Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?

"When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord, in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting."  Acts 2:1-2   NKJV

Notice two things here, (1) Of 'One Accord', (2) ‘They were in one place.’ This is important to us flowing in the Holy Spirit. 

To be in 'One Accord' is to be together. This is the hallmark of fellowship (in the Greek this means Koinonia where each believer is cemented to each other and to the Lord Jesus). This type of fellowship changes lives and situations. Being baptised in the Holy Spirit is the same, one is joined or cemented together with the Holy Spirit. In other words, you are one. When the Holy Spirit speaks, you recognise this and are guided the right way. You abide in Him and He in you and if you stay this way, He will guide you. He will show you how to approach situations and will put the right words in your mouth when, you don't know what to say.

To be in 'One Place' means a togetherness and when believers are like this, they are a force to be reckoned with. This is how you are when the Holy Spirit dwells within you. When you were born again, you received forgiveness, Jesus came into your heart and you

received the Holy Spirit but not the fullness of His power. This comes when a person is baptised in the Spirit, not baptised in water, as some people think. Being baptised in water is the symbolic exercise of belonging to Jesus by dying to self and being raised into a new life in Jesus. Being baptised in the Spirit is being filled with the Holy Spirit's power so that, you can operate in this power. 

When you are baptised in the Holy Spirit, you will speak and perform things that God wants - a power the devil will hate. However, if you don't keep this relationship steady, you will lose hold of it. Put it like this, a car needs a service on a regular basis, if it doesn't have one, pretty soon it is going to stop working. Do you get the idea? Therefore, keep your relationship with the Holy Spirit razor sharp and you will see wonders ahead. With the Holy Spirit, you will have access to the gifts and fruit of the Spirit and the ability to speak in tongues, a heavenly language that the devil does not understand.

Be prepared though, if you leave out one chink in the hedge of protection around you and leave one piece of God's Armour off, watch out because the devil is going to have a heyday with a full-scale attack. Be careful here.

If you want the baptism of the Spirit, ask God to give you this. There is no set formula. Just ensure that you have no unconfessed sin, and by faith, receive this gift, the evidence being, you will probably speak in a very strange tongue. Don't be afraid of this - encourage it and then, allow the Holy Spirit to slowly fill you with His other gifts.

If you want to be baptised in the Holy Spirit, pray this prayer:

'Heavenly Father, I come to You in Jesus' name. Today, I ask You to fill me with Your Holy Spirit, to baptise me in His fire, and to clothe me in His Power. Amen'.

If you are not born again, here below is a prayer of salvation:

'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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Diligence

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart"           Galatians 6:9   NKJV 

In all that we do, God wants us to be diligent. The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:23  'And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.' Take a look at the word 'Heartily'. It means 'With warmth, sincerity together with zest and enthusiasm. and respect).' This is the way Jesus served the people He met and still does with us today. He wants us to be the same too, whoever we may meet along the way. Diligence also means to be earnest and persistent in application to an undertaking with steady effort and attentive care.

This is not always easy with difficult people - the one's who may have become stubborn in their later life. Let us not forget that elderly people have lived a long life doing what they feel is right. Their values may be the same but, the way they interpret life in 2023 may be a lot different to yourself, especially if they have a sickness such as Alzheimer's or Dementia. So they need more time to process things and many times they may either get it wrong or forget they were going to do a particular thing. Love and patience is a must with people such as this.

You may be looking after an elderly person who has a sickness. It can be so painful to watch the person you love acting as if you are a stranger or being stubborn in whatever you say or ask them to do. Remember today's reading, 'And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap.' There is a promise there. God will honour you as you honour others and, you will reap blessing.

Diligence also affects the way we work for an employer or the voluntary work we may do, especially in church. We should always work as if Jesus is the boss; we are serving Him not your manager or whoever it may be. Would you leave early from work or cut corners, if you were working for Jesus? I wouldn't think so. However, time after time, some people leave their place of work before the clock says it's time to knock off. You may go in early to help out with the work, but, that is your choice, you should still ask your boss if you can finish earlier that day. This is being diligent

Putting the refuse bins out for an elderly neighbour is another diligent act and shows the love of Jesus. Helping others when you can and asking for nothing in return. This all shows people that you care and when they may ask you why do you do this, you can tell them.

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

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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Harsh and Soft words

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."   Proverbs 15:1  NKJV

I make no apologies for using this verse on a fairly regular basis. It is something that is very much needed in our stress-filled world of today. How we respond can either bring a smile of approval or light a fire. We live in such a 'Fast-filled' life style - fast food, fast cars, fast check out operators and fast-minded supervisors demanding more and more from us. It is difficult to keep ahead of it all.

All of this can lead us to be stressful in how we handle people and situations. Mothers taking their children to school can be like a racing track drivers. The mothers have a schedule to meet and if you get in their way on the road, you're history. Supermarket checkouts can be a nightmare where people become impatient and start pushing the shopping trolley into your back. Then, when eventually, it is your turn, the checkout operator sends the goods down at rocket speed, sometimes before you have finished emptying the trolley. Stress and more stress. At this particular time, if someone said the wrong thing to you, it could cause a war.

Warren W Wiersbe comments on this: 'Our words can bring peace instead of war, calm rather than chaos. This verse isn't advising us to compromise the truth and say that what's wrong is really right just to avoid conflict or confrontation. Rather, it's counselling us to have a gentle spirit and a conciliatory attitude even when we disagree with others. This can diffuse the situation and make it easier for us to settle the matter peacefully.'

                                                                   The Wiersbe Study Bible/Warren W Wiersbe/ Holman

If you have a dispute with a person who speaks softly, without any animosity, it is very difficult to argue with them. A soft voice keeps the calm. On the other hand, if you go in with both guns on rapid fire, or like a Kung Fu fighter, with a rising voice of harsh words, you will only end up with a terrible outcome. The stress of life can cause frustration in itself without making it any more difficult.

If a person begins to speak harsh words with you, if you can keep calm, listen and then speak softly to them, you are in control. The other person is on the way to losing control. If you join in with harsh words, it will end with a bad outcome. This is why, Solomon rated this issue as important. Remember the devil is sitting there stirring you both up, happy to cause division. Don't let him. If you are both Christians, then your opposition will know this point. However, if it is an unbeliever that is speaking with you, it would be such a bad witness to speak harshly to them; after all, they probably know about your faith. This is why the devil wants to make it worse.

KEEP COOL

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

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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Get ready to flow in God's Power

"If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."   John 8:31-32   NKJV

This is the message that Jesus spoke to the people who believed in Him. He taught that, people who live and walk in Him will have spiritual knowledge and grow in freedom from sin. God wants us to do more than believe. He wants us to speak what He says. In other words, speak out the truth - the power of His Word. Speak His words, speak the scriptures because, the Word of God is life:

'For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division soul and spirit - ff.'   Hebrews 4:12.

Therefore, we need to recognise that, as we speak God's Word into situations, we have the power to remove obstacles, such as:

(1)  'Devil get out of this person, because you are overcome by the blood of the Lamb'

(2)  'Cancer, leave this body because by the wounds of Jesus this child was healed'

(3)  'Finances, come into line, because my God shall supply all my needs'

                                                          Sourced from www.linkedin.com 

Just look how Jesus told us to speak to problems: "Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea" and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.'  Mark 11:22-23. The authority we exercise in faith allows the believer to speak directly to the obstacles of life and get them to move. If you have true faith in the God of the bible, you have spiritual access to divine power. God has already blessed you 'With every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ' Ephesians 1;3. 

Tony Evans puts it this way 'Through faith in Jesus, you have access to divine power. It's like having a contract with the electric company. Since you have a legal relationship with them, they provide you with electricity. Nevertheless, you must access that power by flipping the switch.'   Copyright Tony Evans

People get a little edgy when we speak about faith issues but, we cannot get away from the fact that, Jesus Christ gave us the commission to carry out His work. (Mark 16:15-18.                              

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

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

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Instead of Complaining be patient instead

"If only the LORD had killed us back in Egypt', they moaned. 'There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death."   Exodus 16:3   NLT

Complaints, moans and groans; blaming and criticising. Sound familiar? We hear this type of thing wherever we go, even in church settings. We can all be like this at times. Where does it come from. Well the obvious answer is Satan. He loves winding us up so much that we start whinging about things. Difficult circumstances can often lead us to stress and then complaints and criticisms generally follow. The Israelites didn't really want to go back to Egypt but, when the chips are down, we say things that really, we don't mean. The Israelites were desperate for things to change - NOW! Impatience was setting in and because of this, they were losing their focus - their trust in God. Their mind was so full of all the wrong things; that they saw nothing that was right and positive. We can so easily be like this when the pressure is on. We need to resist this temptation to grumble and accuse and learn to trust God more and more. After all, He is the only one that can change things.

When we come to understand that the words we speak, have the power to invite either God or Satan into the conversation, we will begin to be more careful what comes out of our mouths. Solomon wrote: 'The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.'  Proverbs 18:21. Ponder this statement for a moment. The Israelites were speaking from Satan. With their moans and groans, criticisms and accusations, they were speaking death and were testing the Lord because they were accusing Him not Moses - a dangerous thing to do. Things are tedious and frustrating at times but, we need to exercise patience knowing full well that God is at work and will bring things about if we just wait. Psalm 27:14 says, 'Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.' Again, 'But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.'  Isaiah 40:31.

So there you have it. Be very careful what you say and how you say it. Don't forget your body language too. Without speaking, your body can give off negative or positive vibes. 

Whatever is going on in your life, remember, God will sort this, if you let Him!

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

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