Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

Sunday, 11 January 2026

Be careful what you hear - test it

"You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also". 2 Timothy 2:1-2. NKJV

Despite being held chained in a dark, smelly prison, Paul never lost courage or his love and dedication for Jesus. In fact, he was working while he was in there, writing letters of encouragement and sending teachings. He was able to write to Timothy to be strong in the grace of Jesus Christ, because he was writing from experience. That is the difference. Many can say things to us but lack the experience and so, we need to be alert to what we hear and test things. This doesn't mean that we should refuse to believe someone but, some things that we hear sometimes don't seem quite right. At times like this, if it has resulted from a one to one situation, then think it through and pray about it before you act on what was said. If what you hear was from the front of the church, many others may have a problem with what has been said. This doesn't mean that we should start a debate that can turn into rebellion if we're not careful. If necessary, quietly mention it to a leader, if he hasn't heard himself and then don't get involved in what others may be saying or wanting you to give your thoughts about it. Things like this can split a church. When I hear someone preach, whether it be in a church or, I read in a book, if I don't agree with what is said, I decide not to take any notice of it and just pray that God will handle it.

Paul touches on this in verse 2 'And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also'. Because of the phrase 'among many witnesses', Paul was saying very much the same thing. Commit it to figures of authority if you need to and then let them handle it. It makes so much sense.

We must remember that we are in the Army of Jesus Christ, and as a soldier, you may be shot at many times. Verse 4 reads, 'No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life.' Therefore, we need to remember that we are all human and we make mistakes. Even well-seasoned preachers and teachers can say the wrong thing while they're in the throng of a session. So, enough said on this subject; don't become too involved, let leadership sort it out.

However, some people are out to cause disruption and will cause unrest and start digging away at an individual or perhaps the whole church. Just by their attitude, they are easy to spot. Don't get involved with them. God will soon move them on if we don't give them any fuel for their fire.

So be careful what you hear, test it if you are not sure about the content. Don't try to hold a battle yourself. Go through the proper channels and you will be qualifying your role as a Soldier in the Army of Jesus Christ!

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
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Copyright 2026 Grahame Howard.

Saturday, 10 January 2026

Stir up the Gift of God

"Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 8Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God" 2 Timothy 1:7-8. NKJV

Paul wrote to Timothy by way of encouragement. He could no longer visit him as, he was a prisoner in Rome. He wanted to ensure that Timothy was in good, spiritual shape in order to carry out his duties for Jesus in top form.

We know, from Paul's comments that, Timothy had a genuine and sincere faith in Jesus. He had been taught well by his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice. So with Paul's teaching and support, He had been in good condition. However, one of the problems Timothy had was, he suffered with natural timidity. This is nothing new for some ministers, many suffer from fear, especially when they are under pressure from people who should be supporting them, not pointing the finger. However, Timothy was full of the Holy Spirit and this would compensate him for this, giving him the power and strength to succeed.

Paul reminded him to stir up the gift that was within him. We are not sure what this gift was but Paul did and encouraged him to ensure that he kept his gifting in good shape. This is something that we all need to do and the best way is spiritual exercise, reading the Word of God regularly and allowing God to speak to us clearly. We need to know the way forward; we need the strength and power of the Holy Spirit so that we can stand tall each day.

One thing we have to be careful of, is being ashamed of the gospel. Let me explain, embarrassment can take over when we realise that we are witnessing to someone who really knows the 'old you'. How many times have you been frightened to speak about Jesus in front of your own family because they frown on this. It's easy to water things down to try not to offend family or anyone who is close. Therefore, we bite our tongue and dampen things down a little. Think about this; how will you feel if you do this and then see them being turned away by Jesus when they reach heaven and stand before Him to give an account of their life? It doesn't bear thinking about does it?

Therefore, have a rule that whenever you have the chance, you will let them know about Jesus and leave the choice to them. We are all called to stir up the gift of God that dwells within us. Never water things down to save face, it is too important. Time is running out here on earth. We don't know when Jesus will return but, with the state of the world at the moment, it may be getting close.

STIR UP YOUR GIFT!

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

Friday, 9 January 2026

The Great Mystery

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16 NKJV

I don't know about you but, before I was saved and came to know Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, I knew very little else about Him. I knew there was a God but, I never considered that He was Jesus. I'd pray when I got myself into trouble but, I didn't really know who I was praying to. But when the prayer worked, I never thanked them for helping me. It really was a great mystery, one in which I didn't come to know Jesus properly until I was in my thirties. When I think back to how I was then, a rough and ready soldier who lived by the next drink he could find, I often think that if I had been God at the time, I wouldn't have given me the time of day. But He didn't and this is why I am doing what I do today - serving Jesus.

As I was flicking through my bible this morning, I noticed this particular verse and just had to share it with you. David Guzik writes a helpful piece at the beginning of this verse:

WITHOUT CONTROVERSY

The wonderful summary of Christian truth in 1 Timothy 3:16 should be without controversy among believers. It is unfortunate when those who claim to be Christians debate or deny these fundamental truths'. David Guzik Enduring Word

Spurgeon also quoted and wrote:

“When he says ‘without controversy,’ I suppose he means that there ought to be no controversy about these facts, though controversies have arisen concerning them, and always will, since the most self-evident truth will always find self-evident fools to contradict it.” Charles Spurgeon.

There will always be people who doubt the deity of Jesus Christ. This is why there are so many sects in the world today. Many only give Him a fleeting word and never go as far to say that He is God. You've met many of these since you were saved - Jesus did and so will you.

GOD WAS MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH

This is the essence of the incarnation; that God the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, added to His deity humanity – and was thus manifested in the flesh. Read and let the Words of the first chapter of John flood over you.

JUSTIFIED IN THE SPIRIT

We can say that Jesus was justified by the Spirit not in the sense that He was once sinful but made righteous, but in the sense that He was declared to be, by the Holy Spirit, what He always was – completely justified before the Father.

David Guzik comments:This declaration was made at His baptism (Matthew 3:16), and at His resurrection (1 Peter 3:18; Acts 2:32-33).

SEEN BY ANGELS

The ministry of Jesus, both on earth and through the Church, is of great interest to angelic beings. There were many instances when Jesus was seen by angels (Mark 1:13; Luke 22:41-43), and especially at the resurrection (Matthew 28:2-7).

There is so much more that can be said about Jesus. As an exercise, why not get a bible, notebook and pen and read 1 Timothy 3:16 yourself. I must admit that my findings today have been a joint effort with mixing my findings along with David Guzik's. Two heads are better than one sometimes.

In conclusion, this Great Mystery was unfolded before your eyes. He loves you so much that He wanted to share with you all about Himself. He has nothing to hide and, this is the way He wants each of us to live, totally transparent.

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

Thursday, 8 January 2026

The Grace of God

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, 13although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 16However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen"

1 Timothy 1:12-17 NKJV

If ever a man received amazing grace from God, it was Saul of Tarsus. He was a very influential Pharisee who took his service in a dedicated manner. Saul had broken the Ten Commandments, speaking of blasphemy, persecution, all in a insolent manner. He had sought to put Christians to death because he felt that this new 'Sect' posed a threat to Judaism. He took delight in carrying out his evil plans and committing insolent, violent and outrageous acts.

In Acts 9, we read of Saul's conversion on the Damascus Road. He was actually going to serve others with threat of death around this area when suddenly a powerful light shone all around him and he was blinded. Jesus, who by now was at the righthand of God in heaven, asked him why he was 'kicking against the goads'. (My paraphrase) This is a metaphor of an Ox kicking against a spiked stick (Goad) that doesn't wish to obey. Jesus knew that Saul wouldn't give in unless He took action. Therefore, Saul was blinded and was sent, 3 days later, to a disciple called Ananias, who even fearful of Saul's reputation, baptised him in the name of Jesus and Saul's sight was returned. He was also told to take the name of Paul from that day forth. From thereon, Paul's ministry took on another meaning.

It was not what Paul would do for the Lord but, what the Lord would do for him. It was total grace, something that Paul could never get over - Jesus not only saved him but also counted him faithful and so, appointed him to His service. Paul received mercy because he did all of his previous acts in his ignorance and unbelief. He had genuinely felt that he was doing God's work at the time.

Have you ever stopped and thought of your past, all of the things you did which you now know was against God's will. What happened when you met with Jesus, He forgave all of your sin and wrongdoings, they were nailed on His cross. Therefore, from that moment your sin of the past was taken away. Jesus knew this to be true and no doubt you did at the time. But occasionally we are tempted to believe that we are still guilty and under condemnation. This is why Paul and others wrote that your sins are in the past. Cast them aside and leave them there. They are holding you back. Jesus Christ forgave you and took your sin upon Himself. Yes, you will still sin daily because we live in the flesh, we haven't yet received our spiritual bodies. So it's a good ides to ask Jesus to forgive you for the sins that you may have committed daily. They are then forgiven instantly.

You know, God's grace is amazing - Amaing Grace - WE have Jesus walking with us and guarding us on a daily basis. Yes, we will make mistakes, He knows this. But He will forgive you when you confess, all the time. Now that's Grace!

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

Wednesday, 7 January 2026

Jesus wants to give you His peace

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid". John 14:27 NKJV

When we read through this piece of scripture, we need to realise that, He is not promising that we will never have storms happening in our lives, because we will have, and Jesus knows it. What He promises is when we go through a storm, His peace will be right beside us. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus". There is a big difference. Jesus doesn't want us plagued with anxiety. instead He tells us to pray about such things that may come against us. We may be entering a big storm in our lives but remember, Jesus is still on the throne. He won't let you down.

Jesus is not talking about ordinary peace; He is speaking to us about Shalom peace. The kind of peace that is bigger than any peace the world can offer. Note how Paul describes this Hebrew word here" It implies health, happiness and well-being peace. (Is 26:3) This type of peace is described in Hebrew as Shalom, Shalom. This is why, Paul described it this way: 'and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus'.

This is what Jesus was teaching His disciples that day. But this is available to us as well because, it is a Living Word. Anxiety and worry unplugs the faith force from us before we have begun. We can write an essay on the reason why we can't do a particular thing. Allow me to be brutally honest, if you can spend that amount of time thinking about why you can't do this, then why not utilise this time properly, thinking about how, with God's help you can do it. Stop the wasted time. We need to make the best of every second we live through - people need Jesus, they are going to hell if they are not told about Jesus and how He lived and died to save each one of us.

While we sit and discuss and worry about unnecessary things, people are dying, they don't know Jesus. You may have the attitude of 'Well if I don't tell them, somebody else will, so that's all right, isn't it?' Not really, because if they are saving the person you could have saved, others are missing out.

I know I've said it a lot of times but here we go again: dust off you bibles, read it, believe it and pray about it, then keep on doing this. Then put on the Armour of God (Daily) Ephesians 6:12-18, and then as you learn more about Jesus and become clothed in the Spirit, branch out in triumph, full of power and Jesus and tell some people about Jesus.

You know it makes sense!

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

Tuesday, 6 January 2026

Confidence in what you do

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". Philippians 4:13. NKJV

David Guzik writes:

'This refers to Paul’s ability to be content in all things. To achieve this contentment, he needed the strength of Jesus Christ.
i. Unfortunately, many people take this verse out of context and use it to reinforce a “triumphalist” or “super-Christian” mentality, instead of seeing that the strength of Jesus in Paul’s life was evident in his ability to be content when he did suffer need.
ii. We must always also put this precious statement of faith in connection with John 15:5: for without Me you can do nothing. With Jesus we can do all things, without Him we can’t do anything.' Copyright David Guzik. Enduring Word

Therefore, Paul had learned the secret of contentment. He had mastered being content in whatever situation he found himself in. Therefore, God was able to use him for any purpose. As long as Paul was able to take the first step of faith, Jesus would be there to take him the rest of the way. Now this takes some mastering because we have to use that subject 'Faith', and this is a difficult thing to accept. We can't see a thing and yet, we know it'a there. Note the phrase 'we know.' We know God exists, we know Jesus does as well, so when we're given a task to do, we know it's there, even though we can't see it, and yet, we stumble over doing this.

Perhaps we need to go back to basics. Paul wrote 'For we walk by faith, not by sight'. 2 Corinthians 5:7. Now back up to the last chapter, 4:18 where this says 'While we do not look at the things that 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.'

When we are walking in contentment with Jesus , we can trust Him that, even though we cannot see something, if Jesus says to us in our spirits, that it's there, you can be sure that it is there. This is faith. It is the opposite of fear. People often say the opposite is doubt, but they're wrong. It is fear; and this is why people struggle to take a faith step, they are fearful that it may not happen. If that is the case, it won't. We need to trust Jesus 100% to be a faith person.

So how is your faith? You had the faith to ask Jesus into your life and, even though you can't see Him, you know He is there and you speak to Him and listen to Him. What is that if it isn't faith? You have faith, you just need to have the confidence in what you do. I'm not saying to pray that you will be the next Euro Millions winner at all. What I am saying is, you have been given a portion of faith (Romans 12:3) so use it. Pray for people and pray for things to change. As you pray - believe that you will receive. If you doubt, you will be without.

Bottom line - put your faith into action!

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

Monday, 5 January 2026

Ready, Steady, Go

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God". Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV

In this particular piece of scripture, I want us to look at:

Spiritual Readiness - Perseverance in Faith and Moving Forward with God

Let us begin running the race by looking at:

LETTING GO

This is the point of letting go of the past, as we have seen over the past few days. Hurts, wrongdoings and whatever will always trip us up and take us right back to where a particular bad thing happened to us. This is why it is imperative to LET GO of the situation. All it is doing is festering within and holding us back from moving on with God.

We need to be ready, alert and prepared for action.

STEADY

Another essential is being able to run the race of the Christian life with endurance. There is no chance of doing this when we are forever looking back over our shoulder at our past. All that causes is a weight of heaviness so, throw it off and whatever else may be preventing us from succeeding, trusting God to do the impossible when nothing is possible.

This is stepping out in faith and action, pursuing God wholeheartedly. Being ready to preach the gospel or give an account of our faith, to anyone who asks or questions why we act in such a way 2 Timothy 4:2

Check out verse 2. Can you see it? One of the most important parts of this verse is staring at you: 'looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith'. What this is saying is, 'Jesus started it and He will finish it too'. He didn't lead you into something and then leave you alone. He was there at the beginning - the preparation, and He will be there throughout and will see it through to the finish. You have no reason to fear that.

Jesus, Himself, started the race and saw it through- birth-crucifixion-death and raised to life. He has been there and carries the scars of it all. There is not a shadow of doubt that He will leave you to stumble around on your own. Just be willing and obedient to what He is asking of you. Be willing to be Ready, Steady and to Go.

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

Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

Sunday, 11 January 2026

Be careful what you hear - test it

Saturday, 10 January 2026

Stir up the Gift of God

Friday, 9 January 2026

The Great Mystery

Thursday, 8 January 2026

The Grace of God

Wednesday, 7 January 2026

Jesus wants to give you His peace

Tuesday, 6 January 2026

Confidence in what you do

Monday, 5 January 2026

Ready, Steady, Go

Are you wet or are you dry?

Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard

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