They had been with Jesus

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus".       Acts 4:13   NKJV

There are times when we can accomplish the most amazing things. Here's one of them. Peter and John on seeing a disabled man on the steps of the temple gate, begging, had prayed for him and he was healed and demonstrated this by shouting and leaping for joy. Later when people had heard all about this miracle, Peter and John were approached by the Sadducees and placed in custody until the next day, when they would speak to them about this blasphemy.

They did this, questioning them about who gave them the authority to bring this false religion to the people. After Peter had made an amazing speech to them and they recognised that these were uneducated men but had been with Jesus, they let them go under the warning they would not speak about Jesus any longer.

It was obvious that something amazing had happened to this man, the hierarchy could see this. They also saw the disciples as uneducated, untrained men but also recognised that they had been with Jesus. That is an interesting statement. Even though they wouldn't admit it, they knew Jesus was different and miracles followed Him around. Now they could see that, even though Jesus was dead, the disciples were doing similar work and it would be difficult to stop it.

Noticed the phrase, 'they had been with Jesus'. As you and I spend more time with Jesus, people will realise this and will recognise that there is something different about us. Some people train at a bible college; others train with distance learning and, all this is fine. But others, have no particular training at all but can achieve great things. This is because they have an anointing. People spend a couple of years at college and may not achieve very much when they are qualified, others do. Situations can be different. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong in going to bible college, not at all. It is a great thing. But others don't have the opportunity to do it but because of their relationship with Jesus, they accomplish great things too.

You may not be formally trained, but that doesn't mean God cannot use you. Once He places His anointing on you, there is no stopping you. Don't ever be ashamed that you have not been trained. Like the disciples, God has trained you and people can and will recognise this and the fact that you have been with Jesus.

So hold your head up high and get the work done.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. 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'

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. Just tap in Grahame Howard books.

A New Thing

“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

God was speaking to the Israelites after Cyrus told them to leave Babylon and head for their own land. The turmoil and exile was over and they were free. They were to forget the former things and head to the new. But could God be talking to you as well here? Let's look at this possibility:

God may be telling you to forget the former things - the irrelevant things of the past, they weigh you down, (Philippians 3:13-14). They're of no use so, reach ahead for the new thing which is being born into your life. Do you know this already? Can you believe it? Are you willing to do what is being asked of you? 

A road in the wilderness is hard to find. Think of it, you are in the middle of nowhere and then come across a motorway. Impossible, not with God it's not. The dry, arid and bare parts of your life are about to be filled with excitement, there is a route out of the place you are in and it leads to fulfilment and joy. Ask yourself, is God calling you into something new? Could this be your chance to begin a new life? 

Now, when I mention being called by God, it may not necessarily be to work for Him. It may be a new adventure in your life. What about that job you are thinking of applying for. Should you go for it? What about moving to another area, may be abroad or somewhere, the longing is yearning you to go to. In life, we are faced with many important decisions and they take some working out with - 'Is it right for me/us?' 

One things for sure, God wants you to forget the things of the past, this means the mistakes or blunders that you made. Forget them, this is a new chance for you. It may not be  all that significant but then again, the chance could be potentially life-changing. Does the sound of this sound exciting? The door may be already pushed by yourself and you're just waiting for confirmation. Then again, it may have come out of the blue. If so, take it to God and ask Him for confirmation that He is talking to you and if so, lay the plan out before you so that you can consider. Occasionally, we have to go in blind. We have a longing and an exciting feeling within but that's all there is.. So we have to tread carefully, use our faith and push a few more doors. Someone may try and talk you out of this. Be grateful for their advice and concern but, the confirmation you really need is from God.

Right now you may have a tingly feeling within. Is this God, you may be wondering? Therefore this is the time for prayer and being open to His answers. When God is showing you to do a certain thing, there is usually a strong feeling of excitement. If there is a feeling of caution or fear, it may still be right but you need to weigh the situation.

Whatever you choice to do, God will bless you that's for sure. 

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. 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'

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. Just tap in Grahame Howard books.

Better days are ahead

"And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

                                                               John 2:10   NKJV

Jesus was at a wedding in Cana with His mother. His disciples were there too. We don't know all of the details, but sadly the wine ran out, probably halfway through the reception. We're led to believe that it was a relative or friend of Mary who had married because Mary took the lead saying to Jesus, 'They have no wine.' Jesus' reply could be misinterpreted as rude or abrupt;

Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” However, the term 'woman' would have meant madam in Aramaic, a term of respect. And furthermore, He was not yet ready for His mission. However, as Jesus is loving and kind and wanting to protect the family from shame, He complied with His mother's request and they had more wine.

Notice the master of the feast's reaction,“Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” He was astounded that the quality of the wine was superb and plentiful. It is amazing that the master of the feast had no idea where the wine had come from (v9). Yet, another act of protecting the family.

What is plain to see here, is the way Jesus acted. It was not yet His time but, because of His mother's request and wanting to spare the family shame, He complied. The bride and groom were able to enjoy their wedding and Mary and the family were pleased with the results. It is possible that only Mary and Jesus knew about this, she would have wanted to rescue her family from this problem and Jesus was there to help. He always is!

It's comforting to know that for us, there are better days ahead - the best is yet to come. With hints of WW3 hitting the media, it is a worrying time for most. But as fearful as it looks, we as Christians, know who our protector is. His name is Jesus Christ and, He will not let us down at all. One day, we will be in paradise with Him and there will never be any sin 

or worry or negativity again. But until then, we are in His hands - if we allow ourselves to be. He turned water into the finest of wine at Cana that day. He will turn fear into rejoicing and tears into laughter in our world if things become dire. There is no need to fear, better days are ahead, the best is yet to come. It may be nonsense for the unbeliever to accept this but, for God's elite, and that's us, He is able to  

perform more than we could ever believe possible (Eph 3:20). Now that's something to shout about!

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. 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'

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. Just tap in Grahame Howard books.

There's still no answer from God

"But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day".         2 Peter 3:8   NKJV

Peter's point here is that God is not bound by counting days from a human perspective. Time does not hold Him. It's almost like time does not exist as in human time. He does not wait or rush in the same sense that mere humans do, locked as we are into minutes and hours and months. What seems like poor timing to us, as limited people, has a plan and purpose known only to God. God can do in one day what it would take humans a thousand years to do. He does not want anyone to perish and therefore may delay time for some in order for them not to perish but accept Him as Lord and Saviour.

When we're waiting for God to answer our prayers, we must accept that God is not governed by human time and what appears to be slow in receiving His answer, is not to Him. We may have been waiting for Him to answer us for a year or more, whereas to Him, it may be only a day or two. He also doesn't want us to rush into something that is not His will, so He may delay the answer possibly to show us it was the wrong thing to do. Nobody likes to be kept waiting but, there is a need for it. It's important to wait on God though; some people have grown tired of waiting and done it anyway, to their peril. It makes sense to wait on God no matter how long it takes.

Peter speaks of some false teachers in 3:3-4 'knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,  4and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” They were spreading false gossip about God and Jesus and His existence, totally ignoring the fact that God has intervened in human history numerous times and will again. We will always have false teachers around spreading very convincing stories about that God and Jesus were a myth, especially when they know that we have been waiting upon Him for some direction in life. Don't fall into their trap. God will answer you when He is good and ready.

Therefore don't give up waiting (Galatians 6:9). If you're going down the wrong path, He will show you. In the meantime, keep on praising Him.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. 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'

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. Just tap in Grahame Howard books.

Abide by the rules

"And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules".     2 Timothy 2:5.  NKJV

In life, we are always confronted by rules and regulations. Rules such as, abiding by the Law, work rules, banking, sport, even setting up a new mobile. We have to stick to the rules or pay the cost. In our text above, we see that if we want to attain the prize, hard work has to take place - practice, discipline, college, university and much more. Note the end of our text 'unless he competes according to the rules", the rules have to be met. It may be frustrating for a football side when they score a goal and the referee disallows it. Whether it is right or wrong, the rules must be abided by.

Jesus Himself always obeyed the rules of His Father, 'for I always do those things that please Him'  John 8:29. If Jesus obeyed His Father in such a way, then it goes to show how much we must obey Jesus and carry out His instructions. If we don't, the person in the street - unbelievers begin to notice that we are hypocrites and destroy everything that we are attempting to portray.

But there are the little things where we let Jesus down. If you work in an office, indulging your self at the stationery cupboard and taking the extra pen, pad or highlighter and taking them home. Splitting hairs? I don't think so; your colleagues may not notice but God does. If He worked there would He take the extra things for His own use? I don't think so.

What about skipping off home early without permission? You may have a job that means that you are mobile and instead of going back to the office, go home instead. 'No one will know'. Oh yes they will - Jesus will. You may have a job with flexible hours. Many people today take their work home with them, especially people with high profile jobs. Those extra working hours at home are usually benefitted by time off in lieu  (TOIL). However, it doesn't give the right to just take this time back without permission. Doesn't your line manager deserve to know?

And then we come to the motoring world. How many of us stick to the speed limit? How many of us have a alcoholic drink and then drive off somewhere? It is serious stuff, these are the things that rob families of their loved ones by car crashes. 

There are many, many more things I could mention, but I'll leave that for another time.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. 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'

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. Just tap in Grahame Howard books.

New Life - New Chapter

49So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you. 50And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. 51So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” 52Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road".  Mark 10:49-52  NKJV

Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, heard that Jesus was passing his way and he was determined to see Him, he needed healing. As Jesus went by, he shouted at the top of his voice, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.' He was so persistent that Jesus stopped and called him over and restored his sight.

Notice if you will, verse 50, 'And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.' He probably only had the clothes he was standing in; why throw away his cloak? Because it defined who he was, he was a beggar and beggars wore such cloaks, it was their begging tool. That day, Bartimaeus decided that it was a new chapter of his life. He was determined to see Jesus and he was determined to be given back his sight. It's called faith.

Father David Sawkoski writes:

'It is even more remarkable to me that he leaves his cloak behind – even before Jesus heals him. He recognizes that the cloak – his loyal and faithful companion – is actually an obstacle to real connection. It has hindered him from receiving and will continue hindering if he doesn’t change his ways. More importantly, a desire so intense and deep is welling up in his heart – so strong that it overflows and overpowers his “settling” for survival. He wants to be well!  He intuits that Jesus can give him more – so much more. No doubt, he also hears the whispers of his cloak – warning him that he is making a fool of himself, gently enticing him to hide himself away once again and return to the safety of self-protection. But desire wins the day. Bartimaeus not only cries out all the louder; he actually casts aside his cloak and runs up to Jesus. He wants to see. Jesus heals him. He begins following Jesus.The Cloak of BartimaeusAbiding In Love and Truthhttps://www.abideinlove.com › ...

Bartimaeus' cloak was the sign of his old life, from henceforth he would be following Jesus, his faith showed him a new life, one where he could see and he was going to use his restored sight for Jesus. He was going to dedicate all he had to Him.

Bartimaeus gave up something that had been precious to him - his cloak. In so doing, he entered into a new chapter, the old gone the new here and now. This was not easy for him to do, he had had this cloak all his life but, no matter how painful it was to cast it aside, he knew that a new life with Jesus would begin.

What about you? Is there something you need to give up for the sake of receiving something better from Jesus. Give it some thought and allow the Holy Spirit to pin-point what needs to change. There is something new out there for you.

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. 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'

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. Just tap in Grahame Howard books.

Jesus doesn't want you afraid

"But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.   Matthew 8:26

As Jesus and His disciples crossed the water to reach their next destination; there was a great tempest and it was threatening to sink their boat. They called out to Jesus, who was asleep, and begged Him for help. His words say it all:“Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”

Now these words from Jesus, were not only for the disciples but for each one of us as well. Remember, He said something similar to Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, who had come to Jesus because his daughter was dying. Jesus agreed to go with him but, on the way, He was distracted by a woman who was also very sick. Jesus spent time with her while Jairus stood by waiting. Jesus turned to him and said, 'Do not be afraid; only believe.' We know the outcome to these experiences, the boat was safe, the woman was healed and Jairus' daughter was raised from the dead.

But what about us? Let's be honest, we become afraid don't we? Actually it's a normal reaction to scary times. Yet Jesus tells us not to be afraid. Look at all of the great men and women of God throughout the bible. They did mighty things, but there may have been a time when they were afraid. Elijah ran away from the threats of Jezebel. He went into the wilderness and prayed that He would die. That is, until God asked, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' This brought him back to reality.

We are all subject to being afraid. However, as we pray about it we can stand up and face the situation. We may still be afraid but like the others we have seen, let us do it afraid by faith. You may be afraid of something today. Don't ignore it, run away or begin to panic. Face it head on. Call upon Jesus and then in Jesus' name boldly walk on to victory. You can do this. With Jesus, nothing can stop you fulfilling your goal, only yourself. Overcome the fear and do it.

Remember what Paul said in Philippians 4:13 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' You are a member of Team Jesus, don't forget that. Therefore, embrace His love, take His hand and refuse to be in fear any longer

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

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

Lord Jesus, I have sinned. 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'

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. Just tap in Grahame Howard books.