He will not give up on you - that's a promise!

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you, will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."     

                                                                                                        Philippians 1:6   NKJV    

At times, being a Christian can be so difficult and daunting as we continually fail at every hurdle we attempt to jump over. We try so hard to get it right but it seems, the harder we try, the harder it becomes to succeed. 

My dad, when I was very small, used to sing me a lullaby every night before I went to sleep. The words were:

At the end of the day, I kneel and pray

thank you Lord for a lovely day,

I try to be good, for I know that I should

that's my prayer at the end of the day

I've never forgotten it, because the words are so real - 'I try to be good, for I know that I should'. This is where we are at times, trying to be good because we know that we should. However, when we attempt this, many times we end up making a blunder and we feel a heavy weight of condemnation upon us that is so hard to free ourselves from.

But, 'There is therefore now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.' Romans 8:1. Don't fall for the lies the devil will throw at us. It doesn't matter how long we have been a Christian, we can still fall for this lie, 'He'll never forgive you now, you've blown it. You might as well give it all up.' Don't listen to this old codswallop - it's a lie.

We have a promise, as our text shows us today, that we can be confident that the work He has begun in us, He will continue until He returns for us. He knows how hard it can be at times but we must keep pressing on to obtain that crown.

De Garmo & Key, a Christian band from the 90's, wrote and sang a song called 'I'm accepted'. Some of the lyrics go like this:

I'm accepted, accepted

I'm accepted by the One who matters most.

If you think you're a loser, when you fail it seems, at everything you do

just remember there's a Saviour and you are worth enough, He gave His life for you.

I'm accepted, accepted

I'm accepted by the One who matters most

                                                                      Copyright 1990 De Garmo & Key

We won't be perfect or fully functioning as Jesus intended us to be, until He has finished His work in us. However, we are ordained to be His witness on this earth, no matter how many mistakes we may make because, we are accepted by the One who matters most.

Now stand up straight, hold your head up high and get on with what your friend, Jesus, has given you to do. 

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

*If you would like to contact me, then please send me an email😄

Let God direct you

"5 Trust in and rely confidently on the LORD with all your heart. And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. 6 In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognise Him, and He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].                                                                  Proverbs 3:5-6   Amplied Study Bible

We all have important decisions to make from time to time; and this may be where you are. ‘Should we move house?' 'Should I take that job or not?' 'Should I go to a different church?' There are many more questions to add to these important ones and at times, we just do not know what to do. As we share the dilemma with people, some say, 'Oh be careful, you could get it wrong.' Another says, 'Yes, that would be the best thing for you, go for it.' With such diverse counsel, we can become so bewildered. Really, there is only one source that you should be seeking, and that is God. He has all the answers and He can help you know the way ahead. 

Take a look at our two verses today from the Amplified Bible. We not only trust in God to show us the way but we can rely on what He tells us. We can be confident in His counsel. It is helpful to share with friends the plans that we have and the issues we are struggling with; but we should only use them as a guide. The advice that they tell us, should be weighed and thought through properly.  The first place of call though, should always be Jesus. He not only shows the way ahead  but will remove any obstacles that may block our paths along the way.

You may be interested in buying a house. As you share this with people, they can cloud your mind with all the reasons you should go ahead with this deal. But it may be their wishes for you, it may be what they want. What about God? He may not want you to buy a house for some reason known only to Him. But as you seek Him, He will show you the right thing to do and give you the expert counselling that you need.

We should never rush in with big decisions; they affect our lives and if we get it wrong it can cause a lot of heartache. I know, I've got the t-shirt. Never be hasty in making your mind up; count the cost first, look at the possible pitfalls; do a 'FORS and AGAINST' list. It gives you a good insight. Don't be hasty, it can lead to disaster. 'The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.' Proverbs 21:5.

The right thing for you to do today, is to get before God, lay it before Him and allow Him to expertly guide you in what decision to make. He will show you, this is a promise He makes.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

*If you would like to contact me, then please send me an email😄

Do it to others first

"And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise." 

                                                                                                                   Luke 6:31   NKJV

We reap what we sow, did you know that? What we do and say to others reflects back to us too. So, if we treat some people unfairly, sooner or later they're going to want to do the same to us. If we speak to them in a bad way, they will do the same to us as well. This is the law of the world. But Jesus changed all of that by telling us to love people and show them the peace of God. We are different, or should be. If we only show them love when they show us love, then we have got it wrong.

Someone once told me that, 'We should be courteous on our way up because you never know who'll you meet on your way down'. And it is true. Leaders who bully their people may find this later on in their ministry. The person they were horrid to, may take over from their leadership.It's the same for bosses in companies. You just don't know who you will meet in the future. We should always be courteous to people we meet, whether we know them or not. At times, we may meet people who we don't really get on with or even don't particularly like. It's true, we can't always connect with people. But one thing we should do, is show them respect and the love of Jesus. This is having a Christ-like character.

God wants us to show all people His love and we do this by being Jesus to them. Remember, if you want to be treated kindly, then show kindness to others. If you want good things for yourself, then you must want them for other people as well. We are called to bless people not curse them Romans 12:9-21. Don't just send someone a greetings card because they sent you one first. Be the first to send that card. We should always be showing examples of Jesus.

We should not attempt to change people and put them into our mould. The mould we should attempt to direct them to, is Jesus' mould. Bob Gass once said, 'The only thing you can change about others, is your attitude towards them'. Did you get that? We need to accept people for what they are, we not here to judge, and furthermore, we should not expect too much from people either. At this moment, they may be doing the best they can do. Just love them and be courteous to them. This is how they will see Jesus.

If you want to be blessed, bless others!

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

*If you would like to contact me, then please send me an email😄

Be equipped for this New Year

"For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you and all the trees of the field shall clap their hand."                                                                                             Isaiah 55:12   NKJV

As we open up this verse, we can gather a lot of information that will feed our hungry souls. The first part, 'you shall go out with joy' refers to the exile from Babylon and how this freedom would have put joy into their hearts. 'being led forth', meant that they would be led by the LORD Himself.

Further to this, I have highlighted three words; Joy, Peace and Singing, which are significant to our survival in this world of uncertainty. Let's look at each one:

JOY. Nehemiah gives us the meaning of this word - strength. It is the joy we have in Jesus Christ that gives us the strength to get through each and every situation. It is a mighty weapon. If at all possible, we should endeavour to laugh and praise our way to victory. Joy is mighty and powerful. But it is ourselves that need to get into a position of joy and we can only do this in Jesus.

PEACE. Isaiah 26:3 says, 'You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.' As we focus on Jesus Christ, giving Him the first place in our lives, we will receive this perfect peace, which is interpreted as Shalom, Shalom in the Hebrew. Jesus told us that He would give us this peace. John 14:27. As He was getting ready to depart from this earth, He promised us that we would have perfect peace. This is the peace that surpasses all understanding; the peace that guards our heart and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 

SINGING. Psalm 150:6 says, 'Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.' There is power in praise. It can bring down walls, Joshua 6. It opened locked doors and broke chains Acts 16. As we praise God, mighty things happen. As we sing to the Lord, He opens up the way, which is the only way - the way to victory. Things are defeated  and taken over as we praise, not only walls, prison doors and chains, but as we read here, the trees of the field clap their hands. Have you ever seen this? No, me neither, and it may just be symbolic but it has happened and can happen as we praise God. If God's Word says it, I believe it and that's the bottom line.

This New Year, God wants us to walk in Joy; He wants us to live and walk in His peace and He wants each one of us to live in an attitude of praise. As we do, our lives and our situations will change for the better. We'll be led forth by Jesus Himself. 

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

*If you would like to contact me, then please send me an email😄

The New Year - 2021

"You crown the year with Your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance". 

                                                                                                                Psalm 65:11   NKJV

Some people are looking forward to a New Year. Even some newspapers are saying that it's good that 2020 is nearly over. But you know, some good things have happened this past year. For one, in my family, we have had a new birth and I'm sure that some of you can also testify to this happening in yours. We've had the bad interlaced with the good. One thing we need to be grateful for though, is that we are still here talking about it. That in itself, is such a blessing and one, in which we need to thank God for.

If we expound our text verse for today, we see that God is going to crown the year with His goodness. When a person is crowned, they are given all the honour, all the power and glory; they are a special person. And our God is saying that of the New Year - 2021. He is going to crown it, or in other words, ordain it. It is going to be special filled with all good things. Yes there will still be heartaches but, there will be more goodness and blessing, and wherever we walk with Jesus, our steps - our path, will drip with abundance. 

Let us look at that statement for a moment. Wherever we go, whatever we do and whatever happens, it will all drip with abundance as we walk along Jesus' path. This means, as we continually walk with Him by our side. We are in for a year of abundance - a bounty of super-abundance from the God of too much. John 10:10b tells us, 'I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly'. Jesus has just told us that the thief will try to kill, steal and destroy us because he is the joy robber. But, take courage, Jesus is the joy bringer and He is bringing it to us for 2021. Do you believe this?

The text verse today, is a promise and it is one that we need to write down, highlight it in your bible and confess, pray and claim it every day from now on:

Jesus, You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance!

This year, whatever you do and wherever you go, drip with God's loving abundance. This is your year. Have a really good one.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

*If you would like to contact me, then please send me an email😄

Watch the doubting spirit!

 "Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."                             John 20:29   NKJV

One of the things the devil is likely to do to us, is cause us to doubt. We see him trying to tempt and confuse Jesus when He was in the wilderness. He thought Because Jesus was tired, worn out and hungry, he could get Jesus to believe him and bow to Him; but Jesus was having none of it. Again, the serpent, who represented the devil, caused Eve to doubt in the Garden of Eden, 'You shall not surely die.' Genesis 3:4. If he is given an inch he will take a mile, you better believe it. Faith is how God wants us to live. We can't see Him but we believe He is here, in our hearts. This is faith. To doubt that, is to lose our way completely.

Thomas, who was also known as Didymus - the twin, because of his uncanny resemblance to Jesus, was a doubter. We see him in action in this chapter. The others had seen Jesus following His crucifixion - He had appeared to them. They excitedly tried to tell Thomas about it all, but he was not having it, 'Unless I see in His hands, the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.' Thomas had to see it before he would accept it.  A lot of us are like this. We want to know that it is safe before we take a step of faith. Some give out fleeces, 'Lord, if you want me to do this, please let someone knock on my door and tell me this. Also let them provide me with financial support too.'

God rarely responds to such things. He has told us that, 'We walk by faith not by sight'. 2 Corinthians 5:7. This means that we look through the eyes of faith as we discussed yesterday. Jesus reinforced this when He later showed up to Thomas, one of the few times that He did respond to such a request. He told him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet have believed.' Note that second part, 'Blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet have believed.' This is you and I. Very few of us have actually seen Jesus and yet we trust Him; we believe in Him and that is great. Yet, why do we still have doubts about certain things.?

Some may answer this by saying, 'Because we are only human, we're doing the best we can do.' And that is a good answer. Yet Jesus wants more. He wants you and I to have a certainty that He will do what we ask and give us what we need each day. I'm not saying here that if we believe and ask Him to allow us to win the Lottery, He will do this. That is ridiculous and selfish. I'm talking here of our needs for each day. For Him to protect us and walk with us wherever we go. Take for instance, the centurion who came to Jesus in Matthew 8:5-10. He told Jesus that his servant was very ill. Jesus responded by telling him that He would go with him and heal him. The centurion said, 'Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word and my servant will be healed.' The centurion's faith astounded Jesus, He had not seen such faith in all of Israel.

And this is the faith that Jesus wants from each of us. To have the confidence, that certainty that Jesus will take care of us, watch over us and supply our needs. 

He wants us to be blessed.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

*If you would like to contact me, then please send me an email😄

Don't give in to despair

"Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' They said to him, 'We are going with you also.' They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing."                                                                                    John 21:3   NKJV

Following Jesus' crucifixion and appearance to many of the disciples, Peter and some of the others were sitting around totally full of despair. What had it all been about, was uppermost in their minds? They were bored, broken, lonely and desperate. They had walked with Jesus and it had been wonderful. Now, He wasn't there. They would have been confused. Had they really seen Him again? If they had, where was He now? They were gutted; they had lost everything and there was nothing left. It had all been meaningless. You can hear the despair in Peter's words, 'I am going fishing.' 

Yet on the other side of the coin, there was still a fighting spirit left within them. Just the fact that they decided to go out with there boats, showed that they were not going to lay down and give up totally. They had a survival spirit within them. It wasn't very strong but, it was still there. However, it was short-lived. They went out fishing and they caught nothing. These were experienced fishermen; if they couldn't catch fish no one could. Yet they didn't. Why? It was because their hearts were not in it. It was all meaningless.

When we become this way, it is hard to see the point in anything. It is not a case of feeling sorry for ourselves. It is more deeply-rooted. We have had everything; life was good and business was booming. Suddenly, it has all changed and there doesn't seem to be much point. But there always is. Deep down within you, there is that fighting, survival spirit. That spirit that tells you never to give up. It is there.

Life may have been a little unkind just lately. But it has to others as well. The same rain that falls on you, falls on them too. No one is exempt times of despair and heartache. It is universal and we have to find a way through it all. There is life out there and we have to grab it with both hands. A fighting spirit never gives up. Peter and the others used this when they got up and went out fishing. They would not surrender. And what did they get in return? Initially, a smack in the face when, after their efforts, they caught nothing. But watch this, Just moments later a mighty blessing came their way and they had a major catch of fish when Jesus spoke to them, directing them what to do.

And this will happen to you as well. As you refuse to give up, He will take your hand and lead you to blessing. 

Don't give in to despair.

Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard

grahamehoward@hotmail.com

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

*If you would like to contact me, then please send me an email😄