You need the Holy Spirit

"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever."                                                                    John 14:16   CSB 

Bob Gass said, 'If you look at the world you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. But if you look at God, you'll be at rest.' 

You can go through great times of challenge and even despair. The more you try to sort things out on your own, the worse things are. As Bob Gass says, if you go to the world for answers you will be lost and confused and in a state of distress. People may look to their stars for an answer to the problem, they may even go to a fortune teller for guidance, others as we read in magazines, write to Agony Aunts for answers. However, there is only one person you can receive an ideal answer from and, this is the Holy Spirit who, if you are a Christian, lives within your heart.

The Holy Spirit is our Counsellor, our Helper and our Comforter. He will always lead you into the truth, 'when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth' John 16:13. The Greek word for Comforter is Parakletos, which means one who comes alongside to strengthen, encourage and advise you. If you try to find the answer yourself, unless you receive counsel from the Comforter, you will end up frustrated and depressed because, Jesus said, 'Without Me, you can do nothing' John 15:5. There is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - 3 separate persons in one, this is the Holy Trinity. If you have Jesus in your life, you also have the Holy Spirit and, if you look to Him for help in times of need, you will receive rest.

Many people are uncertain about the Holy Spirit mainly because they don't understand Him and have been led astray by overly Charismatic teaching. Simply put, He is your power-line to God; He is your constant friend and companion and, He is like your heavenly compass guiding you here, there and wherever God wants you. He will baptise you in His Holy Spirit if you ask Him, enabling you to go deeper within the things of God.

He is your power-house, your ever ready, ever present, ever loving and constant companion. You and I need Him.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Jesus makes the darkness tremble

"But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them."  v25                         Act 16:25-30   NKJV

Picture the scene, Paul and Silas had been severely beaten, possibly with rods, and placed into the inner prison - rather like a dungeon where other prisoners could view them. The charge against them? They had been found guilty of preaching Jesus and casting out a spirit from a girl who practiced fortune telling, making her master very rich. They were cut and bleeding, cold and wet and placed in stocks with their legs chained as they sat in a rat-infested filthy place. Were they angry? No, they were praising God! Amazing; Paul and Silas in obvious pain and discomfort, praised God, singing out loud in the eerie darkness while the other prisoners listened to them. 

Jesus is not bound by darkness, not at all because He is the Light. He created an earthquake to shake the prison. This was not a natural earthquake but, a supernatural one and in that darkness when Light struck, chains fell off and doors were opened and they were all free. The prison-keeper, fearing for his life, threatened to kill himself rather than suffer the Roman discipline for losing prisoners. But Paul shouted to him, not to do this and the man and his whole family were saved that day, and not one of the prisoners escaped v27-31.

The answer to despair, hardships and troubles is praise because, it brings release. It shatters the darkness and allows Light (Jesus) to enter your situation and bring about change. In fact, whatever problem you may be going through at this time can be changed by praising God. It opens doors, makes chains fall off and brings freedom.

Just think, you have a trouble-filled situation, so: 

(1) You pray and praise God

(2) People may witness this and be changed themselves

(3) You are seeking Good first

(4) And the result is, freedom. That is the formula.

In bad situations, the last thing you feel like doing is praising God but, break through that because when you do, the darkness-busting, power-filled Light of Jesus Christ will bring so much energy into your situation that it will feel like you are having your own, spiritual earthquake.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Beware of The Peter Principle

 "But you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things."   

                                                                                                  1 John 2:20   NKJV

Each Christian has an anointing; the Holy Spirit has taken up residence within your life and given you gifts and talents. Another word for anointing is 'unction' translated from the Greek as Chrisma. This comes from the root Chrio and is the word that underlies Christ, which means Messiah or anointed.

Now some people have the anointing to preach, evangelise or teach. Others may be worship leaders or musicians. Each person has a gifting or anointing and it is an important part of God's work. The problems starts when anyone tries to step out of their own anointing and assume someone elses.

Back in 1969, Laurence J Peter wrote his book The Peter Principle. It carries quite a few truths about certain points. People slip into The Peter Principle when they promote themselves or are promoted to a job or position that they are not qualified for. The author states that many are promoted to a level of their incompetence. They may be in government, industry or even the church. Whereas they thrived in the position they held, they are elevated to a level that they can't cope with. In other words they have moved out of their anointing e.g. 'for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church'  1 Timothy 3:5.

Some people promote themselves by trying to do what someone else is already doing. They try to be what they are not. This is how competition starts where the un-anointed person tries to take over from the anointed one. We have to come to terms with our own anointing, whether we are in the Christian sector or the secular one. For example, if you are a brilliant sales person, it does not necessarily mean that you'll be a good sales manager; if the anointing isn't there, it will fail.

Accept what anointing God has given you and do it well. Stop wishing that you had someone else's anointing; this leads to jealousy and resentfulness. If God had wanted you to preach, you would be in the pulpit - NOW! But you are more valuable to God by doing what He has anointed you to do. Be realistic with your ambitions . 

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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 .

A Brief look at Moses

"Now it came to pass in the days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way and when he saw no-one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."                     Exodus 2:11-12.  NKJV

After a risky start in life, Moses grew up in the palace of Pharaoh because His daughter had taken him as her son. Now, some 40 years later, Moses was in a prominent position. Students have had heated debates over the years about whether Moses was being trained to be the next Pharaoh. However, there is no biblical reference to this belief. Whether it was true or not, it was short-lived because of Moses' crime; he had murdered the Egyptian and it was probably pre-meditated because, 'he looked  this way and that way and when he saw no-one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.' Moses had witnessed the Egyptian 'beating' the Hebrew. Now in the Hebrew, the word for 'beating' meant beating him to death. So in reality, Moses saved his life. 

It's easy to gloss over this crime, but it was murder. However, there was no particular law at that time; but, however we view it, God must have been grieved because He is righteous and loves everyone. Moses was soon caught out when he tried to separate two Hebrew men who had got into a fight. One of them indicated what Moses had done the previous day and, Moses panicked and left for Midian, where he spent the next 40 years or so as a shepherd. The thing is, did he miss his position in Egypt? Was he full of remorse at what he had done, there is no indication that he was.

Moses spent 40 years as a shepherd and had plenty of time to think and be alone with God. During this waiting time, God began to get him into position. God took this man and despite what he had done in the past, forgave him, trained him and turned him into perhaps the greatest leader of that time.

But Moses had to learn and this took time. If you're being called to serve God, there is a time of waiting, training and repenting. Like Moses, whatever is in your past, God can deal with it and with you, if you're willing to spend time with Him. DL Moody, said, 'Moses spent 40 years in Egypt thinking he was a somebody; 40 years in the wilderness learning he was a nobody, and another 40 years seeing what God can do with a nobody'

Therefore, get into God's Word and spend time with Him

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Praise Your Holy God

Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come."  

                                                                                         Revelation 4:8   NKJV 

The four living creatures, who are angels, never stop praising God. Day and night, 24/7 their praises are directed to the infinite holiness of God. These praises were also recorded in Revelation 1:8, where it states: 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End',  says the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.' This means that God is everything from A - Z. He meets every need; He has always been there offering His love, He is with us always and, always will be. 

Check out the last part of this verse - 'and is to come'. This is not only saying He, the Lord God Almighty, will be here forever for His people, but it confirms that He - Jesus, is to come one day soon. The Rapture is close, one only has to look around the world today and see the moral decay that has, and is, and will continue to come.

The four Cherubim are still around the Throne of God and they will continue to sing praises to Him continually. Actually, just stop and think a moment, praise and worship sets you free from the problems of the world and it sets you free from your own personal problems. It is very difficult to think about your worries when you are worshipping God. Once you are totally sold out to Him, it is like your mind takes some time off and you are just lost in bliss.

Praise also stops Satan in his tracks. He is not going to hang around while you have an in-depth  worship time with God. He cannot stand it; so remember this when he comes around to tempt you, torment you or attack you. Start praising God non-stop and you can guarantee that he will scarper.

Why not spend some time in praise and worship right now. Use today's text as a starter and see where it leads you. Don't forget, when you do this you are joining in with the Cherubim too.

What a privilege

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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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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