Can you help?

"And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up - "              Acts 3:7    NKJV

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) shows us a reversal in stereotypes. A man had been badly beaten up on the road to Jericho and left for dead. After a while, a priest came along, saw him there and then crossed the road and went on his way without a second glance. Later a Levite did the same, but at least he stopped and looked, but then sadly walked on without offering any help as well. These were prominent men and really, would have been expected to offer some help to this poor man. But they didn't. Then along came a Samaritan, hated by the Jews and treated as an outcast. He stopped, checked the man over and seeing that he was badly injured, anointed his wounds and bandaged them up. He then took him to an Inn where he looked after him for a few days and then left. However, he paid for the man to remain there.

Can you see the difference? The priest and Levite passed by, offering no help. The Samaritan saw the need and offered him love, compassion and practical help. The injured man was in need of help and the Samaritan provided it. 

Likewise, Peter saw the need of the disabled man at the gate Beautiful. He spoke hope into this broken life and extended practical help by lifting him up onto his feet. David Guzik comments on this:

'And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up: It was one thing to say, “rise up and walk,” but it was a much greater thing to so boldly take the man’s hand and lift him to his feet. At this moment, Peter received the gift of faith described in 1 Corinthians 12:9 – a supernatural ability to trust God in a particular situation. This wasn’t something Peter did on a whim or as a promotional event; he did it under the specific prompting of the Holy Spirit. God gave Peter the supernatural ability to trust Him for something completely out of the ordinary.'

                                                                   David Guzik - Enduring Word

God will always be on hand to support us when we do the same. There are many people that we meet, who are in need. We may be tempted to say detrimental things such as, 'If they got a job, they wouldn't be like this.' This is not always the case and anyway, we have no right to judge people. We can though, speak hope to their broken lives and offer them some sort of help. Isn't this what the Good Samaritan was doing? He saw the need and met it, the best way he could. We can do the same.

Think, is there someone that you know about who could do with some help? Do they need a little compassion and some hope in their broken hour of need? Can you be the one that can offer this and if you can, will you? Obviously, we have to be wise when we offer a stranger some help but don't forget, God is with you, as He was with the Good Samaritan. You can't solve all of the world's problems; however, you can bring a ray of hope to someone who is desperately in need. Think about it.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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Expectation

"So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them." v5     

                                                                                                      Acts 3:1-6    NKJV

This lame man sat at the gate Beautiful as Peter and John walked up to the temple for the hour of prayer. It was not unusual for a beggar to do this, after all, it was considered to be an ideal place to operate as it was felt that people were far more likely to offer them something as they made their way to prayer. It is not unlike today, where people on the streets visit local churches in order to receive love, food and help.

As he saw Peter and John going by, he asked for alms. Peter, fixed his eyes upon the man and said, 'Look at us'. The man did this promptly expecting to receive some finance. Notice that the man asked for what he wanted but, he was about to receive what he needed. There is a big difference. Peter told him, 'Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.' v6. And he did and he was totally healed.

Tony Evans says, 'Don't settle for what you want from God. When God meets your needs, He may not give you what you asked for, but what He provides will always be greater than what you wanted.'                                                                   The Tony Evans Bible Commentary

David Guzik comments further: 'Many have yet to come to the place where they really expect something from God. This is faith, plain and simple – even if the man expected less than Jesus wanted to give. Better yet, we should expect the right things from God. We are often much too ready to settle for much less than God wants to give to us, and our low expectations often rob us.                                                                           David Guzik  -  Enduring Word  

God wants us to operate in an atmosphere of expectation. This is not living with a want, want, want attitude, not at all. It is living by faith, what we should be walking in as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:7. He is a great God and we need to expect great things from our great God. When we walk by faith and not by sight, we look through the eyes of faith; and even though we have not yet received, we know that it is there and will come to us when God is ready 2 Corinthians 4:18. 

So this year, get into the habit of walking by faith, not by sight and living with an atmosphere of expectation. You won't regret it.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

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Where do I go from here?

"Cause me to know the way in which I should walk."           Psalm 143:8    NKJV 

Many times, we have regular moments in our life when we just do not know the way forward. 'Where do we go from here,' we may call out to God? It can be a time of great confusion especially, when we have several decisions to make and they all seem to be the right one to take. When we are faced with such a dilemma, count the cost of each decision. Often we are tempted to take the easier route because it will be easier to tolerate; it won't cost us so much. This may be a good indication that if you choose this one, it may be the wrong decision. Often the things God has for us in life are more complex and are designed to test us. So be careful there.

The bottom line is though, we reach a time when we must ask God the way forward. It seems an obvious choice to make but, it can be one in which we may not like the answer we will receive from Him. We must be prepared for this. We must request His wisdom in faith and then, listen carefully for His voice. This is the hard bit, some of us can be so impatient for the answer and rush forward into chaos. God will always guide those who really want to follow Him. Psalm 32:8 tells us, 'I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.' However, also notice verse 9 which says, 'Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding' which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you.' Being stubborn is not good; whenever we refuse to submit to the Lord's commands, He may choose to guide us to do His will through the reigns of adversity. He wants us to delight in drawing near to Him, not fight against His perfect will.

So ask yourself, 'Do I really want to know and obey what God wants me to do? Am I willing to do whatever He requires of me? When you say to God, 'Show me what to do next Lord,' be sure that you mean it and are ready to carry out His wishes. If not, it is best not to ask until you feel ready to go forward. God does not mess about; He will take you at your word. So be sure that you want to go deeper with Him.

However, it must be said, that whenever we obey and honour God, He will pour out His blessing upon us. He is 100% for each of us so, there is nothing to fear. If you are wanting the next step with God, go to Him with full assurance that He will only show you what you are ordained for. You can trust Him.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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The Pearl

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."  Matthew 13:45-46   NKJV

This parable shows us the deepness of Jesus' love for each one of us. In ancient times, merchants would go out to find great pearls and when they did, they would have to surrender these to the owner of the property and then try to barter for them. Occasionally, they would be so passionate about a particular pearl, that they would not disclose it but would try to buy the property. If they were successful, the pearl would obviously belong to them. Some of the pearls that were found were immaculate and were instantly recognisable as precious in the right market. Therefore, it wouldn't be unusual for a merchant to sell all he had in order to gain ownership of this wonderful jewel.

Consider this if you would; Jesus acted in the same manner for each one of us. He didn't have to but, love for each one of us, caused Him to give up all He had to buy us, in other words, to redeem us from our sin. To Jesus, we are priceless and precious and He couldn't bear to see us suffer the price of our sin. Therefore, He gave up everything and chose us - His pearls.

 Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body.

The oyster or mussel slowly secretes layers of aragonite and conchiolin, materials that also make up its shell. This creates a material called nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, which encases the irritant and protects the mollusc from it.
When pearls are cultured commercially an irritant is manually inserted into a mollusc to promote the production of mother-of-pearl.
Nacre can form naturally around almost any irritant that gets inside the shell, creating some very unique and precious pearls.
Other bivalve molluscs and gastropods can produce pearls, but these aren't made of nacre.    Copyright The Natural History Museum

This is interesting. An irritant can attack an oyster that would destroy it. Therefore, pearls are made to encase the irritant from such attack. Just think for a moment, The Holy Spirit protects us from attack or irritant. Rather like the pearl which protects the oyster, so the Holy Spirit protects us. He places His love all the way around us, encasing us with His power. It's also interesting to note that the irritant that the pearl encases, turns into a precious jewel, and so do we.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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New beginnings (3)

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

You may have been in a situation where you feel lost, lonely and as if you cannot feel God in your life at all. If you are a believer, as we have discussed, it is impossible to lose your salvation. However, when you have been involved in sin, it can feel like you have. Sin has the ability to block your path to God. It can feel like God is a million miles away from you and there is no way back to Him. There is, and it is called repentance.

If you can, think back to the time when you first became a Christian and the overwhelming feeling of joy that you felt because of receiving His salvation. Nothing else mattered; it was like living in a heavenly place with Jesus. He had first place your life and the joy you felt was amazing. It was like a honeymoon period, but rather like a newly wed couple, reality kicks in and normality begins to settle.

However, from thereon, most believers incorporate Jesus into their everyday lives, walking in faith with Him. You may well have done this, but pressures of life can be overwhelming at times and, although you have a commitment to Jesus, stress can take over and sin can overtake your thinking. Whatever the sin is; sin is sin and, it can block your way to God so much that you feel that God is nowhere to be seen - you are on your own. Those wonderful feelings that you first had when you were first saved, seem to have disappeared.

Basically, you need to be re-energised and the only way you can do this, is to call on God, repent and ask Him to fill you once again with His Spirit. You see, the results of forgiveness produce a clean heart, a renewed spirit, a restored relationship with Jesus and a joyful experience of God's salvation. In other words, it brings contentment into your soul.

Allow the strength of God's joy to once again envelop you by calling out to Him and asking for His help right now. You are not alone, many believers, all over the world undergo these times. He understands and cares and that is all that matters.

Lord Jesus, please restore to me the joy of Your salvation so that, people will be able to see that I belong to You. Forgive me Lord and help me to walk in the fullness of Your Spirit once more. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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New beginnings (2)

"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."                          Psalm 51:10-11   NKJV

We all need a top up with the Holy Spirit on a regular basis. Personally, I feel this is a daily requirement as the days we live in are difficult. We need to be filled to abundance each day so that we are able to cope with whatever we may come up against. This is why David mentions it in Psalm 23:5. He was aware that we needed an abundance of this. Also Psalm 92:10 reads, 'I have been anointed with fresh oil.' This describes a fresh infilling.

Daily life is hard work at times. We never know what we are going to encounter. Some days it can feel that there are traps around all over the place and it can be so easy to fall foul of them and let God down. When we do, we may feel that God has cast us away from His presence. But remember, He hasn't because he has promised that He will never leave us Hebrews 13:5. However, we can feel like He has and if we allow it, our thought life can be all over the place. 

If we allow him to, the enemy can pour lies upon us. He will try and convince us that we have really messed up this time and if we are in a negative frame of mood, we can begin to believe it, allowing depression to take over. He will invite us to throw 'pity parties' and when we go down this road we spread discouragement instead of good cheer wherever we go.

The devil will prevent you, if he can, from ever having or enjoying a new beginning. He is the joy killer; he is a thief and a destroyer and he will endeavour to trip you up, cause you heartache and trouble and get you to believe that God is no longer interested in you - at all. Do not believe this trash. It is garbage and the only thing that happens to garbage is that we throw it out into the  rubbish bin where it is collected and taken to a dump, where it belongs. Stop allowing such trash to contaminate your walk with God. This is a new year, therefore we have a new beginning with God. Allow Him to guide you along each road; allow Him to guide you to turn left or right; allow Him to be your point of reference in all you do.

He hasn't left you and He never will. He has not taken His Holy Spirit from you either, that is a lie. He is committed to you; you are so special to Him, read the book He wrote for all of us and notice that you know the ending - we win! So keep on keeping on.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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New beginnings (1)

"Create in me a clean heart, O God"                                       Psalm 51:10    NKJV 

Today is a new day of a new year and this can mean, a new start or a new beginning for a lot of people. As you know, every year lot's of people make New Year Resolutions only to break them within hours. As a Christian, you can do the same. You want to be Christ like as you know that you should be. However, saying it and living up to it are two different things. It is easy to state that you will live for God from this day on, but it is so difficult to carry this out and many fail.

Following David's adultery with Bathsheba and subsequent act of having her husband killed, he had to deal with Nathan the Prophet who laid all of this before him. David was so ashamed of his behaviour and went through a process of mourning and repenting. This Psalm really showed his heart and how he felt about the situation.

Firstly, he asked God to create in him a clean heart. Notice this, David didn't just decide that from now on he would pull his socks up and get his life back together. He knew this would be impossible for him to do, alone. Therefore, he asked God to help him, 'Create in me'. Changes such as this require the help of the Holy Spirit and, David knew this. He therefore asked God to create in him the cleanest of hearts so that he could begin again. 

Confession leads to forgiveness and one of the results is a clean heart. When you ask Him, God allows the Holy Spirit to wash you clean; in fact, to clean you up and make you presentable to Him. He takes what is wrong in your life and makes it right. Now this is impossible from your perspective. You can have good intentions but, unless you allow the Holy Spirit to work in you, it will never happen. 

Maybe, you have been struggling in this area. You may have let God down big time and you may have told Him a hundred times that you are sorry. Relax, He has forgiven you, He did this the first time you asked. However, for you to be constant in your walk with Him, you need Him to do some creative work within you and, He may start with your heart. Don't forget, the heart stores good and bad things and whatever the state of it is, causes you to speak it out (Matthew 12:35). This is why you need the Holy Spirit to create in you a clean heart.

Tomorrow, we will explore this Psalm further.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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