Worship the Lamb

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. To receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honour and glory and blessing."   Revelation 5:12   NKJV 

While Jesus was on the earth, He never received the honour, the glory and worthiness that He so deserved. Instead, for three years or so, He walked around as God in the flesh, but not recognised as such, except for a few of His disciples (John 1). Whereas, He should have been worshipped and treated as the King of kings, He took on the robes of a servant. Why did He do this? He did this so that you and I and many others would have the opportunity to share heaven with Him. Without Him, we were covered in sin, the sin that would prevent us from ever entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. This shows us the love of God, He had to take human form and come and rescue us. For this, He suffered a terrible death on the cross - The Lamb of God was slain.

Our text for today shows us the the honour and glory He received in Heaven. Thousands and thousands of angels gathered round His throne to worship Him. Can you imagine the sound of that? We get a glimpse of this in Isaiah 6:3-4: 'And one cried to another and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.'

Have you ever been in a church when the worship was so loud and intense that the door posts were being shaken? You will one day, when you enter heaven. It is not a quiet place, it is filled with the wonder of God and this brings praise and worship like you and I have never heard before.

God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, who came down to earth in bodily form, whichever way you like to hear it. If we look at Philippians 2:5-11, we see that even though He was in the form of God, He made Himself of no reputation and made Himself a servant. He humbled Himself as a man and took our place on the cross for our sins and therefore, God exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above any name - Jesus.

He didn't have to do this for us but His love is so great that, He just couldn't leave us to cope on our own. Therefore, He paid the penalty and died in our place.

Therefore, this is why the praise and worship is so loud in heaven. The reason you are here today, is because God created you in His image and called you by His name and gave you the keys for a mansion in heaven (John 14:1-4). He has everything arranged for you so, don't you think that is a good enough reason to shout Jesus at the top of your voice?

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and 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

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Being flexible

"And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead."                 Acts 20:9   NKJV 

The message for today? Don't fall asleep during a sermon. Joking aside, we've all felt like this during hot conditions when a sermon is rather lengthy. The eyes begin to close and before you know it, you've drifted off only to be forced awake by a dig in the ribs from the person next to you because you're snoring. We can feel empathy for this young man. A young man, in this culture, would have been between 8 - 14 years old and after a long working day, he would have been tired.

Paul would have been preaching, teaching and debating with the others, before he left the area the next day. He probably started around 6pm and and was still going strong at midnight when this unfortunate lad fell out of the third story window to his death. Note what happened next. Paul didn't leave this accident to someone else. Not at all; Paul stopped what he was saying and went down to the young man laying there. William Barclay in his commentary to the book of Acts, claims that he wasn't dead but, unconscious. However, scripture firmly tells us that the young man was dead and that Paul embraced him and then told the others not to worry, he was alive. He then returned to his job of preaching and breaking bread. The young man was called Eutychus meaning the lucky one, and he certainly lived up to this name that day. 

The message here is very clear, don't ever be too busy to stop what you are doing to offer help. Paul was in someone's home. He wasn't conducting an official message to thousands of people. Yes, someone else could have gone to the young man's aid but, Paul demonstrated a 'If you preach it - make sure you do it' attitude and, so should we. Which gets back to the talkers and doers we have looked at in the past week or so.

Don't be rigid in your To Do list or your events for your diary. Where possible be prepared to shift your day around to prioritise events. This of course is not always possible, but where it is, be ready to be flexible in order to meet people's needs. This is what Paul demonstrated that day and a young life was saved.

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and 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

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

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Outrageous grace

"God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant"         

                                                                                      Romans 5:20   NLT

When I first became a Christian, I felt inferior to other Christians and struggled big time every time I sinned. It was like I was at the bottom of a deep hole and as I tried to climb up, nearly at the top, I would fall back down again. Then, I suddenly realised that God would help me out of this pit if I asked Him. As I did, it was like God's arms lifted me out to freedom. Probably, you feel this way. No matter how hard you try to walk with God, you sin and feel like you have fallen down this pit again. Firstly, if God rescued you from this pit, He will never let you stumble back into it - that's a fact. Secondly, God has outrageous grace and no matter how much you let Him down, He is always there to forgive you.

Godfrey Birtill wrote a song about this and here are the lyrics of the first verse and chorus. See if you can identify:

"There's a lot of pain but a lot more healing. There's a lot of trouble, but a lot more peace

There's a lot of hate, but a lot more loving. There's a lot of sin but a lot more grace

Oh outrageous grace, oh outrages grace, love unfurled by heaven's hand

Oh outrageous grace, oh outrageous grace, through my Jesus I can stand

Note the words, 'Through my Jesus, I can stand.' There's a lot of devil but there is much 

more Jesus. You may let Jesus down each day, but His grace gives us that break that we

need. There may be pain; there may be trouble; there may be fear; there may be darkness.

Also there may be sorrow and heartache but God's grace is there to help you through

this period.

You may be in a place of guilt at this time because you have let Jesus and yourself

down. Come to the throne of grace (Heb 4:16) right now that you may receive mercy and 

grace in your time of need. Also if you have never accepted Jesus or fell away at some

time, come back to Him right now:

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and 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

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

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It's today!

"This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it"    

                                                                                       Psalm 118:24   NKJV

All over the world many people are waking up with the same thought: 'Oh no, it's today.'

Now they be reacting to the fact that today, they have to go to court; or it is their wedding day; they have a funeral to attend; they're starting college, Uni or a new job. In fact, the list may be endless. There may be fear; there may be excitement or a mixture of both. But no matter what that feeling is, today is the day. They may be jumping for joy or want to go back to sleep until the day is over.

There is no getting away from it, today has come. Usually, when a certain day is on the calendar, because it may be a month away, there is a tendency to forget about it. Even when it's three weeks away. Two weeks may cause a person to become a little fearful but, one week away they can go into panic whether it's good panic or not so good. The day is gradually creeping up.

We've all been like this from time to time; some of us handle things ok. Others don't and it can cause a great deal of worry and sleepless nights. Maybe one of your children are leaving home possibly to go to Uni or a job far away. You have known it is coming but have tried not to think too much about it. Now the day is here and the feeling hurts. I remember 29th September 1969 - my first day in the army and I was excited and petrified at the thought of it, but I survived. And so will you. A child leaving home for the first time hurts, but they need to fledge the nest so they can learn to be a grown up. They'll survive and so will you, so don't worry.

The great thing about 'Today,' is the fact that, God has given you another day of your life. You may not feel like rejoicing at this moment but, later in the day, God will pour some blessing into your heart and you will praise Him. God is totally in charge of your day, if you allow Him to be. If you look at the words 'we will' you will notice that we can have control of our walk today with Jesus, by being proactive. We will ourselves to praise God and as we do it becomes much easier. It is similar to the thought, 'I don't want to go to work today.' But as you force your way out of bed and get ready, you are then ok. 

Today has come, you can't change it but, you can change the way you handle it. Get your attitude right, ask God to help you with whatever comes your way today,and, leave the rest to Him. You'll be ok.

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and 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

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

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Don't forget that you're in a battle - every day!

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God - "     2 Corinthians 10:4-5   NKJV

A lot of people don't know it, others refuse to consider it but, we are in a battle and this began when we asked Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour. Why do you think that when you have done something for God that a little later, everything seems to be going wrong. It is not all coincidence, often times the devil will repay your efforts by firing a scud missile your way (S.C.U.D = Satan continually uses distractions). And the more you do for the Lord, the more of a hammering you may receive.

You may think, 'Well. I won't do anything, then I'll be ok.' It's doubtful, because the truth of the matter is, the devil doesn't like you - ever since you said 'Yes' to Jesus, you said 'No' to Satan and he doesn't like anyone saying no to Him. Therefore, if you sit on the sidelines, you'll still be attacked, so you might as well be affective. Why do you think James wrote, 'Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy'  James 1:2. NLT. Of course this doesn't mean that you should call everyone up and have a party because you are so happy about it. Not at all. However, you should be joyful for two things: (1)  It is an opportunity to show your spiritual strength and (2) Doesn't it make you feel good that you are so effective that the devil is worried and has to fire at you? Remember, God has put a fighter within you.

You do though need to be on alert that an attack may be imminent: 'Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.'  1 Peter 5:8-9  NLT. Don't ever be afraid to make your stand against the enemy. Use God's mighty weapons: prayer, faith, hope, love, God's Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Satan cannot stand against these and will run. Also, if you speak in tongues, do so; this really does his head in.

As I mentioned yesterday, God has put a fighter within you and fighters or soldiers, go forward, they don't retreat unless it's to re-group. The Holy Spirit is with you, exercise the above and you're sure of victory.

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and 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

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

Check it out

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