Fault-Finding

"Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault."      Mark 7:2  NKJV

Fault-finding, we all do it, let's be honest. Some people find faults in everything, including people. However, they never seem to look within themselves and find the many faults that may well be there. When a person has done a good job, one in which they are pleased with, it destroys their ego if someone comes up and finds a fault in their work. It can be soul-destroying.

Whatever Jesus said or did, the hierarchy of the day would point a finger at Him and say that it was wrong, because He did it on the Sabbath. They would also say He was wrong because He blasphemed God by saying that He was His Father, 'I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  30I and My Father are one.'   John 10:25-30

We may look at someone that we don't even know, perhaps on the TV, and dislike them, finding fault in what they say or how they act, sing or present a programme. Possibly we need to remember that, as we find fault in others, they may be finding fault in us too. When we're in a company of people our body language can give our feelings away, People that we don't particular like can pick up on this so may distance themselves from us. Do you find this?

How are you with people? Are you a people-pleaser; comfortable with people or avoid them as much as possible? The latter may be your lack of confidence, which prevents you opening up to others and possibly hiding away in a corner. You may feel certain people don't like you so, you do the same, preferring your own company. You may also have been put down so much in your life that you feel what's the point.

Fault-finding can cover a multitude of things and if you belong in this category perhaps you should do something about it. Possibly there may be people that you need to forgive. Think about that, some people may have hurt you in the past and there are scars within. If that is the case, forgive them right now. Ask God to reveal to you why you feel prone to fault-finding people and act on His reply. You are a better person than this and God knows this, so do something about this negativity today.

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

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Check it out. Just tap in Grahame Howard books.

The Violence of the cross

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force".       Matthew 11:12.  NKJV

This is a verse that has caused much conversation over the years. It is hard to understand the correct meaning of what Jesus meant. The most obvious meaning is that since Jesus established His rule here on earth and people have believed and followed Him spreading His word, non-believers have tried every which way they can to bring it down. But His word is still standing today and no-one can prevent Jesus from getting to the last page of the bible - victory.

Look at all the struggles that Jesus had with the hierarchy of religion of His day. The Pharisees hated Him; the Sadducees hated Him and even some of His own hated Him too. But He had a mission to fulfil and nothing was going to stop Him doing this, not even the cross. He suffered the most awful of deaths to bring us freedom, until HIs mission was over and He cried out, 'It is finished'. Jesus had completed His task.

However, it was not finished for His followers. The apostles and the disciples continued to press on spreading the word against threats of imprisonment, beating or death. But this violence did not stop them. Saul, a respected Pharisee, violently entered believer's home's and had men and women dragged into prison. Some died, many were tortured. But this violent man, Saul was converted on the Damascus Road (Acts 9) and having his name changed to Paul, became a mighty missionary and writer for Jesus. Paul suffered violence in most places he went; he was even stoned and left for dead on one occasion and eventually he ended up in Rome until his execution. 

And this violence and persecution still happens today. There are many countries where Christianity is banned. People are beaten, placed in prisons never to return to their families, and some are executed because of their faith. Speak to anyone who is familiar with the organisation Open Doors and they will tell you what is happening (Note I wrote 'happening' not what has happened. It is still happening even now).

And you and I, have or will suffer persecution because of our faith. Some may be passed over for promotion because of their strong faith. Others may lose their jobs because of it. People speak about people's human rights but it appears to be ignored when it comes down to a person's choice of faith, especially if it is Christian. Surely it is against a person's human rights to allow people to be persecuted for their choices.

None of this will end soon, in fact, persecution will become worse as time goes on but, as CT Studd said, 'If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to make for 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.

Jesus wept

"Jesus wept"        John 11:35.  NKJV

Jesus is very compassionate as this verse shows. Here He weeps at the pain Mary and Martha are feeling together with His own pain and grief. To many people, death can be final, once someone dies, they are no more and there is a great loss. However, we know as Christians that death is only the beginning of eternity spent with Jesus and other believers. But death still hurts.

When Jesus finally answered Mary and Martha's call about Lazarus dying, we see His compassion demonstrated:

"Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  34And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus wept".  John 11:32-35. 

The NKJV seems to put His tone as hostile when it mentions that He groaned in the spirit. However, the interpretation for this is to be deeply moved and troubled. Lazarus was His friend as were Mary and Martha. He felt their suffering deeply and wept, even though He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus to life. This shows that whenever we are sad and grieving, Jesus is right there with us, weeping too. He hates to see us upset. It hurts His heart.

We see Jesus' compassion again as He weeps over Jerusalem:

"As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it, 42saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognise the time when God visited you.”  Luke 19:41-44 CSB  

This shows His compassion because, if the inhabitants would have accepted Him nationally they would have known peace. However, they rejected Him and the city was handed over to judgement and this was fulfilled in AD 70.

Do you realise that this same compassion is directed upon you and I and whenever we are hurt and upset, Jesus weeps with us. He cares so much that His compassion knows no end. When we become involved in sin, He doesn't desert us; He knows the temptations that we face and gives us grace to help in times of need (Hebrews 4:14-16). He wants us to be compassionate to people we meet as well. This is a hurting world that we live in and we have the ability to help meet people's hurts in our daily life. Why not say to Jesus that you are willing to do this!

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.

Faith or Fear - your choice!

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him".  Hebrews 11:6. NKJV

Fear is satan's weapon to paralyse you; Faith is God's weapon to mobilise you. We need to memorise this statement because it is so true. Tony Evans writes: 'Do you want to live in a way that pleases God? Then you must operate by faith, even if you must do it alone and go against the accepted norms of the day. You must believe with expectation that God responds when you seek to please Him.' 

2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us 'For we walk by faith, not by sight.' 2 Corinthians 4:18 says 'while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. To reinforce this, Hebrews 11:3 says 'By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.'

Therefore, we need to realise that it is impossible to please God without faith. We pray to Him, worship Him but we can't see Him. So we must be operating in faith already because we are in a conversation with someone we believe is there and yet we can't see Him. Do you get that? The unbelievers of our world look at us and believe that we may be crazy, especially if they walk into a church that is totally spirit-filled with people dancing and shouting to God in excitement. This is the type of thing that happened at Pentecost (Acts 2). They were all filled with the Holy Spirit which was like dynamite being placed within them. They were shouting, singing and speaking in strange languages. Many thought that they were drunk (Acts 2:13).

This is the type of thing that happens when we have faith in what can't be seen but we know is there. One day, everyone will see Jesus - face to face, but until then we live by faith knowing that He is a breath away from us. The devil will do everything he can to prevent this. He'll try to convince people that we are crazy, that we have lost the plot. He knows how powerful faith-filled, spirit-filled people are, therefore he will use everything to stop us. Jonathan Edwards, the powerful preacher of the 1734 Great Awakening campaign said, 'When the church is revived, so is the devil'. And it is true, where the people are on fire for God, the devil will attempt to put that fire out by any mean he can.

But we are God's anointed people, faith-filled and ready for action. Therefore, use that faith from this day forth. Go out today in the power of the Holy Spirit.

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.

Why are you still trying to do things on your own?

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing".   John 15:5.  NKJV

The title of today's reading says it all, 'Why are you still trying to do things on your own?' Think about it, you are not independent if you belong to Jesus. In everything, you are dependent on Him. Now, some people will say they are dependent on no-one, which is a person's choice. But, if you profess to be a Christian and still want to be in charge of what you do and don't do, then you are going to be on the road to nowhere. Put it this way, Jesus may ask you to do a certain thing or go somewhere but you, may not like this idea and may think of a better way of doing things. Straightaway you are in a struggle.

Proverbs 3:5-6 puts it this way: 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths'.

Note the 'with all your heart' and 'lean not on your own understanding' and finally, 'In all your ways acknowledge Him'. Solomon didn't put these phrases in there to fill space. They are important directives for all who believe in God.

(1)  'with all your heart'  This means you give yourself to Him hook, line and sinker. You do not belong to yourself anymore; you gave up that right when you gave yourself to Jesus. He gives you all of His heart and He expects the same in return. He doesn't belong to you; you belong to Him. There's a big difference here; if He belongs to you then you are in the driving seat. This is not the way it is, Jesus is in the driving seat.

(2)  'lean not on your own understanding'  God has an understanding far greater than you will ever have. He sees the future. He sees the advantages and the pitfalls. He knows what is best for you and what isn't. He knows who will help you and who will lead you astray. You need Him.(3)  'In all your ways acknowledge Him'. When Jesus speaks to you - listen. If you're not good at listening, train yourself to do so. God speaks to people through the bible but also through that soft voice from within, so pay attention or you may miss things. Whatever you think about, whatever you are planning to do or whatever you are anxious about, give it all to Him. He's great at sorting things out when you do this.

Above all remember, there are no Lone Rangers in the Kingdom Of God, not even Jesus because He always consults with His Father. Therefore, do the same, acknowledge Him in all you do or think.

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.

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.