Betrayal

"And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, 'Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss?'        Luke 22:47-48     NKJV

Have you ever been betrayed? If you have, you'll know how painful this is, especially when you have known and trusted the betrayer well. It is a devastating experience. Whatever led Judas to betray Jesus has been debated over the years. Some say it was out of greed; what he had, was not enough and he wanted more - money and status. He could have worked out that he would be on a good earner if he told the authorities where Jesus was. Others focus on satan being the sole cause. Obviously, it can't be denied that satan was very much behind what was happening, but what was Judas' motive for this act. Others say that he was a thief. After all, he was the treasurer and could easily have had his hand in the bag. Other deeper theories, say that he had become disappointed in Jesus. He had expected Jesus to come and take His rightful place and head up a rebellion against the Roman authority. Whatever was his motive, he betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and this led to Jesus' arrest and subsequent crucifixion.

Hard to understand Jesus having to go through this kind of hurt, but it paved the way to show others how to handle this type of thing and warn that, if Jesus suffered betrayal then, we would too, at some stage of our walk with Jesus.

The Greek word for betrayal is paradidomi, and means to surrender, yield up, betray, deliver up and put in prison. It can also mean to inform on which can be a violation of trust together with being a deceiver, a traitor and an insincere person who will sell someone down the river if necessary.

Judas fitted all of these categories and it broke Jesus' heart. It is beyond reason to imagine someone doing this when they have been a follower of Jesus for some time; but sadly it happens, and you may have met a betrayer or two since you became a Christian. How do you spot a betrayer? You can't, they look just like you and I. We just have to go on trust. However, we should never trust anyone as much as we do Jesus. That is putting someone in God's place and if you do, you will get hurt at some stage, Jeremiah 17:5. But those whose trust is in God will be blessed. Jeremiah 17:7-8.

The bottom line is, we can't change the situation but, we can learn by it and forgiveness is the way forward. Whatever may have happened to you, you will go no further in blessing, until you forgive. When you do, God will open the blessings of Heaven to you.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

 

The Road to Emmaus

"Jesus Himself drew near and went with them."                 Luke 24:13-35      NKJV

On the build up surrounding Jesus' resurrection, let us look at a few things that happened. Many were astounded at the news that Jesus's body was no longer in the tomb where it had been placed and had been guarded by Roman soldiers. There had also been a very large stone placed in the doorway to prevent people going in there. But, the tomb was found to be empty. Many doubters, including the Romans and the local hierarchy felt that Jesus' body had been stolen in an effort to establish that Jesus' claim that he would rise again, was the truth. But how could this have happened when the tomb was guarded and the stone would have been much too heavy to move without great effort.

Therefore, people allover the area were debating this. Jesus noticed two chaps walking along the road to Emmaus and joined them.They were followers of Jesus but it was obvious from their conversation, that their faith was shallow. Whereas, people like Peter, John and Mary, were rejoicing that Jesus had actually risen as He said He would, these chaps were discussing what happened without any hope and as if, they felt let down by it all.

Jesus intervened and they were astounded that He led them to believe that He knew nothing about the situation, 'Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have you not known the things which happened there in these days?' v18. And they went on to explain what they knew. Jesus rebuked them after a time, v25, telling them that their spiritual dullness, came from a failure to recognise what the scriptures foretold, that the Messiah must suffer in such a way. They had been blinded by their despair. 

There is something that we must see in this account. Jesus can turn up anywhere that He chooses. These guys had been so busy talking about it all, that they missed the real thing - Jesus Himself in their presence. Busy-ness is ok but not at the risk of leaving Jesus out of things. He drew near to Cleopas and this other chap, He can do the same thing to us as well. What would He find if He chose to do this. If He just turned up in your day witnessing what you were saying and doing. Like the chaps here, who were too busy to recognise Him, would you do the same?

It really is food for thought. We should always be ready for the unexpected. As I've mentioned, being busy is ok, as long as Jesus figures in this busy-ness. Going to this meeting and then another and never having time for yourself, your family or even God, is never a good idea. We can end up leaving out, who we are seeking to bring in - Jesus Himself.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

 

It was obvious that they had been with Jesus Part 2

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus."                                                                                         Acts 4:13     NKJV

Peter, John and the other apostles, were not always the type of people one would have thought they should be. They had many rough edges just as we do, especially before they were baptised in the Holy Spirit. Robert E Coleman comments:

'What is more revealing about these men is that, at first they do not impress us as being key men. None of them occupied prominent places in the synagogue, nor did any of them belong to the Levitical priesthood. For the most part they were common labouring men, probably having no professional training beyond the rudiments of knowledge necessary for their vocation. Perhaps a few of them came from families of some considerable means, such as the sons of Zebedee, but none of them could have been considered wealthy. They had no academic degrees in the arts and philosophies of their day. Like their master, their formal education likely consisted only of the synagogue schools. Most of them were raised in the poor section of the country around Galilee. Apparently, the only one of the twelve who came from the more refined region of Judea, was Judas Iscariot. By any standard of sophisticated culture then and now, they would surely be considered as a rather ragged aggregation of souls. One might wonder how Jesus could ever use them. They were impulsive, temperamental, easily offended and had all the prejudices of their environment. In short, these men selected by the Lord to be His assistants, represented an average cross section of the lot of society in their day. Not the kind of group one would expect to win the world for Christ'

                                                                        Copyright Robert E Coleman 1964

                                                                        The Master Plan of Evangelism

And there you have it. Not the greatest of references if they were applying for a job anywhere. The most amazing thing about all of this though, is the fact that even though such a testimony could be written about them, Jesus loved them and had faith in their ability. He knew their potential and by the time that they had been with Him, and been filled with the Spirit of God - that dunamis power, it could be said of them, they had been with Jesus.

This also confirms that there is hope for us. We may not feel like we are suitable for God's work; we may feel that we keep letting Him down with our attitude and behaviour but, in Jesus' eyes, we have a potential. He has started a work within us and will continue this until it is time to go home.

Now that is something to praise God for!

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

It was obvious that they had been with Jesus

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus."                                                                                         Acts 4:13     NKJV

Why would the members of the elite Sanhedrin, marvel at untrained and unlearned men? Because they were so impressed at their courage and the results they had received in healing the man at the gate Beautiful. They had nothing else to compare it with; the evidence was staring them in the face, the man had been made well. It could not be denied. Therefore, they were astounded and realised that these men had been with Jesus.

Now that is amazing in itself. They knew of Jesus, they had seen Him around preaching and teaching and had also seen Him in the synagogues around the area. He had such a mighty reputation. Now Peter and John were carrying out the same type of work and the results were evident, the man had been healed and they were echoing the work of Jesus and displaying the training He had given them.

The Sanhedrin would also have recognised that there was a dynamic power to all of this. It was the power of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were fulfilling the work Jesus had left them to carry out and were flowing in the power He said they would receive. It was a Heaven sent power.

All of this shines a light on the fact that there are many Christian leaders in the world today, who haven't received a formal training in theology and the hierarchy knock them for this. Let me just say, yes there is a place for formal training, very much so and it is good to attend these training places if one is to serve Jesus. However, Jesus can also anoint ordinary, Spirit-filled people to build amazing ministries, bringing many thousands of people to Jesus. We should never knock either direction a person takes. Jesus is the one who makes this choice. Therefore, sharing one's faith or testimony, should be guided by the Holy Spirit not just one's educational experience. 

God can use little old you to make a mighty difference where you live, work or go during any given day. He has commissioned you Matthew 28 & Mark 16 and you have been filled with the Holy Spirit from that day you came to Jesus. Perhaps you need a little extra power, so ask Him to baptise you in the Holy Spirit if you haven't been already. Get stuck into studying your bible until you're familiar with key verses. Once this has happened, you're good to go.

The most important characteristic you need to carry around, is allowing people to see, that you have been with Jesus. People cannot resist Him, whether they like Him or loathe Him.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

 

Believe in Yourself

"And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father"  

                                                                                                                 Revelation 1:6    NKJV

In God's eyes, this is who we are - kings and priests to God the Father. To hold the office of both king and priest, was forbidden in Old Testament times, as King Uzziah discovered. (Read 2 Chronicles 26:16-23.) Yet, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, these titles of royalty, special servanthood and representatives of God, are bestowed upon us. We have specially privileged access, day or night, to the Throne of Grace, where we will find mercy (Hesed), to help us in our need. Hebrews 4:16.

We need to let this sink in, especially on the days when we feel so unworthy; the times when we have a low self-image, feeling useless to mankind. Jesus has taken each one of us and turned us into a somebody. We may not have a great fortune or any particular talent, but Jesus has faith in us and sees our potential.

We live in a competitive world where people are always trying to outshine the other. In every area of life, someone will always try to do better than us. That's just the way it is. We would probably have witnessed this at school when another pupil may have said, 'My dad is bigger than your dad', or 'We live in a much better house than you do'. Then on into your teens and adulthood, where there would always be a person who had the latest designer clothes; a better MacBook or even a bigger and more powerful car. It never really stops, we even find it in the Christian world. We just have to learn how to live with it.

This morning, just realise and accept that you are a special person within the Kingdom of God. Accept this and see yourself this way. You don't have to brag about it, people will do that for you. You just need to see yourself as a loved and blessed Child of God - a giant killer when needed, but a loving peaceful dove at other times. You have nothing to prove because God loves you just as you are. You couldn't do anything different to make Him love you more.

You need to allow this to sink in and begin to see yourself the way Jesus sees you. Believe me, He can't get enough of you and protects and stands up for you every corner of your life - as long as you walk with Him, daily.

So accept your royal titles and live the life for Jesus, believing in yourself.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Shine the Light of Jesus

"Do all things without complaining and disputing"                 Philippians 2:14      NKJV

If there is one thing that we humans are good at, it's complaining, moaning and grumbling. We can really become expert at it, it takes little practice. The blame is always on other people and we find it difficult to admit that we are in the wrong and apologise. However, we really need to change this, as soon as possible.

The Israelites were extremely good at complaining. Moses had done a good job by bringing them out of Egypt, risking his own life; yet it was not good enough in their eyes. Let us not forget that, initially, Moses had tried to wriggle out of taking on this commission from God. Now, when he has performed what God had ordained, the Israelites were moaning. 'This is wrong, that was wrong, we should have remained in Egypt, at least we had comfort and decent food there'. 

They had taken their eyes off God and wanted someone other than Mose and Aaron, to do the work. They had no faith in them and less in God, who was the cause of it all. They had even had the audacity to say, 'Is the Lord with us or not?' They were ungrateful people with very short memories.

When the chips are down and things are totally against you; do you complain? When someone, in your opinion, has let you down, do you moan and blame them? Paul tells us to, 'do all things without complaining and disputing'. Why is this? Because, 'God wants us to live upright lives, blameless and harmless, without fault'. My paraphrase Philippians 2:15-16. In fact, He would have us shining as Lights in a crooked generation. There is already lots of anger around from unbelievers who want to protest and take the law into their own hands. We should act differently by holding fast to the Word of Life.

Easy to write and read about I agree, but much more difficult to put into action. However, we do have a role model - Jesus Himself. It would help to read and pray through Philippians 2:5 - 11. This is the heart of Jesus and the mandate for how we should live. He suffered a terribly, cruel and painful death, a death that we were responsible for because of our sin. Therefore, is it really too much trouble to teach ourselves to live as He did; to love as He did and shine His love - the love of the Father, wherever we go?

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

You are Able to do this

"Let us go up at once and take possession for we are well able to overcome it." 

                                                                                                   Numbers 13:30     NKJV

Bob Gass once wrote, 'How many times does something look impossible, simply because you think it is.' Think about that for a moment. Opportunities come your way and at first it seems a great idea. However, as time goes on and you have thought about it some more, the opportunity can appear to be too risky to attempt. This may be a new job, a house move or going into your own business. The prospect may appear very exciting initially but negatives can quickly take over and settling for second best follows shortly afterwards.

Remember one thing, God is your source; if He has placed an opportunity at your feet, He will supply what you need to put it into practice. He does though, expect you to count the cost and have the faith to carry the opportunity through. If you do this, He will be right there with you.

Thomas Edison said, 'Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed up in overalls and looks like work.' Don't have this attitude; God puts things your way but you need to work at it in order for it to be successful and, sometimes it can mean very hard work, with a few disappointments at first. However, achievers are not avoiders. Not only do they find solutions to the problems of life, but they discover a tremendous power within themselves - Jesus. 'He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.' 1 John 4:4. M People sang a song in the mid-90's that made this very clear. 'Search for the hero inside yourself,' and it is true. Jesus is your hero and you, are His. He makes heros and you are a winner in His eyes.

Our attitudes either lift us or they bury us and this is something that you need to watch out for. Some people talk about things but, they never do it. Don't be like them and miss the opportunity. Caleb said in our text today, 'Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.' Focus on the words, 'well able.' The word, 'able', in the Hebrew is Yakol and means to have power and the capacity to prevail and succeed. Paul said, 'you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you', Philippians 4:13. You are Well Able.

Don't reach the end of your life regretting you didn't do what you had the opportunity to do. It will be too late then. When the opportunity comes by, pray about it, check it out, count the cost and if it still sounds ok. go for it!

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE