Shake that viper off

"Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. 2And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.  3But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.  4So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”  5But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm."             Acts 28:1-5    NKJV

Paul, had been arrested, and being a Roman citizen, had appealed to Caesar. Therefore, after further trials, he was placed on a ship bound for Rome. On route, there had been a tempest and they were shipwrecked and cast on an island in the Mediterranean called Melita - today known as Malta. Interestingly, the name means 'Refuge'. This at the time was inhabited by 276 native people, (Warren W Wiersbe) who did their best to welcome them and make them comfortable.

The natives kindled a fire because of the rain and the cold. Paul had gathered some sticks for the fire. As he placed these on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and attached itself to Paul's hand. Such snakes are venomous and the natives that witnessed this, expected to see him fall dead. However, Paul just shook it off into the fire and was ok. The natives seeing this felt he was a god because of it. Through this, Paul was able to pray for many of the islanders and they were healed.

Notice this, firstly. if we were to be bitten by a viper or adder as known in the UK, it would be wise to seek medical help for an antidote. Obviously, there was no one there to help Paul and, to tell the truth, he didn't really need this. Paul trusted in God and, no doubt when he shook it off, he knew that he would be well. Secondly, we would more than likely be concerned and many would flap around expecting to die. Paul kept his calm. He trusted Jesus and knew he was important to Him. He walked in faith and expectation.

It is not everyday that this would happen to us but, the principle is the same; whenever we are faced with a dilemma, we need to shake the problem off us. We are children of God and yes, things will come against us. However, we don't have to accept them. We should act in faith - whatever it may be, and take control of the situation in Jesus' name. If something comes against you that you know is not from God, shake that viper off and get on with your day.

Let's be honest, we either believe the Word of God or we don't. We have God's handbook - the bible so, therefore, we should read it, believe it and act on it. And that is God's ideal.

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 on Grahame Howard books.

Your chains fell off

"Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!"                  Acts 16:26.  NLT

When you came to know Jesus that first time, your chains fell off. You didn't take them off and neither did any human force. It was Jesus Christ, your Saviour who did it for you. It may have been recently or, it may have been years ago; they fell off and they have not been fitted back on to you. Jesus doesn't save you and then give up on you. Likewise, He doesn't heal you from a sickness and give it back to you. When those chains fell off, you were made free.

Some people however, tend to take them back again. Take for instance healing. You may have been healed from a severe back condition, so why do you confess, 'My back is killing me.' Number one, it is extremely unlikely that your back is killing you and number two, you may have a few twinges in your back and these may lead you to feel your back condition has returned. At these times, you need to refuse to have any symptoms of this condition because you were healed by the power of Jesus. Don't forget, Jesus set you free, but Satan wants to keep you chained to the past.

When we ask Jesus into our lives, the chains do fall off and the only one who will take them up again is yourself. The thing we must remember is, that when those chains fell off, your life was not deemed to be a well tended rose garden. Weeds would still grow and the garden needed maintaining. It's the same with your Christian life; you were saved but sin would still tempt you and, like everyone else, you would have bad days. You would have money problems, bad jobs, good jobs, no job and bills flying through your door like paper planes. The difference though, you have Jesus to help you in every area. He's interested in your day to day life and wants to take the lead in all you do; and only you can prevent this.

Some people may say, 'We don't do charity, thank you very much.' Well charity is an old English word for love and it means, unselfish, benevolent concern for other persons. So these people are saying that they don't accept love and this is what Jesus is about. He is love. Make sure you don't do this. Accept whatever God sends to you, gratefully and don't be proud about it. Jesus is taking care of 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 on Grahame Howard books.

Give it all to Jesus

 28Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  

                                                                 Matthew 11:28-30  NKJV

Have you been overdoing things just lately? Chances are, that if you are constantly tired and worn out, you may have been doing too much. If this is so, then think about how you can change this to manageable tasks. Your first port of call is to do what Jesus is saying and go to Him for a rest.

Once again, we come upon that word 'Soul'; This is the one that describes what the soul is made up with: Your Mind; Your Will and Your Emotions. I know it is not long since we discussed this. But did you take notice the first time? If not, Jesus wants you to hear it again. The type of rest that Jesus will give you is found in Psalm 23:1-3:

'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters. 3He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.' Just the description of it is peaceful. Just imagine that you are there with Jesus laying down in green pastures beside the still waters. Listen to the sound - nothing, except for the birds calling to each other. It is sheer bliss. Notice in verse 3 how He restores your soul: Your Mind, Your Will and Your Emotions. There is nothing heavy that He places on you, the heavy load has been taken away by Jesus Himself. I think you may hear Him say, 'Do not worry about a thing.'

Think for a moment, you can repeat this procedure whenever you want to, in fact, Jesus would want you to do this instead of getting yourself all wound up in the problems of your personal world. There is no stress with Jesus; there is also no anxiety. When you go to Him, He takes it away and does what He has promised - He gives you rest.

Your personal world is so demanding and occasionally you can't do it all; and what's more, you don't have to. All you need to do is pick up His yoke, which is easy and His burden which is light. He'll do the rest for you. 

Don't let this go over your head, do it whenever you need to. Today may be a good place to start, don't you 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 on Grahame Howard books.

He couldn't love you anymore than He does

13Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  14You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.       John 15:13-15   NKJV

The Father couldn't love you anymore than He does, if He tried. He is sold out to you and, what's more He calls you His friend but, there is a condition Jesus says, 14 'You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.' This is very understandable; we all have rules, regulations and conditions to adhere to. But when you consider that the Son of God, Jesus the King of kings chose you - yes you, to be His friend. How does that make you feel?

Jesus knows our humanity - our weaknesses and this is why He provides us with a way out of our sins, when we commit them. Yes, He knows that we will do this. Therefore, He led John to write: 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.' 1 John 1:8-10. and 

Hebrews 4:15-16 says:

'15For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.'  

He provided everything that we need to survive in this world of ours. He died for us and bore our sin upon Himself. He rose to life three days later and provides us with a 'get out of jail' card when we do sin. As I say, He knows that we will continue to sin and provides a way out for us. We cannot make excuses for our sin. He is adamant, He does wish for us not to be sinful, but when we are, He is sympathetic because He knows how difficult it can be with all of the temptations around.

Jesus is our friend. He'll never desert us or give up on us He knows that we are weak but He has faith that we will overcome this. And we will, because our friend will help us.

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 on Grahame Howard books.

Not what you see but what is unseen

"For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever."  

                                                              2 Corinthians 4:18   Good News Translation. 

What we see through natural eyes is temporary. What we can see is short-lived, it is over in a flash. But, what is not seen is eternal, it lasts forever. Think about that for a moment. We can't see Jesus or the inside of heaven but, we know it is there - by faith. Therefore, how can we look at things that seem invisible? It happens by faith, when we read the Word of God. We've never seen Jesus or heaven through our natural eyes but, we believe because the Word tells us so.

When we switch on an electric light, we know it will work, unless there is a fault. It works because we believe it; we probably can't explain why but, we were told about it years ago and we believe it. Guess what, this is through our faith. In the same way, we put the key in the ignition of our car and the engine fires up. It does this because we learnt this long ago and believed it. So, this is how we can believe about what the Word of God says in our text:' we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.'

Hebrew 11:1 says:

'To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see' GNT. Faith in something gives us the certainty to accept what we believe. It may sound crazy initially and to others as well, but this is what faith is. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (NKJV). Some people exercise faith in something but give up  soon after. Look at the many women and men of God throughout the bible. They had faith and saw it through to the end. Take for instance Elijah and Elisha, they never had any doubt, their faith came naturally. 'Yes', you may say, 'that was back in bible times wasn't it?' Yes it was, but we are still in bible times, nothing has changed, God is the same and 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.' Hebrews 13:8.

Why would God change what was working all those years ago. He didn't and the faith we are discussing this day, is still relevant and we need to develop our faith more than we ever have.

'To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see' What is your faith like today? Do you believe what you have just read or do you think this was all in the past? It's your decision what you believe.

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 on Grahame Howard books.

Be an imitator

"1Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."                           Ephesians 5:1-2   NKJV

People all over the world, at some time in their life, imitate somebody. With children, it may be their parents; or it may be a pop star or a football hero. Adults, may model themselves on an upright person in the church or, possibly a movie or pop star. Kids may stand in the mirror with a hairbrush acting as a microphone singing the latest music and boys may attempt to score goals like their hero's do. For children, it is normal, they are growing up and finding their feet; but for adults, God may look at you and feel that He doesn't know you, you're not who He created you to be.

The word imitate in verse 1 is the same word as mimic. Paul was simply arguing that children are like their parents, a fact that can be encouraging or embarrassing to those who have children. Children mimic or follow what they see demonstrated by their fathers and mothers. God's children are to copy their Heavenly Father. The Son, Jesus, put His Father on display (John 1:18), So if you don't know how to pattern yourself after the Father, just take a closer look at Jesus.

I mentioned in the first paragraph, that some Christian adults model themselves on upright people in the church. We need to be careful here; what we see may not be a full picture. They may be struggling within their own life and equally, may be copying someone else. The only copy that the Father is interested in is the copy He created, and that is you, not the upright person in the church. He is the one we need to be modelling. You were born an original, don't die a copy unless it's a copy of Jesus. 

A copy is an imitation or reproduction of an original, a duplicate. By being an imitator of God means that you are an imitation, a reproduction of the original, which is God the Father and His Son Jesus. Now that sounds pretty good to me and perfectly acceptable to God. Therefore, model yourself on the only One who matters, Jesus Christ and you'll be on the road to success.

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 on Grahame Howard books.

Watch what you hear

"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear"     James 1:19   NKJV

Mark Twain said:

"If God intended us to talk more than listen, he would have given us two mouths and one ear."

It is possible to talk too much and fail to listen to what is being said. This is so important if you are counselling someone. The person who needs help, needs to do the talking but, if you're not careful, you can take over the session. This can be witnessed in prayer groups. One of the members may tend to take over with lengthy prayers that somehow lose the theme of what they are saying. In our own personal prayer time, it's so easy to do all the talking to God and not give Him the chance to get a word in at all. 

If you're like me, I tend to drift off in open prayer meetings and, many is the time when I have been asked what I feel about something and I haven't had the foggiest idea of what has been prayed. I am working on this but I am a great supporter of keeping prayers short, sharp and crisp. This way. I am ready if God speaks a word.

Do you think that there are times when God has spoken to you but, because you are going through your own prayer requests that you have missed what He has said? Yes, God can repeat Himself but, what if He doesn't we may miss the answer that we have been waiting for. It may be helpful to try not to cram everything in your own prayer time. Keep focused on what you want to say and give God the opportunity to speak to you about it. If after a short time, you haven't heard from God, then move on to your next request and so on. God hears what you say, don't doubt that, but, He will not be rushed. Things take time to fit into place if it's needed.

Make sure that you listen to God on a regular basis. Ensure that your ears are always open to Him (Notice I said ears and not ear). And let's not forget to keep our ears open to people who wish to speak to us. Proverbs 4:20-22 says 'My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh,'

You know, there is nothing more irritating than trying to speak with someone who is doing something while your are with them. They may answer the 'phone or shout over to someone else about something or other. As much as you possibly can, always try and give people the dignity to listen. They may interrupt your working day, but if it can't wait for a suitable time, then break off and try and help. It may be a matter of life or death. 

Just think, God always has a listening ear to us, let us endeavour to do the same for each other.

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 on Grahame Howard books.