It's time to saddle up

"If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses?"  

                                                                Jeremiah 12:5   NLT 

Life can be difficult at times. One minute, we think that we have succeeded in something, the next, we find we are way off target. It's like being at the bottom of a mine shaft and somehow you manage to climb up. As you reach the top and are just going to lift a leg to get hold of the ground, you slip back down to the bottom again. Frustrating? You bet it is and you need all your willpower to keep going.

Jeremiah was wishing he had remained a priest; this way he would have had an easier life than a prophet. But a prophet he was to continue and would be battling with the Jordan countryside including jungles with wild animals. In prayer with God, he mentioned his complaints and observations and God's answer is our text today: 'If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses?" In other words, it was like God was saying 'If you think this is bad, how are you going to cope when it gets really tough.' 

Not the kind of response Jeremiah was looking for, but God doesn't always answer us the way we expected Him to.

Like we read the other day, in 'Walking through Mud' (8th Dec) "You've walked through thick mud; Jesus walked along a dirt path carrying His own cross. You have been mistreated, badly; Jesus suffered the worst mistreatment ever. He died an agonising death but, what did He say, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do'  Luke 23:34." We made a choice to follow Jesus - a commitment, Jesus didn't force us, we said 'Yes' to Him so, we can hardly back out now or complain because we're getting our hands dirty. We're soldiers, and soldiers have it tough but get the job done no matter what. We are the same- God's soldiers, therefore we have to toughen up.

Think of it this way, if you are going through a rough time at present, you are in training and you must dig your heels in. God will help you but, it is never easy. But, do you know something? God always picks the best - the elite, and this is what you are. He has faith in you; He knows that you can do this. So grit your teeth, Jesus is right beside you, saddle up, get on your horse and race off to where God is sending you. 

You are the elite!

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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

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If you preach it, live it

"So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they preach."   Matthew 23:3   NLT 

In the world today, preachers and teachers of God's word, are expected to live what they preach and, this is how it should be. They are responsible for showing people the way ahead - the truth and nurturing them forward. Above, Jesus is talking about the Pharisee's attitudes. To the Pharisee, righteousness meant outward conformity to God's law; they ignored the inward condition of the heart. They commanded but didn't participate. Jesus considered them hypocritical, religious dictators and, quite often vipers.

Much is expected from teachers and preachers. James says, 'Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.' Basically, teachers are in a very responsible position. They are responsible for handling God's word and, their example should affect the people they teach. This is living the word. Mind you, this includes anyone who officiates as a leader in a home or prayer group or anything similar. We are all to adhere to the Word of God.

I would take it a step further as well. As a child of God, we should all be ambassadors of Christ. This means when people look at us, they should see Jesus. John Stott, comments in a journal from the CS Lewis Institute on 1 John 2:6:

'First, I think it is important for us to make a general statement, as the apostle John does in 1 John 2:6 "he who says he abides in Christ ought to  walk in the same way as He walked." In other words, if we claim to be a Christian, we must be Christlike.'

                                                                              John Stott, Becoming more like Christ

As we have mentioned many times, the average person in the street, does not read a bible. When they know that we are 'Religious,' they watch how we act, what we say and some will actually say, 'Is that the way a Christian speaks or acts.' In other words, we are the closest thing to Jesus that they normally see, even if they go to a church service. If I may say, many people are on their best behaviour in church but, at home or out and about, they can be very different. This should not be. We should carry the fragrance of Jesus wherever we are and whatever we do. This means when someone cuts us up in the car, instead of tooting the horn and gesticulating to them, we should remain cool. Difficult? Yes it is, but with practice we can do this.

So there it us, we are all accountable to Jesus for whatever we say or do and, at the moment, there is still time to get it right, I hope!

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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

Never stop thanking Jesus

"in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  

                                         1 Thessalonians 5:18   NKJV 

God does not provide us with evil things, that is the devil's department. Therefore, we should never thank God for this. However, we should thank Him that He is with us, in this difficult situation. Even this is not easy to do; we have to focus on the fact that God is with us, working towards something in our favour. And He does.

People can falsely accuse us of doing or saying something and, mud can stick. Even though it is not true, some people judge us for this anyway and word gets passed around that we are not one of God's people. Some people believe this because the devil is good at spreading malicious gossip around. And then suddenly, your name can become tarnished. Now, in a situation like this, it would be wrong to thank God for this. You are not a tarnished person so why would you want to thank God that you are. It doesn't make sense. No, we thank God that even though these lies are being spread around about you, God is good and He will bring the truth out of this lie.

We need to remember, that we are dealing with a liar. Jesus calls him the father of lies (John 8:44), and he is very convincing. I've personally been on the end of this several times, and it is not very nice. People's lives or career can be ruined by these false statements. Politicians call it sleaze and it is true. But, let us thank Jesus that, through all of this, He believes in us, loves us and doesn't doubt us for a moment. This is why we can thank Him in these situations. We know that He will bring something good out of all of this. If it happened to Jesus, it will happen to us.

When we know that God is on our side, it gives us the confidence to rejoice, pray and give thanks to Him all the time. People let us down, sometimes intentionally, at other times unintentionally but, Jesus Christ, your friend will never let you down. He is solid as a rock and can be relied on always. Come on, where else could you find anyone like Jesus? It could and will never happen. There is no-one like Him. So in everything give thanks to Jesus - your redeemer!

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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