Enjoy what you do and have done

"I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies."                                 Ecclesiastes 3:22  CSB

Let me encourage you; if you have done something for God, no matter how small it may have been, God is pleased with you. It may only have been to wash some dishes in the church, sweep the floor, welcomed someone on the door of the church or given someone a lift to church. It may seem quite ordinary to some people - even yourself. But for God, He has seen you heart, your dedication and your love for Him. He appreciates you.

People do great things for God; they may lead many to salvation, preach all over the place, write a great best seller for God or have a powerful healing ministry. Now, in God's eyes this is very good. However, He doesn't measure your success. You're not in the sales business where sales rocket and you are the top seller earning great commissions each month. It is not like this, at all. God is not into the numbers business, we are all equal in His eyes and to Him the one who gives a two coin tithe is just as  precious as the one who gives a regular large amount in the tithe basket (Read Luke 21:1-4).

You may have worked all your life and now have retirement to enjoy. Perhaps it is time to reflect and enjoy what you have achieved in your work and in your Christian life. You may have a healthy financial nest to enjoy or you may be struggling a little today with all the bills. No matter what your circumstances are, if you have put God in the driving seat of your life, then you are a winner and He will look after you and encourage you to just enjoy your endeavours. Solomon is saying here in verse 22: 'there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward.' It is too late to enjoy what God has given you when you have died and are in heaven. It will be a whole different story then. Enjoy what you have earned now and, be grateful to God that He has given you success in your life. Also, be secure in the fact that you have made a difference in your life. You may not think that you have done anything significant but, you and others, will be surprised when God gives an account of your life while you stand in front of Him. Usually, when people stand in front of the King, they receive a medal. Just think what you will receive when you stand in front of the King of kings. That will really be something.

God says that you are worthy and that is really all that matters!

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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 2024 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

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Faith, Fear and Doubt

"6Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”  7And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.  8So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God."                 Acts 3:6-8  NKJV

We see people begging wherever we go and many times we think of them for a split second and we walk by. We may be tempted to give them some money or pay for a meal but that's about it. When my wife and I were pastoring, under the church we ran a drop in centre where men and women could freely come and go, get a free meal and a cup of tea, some clothes and see the love of Jesus in action. We learned to pick out the genuine ones - the one's really down on their luck and desperate for help, but we helped them all.

This day, Peter and John were on their way to the hour of prayer when a man asked them for alms - charity for his needs. Peter fixed his eyes on him and was almost looking into his soul to see if he was genuine. He then said that they could give him no money but, lifted him up in the name of Jesus Christ and he was healed. Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, knew that this man had been lame all of his life but today, he would be changed.

  Some have said they wondered if for a moment Peter was thinking, 'I hope this works. We'll look fools if it doesn't.' There was not a chance that Peter was thinking that. If he had have been, this would have been fear and doubt and there would have been no healing that day. No, both Peter and John - men of faith, knew that he would be healed. And this is the difference with us. Be honest, have you never felt doubt this way when you prayed for healing with someone? There must have been at least one time. I was in a service years ago when a visiting evangelist gave an altar call. From the front he said, 'I want you to know that no-one has ever been healed through my ministry'. I could not believe what he was saying, in fact, I was shocked. I thought that with an attitude like that no one will ever be healed.

  Oral Roberts once said, 'Believe and receive, doubt and do without.' Is this the reason why we don't witness many healings in this day? Is it because the prayers are just empty words with no faith in them? There has got to be a reason. Jesus said, 'they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.' Mark 16:18. Jesus didn't lie, so what He said must be true. In actual fact, faith-believing prayer should be used every time we pray. Once the church grasps hold of that fact, you will have to go to church early to get a seat. 

Seek God and ask Him to rekindle the fire that was placed in you when you were born again. Then go out and at every opportunity, pray for those who need 'Life and Victory'.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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 2024 Grahame Howard.                                

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 

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Our Five Senses. - HEARING

"My son, give attention to My words; incline your ear to my sayings".  

                                         Proverbs 4:20   NKJV 

Today, we come to our last session of the five senses and this is, 

HEARING

Our hearing is a most wonderful gift, one in which, people with a hearing loss long to be able to enjoy. With good hearing we can hear birds, making their beautiful music and calls as we walk through a wood, along a bank or just sit and listen to the Dawn Chorus on those precious, early summer mornings. We all need to thank God, for the special gift of hearing.

People who suffer a hearing loss, probably only hear a fraction of what someone with healthy hearing can. It can be very frustrating for the person with the loss because they can get the words all muddled up and have to keep asking for someone to repeat what they have said. This can make the other person frustrated at having to keep repeating themselves. This only leads the person with the loss, to close down on people and put themselves in a corner, not entering into conversations for the fear they have of getting it wrong. Hearing aids can help tremendously but not all the time and some people have to have surgery for a Cochlear Implant to help them hear just that little better. Sadly, this is not always successful.

If you have good hearing, try and spare a thought for the one with the hearing loss. They may have had prayer put not received their healing yet. Try and help them to come out of their enforced shell. If they are familiar with British Sign Language, try and learn this yourself so you can at least have something in common with them. The one thing you have is what they long for - good hearing. It can really be a depressing area for these people, lost in a world of their own. People may ignore them because, 'They can't hear me anyway.' Don't ever be like that. Jesus wasn't like that when He met with deaf people. He healed them, loved them and showed them respect. Try and do the same. They're not aliens, they are people who for many reasons have lost their hearing or some were born this way.

Look at our text today, '"My son, give attention to My words; incline your ear to my sayings." This is what Jesus would be telling each of us to do and this includes people who are deaf. Just try and imagine what it is like to be this way. Try to imagine what you would like people to do for you if you had a hearing loss and then do it. You can hear the preacher when he preaches, they struggle even though there may be a loop. With hearing aids, a chair scraping can be louder than the worship music and with everybody singing or talking, it can be a hopeless case to make sense of it all. 

You may not be able to change things for these people but, you can pray for them. You can also get alongside them and encourage them. But try not to embarrass them by making them the centre of attention. Gently does it here. 

Hearing loss can happen to any of us, especially as we get older. You may be able to hear well at the moment but, further down the line, this could change and this would leave you in a similar position. Thank God for your hearing, you are so blessed to be able to use this gift. But spare a thought and prayer for those who are suffering.

Well, we've come to the end of our series on the five senses. I hope you benefitted by it.

Let’s pray: Father, today we  hear your voice, taste more of your presence, touch your heart, smell your sweet perfume and see your glory. Speak to us, teach us and help us to get revelation from your word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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 2024 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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Our Five Senses - TASTE

“Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in in Him.”                                               

                                       Psalm 34:8   NKJV

How is your taste? You’re the salt of the earth. Are you producing life or death with your tongue? Are you praising Jesus or cursing with your tongue? We should decide to taste more of God and to be a good taste to the world. To a degree people can tell who we belong to just by the words that come out of our mouth. If we have tasted Jesus then the only type of words that come out of our mouth should be the ones that build people up (Ephesians 4:29). 

I remember years back when I was doing an essay in a certain bible college. I used our text for today and described it this way:

'If someone has never tasted or seen a Mars bar, we may say that it has soft caramel, creamy malt and is covered in milk chocolate. However, we could describe this to someone forever more but unless they put it in their mouth and taste it, they would never know, if they like it or not.' I then went on to say that Jesus is like this. We can tell people about Him over and over again but, unless they taste Him themselves, they will never know how good He is. I thought this was a good example and, still do. Not the college examiner's, they marked me down. They felt that comparing Jesus with a chocolate bar was very distasteful.

I have since used this description many times in evangelism and many people have identified with it. In fact, 11 prisoners -  the total congregation, when I taught this, stood up and asked Jesus into their lives. It speaks for itself.

When we taste God, we are literally eating His words, 'But you son of man, hear what I say to you, do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you'  Ezekiel 2:8. The Word of God is literally our daily food. Without His word, we are lost and we will starve. We need to study His word daily. This is tasting God. Therefore, when we are with people, the words that come out of our mouths should affect them, they should edify them because they have the power to build them up not, tear them apart. 

Jesus Christ, has a good taste. Every word that He speaks to us in the bible has the power to change our lives for the better. He knows the way forward so He will direct us. He knows when things are dangerous, so He will give us a warning. He knows all we need to know so will show us if we ask Him to.

Jesus Christ has good taste and so do you if you have tasted Him. 

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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 2024 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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Our Five Senses - TOUCH

"Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, 'Peace to you!'  27 Then He said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.'  John 20:26-27. NKJV

Thomas was always the one that needed convincing before he would accept things. It wasn't that he doubted everything but, he needed to be sure that what he saw and heard was right. And that is not a bad thing when you think about it.

To touch someone or something, is to feel. So when Thomas touched Jesus' wounds, he was actually feeling them, feeling the pain Jesus suffered which must have given him a deeper insight into what it had cost Him on the cross; and this is why he said to Jesus, 'My Lord and my God' v28.

When Jesus touched people, His power was emitted and people were healed and/or delivered. When we asked Jesus into our lives that time, He touched us as He entered our hearts. In the same manner, we touched Him as well. More than touch though, we actually could feel Jesus within us, we felt so different. When someone has encountered Jesus in their life, they are never the same again, His touch made them feel loved and cared for, protected and joyful. And no matter how much we let Him down each day, as we repent, we receive that wonderful feeling again.

Why not touch others to the glory of God! A gentle hug or a friendly pat shows your love and may just be what that person needed - no words but that touch. Think about it: Let your hands be so busy giving and receiving blessings that you don’t have the room to hold onto grudges. Hug your children, wife, husband. Show them love, the love of Jesus.

Something is happening in our world today that we know nothing about. The world is in pain; it is suffering. Daily people are being killed on our streets or in places of war. In our own strength, we don't have the power to change all of this but, we can pray that God will intervene. You know that God changes things. As we pray, in a way we are touching them, supporting them, wanting to change them and as we do this, God can touch their hearts and change their situations. 

Do you realise that through Jesus, you have the ability to touch situations whether in the flesh or by prayer. You can reach your hand out and heal a situation that is going on around you or in the world. Just little old you can change things. You are significant in God's eyes, stop trying to hide away. You can do this. You are a somebody in Jesus. So start feeling good about yourself. You are a child of the King of kings. Live as such.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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 2024 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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Our Five Senses (SMELL)

“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” 2 Corinthians 2:15

Following on from yesterday, we come to the second sense:

Smell: Nose

The sense of smell mostly brings a joy to our soul rather like, sweet-smelling flowers, freshly baked bread, the freshness of the countryside on a summer's walk. The sense of smell should make us want to give praise to God. Obviously I’m talking in a spiritual way here. Some smells are not so praiseworthy. What kind of smell are you exhaling around? When you are with your family or friends, do you have a good smell - a fragrance, to them?

In all things we need to breathe life, and exhale Jesus to other people. As I have mentioned many times, not all people read a bible or go to church. In fact, many only attend church for weddings, Christenings or funerals. The bible, if a family have one, usually goes unread gathering dust. I remember once in Brighton, we had travelled to a Christian outreach. One night, on the way to the venue we stopped to have a meal. I had my bible with me and the young waitress asked me if I wanted her to put it behind the counter while we ate, I'll never forget, she carried it as if it was going to leap out of her hands and bite her. Prayer also is something unbelievers only consider when things go dreadfully wrong. The rest of the time, the fragrance of God is not around them. This is where we come in.

We have the capability to spread the fragrance of Jesus wherever we go. That sweet smelling aroma of Jesus Christ should be exhaling from us to people. When it is, they can feel this. They may not say anything but they know, there is something about us. We smell differently and it affects them. Some may become annoyed and aggressive towards us; others may want to know more. Remember, many unbelievers have problems just like we do but many don't have any opportunity to talk it through. This is where we can help. Without being forceful, we can begin a conversation with them and they may disclose something that is bothering them. And this may give us the opportunity to pray with them. You never know until you try.

When Jesus walked the earth, wherever He went He drew people to Himself. This may have been people who wanted to follow Him or hurt Him. Whatever, they couldn't resist being with Him. This is the fragrance I am talking about here, the smell of the Holy Spirit falling on whoever is around. And as a Christian, you have this within you. You may not know this or, if you do, you may not want to use it but, the fragrance is still with you because Jesus is with you.

Just imagine what you could achieve for Jesus if you submitted to Him and agreed that anywhere you go you will tell someone what this fragrance is. 

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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 2024 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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Our Five Senses (SIGHT)

"When Elisha's servant got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:13-17. My paraphrase

Over the next few days, let's look at our five senses from a biblical context:

SIGHT.  How is your vision? I’m not talking about your natural vision but your spiritual vision? When you are facing troubles, what can you see? What do you hope for?

In the midst of struggles, we have to climb up the Spiritual Mountain and look above the situation and see what we can learn from it, what we can use to strength our lives.
Look at a perfect example of looking at something the right way: Are you like the servant in verse 15 above 'Oh no, What shall we do? What do you usually see? Are you just seeing trouble, disease, a powerful army against you? Or are you like Elisha in verse 16? 'Don’t be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'

Now, let's be honest, if we had been that servant, we would have acted in the same way. It would be natural to do that. But, can I remind you that, we are supernatural people. We belong to Jesus and we don't walk by what we can see. 'For we walk by faith, not by sight' 2 Corinthians 5:7. If we are born again and bible-believing Christians, we believe that God's Word is the truth. Therefore, this verse, although hard for some people to accept, is the truth and it is what Elisha was telling his servant all those years ago. If you and I could see as clearly as that servant did that day, we would be astounded at what we saw. We would see ugly, devouring and mischievous demonic forces all around us, but, we would also see mighty angels assigned to us to serve and protect us as we request. It would be an awesome sight. 

And this is how we are called to live each day. Troubles come and floor us; they mount up until we feel we can't handle all of this. However, as we look into the supernatural with our spiritual sight, we will see all the support we will ever need. Angels all around us waiting for us to call on God so that He can loose them to serve us and work on our behalf. There is no need to fear - anything. Everything, absolutely everything is in God's control - as long as we have put it there by our daily prayers. This is what Peter meant when he showed us: 'Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.' 1 Pet 5:7.

And let us not forget, 'Whoever calls on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.' Rom 10:13.

So, let us get into living in the supernatural, trusting God for every single thing. He is truthful and if He has said it in His Word, He is bound to it; He will not let you down.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer 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 2024 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

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084G9S4FD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2