Under attack? Then rejoice!

"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." 

                                                                                                Matthew 5:11-12    NKJV

Let's look at this statement from Jesus clearly. He is saying that, when we are suffering persecutions, false accusations and all the other stuff thrown at us, for His sake, then we should rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Now to the world, this would seem ridiculous and possibly cowardly. To be falsely accused, lied about and dragged through the gutter while someone stabs us in the back, is not one's idea of pleasure. Is it?

Jesus, says it is. He tells us here that, when we have got ourselves in position for Him and start moving forward in the Holy Spirit, then the devil becomes worried. In fact, we become a threat to him. It's hard to realise this but, it's true.

Jesus tells us to rejoice in the fact that the devil has to send in his heavier demons to counteract  us going any further. Let that settle in your mind for a moment. Those who suffer with Him, by way of persecution in this life, will be glorified with Him in the next. Surely, you didn't think the devil would leave you alone when you are in a position to take some of his ground. When you become active for God - watch out, because he will plot an attack of some sort.

Let us analyse this for a moment. When you are suffering an attack, you can be sure that you have begun to make some progress for God. The devil doesn't like this, so he will send all he can to make you stop. So that is something to rejoice about. You are in God's will. The devil doesn't waste his time with inactive people. They are no threat to him at all.

Just lately, you may have suffered false accusations. Someone has been led to make an issue about you and it may be quite devastating. Stand firm and keep your peace. This is the time that you need Jesus to step in and set you free from these lies; and He will. There may be hate towards you, back-biting, where people talk about you and make you feel uncomfortable in their presence. Hold your head up high. The battle is not yours, but God's. Let Him handle this.

Whatever is coming against you, don't let it prevent you from doing God's work. Keep your peace, if you give it all to Jesus, He will take care of it all. Don't go into your shell, stand up tall; this is part of the Armour of God - Ephesians 6, especially verse 13. Keep standing. 

All you need to do, is what Jesus said, 'Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.'

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

What do you see and hear?

 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear."

                                                                                                 Matthew 13:16     NKJV

As Christians, we are the blessed. God has given us the Holy Spirit in order for us to be enlightened and led to the truth about the things of God. (John 16:30). Many unbelievers do not understand us, they think that we are strange, to say the least, especially if they hear us speaking in tongues. But there is so much more that we need to operate in.

Take for example a newspaper advertisement.I used to work in newspaper advertising at one time, and I know how an advertisement is created in order to grab the attention of the reader. There is a kind of psychology to it, one which draws the reader in so much, that they just have to have what is on offer. Life cannot exist without this particular item, type of thing. So, ask yourself, if a person is prone to believe what the advertisement is saying about something, and believe it; why then don't they believe what the Word of God says about Jesus? In a similar manner, a Christian may believe  their doctor when he tells them that they have an incurable illness, so, why don't they believe what is written in their bible about healing?

There is so much that we have to learn about. Time is running out. Many people believe that we are living in the last days - the end times. There is some scope to believe this when you look around at all of the terror and pain that is going on in the world today. Then of course there is the pandemic that we are still trying to get through. Add to that the violence and uprises that are happening all over the place and it is easy to believe that Jesus' return is imminent.

Whether it is or it isn't, we need to train ourselves to walk with God 24/7. There is a need to read the bible much more and understand it. We need to learn that, through Jesus, we have a future in Heaven. We are eligible to have God speak to us personally and show us things that no one else can see. He does this, as we draw nearer to Him. He is also available for us to speak to Him as well, at any time of day or night. He is so interested in you - more than you could ever imagine.

God longs to show you things that you've never seen and tell you things that you long to hear. He is Your Father - the Daddy of them all - Abba Father. Tony Campolo used to say that God carried a photograph of you in His wallet and whenever He saw someone, say, 'Have you seen My son - My daughter. Obviously, there is no possible biblical evidence to this, but I could see Him doing this. He is so proud of us and so much in love with us. In fact, He wants to show each and everyone of us, things to come and give us blessing after blessing.

The thing is, we need to get into position for this. We need to allow Him to give us eyes to see and ears to hear about the Kingdom. If you want this, spend more time with Him.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Hard-Heartedness

"So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses."                                                    Exodus 9:35      NKJV

To the Hebrew, the heart was the centre of one's existence, including emotions, wisdom and skill. A person acts and speaks from the heart, so we should guard it carefully. (Matthew 15:18-19. So the heart of Pharaoh was hard, he wouldn't let the children of Israel go as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

Hard-Heartedness, is a symbolic expression for rebellion or a stubborn and unyielding spirit. David Guzik comments:

'Hardening the heart against God is sin; failing to repent when God graciously answers our plea, is to ignore His rich mercy. To ignore His rich mercy, is to sin yet more.'

                                                                                         Copyright 2018 David Guzik

Hardness of heart has its root in many areas. One of these is when a person has been hurt so deeply that they find it difficult to accept it - even to make sense of it. They may have trusted someone deeply and then, had the wind knocked out of their sails by being trodden all over by this particular person. Yes this hurts, but the hard-hearted one is the one who is suffering, not the person who supposedly caused it. Bitterness can begin to settle within the heart and it can cause arguments within families; bad feeling towards church members or whoever else.

One particular cause was addressed by Jesus. He taught about the parable of the Sower and said in Mark 4:16-17:

'These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness.; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulations or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.'

Basically, what Jesus was saying is that they have no depth. They have not placed the Word of God deep enough within their heart. Therefore, when trouble, designed to hurt and maim comes their way, instead of handling the situation God's way, they internalise it and become bitter and hard-hearted.

This may be where you are at this time. You may be like a bear with a sore head over things that have happened to you. This doesn't mean that you can lose your salvation - not at all. God is not like that. However, He does want it sorting out and the best way to do it, is to talk to Him and let Him do a little Spiritual surgery on you.

Just think, the only one who is hurting through this, is yourself and the people who are close to you. The one that hurt you, doesn't know about it, unless you have told them. For peace of mind and for your own self-preservation, don't you owe it to yourself to give it to God and be set free? You'll feel a lot better.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

 

God's Mercies

"This I recall to my mind, therefore, I have hope."         Lamentations 3:21-23    NKJV

Jeremiah was prone to suffer from depression and here he finds a way out. The prophet has suffered severe anguish  and he couldn't see a way through all the darkness he was undergoing. This is quite a common symptom that one can suffer when they are depressed. There doesn't appear to be a way of moving forward and everywhere is painted in darkness. They need something to bring them hope. 

This happened to Jeremiah. He turned around and made the decision to change the way he was thinking. He began to think hope  instead of despair. He said, 'This I recall to my mind, therefore, I have hope.'. He then went on to say:

'Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.'

It is useful to think back to the times that God has rescued us; that time when we were in total despair, and He came, wrapped His arm around us, or even carried us and set us down on firm ground once again. I have a feeling that some people need to hear this today. You may have blown it yesterday, or recently, but the Lord's compassions fail not because He is faithful.

Note the word 'Mercies'. This is that Hebrew word again hesed. God's hesed remains and thank goodness that it does. It can be translated as, 'Covenant love or Steadfast love', and it demonstrates His compassion, truth, faithfulness and goodness to us, His children, who He loves dearly.

You may have been feeling low just lately through one thing or another. You may have thrown a wobbly yesterday, one in which today, you feel ashamed or guilty. You may feel that God will never forgive you now; you are a condemned person. Forget that, because that is the devil. He is the great accuser of the Saints. He loves nothing better than to tell God all about what we have messed up. God's answer is, that is My child who I love dearly. They may make great mistakes but My faithfulness is greater and they are covered by the Blood of My Son, Jesus.

So Child of God, speak wholesome things to yourself and stand up tall and straight. You have Kingdom business to take care of.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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