Don't lose hope

"Why my soul, are you dejected? Why are you in so much turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God."              Psalm 42:5   CSB 

Here, the Psalmist is speaking life to himself, we need to do more of this. Obviously, he had been through a difficult time but, instead of getting all agitated and anxious with it all, he began exploring his soul - mind, will and emotions. 'Why am I so dejected? Why am I in such turmoil? He carries on in this manner and then, remembers to put his hope in God; he knows that he can still praise Him and, as he does, the prospect of depression begins to lift.

The best thing to do in times like this, is to remember the good times - the times when God turned up and changed things for the better. Cultivate an atmosphere of hope - not 'hopefully' but 'hope-fully' in the Lord, fully trust in Him. To do this, is to wait expectantly for God to act. Sometimes it feels like God has taken some time off but, He's there; just because you can't see Him doesn't mean He's unavailable due to another crisis elsewhere. Not at all, He is there in the background working on your behalf.

When depression begins to take up residence, it's easy to think how things used to be, 'I was a somebody, now look at me.' The Psalmist felt this way too; look at verse 4:

'I remember this as I pour out my heart, how I walked with many leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts.'  Psalm 42:4  CSB

The Psalmist rejected this type of thinking and so should you too. You may have been a 'somebody', but now things have changed - but God hasn't; He never changes (Hebrews 13:8). God can turn you into a greater somebody than the somebody that you were, if He chooses to. But it is not about prestige though, it's about Jesus, He is the one that can restore you.

From the belly of the whale Jonah cried out: 'As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You' Jonah 2:7. Jonah remembered the Lord from his memory bank of Godly happenings and, his hope returned and therefore, God restored him.

Don't lose hope, God is with you; He hasn't left. Remember those good times and Put your hope in God - my Saviour and my God.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Instincts and Experiences

"Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless. at Your word, I will let down the net."                                                                 Lukes 5:5   NKJV 

Peter and the others had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. Jesus, who was sitting in one of the boats while the men washed the nets, had been preaching and teaching to a crowd. When He had finished, He said to the men, 'Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch'. 

Now, there are a couple of factors here, firstly, fishermen went out fishing at night along the shore line where there were more fish. This way, they were in with a chance to have a great catch. This was not done during the day or, in deep water, Secondly, Jesus, in Peter's opinion, knew relatively nothing about fishing. As Peter was a rough and ready chap, he could so easily have said to Jesus, 'Stick to Your job of preaching Lord, and leave the fishing to me.' Thankfully, he didn't. He humbled himself and took the advice from Jesus - even though it sounded bizarre to him, and went into the deep. The bottom line is, he did well and they caught so many fish that they began to sink with the weight.

Often, our instincts tell us differently to what the Lord directs. We also tend to shun the person who comes to us and tells us what we should do, or attempts to advise us in some way. We can have a 'I know best' attitude and therefore are prone to be unteachable. This is mainly because we have a vast experience of what we are doing or, intend to do and view others as interfering in what they have no knowledge about.

Just think for a moment, if Peter had refused Jesus' advice that day, he would have ended up with no fish and his bank balance would have suffered. Instincts are good but are not always certain; they may lead to a good solution but, on the other hand, they may be wrong. Experience is vital; people who are trained in a particular area know their business, but again, there are loopholes; no one knows it all except Jesus.

This is why we need the attitude where we listen to others and assess their advice, taking action if we are convinced that they are right. We also need to have the willingness and common sense to say to Jesus, when He directs, 'at Your word Lord, I will do this.'

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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An Upright Person

"Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful." 

                                                                                  Psalm 33:1   NKJV 

The Psalmist here, mentions the term, 'the upright'. What actually is this and what is the definition? To be upright is to be Godly, pure, righteous, honest, just and obedient. When God receives praise and worship in such a way, it is beautiful. It comes from a Spirit-controlled life.

To give an example of this in action, let us look at Joseph who, after being sold into slavery by his own brothers, was placed as a servant in a house in Egypt. After a short time the wife of the house, who was attracted to him, accused him of attempted rape and he was thrown into prison. Just stop and consider this for a moment, Joseph was totally innocent and yet found himself subjected to all of this unfair treatment. Wow, how would you have felt? 

Tony Evans comments on this: 

'God will often take you on a path that doesn't make sense because only He knows the surest way to your destiny.'   Copyright Tony Evans

Joseph found himself in a filthy prison but, instead of feeling angry and sorry for himself, he began to praise his God and to make the most of what he had. After a while, he gained a good reputation which was noticed by the keeper of the prison. The keeper could see that in whatever Joseph did, it was blessed and realised that he carried the favour of God. He therefore placed all of the prisoners under Joseph's authority and left him totally in charge. So Joseph became a somebody in prison because of his integrity. God was with him in all he did. 

God allowed Joseph to go through all of this to build his character and prepare him for what was ahead; and this happens at times. When my wife and I were at a particular bible college, we met a young man with a similar background. God had given him a prison ministry but he had refused to do this. One day, when catching a train, he was arrested on a drugs charge and he was later imprisoned. He was totally innocent. He realised that God had allowed this, so he began speaking to fellow prisoners about Jesus. Pretty soon, the case was dismissed and he was released. A prison ministry started almost straightaway.

Joseph was an upright person and, because of this, he received God's favour. God wants the same from you and He wants you to be ready for whatever comes your way. Are you?

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Can you play chess?

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."  

                                                                                  Ephesians 6:10   NKJV 

Chess is a strategic game for two players each possessing 16 pieces, which are placed on a checkered  board. It can be described as a battle between two kings and their kingdoms. There are strict rules to adhere to and a strong requirement to look ahead, planning your moves and attempting to foil the enemy's intention of winning the battle. Once the king is in 'Checkmate', he has no further places to go and the battle and game are over.

In a way, chess can be likened to our Christian walk with God. We need to acknowledge that, what we are involved with is not a game but a battle - God against Satan. We are Soldiers of the King and so, are key pieces that can make a big difference in the world that we live in.

Obviously, we are not the King, Jesus is, but we are strategic soldiers in His army who are determined to help win this battle for our King. The Christian life is a battle and there are strict rules that we must adhere to in order to succeed.

Our battle plan is drawn up by Jesus Himself. He has strategically placed each one of us in key positions. This can be where we live; what our jobs are and how we live our lives. We must stick to the rules, otherwise our enemy, Satan will obtain a foothold that he can use against us and bring us down. This is why we need to live sin-free lives as best we can. When we fall into sin, which we will, we need to be quick to repent so that we are still in the running to win the race, obtaining th prize.

Planning is essential and we do this by having regular meetings with Jesus. We need to recognise the traps that we could fall into. RT Kendall says, he thinks about what Satan would have him do and then, he does the opposite. I like that. It is not our job to win this Spiritual battle - Jesus will do this. Our part is to remain strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We do this by being obedient and faithful to Jesus and always attempting to walk in the Spirit each day. So learn to play Spiritual Chess!

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Scars and Wounds

"For I will restore health to you, and heal you of your wounds', says the LORD, 'because they called you an outcast saying, 'This is Zion; no one else seeks her."  

                                                                               Jeremiah 30:17   NKJV 

When we have been through ongoing battles, we carry scars and wounds for a long time They heal with time but, we can be tempted to re-visit them occasionally. Don't do this! Once God has dealt with something, it is finished.

The scars and wounds we carry, are mostly the emotional type; we just can't believe that someone would hurt us so badly and, the pain goes deep. We can have sleepless nights as the video keeps playing back what we have been through; and we have psychological conversations with the one's who have been responsible for our hurt. Be careful here, because it can be so easy to judge the person. Remember, we have given it to God and He will repay, not us.

Yes, the person, may have hurt us, in fact, maimed may be more appropriate because they have attacked our minds. We may have felt be-littled, a person with no rights or authority, but hey, that doesn't matter, it's under the blood now, Jesus has fixed it. It is now recovery time.

When we are in recovery, it signifies that we are not yet, fully fit. There is a need for rest and recuperation. This doesn't mean that we stop the world and get off, taking some time off from life. It means we are still susceptible and we need to take slower steps. This may be where you are today. You've been through a war zone but God has rescued you. Now He wants to re-build you, so let Him.

One lesson that you have learned is, the faithfulness of God. It may not have seemed like it at times, but He was with you every step of the way. Now, He is still with you and His Word to you is, 'Be still and know that I AM God'  Psalm 46:10. The means, take your hands off the helm and relax; for a while, stop being a 'hands on' person. It is time-out for you while God builds you back up,

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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At just the right time

So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing, if we don't give up."                        Galatians 6:9    NLT

Can you remember when you were a small child and the excitement of Christmas morning? After almost a sleepless night, you would wake up very early and see if your presents were either in your room or, round the tree. It was a most exciting and joyful time and you would shout, 'He's been' (referring to Santa) to whoever were listening, usually your very tired parents.

When God arrives and changes your situation as you've asked Him to, it is a similar feeling. The joy and the blessing; the relief and the freedom that you receive are amazing. God loves times like this, after all, He's a loving parent.

Yesterday we looked at Galatians 6:9 in the NKJV. Today, let's read the same passage in the NLT version as above. It means the same but the wording is slightly different and gives it more clarity. Where the NKJV reads, 'in due season, we shall reap', the NLT reads, 'At just the right time we will reap.' This tends to make more sense - it comes alive. Think about it, at just the right time, Santa Claus bought your presents - the one's you had been waiting for. In just the same way, Jesus Christ, at just the right time, brought you answers, solutions, provision and blessing to your life.

We can't get away from the fact that there is a waiting period. Mostly, as a child you had to wait for your presents - but they came. In a similar way, is Jesus bringing you a blessing, a provision that you had been praying about. All the fretting, worrying and heartache is over. Jesus has sorted it!

For those of you who are reading this and are still waiting, 'don't give up' because your burden-release, your prayer pleas and cries for help are coming in. In just a little while, you too will be leaping for joy because the King of kings has been and brought you a blessing. 

But it must be, 'at just the right time'; not your time scale, but Jesus'. He knows best and He is in control and He won't let you down.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Things will get better

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."                                         Galatians 6:9   NKJV

You may have been going through difficult times just lately and, when this happens it's hard to believe that things will get better; but they will! Remember what King David wrote in Psalm 23:4, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.' This verse doesn't only address the subject of death but, any difficult experiences in life. It's comforting to know that God (the Shepherd) doesn't go before us or behind us, but He goes with us, 'For You are with me'. God intends to get us through the difficult times and He takes our hand and leads us.

With that positive note in mind, we need to realise that during the time it takes God to change matters, we need to stay afloat. This is not the time to give up and sink, not at all. There is also a promise within our text for today that reads, 'we shall reap'. Note this; it doesn't say, 'We might' or 'there's a possibility things may get better.' It doesn't say that, it says, 'we shall reap'. Therefore, instead of sinking, Jesus has thrown us a life line. Rather like if you were drowning and someone threw you a rope, you would need to grab it to survive; Jesus has thrown you this promise, grab hold of it.

The sun will shine again in your life. Where it may be a gloomy existence for you at the moment, God is moving and His intention is to take you with Him. So, 'Do not lose heart' v9. When you lose heart it is like you are empty, there appears to be nothing left to live for. 'What's the point?' The point is, you are special to Jesus; you may not feel like your are, but it's a fact. Why else should the King of kings call you His friend? (John 15:14-15). Why would He do that unless, He considers you special. He also said, 'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me, you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world  John 16:33. Notice, He has overcome the world and that includes your difficult situation. They're history so, just accept that things will get better!

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

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