Look through the windscreen, not the rear-view mirror

"Forgetting what is behind  and reaching forward to what is ahead."   

                                                                       Philippians 3:13   CSB

The Israelites wandered around the wilderness for years when their journey should have only taken a short while. Most of the originals didn't make it there but died in the arid desert. Why was this? Because they hung on to the past. Initially, they wanted to go to the Promised Land but, then they realised that they would have to rough it and eat Manna and such like and, not have the 'luxuries' that they had in Egypt. So they complained and moaned and blamed Moses for all of this. They hung on to the past so much that their promised tomorrow never came.

What do we learn from all of this? Stop living in the past; stop being chained to it. When Jesus Christ came into your life, He broke the chains and they fell off. Don't put them back on again. To reach your future, you must forget the past; this way you will get a greater tomorrow. Paul in this 3rd Chapter of Philippians admitted that he had not yet reached the goal of perfection. In fact, he wrote in Ch 1:6 that he was certain that Jesus would make sure he got there as long as he stopped looking back. Think about it, if you were driving your car and instead of looking through the windscreen, kept looking through the rear-view mirror, you wouldn't get very far. In fact, it's doubtful that you would get down the road without an accident. Looking back is no good.

The past was yesterday, it was an hour ago and as soon as you have said something, it is also in the past. This of course is a little extreme but, you get the point I hope. Somebody cut you up on the motorway yesterday and it made you angry. That's feasible but, don't keep on about it today, it was in the past. 

Listen to me, there are things in your past that you are still remembering; the memory keeps cropping up. You may have been bitterly hurt years ago. That is awful but it was years ago - in the past. You need to allow the chains to be broken from it and move on. Your marriage may have crumbled this past year. The pain is very raw. Somehow, you need to stop re-playing the video of the hurt, forgive and start to re-build your life again. Someone won't come along and build it for you; you may have counselling but, the counsellor will not re-build your life again, they will just point you in the right direction. Re-building your life is down to you, together with Jesus.

To stop looking at the past is not easy, but is essential if you want to go forward and only you can make this choice. Jesus is in your future. He is now with you to help you have that future (Jeremiah 29:11.) And what's more, He wants to take hold of your hand and gently take you there. But will you let Him? Do it, you know it makes sense.

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 2024 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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Make sure you have the key!

"He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens."    

                                  Revelation 3:7   NKJV 

Here, Jesus is speaking to the church in Philadelphia and He informs us that He has opened a door that no one can close and no one can open. Firstly, He is addressing our salvation - Soteria. Jesus knocks at the door of our hearts and says, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev 3:20). Jesus here, is talking to believers. Firstly, Jesus knocks at the door of the believer - and offers them fuller salvation, an intimacy that knows no end, the full works of salvation as we saw last week. We may be saved, but we are often asking Him for 'More Lord, give us more.' This is what He wants to offer each believer. Can you imagine what a great place a church would be if every believer did this?Secondly, Jesus has given us a key and that is Himself. He has opened a door for us that no one can close, not even you. From one point of view, the open door He provides, is linked to v20 - fuller intimacy and blessing and, the opportunity to walk with Him on a daily basis. 

Now He offers this to the unbeliever - the one who doesn't know Jesus. Various things may happen in that person's life that cause them to throw themselves on Jesus and open the door of their heart. They ask Jesus into their life and they have full access to life with Jesus - He opens a door for them as well. Without that key - Jesus, it wouldn't happen.

Now, this open door that Jesus opens, may well be opportunities in life, such as university, getting that special job. But primarily, His intention is to fill the new believer with His love and build Him or her into the person He intended for them.

So, Jesus has opened the door for us. This doesn't mean we will never have problems again. Far from it, for many the problems are only just beginning but, this time, we have Jesus on our side. As we become closer to Him, He leads us into situations that we wouldn't have thought possible before. You may have the potential to be a great leader in a church, a pastor, elder or whatever. He may lead you into being involved in worship or writing a Christian blog or article. The sky is the limit with Jesus because, the door is open wide. Some may not like your success and may try to close the door. But they will find that they can't. They may cause you trouble but wherever you are, things will only end when Jesus wants it to end.

Jesus may not want you to become involved in any type of real ministry. He may just want you to be that quiet evangelist, the one who leads a Godly life and witnesses to many people for just the way you live. Everyone is different.

The thing is, with Jesus, you're not just anybody - your a somebody and that is special! Therefore, make sure you have the key - Jesus.

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 2024 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

God has a reward for you

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."   

                                                1 Corinthians 15:58   CSB 

Have you ever had days when you feel that, everything you do, whether it's for the Lord or for yourself, is like banging your head against a wall and getting nowhere? Well, most certainly, the things you do for yourself, may need a little fine-tuning; you may be going down the wrong track. However, when you are doing things for God, that you know it is what he wants you to do, then keep going. You are doing really great. Note the word 'Labour.' It is hard work serving God, it takes guts to stand up and confess that you belong to Jesus. It takes all you've got to do something for God when everyone one else is against you - church or your own family. And that's where the labour comes into play. Therefore, don't stop, don't give up. Your labour is not in vain. Soon it will all fit together, you're not wasting your time. And when you have reached this goal, God, who has been watching what you do, noticed you faithfulness and your hard work, will give you a reward that will exceed your wildest expectations.

The world you meet each day, may not care for what you are doing. They may want you to stop and, may even go as far as causing you big trouble. If you are in a job, they may get you fired because they don't want your 'religion' around them. Even you own family may turn against you or find you an embarrassment. Neighbours may gossip about your faith and some friends may even unfriend you. This can be the price that we pay when we are serving Jesus Christ. You will not always be popular, I can assure you of that. You may be not receive invites to functions or people's parties because, 'they're so different'. Don't fret about this, as I've said, this is the price we may pay for following Jesus. And incidentally, Jesus throws much better parties than anyone else. Just wait till you get to heaven, you'll see!

Paul calls us to be steadfast and immovable. In other words keep going on despite flak. If we fall, we get back up again and continue on the journey. We never give up. Does this sound impossible? Well it shouldn't because, Jesus called you into His team - Team Jesus. He thinks you tick all of the boxes to achieve success. He has assessed you, is teaching you and has equipped you for anything that He has for you to do. You are a valuable item in Team Jesus, you are steadfast and immovable and you always excel at what Jesus has in store. You may not think this is true but, Jesus does, He has put a fighter in you and, what's more, He will be right beside you as you labour for Him.

Therefore, believe in yourself like Jesus does and go into action and achieve success.

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 2024 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

Today is a New Day

'This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." 

                                      Psalm 118:24   NIV 

What a way to start each day. No matter what happened yesterday, God offers us a new day - a new start. Yesterday, may not have gone how you would have liked but, in the world that we know, life goes on and we have to move with it, even though we may not want to sometimes. Yesterday may have been a good day but, we can't re-live it but we can build upon it making this day even better. On the other hand, yesterday may have been awful and you may need a little time to come to terms with such a day. You may have had a great loss and you are in a state of numbness and confusion. If this is you, just take one step at a time and allow Jesus to comfort you. and take you through each day. Then, when you're ready, He will take you into a new day, a new start.

Life is full of up's and down's. One minute we can be flying in joy, the next something can hit us leaving us flat and broken. It's still a day that the Lord has made, it may just be a very sad one for you. But time is a great healer they say. It is true, but for many people, it can take a long time to reach there. Loss affects us all, Colin Murray-Parkes, a leading psychologist calls it, 'It's the price we pay for having loved.' This is so true. When a person is in  loss it brings out all of those memories, some of them good but others not so. Memories can lift us or make us sad. The trick is to try and filter out the good memories and discard the bad one's, although during the bad times, there may have been some nice one's. It's the good memories that can keep a person going. Of David's words in Ps 30:5, Spurgeon wrote, 'This is an emphasis on the certainty of God’s comfort and joy to His people. Morning always follows night, and the weeping believer may be confident that as he keeps his focus on God, He will bring him once again to joy. “‘Weeping may endure for a night’: but nights are not for ever.” 

When we open our eyes each morning, it is another day that God has allowed us and, despite the tiredness, it is a good idea to thank Him for this. From thereon, other prayers can follow throughout the day. Jesus has done so much for us, protected us all our life and blessed us that we need to show Him how grateful we are. David wrote about rejoicing before God and being glad in the fact that it is another day that He can bless us and we can in turn, be a blessing to Him. 

Remember bad nights or even bad times are not forever, the sun shines again and we begin to realise that, there is still life out there. It's just a matter of taking it easy until we have the strength to move on to our new day.

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 2024 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

APOLOGIES

 

• I apologise if the daily posts have been a little out of sync, just lately. It has not been my fault. Some where along the web-line there have been a few techy probs.
• It should all be ok from now on 🤓

Bless you

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