaders felt, He looked at her and said these important words, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'
Jesus had stooped down to her level and then brought her up to His level. He had given her the hope that she was searching for. She had met with Jesus; she would never get involved in this type of sinfulness anymore. She had seen Jesus - face to face. She had felt the compassion and care that He offered her. She had seen that there is a love in this world after all, that wasn't just take, take.
There are many people in this world today who are desperate for this type of love. They are lonely, hungry and hurting and long for something to brighten their lives. Jesus is the Light of the world. (John 8:12). He can brighten this for them. You may be one of them. You may need some type of miracle in your life today. Or you may know of someone, who is desperate and down on their luck. Christmas is almost upon us; a time when we celebrate Jesus and the hope that He offers. Why not make this the best Christmas that you have ever known and receive the best Christmas present too:
Lord Jesus, I give my life to You. Please forgive My sins and come and live in my heart. Fill me with You Holy Spirit and be My Lord and Saviour. I desperately need Your love today. Please come Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen
If you've said this prayer, you are now born again. Get yourself a bible, read it and join a caring church. Email me to let me know as well.
If you already know Jesus, why not brighten someone else's life this Christmas by introducing them to Jesus.
Be Blessed
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
Tuesday, 17 December 2019
Consider your ways
"5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Consider your ways'. 6 You have sown much and bring in little, you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. 7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Consider your ways.' Haggai 1:5-7. NKJV
This is a classic example of a self-seeking person. A person who lives for their own enjoyment and doesn't allow God into the place that he wants to be. Actually, this is quite a scary place to be with God. God expects to be in first place, not an after-thought. Your life may demonstrate the life of an after- thought, a person who just sits on the subs bench, never having the opportunity to use what they have - that hidden talent. This may be where you are, but God should never be in second place. He needs to be No 1. So be careful that you honour God. You can't receive blessing and favour if you live your life neglecting Him and/or living in sin.
The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:59, 'I thought about my ways and turned my feet to Your testimonies.' The writer suddenly became aware that he was leaving out the most important person in his life - God, and therefore set out to get his life back on track, remembering all the great things that God had done for him in the past.
This may be you. Somehow you may have drifted away from God's direction; or you may have been distracted because of one thing or another. God wants to bless you. He wants to put a shield of favour around you. Jerry Savelle offers a useful prayer to confess each and every morning:
This is a classic example of a self-seeking person. A person who lives for their own enjoyment and doesn't allow God into the place that he wants to be. Actually, this is quite a scary place to be with God. God expects to be in first place, not an after-thought. Your life may demonstrate the life of an after- thought, a person who just sits on the subs bench, never having the opportunity to use what they have - that hidden talent. This may be where you are, but God should never be in second place. He needs to be No 1. So be careful that you honour God. You can't receive blessing and favour if you live your life neglecting Him and/or living in sin.
The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:59, 'I thought about my ways and turned my feet to Your testimonies.' The writer suddenly became aware that he was leaving out the most important person in his life - God, and therefore set out to get his life back on track, remembering all the great things that God had done for him in the past.
This may be you. Somehow you may have drifted away from God's direction; or you may have been distracted because of one thing or another. God wants to bless you. He wants to put a shield of favour around you. Jerry Savelle offers a useful prayer to confess each and every morning:
"I walk in divine favour. The favour of God goes before me today,
changing rules, regulations and policies."
"This is another day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad
therein. The favour of God goes before me and surrounds me.
Copyright Jerry Savelle 1997 Walking in Divine favour
The Greek word for Favour is Ratson which means pleasure, desire, favour and delight.
Ratson describes to be pleased with or to be favourable towards something. It refers especially to what is pleasing and desirable to God.
If you were to study the 39th chapter of Genesis, you would see an example of God's favour on Joseph. After Joseph's terrible treatment by his brothers, he was sold to some travellers and ended in Egypt where he became a worker in the house of Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officers. He was so diligent that he soon found favour in his master's eyes. The problem was, he became favourable in Potiphar's wife's eyes too, for the wrong reasons. After many advances from her, he finally fled form the house and she accused him of attempted rape. He was imprisoned.
He soon found favour with the keeper of the prison and was placed in charge. He eventually was sent for by Pharaoh because of his reputation of interpreting dreams. Pharaoh had had some dreams that had concerned him. Joseph was able to interpret these dreams and impressed Pharaoh and found favour with him, so much that he was placed in charge - second to Pharaoh, of the whole of Egypt.
Now this is favour and if you walk closely with Jesus each and every day, He will give you favour too, in all you do:
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen"
Ephesians 3:20. NKJV
Note the part of this verse that says, 'according to the power that works in us.' If we don't move in the Holy Spirit and in the Blessing of God, we will miss out on all that God has for us and that includes favour.
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for dwelling in my heart through faith.
Keep me rooted and grounded in Love, that I may be able to comprehend
with all Your people the width and length and depth and height of that Love
- to grasp and experience Your Love, which surpasses knowledge, that I may be
filled with all the fullness of God. Amen"
Prayer from The Spirit Filled Life Bible Ed 3 Ephesians 3:17-19
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
Monday, 16 December 2019
A Firm Planting
"14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:14-19. NKJV
The scripture here means to be rooted as a tree and grounded means like a building on a strong foundation. Many trees grow very tall so it is essential that their roots go deep into the ground. There are two reasons for this: (1) that the tree will be firmly established in order to protect it from storm force winds. (2) that the roots reach water which the tree will need so that it can flourish. The foundation must be a strong one; again, that it doesn't crumble under storm damage. (See Matthew 7:25-27).
We need to be rooted and grounded also - in Love, which is God, (1 John 4:8) God is Love; Love is God. We need to be rooted and grounded in this Love - God, in fullness v19. The Greek word for fullness is Pieroma which means full measure, plenitude. Pieroma strongly empathises fullness and completion.
Genesis 1:26 tells us that God created man in His own image - in the image of God. As we spend more and more time with Jesus, we become like a mirror-image of Him. We are transformed:
'But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.'
2 Corinthians 3:18. NKJV
We are like Him, transformed by the Holy Spirit. And if we are like Him - made in His image, then as we walk with Him - rooted and grounded in His love, we are able to do what He is asking us to do - be just like Jesus to the world we live in. But it takes discipline on our parts. It doesn't just happen. We have to position ourselves to receive from Him; to serve Him and to place Him first place in our lives. He must have the first call on our lives, and we must get our lives right so that we are walking in the Spirit - walking in Love.
A lot depends on what we confess - what comes out of our mouths. Proverbs 18:21 says, 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.' We can confess death or life; victory or defeat or success or failure. We need to stop speaking about failure in our lives and how sick we feel today - 'My back is killing me,' 'I'll never be able to do that,' etc etc. You are highly favoured. Psalm 5:12 says, 'For You O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favour You will surround him as with a shield.' Favour is recognised as grace, pleasure, favour, goodwill, delight and even fun; and God has placed this as a shield around us. His blessing and favour envelope us.
You may ask a trusted friend if they'll do you a favour and they probably will. God, has given us the best favour of all. He did us the greatest favour by giving us Jesus as our friend and Saviour. He is all we need to be rooted and grounded in. He is all we need to walk in this world, firmly planted in His love.
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
Ephesians 3:14-19. NKJV
The scripture here means to be rooted as a tree and grounded means like a building on a strong foundation. Many trees grow very tall so it is essential that their roots go deep into the ground. There are two reasons for this: (1) that the tree will be firmly established in order to protect it from storm force winds. (2) that the roots reach water which the tree will need so that it can flourish. The foundation must be a strong one; again, that it doesn't crumble under storm damage. (See Matthew 7:25-27).
We need to be rooted and grounded also - in Love, which is God, (1 John 4:8) God is Love; Love is God. We need to be rooted and grounded in this Love - God, in fullness v19. The Greek word for fullness is Pieroma which means full measure, plenitude. Pieroma strongly empathises fullness and completion.
Genesis 1:26 tells us that God created man in His own image - in the image of God. As we spend more and more time with Jesus, we become like a mirror-image of Him. We are transformed:
'But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.'
2 Corinthians 3:18. NKJV
We are like Him, transformed by the Holy Spirit. And if we are like Him - made in His image, then as we walk with Him - rooted and grounded in His love, we are able to do what He is asking us to do - be just like Jesus to the world we live in. But it takes discipline on our parts. It doesn't just happen. We have to position ourselves to receive from Him; to serve Him and to place Him first place in our lives. He must have the first call on our lives, and we must get our lives right so that we are walking in the Spirit - walking in Love.
A lot depends on what we confess - what comes out of our mouths. Proverbs 18:21 says, 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.' We can confess death or life; victory or defeat or success or failure. We need to stop speaking about failure in our lives and how sick we feel today - 'My back is killing me,' 'I'll never be able to do that,' etc etc. You are highly favoured. Psalm 5:12 says, 'For You O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favour You will surround him as with a shield.' Favour is recognised as grace, pleasure, favour, goodwill, delight and even fun; and God has placed this as a shield around us. His blessing and favour envelope us.
You may ask a trusted friend if they'll do you a favour and they probably will. God, has given us the best favour of all. He did us the greatest favour by giving us Jesus as our friend and Saviour. He is all we need to be rooted and grounded in. He is all we need to walk in this world, firmly planted in His love.
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
Sunday, 15 December 2019
Get Exercising Part 2
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ, forgave you." Ephesians 4:31-32. NKJV
Yesterday, we looked at exercising joy and love in order to be able to master these areas. They take time to get on top of and only thorough exercise will we achieve this. Today let us look at rudeness and how we may respond or react to this and whether or not, we are rude to people, ourselves.
Are you rude? Do a little self-evaluation and ask yourself, 'Am I rude to people?' Do you show disrespect to those you meet up with, including family? Are you intolerant with them? Does your patience run out with certain people and when you see them, do you feel like avoiding them because of this. This behaviour fits under the heading of rudeness.
It takes exercise to be able to overcome this; again, it doesn't come easily. Jesus is never rude with us and boy, must we have tested His patience since we accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour. However, He is tolerant towards us and reacts in a royal manner. Thank goodness!
What about people who are rude and disrespectful to us? Do you react or do you respond? There is a difference here. To react, is to be on guard and ready for action. Someone says something bad to us or really winds us up and, if we're not careful we react in a volatile way.
Yet to respond is different. We are still reacting but it is done with self-control. We are in charge of the situation and thus, act accordingly.
Galatians 2:20 says:
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
In other words we have died to Christ. We have surrendered our life to Him in such a way that we live our lives through Him. We are dead and DEAD MEN DON'T REACT. Did you get that? DEAD MEN (OR WOMEN) DON'T REACT. We are dead to reaction, we only respond to things.
Now this is not easy. It takes practise but we do it by faith - we exercise this area until it becomes a natural thing to do. We're in training. We are still under construction and will be until we stand before Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote: 'being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of of Jesus Christ.' (Philippians 1:6). We are in training and God is going to get us there; but it will take exercise on our parts. We have to do our bit. If we don't exercise, we seize up.
We need to exercise ourselves until we are able to read situations better and respond accordingly. Take for instance s person who is incredibly shy and in company is almost introvert, hiding away in the crowd to avoid having to talk. We may class this as being rude but it is not the case, the person is struggling. We need to train ourselves to understand people and situations better. This however, will only come by spending time with our trainer - the Holy Spirit - and exercising our faith.
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
Yesterday, we looked at exercising joy and love in order to be able to master these areas. They take time to get on top of and only thorough exercise will we achieve this. Today let us look at rudeness and how we may respond or react to this and whether or not, we are rude to people, ourselves.
Are you rude? Do a little self-evaluation and ask yourself, 'Am I rude to people?' Do you show disrespect to those you meet up with, including family? Are you intolerant with them? Does your patience run out with certain people and when you see them, do you feel like avoiding them because of this. This behaviour fits under the heading of rudeness.
It takes exercise to be able to overcome this; again, it doesn't come easily. Jesus is never rude with us and boy, must we have tested His patience since we accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour. However, He is tolerant towards us and reacts in a royal manner. Thank goodness!
What about people who are rude and disrespectful to us? Do you react or do you respond? There is a difference here. To react, is to be on guard and ready for action. Someone says something bad to us or really winds us up and, if we're not careful we react in a volatile way.
Yet to respond is different. We are still reacting but it is done with self-control. We are in charge of the situation and thus, act accordingly.
Galatians 2:20 says:
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
In other words we have died to Christ. We have surrendered our life to Him in such a way that we live our lives through Him. We are dead and DEAD MEN DON'T REACT. Did you get that? DEAD MEN (OR WOMEN) DON'T REACT. We are dead to reaction, we only respond to things.
Now this is not easy. It takes practise but we do it by faith - we exercise this area until it becomes a natural thing to do. We're in training. We are still under construction and will be until we stand before Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote: 'being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of of Jesus Christ.' (Philippians 1:6). We are in training and God is going to get us there; but it will take exercise on our parts. We have to do our bit. If we don't exercise, we seize up.
We need to exercise ourselves until we are able to read situations better and respond accordingly. Take for instance s person who is incredibly shy and in company is almost introvert, hiding away in the crowd to avoid having to talk. We may class this as being rude but it is not the case, the person is struggling. We need to train ourselves to understand people and situations better. This however, will only come by spending time with our trainer - the Holy Spirit - and exercising our faith.
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
Friday, 13 December 2019
Get Exercising Part 1
"Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is you strength." Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV
When we want to get fit we may go to the gym and start exercising. The fitness doesn't happen overnight, it takes time and practise. We have to undergo a program of regular exercise and discipline our bodies in order to achieve the results we are aiming for. The exercise can be difficult and hard going as we strive to overcome the pain and reject the words in our head that are saying, 'give up, it's useless to believe that you can do this.'
It's the same with most things. In order to succeed, we have to press on, work hard and grit our teeth. Nothing comes easily. When we go to Uni, we don't receive a diploma or degree without doing anything. We have to be committed and work hard to gain the prize.
In the above verse, we see that the joy of the Lord is our strength and this is very true. But we can't just quote this verse and then expect to receive this joy immediately. Again, it takes practise. Joy is a mighty weapon to have and it's essential that we grab hold of it. However, it only comes and remains in us with diligence and commitment to God's Word. It takes practise. It only comes to us and remains with us when we exercise His Word, and condition ourselves to receive this. It will then become a part of us - our daily routine.
Exercising God's joy comes by praising Him and living our lives in such a way that we receive the victory. The opposite of joy is despair. This includes misery, depression, anger, moaning and groaning, criticism, judging and aggression, to name just a few. All of these equate to weakness, failure and spiritual decay.
As with joy, love also needs to be exercised. We need to train ourselves to walk in love. It doesn't just happen. It needs time to develop. Love and joy are Spiritual weapons that we can use to oppose spiritual attack from our enemy, the devil. We need to train ourselves in these areas by reading our bible, studying it, spending time with Our Father and putting God's (or Love's 1 John 4:8) Word into action.
Tomorrow, we will look at these and other areas that will help our walk with Jesus.
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
When we want to get fit we may go to the gym and start exercising. The fitness doesn't happen overnight, it takes time and practise. We have to undergo a program of regular exercise and discipline our bodies in order to achieve the results we are aiming for. The exercise can be difficult and hard going as we strive to overcome the pain and reject the words in our head that are saying, 'give up, it's useless to believe that you can do this.'
It's the same with most things. In order to succeed, we have to press on, work hard and grit our teeth. Nothing comes easily. When we go to Uni, we don't receive a diploma or degree without doing anything. We have to be committed and work hard to gain the prize.
In the above verse, we see that the joy of the Lord is our strength and this is very true. But we can't just quote this verse and then expect to receive this joy immediately. Again, it takes practise. Joy is a mighty weapon to have and it's essential that we grab hold of it. However, it only comes and remains in us with diligence and commitment to God's Word. It takes practise. It only comes to us and remains with us when we exercise His Word, and condition ourselves to receive this. It will then become a part of us - our daily routine.
Exercising God's joy comes by praising Him and living our lives in such a way that we receive the victory. The opposite of joy is despair. This includes misery, depression, anger, moaning and groaning, criticism, judging and aggression, to name just a few. All of these equate to weakness, failure and spiritual decay.
As with joy, love also needs to be exercised. We need to train ourselves to walk in love. It doesn't just happen. It needs time to develop. Love and joy are Spiritual weapons that we can use to oppose spiritual attack from our enemy, the devil. We need to train ourselves in these areas by reading our bible, studying it, spending time with Our Father and putting God's (or Love's 1 John 4:8) Word into action.
Tomorrow, we will look at these and other areas that will help our walk with Jesus.
Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard
dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com
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
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
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