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P 2454 Let’s be spectators …

/ DVH

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3. To remain hidden in Christ, we need to ask for the Lord’s help to see difficulties through His eyes. Seeing what He sees means we can remain hidden inside His purposes. Father God’s view of our lives is incredibly different than our own. He saw that cross as the best thing E-V-E-R … even though it hurt Him and His Son immeasurably when it happened. Their eyes looked through the sorrow and suffering that happened at that time, and saw the joy of our reconciliation back to them, and relationships restored. 

Psalm 91 is often a favourite Psalm for many, because it is incredibly comforting, and next to the 23rd Psalm, it is probably the most quoted one. Today I want to talk about a small, but very important aspect of this Psalm that the Lord has highlighted to me over the years. “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1.

The Lord makes it clear at the beginning of this Psalm that what we SAY matters. To live in the secret place we need to be aware of what we are saying.  At the same time, I think that the Holy Spirit will give us insight into what is really going on inside us, by what comes out of our mouths. However, I am not talking about being paranoid, or driving yourself batty with censorship. Hard situations don’t mean we can’t speak, it means we choose to speak out what He sees, and not how we feel. And what the Lord sees, becomes our hiding place, turning us into spectators. In those terrible and difficult moments, we hit the pause and wait button, until we have His insight. In these moments we need to know what Jesus thinks about what is going on!  

So, when we are tempted to complain about how bad things are, we say:  “Jesus knows what He is doing, He’s got this too.”  And then go on to pray and read the bible and ask Him to help us to see what is happening … That’s how we cling to Him until the danger has passed. The danger being we can easily shoot our own faith in the foot with what we say! When we start trying to figure bad stuff out on our own, by talking about it, or mulling it over with someone – we’ve left faith in His ability to care for us behind. We need to say to the Lord at the moment of impact: “Lord, You are my refuge and fortress, I don’t have to understand or escape from this difficulty – I trust You.” 

This is how we learn to hide in Him. We vocally step in behind Him, and stop trying to figure stuff out by ourselves. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit will give us revelation about ourselves, as well as the situation we find ourselves in. I believe we are better off knowing what we actually think, and how we really feel, and dealing with that as a reality — than we are spruiking stuff that is coming from internal or external pressure to ‘sound right,’ or even rabbit on about how we don’t understand how God could let this happen to us! Jesus was silent for most of His trial and torment. Our confidence in His ability to get us out of what we have gotten into needs to be bigger than the temptation to just say what we think. Trouble is an opportunity for faith to grow, and that starts with what WE SAY.

Difficult circumstances are not tests the way we see tests, these things are about us discovering what He already knows. That is this: what is buried inside can eventually come out of our mouths and drag us away from Him. Then those bad situations will usher in disappointment and despair, instead of increasing our faith! That is why we need to pay attention to what we say in moments of trouble, because we can repent immediately if we’ve said something faithless or dumb. Many times we are often victims of our feelings, far more than any other generation before us. Feelings drag believers away from faith. They demand that we pay attention to them. 

Living in that secret place … the shelter of the most High God, provides us with all kinds of grace we don’t deserve or earn. The thing is, that undeserved, Grace-given, God-space also gives us the opportunity to be a spectator and we can leave being a bashed-up participant behind. We don’t have to jump in and save the day all the time. Jesus already did that! The secret place is the best place to be when bad stuff is going do-w-n!  That’s when we need to pay attention and watch to see what He is doing. We already know Who is winning – HE IS! So it doesn’t matter how it looks all around us – He won!

Being a spectator has a distinct advantage. We’ve stepped away from our emotions, and mental torment into His Grace – and now we can see WHO needs prayer – me or that other guy!  The person needing prayer won’t always be us, it easily could be somebody whose faith needs a boost, or even some other person who is really the cause of the problem. We can get stuck inside someone else’s learning curve. At the same time, it is important to remember, we are not designed to be the Answer, we simply bring Jesus with us wherever we go. As spectators we have the advantage of having no agenda but His, and that’s a fantastic place to be. 🤗

P 2453 We have such a powerful Friend …

/ DVH

I found these notes in my files this morning, and it cheered me up so much I thought it might bless you guys too. Message Bible Psalm 23: “Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when YOU walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure.” I must have read this Psalm about a jillion times in the last 50 years.  The 23rd Psalm is so comforting  – but then I saw something from a different perspective, and it was so cool! 😎 …

The Lord Jesus walks with us through death valley. (That doesn’t mean actually dying btw, it can mean the death of a dream or a hope etc. or even a planned future)  This is OUR Shepherd Jesus, right?  And He is right there beside us walking.  But He isn’t chatting folks, or aimlessly wandering along – He’s looking out for US! He is on high alert watching to protect us from the dangers of that dark scarey place. The Lord is used to protecting sheep, He’s our great Shepherd, and we know that is true, because He went looking for a lost lamb once!

In other words, Psalm 23 tells us that this is our beloved Lord Jesus …. with a crook or … as I like to call it … a whacker.  A whacker is a big fat shepherd’s crook that shepherds use to whack predators etc. Because he was a shepherd boy David taught us about being a shepherd – and yes, I remember he also had a pretty keen sling-shot. On different occasions this young man killed a lion and a bear. Now, in my mind, Jesus is not just carrying a sort of kind of a stick, it’s a weapon with a big knob on the end of it. It is the nob that does all the damage!  It is solid, and strong and used to thump things with the intention of cracking skulls, and killing, maiming or disposing of whatever it is. Well … ya-a-a-a-a-y!!! Some things need whacking! Go Jesus! … 

In other versions it says: “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me …” well, those things would, wouldn’t they? You now, up to now, I always had this picture of Jesus walking with me in this dark nasty place that I didn’t ever want to go to – on purpose or by accident -. and He’s so kind … He’s comforting me. He’s speaking reassuringly to me –  you know what I mean! Jesus is saying “Don’t be afraid, I am right here with you, I won’t let harm come to you.”  He’s kind and loving;  but not so much with the strong bit. Rhubarb. Shepherds carry weapons. Think about that. 

Until today, I did not think about the POWER of the One I am walking with.  I have erroneously thought of Jesus Christ, the Captain of the Hosts of Heaven, as appearing in the finale of the bible, when He is coming again etc. on that glorious white horse. But this Psalm tells me that the Resurrected Christ walks with me through every single valley, He’s on my side and He will do whatever He needs to do to get His precious little sheep through that valley to the free food He has prepared at the other end! (Feel free to shout Hallelujah right here because I did!) 🙌

The reason David, who actually wrote this Psalm, is not afraid … is because he is walking with an ENFORCER THROUGH A DARK PLACE.  And this Enforcer knows how to use His power!!  I saw that my faith previously had been in my ability to hold onto His Hand, and that He would always, very kindly, help me muddle through the hard bits. However, after today, I really, really do not think this is what this verse is saying!!

I’m saying when you have the Enforcer with you there is no reason to be scared at all, no matter wherever you are, or what comes at you, because HE can definitely take care of the bad guys and get you safely to the other side … to the free food! That your enemies aren’t allowed to eat!  <giggle> If something attacks us, He WILL whack that thing on the head! ‘Take that, wolf, 💥 and that, bear, 💥and that, you ferocious lion that wants to eat My beloved!’ 🤯 Jesus walks with you and I and He’s going to bash up anything that wants to hurt us. “You’ll be sor-ry you messed with Him!!”  Our King protects His people.

The bible says: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee…” which means … whenever I am afraid or feel alone, Jesus is right there. That threat is a lie from the pit of hell. WE ARE NEVER ALONE, BE-CA-USE OUR BELOVED SAVIOUR IS WITH US a-n-d He has a big heavy whacker that can take down anything that wants to hurt us or steal our peace. So whenever something bad does come at us, Jesus knows between Him and me – we can beat it!  I will leave you with that thought today. Blessings and hallelujah! 👋🏻

P 2452 Further to yesterday … another important key.

/ DVH

Here is a very interesting picture from the prophet Joel: “The invaders charge. They climb barricades. Nothing stops them. Each soldier does what he’s told, so disciplined, so determined. They don’t get in each other’s way. Each one knows his job and does it. Undaunted and fearless, unswerving, unstoppable. ……”God Himself bellows in thunder as He commands His forces.” … …Look at the size of that army! And the strength of those who obey Him! God’s Judgment Day—great and terrible. Who can possibly survive this?

But there’s also this, it’s not too late— God’s personal Message!— “Come back to Me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!” Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe He’ll do it now, maybe He’ll turn around and show pity. Maybe, when all’s said and done, there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!…” Joel 2:7-14 MSG (parts of it.)

Yesterday, I talked about the blessing of actually knowing, standing, and operating in your own place in God’s plans. And lo and behold, that morning, hubby read me this great descriptive scripture from Joel. You can almost hear the clashing of swords! I understand, BTW, that these verses are an illustration of something else, but I think the coming reality is going to be way beyond anyone’s imagination… … And I also know the Lord needs an obedient people to do whatever comes next!

The soldiers described here are not only ready for battle, they know exactly what is required from them and how to go about it. This is what true submission accomplishes, it brings about harmony within the troops. There is no competition because each mature soldier already knows everyone else relies upon him doing his designated job. These people cannot be intimidated out of their tasks or position. They can’t be stopped because they are not just a ragtag well-armed army busy doing their own thing — they are an unstoppable God-disciplined force. So they understand the strength, both individual and corporate, that gives them a spiritual unification and purpose and they protect it.

Right in the middle of this battle in Joel … because there is faith present in those who make up this army, there is a God-given opportunity for those who are being attacked to repent. The kind of faith these soldiers of the Lord need to have in this spiritual army, releases Grace. And Grace draws people to the Lord Himself. This kind of army serves the King’s real purpose. They show the world who He is, and who we are to Him, and what is possible when you and I, and anyone else who wants to come, serves Him! There is no competition, because there is no need for competition. Nobody has anything to prove. They just want other people to know Him the way they do.

Sometimes I think we are too busy trying to show the world that WE — our little church or big denomination — have all the answers. “We’ve got it right you can follow us.” But our job is to showcase the glory of our King not to point to ourselves or our churches. Our doctrine isn’t worth bupkis unless the Holy Spirit kisses it, and that kiss is not authentication  – it is a further display of HIS GRACE. Otherwise our churches will become yet another man-made institution that actually serves and produces nothing … except maybe loads of hot air. Plus four million helpful handy books that sit on shelves after the new fad has passed. It seems that so many authors have a short-cut to maturity – there is no short-cut. Dying is hard.. Did I say that out loud?? 😶

I am not saying there is anything wrong with Christian books, fiction or non-fiction, but my heart’s cry is that we need to read and esteem His book above any other. We are to be a living example of His book to other people. Meanwhile, I am pretty sure we still don’t get what He is saying, by the way the people outside the church regard us! We’ve put doctrine over Spirit and life, because I suspect Spirit and life seem harder to discern and walk in. The disciples did not put any kind of organisation over obeying His command to “Go!” They just went. Sometimes LIFE itself pressed them into moving on, but they trusted God, used their faith and took the gospel all over the known world by following the Leader – the Holy Spirit. 

It is incredibly important to find our own place and stand in it. Rather than creating some grandiose ministries that have an enormous buzz, but they raise rebellious believers who think that being right is more necessary than dying to self, or serving one another! God does not need our help. Our partnership with Him comes from His Grace toward us and His Love, not expertise. We need more Holy Spirit balance, and balance readily comes when we love and serve Him and others, no matter what the cost. This is a key we desperately need. Bye. 👋🏻

P 2451 Submission is like a series of umbrellas.

/ DVH

Matthew 26:39; James 4:7; Hebrews 13:17; Titus 3:1; Titus 2:4-5; Colossians 3:20, Romans 13:1,2. These 7 scriptures make great reading for today’s subject. Please note that all aspects of life have been covered. Sometimes the whole female aspect of submission gets blown right out of proportion. Anyone who goes after POWER to rule, instead of HUMILITY to serve others, has missed the point.

Submission is about primary and secondary missions. When someone wants to take over the government by force they obviously think that power is more important! We submit ourselves to Jesus’ authority through His delegated leaders. ALL areas of life are talked about in the bible – from submitting to God and getting rid of the devil, to submitting to authority, as well as children learning to obey. Good to note that children learn obedience by watching you, as well as you teaching them. I’ve seen many parents who regularly ignore speed limits, telling their teenage kids to drive carefully! Food for thought.

The bible also makes it clear that submission is something that Jesus Christ Himself voluntarily lived – first toward His parents and then to the authorities, finally to the church leaders and finally to Almighty God! This means we are not being asked to do something HE didn’t do!“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:3-8

Submission is not a popular concept today. Women want their rights, children want to be heard, and leadership of any sort is subject to criticism and scrutiny! Everybody wants to do their own thing without other people interfering with them. But it is extremely clear this is a biblical principle. There are large portions of the bible that refer to submitting, and it includes people in every walk of life, plus the Lord Himself. If you follow the bible verses I put above, (I found LOADS more BTW!), then our children should be the most protected little beings on this planet.

Ya might want to pause and think on that, when you check out what kind of ads are on TV floating through children’s TV shows daily. I think that knowledge has become far more powerful than protection in our society. Not teaching kids what is wrong leads to unruly kids! And, BTW, “don’t do that please darling” is a waste of breath and time! “If you continue to do that, then I will …” holds the line. Personally I think children need to be protected because their hearts, minds and emotions are vulnerable, and open to wrong influences. The internet has a lot to answer for, because it gives access to bad information as well as good!

I see this kind of protection, available through submission as if it comes from God Himself, through Christ, over governments, then leaders, down through husbands, wives and kids. Things start spiralling downwards when we refuse to submit because we can do it better than they can! Submission is like a series of umbrellas. The big umbrella comes from Almighty God over us – He sent His only Son to save us – that’s one huge umbrella!  

Christ’s death and resurrection provides spiritual shelter, the one under that, is our government. Then our church leaders. In our homes … fathers and mothers (parents) need to be in charge because it is part of their delegated authority to protect their children. By the time we get to the children there should be at least five umbrellas over that kid’s head. Which means when they are young they should not have to be responsible for much more than helping out at home, plus they need to learn to obey their parents. 

For God’s teaching we have a whole book full of what He would like us to choose to do … voluntarily. There is life in this book, when we read it, if we choose to obey what the Holy Spirit teaches us through it. The most important thing we can teach anyone is how to become like Jesus. Submission is simply a key in that process because, rightly discerned, it is a place of protection. It is not meant to be blind or automatic, instead it intelligently operates under the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and defers to the Lord. It is also not part of a competition to win the right to be in charge! Submission is about serving each other. Jesus Christ voluntarily submitted Himself to serve His Father’s will. 

Submission is an act of FAITH, love and deference —not subservience. Human beings may be smart but we all have blind spots – we sometimes need protection from ourselves! It is not just about someone over me being in charge — it is about having authority in whatever place God has given ME! This means it cannot be enforced or demanded, instead, authority is relinquished as an act of trust in GOD’s supremacy. I just want to add that this key works whether you can trust the guy above you or not, because when we submit to them, we do it as though we are submitting to the Lord Himself. They will have to explain their actions to the Lord one day. 

You could be afraid you will lose yourself. But the real point is, we are not actually submitting to any one human being. We are submitting to God’s written and revealed Word and He stands behind His word. When I stand in the place of authority God Himself has given me, I can tell the enemy to take a hike and not even blink. You and I are not supposedly giving into an idiot or a tyrant, we are using our faith to reach out into the Spirit and command the blessing that comes from living a Godly life, His way. We look to Jesus, not the human being who thinks he’s in charge. 

Remember submission is a series of delegated protective umbrellas, not a LAW to force me to do what someone else wants. It gives me authority in my designated arena. It also means I don’t have to force myself to do things that are clearly bigger than I am! Because of what Jesus did for me, I have a delegated spiritual space, I didn’t have to usurp it, by force or trickery … (like Esau!)… from someone else, that place simply belongs to me. My spiritual umbrella belongs to me and it shelters me. Wandering out from under that kind of protection because I think someone is impinging on my rights is a foreign concept to someone whose whole desire is to serve Jesus. 👋🏻

P 2450 God’s free love gift helps us live differently.

/ DVH

“For by grace you have been saved by faith. NOTHING YOU DID COULD EVER EARN this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ! So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving.” Ephesians 2:8-9 TPT.  “Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?” Galatians 3:3.

Works occur when we forget that everything we have, was given to us for free, and everything we need has already been provided. There is a cultivated subtle state of mind that whispers to us: “You’d better watch out, God is getting very sick of your mistakes. You’d better try harder, or He will give up on you.” That kind of thinking is the beginning of toddling off into trying to please the Lord. That’s the moment we are presuming we know what He wants from us. All of that whispery stuff in our heads is untrue BTW, when the Lord looks at each one of us, He sees His beloved child and He’s a good GOOD Father. 

However, if we want to live in the Light like Jesus did, then we need to expose our hearts, minds and emotions to the Light! Read the book … and ask for His help to show you what He wants you to do, and then start doing it. You can get clues along the way from other people as well as from the Holy Spirit. But if we are hurting people, and we don’t care — then somewhere or other we have missed the Holy Spirit. “I don’t care” means we are hardening our hearts. A hardened heart is more difficult to deal with. Meanwhile, we need to rely upon Him to help us to not provoke other people, on purpose, or by accident. The Holy Spirit knows more about relationships than all of mankind will ever forget!

There is no shortcut for any of this stuff, however, it is error to let guilt motivate us into the things of God. The things we do and say need to be born of the Spirit not our rational minds. Or even worse, the kind of guilt that says we are not good Christians if we do not do this or that, or such and such. Guilt must not motivate us into doing the things we know are right – doing those things for that reason will not bear God’s good fruit. Instead, if we have been motivated by guilt, then repent and ask the Lord what He wants us to do about it.

Throwing our hands in the air and staying the same is not the answer either. When we do that we are telling the Holy Spirit that we don’t need Him, and we don’t need His help. There is NO FAITH exercised when we stay the same! The point of this new life is that it is a faith life. This life we lead daily is meant to be a challenge because we are now relying upon Him to lead, guide and teach us His Ways, and sadly, we are very used to our own ways. Plus we’ve practiced making up reasons for why OUR way is the best way, while we were at it.

However, just because we prayed: “Dear Lord, please change me here, or there,” and nothing happened immediately … that is not a licence to assume it’s all good and we can walk away! We need to continually read the bible for revelation to help us to find out where we are acting in opposition to the way He does things and then we start taking faith steps. Sometimes the Lord gives me an answer I just didn’t get, or see, or even want to see! So I ask my hubby to pray and look for me. It humbles me – that’s all good … and hubby can see stuff I can’t. More good!

Always ask the Holy Spirit for His help. He is here for US. The bible reminds us if we ask for His help, the Father will not give us a stone – He will send the Holy Spirit to help us. Believe Him! Then, wait for further instructions. Using our faith to obey Him and seek His guidance, gives the Holy Spirit the right and the room to guide us.  

Remember, double-minded people can’t get anything from the Lord because they are too busy going: ‘Will I, or won’t I? Is that what He wants or not?’ Repent, and put that double-minded stuff down immediately and wait on Him instead. When it comes to the things of God we are dealing with a Person – not a system. Waiting is part of God’s Ways. He doesn’t just go for any old time because … His timing is perfect.

But we must never wait to forgive people – that is a given and it is not a debatable matter. No matter how many times we need do it – practising forgiveness of others who treat us badly – even though it hurts – will not kill us. It will soften our hearts and make them tender toward the Lord and others. Then, when we are dealing with someone else’s humanity we can have compassion.

There is nothing we can ever to do earn His love, it’s all free and that love is already in our bank account. Releasing that love to others is where we pay the cost. 👋🏻

P 2449 About the gifts of the Spirit …

/ DVH

“Every believer has received grace gifts, so use them to serve one another as faithful stewards of the many-coloured tapestry of God’s grace.”1 Peter 4:10 TPT. I have gifts that were given to me, so do you. The point is — what are we doing with them? Peter is telling us to use our gifts for others, they are not for our own self-serving purposes. When we use those gifts the right way, people don’t see US — they see Jesus! That tapestry we are all weaving reveals the Lord Himself.

I don’t have God-given gifts to help me feel better about myself, or to help make me important to my church. No. Those gifts are for others, they keep me humble and obedient to God’s Word. Because Jesus Christ died for me I have an opportunity to live and die for Him. Jesus means everything to our Father, and that means He gave up everything to purchase my life, by His Own dear Son’s death. He did it for all of us because He loves us that much. What a glorious generous Father we have!

Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection is the place we need to build our life on— that is the heavenly reality and we are to live this life making it part of our earthly reality. We don’t build our lives on gifts, or fame — but on Christ and what He did for us. That way the storms of this life will not be able to knock us down. Building on sand means I am building on the things of this world, and they will pass away. But when I build on what Christ did for us, that will stand forever!

Let’s look at Isaiah 11:2&3 – He’s talking about Jesus Christ: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on HIM—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and He will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes or decide by what He hears with His ears;…” 

We can see these words in action in the Gospels, in Christ. He was so wise and so dedicated to His Father’s will. When Jesus dealt with a woman who was adulterous, He did not decide by what He saw or heard from others – He listened to the Spirit. The Spirit of God knows what is in the heart of a man and only He has the wisdom to see through the things human beings stumble over. Jesus walked with the Spirit of God, in Wisdom, so He didn’t give permission for this woman to continue in sin, or tell her she couldn’t help it, He gave her forgiveness and a new beginning.

Today I am talking about spiritual gifts… and you could ask, what am I doing in Isaiah? Everyone knows that spiritual gifts are a New Testament concept! They are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. And …Romans 12:3-8! Yes, they are;  but Isaiah is pointing us to the One Who was coming, long before He came. He is our example in life and death. Our Leader. He is the illustration of God’s purpose in the Holy Spirit’s Presence in this world. Jesus is the One Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. As we follow Him, and grow to be like Him, the gifts will follow us.

Before Christ died – the Holy Spirit came and rested on various people at various times for different purposes. However, He was not sent to just anyone … He came for a purpose. Isaiah describes Christ and His ministry, long before Jesus left heaven and came here. This Old Testament prophet is making it clear where the gifts we have today, came from… They came from the One Who was sent back to help us – the Holy Spirit … the Spirit of the Lord … That is the place to start when we think about spiritual gifts. We look at Jesus Who is our example. We don’t covet gifts simply for our needs or to feel important, instead we covet the Presence of the GIVER, like Christ did.

Jesus healed the sick, He raised the dead, He cast out demons. All this and more happened because of the Holy Spirit’s guidance and Presence within Him. Jesus Christ loved the Holy Spirit more than people. Whenever He chose what to do, He chose according to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Even His brothers and mother could not sway Him from obeying the Spirit. Currying favour with other people can be a stumbling block in our walk with the Holy Spirit, and we need to love His Presence more than anything, or anyone else. Humility is His favourite language. 

We can spend way too much time concentrating on ‘what gift is mine,’ and not enough time focussing on the Giver! And sometimes we can even let those gifts make us seem important. But Jesus Christ cherished the Holy Spirit’s company, and that’s the way we are to walk with Him too. God’s grace manifests itself toward others through those gifts. Because of the Holy Spirit’s Presence, they flow into us … and they  flow out through us. The gifts are not a lake, they are a RIVER. The flow is more important than the results.

To operate in the gifts of God we need to be intimately acquainted with the Holy Spirit in us. He is the same Spirit Who lived in Christ. Now He moves through us, as we actively learn to co-operate with Him. It is His power that empowers us to do what we do for the building up of the saints, and the releasing of God’s Grace into this world. BTW, the Holy Spirit will be friends with ANYONE who is prepared to obey and cherish Him. Don’t seek the gifts, seek the GIVER. – the gifts will find you!  Bye. 👋🏻

P 2448 I’m a fan of James.

/ DVH

“Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change.” James 1:17 TPT. ” Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].” James 1:17 AMP

I really like James. His subject is always related to Who God is, and what He expects from us. When you write a blog like the one I write every day, you should really only have one point each time. I sneak a couple of others in every now and then – but James jumps about like a grasshopper in a grass fire! This means that sometimes even the smallest part of each paragraph or chapter has an individual point worth meditating on. You simply can’t rush reading James! The deeper you dig, the more you will find.

He’s full of prayer points. He makes reading, simply for the sake of general reading, harder. James is a book to be studied, not just casually read. I find I have to stop and think and pray a lot! We need to savour what he says as we go along, then decide to take the time to chew on each of his points, because James has not made it easy for us. Instead we simply have to stop and pray and ask for help. Today I want to look at the above scripture. I put it in two different versions to help give it breadth. I often read the same thing in other versions when I read from the book of James!

As he carefully tells us, our God has given wonderful gifts to mankind — salvation is definitely the greatest one. However, wisdom is also a great gift. Further on in this book James tells us to ask for wisdom, and use our faith to receive it. Wisdom will not simply fall on us, we have to go after it. Every single thing Father God gives us is great. – no matter how it looks at the time. And these gifts are not meant just for you and I, they are meant to be shared with everyone else around us.  Someone once told me that the best gift from God, is the one you need at that moment! That sounds good to me.

At the same time the verse above contains revelation about Father God’s character. Who He is, how He relates to us. Our precious Father is not deceitful, or whimsical. He doesn’t change His mind according to His moods … because He doesn’t have them! Our Heavenly Father is not subject to moods like human beings are … His love is always ON! He doesn’t like us one minute, and not the next, simply because we did some awful or dumb thing or other. Jesus Christ took care of that.

When you read the Old Testament, God’s incredible patience, and endurance with man’s poisonous self-serving manoeuvring, plus controlling manipulative ways, becomes apparent. Mankind constantly questions the Lord’s purity of purpose all over the place in the Old Testament. That is still a huge danger for us today. We can end up negating our own faith by questioning His goodness and His loyalty to us. In this scripture, James highlights Father God’s goodness. It needs to be firmly established within our hearts, without question. However, we must continue to look for signs of His loving goodness, when we read – otherwise His goodness becomes an add-on to our own needs.

The Holy Spirit will help each one of us uncover how loving and kind He is. Just simply ask for eyes to see Him as you read it. Otherwise we can end up looking for something to benefit ME, help ME in my hour of trial, and miss the very best part. HIM. God is always the best portion. The more revelation we have about His Love and Character the more our faith will grow. I have personally discovered that the more I intentionally look for the best in other people, even when it seems elusive, I will see something good I haven’t seen before. Living like this changes my attitude towards others.

This scripture in James tells us that Almighty God never changes. That word never is powerful. Never means … not ever! So when our circumstances are not favourable or even incredibly difficult, GOD HAS NOT CHANGED TOWARD US.  Our circumstances must never dictate our faith. We need to practice relying upon His goodness and faithfulness to get us through life’s hard bits, and continually look for evidence of His involvement in our lives, despite our personal situations. Acknowledging that I don’t know everything, diminishes pride and it humbles me … all at the same time.

All of this may seem obvious, but under extreme pressure we can easily question “why?”  ‘Why has this thing happened, why are things so difficult?’In those times I believe that it is almost impossible for us as human beings, to understand the kind of love, wisdom, forbearance, faithfulness, and gentleness Father God gives us AS A GIFT. I love that James reminds us that if it is good, then it is God, and even when it looks bad, it can still be Him …working in ways we do not understand. We can count on that fact because God’s loving consistency is without question.  Bye. 👋🏻

P 2447 We need to learn His Ways –

/ DVH

He already knows ours!!Judges 7:1-7 “Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against Me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.  But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men.

Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”

The first thing I want to say, is that it is extremely important to:  a/ make sure you don’t miss any of the details when reading scripture;  and b/ today, take particular note of the fact that Gideon eyeballed every single man as he drank and there were 10,000 men! There were 22,000 cowardly custards BTW! Our God is always in the detail! Human beings love to run on and start planning how to make what God says work.

Maybe like this? … “Oh so the lappers stay, and the cupped hands guys go? Hands up all the lappers.” But Gideon had to listen to God for each individual man’s involvement. All 10,000 of them! God’s answer to prayer and Him helping us, doesn’t look like we think it will. I cannot begin to count how many times that has been my experience. My advice is this – don’t get ahead of Him – you’ll miss the blessing. HE’S THE BLESSING. 

When you are about to fight an army that is called, by reputation, ‘without number’ … eliminating fighting men does not seem all that clever. And that’s the bit I want you to take away today – the Lord does not do things the way we do them. HIS WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS – HIS WAYS ARE PAST FINDING OUT. I often wonder why people drive themselves nuts trying to figure out and plot the way that the Lord is going to do something or other, in the light of a story like this one. He exhorts us to wait for Him.

His ways are so far above ours! I urge us all to read the book looking carefully at the details, He reveals Himself there. Otherwise, it can seem out of touch and pretty weird … that He would even think of saving a whole city with an evangelist who spent his entire preparatory time for preaching, in the belly of a whale! Maybe getting swallowed up, helped with repentance and obedience.  

Let’s look at the New Testament to see if things like this are any different from the stuff in the Old… sh-a-ll we? How about feeding thousands of people from 5 loaves and 2 fishes … Now you and I don’t see that every other Friday at the fish shop do we? Or how about making a brand new eyeball out of spit and dirt? Granted, it was Jesus’ own spit, but … … you get my drift. You know I figure the Lord was there when Father God made man in the first place, so He knew all about how to make people’s spare parts out of dirt! 

What about walking past a pool, which was specially set up for sick people to congregate around, and yet the Lord went there and healed just one man! Where did ‘He healed them all’go?? We need to learn to laugh at ourselves and our pitiful attempts to understand what He is doing and WHY! To know Him better, and stand in awe of His awesomeness, we must begin to notice the details in the book. We can’t just cherry pick and choose the bits that suit us and our own understanding – which, BTW, we are not supposed to lean on (!) … when we read the bible.

You know, the bible says God Himself laughs!! Psalm 2:4 “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.” I thank God that I have an Advocate standing right by my Heavenly Father’s right hand explaining the way human beings think. No wonder the Lord laughs! We make such hard work out of everything!

Finally, have you ever reflected upon why the Lord God chooses such unusual methods of operation? Why was that snake allowed in the garden? What can I learn from that?? Why stick Jonah in a whale? Why take trumpets and lamps into a battle, or march round the city for 7 days in silence, and then shout!  Why pour gallons of water over an altar that is meant to be set on fire? God’s ways are past finding out … we need to stop trying to finagle Him into bringing about the results that we think are going to be great, AND instead start listening to Him. Let’s follow His implicit instructions, obey what He says and learn how to trust Him instead. Learning to listen… another great key.  Bye👋🏻

P 2446 Jump into joy by enjoying our God!

/ DVH

“Let joy be your continual feast. Make your life a prayer. And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.”1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 TPT. You know, sometimes we can get so busy trying to get this thing called Christianity right — that we forget all the blessings and benefits of belonging to Jesus Christ! We are a blessed people. Our God loves us by choice. Our joy and thanksgiving needs to stay on that fact, rather than anchored in the things of this earth that can be stolen away – by inflation and circumstances.

It says in Psalm 103:2  “Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things He does for me!” Incredibly, Father God has done so much for His people to win our hearts and love, and yet we can “spit the dummy” so to speak because He hasn’t answered this or that prayer we deem important! Instead we allow our emotions to rule and keep score on what gets answered and what doesn’t. Whatever we focus on gets bigger. Let’s deal with our souls instead! “Why are you cast down O my soul … hope thou in God!“

Human beings can be so insular that we cannot see the beauty of the ordinary things that are with us every single day. Instead we wander up side-alleys of discontent and despair because we have become fixated on one aspect of our lives. Let. It. Go! Our God never sleeps or slumbers – He’s got whatever it is we need in His hands, let it go and start deliberately counting His benefits. Shifting our focus changes our responses and promotes enjoyment of His grace.

Psalm 16:11, David states: “You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your Presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.”  David knew all about enjoying God, and how to appreciate Him. Right now, I just want to point out that King David didn’t exactly live a happy happy joy-filled life! Before he became king, his earthly father forgot all about him! Then after David is anointed by Samuel, he was sent right back out to take care of the sheep … again. No celebration there!! 😳

The reigning king, Saul, got jealous of him and repeatedly tried to kill him. And then David lived life on the run from this man for 25 years. He is not permitted to build God’s temple, because he is a warrior. Two of his kids died, one in infancy and the other who grew to be a man, and he did not share God as his priority, like his father did. Ambition killed Absalom. Yet King David wrote some of the most beautiful words of praise and worship in the bible. He enjoyed God … even when he was running for his life! (Read the Psalms.)

We need to stop wasting our energy on petty things and open our eyes to all we have. Then we can let God change us from the inside out!  Here’s some joy-filled news – “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” You and I can’t buy that kind of favour! Joy comes when we know our place in God’s plans for our lives. Joy overcomes us when we can see that we have changed… even if we have no idea how it happened or why! Joy floods us when we realise that we know that we know … we are loved by Him. Warts and all! 

Joy and contentment go together in my mind. Paul says:“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation …” I think His secret for that statement is in Genesis: “In the beginningGOD…” In other words … God was here before I came and He will still be here after I am gone! He can handle whatever comes at me!! We must throw away our desire to have a so-called perfect life, and simply follow and obey Jesus. There is no such thing as a perfect life. It is an illusion. Following Jesus every day. .. into: “joy unspeakable and full of glory!”

As we follow the bible we start to clearly see Jesus… His way of thinking, His priorities, His love for other people … That stuff begins to eclipse everything else that rumbles around us and tries to wrangle with our hearts. Enjoying God means I look for the best in each day as it unfolds before me. I’m actively looking for His hand in my life. 

Hubby and I have found ourselves recently laughing like loons for no real reason. And just like the scripture says: “The joy of the Lord has become our strength.” I think the Lord is helping us to enjoy Him in this life even though moment by moment it can be fraught with difficulties. It’s been a tough year. I wonder what He has for you? “Ask and you shall receive …” OR … Maybe we have not because we ask not because we are asking to support our own passions! Bye. 😂

P 2445 Have you got the wrong driver?

/ DVH

“Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection.” 1 John 4:18 TPT. Now that’s what I am talking about … having the right driver! Pause and think on: ‘love never brings fear!’ 🧐 

Today I want to talk about allowing the Holy Spirit to drive the ‘car’ of our lives. It is good to stop and prayerfully assess what is behind some of our thought processes regularly, because all kinds of sneaky Pete things can hide in places that we cannot see. Unfortunately, sometimes we can take our thoughts very casually. The answer of course, is to run our thoughts by Him.

After we have given our situation to Him – the secret to overcoming those things, is to LEAVE THEM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. Refuse to pick stuff up again – unless He gives you specific instructions. Then you should carry them out! Tell yourself: “That’s that thing I gave to God and He is acting on my behalf.” Once you have handed stuff over, don’t start trying to figure it out. Leave it with Him. That’s what trust looks like. Make room for time with the Holy Spirit when you are reading the bible, that’s how we renew our minds. Simply reading the bible does not do that. Pray, wait for answers, and then act on what He says. If He says do nothing – then do nothing. 

You know, most of us learnt our thinking patterns before we met Jesus — little babies do not have filters that can keep out fear. Fear can also be handed down from one generation to the next. Things like over protective parents, absent parents, disinterested parents — all these things can create situations where fear will take advantage of us. Obviously parents try very hard to avoid those kinds of scenarios – I know I did! But kids pick up on the darndest things and what frightens one will make another one laugh. Fear is sneaky, it takes advantage of innocence and trust and our minds go spinning off into mental situations that actually don’t apply. 

Like the above scripture says: the antidote to fear is His LOVE. I cannot stress enough how important it is for His love to go from being a theory, or even a pretty thought, into being something we can cling to when the whole world is madly swinging and swaying and nothing seems to be where you want it to be. His love needs to undergird everything we know and do… because God’s love is always constant and He loves us consistently. The river of His love flowing toward us never ever alters. We must get rid of the idea that answers to prayer prove His love toward us. His love is established by what He did when He sent His Son Jesus to die. It is clearly documented for all to see in the bible.

Fear can be a paralysing emotion. For years, certain bodily symptoms would send me into fear. Fear of pain, fear that I would not be able to escape from it.  Even fear of being trundled off into hospital!  Sometimes fear can even be ruling our lives;  yet we can be totally unaware of it. Someone might say: “I am not afraid of heights” … But they don’t go anywhere near the edge when they are in high places, or look down. Another person might have more than enough money to manage their lives comfortably, but they live in severe restricted conditions and refuse to spend a penny unless they absolutely have to. That’s FEAR!

If we are afraid, and we know it, the antidote for that malady is to ask, and keep on asking, for a real revelation of the love of God. Make this subject for study, every time you read the words “God loves you” …highlight them. MAKE A LIST. Read it often. Keep deliberately adding to those revealed truths you have. We can never have enough insight into how powerful and all encompassing God’s love is.

Obey what He tells you to do. We can do nothing without Him, and fear will restrict us from stepping into this new life He died to give us. That includes fear of punishment, fear of loss, fear of error, fear of missing out , fear of being cheated or mistreated, fear of losing self… all of these things can rob us of the certainty that God loves us so dearly and nothing can separate us from His kind of love. 

We must not beat ourselves up when we are afraid – that’s called compounding the felony!! It is a huge mistake to tolerate fear, and hide from what it does to us internally. The verse above gives us the diagnosis of where we are with fear: “Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection.” Keep walking toward His love, and choose the right driver for your daily walk with Him. Bye. 👋🏻