Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

Tuesday, 17 March 2020

God's answer to the Coronavirus - 'I will be with him in trouble'

"(14) Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he has known My name. (15) He shall call upon Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him."
Psalm 91:14-15. NKJV

What a promise this is! Take a closer look at it. God will deliver us; He will set us on high. This means He will exalt us as we humble ourselves before Him (1 Peter 5:6). As we call upon Him, He will answer us. He will be with us in trouble and He will deliver us.

Many people think that, God will not allow anything to happen to us. We will be free from all problems and trouble. This is not true. As believers, the same kind of stuff that comes on non-believers, will also come upon us. 'for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.' (Matthew 5:45).

We go through the same kind of things that others go through and sometimes, we wonder why. But there is no answer to this. What there is an answer to, is the fact that, for believers of Almighty God, He goes through the troubles with us. He is right beside us: 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.' (Psalm 23:4). This is the difference. He is right beside us wherever we go, whatever we go through and whatever happens to us. He will never leave us.

With this knowledge and in light of what is happening in our world today with the Coronavirus, please be reassured that He is with you. Yes, it may be scary and the thought of it all is so uncertain, in fact, so uncertain that it is causing panic wherever we go. People are panic-buying so that they have enough food and medical supplies. There is a great fear across the world at this moment. But, stop for one moment; if you have set your love upon Jesus, He will deliver you. He will lift you up through whatever may happen in the coming weeks. As you call upon Him, He will answer you and He will be right there beside you, never to leave. It may be uncertain for you, but not to Him. He knows the answer; He knows what He is doing and what He will do. Just trust Him; there really is nothing else that you can do.

There are certain restrictions and instructions that we will all have to follow over the next few months. But it is a time to be optimistic not pessimistic. God has given you a promise, a promise that He will not break. He can be relied on to fulfil His promise to us - His children. He will answer us and be with us; He will be with us throughout this troubled time and HE WILL DELIVER US! Amen? Amen!

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Monday, 16 March 2020

It's time to get serious with God

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, My God in Him I will trust." Psalm 91:1-2. NKJV

In Hebrew, we see the LORD as Yahweh - Elyon which means the Most High. Then we have El Shaddai - Almighty God. Then of course Elohim - the Sublime God but in this Psalm we see Shadday - Almighty power which refers to the all sufficiant God, eternally capable of being all that His people need.

Shadday gives us protection, comfort and care, so that we are able to abide under the shadow of the Almighty. But in order to do this, we need to be close to Him - to have intimacy with Him.

This Psalm tells us that we need to 'dwell,' with Him - in the secret place. Dwell means to live, remain, abide and reside with. As we do this with God, we get to know Him better, we have a deeper relationship and this leads us to intimacy as we make Him the most important part of our life. When we reach this stage, we are dwelling in the secret place and this is where He will take care of us.

Psalm 27:5 says: 'For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion, in the secret place of His tabernacle. He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.' Again in Psalm 31:20: 'You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence.' God is our refuge and fortress.

In the light of what is happening in the world today with the Coronavirus, this knowledge is most encouraging:

"Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High your dwelling place. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling." Psalm 91:9-10. NKJV

As believers who are dwelling in the secret place with Shadday, we will be protected. God will take care of us. There is no need to panic. The Coronavirus is a plague but God's Word tells us that no plague shall come near our dwelling. But for the unbelievers, they need to be told and there has never been a more ideal time than now. Tell your friends, neighbours and of course your family. They need Jesus right now for their safety and protection. There's no panic if you put God in charge!

Seek that intimacy with Your Father. Jeremiah 29:13 says, 'And you will seek me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." This is when you get serious. To abide under the shadow of someone, we must walk very close to them. Do you get the picture? As we walk and live intimately with God, we will know the greatness of His protection. God will become a mighty refuge and fortress to each believer.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

Sunday, 15 March 2020

The dream is not over

"But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house."
Genesis 40:14. NKJV

After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he spent a total of 13 years in Potiphar's house and in prison, before he was released and made the Prime Minister of Egypt by Pharaoh. This was a long time hoping and waiting to be set free.

While in prison, Joseph interpreted dreams to two other prisoners - the Chief Baker and the Chief Butler. To the baker, the dream interpreted that Pharaoh would hang him. To the butler he would be restored to his place in Pharaoh's house. When they were released, this is what happened. Just prior to their release, Joseph asked the Chief Butler to remember him to Pharaoh, so he too, could be released. However, he forgot and didn't remember him again for two years. It could be said that Joseph was trying to do God's work for Him by trusting in this man to help him be free. After all, the scriptures tells us, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his strength." (Jeremiah 17:5). However, God does also expects us to push a few doors for ourselves instead of just waiting and doing nothing. And this is what Joseph did.

It was a full two years before Joseph heard more about this. Pharaoh had had a dream that troubled him and none of his magicians could interpret it. Suddenly, the Chief Butler remembered Joseph and that day, after successfully interpreting the dream, he was promoted to Prime Minister - second in charge of Egypt.

At times, the dreams within our own hearts burn within us but we get little opportunity to release them by putting them into action. We have to wait and hope that 'today may be the day.' This is where you may be at this time. God may have planted something within you and you have waited, perhaps, many years and it still has not come to fruition. Don't lose heart. Just remember how Joseph's life changed overnight. God can do the same for you in the twinkling of an eye.

The Christian singer and writer Mal Pope, wrote a song a few years ago and I would like to share with you some relevant words from it:

'The dream is not over, it lives in my heart

And for this Holy calling, You've set me apart

There's an unfinished symphony, waiting to start,

The dream is still strong and alive.'

The dream is not over, Copyright Mal Pope

Your dream is still strong and alive. It may not have happened yet, but don't give up. At the right time, God will bring it into play and that could be today. You never know when. Joseph could not have imagined in his wildest of dreams that his life would change so drastically, overnight. But it did. And it will for you too.

There's an unfinished symphony in your heart, that is waiting to come alive. Get ready; get excited; get enthused and energised. It is coming!

The dream is not over!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

Saturday, 14 March 2020

Condemnation

"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death." Romans 8:1-2. NLT

At times when we have fallen into some type of sin, we feel awful. We feel this way because we feel that we have let Jesus down, and no matter what anyone says to us, we find it hard to accept we are forgiven when we have confessed this to God.

When we have confessed our sin to God and yet, still feel guilty, two things are happening. Firstly, the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 7:10 that:

"For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation. We will never regret that kind of sorrow. But sorrow without repentance is the kind that results in death." NLT

There are times when the sin we have committed affects us so badly that no matter how many times we ask God to forgive us, we still feel guilty. This is Godly sorrow that has led us to repent and in one way this is good, but we need to back this up with scriptures such as:

"But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." 1 John 1:9 NLT

Secondly, we need to be aware that the devil can have a heyday with us and make us feel terrible when we have let God down - when we have fell to the same old sin that trips us up constantly. Take heed, this is condemnation. The devil is judging you and attempting to load on to you, lies from the pit. He is not your friend and will try to separate you from Jesus at every opportunity. Don't let him.

The Vines Expository Bible says of condemnation in Romans 8:1:

'Even if we feel condemnation, we can never be condemned, because God has already set us free. We live under His protection.'

David Guzik adds to this:

Since God the Father does not condemn Jesus, neither can the Father condemn those who are in Jesus. They are not condemned, they will not be condemned and they cannot be condemned.'
Enduring Word - David Guzik

And there we have it. You may have let God down but if you have asked Him to forgive you, then you are forgiven. Jesus has set you free and determined that you will never, ever be condemned for anything that you have done wrong.

So lighten up, receive His forgiveness and get on with you day!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

Friday, 13 March 2020

You stand on Holy Ground

"And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed." Exodus 3:2. NKJV

It is not unusual for a bush to catch fire within a desert. It happens very often because of the intense heat and the dryness of the bush. What is unusual, and what caught Moses' eye, was the fact that the bush continued to burn without stopping. It was on fire - a raging fire. Another extremely unusual thing that Moses discovered was that this bush spoke to him and Moses spoke to it. The bush told him that the ground on which he was standing, was Holy Ground and he should take his sandals off. Perhaps if that was to happen to us, we may be questioning our sanity. However, Moses took it all in his stride. He had lots of time on his hands alone with his flock, so perhaps he was very much in tune with God. Let us look at this more closely.

Firstly, what Moses witnessed here was a Theophany. This is an appearance of God or a god - to a human being. In other words, a divine manifestation. The word Theo indicates God. The Angel of the LORD had appeared to Moses within the bush and began speaking to him. That in itself is an amazing thing to happen, but the burning bush was even more amazing. It demonstrated that God can become a burning fire that never goes out. A fire that we as Christians long to have within us - the Fire of God. Isn't this what you want to happen to you? To have the Fire of God - the everlasting Fire of God burning away within you? Well Moses came face to face with this fire and so can you.

Secondly, the Fire of God - the Angel of the LORD, told Moses to take his sandals off because he was standing on Holy Ground. Wherever God is, we are on Holy Ground and we and others that we meet will be affected by this. This may give the answer why we meet with so much hostility at times. Non-believers don't know what the feeling is, but satan does and he causes people to react badly towards it.

This opens further thoughts. Sickness has no right to stand on the Holy Ground that we are standing on. It does not belong there. We, as the People of God, are a Holy Priesthood - kings and priests unto God, so we are standing on Holy Ground. Sickness can not be allowed to approach us in any form. Philippians 2:9-11 says:

"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in Heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

Sickness has a name! Cancer has a name! Diabetes has a name! Heart disease has a name! Parkinson's disease has a name! MND has a name! And the Coronavirus has a name! Why are we so fearful? They are names and they have to bow to Jesus Christ Our Saviour. Why? Because we belong to Him and we are living on Holy Ground and the Coronavirus and all the other sicknesses have no right - absolutely no right, to try to stand on this land. How dare the sickness try to invade our lives.

Make a decision today that if you belong to Jesus, you are filled with the Fire of God, that you stand on Holy Ground and no sickness, not even a headache has the right to attack you. This is not a game. We either believe it or we don't. Yes there are things we cannot explain, but we are still standing on Holy Ground
It is a name and Jesus' Name is greater. So cast that sickness out in the Mighty Name of Jesus.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

Thursday, 12 March 2020

Grab hold of some patience

"(2) My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, (3) knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. (4) But let patience have its perfect work , that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
James 1:2-4. NKJV

For most people, patience is very hard to live with. We tend to want answers - now! We tend to want to get on with what we need to get on with, so, why the waiting? Mostly, because when we rush in with both guns blazing we are prone to get it wrong.

When things test our patience, such as the washing machine breaking down, fence panels blown over in the wind and it's our neighbour's responsibly, not ours, but they don't seem to be doing anything about it, and then traffic jams making you late for appointments, things tend to get a tad tedious and we find it very difficult to cope with, let alone find it joyful.

But the thing is, troubles come our way in order to transform us - to help build our character. The ultimate purpose of trouble in our life is to perfect us. It is God's desire that we get into a position where we are complete and lacking nothing.

God allows us to go through certain trials in order to train us to have character. If you have a short fuse with practically no patience at all then you can expect many trials to come your way. However, with the trials, God gives us the ability to be able to withstand these but it takes time to perfect. If you blow your top at the first obstacle that comes your way, then this is for you. If you handle things a little bit better than this, then this is also for you.

The Ancient Greek word described here, for patience is hupomone. It does not describe a passive waiting such as sitting in a busy doctor's surgery waiting for your turn to go in. It describes an active endurance. It is the determination that helps you finish a marathon. It describes someone who doesn't give up but carries on to the very end. It describes aggressive determination.

If we begin a project, we would normally plan it out to the best of our ability, noting the things we need to complete the project and the possible problems that it may hold for us. As we get into the project, we may find obstacles that try to prevent us from completing, that test our patience. However, because we have planned properly and have the determination, together with a sense of humour, it is finally completed.
It is the same with our daily life with God. We will come against many problems and trials in our daily walk with Jesus, but the ability to have a sense of humour - that joy that comes from God, and also an ability to be able to laugh at ourselves if things go a little pear-shaped, we will find that we can accomplish each and every thing that we meet.

If you struggle with impatience, try and allow your sheer determination to carry you through by praising God, playing some praise music, and generally being happy. Does this sound impossible? It isn't but it takes practice rather like running a marathon.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

Wednesday, 11 March 2020

More on Fear

"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. NKJV

Fear is a major problem in the world today. People are fearful about their lack of money, ill-health and a host of other things as well. Now, because of the Coronavirus, fear has escalated and people are panic buying in order to ensure that they have enough supplies should this virus completely take over their lives.
Believers are no different, their whole Christian walk can be marred by their fear about what may happen in their lives and the many, 'What if's, that plague the whole of their day. This shouldn't be. God tells us not to fear; in fact, His word today says, He has not given us a spirit of fear. Believers should be declaring, 'There is no fear here.'

Let's look at three areas of fear:

PERFECTIONISM
Certain people have an in-built need to be perfect in all that they do. In a way, this is a good quality. However, not if it takes over their lives and they begin striving to be better than anyone else. Many psychologists believe that the root of perfectionism is fear. Perfectionists dread not being able to meet the high standards that they have set themselves and if they can't reach it, they worry that someone else will succeed where they couldn't. Some goals are impossible to reach, and let's be honest, what has it achieved if a person has a heart attack or breakdown as they attempt to achieve their goal? It is excellent to provide the very best, but not at the cost of our health.
ANXIETY AND PANIC
When a crisis hits us, some people feel the necessity to panic and get things out of complete control. Take for instance the Coronavirus. Many are panic buying because of their fear. Shelves are empty in stores because of this and this leads others to panic because they may not have enough food or medical supplies themselves. This whole virus has created a fear within certain people and they have been thrown into chaos.
In other areas, people become anxious over many things. Again the, 'What if's' kick in and people dash off with an agenda of panic. To be blatantly honest, there is only one place that fear comes from, and that is satan. He is the author of fear and if he can get you to be afraid, he knows that he has a hold on you. Cast that spirit of fear out now, in Jesus' Name. It has no part on a man, woman or child of God. You have the Almighty God - El Shaddai within you. The victory that has set you free. 1 John 5:4.
The word victory here, comes from the Greek Nee-kay from which the sports company formed their company Nike. The Greek reference number in Strongs is 3529. So become a Nike person not someone who is controlled by fear.
HYPOCHONDRIA
This is often characterised by fears that minor bodily or mental symptoms may indicate a serious illness. It is demonstrated in constant self-examination, self-diagnosis and a preoccupation with one's body.
Hypochondriacs become their own symptoms. Many of these symptoms they feel are often physical sensations caused by anxiety or depression that can go along with Hypochondria. The constant worrying can release harmful stress hormone's that can do real physical damage.

Is it really worth having fear? You may say, 'Well, I can't help it.' Well, yes you can! It is down to you, a Spirit-filled believer of Jesus Christ. Fear will always try to come upon you but you - child of God, have the power to squash this right now.
Has Nike says, 'JUST DO IT!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

Tuesday, 17 March 2020

God's answer to the Coronavirus - 'I will be with him in trouble'

Monday, 16 March 2020

It's time to get serious with God

Sunday, 15 March 2020

The dream is not over

Saturday, 14 March 2020

Condemnation

Friday, 13 March 2020

You stand on Holy Ground

Thursday, 12 March 2020

Grab hold of some patience

Wednesday, 11 March 2020

More on Fear

Meditate on these things

Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

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