Strongholds

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
                                                                                           2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NKJV

A stronghold is anything that opposes God's will. It is warfare of the mind, with our thoughts feeding us lies, so convincing, that we believe them. This can cause rebellious conduct within ourselves leading to bad attitudes, pride and arrogant ideas, where our brain and our spirit convince us that we are right and everyone else is wrong.

Segun Aiyebusi, known to everyone as Shegz, is the American/Nigerian Pastor of Grace Church, New Jersey writes:

"HOW DOES THE ENEMY CONSTRUCT A SPIRITUAL STRONGHOLD IN OUR LIVES? It often starts with a wound we experience, a hurt or disappointment that makes our heart fertile ground for seeds of lies to be planted. On this foundation, the enemy then begins to build brick by brick, a wall of lies, inaccurate ideas about the person of God, erroneous interpretations of Scripture, prideful thoughts, and distorted perceptions of how God sees us and feels about us when we sin. For example, someone you trusted, who should have played a father-figure role in your life deeply betrayed your trust and hurt you). As a result, the enemy lied to you that no one could be trusted and you are on your own. You in turn then become fiercely independent, so much so that you have trust issues, which has then resulted in your struggling to trust God’s promises in your life! See how that works? When we buy into these lies and agree with the enemy, thereby conceding control, that area of our life becomes a stronghold, which the enemy vigorously defends and retains control of. Ridding yourself of these strongholds not only requires great intentionality, but also an understanding of its root cause and how it got constructed in the first place, and how God’s word empowers you to break free from it. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."identifyingstronghold  Segun Aiyebusi

So many things can cause a stronghold within us. Here are a few:
UNCONFESSED OR UNREPENTANT SIN
God will not forgive what you won't own up to. The enemy will establish a stronghold of unexposed sin - the sin that you cling on to knowingly or unknowingly.
OCCULT ACTIVITY
If you've dabbled or been exposed to the occult, it's possible that a stronghold may have been established.
LIES THAT YOU HAVE BELIEVED
The enemy will feed us with lies. believing them can cause strongholds.
UNFORGIVENESS
Bitterness towards someone who may have hurt or wronged you
GENERATIONAL
Things that have been passed down from parent to parent, family to family.

Perhaps you may identify with some of the above. If so, lay it all before Jesus. get help from a pastor or trusted friend if need be. Whatever you do, call on God, renounce the past and declare that today, this ends.

Lord, I confess that I have been involved with...........................................
I renounce this now and declare that in Jesus' Name, this ends today. Amen.

This may take a little time, after all it may have been within you for an age, but keep praying and don't give up.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

The Benefits of God Part Four

"(4) Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, (5) who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's"                                                                        Psalm 103:4-5.  NKJV

Jesus, has given us much more than sparing us from our sin, disease and trouble. He has crowned us with His lovingkindness and tender mercy. In fact, He has made us kings and priests to God, His Father:

'To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father.'    Revelation 1:6

What an honour! Did you ever think that you would be a king or a priest? Well, you are in Jesus' eyes. The full meaning of this blessing will be revealed to us when we meet Him in heaven.

God's love is amazing! He satisfies us with good things. Just think for a moment about all the good things you have: life, a home, family, friends, a job or business or perhaps a good pension. These are just a few of the main things. Now think of all the materialistic possessions you have been blessed with: laptops, TV systems, Hi Fi, nice house, clothes, car, and that's just for starters. You may even have to think hard what you would like for your birthday or a Christmas present, when you're asked, because you have so much. He has satisfied you with so many things. All of this makes you feel renewed - happy and blessed and your strength becomes revitalised like the eagle's. 

Incidentally, an eagle is a very large bird and in order to be ables to launch into flight, it waits for the right, gentle breeze. It then mounts up with a slight jump and it heads skyward. And this is how Jesus makes each one of us feel. He gives us the ability, the willpower and the motivation, to face each day with Him.

You may have been through a difficult time just lately, especially with the Coronavirus and Lockdown. It may have drained your health and your wealth. But don't be disheartened. God renews and strengthens those who are weak. He is the one who lifts and revitalises us, empowering us to persevere when everything inside of us is telling us we can't go on. Surrendering our problems to Him, helps us to gain the ability and power to keep going; to never give up.

Take heed, you will once again be successful. This is only a temporary hitch. God's benefits will never cease. He's got your back. So let your soul - your mind, will and emotions, bless and praise His faithful name!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

The Benefits of God Part Three

"(3) Who heals all your diseases, (4) who redeems your life from destruction."

                                                                                              Psalm 103:3-4   NKJV

God heals us both naturally and supernaturally. He can use the surgeon, giving spiritual guidance, direction and skill to save a life; or He may miraculously heal someone - something that happens quite often. Alternatively, He may not heal the person in the way that we would have hoped and prayed for, leaving the question, 'Why?' There can be many reasons why someone doesn't receive their healing. Some have claimed the reason was because of, unconfessed sin or even doubt. We will know the answer one day when we're face to face with Him in Heaven. But, until then, never, ever believe that God doesn't heal today, because He does, so hang on to that.

Consider the many times when you have been close to certain death. This could have been through serious illness, a near fatal accident or possible drowning. There may be many incidents to consider. The thing is, God pulled you through; He redeemed you from destruction; angels were around you doing their job. I remember a few years ago, being washed out to sea during a storm. I was walking along the beach one moment, the next, a monstrous wave swept me off my feet and I was was swept out to very deep water. Time and again, I wrestled with the raging waves but all to no avail, they were just too strong. Suddenly, a hand appeared and a woman pulled me out to safety. An angel? It could have been. What I do know, is what I couldn't do, God could and He redeemed me from destruction. Maybe, you have a similar testimony. It's at times like these, that we know, without doubt, that God is there, watching over us and redeeming us. 

Maybe today, you need a healing touch from Jesus. Or you may need redeeming from a certain loss of job or business owing to the Coronavirus Lockdown. This may have left you in serious financial debt. Don't give up! God knows your need; He knows it is a drastic situation. Sit quietly and pour out your heart to Jesus. Remember the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years and still wasn't well. Think of her as she saw Jesus in the crowd and said to herself, 'If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.'  (Mark 5:28). Reach out your hand in prayer and touch Him by faith, and receive your healing and relief to your situation.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

The Benefits of God Part Two

"Who forgives all your iniquities."                                    Psalm 103:3.  NKJV

Can you remember all the things that are classed as sin, that you have committed in your life? There will be quite a lot, no doubt. You still remember most of them, but God chose not to. When you asked Him to forgive you, He wiped the slate clean and chose not to remember them:

'And you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against you, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.'   Colossians 2:13-14

All the things you had done wrong and qualified as sin, the devil wrote down on a record of wrongs and started spouting off, accusing you of it all. When you asked Jesus to forgive you, He took the record of wrongs and nailed it to the cross and died for your sin.

This is why David could say, 'Who forgives all your iniquities.' Note the small word 'all'. Small word with a massive meaning. All of your sin was forgiven, every bit of it. Now that you are saved, you'll still commit sin, most days. But confessing this to Jesus and asking Him to forgive you will again, wipe it all away. Totally amazing.

So why are you still remembering what you have done wrong? Why do you still feel under condemnation? And why do you feel guilty about something you have confessed to Jesus? It is a ploy by the devil sent to cause you discouragement. The devil wants you feeling ashamed of yourself and not being able to enjoy the abundant life Jesus has given you. (John 10:10). You must believe and remember that once you have asked Jesus to forgive you, He has. There's no need to keep asking Him a dozen times or so. Once is enough.

When we hurt people, many will not forgive us, or they may say that old cliche', 'I'll forgive you but I can't forget'. Jesus is not like that at all. He forgives immediately and there are no repercussions from this. It is forgotten, because He chooses it this way.

Let me leave you with a question, Do you need to forgive someone? Has someone said to you, 'Please forgive me for.......', and you're still burning with anger and upset? Don't you think that if Jesus forgives you when you ask Him to, that you should forgive the person who has wronged you and asked forgiveness?

Give it some thought.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

The Benefits of God Part one

"Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."     

                                                                                                Psalm 103:1-2.  NKJV

God wants every part of us - body, soul and spirit, to grow close to Him and to enter into a joyful relationship with Him. He seeks worshipers who will gladly give everything they have to Him.

Notice the 'all,' in verse 1. This means everything you've got. He has the best benefit system ever and it isn't subject to assessments and investigations whilst your benefit is frozen. His benefits, which are not means-tested, are free, secure and given daily. He has more to offer than the world could ever give,

The 'Bless the Lord,' that David wrote here, relates to the fact that man could never give a blessing to God; but rather David meant this in a sense that it blesses and honours God, when His people, (we) praise and thank Him for all He does for us, and as our soul is made up of our, mind, will and emotions, this is done with our thoughts (mind), our actions (will), and our reactions (emotions). 

We should worship Him with all we have - with our very being. When we worship Him, the actual Greek word for worship is, Proskuneo, Pros meaning come towards, Kuneo kiss the hand and bow or be prostrate:

"The twenty four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship (Proskuneo) Him, who lives forever and ever.'     Revelation 4:10

We should never be so distracted by anything. Jesus deserves all we've got and we should give Him the best - always! Otherwise, we can end up going to church with things on our minds that distract us and rob the moment of worshiping Him.

Think back over your life and remember all of the things that you know, if it hadn't have been for Jesus, you'd have never made it. There is so much that He has done for you, and furthermore, there is so much He wants to do for you in the future.

Think good thoughts; only do what Jesus would do and react the way that he would. It takes practice, that is true, but it's achievable. When you worship Jesus - truly worship Him, shut everything out that could distract you. You have to 'come towards Him,' so that takes action on your part. You also have to 'kiss and bow down,' again an action on your part. You need to discipline yourself to do this. When you do, the benefits are amazing!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

His door is always open

"Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near."
                                                                                           Isaiah 55:6.  NKJV

When I was a social worker, I remember a manager whose motto was, 'My door is always open.' Yet it wasn't; whenever there was an urgent need, this particular manager had one too.

Thank goodness that Jesus isn't like that. His door is always open - wide, 24/7. He actually invites us to come to Him with confidence, any time of day or night. On those long nights, where we have nagging problems, sleep can evade us. Yet, He is only a quick 'Hello,' away from us. He longs to spend time with us and is the best point of reference where a problem is concerned.

Where else could you get this immediate response? Try calling in a bank and asking to see the manager and all you'll receive, is your name in the appointment book. There is not much chance of an instant response. 

There are many times in our lives when we need to unload - to get things off our chest and seek direction. The thing is, where to go? In this day and age, everyone seems to be busy. But Jesus is never too busy to see His children.

You may have a breakdown in your car. You can call the emergency services, but more than likely, it will be a two hour wait. Yet, if you have a breakdown in your life, the throne room is always open and with confidence, you can walk straight up to the King of kings:

'Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, (15) for we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.'                                      Hebrews 4:14-16

Jesus knows the struggles that we have and He's ready to help. He's been there. He didn't sin though, but He got the T shirt covered in His Blood with the slogan written on it, 'I did this for you.'

All it takes is to call on Him, 'Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon Him while He is near.' For those who don't know Jesus as their Lord, I appeal to you. There'll be a time when it is too late to call on Him. Do it now, while He is available!

'Lord Jesus, My life is a mess. Please help me. Come and live in my heart, forgive my sins, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and be my Lord and Saviour. Amen.

If you've just said this, please email me so that I can help you. Email me at dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com

What do you think about?

"Set your minds on things above, not on things on the earth"
                                                                                                 Colossians 3:2.  NKJV

Your mind is working all the time, continually processing all types of thoughts. We see and hear things throughout our day, and some of them enter our minds, and we begin to dwell on them.

For example, someone rings us with information about someone who we have difficulty in liking, let alone loving. It may be something that does not directly involve yourself but it completely winds you up, and initially you pray for the situation. However, if you're not careful, for the rest of the day, your prayers turn into criticism and you begin having psychological conversations with yourself about the situation. This has the ability to make you feel worse because these kind of  conversations serve no purpose, except to strangle your peace.

The Apostle Paul, tells us to, 'Set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth.' Now that's a hard one to adhere to when you have got yourself in such a state that the only thing on your mind is this problem.
But, stop there. That is the problem. You have allowed yourself to become like this, not the other person. You are the one that chose to become upset about what someone else has done and it is you, who has spent the best part of the day in criticism and bad feeling about something that possibly is none of your business.

What has happened is, you have lost your focus. Your focus should be on Jesus Christ - on Heaven, not on things that are sent to rob you of your joy. Who is the joy stealer? Yes, that's right. He comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). But Jesus comes to bring you life in abundance. Are you living the abundant life, or have you lost your focus? 

If you are allowing your focus to become distracted by things such as this, do something about now. Think, what would Jesus say about this? How would He handle the situation? I think you know the answer to these two questions. His Word to us this morning, is:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things on earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

                                            Copyright Helen Howarth Lemmel

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com