You're accepted

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me and, the one who comes to Me, I will by no means cast out."                                                                            John 6:37   NKJV

Over the past couple of days we have looked at 'Insecurity and lacking of confidence'. These two areas are linked to 'acceptance', whether or not you feel you belong. Let's start by asking how do you rate in this area? Do you feel accepted? Are you confident that you belong or do you doubt whether people's feelings towards you are genuine? Firstly, let's look at what Jesus says here. He mentions a very small word with a very big meaning, 'all'. Are you willing to accept the fact that you belong in that 'all'?

If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, then you can be certain that you fit into the 'all'. You may not feel like it, but you do. Part of the problem is that you may have been let down in the past; life can be like that. You may find it difficult to believe people. Whatever kind word they may speak to you, you look for an ulterior  motive - 'What are they after?' It's hard to trust people when you have been abused by life. However, you have to start somewhere and, this verse is a good place to do that. 

Jesus says, people who belong in the 'all', will go to Him. Now, this is where you start. Just the fact that you are a Christian means that at sometime you went to Jesus and He accepted you. That's right, you were accepted that day and He will never cast you away - never. Therefore, you need to carry on going to Him. You won't have far to go because, He's right beside you.

You may have been a Christian for many years yet, deep down in your spirit you hide away, no one sees this but, it is becoming more apparent. It all develops from insecurity and lack of confidence. This has led to you having a low self-esteem. Someone may have wounded you when you were younger and there is pain - a festering wound that requires healing. Why not say this prayer right now:

'Lord Jesus, I know that You love me and that I want to serve You wholeheartedly. I keep trying but feel I am being held back by lack of confidence, insecurity and low self-worth. Lord, I come to You now and ask You to help me to be free. Whatever has caused these feelings Lord, I give to You and receive my healing now. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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See yourself as God sees you (2)

"But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." v31                 Numbers 13   NKJV

The recce team had been to check out the land of Canaan. Caleb reported that they could easily possess the land. However, the others gave a bad report, as shown above. Note the words, 'for they are stronger than we.' They were driven by fear, one could read it in their description of the place. Therefore, they wanted to remain in their comfort zone. This is not where God wants you to be. Yes it is very cosy there but, there comes a time when you have to put your foot down in the water and cross over. Bob Gass once said, 'Our attitude will either lift us above our circumstances, or bury us beneath them.' I read somewhere that 'Achievers are not avoiders. Not only do they find solutions to the problems of life but, they discover a tremendous power within themselves - Jesus'  1 John 4:4.

Who do you believe? God's Word says, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' Philippians 4:13. However, your inner self may tell you, 'It can't be done, it's best you leave it alone.' How many times does something look impossible simply because you think it is? You either believe a good report or, accept a bad one. The choice is yours; but what you choose will change your life.

Let me tell you something, God sees you as a winner - an overcomer; you may see yourself as a loser or just an ordinary person in the street who is going nowhere; but God can use an ordinary person in the street if you let Him.

It's time to stop the doubt and lose the fear - you belong to God. Start seeing yourself as a person with a giant-killer mentality. Remember, people will see you as you see yourself. If you walk as a giant-killer, people will see this. It's time to stand up tall and strong. Too long have you hidden away in a corner. Its time to put on your armour and walk as a warrior of Jesus Christ. He chose you - conscripted you into His army. He pressed the button of your life - you made the choice. Therefore, giant-killer, make a stand because you are of high value to Jesus.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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See yourself as God sees you (1)

"God, how precious Your thoughts are to me, how vast their sum is."   

                                                                                                 Psalm 139:17   CSB 

Many times we see ourselves as unworthy people, so why would God want to communicate with us? Why does He think of us so much? To know the answer to these questions, we have to fully realise how much He actually cares for us. We must see ourselves as the Lord sees us - as His children who He dearly longs to communicate with. 

Charles F Stanley writes:

'If we have a pauper like image of ourselves, wondering why the God who created the heavens and the earth would engage in meaningful conversation with insignificant us, then communication shuts down.'   Charles F Stanley Life Principles Bible

It all comes down to relationship. If you know Jesus, then He wants a relationship with you; He wants to communicate with you but, if you don't communicate with Him then it all breaks down because it is one-sided. Here, King David praises God for His precious thoughts and there are many, we could never count them. Think about that for a moment; God has endless thoughts about you each day. In fact, He can't stop thinking about you.

How often do you think about Him? As we accept that He thinks about us so much, we are beginning to think about Him also and this leads to praise and gratitude. Ask yourself, when things go drastically wrong, who do you turn to? If it's God, then He is on your mind.

There's a lot of insecure people in our world today; are you one of them? It's not unusual to think this way, we all feel like this sometimes. However, we need to avoid the 'Grasshopper image' Numbers 13:33. The recce party who went to search out Canaan returned saying that the people were like giants, 'we were like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight.' Note this, As they viewed the giants, fear came upon them and they had a low self-image, in fact, they had a 'Grasshopper. mentality'.

People will view you as you view yourself. God doesn't want this of you. See yourself as God sees you. To do this, build up your relationship with Him; have a 'Jesus mentality', about yourself and allow nothing to stand in your way.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Don't try to hide away from from God

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden."                                                                            Genesis 3:8-13   CSB 

This scripture demonstrates the great patience that God has for each of us. He knew that Adam and Eve were hiding from Him; He also knew what they had done, yet the first thing He says is, 'Where are you?'

God knew what they had done; He knew their guilt and He wanted them to be honest with Him, to confess that they had done wrong and repent. But they hid from Him. As Christians, we can do the same when we have sinned; we can ignore gong to church or associating with a fellow brother or sister. We can feel that if we hide away, it will go away. But it won't, unless we repent.

We have to face God, we can't get away with things because, the conviction is too great. Adam finally realised this and told God they had hidden away because of their nakedness. They were ashamed. God challenged Adam, asking him if he had eaten from the tree. He wanted Adam to confess. However, instead of repenting and receiving God's forgiveness, they both played the blame game, blaming each other and even God.

David Guzik writes:

'God knew the answer to His question. He asked it because He allowed Adam to make the best of a bad situation by repenting right then and there; but Adam didn't come clean and repent before God.'   Enduring Word - David Guzik

Charles Spurgeon wrote:

We can see how completely death was brought into Adam's moral nature, for if it had not been so, he would have said, "My God, I have sinned, will You forgive me?"

                           The Charles Spurgeon Study Bible

That day in the garden, Adam and Eve had the opportunity to repent, asking God to forgive them, and He would have. He would have forgiven them because He couldn't demonstrate any other than His love and compassion. No doubt He would have brought about another route to deal with sin.

God's love knows no end. You may have let Him down - big time. But, if you have, don't hide away, confess it and receive His forgiveness. He knows about it anyway. Just say that you're sorry.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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What do you need to give up?

"Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded."                                                                      James 4:7-8  CSB 

You can do this! There are things in your life that you know you have to give up. You may think it's impossible to do so, but it's not, God has provided the way. Before Jesus came, there was a great chasm between man and God. It was impossible to reach Him. But God sent Jesus to bridge that gap and when James says, 'Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you', he is actually saying, 'Come, the way to Me is open, come on through'. God wouldn't call you if there wasn't a way.

Doing this, is called, 'Surrender'. E. Stanley-Jones wrote, 'Surrender to Christ or you surrender to chaos.' Think about that chaos for a moment. The devil causes confusion; some days he causes so much chaos in your life that you don't know what to do. Would Jesus cause you chaos? No, I don't think He would, so straightaway, you know who the culprit is - Satan. Therefore, surrender is essential for peace of mind and survival.

Be honest and ask yourself, what is preventing you from drawing near to God and remaining there? What do you need to surrender to Him? Psalm 37:4 says, 'Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart's desires.' Commenting on this verse, Jesse Duplantis said, 'Your greatest weakness will stop your greatest desire'. You can see that perhaps your weakness in a particular  area, is choking the greatest desire of your life. God wants to bless you but, there may be a need to surrender to Your friend Jesus, who is longing to bless you.

Imagine being in a dark tunnel. Jesus wants you to be the light in that tunnel. He longs for you to fill the darkness around you with His light. To do this, you need to draw near to Him and allow Him to draw near to you. You can do this

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Be careful what you look at

"Open my eyes so that I may contemplate wondrous things from Your instruction"   

                                                                                        Psalm 119:18  CSB 

We must be careful what we focus on because our eyes have an appetite for viewing what they shouldn't. Eyes that focus on the things of the world will never see the wondrous things of God. This is why Job said in Job 31:1 'I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?' Lust is the first step to sin and sin is the first step to death James 1:13-16. Looking at an attractive person is one matter but it is dangerous to look with lust in the heart. Sin in the mind is not as destructive as the act in the flesh but it is the first step; and we will be judged for both.

We need to submit to God and have our eyes opened to the things of the Lord. The Psalmist writes in 119:37, 'Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in Your way.' This is the first step to having God opening your eyes. As Saul was walking along the Damascus Road on his way to bring persecution and hurt upon Christians there, God intervened and struck him blind for 3 days or so. 'Then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one' Acts 9:8. After the 3 days, God directed Ananias to go and lay hands upon him and Saul's eyes were restored Acts 9:18. 'Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales and he received his sight.' From thereon, Saul became Paul and his life was completely changed.

God wants to lead each one of us into a new level of living. He wants us to walk in the spiritual by having our eyes opened. We can read the bible all day and never receive the full meaning but when the Holy Spirit is upon us, our eyes see into the spiritual. It is a matter of being determined to turn away from looking at worthless things and having God revive you 119:37.

If you want to have your eyes opened spiritually, say this prayer:

'Lord Jesus, please help me to turn away from looking at worthless things and revive me in Your way. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Rejoice in this day

"This is the day the LORD has made, let's rejoice and be glad in it."   

                                                                                         Psalm 118:24   CSB

There are two ways that we can view this verse: 

(1)  It is a prophetic word

(2)  It is a word directly from God that shows how we should live each day

Firstly, let's look at what David Guzik has to say about the prophetic parts of this verse:

"When Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22 (in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11, and Luke 20:17), He did so in response to the praise and hosannas given to Him at what is commonly called the triumphal entry. Since this psalm is prophetically connected with that event, the day mentioned here can be prophetically understood as the day Jesus formally entered Jerusalem as Messiah and King.

i. It is true in a general sense that the LORD makes every day, and there is reason to rejoice and be glad in every day. Yet specifically, the day the LORD made to rejoice and be glad in was the day Jesus entered Jerusalem with hosannas welcoming Him as Israel’s Savior. If on that day human voices failed to rejoice and be glad, Jesus said that the very stones would cry out their praises and hosannas (Luke 19:40).
ii. There is also reason to believe, based on the chronology of Sir Robert Anderson, that the particular day of the triumphal entry was prophesied in Daniel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Daniel 9:24-26). Anderson’s chronology is controversial and rejected by some, but as John Walvoord noted, “No one today is able dogmatically to declare that Sir Robert Anderson’s computations are impossible.”        Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik

This commentary gives us an in depth explanation of this verse and the true reason why each of us should be grateful that Jesus gave Himself for us.

Secondly, God speaks directly to each of us about how we should react on a daily basis towards God and each day we wake up. This day cannot be classed as yesterday or tomorrow, it is firmly discussing today and the choices we have to live through it. We have a choice to make each day of our lives. Some days can be good and some, not so good but, we have a choice to make about how we approach each day. We can often hear:

'It's a horrible day, I'll be glad when it's over.' You may have made this comment quite a few times. But let us take a look at the verse again, 'This is the day the LORD has made, let's rejoice and be glad in it.' When we say such things are we not disagreeing with God? Are we being ungrateful for another day of our lives, a day many wish they could take part in? 

Perhaps we need to look within ourselves and think what it would be like if God didn't give us another day to live. Days can be difficult to negotiate but it's the same for everyone - good and not so good days. However, we do have a choice to be grateful to God for giving us this day and then praising Him for it. Is that too much to ask?

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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