Tuesday, 12 May 2020

You are an Epistle of Christ

"(2) You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; (3) clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart."
                                                                                               2 Corinthians 3:2-3  NKJV

 In the early church, letters of recommendation were often sent with Christians clarifying their position of ministers of God. Otherwise, anyone could turn up claiming to be a prophet, apostle or whatever. These letters, although probably not foolproof, helped to certify that they were who they claimed to be and with the rightful qualifications. In today's world, a certificate of ordination helps to clarify a person's credibility as a minister but not that they are born again or baptised in the Holy Spirit.

 Dwight L Moody said:
'Where one man reads the bible, a hundred read you and I.'

The recommendation that Paul is speaking about here, was not written in ink. It was written by The Holy Spirit and Jesus was the author. As Dwight L Moody said, many men may read and study the bible; they may know it off by heart and be able to quote every scripture they need. But that is only head knowledge if there is no fruit from their labours. As we've seen in our earlier commentaries, people are not all that impressed with what you know, it is what they see - in you and I. 
Dwight L Moody went on to say:

'I wouldn't give much for what can be accomplished though sermons, if we don't preach Christ by our lives.'

Again we come to, what do people see in you? Do they see Jesus or the knowledge that you may have? If you have both, that is fine. But if it is just knowledge they see, then some tweaking needs to be done before anything of spiritual value will come.
You can preach a great sermon and have no fruit from it at all. If that happens, you need to be ready to analyse yourself, seek God and find out what is missing. You may speak to many people about Jesus but, if nothing happens, are you doing this in your own strength or through the power of God?
Look at our scripture again and focus on, 'written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.'
We can have stony hearts, made brittle by life events - things that have wounded us over the years. These can prevent us from flowing in the Holy Spirit. If this is the case with you, lay it all before God and let Him deal with it all - heart surgery. Once that is out of the way, just allow the Spirit of God to lead you and speak through you in all ways so that you become an epistle of Christ with God's recommendation of your credibility, written on your heart.

'Lord Jesus, Come and live in my heart in such a way, that I am a living testimony of Yourself, to all I meet and speak with today. In Jesus' Name. Amen.











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Monday, 11 May 2020

Love and Compassion

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion."                                                  Luke 10:33 of 10:30-37 NKJV

 The road to Jericho, at the time of Jesus, could be quite a dangerous place to walk along, on your own. Thieves often attacked and killed people, robbing them of all they had. Here, a young Jewish man was walking along the road from Jerusalem and suffered this fate. He was severely beaten, possibly stabbed, and he was left for dead having his goods and clothes taken from him.

 A priest came along, took one look at him and walked by on the other side of the road. He was followed by a Levite, probably an assistant priest or worshipper from the tribe of Levi. He looked but chose to do the same, walk by. Before we are tempted to judge these people, let's stop and think of the times that we may have done this. Maybe there was a homeless drunk laying on the pavement, ranting and raving and we've given this person a wide berth. Maybe there was a beggar on the street and we have done the same. In a way, there really is no difference.

 Next came a Samaritan and love in action took place. Now Samaritan's were the scum of the earth as far as a Jew was concerned. Very rarely would they associate with one another. And yet, this man, jumped down from his donkey and checked the wounded man over. He exercised love, pouring oil on his wounds and very carefully binding these. He must have used some of his only clothing, ripping them to form bandages as he probably would not have had a first aid kit with him.
He put the man on his own animal and led him to an inn where he made financial provision for the young chap to be taken care of and fed, before his return.

 We can lecture and preach to people until they are bored out of their brain and walk away. But when we become the bible to them; when we are living it and show them Jesus, they will respond. There are a lot of hurting people in our world today, especially now with the Coronavirus killing people. They need compassion; they need love, they need to see this in action at this time. They may not go to a church because they may be blaming God for all of their pain. But having us just showing them compassion, listening and helping them when we can, can be a lifeline to them.

 We are told by the Coronavirus experts, that life will probably never be the same, as far as we know it. But Jesus will. He never changes, 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.' (Hebrews 13:8). He will be with us forever and His love and compassion will never end. 

 The old song says it all: 'What the world needs now, is love, sweet love; it's the only thing that there's just too little of.' is so true and so much needed. As Christians, can we agree that we will begin to show more of Jesus' love and compassion to people on a daily basis. The world needs it!

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
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Do what you can

"She has done what she could."                                         Mark 14:8.  NKJV

 Nothing we do for God is ever wasted. Whether it's a massive thing we do, or something that is done in the blink of an eye, it is relevant and useful to Him. In fact, He sees no difference. It can be a major thing that gets a lot of recognition in the world. On the other hand, it can be something that people do not notice. You can be. cleaner in a church or the pastor. To God, you are both doing an equally, worthy job.
We may not be able to do a great thing for God, but if each of us will do something, however small, much will be accomplished for Him and He will appreciate our efforts.

 Zechariah 4:10 says, 'For who has despised the day of small things.'

 People may look at what you have done and consider that it is very insignificant. Take for instance the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with very expensive oil of spikenard. There was an uproar because the onlookers started saying that the perfume could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. (Mark 14:3-9). However, Jesus said: 

 'Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. (7) For you have the poor with you always and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. (8) She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial.'     Mark 14:6-8

 To the onlookers, this act was wrong. To Jesus, it was received as her act of love towards Him and He was not going to let her be overlooked. 'She has done what she could'.

 In Luke 21:1-4, Jesus is looking at the people putting their gifts into the treasury. Many are giving out of their vast wealth; but a poor widow comes along and puts in two mites, which was worth about an old penny in British money. This was not a lot but it was all the widow had. She gave everything. A small amount to many of the rich gentry, but a fortune in Jesus' eyes. She had done what she could and that was everything.

 We should never despise the small tasks that people do, and we should consider ourselves worthy whether we clean toilets or preach the gospel. All is important to Jesus.

 You may be struggling with the fact that the things you do for God are so small in comparison to others. Be encouraged, for the things you do are all recorded in Heaven and you will be rewarded for your hard and valued work. 'Yes but..' Yes but nothing, as long as you do what you can, God is blessed and when He is blessed, you in return will be blessed as well.

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
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Sunday, 10 May 2020

'I don't know what to do, Lord'

"O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."
                                                                                               2 Chronicles 20:12 of 2 Chronicles 20 NKJV

 Jehoshaphat was faced with a great problem, a multitude of armies were coming against them to attack Israel - Moabites, Ammonites and Meuntites and he became afraid. But rather than cower in fear, he declared a fast and called the nation to seek the Lord.

 The people came from far to seek God. This may have been from a necessity to repent and ask for God's favour and forgiveness, as well as ask for wisdom and power to face this incredible problem that was imminent. When our hearts are right before the Lord, He reveals His will and brings protection. When our hearts are not right, it's possible that He will allow things to happen to us in order to get our attention. This all helps to keep our focus on Him and Him only; not on the battle that we face. He is able to take care of that. It is more important that we make sure our walk is right with Him. When we do this, the rest will follow. This all comes from prayer and possible fasting. God doesn't want us to deliberately starve ourselves. Fasting is a way that we can show Him that we mean business and we are willing to make sacrifices in this way. This helps us to win.

 Jehoshaphat reminded God that they were in the place that He had provided to their descendants, the people who were attacking them, God had prevented their descendants from attacking and they were now showing their thankfulness by trying to kill them and take their land. At that time, their descendants, had stood in the place and declared that if disaster should ever come upon them, they would cry out to God and He would hear their prayer and save them (verse 9)

 Reminding God of His promises is never rude, pompous or out of line. We have a relationship with Him - a covenant, and He holds that dearly and so should we. Through Jesus, we have a wonderful relationship with God, and He wants us to trust and rely on Him. Jehoshaphat said, 'Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.' (Paraphrase) It was almost like he was saying, 'Lord we don't know what to do, but You do and we're counting on You.' Nothing wrong with that, because we are displaying our trust and friendship with Him. 

 Our whole relationship with Jesus would be greatly improved, if we could say, Jesus, our eyes are upon You.' Just think about that. Whatever problem came our way, if we were only to say to Him, 'Jesus, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon You, because You know the way forward, because You are the way. We are counting on You and You only.'

 There would be no mountain too big for us to conquer. Try it.

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

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Saturday, 9 May 2020

Never stop talking about Jesus

"18 So they called them and commanded them, not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."  
                                                                                                  Acts 4:18-20.  NKJV

 Some people do not want to hear us speak about Jesus. These may even be members of our own family. Even Jesus had family members and people in the neighbourhood, who didn't believe in Him or want Him around. (Mark 6:1-5). If He was an embarrassment, you can bet that you will be too.
You may have noticed that people give you a wide berth when they know the you are 'religious'. They may be polite but you may not be on their Christmas card list.

 People all over the world suffer because of their faith. Some are imprisoned, beaten, raped or even killed, because they will not give up on Jesus. A few years ago, I watched a film which was produced by Open Doors. It was set in China and showed the brutality that Christians had to suffer for their faith. I will always remember, one chap in the film, who was threatened with his life, saying, 'You can hack us Christians down, but like the bamboo, we will only grow back taller and stronger.' He was then shot dead. This statement has stayed with me ever since. He and his family, would not give up speaking about and believing in their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

 When I was a social worker, I was actually warned by superiors, not to mention Jesus to anyone, even if they brought up the subject. My job would be on the line if I did. As I was working with dying people and they needed comfort, I decided that I was not going to abide by these threats, and I continued in this job until I retired 8 years later.
The devil will do anything he can to prevent Jesus being mentioned to people who are in need.

 And this was where Peter and John were. They were threatened but they determined that nothing was important enough to prevent them fulfilling the commission Jesus gave them to, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.' Mark 16:15.

 Charles F Stanley comments on this:

 'We should always respect authority, even when it appears wrong. But if some authority tells us to defy God and His commands, we are to disobey that authority. For Jesus' sake, we accept the consequences of our allegiance to Him, knowing that He will reward us in the life to come.

 Never stop talking about Jesus!

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard








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Friday, 8 May 2020

Weakness

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness"
                                                                                           2 Corinthians 12:9.  NKJV

 God sent one solitary man to bring the children of Israel out of bondage. He didn't send an army. He sent one man to deliver mankind from eternal darkness - Jesus. It was an impossible task for Moses, this is why he wriggled to try and get out of it. It must have seemed an impossible task to save mankind from distinction; but Jesus knew that He could do it, because His Father had told Him so.

Sometimes, we face the most awful of challenges, something so enormous that it doesn't appear achievable. Yet, when we are in a helpless situation, one in which there is no way out, as we call on Jesus, He takes delight in helping us.

 Joel 3:10 says, 'Let the weak say I am strong,' because this is what happens when we call on the Lord. In our weakness, His grace is all we need. He provides a way through the situation and it can leave you amazed at the outcome. 

 Charles F Stanley says:-

 'Whatever brings you to your knees in weakness, carries the greatest potential for your personal success and victory.'

 Just think about this statement for a moment; when we are willing to say to Jesus, 'I can't do this, I really need Your help,' then this is the time that He sees our weakness, knows we have acknowledged it as such and is blessed that we are relying on His strength to help us through.

 Proverbs 16:3 says, 'Commit your works to the LORD and your thoughts will be established.' In other words, as you give it to God, you will be successful. The word, 'Commit,' here is a Hebrew word meaning 'roll'. The idea being, we roll our burdens over to God. It is a picture of a ladened camel, who on reaching its destination, kneels down and rolls the load off its back. 

 In the world, to be weak is a stigma especially to certain men. However, to paraphrase  the Apostle Paul's words, 'I don't mind being weak, because when I am this way, then in Jesus, I am strong. And so are you!

 Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard


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Thursday, 7 May 2020

Never stop praising God

"I will bless the LORD at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
                                                                                                       Psalm 34:1.  NKJV

 Picture the scenario:
You don't hear the alarm and sleep through until 8.30am - you're supposed to be at work at this time, but work is 30 minutes away. Is this a time to bless and praise God? This scripture tells me it is - 'at all times.'
After a quick shower, hurried dressing and hasty goodbyes to your family, who are also late; you dash out into the bitter cold. Your car is iced up and you have no de-icer; also the inside of the car is also misty. You turn on the ignition and nothing happens, except for a slow whurring sound - flat battery. AAARGH!
By now it's 9am and you're on you mobile to a garage who tell you that it will be an hour before they can get to you - at least. Is this a time to bless and praise God? 
'Yes, but things happen,' you say, 'the devil's doing this, he's after ruining my day.' That may be so, but you can't blame the devil for everything that goes wrong. Wouldn't praise be a better thing to do? 'You must be joking,' you scream back, 'how can you praise God when all of this is happening?' Quite easily. Just open your mouth and do it. Watch this from Psalm 34:-
'I sought the LORD and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.' v4

'This poor man cried out and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles'  v6

And what about Paul and Silas in Acts 16? They had been falsely imprisoned, beaten with rods and then thrown into a rat-infested, smelly old prison and clamped into stocks. Did they moan about it? No, they praised God and there was an earthquake, setting all of the prisoners free.
Come on, how can you not bless and praise God. At this particular time, you're probably thinking that I'm crazy, but I'm not. I'm quoting God's Word to you. Whether you take notice of it is up to you; but it's wise to do so.
'Why do things go wrong like this?' you may ask. It's life. Things happen and we need to rise above it. God does test us to see how we're getting on. At times such as this, what does he see in you? Do you pass the test? We all fall short at times but it is what we learn from the experiences that matter. It helps to play the video back in your mind and identify where it went wrong for you. Ask yourself what you could have done differently and then determine that you won't do this next time.
The real secret is learning to bless and praise God, AT ALL TIMES!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard






                                                                             
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