God & Co

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."   Ephesians 2:10.  NKJV

I recently saw a van travelling along the road which inspired me to write this piece today. On the side of the van, the sign read, 'DAD & SON'. It made me think about our relationship with Our Father and how much He wants to spend time with us, each and every day.

I remember trying to wallpaper a room in my house and how it went terribly wrong at first. The paper was all creased up, one piece was pasted upside down and other pieces were falling to the floor after  a short time. I said, 'Why is this all going wrong?' My wife, having heard this statement, replied, 'Have you asked God to help you?' And then I realised where I had gone wrong. I had left God out of the equation. We prayed straightaway without hesitation, asking Him to help me get it right. After that, it was soon finished with no more problems, and the result was amazing. It looked like a pro had done it, instead of a total novice.
I jokingly said to my wife, 'I thought Jesus had been a carpenter, not a decorator.' She replied, 'He's s decorator too, in fact, He can do all things! And there we have it. We are God's workmanship and He wants to help us with everything. All He wants us to do is place things into His hands and His help is guaranteed. 

Have you been the victim of trying to do things on your own? Attempting to carry out tasks without the direction of Jesus? It is much harder to try on our own and much better, and easier, to ask for His help. He wants a partnership with us. He wants to join us in our daily business, whatever that may be. It may be at work or at home; in our business or doing a task. He wants us to to invite Him to join us. We can then coin the phrase, 'God & Co', because that is what it is. We are in business with Him. To Jesus, our business is His business too and that covers everything from our career to our family life. 

Genesis 18:14 says, Is anything too hard for the LORD?' The answer to this question, is no. Is anything too hard for us? Yes, everything is. Without His help we are lost. John 15:5 says, "without Me you can do nothing," and this is so true.

Listen to me, God wants to be involved in all you do. He's seen the disasters that you made trying to fix this and sort the other out. He is the master of all things and He is inviting you to join forces with Him. He won't force this upon you. He's a gentleman and waits for you to ask Him for help.

Don't you think it's time you just that?

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Treasuring God's Word

"Oh how I love Your law; it is my meditation all the day."   Psalm 119:97.  NKJV

Study and Research it
Do you want to be successful and blessed in all ways? Then read your bible. If you haven't got one, invest in a good, modern version. These make for easier reading. However, a good study bible is a diamond to have, as it will offer you a wealth of information and knowledge.
Studying God's Word on a daily basis is a recipe for wisdom. It is a must, because God speaks to us and shows us a mountain of interesting things, together with the road ahead. Because it is a living word, we see things differently although we may have read a particular passage many times.
As we meditate on God's Word or expound it, which is searching for a deeper explanation, we go to a newer depth in our reading and walk with Him.

Absorb and Remember it
As we meditate on His Word, a fresh excitement is attained as we become so absorbed in it. It is then difficult to stop because we become energised and want to see and know more. We also find answers to many of life's problems and we obtain a newer understanding of how we should live our lives.
It's important to remember key issues, so a notepad is a handy thing to have around, as is marking things in your bible. This is a brilliant way of bringing things to mind when we need them.

Meditate and keep things in your mind
As we meditate on God's Word, it is important to keep certain things in our mind. Then, as we go about our daily chores, we can also be considering what we've read and how we can handle things God has illuminated - things that effect you personally.
Reading the Word daily, is a life-saver. It equips us as we go through our day and you'll be surprised how God will flag up things that you've read, possibly the same day.

The Psalmist said:
'Oh how I love Your law; it is my meditation all the day.'  Psalm 119:97

and the Apostle Paul wrote"

'Let the Word of Christ, dwell in you richly.'    Colossians 3:16

As you do this, you'll be equipped for every situation

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard 

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Flattery

"The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And a man is valued by what others say of him".  Proverbs 27:21.  NKJV

It's so easy to give in to flattery. We all like to hear nice and constructive things said about us. It makes us feel good about ourselves. However, where does God fit into this. Shouldn't He be receiving the glory, not us; after all , He created us to be like Him and gave us the power to perform things.

A flatterer is someone who will pat you on the back with one hand and in some cases, stab you in the back with the other. If we're honest, we may have all done this in moderation, at some time. I own up to it right now. Really though, it is from the pit and we must beware of doing this.
Bob Gass says:
‘When you think about flattery it is really, insincere praise from an insincere motive and the bible warns us to be aware of it.’ Check out Proverbs 20:19:

'He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, therefore, do not associate with one who flatters  with his lips.'

It really is serious business and we need to be on guard for one who is ready to sing our praises, too much. We really should watch how we give praise to people. We should give it with the sincerity it deserves, but without overdoing it. When people start to give praise to us, we should be very wise in how we receive it. As I've said, it is ok to have someone speak a good word about us, but if they are overdoing it, perhaps we need to mention that we couldn't have done it without God's help. It is so easy to get puffed up with pride.

Don't get me wrong on this subject. We have all learnt to flatter people at times. However, there are people around who are very good at this type of thing and use it all the time. It may be their way of dealing with people; or they may find it difficult to socialise and use flattery in order to be accepted. Then again, there are the ones that we need to beware of because, if we're not careful, we can easily get sucked in. Solomon warns us in Proverbs 5:

'My son, pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion, and your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman, drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood.' 

                                           Proverbs 5:1-4

Adultery has always been around; but it seems to be attacking today's church more and more, especially ministers. Only the other day, I saw on the news that a vicar had been having an affair with a lady from his congregation, and also with a 16 year old young lady. Adultery has a root in flattery. Men and women use this type of thing to get the attention of the opposite sex. The words can be so carefully chosen to reach the target, this is what flattery does.

It's time to wise up. There's any enemy out there and he is skilled in tripping us up if we take our eyes off God. Don't forget, he's a thief and if he gets a chance, he will rob you of every bit of happiness that you have.

Walk wisely!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewith jesus@protonmail.com

Learn to stand

"Therefore, take up the whole armour of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."   Ephesians 6:13.  NKJV

When my kids were young, they had a blow up toy that stood about 3 foot high. It had a funny face on it and was dressed like a small clown. It was round at the bottom and tapered as it reached the neck. If you pushed it, it would topple but spring back again. One could almost hit the thing - which my kids often did. However, even though it could be knocked to the ground, it would instantly spring back up again. It was virtually impossible to get it to lie down.

This is the way God wants us to be. he wants us to keep standing, no matter what comes at us; whatever floors us. He wants us living in this type of victory. 

Bob Gass once said, "When we do the standing - God does the strengthening."

And this is so true. He wants us to resist the enemy and get up, not just lie there. The devil will not stop attacking us. If you think that, I'm afraid you've got that wrong. His ambition is to make our lives a misery and to kill us if he can. Our ambition should be to resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). 
Derek Prince often had profound teaching and one of his statements was: 'The devil chooses the weakest moment and the weakest place.' He knows how to hit us and he won't stop. This is why we need to stand and keep standing.

The word Withstand is an interesting one. The Greek variation is antihistami and this is where the medication antihistamine comes from. Antihistamine puts a block on such things as hay fever and certain allergies. Antihistemi tells us that with authority and spiritual weapons, we can withstand evil forces. Therefore, we need the Armour of God, which is recorded in Ephesians 6: 14-18. A lot of Christians verbally pray this over themselves each day. It's a way of confirming that we are clothed in the armour of God, and it does no harm to do this. It's a prayer aid.

Like the toy I mentioned earlier, we need to be able to spring back to our feet whenever the devil tries to floor us. We should stand, and keep on standing.

What are you like at standing when the flak comes against you?

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Reactions

"A quick tempered man acts foolishly."   Proverbs 14:17.  NKJV

People react to things very differently. Some are quick tempered, as mentioned in today's text. They throw a wobbly before they've really taken in the full story. Many is the time when they've got it wrong, hearing only part of the story or got the wrong end of the stick. Other people react very defensively; their backs go up straightaway and it's difficult to get through to them when they're this way. Others show no particular interest at all. It's It's almost like they don't really care, or if they do, they keep things very close to their chests.

It was a little like this when Jesus had been born in Bethlehem. Some knew that something had happened out of the ordinary, the air was charged with excitement. King Herod reacted with hatred and hostility. He saw the rise of a king of the Jews as a threat to his kingdom and plotted to find out more about this child. Like Herod, some people want to do what they want to do and don't wish for someone coming along who may lay a trip on them. They find Jesus a threat to their life; He stands in their way and they want to destroy Him.
Actually, Herod had quite a nice side to his nature. He often helped people who were penniless and at one time had some gold melted down to give to a starving family. However, if he was threatened, he would have people executed, mostly for no reason at all, other than, he wanted them out of the way. They couldn't be any challenge to him then.

Other people had heard the rumours about a child being born in Bethlehem, after all, the wise men had come asking about Him. But they were more interested in themselves and wanted to get on with their lives. Life was busy and they had things to do and were determined to get on with them. It's a little like this today. Yes, people have heard of Jesus, "I mean, that's what Christmas is all about isn't it?" They may say. However, they have businesses to run; a stressful job that demands their attention every day of the week. They also have demanding families and a nightlife to look after. They're too busy to bother themselves with 'religion' and church; and become offended when it's mentioned to them.

Reactions control our lives and can really mess them up too, if we are not careful. If we have a short fuse, it can be so easy to open our mouths and say the wrong thing at the wrong time. It's also so easy to be so busy with work, a hobby or the garden. It's not often that people focus on Jesus - the one they need. They may go to church for weddings, Christening or a funeral but that's it. Some may attend church on a Sunday morning and go through the rituals but not even know God, or want to know Him. They go because, it's the right thing to do. For the remainder of the week, they have nothing to do with Jesus, reading a bible or praying - unless of course, there's a crisis in their lives.

I wonder what God's reaction will be when they come to the end of their life and have to bow down before Him. I wonder what their reaction will be if God was to say to them, 'Why should I let you into My Heaven? I wonder how they will feel if they hear the formidable words, 'Depart from Me, I never knew you.'

Perhaps we need to check on our reactions more in the future.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

Failure?

"Love never fails."   1 Corinthians13:8.  NKJV

'God would never use anyone like me. I'm not good at anything.'
Have you ever said that? If you have, let me tell you, it's a lie. He probably has used you and will do again. Think about it. Have you ever taken anyone to church or given them a lift back to their home? If the answer is yes, then you've served God. Have you ever served coffee or tea at church? If so you've served God. Have you ever helped anyone in a store that may have dropped their shopping or such? Then you've served God.

Think about this. Being used by God is not just for the big cannons - preachers, teachers and evangelists. God's impressed by these ministries but He's also impressed by the lesser known things like I've mentioned.

I like what is written in Zechariah 4:10, 'For who has despised the day of small things?' God's into small things. The beginning may be small but you've no idea what it could turn into. We have to start somewhere. You may not be successful at the moment and you may not want to be, either. However, don't give up or walk away. God's got some great ideas if you're interested. The thing is, if you look for an excuse not to do something, then you'll find it.

When the Holy Spirit prompts you, don't just sit there and ignore it; get up and do what you need to do. Being a failure is not trying at all. It's not getting things wrong when you've attempted something. 

'Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed up in overalls and looks like work.'  
                                                                                                    Thomas Edison.

Notice the word, 'Looks'. Many times we can presume that something is what it is not. It may be something totally different. We get it wrong many times. God wants to use you. Why is that? Because you are important to Him. What He wants you to do, probably can't be done as efficiently, by someone else. It needs your expertise.

Sometimes our attitudes are wrong. God doesn't want people sitting on the back row of the church - perhaps hiding away, and not being used.
'I've never been asked to do anyhing,' you may say.
'Have you ever offered?' God may reply.

Love never fails - never! If you are a Christian, you cannot fail. You just need a little more practise, and God is willing to teach you.
Are you prepared to volunteer your help?

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

The Stronghold of your life

"Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident."   Psalm 27:3.  NKJV

Many things come against us as we live each day of our lives. We hear of wars and rumours of possible wars. Countries push the boundaries and threaten the livelihood of its people. Politicians squabble in parliament and refuse to see eye to eye. Most places we look, there is unrest and tensions. Everyone seems intent to be better than anyone else.

In our personal lives, tensions may come against us; our own family may all of a sudden have a major problem. Our working life may take a nasty turn and the bank manager may not be our friend of the month. In addition to this, our neighbours may all of a sudden decide they are going to move and new neighbours with a reputation of being a major, problem family, may move in. To top all of this, the dog and cat may have to see the vet, giving us a bill the size of the national debt and our child may come home from school giving us the news that they have been excluded. Problems and more problems piling up against us until we're at screaming pitch and in danger of having a nervous breakdown.

In our text today, King David outlines how he handled the many problems and attacks that came his way. He says, 'Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.' David had learnt the benefits of living by faith and placing God first in his life. He may have blown a few things - after all, he was a human like us. But, nevertheless, God was his mainstay; the stronghold of his life.

Jerry Vine writes:
'Psalm 27 is a psalm written by David clearly at a very difficult time. He describes the wicked coming against him and an army encamping around him and a war rising up against him, yet his heart was not afraid. He had learned through the years that the God who cared for him in the past would continue to care for him in the present moment. And the troubles of today would strengthen him for the troubles of tomorrow. The same is true for us.'
                (Strengthened by Trouble - Copyright 2018 Jerry Vine, The Vines Epository Bible)

David strengthened himself in the fact that, what he had been through in the past, he had survived because God was with him. This gave him the confidence to know - without doubt - that God would not let him down, He would be with him, again and again. He had no need to worry. And neither do we! God is the same God who rescued King David and He will rescue us when we get into any particular problem - if we call on Him. That's the secret. Romans 10:15 says:

'For whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.'

If we don't call on Him, how can we expect Him to come and rescue us? Strangely enough, whenever we are going through problems, one of the last things we do, is call on Him for help. This is probably because we are so absorbed in what is happening to us, that our focus is stolen from us, with the shock of it all. Ask yourself, who would steal your focus? Who is the thief? Who steals our faith? Yes, you're right, it's the devil and he will do all he can to take your mind off Jesus so that you come down with a crash. King David, knew better. He focused on his past victories; on the many times that God had performed amazing rescue acts for him and he knew God would never let him down.

And this is the same for us. In times of trouble, we need to seek the giver - God. Just a thought here, we need to seek the giver, not the gift. It's no use having the gift if the giver is not present in our lives. Seek God - the giver, and then He will give you the rest.

Now have a good day with the Stronghold of your life - Jesus.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com