Peter on: We once were not, but now we are!

"But you are a chosen generation, a holy priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people that you may proclaim the praise of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light, 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy."             1 Peter 2:9-10    NKJV                                                                                                  

What an amazing statement! We are no longer ordinary, we are extra-ordinary, not natural but supernatural! And this is all because of Jesus, who brought us out of our old lives, giving us new ones with an amazing potential. He has changed our lives and given us hope.

Jesus called us out of the darkness we used to walk in and, gave us His endless mercy - hesed, which translates to kindness, mercy, lovingkindness, unfailing love, tenderness and faithfulness. This mercy is available to all who want it, and we have the charge to let them know about it. 

We are chosen and a Royal Priesthood (Revelation 1:6) and a holy nation. The part that I love, is that we are His own special people. God looks upon us as special. We all long for love and attention; we all long to be special to somebody and, here it is in black and white, we are special to God. 

As I thought about this, God gave me the thought that, we once were not, but now we are. Say that over and over for a minute or two and allow the Holy Spirit to flood you with the awareness that, without God, you once were not, but now you are. You belong to the Lord - the people of God. The God of mercy has shown us His mercy and aren't you pleased that He has done. You were once far from the truth. You were on a downward spiral to disaster with only hell to look forward to in eternity. Now, you are a special person, chosen man or woman of the Most High God.

Thank you Lord, that we once were not, but now we are

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Peter on: Spirituall growth

"as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby."

                                                                                                    1 Peter 2:1-3    NKJV

When a garden is planted, there is a need for planning; the ground has to be prepared. It needs digging, weeding, feeding and generally tending well, in order for a good harvest to follow. Likewise, a Christian, whether new or saved a long time, needs planting and weeding. In other words, nurturing and being taught to avoid the temptations and distractions of the world. It doesn't just happen, there's a lot of work that the believer has to put into action in order to stay on the right road to holiness.

Things such as malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all evil speaking, must no longer be a part of their lives. This can take a long time to overcome; for some a lifetime. It's all a learning process, it doesn't happen overnight and then everything is hunky dory from thereon. The term 'lay aside', v1 is a picture of taking off a coat and hanging it up. It is not needed for a time. A perfect example was Bartimaeus, (Mark 10:50) who cast his garment aside when Jesus called him to come to Him. Some say that he didn't need it because it was a begging cloak - something that distinguished him as this. Others say, it would be full of alms. Whatever, he decided that he didn't need it and laid it aside; and we need to do the same with all the things in our lives that are not wholesome.

Peter tells us to desire the pure milk of the Word. All believers need to learn and keep on learning, there is always something new that Jesus is teaching us. This learning process needs cultivating. A babe doesn't go to Burger King for its meal, it needs milk. Likewise, we don't have a large meal on a Sunday and skip meals for the rest of the week. The baby needs to be breast or bottle fed until it can move on to solids. We are the same. It's no good going to bible college or planning a preaching ministry on day one of salvation. It takes time to be nurtured first. Also, a believer cannot manage on one meal of the Bible on a Sunday at church and then not read or study the Word until the following Sunday. It needs to be an everyday process.

Do you get the idea? We need spiritual food not junk food. Reading the bible once a week and then filling our minds with things of the world for the rest of the week, is akin to eating spiritual and junk food. This needs rectifying if we are wanting to move on with Jesus.

It's hard work living the Christian life. It takes effort on our part. However, the dividends are amazing and well worth it.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Peter on: It's time to be holy

" Be holy, for I am holy.'                                                                1 Peter 1:13-21    NKJV

God is calling His church to action. God is calling His church to be ready. God is calling is church to prepare to be holy. If you don't want to live a defeated life, you must roll up your sleeves and be determined to focus your life on Jesus. He wants His people holy. Holiness is an inward transformation; it is cleanliness of the soul - mind, will and emotions. This manifests itself in obedient living. Holiness sets us apart from the world. We are not living for the world, we are living for God and people should be able to see this; as strange as it may seem to them.

The term 'gird up the loins,' was an image well known to Peter and the people around him at that time. The people had to gather up their robes to the waist, so that they could move easier and not trip up. 'Gird' means to prepare for action. We as people of God, need to do similar; we need to gather up our thoughts and our bad habits and behaviours and move unhindered in God's grace, ready for action.

Jesus is holy and yet, He made Himself nothing - an outcast and in the eyes of the authorities, a troublemaker. And yet, He did this for you and I. He was prepared to give it all up for us, so that we would have the chance to live in Heaven when we die. He knew that our sin would keep us apart from His Father and with it, we had no chance of eternal life. Therefore, He gave Himself up to die in our place so that, we could be saved as we accepted Him as our Lord.

Tell me, is it too much to ask to live holy lives for Him? Is it too much to live separate from the world working for Jesus? Is it too much for us to give up our lives too, and dedicate them to Jesus, to be His special agent in this evil world?

He is calling His church to action. He is calling His church to be ready. He is calling you - child of God, to be holy, as He is holy. Will you take Him up on the offer?

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Peter on: A Living Hope

"Blessed be the God  and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

                                                                                                                1 Peter 1:3    NKJV 

Peter here, speaks of a living hope. Let us look at this. Worldly hope is nothing more than wishful thinking. We say things like, 'I hope it's not going to rain today.' Also 'I hope that there isn't another lockdown.' These, when you think about it, are just throw-away statements. There is no substance to them. They are nothing more than wishes. However, Peter goes deeper here. Whereas worldly hope deteriorates and dies, a Christian hope is biblical and built on a resurrected Saviour - Jesus Christ. It is a foundation, one that cannot be shaken. A biblical hope is knowing what you believe in and standing on it. In other words, a certainty. God showed me years ago that we should discard the word 'hopefully,' because there is nothing to rely on, it is uncertain and just a wish. However, if we separate the word into two 'hope-fully' then we are into biblical thinking. We are biblically and fully hoping in God, in other words we are speaking a 'living hope.' It is something that I took on board and encourage you to do so, as well.

In verse 4, Peter says, we have a living hope of being with Jesus - eternally. If we have asked Jesus into our lives, we received salvation. The living hope is kept (garrisoned by an army), reserved there for when Jesus calls us home. We have mansions to dwell in there and He intends to come and take us there one day. (John 14:2). The term, 'garrisoned by an army' is the translated Greek word for kept. Therefore, no one can take our salvation away, not even the devil. We have a reservation in Heaven that is awaiting us.

Now this living hope is built around our faith, we can't see it but we know that it's there. 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, 'while we do not look at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' It is a faith thing, and we know that we can trust Jesus. He will be true to His Word and one day we will share in the splendour of heaven with Him and others. Imagine having a chat with the Apostle Paul or King David. Wowzer, that blows you away, but you will be able to when you arrive there at your Heavenly destination.

These are the things that the prophets foretold and the things that angels long to look into. The  Heavenly angels do not need salvation; they are there already. However, the fallen angels, together with their leader, get a glimpse of what we will have every time they see us.

So remember, keep your living hope alive! It will happen soon.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Prayer - Praise and more Prayer

"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing Psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord." 

                                                                                                James 5:13-14    NKJV 

Prayer is an essential ingredient to a successful life in Jesus. Without it, we are lost. Many people only pray when things become bad. After that, they go back to the occasional prayer. This is not the way God wants us to be. We need to be in daily communication with Our Lord and Chief - Jesus. Tony Evans writes, 'If you want to gauge your spiritual life, look at the thermostat setting on your prayer life.' It is so essential that we get the balance right. 

Communicating with God is important when we are suffering; but, so is communicating with Him, when we are cheerful. This is the time that we need to be showing our gratitude to Jesus through praise and worship. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, '

'Rejoice always. 17 Pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus for you.'

When we are sick, James says that we are to call for the elders of the church so that they can pray and anoint us with oil. However, let us look at the meaning of this. The Greek word for sick is astheneo, which translates to 'weak'. This refers to any kind of weakness, physical or otherwise. The text means if anyone is so weak and struggling, then they should seek help from the elders who would pray for them, offering encouragement, joy - which is another meaning for anointing with oil - and refreshment. The idea was that, each church should have practical ministry in place to aid members who were weak. If they were sick and were healed, then praise God, but this was not the main purpose James was referring to. Furthermore, if it was thought that a person, who was sick, had sin in their lives, so they should confess this to the elders who could then pray accordingly, so that the person could be forgiven. However, it must be stressed that not every sickness is the result of sin being in a person's life.

So, we see how prayer is essential to a successful life in Jesus. What setting is your prayer thermostat showing? It is something that we have to work on. If you're like me, I have a tendency to drift off, possibly owing to a poor attention span. I therefore, have to concentrate or, better still, speak in tongues where I find I can manage that a little better. Probably, you are similar. It is something that is worth building on because, having a good prayer life brings great benefits.

Have a good day. Tomorrow we'll look at 1 Peter.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

James on: Waiting for things to fit into place.

"Therefore, be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth; waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain"                                                                                                     James 5:7    NKJV 

A patient attitude here, means to control one's temper in the face of mistreatment and to be ready for God's vindication. We should never grumble and criticise one another. We never know when Jesus will be returning. Therefore, there may be a need to reassess one's attitude and conduct. A tongue that criticises, places a person in grave danger of judgement. Someone may have wronged you or things may not be going as well as you had anticipated but, be patient, things have a habit of changing quickly when God's in charge.

Oaths are generally best avoided. People have been known to say things such as, 'May God strike me down dead, if I'm lying to you.' Don't say it, He may just take you at your word. Others have said, 'I swear on the Holy Bible', or 'Cross my heart and hope to die.' We should never say such things. Our 'Yes' or 'No', should be all that is required. You have no need to convince people at all.

A farmer is dependent on the early and late rains for a successful crop. While he is waiting, he doesn't just sit around looking at the fields, He busies himself with other things. Likewise, Christians need this type of patience for what they require. Only heaven can bring the rain so while you are waiting for your particular rain, are you like the farmer fulfilling your responsibilities until it comes?

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

James on: Humility and Direction

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."                                                      James 4:7-10    NKJV

Submit

When we resist the devil in Jesus' Name, he must flee from us. However, there is more to do than this. Firstly, we need to submit to God. In other words, we need to place ourselves under His care and direction. Some people find it difficult to submit to anyone, let alone God. But, to refuse to submit demonstrates a 'proud spirit'. To be proud in this way shows rebellion, selfishness, the act of being puffed up and that you are better than the others. 

Lucifer became this, (Isaiah 14:12-21). He became proud and wanted what God had. It brought him to his downfall. Now Satan is hell-bound, together with his demons dreading the day that Jesus returns.

Draw near

To draw near is a phrase used in the Old Testament describing the Levitical priests approaching God with their sacrifices, (Exodus 19:22) hence, when God's people draw near to Him in worship, He will always draw near to them in response. (Zechariah 1:3).

Lament, mourn and weep

In verse 9, James writes that we should lament, mourn and weep about our sin. When we sin we often have a great awareness of it - a heaviness that won't go away and creates, guilt and remorse. This is conviction and the feeling can be horrid. This is the time we need to draw near to God and confess this, seeking His forgiveness. When we do, He in return will draw near to us and totally forgive us. (1 John 1:9). We all have times such as this, you are not the only one. Check out verse 10: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

He is a forgiving, loving God who longs to give us His best. Just reach out to Him and receive all that he has for you. You will never regret it.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE