Storm damage?

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand."    Isaiah 41:10    CBS 

There have been a few storms lately with floods, electricity loss, fallen trees, damage to roofs and house and fences smashed down. It has been a harrowing time. We are never prepared for things such as this and when the lights are out, stumble throughout the house searching for candles and matches. 

We also have the storms of life, bereavement, marital breakdown, homelessness, loss of jobs, severe illness and much more. It can all be a wearing down process, one in which we feel alone, frustrated and fearful. However, take another look at our text for today. God does not want us being fearful and anxious. He has promised to help us - to strengthen us and even, hold on to us as we call upon Him. 

When you face anxiety, remember that you are a child of God, no matter how you may feel. You have the power to overcome fear and your situation when you apply His word to your life, remembering that He is always with you and will never fail or forsake you. Be careful though, because of the enemy within - your mind. It is unhelpful and will do whatever it can to get you to deny everything that God promises. It will convince you that there is a better way, that you haven't the time to stop and pray, things need to be done now. Get your thinking in line with the word of God, get your mind aligned with God. Check out Isaiah 26:3:

'You will keep the mind that is dependent on You, in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.'

If there is no peace within, there will be no peace around. There will be storms but, they can be managed when you have peace within and face the storm head on with the power of Jesus. This is a time when the world fails to have peace, this can be evident because of the panic that sets in all around. But it is the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and guards our heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7) that helps us through.

Whatever you are facing at this time, get the peace of God within you now; refuse to fear, refuse to doubt and learn to trust in Jesus. The storm is for a moment, He can help you through it if you allow Him to hold on to you, and you to Him.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Head knowledge v Heart knowledge

"Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious"         Jonah 4    CSB 

When Jonah saw that the people from Nineveh had repented and that God had forgiven them and decided not to destroy the place, he was angry. In fact, he was furious. Once again he stormed off from God's presence to a piece of waste ground out of the city and prayed God would take his life. Basically, he was saying to God, 'I knew this would happen, I knew you would forgive and give them another chance. It's not fair.' He didn't want God's grace to fall upon Nineveh; they were wicked and deep down he thought they would refuse God and be destroyed. When they chose God, he again rebelled.

It may be difficult to understand Jonah's reasoning but, be honest, are there people whose salvation would make you become angry? Think of the worst of the bunch, would you want them to have a place in heaven, in your church or even in your home group? How would you feel if God acted this way towards you? 

Was Jonah waiting for the Ninevites zeal for God to fade so that God would send a Sodom and Gomorrah experience on them? It's possible. How much he would have loved to say to God, 'I told you so, a leopard doesn't change its spots.' Jonah only saw the negative circumstances. He was more concerned about the loss of his plant (v7-9) than he was about the salvation of this city's inhabitants who could go to hell. He may have had God's Word in his head and mouth but, he didn't have God's heart and this is a problem in the world today. Divisions cause church splits and broken lives because people have the knowledge of God in their head but lack this in their heart. We need heart knowledge, all the colleges and study books in the world cannot give people this, we need a spirit-filled, power-packed, explosive-generated experience of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Only then will our hearts be full of knowledge. 

How is your heart? Have you head or heart knowledge; only you know this but be encouraged because, Jesus is your best friend and He wants to help you - and me also, to be changed more deeply into His likeness. Jonah's first prayer in the belly of the fish was from a broken heart, the second one at Nineveh was from a heart of anger. He may have felt peer pressure from his friends back home who hated the Assyrians. He cared more for his reputation than people's lives. 

But we are the people of God, the only reputation we want is that we belong to Jesus and will spread His love wherever we are and whenever we can. Some may not like this but, God will.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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What a difference obedience produces

"The Word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time. 2 'Get up! Go to the great City of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you. 3 Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the LORD's command."                         Jonah 3    CSB

What a major difference to Jonah's last call to obedience. This time he got up, got ready and began the three day journey to this great city. Just think for a moment about the difference God makes in a person's life. When a person meets with Jesus they are changed; they are not perfect by all means but, the changes are evident. What a difference God makes to our situation, we can be in the deepest of problems but a call to Him can bring total rescue.

Jonah was full of God's power as he began to preach out God's message. (By the way, God's message changes things, our own pre-fabricated message, the one with little sign of the Holy Spirit, does very little. Ensure you have the power behind you). Jonah had this message of fire and it spoke directly to the people of Nineveh. They believed; a fast was proclaimed and they put on sackcloth. (Sackcloth is a coarse fabric made of goat's hair which was worn to express grief, sorrow and repentance). The king of Nineveh reinforced this proclamation and issued a decree that they must honour the fast, and call on God, repenting of their wicked ways, 'Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish' v9. God showed them tremendous grace by giving them a window of forty days to get their house in order, the result being that He relented and gave them a chance.

As we know, earlier Jonah had rebelled against God and ran away, the result being that He ended up in a place he didn't really want to be, - in a huge fish. When we disobey God, refusing to do what He asks, we too, can end up in our own personal fish - no job, no money, things going wrong all the time and problem after problem. It doesn't always end this way but it might. If you refuse to do what God wants, you may even miss out on major blessings. God will not change His mind but, He can adjust to changes in a person when they repent. He can also get you through something that you find impossible.

If you want to be blessed, remain in obedience

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

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Try praying from the belly

"As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD and my prayer came to You, to Your Holy Temple"                                                                 Jonah 2    CSB 

If Jonah could pray from the belly of a huge fish, this proves that we too can pray from anywhere - on a walk, in the gym, at work, in the shower, everywhere. Jonah needed to do this to get back in fellowship with God. Sometimes it takes traumatic circumstances before we even consider this.

Things had gone seriously wrong for Jonah, through his own fault; he had been totally disobedient and rebellious to God's calling and had run off in the opposite direction. This is always unwise. If we have made a commitment to God then He will take us up on the offer, this is part of the deal - living for Him. Jonah disagreed with this, until he had spent a few days in this smelly fish; he then changed his mind and prayed:

"As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD and my prayer came to You"

Sometimes we have to reach rock bottom and sink below the surface; lose everything and become swallowed up with problems. In this situation, it is a sure way to remember how things were and call on God to rescue us.

God calls us to obedience. He will not change His mind or His Word. He expects us to adjust to it and as we obey or repent, He adjusts to our circumstances and helps us back on our feet. Jonah had to learn this and, so do we. He spent 3 days and 3 nights inside this fish until he came to his senses. 

In Matthew 12:38-41, we see that the Pharisees and scribes demanded a sign from Jesus that He was genuine. Jesus told them that the only sign He would give them was the sign of Jonah the prophet and there was a comparison of Jonah being in the fish 3 days and nights and He being in the grave for the same length of time. Tony Evans comments on this:

'When Jonah came out of the fish, he carried a message of repentance to Nineveh. God would show compassion on Nineveh through the symbolic death and resurrection of a prophet. But in Jesus Christ He showed mercy on you and me by the actual death and resurrection of the Son of God. Indeed then, "something greater than Jonah is here" Matthew 12:41'

                                      Tony Evans, (2019) The Tony Evans Study Bible. Holman

Indeed, something is greater here than Jonah and His name is Jesus Christ, your Lord and Saviour. Don't wrestle with Him or His directions, He always wins. Just make obedience to Him upper most in your life. I remember and old army joke, 'If you can't take a joke, you shouldn't have joined up.' It's true, you accepted Jesus and told Him that you would obey and follow Him, so, there really is no more to say on this.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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The God of Second Chances

"The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai. 2 Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their evil has come up before Me. 3 Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the LORD's presence."    Jonah :1-17   Christian Standard Bible

Jonah heard the call from God to go and preach to the City of Nineveh but, instead, turned tail and grabbed a boat which was on route to Tarshish. Jonah would have been aware of the people's reputation there; they were violent and would torture, murder and leave the body on display in the streets. He would obviously have been afraid or concerned at least. He also resented the townsfolk being saved because of all this. Nineveh was also a great Assyrian city, and he felt if they were to repent and escape God's judgement, they could eventually attack and conquer Israel.

So Jonah ran off to Tarshish - away from the LORD's presence. But as they usually do in these circumstances, things began to go wrong as soon as the boat sailed. A great storm hit them threatening to cause them to sink. The petrified pagan sailors started to throw things overboard and eventually considered that Jonah was the reason for all of this. The captain challenged Jonah to pray to his God, which he refused. When they all discovered that Jonah was fleeing from God, they panicked and after speaking with Jonah, threw him over the side. They even prayed that God would forgive them for such an act. At once, the water calmed and all was well. A big fish swallowed Jonah and swam off. 

We can't just runaway from God; He will do all He can to bring us back to Him and this, is what He did with Jonah. Like Jonah, we do not know what is best, only God does. Jonah was rebellious, judgemental, fearful and disobedient. In this time of backsliding, he became very sulky and began to feel sorry for himself because he couldn't get his own way and just refused to speak with God. We can shout and stamp our feet, scream, swear and refuse to read our bibles but, God is still in control and waits for us to calm down. He will have His way. Jonah wouldn't pray so God caused the pagan seamen to pray and they witnessed the power of God and a miracle. I often wonder if they began to believe from this point. I believe it was possible.

God could have pulled the plug on Jonah but He didn't, instead Jonah had a trip in the stomach of a whale. Think about it, that must have been a foul and smelly place to be. God really has a sense of humour. However, this was all Jonah suffered because, God is the God of Second Chances. He never gives up on us

Just stop and think for a moment, can you relate to Jonah's behaviour? Have you been like this, even a little? Do you need a second chance. Say this prayer:

Father God, I know that I have blown things in lots of ways. Please forgive me and rescue me from the belly of this fish. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and give me a second chance to serve You. In Jesus' name, I ask. Amen.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

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Who told you that?

"Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?                                         Genesis 3:11   Christian Standard Bible

Let us recap on the past two days concerning Adam and Eve in the garden:

(1)  The devil tricked Eve (and Adam).

(2)  They ate the forbidden fruit after falling into temptation and ignoring God's Word

(3)  Adam failed in his duties; he didn't take reponsibility 

(4)  They hid from God because of their guilt

(5)  The world fell into sin and death

Now the LORD God is showing them the cost of their disobedience. They are to be banished from the garden. Mind you, God did this for their own good; if they had remained in the garden and ate from that tree, in their sinful state, they would have been locked into that sinful state and its consequences forever, which would have led them into hell. 

Also note, God's love and compassion for them; He even made clothing for them from skins. His love knows no end. Just think, His heart must have been breaking as He watched them leave the garden.

Let us check out two points:

(1)  In verse 11, God asked them, 'Who told you? We need to be careful about what people tell us, even if it is in the guise of prayer. Do not have anything to do with gossip or misleading information. If you do, you can be easily hooked because it can appear to be the truth. Nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand.

(2)  In verse 17 God said to Adam, 'Because you listened to your wife.' God should always be our starting point. As partners, yes we do say things like, 'What shall we do?' or 'What do you think about that?' This is normal and part of a relationship. However, for the important decisions of life, we should both seek God's opinion; this is what He wants and this is what Adam and Eve didn't do. God tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6:

'Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding, 6 in all your ways, know Him and He will make your paths straight.'

Don't allow anyone to trick or mislead you, be wise because if you are easily swayed it may cost you a lot as it did Adam and Eve. Therefore, tread carefully, walk in God's shoes and heed God's Word.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Learning to say, 'NO'

"The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.           Genesis 3:6    CSB

This particular time, the devil was having a hey day; he had completely hooked Eve and he was now reeling her in to make things worse. This is what the devil does. He plays on our weak spots; he knows what works and what doesn't, in fact he has a dossier about us, containing many of the things he has gathered throughout your life time. This makes him able to pick out certain things that he knows you will struggle with.

Here, we know that he had avoided speaking to Adam, even though he was there, the serpent concentrated on Eve because he knew that her experience with God, was weak. He had already given her taste buds a tweak, now he encouraged her to look at the tree with its fruit exposed and ready for picking. If we focus on the wrong things for long enough they can begin to look 'delightful' and this adds to the unsatisfied desire within us. This is not always sexual lust, it can be the lust for power - to be a somebody having great wisdom and strength. It can lead to dictatorship and yearning to want more. It is a want, want, want yearning, never being satisfied with what you have, there is always a longing to have what someone else has. 

The devil encourages this type of behaviour by presenting the picture before you, rather like here with Eve. The more she looked, the more she wanted and she may have said, 'I'll just try it once, that won't hurt.' The devil may have replied, 'You never know until you try,' and then, he had her in his clutches. 

As we have seen, Adam never lifted a finger to stop this; he went ahead with it all and even ate some of the fruit himself. A while later when they heard the LORD God walking though the garden and calling their name, they hid from Him. Why did they do that? What does this tell you?  It tells you that they were feeling guilt; this was why they hid away; they knew they were in the wrong. It is the same with us. When we have committed sin, in fact premeditated it, the majority of us feel the guilt of it all, especially if a pastor or close Christian friends share fellowship with us. I have read that some counsellors have admitted that some of the things people have told them about, they have done also and it has brought a feeling of hypocrisy upon them. 

We are all the same, we are all prone to a sinful nature and we need to be in charge of this by being in control. We know when something is forbidden and we know when we are feeling temptation towards such things. That is the time to say, 'NO', rather like Joseph when he walked away from Potiphar's adulterous wife (Genesis 39). He took control and so should we.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

Check it out

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