Sunday 3 May 2020

Discouragement

"(4) But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, 'It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."
                                                                                   Read 1 Kings 19:1-18.  NKJV

 When we consider the work that Elijah had done, it is difficult to see him in this state. He had prayed for a drought, he had humiliated Jezebel's prophets and then put them to death, he had then prayed that the drought would end and it had, and yet, he had run away from Jezebel because of her threats to kill him. Now he is hiding away praying that he might die.

 No one is exempt discouragement and depression. It can happen to the strongest of us. People can do the most amazing of things, really thriving in their particular world, and then, the next minute they can be in a heap. This may be where you are at this time.
Disappointments are inevitable. They are part of life and happen to us all. But discouragement is a choice. Our physical and mental condition can get on top of us. We become tired and worn out; trodden on and beaten up, taken for granted and passed over. The problem is, the discouragement we feel can lead us into a dark void of depression where we begin to feel useless and unwanted. After a time, we may begin to feel sorry for ourselves, having negative conversations in our minds where we blame others for the position that we're in. If left, this condition may worsen and we need medication to help lift us out of this despair. We don't want to eat and find it difficult to sleep properly - waking up at all hours with the endless pressures on our mind. This is why the angel of the Lord came to Elijah with food and drink. He needed to strengthen himself so that he could think more clearly.

 Charles F Stanley, uses a great acronym to describe this condition. He calls it
H.A.L.T = Hungry, angry, lonely and tired. He says of this:

 'Be very careful, because you are especially vulnerable to sin and disheartenment. Before giving up or taking a rash course of action, stop and seek God. He will refresh you and give you the strength to continue.'

 God said to Elijah, 'What are you doing here?' (V13). He was in the wrong place. Elijah had allowed himself to be discouraged and then depressed. He had succumbed to the stress of everything and he had run away. Does that sound familiar? The man who only a short while ago had done great things was now hiding, in a cave.

 Psalm 42:5 is a great scripture to help in times of need. It says, 'Why are you downcast, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, for the help of His countenance." In other words, seek God and speak words of encouragement to yourself. We can become used to living with discouragement - pity parties come to mind. But it is our choice to remain in this state of mind and only we can make that choice. 

 Joshua 1:9 says, 'Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.'
This is an awesome promise, so take courage, He is right beside you, fighting for you and there is absolutely no need to be afraid.

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard







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Saturday 2 May 2020

Yes, you can do this!

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."
                                                                                                John 14:12.  NKJV

 You may say, 'Jesus wasn't talking to me though. He was talking to these others - the ones that always seem to get it right. He couldn't have meant me.' 
Well, I'm sorry to disagree with you, but He did mean you, so stop trying to hide away feeling that you're a nobody. Jesus takes a nobody and turns them into a somebody; and again, I say, that's you.

 When you consider this verse and what Jesus is actually saying, it is mind-blowing. Was He really saying that we would greater works than He did? Yes, He was. However, we need to expound this further.
Jesus didn't mean that our works would out-shine Him; that we would do greater miracles than He ever did. No, not at all. What He was saying was, His ministry had lasted three years or so and He had accomplished much. However, He was now going to the Father and leaving the disciples - and us - to carry on the work and spread it all over the world. He was leaving behind a victorious body of spirit-filled people who would further His Kingdom more than He ever could have done in such a short time. 

 This may have seemed an impossible task, until Peter's first sermon. He converted more people in one speech than Jesus had in His entire ministry.
'Yes, but I could never do that,' you say, 'Peter may have done, but I'm not good enough for that. I am so inadequate; I let Him down all the time.'
You may let Him down daily, but He still believes in you. He still believes you can do what He is asking you. Your inadequacy is down to the way you see yourself. That can be changed.

 Charles F Stanley comments on this:

 'The problem isn't your inadequacy or that you are imperfect. It is that you have allowed your feelings to overshadow the truth of God's Word. The Lord is able to use you to show His love to others.'

 The thing is, God has called you to do a particular thing. You know it, I know it, God knows it and probably the dog knows it too - if you have one. So get on and do it!
Jesus didn't lie, did He? Of course He didn't. Therefore, He says, 'If you believe in Me, then greater things will you do than I did.' (My paraphrase.)

 Don't bury your talent! (Matthew 25:18). God's given you something to do and His Word to you today is, 'Go and do it.'

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard













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Friday 1 May 2020

What's love got to do with it? Part 2

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. (2) And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. (4) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ((5) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (6) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (7) bears all things , believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (8) Love never fails."  
                                                                                      1 Corinthians 13:1-8.  NKJV

 Verse 5 tells us that, 'Love is not provoked.' When we're not in control, it is easy to be provoked by someone or something. It's far better to walk away without rising to the bait. It's not easy to do at times, but if we can, it shows a great deal of maturity if we do. Even in Christian groups it is easy to be provoked. Someone may not agree with your interpretation of a scripture and may even challenge it in a strong or possibly rude way. How we respond to this will determine the outcome and display the measure of love we possess.

 What we watch on TV or our choice of film, also determines where we stand. There is a lot of temptation in TV dramas and films these days and if we're not careful what we watch, we can easily become corrupted by it all. Remember Eve? As she continued to look at the fruit, she became mesmerised and was finally hooked and the result was disastrous. (Genesis 3).

 A deep study of 1 Corinthians 13 will help us to adjust to the way the Apostle Paul was teaching. Love - God's love = Agape, is really unconditional love. It bears all things. In other words, it puts up with a lot of stuff that it thrown against us and rises above it. It believes all things and always thinks the best of people, until proven wrong. Sometimes, gossip goes around and it appears so convincing. It can really taint the character of a brother or sister and the sad part of it all is, it is probably not true. Someone has heard something and it has been passed around and received as the truth. We need to guard against such things.

 Love also hopes all things - it is full of faith; it knows that whatever happens, God will never let us down because He is love. 1 John 4:16 tells us that, 'God is Love'. Therefore, God is Love - Love is God and our hope is in Him. So the love that the Apostle Paul is telling us, is about God himself - Love.

 And in closing - catch this - 'Love never fails,' or we can say, 'God never fails.' He never has and He never will. Oh, to be like Him!

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard







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Thursday 30 April 2020

What's love got to do with it? Part 1

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. (2) And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. (4) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ((5) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (6) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (7) bears all things , believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (8) Love never fails."  
                                                                                      1 Corinthians 13:1-8.  NKJV

 Shortly after Jesus had predicted His death, a dispute arose between the disciples about who would be the greatest. They appeared to believe that Jesus had favourites and that one of them would be the leader when He had died. They were so wrong. (Luke 9:46).

 When someone outshines us, it can cause us envy and jealousy. This can lead to rivalry. We have to keep our hearts in check. Love must be uppermost amongst us. Without love, whatever we say, do or preach is like a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. It becomes like an empty corridor, where it is a noisy echo that serves no purpose except to point to hypocrisy. (v1)

 A person can have the most amazing faith - faith that can move mountains (v2). However, this act is totally empty without love. All it does, is point to the person's self esteem and ambition. We can give food and clothing to the poor (v3) and we can also give generously to all of the charities, but if it is not from a heart of love, that clanging cymbal starts up again. It just profits nothing.

 Dwight L Moody wrote:
'If we love a person, we won't be pointing out his failures all the time'

And it is so true. We can so easily become engulfed in dragging someone down because we don't agree with how they do things. Love is never rude. (5). Never! It never puts itself first. It doesn't parade itself by shouting, 'Hey, look at me. Wasn't that an amazing sermon that I just preached.' Love never becomes puffed up.

Dare to ask yourself this question:
'Are my motives designed to reflect the love of God or to look good myself?'
Selfish ambition will never work in the Kingdom of God. It is the loudest of clanging cymbals. 

 We'll look a little deeper into 'Love', tomorrow.





















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Wednesday 29 April 2020

Stop finding fault and shine

"Do all things without complaining and disputing, (15) that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world."
                                                                                                   Philippians 2:14-15   NKJV

 We're called to shine in the darkness of this world. To light up the dark pathways that many people stumble upon. The thing is, we'll never shine this way if we can't accept new things or new ways. Let me explain:

 We can be creatures of habit and find it difficult if anyone changes the norm - the things that we've always been used to. Change can be hard to handle, especially if it affects the way that we have always done things. We tend to become offended when someone comes along and does something alien to our way of doing something. 

 DL Moody says:

 'Let's not fall into the trap of finding fault because things aren't done exactly like they've been done in the past, or like we think they ought to be done.'

 I know of a pastor, who -  when he was appointed as minister of a church with many years of church squabbles -  the first Sunday that he preached, stood up and said, 'Right, I would like all of the elders and deacons to stand down as of this moment. I then intend to - ' He then went on with a list of all the changes he was going to implement. He ended this unusual speech with, 'Everyone who doesn't agree with these changes, would you please leave the church right now.' About 70% of the congregation left. To the remaining 30% he said, 'Right, we can now re-build our church.' And he did and it thrived from thereon.

 Not everyone likes change but it is to our advantage at times. The problem is, if we begin complaining and finding fault in all that is beginning to happen - church or elsewhere - it becomes an uphill battle. From a Christian point of view if we act this way, instead of unbelievers seeing Jesus in us, they will see what they can see anywhere else in the world. Instead of being beacons of light in a dark world - a world that points to Jesus, we will show them that there is no difference in believers or unbelievers.
Now that's food for thought!

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard












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Tuesday 28 April 2020

How can I change?

"And do not be conformed to this world. but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God"
                                                                                             Romans 12:2.  NKJV

 'How can I change?' You may say. 'I've tried a million times over but I seem to be getting worse- it's a waste of time. I may as well give up.' You may be saying or thinking this and I want to tell you that, it's a very common statement. We have all said it from time to time.
The Christian life is not easy, not if you take it seriously - which God expects. Check this out if you will: - You have a good day and feel close to God and you decide that, 'this is the way I'm going to live. I'm going to live for God from this day on.' 

 The next day, a certain thing happens and, 'POW', your statement from yesterday goes out of the window and you feel awful and totally ashamed of yourself because of your behaviour. What has happened? You've discovered that you're normal and beating yourself up is not going to change things. It takes much more than that. You have to go deeper!

 To go deeper, you need a closer walk with Jesus. God could change you in a second, but He expects you to do your bit first. He will then meet you halfway and help you to transform.
It begins with your thinking. What you think about you're more likely to speak. You've internalised it. Therefore, fill your day reading God's Word, then you're more likely to think and speak His way. 

 Our minds become renewed as we enter into the study of His Word and our hearts begin to change towards submission. In fact, the more we read the bible, study and expound it, and then put it into action, the more we want to do this. Try it, because learning about Jesus is infectious.

 You'll still make mistakes. There will still be days when you mess up completely, but they will begin to be less frequent. You will also learn quickly when things are not going well and you're about to be attacked by the devil. That's good, because it'll mean that you can deal with it before the flak takes over.

 So, if you feel that you have messed up recently, ask God to forgive you and accept that He has done (1 John 1:9). Then move on with Jesus.

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard











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Monday 27 April 2020

He's always there for me.

"In my distress, I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple and my cry came before Him, even to His ears."
                                                                                             Psalm 18:6.  NKJV

 David sang this song - Psalm 18 - on the day the LORD delivered him from all of his enemies, especially King Saul, who had acted terribly towards him.
In the Psalm, David laments how good the LORD has been to him, even as the closeness of death was on him, God intervened and rescued him.
It was a testimony and years later, when David was in old age, he would sing the same song, as he reflected on His life and how God had been so good to him. (2 Samuel 22).
We often give a testimony too, of how God has rescued us. It is important to do this. Firstly, it shows other people the awesome love and power of God, and secondly, it makes us feel good to talk about God, especially if someone gets saved as they listen to our words.
Verse 6 - our text today - confirms that as we call on God, He hears us, our cry reaches His throne and He actions this request: 'He bowed the heavens also and came down.' (Psalm 18:9). 
When it is a distress call from us, an urgent need of help, He can be relied upon to help us immediately. Psalm 91:11-12, appears to inform us, that we have at least two angels assigned to us and as we call to God, we can ask Him to send these angels to protect and helps us. They are our ministering angels, but note that it is God who gives them charge over our life and situation, not us. We cannot order them to do our bidding, God does that.
He may answer us and help us in other ways, but one thing is for sure, He will answer us and quickly if we're in danger. We probably all have those times that we remember when God divinely released us from certain death or sickness or injury. These are the times when we know for certain that He is there for us, watching our backs.
We all have a personal song of praise that we can sing to God, if we choose to. We don't have to be a brilliant musician or performer to get His attention this way. It's not The X factor, it is God and we all win on this show because He loves to hear the praise that we send His way.
Why not write and sing your own personal song to Him? It may not sound all that good to you, but to God, it will sound like a wonderful classic. Think back on those wonderful times that He rescued you and write Him a song or poem. You'll feel good about it and God will be overjoyed!

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard




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