More on words

"My son, give attention to My words; incline your ear to My sayings."    

                                                                                                Proverbs 4:20     NKJV 

Most people go through life thinking God never speaks to them. Actually, He is speaking all the time to each of us. He shows us the way, warns us about different things and gently encourages us. However, our minds are usually so full of insignificant things that we miss a lot of what He is saying.

We ask God about something and then we give Him the answer, or we hear a part of it, believe we have heard Him right and then, set off on a journey that He didn't send us on in the first place. Our minds are constantly full of clutter and we are easily distracted or begin to daydream about something or other. When I was at Uni, the lecturer would be waffling on about something and my brain would be far away because I had drifted off into my own little world. All I saw was his lips moving. Then when I had returned to earth, I would be trying to whisper to the person next to me about what I had missed.

We are all like it and it can be a part of us. Sometimes it is nice to drift off into our own private world. However, not at the cost of missing what God wants to tell us. At times, if we could disect our brain to examine what the content was, we would probably see about 75% of what we don't need and 25% of what we do. We can be in church listening to a sermon and yet flying on a plane to our holiday destination instead of listening properly. Have you ever drifted off and the teacher, preacher or lecturer asks you what you think about what he has just said? (I have). Surely, I'm not the only one. What about that book you are reading, you can read the words and not take in any of it because you are focused on something else. Some of us try to read, watch the TV and hold a conversation at the same time. It doesn't work; we need to discipline ourselves.

Steve Furtick comments: 'Ask yourself, what guidance was God trying to give you today that you didn't hear because it was buried by negative noise?'  (Chase the Chatterbox - Steve Furtick)

I believe that God is challenging us all to begin to listen to Him properly. To do this, we need to rid our mind of all of the clutter and turn the TV off, don't answer your mobile and refuse all other distractions. It may mean shutting yourself away for an hour; going for a walk or driving to a scenic place where you can begin to focus on Him. This type of stuff pays dividends, it is discipline. Just look at the contenders in the Olympics recently, they needed to be totally focused and away from distractions. So do you.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehowardHi.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Which inner word do you listen to?

"and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus"                                              Philippians 4:7      NKJV 

There are so many thoughts that come into our minds each day, that it is hard to process them all. They come when we least expect them but, where do they come from? We have a very complex brain that is working non-stop throughout our lives. It is what gives us ideas and the ability to be creative. It is what gets us through life. However, what about the inner words that just drop into our minds?

Pastor Steve Furtick, in his exciting book Crash the Chatterbox, says, 'It is in the mind that the transmission of God's plans for our lives either succeed or fail.' In other words, what we listen to and, accept, will determine how well we do. We can be going about our day when suddenly words come into our minds, such as: 'You're useless, you will not succeed in what you have planned. You know that you can't do it.' So we don't have to be a rocket scientist to realise where those words are coming from - the pit. Satan does not have the capacity to pay us compliments. He is so full of, pumped up hate and selfish glory that he cannot pay compliments to anyone, except of course, himself.

So why do we fall for them? We consider applying for a job but straightaway, we may hear. 'It's a waste of time, you'll never get it; and even if you do, you won't last long.' People can also say negative things to us such as, 'It's no good going to Uni; it'll be too much for you and I don't think you can do it'. Then of course, there is the gossip type of words that filter through your mind, 'That man does not like you, he's out to hurt you, watch him.' Now that kind of word, can be a warning from the Holy Spirit but, it may not be. Once again, Satan may be pulling your strings to make you suspicious about someone who may well be innocent. You need discernment.

Isaiah 26:3 says, 'You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.' Note the words, 'stayed on'. This means that as we fasten our attention, totally and every day on Jesus, He will help us by giving us Shalom - perfect peace. This is the type of peace that Paul mentions in our text today. It surpasses all understanding and guards our hearts and minds. Surpasses means, 'to do more than, to be superior or to be greater than.' This is the type of peace Jesus offers us. It will 'guard' our hearts and minds. In other words, this peace takes care of us and watches over us and helps us to know the way to go. It helps us to be calm in the midst of chaos.

We will always have words come into our minds. Often they are the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit, directing us what to do, where to go and how to do a certain thing. But, we will always have other words come into our minds. Now these may be full of things you need or want to do, like a project or going on holiday. They may also be your own frustration, allowing yourself to become uptight over such a small thing. However, they may well be negative, full of condemnation or accusation.You will know where that one is from.

Learn to know the difference. It can be a minefield but if you stay close to Jesus, He will stay close to you; giving you that peace that surpasses all understanding.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehowardHi.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Faith or Fear

"Jesus said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith and confidence [in Me]?" v40                                                        Mark 4:35-41    Amplified Study Bible

After a busy ministry day, Jesus suggested they go over the other side of the Sea of Galilee. As can often happen in this region, a storm broke out and the waves became very troublesome. They feared they would sink and were dismayed to see that Jesus was asleep in the stern. After challenging Jesus, practically saying that He didn't care that they were in peril, Jesus stood up and stilled the water and peace was restored. 

Now, the disciples had been with Jesus for some time, witnessing many miracles. One would have thought they felt secure with Him. This resulted in Jesus rebuking them because of their lack of faith and trust in Him to take care of them. Jesus had been very much at peace as He gently snoozed on a cushion. He was very content and this was the way he had been teaching His disciples to be, as well. They appeared to grasp hold of this concept and then, at the first sign of fear, panicked.

Let us be honest, we can all be this way. We confess our trust in Him and tell who we may about His faithfulness and then, when a storm comes our way, we can be a bundle of nerves. 'How are we going to pay this bill', we say when an unexpected envelope drops on our mat. 'I've not allowed for this, we'll be skint.' And then, what about when the doctor rings and says he wants to see us to discuss an abnormality? Panic sets in and we begin to believe the worst. 

Have we forgotten that, when we gave our hearts to Jesus, He told us not to worry, 'But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness {His way of doing and being right - the attitude and character of God}, and all these things will be given to you also.' Matthew 6:33 Amplified.  Jesus expects us to put Him in the driving seat of our life. This means being people of faith, not fear, which is the total opposite. 

When a crisis comes along, the first thing we should do, is call on Jesus. That is how He wants it to be. I remember Pastor Ray McCauley preaching that the church in South Africa had received a huge bill. On looking at the amount of the bill, he said to Jesus, 'Jesus, we can't pay this, it is your problem, not mine. I'm going home' And he did and God honoured him and the debt was paid.

You may feel this is quite rude and alien to how you would speak to Jesus. However, this worked for Pastor Ray and he believed that God wants us to be this way with Him. It is called, exercising our faith, not fear.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehowardHi.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Lies and deceit.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."     John 10:10     NKJV 

Following Daniel's night with the lions, he had no injury whatsoever. God had protected him as he did, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, while they were in the hot furnace (Daniel 3). It could well have been a scary night but, if it was, Daniel showed no sign of it. 

Think about this episode for a moment. How would you have handled this? Christians in many parts of the world suffer terrible persecutions, even losing their lives because of their faith. Yet, they do not give in.

Temptation to compromise can be strong when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances. People may try to persuade us to take an easier route, 'You can always repent afterwards, God will forgive you.' He probably would, but would we forgive ourselves? Jesus took the route to the cross. He took no easier route but, went the whole way suffering the pain and the humiliation for us. Shouldn't we do the same? It's hard to say you would when you're not in the situation, but it may be different if you are. I believe at times such as this, Jesus gives us the strength to be able to cope with it all, no matter what.

When we are going through difficult situations and we are ready to throw the towel in and compromise our faith, we can almost hear the devil whispering, 'Go on, do it, no one will know.' Don't ever fall for that lie, because he will tell tales about you, after all, he's a liar. He's also a thief too (John 10:10), he will steal all that you have got if you let him, in fact, he will destroy you.

You see, the devil has nothing to look forward to. He has blown it and will suffer the consequences when Jesus returns. Therefore, he wants to take as many people with him as possible. However, take another look at the experiences of Daniel and his young friends. They knew they were in for a bad time and it would lead to their death. However, their trust was in God and they would not turn from that.

You may be going through a rough time at present. You may be at risk of losing your job because of your faith. Then again, you may be suffering terrible persecutions because people know you trust Jesus. Stand firm and keep standing (Ephesians 6). Call on Jesus and He will stand with you. Don't let the devil steal your faith. Take authority in Jesus' Name. Like Daniel and his friends, they will discover that they cannot take you on and win, because Jesus gives you the victory.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehowardHi.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Sleaze

"Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and the satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm."                                                                                                Daniel 6:3   NKJV

Because of Daniel's strong relationship with God, he had been given an excellent spirit that dwelt within him. This meant that people were drawn to him and kings felt he was the right type of person to rule under them. This, understandably caused a lot of friction with other people.

Darius, had set governors and satraps over his kingdom and they ruled their various territory. Daniel was made a governor and in the end, Darius promoted him to president over the presidents - the top man, second only to Darius himself. This is similar to how Joseph had been made ruler years before.

The other governors wanted him out of the way but could find nothing positive to accuse him of. Then the sleaze began. They remembered that he prayed to God 3x daily, so they persuaded Darius to make it law that no one should worship or pray to anyone except Darius himself for a 30 day period. Darius was reluctant to do this but submitted to their demands. Anyone caught breaking this decree would be thrown into the lion's den.

It didn't take them long to gather the evidence they needed to convict Daniel. He prayed three times every day and nothing would stop him from doing this. They reported the matter to Darius, who liked Daniel but, again had to stick to his decree. Daniel was placed in the lion's den. Darius' words to Daniel were, 'Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.' This demonstrated how much he cared for Daniel.

Sleaze is defined as anything that casts a shadow, stain or scandal upon a public figure ruining their credibility and reputation. One only has to look into politics of our day, all over the world, to see sleaze in action. It totally brings a public figure down. Jealousy is the chief cause behind this; people who can't get their own way so they either, make up lies about them or expose their failings. In a way, it is telling tales and creating gossip and slander. However, it usually works. But, not in Daniel's case.

Daniel's friends would have no doubt said things to him, such as, 'Just tone things down for the 30 days Daniel; don't let them see you praying, close the blinds'. However, not Daniel, he would not compromise, he was a man of God and nothing would stop this old man from honouring God.

He had an excellent spirit within him and God was about to honour His man. Daniel was placed into the lion's den. Darius, had no sleep that night thinking and hoping that Daniel would be ok and the words he had spoken to him, would come about. Early the next day, he raced to the lion's den and called for Daniel. Daniel came to him and said that God had sent an angel to keep the lion's mouths shut. Thus he was ok. Wowzer!

Daniel was honoured and, so will you be if you place Jesus in first place in your life. But, note the 'excellent spirit within'. This puts a seal on our relationship with our Father. No matter what sleaze is brought against us, whatever dirt is dug up, God will honour us. Our sins of the past are dealt with by Jesus. Just ensure that you readily repent each day in order to remain in that special place with Him.

Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehowardHi.blogspot.com 

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

   

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.