Why are you still worrying?

"casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you".   1 Peter 5:7.  NKJV

As Christians, we are privileged to cast all of our anxieties and care on Jesus with a strong confidence that He cares. Peter was quoting from the Greek version of the Old Testament - Psalm 55:22: 'Cast your care on the LORD, and He shall sustain you.' An early writer J Sidlow Baxter, pointed out that: 

'there are are two kinds of care here: 'There is anxious care, in the words: 'Casting all your care upon Him', and there is affectionate care, in the words, 'He careth for you.' Over against all our own anxious care is our Saviour's never-failing affectionate care.'

Worry is unnecessary so, why are you still doing it? There is absolutely no need for us to carry our own burdens when Jesus is willing and able to bear them for us. It is futile to worry. Let's be honest, worry hasn't solved a problem yet but, it has caused much pain, stress and illness, possibly death to some. Worry is a sin. One preacher put it this way: 'Worry is sin because it denies the love of God; it says He does not care. And it denies the power of God; it says that He isn't able to deliver me from whatever is causing me to worry.' Anon.  Now, that is something to think about.

Peter becomes more serious here. He instructs us to stay alert and watch out for our enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. I've highlighted the word 'Like'. He isn't a roaring lion at all, but he likes us to think that he is. However, be careful, he is not one to play around with. He has his own power and without Jesus' power within us, we may be well and truly hurt. We are to resist him, steadfast in the faith and this means putting on the Armour of God. ( Ephesians 6:10-18) daily.

Therefore, as of today, refuse to worry. It is doing you no good and it puts a big Highlight on your witness. It is sin, Jesus told us not to worry. Disobedience to Him is a sin, isn't it? 

So refrain from it.

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. 

Always be ready to speak of Jesus

"and always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear".     1 Peter 3:15   NKJV  

We need to be so ready that, at every opportunity we give an account of who we are; who we belong to and what our relationship with Jesus means to us. We are set apart to Jesus -  sanctified and we have given Him the rightful place in our lives. Therefore, if anyone asks us about our faith and why we choose to live this way, we need to be ready to give them the truth; not as a fiery sermon, but in a gentle and respectful manner.

We have a hope within us and a good conscience that if people attempt to defame us as being evildoers, those who revile our good conduct in Christ, may be ashamed. For it is better if it is the will of of God to suffer for doing good, than for doing evil. Jesus is devoted to what is good so, no one will harm us. However, if we do suffer for doing what is right, we are blessed. God has us covered either way.

We as Christians, need to be a good witness for Jesus every moment of every day. It's a tall order and we may not always be able to meet this expectation. However, this should never stop us from trying and getting up if we fall. When we achieve this we become a strong witness and people recognise us for what we are. We should never be fearful, whether it be by speaking for Jesus or for just letting people know that we are different because Jesus lives in our heart. You will be slandered for your faith and this may come from people who are the closest to you: 'And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”  1Peter 3:13-14.

Day to day conversation, often leads to you being able to speak about your faith - the great things He has done for you and can, do for them too, if they choose this. However be careful not to push too close as it may turn them away and the chance may never come again. One of the best witnesses come from the indwelling Holy Spirit. Words may be wasted on some people but, if you are walking close to Jesus, they may be impacted by the Holy Spirit. I call this 'impact evangelism'. Without words, some people can pick up the sweet smelling aroma of Jesus from you and may want to know what it is. You then, are more able to speak with their full attantion.

Never fail to be ready for Jesus' leading.

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. 

Things have only just begun for you

“Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”   John 2:10.  NKJV

This was the first sign or miracle that Jesus had performed. He, Mary His mother and the disciples had been invited to a wedding in Cana. As the celebrations went on, the wine began to run out. After being told this by His mother, He told the servants to fill with water, six 20-30 gallon pots that were nearby. Whatever they thought of this, nobody said, but when they tasted the wine, according to the master of the feast, it was the finest wine he had tasted and he declared this. 

This is the heart of Jesus. It would have been such a humiliation for the bridegroom to declare the party was over because they had no wine left. Jesus spared him from this and gave him 180 gallons, if using the 30 gallon pots, of the finest wine. This would have been 1440 pints equivalent to 4320 glasses at 3 glasses per pint. If using the 20 gallon pots, the pint equivalent would have been 960 pints @ 3 per pint giving 2880 glasses. Now that was some party where Jesus saved this special day.

There is a lesson here that Mary spoke, 'Whatever He says to you, do it.' This is the secret to blessing Jesus - do what He tells you. If you do, you will always have enough and, possibly more. This describes the change in people's lives and situations when we put our trust in Jesus. This describes the best Jesus can give us and the certainty that when we believe and obey His Word, He will give us much more. In other words, 'the best is yet to come.'

At this time, you may be running on empty but, if you can believe Jesus can change this for you, He will. He has the best for you but, this is not a one time offer. He always has the best for you. He gives us an abundance, an overflow 'My cup runs over' Psalm 23:5. 'My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life' John 10:10 NLT. And, let's not forget 'Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.' 3 John 2.

We have conditions for these blessings though, and they consist of quality of life, commitment, dedication and action that is in line with God's Word. We do our best and God does the rest. We need to remember that, He is our Father and, He wishes to give us all we deserve. Notice I said (Deserve). If we live a true life for Him He will open the blessings of heaven for us, and we will have an overflow of His abundance.

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. 

"I never knew you!

"21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"           Matthew 7:21-23.   NKJV

When I was a new Christian and read this account above, it put real fear in me. Just the thought that Jesus could say, 'I never knew you' was real scary. Even now at the back of my mind, it makes me think. You may feel the same way, so let us ponder this.

Can you lose you salvation? We've already seen from previous studies over the past few months, that we can't. If we have asked Jesus into our life, then we possess eternal life and will be with Jesus and other Christians in heaven when we die. There are though, many people who believe they are believers, but aren't. They may have had a brief encounter with Jesus, like we see in scripture, however, they have decided not to make a commitment to Him and have gone their own way. As we know, there are many people who have been in the church for many years, who have never asked Jesus to be their Lord and Saviour. They just assume that because they go to church every Sunday and have a bible, that this is all you need. This is not the case.

Jesus told Nicodemus, a prominent Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, that he must be born again. This confused him and he asked Jesus how this could be. Jesus told him that he must first be born of water - a reference to physical birth and the Spirit to enter the kingdom (John 3:5). Thus, Jesus was contrasting physical birth with spiritual birth. This was the way to God's kingdom, being born physically (of water and flesh) and also supernaturally (of the Spirit). This is called being born again.

Therefore, if you have been born again in such a way, you are a Christian and possess eternal life, with a guaranteed entry into heaven. This, however, does not mean you can sit back and wait for this to happen, and be involved in things that you know you should not be involved with. Being a Christian doesn't mean that you will never sin again - far from it. There are times when you may let God down so badly that you will question whether you are saved or not. Be reassured, you are, and are just one of the many of us who behave in such a way every now and then. As soon as you confess your sin, you are forgiven 1 John 1:9.

So, don't get confused or worried that Jesus will tell you that He never knew you. If you belong to Him, you are more likely to hear words such as, 'Well done, My good and faithful servant.'

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. 

What about him Lord?

"Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” 21Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”
22Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”                                                      John 21:20-22   NKJV

Jesus had just restored Peter to his rightful position and given him some information concerning his future death. One would have thought that being forgiven for denying Jesus three times and then being restored to the team with leadership promises, Peter would have been over the moon. However, Peter still had his rough edges and they showed here, 'But Lord, what about this man?' v21.

Of course, Peter was referring to John, who had leaned on Jesus' breast at the supper. Perhaps there was a little jealousy there, after all he was only human and the Holy Spirit had not fully, fallen upon him yet. Jesus was very firm with Peter and basically told him to do what He told him to do and mind his own business about John.

Whatever we do; wherever we go, we will always walk in our humanity, that is until we are filled with the power of God. Even so, there will always be the opportunity to return to where we were, and this is where Satan comes in. 'God didn't say that, did He; I'm sure He meant something else. Go on, do it, God will tell you off if you don't' These words are similar to what he spoke to Eve about that day in the garden. He is very convincing and, given and inch he will take a mile.

This is what we are up against in our daily walk. We are tempted to think bad things about other people, especially fellow Christians. Satan gives us an untruth, and we take the bait and create a bad atmosphere when we are around these people. We need to remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:7: '(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.' In other words, we should always think the best of people until we are proven wrong.

We've all done it; we've all pointed the finger at our brother or sister. We've all had an accusatory word about someone, firing at them before we know the whole truth. We should probably remember the sworn statement said in a court of law, 'I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth' This statement is a binding law and any other thing we may say, will perjure ourselves. Think of this when we are holding on to accusations about someone. Unless it is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, perhaps it may be wise to refrain from slandering or accusing someone.

Think, what would Jesus do and you will have the answer!

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. 

Turn the Light On

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

                                                                     John 1:1-5   NKJV

Well, we're about two weeks away from the festive period - Christmas and Jesus' birthday, and as people do their shopping, put up their lights and generally look forward to the holiday, I am still surprised how many people still see Our Lord as the baby Jesus. It's a nice thought for children but, Jesus is not a baby anymore. That was thousands of years ago. He has moved on; many in this world have not. 

Just a look at today's scripture; we see very clearly that Jesus existed much earlier than His birth in that cold, stable. In fact, we see Him described as being with God at the beginning of time. We also see that He is God Himself and 'the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters'. Genesis 1:2. At creation there was God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirt; three separate persons wrapped together as one God. 

The place was in total darkness until God said, 'Let there be Light,' and there was Light. Jesus was involved in the creation of this world and, is still involved today. All things were created through the Word - who is Jesus and, Jesus and His Father created you and I. Tony Evans says, 'The existence of life in creation is proof that the created order is not the result of impersonal chance events, as atheistic evolutions assert.' God and His Son Jesus, did it.

Jesus gives light to men v4, and this is because Satan brought temptation into the world and man fell into sin. Jesus is now on a mission to turn this world and its people, back to God. No baby could do this. The Christmas story is wonderful but as Christians, when we see Jesus as a baby in a manger, begin instead to see Him as He is now, Lord of Lords, King of kings. He didn't remain in the manger, He came to earth to save His people and then He died on the cross. However, don't forget, He rose again and is alive today and His power knows no end. One day, He is going to return to earth and take all of His believers to heaven with Him. Note that I said 'Believers', if you are not a believer, quickly become one because when He comes, you will be left behind if you don't.

We all need to turn the light on and stop living in darkness. Jesus is not in the dark, He is Light and lives that way. Everyday of your life, start by turning the light on in your life, every time you wake up. There is darkness all around you but, not within you if you know Jesus.

So turn that Light on now and live for Jesus. He is Light and will show you the way. Say the prayer below to follow Him.

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. 

Still sitting on the sidelines

"For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another".      Psalm 75:6-7   NKJV

Some people have to wait years before things in their lives change for the better. Take for example promotions at work. You may be adequately qualified for this promotion but, up to this moment, it has not happened. Why? Well the answer may be here in this verse.

Take a look at v7 'He puts down one, And exalts another.' God is the means behind our success. We may be able to manipulate promotions but, if God is not in it, then it may go pear-shaped and fail. As I've mentioned above, some people may have waited a long time for this to happen, but up to now, nothing has. You may be one of these waiting people. The word for you is, 'It will happen when it happens.' This may sound harsh but, have you ever considered that God may not want you to be promoted; He may have something better for you, but you can't see this because you have been fixated on this one thing.

You may have seen other people being raised up into a better job with good prospects and, this has been hard to accept. I wonder how the disciples had felt when all of a sudden, this guy who was a Pharisee, and had been treating Christians awfully because of their faith, had been suddenly changed in a dramatic way on the Damascus Road and  raised up into the hierarchy of their team. Think about it, this would have cut deeply into their souls. It would be like taking a notorious spy from the enemy side and putting him or her into your side - your team. This would have felt very difficult to accept.

We can be left sitting on the sidelines for a great time wondering if we're ever going to be called onto the field to take someone else's place in the game. Sometimes, it doesn't happen.

God is the one that has the power to change things for you but, you must accept that He may not do this. He may have something better for you; He may want you to change your job or, He may just want you to remain doing what you're doing. If the latter is the case, there is only one thing that can work well and, this is to just accept what you're doing.

But are you willing to do this? Have you ever considered that God may have a special assignment for you at your workplace? You may be the only Christian there and God is waiting for someone to start there who has suffered a lot of hurt and disappointment in their life. And He may just have chosen you to do the job of speaking to him and introducing him to Jesus. Food for thought?

Think about it. We never know what God is going to do next. At this time, you are in His will and if you become promoted, you may not have the chance to see this person. It's just a thought of course, but worth considering. 

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.