I will not fear

"Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. 4 In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear, What can flesh do to me?"   Psalm 56:3-4     NKJV

Fear is a big problem in our lives today. We lie awake at night, worrying about this and being fearful about that. If we allow it, it takes over our complete lives. Bob Gass used a brilliant acronym for the word fear, FALSE - EVIDENCE - APPEARING - REAL. I love this. Just stop and think for a moment; there is a lot of truth in this acronym. Most things we fear or worry about, never happen and we have wasted all of that time in turmoil. It is just false evidence but there is a part that tries to appear real, the one that causes the doubt.

Of course, some fear is real and we have to learn how to manage it better. If we can do something about it, then do it. If we can't, then there really is no use in worrying about it. This is not denial that I am talking about here, not at all. It is having the ability to say, 'I will not fear' and then giving it over to God; rather like yesterday's reading, 'Roll it over'.

At the time of writing this Psalm, David was consumed with fear. However, he decided to think it through properly instead of reacting in haste. He compared the size of the problem (in his case, the enemies all around), to the size of his trustworthy God. When we compare the size of what we are fearful about against how big Jesus is, then we are able to cope. "I will not fear'.

Doing this, changed David's focus and it will yours too. Adopting such a perspective transforms how we face negative circumstances. Those four words, I WILL NOT FEAR, pack a punch. It is a declaration. The devil may think he has penned you in but, with Jesus, he never can. If he killed you, you will still meet up with Jesus in Heaven. Our insurance contributions are paid up - fully.

We will get afraid, it is a certainty. However, when we do, we need to say out loud, 'In God I have put my trust, I will not fear.' I'm not saying that if you do this, everything will be hunky dory. It probably won't. But you will have someone very special at your side, fighting on your behalf. Jesus Christ. In fact, you will have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, all on your side.

Now that is good enough to say, 'I will not fear'.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

 

Roll your baggage over

"Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established."    

                                                                                                        Proverbs 16:3    NKJV

I remember back in 1970 when I was being posted overseas. As a young soldier, I struggled with all of my baggage from Euston Railway Station to Euston Air Terminal  Anyone, who remembers their first posting will sympathise; I had all of my baggage. All my army kit and my own suitcase too. I had to keep stopping because of the weight of it all. I couldn't afford a taxi, even though a couple stopped to see if I needed a fare.It was a nightmare. Recently, I thought about my plight in Euston, London, I wondered how it would have felt if Jesus had turned up and asked me to give Him the bags. It would have been wonderful.

I now realise, to a degree, how a camel feels in the early morning sun, worn out and thirsty with a massive weight on it's back. Proverbs 16:3 says, 'Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.' The Hebrew word for 'commit' is to roll, roll down, roll away or remove. The picture is of a camel burdened with a heavy load; when the burden is to be removed, the camel kneels down and tilts to one side and the load rolls off. This scripture encourages the reader to roll his care over to God's care. Do you get the picture.

We carry many burdens each day that could so easily be 'rolled' over to God. Psalm 55:22 tells us to "Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you." Again in Matthew 11:28, 'Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'  Why did Jesus say such a thing? Simple, because He knows us through and through. He knows how we take on too much, our loads and sometimes other people's too. He knows how we worry and fret because we are trying so hard to balance all we have to do and how it would be so easy, to just give up and walk away at times. He wants us to use His strength. Don't forget, on our own we can do nothing, but with Jesus we can do all things, Philippians 4:13.

Ask yourself, 'Isn't it about time that I stopped trying to do everything? Isn't it time that I only take on what I can manage? The thing to do, is roll it over to Jesus and allow Him to break all you have got to do into equal parts - important ones first - and then proceed through the agenda until you have achieved it. Then take a break with Jesus, before you start the next. He knows what He is doing; at times, we don't. Roll it all over to Him and refuse to be heavy laden again.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

  

The Joy of Your Salvation

"Restore to me the joy of Your salvation"                        Psalm 51:12      NKJV 

I think back to when I was first saved in October 1980. It was sheer bliss. Can you remember when you first came to know Jesus? There is no feeling like it. Nothing else mattered, it was like living in a bubble of joy and excitement. Nothing could come close to this feeling, it was a part of Heaven.

But then, 'Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love'  Revelation 2:4. What has happened? Well, after a time - the honeymoon period - we can tend to take things as they come and allow the busyness of life to take over. All of a sudden we may lose our job and we have bills to pay, or illness may strike. This all takes the wind out of us. Instead of taking the problem to Jesus, we try to work it out ourselves and the pressures really begin to form.

There is nothing like that introductory period with Jesus but, it doesn't have to stop there. He wants it to carry on. He doesn't want you to leave your first love, He wants you to carry on as you started and build upon it. He is Your Rock and Your Foundation, without Him you are nothing John 15:5. He is still the same Jesus that you met in the beginning. He still loves you and He is still exciting.

Nothing that you are going through at this time is a problem to Him. He can find that needle in the haystack, believe me. Nothing is worth leaving Him or putting Him in second place.

Why don't you come back to Him right now and find that excitement and contentment once again. You haven't lost your first love. You know where He is. Come to Him now:

Lord Jesus

I realise that I have left my first love and that wonderful place of excitement and joy. I can't live without You, Jesus. I need You every day, in my life. Therefore, I choose to return to You and give You the first place in my life from today. Please help me to realise that You are with me in the honeymoon periods and the times of pressure. Please forgive me for leaving You out of my life so much. I now ask that You will take my life and use it to Your Glory.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Confession and a new start Part 2

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit."    

                                                                                                Psalm 51:10 - 12     NKJV 

Yesterday, we had a look at adultery and the devastation and betrayal of it all and how it can completely destroy relationships and family life. Today, let's focus in more on forgiveness and how God really can promote a brand new start.

1 John 1:9 states: 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' That is it in a nutshell. This is how God operates, once we confess all that we have done wrong, He forgives and chooses to forget about it all. The sad thing about sin is that, it cannot be erased from a person's mind. If someone has been betrayed by adultery, it can be total torment that plays on the mind every day. It ruins relationships because the injured party becomes paranoid believing that their partner is committing adultery again. Many marriages break down because of this, but they don't have to.

If the adulterer confesses their sin and repents, the wounded party, if they want the relationship to continue, must forgive otherwise, they too will not be forgiven their sins when they ask Mark 11:25-26. Some marriages can't survive this and the offended party, chooses not to forgive because, they did nothing wrong in the first place. But they will still be held by this statement when they eventually meet Jesus.

If a marriage is worth saving then, something has to happen and that is forgiveness. It's a wonderful thing to forgive someone and receive forgiveness yourself. The world may not forgive but God will and He expects us to as well. Just think for a moment, where would we be if Jesus told us that He would not forgive us for something. It would be awful. Thankfully, through the blood shed at the cross, we are forgiven.

You know, none of us are perfect and, we make mistakes, some of them are very costly. You may be one of those people. You may have made the biggest mistake of your life. All you can do is ask for forgiveness and trust that God will bring you through this. If you truly mean it, He will, but it may not be the way you would have wanted it to. You just have to trust Him. 

If you are the injured party, just think for a moment; do you love your partner or are you willing to lose them. The decision has got to be yours. If there is a tiny speck of love left, then if you wish to give that speck to Jesus, He can perform something wonderful and turn that speck into an atom of love and security. He truly can. 

You need to seriously think things through - the both of you and if, there is a chance, take it.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Confession and a new start Part 1

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold by Your generous Spirit."    

                                                                                                Psalm 51:10 - 12     NKJV 

This is a Psalm of David's confession to God after his adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband murdered. He had spent a year of misery trying to hide his sin of adultery, betrayal and murder; but, he couldn't hide it from God, who saw it all and after a time, sent the prophet Nathan to expose him 2 Samuel 12:7. We cannot hide from our sin, if we do, God has a way of bringing it to the light.

Adultery shatters families and marriages and, yet, some people commit this act living two lives. It betrays the innocent partner and displays to children that they are not really important. In some cases, acts such as this, can lead to murder as we often see in the media. The awful thing about it, is the adulterer's schemes at hiding the sin, with lies and manipulation. It may be exciting for some, to live in such a way but, it is devastating to be on the end of it all.

As we've seen, David tried a cover up for about a year and never repented. God would have given him every opportunity, like He would one of us; but David ignored all of this. Therefore, God sent Nathan who exposed him.

David eventually repented and wrote this Psalm about his sin and confession. He was ready to start again and had learnt his lesson. He asked God to give him a clean heart and a renewed, totally for God, Spirit. 

It can often feel like God has left us when we are in sin. He doesn't, it just feels that way. He never leave us but, the Holy Spirit will convictt us and we may feel like we are a million miles away from God, until we repent. With adultery, we need to confess and ask God to forgive us and - wait for it - also the partner who we have betrayed. Not many people want to do this but, if we don't, we are still hiding it and it could come back and bite us one day. We need to be free.

At times such as these, we need to feel the joy of God's salvation. That wonderful, elated time when we were first saved - the honeymoon. It will come but, firstly we need to confess and put things right and leave the rest to God. 

For the betrayed partner, it may take some time for healing and forgiveness to sink in and, this is where our faith comes in, What we are dealing with here, is the terrible cost of adultery and betrayal.

However, there is good news here. When we repent God makes a way forward. We’ll look at this tomorrow.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Dealing with depression

"Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls."     Psalm 42:7     NKJV 

Many people today suffer with depression. It can disable a person's mind, robbing them of all motivation and faith. At times it strikes when a person is not expecting it, such as a personal crisis, where the wind is taken out of the person's sails and they have a feeling that they just cannot cope or take anymore.

Many bible leaders from the past suffered depression, including King David, Elijah and Jonah. There were others. This Psalm is very interesting because it shows the Psalmist suffering a fluctuating  mood - hope and despair, confidence and then collapse and fear and bouts of faith. The writer was almost undergoing seesaw faith, one minute up and the next down in despair. 

He does something interesting, he challenges his soul - his mind, will and emotions and he says:

'Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance'   Psalm 42:5.

He preached to himself, challenging his thoughts and feelings and then he paraphrased, 'I don't feel like praising Him now, but He is worthy of my hope - and I shall yet praise Him.' He is saying 'My soul is cast down within me, therefore, I will remember You' v6.

As he focuses on his feelings, he describes a waterfall. As the power of the water plunges into the body of water, it surges downward. If anyone is in the way of this, they may be taken down with the sudden power of it all. He mentions, 'Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls' v7. He realises that the more he focuses on the problem he is dragged down further and the depression becomes worse and can set up home within.

This is very important, when a person is depressed, it is very genuine and they find it difficult to make choices or think positive about anything at all. We know that God is the healer and He will and has healed people of this condition. But, everyone is different. Psalm 103:5 NIV describes God redeeming our life from the pit, that pit of despair that describes depression. Some people receive their healing instantly. Sadly for others, it takes a little longer for healing to fully kick in because the person may be further down in the 'deep calls unto deep' than the other.

You may have or be suffering depression at this time. It will pass but there are things that we can put into place to help speed the process. Like the Psalmist here, think of something that God has done in your life that gave you hope. Focus on that and each day build upon it until you can begin to thank and praise Him for this. It may take time, but it is a worthwhile exercise. Try and avoid the 'Deep things' the things that paint a darkness in your mind, and taking one day at a time with Your friend, Jesus, walk out of this captivity into freedom.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

 

Things will get better

"I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, , out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. 3 He has put a new song in my mouth - Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD."                   Psalm 40:1-3     NKJV

Once again, we see David waiting. But, note, he is waiting patiently. This is something that will only come with practice. I am quite impatient and find it very difficult to wait for things to happen. I can often be seen pacing around the room as I wait. I am sure that I am not the only one. Being patient while we wait for something to happen, is a sign of great integrity and one that takes a long while to perfect. Everyone becomes a little itchy after waiting for a long time for something to develop. It would appear though that David had acquired the gift of patience. 

Notice in verse 1 where God 'inclined to me.' This show us that God bent down and leaned into David to hear his requests and fears. If He did this for David, then be reassured, He does it for you as well. He has no favourites  and demonstrates His love and care for us in such ways. This also confirms to us that He hears our pleas.

In verse 2, David mentions that God brought him up, or rescued him, from a horrible pit and out of the miry clay. The 'horrible pit' that David mentions, could be described as a dungeon or a cistern. This reminds me of a place where Joseph was in Genesis. However, sooner than it being an actual place, it was more likely to have been an area of distress in his life, one where he felt completely alone and trapped. To add to this, he felt like he was in a miry clay. Now, this is similar to a swampy place with mushing, sticky mud that sucks at the feet and threatens to suck a person under or keep them there, again trapped. I am sure that you have been in a similar position where life is holding you to ransom and you can't seem to find a way out of the mess. But note this, God heard his cry and set his feet on a rock.

A rock is a firm piece of land which normally has a solid foundation. This was where God placed David when He rescued him. But this was a metaphor, the rock was Jesus Himself and is not unlike Moses experience when God told him to use his staff to draw water from the rock by hitting it with his staff. Unfortunately for Moses, the second time he had to do something like this, he didn't listen properly to God when He told him to 'speak' to the rock, not hit it with his staff. His disobedience cost him entering the promised land  Exodus 17:5 - 7, Numbers 20:7. The Apostle Paul described this in 1 Corinthians 10:1 - 4 and describes Jesus as being the rock.

God rescued David, as He will you when you are in peril and cry out to Him. He 'established his steps' v2. This means that He led David to a place of safety and set him on the right road. This put a new song in David's heart and, for us He will do similar by putting a new skip in our walk. 

You will become trapped in similar ways as you go through your Christian life, but, realise the rock, Jesus Christ, is with you wherever you go and if you begin to sink, like a heavenly lifeguard, He will rush to save you.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE