Why did you give up?

"You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? (8) It certainly isn't God, for He is the one who called you to freedom." 

                                                                                                               Galatians 5:7-8.  NLT

Things can be going so well at home, in a job or even at school when, all of a sudden something happens to bring about a great change. Something or someone comes along and causes a hindrance and it can completely obstruct our way forward, that we feel like giving up. Has this happened to you? This is not the time to give up; it is the time when we should stand up to the situation and when we've done all we can, keep standing. (Ephesians 6:13).

Things come along in life that are sent to 'floor' us. It can be intimidation; someone can take away all of our confidence that we feel inadequate and unable to perform well. Intimidation robs our faith - our very will-power and renders us deactivated.

We may feel that someone is more educated and eloquent than us, and if we allow ourselves to be affected by this, we feel unable to function properly. Hindrances can delay our progress. I can remember years ago, when I went to interview for a place in university. As I sat before the faculty, their academical skills and their line of questioning became quite daunting and could have affected my responses to their comments, if I had allowed it to, which I didn't. But it was only by the grace of God that I could do it and secure a place there.

And this is the bottom line - God. You may have been running so well in your Christian life, but all of sudden you have come up against a hindrance. This may seem like a mountain, but as Christians, we're mountain climbers aren't we? It may also feel like we have come against a giant, but that's not a problem either, because in Jesus, we're giant killers. Nothing can stop us - only ourselves.

When we allow intimidation or any kind of hindrance to come upon us, it is like we are allowing these to chain us up. But as Christians, we don't do chains! The only chains we allow are the ones's with a cross that fit around our neck. Other chains fall off in the name of Jesus. (Acts 16:26).

God is speaking to you right now. You may feel inadequate, intimidated or just worn out with trying to do your best. Firstly, your best is good enough, receive that. Now get back up, praise God and ask Him to give you a fresh anointing. It's not over yet so don't give up.

'Lord Jesus, I have felt so intimidated just lately; my confidence is spent. I feel like I'm a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. But I come to You right now an ask You, by Your grace, to re-charge me with the energy of the Holy Spirit; so that I may get back on the road to serving You every day of my life. Thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

                                                                      

Flesh v Spirit

"For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (6) For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."   Romans 8:5-6  NKJV

One of the biggest detrimental factors here is our thoughts. What we think and dwell on. We can allow fantasy to rule, allowing our thoughts to take us where we know we shouldn't be going. These thoughts promote wrong desires - desires that can so easily lead us astray. We may try and deny that we don't think such things, but they just bounce back and drag us down further.

Casey Treat says, 'When your mind agrees with your spirit, you're spiritually minded; but when it agrees with your flesh, you're carnally minded.' This is how we now the difference, but will we admit or deny it?

Dr Caroline Leaf advises:  'ADMIT IT - QUIT IT - BEAT IT.'  Basically, this is saying that we need to change our focus.

Let's be honest here, it isn't as if we don't know what we are doing, what we're thinking and concentrating on. We know! We may try and sweep it under the carpet but it is still there. We're just deceiving ourselves. Like a fish we are hooked and the devil reels us in. Therefore, we need to admit that we have a problem here. We have to be willing to admit that the problem is leading us astray and be willing to quit it. That's a difficult one because straightaway our flesh will try to convince us that we need this. But do we need it? Isn't it just that we like it and don't want to give it up?

To beat the problem, we're going to have to be honest with ourselves and willing to allow God to set us free. He won't just do it for us - that's a cop out. We have to be willing to admit the problem first of all and then follow God's direction so we can be free. But, we must realise that it won't be easy; we have to do our bit.

No addiction is easy to quit! Yes, wrong thinking is an addiction. We can't live without it; we need it so we are addicted. That's the bottom line. Once we're willing to accept this, we are on our way to success.

It's all about allowing our thoughts to come into line with our spirit. If the flesh tries to intervene - which it will, give it the red card; kick it out of touch and refuse to allow it to take root. You can do this; we all can, 'If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.'  John 8:36

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

Jesus is alive, not dead

"Why do you seek the living among the dead?"                          Luke 24:5.  NKJV

At times, I believe that we act like Jesus is not alive; He can't do this and He can't do that. We believe deep down that He is alive, but our actions don't always bear witness to this. Non-believers don't believe that Jesus is alive at all, many refuse to consider that He ever existed.

Andrew Murray ( not the tennis player) in his book, 'Jesus Himself,' writes: 

'A dead Christ, I must do everything for, a living Christ does everything for me. This is the difference between a dead Christ, who women went to anoint and a living Christ'

Once a person has met with the living Christ, they know about it. They will never forget it. When Jesus had been crucified and laid in the tomb, women went to prepare His body with spices and such, but the tombs was empty. Two angels spoke with Mary and asked, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead?' It's recorded in John 20 that she said to the angels, 'they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him.' v13. As she turned around, there was another man there but she didn't know who He was; not until He spoke. She then realised that it was Jesus. v14-16.

It was a similar thing on the road to Emmaus. Two men were walking along discussing what had been happening, when Jesus joined them. They didn't recognise Him at first because, 'their eyes were restrained so they did not know Him' Luke 24:16.

Jesus is very much alive and there are possibly many times that He comes amongst us and we never recognise this fact. We need to recognise, that wherever we go, whatever we do and whatever situation we find ourselves in, He is right there beside us. When we say the wrong thing, the Holy Spirit gives a feeling of remorse. When we sense His presence, we can feel an amazing excitement, so intense, that it can be very difficult to speak.  He never leaves us.

There are many days when we feel inadequate; when we have a feeling of woe, doubting anything could take place. But we serve a living Christ, not a dead one. His Word tells us, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' Philippians 4:13. If we doubt, we may go without. We need to keep ourselves focused on Him. He is exciting; He has plans for us and can certainly change a situation for you.

Don't ever believe that Jesus is not around. He is, in fact, He is reading this with you at this moment. There are things He wants to do in your life; there are things He wants to say. Allow Him to. Grab hold of the excitement, relish in it, fly high in it. Your Jesus is alive and well - very much so.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

Heavenly Bodyguards

"What are you seeking?                                                            Genesis 37:15-17.  NKJV

Israel called Joseph to himself one day and asked him to go and check on his brothers and the flocks of sheep they were tending. Joseph agreed and set off on the journey. Now this sounds like a normal and reasonable request for Joseph to do, after all, being Israel's favourite son, he did little else. However, there was one problem, the brothers were in Shechem and that was an 85 mile walk. It didn't appear a problem to Joseph, but how would you have felt, having to walk that distance?

On reaching Shechem there was no sign of his brothers but a certain man came up to him and asked, 'What are you seeking?' (v15). Quite a strange thing to happen don't you think, a certain man meeting him in the middle of nowhere. Where did he come from? Joseph wasn't phased though and replied, 'I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.'(v16). The certain man replied, 'They have departed from here, for I heard them say, "Let's go to Dothan".(17).

Now Dothan was a further 15 miles away, making the trip 100 miles each way. Rather like a marathon but again, it didn't seem to bother Joseph. He set off finally meeting them there.

Now the amazing thing in this passage is, who was the certain man? Where had he come from? How did he know about the whereabouts of Joseph's brothers. Joseph had spoken to him as if it was perfectly normal, he didn't appear to wonder about all of this. But when you study the situation, it doesn't appear to be a normal thing to have happened. many believe it was an angel and I tend to agree. 'Are not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation?' (Hebrews 1:14). In addition to this, Psalm 91:11 says, 'For he shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.' 

Think, how many times have you been in situations where angels have turned up and all seems ok? Many times I would think, but you never realised it. And according to Psalm 91:11, we have at least two angels assigned to each of us. Amazing! A recent example for me was on 21st October 2017 when I was rescued from drowning in the sea during Storm Brian. I was walking on the beach one moment and wrestling in deep water the next. I was unable to get out because of the surge which kept dragging me back out to sea. All of a sudden, a lady appeared from nowhere and pulled me out. I didn't know her and have never seen her since. I believe that she was an angel.

I am sure that you have similar testimonies but one thing that I want to reinforce, is that you are surrounded by angels. You can't see them but they're there. There's no need to ever be fearful again; during problems, God will release these angels as you call on Him. Don't call on the angels, the route is through Jesus.

They are around us in every situation and I do mean, every situation. You have Heavenly bodyguards.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

Get ready for a comeback!

"Let me hear You say, 'I will give you victory."                      Psalm 35:3.  NLT

Once you may have been a high-flier within the church, responsible for worship, preaching or running a group. Now, you're on the sidelines and it feels like God has forgotten you. You may feel that you're surplus to requirements, a reject. But you're not a reject and never surplus to requirements.

You may have had a disagreement with your pastor, you may even have left the church. If you're still within the church, week after week, you may sit there and watch, while others do what you used to do, and it is difficult to contend with.

It may be that you have done nothing wrong - you're just not used anymore because of younger people with new spiritual energy to offer. It may be that someone may have hurt you badly within the church and it has devastated you, and it shows through your body language or attitude. There may be many reasons why you're not being used at present and it may be a good idea to talk it through with some leader in the church, preferably the pastor if you can.

Take a look through your bible. There are several examples where certain people were a 'somebody', and all of a sudden it ended. Take for instance Moses. Pharaoh's daughter had been bathing one day in nearby water, when she found a basket with a young baby inside. She took him into Pharaoh's house and named him Moses. He grew up as royalty. However, one day he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and he killed him and hid his body in the sand. (Exodus 2:12) The next day, Moses separated two Hebrew men as they fought each other. One of then asked if he was going to kill them as he had done the Egyptian the day before. This panicked Moses, and he fled and eventually ended up tending sheep in the desert surrounding Mount Horeb (Exodus 3:1). What a comedown. However, God hadn't finished with him yet and Moses ended up a mighty man of God, leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

Then there was Peter. He denied Jesus and ran away in shame looking at Jesus' crucifixion from a distance. However later, Jesus after His resurrection, forgave Peter and re-commissioned him. 

Then, what about Paul? He had believers imprisoned and some murdered, yet he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and he had a complete turnaround, becoming one of the leading Apostles.

Of course, there was Jesus Himself. People thought they had seen the back of Him when He died on the cross. They had a shock when He rose again in victory!

No, it's not over for you. It's a temporary setback. Speak with God and put things right if you need to; then get ready for a comeback. Remember Samson? He could do nothing when his hair had been cut. But then, the hairs on his head began to grow back, and POW! (Judges 16:22).

In the same way, get ready, you are coming back! The victory is coming.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you belong to Jesus, you're anointed

"(18) The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. (19) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."           Luke 4 18-19.  NKJV 

Using the words from Isaiah 61, Jesus having entered the synagogue, spoke to the people. When He had finished quoting our text above, He closed the book and said, 'Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.' (v21). This caused mayhem as you can well imagine. He was declaring that He was the Anointed One - the Messiah, sent by the God the Father. 

What does 'anointed', actually mean in this context? Well literally it is, to rub with oil, especially in order to consecrate someone or something. The Hebrew word for anointed is, mashach and refers to the rubbing or smearing of sacred oil. The most important derivative of mashach is mashiyach which means Messiah - Anointed One. Jesus is the promised Anointed One; His title was Jesus the Messiah, but was translated into Greek, meaning Christos - hence the designated Jesus Christ.

It is important to realise, that as His children, we too are anointed. In a way, the Holy Spirit has rubbed anointing oil on each one of us so that, we can flow in what He has called us to do. Psalm 92:10 is a good example, 'But my horn, You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil'. The horn is a symbol of strength and gives us prominence and security. It offers us social standing, stately grace and favour. Each day, we would be wise to ask for a fresh anointing - to renew the anointing for all that we have to do through the day. 

You may not feel anointed but you are because Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Anointed One has declared it. 'His compassions fail not, they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness' Lamentations 3:23-24. 

 He has given you strength by exalting you like a wild ox. Picture that for a moment. You have amazing strength, but only in Him. Without Him you are nothing. (John 15:5). 

Jesus made a declaration that day in the synagogue; He made a stand. In a paraphrase, He said something like, 'Well, this is how it is boys, I am the Messiah, the Anointed One. You didn't recognise Me and still don't. But I am here now and I am going to fulfil My Father's work.

Can you stand and say that? Can you join with Jesus - the Anointed One, and fulfil the work for the Father?

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

Watch the Flirtation

(18) "Come let's drink our fill of love until morning. Let's enjoy each other's caresses, (19) for my husband is not home. He's away on a long trip."   Proverbs 7:18-19.  NLT

How many Christian men and women have fell to the flirtatious temptations of the adulterer? He or she, is just around the corner if we go looking. Many people have taken this risk, including clergy; and now have lost everything. Think, is it really worth it?

Joseph was in a very similar situation with Potiphar's wife. She had noticed that he was quite a catch - 'Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, (7) and Potiphar's wife soon began to look at him lustfully. 'Come and sleep with me,' she demanded.' (Genesis 39:6-7 NLT).

Potiphar's wife was possibly quite desirable too, and Joseph being young, virile, lonely and miles away from home, could so easily have fell to her charms. After-all, who would know? Answer - God would. The blessing of the Lord was on Joseph, (Genesis 39:5). God had rescued him from his brutal brothers; kept him safe as he was transported as a slave to Egypt, and had given him favour by promoting him as head of Potiphar's house. Why would he want to ruin all of this?

The difference between Joseph and the many Christian people who fall into adultery, is that he was totally committed to his God. He knew that God's hand was upon him, and he wasn't going to blow it all now. He was sold-out to God. He worshiped Him and walked with Him daily. Don't forget that, at first, there would have been a language barrier. Therefore, the only one he could talk to properly, was God, until he quickly learned their language. Joseph had also learned how to deal with rejection; he knew the pain it had caused him and he was grateful to the Father for watching over him.

Joseph ran out of the house leaving his cloak in her hands, so she had some evidence to show the others in the household, and her husband when she accused him of attempted rape. 

False allegations. Joseph had no defence ; no one believed him and he was sent to prison. Even though, this was again an awful thing for the innocent Joseph to go through, God knew and quickly promoted him to the head of the prison, just under the head jailer. God gave him much more favour and Joseph eventually became the Prime Minister of Egypt.

Don't fall to flirtation; don't fall to adultery, not even in your thought life. It's not easy when the flesh is so weak; but if you follow Joseph's example, it is achievable.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com