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P 2303 Prayer needs substance.

/ DVH

So put your feet to work underneath what you say you believe. Seriously. How many times have you said to someone: ‘Oh that’s terrible, I’ll pray for you.’ And maybe if you are someone who is on the ball, you walked away and prayed while you were walking away. Or maybe you prayed for them on the spot …brownie points to you! Perhaps you are one of those people who writes stuff down so they won’t forget and you put them on your prayer list. BP2U!

Hopefully you are not like me … if I don’t pray for you on the spot, while I think of it, then you’re a dead duck. I’m very sorry, but I have probably forgotten what you said as I’m walking away. This, by the way, is the reason why I pray for people on the spot – because my memory ain’t what it used to be. 

I’ve had many sweet people of God tell me I’m an intercessor – mainly because they did not have a clue with what to do with me. I didn’t FIT! You know, the whole world is in BIG trouble … try HUGE … if that’s what I’m supposed to be. I’m from the days when they always told non-clergy that was their gift, because they didn’t know what to do with lay people, and intercession seemed a safe not-in-charge-type-job! I mean prayer is a good thing right?

And BTW I don’t have to repent for telling the truth … although … I might have to review the ‘speaking the truth in love bit!’ But back then, most people were passengers on the good ship we’re-doing-church-now. However the church always wanted to have a fete to raise money and because I was a ‘crafty person’ they gave me craft stuff to do. Yet another huge mistake. I once cut the gloriously long fringe on a beautiful homespun shawl to 3 cms. The pastor’s wife didn’t kill me … but boy she thought about it!

I was moved right along from that disaster, to food stuffs. I mean anybody can make a sandwich right?? If you thought I sucked at craft, you should have seen me at sandwiches. Other ladies made lovely sandwiches – mine – fell apart instantly. I could do all that kind of stuff OK at my house. All my sandwich points stood upright like little soldiers. My cakes rose, and they were tasty. But mention the word fete and I fell apart, and so did everything I baked. Intimidation to the max.

So then people much smarter than me decided perhaps I was an evangelist in disguise. And they sent me off to learn how to do one of those fantastic you-learn-and-use-five- pages-of-memorised-stuff to help somebody get to know Jesus and sneak up on them. Sadly that didn’t workout well for me either. I was under firm instructions to never speak because that was the leader’s job… even thinking about me being silent on cue was scary.

The people we made appointments with, would turn to me — just as I was trying to blend in with their wallpaper and look invisible… and then they’d ask me … for no reason whatsoever … ‘what does that mean to you?’ And then I was stuck. I could either obey the leader and get a big tick, or I could disobey the rules, tell the truth, and somebody had a chance to meet Jesus. I disobeyed a lot in those days. Double sigh. At the same time I learnt you can’t be yourself at church!!

Hilariously, I have survived other people’s various attempts to remodel me into a more suitable shape and in that process I learnt how to die to myself. However, no matter what I did, I have always tried to put my feet into action by applying what my mouth said. Nowadays, if you need prayer, I won’t just pray for you – I will also ask the Holy Spirit – “What can I do about that Lord?” And then I will do it. 

My point today is this: I have made and will continue to make big mistakes, you will make mistakes too … it’s OK. Our God has got us. Nothing gets past His gaze.  Just don’t stop with prayer, ask the Lord: ‘How can I HELP?’ Look, can I be honest with you? It is not helpful to ask the person with the problem …!!! “What can I do to help?” They have a problem! Their problem solving skills are a bit busy! DUH! Asking that question simply makes you feel better, like you’ve done something … but all you’ve done is transfer the weight back onto them.

So go and sit with the sick, help look after their kids, go be with the family who just lost their Grandpa, and find a way to give the unemployed back their dignity. Choose to learn to become God’s hands and feet as He directs you. 👋🏻

P 2302 Jesus is wholehearted.

/ DVH

By that I mean that He is not half-hearted about anything, and He is especially passionate about us. So much so ‘that Jesus ever lives to intercede for us.’ The bible also says this about our Heavenly Father:  “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.”James 1:17 He is Who He says He is – He can’t be any other way – HIS LOVING NATURE IS FIXED.

Our God does not have any secret unpleasant agendas. He is not hiding behind some curtain or or in some doorway waiting to jump out and say: ‘AHA! I’ve got you now. I caught you! I’ve got you dead to rights!’  Fat chance. That is just not Who He is. Even though the bible tells us ‘that Jesus Himself knew what was in the hearts of men’ – YET – He still chose to come and save us all anyway! 

So when Christ tells us to:“… love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”Luke 6:35 NIV.

— we can instantly see that He is not just whistling ‘Dixie.’ He means what He says, because He did it first … That means it can be done …! Jesus was a human being just like us – He simply lived His life connected to the Holy Spirit. He was surrounded by people who misunderstood Him and hated Him … unto death. And some of them were His friends!! He knows about cost personally, and in order for us to effectively follow Him, we will have to go down the same roads of total surrender and relinquishment He walked down.

It is imperative that we remember that Father God did not spare His only Son, Jesus Christ. So all the whinging, whining, squalling, complaining and bawling we can turn on, will not exempt us from trial and trouble. By all means ‘ask and keep on asking’ etc. but remember that our goals may seem godly to us, but they can also be self-serving… all at the same time! Pruning away stuff in our lives we don’t need is painful — however purifying our motivations can be revolutionary and revelatory. At the same time we need to cultivate a firm trust in Him and act according to His Word. We cannot afford to give in to inactivity and doubt.

Doubt, you will remember, leads to double-mindedness. Thoughts like: ’Is this God? IF He’s a good God, why would  He hurt me?’  Our feelings and logic cannot be trusted when it comes to knowing God. What does His BOOK say? We need more than a passing acquaintance with the bible. At any unclear moment I ask for WISDOM. “ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5. It’s hardly rocket science. 😶 Unfortunately we can’t expect to follow Him without bumping in to our own unredeemed selves, as well as other people’s agendas… therein lies most of our conflicts.

There have been times in my life when Father God has surprised me with ‘more than I had ever hoped or dreamed’ and other times when He does something so wonderfully and gloriously sneaky, I have no words left. I usually get the giggles instead. Because He has not just surprised me – He has delighted me as well. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” 

Pastor Chuck Swindoll says this: ‘God is full of surprises. But it takes a sensitive spirit to see them, to be jolted by them. Too many Christians are lulled into languor. Some can warble all the Christian songs, recite all the right Bible verses, and quote this preacher and that teacher, but their Christian lives, down deep inside, are jaded. Are you in that condition? When that happens, you become calloused and insensitive, and you’re in for a life of boredom and mediocrity. How tragic for that to happen! The walk of faith is designed to be a walk of adventure, filled with periodic and delightful surprises.’

My sentiments exactly. Jesus is passionate – that’s what we are aiming at too.  Bye.👋🏻

P 2301 Christianity is not a theoretical construct.

/ DVH

We can all fall madly in love with a whole lot of Christian principles. We can ‘like’ and repeat them over and over again on Facebook, or whatever … but none of that is worth a hill of beans unless we make those principles our lifestyle. There are a whole lot of other faiths that have sound principles and doctrine too. Living our lives giving away His Love from day to day changes everything – it takes the supernatural to do that.

Christianity is failing this world – especially in the West – in one place. It is all talk and no action! There are a whole lot of people who can talk a great game – they can quote the bible chapter and verse, and they have memorised whole books. But they disappear into the ether when the going gets tough and people or life get difficult. The practical outworking of their faith depends on their own personal circumstances and resources and not on flowing with the Holy Spirit.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, DEMONSTRATED Their love to us when we were yet sinners. This word means to – give a practical exhibition and explanation of …. AND – clearly show the existence or truth of (something) by giving proof or evidence.

“If anyone sees a fellow believer in need and has the means to help him, yet shows no pity and closes his heart against him, how is it even possible that God’s love lives in him? Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds. We know that the truth lives within us because we demonstrate love in action, which will reassure our hearts in His presence.” 1 John 3:17-19 TPT. Check out James 2:15-17.

So here’s a couple of my knotty questions for you today – ‘How many times in this past week have you demonstrated God’s love to someone else?’ Second question – ‘How many times did the Holy Spirit prompt you to do something and you turned Him down because you were too busy or didn’t have enough time?’ Here’s a big thought our God is the Author of time and He knows how to stretch it. Read the book. I’ve personally watched Him do that so many times…

We all long to see miracles, but in order to see a miracle, someone is going to have to take a risk. Taking risks and living in obedience are the most important part of how our faith works. If we knew what we were told to do was going to work, before we did it, then it wouldn’t be faith. We are going to have to become a bold, fearless people, which is why the Lord encourages us, through Joshua, to be strong and courageous. And through Isaiah He tells us, ‘When you walk through the fire, you won’t get burnt, when you walk through the river you won’t get drowned.’ Like I said, Christians are delegated risk takers.

So we give away money in the face of recession, we talk about Jesus even when we are embarrassed and afraid. Just FYI, I never once taught my children about the Lord that I didn’t feel greatly intimidated at the time. My kids looked at the floor, looked the ceiling, looked at their nails, and every single part of their body language said ‘please shut up now, mum.’ It  is not meant to be easy to witness or love or have faith, we are going against the very fibre and fabric of our society when we do it. That’s what makes it powerful. 

In order to demonstrate God’s love to other people, as well as strangers, we have to risk disinterest, rejection, anger and being told to mind our own business. Just because it’s not popular, that does not invalidate it. There are so many times in Christian history where Jesus’ love was demonstrated, His kingdom life was given away freely, and it blew people’s socks off. Not to mention it brought new life into abject darkness! We can operate in stealth mode as the Lord leads us, but we can’t ever be a light and not expose things that are hiding in the darkness. 

Plus we cannot say we love if there is no demonstration, otherwise we are presenting a theory and not a fact. Love looks like something – to the hungry it’s food, to the thirsty it’s water, to the rejected, it’s acceptance, to the outcast, it means finally finding a home. When we give away, and demonstrate God’s love we enter the Spirit’s River of Life. I urge us all, ‘don’t paddle around on the edge … JUMP IN.’ Jumping in shows commitment. 👋🏻 

P 2300 True freedom pays the price of ongoing forgiveness.

/ DVH

“Beloved ones, God has called us to live a life of freedom. But don’t view this wonderful freedom as an excuse to set up a base of operations in the natural realm. Constantly love each other and be committed to serve one another.” Galatians 5:13 TPT.

Some versions of the Bible have a huge contribution to make when it comes to reviewing our own attitudes and actions. It seems to me that the Passion Translation hones right in on behaviour and motivation. It quickly diagnoses the sort of self protective attitudes we can easily take on in order to avoid scrutiny and transparency, as well as avoiding facing our true selves.

At the same time, this version creates such a grateful spontaneous love for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for all we’ve been given. People who KNOW they are redeemed and understand what that means, are not afraid to face even their darkest thoughts, actions and attitudes. This knowledge makes them overflow with gratitude for our beloved Saviour, and marvel at the Father’s great plan in the face of our deliberate disobedience and sin.

Our actual desire to learn how to truly love one another as a reality is a great diagnostic tool. They won’t know we are Christians by our ‘nice’, or even ‘friendly’, or ‘welcoming’ attitudes, they will know we are Christians by the way we love one another. You can’t fake that kind of love. Especially when brother ‘Always-in-trouble’ phones you in the wee hours of the morning and burbles out that he is as drunk  as a skunk and probably shouldn’t drive home and : ‘Could you come and get me please?’ Or when brother ‘Gee-I’m-smug-and-I-know-everything’s’ belief system is challenged publicly and he decides it’s your fault and targets you to straighten out your theology.

This is when love gets tested. Even when dear Sister ‘I-always-have-to-bring-a-cake-but-I-can’t-cook-for-toffee’ demands a glowing review in front of everyone. You can’t fake that either! The wonderful thing about these difficult people is that they are actually our new best friends. Without these little darlings’ help, we would never know what kind of monster lies beneath the smooth surface of the ‘I-am-always-coping’ lake we all carefully polish. In other words, people who drive us crazy are exposing the very things we don’t want to see about ourselves.

We build such beautifully designed castles, constructing smooth shiny walls hundreds of feet in the air to prevent anybody from getting even a teensy tiny glimpse of the angry, bitter and just plain nasty little person hidden within. I’ve met many of these people in my travels. I’ve also met the ‘I-will-tell-you-to-your-face’ people, who live outside the enormous castle walls and pride themselves on being honest. They make your fists get itchy, and are equally as annoying – but both parties expose us for who we really are. I have been on either side of those walls and found out that we cannot hide from the gaze of God. 

Repentance is the only answer for this junk. I once knew a person of the ‘I-will-tell-you-to-your-face’ variety who bounced up to me and announced, “I have always hated you”, and then walked away relieved of her great burden, and I stood there having been sucker punched … She may have felt better, but I started making fists all over the place! All I can tell you is, my own creature from the black lagoon has tried very hard to hide her unpleasant little self at the bottom of my nice, shiny blue lake. It took a whole lot of reality living and soul searching to fix THAT one.

I’d ask why we hide from ourselves and others but it seems like the answer is pretty clear. We’ve forgotten the light of the Saviour’s love and we want their approval more than we want to be free. Forgiving them also means forgiving me for wanting to thump them. We dare not live our lives only visiting the cross when dire necessity requires it. I’ve worn a path there myself over the years, because it was the safest place to be totally honest with myself and the Lord, and learn how to receive and exercise forgiveness. I just sat there and learnt the little I know from the Expert. 

Freedom comes when we understand not only what was done for us, but who we are now because of Christ. For me the cross is not a place of sadness but a place of rejoicing. When I look at how much He forgave me, it gets a whole lot easier to forgive you. And that’s real freedom.👋🏻

P 2299 God’s authority is transferable.

/ DVH

This is not a popular subject in today’s independently-minded society. Instead of authority being transferred, and cultivated, it is grasped at and treated like a weapon for control. It is only when we yield control that we find out it does not matter … God’s will does … Most people aren’t having a problem with submission – their problem is Lordship.

Let’s look at the Roman Centurion incident “…just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those following Him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…” Matthew 8:8-10.

The first thing I want to mention is that Jesus saw that the Centurion understood how faith works. Christ saw what this soldier said and did … as faith. Many people are so afraid of being controlled by others they have limited comprehension of the safety of submission. They have not been taught about its benefits – instead they have been made subject to a perversion of this truth. 

This illustration explains that first of all, authority is transferrable, and secondly, when you are submitted to God using your faith, you can’t be controlled by men. We can only be controlled by others, when we are not fully surrendered to Christ. NOBODY CAN CONTROL YOU IF YOU ARE DEAD – spoiler alert …you no longer CARE! Ya might want to stew on that one for a while! 🧐

This Roman soldier was a man under authority, and he understood authority and how it works. He willingly and respectfully surrendered his own authority in favour of Christ’s greater authority. He was actually spiritually aware. He could have ordered Christ to come with him, as a Roman soldier he had all the power in that world available to him, but he recognised there was a greater authority present. 

God’s authority is not something to be snatched at, or about bossing people around. It doesn’t work by yelling the loudest, or making a better point. When we put ourselves under authority we are choosing to be totally submitted to Christ. Submission is not something Christ talked about to keep unruly, power-hungry, dissatisfied followers under control. It is a chain of command. We gotta stop thinking we have to control other people’s behaviour with threats and doctrinal points and start dying to self, serving others and put the Holy Spirit in charge of what happens to US. 

So … wives do not submit to their husbands because they have to, they submit using their faith. And children obey their parents exercising their faith. It’s a choice freely made. Remember, Jesus Himself chose the cross – HE LET humanity torture and kill Him because He believed in His Father’s greater good.  He understood submission is powerful.

Almighty God has given us people who have delegated authority. His AUTHORITY.  The point to be concentrated on here is not who’s got the ‘power’, but ‘are we walking by faith?’ Submission is about faith not power. It’s about delegated authority — look at this interchange between Pilate and Christ. “Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above.. “ 

Power comes from total submission. That person in charge, the one who has delegated authority, does not have to know everything, and be able to dot all the ‘i’s’, cross all the ’T’s’, for us to submit to them. As a matter of fact, I have submitted to people in faith and I knew they had no clue about the things that were important to me, but I wasn’t submitting to them, I was submitting to the chain of command, which always goes back to Christ. 

I could quite honestly care less whether the person in charge understands what end game I might have in mind, because I gave all my end games to Jesus. I don’t have any kind of agenda either because I gave those to Christ too! My faith is in Christ’s ability to go round the numpty in the middle, and bring about what He wants. 

Authority is totally transferable when we don’t try to steal or snatch it, or usurp it, or batter it away from someone else who has already been given it by God. Food for thought. 👋🏻

P 2298 The little foxes.

/ DVH

Song of Solomon 2:15  “Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love], While our vineyards are in blossom.” There are times when our love for the Lord is bright and burning hot with passion – and there are other times when it seems this life is full of surprises — and — none of them are good!

In my mind, these are situations that Solomon describes here, and they can come upon us unexpectedly.  Just when you start to think that your spiritual life is turning a corner – wham! Especially when you seem to be getting the hang of walking with the LORD, and understanding His ways. Now here’s a good time to remember “…pride goes before a fall..” !!!  I’ve fallen on my head at this place, many MANY times and probably will again, unless the Holy Spirit helps me. AGAIN!!

When stuff piles on top of us, and life seems relentlessly overwhelming, and way past our ability to cope with it, this is like the best prayer ever. Song of Solomon 2:17a “… Return quickly, my Beloved,…” Jesus is described in Song of Songs as the Chief Shepherd, the Bridegroom, and a gazelle, a mighty deer Who can overcome any obstacle to get to His beloved. He has feet that can go anywhere, just like a stag can! Call out to HIM!  Then wait. Do nothing, just wait to be rescued. BUT at the same time – don’t keep rehearsing other people’s sins against you … take those thoughts captive.

These little foxes invade our vineyard when there is a potential harvest. There are blossoms on the vine… that means … fruit is coming! These circumstances, our difficulties, etc. are here to spoil and steal our fruit!  These things are attacking us so they ruin spiritual fruit before it can even form. The Holy Spirit’s potential to produce fruit in us, is under threat from things we have allowed, or indulged in, or tolerated in our past – or just plain enemy attack.. 

The beauty of this passage is that the bride knows Who to call out to, for help. She knows her Beloved is stronger, more mighty and wiser than the foxes that have come to steal their future potential harvest from them. Sometimes we can race about spraying this and protecting that, when what we really need to do is call out for help to the One who can defeat anything. The Bible says so. Jesus Christ beat death, little foxes are nothing to be concerned about.

But it will still be a battle, simply because we have invested in those things that these foxes stir up. Things like our own self-pity, anger, hatred, bitterness, resentment, and our own self-justification. And this battle can draw blood. It’s going to hurt, because we’ve invested in these things in our past. Start with repentance, and then fight to protect that hard- won fruit you have.

Yes our current circumstances maybe dire and difficult and cringeworthy but however they look – the reality is: “… greater is He that is IN ME than he that is in this world.” We don’t just get to say that or think it, we actually have to live it out minute by minute, battling with our own imaginations, feelings, thoughts …until every single thought obeys CHRIST.

These pesky foxes can be chased off. The Holy Spirit in you, with you, is the winner. However He won’t do it FOR YOU because we all need these skirmishes to develop battle readiness. We cannot allow our enemy to thwart God’s processes by giving in to stuff that we have authority over. Jesus gave us authority! Like I’ve said before: “…having done all, we stand!” And then we keep on standing because our Shepherd/Bridegroom/Mighty Stag is coming and there aint nothin’ gunna stop Him!

Lastly, Jesus said this to His disciples: “I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.]”  ←This is our task and aim — to take away the ground in our lives that we have given over to our enemy — whether accidentally or on purpose. Now we can fight satan for the lives of the people around us and WIN.  It is time to eliminate those foxes. HE WILL HELP US. 🙌

P 2297 Decide how you will live.

/ DVH

… Living a life of surrendered love is a decision we must all make. It is a lifetime decision and it’s a tough one. However, I cannot conceive of another way to enter into true intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ. Study doesn’t encourage intimacy as much as relying on Him does. We learn His ways when we live the same surrendered life Christ lived … for His sake. He told us to … “follow” Him. That’s now our job. Following Him, into transformation and our true purpose. At the same time, we go out to seek and find His lost sheep. The Chief Shepherd is always seeking out His lost lambs.

Jesus avoided fame and popularity, and embraced His Father’s will, He had no other desire except to make His Father’s will known and celebrated. If the King of all creation thought it was necessary to live a humble ordinary life, loving and helping, and teaching everyone He met … then … how can we live differently? If His disciples had not walked away from what they knew to follow CHRIST, we would not even have the bible as we know it today. 

Jesus Himself left everything He valued behind, to come to earth and live like we do. “Instead He emptied Himself of His outward glory by reducing Himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled Himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in His death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion!” Philippians 2:7-8 TPT Jesus Christ did not do miracles and bring extraordinary revelations to mankind simply to prove Who HE is – He also chose to do what He did to reveal His Father’s heart toward ALL of us! 

That veil of revelation was torn open briefly on Mount Tabor for three ordinary men – Christ’s disciples. Those men saw Christ as He really is, IN HIS TRUE GLORY! Jesus went on from there however, to complete His Father’s assignment as a human being, by choosing to obey God’s plan to His death. He took our sin onto Himself and died for our sake. He is now a glorified man … the firstborn of many. Christ is the perfect example of what our God can do with utter and complete and perfect surrender to His will, HIS WAY.

God’s expressed love is not what we think it is, or even what we have been taught it is. It is so much incredibly bigger, deeper and wider than we can imagine! And it expands way beyond this world’s self-serving self-centred ways into eternity. Sometimes I think today’s modern church is mankind still trying to build the tower of Babel … We are still trying to prove to each other, and ourselves, and to Almighty God, how smart and spiritual we are.

However, our Father’s love has pulsated toward each one of us since the moment He created us inside our mother’s womb. Because of Christ, each one of us can be transformed into a tiny expression of Who Father God is, and what He is like… if we are willing to give up this world’s ideas of success and fame, DIE to what we want, and then follow Jesus. The bible reveals the heart of Almighty God toward humanity. HIS WORDS IN HIS BOOK CARRY TRANSFORMATION!

We need to quit deciding WE know who we are and humbly submit ourselves to Him. Only then will our true purposes be revealed … in the light of His love for us, in us and through us. Human beings blossom into their true identity when they hang around Christ. They start to smell and taste etc. like heaven. We simply must start using the power of choice. I think, as we surrender and yield our lives to His purposes … … 

…“Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.”  2Corinthians 2:15.  Figuring out just who is perishing is not our concern … smelling like CHRIST and loving our enemies is!  If all we ever do is live this life we have been given like Christ did and LOVE others like He did –  It is enough. THEN LOVE PREVAILS … it did at Calvary. 🤗

P 2296 It’s not just Arts and Crafts.

/ DVH

Exodus 31:1-5 “Now the Lord said to Moses,  “See, I have called by name Bezalel, son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.  I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and skill, in understanding and intelligence, in knowledge,and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,  and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.”

If we are not careful we can be quite dismissive about the decorative and creative arts. Just because our enemy has perverted this medium that does not mean these gifts and talents cannot be used by the Lord. This man Bezalel was anointed by God, and his incredibly diverse skills were given to him for the Holy Spirit’s purposes.

This man was gifted by the Holy Spirit in a wide range of things. Things that many Christians treat as quite unimportant. Oholiab was gifted as well, and these two men planned and supervised the construction of the tent of meeting and the most Holy place. They created the place that God ordained for Him and men to meet. I find it fascinating that these craftsmen, and women, were skilled in hobby-type things like wood carving, embroidery, and precious stones. The things we see as a diversionary past-time …not a real job. 

Art, music, literature, theatre, all of these things can be used by the Holy Spirit powerfully to go around our minds and target hearts. We desperately need these talents, please do not dismiss them lightly. They can be used to fling the closed doors of anyone’s hardened heart open. And suddenly we become aware that whatever is going on is GOD, not just some tickle of our fancy or something we find emotionally appealing. There are also times, in this world full of all kinds of words – words that have been abbreviated, reconstructed, or corrupted into parodies of their originals —  that we can become so hardened by superficial things, that even beautiful, meaningful, deep words can bounce off us. Familiarity can breed contempt. 

But a Holy Spirit painting or similar work of art can go right around our minds and logic, and breathe His life and light into the viewer. I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes. I’ve watched someone receive one of my hubby’s watercolour paintings and they went from well-held together human beings to a puddle of water … in a heartbeat. It defied logic. 

We must not, we dare not, despise the day of seemingly little things. It is time for us to use everything that is in us to bless and praise His holy Name. Our God is a creative God, and creativity truly does unlock hearts. 

I believe that many the problems of mankind can be solved by our creative Father and His obedient listening servants. He decorated this world. He didn’t put Adam and Eve in a lovely house or even a beautiful boat, instead He placed them in a garden, a garden HE designed … with animals and birds and all sorts of incredible creatures. And they all came out of His enormous, boundless creativity. Our God sees creativity and design in a far deeper more profound way than we currently understand.

So don’t give up your hobbies, or occasional past time, or dismiss these things as ‘not spiritual.’ Instead give those supposedly ordinary talents to the Lord.  Ask Him why you have them. Then wait on Him for guidance. We are currently living limited, tiny lives, when our lives are linked, right here, right now, by Christ’s completed work to the limitless One. Submit your abilities to God and to the body of Christ, and hold onto your hat, you never know where they might take you. Finally – infuse everything you do with Love, and He will infuse it with Himself. 👋🏻

P 2295 Let’s choose our clothes wisely.

/ DVH

There is no limitation on our understanding of God’s Word. What limits us is our actual desire to seek out what He wants to say to us. Plus some things actually need repeating because … we don’t get it.

Currently I am reading Exodus again. Every now and then I try to read my way right through the whole Bible. I don’t put a timetable on it, because stuff happens, and then you get out of order – so I just go along as I can. And I will get there when I get there! Today I was totally captivated by the description in Exodus 29, of the first high priest’s robes. 

This description is so complex and beautiful it is worth a serious look. The Jewish nation’s whole history is literally all over these garments that the high priest wears as he represents his people to God. Plus, Almighty God makes a statement about how He feels about His chosen people, with these specially designed garments.

Now hang onto your hat, because we are going to pass by a few scriptures quite quickly. Isaiah 61:10: “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” 

In Exodus 29 Aaron is getting ready to clothe himself in special garments of God’s design. Just like we do, right now, and every single day, no matter what we are doing. The Lord has things we are to put on by faith. Using the power of CHOICE. Even as we raise our kids, go to work, go shopping, go to college, and do our daily chores etc. we decide, minute by minute, whether or not to choose these spiritual garments using our faith. These beautiful garments belong to us – Jesus bought and paid for them with His life’s blood.

In Romans 3:10 the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one.”  No-one means NO-ONE… So, in a nutshell, from the worst sinner to the one who studiously avoids even a whiff of sin … we are all on a level playing field. You might take a long pause and think about that. Part of God’s provision of salvation is that level playing field for all.. We’ve each been washed in His blood, and given His power for personal transformation –  for free. 

From the person that you struggle most with in this world, to the person who does the worst thing you’ve ever heard of, if THEY choose to embrace what Jesus did for them from their heart, and give their lives to Him, they have the right to receive that garment of righteousness, just as much as anyone else. This garment of righteousness is a great equaliser. It has been specially made for each one of us, because it fits each one of us in our individuality, it has a design suited to our circumstances.

Just like Aaron had to put on those specifically designed garments before he could even think of approaching God, these faith-based, specifically designed, spiritual garments/circumstances bring about our transformation into Christ’s bride. We can go in and out to the throne of Grace and spend time on the mercy seat. Their application depends on our choices. Christians are saved —but we all need transformation.… We are transformed by daily choosing, using our faith to die to what we want. Then we pick up His garment of praise, or patience, or choosing to learn LOVE etc. Whatever the Holy Spirit hands us in the middle of our learning curves.

And all it takes is the knowledge that we have already given our life away. His life for ours. “He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” Zechariah 3:4. This verse in Zechariah shows us that we quite literally cannot, and must not return to our old life, because it has been stripped away! 

Why would we wear this life’s garments of defensiveness, pettiness, bitterness, unkindness, and a distinct lack of goodness etc.— when we have brand new handpicked  garments, waiting for us? Garments that help define us into our God-given roles and destiny. Those precious things that will always bring Him glory and praise. LET’S CHOOSE OUR CLOTHES WISELY. 👋🏻

P 2294 What you won’t hear me talking about….

/ DVH

… Denominations. Honestly, I could give two whoop-dee-doos about what denomination you belong to.  I only ever mention mine rarely and that is usually to give context to what I am saying. Why not …? 😶 I don’t care. I so-o-o totally don’t care about that kind of stuff, at all, because it is absolutely irrelevant to me. 

So, by way of an illustration, let’s look at an orange for a second. A fresh orange smells great, it is a fantastic colour and extremely yummy to eat. Inside it are individual segments, all separate and complete in themselves. We hardly ever analyse the orange, we just eat it. You know, I wish the body of Christ regarded their own belief systems like we regard that orange. No matter how you squeeze it, it is still an orange, and no matter what you call it, we are ALL part of the body of Christ – by choice. What you believe and what I believe probably hardly even barely resembles what Jesus thinks, and says. As far as I’m concerned, He can always have the last word.

Sometimes we can major on minor things. I don’t care if you worship God on your face, standing up, sitting down, dancing or saying nothing. It’s none of my business. If He likes it, then so do I! We will never get to unity of purpose and identity, going via the detour of doctrine and theology. If I met you, I would not care what church you go to, I will be looking for love. I will be looking for the way you treat other people, and hopefully, me. I have the strongest feeling when Jesus yells, “It’s time!” a whole lot of stuff is gunna get blown away and none of it will be love, ‘cos the Bible says: “Love remains..”

People who fight over this religious duty, and that idea, puzzle me. I have no desire to concentrate on the things that separate us, instead I would rather find the things we agree on … Because there’s power in that! So you can have your proverbial bit of the orange and I will have mine, and let’s just hope that when somebody bites into either one of us we both taste sweet. 

Today I want to talk about an incident that recently. Because we are older and need help, the government provides us with someone who comes to clean our floors, once a fortnight. This last time, it was a bloke, and he was kind of unusual, to say the least. He asked us what we needed him to do, and then proceeded to tell us why he couldn’t do it because it was all against the rules! Somehow this dear chap – who had more words than a dictionary – hit a bad button for the slightly-battered-by-life’s-immediate-circumstances pensioners who live in this house. The dear fellow proceeded to tell us that everything we needed him to do was not permitted.

As all his predecessors for the past 15 years, have done these things without a whimper or one complaint, my dear long-suffering hubby was not thrilled! After we had sorted out what was ‘legal’ and what was not … FYI we didn’t ask him to take his clothes off, or wallpaper and paint the house, we just asked him to vacuum and wash some of our floors!! 😱 He insisted he was right and did so over and over again, endlessly. His manager explained to us that some of his points were accurate, and so we asked him to please send us a list of these rules we had never seen or heard about. Inside my head, I thought: “Well dang! There goes our opportunity to love on this guy,’ and then the Holy Spirit whispered to me: ”Ask people to pray,” so I did.

The Lord turned everything around! Despite hubby’s misgivings that he too had blotted his copy book by being so openly cross, the Lord Jesus encouraged him to pray for the cleaner who had a very sore elbow. The dear fellow submitted to it cheerfully, and we had a short discussion about the formal, traditional church where he worships, and what he believes. We did not feel the need to convert him to our way of thinking, hubby just prayed for his arm.

Then we blessed him for his hard work and sent him merrily on his way. My husband said after he’d left: “I did not know that God could use me to reach someone after I’d been so cross with them.” That BTW, is how we both knew it was the Lord, the guy got blessed, and we both learnt something! Sometimes, all our enemy has to do is point out our errors and differences, and then that’s us – knocked right out of the ball game because we’ve forgotten we’re forgiven! It’s time we learnt that God is bigger than our stinky attitudes, and His love will go through any barrier – even denominational ones. Bye 🤗