Are you worth your salt?

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."

                                                                                                          Matthew 5:13    NKJV 

In ancient times, salt was classed as a commodity. The Roman Empire paid its soldiers in salt. Storage vaults for this salt were called by the Latin name, salarium, from which we get the name salary. Hence, who does a poor job, 'isn't worth his salt'.

In the bible, salt was recognised as preservation or a stimulation of thirst and permanence. Jesus therefore, told His disciples to be like salt to the decaying world. He encouraged them to be the kind of salt that creates a thirst and draws people to Himself. 

Jesus used the analogy that if salt loses its saltiness, then it is of no use but to be thrown away. If it does not satisfy the taste of people then it can be of no use to anyone. Salt seasons food, likewise, the disciples were sent out to season the souls of mankind. 'O taste and see that the Lord is good.' Psalm 34:8. Thus, the lost are drawn to the Lord and preserved for eternal life.

What is your saltiness like? Do you season the need of people you meet? Do you add a preservative to their lives and satisfy their thirst? Is your thirst for good, waning? Why not come to the Supermarket of  Heaven and receive a free load of fresh salt - a commodity of love, strength and power. Then, when you are seasoned yourself, go and do the same for others.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

He is Risen Luke 24:6

                      

He Arose: -

because the devil had been defeated

His blood shed been completed

on the Cross of Calvary

There is no more work needed

or words that go unheeded

after the words that He

spoke, 'It is finished', on the

Cross of Calvary

His words if we believe them

and the story that goes with

them are written in the Bible

for all of us to read and

and will bring us to Salvation

unto a life Eternal

All, because of His blood shed

on the Cross of Calvary.

He gave us His great power and

Name of Authority that at the

Name of Jesus, ALL will bow

the knee, that we too can overcome 

him, (the devil) by the

Authority of the precious Name 

of Jesus and His blood shed for

you and me on the Cross of Calvary.

                                               Copyright 2021 Hazel Howard

Copyriight 2021 Hazel Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

When will I get this right?

"I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway."         Romans 7:18-19    New Living Translation

What a struggle the Christian life can be at times. We know what we should do but end up doing what we shouldn't. It's an ongoing battle between our human nature and our Spiritual one, and one that will follow us all of our Christian lives.

Charles R Swindoll says:

'Every Christian I know can identify with Paul's honest admission. You and I may have a new master, but sin is still there within us, still crouching near the door, ready to pounce. The battle is so relentless, so ruthless, it sometimes gets depressing - which may have been the very reason Paul finally let it all out: "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death". Romans 7:24.

                                             Flying Closer to the Flame Copyright 1993 Charles R Swindoll

You are not unique when it comes to committing sin. We all fall to it. The thing is, to not be taken over by it in our thoughts by wanting to give up. We belong to Jesus and we will never surrender!  

We have a Saviour in Jesus, who died on the cross for each one of us, who took our sins and placed them under the blood. Yes, we will have those times, but we will always have Jesus, who, as we confess our sin (1 John 1:9) will always forgive us.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Transformed

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove, what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." 

                                                                                                    Romans 12:2    NKJV

Ask yourself this question, 'Do I allow the Holy Spirit to transform my life?' Many times we limit the fire that He wants to put into our lives. Paul called it quenching the Spirit, 1 Thessalonians 5:19. To quench, carries the idea putting out the flame of the Holy Spirit. This is poured out to purify and enlighten us. We often quench the Spirit by refusing to allow Him to move us in a way that He wants to. This may be speaking in tongues, prophesy or generally getting lost in worship.  

We may look at others who are being moved by the Spirit and feel, embarrassed by it all and say to ourselves, 'I will never do that.' Once we do that, we are restraining the Spirit, in all He wants to give us.

William James once said, 'We can alter our lives by altering our attitudes', and that about sums it up - our attitudes. When the Holy Spirit is in operation in a service, we can shy away from what is happening but, by doing this, we are robbing ourselves. The early disciples did quite a few things before Jesus was crucified, but nothing life-changing. But when the Spirit of God fell on them all at Pentecost, fire came down and power was displayed in them and they would never be the same again. At least 3000 were saved by Peter's sermon that day and lives changed in an instant. That was the power of God; and that is the power that He wishes to place in your life too.

When we are transformed by the Spirit of God, we are changed instantly, but the full manifestation can take a lifetime to complete, Philippians 1:6. It is a gradual transformation because you are being changed from the inside out. The Holy Spirit is gentle with us and changes us little by little. He will never embarrass us, we do that ourselves. Walking in the Spirit includes the transformation of our minds - our thought-life. Often, what we think, can ruin the moment even though we may not speak it out. Therefore, we need the Spirit to allow us to make a few adjustments.

You can tell when the Holy Spirit 'comes upon you', especially if you have a word to give out in church. The longer you leave it, your chest begins to pound until you can contain it no longer and have to speak the word out. He is forever with us; as we ask Him to show us the way in any given situation, He is there to direct. If we make a wrong move, we can feel we have erred in our hearts but, He gives us the opportunity to rectify this.

You need the Holy Spirit!. You don't have to speak in tongues or roll across the floor, but, when the Spirit is upon you, you will feel good for doing this. But it is a choice. Speaking in tongues is important because the devil has not a clue what we are saying. Also the Holy Spirit puts into words, what we find difficult to say. It edifies us; it empowers us.

If you don't speak in tongues or prefer to quench the Spirit, you will not be disqualified from Heaven. But you will dip out on all the excitement that God wants you to flow in. 

If you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit - baptised - please say this prayer with me:

Holy Spirit 

Please send Your power upon me and fill me with your fire, the fire that will transform my life from this day forth. Give me the ability to speak in tongues and be changed from the inside out. In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

                                                                                                         

 

He's no longer in the grave

 "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."     

                                                                                                           Luke 24:5-6    NKJV

Phil Driscoll, the Christian Musician, wrote a song entitled 'He's Alive Again', the chorus line went like this:

He's alive again, the stone's been rolled away

He's alive again, He's no longer where He lay

He's alive again, I can hear the angels say,

Let all the world rejoice, He's alive!

And it is true, He is not in the grave any longer, He has risen - Praise God. Death could not hold Him. He broke the chains of death and rose again and He has given the devil the biggest headache that he has ever had. He thought that he had finished Jesus off finally, but Jesus is too powerful, the grave couldn't hold Him and today, Christians the world over are rejoicing, because their King - Jesus, is alive and well.

Jesus is not just a figure in the history books, He is alive. The respected Christian writer, Andrew Murray wrote in his book, Jesus Himself:

'A dead Christ, I must do everything for, a living Christ does everything for me. This is the difference between a dead Christ, who the women went to anoint, and a living Christ, 

                                                                                    Copyright Andrew Murray

Jesus is not only a model for life, He is a living presence to help us live. Some people's Christianity may have lacked an essential something because they may have been looking for Him among the dead, but He is alive!

And because of this, each one of us need to recognise Jesus is alive; He is with us wherever we are; in whatever we do, whatever plans we have and through all the many problems that may come our way. He has an 'alive' answer to whatever situation we may come up against. If we need healing, it is an 'alive' answer He gives us. He healed us by His stripes on the cross, sickness was finished then. We just have to claim it. For every need we have, He has an 'alive' answer. 

Therefore, because you serve an 'alive Christ', He wants you to be an 'alive Christian', one who walks the walk with Jesus Christ and never looks back to what they used to be. Don't seek the living among the dead, seek Jesus.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

The Aftermath

"Simon Peter said, 'I am going fishing'. They said to him, 'We are going with you also."

                                                                                                      John 21:3    NKJV

There had been a lot of speculation that Jesus had risen from the dead, some, including Peter and the others had even seen Him; but where was He now? Had it all been a vision? Had it been auto-suggested to them that Jesus would arise so much, that they had believed they had seen Him? Questions and more questions.  It was total confusion for them and incredibly devastating. They had given all they could to serve Him, until the last moments when they had all fled for their lives. Now, it was emptiness, no hope or enthusiasm, nothing. For Peter it must have felt worse. he had denied he had been with Jesus to save himself. Jesus had told him that he would do this but he hadn't believed Him. Now, endless guilt. All they could do was to go back to what they knew best - fishing, which was their livelihood. But their hearts wasn't in it.

What would it feel like to not have the presence of Jesus around anymore? To us, who have known Him for some time, it would feel the same - awful. In fact, after such a time, we too would not be able to function properly. 

Some of you may be feeling this right now. An emptiness, nothing to look forward to anymore. You may feel heavy-hearted; some may even have a great sense of guilt for one reason or another. Let's face it, we know when we have done wrong, don't we? The weight of our sin weighs very heavy.

At this time, some of you may be missing someone who was a central part of your life and now, they are not there any longer. They may have left or they may have died. The great sense of loss is the same. There is an emptiness that cannot be filled. No hope, no enthusiasm, no nothing.

For Peter and the others, they were a fishing trip away from being re-united with Jesus again and they didn't know it. For you, your loved one, may not return in this life because they have died, but take heart, they are only a journey away from you. One day, you too will take the same journey and you will see them again; you will be re-united and this time it will be for eternity.

The only one at this time, who can help you with that hurt; that emptiness is Jesus. He has been there. He died and rose again, and if you know Jesus as Lord, you will too and you will once again walk the land with your loved ones.

Until then, even though you may be alone with your grief, you are not really Because Jesus is right their beside you. If you will let Him, He will put His arms around you and hug you, carry you and help you along each day of your life, until it is journey time for you.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

 

The Cross

"Father forgive them for they do not know what they do:              Luke 23:34    NKJV 

2000 or so years ago, Jesus hung on that cross at Calvary for people like you and I. He was sin free but took the sin of the world upon Himself because this was the only way to the Father, who could not look upon sin. 

He hung on this cross for around three hours, in brutal agony. He had been beaten, taunted by soldiers, spat at, humiliated and had nine inch nails forced into His hands and feet to hold Him on the cross.If you have had a splinter or a thorn in your hands, you will know the pain that causes. Imagine what these large nails would have done to Jesus' body. Once the cross was erected, it would have been dropped into the hole and the force of this would have shaken His whole body causing more pain.

The pain must have been unbearable and yet, from the cross, He even blessed and forgave one of the other criminals who had also been crucified. 'Lord remember me when You come into Your Kingdom,' he cried out. Jesus replied, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise,' Luke 23:42-43. Even in His pain, He had time for all who called out to Him, and He still has the time today. 'For whoever calls on the Name of the Lord, shall be saved.' Romans 10:13.

Jesus cried out from the cross, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.' He then said, 'It is finished' John 19:30. He had done all that He had to do. His mission was over, He had succeeded in completing it. Note that when He said 'Forgive them,' He also meant you and I, not only those who had done this to Him. He meant it for us too, together with all of the people throughout this world. He paved the way and prayed that the Father would forgive all of us. Why? Because, without Jesus, we are covered in sin. It is just like you and I have put Him on the cross ourselves. We are guilty of this crime - until we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. We are then declared not guilty.

The significance of Jesus' statement that, 'It is finished', meant just that. He has finished all that He needed to do. He has provided healing for us, by His stripes, 1 Peter 2:24. As we accept Him as Lord, He has opened the way to the Father for us, John 3:16. He has done so much for us, we have a place in Heaven that He has provided, John 14:1-3. It is all finished. We just have to accept this, ask Him into our hearts and He provides us with eternal life. 

There is nothing else that He can do to demonstrate His love to all of us. He took our sin upon Himself; just think of all you have done wrong, He paid the price for this; He took the guilt of it, and He will forgive you and forget about it - forever, if you ask Him to. 

If you would like to make Jesus Your Lord and Saviour, why not ask Him right now:

Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Thank you for setting me free. I recognise that it is all finished and your have the victory. Please forgive me for all the sin I have ever committed, wash me clean in Your blood. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and be My Lord and Saviour. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Do you realise something? All of those people who were rubbing their hands together with glee because they felt that they had once and for all, got rid of Him, were in for a mighty shock. It was Friday but, Sunday was just around the corner.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE