Made in God's Image

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness' - So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."                                                                      Genesis 1:26-27    NKJV

We don't fully realise that we are made in the image of God. What does God look like? Look in the mirror, we look the same Because Jesus - Our Saviour dwells within us. We are one with Him.

Let us look a little deeper into the meaning of 'image':

An image is an exact likeness or representation of some object or person. Human beings were created to perfectly reflect God's image. Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Man expresses God's image when he is in right relation with His creator and faithfully tends God's creation (Genesis 1:26-28). 

Therefore, we can see quite clearly that we were made in His image. God lives in us, Jesus lives in us and the Holy Spirit lives in us. We're all one together. Then, why do we do the things that we do; why do we let Him down so easily at times. One could say that it's because, we're not perfect and that is true. However, we come pretty close because the trinity is within us. No member of the trinity would do the things that we do. The 'we' I mention, includes myself too. We profess to follow Jesus and then say something bad about someone. Would Jesus do that? No He wouldn't. We can be involved in gossip - it may be true, but it is still gossip and it paints a bad image of someone. We may let our tongue run away from us, not choosing our words wisely; we may sit in judgement over someone. Does Jesus do that? No He doesn't- He uses love.

My Wife, Hazel, wrote an excellent prophetic word here the day before yesterday, 19th March entitled 'Be Ready'. This made me look at the scripture she used quite closely and I felt it would be appropriate to include it into this commentary. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 we see Paul's excellent piece on Striving for a Crown. 'We are to run in such a way that we obtain the prize'. V24. This means that we must stick to the rules, we cannot cheat the system or we will be found out. Paul says in v27, ' I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.'

Athletes who break the rules become disqualified, they need to practice self-control. In the same manner, believers must practice self-control, see-denial and total discipline each and every day. Otherwise, we disqualify ourselves from everything that we stand for. We may profess to be a believer, but if our lives say differently, people will see this and they won't listen to us. We need to get it right, there is a lost world on our doorsteps; they don't know Jesus and we do. The thing is, are they noticing that we are different? Do we draw them towards Jesus by the way that we live our lives? Are we running the race to obtain that crown? 

We are made in God's image. Do people see this in us? If they don't, we need to correct this, time is running out for people. Jesus is coming sooner than we can imagine.

 Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

A Great Symphony

"Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them."                         Matthew 18:19-20     NKJV  

The power of agreement is amazing and provides the results that both God and ourselves want. Pastor Keith Moore from Faith Life Church in Branson, Missouri, made a God empowered comment back in 2005. He said: 

'When you want what God wants, for the same reason He wants it, you become unstoppable'

                                                            

Read it over and over again until it begins to settle in your spirit. It is a statement of total agreement with God and when we can get into this place, there is nothing that can't be done in the Kingdom of God. 

In Greek, the word 'agreement,' is sumphoneo which is made up of two syllables SUM, which means 'together' and PHONEO, which means 'to sound i.e. to sound together, be in accord and be in harmony.' The word symphony comes from sumphoneo. Metaphorically speaking, the word means to agree together in prayer that is concordant. David Guzik comments on this by saying, 'They compliment each other like a great orchestra - a metaphor taken from a number of musical instruments, set to the same key and playing the same tune - a symphony.'

So, getting back to our main text for today, we recognise how powerful and essential being in agreement is. When this happens, Jesus is right in the midst of us and things begin to happen in amazing ways. Take for example Acts 2. The disciples and apostles were together in one accord. They were in agreement to Jesus' command. He had told them to wait for the promise of the Father. Therefore, as it was a dangerous place to be, following Jesus' death and resurrection, they had assembled in an upper room. This was true fellowship.

The word fellowship is koinonia in the Greek and this means sharing and partnering with each other and sharing communion. In common this was an intimate bond of fellowship with the rest of the Christian society, which demonstrated the full meaning of koinonia, which is cementing the believers to the Lord Jesus and to each other. Total agreement. When this happens, you get what happened next - God's power manifested.There was a mighty rushing wind and the power of the Holy Spirit, hit the place with so much force that they all began to speak in another tongue and through the chaos of all of this, over three thousand people were saved.

There we have it, this is why God wants us to live our lives in total agreement with Him and other Christian folk. This is what God wants and when we want it as well, for the same reason He wants us to have it, we will then become unstoppable. 

Is this what you want? Of course it us so get into agreement with God right now!

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

                                                                  

BE READY by Hazel Howard

6"and swore [an oath] by [the name of] Him who lives forever and ever, WHO CREATED HEAVEN AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE EARTH AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN IT, that there will be delay no longer. 7 but when it is time for the trumpet call of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God [that is, His hidden purpose plan] is finished, as He announced the gospel to His servants the prophets."                    

                                                                   Revelation 10:6-7    Amplified Study Bible

For many months now, I have been held by the Holy Spirit in the book of Revelation, particularly in Chapter 10 where the Holy Spirit has delayed me for quite a while. I have recently been guided into a New Assignment - praying for the Land and Sea in the County and Region where I live.

This morning as I was praying over the maps of the Lands, I received a word which I believe I need to share, it began with my praise:

'I praise You O Lord that Your voice is hovering over the waters. (Psalm 29:3), and over the Land (Psalm 50:1) and that Your presence is here, O Lord,' and then I heard in my spirit:

"The time between Now and hearing The Trumpet Call, get yourselves ready so that you are not disqualified. 

Can you be disqualified? 

Yes, read what Paul says below:

'Do you not know that in a race all the runners run [their very best to win], but only one receives the prize? Run [your race] in such a way that you may seize the prize and make it yours. 

25 Now every athlete who [goes into training and ] competes in the games is disciplined and exercises self-control in all things. they do it to win a crown that withers, but we [do it to receive] an imperishable [crown that cannot wither]. 

26 Therefore, I do not run without a definite goal; I do not flail around like one beating the air [just shadow boxing]. 

27 But [like a boxer] I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so after I have preached [the gospel] to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified [as unfit for service].'

                                                                                              1 Corinthians 9:24-27

And WHEN you hear that Trumpet Call - OBEY! 

Do whatever He tells you to do. 

Deal with whatever He tells you to deal with.  

BE READY!

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Copyriight 2021 Hazel Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

All Scriptures are from the Amplified Study Bible 

Jesus our Security

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"                                                 Psalm 27:1     NKJV

Whenever King David was fearful or in the middle of trouble, the first thing he did was pray - 'But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.' 1 Samual 29:6. He may have killed bears and lions in the past while looking after his father's flock; he may also have slain Goliath, that very large awesome giant, but he knew that he could never make it through any day without his Heavenly Father. And this is exactly what we should do as well. We can never make it on our own.

When we put God in the centre of our troubles, He lifts our heads and our hearts. This is because He is our refuge  and our fortress. There's no need to be afraid of anything. He is our security and our protection. You may remember when you were young, that to go out in dark nights was the ultimate in scariness. I lived in quite a rural place with hardly any street lamps if there were any, they hardly lit anything up. They were more like candles. It was scary to walk about. There were noises of foxes, cows and of course, the eerie call of an owl. Yes it was scary to venture out. However, when we look at our text, God is our light. At the creation, He called out, 'Let there be light,' Genesis 1. He still creates light today, His name is Jesus. He says, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.' John 8:12.  He lights up the way for us through all of the trouble that may come our way. Therefore, we have nothing to fear or be tormented about.

He is also our salvation. Now this is an interesting word. In the Greek, it means soteria and means, deliverance, preservation, soundness, prosperity, happiness, rescue and general well-being. This salvation is a present possession with a fuller realisation for the future. Jesus not only delivers us, He preserves us too. His desire is to ensure that we are happy and prosperous in all areas, not only finance but our well-being. However, soteria also offers us salvation in its fullest extent - eternal life. When we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour, we qualify for all of these benefits, the greatest being, we will live forever with Jesus in heaven.

Jesus is our security. He offers us Himself and will escort us wherever we go. He will also escort us through death. He will be right beside us. Psalm 23:4. Jesus Christ offers the best insurance policy that could ever be obtained and, what's more, it is free with no hidden agendas.

What more could you ask for?

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Doubt asks questions - Faith makes declarations

"For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says."                                      Mark 11:23     NKJV

Our title for this study today, was from a word delivered by Pastor Keith Moore of Faith Life Church in Branson, Missouri, and highlights all we want to cover this morning. God doesn't respond to your need, He responds to your faith. This is why Jesus says, 'he will have whatever he says.'

Jesus says here, that whoever says to this mountain (this means an obstacle that is standing in the way of walking successfully in the Holy Spirit), be removed and doesn't doubt (that's the big one), but believes that what he has asked for will be done, he or she will have it.

Let's look at this more closely, say for example we asked for healing. God's Word has already said that we are healed by the stripes of Jesus; therefore, we believe it and receive it into our hearts. We don't  keep 

praying and asking God for it. Why keep asking God for what He has already given you? No, instead of keep asking, we thank Him for our healing and keep on praising Him until we receive the full manifestation of it. When we ask for healing, we are initially in the natural realm. As we wait on God for the healing to manifest, we are in the supernatural realm with our spiritual eyes focused on Him.

It's the same for anything that we ask God for. We may need a job or a new house; family to be saved or any other personal need. Therefore, we ask Him, believe Him and receive from Him. In other words, we begin to see what we have asked for in our spirits. Now, as we know, some prayers are answered instantly. Someone, somewhere can be prayed for and 'POW', they are made well. We see this time and time again in scripture. Others may not be. There may be a time-lapse before the answer comes. Of course, there may be something that God wants us to clear up and put right in our life before He acts. He may wants us to forgive someone; receive forgiveness ourselves or generally put something right. This is not always the case. Just because a person has to wait for the answer to come, doesn't mean that something is wrong. It's just the way it is. At times, some people do not appear to be healed - at all. We don't know the answer to this; it is one thing we'll have to ask Jesus about when we get to Heaven. However, this should never stop us from receiving in faith for healing, salvation for someone or whatever else. We need to keep thanking and waiting.

The big thing we need to deal with is doubt. It will always kick in with reasonable excuses why we should give up on the idea for healing, or receiving some other blessing. If we listen long enough to the doubt, it can convince us; don't forget, Satan has had some practice in the art of doubt. Resist doubt at once, take it captive and refuse to be steered off the right course. Then make your faith declaration. This way, you can be assured of your prayers being answered.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Do you waver?

6 "But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.'

                                                                                                           James 1:6-8    NKJV

When we ask God for wisdom on any given thing, He will give it to us. But at times, the answer we receive from God is different to the one that we were hoping for. We can then be out on a limb as we struggle with what to do. The thing is, if we have asked God by faith, to give us wisdom on something, He has done it and we need to accept it even though it may not be what we were expecting.

It can be the same when we ask God for direction on something. We may believe that God is calling us to do a particular thing. When we ask Him for clarification, and He confirms that we are taking the right road, we can become scared about it because deep down, we were hoping that he would tell us to be more cautious and leave it for a while. In both examples, we are doing what James described, being a double-minded man. 

Being double-minded is showing that we are in conflict with ourselves. One moment our minds are set on God, the next it is set on the world. We vacillate between belief and disbelief sometimes thinking God will help, the next giving up all hope of it happening. This is called wavering or staggering about, confused about the next step. We wonder if God has actually told us what to do or whether it was our minds playing tricks on us.

When we act this way, we're not really very effective at all. We are like a YoYo, one minute up, the next down. We need to work on our stability in God. Don't waver when you ask in faith. Consider only what God says, no matter how things may look and how much your flesh is screaming for you to do otherwise. Stay focused on the promise God has given you and don't stagger about.

I mentioned recently, 2 Corinthians 4:18, 'while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' 

Basically this is encouraging people of God not to comment on the problem, just thank Him and declare the solution which you can only see with your spiritual eyes. This is faith, we may not be able to see that we have been healed in the natural realm, but we live and operate in the supernatural realm and our spiritual eyesight picks up on that fact. 

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that, 'without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.' We need faith and we need to live in this 24 hours of each day. We have the study guide book, the book of rules and the wealth of knowledge that the Bible gives us; we just need to put it into practice.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

The burden will be taken away - Final part

"He restores my soul"                                                                 Psalm 23:3    NKJV

Today we come to the end of our teaching concerning Yokes and Burdens as seen in Isaiah 10:27. We've looked at Bitterness, Rejection, Failure, Health and Jealousy. There are many more areas that we could discuss, and we will, at a later time. For now, realise that if you have studied these areas, taken them to your heart and prayed over each one of them, it is as if you have placed the burden of each one of them into the buckets on the Yoke frame you were carrying on your shoulders, and you are free of them. When we do this, God anoints us with fresh oil (Psalm 92:10) and He restores us as our text declares. 

God restores our soul, which is made up of our mind, will and emotions. The mind includes our thought life and what we take on board; the will is what we do about any given thing, how we react and finally, emotions is how it affects us, the damage, bad emotions can cause or the blessing of good thoughts. Daily restoration of the anxious, weary soul is a major human need. Jesus is our Bridegroom and He is preparing us - His Bride, for the Wedding Feast in Heaven. He is getting us ready. 

This is what looking within ourselves is all about. When the Bride is prepared, Jesus will return for us and the intimacy that was broken in the Garden of Eden, will be completely restored. We will once again become one with Christ and with God as Jesus prayed in John 17.

Have you ever thought what it must have felt like for God when, after creating the Garden and Adam and Eve, they broke that early covenant with Him by eating the forbidden fruit and allowed sin to enter this perfect world. He must have felt devastated by it all, even though He had a plan. Notice how He still had compassion for them by making clothes for them to wear prior to being banished from the Garden. Anyone who has ever had a child leave home, will know how it feels in the heart to watch them leave.

To be restored is to bring back into existence or use; to re-establish and put back into a former position or location. This is what Jesus does for each one of us that call on Him. If you have done this, you can be assured that He has heard your cry, and restored you. You are no longer the way your were, you have been transformed into His image. We all have hang-ups; we all carry burdens that become so heavy we stumble under them; but when we cast them over to God by putting them into the burden bucket fitted on the yoke frame, we become free, in fact restored.

Today, why not give Jesus a special thanks, an offering of gratefulness for all He has done for you. No one else could have helped you, only Jesus.

'Lord Jesus, we offer up our praise and thanksgiving to You, Our Mighty God and friend, who cared enough to come down to earth to set us free. We give You thanks.

Amen