Month: December 2022

P 2094 Our preconceived ideas do not faze Almighty God.

/ DVH

“Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, and about Whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” John 1:44-51 

First of all we need to notice that these men were just ordinary people – some of them were fishermen – and yet they knew the Old Testament, incredibly well! How amazing is that? Boy I wished I knew all the prophecies in my bible that well! Sadly not. ☹️ There were many years between Moses birth and death, and the Lord Jesus coming to earth. Yet despite that, these ordinary men were actually actively watching out for the One that Moses talked about! Amazing.

Jesus had heard Phillip and Nathanael’s conversation – even though He wasn’t there. This was the conversation that included “can any good thing come from Nazareth?” remark from Nathanael. 😱 But Nathanael’s careless remark about Jesus’ home town did not colour His view of this man. Instead, He spoke to others about the man’s good qualities. Oh how that comforts me… the Lord Jesus sees the best in us! WOW! Imagine that. 

Meanwhile most of us would immediately get defensive, and perhaps wonder if Jesus had been hiding behind that tree and that’s how He had heard that stuff. We’d probably be suspicious. We don’t expect the miraculous much anymore – more’s the pity! The church has often side-lined people who are really honest because honest people can threaten the status quo and let’s not touch that!  But the Lord Himself saw Nathanael’s honesty as a good thing and said so.

Some of our places of fellowship and worship can be a little like a spiritual club. A place where everybody agrees with everybody else and makes all the right noises. We are tempted to throw out anyone who doesn’t agree with us – using our own judgment and sadly lacking spiritual discernment. But truth can come through a donkey! Instead, let’s pray we are all more like Phillip. His faith activated as soon as He saw the Lord. We’ve become unused to recognising God in our midst. We need to repent, and pray that we can hear Him again. Imagine coming into church with scenes like this one. We desperately need the Holy Spirit to be our Helper, otherwise it’s impossible for other people to negotiate our set-in-cement systems.

Don’t you also just love the fact that the minute Jesus spoke to this man, Nathanael went into worship immediately. Jesus was incredibly generous to someone who didn’t even think much of the Lord’s home town. But there is nothing like a word of knowledge to throw the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11)  A word like that will draw out greater truth. That’s what Jesus did, He gave Nathanael a word of knowledge and it drew bigger faith out of the man. 

Here’s something else Jesus said over in Luke, on the same subject: “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. For that reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.” Luke 12:2&3. We might fool our friends but never forget we cannot fool the Lord Jesus. He knows everything. He did not have to announce Himself as being spiritual, He was just doing what He saw His Father doing. That’s what fatherhood is about – being an example.

BTW, I just want to encourage those of you who have unsaved family – these verses in John 1:44-51 demonstrate to us how easily the Holy Spirit can get someone’s attention and reveal Who Christ is! Now there’s a good place to dance and cheer! 😢🥳 Nothing and nobody will ever be too difficult for Him. Bye …👋🏻

PS. An  odd thought … what if everything we ever thought appeared in a bubble on the top of our heads?  Scary eh Yeah, me too.

P 2093 We all need to quit hiding in the dug-out and get into the game!

/ DVH

I have discovered over the years that I have this penchant for saying things out loud that other people don’t like to say because they are too busy being polite! Being po-lite dun killed off a whole lotta really really sweet folks who had a job to do for the Lord. 😳 And I ain’t talking about flower arranging! Sometimes, you just gotta say it how it is!

So many fantastic people over the years have given up trying to be themselves, because they couldn’t handle the opposition from the very place that was supposed to nurture them! The Lord Jesus LOVES His Bride … He sees her through His eyes of faith and love. A whole lot of people have ended up hiding from each other, mainly because they’ve been clobbered by OUR side one too many times. I’ve found that all of us just want to belong, and I suspect many of us secretly feel like giant failures. The Lord Jesus is the most wonderful fiancé… . It is time to let love cover a multitude of sins and move on to the real work – sharing His love with everyone around us.

Here’s my little tuppenny theory: these dear, difficult and awkward, sometimes annoying people that have been coming to our churches Sunday by Sunday, for years (!)  – despite them feeling alone, rejected, alienated and overwhelmed. They need to be seen differently. Perhaps it is time to realise that we have been blessed with some people who are incredibly loyal to Jesus – despite the opposition they have faced. Ya might want to pause and think on that one! 🤔

Our churches have been straining out gnats and letting camels through that dratted sieve for way too long. When anyone goes fishing, the fish don’t jump into the boat, all nicely cleaned and filleted. We need to accept each other. We have all been re-designed to grow in GRACE. Some of us are slower than others, but none of us do that just sitting in church, patiently listening to sermons – we grow by going outside the building, and stretching our faith! We all need transformation. May people have given up being REAL because they are so busy trying hard to be a good witness.  

Maybe some people in our congregations are a different kind of gift! They are here simply to annoy the living daylights out of others, because the Lord wants to show each one of us that we are not perfected yet! We gotta stop beating each other up, and start practising compassion on those amongst us who are struggling. Personally I have people in my life that I simply can’t talk to without asking for His help first. It is never good when Christians are scary.

Christians have been told by very enthusiastic leaders that if we just shape up, live right and sound right and look right, then God will be able to use us. I wonder how Balaam’s ASS managed that? Or how it worked out for Jonah, the whale mail specialist. The Lord accepted us before we even knew He was there. Let’s get this clear, being able to pray for the sick and raise the dead is not a sign of perfection. The Holy Spirit has given the Body of Christ  gifts. 🙌 Meanwhile, miracles are totally a part of everybody’s new DNA – we all get to do this stuff. Miracles are not a prize for getting Christianity right! Jesus hated it when people fussed over the supernatural and ignored opportunities for spiritual growth. He did what Father God told Him to do and walked on.

Our focus has slipped from Him to US. Do I like the singing – how was that sermon did it met my needs? The cross of Christ changed everything – now we are here for Him. The church is definitely not all that – but Jesus is! He always WAS! We’ve let our own immaturity govern the way we approach other people, as well as the rest of the world. The Body of Christ is not a club with an exclusive membership. We are a bunch of broken, ornery, sometimes imperfect people, who found out, by happy accident, that Almighty God truly loves all kinds of people! That’s what we must shout from any platform we have

I believe in miracles, and praying for the sick, and seeing people saved and set free – but you cannot convince me that one person is more valuable to the Lord than another. The people in the Old Testament that are featured were all leaders. But when we get to the New Testament, you see an ordinary man and a slip of a girl, fulfilling God’s purposes. The Holy Spirit is teaching us something from the first sentence in Matthew … you and I live in the time of nobodies doing great exploits. God is simply looking for hearts that are devoted to Him. Instead of praising or elevating men and women, because of gifts – we need to focus on the Giver Who gave them.

I don’t care how spiritual we think we are, ordinary people need to stop hiding and climb out of the dug-out and find somebody to help, and then start praying for and helping them. Share His love. Meanwhile, God’s love doesn’t need thousands of dollars to keep the ministry wheels turning – Jesus walked everywhere! 

His unconditional, overwhelming Love transforms people –  telling other people – that is our mandate. 👋🏻

P 2092 Remain teachable. 

/ DVH

Teachability is not just agreeing what whatever is said, it is taking the time to find out how it will work in your own life and then – doing it. Saying that another way – teachability is about growth. Not just in knowledge, but in outwardly visible changed attitudes and actions. The people who really know us can see that we are different, especially those who are close to us. And our love for Him overflows toward others. We are not meant to be a people who are ‘all talk and no action.’ Action is our middle name!

A teachable person is humble. They don’t assume they know everything, instead they remain open to change – even if they already know about what is being said – their cry is always “more Lord, deeper still – change my heart even more.” They don’t see saying “Amen” as saying: “I already knew that, I agree with you.” They see it as saying: “Lord, I need that. Do that in me. Open my heart to new possibilities. I need MORE of You.” They understand that repentance means making room in their hearts for more of His love to transform them. 

Week by week this type of believer goes to church hoping with all their hearts to learn more about Him. Their hearts are open because they want to know how to please HIM. When the pastor says: “do this and don’t that,” their immediate response is: “Oh Lord! I haven’t done this and I didn’t do that, please forgive me!” They are incredibly humble and don’t mind being overlooked.

Their response to conviction is not presumption – it’s a deep appreciation and repentance. Yes Jesus paid for it all, but the freedom He died to give us is the free choice we now have to serve Him. To love Him with all our hearts. These people’s lives are lived laid down, they want to live according to His purposes.When things get tough they know that God is strengthening them, hardening them to difficulties. 

If they see that their neighbour has a need, they are there helping with no agenda … because love doesn’t need an agenda! They wouldn’t dream of cheating anyone, at the shops, or on their income tax. They can’t see loop-holes, because their eyes are so full of love for others and the Lord Jesus! These people are the redeemed of the Lord. They weren’t just redeemed once, long ago. His people are sincere to the core. So if someone comes to their house, they will see exactly the same person who sings happily in church Sunday by Sunday. His people don’t do fake – they value His Presence too much.

Teachable people are sweet people, they want HIM more than a good image because they lost their pride years ago! Their pride was nothing in comparison to knowing Him. None of us can be the people who do great exploits when we live out our lives differently behind closed doors, hiding from the public gaze. What we believe inside needs to show up outside.

Christians are not meant to be schizophrenics – behaving one way one day and another when nobody else is around.We are the ones who deliver mentally tormented people- we are not destined to be one. And, FYI, I am not criticising those poor sods who are tormented in their minds because of their circumstances etc.

If we have no power, and our prayers are not being answered, we need to take that personally and ask the Lord: “Why not? what am I doing wrong?”Years ago now I belonged to a smallish church and the pastor’s sermons were rather intellectual. It drove me crazy! I got so frustrated – I wanted to leave the church. FYI the problem was me, not the pastor!

One day I was praying and complaining about the poor man, yet again … and the Lord interrupted me: “I fed the Israelites in the wilderness,” He said, “I gave them the bread of angels. I can feed you here, in this place. Use your faith, listen for My voice inside the pastor’s voice..”  That dryness never ever happened again because I realised my source was the Lord Himself not just the pastor. I became this man’s biggest fan, because the Lord gave me so much through what He said that challenged me. Angel food is challenging!

So is remaining teachable.  If there is something hindering our walk with Him, we can always ask Him for help, and He will help us. Pray to be teachable – read Psalm 1 – it will help you grow. 👋🏻

P 2091  Repentance is a process.   

/ DVH

I think I have mentioned before that my dear hubby sometimes sends me a verse that has touched his heart, and I loved it as well. Like this one in Luke 7:47: “She has been forgiven of all her many sins. This is why she has shown me such extravagant love.But those who assume they have very little to be forgiven will love me very little.”” (Emphasis mine.)

This was hubby’s comment: “I love this verse. It shows me those who think they are ok and basically good won’t reach out for forgiveness, and therefore don’t have the love for Him (expressed in action) because they’ve shut the gate of experiencing it.”  Wow! We won’t experience God’s love in all its fullness when we hide from our own sins – or gloss over them – or excuse them.

But when we acknowledge our sin – His immediate tender forgiveness opens our eyes further and suddenly we will see what we’ve been given! Our love for Him is released.. But if we excuse, or dismiss our sin as nothing, we are missing out on one of the PRIMARY WAYS to recognise God’s love and give love back to HIM.The whole point of calvary was to set us free from sin and reassure us that no matter what we’ve done – we are loved.  When we ask for forgiveness – it opens our hearts, then gratitude takes over because He is gracious to us and we are so undeserving.

This verse says that the measure that we use to assess our sin is the same thing which will cloud the view we have of sin. Itlimits our perception of His Love and it puts a ceiling on our love toward Him. EG: If we think whatever we did was kind of nothing – then we will not live gratefully and our hearts won’t be open to more of His love pouring in. It’s an exchange – repentance opens our hearts to the exchange. 

The punch line is that NONE of us deserve forgiveness. This woman understood she had sinned against HIM and her actions opened the floodgates of her heart toward Him. She demonstrated her love for Him! We cannot afford to assume we are OK in His eyes, we need to ask Him to show us how, when, where and with whom – we have missed the mark. And thenhumbly fall at His feet. What she did that day, through those actions, is still remembered to this day. Her gratitude and love was in those tears.

We don’t have to be afraid anymore to be utterly honest with ourselves because His love races toward us. When we repent we stay “in Christ Jesus” – covered by His blood.Confession and repentance open the doors to a greater awareness of how wide how deep and how great His love is toward us, and how much love we owe Him. Being sinful is no longer our problem, Jesus took care of that – BUT – deliberately staying that way IS still sin! Telling the Lord that we cannot change when He paid for us to change, and gave us the power to do it – is sin. We are minimising His incredible Grace and cheating Him out of the glory He deserves.. 

We can also be imprisoned by our own lack of humility. Pride gets in the way. It is as if we are in a jail cell and the door is wide open, Jesus Himself opened it, and He is waiting on the other side, and we sit there like Gollum hanging onto his ‘precious!’  All because we refuse to acknowledge that we have hurt others and ourselves. The woman in this story went from sorrow to ACTION. She did something about her sin, she didn’t just acknowledge it and go away, she openly repented, in front of the very people who condemned her. She poured out her grateful love on His feet.

We must not use the forgiveness that cost Jesus so much to just blithely go about and do what we like. When we refuse to acknowledge the sins that we tolerate, the things that need His Grace, we can’t see Him properly. Christ paid a huge cost to give us this freedom, and He has even more incredible love to pour out upon those who will humble themselves and set their faces to live a life of grateful service. 

God’s good news is this – human beings no longer have to be punished for their sinful behaviour, Jesus was punished in our place. BUT … we cannot use this precious incredible gift to continue down the pathways of sin – by not loving, not caring, not sharing, not changing etc. We are primarily a grateful people who love MUCH. Bless you today, 👋🏻

“But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:47a

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