You'll never be forgiven now

"But if we confess our sins to Him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness."    I John 1:9   NLT 

How many times have you heard the statement that God won't forgive you now. This is a lie that the devil uses to completely disarm us in our tracks. We are human and, even though we belong to Jesus we continue to sin and will do until we are taken into heaven. However, the devil will try to convince us that we are wrong. It's almost like he tells us that there are small sins and big ones. We can just about get away with the small ones but, the big ones, No way Hosea. No, sin is sin.

The devil is a liar, always has been and always will be and a very convincing one too. He has the ability - if we allow him to - to make us feel so guilty and condemned that we fear that is it, we really have blown it this time. But we need to remember that, John was writing to believers when he penned this scripture. He was showing us, that, when we accepted Jesus we were forgiven for all of our sins there and then, and His death made the provision that when we sin - because we will do - He will forgive us as we confess it to Him.

There is no need to keep on asking Jesus to forgive us for something, He heard the first time and forgave us but, the lie that the devil spreads, makes it feel like we need to keep on saying we are sorry and seeking His forgiveness. When you think about this, we are assuming that God hasn't forgiven us and we should never feel that Jesus has denied us this. It's almost like saying His Word is a lie, and you know it isn't. Sometimes, we feel like the 'big sins' in our lives will still be with us when we die and go to heaven. Again, this is a lie. We are children of God and Jesus washed us in His blood. We are still open to commit sin and this is why we should always seek His forgiveness each day. 

The message for us today is that, we belong to Jesus, we are not yet perfect - far from it - but Jesus set you and I free. Therefore, when you commit sin, seek God straightaway and ask forgiveness and you will receive it. Remember this scripture; keep it in your heart and use it whenever you fall. You are forgiven

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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The Back-Seat Driver

"The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach."   Matthew 23:2-3   NLT 

Here, Jesus was describing the Pharisees and declared that they were interpreters of the law of Moses. Therefore, He told His disciples to practice and do what they say but not to follow their example because, many of them were hypocrites and taught one thing but didn't live up to it themselves. They were a judgmental people and often insisted that man-made rules were equal with God's rules.

When you look through the Gospels you will see them condemning this and judging that and putting burdens upon people. Religion when it is used in this way, causes many problems and wars, throughout our world. Sadly, there are some Christians that put burdens upon their fellow believers, saying that their behaviour or dress is not in line with the Word of God or whatever.

In my early walk with Jesus, these type of people used to make me feel inferior because I was young and had little experience. Initially, this caused me a problem but I worked out that, when I mature, people like this will tell me I am too old. I decided not to try and people-please from thereon and concentrate on pleasing God. A far better plan.

We come up against all sorts of people and as long as they are honouring God, that is all we should be concerned about. Some people believe that they know everything and this can be difficult, especially when you are running a bible group. If you are not careful, they can take over. This reminds me of the old saying I've mentioned several times: 'If you let Satan into the back seat of your car, pretty soon he is going to want to drive.'

This leads me to back-seat drivers. We've probably all had to suffer this from time to time. You give someone a lift and very soon, they begin giving you instructions of where to park, what gear to drive in, watch your speed and you can't park there. You need wisdom and grace to deal with these people. I've often thought of stopping, telling them to get out and driving off. But that is not what Jesus would do, is it? 

The back-seat driver is just as difficult to deal with as the person who puts you down in church or tries to take over the teaching. Again, grace is called for and a zip on your mouth. It's true, we will never find a perfect person, I'm nowhere near that. Hey, watch it, neither are you. Joking aside, We have to practice what we preach. Our role model is Jesus, everything we do, should represent Jesus; not easy I know but, achievable. The Pharisees had the law of Moses but many didn't live it. We have God's Word and we are called to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ and, that means, putting up with back-seat drivers and people who know everything. Amen?

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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Don't let your sin return and grow again

"When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, 'I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits, more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there."  Matthew 12:43-45   NLT

I was cutting my lawns  recently, when I suddenly thought, 'This grass is going to grow again.' This led my mind to wander off into a daydream about why do we do things like cutting the grass or having our hair cut - it only grows again. (I have these silly daydreams). I then went on to ridiculously think about going to bed and getting up again, washing clothes only to get them dirty again. I suddenly recognised that I wasn't far off being a copy of Ecclesiastes and decided to refrain from this negative way of thinking and looked for a positive side of thinking about similar things.

I looked at the above verse and pondered it. We may ask for deliverance from a certain sin in our life, just for an example let's say it is pornography. As we are prayed for, we receive that wonderful feeling of release and we are able to get on with our day to day walk with Jesus. However, somewhere down the line, we begin to be dragged back into our old habits and find that we begin this process again. Why is this?

Paul mentions in Galatians 2:20: 'My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.' We need to die to self and live for Jesus. Notice what Jesus said in verse 44 above. He said that the evil spirit returns to the person it was cast out of and finds it swept clean and empty, so it goes and brings more evil spirits. What had happened? The person had been delivered - swept clean but the person failed to be filled with the power of God, the filling of he Holy Spirit. If the evil spirit had seen this, it would have fled, not wanting to deal with this kind of power.

Therefore, my thoughts became more of a precursor to what God was saying. We must be filled daily with God's Holy Spirit and we must ensure that we put on the Armour of God. A soldier does not go into battle without a weapon and neither should we. It is a recipe for disaster. With the Holy Spirit inside of you, you have a hedge of protection around you, if you stray into enemy territory, there will be a gap in this hedge that Satan can come through, and that's when your problems begin.

Ensure that you die to self and are always filled with the Holy Spirit on your Daily Walk with Jesus.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Do you want success?

"Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed"   Proverbs  16:3   NLT 

Over the years, many people have read this verse and literally believed that if they commit anything to God it will come to fruition; and when it hasn't they have become despondent. Why has this happened to them? Because they have not read the verse properly. Let's look at this:

The word 'Commit', means to: put in charge or entrust. Therefore, when we commit our plans, actions or intentions to God, we are actually putting Him in control of the whole deal. Tony Evans comments: 'It means your will is in submission to His. When that happens, you're inviting His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.' 

When we commit to the LORD, we are trusting in Him to show us the way. Our plans are not always in line with what God wants for us. So, it makes sense to give it all to God and have the satisfaction that He is guiding our future. Just think about it for a moment. You may be planning to borrow a huge amount of money to go into business with someone or, start your own business. If you do this without consulting with God, it is likely to go horribly wrong, leaving you in debt for many years. It makes sense to commit it to the One who will never let you down - God. He knows the way forward - He sees ahead.

You may be considering something at the moment - a new job, move house, emigrate etc. etc. If this is you, have you committed it to God, have you sought His guidance? If not, let me encourage you to do so. Many Christians have committed themselves to a certain project and have not committed it to God first. Their projects have crumbled and they have had to pay the penalty of leaving God out. Life is not a game of chance; there may be many business people who have chanced their luck in investing in a particualr venture, and it has paid off. However, there are many who have not been so successful. Don't take chances. God gives us the chances in life, not Lady Luck, whoever she may be.

God is telling you to be cautious in what you do. Walk in His steps not your own and you will only be able to do this by committing everything to Him.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Are you a pessimist or an optimist?

"I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little."              

                                                                Philippians 4:12   NLT

The pessimist is never content, never satisfied. He or she looks at what's on offer and finds faults. They have a tendency to be negative about most things and mostly see doom and gloom. The optimist usually expects a favourable outcome from what they see. When they are tempted to be discontent, they overcome this with their positivity and see the bigger picture. The pessimist has a half-empty glass, the optimist, a half-full one. Which are you?

Paul was an optimist, he had everything and he had lived with nothing. He knew that whatever God wanted him to have, He would provide it for him. He was therefore content in all he had and did. When Paul was on his evangelistic journeys, if he needed money, he would receive what was given to him by his supporters or he would work as a tentmaker. He was never idle. If he needed it and it wasn't there, he would go and earn it. The secret for Paul was that, he drew on Christ's power for strength and supply.

What about you? Are you satisfied with what you have or, are you constantly longing for something better, rather like the 'Keeping up with the Jones'' syndrome? Some people go through life never being satisfied with anything. Lots of people have a glass that's half-full, they go out and work for what they want. If they see something special, perhaps they will save for it until they have enough. They know what they want and go for it. The half-empty crowd look at what they have and what they want and become depressed because they feel they will never be able to own this, go there or whatever they would like. They have a negative answer for any solution to better themselves and they plod along in despair. This can lead to envy, jealously and covetousness.

There is a kind of excitement in walking in faith with Jesus. He knows what we need, He also knows what we would like. With Jesus, our glass can always be half-full because, we know that He cares and wants the best for us. Therefore, we have to learn to be grateful and content with all we have. Paul learned the secret of living in every situation so, why not give it a try yourself.

God is not tight, in fact, He is very generous; He will bless us many times over but we need to be content in all that we have.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Don't doubt your healing

"Go show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy."                                          Luke 17:14    NLT

Ten men with with the dreaded disease, leprosy, approached Jesus and asked Him to have mercy on them. Now leprosy was very contagious, rather like aids in our day. They were ordered to stay away from other people because of the risk that they were. Occasionally, the leprosy went into a form of remission and this was probably why they approached Jesus so openly.

Notice that all Jesus said was to go to the priests and show themselves. This was part of the law where a priest would check them over and declare them clean (Leviticus 14). The ten men did so, acting on their faith and as they walked, they were cleansed.

Check this out:

(1)  Jesus didn't pray over them or declare that they were well. He sent them to the priest. Therefore, they left Jesus in the same state that they had approached Him but, they were healed on the way. The healing didn't take place straightaway.

(2)  The ten men, obeyed Jesus. They didn't complain that they hadn't been healed. They just went to the priests by faith. And they were healed on the way.

This can help explain to all the people who have received prayer for healing but, they feel they have not received it. Healing does not alway take place instantly. Yes, for some it does and that is wonderful. However, for others, they have walked away from the prayer feeling that nothing happened. Healing doesn't always happen instantly, for many there can be a time process and, this is where people are vulnerable. It is so easy to become despondent and give up on your healing. What do I mean? Well, look at the ten men, they could have become downhearted that Jesus had done nothing to help them but, they acted by their faith and did what Jesus had said, they went to the priest. On the way, the healing took place. No doubt if they had given up and gone home, or believed that it was a farce, they would have lost their healing.

In the same manner, if you have received prayer for healing and feel that nothing happened, DO NOT begin to doubt. If you do, you will go without. Receive the healing by faith and stand on the Word thanking God and receiving this every day until the healing comes. We can be a people that, if we don't receive what we asked for straightaway, we give up on the whole idea. Faith people keep standing, waiting, hoping and receiving.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Let Jesus protect you

"If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10 no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home."   Psalm 91:9-10   NLT

With all of the disasters that are happening in our world today - fires, floods and whatever else, it is difficult for someone involved in all of it, to accept this word. If you try, you may hear, 'If God loves us, why has He allowed all of this heartache to happen to us?.' The answer to this is, 'I don't know'. In fact, there is no feasible answer. However, if we as Christians, adopt this attitude then we are limiting God and agreeing with the world. Look at our text again, the Psalmist wrote, 'If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter.' Can you see it?

There is a proviso here; rather like we have to ask Jesus into our lives before we are 'saved', then we also have to put Him in charge of everything in our life and call on Him when we need Him. This is not a once in a life action either, we need to be committing everything and every day to Jesus. God says: 'I will rescue those who love Me. I will protect those who trust in My name. 15 When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honour them' Psalm 91:14-15  NLT.

I'm not saying these terrible disasters happen because people don't know Jesus - not at all. I'm also sure that many of the people who have suffered this way have been Christians. I am also not defending God. We have a relationship with Jesus; therefore, He is interested in what we do each day. If we go for a drive, He wants to protect us, if we fly away on holiday, the same applies. 'Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust Him and He will help you'  Psalm 37:5. Please note, the 'everything' here means everything.

We must remember there is a devil and, he will bring total devastation wherever he can. God will not intervene unless we ask for His help and protection. We can't just sit back and assume that God will be there for us if we are not in communication with Him. If we have a relationship with Him, He wants us to share with Him on a daily basis. This is why we pray The Lord's Prayer and put on the whole armour of God each day. 

Whatever you do, do it with Jesus, allow Him your day and ask Him to take care of you. Make Him the centre of your life, trusting Him with every beat of your heart.

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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