Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

Friday 14 February 2020

Be careful what you say - God's hearing is good Part 1

"Why did Sarah laugh saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child since I am old." V13
Genesis 18:12-15 NKJV

We might live very differently if we fully realised for a moment, that God, hears, sees and knows everything we think, do and say. We often go through life and appear to forget this. We may be very mindful of our behaviour when we're out and about in the community or at church. However, when we return home, we not only take our coat off, it's almost like we take Jesus off too. I call it the 'Behind doors syndrome.' It's almost like, because we are in our safe environment - our comfort zone - we relax and take down our guard. We may talk about a church member in a gossipy way, become judgemental here and there and almost forget that we're the son or daughter of the King of kings. It's not done in a deliberate, hypocritical way; it's just that we've dropped down a gear and we feel it's ok to do so. Wrong! God hears all. He sees all and knows all that goes on in our private life.

In today's scripture, Sarah heard God telling her husband, Abraham, that she would have his child. V10. She considered it so highly comical because she was very old and Abraham was much older, that she laughed within herself. They wouldn't be able to enjoy this pleasure let alone, produce a child.

Even though Sarah's laughter had not been audible, God heard and spoke with Abraham about this. 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, "Shall I surely bear a child since I am old?" Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you according to the time of life and Sarah shall have a son.' V13 - 14.

Note that God had spoken about this to Abraham;not directly to Sarah herself. This would have been because Abraham would have been deemed head of the home, in God's eyes. Sarah, understanding that God was not pleased because of Him hearing her laugh, denied this, 'I did not laugh.' But God replied, 'No, but you did laugh.' V15

It is no use trying to pull the wool over God's eyes - He knows. We may do or say something and then come under conviction but start denying we have done wrong or water it all down a little. But God knows. He saw you do this. He heard it. There's no denying about it all. It's best to come clean and confess it and be forgiven. End of.

When we look at things like this, it can become a little scary. We may feel like it's big brother watching over all we do and say. But no, it's not like that at all. it's big God seeing all we do; hearing all we say and watching where we go.

Perhaps it is realisation time for us all. Time is running out and one day - may be sooner than we think, we will all, as Christians, have to stand before Him at the Judgement Seat. (2 Corinthians 5:10) and give an account of all we have done, not done and spoken about.

God wants the best from us. He has given us all we need to succeed. He knows we will get it wrong at times and provides the way out - forgiveness. This doesn't mean that we can take this for granted. We need to wise up. God has so much for us but He can't bless us with it if we are not walking totally with Him.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

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Thursday 13 February 2020

Daily Life with Jesus

DAILY LIFE WITH JESUS

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Lies will always catch you out

"What is this you have done to me?" Genesis 12:18. NKJV

Let's get to grips with the story line here:

'1 Now the LORD had said to Abram, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' Genesis 12:1-3

Now, does this sound like God would allow someone to kill Abram? No! God had told him to move away from his homeland and head to new horizons in Canaan. As time went on, there was a severe famine and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there. All of a sudden, he became fearful of this powerful man - Pharaoh. He had heard so many stories about him and how he operated. He was frightened that Sarai would be taken into his house and he would be killed. He therefore, persuaded Sarai to lie and say that she was his sister, so that he would be safe and protected. To a degree, this was partly true, she was his half-sister (Genesis 20:12). But she was also his wife.

When they arrived in Egypt, as Abram had suspected, Sarai's beauty, even though she was 60, attracted the younger men, and she was taken into Pharaoh's house. Abram was treated very well for her sake and was blessed with sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants and camels.

Pharaoh, after a short time, was plagued with condemnation over taking Sarai into his house and it was revealed to him that she was actually Abram's wife.
'What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, "She is my sister?" I might have taken her as my wife.'
This statement confirms that no sexual relations had taken place, yet.

Abram was very fortunate. He received no punishment for his deceitfulness and as he left Pharaoh's country, he was allowed to keep everything he had been given.
Abram should have realised that if he was so special to God and blessed so much, that God would have protected him on his journey to Egypt. He would not have had to lie to protect himself. There was also no need to put Sarai's chastity at risk. But he didn't. It would appear that this lesson didn't go deep enough, as he would repeat this action again as we see in Genesis 20.

We need to trust in God. If we belong to Him then He is committed to keeping us safe, as we ask Him to each day. A lie is so deceitful and dangerous and can cause great distress and anguish. We need to remember to watch what comes out of our mouths. We can't confess that God is our protector one minute and then doubt Him and try to sort things out on our own, the next. It is a very unwise route to take. Also, we should never be tempted to persuade someone else to lie on our behalf. Doctors and medical staff face this quite often, where a family want them to hide the truth from the patient, to protect them. This is called collusion and can be a difficult time for those forced into it.
Finally, as a Christian, fear should have no part in our lives. God has said, 'For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

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Wednesday 12 February 2020

Don't do it - it's forbidden!

"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate."
Genesis 3:6. NKJV

The serpent (the devil) was extremely cunning, which means that he was deceitful and crafty and very skilful in the art of this. We see him in action here with Eve (and Adam, who was somewhere in the background but within hearing distance.)

God had told Adam and Eve that they could eat of any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They could tend the tree but not eat of it or they would die.

However, the serpent was and is, a tempter, 'go on, look at it; look at that fruit, it looks really tasty. Go on,' (Paraphrase of V6) When Eve looked, she indeed saw how pleasant it looked and extremely desirable. At this time, Adam should have stepped up and taken the authority that he had and told the serpent to, 'Get out of my garden.' He should then have spoken to his wife, reminding her of where their duties and obedience were. Sadly he didn't.

Husband, do your job. If you're a woman without a husband, then do the same. Take your responsibilities seriously. Your children see the decisions that you make and follow them. Learned behaviour springs to mind. Set an example; have high standards and rules to live by. You know what is right and what is wrong. Teach your children this. Live by this yourself. Determine that if God says, 'not to,' then you are 'not to.' He sets standards for us to live by; if we don't obey them, how do you expect your children to. I can almost hear them saying, 'Why should we, our parents don't?'

Look at the results of our disobedience, 'And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God, among the trees of the garden.' V8

Guilt, bad feelings, regrets, shame and a feeling that God is not around you. These can be the results of disobedience; of committing sin - deliberate sin such as this. You can't hide what you've done from God. He knows and sees all. You may fool the people around you - for a time; but pretty soon, all will be revealed.

If you're a father/husband or wife/mother, you have responsibilities. You have a commitment to your spouse and your family but more than anything, to God Himself. He trusts you; don't hurt Him; don't let Him down. There are temptations all around and just like Eve, the devil will try and convince you that it's ok, 'It'll make you feel better, what harm can it do?' At that moment, responsibility should be allowed to kick in, as you flatly refuse to become involved in stuff that is forbidden. However if you stay and look, the desire may get the better of you and before you know it, your own personal Garden of Eden disaster will take place and you'll feel like hiding too. Hiding what you've done from your loved ones, your friends and your work colleagues. But God will know, He always does. Is it really worth it?

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

MY BOOK

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Tuesday 11 February 2020

Does God want to change certain things

"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry." V1
Jonah 4 NKJV

To give a brief resume of the situation, God had told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach to a city full of lost souls. However, he refused and caught a ship that took him the other way, to Tarshish. Their had been a great tempest on the water and the crew, thinking Jonah was a jinx, had thrown him overboard. However, God rescued him by ordering a whale to swallow him up. As soon as Jonah came to his senses and repented, the whale was ordered to vomit Jonah onto dry ground. Jonah was once again told to go to Nineveh and preach to the people, which he did, the result being that the city repented of their sin.

Jonah now became angry and displeased. Why? Because God had seen how Nineveh had repented and changed their ways, He therefore had shown them mercy and forgiven them. Jonah totally disagreed with this and actually argued with God about it. You may feel that Jonah was totally out of line here and I must agree. However, it flags up the times that you may feel like this when people in our churches or communities thrive and become a leading light, when you consider that they don't deserve it. Do you hold a grudge or have bad feeling towards someone? Are you keeping a record of wrongs? Jonah certainly was.

Actually when you consider this, it sounds quite bizarre. A preacher normally thrives on the harvest that is received from their preaching. It's an overwhelming feeling when this happens. However, to feel like Jonah was feeling is extremely strange.

David Guzik writes: 'Jonah was angry because God granted repentance to the Ninevites, and the Assyrians were enemies of Judah and Israel. Jonah wanted God to bring judgement upon these people he hated.' (Enduring Word)

Jonah knew that God would forgive them because of His grace and mercy. This is why he didn't want to go there in the first place. Jonah had called on God when he had refused to go to Nineveh. He had walked away from his mission and been swallowed by a whale and yet God had showed him mercy. It was rather hypocritical to resent the Ninevites being forgiven. In fact, it was totally selfish. It leaves the question; what if God had treated him this way?

What right had Jonah to be angry? The answer - none. And neither do we when God doesn't do what we want Him to. What right have we? Jonah even had the audacity to sit outside the city waiting for judgement to come on Nineveh. Unbelievable.

He showed a sign of happiness when God gave him a plant to shelter him from the intense heat and sun, but the next day, sulked because it had withered and shrivelled up. He blamed God for this but it was God's way of showing him how important life is and how it can be shrivelled up overnight. If Jonah felt such compassion for a mere plant, what about the 120,000 people of Nineveh? Where was his compassion for them or his priority? However this fell on deaf ears. The only thing Jonah showed was that he anted to die - again. A totally childish and selfish attitude.

At times, we can be blind and deaf to people's needs. There's a few lessons to be learned from Jonah's actions. He had very little compassion. He was wrapped up in his own wants and needs, and his selfishness, left to him, would have let a whole city full of people, die.

The study of the book of Jonah, should make us all look within ourselves. There is no place in the Kingdom of God for selfishness, hatred, lack of compassion, anger and bad feeling towards other people. After all, Jesus came to rescue people from their sin, and He expects His workers - us - to offer one and all, mercy and love as He has offered to us all.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

MY BOOK

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Monday 10 February 2020

The Measure of Time

"But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.' 2 Peter 3:8. NKJV

What happens to time when we die? Well, from today's reading, we can discern that time appears to stand still - it ceases. To God, time is not a problem. This may answer why we have to wait so long for answers to our prayers. A day to Him is like a thousand years and a thousand years, like a day. It is timeless because we're into eternity.

This explains why, when we read scripture, it seems like Jesus' coming is imminent. The early followers of Jesus believed this would happen in their lifetime. Yet it didn't.

In 2 Peter 3:4 we read that scoffers were saying:

'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.'

Wherever you are, there will always be the people who raise difficult and contentious questions. Really though, the answer. is in today's text 2 Peter 3:8:

'with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.'

To God there is no time, so for instance, Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected and ascended some 2000 years ago, but to Our Father, it is just like two days. To the observer it is a long time, to God hardly any time at all.

Jesus, when He was on the cross, had two criminals beside Him, who had suffered the same fate. One was blasphemous towards Jesus while the other defending Him said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.' And Jesus said to him, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.' Luke 23:42-43. Note the word, 'today.' Jesus confirmed that when we die, we go straight into Heaven.

Over the years, some have denied this, stating that we will be in the grave until all Christians are raptured, when Jesus comes for His church. However, this tells a different story. If there is no time attached to God then, when a person dies, time ceases to be for them. To the grieving family, that person is in the grave and as long as that family live, it appears that way. But that is only their shell, their old body. Time has ceased, the person who dies goes straight into Heaven, with a new body, to be with Jesus and the other Christians. To the one left behind, there is loneliness because they're in the grave. But to the person who has died, they have been instantly transported to Paradise.

You may have lost someone very dear to you and the loss and the pain is immeasurable. However, be comforted because they are safe in Paradise with Jesus, and one day - a thousand years - you will be reunited with them. What a wonderful day that will be!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

MY BOOK

Paperback https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084DFYKHD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Kindle
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Sunday 9 February 2020

Listen clearly

"20 My son, give attention to My words, incline your ear to My sayings, 21 do not let them depart from your eyes, keep them in the midst of your heart 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22 NKJV

God uses Solomon to give clear directions to his son, which in turn will benefit us, as we take notice of them.
When people are speaking to us, especially in a counselling situation, we should show them good attending skills. This includes, looking directly at them, without making them feel as if we are boring into their brain. We should never be looking around, checking our watch or even answering the telephone. We should give them the chance to speak without jumping in and taking over. During the conversation, we should reflect a few words back to them, such as, 'So what you're saying is.' This shows them that we are with them, we are hearing them properly and giving them our attention.

This is what Solomon was saying. We should listen properly with both ears, not listening with one while we concentrate on what is happening around us. We need to listen properly. This was one of the problems with Eve in Genesis 3. She didn't listen properly to what God had said about the tree. He never said she could not touch it. This is how the serpent tricked her.

We're to incline our ear (v1) Basically this means to lean forward; to bow down the ear and listen properly. It is so important to hear what is being said correctly. Many is the time when we hear part of what is being said and get it all wrong. God's Word brings us wisdom and we need this. Seeking wisdom is the pathway towards life and good health. The way to gain this wisdom is only through the Word of God. To neglect reading our bible, praying or generally not having a quiet time with God is foolhardy. We just won't survive. Romans 10:17 says 'Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.' So if God tells us to give attention to His Word, then we need to heed this.

God's Word brings life to us and that includes healing. 1 Peter 2:24 tells us we were healed by the stripes of Jesus but if we don't know this or confess it and stand on this promise, then the word means nothing to us and very little will change. It's the same with direction in life. We need to listen closely to what He directs us to do and where He tells us to go. If we don't listen closely, we can go off at a tangent and get things totally wrong.

When we step off the pathway God has given us, we need to know - immediately! The Holy Spirit guides us but we need to be in tune and connected with Him in order to benefit from this.

Are you connected to God? Do you hear Him? Are you spending enough time in His presence for Him to minister to you and bless and direct you? Only you know this - and God of course. If you know that you need to improve in this area, do it today. Get your bible out or buy a new one; be guided through daily study, prayer and guidance. If you do this, before very long, you will be so full of the blessing of God that people will not fail to notice and your life will take a turn for the better.