God will have His way

"At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."   

                                                                                              Acts 8:1-3   NKJV

Stephen had just been murdered by a rebellious crowd, one in which Saul of Tarsus was consenting. Saul was one of the main ringleaders who had been entering believer's homes and dragging them - men, women and children, to prison. At the time, Saul was not a nice person to be around and was endeavouring to stamp out Christianity from the land. Yet, he had underestimated God's power.

God used this persecution to spread the Gospel. Jesus had told His disciples prior to His ascension that, 'But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth'  Acts 1:8. Now notice this, during this persecution, the apostles had remained in Jerusalem. However, the other disciples had been scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. The rebellious Jews had played right into God's hands and the disciples were now doing what Jesus had said they would do - be His witnesses. People may try and prevent Gods work but, it is like a game of chess and God is a far better player. God cannot be outsmarted. You need to remember this in hard times. He can still use you wherever you are.

Later on, Saul would be facing Jesus on the Damascus Road (Acts 9), he would then realise just who Jesus is and through this, he would receive a mighty change in his life. He would also be known as Paul because being a Jewish Roman citizen, his name would probably have been Saul Paulus, so he had a choice.

Today, many people who we would never have dreamt would be a Christian, enter our churches and, some take leading roles. How do you feel about this? How would you feel if Paul came into the church and started teaching. When we think about this, it must have been difficult for the other apostles to have Paul joining them. I mean, his reputation was not good and people must have been wary about him. On the other hand, it must also have been difficult for Paul, entering the church and people talking about him and avoiding him. It would have been a difficult time for all. Yet, God knows what He is doing. We may not like it when certain people come to the church with a reputation, especially when they rise up in the ranks. The thing is, if God has chosen them who are we to judge? Think about that the next time you see someone in ministry who you feel should not be there. If God trusts them, shouldn't you?

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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No one can ever stop Jesus

"Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it."                                     Colossians 2:15    NKJV 

People may try to stop Jesus being preached; they may try to re-write the bible or twist the truth but, Jesus Christ is Lord of all, He is in charge and whatever happens, He will triumph in the end. Let us look at the account of Peter and John in Acts 5:12-42 (It would help to read this to help you have a good insight).

Peter and John trusted Jesus and even though they had previously been arrested for preaching about the Lord and were forbidden to speak about Jesus anymore, it didn't stop them and, they were arrested once more and put into prison to answer to the Sanhedrin v17-18.

However, as they sat in their dungeon with a heavy guard outside, an angel of the Lord came and set them free, telling them to go back to the temple and preach once again.

When the officers went to take their prisoners to the council the next day, they discovered they had gone, even though the doors were still locked and the guards were outside. They couldn't work out how this had happened. Then one of the high priests told them they had been seen preaching once again in the temple. They had Peter and John brought back to them and began questioning them again. However,  not once did they ask how they had escaped. Perhaps they wanted to avoid the truth.

Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee stood up and advised that if all of this wasn't of God, it would soon fizzle out. But, if it was, they would not be able to prevent it as it would be like  fighting with God. The council agreed and let them go v38-40.

Looking at this account, we can see how God has a sense of humour as, they could not work out how this had all happened. It was like a comedy scene. As our text today reads, He was making a spectacle of them. They were not able to take on the supernatural. A locked door will never stop the power of the Holy Spirit, He opens and shuts them to His liking. People may try and fight against you, but they're fighting against God and He, is your Champion and will always fight on your behalf. 

You may have struggles today but, be encouraged, God is on your side if you have put Him in the driving seat. Don't be intimidated; stand strong and tall in Jesus. He knows your struggles and if you need it, He will come and set you free as He did Peter and John.

With God on your side, you can't lose. You're a winner and He is your Champion.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Call on Him

"Ask Me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know, about things to come"   

                                                              Jeremiah 33:3 New Living Translation

God invites us to call out to Him when we need help and have troubles brewing. He promises that He will show us things that we don't know about, about things to come and about what we need to know in this present time.

In Psalm 34:17:18, we read:

'The LORD hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues them those whose spirits are crushed.' NLT

Note the word 'ALL' in verse 17. He doesn't assess what is more important than something else. No, when we call on Him, the scriptures say that He rescues us from 'all' our troubles. You see, He is a loving God; He is our Father and doesn't wants us fretting at all or being anxious. When the scriptures say 'His people', it is referring to the righteous, which we are if, we have asked Jesus into our hearts and trust Him with all we have got. In other words, if we give Him all, He gives us all. His eyes and ears are everywhere and when He receives our call, He gives us His full attention. 

Sadly, those who are not in touch with Jesus, who have not given Him their heart, He hears their call too when they are in trouble. The difference is His face is against them. He gives them every chance to get to know Him; don't forget, He died for them too. However, if they do not accept this and recognise Him for who He is, they will not be helped. They have to cope alone.

In verse 22, we read: 'The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.'  NKJV

Our soul is made up of our Mind, Will and Emotions. Basically, what we think about, what we do and how we manage with what we have got. He cares so much, even for every day issues. Yesterday, my wife noticed that she had lost her wedding ring. She was gutted and we looked all over the place for it - even in the outside rubbish bins (Yuk). We both prayed but with no answer. By bedtime, my wife was becoming frantic about this, and she reminded God that He had promised that He would tell her remarkable secrets and rescue her from all her troubles. After this prayer, she walked round our bed and grimaced as she stood on something sharp - yes, her wedding ring.  We had both looked there a dozen times but couldn't see it, but God knew it was there and revealed it to her. The conclusion to this scenario, GOD CARES, VERY MUCH.

And He will help you as well, with whatever is troubling you. Don't forget that you can remind Him of His promises; He welcomes this and answers this type of prayer, but, in His own time.

Just call on Him now and receive His blessing

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Navigate by the SON

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."    

                                                                                       John 14:6   NKJV 

There are right and wrong ways that we have to walk in every day of our lives. Sometimes, we get it wrong, yet, as we ask Him, Jesus will forgive us when we fall into sin. Have you ever stopped to think about this verse - I mean, really meditated on it? Jesus knows the way, in fact, every way there is a way, He knows it. He knows the way we should and shouldn't do things. He knows the way we can put right what we have messed up. Jesus through His words here, was saying that He is the universal point of access to God. In other words, He has the key and, if we ask Him, He will give it to us. This is done by submitting to God and asking Jesus into our life and asking Him to forgive us for all the wrongs we have ever done. The Father can only be accessed through Jesus.

He is the truth and His truth brings us life. It's the evil one who speaks lies, never Jesus. He actually can only speak the truth, and His truth offers each one of us an abundant life (John 10:10). This abundance can be seen in Ephesians 3:20 where Paul writes:

'Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.' This is superabundance, overwhelming abundance and over the top abundance as we see in Psalm 23:5 - 'my cup runs over.'

Jesus gives us more than we can ever imagine. He knows the way to do this and, He knows the way He can do it for you. These are the things that we need to remember when the chips are down and, we don't really feel like praying. He knows the way that He can help us to pray and the way to pray for what we need. 

When I was in the army, we would periodically go out on orienteering exercises and escape and evasion. We could be dropped off in the middle of nowhere and with only the clothes that we stood up in (and sometimes this was t-shirt and shorts in winter). We would have no money, or food. The only thing we had - if we were lucky was a compass. We had to get to certain places on our own knowledge and without getting caught. If you didn't have a compass it was difficult unless, you could follow the position of the sun. We had to navigate by the sun. 

However, fast forward a few years and I still need to navigate my way in life but I do this, by navigating the SON. Jesus is my compass. He knows the way; if I veer off course, He is there to correct me, because He knows the way.

You may feel lost at times but, when you are, get your compass - the bible, or learn to remember scripture and then be guided by this. You only need to ask Jesus the way and he is only too pleased to say, 'Go this way, My child. Navigate by the SON'

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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A Friend

"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."                                                 Proverbs 18:24    NKJV

We all need friends, especially in the dark and troubled times of our life. But true and faithful friends are hard to come by and are built upon trust. Therefore we must choose wisely. There are probably many who we can call our friend, but we need to be careful who we choose to divulge our problems with. What we must avoid, is to go to as many friends as we can until we get the answer we are hoping for. A true and honest friend will say it as it is and put you right where you are tending to go wrong. They'll do it in love but, they mean it, because they are true friends. They will laugh and cry with you and will never share your secrets with anyone else.

Aa I have said, a true friend is hard to come by and once you have found one, you need to cherish it. But the friendship must come from both sides. Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 7:12, 'Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.' We usually call it the Golden Rule and you'll receive gold from your friendship as you give gold yourself.

The verse above can be interpreted as two-fold, firstly it points to the friendship that we have just been looking at. Secondly, it can be described as the love Jesus has for each of us. James Taylor, the singer songwriter who has written many songs that feature Christian lyrics, wrote, 'You've got a friend' back in the 70's. Here, this song sums up what I am saying:

When you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand
And nothing, oh, nothing is going right. Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there to brighten up even your darkest nights
You just call out my name and you know wherever I am
I'll come running, oh, yeah, baby to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall all you've got to do is call
And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah, You've got a friend   Copyright James Taylor

These verses can be received as a friend with his or her friend, or our relationship with Jesus. We know that we only have to call on Jesus and, He will be there. And we also know, that a true friend will also do their best to be there for you as well.

Have you got a true friend like this? Could you be a true friend to someone else? You know that Jesus is a true friend to you. Are you a true friend to Him?

That is food for thought!

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Sing a new song, write a new verse

"My tongue is the pen of a ready writer"                      Psalm 45:1   NKJV 

This Psalm can be described as a love song, in fact, a wedding song to King Solomon and his new bride. The writer is captivated by his love at this precious moment and writes with a sensitivity and passion that only the Holy Spirit could have given him. It is a song from the heart of an inspired and excited writer as he bubbles over with new words to bless the king and his bride.

However, it is also a song to the King of kings - Jesus Christ and His bride - we believers. The Holy Spirit led the writer to pen a song with joint meanings; one for Solomon and one for Jesus. We are not sure who the writer was but, one thing is for sure, he exercised his gift excellently.

This Psalm also has a very strong meaning for each one of us too. Do you have new songs come into your head, or perhaps some poetry? We should never neglect these because, they are a gift from God. Being a writer is part of the art world; it is something that is created, from the heart. It is actually a privilege to have such a gift as it blesses God and all that read or listen to the work. 

You may feel that the songs you create or the poems that you write, are not up to standard. Listen, they are up to God's standards and he gets much pleasure in you doing this just for Him. If you play an instrument, play it for Jesus. If you write poetry, write it for Him. If you put the two together, you have a song, so therefore, sing this to Him. In His ears, it is a sweet melody. It may not come up to the standard of other people but if God likes it - which He will, that's all that matters.

You may not be able to sing in tune, but to God it is sweet sound. You may not feel your poetry is all that good, but God rates it very highly. Being a writer myself, I get so much satisfaction from allowing my tongue to be the pen of a ready writer. Note the term 'ready writer'. You need to carry a note book and pen with you for those moments of inspiration that will come when you're least expecting it. Always be ready!

Think about it for a moment. Have you a book inside of you that is bursting to get out? If so, then write it. You may be fortunate to get a publisher interested. Have you some poetry you have written or is there a song within you that won't go away.? Why not use your tongue to be the pen of a ready writer. Who knows, you may have more success than you have ever dreamed about. But one thing you will have is what the writer of this Psalm had - an excitement and inspiration that you are doing this for God.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Dealing with the Giant

"Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God."   v 36 of  1 Samuel 17 NKJV

The formidable sight of Goliath, this giant of a man, caused fear throughout Saul's army and not one of them, including the king, were willing to take him on as Goliath was requesting. That is, except David. He saw this man full of pride and intimidation and said the words of our text above.

Now, Goliath stood 9 feet 9 inches - 6 cubits and a span and his armour, a bronze helmet, coat of mail weighed a further 9 stone - 5 thousand shekels. Put this together with the bronze armour on his legs, and the bronze javelin between his shoulders, he was carrying some weight and yet, it didn't appear to bother him. In comparison, David was of short stature with hardly any weight on him at all, so Saul insisted David wear his armour but when he did, David could hardly move and decided to just wear his ordinary clothes for battle.

David took his staff and 5 smooth stones taken from a nearby brook, and his sling and set off to meet his opponent, Goliath or, champion as he was known within the Philistine army. He was known as this because, a champion is clearly  superior and has the attributes of a winner. Goliath certainly lived up to this label.

Now in natural terms, this was an unfair battle. There was no way that David could win this contest. However, David was not of the natural but, the supernatural and when God is on your side, giants fall. Goliath was full of pride, abusive, threatening, a bully and full of intimidation. David on the other hand was full of the Holy Spirit and God had put a fighter within him. Goliath may have had his armour on from his head to his feet, but, when David slung just one of his stones, it got through all of this and hit him on the forehead knocking him over. David rushed up and finished the kill.

There is a lesson here, your level of fear can reveal your closeness to God. The more you are afraid, the further you are from God. The less fearful you are, the closer you are to Him; and like I said, when God is on your side, you are a winner. It doesn't matter what the opposition is or has, you will win. From a human perspective, Goliath looked like a giant, too big and powerful to defeat; but from David's Godly perspective, Goliath looked like a target too big to miss.

'Whatever giants you face right now, take a moment to look higher and see that they are dwarfed by the God who cares for you and loves you.'   Warren W. Wiersbe

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

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