God's Favour

"For You LORD, bless the righteous one; You surround him with favour like a shield." v12             

                                                                                                     Psalm 5   CSB

Favour can be described as: pleasure, desire, delight and grace. The Hebrew word for favour is ratson and refers especially to what is pleasing and desirable to God. In comparison, in verse 7 we read, 'But I enter Your house by the abundance of Your faithful love'. The words 'faithful love' are a translation of the Hebrew word hesed, which refers to God's loyal affection for those under His covenant. It was because of this love that David was able to enter into God's presence to worship Him.

David needed God and so do we. Not everyone is our friend, there are enemies around who use flattering tongues and scheme and plot against us when we are walking with Jesus v8-9. Therefore it is imperative that we take refuge each day in God's presence by way of morning prayer and worship. This doesn't have to be formal; we can worship and pray as we go about our busy day. However, we do need to plant God's Word within us by reading our bible. It is a must! If you want to have a good day, give it to God; commit all of your plans to Him. We are going through difficult times at the moment, what with Covid and ever-rising costs and the threat of huge energy bills. We need His help and wisdom to survive. 

David had many enemies who schemed against him yet, used flattering tongues in his presence. He knew there was nothing reliable in what they were saying to him. He knew the best way was to give it all to God; after-all, when we are walking in fellowship with Him, people may say bad things about us and plot and scheme, but they are really saying this against God, which is a dangerous thing to do. David was walking in God's favour and knew God had his back.

When we are in step with Jesus, a shield of favour is placed around us too. God has His faithful love (hesed) around us and He showers us with His grace. He wants to do this more and more, it is only us who prevent this from happening by trying to do things our way. I like what the late Tony Campolo used to say, 'God has our photograph in His wallet and when He sees someone, He shows them this asking, "Have you seen my beautiful son or daughter?' Obviously, there is no biblical evidence for this but, it is a nice thought and is a demonstration of just how much He loves YOU!

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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The proud will not escape God's wrath

"Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall."  

                                                                                               Proverbs 16:18    CSB

Pride can be classed as, conceit, egotism, vanity and feeling puffed up and full of one's self. Jonah had preached a successful sermon in Nineveh leading the whole city to repentance. Now, many years later the prophet Nahum issues God's judgement on the city because they had departed from the Lord, returning to their old ways. 

The king of Assyria was proud and pompous, wicked and cruel and had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel carrying off its inhabitants to captivity. Enough was enough and it was time for God's judgement; Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC. In a final conversation with the king of Assyria, Nahum told him, 'There is no remedy for your injury, your wound is severe. All who hear the news about you will clap their hands because of you, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty'  (Nahum 3:19). In other words, where can anyone be found who has not suffered from your continual cruelty.

Today in our world, there is much cruelty and bloodshed as leaders of nations, full of pride, destroy lives in their desire to be a 'somebody'. But God watches and will strike when they least expect it making the ,'somebody' a 'nobody'. 'Pride comes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall.'

We as individuals must also avoid being full of pride. People everywhere are hurting, their lives falling apart and they desperately need a friend. Take a look at the life of Jesus; look how He showed respect and love to the people who needed it. He used His wisdom when He met with people who were bullies and full of themselves. He didn't turn them away but, He didn't waste His time with them if they had no interest in kingdom business.

Things may be tough on occasions but, never be tempted to go back to your old way of life. It is too costly. Instead, be a rescuer of people who are lost in this world. Many have nothing to look forward to - no hope. You have oceans of hope within you and, all it takes is to offer this hope to someone who is desperate.

Look around, you may meet one of them today!

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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God transforms your sorrow into joy

"For His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."                                       Psalm 30:5    NKJV 

Each morning God's mercies are new (Lamentations 3:22-23). When Jesus was crucified, for most, hope and joy was lost. But three days later, Jesus arose and brought with Him new joy and new hope and a new day and beginning for all who trusted in Him. As Jesus told His disciples in John 16:20-22. God doesn't replace sorrow with joy, He transforms sorrow into joy, there's a difference.

Many times we let God down big time. We don't set out to do this, it just happens. This is mostly because we take our eyes off Him and go with the flow of the world. When we do this we open up a door for the enemy to step in and cause a rampage. Afterwards, we are left with the hopeless thought that we don't know how this happened; then we begin to go deeper into despair.

Take another look at our text today; it tells us that God becomes angry with us on these occasions but, this is only for a short time. As soon as we repent, His favour, which is eternal, kicks in and He forgives us. The big problem is, we find it difficult to forgive ourselves. The devil then gets involved in the situation and says such things as, 'Well, you've blown it now, you'll never be forgiven. What a mess and you caused it; call yourself a Christian.' He'll really put the boot in when you're flat on your back. Don't let Him, it's a new day. 'Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.' In other words, when you repent, a new day is sent. He transforms your sorrow into joy.

You know, we'll never get it 100% right - not even close, until we see Him face to face in Heaven. He knows our short-comings but He also knows our hearts too. He knows we want to live for Him and He also knows we will make a mess of things at times too. Stop beating yourself up. Peter did this when He denied Jesus (Luke 22:62). Be encouraged by this, you are not unique, you will mess up at times. But the great thing is, when you repent, Jesus' grace and favour is there with forgiveness.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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God can rescue you from the fire!

"Look" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire and, they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."    Daniel 3:25    NKJV 

There are two points that I want to raise here (1) They are not hurt (2) The Son of God was with them. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had disobeyed the king by refusing to bow down to the golden image he had created. Therefore, he had them thrown into the raging furnace - seven times hotter than usual. One would have thought that they would have been vaporised in such heat. However, when Nebuchadnezzar looked inside the furnace, he saw four people - the fourth being Jesus. They had been delivered, the king couldn't believe it; even their hair and clothes were till intact and there was no smokey smell on them. Amazing.

Just consider this for a moment; in the most diabolical times of life Jesus can be there for us so that we are not hurt. So, what predicament are you in at this moment? You may be going through a nightmare situation, frightened and with no possible solution or future that you can see. For a moment, step aside and focus on the fact that whatever it is Jesus has the ability to fix it, no matter how hot the problem is. He can bring you through it all with no smell or aftermath. He has the capability to perform this for you, and He is willing. Because you have asked Him to be your Lord and Saviour, He is right there with you waiting for you to turn to Him.

Try and put yourself in these men's position. They were facing certain death and they knew it. However, they stood on God's Word and would not turn to another God. Therefore, they entered the raging fire. They had no knowledge of what was going to happen, they just went. I believe that as they entered the heat, they called on God, the God who was right there with them; and He went into action for them. You may also be in a dire situation and there appears no way out; you may need healing; you may have serious need of provision financially because of rent or mortgage debts or you may be facing bankruptcy or disciplinary action at work because of trumped up accusations. It could be anything. Take into your heart today that, God will not allow you to go under or get hurt; He will be right beside you and His intention will be to deliver you. Just believe it and go in faith.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Ensure your thoughts are wholesome (2)

"My soul bless the LORD, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name."    

                                                                                                  Psalm 103:1    CSB 

As we know, our soul is made up of our mind, will and emotions. Therefore when a thought comes into our mind, we have a choice. If it is a negative thought, we can discard it. If it is a good thought, we can take it on board. What we think determines how we will act; so, a bad thought takes up residence in our minds and, if we're not careful, we choose to believe it and we 'will' to do something about it. Our emotions are then governed by this and can lead to anger, anxieties and upset. Alternatively, we can choose to capture that thought (2 Corinthians 10:5) and make it obedient to Jesus. By this 'will' our emotions are at peace.

Warren W Wiersbe, famous for the Back to the bible series several years ago, says, 'The Christian who fills his heart and mind with God's Word, will have a built in radar detecting wrong thoughts.' I like that. 

As we saw yesterday in Philippians 4:8, the Apostle Paul shows us the correct way that we should focus our minds on. However, imagine if you will, the alternative to this. What if we refuse to think and believe in what is true, what is honourable, what is just, what is pure, what is lovely, what is commendable - if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy? What if we refuse to dwell on these things? The devil would have us believe this way; he is a truth-twister and wants to see you destroyed.

This is why Satan plants bad thoughts in our minds; thoughts that are so convincing that we cannot fail to believe them. If he can split a marriage, a relationship, a church or a family, he will do with devilish joy. Therefore, may I ask you, are you struggling with your thought life? Is the devil playing mind games with you and you are believing it? Rather like gossip can appear very true, the devil's lies can also. He is a master trickster. Don't allow him to cause you this pain and upset. Focus on a scripture such as Philippians 4:8 and tell him, 'Devil, it is written', then tell him to leave; he has to do this when you command him in Jesus' name.

Start believing the truth - Jesus and start receiving all of His benefits (Psalm 103:2); His benefits are not means-tested.

Ensure your thoughts are wholesome (1)

"Whatever is true , whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable - if there is any moral excellence, and if there is anything praiseworthy - dwell on these things."           Philippians 4:8    CSB 

Note the phrase, 'Dwell on these things'. The word dwell can be described as to 'live in these things - living the Word of God'. The NKJV uses the word 'meditate' which again is very good practice. The word Meditate in the Hebrew is Hagah, which means to reflect, to moan or mutter, or to ponder, to make a quiet sound such as sighing or to meditate as one repeats the words. In Hebrew thought, it means to do this while abandoning outside distractions. To the Jew, this is called 'Davening', which is reciting texts, praying and getting lost in communion with God. This behaviour can be observed at The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, where Jews speak out loud as they nod their heads.

Let us select a phrase from this, 'reciting texts, praying and getting lost in communion with God'. This practice can be so helpful in focusing our thoughts in the right direction - God. Living or dwelling in God helps us carry out what Paul is teaching us in our text today - getting our thought life right. Remember, 'as you think, so you are'. So if you think that you are a failure, you'll become one. If you think you could never earn a degree at Uni, then you probably won't. We need to get our thoughts aligned with how God sees us.

As always, when you begin to do something such as this, there will be distractions so that it will stop you getting closer to God. The culprit may be engineered by Satan. Don't let him stop you. This is why the 'reciting texts, praying and getting lost in communion with God' is imperative. It helps to block out these distractions. Tony Evans writes: 'You cannot dwell on both the things of God and the lies of of Satan.' So there you have it; one of them has to go.

Tomorrow we'll look a little deeper into this but, until then try and memorise Philippians 4:8 so that you can quote it whenever you want to. Failing that, in your prayer time, read it out aloud making each word counts and, be determined that whatever; you are on course to only have positive thoughts from now on.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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The Son revealed to you

"Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see but didn't see them; to hear the things you hear but didn't hear them"                                            Luke 10:21-24   CSB 

Remember if you can, the time when you didn't know Jesus - you couldn't see Him or hear Him but, He was there. There may be times that you can pinpoint God overseeing you - when you felt His presence. It may have been something happening that you couldn't explain; something very wonderful that changed your circumstances for the better. You may have prayed to God at the time. I remember doing this myself, and things did change for the better but, I never thanked God. I never knew that I had to; it was just something that had remained in my mind from Sunday School or an RE lesson. You may have had similar experiences.

As we look back it's possible to see where God was involved, yet at the time we didn't know this. Now that we are born again, things become more significant, we can see and hear God's work. However, this time we go by faith. 'For we walk by faith, not by sight' (2 Corinthians 5:7). We must live life based on what God's word teaches us to believe, instead of on what we can see. We can't see what He has promised but, we act and obey because we have confidence in Him. Also because, 'For without faith it is impossible to please God' (Hebrews 11:6).

Now there are possibly things that God has told you about but at this present time, nothing has happened. It is always possible that you may have it wrong but, if that certainty is still there, don't back away from it - don't quit. God has His own timing and it's not like yours; His is perfect, He is always on time. Until the fruition of what God has told you manifests keep on soaking that promise in prayer and worship.

We walk by faith; we see and hear things that the natural world has no knowledge about. We are Kingdom people, Warriors of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just a glance at how Jesus walked the earth demonstrates that He was and is different. He saw, sees and hears things others cannot. We belong to Him; He lives in us therefore, it is expected that as we walk by faith and not by sight, we will do the same.

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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