God's Formula

"Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not know a man.'" v34

                                                                                                        Luke 1:34-38   NKJV

Many things come our way on a daily basis and it is difficult to get our heads around them. This is how the young Mary must have felt the day the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would give birth to Jesus. Her panic can be heard in her reply. 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?'

Mary, a virgin, was betrothed to Joseph and she was a young lady who had found favour in the eyes of God. She knew that she was pure and God knew she was pure but, when she gave birth to this child, what would other people think of her? (We always worry about what others may think). However, the main questions were, how had this happened and how would it all work out? Let us look at this more closely:

Firstly, the angel announced this to Mary and her reaction was the same as most believers, 'How will this be? When God drops something out of the ordinary; something mind-blowing into our hearts, we go to our comfort-zone thinking, 'I can't do that - you've got to be joking.' Remember how Moses struggled when God told him to go and ask Pharaoh to release the Israelites from Egypt? (Exodus 3:11). But we need to know that when God asks us to do something for Him, He will be with us. 

Secondly, Nothing is impossible for God; it may be for us but if God asks us to do something, He will be right there with us and will provide the wherewithal. He will show us the way; He will create the way; He is the way!

Finally, there is acceptance. Mary relayed it beautifully, 'Let it be to me according to Your word.' This is spiritual surrender. This is the place God wants us to be. This is what God wants to hear from you and I whenever, He drops something into our hearts. When we can say this, God will throw open all the doors that need opening. He will bless our every step. 

Are you in a place where the Lord has spoken to you about doing something for Him. You may have struggled with the first step and may now be trying, to be faith-filled. Let me encourage you, go on to the third step, 'Let it be, Lord,' and you'll never regret it.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

Be thankful

"In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.' 

                                                                                                  1 Thessalonians 5:18   NKJV

No matter what the circumstances are, we must be able to see Him in every detail of our lives. This past year, we have had the fear of Covid all around us. There has been the misery of Lockdown and restrictions that we have all struggled with. Then of course, there are the new vaccines that are being rushed through and the thoughts of whether they will do the job or make matters worse. Now there is the Brexit scenario and what will happen from thereon. All around is uncertainty and fear and this can lead to frustrations and anger, anxiety and panic.

However, God's Word tells us, 'In everything give thanks.' Not, 'For everything give thanks,' take note of that one. We are not to thank God for all the things that are coming against us, but to give thanks whilst we are going through them. There is a big difference. Wherever we may find ourselves or whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in, God wants us to continually thank Him. Praise and thanksgiving brings release. Remember Paul and Silas in the stocks at midnight? (Acts 16). As they sang praises to God, it brought them release and freedom, and it will to us too. Let's face it, the things that we have just looked at can't be changed by us. We can do very little but God can and my hope is in Him. 

In 11 days time, it will be Christmas Day and the joy that will bring to young and older faces is well worth thanking God for. That very first Christmas in a manger in Bethlehem, the King of kings was born into the world and shone His light all around in the darkness. He brought peace and joy, love and hope and for that, He is worthy of our praise and thanks.

Things may not have gone the way you had hoped this past year, but up to now, you've made it and you have a hope within your heart, that things will get better further down the line. Only God knows what will happen, but one things for sure, as we are thankful and grateful to Him, in all circumstances, He will take our hand and lead us through.

Do you know something? He never stops thinking about us. We are forever on His mind. He just can't help Himself, we are always uppermost in His thoughts. Just a thought, if we did the same; if we never stopped thinking about Him; if He was uppermost in our thoughts, we wouldn't get in half of the trouble that we find ourselves in. Just a thought to mull over.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

Put it right

"When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long."                 

                                                                                                                  Psalm 32:3   NKJV

We need to be happy and grateful that God has forgiven us our sins, that is, if we've asked Him to. God is not one who sweeps things under the carpet hoping that it will never come to light again. We can fool people but we can never fool God. He knows!

When we are hanging on to unforgiven sin, things will not go right for us. This is why David wrote this statement, 'When I kept silent, my bones grew old - ." When we try to hide something away, we live in fear that it may be revealed at some time and subsequently, our heath suffers, especially our mental health, where we can suffer anguish and worry.

Here, David wrote about hiding his sin away from God. He kept silent and refused to admit his sin and he suffered for it. He realised that it was not just his feelings that were attacking him, but the heavy hand of God. Psalm 32:4.

When we are in the wrong and have let God down, the Holy Spirit leans on us with a Spirit of heaviness until we repent and put it right. We may have argued with our spouse and there is no way that we are going to admit that it was our fault. Harsh words may have been spoken, words that pierce the heart; but we may consider ourselves, not guilty. Believe me, nothing will change until we put it right.

We may have had some heated words with someone else but we refuse to admit we were in the wrong. Again, we are going nowhere until we do. 

I am sure that you know the feeling when you have done something wrong. The Holy Spirit will not let you off the hook until you do something about it. If you wronged a person who is no longer around, you can confess this to God and he will forgive you. Otherwise, you can go to the person and ask for their forgiveness. If they won't, then you have done your bit and you owe them nothing. The rest is up to them.

The thing is - do something about it. None of us are perfect. We all say and do things we regret afterwards. Be brave and put it right, this is God's formula and He knows best.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

You are Anointed

"But you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things." 

                                                                                                        1 John 2:20   NKJV

Anointing means that we are set apart, spiritually gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit. What an honour! We know the truth because the Holy Spirit teaches us and illuminates our minds, guarding us from error. 

One of the main heresies the first century church faced was false teaching. In other words, Gnotiscism. Followers of this teaching claimed to have secret knowledge of the truth that led to salvation. John here, was opposing this teaching by asserting that all believers of Jesus, knew the truth. There is no secret about Jesus at all and He, and His followers do not have to act in such a way. In contrast to false teachers, Christians possess an understanding of spiritual realities through the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The word anointing here, means that you have Jesus' anointing, if you belong to Him. Psalm 92:10 says, 'But my horn, You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.' The horn is a symbol of strength. It is also gives a position of prominence, security, social standing and stately grace and favour. This is you; this is your anointing and the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. He will tell you things to come. John 16:13.

So do you agree, that it time that we begin to act like this - to take on this wonderful and awesome anointing. We are ambassadors for Jesus, His representatives. Wherever we are, we are there to show Jesus to the world. Rather like a company representative shows other companies that what he is offering, they need and can't do without. In the same way, this is what the anointed, set apart, ambassador and representative of Jesus Christ should do wherever he or she walks. People need Jesus, they really cannot exist eternally without Him. We hold the truth, if the people we meet don't know the truth, then they are existing on fake news, on a lie and if we or other people don't tell them, they will find this out one day, but it may be too late.

Is there any other reason why Jesus should give us this anointing other than being His representative? No, none at all. He has anointed us so that we can go out and present Him to all in need. So, therefore, again I ask, don't you agree that it is time to take up our cross and do the work for Jesus? Let us never waste this anointing that He has given us. It is not given so that we can just sit in church and give prophecies or preach and worship. It is given us to do a job, and we know what it is now.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you've blown it, ask God to forgive you.

"If we (freely) admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His nature and promises) and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness (our wrong-doing, everything not in conformity with His will or purpose).                                                            1 John1:9   Amplified Study Bible

When you've blown it - and you will at times, no matter how bad it is, repent and receive God's forgiveness and He will be true to His word and forgive you. This is why He died on the cross - it was in our place that He died and freed us from all sin and declared us not guilty. Well, when we repent, He continues to be faithful and forgives us and blots out all unrighteousness, because He knows that sin separates us from our Father.

When you have fallen into sin by throwing a wobbly or whatever else, repent and then refuse to walk about in shame. We tend to do this. We say we're sorry to Jesus but when we've been forgiven, we still walk around in a state of guiltiness. Don't do that. It is what the devil wants you to do. He likes to whisper to us, 'You'll never be forgiven now, you've blown it good and proper.' Don't listen to this lie. It is one of the devil's tactics to keep us in a place of condemnation. But, 'There is therefore now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.' Romans 8:1. We become not guilty and there is no punishment either - no being grounded for a month. We are forgiven.

Sometimes, it can be so difficult to be a Christian, we know what is right but many times, we don't do it, we do what we shouldn't do. The Apostle Paul struggled very much in this area and addresses it in Romans 7. Check it out and study it. Many times, we know what we should do and inwardly our mind tells us not to act in such a way, but we end up doing it anyway. There are many areas that we need to die to. When we become dead to an area, we hopefully have overcome it, because, dead men or women, don't react. It a great analogy of how a body, once it is dead, will not react to anything, no matter how hard we try. 

Ask yourself, what are the areas that I need to overcome? What do I need to die to? What is it that continually trips me up? Be honest with yourself and then talk to Jesus about them. He wants to help and wants to give you victory in these areas. Determine to put aside some time to address this with Him. It will probably be the best thing that you've done for a long time.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

    

A Glance at Philippians 4. Part Four

"and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."                                                           Philippians 4:7   NKJV

A person who entrusts cares to Jesus instead of fretting over them, will experience the peace of God to guard him or her from nagging anxiety, the kind that rips us apart and keeps us awake at night through worry. The peace that we receive is the reassurance that Jesus is on the case - it's in His hands.

Our minds can become a battle ground within us if we're not careful and, God's peace stands guard over our hearts and minds to prevent this. Be careful, if we allow ourselves to dwell on the worry for too long, it will become part of us and it will torment us until we're climbing the walls with doubts and fear. Give it to Jesus as soon as it surfaces.

After all that Paul had suffered - being beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked and persecuted, he could still be secure in his relationship with Jesus. Why was that? It was because, he had a oneness with Jesus, he was joined to Him; rooted and grounded in a deep, intimate relationship with the King of kings. When we are like this, we experience a tranquility that cannot be explained, even if we try. Though everything is in pandemonium around us, we remain calm and comforted knowing that Jesus is in control, no matter what. This is because, when Jesus is with us, there really is nothing to fear.

Let's just back up for a moment to our discussion about the mind. It is too important to just gloss over it. People allow themselves to get into a fearful state because of what their mind is feeding them. If we have no foundation in Jesus, then the devil can feed lies into our minds that we begin to believe. They are so convincing that they become fact and nothing persuades us differently. We may tell ourselves that it is just imagination but it has so impacted the mind that we become certain that it is the whole truth. Occasionally, let's face it, it may be true. However, usually it is nothing but another lie sent to destroy us, to torment us and tear our lives apart. 

Listen, the devil is a liar; Jesus tells the truth. If you are faced with any issue such as this, then immediately give it to Jesus and let Him deal with it. If you've failed to do this and you're in a bad state, ask yourself who you trust - friend or foe, Jesus or the devil. Then speak to Jesus about this and allow Him to empty your mind of any unwholesome word that has penetrated it. And then praise Him for His kindness.

'Lord Jesus, empty my mind of any unwholesome word that the devil has brought into my life. I recognise it as a lie and with Your help right now, I loose myself from this so that I am free.

In Jesus' Name. Amen"

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

A Glance at Philippians 4. Part three

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God."                                             Philippians 4:6   NKJV

The 'nothing', here really means that - nothing. No circumstance or situation are to be worried over and no anxiety taken on board. Nothing should take the place of our walk with Jesus. Instead, we should take our worries and anxieties to Him in prayer - constantly if required. This should be done with thanksgiving for all He is and has done.

Paul here prohibits the Philippians from worrying and becoming anxious. Instead, he encourages them to commit all things to Jesus, trusting that He will provide deliverance. Some may say that God knows what is bothering us in the first place, so why bother Him with it all. Yes, this is true; but when we do this, we acknowledge just how much we need Him, how much we love Him and how much we depend on Him. This is why we should approach Him with thanksgiving in our hearts. It's our way of standing on our faith and saying to Him, 'Hey Lord, I really trust You. Thank you for taking care of every moment. This is called a relationship.

If we were to stop and look at all the worries and anxieties that come our way, we would be squashed if we tried to tackle them alone. But when we view them through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, they are all achievable. Have you ever been amazed how something, that was so big and frightening, became nothing when you prayed, handing it over to God? He is awesome and wants to take care of everything that tries to hurt us. He is on our side, not against us. Hebrews 13:5-6, and when we are on the winning side, triumphs begin and victory comes.

Are you ready to triumph? Are you ready to be victorious in all you do? Then, do what the Lord tells you. Get on the winning side by giving all fears, anxieties and worries to Him. God is never worried and He wants to teach you how to be the same.

Join Team Jesus

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com