Envy, jealousy and hurt pride

"John said to Jesus, 'Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn't in our group.' 50 'Jesus said, 'Don't stop him! Anyone who is not against you, is for you."   Luke 9:49-50   NLT 

Prior to this happening, the disciples had laid hands on a demon possessed boy and they couldn't drive the spirit out Luke 9:40. Now they witness someone else driving out an evil spirit so, they stop him possibly because of their hurt pride. Let's face it, there had been nine of the disciples praying for this boy, yet not one of them succeeded. Now they see one person doing the job properly. There was possibly jealousy here, especially as the man was not from their group.

Our pride gets hurt when we see someone succeeding where we have failed. But Jesus doesn't want this. The person had been delivered from the evil spirit, therefore, there was freedom and this was something to rejoice in, not throw a pity party. 

Let us not forget there was a similar incident when Paul was in prison. He heard that people from another group were praying in Jesus' name and wrote:

'It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But what does it matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice.'                                                    Philippians 1:15-18  NLT

Paul rejoiced. As long as the name of Jesus was being preached, it didn't bother him. And it shouldn't you either. You may see people who you would never consider as Christians, preaching the Gospel, handing out tracts, serving in a church or generally attending your church. It doesn't matter whether you like them or get on with them. If they are promoting Jesus that is all that matters. There is no room for jealousy in God's kingdom. We're here to be His witness. If non-Christians see us squabbling over doctrine, what are they going to think? Exactly, they won't be impressed.

God has commanded that we love each other. Yes, that can be difficult at times but, you can breakthrough this block if you try. But whether you can or can't at this time, they may well be carrying the Word of God, so, let them get on with it without any bickering.

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Worship the Lamb

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. To receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honour and glory and blessing."   Revelation 5:12   NKJV 

While Jesus was on the earth, He never received the honour, the glory and worthiness that He so deserved. Instead, for three years or so, He walked around as God in the flesh, but not recognised as such, except for a few of His disciples (John 1). Whereas, He should have been worshipped and treated as the King of kings, He took on the robes of a servant. Why did He do this? He did this so that you and I and many others would have the opportunity to share heaven with Him. Without Him, we were covered in sin, the sin that would prevent us from ever entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. This shows us the love of God, He had to take human form and come and rescue us. For this, He suffered a terrible death on the cross - The Lamb of God was slain.

Our text for today shows us the the honour and glory He received in Heaven. Thousands and thousands of angels gathered round His throne to worship Him. Can you imagine the sound of that? We get a glimpse of this in Isaiah 6:3-4: 'And one cried to another and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.'

Have you ever been in a church when the worship was so loud and intense that the door posts were being shaken? You will one day, when you enter heaven. It is not a quiet place, it is filled with the wonder of God and this brings praise and worship like you and I have never heard before.

God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, who came down to earth in bodily form, whichever way you like to hear it. If we look at Philippians 2:5-11, we see that even though He was in the form of God, He made Himself of no reputation and made Himself a servant. He humbled Himself as a man and took our place on the cross for our sins and therefore, God exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above any name - Jesus.

He didn't have to do this for us but His love is so great that, He just couldn't leave us to cope on our own. Therefore, He paid the penalty and died in our place.

Therefore, this is why the praise and worship is so loud in heaven. The reason you are here today, is because God created you in His image and called you by His name and gave you the keys for a mansion in heaven (John 14:1-4). He has everything arranged for you so, don't you think that is a good enough reason to shout Jesus at the top of your voice?

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

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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Being flexible

"And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead."                 Acts 20:9   NKJV 

The message for today? Don't fall asleep during a sermon. Joking aside, we've all felt like this during hot conditions when a sermon is rather lengthy. The eyes begin to close and before you know it, you've drifted off only to be forced awake by a dig in the ribs from the person next to you because you're snoring. We can feel empathy for this young man. A young man, in this culture, would have been between 8 - 14 years old and after a long working day, he would have been tired.

Paul would have been preaching, teaching and debating with the others, before he left the area the next day. He probably started around 6pm and and was still going strong at midnight when this unfortunate lad fell out of the third story window to his death. Note what happened next. Paul didn't leave this accident to someone else. Not at all; Paul stopped what he was saying and went down to the young man laying there. William Barclay in his commentary to the book of Acts, claims that he wasn't dead but, unconscious. However, scripture firmly tells us that the young man was dead and that Paul embraced him and then told the others not to worry, he was alive. He then returned to his job of preaching and breaking bread. The young man was called Eutychus meaning the lucky one, and he certainly lived up to this name that day. 

The message here is very clear, don't ever be too busy to stop what you are doing to offer help. Paul was in someone's home. He wasn't conducting an official message to thousands of people. Yes, someone else could have gone to the young man's aid but, Paul demonstrated a 'If you preach it - make sure you do it' attitude and, so should we. Which gets back to the talkers and doers we have looked at in the past week or so.

Don't be rigid in your To Do list or your events for your diary. Where possible be prepared to shift your day around to prioritise events. This of course is not always possible, but where it is, be ready to be flexible in order to meet people's needs. This is what Paul demonstrated that day and a young life was saved.

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

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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Outrageous grace

"God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant"         

                                                                                      Romans 5:20   NLT

When I first became a Christian, I felt inferior to other Christians and struggled big time every time I sinned. It was like I was at the bottom of a deep hole and as I tried to climb up, nearly at the top, I would fall back down again. Then, I suddenly realised that God would help me out of this pit if I asked Him. As I did, it was like God's arms lifted me out to freedom. Probably, you feel this way. No matter how hard you try to walk with God, you sin and feel like you have fallen down this pit again. Firstly, if God rescued you from this pit, He will never let you stumble back into it - that's a fact. Secondly, God has outrageous grace and no matter how much you let Him down, He is always there to forgive you.

Godfrey Birtill wrote a song about this and here are the lyrics of the first verse and chorus. See if you can identify:

"There's a lot of pain but a lot more healing. There's a lot of trouble, but a lot more peace

There's a lot of hate, but a lot more loving. There's a lot of sin but a lot more grace

Oh outrageous grace, oh outrages grace, love unfurled by heaven's hand

Oh outrageous grace, oh outrageous grace, through my Jesus I can stand

Note the words, 'Through my Jesus, I can stand.' There's a lot of devil but there is much 

more Jesus. You may let Jesus down each day, but His grace gives us that break that we

need. There may be pain; there may be trouble; there may be fear; there may be darkness.

Also there may be sorrow and heartache but God's grace is there to help you through

this period.

You may be in a place of guilt at this time because you have let Jesus and yourself

down. Come to the throne of grace (Heb 4:16) right now that you may receive mercy and 

grace in your time of need. Also if you have never accepted Jesus or fell away at some

time, come back to Him right now:

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

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  

Check it out

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084G9S4FD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2