Don't rush off - think about it first

"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

                                                                                       James 1:19   NKJV

We are all prone to forget this and let rip with our frustration but, that only leads to disaster. So why don't we take notice of the words here? There are two opposites that James mentions here::

Enduring trial - which leads to a crown of life and

Yielding to temptation - which can lead to physical death (v15).

The majority of us have two ears and one mouth, so act accordingly - we should listen much more than we speak. Mark Twain wrote: 'If we were supposed to speak more than listen, we would have been given two mouths and one ear.' Trying not to be rude, if you have a problem where you tend to talk more than you listen to people, then ask God to help you, and He will.

James was looking at opposites here. He wrote that we should be:

Swift to hear so this means do all we can to listen to what someone tells us or writes in a book. This is important that we do, because if we only hear a part of what has been said, then we will only give out that part to all we meet. The part we leave out may be the most important detail. Do you understand what I mean. We have to listen with accuracy!

Slow to speak As we have just seen, it is dangerous if we speak when we have only heard a little of the detail. Further to this, we can hear what we want to hear and straightaway challenge what we have just heard. Many is the time that people interrupt the speaker or condemn the author of a book, when they have not listened properly and don't have the full story. Again, this is dangerous and can lead to argument - which is not God's idea of things at all. Therefore we need to speak little and listen more and if you are not sure of what is said, ask for clarification. 

Slow to wrath In other words, anger can erupt from both sides when we have misread the other two in our discussion. Anger serves no purpose other than to drive a wedge between people. Words are spoken that cut like a dagger and once they have become public, it is too late to take them back. They will bring damage. So watch the anger.

You may have had something similar happen to you just lately and you are seething within. You may have felt talked down to in front of other people or in fact de-skilled because of the conversation. You may feel that you will do something about this and challenge the other person. However, you don't feel like a face to face discussion because you may be tongue-tied at the time. A telephone call may reach the same conclusion so, you decide to message or email the person. You can write down all you feel without interruption and really let rip. Let me say something here DON'T SEND THIS. It will only cause more problems for you. The options here are: Pray about it, Think about it, Speak to the person face to face or perhaps the best thing may be to forget about it, forgive it and leave it with God and move on. God will sort it where you might make the matter even worse than it is already. Food for thought?

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 is Able

"I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance."   John 10:10   CSB

Jesus doesn't want you merely to possess eternal life, but also to possess the full experience of life, including blessing and joy everyday of your life. Here's a thought:

'If you're living outside of God's purpose, you are living outside of God's power'

                                                                                                 Tony Evans

Abundance means having more than enough; so we're serving a God of More than Enough. In fact, it would be better described as over-abundance or even super-abundance. When we're walking with Jesus, He wants to bless us with all that we need and even more, because He loves us. And He is able to do this. He can supply all our needs according to Philippians 4:13 and if we focus on Ephesians 3:30, He is able to give us more than we could ever imagine:

He is able to:

Rescue us from a fiery furnace            Daniel 3:17

To deliver us from the lion's mouth.      Daniel  6:20-22

Give sight to the blind.                          Matthew 9:28-30

Keep you from stumbling.                     Jude 24

To save you completely.                        Hebrews 7:25

To do above and beyond these things. Ephesians 3:20

Ephesians 3:20 tells us: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

This is an amazing verse, He can do more than we could ask or imagine. That in itself is a mind-blowing statement. But to get back to Tony Evan's comment above: 'If you're living outside of God's purpose, you are living outside of God's power.' You and I must be walking with Jesus, in the Spirit; without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). He doesn't promise to make us millionaires, that would be ridiculous because if were that rich, we probably wouldn't have need of Him as much. What He does promise is to meet our needs - over and above. As we give to Him of our time and money, He returns this with abundance. 

So whatever your need today HE IS ABLE!

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.

 

Don't mock your leaders

"Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!” 24Elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them."                  2 Kings 2:23

This account tells the story of Elisha being mocked by a group of young men from Bethel as he travelled to the city. They shouted disrespectfully at him calling him 'Baldy' and telling him to 'Go up' which was referring to Elijah's ascension into heaven. This incident highlights the decline towards Elisha and to men and women of God, even today.

Let's look at the background to this. It is unlikely that these young men were below the age of twelve. The Hebrew phrase for 'small boys or young men' refers to adolescents between 12 and 30 years old. It is quite a contentious story, one in which many Christians cannot believe that our loving God would act in this way to people. Let's look at this:

These young men were mocking God's messenger and paid for it with their lives. Let's not forget, there were 42 of these young men attacking Elisha verbally. This may have been quite fearful for him, even though he had God with him. It was a threat to his life. Therefore, it was more of a crowd and crowds can do a lot of damage when they are in protest. Making fun of religious leaders has been a popular sport through the ages. One only has to see what is happening to missionary's around the world at the moment. When we make a stand for God, we become vulnerable to verbal abuse and this was what was happening here to Elisha.

Elisha was not rude to these young men. He saw the threat that he was in. He witnessed to verbal abuse that was being hurled at him and, especially God and so, silently he cursed them in the name of the Lord. This would have been rather like what we would do if we were in a threatening position, he was calling on God to handle the situation. And God did.

In our world today, many evangelists are moved away off the streets just for preaching about Jesus. Some suffer abuse, some are threatened. If you have ever done any street evangelism, you will know what I mean. 

If people show you disrespect concerning your faith on a regular basis, you can count on God to handle the situation because they are insulting Him, not you. Therefore, don't ever be tempted to say anything detrimental about a church leader. God hears all.

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.

 

Don't be too proud to receive

"Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage."   2 Kings 5:12   NLT

Pride can rob a person of receiving a blessing. It is a sense of one's own proper dignity, value and self-respect. When we feel proud of ourselves we feel a deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one's own achievements, qualities or possessions. To a degree these feeling can lift our spirits, especially when we have spent years at Uni and finally earned a degree or other qualification. It is a wonderful feeling of achievement. However, there is a downside to feeling proud and this is seen in a person who openly brags about their possessions and status and looks down their nose at people who don't fit into their class.

Let us look at Naaman. He was a captain in the Syrian army - a great hero and well thought of by the king of Aram for the success he brought to his rule. All of this made Naaman proud of his abilities. And yet, he had leprosy. Through a young girl who was an Israelite captive, the king learned of Naaman's sickness and sent him to the king of Israel to see Elisha the prophet. 

Now Naaman was a proud man, a man who when he clicked his fingers, servants attended to him. However, expecting to see Elisha face to face didn't happen, and Naaman was outraged when a messenger came out of Elisha's house and told him to go and wash himself in the Jordan river seven times and he will be healed. Naaman expected a great welcoming from this prophet, not a message from a servant. He was livid and went to walk away. 'Why should I wash in a filthy river when I could bathe in the best?  However, officers with him, persuaded him to go and do what the prophet had directed. Much against his will, he did this and on the seventh time, he rose from the water a clean man - not a sign of the leprosy. He was understandably elated and went to seek Elisha out, praising his god and offering him payment. He couldn't understand it when Elisha refused any payment. 

There is a lesson here. Firstly avoid the class distinction, none of us are better than the other. The rain falls on both of us and we are all subject to death. Secondly, lose the pride. If Naaman had walked away that day refusing not to wash in the Jordan, he would have lost his healing. He had been puffed up with pride. He acted in arrogance to the other people, expecting far more than was offered. If we become big and mighty and have a feeling that we are better than others then, we will get nowhere with God. He looks for humility not arrogance. At all times follow Jesus' example.

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.

 

Stop blaming God for things Part 2

“Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame!"   Hosea 4:4. NLT

Carrying on from yesterday, let's continue to look at the area of blaming God and other people. When someone else appears to be more prosperous and successful than you are, it can be easy to be envious and wonder why God hasn't given you what they have. It can be doubly hard when the people are not even believers and they are living the life while you may be scraping by and only just making it each week. This is called envy, which is closely related to jealousy. It can open up times when we may not voice our envious feeling to God but, He still knows about this and is not pleased with you, after all, He may be working on these people to bring them into the kingdom and, He may choose you to do the job. So watch your feelings!

Blame is a bad thing to have in our lives. It can start at a very young age where young children squabble over who plays with what toy. The toy may become broken because of it, and the blame game commences. Blame continues throughout our life where each person refuses to accept the blame, always pointing the finger at someone else. 

Let's take an average day. You wake up late for work and it's a mad dash in getting ready for work, dealing with the kids and any other ';must do it now' task. You dash out and drive off at a high speed. Along the way, traffic seems to be building up more than normal and this begins to raise your blood pressure adding to the stress that has built up. You finally get a clear road so you put your toe down to try and catch up on the time wasted. Too late, you drive through a speed camera and notice the flash of the camera in your rear mirror. You drive on, moaning and groaning about stupid people who put stupid cameras on the roads. 'Haven't they better things to do?' you shout out. You know it was your fault for driving too fast but, you refuse to admit it.

Finally, you drive into the car park next to where you work, only to find that there are no places available. After several moments of ranting and raving, you decide to park in a disabled bay, although you're not disabled. You run into the office and your boss is looking at his watch and you shout, 'Don't you even think about asking why I am late.' The rest of the morning is manageable, mostly because you ignore everyone there because they keep asking if you are all right. Finally, it's lunch time and you desire to drive to a supermarket to get something to eat. There is a clamp on one of your wheels and a sticker on the car with a telephone number on for you to ring, pay a fine and have the clamp removed. It is like armageddon in that park as you let your temper flow out.

The thing is, who is to blame here? Not the alarm clock that you forgot to set, Not your spouse or the kids who didn't really help you. Not even the traffic or the fact that you drove through a speed camera, not your boss for looking at his watch in a gesture to why you were late, not your work colleagues who were checking that you were ok and definitely not the wheel clamp man because you were illegally parked. The only one to blame here is yourself. No one else is responsible for your actions, so stop pointing the finger at other people.

Play back the video of your day and you will see where it all went wrong for you. Determine that you will never react in such a way like this again, repent and then get on with what's left of the day.

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.

 

Stop blaming God for things

"In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God."      Job 1:22  NLT

When things begin to go wrong in our lives, it is so easy to blame others. This can be especially true as far as God is concerned. We may have prayed about a certain thing, but God, doesn't appear to have listened or done anything about it. Many times there is a tendency to blame other people for our bad choices. What may have seemed a good idea at the time, may have turned out bad and instead of looking at the one who made the choice - yourself, you can end up blaming others.

Job didn't do this and let's face it, He had more things happen to him than the average human being. He never once blamed God, in fact scripture tells us that:

'Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship.' Job 1:20. Even though he had lost his wealth, children and his health, he would not blame God at all and felt that he must bow before the Lord to worship Him.

Job couldn't understand what was happening to him but he never once contemplated blaming God. He also never felt that this had happened because of his sin as three of his friends had mentioned. They were adamant that there was sin in his life that was the cause of all of this pain and suffering. They tried to persuade him to repent as his sin was the reason for all of this. But suffering is not always a direct result of personal sin. Satan was the cause of all of this and God allowed him to test Job's resilience and faithfulness. He did so and tried to drive a wedge between Job and God.

God does allow Satan to test us. And when he does, he uses his scheming and ability to convince us that someone else is the reason behind all of what has happened to us. You may have had this happen to you. It may very well be true that such a person is causing you so much pain but, Satan is the one that is behind it all. So be wise. 

When you find yourself in such a position, ask God if you are responsible for what is happening because of sin in your life. David had such a problem and wrote in Psalm 139:23-24:

'Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.'

This is a good way to clarify whether you are to blame for what has happened and it gives you the opportunity to put it right, if you are.

Just be aware that Satan doesn't like you. and when he sees you being successful for God, he will try and take you out. But don't lose your hope or your faith by worrying about it all. It is an attack from Satan's kingdom but is only temporary because he can't stand very long before God. So stand tall in the righteousness that Jesus has given you and you will come through this with victory.

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.

 

Jesus' love for me

"There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command."      John 15:13   NLT

This is one of the most astounding verses in the whole New Testament. Jesus' love for each one of us knows no end. God loves each one of us as He loves Him. (John 17:23). As we live our lives for Him He calls us His friend and we have the privileged position that He speaks to us and keeps us informed  about things.

This alone is amazing when you think that our government head's - King, Presidents, Prime Ministers etc share nothing with us and yet the King of kings is totally open about all, and let's us know all things. This is such a privilege. However, there is a condition: 'You are my friends if you do what I command' v14 which is understandable. 

The thing is, this condition must be adhered to. We can't be Jesus' friend if we obey one thing but refuse to consider and obey the next. It is an all or nothing condition. This doesn't mean that if we sin, we will lose His friendship. Not at all, He has already made provision for this in 1 John 1:9. 'But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.' It is the blatant ignorance of His Word and refusal to live by all He says that disqualifies us from the friendship that He offers.

I suppose that friendship can be classed as a person who is loyal and trustworthy to another. Someone who makes the other person feel safe and there is no ulterior motive behind this. Jesus is this and much, much more. His friendship is loyal and trustworthy and someone who makes you feel safe. There is no one like Him - anywhere. Therefore, why not learn to trust Him much more. He is to be trusted; one can tell Him anything and He will respect you with His faithfulness and kindness. He can also heal that hurting heart.

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.