Jesus doesn't always act the way we expect

"Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  3Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”4When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

                                                                        John 11:1-4.  NKJV

When Jesus received word that their brother was sick, one would have felt that He would have dropped everything and raced off to be with His dear friend but, He didn't, He told His disciples that He would wait two days and then go to Him. It seemed, to His disciples and others, a very strange thing to do, but they were coming to terms with the behaviour.

When He finally went to Bethany where Lazarus and his sisters were, Jesus found that Lazarus had died and Martha was quite broken and disappointed that He had not gone over there in haste. However, Jesus had initially said that Lazarus' sickness was not unto death. He didn't mean that he wouldn't die - He knew he would. But the outcome of this sickness would not be final. Lazarus would rise again to the glory of the Father, This was the real part of this situation, to his family and friends, Lazarus had died but, God is greater than death. He knew He would raise him up to the glory of God.

We learn something here. We would have thought that Jesus would have gone to Lazarus immediately, but He delayed this. His delays are not Him saying, 'I won't do that'. We need to be patient and wait for Him to act. What are you waiting for Him to do? You may have a real problem and the only one who can help is Jesus. However, your prayers seem to go unanswered. Don't assume that He has denied your requests. Remember what happened in Bethany that day and wait and be patient. 'Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!'   Psalm 27:14. God may be wanting you to wait because, this is a learning curve for you. Don't miss it.

Finally, when the time was right, Jesus visited the tomb. Despite being told not to get too close because of the stench of rotting flesh (11:39), Jesus went forth and in a loud voice commanded that Lazarus come forth. And he did. Don't ever become anxious because of the waiting period. Yes, it can be tedious, but it can be very delightful when you receive what you have been waiting for.

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
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 Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

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

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

The Good Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  12But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  13The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  14I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  15As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."

                                                                              John 10:11-15.  NKJV 

Jesus is not a mere shepherd but, a good one - in fact the best. There’s a great difference between a shepherd and a hireling. The hireling is hired labour, he’s there to earn a living, he is not as concerned with the sheep as the shepherd is. If a wolf attacks, the hireling will defend himself and do his best to escape, leaving the sheep in danger. Not the shepherd, he has his shepherds crook and he will do all he can to protect the sheep and ensure they are safe.

We get a good picture of Jesus here. He is the Good Shepherd He knows all His sheep by name and will lay down His life for them, rather like He did on the cross, to save us all. This is what He was referring to - what His fate would be to save us on confession of His name.

Usually it would be the sheep who would lay down their life for the Shepherd. However, Jesus was different, He was the True Shepherd and like a normal shepherd, who would be with his sheep 24/7, Jesus The Good and True Shepherd is with you and I, always. Even though He knew what lay ahead, He faced it, with the Power of the Holy Spirit and carried on with His ministry until the time of the crucifixion.

‘When blood from a victim must flow, This Shepherd by pity was led, To stand between us and the foe, And willingly died in our stead’.  Thomas Kelly

The hireling does the job he is paid to do and picks up his pay. That was his only responsibility, it was a job of convenience for him, that was all. Sadly, there are hirelings in the church today - men or women, who choose the ministry as a comfortable occupation without true love for the sheep. For some, church life is just a tradition and it is the sheep - us, who dip out because the lack of the Holy Spirit being used.

Jesus offers a very intimate relationship with Himself, the love He shares with each of us, is the same love He shares with His Father and vice-versa. We have a lot to be grateful for. We have a loving Shepherd who took our sins upon Himself and has given us freedom and eternal life. And, we can have a deeper  experience with Him too, if we give him everything - to be sold out for Jesus. This is what He wants; do you want this too?

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
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 Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

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

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

Live in the Overflow

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly".   John 10:10   NKJV

The devil is selfish; he comes purely for selfish motives to gain his own selfish desires. He would even kill the sheep. He is a:

THIEF  How many things has he stolen from you? Your job prospects, your spouse, your family, your money, health and happiness. We could go on with this list.

KILL  Your desire for each other - as friends or has man and wife. Think of that deep friendship you had with someone, but no longer see. What happened? The devil killed it. He doesn't want you happy. He will do all he can to stop this.

DESTROY  If you allow him to, he will destroy all you have. How does he do this? you give him the foothold - do things that you shouldn't; go to places that are inappropriate. Adultery, homosexuality, porn, heavy drinking or drugs, stealing and much much more. This opens the way to the foothold.

Jesus, on the otehrhand offers you life in abundance. 'You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over.' Psalm 23:5. How about:

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,  21to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen".  Ephesians 3:20.

Jesus gives - Satan takes. Jesus is the truth; Satan is full of lies and deceit. Jesus loves you; Satan hates you. Make it your desire to live in the overflow and then watch the blessings pour in.

Don't just hope; get into the place Jesus wants you to be.

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
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 Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

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

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

The Perfect Answer

"He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”     John 9:25.   NKJV

This man had been blind since birth. He knew very little about Jesus - who He was, where had He come from? But one thing he did know was that once he was blind, but now, he could see. It's the same when we are born again - once we were lost and now we are found. Once we didn't know Jesus at all and, probably didn't want to know Him, and yet, He reached out to us and we couldn't resist. He took the blindness away! 

Wherever we go, someone will challenge our faith. They may ridicule Jesus, use His name as a swear word and argue with us quoting all the reasons why Jesus isn't real. He isn't who we think He is or He's a myth. The devil is the deceiver and convinces people of this fact. He manipulates people to take part in halloween parties, leading families to believe it is just fun. This is not true.

The devil convinces people to worship him this way and they can't see it. If we're asked if we're going to go 'trick or treating' and decline the offer, they want to know why. If we tell them we don't believe in this stuff, we are mocked. But our Perfect answer should be, 'I was blind, now I see.'

Do you realise the devil is trying to manipulate and scare us and our children? If we turn them away from our door, we open ourselves up to receiving 'the trick.' But if we say yes, we receive 'the treat'. It sounds like blackmail to me. But if you say this to anyone, they just scoff at our excuses.

I love people, especially children to have fun. But us parents need to look at the bigger picture. If we give satan an inch, he will take a mile. If we ask him into the backseat of our car, pretty soon he will want to drive. Just one little invite is all he needs to get a foothold. This is not' typically old-fashioned religiosity'. It is fact built on the Word of God.

The devil will never give anyone a chance for fun. He doesn't know what that is. He is only out to rob us of everything that Jesus has, or wants to give us. Don't let him. Give him the 'Perfect Answer' ‘Once I was blind but now I see’

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
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 Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

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

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

Don't be Side-tracked

 “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm. 3So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

                                                                               Nehemiah 6:2-3   NKJV

Nehemiah had initiated the re-building of walls of Jerusalem and despite attacks from his enemies, he continued and was almost finished. All he needed to do was hang the gates of Jerusalem. However, further attacks came, this time directed at harming Nehemiah's life. You know, the last part of a task can be the toughest; you may have been on the job for a long time and just want to see the finish of it. But Nehemiah, despite outward pressures, persevered and was almost finished.

Nehemiah knew he could never submit to his enemy's request to meet up with them. He knew that they would attempt to kill him; and he knew that completion of the wall was a most important work. He also knew that you don't leave something important to do something minor and, something that would stop or delay the work of the Lord.

This may be something that you have faced just lately. Vicars, pastors, elders, deacons and children's leaders each have a very important task to do. The work is invaluable to the ministry of the church and, if someone doesn't pull their weight, it can cause problems. Therefore, each leader needs to prioritise the work that they do. If in the middle of their work, they receive a call to drop everything and visit someone, wisdom is required to determine if the call can wait until a more convenient time or, if  someone else can be delegated to to take over from them or attend to the call, if it is suitable. At times like this, there should always be the thought in mind of, 'Is this person taking me away from God's will.'

We see an example of this in Luke 2:48-49, where Mary and Joseph discovered that the young Jesus was not with them: 'Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.  47And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.  48So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” 49And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” 50But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.'

Jesus was demonstrating to them, and to us also, that He must put His Father's work first. And this must be our [priority too. Jesus must come first.

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
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 Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

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

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

How do you become free?

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  35And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  36Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."  John 8:31-36.  NKJV

Jesus made a distinction between those who are disciples and those who are 'disciples indeed.' It is a similar thing to say, 'If you continue in My Word, you really are My disciples.' Therefore, you can believe in Jesus but not continue in His Word and so, not function as a true disciple. William MacDonald, author of Believer's Bible Commentary says, 'A disciple is anyone who confesses to be a learner; but a disciple indeed is one who has definitely committed himself to the Lord Jesus Christ'. Therefore, what he is saying a disciple indeed -who is a true believer, has this characteristic, he abides in His Word.

Truth is the absolute standard by which reality is measured. Knowing this truth results in genuine freedom. Hear me properly here - Truth alone doesn't liberate; rather the knowledge of the truth liberates, and then deliverance comes when we know the truth, this is when we abide with Jesus and continue in His Word. When this happens we will experience the truth setting us free from bondage.

To be truly free, we need the Living Word and the Written Word. The Living Word is Jesus who provides this freedom. The Written Word ensures we walk in obedience and the direction of Jesus.

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
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 Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

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

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard. 

He climbed a tree

"Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  3And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  4So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  5And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  6So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  7But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;10for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

                                                                            Luke 19:1-10.  NKJV

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, a most hated breed of man because of their love of demanding much more money than was necessary. He was also a very short man. As often happens to us all, curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he decided he wanted to see this Jesus. However, because of his size, he wouldn't be able to see over the crowds in front of him. Those who have ever been to a Pop Concert will be familiar with this - people jumping up and down in front of you blocking the view.

Zacchaeus made a very strange decision, he climbed a nearby sycamore tree. Sycamore's have low-limbed branches that make it easy to navigate them safely. This faith act didn't go unnoticed. Jesus saw him and told him to come down quickly as He wanted to stay at his house.

Zacchaeus' curiosity had not been the real reason he wanted to see Jesus. Although he didn't know it, this was a divine appointment - the Holy Spirit had drawn him to Jesus. He just couldn't resist. Also without being asked to, he volunteered to make restitution to all he had robbed in the past. He couldn't help himself; he felt a new man in front of Jesus. Indeed he was, he had received salvation this day, all because he decided to follow his gut and climb a tree.

Things may appear crazy to us at times, but not to Jesus. He can lead us to do the most mind-blowing things, possibly to test our faith - rather like Peter walking on the water, that day. The thing is, we are never too sure that Jesus is calling us to do something, but there can be an excitement in our body, rather like bubbles in your stomach. You can have that urgent desire to do something that you know is out of character. This is what happened that day to Zacchaeus. You can be sure that he never regretted taking this decision because it changed his life. It could yours as well!

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
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 Check it out. Just tap on Grahame Howard books.

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

Copyright 2025 Grahame Howard.