Under threat?

"And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the LORD and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah." V3                                                            2 Chronicles 20:1-37  NKJV

There was a mighty threat coming against Judah. The Moabites, Ammonites and others were coming against Jehoshaphat and this brought him fear. It was a major crisis and understandable that he felt this way. However, notice how Jehoshaphat handled it. He didn't flap, run away or crumble. No, he looked to God, declared a fast and waited on deliverance and guidance. In other words, he took action and that is the secret. Often we can become panicked and get ourselves into all sorts of problems. We need to determine to seek God when we have a vital need.

Be reassured, no-one, absolutely no-one can take God on and win. It's foolishness to try. Therefore, we need to stand firm, praise Him, pray and if you decide it's required, fast. He'll save you from this situation if you put Him in His rightful place.

Jehoshaphat told God that he was powerless with the situation and he didn't know what to do. But then he said one important thing - 'our eyes are upon You'. In other words he was saying to God, 'Lord, I don't know what to do here, but You do and I'm counting on You.'  He was trusting God for direction and help (Proverbs 3:5-6).

God spoke to one of the prophets declaring that it was not Jehoshaphat's problem but the Lord's. All he had to do was to get into position and await further instructions. And this is what we need to do. When we're under attack, we need to remember that it is not our problem if we put it into God's hands. If we try to sort it ourselves, it will go wrong. Is this where you are at this time? Have you come against a mighty problem that is threatening your whole livelihood? It is so worrying that it is making you ill fretting about it all. Do yourself a favour, give it to God - NOW! Then praise Him, yes that's right, praise Him. This is what Jehoshaphat sent his men on to the front line to do - sing and praise Him. 'Praise the LORD, for His mercy endures forever' (v21). God then caused so much confusion that the enemy began attacking themselves until all were defeated.

Are you getting this? This is how God wants each one of us to live - total dependance on Him and submitted and set apart. When we're like this, He will take care of the rest. You may have the most awful of problems and worries at this time. You may be having sleepless nights trying to figure it all out. Is it working? No. Your friend Jesus is telling you to cast all your cares upon Him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

What are you waiting for? Give it to Him and then thank Him and praise Him like never before; and watch your problems disappear.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

 

Have you Humpty Dumpty Syndrome? Part 2

"The LORD is near to the heartbroken and saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).                          Psalm 34:18.  The Amplified Study Bible

When sadness and depression settles into one’s mind, heart, and soul, it is not easy to shake the feelings off, break out of the rut, and move on as some may suggest or think. At times, inner despair remains regardless of the goodwill offered from those that care. If this sounds like you, realise you are not alone. Many others have or are currently battling with valleys of darkness too.

God is near to the crushed and broken-hearted. It can seem that you are beyond repair because you have lost so much. However, if you can hang on to your hope, you will make it. You may have lost something or someone most dear; it may be everything that you have worked for and this, can drive you into despair - the feeling that you want to withdraw from the world and hide away. Don't do that. Don't go within yourself. If there is nothing inside of you that can help, you don't want to go there, it has nothing to offer except more despair. 

People may be talking about you. They may feel that you have been unwise - even foolish. They may listen and say they're sorry but, they will then get on with their own busy-ness. That's life really. You may feel so alone but let me encourage you to take another look at our text. 'God is near to the heartbroken and saves those who are crushed in spirit.' It can't be any plainer that that. He cares, so do many others but the difference is, they have their own problems. God doesn't.

CBN says:

"Are you aware that numerous men and women of the Bible struggled with sadness? Yes, God-believing people experienced depressed feelings, emotional grief, and times of despair.

Set aside time for vigorous physical exercise. Walk three miles each day – it will help wash away anger and stimulate positive creativity. Smile while you walk – and notice all birds, trees, and children.

Seek out a godly mentor. Don’t isolate yourself. Maintain strong family and friend relationships.

Reduce TV watching and instead read or listen to inspirational material at least two hours daily.

Volunteer for a worthy cause. Helping someone else in need is a great way to ease the inward pain.

Forgive everyone in your life. Make peace with your past. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

Get a job – even if it’s not your dream job or a great career move. Deliver pizzas or work in a garden department to get moving in a positive direction while you continue to build for long-term success. 

At the end of each day, complete these two sentences:

"Today I am thankful for......"

"Today my most significant accomplishment was......."

https://www1.cbn.com/finance/overcoming-a-crushed-spirit

Things will get better for you. The king's horses and the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again, but I know a man who can and His name is Jesus.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

 

Have you Humpty Dumpty Syndrome? Part 1

"The LORD is near to the heartbroken and saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).                          Psalm 34:18.  The Amplified Study Bible

People all over the world are broken and others find it difficult in putting them back together again. Life can be cruel at times through one thing and another - broken marriages, being ripped off in a business deal, breakdown in families and even death. A person who has been broken in such a way, can easily internalise all of the pain and then become embittered. There is then a battle going on inside of them. Just take a can of coke, shake it up and down but don't take the top off. Inside it is chaos as the liquid and gases mix and get ready to erupt. When the top is finally taken off, the result is displayed all over the place. This is what can happen to the person who has internalised pain. When it is finally released, there can be much damage done as the pent-up feelings explode in anger.

When we were children, we used to hear about Humpty Dumpty:

'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horse and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again.'

There's a degree of truth in these words. When a person has been broken, many people may try and counsel them, offering words of comfort and wisdom. Yet, oftentimes, the person is so hurt and shattered that whatever is said, goes over their head and is no help at all. Counsellors deal in this type of thing all of the time and their job is to pinpoint what actually brought the crisis on. Many things may have happened in the person's life and they may have coped with it all. Then, one separate problem comes along and they snap and all of the past events are thrown into the situation too. It can be a minefield of deep-rooted pain.

You may be feeling this way at this moment. Painful life events, rob us of our peace and we find it difficult to be able to cope with it all. Whatever your pain is; whatever has brought you to the place of feeling rejected or broken, it can be fixed. Humpty Dumpty was beyond repair but you aren't. But it may take some time and pain to allow things to change. Jesus is the best counsellor I have found. I have told Him lots of things about myself and over a period, He has helped me to see clearly.

Perhaps the first place to start is with forgiveness. This is a powerful thing. If we don't forgive the people involved in our situation, it will continue. You may feel they don't deserve forgiveness and this may be true. However, none of us deserve this, but through God's grace, we receive it anyway.

So today, why not decide in your heart to name these people and just tell God that you forgive them. This way, you will owe them nothing and God will help you to be honourable wih this. Once, you have forgiven them, leave the matter with Him and He will deal with it.

Try this for today, and tomorrow we will look further into brokenness.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

Things will get better!

"These things I remember as I pour out my soul; how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving, among the festive throng."

                                                                                                                         Psalm 42:4.  NIV 

This Psalm was written in exile and the Psalmist is remembering, with longing and tears, the times when he was able to worship God in Jerusalem. Remembering how things were and now are, can be difficult to cope with. Even though, this Psalm was written a long time ago, for some people it can be relevant today when they remember how they used to do a particular thing, maybe in the church or somewhere else, and this has now ceased to be. It can be hard to cope with.

This may have happened to you. Perhaps you were a 'somebody' and now you feel that you are a 'nobody'. Perhaps Adam could relate to this. He was a 'somebody' in the garden and because of his lack of wisdom and sin, he was cast out of the garden and had to learn to be a 'nobody' - in his own eyes. Let me just say, everybody is a somebody in God's eyes! Did you get that - you are a somebody. When we long for the earlier days, we can become hurt and bitter, washed out and on the scrapheap. Don't feel this way. You are special. Things will get better.

Loss is a difficult area to handle. Loss brings many changes, changes that we don't want and never thought would come. Loss happens to other people, not us. However, when it does, it can be so difficult to work through. It forces upon us, things that we would rather not have. It's not always a death that brings loss and change. It may be a marital breakdown, losing a job, an operation that has brought changes to your life or perhaps, moving to a strange area where you miss your family and friends. It all takes time to make sense of it all.

Let's look at verse 5 of Psalm 42:

'Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,

My Saviour and my God'

There is always hope where God is concerned. As we place our hope in Him and praise Him, He reaches out to us and helps us through the path that we're walking. 'Even 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 NIV.

Have you considered that this may be a new chapter in your life? Perhaps like a book, one chapter has come to an end and you need to open a new chapter to find what is going to happen. Perhaps this is where you are at. 

One thing is for sure, you are not on the scrapheap; you have not been discarded and forgotten; you are a somebody with a bright future and pretty soon, things are going to get better. Now that is someting to consider and praise God for.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

Keys to your healing

"My son, give attention to my words, incline your ears to my sayings, (21) do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; (22) for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh."                           Proverbs 4:20-22    NKJV

What we say counts. What comes out of our mouths is powerful stuff. Proverbs 18:21 says, 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.' Therefore, we need to speak positively not negatively; what you confess - you get! So therefore be willing to learn to use your words wisely; this is what giving attention to your words means. We can either speak words that bring death to a situation, where there is no faith, or life and if we need healing, this is what we need to focus on. Otherwise we can cancel it out.

So let's examine this. We should listen properly by having good attending skills, not looking out of the window or practicing multi-tasking skills. To incline the ear, means to sit slightly forward letting the person who is speaking to us, know that we are listening to them. Doing this, helps to blank out other things around us and helps us to focus and concentrate much better. We need to do this when we are listening to a speaker or reading our bibles. There are distractions at every corner and we can easily be drawn away, especially when we are praying and the telephone rings.

When we read or hear scripture, we need to mull it over properly. In other words we should ponder the words and meditate on it until we get the bigger picture. There is life in God's Word and He wants us to receive it. If we are wanting to be healed of some sickness, we need to receive it and confess we are healed, despite our body telling us differently. When we receive and confess healing, we internalise this fact and live 'healed'. Proverbs 12:18 tells us, 'The tongue of the wise brings healing.' 

This is God's prescription, as Derek Prince was always teaching us. However, to quote a study note from the Amplified Study Bible, 'This demands constancy of heart and purpose, honesty in speech, steadiness of gaze and a right goal in walk and life.' Now to do this is not easy. Things will trip us up every step of the way. It is no casual thing. We need to live it if we want to see it. If you tell people that you are healed when they believe that you are not,they may ridicule you and this can bring much discouragement. The moment you begin to doubt, you will go without. Stand on your healing no matter what!

Practice joy, which is a strength and remember scriptures such as, 'A merry heart does good like medicine.' and 'This is the day the LORD has made, we will (let us) rejoice and be glad in it.' Psalm 118:24. Jesus wants the best for us; check the scriptures out where He told people that their faith had made them well. These were not 'bible times', they happen today and God wants you to live well - good health. So believe and receive. 

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

Did you think you wouldn't get shot at?

"In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."   v16                                             Ephesians 6:10-18.  NIV

No matter who you are or where you come from, if you belong to Jesus - a Christian, you will be attacked by the devil in some way. He will use whoever is available to give you a bad time. This is his style; you see, he's not like God who can be everywhere at one time and do everything at once. No, he is limited so he has to recruit others.

Now these people may not even know they are being used, some will but not many. Usually the devil will use family, friends, neighbours or whoever he can, to have a go at us. You are usually in for an attack when you have done something significant for God, or you are planning to. If he can prevent you doing this, he is pleased, so don't allow him this pleasure. You must realise that there is a war going on - a spiritual one (Ephesians 6:12). You enlisted on active service the day you asked Jesus into your life, so you are in the middle of it.

Life can be ticking over very nicely and then, WHAM, a flaming arrow is fired at you and it may bring heartache, panic and pain. This is why we need to put on the armour of God each day and hold up the shield of faith to extinguish the flaming arrows that come our way. The shield is based on the Roman shield that was covered with leather, which was then soaked in water. The reason being, the flame-tipped arrows would be put out as they hit the shield.

Don't think you can get away from these attacks. No, we have to learn to stand up to them and refuse to allow them to deter us from going forward and having a good day. Unfortunately, after certain attacks - the ones that really hurt our hearts and disarm us, we can feel like folding up and running away. Don't allow this to happen. Stand up and pray; take control of the situation in Jesus' name and gain the victory. Don't settle for defeat.

Have you ever felt that you are at the bottom of a deep mine shaft and you've managed to climb up to the top. Just as you are going to climb out, something happens and you fall back to the bottom again. That's how certain attacks can make us feel. It's rather like making a promise that you'll never do a certain thing again and when you do, you feel that you will have to start all over again.

Just think for a moment, if you were at the bottom of a mine shaft, you would not have to climb up to the top to be able to get out. No, Jesus would be right there with you and, what's more, He would take us through a door and show us a new way out. There is no need for us to flap or become upset, He knows the way and and will help us as we call on Him.

How are you coping today? Remember our text last week? 'Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' Matthew 11:28 NIV. That is the answer. We are in battle and trying to sort it out ourselves may just make it worse. Give it to Jesus. He knows what He is doing! 

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

Make the most of every moment

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, (16) redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (17) Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."                                                                            Ephesians 5:15-17.  NKJV

We are called to walk circumspectly, which means carefully, wisely and cautiously as a person would walk through thorny ground, not as fools, dashing in and ripping our skin on the deadly plants. God wants us to seize the opportunity for the glory of Jesus. It isn't so much as making the most of our time but making the time we have with Jesus, here on earth, count.

David Guzik comments: "This is another reason why it is important to walk wisely. Jesus spoke of a time when;  'Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (12) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.'  (Matthew 24:11-12). Surely we are in those times, because the days are evil."

We only have to look around our world today, terrorism is rife with terrilble beheading and people being blown up, all in the name of religion. Murders and rapes are on the increase as is the many stabbings in many parts of the country. People are beaten up and robbed in broad daylight and very little is done about it. People are frightened to go out on the streets in some parts of our country. And it is not only in the UK, it is worldwide. Just check out what is happening in the news Surely we are entering into end times!

The Apostle Paul says, 'For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, (4) and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.' 2 Timothy 4:3-4. In other words, they will believe the lie that God does not exist and put it into practice.

The Bible speaks the truth, it is the Word of God and it was predicted many years ago that we would be going through such times, and even worse as the days go on. We need to take notice of the times. We need to be alert to what is happening all around us, and we really do need to make the most of our days. Time is gradually running out, the hour glass has the sand running through it, and eventually it will run out. Therefore, we as Christians are called to walk circumspectly, not as fools taking no notice of what is going on all around.

The Apostle Paul adds to this passage: 'But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfilled your ministry.'   2 Timothy 4:5.

Do I have to say anymore?

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com