Month: May 2023

P 2264 Gratitude leads to surrender.

/ DVH

“Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (MSG) Loving other human beings the way that God loves us, not only seems impossible – I actually think it IS impossible. On the other hand, earthly Love promises the moon but rarely gives us anything as valuable in return. Earthly Love can often take everything from you. And sadly, sometimes, nothing comes back.

I think we’ve reduced loving God into a concept, rather than aiming at it becoming a reality. Some people might say, “I really love roses or I love chocolate, or I adore my car.”   Whilst all those kinds of things are legitimate, because we all have likes and preferences, sadly I think we have also reduced the word ‘love’ to just another adjective – like ‘blue sky’ or ‘pretty rainbow.’ However in reality, the kind of love God talks about in the bible, is not only interactive, it is see-able. After all His love came to earth to save us from ourselves.  

This kind of love often remains unseen, unheralded, and unappreciated, and because of it’s invisibility, many people try to escape from their own sacrificial response to God’s love –  because  they want to have their cake and eat it too. His Love does not have divided loyalties. My biggest concern is that Christians have adopted this word the way the world has adopted it, as an adjective, and it has become a description, using it as an adjective or noun. Those things are often tied to feelings. There is an unseen war in this world today over the word Love.  It has been watered down and used frivolously.  To understand love, and in particular God’s love, we must always look at Christ – He is our glorious illustration of inward affection being expressed outwardly and perfectly, by the way He lived and died. 

It seems to me that we are very happy to receive whatever Jesus died to give us – so we can go to heaven, but sadly, we are not nearly as happy to give up our idea of this life and all of its benefits, for His sake. We have forgotten Calvary was an exchange – His life for ours. There are no exceptions to this new way of life. We need to understand that we are not too young or too old or too infirm or preoccupied with making our own personal lives successful. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 NIV. 

Jesus Christ was not a kissy huggy demonstrative person – yet He still absolutely demonstrated His love in a way we can see and copy. His love went beyond outward signs of affection into living His whole life for our benefit. We cannot, and dare not, ignore what He intentionally modelled it in front us. Despite popular opinions Christ did not die so we could have a better life here. He died to give us the power to live this life here and now for His sake. For the sake of His kingdom.

Jesus was not a part-time lover of God, He lived every second of every day He was given, for His Father’s sake.

It is true that He believes we are worth it, but we are taking advantage of His huge largesse when we do not live this life to the full.  What would it be like if our earthly friends only helped us when it suited them, or when it was convenient?  Does that seem like true friendship to you? Jesus told us in the above scripture that this is the pinnacle of love, to live a sacrificial life dedicated to Him, representing Him, with no thought of recompense.

I would go so far as to say if we think we are fulfilling this criteria by using our ministry gift, prayer, bible study, worship in a form of tokenism and hope He won’t notice the difference … this means, at the very least, we are terrible friends of His. Up until Jesus came, the lamb offering people brought for sacrifices for their sins had to be perfect.  Christ was our perfect sacrifice.  I don’t think He is looking for us to get it perfectly right, rather, I think He is looking for us to be so in-love with Him that the word, “No”, doesn’t even occur to us, our response to His love is our devotion.  I know I’m not there yet.  

All I want to do today is to challenge everyone about what needs to happen in our lives for US to love Him back the way He loved us.  It’s our heart attitude that matters. It doesn’t matter that we fail.  But just like a compass always points to true north, our hearts need to swing away from the distractions and troubles of this life back to the Saviour. And then gratitude will lead to surrender.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.” 1 John 3:1 NIV. The way to behold Him is see Him for Who He really is – so we must go past His hands to His face which is filled with Love for us. He doesn’t want spoiled brats, He wants people who voluntarily choose to love Him right back. 👋🏻

P 2263 Always remember, Love is the umpire.

/ DVH

I have spoken before about hubby and I and the blessing we have regarding spiritual connection. We think perhaps together, we are one of those supporting ligaments described in Ephesians. Let’s look in Chapter 4:16 “From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.” God has graciously given hubby and I that kind of connection. Praise Him. 🙌 Now, we can both be as stubborn and determined to get our own way as the next guy, but we know that the Lord put us together for a purpose. 

However, if your marriage is bumpy or shaky, maybe you could start to pray that God will create between you and your spouse the perfect joint, so that each side can function well, fully supported by the other one. Jesus is the greatest cartilage we could ever ask for to keep us from rubbing our end of the other joint raw. Put Him between you and your spouse, or prayer partner – it is not wise to tolerate friction, that is destructive. However, Love will not put all the work on the other person either. Remember, we are meant to support each other, this is not a one way deal – with one partner drowning in the other one’s ministry.

If you happen to be single, then find someone you trust to pray with, and support them. Paul had Timothy, and Silas – he supported them and they supported him. Today is the time to fix any dislocated joints we know about so we can begin to move cohesively together. As we are Christians this means repairing things to the Holy Spirit’s satisfaction, as well as both of the parties. Otherwise, we will push that joining together out of alignment by ourselves. We need to deal with any dislocation immediately. Serving one another and supplying each other’s needs, helps the body to function smoothly.

This has, recently, become so apparent to Hubby and I because of my accident on Saturday.  In difficult times, one part of that joint may need to serve as a ‘splint’ for the other one so the repairing process can take place. Many times I have noticed the reason for marriages struggling is because one partner is forced into trying to maintain the joint but without the other partner’s contribution.

Think about it like this:  even in our fingers, health for our digit relies on the blood supply being able to get through.  In spiritual matters, we can hold up the growth process for both people by restricting the blood supply – the Holy Spirit’s input.  The bible tells us one half of the joint supplies the other under His guidance, and hubby and I have seen that work many, many times. I cannot do what I do without him.  And he cannot do what he does without me.  Ministry of any sort, is not supposed to divide.

Hubby is typing this blog for me, he is taking dictation, because I need both hands to type. When we are on the road, giving away bibles etc, God might give me a word of knowledge that sets hubby off on the Lord’s pathway when he meets the stranger. It is astonishing to me that I can give him a word of knowledge, and he can act on it, and it all turns out wonderfully – but not at all the way I think it will.

This is where trust comes in, I trust my husband and he  trusts me. This kind of supply for the other person is based totally on trust.  Sometimes he says, “I’m going to do thus and thus..”, and in my mind, I’m thinking, “That will never work” – but it always does.  We need to learn to have faith in each other, to have faith in Jesus IN the other person.  It appears that trust and ‘submitting to one another’ go hand-in-hand, and that creates a spiritual flow just like the veins in our hands – blood goes up, it comes back down.  The important part is the Blood.  We must not restrict the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

He is the star on this stage.  The two people involved have laid aside their own egos and attitudes … even the things they have learnt from their family of origin, when they do not align with the bible. The Holy Spirit loves to flow, but He needs yielded vessels that want to submit to Him and to each other, for the greater good.  Always remember LOVE IS THE UMPIRE. 👋🏻 Bye.

P 2262 How not to go up, or down the stairs!

/ DVH

Well, we had a difficult day the day before yesterday. Have you ever had one of those days where everything you already know about the Lord is tested, and then tested some more? That day had more surprises than we anticipated.

We have a routine in the morning, certain things happen before other things happen. Our bedroom is downstairs, so in order to have breakfast and type this blog I have to go upstairs. There are seven stairs and I slipped, and promptly   banged my chin etc and a few other things, on every step on the way down. 

And there I sat at the bottom of the stairs having broken off the neck of my humerus. A couple of hours later they managed to get me off to the hospital. We discovered low and behold, it would need a huge operation to fix what I broke. And liver transplant patients really should not ever have huge operations.  In this case, breaking my humerus was not all that funny!

A couple of hours later, the hospital sent us home because I can’t have an awful lot of pain killers either.  And I haven’t even got any plaster to show for my adventure!  I feel gypped.  It is an amazing thing when your world goes upside down, because you learn even more strongly, that you really can’t control anything.  Hubby and I were chatting on the way home because some disasters give you a fresh POV about what the Lord Jesus suffered on the cross.  We probably don’t think of things like that when life is normal.  

So now we have to wait for my body to heal itself, and hubby is helping me lots more than he usually has to…..what fun!  The healing process will take awhile so I am on restricted duties, not that I had many in the first place, and I am developing a distinct dislike of stairs.  Needless to say, nobody slept very well at our house last night.

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”John 16: 33.

I got to thinking about that scripture today and realised that Jesus figuratively, and literally, DID overcome the sorts of things we have to overcome.  I’m going to try and list a few, but I bet you will come up with a bigger list than me.  Mary got pregnant before she got married – that would have made her an outcast, so Jesus was rejected in the womb.  People would have looked sideways at Joseph too.  They were very poor.  The Lord was a refugee by the time He was barely walking. They had no family to help them because they left them all behind.  satan tried to kill Jesus right after He was born. 

His dad was a carpenter so Jesus knows all about the troubles and trials and sorrows that plague ordinary people like us.  He lived His life, literally, at war with the religious society around Him.  People came to Him for what He could do for them, very few came for Who He is.  He suffered from conspiracies against Him.  His stepfather died when He was young and He had half brothers and sisters.  He was stolen from, betrayed, misunderstood, called a liar, heretic, and this is just a sample of what He faced.

When they murdered Him, among many things, His shoulders were dislocated.  People fought over His clothes whilst He was dying … and, yet, the Lord still took the time to give the man hanging next to Him the opportunity as He was leaving this world to go and be with Him in the next.  He was the victim of somebody else’s jealousy, religious proclivities – and everybody left Him at the end.  Food for thought.

So as you go about earning your daily bread, doing chores or studying, remember He overcame the things that will bury us if we let them.  Because He did that, now we can do it too.  👋🏻🤕 Bye.

P 2261 Agreement is not participation.

/ DVH

“So this is why we abandon everything morally impure and all forms of wicked conduct. Instead, with a sensitive spirit we absorb God’s Word, which has been implanted within our nature, for the Word of Life has power to continually deliver us. Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let His Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life!” James 1:21-22 TPT.

Yes, James did just say we can totally deceive ourselves! Not responding to what we read, or even not co-operating with the Holy Spirit in our lives, is self-deception. Lots of people agree that Jesus was a man Who came to earth, lived and died here. Most of them do not do anything further about it! Agreement is not enough! God is looking for changed hearts – not just mental assent. Our hearts will not be changed without us giving Him permission PLUS acting on what He tells us. Those two things go hand in hand. We need to swallow our pride … and be careful we don’t choke … and start again, this time with humility.

Here’s a litmus test for you. Would your spouse, family, or friends, say you have visibly changed in your attitudes and actions since you started following Jesus? I’m not just talking about church attendance either. I mean other people can see that God is knocking off the rough nasty bits and polishing your life like a gemologist polishes a fine stone. The point of salvation is a changed life. Not just somebody who knows how to look good, or sound good or parrot off the right words. Instead, like Paul of Tarsus, we aren’t the same old frightful person we were before we met Him!

We can all play nice when we are in company- smile, nod, and suck up our feelings when they are hurt, because we don’t want to embarrass ourselves. But who are we when the front door closes and somebody at our house annoys us? Yeah! I know. Trust me to ask that one! 😳 Transformation is a sign God is at work within. You don’t lick apples – you bite into them … what will someone else taste when they accidentally, or not – bite into you? We can all end up deceiving ourselves into thinking “I’m doing OK, I did such and such the other day, that makes me a good Christian.”

Skipping over God-given opportunities is a very risky business. I tell myself, “one more time!”  Almighty God does not like it when we abuse His Grace. It is better to admit, to the Lord, yourself and especially to others – that you have failed. Asking the person who is annoyed at you or the one who has hurt you, to pray for you is humbling – but powerful. Like I said, agreement is not participation. Participation comes when we bite the bullet and say ‘no’ to what we think and submit ourselves to one another. And yeah, it sucks! Dying to self does. 

In the Western world we are so indulged by comfort and ease we actually think we still have options. Ask the African lady who has been raped multiple times how hard it is for her to forgive those that trespassed against her. Or the Ukrainian man who has lost his entire family to a missile. Our choices in the West are not hard – they are simply cutting across our self-indulged ways. I know that we can suffer hardships too, but these things, when we face up to them, make us stronger in the Lord and the power of His might… if we let them and act on them. We need to stop protecting the old-self …sometimes even with scriptures and supposedly Godly attitudes. We must stop believing what we say qualifies us. What Christ DID qualifies us. And He died to change us.

Saying I am a horse does not make me a horse. Even if I go and live in a stable and eat hay and neigh all day. I could even learn to run faster … well, maybe not that …!!  😂 Saying I’m right, or I’m a Christian, or refusing to acknowledge that I need to be corrected, does not make my opinion of myself true. We have whole churches full of people who love to sing songs and prophesy and wave their arms about. They smile at everyone and the minute they get into their car to go home they are shouting at each other.  

Plus they cheat on their income tax. Hilariously I can almost hear someone grumbling at me: “now, that’s enough, my income tax is my business lady!” A humble heart takes correction with Grace, even if it is wrong. If you don’t believe me, then believe this: “I gave My back to the smiter and My cheeks to those who plucked out the hair. I hid not My face from shame and spitting,..” (Isaiah 50:6 KJV)… or this … “When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten; but He trusted to Him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23 RSV) We are not aiming at a better, nicer ME – our aim is to be LIKE HIM. Agreement that what God says is true, is not participation. 👋🏻

P 2260 Kingdom farming!

/ DVH

Matthew 13:31-32 “He (Jesus) told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

The kingdom of God it is described by the Lord, as being like many things: a treasure, a pearl, many seeds, family treasure, leaven, sprouting seeds, a net, and for today’s blog – a mustard seed. The more we tend to His kingdom in our lives, the bigger it grows. The more we cultivate, acknowledge, and obediently interact with His kingdom in our lives, the more we will grow. This means that other people can come to our little ‘kingdom of God mustard tree’ and shelter in its safety.

We don’t make this tree grow by ourselves – the ground it is planted in does. A whole lot of people move around from one church to another in Christian circles, because they decide they don’t like the soil they were planted in! Imagine a tree that moves around?? In His kingdom we do not grow because of the soil – we grow as we accept that it is our destiny to grow, and dry ground or rocks provide us with the opportunity to adapt and grow stronger. 

Every time you and I do whatever the Lord says in the book, on purpose, His way … we are nourishing the kingdom of God within us. Just like we would fertilise and water a mustard seed plant. That seed inside us is nurtured by  obedience and by us choosing to abide where we were planted. Saying ‘no’ to yourself in difficult moments, and ‘yes’ to God’s way, can seem very insignificant, but when we live that way, we are providing the right atmosphere for the Kingdom of God to grow inside us. We are abiding!

Sadly, we can’t just speak about growth and claim it, and hope it will magically appear. Like I said a tree when it has been planted – does not pull up its roots if it doesn’t like the spot it is in and go walk-about. It yields to and adapts to its circumstances. This means WE will need to change. The major point of this parable is that this particular seed is destined for greater things. It is there to grow and provide safety for others. When we have deep roots, our ‘tree’ won’t just flop over when a storm hits. Storms, I have decided, are inevitable. We cannot prevent them. Despite all our efforts to the contrary, we can’t control much of anything. Sadly, in some circumstances, we can’t even control ourselves!

It is also important to take the time to meditate on the fact that His kingdom has no end. So every time we co-operate with His kingdom coming into our lives, we are touching the eternal… and the eternal is touching us. Like I said before, we are providing for others when we live this way. I’ve watched this happen through my husband’s attitude toward strangers. He believes in the kingdom of God within Him and He knows God wants to touch others! 

Recently our bank changed its system. Yay! We were told if we did thus and thus all would be well. Naturally, we promptly did thus and thus – BUT … all was not well! The bank had provided for this time of change by listing a number we could call. Hubby called the number. But as he was talking with the bank operator, he empathised with her about what a tough day she must be having, because she had to deal with so many calls. Hubby cared for her, instead of getting grumpy because this new system inconvenienced us. She opened up to him like a sunflower. The young lady came into his mustard tree’s shade and was able to rest. For a few minutes she was free from having to explain her work’s policy and she was able to be herself. They had a great chat and in the end, all was finally well!

Matthew 13:10-12 says this: “The disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance…”

The way to get an abundance of His love to give away, and provide shelter for others, is to cherish and nurture His kingdom within us. His kingdom must go deep inside us – this means it will challenge and expose flaws and hindrances to growth. But many many people will find rest, comfort, encouragement, healing and a greater knowledge of God Himself in our own personal mustard tree. This is why we need to be good Kingdom farmers – so people can personally, “…taste and see that the Lord is good!” 🌳 Bye 👋🏻

P 2259 My own personal kryptonite.

/ DVH

I have found, over the years, there is at least one person in my life that is like kryptonite to me. I trust the Lord and lean on His strength in many, many places … but, unfortunately, this one person weakens me instantly with just one sentence or look. That person is a very close relative. The night before last, I spent part of the evening dreaming I was shrieking and screaming at them for what seemed like hours. I woke up, agitated, still inwardly reciting everything they ever did against me, as well as mentally telling them what an awful person I think they are.

I realise I am not responsible for my dreams, but I am aware that in my heart, whenever this person hurts me … there is this continual, resounding phrase. “They did it again!” Now Jesus was very clear, people get 490 opportunities to shoot us down every single day. Because of our new heart, which we have been given, our response is to be forgiveness. Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure the Lord wasn’t saying that when we get to 491 offences we can let ‘er rip! 😳 There are 1440 minutes in a day – this means that somebody has to hurt us regularly every 2.9 minutes to qualify for us to quit! OK we can see that ain’t gunna happen, anyway, most of us sleep some of that time! 

However, I personally know that there are some people who go out of their way to push that number as far as they can! In my life this person is one of those. They can pole axe me with a sentence. This morning I realised that despite the fact that I practice forgiveness toward them, over and over again! I am still inwardly angry with them because they are disturbing the nice picture of who I am inside my head. Plus I’m mad because they don’t seem to try to understand me at all. We just keep bumping heads. They consistently tread all over my feelings, and I have to wrangle with myself so I can calm down again. 

Now, I know that God put this person in my life.  Their presence is not an accident, they are a relative – and we definitely do not choose our relatives! But I can also see clearly that I am not coming from the kingdom of God when I am around them. Instead I am coming from a defensive position. Fight or flight. I have gone so far over into offence, despite forgiving them over and over again, I actually anticipate trouble whenever I am around them! In other words, I live expecting them to sin against me … mainly because their track record ain’t great.

BTW I don’t think this person is doing any better in our relationship than I am – they too are puzzled, hurt, and betrayed by the fact that we do not get along. I decided that although I understand the principle of forgiveness – I was failing in the prac! The Lord told us to forgive others over and over again, so let’s assume that you and I probably have more than one person who drives us crazy. That’s a whole lot of ongoing forgiveness we need to participate in … every single day.

I came to the conclusion that somehow I was missing a key point in what Jesus told us to do. Here’s what I think, I think the Lord’s greatly exaggerated number means that I am meant to live a life of forgiveness toward everyone I interact with. This is great news … and no, I haven’t lost my mind! First of all, I know that I cannot possibly do that stuff all the time in my own strength. So, there must be a way for me to live like that … after all, Jesus is my physical, emotional and spiritual example. He lived that way – He lived a life full of forgiveness. 

After praying and thinking about it I realised sometimes scriptures need to be digested and acted upon in some sort of  order. EG: “I need to seek His kingdom FIRST… and then… all these (other) things (like true forgiveness) will be added unto me.” It’s simple. ‘Other things’ include forgiveness. My primary focus was wrong. I was seeking to give away forgiveness before seeking His kingdom. In His kingdom there IS pure forgiveness. So I started praying that I will seek His kingdom before everything else from now on! Living with His kingdom inside me changes everything.To start with, forgiveness, love and purity are part of that kingdom. Not to mention healing and transformation!

In conclusion I just want to mention something else I’ve noticed about ‘kryptonite.’  Anyone else who looks, sounds, or acts like this person I struggle with, can often provoke a reaction from me, toward them. Maybe not even outwardly, but definitely inwardly. That is another sign-post that I have not truly forgiven this primary person who hurts me.  I can see that I am holding onto any hurt or wounding as a defensive weapon, because of the fear of exposing my inner self around unsafe people. Trying to protect myself against further ‘attacks.’  BUT – in God’s kingdom the bible says: … “My God is my protection and with HIM I am safe.”

As I’ve said before, fear and love are mutually opposed, one excludes the other. To deflect satan’s kryptonite in our lives – we need to be hidden in Christ, living in His kingdom, not our own. Food for thought. 👋🏻

P 2258 So many denominations

/ DVH

Yeah, let’s established first up, on this blog you have one older lady’s opinion … right? I’m not a theologian, I haven’t been to bible school, I simply met Jesus Christ eons ago, and I’ve been following Him ever since. IF I know anything at all – HE taught me. Sadly there were some times that I ignored Him in favour of what my denomination taught me,  and yes I’ve repented! My point is, my opinions are limited.

I saw the above cartoon and I loved it. It seemed to me that it was the best explanation for why there are so many Christian denominations in this world. We are all looking at the same thing, we are just standing in different places. Please forgive me for intimating our Heavenly Father is like an elephant, that is not what I am trying to say! I am commenting on the fact that we all have so many different doctrines.

Some denominations even have sub-denominations! 😳 It also seems if you are in a denomination and want to make a splash, then you can skive off and start your own. Especially if what you believe seems important enough. That’s like expecting our arm to work by itself. Can’t happen! The Body of Christ is fragmented by its belief systems.  

The best I can offer by way of explanation is this – even if you have only two people you will still have a whole heap of different opinions. BTW, that could be why some marriages don’t work – people fall in love, but they don’t share the same basic beliefs and opinions. It’s the nitty gritty stuff that divides us, and “true love” often blinds us all! Well that was free! Moo-ving on …

… The fact is Almighty God is too big, too wise, too wonderful to be explained by any, or all of us. He is so much bigger than we have allowed Him to be. We are not acquainted with the fact that we don’t have to understand Him to relate to Him. And we don’t have to think like Him to explain Him – I suggest we let Him explain Himself. He’s so big He can say one thing to one person and something else to someone else. And both things are true. We must return to the place of wonder. It’s OK to not know stuff – instead let’s just fall in love with the God Who made it all.

If we think we can explain Him, no matter how clever we are, or how many words we take to do it, we are fooling ourselves. A truly wise person lets God explain Himself. And that’s called revelation. “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly just as He knows us!” 1 Corinthians 13:12.

We need to be in a relationship with Him, and treasure His Presence far more than we need to understand how He thinks. People grab at this thing and that thing and think … “Aha! I finally have the Answer.” Denominations occur when we start trying to explain God. Even though some of those explanations or revelations are fantastic … but those things are not all there is. As soon as we think we have some sort of basic idea that sums up Almighty God – we just limited Him. We keep trying to fit  Almighty God into our teeny tiny boxes, and because He truly IS God, He will burst out of them!

We don’t have to prove Him. Let Him prove Himself! I don’t have to prove the sun is out when it is daytime or nighttime. Even if it is raining or cloudy – the SUN is still there. I just need to position myself into a place where I can see beyond my earthly restrictions. Like board a plane, or climb up above the clouds. Our position before Him is what matters, and to stand in the right place we need to realise that He is God and we are not. It is OK to have a Daddy Who knows more than we do. 

God forgave us all. He does not see the restrictions and boundaries and doctrines the way we see them – He sees people. And He loves them. Read the book! It is all about God relating to His people. Because of Jesus Christ, we are all now His people. No matter what denomination we belong to. We waste our time on this earth fighting, or abusing one another over things that won’t last. Father God does not care what colour skin we have, what sort of accent we have, what we believe – or not, HE JUST LOVES HIS KIDS. It’s in the book.

He’s so glorious He loves the people who actively hate Him. Imagine that. Not just loving your enemies, but deliberately actioning a plan to save them from themselves and then sacrificing Your only Son to provide the way to do it. That blows my mind. Let’s just agree that we don’t have to understand Him to love Him back. They will know we are Christians by our love … not by our denomination. Bye. 👋🏻

P 2257 Finding your way….

/ DVH

I’m aware that because of the way the internet works, every now and then some poor sod staggers onto this site, thinking it is about running, or exercise, or fishing, or cooking or … whatever. I have previously used some pretty unusual titles, and I suspect that that means there may be people who have never even heard of Jesus Christ, wandering in through my cyber-door. 

Well, welcome! 🥳  I urge you not to bail out too quickly. Instead, spend a few minutes reading this, because my daily blog is not huge, and you just might find out something you don’t know.

However, first things first… I don’t want your money! 😂 Everything is always about money nowadays so I thought we’d better clear that up right away! At the same time, I don’t want to sell you a  … ‘you-beaut-all-purpose-gizmo that will wash the car or feed your pets and bath the baby as well as fix your marriage!‘ My advice about your marriage is… you broke it… you fix it! 

BUT…I know SomeOne Who would be DE-lighted to help you! His Name is Jesus. So today, I would like to encourage anyone who has happened to wander in here, to take the time to read the bible. It’s online for free, at biblegateway.com  You can even read it on your phone – did I mention it is free? I suggest that you read the bible in a modern version where they speak conversational English, or you can even find one in your own native tongue. It helps if you start with reading a Gospel. You will find that word in the index. There are four Gospels. I’m personally, a huge fan of the Gospel of John. John explains exactly Who Jesus Christ is. 

The book of Luke is great if you are sick, he shares a lot about Jesus healing people. Matthew is full of facts and figures for those who enjoy statistics, and Mark is written in a story form. Mark’s Gospel follows Jesus’ life from the beginning right up until the end. All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus from four individual POVs. You know, everybody ought to read the bible at least once! Then you need to decide, for yourself, if you believe what you’ve read … or not. Stuff like – IS Jesus Christ Who He says He is?

At this point, you will probably need to know that the bible is not like other books. Other books give us info. God’s book reveals Who He is, to anyone who is deliberately looking for Him. “Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who sincerely try to find Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) Almighty God deliberately came to this earth in Person, 2000+ years ago, to show us how much He loves mankind. 

That’s Who Jesus Christ is – Almighty God in Person. While He was here, Jesus healed people, counselled them, and taught them stuff. But the biggest thing He ever did, He did when He voluntarily died on the cross for all our sins. Your sin, mine, the Pope’s, people who are liars, drug dealers, alcoholics, promiscuous people, gossipers, murderers … everybody’s sin. Christ chose to be punished for all of mankind. 

The question I want to ask you today … before I bail out, (as promised!) – is this. Do you believe what Jesus says?  If you think the bible is another ancient story like Pinocchio, or Aesop’s fables, then nothing will probably change. Except you might give this site a swerve next time! 🤪 But, if you believe that Jesus Christ is Who He says He is – then take the time to find out about Him, read His book. 

Look carefully to see what kind of a man Christ is. See if you think He is God. Then you need to decide what you want to do about it. You could start by asking Him to make Himself real to you. I met Him 50 years ago, and He totally changed my life. Thanks for dropping by …👋🏻

P 2256 Move!

/ DVH

Some people, in the past, have said that I’m a bit prophetic. Hmm I don’t know about that! However, yesterday, in my mind’s eye, I could see time like a large wall, stretching backward and forward. In this wall I saw a window. It was a large window but the scary thing is – it was slowly closing. I believe this window is called the window of opportunity. 

Meh! Ask the Lord about that for yourself.“And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and He will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but He will overwhelm your failures with His generous grace.” James 1:5 TPT. He straightens out my theology all the time!

Back to my point: what with Tsunamis, 9/11, Covid, the war in Ukraine, earthquakes, monetary markets crashing, food and medical shortages, plus various other awful things happening;  these things have polarised the world and affected everyone on this planet. It seems to me that nobody feels really safe anymore, because we have quite regularly experienced worldwide destructive events in an unprecedented fashion. 

However, this also means that the church all over the world, has a huge opportunity, because the people-who-don’t-know-Jesus-yet are ready for something real. And we are incredibly blessed because we know that Answer, personally. And, right here, right now, it’s our time to shine with the light of heaven, Jesus Christ. It is remarkably easy to put your light under a basket when things are overwhelming. But our time to live His way – I believe, is here and now. We must stop sort of squashing Jesus in, around the edges of all the fun things we can do, and live up to our Master’s faith in us. He is our place of safety.

I know that I know, that this is the time to start taking our Christian lives VERY seriously. We must stop thinking that going to church Sunday by Sunday is all there is, and take the faith that Jesus died to give us, and use it. If we do not start to use it, I am deeply concerned that we will lose it. As I said before, these are unprecedented times with unexpected and terrible pressures. That’s when the pressure to survive becomes more important than anything else, and real active faith goes on the back burner. The thing is, we need our faith now more than ever, because the enemy is distracting us away from our true God-given purpose.

Let’s believe and act on what we talk about. Hubby and I have been out there, where people are, and we know they are ready for something real. Like James, said, we need to show forth our faith by our works. Obviously I mean the kind of works that originate in His heart and are led by the Holy Spirit. It’s time to prime the pump of obedience. Sadly, because we’ve had a lot of unknown factors recently  – we are all a bit wary of more bad things happening – so we’ve kind of bunkered down, waiting for the storms to pass. But they haven’t. Praise God, it has opened the hearts of the people outside our churches, instead!

So what happens when we decide to take a risk and to talk to family, friends, and strangers about Him? We could get to look like a goose … and in my case, that wouldn’t be the first time!  Many people have crashed and burned in their desire to bring glory to their Master, Jesus. When we do that we are in some really great company … like the people who have gone home before us! It’s also time to face those things in our lives that we would rather ignore and hope they will go away. Our faults, our flaws, our generational, soul-destroying stinky attitudes and actions!  The Lord Jesus is absolutely excellent at putting broken Humpty-Dumpties together again. So true active repentance is the order of the day as well.

Getting this stuff wrong, ironically … is good. It is like a cleansing fire, it burns away all the dross that this life has accumulated. Pride disappears, so does fear. Instead, living for Him and obeying Him humbles us and sends us to our knees. This is not the time to sit back and look at our hypothetical barns, (Luke 12:16-21). We can’t afford to relax, or maybe even plan to build a new one! Our time has come. And we need every single one of us active and ready to obey Him. We all have a part to play in His plan. There is simply nothing like seeing the light of illumination come on when you are talking to someone who does not know Him. 💖

The alternative is to try to wait the bad times out, promising ourselves when things get better – then we will try to follow Him. There is another kind of trap that says that we will obey when we are more informed. It doesn’t work that way. First we obey and then we learn of Him. Stepping out is putting on His yoke. This yoke is not about Him blessing me while I am going in my direction, but it means I am following the lead oxen – Christ – and going in His direction instead.  Submitting to change, no matter how settled we are, or how old or young we are, stretches us. It’s time to wake up and stretch. Move it or lose it. 👋🏻 

P 2255 A true intercessor.

/ DVH

In Genesis 18:23-25. Almighty God and Abraham are dialoguing about Sodom and Gomorrah. “Then Abraham approached Him and said: “Will You sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

This is, by far, one of my very favourite verses in all the bible. This mighty man, Abraham, the Father of our Faith, has such incredible confidence in the Character of God! We all need this kind of confidence in Who our God is, and know His Ways, intimately. I pray the people of these current generations know the Lord so well, that they cannot comprehend Him doing anything evil! We all need that kind of confidence and knowledge about Him, desperately. Abraham is extremely respectful, but he insists.

This passage in Genesis is what I think that an intercessor looks like. I know many people think intercessors spend hours on their faces praying and interceding for the lost – and I praise God for that kind of gift! However I’d be overjoyed to have 5 minutes of someone praying for me, for my life and future, with this sort of confidence in God Himself. 

Abraham was interceding for the people in Sodom and Gomorrah, and they didn’t even know their fate. However God knew their hearts, and He had purposed to deal with the evil in this city. But one man stood in the breach and had a conversation with God about their destruction. Abraham’s point of intercession was not about the people, or their wickedness, or deeds … it was all about HIS CONFIDENCE IN THE CHARACTER OF GOD – He challenged God to do right.

If you read Chapter 18 you will see he gets pretty overwhelmed somewhere in the middle of this conversation. It is almost like he’s kind of got his big toe almost outside the door, ready to run, 😐 but he still talking and still bargaining for these lives. We need this kind of intercessor, today, people who hold God to His word. We can see that this man learnt the Father’s Ways as he journeyed with Him from Haran to Canaan.

However, the basis of Abraham’s prayers are about Who God is! The Father’s reputation. I have heard it taught before that perhaps Abraham did not bargain hard enough for these people to be saved. I don’t know about that – but I love this man who stood toe to toe with Almighty God and pleaded for the lives of these people, whether they deserved it or not. Please do not tell me that God doesn’t love or care about everybody – I don’t believe you. This is what He is like, right here in these few verses – He doesn’t just love good people – He loves all of mankind. Jesus died for all. The penalty that was paid indicates Almighty God’s estimation of worth!

Jesus Christ Himself prays and intercedes for us with even more fervency than Abraham shows here – we are so blessed to be alive NOW! I think you can see Father God’s righteous loving Character so clearly through Abraham’s confidence in Him, when this man speaks and negotiates with God. If the Lord had disagreed with him, He would have told Abraham not to bother praying for them. In my heart this is what real prayer looks like! It looks like this kind of confidence in God’s goodness. The Body of Christ must go far, far beyond the places we’ve already been before – right into His heart, and gain further understanding of His love for everyone. 

Meanwhile, just prior to the above verses God says this, in Genesis 18:17 “Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” I think that this is what true intimacy between God and man looks like. Father God regards Abraham with respect. This shows us over and over again, that the Lord loves to dialogue with mankind. What you and I can hear throughout the the pages of the bible, is His disappointment that the man He made doesn’t love Him back!

The wonderful old Patriarchs, Abraham and Moses, knew God in ways we can only imagine. However, we are so blessed to be alive today in this world we live in. Praise God we have the joy of knowing the Answer – Jesus! We can know the Father through Christ, even better than these men did. Jesus Christ is now our perfect intercessor. Let’s not live in the shallows, let’s dive deeper into the Bible, together with prayer, so we can know and understand Who He is, and what He wants, and fight for it. 

We need to learn how to pray with understanding for His heart, and His desires and passions. Let’s AIM bigger. We’ve been aiming at too little for too long. We need men and women who intercede like Abraham! 👋🏻