1 Corinthians 13

P3329 Vindication is God’s business. 

/ DVH

Ephesians 4:25-32: “What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretence. Tell your neighbour the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself. Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge.                                                                                    And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life. Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work. Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Don’t grieve God. Don’t break His heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for Himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.”

The premise we need to note over everything else that is said here – is the IMPLIED “YOU!” WE need to listen and act. When the bible says ‘you’ – it doesn’t mean your spouse, family member or your boss. It would be so nice if everyone read the bible and took what is in it seriously … but the only person we have to work with is ourselves. The real question is this, can we live His way and not walk about with ‘a holier than thou attitude?’ True humility is our friend. Anyone can agree with the bible’s principles, and then skip submission to what it says – but other people have to live with the pain of our mistakes.

Submission ushers in humility and love. Boy is that kind of thinking at odds in today’s society. People want to avoid responsibility for their own actions. Plus we can get very busy defending our own rights. Seriously, we need to reconsider the way we live with the Holy Spirit and each other. Is He that important to you or not?  The spirit that seeks to enforce our own rights is not from Him. How can you die daily if you want your own RIGHTS? If Jesus had enforced His rights, we’d all be in the soup. There is a far better way to live that honours Him. 

The secret is to revere the Holy Spirit, and cherish His company. Let’s love Him and His ways more than we like our own. Think of that like this, there are things you probably wouldn’t say to a dear friend. Like: “Yes, those pants do make your butt too big!” We don’t say those things because we don’t want to alienate our friend, whose company we value. The Holy Spirit needs to be valued more, not less. Maybe this is made more difficult because our obedience is voluntary and we must make a choice. I’ve found that the Lord will vindicate His own – if we get out of His way and stop trying to manipulate things in our own favour. “Why not suffer wrong?” 1 Corinthians 6:7b.

It is easy to vomit icky stuff all over someone else. Anybody can have trouble with anger, but the bible is clear, anger can lead us into far worse situations when it is not dealt with asap. Our emotions are not the best guideline of spiritual reality, because they are based on our often faulty reactions to situations. Personally, I think it is better to respond than react, and asking questions can prevent misunderstandings. If we value the Holy Spirit’s companionship and opinion above our own, this kind of change is normal. He is delighted to be our companion, advocate, counsellor, guide, and teacher. 

I need to be clear that I don’t know everything and I definitely don’t have the corner on what the Holy Spirit thinks and does! However, I think it is important to choose to learn to grow and be challenged by His Ways. Otherwise we can grieve Him, and then our best way through trouble leaves with Him! Openness about our personal attitudes is a key to allowing His Will to prevail. It keeps us in fellowship with Him. Who we are at any given moment can easily be a reaction to what has happened to us so far in our lives. Good things, bad things.

Many of us still live our lives protectively – and we are afraid to change. It takes courage to admit you can’t fix yourself and then trust God will take care of you. Why not seize any opportunities to give a different response? The Lord knows everything, and we can benefit from His wisdom. Why not choose to value His oversight over our own knowledge? We have a book full of what He thinks.

Our desire needs to be to live to please the Holy Spirit, first, and then to love and encourage our brothers and sisters. We cannot afford to keep on demanding that our way is the only right one. “His ways are perfect” …  … nevertheless, mine ain’t! Humility will flourish and grow as we know our place before the Lord, and learn to honour and prefer one another. Let’s protect our relationship with Him over everything else. It isn’t a matter of who might win … because it isn’t a competition. We all win when we allow Him to fight for us.

This is why what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 is essential. His love is our great equaliser. It will sort the chaff out from the hay in our own lives, and allow us to see what God’s Ways clearly look like! When Paul describes these qualities, He is making it clear what love is, and what it is not. Love is the thing that must take precedence. I ask myself: “Is this or that love, the way Jesus would define it?  I don’t need my own faulty definitions, I already know I can be too selfish and self-centred to answer clearly. However, this kind of question gives me clarity when things are unclear. 

People sometimes tell me that they can’t hear the Lord. Try letting Him correct you with His eye on you! Let’s choose to embrace LOVE and leave trying to wriggle out of things on a technicality behind us. Vindication is His business. Bye. 👋

P 3257 It’s time to get the band back together.

/ DVH

Years and years ago, when I was a much younger Christian, I loved reading instructional Christian books, plus I listened to tapes, music, and videos, everything I could. I was trying to grow my faith. I desperately needed to belong, to feel like a part of the Body of Christ. You know, there’s a whole lotta of odd people out there who really really need Jesus – we all might want to think about that. Back to it … eventually, I realised I was reading the bible and understanding it through someone else’s filter!

The Holy Spirit truly is the very best Teacher, He explains things first-hand – personally! There’s nothing like getting your own revelation from His book. Back then, whenever I read 1 Corinthians 13, I read it through other people’s interpretations to help me understand it. My thoughts were ‘boy do I fail at that!’ No wonder I felt a failure, at that time I had no idea how complete the Lord’s redemption was on my behalf. Like Paul said in Galatians 3:3 MSG bible: 

“Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!”

I believed my sins were bigger than what Jesus did. So when I messed up … and I did, a lot … I was shattered. Yeah, I know, that makes no sense at all. The Lord has a whole new kingdom reality for all of us. Sadly, at that time, I just had too much luggage that I dragged along behind me! To top it all off I erroneously believed this kind of stuff was true Christianity, and I was just really really bad at it. 

You see, people in my family or the church still irritated me, and when they were unkind, I wanted to run away, or thump them. Eventually, I became ill. So getting healed became my new focus. I figured I had become sick because I was failing the Lord all the time. I just want to strongly insert the fact that Jesus is not like that! 

But at that time, I jumped into every single healing line I could find, simply because I badly wanted to be well! Instead I just got sicker, and that added a further burden. It seemed to me that I must be a terrible Christian because I was ill in a generation that thought if you were sick it was your own fault! For years I wandered around thinking God had given up on me. And getting divorced did not help that perception. 

I know there are verses that clearly talk about divorce, and yes, I accept them! God definitely says don’t do it! However, He’s also merciful – He explains WHY. Participating in a divorce makes our hearts hard. Even though I repented up one hill and down the other, I had hardened my heart against any sort of redemption by Him. Unbelief is still sin! Works will do that to you. They will cut you off from true redemption and also real gratitude. It’s hard to be grateful when living for Jesus is a whole lot of hard work, and you can’t do it.

I guess I saw Almighty God as SomeOne Who held a grudge, like most people I had met. And I thought I deserved to be rejected. In that process I lost the One Person Who dearly, eternally loved me. At that time, I had no comprehension of unconditional love. If you happen to feel like that, I would like to testify to you that the Lord Jesus is not keeping a score of our sins against us. He can’t, His blood wiped them out!! At the same time, I hadn’t properly personally digested 2 Corinthians 5:19: “…that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favour with God].”

It’s pretty hard to go out and tell others about the reconciliation that exists in Christ, when we aren’t living in it! Eventually, through the patience of a dear old minster, I came to see that the Lord Jesus is the One Who knelt beside a woman who was taken in adultery. and He also dealt with the people who wanted to stone her. Once He sat by a well and talked with a woman who had had five husbands … He didn’t give either of these women permission to live like that! However, the Lord altered the course of  both of their lives just by being Himself! The love and power of God is like that – it sets people free. 

I believe the church world-wide needs to go after the Lord’s lost sheep. The bible clearly tells us the Shepherd always does! Those broken, beaten sheep who have wandered away – or maybe they were even shoved out because the church didn’t want to be contaminated by their sin. Let’s ask the Lord to help us to win back our brothers and sisters – mothers, fathers, friends, rabbits and relations. The Body cannot function without ALL its parts. We need to be like Paul and participate in their reconciliation and restoration. So let’s love them OUT of their isolation. Maybe they are ready to repent and come back! 2 Corinthians 2:5-11.

How about we stop shooting the wounded, or leaving our broken-hearted members behind? And ask the Lord if we can be used by Him to restore them instead. Let’s get the band back together. Who knows what God will  do when we embrace others who have gotten lost along the way? Bye. 👋

P 3251 Learn to see like He does.

/ DVH

We can easily think ‘knowing’ others is about hanging around them, or watching their faces and actions. Often we take note of what they do or don’t do, or pay attention to the results of their decisions – or even what they say about themselves. In the natural, that could be true … but spiritually speaking it’s not. The reality is here and now we can no longer afford to only use our physical eyes to see others, anymore. We must learn from the Holy Spirit, how to see others the Way He sees them. And He longs to help us do it. How others appear on the surface is often learned or adaptive behaviour, it does not always bear a resemblance of their true, God-designed selves.

“Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at Him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and Him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with Himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what He is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ Himself now: Become friends with God; He’s already a friend with you.”  2 Corinthians 5:16. MSG. 

The church at large has spent so long focussing on sin … by avoiding it, plus making sure we are not polluted by it, that we forget that people are the primary reason we are still here!  This verse says we (mankind) have ALL misjudged Christ. His goodness is all over the bible, so I’m thinking that it is entirely possible, based on that One Witness (Jesus), that we all utterly misjudge other people and their motives! 

Let’s pray, and storm heaven about having spiritual sight, and ask Him to help us see others through His eyes of Love. Almighty God does not look at this world and its inhabitants the way we do. We often assess people based on fear, experience or what someone else says about them. Father God has a lot to say about people in general in His book – the mistake we often make is we hear His words with someone else in mind!  It is so easy use His book as an accusation to suit our own agendas. Let’s avoid that mistake by reading the Word like He is speaking to you, not the guy standing behind in church, or your family, or any other people you don’t like.

The Lord doesn’t assess this world into people who love Him and those who don’t! He sees us all as His kids, the ones He loves – the Holy Spirit Himself formed each one of us inside our mothers. He knows our names, our history, our passions, our needs – He even knows how much hair we have on our heads. Does this sound like SomeOne Who is watching us to see if we sin? Jesus paid for everybody’s sins – murderous attitudes, thievish lying ways etc., but He is not motivated, nor does He react to, what He sees – because Love looks at things differently! 

It looks for the good in others. Our God isn’t partisan. Right now, He doesn’t divide any of us into groups – the good guys and bad guys … that’s MEDIA, not God! One day Jesus will sort out the sheep from the goats, but that’s not our job! He may not favour what we think, just because our POV seems right to us and everybody we like to hang around with!! God is love and love looks like 1 Corinthians 13! And Love always wants to capture the heart of His kids! God’s love, despite modern society’s ridiculous ideas — is not permissive, or soppy, or prejudicially flavoured – or only in favour of our little group. His love is all over His book. The things we like, as well as the things we don’t.

Jesus loves because Love is Who He is – it is not a changeable attitude affected by whims. Read the book! In order to see others the Way the Lord sees them we will need to look at others as precious to Him, despite their dreadful actions and our personal prejudices. Every single human being on this planet is undone without His Presence. That thing you hate in others, or your supposed enemy, is just a lack of the Presence of God, first of all in you, and then in them.

We choose to forget that He died so we can all live differently. We’ve attached ourselves to all manner of creeds and attitudes, because we think we need power over others to straighten them out. And some people we just plain HATE, because they are breathing! At the same time, we like to hang around with people who believe in the same things we do.

Seeing through His eyes means that nobody is left out – every single human being was saved 2000+ years ago. Now we treat others like we would treat the Lord, when it suits us or even when it doesn’t. We live our lives in the reality of His kingdom, where we can do nothing without Him, His insight, His loving kindness, His love. So His people look for the good, and highlight that, because that’s the way we’ve chosen to see. Bye. 👋

P 3214 Let’s aim higher.

/ DVH

My beautiful daughter said this to me the other day when we were talking about 1 Corinthians 13 and its application. She emphasised some words in 1 Corinthians 13:3, like this:“LOVE REMAINS!” In other words, our love for Him and others, shouldn’t float in and out with the tide. The Lord’s love STAYS with us, no-matter-what-happens, steady on its course, and ours needs to aim at that too. That thought stopped me in my tracks. As comforting as it is to know that His love will never fail me, what’s going on where I am? Let’s aim together at having His kind of enduring, never-ending love … the love our Bridegroom deserves. A love that dies for another’s sake.

Everything that the Lord mentions in these really well-known verses is designed to REMAIN, so that it becomes who we are. Previously it seemed to me that it was a bit of a dream to think I could attempt something like that. I believe obedience is the key factor when you want to walk with the Holy Spirit, but sometimes I’d give up for a while, because it seemed like I was letting the other person get away with being difficult. 😱 It is quite useful and just a little bit shocking, to let yourself hear your own thoughts out loud. All I learnt from wandering in and out of love as the mood took me, was that you can make an awful mess all by yourself!

Let’s look at what the bible says: ‘love is patient, kind, not envious, doesn’t boast, is not proud. It doesn’t dishonour others, and it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, and doesn’t keep a record of wrongs” etc. We can’t walk in His kind of love, and do the opposite the next minute! Love doesn’t change, so neither should WE! Big breath in … in other words we can’t have this kind of love one week, and lose it the next! Faith, hope and love remain. Ergo, if it doesn’t remain it’s probably me still trying my little heart out! When I’ve thought about these verses previously — before my darling daughter opened her big mouth, was: “Yeah, those things remain – in heaven!”  Whoops.

I went a bit off my adult daughter momentarily when she pointed out that whole remaining vibe thingy. I didn’t like that idea much. I’m only human, and people mess up, everyone does. And that’s when I hit another speed bump – Jesus didn’t mess up and He was also human! And there I go again … underestimating the power of God to bring about real change.

Remain can mean more than one thing. It means that it lasts, but it can also mean if it is His kind of love — you have proof it exists because it is still there! You can’t shake it, break it, or lose it. I was always good at sums at school, and I did this sum pretty quickly… If I don’t have that kind of love then I don’t have the real thing yet. I’ve let my AIM settle for less. Now I know why the bible says: “Earnestly pursue love…” (1 Corinthians 14:1a) ‘Cos that stuff runs away from you, and we are going to have to chase after it, it won’t fall on us.

If I am going to let His love remain in me, I am going to need loads of help. I know that by myself, I definitely can’t remain in love – but just because I can’t do it, or I think I can’t do it, that should not change my AIM! People annoy me, just like they annoy you, and I have learnt how to repent, repair and move on …BUT … when I am having the same difficulty over and over and over again … it’s time to revise what is really going on.

I rapidly came to the conclusion that if I don’t choose to walk with the Holy Spirit, I’m going to blow this incredible lasting transformation in about 5 seconds flat. Actually, it’s probably more like two seconds — I was hopeful and I exaggerated!! The truth is — if the Lord doesn’t have a way to help me with this I’m sunk. The very best I can do is say nothing, and … I’m not good at saying nothing! Sigh. Guess what? God always has a way.

I did some further research. and I also found this verse. It said: “… follow after this kind of love…” I am assuming the translator meant follow after Jesus, because I don’t personally know anyone currently alive who is walking in this kind of love! However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t available to us. We too can learn to live and walk this way, but we will have to DIE to self, first. Jesus promises to teach US how. In 1 John 3:18 – we are exhorted to practise love: “Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.”

That is challenging too. Plus it says in Colossians 3:14: “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” So this kind of love can be ‘put on.’ Some versions say: “clothe yourselves.” It seems to me that we need to put on this kind of love and never ever take it off!! Even if we are harshly provoked. It’s kind of like the idea some nationalities had in the olden days before proper heating. They sewed themselves into their long johns for the winter. (They did make provision for the loo, BTW.) They put that garment on, with no view in mind of taking it off again, any time soon.

I think we need to let the Lord stitch us so far inside God’s Word – forever – that we have no thought about ever taking it off!  We must be so committed to Jesus and His cause that we will die rather than excuse ourselves. We cannot afford to think that obedience to His word is OPTIONAL any more. The thing is, if I look at love as a lifestyle, I will probably get overwhelmed and be tempted to opt out. I need to be devoted to what I believe, minute by minute.

I’m just going to leave that thought there so you and I can stew on it. I think that sounds like a permanent change. How about you? Let’s aim higher. Bye. 👋

P 3179 What does love look like?

/ DVH

If you have been reading this blog on and off for a while you will already know my answer to that question. Real love looks like an innocent man hanging from a cross – suffering willingly and terribly, for every rotten, evil thought and deed humanity has accidentally and purposefully perpetrated against themselves and others.

At the same time love looks like 1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4:18, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 Corinthians 16:14, Colossians 3:14 just to name after few verses. Every single time I read that chapter in Corinthians, I know I do not have it in me to be that person – I’m going to need truckloads of supernatural help! But God Himself wants to transform my own personal experience into His kingdom experiences, as I learn to walk in His Love. However, I will need to remember that His love is not permission to do whatever I want. It has aims for my life. But the Holy Spirit will always help me.

God’s kind of love does not in any way resemble our modern world, which shouts and jumps up and down at everyone else and says:‘ If you love me you will give me what I want!’ God’s love is founded on, and maintained, through sacrifice. His love is so real, deep and comprehensive it will not rest until it brings out the very best in His beloved. Read the book. Start with the Old Testament and watch our Heavenly Father work with a rebellious, cantankerous, wilful people. The Israelites wanted a god who would smite their enemies, and leave them alone to do absolutely anything they wanted to do, and who cares about the consequences?

Now listen to what the Lord God Almighty says about Himself: “I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.” Malachi 3:6. Did you get that bit? He does not change – you and I might have wanted to do some smiting and biting because of the Israelites horrible attitudes, but our God does not change – His Holiness is fixed. Self-centredness has nothing in common with God’s pure and holy love. Amazingly, Father God does not want to destroy the man He made, that’s why Jesus came. “But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8.

If God had not sent His Son to die for us then the devil would have destroyed all of us. We were sitting ducks! Jesus thwarted our enemy’s attempt to subvert the ways of God so we can walk with Him ourselves. Jesus not only saved us all from hell – He saved us from our own choices. Then He took us out of satan’s kingdom, paid our debt, so we can live in His Father’s kingdom – LOVE’S KINGDOM. Love’s kingdom has parameters.

“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.”  1 Peter 2:9. It is way too easy to skip over some bits of verses, and just kind of go for the sweet bits we like, that are often in the middle.”The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4. Let’s go back to the words we often don’t see …1 Peter 2:9 …”As a result you can show others the goodness of God… OR “…you are not like that …” 

If we are not careful we can easily skip right by those few words, to the ones that tell us what we want to hear.… You are ‘a royal priesthood, a chosen people, God’s very own possession’…those bits. But if we are to live this life as the Father’s royal priests. We are not meant to be the Levites or Pharisees – there is a new order of priests – we are priests who live like Jesus did! We cannot afford to live like everyone else around us. Jesus is ultimate royalty and His life and teaching are our example. God’s Love corrects us and disciplines us, to transform us into royalty.

Human beings don’t think of love as correction, however, correction and discipline are definitely a part of His love! God Himself allowed US to punish HIS SON for OUR own ultimate good. That’s how much He loves us and that’s what love looks like to Him! The devil will quibble, question and defer to our so-called right to be indulged, on the basis of “poor me’ until we are DEAD! However, our Father guides and corrects us because He utterly and unreservedly loves us. Our Father does not discipline us because He wants to spoil our fun… He does so because the stuff we wander into is like treacle or quick-sand – we wander in and we can’t get out!

Trapped in sin is a very bad look for human beings! We were made to worship the Lord, and enjoy Him all the days of our lives… and beyond! But sin, when it is embraced, colours everything around it. Colour goes out of this world when we leave God out. However, living for Jesus and others, as He leads us, is the most delightful thing anyone can aim at. It brings out God’s purpose in our lives, and we learn to live aware of Him. Living a life of faith means we know who we are, and why we are here. That changes the way we see everything else around us.

Let’s briefly go back to the Israelites. They could not see LOVE leading them, and so they felt deprived when they couldn’t do what they wanted to do. Love Himself was talking to them and they couldn’t hear a word He said, because all their complaining and whining blocked His words out! But living this life as a totally surrendered lover of Jesus will transform us to look like Him. It isn’t always FUN, but ‘afterward we reap the peaceable fruits of righteousness.’ Hebrews 12:11. Love looks like Jesus. Bye. 👋

P 3164 Take up the wrap God has given us.

/ DVH

We need to daily wrap ourselves up in His LOVE, reminding ourselves that love is the best language of all. That means we deliberately remember that He loves us, that our sin can’t separate us from Him. And unlike everything else in this life – His love is not only totally unconditional – it’s free! Love is the heading under which every other grace and gift blossoms. I have put my version of 1 Corinthians 13 down below because it is essential that we remember that this kind of love is not just given away – GOD GIVES IT TO US EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Here’s a thought about outgoing love that is familiar. 1 Corinthians 12:31b – “And yet I will show you the most excellent way.”  I often ask myself when I get stuck: “what would love do?” I’ve hardly ever come up with the kind of answer that says: ‘punch that guy in the face!’ Jesus didn’t, and He had every kind of provocation to do so! Our Lord is love Himself personified and He gives us that kind of sacrificial, personal love – the kind of love that consists of undivided attention. I have put my version of 1 Corinthians 13 down below because it is essential that we also remember that this kind of love is not just to be given away – God Himself freely gives those things to each one of US and it is always unconditional.  HE is patient, kind, faithful, enduring etc. toward us.

In my mind’s eye, I can see the Lord when He squatted down on the ground, talking to a woman no-one else would bother to speak to. Or the desolated father who needed His help because the man’s little girl was sick. Jesus did everything for us, with us in His heart. He walked up that awful hill carrying a cross that was too heavy to bear. God’s love inside Him attracted people. Jesus went to His death carrying everything that separated us from God, staggering under the weight of this world upon Him. 

I enjoy old-fashioned words. I think “consider” is a very interesting word —  this is what it means: ‘look attentively.’ Let’s consider the facts given to us in the bible, never let the cross fall out of our attention. Christ’s death and resurrection totally encompasses and exhibits God’s incredible love for us. On that day, in that dark hour, Jesus Christ personally became man’s proof that our Heavenly Father God dearly loves us. Paul explains this to us so carefully. He tells us that we have a better way to live, and that means we are to live in love.

Let’s live every single day knowing we are loved by SomeOne so glorious, that we can’t even look at Him without being utterly transfixed and transformed! The very best gift in the list of spiritual gifts is LOVE. Any other gift mentioned will totally flourish in the warmth of that one gift. We need to consider the fact that it is easy to ignore what God Himself calls – THE BEST GIFT.  Love. God’s love won’t leave, it won’t betray us, He knows and cares about what is happening in our lives. The bible tells us: ‘He takes all our broken, shattered pieces, and works them together for our good!’

You know, just because we think that we can’t have that kind of love in us, that doesn’t mean we should ignore it! Instead let’s chase after Love Himself, not gifts. Let other people identify your gifts —just allow your life to continually release the sweet fragrance of His love into your family and the world around you. And if you want to know what it looks like — right after 1 Corinthians chapter 12, comes chapter 13 with a brilliant summation of what love is. I think Paul gave us this so we can’t be misled by the kind of love this world engages in. 

The bible clearly tells us love is patient, it has the kind of endurance that does not end;  it is always kind, so you don’t have to be afraid of it. It’s not envious, it could care less what you have, or how clever you are;  instead love is enthralled and captured only by Jesus Himself, and His love for you. Love won’t boast, because it knows it has nothing to boast about!  Nor is is proud, because this kind of love wants Jesus to get all the glory. It wouldn’t dream of dishonouring others because it values other people more;  it chooses not to protect itself; and it won’t get angry easily either. It doesn’t have a record of your past, or my past, or anyone else’s past! It is not happy when an enemy suffers, because it loves the truth more than revenge. It will go out of its way to protect others, and trust God with them. Love always hopes for a good outcome. It has a never-ending source of hope in Christ, and what He did for us. And it quite simply refuses to give up on anyone.

Then we read in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, how Paul goes on to say that grown ups think one way, and children think another. He cautions us to stop thinking like children and move on into maturity. Living in Love is seen as maturity in Christ. It is the most excellent way. Everything else pales into insignificance in comparison. Who cares if we can prophesy about glories unknown, or that we should beware because danger is coming? Love is always in the NOW, it sees the best in others, and calls the best out. Living in love covers everything. 

All the other stuff will disappear, but love will always remain. Unconditional love is the quality that introduces other people to the Character of God more quickly than any of the other gifts. Let’s take off our old coats of inadequacy, obligation, and ‘ought to,’ and wrap ourselves in the wrap of God’s love instead. It is like Joseph’s coat of many colours: dazzling, varied, unique and different. Even though each piece can sometimes include suffering, solitude, and rejection, we know we are following our Saviour WHO LOVES US.. 

That coat of many colours symbolises all the favour of God, all His divine grace, power and love, plus all the gifts and fruits of the Spirit. Learn to live in His Love then give it away. Bye. 👋 

P 3096 something to think on.

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“Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust Him along the way, you’ll find He pulled it off perfectly! He will appear as your righteousness, as sure as the dawning of a new day. He will manifest as your justice, as sure and strong as the noonday sun. Quiet your heart in His presence and wait patiently for Yahweh. And don’t think for a moment that the wicked, in their prosperity, are better off than you.” Psalms 37:5-7 TPT. 

These verses are a great summation of how faith works. They help you to experience all that the Lord has for you as you surrender your whole life, and then begin to obey the stuff that is already in His book. Useful tip! Please don’t excuse yourself by saying “I don’t do that.” That’s leaning on your own understanding — ASK HIM instead. At the same time it is not good to skip over any apparently hard bits, instead it is important to take them to heart. I keep going back until He gives me an answer.

Most of my answers come when the Holy Spirit brings another verse to my mind and it clarifies the first one. Then ask Him – “What would You like me to do about this Lord?”  I have met so many people who are stuck right there agreeing with the bible but dismissing their own responsibility to change. Perhaps their thought is: “I’ve prayed about my sin, I confessed it. Now changing me and my unfortunate attitude is up to God.” I put “stinky attitude” but most people don’t like to go that far.

Leaving changing our core values up to Him is like shouting into the wind.The Lord expects us to do something about those attitudes, and He is happy to help us. To start with: He loves the interaction that takes place when we choose to engage with Him over these seemingly small things. He will tell us what to do, and help us as He tells us how to do it.

Look, I am going to be blunt here – you and I are not babies who sit about bleating: “I can’t help it, and God hasn’t done anything about it so it’s not my fault. After all I prayed!” That’s like nailing one foot to the floor and wondering why you are going round and round. We blame God because we think we did all we could, by praying. Do the opposite on purpose! Remember Zacchaeus? This man overpaid to make up for his sin. Excusing yourself is called evasion. I know people who say: ‘Jesus paid for my sin’ –YEAH! He did! But repentance is in the book too! … Repentance involves fruit. If you want fruit – this is how you get it!

My advice is to read His book with the idea that we will “hear” something to help us every single day, then we act on it. I have learnt, over and over again, that the Lord is often doing something behind the scenes …  somewhere I didn’t even think about. He is doing something else – every single time. This has become so predictable, it is amazing. If you want eyes to see and ears to hear this is how you get them. Stick yourself under His heavenly bible-microscope and ask questions. Don’t give up or use avoidance because you don’t have enough time – press in. Words are cheap, actions speak louder than words.

However, acting in faith on what He tells you to do can be hard. The bible says:“let the thief steal no more!” Now that person needs to find another way to earn a living because stealing is out! Jesus told a lot of people to go away and stop doing whatever it was that got them down the hole they had fallen into. You and I aren’t glove puppets – He will not make us change our behaviour. The Lord loves to come alongside us, to help us fix whatever it is, with His guidance and wisdom. He loves the interaction that happens as we learn to rely upon Him step by step – yes I know I already said this! 

It works like this: Pray! Ask for His help to identify any problem. Then ask Him to show you how He wants you to fix it. If someone else is involved, then pull up your big guy pants and go and ask for forgiveness. Explain to them you have been praying about this fault but you did not know you were asking amiss. You thought that was the way this stuff was done. Their response to your humility is their problem, you are working on your own spiritual life with the Lord. Faith grows when you use it to overcome your own weaknesses. 

Waiting patiently for some whose faults are driving you batty, can be incredibly irritating! But that response is our cue to ask God: “Lord, what log is in my eye that is obscuring my view of what is really going on?”. This is how we will discover the stuff we need to prayerfully do about ourselves. We are not meant to live this life irritated. Irritation is the opposite of learning to live in love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” We all know where that scripture is! 

The Holy Spirit knows the steps each of us need to take to get us to this place in Corinthians! My steps won’t be like yours, because we are different. But He promises to counsel us with His eye upon us, and He will. There is absolutely nothing like doing God’s Will God’s Way! All sorts of glory comes down. My insides get so happy I just want to do some sort of little dance on the spot! I don’t, of course, because I can’t dance for toffee – but I yell a lot instead! “Praise You Lord!” When we pray about this kind of stuff we are touching the eternal, and allowing Him to be the focus of our lives. That is definitely something to think on. Bye. 👋

P 2986 Nothing can stop us.

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The Lord made a way to love every single one of us:  nice or not nice, loveable or evil, ignorant or wise, and His love is not wishy washy mush. It is triumphant in its power! God’s love goes beyond our comprehension. Love is not what I say or agree with, it is the way I choose to live. It is not a tap, that can be turned on or off, it is a flow of His love through me to you. I’m the conduit not the producer.

Having only known human, limited love as a child, the idea of perfect love can seem glorious, but elusive. So when I hear someone express doubt about God’s love for them or someone else, I begin to understand from my own personal experience, how they got there. They saw love as a feeling, as comfort when they needed it, as provision when they lacked something. So for these people, no good feelings, or experiencing bad feelings = no love. Love is what Paul is talking about in Romans 8:38-39 TPT.

“So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that His love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken His love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!”

Paul had total confidence in the Love of God toward him. He went through all kinds of terrible trials and testings, but His assurance of God’s never-ending love did not change — despite the circumstances in his life. I have to remind myself all through the day that love is a choice I need to make over and over again and I cannot get there alone. I desperately need the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance. It is way beyond a human being’s comprehension to understand the magnitude of God’s love toward each one of us because most of us have been raised to believe that love is conditional. 

Jesus came here, on purpose to make that kind of love available to you and I, and the Holy Spirit was sent back to us, after He left to pour and spread God’s love all over us, around us and in us. The baptism in the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, is not just a baptism of fire —even though the disciples saw fire;  love IS fire, it burns away anything that does not let it in or out. Perfect love came and expelled all their fear. Love ignites a passion in the recipient that lasts a lifetime.

Pentecost was a fiery baptism of LOVE. His love burnt away every trace of fear in them. Those men and women left the place where they been had hidden away in fear from their fellow citizens, and they burst out into the public market place proclaiming Christ and all He had done. God’s love for the people pushed them out of their hiding place. It compelled them.

“For the love of Christ controls and compels us, because we have concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that all those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for their sake. So from now on we regard no one from a human point of view [according to worldly standards and values].”2 Corinthians 5:14-16a.

As we begin to discern how much we are loved by Him, we will automatically overflow with His love toward the people all around us who have not earned it, nor do they deserve it. The well of His love inside us bubbles up and overflows, but we have a part to play in this kind of outward looking love. It begins with obedience to our Saviour’s Words, and culminates daily in sacrificial ACTIONS toward other people. Things that can be seen and experienced by others. That kind of Love cannot be stopped, because its focus is on the One it loves, not on the effort that needs to be made to love other people.  

This kind of transformation will only be seen through us when we decide to make love a CHOICE and take deliberate action. From my own point of view, when I decided to make love a choice, I finally found out just how unloving I was!  Most human beings live this life in a series of trade-offs …I’ll be nice to you if you will be nice to me. then one day, all that ‘nice’ begins to wear off and we start keeping score of the bad things people do to us. We forget that every human being that has lived, or is living now, or ever will live — is dearly loved by God Himself. When we choose to misuse love or withhold it – we are fighting against the very nature of God.

His love simply will not wear out – it is holding the entire universe together. Read Colossians 3:14. Right now His love bonds this universe together. It is the perfect glue. And when we read 1 Corinthians 13 we discover its unique characteristics, it is not materialistic or self-serving. Jesus is God’s perfect love personified and personalised. He didn’t only come here as an expression of God’s love. He came to earth to demonstrate to each one of us the extent God was willing to go to, so we can be His children. Nothing can stop us from living a life filled with love, but our ill-informed belief system. Bye 👋.

P 2901 Walking in love means …

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… that I will probably never get my own way! According to 1 Corinthians 13, this kind of heart attitude is now my NEW priority… Now I will need to rely upon God to help me be patient in the middle of unpleasant circumstances. The Lord has promised He will help us. There is no reason to be envious of your fruit, because I’m way too busy growing my own! At the same time I will cultivate a caring concern for your well-being, while I’m putting my own needs on His altar. Also I no longer want to keep records of all the dumb things you’ve done!

Pardon me a minute, now I need to dash off and look in His mirror, (His Word) and see if there is any chance my reflection there backs up what I just said! Meanwhile, fake fruit looks a lot like the real deal nowadays, until you take a bite out of it! Here’s an interesting side note: fake fruit is too shiny. Just like those fake plastic smiles we slap on when somebody has stepped on our heart for the 15th time and we lie and tell them, “Oh I’m OK, really!” It’s a wonder that my nose isn’t longer than Pinnochio’s. Why do we do that? Here’s my answer … a lack of humility. An aversion to correction and connection, plus I’m deathly afraid you will continue to tell me the truth about myself … and… I don’t want to hear that, thank you!

Here is my point for today, this life is constantly taking bites out of us – our response to those bites is a much better thermometer or diagnosis, than even any reflection could be. Instead, now we want to make His Word flesh in our lives – that happens when we do it to obey Him. Living like Jesus’ told us to, means we learn to be quiet when someone else is utterly wrong and we can prove it to them but instead we choose not to do that. We won’t even brag about the fact that we’ve resisted temptation, because we know, that the Holy Spirit helped us through it. 

Let’s be clear — it is not our behaviour that is at fault – it’s our belief system. We use our experiences to validate what we believe, instead of His Word. This side of the cross we need to believe in His love IN US more than we believe the lies that flourish around us. I can’t do anything without Him, because I know I will dive straight back into looking after ME. I can make pretty good excuses for doing that. Sadly, sometimes we keep right on using our own understanding, instead of acknowledging Him in all our ways.

We must continually revisit truths from the bible. looking for things for us to apply into our lives. Jesus did all this work for us, all by Himself, at Calvary …once and for all! If I give you a brand new house with everything you ever personally wanted or needed in it, and you still chose to continue to live in falling down rented digs – because you are too proud to say “thank you” — whose fault is that? The Lord has already deposited everything we will ever need to be transformed, in our forever account.We just need to learn to live in forever, instead of the immediate. Otherwise the immediate takes over.

Romans 4:20–25: “Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for US, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” 

Those words: ‘fully persuaded that God had power’ …matter. We’ve met SomeOne Who is not like anyone else we’ve ever met. He doesn’t just tear up any record of our sins, at the same time, He deposits His love, righteousness, goodness, compassion, mercy, loving-kindness etc. inside of us. We already have whatever we need for this way of life. Jesus did not just empty out the bad, He is in the process, with our co-operation, of loading in the good. Abraham believed God and He acted on His belief, and God said: Now that’s righteous.”

Now we choose to stop doing things the way this world does them, and we ask Him how He wants us to handle everything that comes our way. Loving others is our permanent focus. Instead of asking the Lord to make you patient, (generic wish thought) you and I ask Him – ‘Who am I being impatient with, Lord?’  (Specific attitude check.) And we don’t argue with whatever He suggests, even if it happens to be someone we can’t stand! We go to them and humble ourselves. If we wait for that other person to deserve it … it will never happen! 

LOVE ACTS. It is unafraid of the consequences. Walking in love means my whole life changes! Bless ya 👋

P 2836 Live under the canopy.

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“Above all, constantly echo God’s intense love for one another, for love will be a canopy over a multitude of sins.”1 Peter 4:8 TPT. Let’s get down to business – love, the love of God that we give away … that reality that is described in the bible… is NOT a feeling. Feelings don’t come into it, except sometimes, later on.  Love is an action. Jesus Christ took that action on our behalf. That’s why 1 Corinthians 13 lists qualities we can expect to see in our lives when we walk with Him and exhibit His love. The truth is, I already have this love for you, it is mine, and it is just as real as this computer I am typing on.

Those verses mentioned above are also a promise from HIM toward us. He will be patient, kind, etc. etc. with us. That’s how we will know that whatever we receive, is from Him! If what we have been given doesn’t produce joy – it ain’t Him because God’s love has clothes that it wears! (Colossians 3:12) … Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience etc. If what you choose to wear for yourself – your behaviour, or what you hear or read does not sound like those things – it is not HIM! Christ is kindness and compassion etc. personified. 

Read the book. Then watch Him, in your mind’s eye, walk about amongst those large, never-ending unruly crowds … He never got impatient with them pressing in on Him, or getting in His way, or even when they interrupted Him as He was about to do something else. Kindness and compassion are the very scent of the Father that Jesus carried with Him.

Those people who truly hate God, don’t want to read His book. They don’t want to know Him. We give the bible away a lot, and some people refuse it. However, not all of those people actually hate Him, some are afraid of the book. They are afraid of conviction etc. that’s why they don’t want to read it. They think they can’t change their behaviour to suit Him.  Isn’t it tragic that some Christians think that way too? We have a powerful ally – a HELPER!!

On a happier note about giving away the bibles, we sometimes return to the same places on our many journeys, and we find we need to give out more bibles, even though we already gave away plenty the first time we passed by!  People have pinched them. It’s probably the only time I approve of thievery, because true conviction lies within that book. Over to You, Lord.

Living under His canopy means living this life the way Jesus would, as a fit Bride for the Lord Himself.  My Saviour had to leave this earth to validate His vow to me, and He poured His own blood all over the heavenly mercy seat. I needed that mercy so badly!!!  Praise God, that Christ’s blood was complete and final. No bull, sheep, dove would need to be sacrificed ever again. Almighty God has provided the perfect, finalised agreement between Him and mankind forever. In effect, when we stand under that canopy of what Jesus did for us, we are reminded of our pledge to marry Him. 

A canopy is a place of agreement. Two people vow to be true to each other, before God, under an object that covers them both. How fortunate are we to have the blood of Jesus Christ, as our canopy. His blood not only washes us, it covers us. When God looks at us He sees His dear Son’s blood. Now, we can stand firmly in our place under that costly canopy. I will not be excused from the practicalities of living a life on earth, instead now I can embrace them, knowing the One I love best, lived for God every second, of every minute, of every day. He did it  and now I know it can be done with the Holy Spirit’s constant help! 

If I hurt you, then part of my agreement with Jesus is that I will repair the damage, by asking for your forgiveness and changing my behaviour. I will probably need to spend my lifetime, changing my behaviour one way or another, but only with His active guidance and help. To do that I must choose to live in constant fellowship with Him, and obey whatever He tells me to do. I have found that sheer obedience has opened doors in my life and heart that were forever nailed shut in my eyes. I can take no credit for those things, He did it all. I just followed His prompts and along the way of obedience, my heart was changed. Boy was I surprised!

All the gold, precious jewels, and metals this world has ever seen cannot provide a better, more beautiful place to stand with our Beloved Saviour... than under that canopy of His sacrificial love. Jesus died to make us all like Him, so we can love God the way He loved His Father – by being obedient. The Lord was incredibly obedient …unto His death. All of the joyous, enthusiastic singing, praising, worship, and dancing we can do, does not substitute for the sheer gritted teeth “YES” of obedience that flows voluntarily from our hearts.

You and I now live under that canopy. Bye.👋 “He escorts me to the banquet hall; it’s obvious how much He loves me.”Song of Songs 2:4.