What, or who are you seeking?

"What do you want?" v35-37        John 1:35-39  NLT 

John the Baptist, pointed Jesus out to two of his disciples - Andrew (Simon Peter's brother), and possibly John, the writer of this Gospel. Therefore, they followed Jesus and after a short while, Jesus stopped and asked them what they wanted. They answered, 'Rabbi, where are you staying?' Jesus answered, 'Come and see' v39. And from there, more was added.

See what Jesus asked: 'What do you want?' Initially, this comment could have been offensive, rather like we may say to someone who begins to follow us. It can make the hairs on the back of your neck stick up when this happens. However, Jesus intentions went deeper than this. He wanted to know if:

(1) they recognised Him as the Saviour 

(2) if they had chosen to follow Him and be one of His disciples.

It's no different today. Jesus still asks this question to all who approach Him and searches our hearts to know our motives. Why is this? Because many follow Him for their own self-righteousness, they are out to promote their own Glory, not His. So, the question is what are your motives for belonging to Jesus. Are you after a leading role within your church so that you can be a somebody and be recognised for your great ministry. Or, are you seeking, not your own, but to promote the Name of Jesus, pointing people towards Him.

Self-seeking can take place without us even knowing about it. The moment we expect a pat on the back for preaching, leading worship or running a house group, we are in danger of puffing ourselves up and need to stop, and  give the Glory to Jesus. When Jesus says, 'Come and see,' this is the moment when He is asking you to be open to Him, refuse any self-seeking ideas and allow Jesus to fill you with the power of the Holy Spirit; the reason for this is that, the Holy Spirit will always point the way to Jesus.

So are you ready to see what He has in store for you? If so, tell Him and expect Him to respond in whatever way He chooses.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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Jesus - the Life

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me."                                                        John 14:6 NLT

LIFE

What is life? Life is not always life. Take for example prisoners. Some offenders are imprisoned on a Life sentence but because of good behaviour, are released on licence for the rest of their life. They're free as long as they don't re-offend. More severe case may receive 40+ years and occasionally life is life. Children often use 'Lives" in the games they play. If they are caught in a particular situation, one of their lives have gone. When the lives have been exhausted, that is the end for them.

This is far different to the life Jesus was speaking about in John 10:10 where He said: 'I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.' Life to Jesus, is Life. The Life Jesus gives is Eternal Life. As the NLT puts John 10:10, Jesus has come to give us a rich and satisfying life. In the NKJV Jesus uses the terms 'Abundant Life' which as you study this, you find it is superabundance that he offers - more than enough. Personally I like the 'rich and satisfying' version. Just think of that for a moment. Jesus offers each one of us eternal life in a rich and satisfying way; and this is why we are here on earth, there's far morel to come when we are with Him in heaven.

Have you ever stopped at realised that this, is only the beginning, and this started in Genesis when mankind was created. Since then, many things have happened, the most amazing having God come down to earth, as a man and walk the earth for 3+ years and then bless us with the Holy Spirit. That in itself is amazing, but it is just the beginning. For all believers, eternal life begins when they accept Jesus but, we won't receive the full package until we are there with Jesus in heaven. This is when Life really begins for us. It's not possible to imagine what it will be like but it must be mind-blowing. The singer Keith Green said 'Jesus told His disciples He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father's house, and this includes us too. He has been gone 2000+ years. If it took the Father 6 days to create this place, what will heaven be like when He has taken 2000 years to get things ready of us.'  (Paraphrased) 

Wow, we will see this one day and join up with the many many people who are already there enjoying these comforts. It does our souls good to focus on the future Jesus has for us. This is why others, who don't know Jesus should have the opportunity to share this Life as well. Jesus really is Our Way, Our Truth and Our Life, and this the greatest gift He could ever have given us.

Go and enjoy it throughly!

 Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Jesus - the Truth

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me."                                                            John 14:6 NLT

Today, let us take a deeper look at the second point Jesus spoke about:

TRUTH

As the Truth, Jesus is the reality of all of God's promises. Jesus warned us that human beings may deceive us and be unworthy of trust (Matthew 10:17-21), but we may place our ultimate trust and confidence in Jesus because, He is the Truth. Truth is reliable and consistent with God's revelation.

There has never been a time when God has been untrue to you. He has always been there for you, leading you on and repairing damage that has been caused to yourself or others. What about that broken heart that you had? He has been with you from the moment this happened to you, whether you knew this or not. Perhaps he has helped you with the hurt you have suffered or, maybe He is in the process of binding your wounds. If you trust Him and allow Him to, He will fix this for you. Because he is true to you. Remember the 4th verse of Psalm 23: 'Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me'  (NLT). That's the Truth.

He is your Truth, the only one who is, and will be true to you eternally. There's nothing to fear because Jesus is near! A friend, a companion, a teacher and your loving shepherd. This is how Jesus wants you and I to be with people. Think about that accolade when people say about you, 'He or she are so truthful, they make me feel at peace when I'm with them and I really trust them.' How about that? You may say, that could never be me. But, when you have Jesus beside you and you are in sync with Him, you are a force to be reckoned with. You carry the sweet fragrance of Jesus wherever you go. And this is because people look at you and recognise the Truth (Jesus) in you, and they feel safe with you. Now, that is something.

'I could never be like that,' you may tell me, but you can be. If you belong to Jesus, this is the way He wants you to be - available - honest - reliable and truthful, and you can be like this because you are in the Truth and He is in you. Do you get it?

So, start meditating on this - you are the Way, you are the Truth because, you belong to Jesus and He has commissioned you - called you, to reach out to people in this cold and dark world.

More tomorrow

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Jesus - the Way

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me."                                                        John 14:6 NLT

Jesus mentioned three very important points in the verse: Way, Truth and Life.

Over the next few days let us dig into this verse, starting with the:

WAY

When we talk to unbelievers about our faith they often come up with a negative point, such as: 'How do your know you will be going to heaven when you die?' It's a good question and one that we may have used before we became a Christian. This verse is very clear that the only way to God is via Jesus. He is the only way in; He holds the door way if you like. The NLT footnote on this verse says, ''Jesus is the way because He is both God and man. By uniting our lives with His, we are united with God. Trust Jesus to take you to the Father, and all the benefits of being God's child will be yours.'

When we consider the road to Jesus being narrow it can be daunting. Jesus Himself said, 'The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it' Matt 7:14. However, it is wide enough for the whole world to pass through, IF they choose to. That is the important bit. The only way we can get into heaven - to possess eternal life - is through Jesus and, many refuse to walk through this gate and so lose their position in heaven. The strong bit is, they will possess eternal life but, they will have this in hell, and that is not a recommended place to go to because, there is no turning back from there. So, Jesus is our path to our Father.

Jesus is also the way we should do things - the way we speak, the way we act to other people and basically, the way we live our lives. As we know, not many unbelievers go to church, except to weddings, funerals or Christenings. As Christians, we are the bible or the church to them. The way we handle our lives gives them an example of how the Christian life should be. And this doesn't mean walking around with the largest bible you can find, in our hands and a massive cross around our neck, singing hymns at the top of our voice. This only makes people believe that we are weird. Look how Jesus went around, people were just drawn to Him because they could see and feel there was something different about Him. He drew people to His Father.

What about the way we drive? You know, that annoying person in front of you driving at 20mph on a major road. Is your way to tailgate him or her, blasting them with the horn and then overtaking at 70mph, cutting them up? Let me ask you, would Jesus do that? I don't think so; He would wait patiently until he had the chance to pass - safely. That's His way and, should be our way too. (Memo to self - take note of this Grahame). Joking aside, if Jesus is the way, which He is, then we should be living in this 'way.' Because Jesus wants us to.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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You can't hide sin

"Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then, not do it."   

                                                 James 4:17  NLT 

How many times do we fall for this? We know that we shouldn't do or say a particular thing but, we do it anyway. We tend to think that doing wrong is sin but, as we meditate on this scripture, it tells us that sin is also not doing right, when we should do. An example of this is finding out that a person within the church is sexually abusing a minor. Just because this person may be an upright member, does not give us the right to be quiet on this subject and sweep it under the carpet because you know the person well and revealing it could cause a major scandal. As citizens of the UK we have an obligation to report this matter to the authorities. It is against the law and in the eyes of God - sin.

It is a sin to lie and also a sin to know the truth and not tell it. In God's eyes, it is sin to speak evil of people by criticising and judging them. It is hard to like some people. No matter how hard we may try, there is just no connection. We are to love people but it may be hard to like them. Some people have a problem with this one. How can you love someone without liking them? It's a faith thing; we love them through Jesus Christ, we don't say bad things about them, we just love them. Ephesians 4:32 says: 'Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." Being kind to one another is showing people love. It doesn't mention that we should like everyone. As long as we are loving and kind to whoever we meet, we are doing what Jesus commanded us to do. Keller says:

‘The Bible says we should do all we can to live in peace with everyone, love them, but we are not commanded to like them. Are we commanded to love them? Without a doubt. If love means wanting the best for someone, we should desire that everyone we meet know and love God and accept Jesus, His Son, as their Savior.’

Read more at: https://www.lobservateur.com/2020/01/15/keller-are-we-commanded-to-like-everybody/#

And there it is in a nutshell. Not liking someone is not sin as long as we show them the love of Jesus; they may not know Jesus so, by loving them we are giving them this opportunity.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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God didn't answer my prayer

9“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.   Matthew 7:9-11  NLT

You may say after begging God for something: 'Why doesn't God answer my prayers if His Word says, "Ask and Receive?'  There is a very simple answer to this, He gives what He feels is right for you and what you need, good gifts. God knows your future, He knows that if you asked Him to allow you to win the Lottery, you may not handle it properly. Many would go crazy and spend money like there is no tomorrow. Alcohol, the good life, adjusting overnight from what they were into what they are now. Some people have died because of this process. It may appear extravagant to pray to win such a large bulk of money, but many people do and it changes them because, they have not been used to this lifestyle. 

God is a loving God that longs to bless us but, He must be allowed to know what is best for us. To Him, some of the things that people ask for are like a poisonous snake and will only ruin a life. As we learn to know God better, we begin to ask for what is good for us and then, He grants it - good gifts. He is not stingy - not at all. He is our Father and therefore, He knows what is right for us. If you are a parent, would you give your child something that will be no good for them? Of course not. So, God is the same. He only gives us what we need but at times He will throw in a blessing too, like parents do.

If you have made Jesus your life, then He is the one that is responsible for ensuring that you have the best in all things. When scripture says, 'Ask and Receive,' as you ask with God in mind, He will bless you. As you walk closer with Him you will begin to realise just how much he loves you and how much He wants you to depend on Him for everything. So, if you get into a financial problem through no fault of your own, you can rely on Him to work on your behalf. If someone is wronging you, as you say to Him, 'Help Lord,' He will be right there to deal with the situation. In fact, you can rely on Him for everything. Don't get me wrong, He still wants you to be responsible and do whatever in the right way. But, when you find yourself in a scrape, He can be relied upon to help you.

So in all honesty, when you do things God's way, your prayers will be answered.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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The Qualities of Love

"Love is patient and kind."                 1 Corinthians 13:4   NLT 

What is love? Well, if we take a look at 1 John 4:16, we read: 'God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.' The creator God is not only our Father but, He is love. Therefore, straightaway we know what love is, it is God. Let us look at this love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

'Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.8Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages b and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!'

This piece of scripture perfectly describes God. Thankfully, He is patient with us, even when we make mistake after mistake, He remains kind and never asks 'Why did you do that? We don't even have to give Him an explanation why we have messed up. Check out The Prodigal Son in Luke 15. As he returned to his father he was rehearsing what he would say but, when he arrived he never had the chance to say it all, such was his father's love for him v18-21. God is love or Love is God.

God does not even keep a record of our wrongs; thanks goodness for that. He would have lorry loads of mine if He did. Don't laugh, you would would be the same. Can we say the same about the record we keep of wrongs that people have made against us? Let's be honest, we all have records of the wrong that people have done to us. I have a library of them at home but, come on, so do you, be honest. Don't you think it's time that we all threw them away - shred them and remember them no more. 'Well, that's impossible,' you may say. No it isn't, with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26 NKJV). If God holds no wrongs against us, we have no right to hold them against other people. Time to throw them out, people.

Verse 8 in the NKJV says 'Love never fails' So, if God is love, then this means that God never fails - never ever. I know it sounds strange calling God love but hey, I didn't write the bible and the bible says, 'God is love.' If this wasn't so, why would John write this, it wouldn't make sense. Tony Evans comments:'God is love. This truth is revealed to us in the Word, but it was also revealed on the cross, where Christ died for us.'God is love' is not simply a doctrine in the bible; it is an external fact clearly demonstrated at Calvary (Rom 5:8). God has said something to us, and God has done something for us.'

                                                         The Tony Evans Study Bible

Therefore, God is love and Love is God.

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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