This is a blog that centres on Jesus Christ - my Lord and Saviour. My aim is to describe how He has helped over the years, together with offering daily teaching and encouragement
Saturday 11 July 2020
Don't blow your own trumpet!
"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (6) Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time."
1 Peter 5:5-6. NKJV
When you've done something for God that you're really pleased with, do you seek other people's praise and approval? We all like to be appreciated and thought well of, so consequently we look for praise from people for what we have done. When we do this, we become a trumpet player, announcing to whoever will listen, our latest feat. This can happen if you preach a sermon, lead worship or perhaps give a prophecy. However, God does not want us to be this way.
It is so easy to become proud and arrogant, only doing what we choose to do not always what God has in mind. We may find ourselves saying things like, 'I'll preach but I'm not sweeping the car park or washing up. I know my ministry,' God resists this type of attitude.
One of the main things God looks for in us, is submission. Submission to Him and to His Word. We should also be submissive to each other not thinking higher of ourselves. A closer look at Jesus will give us an idea of what true submission is. He put others first and was always willing to help when He was asked. He became angry at times, yes, but it was righteous anger, the type that confronted people from making a mockery of the temple by trading in there. He also became righteously angry with the Pharisees, who treated people like second-class citizens. But He also had compassion. Look how he dealt with the young woman who was caught in adultery (John 8). He showed her the love and forgiveness of God. He didn't wag a finger at her, or rule over her, He was just honourable; something she had probably never seen in a man and something that would be life-changing for her.
He was submissive even to the cross, knowing the pain He would suffer but realising there was no other way to give each one of us freedom and a new life. He never once blew His own trumpet. He didn't have to, others did it for Him. They saw His works, His love and compassion and they wanted to be with Him.
Play another tune on your trumpet, such as, 'Jesus is Lord, Thine be the Glory and Amazing Grace'. Allow Jesus to give you His approval, not others. That is the highest honour.
Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
Thursday 9 July 2020
'God, it's not fair'
12 “Look at these men of arrogance; they never have to lift a finger—their's is a life of ease; and all the time their riches multiply.” 13 Have I been wasting my time? Why take the trouble to be pure? 14 All I get out of it is trouble and woe—every day and all day long! Psalm 73:12-14 Living Bible
Asaph appears to be having a right old whinge at God and what he says, we can easily identify with. There are times when we feel just the same - taken for granted, trod on and left out of things, where others prosper and are thought well of. We can well identify with Asaph's words, 'Have I been wasting my time? Why take the trouble to be pure? All I get out of it is trouble and woe - every day and all day long.' (v13-14) We all go through times when we feel if serving God is worth it, especially when we see people who are not Christians, and don't serve the Lord, living in comfort and prosperity, while we do serve God and at times are scrimping and scraping. We can then easily utter, 'God, it's not fair.' However, our obedience to God is never in vain. Asaph reminds us in Psalm 73:16-19 that we are reaping a harvest in eternity. The rich and yet unsaved, may be having a great time with their wealth and sinful living, but it will all come to an end one day. What they sow they will reap and if they don't reap Jesus, then it's all been in vain and they will spend eternity - lost! As for us, things may be tough at present but be joyful; things will get better and we have an eternity with Jesus to reap.
'Yes but - .' But nothing. Used in this context, the word, 'but', is so negative so try to leave it out of your vocabulary. Only speak words that will build yourself up. (Ephesians 4:29). Phrases such as, 'I'm fed up, bored and can't see the point in anything', are so negative and will only drag you down. Try this kind of approach, 'I'm a bit down today, but God is still on the throne and I praise Him for that.'
Joy is strength. As we praise God and begin to feel good about ourselves, we become stronger and more able to get through temporary setbacks. Things will always come against us, but like David, encourage and strengthen yourself in the Lord. (1 Samuel 30:6-8) God is fair, very fair and that is only one of the many benefits of being His child. Whatever we go through, He walks beside us and wants us to involve Him in this , especially when we come against a problem. Why struggle when the King of kings is by your side?
Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
Wednesday 8 July 2020
Are you a Mary or a Martha?
"(39)And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His Word. (40) But Martha was distracted with much serving - "
Luke 10:38-42. NKJV
Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, were opposites. Martha was diligent to the extreme in her house chores; Mary wasn't lazy, she just wanted as much of Jesus as she could get.
Jesus was visiting and true to form, Martha wanted everything in place for when He arrived. When He did, Mary sat at His feet (v39) feeding on all He said. This was a posture of Jewish scholars while listening to the Rabbi's. This, Paul mentioned in Acts 22:3, when he wrote that he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel.
Martha didn't do anything wrong, she was just distracted from Jesus by her work. She also wanted Jesus to tell Mary to help her. Martha's biggest problem was not Mary, it was herself. She was becoming irritable because she felt she had so much to do and Mary wasn't helping her. The thing is, Mary had learnt what to do, 'sit at Jesus' feet.' Hardworking Martha, still had to learn this.
At times, we can be so absorbed in what work needs to be done that we miss out on what Jesus wants of us. Many times, He just wants us to sit at His feet and learn, be encouraged and built-up. However, guilt can kick in as we feel that we should be doing this or that and the work takes first place.
There is enough time in every day for every purpose. (Ecclesiastes 3) and it's a matter of getting the balance right. Obviously, if we have a job, there are time commitments and we need to be there to fulfil our task. If we're at home, then perhaps there may be a degree of freedom in our schedule. It's just a matter of fine-tuning.
The warning signs are - if you are becoming irritable and stressed out because you have so much to do, and the workload is taking you from time with Jesus, then you have it wrong. You need to re-group your thoughts. Ask Jesus to show you the best schedule for your day.
Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
Tuesday 7 July 2020
There may be trouble ahead
"And Noah began to be a farmer and he planted a vineyard. (21) Then he drank of the wine and was drunk and became uncovered in his tent." Genesis 9:20-21. NKJV
After all the mighty work that Noah had performed for God, the last thing you would have thought, that he would go and blow it. But blow it he did. It just goes to show, that no matter how great a work we do for God, we are still susceptible to sin and that sin can lead us to do things we never thought we'd do. Here Noah, after the work of the ark, has settled down and started farming. With this, he has constructed a vineyard and thus, his 'brew your own days' have begun. Noah either didn't know the strength of the alcohol that he had made, or he had begun to enjoy it and decided to go a little further each time. This particular day, Noah has become so intoxicated that he has passed out. His son Ham goes in and finds his father crashed out and naked on his bed. From there, whatever happened we don't know. What we do know is that he went out and told his two brothers about this. Shem and Japheth took a garment with them and walking in backwards, covered their father's shame. Later 'Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done.' (9:24) He then cursed Canaan, who was Ham's son. Why would he do this? David Guzik comes up with a couple of suggestions:
'It may be Noah was abused sexually by one of his sons or relatives. (Ham?) Other's think Ham's only sin here was in seeing Noah's drunken, uncovered state, and that he made fun of him, mocking him as a father and as a man of God. The Hebrew script literally says that Ham,"told with delight", what he saw in his father's tent. He determined to mock his father and was undermining his authority as a man of God. As Noah knew what his younger son had done to him, this seems to indicate that whatever happened to Noah, it was more than one of his sons or grandsons seeing his nudity. This explains the strength of the curse.
David Guzik Enduring Word
Whatever happened that day to Noah, was of his own making. He took his eyes off the Lord and took an evening off. This all goes to prove what I wrote the other day, about the Christian Walk. We don't step from Egypt to the Throne of God. There's a wilderness in between and that contains giants, and that's where the problems begin. We have to watch every step we take. We can't afford to take time off from our faith. Relax yes, but not at the risk of leaving Jesus out of the equation. He needs to have the central part of our lives - every moment, of every day.
Sadly, we will blow it at times. As careful as we may be, there will be times when we drop our guard; we're human beings. However, if we train ourselves to avoid certain areas that we know are our weaknesses, we will be better placed. We all have weaknesses, and we know where we can let ourselves down. So, avoid them. It would be unwise for someone with a major drink-related problem to frequent a bar. There would be too many temptations. In the same manner, we too should avoid the areas that we know are our weakest. It just makes sense.
Thank goodness, we have Jesus who we can turn to and either ask for help, in our time of need, or confess that we have blown it and receive forgiveness. Where would we be without Him?
Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
Monday 6 July 2020
The Door has Closed
"So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him and the LORD shut the door."
Genesis 7:16. NKJV
When a door is closed it's practically impossible to open it again, except possibly by force. But that would make a situation worse and you wouldn't stay there very long. When God closes a door, no-one can open it again. 'He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He opens and no-one shuts, and shuts and no-one opens.' (Revelation 3:7). No matter what a person does, if God closes a door then you will not be able to open it again.
This was how it was on the day that Noah and his family entered the ark. Prior to this, he had preached about how a flood was coming and everyone would be swept away unless they entered the ark. However, they wouldn't listen. So on that tragic day, God shut the door of the ark and the people who wouldn't listen, were left outside and perished. One can imagine how awful it would have been for those left behind, banging on the ark walls to be let in as the flood came and they realised what Noah had said, was true; but too late, being swept away by the mighty surging waters. This reminds me of how it will be on that final day when we stand before the Lord and those who are covered with the blood of Jesus, are allowed into the Kingdom, but those who haven't will be refused entry - forever.
The thing is, when God closes a door, we have to accept this. Until that final door closes on Judgement Day, we have work to do for Jesus. For you, the door may be closing to a certain work. This can be quite scary but also exciting. The scary bit is leaving the comfort zone of where you have settled. The exciting bit can be that God is opening the door to something amazing.
Is a door closing for you? You may not recognise this at first, although there may be signs, such as, you not being used like you used to be or there are so many changes and you just don't fit in anymore. If this is the case accept it and ask God to reveal the door He wants you to walk through. Sometimes it's hard to accept that it's time to move on, but God knows what He is doing, so trust Him.
For the ones who are uncertain about that final door that will close, why not give your life to Jesus, or rededicate yourself right now:
Lord Jesus, Come into my life and be my Lord and Saviour. Forgive my sins and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I am Yours. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Now walk through that open door and don't look back at the one that has closed!
Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
Sunday 5 July 2020
It may sound bizarre, but just do it.
" (14) Make yourself an ark of gopherwood" - "(22) This Noah did it; according to all that God commanded him, so he did."
Genesis 6:13-22. NKJV
Noah could well have thought he was hearing things; I mean, build an ark in the middle of dry land? How would you have reacted to that? Probably the same as most of us, I guess. I think the general consensus would have been, 'That was not God - it was me'. However, amazingly, Noah did it (v22) and it looks like he didn't even question it either. Why? Because he had a close relationship with his Father; Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:8). Noah was a just man, blameless and full of integrity. He walked with God. (6:9)
It makes me wonder what his family, friends and neighbours must have thought about this. It is not the norm to build a boat in a desert type environment. They must have felt that he was having a crazy moment, possibly a breakdown. Whatever they thought or said, it didn't prevent Noah fulfilling what God had ordained - what He had commissioned him to do for Him, and this is my point for today.
Over the years, God has told me to do some pretty crazy-sounding things; I'm sure that you've had similar requests from Him. When you're walking close with God; when you're hearing Him on a regular basis and your relationship is close, you will know - without doubt, when God asks you to do something that sounds bizarre, that it is Him, not yourself. You will have no doubt. Others may, but God is not speaking to them, He will be speaking to you . When this happens, it doesn't matter what people say or think about it - just do it! Don't let it prevent you fulfilling what God is asking you to do.
It may sound bizarre, it may even sound loopy but when you are close to God, you will know that He is speaking to you. It may be a test; it may be genuine. Whatever it is, do it. People may try to talk you out of it but don't let them; God will continue to confirm it to you. Really, it may be better not to tell anyone, or as few people as possible, but if you do, prepare yourself that they may not agree.
Thank goodness that Noah obeyed God, doing what He asked. Otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
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