Activity

P 3185 A road map for your day.

/ DVH

“Let every activity of your lives and every word that comes from your lips be drenched with the beauty of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. And bring your constant praise to God the Father because of what Christ has done for you!” Colossians 3:17 TPT. “Walk in the wisdom of God as you live before the unbelievers, and make it your duty to make Him known. Let every word you speak be drenched with grace and tempered with truth and clarity. For then you will be prepared to give a respectful answer to anyone who asks about your faith.” Colossians 4:5-6 TPT.

After reading those two scriptures I felt a bit like a sheep! Drenching here and drenching there. Then I looked up the word ‘drenching’ and I found out that doing that to the sheep gets rid of internal parasites. Hmmm. Perhaps I need this drenching stuff, because it is beneficial to my new life in Christ. It is way too easy to pick up internal parasites. You just have to drive in peak traffic and all that internal stuff starts coming out of your mouth! For these two scriptures to have power in our lives we need to hone our focus, with the Holy Spirit’s help. I think about it like this– will what I am going to say help that person to feel loved? Love is my aim. 

Did you notice the conditions under which all of these lovely attitudes toward all kinds of other people transpires? Colossians 3 v17 is talking about those activities, plus our need to focus on the Lord Jesus and all He has done for us. And verses 5-6 of Chapter 4 is talking about walking in His wisdom, as well as letting the people around us know about Him … It also clearly mentions that we will need His grace to do it … I’ll say! 

I definitely need truck loads of grace, I ask for it all the time.

It is easy to see how conflict occurs – one person can have a different version of truth than someone else. This scenario will probably end up in collision. It means we need a common denominator, or we will end up arguing about our differences.Instead we need to find a place of agreement, so why don’t we agree with His VERSION of the truth. When we agree about our love for Jesus, that brings Him back into focus. It is not helpful to talk our different theologies or our behaviours. This why those two verses are good together – they show us where our focus needs to be.

OK. So HOW do we spread abroad the love of God into our family’s lives first of all? We do whatever we need to do, in a quiet way under His guidance – no matter what the job is, or how difficult or irrelevant it seems. Our lives belong to Him so we deliberately choose to follow the Holy Spirit!  We can get into a quandary when we try to live for us and for Jesus …all at the same time, because a divided heart won’t get us where we want to go. It seems to me that I need to be aware of every word that comes out of my mouth or I will end up circling the drain. Part of being daily transformed includes being careful what I say.

This life makes it blatantly obvious to me that I need a Saviour, and the Holy Spirit’s help. My own methods are broken. Praise God Jesus died to give me His methods so I am not powerless in the face of adversity! I can now, bless and praise God immediately for giving me a new nature simply. I just need to choose to live like He did, preferring others, and living aware of His Father’s Love for Him. Love is the oil that throws light into our everyday thoughts and actions.

Because I walk with Jesus, that means that the people closest to me will not get my worst behaviour! In fact, if I follow the Holy Spirit around in my own life and I can practise learning to process what I think, without even saying a word. His Grace flows more freely when we deliberately choose to take the lowest place. And the Lord Himself will guide me into activities that are His choice for me. And He will help me deal with the ones that bring up those pesky parasites we were talking about before.

We need to remember, that the scripture in Colossians 3 talks about letting. Letting means allowing! We allow the Holy Spirit to keep our focus on Jesus, and guide us into whatever He has for us to do today. Plus we allow Him to correct us as we go along. In reality, our focus has to stay on Him, because we can’t do a thing without Him! That’s when praise starts – when we become witnesses to what He is really doing. 

Our own little list of‘things I have to do’ will have to be surrendered to Him, simply because we are now letting Him guide us through each day. That’s what ‘dead to self’ means. I am no longer just a homemaker, or a mechanic, or a computer expert –now I am an ambassador for the King. That’s my title. That’s my Job! And it is by my own choice. That’s also when interruptions stop being a pest, and become His heaven-sent opportunities to change my responses. He can change me, or someone else – it doesn’t matter –because my focus in everything is on Him.

Now we are daily learning to rely upon Him and His Grace. I have a glorious Person Who is active, and helping me, and He knows exactly how to get me through the bumps of this life. I intentionally stand in His Grace and remember all this stuff that is going on around me, will never have the final say. Jesus does! However, if we choose to run with our own little lists … well, that’s when those pesky parasites come up, and they usually bring tanks and rockets with them! I need-to-be-drenched-with the Holy Spirit, continually, on purpose.

Who we are outside our house, depends on who we are inside our house. Part of overcoming daily difficulties is that we watch over our immediate focus, then it will become natural for our conversations to be about our faith in the One Who is helping us … minute by minute. That’s the road map from Colossians. Bye.👋

P 3099 Make room – clear away the debris!

/ DVH

Today I want to look at a few verses in Isaiah. “Thunder in the desert! “Prepare for God’s arrival! Make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for our God. Fill in the valleys, level off the hills, Smooth out the ruts, clear out the rocks. Then God’s bright glory will shine and everyone will see it. Yes. Just as God has said.” Isaiah 40:3-5. Does this sound like action to you? It does to me! I truly don’t think that prayer is the only activity required when you are working with Him to build a highway in your heart for Him to walk on. Part of our job description is to clear away any debris, as well as let the Holy Spirit guide us into making the roads in our lives clear for Him – we must personally choose to engage and …participate.

Hubby and I have had the opportunity to learn a little bit about highway repairs etc. It is a careful, clearing away of what has been left that does not belong there, then the old road itself can be removed, or repaired. Like the scripture says highways work better when they are obstacle free and smooth! My hubby loves these unexpected stops — he happily talks to the workers. We’ve even given away lemonade on hot days. It seems that road building is hot, boring, and repetitive but necessary work – like the work we need to do in our own lives so the King can use OUR LIVES as His highway! We are not demolition crews, we are restorers of the breach. We build streets for others to live in!

I think this world is standing, on tippy-toes at the very edge of something that is so important, so necessary to what comes next, we cannot imagine it. Almighty God is about to do something extraordinary … but I believe He is waiting for US to voluntarily engage with Him. He’s a good good Father, He won’t make us participate but He needs us to be battle-ready. Sadly, it seems to me that many of us look more like couch-potatoes, while others are so engaged with their own business, they haven’t got any time for His. The Lord has His own timing, and it is an error to think OUR timing takes priority over His. However, if we happen to be spiritually sleeping it is so much easier for the enemy to take us out. We need to be ever-ready, standing with our armour on, ready to ‘GO’ when He says ‘GO!’ 

How can we personally participate in what comes next, if we rely on other people to hear Him and wait for them to tell us what to do? All our enemy has to do then, is to take the leaders out. We must engage in the road building process — individually and corporately. It is time for the Body of Christ to realise we are not on some jolly little outing Sunday by Sunday — we live in a spiritual war zone. War zones need road repairs, so help can get to those who need it. At this point in time other people are being killed off all over the place, while we merrily just go about our own personal daily business. My bible says — HIS business IS my business.

Bear with me please, I am not actually changing the subject  – I simply want to further illustrate my point. Our dog is a labradoodle. She’s a totally loveable, good-natured, over-excitable, 13 year old air-head who wouldn’t bite a soul. She still thinks she’s a puppy! She doesn’t walk, she bounces. If you wave her favourite toy about she will jump up and down to play. Her tail constantly goes like a helicopter blade.

Our pooch just burst into the room where I am typing and she was doing her usual morning routine … with the brain … without the brain. Galloping about trying to jump up and down to get hubby’s attention. Hubby quietly put his hand on her head and then he said one word: “Heel!” She jumped up in the air nearly did a somersault, switched sides and sat down looking up at him. What happened? HER MASTER SPOKE. 

Right now, I am not sure the Body of Christ could hear the Lord if He thundered at us – we are so distracted by the cares and worries of this life. If we wait for all those things to disappear first, then the next sound we will hear will be a trumpet from heaven! I know what it is like to be incapacitated, and weak – however, I’d rather focus on what Jesus wants from me, today. It’s about our focus, not the tasks. We can still get ordinary things done and get to know and trust Him … all at the same time. We simply need to make everything Jesus’ business! He wants to build highways through the desert and wildernesses in us, and around us.

Don’t worry about qualifying, the Lord doesn’t need expertise, He has heavenly armies that stand ready at any given moment. Instead He needs our willingness to engage. We all need to choose to be activated. If Jesus needed human expertise I could name heaps of people who qualify for that kind of work because they are smarter than me. Nowadays practically everyone I know is smarter than me! We must turn to the Lord automatically, like my pooch. Let.Him.Lead.You.

Father God will always have our back. And even if we have to do a somersault in mid-air to come down on the Lord’s side – we both know that is the right place! With our eyes lifted UP waiting for His next command. Let us choose to obey Him, and let the Holy Spirit build a highway for the King in our hearts. He will clear away any debris. Once before, long ago, there was no room for Jesus – He ended up in an outdoor building. Let’s not do that again! Bye.👋

P 2697 Half-heartedness. (Matthew 6:24)

/ DVH

“Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31.

“Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord Himself and not merely for others. For we know that we will receive a reward, an inheritance from the Lord, as we serve the Lord Yahweh, the Anointed One!” Colossians 3:23-24 TPT.

It is easy to see why we might want to avoid confronting ourselves with verses like these, because they cut us to the core. Some verses are clearly directional, challenging and costly. Here’s free advice from me — don’t ask yourself IF these verses apply to you. ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT – He’s our personal Resident Expert. In my experience we can excuse ourselves from the hard bits in the bible much too quickly. That is when we will totally miss the greater blessing that is contained in HIS ANSWER. Obedience brings its own reward.

On a good day I can kind of wrangle up loving support for my neighbour, but loving God with all of me often defeats me. When I’m worshipping God in church maybe I have feelings like that, but living this out, all day, every day —  I know, for sure, in my own strength I can’t do that. I believe with all my heart that half-heartedness flourishes simply because we do not know the Lord intimately. We need to know His Ways. Time after time the Lord accused the Israelites of not knowing His ways. That happened when they stopped obeying Him and did what was right in their own eyes.

We know that what Christ said in Mark 12 above, was in the context of some sort of open forum. Jesus was engaging with the leaders who were the religious experts of His day. In a previous verse, V24, the Lord says this: “Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?“  These Jewish leaders had lost the power of God because they kept choosing to define Who He is to suit themselves. The result was that they had a spiritual veil over their eyes. They kept the letter of the law but missed His Spiritual direction behind it. Meanwhile the scriptures and the power of God are meant to go together. They are an arrow pointing us to a new way to live — IN CHRIST. He is God’s Answer to salvation, transformation and our sin.

You and I cannot raise this kind of passion for God, all by ourselves. But we were given it! … Christ died to give me His passion for His Father, as well as a love for His Father’s Ways. This was clearly demonstrated by Jesus’ hard fought victory on the cross. Christ not only loved this world, HE LOVED HIS FATHER so much that He died to bring about His Father’s dearest desire – mankind’s restitution and reconciliation with Him. This means I can see Almighty God through new eyes – His! Christ died to give this to me. I use those new eyes when I read the bible, I hear it like it is God Himself speaking to me.

So I let go of my old life, including who I think I am, as well as any religious formulas, and I choose to lean on and follow the Holy Spirit instead. I allow the bible to renew/change my mind/thinking by co-operating with what it says. To live in the new I simply have to let go of the old. We cannot love God with all our hearts when our hearts have a divided loyalty. Christ gave us all of Him, so now we live this life giving Him ALL of us! Our whole heart needs to commit to this new way to live. Because of what Jesus did for me, now I am free to do it. To love God with all I am, and serve Him in everything I do. I show God this, by being obedient. 

“I have been crucified with Christ. it’s no longer I that lives, but Christ Who lives in me. And the life I now lead, I lead by faith in the Son of God Who died for me.” Galatians 2:20. This verse means I leave my old manipulative, self-seeking way of life behind and I minute by minute, choosing to follow Jesus. Christ died to save me and give me the same power He had to overcome when He walked the earth. Now I choose to live my life the way He lived His.

If I temporarily lose focus, then I need to repent, repair and move on. Father God has good plans for my life. Things I could never imagine or dream about. However, my new choices may sometimes seem costly, simply because I am not a zombie! Instead I am a wilful human being, who is voluntarily laying down my own plans. But I have been given His power to obey and follow Jesus, and I use my FAITH in His goodness, His faithfulness to do it. I read what it says and I do it. Living like Jesus did is not a mystery! I simply read, listen to the Holy Spirit, and obey however He tells me to do it. Jesus died to give us His connection with the Holy Spirit. John 16:7.

When I daily see and discover our heavenly Father – and His loving help and concern for me – through the Holy Spirit’s eyes — my desire to love God with all of me, becomes a process of ongoing surrender. However, I don’t have to carry the weight of getting things right any more. I simply follow the Holy Spirit’s prompts and OBEY Him. I leave half-heartedness behind me and now I’m learning obedience – God’s love language.👋

Ref: Matthew 6:24; Revelation 3:16&17;  Deuteronomy 28:1-14;  1 John 2:3-6; and Romans 8:1-39.