Total peace

And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:7 / Luke 14:22 - 33  CSB 

If there is anything that we need at all times, it is peace. This is why we need to study all about it. Peace has the ability to bring about joy in any miserable situation. It has the ability to lift our spirit. Think about when Jesus walked on the water. The disciples had just witnessed a major miracle - the feeding of the five thousand. This would have been something to see, totally incredible. After this, Jesus encouraged the disciples to go over to the opposite side of the lake. He would meet them later after he had climbed a mountain to pray to His Father. Note that He intended to meet with them again.

After a while of the disciples battling against the strong wind, Jesus walked out to them, on the water. When they saw Him, they thought at first that He was a ghost and they were terrified. Jesus calmed their fears, 'Have courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.' After speaking with the Lord, Peter jumped into the water and started walking towards Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he panicked and sank. But Jesus saved him and they both climbed into the boat and the wind, stopped instantly.

There are a couple of things that I want you to see (1) Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and climbed out of the boat and did the same. However, he became fearful when he saw the thrashing winds and lost his faith, and sank. Many times we have every intention of serving Jesus by faith - totally relying on Him to provide all we may need. However, when our thoughts play around in our brain, we become faith-less because we look at what's around instead of looking to Jesus. Note, Jesus told Peter to 'Come.' Remember, when Jesus has called you, He will take care of everything.

(2) When you truly walk with Jesus, He calms any situation. In the events in Luke we clearly see calm in the middle of chaos. When you are filled with God's peace, you'll know God heard your prayers. Remember, the peace of God surpasses all understanding. We just can't work it out, it is beyond human understanding. God can do anything if He chooses. Nothing can stop Him. Also remember, that His peace will guard your heart and mind - those confusing mind games that we have periodically. Refuse to fall to false information and penetrating accusations about yourself or your family. Through God, you're better than that!

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

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Don't worry about anything

"Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanks giving, present your requests to God"   Philippians 4:6  CSB 

One thing that is common to all people is worry. We can seem to do it as a pastime and if we haven't any worries we can worry about that too. Many is the time that what we worry about never happens anyway. Therefore, we need to break this habit. Let us not forget that Jesus told us not to worry (Matt 6). So when we do worry, we are disobeying Him. The more we worry, the less we pray. But the more you pray, the less you worry. At the first sign of worry, we should recognise that its time to pray.

We have a useful blueprint that Jesus gave  the church in Matthew 6:33-34: 'But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' We are so familiar with this scripture that it is so easy to pass over it when we're reading God's Word. Never do that. God's Word is life and can be different each time we read it prayerfully. Don't get too familiar that you think you don't need to read this.

Paul writes, 'Don't worry about anything' I've highlighted this word because it is so important. If we allow ourselves, we will do this. We'll worry that we forgot to buy a certain item at the supermarket. The 'phone will ring and if we miss the call, we'll have to ring the person back just in case it is important. We will have a hospital test for something and will try and determine what the nurse's face looks like in case it is serious. Stop worrying. Anything means anything so stop worrying about it. Many is the time that you can't change the thing you are worrying about so, why worry about it.

Instead, decide to pray and petition God. He cares and He is pleased when instead of worrying, we are praying to Him. We're acting in accordance to His will then. We are also seeking first the kingdom of God and not worrying about tomorrow. Why not try saying:

'Thank you Lord that I have some worries because, it is another opportunity to speak with You. So I'm seeking first the kingdom of God, knowing You will help me.' Some may have a problem with this, but I haven't. Every worry we have gives us the opportunity to pray. What's the problem with that. In fact, if we're honest, we don't pray enough, so let's use the opportunities we get.

The word of your Daily Life with Jesus is, 'DON'T WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING'

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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Watch your attitude

"Let you graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near."   Philippians 4:5   CSB 

If you're not careful, the humdrum of everyday life can get you down. Doing the same job 24/7 in robotic fashion, never having enough money to pay bills and buy what you would like. Your home life suffering because of lack of funds and as soon as you've managed to pay it, another one hitting the doormat. Life can be like a never-ending conveyor belt of problems. When you get like this, it can affect your peace. Worries pile in and it's difficult to find a way through all of this.

All of this can lead to being intolerant with people around you - at home, on the road or even at work. If you're a boss or leader of some sort, this can lead you to spread this unhappiness to others, using your position as a lever to downgrade people. You can make mistakes but blame this on others, totally refusing to accept that it was your fault. You should never take your unhappy baggage to work, church or anywhere else. Alternatively, if you've had a bad day, you should leave this baggage at the front door of your home.

Easy to do? Not really, but it is achievable but you need to work on it. Firstly, note what Paul is saying here: 'Let your graciousness (gentleness) be known to everyone. The Lord is near.' First of all, let’s examine the last phrase. Jesus is near you, everyday. He sees, hears, watches and listens to all you say or do. So, you need to remember this. If you moan or complain about things, you are opening the door to the enemy to come in and twist things round, and then, instead of rejoicing you can make a very near God, seem far away.

Do you know what I mean here? Once you upset others, throw a wobbly or let yourself down pretty badly, it is very difficult to feel the presence of God with you. He hasn't left but that precious anointing of the Holy Spirit becomes drained. Then, all you can hear is Satan saying, 'You've blown it now!' It's hard for you to ignore him because, you don't have the enthusiasm to cast him out. So think on this one.

The Holy Spirit is gentle, He puts no pressure on anyone, just love and peace. So spend some time with Him. Get to know Him and allow His presence to envelope you. If you want to be gentle, then He is your source. If you want people to see Jesus in you, He is the one who can anoint you and point you in the right direction. You may blow it at times but don't dwell on it, ask forgiveness, receive it and then move on. You haven't blown it to the point that Jesus will not forgive you. The devil will try to trick you into thinking that. Don't let him. He's a loser - you back the winner, Jesus. Spend time with the Holy Spirit and pretty soon people are going to feel the gentleness from you. Sound good? You bet it does.

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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Be full of joy

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice. "   Philippians 4:4   CSB

What is the difference between joy and secular happiness? The latter depends on what happens in our life. It is down to circumstance. So if things are going well in our life, we can have a brilliant time and this can lift our spirits, making us feel good about the occasion. However, if things go wrong, we begin to feel down in the dumps, unhappy and we virtually have no life in ourselves; we become deflated. This is an emotional roller coaster experience. Worldly happiness is not the same as Godly happiness. Godly happiness is called joy. Biblical joy has to do with stability and celebration regardless of what the circumstances are on the outside. Therefore, we must choose to rejoice in order to experience the joy God promises us.

Paul thought it so important that he repeated what he had said :"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice. " Likewise, King David said in Psalm 118:24 'This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad.' And Paul Wilber wrote and sang:

Let us rejoice and be glad, giving the glory to Him

For the marriage of the Lamb has come

And the bride has made herself ready 

Note, rejoicing is a choice that we have to make. It doesn't come naturally. We have to make the decision that, no matter what happens in our life, we will endeavour to find a way to rejoice. You see, Jesus is still on the throne no matter what may happen in our lives. We don't rejoice and thank Him for things that have gone seriously wrong in our lives. This would be madness. But we do need to find a way through the hurt to be able to offer Him praise. This is how we remain stable in situations. 

Jesus is our rock; therefore, we are built on His foundation. We are firm and secure. He gives us our confidence and promotes joy within. He knows that joy is our strength. He knows that with joy and praise, we can march on to victory. This is why it is so important; in fact, we need to attach joy to our armour that we should be dressed in each day because, the Lord is our strength. 

So if you have been feeling down in the dumps just lately, get your joy back: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice. " Get the balance right in your life. Don't be up or down rather like a see-saw. Remain steadfast and joyful.

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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Stop, pray and wait for the direction

 "There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death"    

                                 Proverbs 14:12  CSB

There is a need to be careful in our everyday walk with Jesus. As we know, the devil is not our friend and, he will do all he can to get us to walk along the wrong path. This is why we need to have our wits about us. As much as we think that we know best, quite simply, we don't. As the scripture tells us, things can seem to be the right way to go but we can end up getting our fingers burnt. This is why we need to be aware of the scripture: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways, know Him and He will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6. Our mind will try to overrule us if we are not switched on to Jesus and the devil will agree and make it seem such a great idea. So, when we need to make a big decision, stop, pray and wait for the direction.

Our mind is powerful and together with our will and emotions, it becomes our soul. The Universal dictionary puts it like this, 'The animating and vital principal in humankind credited with the faculties of thought, action and emotion.' Therefore, the mind controls our thoughts, the will our decision making and our emotions, how we deal with things that come against us. So, according to our text above, a thought or an idea is given us which seems to be a tempting offer, our action can be to act before we have thought the matter through and this can then lead us how to we feel afterwards.

So it is imperative that we seek God about what to do, where to go and such. This gives us the peace that we are doing things right. Mind you, we can't expect to have peace around us if, we do not have peace within. There may have been many times when you know that there has been very little peace about a decision that you have made and, the result has been quite costly. So wise up.

You may feel that there is very little time to 'stop, pray and wait for the answer.' But don't let this urge you to make a wrong move. If it means running in before you have had time to think, ask God and wait for His decision, then it more than likely is not for you. No matter how hard it may be, walk on by. Don't rush and make a mess of things. Be wise and seek God. That's the way to go!

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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Nothing left to give

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."   Psalm 147:3  NKJV

Today, you may be battle-scarred, wounded, beaten up, slapped down and hurting. Looking around, there doesn't seem to be anyone who are aware of this either. You are carrying it alone. This is one characteristic of depression; you feel alone and want to be alone but, deep-down, you don't want to be alone. You are so confused that you don'r know what you want. One moment you can't stop crying, the tears just flow and you can't seem to stop them. Just one expression of love towards you and you can easily start crying again. Nothing seems to matter but then again, it does but you just don't have the mental energy to address this. If someone asks you what upset you, you can't answer this because there appears to be many, many things that could be the cause.

When a person is having a breakdown, these are some of the symptoms. The person may have managed to handle all of the mighty bullets that were shot at them without it having a nervous reaction. Then came along one more thing that tipped them over the edge. It may only have been such a small, insignificant thing but when it hit, it awakened all of those buried hurts that they thought they had overcome.

The human being seems very good in hiding hurts from others and they carry them around on their own without venting their feelings about such a thing. The result being, a person can only take so much before something has to snap. And it can snap hard.

Are you one of these wounded people? Have you been hiding hurts from the people who matter in your life? If it hasn't already, one of these days, and it may be soon, your world is going to crumble if you don't do something about it and quickly. Take a look at what God's word has to say about such times:"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Straightaway, we have someone who is willing to comfort us in our misery - Jesus. He knows what pain is and has seen many dreadful things happening to His people. He doesn't question what has happened, even if it were our own fault. He has too much invested in us. Therefore, go to Him now, 'casting all your cares on Him for cares for you' 1 Peter 5:7. 

You can only take so much before you begin to crack. Jesus knows this. You are not weak, you've just been in battle for a while and you need a top up. Remember, Jesus was far from weak but He had to go through all that He He did for our sake. He knows how you feel. Just relax and let Him build you back up.

 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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You'll get what you confess

"For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me."                                                                               Job 3:25  NKJV

If we're not careful, we can speak or think ourselves into something that we don't wish to happen. Job had become like this. This is why he said this in the verse above. One can actually get what they confess. To give an example, how many times do we hear someone say, 'I feel awful, I think I'm coming down with the flu.' And then, not long after this, they have the flu. We need to be careful when we say things like, 'My back's killing me'. We may have a bad back but to confess it, is not faith, and it's definitely not the right thing to confess that it is killing you. Some people may say that this is splitting hairs. To them, it may be, but Job soon saw the horror of what he had been saying and thinking.

When we speak and think in such a way we are going down the road of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy as described below: 

'A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's or group of persons' belief or expectation that said prediction would come true.^[1] This suggests that people's beliefs influence their actions. The principle behind this phenomenon is that people create consequences regarding people or events, based on previous knowledge of the subject.'     (Wikipedia) 

We need to be so careful about what we think and say.

Self-Fulled Prophecy can happen in your mind or in reality. Let me explain - to believe something is happening when we have no evidence about it, is suspicion. However, it can become worse when it is all we think of and get ourselves into such a state of worry, where it is no longer suspicion, but fact. We believe it is true, and as time goes by it may well be, because we go looking for it and refuse any other explanation.

People can say, 'I can't go to Uni, I'd never make the grades and I would only make a fool of myself." If you believe that way, you probably would. It's natural to believe that we are not sure if we can do something but, that doesn't mean we should give up on the idea. When David faced Goliath, if he had started to believe that he couldn't slay him and would probably die, then he would not have had the victory. As soon as Goliath's taunts came to his ears, if he had believed them, he would have either ran away like the other Israelites, or he would have been killed. But he believed in God and confessed this: 'I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you and take your head from you.'  1 Samuel 17:45-46.

If David had confessed fear and doubt, he would have been killed. But he didn't, he confessed victory. He refused to confess fear or doubt. And so should you.

You are a member of God's Army. Stand tall in this fact and never again confess doubt. You need to confess victory in all you do. This leads to faith.

 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

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