Keep your simplicity

"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."      2 Corinthians 11:3    NKJV 

Today, as I walked our dog, we saw a black cat who immediately, raced into some bushes to get away from the dog as he began to bark at it. As our dog was on a long lead, he ran up to the bush where the cat had entered. He didn't try to follow the cat but what he did do, was to foul the area by cocking his leg and watering the opening to the bush. I thought, 'that cat will never exit from that part of the bush again.

It made me think about this, In this world, the devil attempts to block our way to Jesus any way that he can. We begin to get close to Jesus and the devil sends something our way which is ready to disable our walk with Him. 

It all started in the Garden of Eden that day, (Genesis 3). The serpent tricked Eve into tasting the fruit that was attracting her attention. Paraphrased, the serpent told Eve that it would be ok to pick and eat the fruit; God didn't mean it that way. 'Look at it, it's very lovely.' And, this is how he still catches Christians out today. He plays on our weaknesses by convincing us that it will be ok to try this or that, out. 

This was why the apostle Paul was so concerned. He knew that there were false teachers going around, speaking contradictory words about what God's word was saying. As the serpent deceived Eve with his craftiness, he was using these false teachers to do the same, and he still does today and, they make their way into churches too.

Paul mentions the simplicity that is in Christ. This is better recognised as, our sincerity and pure devotion to Jesus. We should never allow anything or anyone to lead us away from the truth that is in the Word of God. They are lies. Anything that contradicts what God says, is a lie. 

Think for a moment, what is in this world today that is accepted as normal and yet contradicts everything that you believe in? It's in the world and the world accepts it and if you challenge it, you could get arrested or at the least, ridiculed. These things are spoken by false teachers and are most definitely from a different spirit.

Be careful that you don't get hoodwinked and lose your simplicity.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehowardHi.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HEREto us.

Stain remover

"Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside , redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one."                                                                             Colossians 4:5-6   NKJV

Walking in wisdom is having the ability to discern and judge what is true and what isn't. It is having insight; so therefore, a person with wisdom is able to make a wise judgement. We need this wisdom because each and every day, we do not know what we are going to face' and this includes believers and non-believers. 

Actually, for the person on the 'outside' - a non-believer, time really is slipping away. None of us know when our lives will end and, for them to end without Jesus means that the person only has one more journey - to hell. God doesn't want that but He doesn't want us bombarding them with heavy God talk either. Each person is different and we need to learn how to handle them and their situation. 

Grace must be an uppermost priority. God uses grace in His dealings with us, we need to do the same. Therefore, our conversations with non-believers needs to be 'seasoned with salt.' This means, being Jesus to them, learning to get into their internal frame of reference, which means being able to sit in their shoes, and learn to know where they are coming from and how they are feeling, what baggage they are carrying. This is called empathy. It also means, not doing all of the talking but, listening instead. 

Salt, incidentally, among many other things, is a very good stain remover. It will remove rust, coffee and tea stains and most other stubborn marks. One can see why the apostle Paul used the term, 'seasoned with salt'. The word of God can remove the stains of sin, what non-believers need most of all. 

Being Jesus to the people we meet, can help cleanse these stains. However, we can only reach their needs by being able to sit in their shoes. Once we do this, they will trust us enough to open up

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehowardHi.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HEREto us.

God's Word reaches the parts our's cannot

"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

                                                                                                       Isaiah 55:11    NKJV 

God's word is a certainty. Note the 'it shall accomplish what I' and the 'I sent it' We can stand on street corners and preach the Word but, it may not achieve very much unless God sent us to preach this in the first place. God sends the word and He chooses who to send it through and it will accomplish what He has sent it for. It will never return empty but it will be effective. 

Now the effectiveness of God's word may not reach fruition for some time but, it will reach it, we can be sure of that. Prophecy may have been spoken over you but, as of yet, nothing has happened. Don't give up, if you believe it is from God, it will surely come about at some stage. God's timing is absolutely  perfect.

We may often pray over someone or for someone at the request of a prayer request. But, it may be that you never seem to hear the result of this prayer but, you don't know what is happening in the Spirit world. The person you prayed for may have received the answer to the prayer and you may never know. But, that doesn't matter; what does, is that there was any answer to the prayer. God's word never returns empty.

Grandmothers have prayed salvation for the family and future family that they will never see, and later on down the line that family member is saved and goes on to carry the name of Jesus. All we need to do, is pray the word of God and then, leave it to Him to sort out the rest. So be encouraged, your family members may not be saved at this time but, if you pray for them, God's word will not return void.

We need to believe and stand on God's word. It will never let us down.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehowardHi.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Remember me Lord

"Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." 43 'And Jesus said to Him, "Assuredly, I say to you. today you will be with Me in Paradise."    

                                                                                                Luke 23:42 - 43      NKJV

There were two criminals either side of Jesus, each on a cross. They had divided opinions about Jesus, as is common in the world even today. One cursed Him, 'If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.' This statement was completely blasphemous and selfish. He had the audacity to tell Jesus what he wanted Him to do, 'Save Yourself and us.' There was no repentance, no guilt, nothing, except hardness of soul. He was following the crowd, who were screaming for bloodshed. It never fails to surprise me, how many people love to witness an execution. This first thief was with the crowd, totally ridiculing Jesus and all He stood for. 

On the other hand, the second thief defended Jesus. He openly rebuked the first thief by saying, 'Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? Basically, he was saying, 'we deserve this punishment but, He doesn't, He is innocent.' This thief was full of repentance and recognised that Jesus should not have been there, about to suffer this awful punishment. He looked at Jesus and said, 'Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.' Jesus straightaway replied, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.'  They are the most important words that we could ever want to hear, and furthermore, Jesus' words, confirm that we will not linger in the grave but, we will be with Jesus, in Paradise, the moment we die. It is a problem that many fear - dying and laying in a grave for years until we are resin. But, don't forget, when we die, time ceases, there is no measurement of time at all. Therefore, it can be deduced that at the moment of our death, we will be with Jesus, if, of course, we believe in Him and have asked Him into our hearts.

Just think for a moment about these words from Pastor Jerry Vines:

'That morning, the thief had breakfast with the devil. That night, he had supper with Jesus'.                                    Copyright Jerry Vines, The Vines Expository Bible

This verse in Luke 23:42-43, is a reference point for prayer life, 'Remember me Lord.' My guess is that He will answer, 'My child, I can't forget you.'

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Be a copy cat

"Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, and offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."                                                                   Ephesians 5:1-2    NKJV 

There are copy cats all over the world. Basically, they are made up of two kinds. Firstly, there are the imitators who model themselves on their favourite stars - of film, music or perhaps sport. Some even model themselves on someone they know and value and they go about their day attempting to act like they do. After a while, they can even begin to sound alike, especially if you speak to them on the telephone when they can sound very much like the other person. 

There are also copy-cat crimes where the crimes are based exactly on a crime from way back. There are many ways that people can be copied or imitated. The problem is, when we do this, we are demonstrating that we have no style of our own, we are being the other person. Remember one thing, you were created an original don't turn yourself into and die a copy.

The second example of a copy cat is more sensible and realistic. It is being an imitator of Jesus, who lives in our heart. When you consider it, He is our role model, the one who alone is God and who died in our place on the cross of Calvary. He is the one to follow and imitate. The world needs Him and, you have Him, so share Him around by people seeing that you are different somehow.

Imitating Jesus is, walking in love, reflecting God's nature to a hurting world. That is what an imitator does. The Greek word for imitator describes a repetition of a pattern already established by another. That 'another' is Jesus. He set the standard and expects us to uphold it. 

When we read the Guidance Manual - the bible, we find out just how wonderful Jesus Christ is. It is amazing when we realise that, He was there before creation and He is still with us today. Following Jesus, we are backing a winner. As you read your Guidance Manual, you will begin to take on His character, the Holy Spirit will envelope you and before you know it, people will see in you what they have been searching for all of their lives.

So be a copy cat of Jesus.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Be immovable

 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable , always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."      

                                                                                            1 Corinthians 15:58     NKJV

Whatever you do for Jesus, is never in vain, it is never wasted. He sees what you do and He is pleased with your loyalty and hard work. This is what steadfast means: firmly loyal and constant in all you do. You may not feel that your work, or your intentions to work, are noticed by God. You may not accomplish what you have started but, He says, 'Thank you for trying'. 

You see with God, you don't have to be a highly qualified scholar to gain His attention; whatever you are, you have His attention and you have had it since the moment you were born. Now that your are 'born again', He sits eagerly watching your efforts, encouraging you and urging you along. He is your greatest fan; He adores you.

He knows what you have been going through of late. He knows your loyalty and is impressed by your determination. You may think you have failed to achieve what you set out to do for Him; He sits there in heaven and shouts, 'Hey, did you see that, did you see my child the way He handled that situation?' You see, He evaluates things so differently to how we do, At times, we aim for perfection or close to it. God is grateful that we have tried. He is happy when we have set out to achieve something for Him and it hasn't been successful, He sees it as if it has been.

The big guns of Christianity may bring thousand of people to know Jesus in one evening. You may never achieve that; but, He never wanted you to in the first place. He is just pleased when you just smile at someone, because it is Jesus who is smiling at them. He is pleased when you do something for another person, because it is Jesus doing it. He is pleased when you tell someone that you are a Christian, even though they may reject what you say; Jesus looks and feels, 'we have an evangelist here'. 

Whatever you do, never think that your efforts are in vain; they are not. Be immovable, be steadfast abound in His richness because, you are His workmanship Ephesians 2:10. You were created in Christ Jesus for good works, and what you are doing is good.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Do not live in haste

"The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty."

                                                                                                    Proverbs 21:5    NKJV

Each morning, as I get dressed, our dog rushes up the stairs and sits on the landing looking at me. If I move, he moves. If I sit down, so does he. After a short time, he will start walking around me as if he is trying to round me up. It can be quite frustrating as he continues to do this. What he is after, is for me to take him for a walk. He has very little patience and will soon begin to grumble, moan and whine because I am taking too long, until I am ready, when he will bark excitedly, non stop. The dog has an agenda, he wants to get out on his walk - NOW!

After watching his actions today, it reminded me of people who their lives in haste. There is the person who sits waiting for his partner to put a coat on and walk to the car. When it is not happening as quickly as they think it should, they go and wait in the the car. After two-seconds they start the car and continue to sit there. They may move the car a few inches backwards and forwards or, they may decide to do a three point turn ready to drive the other way. After what seems to them - 24 hours, the other person gets into the car and they race off before the door is closed. (This seems familiar to me)

Then there are the supermarkets. They do not like being behind another trolly and will overtake them when they get the chance, only to find that they still have to wait for their partner. At the till, they always take the shortest queue but, reserve the right to swap to another till if it appears to be moving faster. Then to their horror, they notice that the queue that they have just left is moving faster and they would have been through now. For them, this is torture.

Back in the car, they have to pull up for traffic lights but because they are taking a while to change, they keep flashing their lights to get the sensor to change the sequence. On the move again, there is a JCB in the front of them moving at 3 mph. The horror for them continues.

Do you know anyone like this? Is that anyone, you? Being hasty is not good. It's not good for the person who has to witness all of this behaviour i.e. a partner; and it is not good enough for you either. It is not doing your health any good at all but, it's hard to change all of this though. A person such as this, lives in the fast lane of life. Their speed is 70mph or faster if they can get away with it. There is a need to drop down a gear, moving to a lower speed lane. It is walking slower than you normally do; refusing to become stressed out and doing things one at a time, not all at once.

To change to this lifestyle seems impossible for the fast lane person, but with God's help you can do it. It means asking Him to order your steps and to help you see things in a more laid back sequence. It is not easy to negotiate but, it is easy, with Jesus' help. He has the ability to help you be totally at peace. Being hasty promotes disruption, arguments and stressed out lives, but the peace Jesus gives us - Shalom, Shalom, surpasses all understanding  and it guards our hearts and minds.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE