The Sign Post

"For God loved the world in this way; He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life."    John 3:16    CSB 

My wife and I attended a humanist funeral recently and were sad at the lack of hope there. When Jesus is absent, there is nothing to look forward to, no hope at all and it showed. What we heard were just empty words to hungry people. Their hunger came from a desire to find out where their loved one was, now. Sadly, there were no answers, just the normal, 'Well, we'll see him again one day.' This made me think, will they?

The Bible - God's direction to life, shows us very clearly by way of a sign post - Life or Death. There is a choice to make and nothing in between; should we turn to 'Life' or take the road to 'Death'. Some may say when you're dead it doesn't matter, but it does!

Death is final on earth, when a friend or loved one dies, it's over. However, the soul and spirit lives on and, dependant on what they chose while they were alive, will determine on where they will be in life eternal. Our text makes it very clear that if we believe in Jesus, we will have eternal life. However in John 3:18 Jesus says:

'Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned because he has not believed in the Name of the one and only Son of God.'

There is either life or death, hope or despair. This is what we witnessed at this funeral that day. There is a choice to make for each one of us - a sign post to choose from. Which one will you choose? To choose Jesus brings a certainty of spending eternity with Him in Heaven. To deny Him, will result in eternity spent without the people who accepted Jesus, in a place that is totally separated from God, which is known as hell. There will be no way of changing your mind then, it will be too late.

Heaven is where Jesus is, hell is where the devil is. Heaven brings joy, happiness and peace with no more sickness or hurts. Hell brings death and destruction, sickness and terrible fear forever. Surely the sign to Heaven is the one to take, don't you think?

Lord Jesus, I choose to follow You and give my life to You today. Please forgive me my sin and, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and be my Lord and Saviour. I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Don't be a copy of someone else

"Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children."   Ephesians 5:1   CSB 

Do you know who you are? Better still, does God know who you are? Let me explain. Human nature puts within each of us, the desire to be like someone else. A hero from a movie, sports star or a musical bigshot, to name just a few, can draw us to them and we begin to take on part of their personality. This is why some people begin to dress and look like their hero - curly hair, make up, long hair, short hair or even no hair and rounded off with pierced everything. The problem is, if someone continues like this for a long time, they can forget who they really are and were created to be, because they are gradually turning into someone who they shouldn't be.

The fictional character Walter Mitty was created by author James Thurber. Mitty used to daydream and live out his fantasies believing he was a great war hero on dangerous missions, a pilot more skilled than any other pilot, a famous film star or any other figure that would give him an escape from realism. As funny as the book and film were, the character was also sad because he couldn't be who he should be - himself.

Well renowned Christian author, John Mason said, 'You were born an original, don't die a copy.' These are great words of wisdom. God created you just as you are. The only one He wants you to copy is Jesus. This is why Paul wrote, 'be imitators of God'. He is the only one worth being like. The old Walter Mitty syndrome needs to be cast aside. You are who God created you to be; stop trying to model yourself on another person.

We can and do, have mentors, but this doesn't mean we become them; we model ourselves on what they are helping us to achieve and receive their guidance to bring this about. This is why a sports person has a coach. However, the best mentor and coach is Jesus. We are doing it right, when we take on the desire to be just like Him. We begin to know who we really are this way and notice what needs to be changed. We also live in reality. We don't need fantasy and adventure to be happy; we just need Jesus. He is all we need.

When you become more like Jesus, instead of someone else; you'll be surprised how many people notice this and are drawn to you.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Do you handle changes of plan, well?

"A person's heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps."   Proverbs 16:9   CSB 

What are you like when everything you have planned to do on a particular day, is suddenly changed, no matter how important they were to you? You may think that your diary is set in stone but, God thinks differently, He knows that things can be changed as required, and He can change what He wants to. He doesn't do this however, to wind us up but, because of priority.

When I was working in a busy social work team, my diary would be crammed full of appointments and other important things that needed attention. However, things can change in an instant and all of those important things I had to do, would have to be re-scheduled because of an emergency. Initially, this gave me a problem as I had always been one not to let people down or change situations. But, I needed to change and fast, I had to learn to be flexible.

How do you handle sudden change? Does it cause you stress and panic because you are set in your ways, or are you open to these sudden changes? We know that Jesus never changes (Hebrews 13:8), but He will make sudden changes to our plans where required. He knows what is best for each situation. Life brings changes and we have to learn to live with them to be able to survive. It is similar to the sudden changes to our plans.

Changes to our plans can raise our blood pressure and get our stress level bubbling. But think about it, if we really trust God, would He change things just for the sake of it? If He was testing us, He might, but usually things will change because God has seen a better way - a door has suddenly opened and He wants us to make the most of it. Remember, we make the plans but, God determines what we do about them. He has our interests at heart; He can see things we may miss or He may make a change because of a threat to our lives or ministry. He is ultimately, the best planner of all time and He will never give us things to do, that we're not capable of doing. So stop fretting, trust Him and be a flexible person to a flexible friend.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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A Word on 'Thoughts'

"We demolish arguments (5) and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ."   

                                                                                   2 Corinthians 10:4-5   CSB 

As we saw yesterday, our thoughts are built around our soul - mind, will and emotions and we need to keep a constant check in this area. In fact, Paul felt that our thought-life was so important that he told us to 'take every thought captive'. It is vital that we be in control here!

Jesus commented about the nature of Satan in John 8:44, 'he is a liar and the father of lies'. From this, we gain knowledge about the necessity to walk carefully. Satan twists the truth; rather like a serpent, he lies in wait until he is ready to show himself, he then crawls into the situation and attempts to convince us that we have it wrong. You must have had occasions when there is a voice in your head, telling you that this is the way you should go but somehow, it doesn't seem right. It may be luring you into a dangerous situation and you just don;'t have the faith to do it but, you feel guilty because you are feeling this way. These are mind games.

How do we know who is speaking - God or Satan? Firstly, Jesus told us 'Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world' John 14:27. When God speaks to us, there is a sense of peace about it all. When the devil speaks, then there is a sense of uncertainty. You just don't feel happy. When you feel this way, don't do it!

If we feel that it is God speaking to us, we then need to seek confirmation from Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 is ideal for this: '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.' Notice the part, 'do not rely on your own understanding'. It is vital you seek God's confirmation. 

Satan will:

CONVINCE   He is sweet-tongued and will try to hoodwink you into going his way. Refuse!

CONFUSE    He is experienced in twisting scripture around which, if you are not conversant with  bible knowledge, he will confuse you. Be careful and get some bible study started.

CONTROLS  Once he has accomplished the above, he will control and manipulate you, if you allow him. Don't!

It is imperative to know scripture; without this knowledge, you are like a petrol engine without petrol - useless. Watch your thoughts and learn your scripture.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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You have been rescued

He redeems your life from the pit"                         Psalm 103:4   CSB 

Many people have been rescued from certain death in one way or another. I can testify to this, being swept out to sea during Storm Brian and pulled out by 'someone', as I was washed back on a high wave. It was a certain near-death experience. Maybe you have had something similar. I have no doubt that God's hand was on my rescue, whether person or angel, dragged me out of the icy water that day.

Can you remember a time when God intervened  and brought you through to safety? He redeemed your life from the pit, or should we say destruction. What Satan had planned carefully, God hit the override button and foiled his attempts, and God will continue to look after you this way because, you are His child. 

This is why, like King David here, we need to bless the Lord with all we have. As we've mentioned before, our soul is made up of our mind, will and emotions. These should be surrendered to Him and in sync with the Holy Spirit:

MIND   What we think about is a major area for assessment. Our mind generates thoughts that can promote our walk with Jesus or destroy it. When unwholesome thoughts come into mind, if we dwell on them too long, they begin to want more. Remember Eve with the fruit in  Genesis 3? The more she looked at the fruit, the more tempted she became. Our mind determines what action we will take.

WILL   When we are tuned into the Holy Spirit, we can find it easier to deal with thoughts that are unwholesome. When we are not, our will begins to wobble and before too long, if we're not careful, we can fall. Our will has the power to decide 'Yes' or 'No', we either call on God or fall to the temptation.

EMOTIONS   We can easily be manipulated by 'sweet sounding' words. The, 'it'll be all right, no one will mind', can ruin your life. Our emotions need to be governed by the Holy Spirit and that will only happen when we surrender to Him.

Ensure that your soul - mind, will and emotions, are well and truly in step with God and then bless Him.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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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.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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