Have you been abused?

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

Abuse is commonly defined as any intentional action that harms or injures another person. In other words, someone who purposely harms another person is guilty of abuse. There are many kinds of abuse, and these are normally defined by the type of harm and the type of victim:

Sexual abuse, Physical abuse, neglect, Emotional abuse and even Spiritual abuse

This type of abuse is usually out of the victims control and they leave scars that may take a life time to heal, if at all. The wounds may have been on the body but now, they are in the heart and lead to continuous bad memories.

Are you one of these people? It may hurt to even think about this but, I encourage you to try. It is never easy to face things that are hurtful but, there is healing in doing so. When a person internalises this type of pain, it eats away on the inside and can cause further problems, such as anger, guilt and shame just to name a few. It can also lead to mental illness because the issue has not been addressed and is burning within on the inside. Can you recognise some of these?

People can blame God for not rescuing them, is this you? It is not His fault. Perhaps you were too young to know what was happening; probably you did know but were too scared to say anything. The damage has been done but there is healing to be found in giving this all to God. Do you realise that living this way is making you carry a heavy burden around with you. You find it hard to trust anyone, they too may hurt you. You may have made inner vows that no one will ever hurt you like this again. You end up isolating yourself or putting on a happy face but this can only last for a short time. The memories still return.

Look at our text today "He heals the brokenhearted and, binds up their wounds.' These are true words. The word 'wounds' can also mean 'sorrows'. You may have had plenty of this over the years. Don't you think it is time to ask God to heal the damage that you suffered. He is so longing to help and set you free but only you can press the start button. You need to take a step forward, trusting Jesus will help you - He will. Let me pray with you:

Lord Jesus, we come to You right now, bringing all of the pain of the past and ask You to please heal..........................right now. Your word tells us to cast our burdens upon You and, this is what we are doing. Please honour Your word and bring Your wonderful healing power. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

I know that this will be difficult but, forgive the person - in your heart, for what they did. Set them free but more than anything else, set yourself free from the past.

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, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

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Crucified with Jesus

"I  have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me"                                            Galatians 2:20   NKJV

Today, let's look at this incredible verse written by Paul. Martin Luther, was so taken about it that, when he answered his door and someone asked to see Martin Luther, Luther replied 'He no longer lives here; Jesus Christ lives here now.' Luther, as our text says, had adopted this and changed his identity - died to the old - risen to life in the new. It's an extreme way of saying this but, true all the same. Identity is what matters, Luther had taken on the identity of Jesus Christ.

Basically it is the act of, taking off the old self and putting on the new with Jesus. You and I, no doubt, would have said it differently by explaining that we have a new identity and the old self is dead. We are now Christians and therefore, belong to the name of Jesus. Identity is what matter most. Who do we identify with?  In the case of a Christian, we identify with Jesus.

Check out this quote from bibleref.com

'Christ was crucified for our sin. By faith, we trust that His death paid for our own personal sin. In that way, we are crucified with Him, our sin with him on the cross. That sinful "us" dies, replaced by the resurrected Christ "in us." We continue to live in the flesh, of course, but our lives are now directed not by our sinful selves but by our faith in Christ. Paul expands on this great truth powerfully in Romans 6:1–6'.

For the first time, Paul mentions Jesus' motive for giving Himself for us: love. Christ died for us because He loves us. Unlike the unyielding system of the law, Christ is a person motivated by His love and concern for us.

Faith must come into play here because, our body is still flesh and susceptible to the temptations of sin. Therefore we need to exercise, by prayer, faith that Jesus will help us to do this. Jesus Christ must be first and, everything else is secondary. When we become too involved with worldly matters, we forget the Son of God gave Himself for us. We have a new identity. This means that we are so closely attached to Him, that we die with Him and, He lives in us

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, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

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A New Thing. Part 2

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."     Isaiah 43:18-19   NKJV

Paul said: 'Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.         

                                                                                                      Phil 3:13-14.

He was stating that he was not perfect yet but, he takes every opportunity (v12) to press on. This takes discipline and effort and it is never easy. But it is achievable, when you go in Jesus' strength. He makes it possible to reach your goal (New Thing). He gives us the choice.

But what does Paul say that we need to do to reach this New Thing? He tells us that we need to forget the past - leave them behind because they are 'Old' and we are reaching for the 'New' - the New Things. Check out an athlete when he is running on the track. His eyes are fixed on that tape (the goal/New Thing.) As he reaches it he thrusts his hand forward.

To Quote Tony Evans, he says, 'As long as you are attached to the past, you negate what God wants to do in your future. Learn from yesterday, don't live in it'.  Tony Evan Study Bible

When you visualise a desert it is hot and dry and you are practically in the middle of nowhere with nothing but sand to look at. God says, 'I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.' Isaiah 43:19. A road in the wilderness gives us a way through to freedom and rivers give us refreshment and another way out too. In fact, Jesus is giving us an open door:

'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: 8“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name'.  Rev 3:7-8. 

This perfectly compliments Isaiah 43:13  'Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”

For each and everyone of us, if we have accepted Jesus into our lives, there is these promises. And for those who are not believers yet, there is an opportunity to correct this by ditching the Old thing and taking the New thing Jesus offers and walking through the door of salvation and future life. It makes so much 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, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

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A New Thing Part 1

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."     Isaiah 43:18-19   NKJV

Let us explore these two verses over the next couple of days. God is telling us, not to remember the former things - the things that have been a problem for us and have hurt us causing great struggles over the time we have recalled them in our memory bank. The former things is obviously referring to our past and, the key word here is 'Remember.' 

Some people have long memories - they can't forget or won't. They hold grudges and they're trapped in their thoughts. When we hang on to the past, it's difficult to reach the future. We become hemmed in with something that should have been dealt with a long time ago. These things belong in the old mode. New cannot be new until the old is dealt with. These struggles and upsets cannot be changed. We need to accept this fact. We have a choice: accept them and move on or, stay where you are and rot. Sorry if that sounds offensive but, it's the truth.

Let's take for example fitting a new kitchen; it can't be fitted until the old kitchen is moved out. That's obvious. There are walls to repair; floor and wall tiles to be fitted and everything has to be prepared properly in order to do a good job. We can paint a room without doing any maintenance - painting over the cracks and blips. However, they will still show through when the paint is dry. The wall needs treating firstly. But these two examples consist of the 'Old' and the 'New' can't happen until the 'Old' is dealt with. The 'Old' out - the 'New' in. Do you get this?

What about you? What about the old things - past, hurts, struggles, bad memories and much more? Don't you think you need to make a break with the former things? It's holding you back. How can God give you a 'new thing' 'Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?' Isaiah 43:19. The answer to the question here is, 'No, you shall not know it, if you're hanging on to the past' 

If you are struggling in this area, then you need to take some action. God's word here tells you: 'Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.' When you think about it, this is a command; one in which He is asking you to clear the old out and take on the new.

The choice is yours! 

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, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

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What is the password?

"Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or, who may stand in the holy place?  

                                                                             Psalm 24:3. NKJV. of v3-10

Q  A question has been asked; what is the answer? Firstly, let's look at passwords. They are everywhere. We need a password for many different things, not to mention our computer programs. We almost need a book to contain all of these many passwords unless, we forget. Without the password, you are going nowhere. Even God has a password for the above question in the text. We'll look at that in a few moments; but here we see in scripture certain conditions we will need to observe: 

'v4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul (mind, will and emotions) to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.' 

If we want to see Jesus when the time comes, we need to abide by these conditions

'Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 8Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. 9Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 10Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory'. Selah  v7-10. 

A  But, we still need the password for access. Did you notice it in v7. The password is Jesus. As we lift Him up and invite Him into our heart or situation, He shall then come in v9. You will see further evidence of this password in John 14:6: 'I am the way,' Rev 3:20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me. Matt 6:33 'But seek first the kingdom of God and His

righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.'

As we quote this password by asking Him into our heart or situation if we are saved, He comes into our life. Just think, everything is God's and He is in control of it all. Let us not forget that, when we are in God's presence, we are standing on Holy ground (Ex 3:5), When Moses was at the burning bush, he had to take his sandals off because of this. It was a sign of respect in the east. But it was also a place where God is and therefore, it was, and still is, holy ground. This is something that we need to remember when we are having a quiet time and in God's presence. He is not somebody that we are just fellowshipping with. No, He is the Lord God Almighty - El Shaddai. So we need to respect those times.

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, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

Check it out

Disappointments

"Then He came and found them sleeping and said to Peter, 'Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour?'                  Mark 14:37   NKJV

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus became disturbed and told Peter, James and John, who He had taken along for back up, to stay where they were and watch and pray. Jesus went further on and became so distressed that He sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44). When He returned to Peter and the others, they were sleeping, hence His reaction in our text above. In fairness, they still didn't know what was happening so, failed to feel the urgency of it all. He must have been so disappointed at this stage.

In fact, Jesus Himself must have been disappointed with his disciples many times.  Paul also experienced disappointment several times during his ministry, as with the Galatian church so quickly turning away from the gospel (Gal 3:11,20). Let's be honest, Jesus must have been disappointed with us quite a lot since we came to know Him. We let Him down so much but, how loving He is with His forgiveness. People in this world need to adopt this attitude. Bob Gass says, 'It's the attitude with which you approach your problem that largely determines the outcome.' 

How do you react to disappointment? Do you become angry because you feel so let down? And do you use words that you know are wrong because you are so hurt and disappointed? People react in many different ways. But it's our attitude that decides how things are going to go. Look at Jesus' attitude - disappointed? Yes He would have been. Did He have a feeling of being let down? More than likely. But He didn't blast His disciples out. What He was doing in the garden that day, was extremely difficult for Him to approach. It was make or break time and, He was struggling with His humanity. However, He didn't let rip on the others. He knew their hearts and knew, they were confused by everything.

Disappointment can lead us to utter words that we know are wrong. It can lead to arguments and in some cases, break up relationships. But let us not forget, that we're only human and far from being perfect. Think back, you must have disappointed people in the past. How do you feel they felt? It may have been your parents, your family, your bosses or church leaders. Some of these may have held a grudge against you because of it. But, then again, they may have forgiven you instead. And this is how we should react when we are disappointed.

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, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

Check it out

When you're undergoing temptation

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."       

                                                                             Matthew 4:1  NKJV 

After Jesus' baptism, He was immediately led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. We may think that He had no time to think- no time to prepare, He was just led there. But He knew, and this demonstrates how Jesus was always ready for whatever may come His way. Now the wilderness is a very hot place by day, but can almost be frosty during the nights. Danger lurks at every point not only from overheating and being frozen, but from wild animals, snakes and deadly insects. Not really a nice place to be on your own with no food or drink or camping equipment.

There are lessons to learn by His 40 day stay in this environment. He was faithful in the smaller tasks before God gave Him the greater one of dying on the cross. To be tempted from the divine standpoint, means a positive test; from the devil's standpoint it implies enticement to sin; from Jesus' standpoint it is a challenge from Satan to test God's sovereignty and plan v6. 

Note how the devil speaks to Jesus here, using the word 'if.' This is attempting to place doubt in Jesus' mind. He will also do this to you and I. He endeavours to confuse us and deny the divinity of Jesus. The word 'Tempt' in the English language means to entice people to do wrong. However, the Greek interpretation of this word is Peirazien, which means to test. Therefore, what we call temptation, is not to make us sin but, to enable us to conquer it, just as Jesus could be described as a conqueror or, using patient sacrificial love.

When Jesus was led into the wilderness and fasted 40 days and nights, at the end of this period He would have been exhausted, hungry, thirsty, one moment hot, the next very cold. Notice that the devil waited for the apt time to approach Jesus - 'Now when' v3. He waited until Jesus was at His lowest before He went to speak with Him. He will also do this to us. It is when we are tired, busy or at a low point that we are more vulnerable to attack. However, even though Jesus was at a low point, He used His authority - He would not compromise at all. He used His Father's word. 

Don't think that Jesus was unprepared for what was going to happen, He was. He knew what He had to go through to accomplish God's wishes so, He ensured that He was ready for whatever happened. He knew what He had to do. He was in His humanity and thus, demonstrated weakness that called for angels to come and serve Him afterwards. But, He was still prepared and ready for the task; He knew what lay ahead, and so do we - we know that the devil will try and attack us whenever He can (1 Peter 5:8). So be alert.

This is why, like Jesus, we have to be prepared. Jesus knew God's word, so should we. God was watching over Him - He is you and I, as well. In fact, we have everything that we need to survive in this society. We know the devil is not our friend so, we need to live accordingly. He will lie to us. He will try to confuse us, bringing doubt. Let us realise this and be ready for any test or temptation that comes our way. Jesus has given us the blueprint for 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, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

Check it out