P3527 Impossible, just means impossible without HIM.

/ DVH

“And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that He is real and that He rewards the faith of those who passionately seek Him. Faith opened Noah’s heart to receive revelation and warnings from God about what was coming, even things that had never been seen. But He stepped out in reverent obedience to God and built an ark that would save him and his family. By his faith the world was condemned, but Noah received God’s gift of righteousness that comes by believing. Faith motivated Abraham to obey God’s call and leave the familiar to discover the territory he was destined to inherit from God. So he left with only a promise and without even knowing ahead of time where he was going, Abraham stepped out in faith.” Hebrews 11:6-8 TPT.

There is one word in this scripture that changes the way we view what it says … and no! … It’s not the word impossible, even though it seems like it should be. I think it is the word, LIVING. For something to be living it needs to breathe and move. Let’s realise we can’t afford theories, nor can we afford to embrace somebody else’s idea, simply because it worked for them, so why not me? That’s second-hand faith, and it can crash, because it is not founded on the truth that God Himself has revealed to ME … Instead it is founded on a truth that we’ve chosen to embrace. We have a personal, intimate relationship with the Lord, not a second-hand one.

At the same time we can erroneously think that agreement is the same as participation. Here’s a red hot tip — it’s not! The devil has a belief system and God is included: …“You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder [in terror and horror such as make a man’s hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]!” James 2:19. Belief or agreement is not enough. What separates our faith from a demon’s faith is that we act on our faith. It’s not just a theory, or something we comfort ourselves with on a dark and stormy night. Nor is it something we try to apply when the world seems to be going to hell in a hand basket. It’s living!

Inactive, non-productive faith is a deceptive tool of the enemy to fool us into thinking that productive faith is for other far more spiritual people than me. When we start to think that ordinary people like us can’t do that stuff, and only people who are very spiritual can “do” supernatural things … like raising the dead! Plus we make a big deal out of the things that are considered normal in the Kingdom of God. Things like truthfulness, obedience, boldness etc. Those things are normal behaviour in His kingdom.

Moving on … … today I want to talk about a huge secret that is in Romans — using our faith leads to more faith. “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed in a way that awakens more faith]. As it is written and forever remains written, “THE JUST and UPRIGHT SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:17. This is now our way of life! Let’s look at Noah and how that worked out for him.

Noah used his faith every morning for about 100 years … it was 100 years between Almighty God telling this man to build an ark, to when the flood waters arrived. In the time in between, he wasn’t thinking about his ordinary life. Between God’s directive and the flood, Noah’s thoughts were centred on obedience. He got up whether he felt like it or not and sawed and cut pieces of timber, fitting it together to make it waterproof. He strategically and carefully followed the Lord’s plan.

Sometimes there is a space between what the Lord tells us to do, and the fruition of that directive. The bible tells us Noah used that space, wisely — he just kept right on building despite the distractions of a normal life. He regarded what God said as a sacred trust. Until we value what God says to us in His word – as well as what He says to us personally – we will not see the things we long to see. His kingdom comes because His people have decided to LIVE in His kingdom – they don’t float in and out, or sit on the side-lines as an observer.

We especially can’t afford to have faith in our own ability to carry out what the Lord says. If we can do it then where is the faith? Noah very likely had no idea what a boat of that size looked like. Our faith needs to be in WHO God is. His character, His loving kindness, His reliability, His reputation, not ours. That means we are convinced that He is Who He says He is, and He will do what He has said He will do — and we are prepared to put our lives on the line if need be, to carry out whatever He has told us to do.

Our obedience starts with ordinary stuff like forgiveness, and not letting our feelings rule us. We cannot afford to indulge ourselves this way and think it is normal. We are the people who deal with things – we don’t let them sit and fester. We forgive and let go! This stuff is worthy of our time investment, because it is life and health to our bones. It lasts. Christians focus on eternal things, because the natural world won’t profit us. We might get angry but we won’t choose to stay there.

Living by faith is not just a saying, because that kind of believing has crippled many good men and women who sincerely wanted to nurture their faith. We live, we do, we have our very being in Him. Even if our prayers are not answered, and we have been treated appallingly, we choose to give our hurt to Him and ask for His love, grace and long suffering to continue moving on. Impossible means impossible – unless we invest who we are in Him — then anything and everything is possible in Christ Jesus. Bye. 👋.

P3526 The ‘hellos’ & ‘goodbyes’ mean something.

/ DVH

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments,
and His paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counsellor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-36.NIV.

In some churches these verses are used as a Doxology, a kind of final loving, praise-filled moment before we go back to our real lives … out there. At the time when it is sung or spoken, people are usually picking up their stuff ready to go home etc. This one is in Romans 11, it isn’t a hello or a goodbye, Paul is simply overcome by what God has done for all of us. What a wonderful thought! My premise today is this – is it only there to be a thought, or does it have something more to offer us?

So I have put these few verses here in three different versions to expand it’s language. When I get stuck on something, I have a tendency to go away and look it up. That is so much easier than it used to be. I use the computer! Years ago, I used to sit with my bible and a concordance, so I could clarify what the bible was actually saying, while I was reading it. A concordance is “a specialised tool used in biblical studies to find every verse where a specific word or theme appears.”

But sadly that very helpful reference book had its limits. For instance, the word LET didn’t appear in it, because it is in the bible a lot, and it is probably regarded as too repetitive, and a minor word. But it is a major word spiritually speaking. Every word in the bible is there for our benefit. Reading all of it, is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to speak to us – He helps and teaches us, individually. This is a very personal, intimate thing between Him and us.

Back to Romans 11 – here’s the Living bible version: “Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are His wisdom and knowledge and riches! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His methods! For who among us can know the mind of the Lord? Who knows enough to be His counsellor and guide? And who could ever offer to the Lord enough to induce Him to act? For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory. To Him be glory evermore.” Amen to that too!

Verses like this one are really quite magnificent. Whenever we look at these outbursts of praise we have an opportunity to pause and join in! It can be so helpful to deliberately read the introduction to this book or that book in the bible — those things are usually an explanation of who wrote it etc. and the point the author wants to make. It’s easy to just overlook them because they do not seem to be relevant to what we consider the main meal – the teaching. It is kind of an appetiser, but not enough to fill us up.

Lastly, I’ve included the Message bible. “Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell Him what to do? Anyone who has done Him such a huge favour that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from Him;  Everything happens through Him;  Everything ends up in Him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.” That yes, yes, yes means Amen!

If we treat this hello or goodbye, or even an outbreak of praise, as having no real value, just something the writer felt at the time, we are doing it a grave disservice. This is actually a declaration of faith that we, as the readers can cling to or stand on, despite our circumstances. Let’s not rush by the author’s worship of God in these moments of their letters. Instead, we need to allow those thoughts to refresh us.

What the author of the book is saying is that there is nobody else like God Himself. We can’t explain Him, nor do we often understand the real meaning behind what He does. That’s not a bad thing to think on – it was relevant to me, this morning! I don’t want to spend the rest of today’s blog expounding this and that about Romans 11:33-36 because my actual point is about our attitude when we read things like this. These things are there to give us an opportunity to praise the Lord for no other reason than the fact that He is worthy!

The New Testament is written in a different fashion to the Old. The Old is filled with carefully documented historical stories, Psalms and wisdom. The New was being written as the people writing it were living it out. This was fresh manna from heaven for hearts like ours who need to know Who to follow and how. Those things that they wrote about were the things they knew, or were learning and experiencing for themselves. We get a glimpse into these men’s hearts. Their lives were often fraught with danger, yet praising God never stopped being a priority.

After Jesus came to live among us, the Gospels were a record of what He did, said, and taught. Plus one book is devoted to the incredible ‘ACTS’ of the Holy Spirit. The Lord can teach us so many things from the Old Testament, and He does;  but the New highlights how our new life in Christ works. It has passionate praise and greetings to the saints of one church or another, because they were writing personal letters, from the writer’s heart to theirs.

Even the times of praise, plus the ‘hellos’ and ‘goodbyes’ mean something in God’s  book. I want to encourage you not to skip them, you might learn something. Bye.👋

P3525 What we do affects others.

/ DVH

“You say, “Under grace there are no rules and we’re free to do anything we please.” Not exactly. Because not everything promotes growth in others. Your slogan, “We’re allowed to do anything we choose,” may be true—but not everything causes the spiritual advancement of others. So don’t always seek what is best for you at the expense of another.” 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 TPT. Here’s another version: “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” NIV.

Our lives affect others. I’ve actually seen this happening in my own life when it comes to bad reactions. My grumpiness, or ‘out of sorts’ response, critical thoughts etc. can have an impact on other people. Then instead of building others up, we begin to recruit others to agree with us, so we can remain comfortable. Our world is so selfish so we have very little awareness about the consequences of our own actions, and we spread angst, and fear instead of Grace. We’ve been commissioned by Jesus, to be HIS people of influence. This is not a part-time job.

Meanwhile nobody lives in a bubble, there are people all around us, and the way we respond to them, plus the difficulties they themselves create, can influence everyone’s outlook. Particularly if they are not having a good day! It is like dominos, if you tap one in a line of them, all the others fall over. It is error to think that doing what we want because we feel like it, is OK. The thought that ‘what I do won’t matter’ is a lie we tell ourselves, when we don’t care to think about the consequences. There are always consequences. Then shame can cause us to hide because we don’t want to be found out. I think we’ve lowered the standard for good  … to … “I’m not hurting anyone!’

When something or other that is not profitable wants to hang around in my mind – first of all I need to tell the enemy to take a hike. Then I need to pray and see if what is going on is recent, or I have something faulty in my beliefs. Unforgiveness, wrong beliefs, or even traumas can damage our root systems. Bad roots produce bad fruit, with diseased leaves etc. When I have some wrong thinking, my mind needs to be changed in this area and we need the Lord’s help to uncover it, so we can repent and repair stuff. As I ask the Lord for His help, He will give me scriptures to help me through the temptation.

Deception is a sneaky thing, it does not jump up and down and suggest we should lie — instead it insinuates that other answers, different ideas, are more rational and palatable. Suddenly we remember that Brother-So-and-so says this and that, so what we are thinking must be OK. We need to realise that other people are like us, we all have a portion of the truth, but the whole truth is in the book! If we have any doubt about things that interfere with us loving others or walking with Jesus – it is essential to our spiritual health to deal with it, not excuse it away.

What 1 Corinthians is talking about is transparent love in action. Love is not just mowing someone else’s lawn, love is also being open and honest with each other … even about our faults and flaws. Meanwhile telling someone else about their flaws is going to make them mad at me – that’s a dumb move! Start looking in your own backyard first. Humility looks at me first.

The bible says in James 5:16: “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results.”  I can see two things happen in this scripture. First of all we will return to a right attitude toward the Lord so when we pray for others they will be healed … And the second is: when we confess our faults to others, and as they pray for you and I, we will be healed too!  Win. Win.

God gave us Christ’s righteousness at great cost to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and that must become our greatest treasure, it needs guarding. Righteousness with the Lord is not something we can manufacture. It is free. But it will cost us the right to do what we want, when we want to do it. Our reference point needs to be this: “How will what I am doing affect my relationship with the Lord and others?” None of us want to take what God has given us, for granted.

This means we cannot put aside what our own actions will do to someone else. If we don’t pay attention to that particular issue, we can stall our own spiritual progress — because whatever we do will become muddied and unproductive. Christians cannot live a totally separate, unexamined  life, and still claim that Jesus is with us. Let’s choose to become a part of what He has designated as His plan for mankind. If we have gifts, then they are for other people’s  benefit, we need to use them to do that. Meanwhile we were not given gifts to promote ourselves!

Jesus Christ set the cadence – He … ‘established the pace, rhythm, or schedule that an activity, project, or group is meant to operate in.’ Everything Jesus did, He did to benefit mankind and bring glory to His Father. We follow Him –  let’s remember that what we do affects others. Bye.👋.

P3524 We are His advertising.

/ DVH

“I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of His calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that He finds in us, His holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him to the place of highest honour and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!” Ephesians 1:18-20.

Forget road side billboards – WE are His advertising. We can often be enamoured by a promise from the bible, and rush right by the cost. Ephesians 1:18-20 is a tremendous promise, but it becomes our way of life as we recognise our part. You and I have the promise of His power, right here, right now, to enable His Grace to enter our lives. Plus we have been given His authority to release His power. I think these two verses hinge on three words… ‘His holy ones.’ To walk in the Lord’s promises and use His authority we need to be walking with Him, daily, accepting transformation however it comes, and valuing purity of heart over everything else …

We dare not doubt the efficacy of His power, because that power raised Jesus Himself from the dead. I look at it like this, because of Jesus’ resurrection there is no reason for me to doubt that He can flow through me to bless others. Problems occur when I think my sin, mix-ups, rotten attitudes, and lack of forgiveness can negate His power. Those things can’t negate God’s power, they can simply negate our ability to perceive what He is doing, and jump all over our faith. It can be so easy to make difficult circumstances the thing our faith pivots on … that’s why renewing our minds is essential.

God’s power isn’t generated by our behaviour or knowledge or actions — we walk in His power because of His Grace flowing in and out of our lives. We are a conduit, not the Source. It has everything to do with Who He is. HE is the source. Acts 3:16: “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Peter prayed for the lame man to walk, in the Name of Jesus – not in the name of Peter!

Let’s look at a practical thing as an illustration — all of us can have trouble with our home’s plumbing occasionally. It can get clogged up, and the soiled water bubbles back up and flow out all over the nice clean bathroom floor. It needs our attention. Similarly, we need to choose to pay attention to what we allow to abide and overflow from our hearts, because what’s been allowed to fester in there, colours the way we see this world. But as we let Him guide our steps, and He lives through us – then the word of God clarifies our thinking. Only God Himself knows the kind of barriers that stop up His pure flow in and out of our lives – so we need to ask for His help to find them.

We can be prevented from speaking by fear, or angst, or unforgiveness. We are not merely containers — we are conduits. We allow His love to flow out everywhere we go. We can’t afford to give someone else a ‘piece of our mind’ because that is as good as throwing glue into a bathroom drain. Hating others, no matter what they did, will also spoil our relationship with Him. It clogs up our ability to flow with the Holy Spirit. Pain is real — Jesus suffered it! But that does not mean we can afford to hold onto the pain or bitterness. The only person who profits if we hold onto pain and anger is satan.

Father God says in Amos 3:3: “For how can we walk together with your sins between us?” Sin is a barrier between us and God, and only our faith in the blood of Jesus and the application of cross in our own lives, can remove it. Repentance is not an optional extra, nor is it a “once off” bargain buy – it is much too valuable for that. Let’s just keep on washing ourselves, praising Him for everything He did, and focus on His Grace, not our lame attitudes. Repentance is not just “I’m sorry.” The seed of repentance bears fruit. Fruit has substance, it can be seen and eaten! The fruit of my sincere repentance can be a healing balm to the heart of someone else who is suffering because of my actions! And it also restores my soul.

The Lord sees our resentment, or whatever, bubbling away, hidden from this world. Sadly, it will continue to interfere with our ability to give away the very things He has given us to give to others. That’s when we fall back on our own judgment instead of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness etc. If we have trouble with bearing fruit, then let’s ask Him to please show us what is stopping up His flow in our lives. We cannot, and dare not, make authenticating sin a lifestyle, someone else’s sin or ours, just because we have pain and hurt feelings.

Holding onto stinky stuff makes US stink. It’s not just a mistake, nor is it a normal reaction … when we keep holding onto it, it’s polluting our lives. And it will interfere with our spiritual sight and prevent us from seeing Jesus in action right under our very noses. We don’t just need Jesus to help us to get by in these awful times of change – we need the fullness of the risen resurrected Christ active in our lives. Let’s embrace holiness not as a form, but as a way of life, by remaining open to repentance. Remember, you and I are here to be His advertising. We show the world what LOVE and GRACE look like in action! Bless you as you follow Him, bye. 👋.

P3523 Reconciliation starts with recognition.

/ DVH

Some people get their knickers in a twist about this thought: “God’s kids need to speak in tongues.” Jesus and I were talking about it recently and He said this: “It’s a GIFT not a merit badge! Gifts are given to be received. It is meant to be a blessing – it is not mandatory. You don’t have to receive My gifts, it is up to you.” Amen to that!

Let’s stop trying to panel-beat each other into the same shape, using His Name as a club. Here are two great scriptures to chew on:“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.“ Matthew 25:32-33. What part of those few verses indicate that we have any responsibility at all, when it comes to JESUS’ OWN  SHEEP?! They are His sheep, not ours. He will do the sorting at a time already appointed by His Father. Some days we would not know a sheep or a goat from a hole in the wall!

At the same time it is good to remember how well Jesus Christ knows everyone’s hearts. Luke 18:9-14: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

When I read passages like this, I am greatly convicted and convinced about what is my business, and what is not. I can see immediately that I do not always have the right heart to race about alienating other people with what I believe. We need the Lord Himself, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, to minister His wisdom to us, and through us, to others. We need His ‘kiss’ on things, otherwise we can deeply wound the people Jesus died for. There are sincere people, loving people, who have chosen to serve the Lord and others. Maybe they have come and gone and they didn’t embrace the gift of tongues. So what!?

Are we really so arrogant in our beliefs that we think that our way is the only way? And we snootily go on to label it as HIS WAY? There are many people who could teach us about long-suffering, patience, humility, and servanthood — these are things sadly lacking in many circles of thought. Hey, let’s be happy and clap and enjoy being with the Lord and each other! But let’s also understand that deep reverence has not been made obsolete, because the Lord opened our eyes to one particular aspect of HIS truth! After all He gave it to us, we didn’t earn it! Speaking in tongues is a tool, not an end result.

True reconciliation starts with recognition of the other person. I don’t care what your particular denomination believes … or doesn’t … If you love Jesus, and serve Him, and you are trusting in what He did for you at Calvary – you are my family. It’s lovely to meet you!! I cannot be convinced that speaking in tongues was given by God to divide us. Paul jumps all over that idea in 1 Corinthians 14. But my own aim, my mandate, is to build up the Body of Christ, not chop it into unwieldy bits that have so much doctrine in them, we can all drown in it!

Tongues are a sign and a wonder. Other people hear it and wonder what it is all about. GREAT! Anything that helps others to want to know and experience His love firsthand is a blessing from heaven. Personally, I find tongues are hugely helpful when I don’t know how to pray… which is most of the time! I start that way and then sometimes I end up in repentance, and at other times I can see what I need to pray about more clearly and I do that. But for me it is not an issue whether you do what I do. You do you, and I will do me — and both of us will still be under construction while the Holy Spirit is working in both of our lives.

Gifts are given. They are a reflection of the grace that is in the Giver, not the receiver. Father God’s enormous Grace has given us gifts, so let’s not squabble about who got what, and ‘why didn’t I get one?’ Kids do that at Christmas. Prophets, pastors, teachers, servers, preachers are all gifts. The word of knowledge, and wisdom are gifts. Healing is a gift … I could go on. I’d rather have whatever the Lord wants to put under my Christmas tree, whether it seems ugly but interesting, or it is just plain beautiful. I’ll love it because He gave it to me at great personal cost, and that makes it beautiful.

We can’t afford to pretend that other God-honouring and loving Christians don’t belong to our particular version of a club! We need everybody. Let’s appreciate that the eye can’t make someone a cup of tea, but it can see when someone wants one! But a server can easily do that job. I vote for blessing Jesus in whoever, and wherever we find Him, instead of dividing His body up even further. “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2. Reconciliation starts with Spirit-filled recognition of ALL His kids. Bye. 👋

P3522 The Me He sees!

/ DVH

The Lord is in the process of forming our true God-given character, the one He planned when He sent us here. Our bibles are filled with instructions that we need to personalise as we LET the Holy Spirit work on our hearts. Here are a couple:

Romans 12:17-18: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” 1 Corinthians 14:1 “Make love your great aim.” Ephesians 4:32. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Have you ever known someone that was so closed off and unavailable, you could only access tiny pieces of them on a good day, if the wind happened to be blowing the right way? Sigh… me too! There are days when it feels like I have a collection of those people — the same way you would collect a bouquet of beautiful roses — only these people have giant thorns. They might smell gorgeous, but watch out!

Prickly people are the bane of my life, but, of course … “I’m not prickly … even a little bit!”. Back to everybody else … quickly! So, right now the Lord has me in the middle of a learning curve. I am learning not to try to please people, but to love them, icky and all, instead. Sometimes, it seems like there is no way I can live at peace with an angry person because they are always armed and ready to fight at the drop of a hat. Yet all I said was: “Hello, how are you?” And then I wished I hadn’t!

Later, when I was far, far away from that person, I chose to pray about it. I asked the Lord why things did not go well? I usually ask Him for appropriate scriptures, for clarity, just to make sure I haven’t floated away into the ether with the pixies. Then the Holy Spirit (He’s the One Who is working on ME remember?) reminded me of some scriptures. Let’s start with John 21:20-22: Jesus is explaining Peter’s future:  “ …Peter noticed him, (John) He asked Jesus, “Master, what’s going to happen to him?” (Jesus said) “:… What is that to you? YOU follow Me!” You know, it is OK for someone else to be God’s business, just bless them and move away. Maybe we should all clear up our own backyard first!

Here’s my second scripture: let’s look at Jonah, who gets very prickly at the Lord because all the Ninevites were saved and he’s not happy about it. Jonah 4:6-11. Jonah thought his enemies were also God’s enemies. He suffered from a wrong premise – and boy can I find those on a bad day! Jonah ended up hot, with a headache!  Father God needs to challenge all our wrong ideas, so we can truly be His kids in action.

Lastly, the Holy Spirit reminded me about Sarah. She found out that she’s going to have a baby … and she’s 90! She laughed. Well, who wouldn’t? Then Lord told her He heard her laugh, but she denied it. And He says this: “No, but you did laugh.” That’s when the penny dropped and I saw that God dealt with her as an individual. Even though we are a corporate identity, He sees each one of us as individuals and treats us accordingly. We will have different things to learn because we are all different parts of His body.

Maybe you and I will not be on the same page at the same time. But let’s always stick with Him! Remember the cute thought about the elephant? (See below) My view may not be the same as yours! Here’s another thought the Holy Spirit gave me – how are we ever going to see the many-sided, multifaceted wisdom of God if everyone is supposed to look the same? Any other people like me would be sooo scary!

The bible says that the Holy Spirit formed us inside our mother’s womb, and we know, that He has a way for each one of us to go. (Proverbs) This means we don’t have to be carbon copies of each other. Instead, we need to concentrate on LETTING the same mind be in us that Jesus had. That’s our fixed point — not the same behaviour but the same MIND that was in Jesus – in US. The mind that says, you are none of my business, and Jesus can save whoever He wants and do things the way He wants to.: “God’s will be done!” Thinking like He does will unify us all. Right about now I’m starting to feel convicted about picking on someone else.

I seem to slide into that logs and specks thingy Jesus talked about, and sadly thats the spot where my own errant attitude escapes me. That’s when the Holy Spirit reminded me none of us are done yet. I can’t find the real me OR the real you if all I can see is wood! (Matthew 7:1-5). We need to look at Jesus, not just each other’s faults. I can’t find the real me while I am taking notes on what is wrong with you! But when I take His loving acceptance in and give it out again, He becomes the yardstick, the plumb line, the example God Himself gave us and I can see better things for both of us.

He has given us the basic foundational tools that the Holy Spirit will apply into our lives – shaping and molding us into someone who is like Him, inside and out. Jesus even took the time to teach us how to please the Father! We do that by doing the Father’s will – John 4:34; believing in the Son – John 6:20; abiding in Him and loving others John 15:9-10; serving Him and others Matthew 6:33; and glorifying the Father 1 Corinthians 10:31.

We all have different learning curves. I try to share mine on this page. But at the bottom of my quest is the desire that each one of us would become ‘the real me that God meant me to be.’ I like to think about that process the way Michelangelo regarded a slab of marble. Someone asked him how he knew to cut the marble the way he did. He replied: “I see a picture in my head of a statue inside the block of marble and I just cut away everything that does not belong on that statue.”

This is what the Lord is doing right now in the Western world. He is cutting away everything that does not belong, to release the Me He knows I can be. Instead of my hardened heart toward you getting in the way. Let’s stop pretending to be holy and submit to the Holy Spirit’s Sculptor’s skill. He’s carved out mountains and valleys – He can fix us! Bye. 👋

P3521 Stay adaptable.

/ DVH

“Now, even though I am free from obligations to others, I joyfully make myself a servant to all in order to win as many converts as possible. I became Jewish to the Jewish people in order to win them to the Messiah. I became like one under the law to gain the people who were stuck under the law, even though I myself am not under the law. And to those who are without the Jewish laws, I became like them, as one without the Jewish laws, in order to win them, although I’m not outside the law of God but under the law of Christ. I became “weak” to the weak to win the weak. I have adapted to the culture of every place I’ve gone so that I could more easily win people to Christ. I’ve done all this so that I would become God’s partner for the sake of the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 TPT.

This man of God’s chosen attitude was to be like a chameleon. No matter where he ended up, he was there for Jesus’ sake, to release Christ’s blessings toward others. So he put aside his own identity and preferences and adapted. He knew, firsthand, what being “In Christ Jesus” meant, and he chose to live in that world’s mess, because teaching people how to know Jesus was all that mattered to him. Paul knew where his real home was. It was wherever Jesus wanted him to be, for as long as the Lord wanted him to be there!

He had so identified with His Saviour’s will, that his affiliations and religion simply became another avenue of motivation to teach this man love. When they opposed him, he used that opportunity to learn how to love more deeply. Furthermore he deliberately laid aside his own strength, and this man was an expert in the law, in order to allow heaven itself to touch people. He chose to stay adaptable. Paul understood that his old life of preferences and loyalties were gone, now his first allegiance was to Christ and His cause, not to a country or a creed. Many times he ended up in prison, beaten by rods, stoned, and reviled, when he could have just as easily had the admiration of his peers. But now he stood up for Christ.

This is how we are to live now. The Lord knows that the people around us, who are in one kind of prison or another, need to hear about Jesus too. That kind of puts our fear of going to talk to the grumpy neighbours in a whole new light! Paul met plenty of grumpy people! Plus insulting people, arrogant people, ignorant people, and people who hated him, and his new beliefs. Just because we know the Saviour, that does not mean people are going to be thrilled to hear about Him.

Paul could do all these things because he did not rely upon his brilliant mind, or great strength of character, or dedication to a task – He relied upon what Christ did. When this man met Jesus, who he used to be died … on the spot! He stopped being Saul, which means — “asked for”, “prayed for”, or “borrowed.” And the moment God Himself addressed him, he became Paul — “small,” “humble,” “least,” or “little.” Paul knew reality when it hit him. Do we know reality? Or do we keep on trying to pray or excuse it away? Are we adaptable? The way forward is clear – we are to be like Jesus. Wherever the Lord puts us we’ve been sent to blossom and release the sweet fragrance of His love wherever we go.

And our faith needs to be more than a theory, because theories fall over under pressure. Lately it seems like many of us are … ‘under pressure’ … and I am not sure that is going to get any better any time soon. But we can use this time to get better at letting go and letting God.  Paul regarded serving our Father’s kingdom as his greatest privilege, and that meant that whatever happened to him didn’t matter. Hardship didn’t matter. Loss was irrelevant. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” ESV. Philippians 3:8.

If we want to see the Lord at work in our lives then we need to follow Jesus’ example, like Paul. His testimony was this –  even if he had nothing, he was rich because he had Jesus. We also need to regard this world’s privileges, trappings, adventures, recognition, assets etc. as nothing, when we compare it with the joy of knowing Jesus personally, intimately. We’ve been reborn into a better Kingdom where serving and cherishing those who are all around us, is a way of life.

The greater One lives in us so we can have fellowship together. Love is a magnificent equaliser. It’s theology goes beyond our wildest dreams! The Holy Spirit knows how and what we should say. I’ve learnt that He doesn’t need clever people … He needs available people. Just be available today and every day. I do whatever He gives me to do … today. If I’m sick, then I’m sick today, it may not go on all day, that is up to Him. I tell myself, “I can do this for the next minute, hour, day! Tomorrow ain’t here yet!” Don’t let the idea of tomorrow, cloud today. Live for Jesus today.

And don’t worry about what you are going to say to others –  just let love be the umpire. Pray for them. Paul knew how to live a fulfilling life rich in love. He simply stayed adaptable, and kept on falling in love with Jesus, over and over again. Wherever he landed, he preached Christ! A life lived for His sake is never wasted. Bye. 👋

P3520 Don’t forget to remember …

/ DVH

“Have you forgotten that your body is now the sacred temple of the Spirit of Holiness, who lives in you? You don’t belong to yourself any longer, for the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, lives inside your sanctuary. You were God’s expensive purchase, paid for with tears of blood, so by all means, then, use your body to bring glory to God!” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 TPT.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.” AMP.

Whenever hubby and I are expecting a special guest, we tidy up here and there, preparing food etc. We want our guest to feel comfortable. This verse from Corinthians talks about the most special Guest any of us will ever be asked to host. The Holy Spirit. Because we are God’s people and we love the Spirit of God so much, let’s cherish everything He says to us – remember, we’ve chosen to live and make our lives His home.

The thing is, the Holy Spirit is not bossy, or pushy, or rude – instead, He’s the best kind of guest we will ever know. He’s so sweet and unobtrusive, we can accidentally ignore Him and His wishes. The more we get to know His Ways, the easier it becomes to give Him the key to every single part of our lives. But although we know He is utterly trustworthy — trusting Him, when we cannot see Him or see what He is doing, can be difficult sometimes. It takes faith.

People in the past have looked at verses like this one and they majored on what we need to do to make Him welcome. In my opinion, this attitude is still a bit short of a far better mark. There are things I would never do or say to my family because I know it would hurt them and our relationship. I think this verse is about that too. The marvel of knowing the Holy Spirit is that as we listen to Him speaking to us – when He says: “That’s not a good idea…”  or: “This attitude could hurt that person” … We don’t just get to know what He likes, we get to know Him. Obedience to His Word is the greatest privilege we have ever been given, because this kind of obedience is transformative.

The Holy Spirit made the world. There is nothing He does not know … except the hour, or day when Jesus will appear again — only the Father Himself knows that. BTW, this means that Holy Spirit and Jesus do not know this piece of information! (Matthew 24:36) Astonishing! So when Christians bubble along saying the Lord is nearly here, and this and that, I don’t pay any attention. If Jesus doesn’t know… then how the heck can I know? There are more important things I need to pay attention to. Like fostering relationships with others, and the most important thing of all — walking with the Holy Spirit so our Heavenly Father is glorified.

We dare not forget that the Holy Spirit is the One Jesus sent back to be with us. He’s the One Who knows us better than a spouse, friend, brother, father or mother. Or even … ourselves! Our inner thoughts can fool us into thinking we are something we are not! He’s the One Who knows how to win our enemies, so we can all fight our real enemy, together. I believe that, whether I am here to see it or not, one day we will discover that our enemies are not who we think they are. I think that’s why Jesus told us to love them, because Love prevails, it never fails!

The way we glorify God with our bodies is written down for us in Romans 12:1 GNT: “So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer.” After Romans 12:1 comes Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

First we present our bodies, then we renew our minds, and allow them to be washed and cleaned daily by the water of His word. BTW, this kind of washing takes effort. The Lord points something out and then we ask for His help to fix it! The Spirit Himself will teach us how to glorify God in our mortal bodies, but … we’ll probably have to die to self somewhere in there.

So read the bible, do what it says, and let it change your mind – about how “God” things work — because that stuff aids our digestion of His Words. We gave our lives to Him, so our body is now the new temple of God. Galatians 3:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Imagine the practicality of this! Before Jesus came to earth, the temple was in Jerusalem – unless you were born there, you had to travel to go there. Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6. Because of Jesus, and what He did, now you and I have become God’s travelling temples. That’s a huge thought as well as an incredible privilege! As Christians we are destined to carry the Holy Spirit everywhere we go. That’s our birthright. The only thing that stops us is our ignorance. Other people don’t have to go looking for God, because if we become what we have been redeemed to become … the searching ones will see Him IN US.

WE are His temple. We are His Holy stones knit together and held together by His love. What is on the old temple’s site right now is merely a building! Let’s stop glorifying buildings, and start glorifying the One Who died for all of us, so we can begin to be a forever kind of building. Fighting over property lines, boundaries etc. is a waste of time because … people are Jesus’ true real estate. “Have you forgotten…???” … “Don’t you know….???” Let’s not ever forget to remember our part in God’s plans. Bye. 🙌

P 3519 There are two kinds of wisdom … 

/ DVH

… heavenly and earthly. When I write this blog, my aim is not to have people agree with me. Instead my hope is to inspire others to talk to Him, as well as talk to each other. Pre-digested food doesn’t help our spiritual health. There is nothing like fresh manna daily. So we daily read His Word to get a glimpse into His wisdom! James himself mentions that there are two kinds of wisdom. That gives us the opportunity to look at the Lord’s wisdom carefully, so we can identify it.

James 3:17-18 TLB: “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.”

I know the bible seems to use an excess of words – descriptive ones and sometimes seemingly irrelevant ones. But I’ve found that every single word that comes from God’s heart, sweetly burrows its way into my heart and it will profit me – if I let it. It is so easy to look at the tasks that are in the book, and do them and think that’s that! But actually I think the Lord loves the communication between Him and us, far more than us gathering info, or doing tasks. To the Lord, us listening to Him, and us talking to Him, are just as important.

I truly believe we can be transformed by this simple daily interaction. The Lord’s unconditional love is life-changing. But unless we keep looking into the mirror of His Word, or we will end up going about our day forgetting what we actually look like! Even being near Him saturates us with His all-powerful love, wisdom and goodness – whether we feel something or not.

In order to partake of His wisdom we need to know what it looks like, and bless God, James is giving us a clear description of His wisdom. Sadly we all know what man’s wisdom looks like too, that stuff is everywhere. Books, TV, radio etc. When I turn the TV on, something or other blathers at me full volume, and my brain almost melts! But the Lord’s wisdom is so gentle, we can easily miss it. Yet we need to be able to identify it, or we will ignore what He is saying to us. He won’t force what He thinks on us, our involvement in this process is purely voluntary. He doesn’t want us to miss the truth in what He says when we hear it. This world is not like Him, and it is easy to see the difference.

The Lord’s wisdom is gentle, peaceable, pure, polite, not argumentative, and He loves peace. Our Father is kind and unobtrusive, we can ignore His voice when He calls us to Himself. It is easy to hide behind: “I don’t really feel like that today,” OR “I’ll catch up tomorrow … I’m busy Lord.” The verse in James shows me that He cares so much about my life, and my freedom. But He will not interrupt me, I will have to choose to ask Him to help me. And the result of Him speaking to me, will bring me peace, not turmoil.

The Lord doesn’t use a multitude of words, He speaks directly to the point. What He says is so powerful it produces incredible results. In Genesis our Father’s response to darkness was —-“Let there be light.” No waste of words there! On another occasion He said in Malachi to the Israelites; “Your words have wearied Me.” So rattling on, mouthing platitudes, pretending to relate to Him won’t impress Him – He would much rather we were honest.

Almighty God does not mind if I ask Him questions! I ask Him things all the time. I was raised around adults so getting a word into a discussion was pretty fraught with danger back then. Seven year old kids only think they are smart! But the Lord is not like that at all. He is quite happy to explain how things work. I literally never had a father, so talking to one is a really big deal to me. The ones I knew as a child were absent, scary and only saw me when I did something wrong — that didn’t help much.

But I have discovered that the Lord is always so kind to us even as we walk with Him. Because of these glimpses of His wisdom, we learn how incredibly inadequate human beings are. We may be great at stuff that is inspired by cleverness, but we are not good with the kind of purity He has. His goodness and wisdom are like flashes of lightning when we stumble across them. Because of that, I think that the worse kind of temptation we face is not necessarily sin…

Most of us want to avoid sin like the plague. but in my opinion the worst temptation we face all the time is the temptation to believe that He is not good and He won’t be good to us. When we take His goodness as our standard, then whatever happens cannot distract us. We know that He’s good, so what He does is good and pure, it is destined to transform us. Jesus Himself told us that He came here to give us abundant life! That’s our benchmark. Our Heavenly Father does not have any secret agendas. James clearly tells us here in this passage, that the Lord’s wisdom, is wholehearted, straightforward and sincere. And we have it in writing!

There are two kinds of wisdom, the wisdom that dazzles us with razzamatazz and the wisdom that comes down from above, from ‘the Father of lights.’ James 1:17. It illuminates Who He is and who we are to Him. Bye. 👋

P 3518 The key words … HE WILL!    

/ DVH

“We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 TPT.

If we start out by deciding for ourselves that we know what is good for us, and then we look at how hard our testing times are — we will total miss the blessing of what this verse says. I know this stuff is hard, like you, I’m living through it! I like to think of verses like this one as a statement of fact – not just a guideline. Analysing how we feel, and the difficulties we are facing from our emotions or mind can be deceptive. We will miss the opportunity to take HIS WORD AS THE TRUTH. The Lord’s character is our reference point.

Despite how demanding our feelings and situations can be, our framework must be: “Thy word is truth!” Which means my framework/interpretation/opinion isn’t! When Almighty God says He will bring me through it, I need to choose to believe Him and now that becomes my focus. When what I see, in me, and my own life, contradicts what His Word says, I have a problem. My problem is that the Lord and I are no longer on the same page. Many times my own framework has influenced my thinking because of my history. And my thinking can be squirrelled up from previous experiences and difficulties in similar situations. I can have a wrong perception because I am not infallible..

Even if things look bad from the outside, or where I am standing, I need to cling to the fact that God Himself knows what is best for me. He is calling up something into my personhood that needs development. We can see this with many people in the Old Testament – what He told them to do did not seem right to them. The Lord is not trying to discourage anyone. but our God is a faith God. Everything He allows, does and says is good for us. We don’t get to choose what is good and what is not, because we are not capable of that kind of unprejudiced judgment.

Often, we don’t actually care about victory, we just want the bad bits to be over, and resolved …preferably in our favour! However, God works “EVERYTHING together for good for those who are called according to His purposes.” (Romans 8:28) Just because we can’t see the good, that does not mean it isn’t there! He has other people who can benefit from my momentary afflictions. I’ve been sick and in pain and gone to hospital because the Lord wanted me to minister to someone. We must stop thinking our lives are our own!

At other times we quite literally, can’t see past the end of our own noses, because circumstances are influencing our POV. Then logic kicks in and suddenly we are on one side of the fence and God’s Word is on the other … because I chose my own POV and now I am pouting. Pouting doesn’t work with Almighty God … read the book! I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve thought; “I’m not going to be able to do this,” And yet! Here I sit at half past seven in the morning still here. It didn’t kill me!

Here’s a really hard thought. What if we take His Word as the only truth there is and let Him discern what is good for us and what is not?! Maybe we actually don’t know what is good for us – especially spiritually speaking. Human beings don’t like pain, discomfort, inconvenience, and suffering, and so we do all we can to avoid it. What if we are avoiding God’s will for our lives, and fighting His will is using up the energy we are going to need to use our faith in His goodness instead?

I’ll just pause for a minute so you can recover.

I’ve had to learn to accept that God knows what is best for me, even when everything around me looks terrible. I’ve also learnt that He does not require me to love it when it hurts. But He definitely has a way for me to get through that pain, and if I YIELD to His greater wisdom, I will find that His way ‘works together for good for everybody’ – not just me! Yielding is the key.

Even agreement is not particularly helpful, because I can totally agree with something in principle but don’t act on it. When I yield – I am staking my life, my happiness, my well-being on His goodness. I am trusting Him, despite my own misgivings. Let’s just refresh our memory of Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.”

It seems to me that this verse is about more than simply asking Him for a parking spot! It is a way to live the new life He gave us. God exchanged His Son’s life for our sin – now we exchange our lives for His will.. If we want to walk with Him then we need to see His hand on us even in the traumatic awful bits. And if you are in pain, trouble, heartache right now let’s pray together. “Heavenly Father, please help my dear sister or brother to escape from whatever terrible situation they are in. Lord you promised us a way of escape. I’m joining my faith with theirs and asking you to please show them clearly their way out. You are a good good Father! Amen.”

Let’s remember that saying things won’t make them true, acting on it does. Folks we gotta get some skin in the game! The way to walk with Him and demonstrate His goodness is to act on what He says. What our God says is true, is true! I refuse to be moved, despite my current circumstances. His word is my plumb line. I know HE WILL HELP me, because He loves me and He’s a wonderful Father. Wait, just wait for the Lord. Bye. 👋.