Angst

P3458 Limitless.

/ DVH

“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” Galatians 5:22-23 TPT.

Ages ago, I watched a TV show called “Limitless,” it was about an ordinary guy who took some new drug or other, and suddenly he was using all of his brain instead of 10% of it. My thought was: ‘I hope this never happens! Sadly most of us are already driven around day after day, by performance!” However, that show proved to me that people long to be bigger and more useful than they are, but self-effort provides us with a relentless boss. Performance is a sterile tree, it produces nothing sweet, tasty or lasting, except a whole lot of angst, and indignation. It is so easy to think to ourselves: ‘I’ve worked hard on that, where’s the fruit from it?”

The Holy Spirit on the other hand, is a brilliant gardener, He cuts off unproductive attitudes and actions. Plus He helps us when we allow Him to lead, and He produces all that spiritual stuff listed above, in us. Sometimes I think we miss the meaning of what the Lord is saying because the language is so foreign to us in today’s world. I think we can easily get stuck on ‘near enough is good enough’ – and that won’t last! 

The Holy Spirit produces this fruit within us. Who does it? HE does. The things most of us produce in a lifetime, aren’t worth all the effort to keep it, realistically speaking. Where I live, even our house isn’t much of an inheritance after the government sends it’s locusts in. As you get older you start to think about leaving behind a lasting inheritance, not money, or things, but a spiritual inheritance. 

That’s what that long list of people who were in Jesus’ lineage in Matthew and Luke is all about. I call them the “begat” people. They had kids who had kids, who had kids etc… you get it. There were generations of them and their forbears were important to them. Genealogy was a big deal, stuff was passed on down through the family, because recording stuff the way we do was not available, and not as useful as Great Grandma Mary’s antique dining room table!

This is where bearing fruit comes in – a solid strong tree will produce good fruit. Actually, if there is no fruit, the tree it is called a barren tree. Jesus talks about that in Luke 13:6-9. “And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

A tree’s purpose is to bear fruit. Plain and simple. However I love the way the gardener pleads on behalf of a mere tree to give it another chance. This man will have invested time and energy in that fig tree, with fertilising, watering it, and giving it a whole lot of care when it was just a sapling. This parable reminds me of the tender care the Holy Spirit gives each one of us. Nurturing, correcting, leading us, pruning us and guiding us – all that with the promise of His good fruit appearing and coming into fruition in our lives.  

My point is this:  do we have any fruit on the ‘tree’ of our lives? Have we matured enough in the things of the kingdom of heaven to grow any fruit? Fruit benefits other people not the tree. So if we have fruit, is that fruit better tasting, longer lasting and more evident than it has been in previous years?That’s a good question to ask the Lord – “are YOU happy with the production of the fruit of Your Spirit in my life?” We can’t afford to forget that the gardener has been giving our tree His own attention, watching over it. He knows us well enough to ask for a further chance and a bit of time and help so we can grow up into what we were planted for. 

Let’s not be fooled, we will do many things for Jesus’ sake in our spiritual lifetime, but the fruit of the Spirit is proof of His work in us. Our work for the Lord’s kingdom won’t produce anything edible if all we do is work for Him in this natural world. We need His spiritual fruit in our lives. It’s the fruit that other people need to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” All the talk in the world cannot produce God’s fruit. All talk does is put more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere! We need to submit to His ways so the Lord Himself can produce the kind of fruit in our lives that people only dream about. 

Let’s remember that “…divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit …” is what that fruit looks like. That kind of fruit is limitless, a healthy fruit-laden tree is a wonderful legacy for anyone. Bye. 👋

P3455 Help! I’ve misplaced my hope!

/ DVH

It was here a minute ago, now where did I put it? … I seem to have lost my hope. Has that ever happened to you? You are walking along, minding your own business, enjoying the day so far, and suddenly your thoughts plummet to the ground and you can’t see anything good, anywhere. Guess what? You didn’t do anything, that’s a big sign the enemy just threw a destructive distraction bomb at you. he doesn’t need a person to do it, he scrolls his ill-informed rubbish across the screen of our minds.

If the devil cannot get us to stop talking about Jesus with other people then his back-up plan seems to be … ‘let’s mess with their minds.’ That’s when you start remembering perfectly, every mean thing someone else has ever done to you. It is like you have a bucket of cold water thrown in your face. The day started out OK, but now you can’t see one good thing about it. We need to be wise when we deal with our enemy — he hates us. If he can’t throw us off our game, then he will put someone else who can be provocative, across our path to irritate us.

Perhaps you have to meet with Sister ‘boy-do-I-get-up-people’s-noses,’ that day. She’s a dear old duck but she drones on forever about her grandkids, and how Jesus healed her from this and that, and she never ever asks how you are doing! You were looking forward to meeting her, a minute ago, because she is a sweet old saint — then grumpy thoughts hit you from behind. If you like reading detective stories, that is a clue as to what is really going on. 

One of the best things I’ve ever learnt is that not every thought in my dear little head belongs to me. satan loves to throw random thoughts into our minds…  he can even make them sound sympathetic. he says junk like: “I thought this was going to be a good day. But I just conveniently remembered the time this Sister was mean about blah blah blah.” satan loves to use personal pronouns. That is, he speaks as if those thoughts are yours. And we are off down the wrong road before we’ve even seen her, and we don’t need that nasty little demon of comparison whispering to us anymore because it seems we can fill in the blanks all by ourselves. We’ve lost our hope and he’s turned our head.

First things first. Resist the devil. Why? Because he will keep on at you, that’s why. If he can’t get you going round in circles about that particular Sister, then he will remind you of someone who looked at you funny, or someone who walked away as you were speaking to them. And rejection, suspicion, and insult just entered the contended area – the contended area is our brain OK?  It’s called the battlefield of the mind.

Our response appears in 2 Corinthians 2:11, we always need to know what God says: “To keep satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions.” Don’t be ignorant, nothing happens to us by accident. We are in a war, LOVE MUST BE OUR AIM or we are sunk.

After the enemy goes after our hope of sweet fellowship, then he tries to steal our peace. and we start having imaginary conversations in our head. With us playing both parties involved. “She’ll say this, and I’ll say that, and that will fix them!” That’s not good, because it borders on witchcraft. We can’t know how the other person will respond or react to us. We don’t even know half the time what will come out of our own mouth, until we are in the middle of it! 

Sometimes, when my dear hubby and I have the occasional argument – shock horror! I have found my previous negative experiences with other people can influence my current situation with him. It is like we have these key words and someone shouts “bingo!” He sounds like someone else I knew, that was not loving, patient or kind to me. (Meanwhile, it’s worth noting how many times the word I came up in those thoughts.) So now I am no longer disagreeing with my husband, I am still trying to win that battle I lost years ago.

Secondly, find your sense of humour. Be prepared to see the funny side of all this posturing. I try to remind myself that this is a person I love, and yet I’m currently working very hard to hurt them! Half the time, I lose track of what we are saying to each other in the middle of ‘the discussion’ – which is funny all by itself.

The third one is to apologise. Yes, even if they are wrong! I have quoted this scripture so many times to myself they ought to write it on my tombstone — “a soft answer turns away wrath.” (Proverbs 15:1.) It works! Tell the other person you love them more than you need to make your point. Here’s my translation of that. Be sweet to the other person who is currently shouting back at you, think of something good about them and say it out loud instead! Jesus gave us His hope, and He can help us find it again.

Here’s the last one: “Agree with your adversary quickly …”  (Matthew 5:25.) Nothing shoots an argument down more quickly than when we start saying things like: “You are right. I was wrong, I am so sorry for causing all this angst.” Here is the reason why … we are looking to win our brother, NOT the war. If we win the argument we will lose something – our hope for a different outcome. Hardening our hearts against others is hardening our hearts against Him!

We are not at war with our brother or sister, instead we are both fighting a common enemy. We need to humble ourselves, and take the lower seat. Jesus is well acquainted with humility. He didn’t do what others accused Him of doing. Plus, He said not a word. Man, I gotta get me some of that!! When we misplace our hope, we need to stop and go looking for the Lord. He is our anchor. He will teach us how to overflow with hope, instead of foundering in the depths of despair and angst. Bye for today. 👋.

P 3359 In which I talk about Elephants.

/ DVH

I have been ill one way or another for the past 50 years, I have a cranky immune system. Why? I dunno. Loads of people have prayed for me. I imagine if I asked people-who-are-much-smarter-or-more-spiritual-than-I-am they could probably list some sin or unbelief in my life that has caused this stuff. All I know is it stretches my faith daily. 

I don’t always find other people’s suggestions, even though they are well intentioned, all that helpful. Because these not-quite-so-helpful souls go home and do ordinary stuff, and yet I still need help going to the loo! I realise that others are trying to be inspiring by telling me to declare this, and remember that verse from the bible. It’s all good! But when I am in the middle of a physical battle, I can’t pick stuff up, I am too busy fighting my overactive mind, feelings and symptoms, and I feel condemned if I can’t do it.

I truly believe Jesus has the Answer so I go to Him minute by minute for the strength to manage this kind of weakness. At the same time, I can use all of His life in me that I can get, when my own life is sitting on me! Unfortunately, another problem with ongoing chronic illness, is that you can get used to it — and sadly, you don’t have to like it to get used to it. One of my least fav feelings is the one that says: “Here we go again!” I’m doing OK today, BTW.

I want to take the time to encourage others who happen to be sick or broken. The people who love and desperately need Jesus day in and out, just to get out of bed every morning. It takes courage to choose Jesus when it seems like there are no wellness benefits- yet. I salute you. So does Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, and 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. Without the Lord’s help, chronic illness can become the overriding flavour of any life. 

You will have to fight against the idea of giving in to it, and grab hold of your courage to fight that same battle one more time. I believe I have discovered a small but helpful secret to surviving with elephants…what we focus ON, fills our minds and emotions and it filters down right through our everyday lives. A person with a disability has to fight harder, but I’ve learnt to comfort myself with the thought that God loves me dearly, sick or not.  Plus I strongly resist the urge to fling blame and angst about. Instead I put my sights firmly on Him and keep on following Him.

It’s extremely profitable to look for some good in life – especially if you are laid aside. That attitude can become a refuge in itself. Two sentences have helped me: “Oh well,” and “God is always good, no matter how it looks.” God is still good when everything looks BAD! I want to be clear, these two things are not an exit sign, they are simply a way to keep my spirit man, who isn’t sick (!) energised and active.  

So I say: “oh well” and postpone any plans when things get icky. It’s become a spoken cue to shift my focus back onto the Lord, and off some painful thing or other that has forced itself on me. What we pay attention to, fills our vision. Bad stuff can happen to anyone, and ‘oh well,’ reminds me I’m in great company. Otherwise self-pity grabs me by the throat and I start circling the drain. Then I’ve just lost an opportunity to rely upon Jesus, as well as renew my mind to think like He does. The Body of Christ focusses on healing, but we need to focus far more on the fact that Jesus SAW sick people!

Problems come disguised as ordinary every day incidents that are easily solvable for most people …but when they land on the chronically sick and disabled they become distractions to keep us busy elsewhere …so we will forget who we really are! When praying for myself shows no visible signs of relief, then I choose to pray for YOU. Otherwise pain and illness can take over my thinking, and block out the reality of Who He is and what He has done for all of us.

The other thing I hang onto is: “God is always good.” I say that out loud, and I’ve learned to treat it as a lifeline. Then I resist evil, focus on Him – and I have peace instead of turmoil. When we use the truth of the bible as our plumb line, it steadies and focusses our inner thinking. This means we can pick up on whatever the Holy Spirit wants to give us, so we can fight the enemy’s insinuations with it.

Sometimes, realistically speaking, we may have to gird up our loins, and do everything we can, including ignoring our battered feelings.  In those moments, it helps me to keep going when I remember what the Lord has already done in my life. I’ve learnt to let the little things that might otherwise go unnoticed, become my focus. I give thanks for the small things! Even if we don’t know how to fix ourselves—let’s face it if we did we would do it! We can still always go to Him and ask for His help and healing. Believing ‘God is always good,’ switches our focus.

Chronic illness means some people around us, are running this race set before them with a handicap – and some are barely holding on. Perhaps other people don’t realise how much courage it takes to hold fast to what is true, in the face of the lack of answers to fervent prayers. The Body of Christ needs everyone, including the lesser, unseen parts, so we must stand with the chronically ill and keep remembering them in our prayers. “I was sick and you visited Me.”

I vote we support the person and stop ignoring that elephant, because love looks like something – a prayer, a real hug, tears, even a sandwich! Let’s not make someone’s healing more important than comforting the person themselves. Bye. 🙏

P 3041 Blame and shame …

/ DVH

… the destructive twins. Those thieves take our peace and joy away and leave us with angst and worry. They make poor governors of our behaviour. They can be aimed at ourselves, as well as others. When we are caught up in this way of thinking, we move right out of operating in Grace, because blame and shame thrive on guilt. And guilt distracts us from the reality of our salvation. 

If our enemy cannot get us to sin, he wants to keep our minds so focussed on our shortcomings, or someone else’s quirks, that we can barely spiritually breathe. The more we allow these thought patterns to rule the less we will love ourselves or others. I have come to the conclusion that who I really am is the person who comes out when I am squeezed by circumstances. That thought has helped me enormously to be realistic about my actions and attitudes, without being obsessive. Instead I confess my faults and He heals me! I don’t have to be afraid to admit my shortcomings, because the Lord has taken care of them. Now I can happily give thanks because of the Grace He releases to me, and through me. 

Sadly, everything we say and do can be disguised to look good to others, by using our own good manners. However, those things do not come from the fruit of the Spirit, but from our own will and our own personal sense of how this life is meant to work. I often spiritually fall over someone else’s lack of manners, because mine were dinged into me from birth! Those things immediately send me spiralling off into judgment. Good manners are great, but spiritual fruit is permanent. It can be eaten. That fruit slowly ushers in spiritual growth, health and transformation, and when you take a bite out of it, it won’t bite you back!

We have His help, always. But we can become so used to acting, or even reacting, without any thought, we can miss those crucial moments to yield. The Holy Spirit is our 24/7, on the spot, Helper. He wants to help us transform our inner attitudes so what comes out is really IN there! Sadly, in many congregations it is almost easier to give a performance of good, than it is to face our short-comings realistically.

If you have lived most of your Christian life on a steady diet of religion, trying to manufacture in your own strength what our kingdom lives need to look like — that can be an enormous weight. We can feel such a failure all the time, because all we can see is fault. Blame and shame love to jump on that bandwagon. So if I feel down, you must have done something wrong, so it’s your fault!! I have discovered that the more I oppress my true self, the more likely I am to hide my faults, and focus on yours.  It is like a being on a merry-go-round I cannot get off! Now I have an image to keep up! 

Letting God into our intimate thoughts and inner self can be incredibly daunting. Some of us don’t let anybody in there! Instead we have constructed ‘devices’ to distract ourselves from paying attention to what is going on inside. Maybe we are afraid of blame or shame. That’s often when our awareness of what Jesus did for us has become dim, and remote— then we try to hide from the One Who already loves and knows us. Jonah is a brilliant example of that kind of thinking in action! He hid in the bottom of a ship because the Lord’s idea did not appeal to Him, he blamed God Himself for wanting to save Nineveh. Yet Paul has several instances where he openly admits they had one idea, and the Holy Spirit had another! It’s OK to be wrong, just be honest about it.

For most of us God’s Love is a strong concept, yet to be deeply experienced. It is not a deep seated reality. We can devotedly read the bible with this awful feeling that we will always fall short, and sadly that can lead to blaming and shaming ourselves, or even to putting others down, because they seem to be successful, and we’re not. At the same time, some of us have learnt to be really great actors! That’s why I love reading the gospels, because the disciples foibles and dumb attitudes give me room to be myself – real, inadequate and normal. I know I need a Saviour!

Religion blames and shames people, and that produces fear, rejection, and pain for everyone involved. The Pharisees and their mates didn’t understand where the Lord Jesus was coming from, and yet they knew the bible, backwards, and inside out. They were the leaders, so they made a visible practice of knowing everything  from every direction. Just like they did back then, a religious bent can colour the way we look at His Word, and affect how we live our lives and regard other people. Blaming parents seems to be a national past-time! ‘They smacked me too much, or they used shame to govern me.” Blame is blame no matter why or where we aim it. I comfort myself that I had a childish mind back then – but I don’t have to have one now!

The fullness that belongs to every single one of the Lord’s kids will always seem out of reach if we continue to wrestle with religious stuff. God loves real people who make real mistakes!  I have noticed a couple of things about blame and shame … if you have lived with it in the past, those terrible twins seem to nag at you in subtle ways in the present, and you are more likely to fall into that pattern of thinking again, as well as reflecting it to others, especially under pressure. Let the oppressed go free – them and me!! Praise God for His Grace.

Bye. 👋

In Romans 1:16 Paul declares,“I am not ashamed of the gospel,”and Isaiah 54:4, which promises, “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.”And 2 Timothy 1:12: “But I am not ashamed, for I know Whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”

P 2912 Great bible advice.

/ DVH

“Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God. I am God above all the nations, and I am exalted throughout the whole earth.”Psalms 46:10 TPT. Well this verse in the Passion version gives us a lot to think about! I love the order in it. First we voluntarily give up anxiety, and then after we’ve surrendered everything, we are to be still and remember Who He is, and all He has done. I’m a fan of clear instructions, they make this life easier. BTW it doesn’t say you will feel differently! The bible is full of those kinds of faith things – it endlessly blesses me.

Living this way actually provides us with opportunities to plant, water and fertilise the fruit of the Spirit. Self-control, for instance. We need that particular fruit badly today. In our homes, in our relationships, in our countries  – we ALL need this fruit. The fruit of self-control actually germinates through recognising opportunities, and following His instructions, pray, and then application. It’s what I call an obedience fruit. It is like love, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness, more fruit that begin to develop in the heat of obedience.

Self-control is actually more than just not saying or doing stuff, it is resting in what Jesus did so thoroughly we allow God to bring His peace in the place of worry and anxiety.  Hand everything over to Him, piece by untenable piece. And then, make a decision and take the time to be still, and simply think about what HE is like …what Jesus did for us. 

There are so many things the Holy Spirit does, and most of the time, we don’t even see Him working. When things go crazy inside our hearts and minds, and outside in the world around us, we need His perspective.

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”2 Corinthians 4:17-18.

When I am upset and anxious, I read a Psalm. I need to say at this juncture that I’ve found reading great chunks of the bible just causes further confusion and angst for me. However, music helps me too. But I try to spend time reflecting on Who He is and what He has done for all of us. I’ve learnt you can’t BAM the truth into place, but you can settle your heart, so you can YIELD and He can put His beauty in there. It is a battle, not a walk in the park! Battles like these don’t make us sinful – they show us our weaknesses and our need for His comfort.

Jesus is speaking in these verses in Luke to His disciples about the turbulent times ahead of them: “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of My Name.  And so you will bear testimony to Me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.” Luke 20:12-15.

Even in extreme circumstances, we are exhorted not to worry! Imagine that … easily said … not easily done! It is a fight against our own carefully cultivated instincts and it takes practice and trust. It can seem weird when you just let go. Strangely, worry can make us feel like we are doing something – if we can just find the right answer! That’s a lie. We can’t add one minute to our lives with worry and anxiety.  

Instead of having to give their testimonies in hard places – those men mentioned in Luke are going to be imprisoned. Kings and governors, are going to demand an explanation for what they believe and the One they serve. And the Lord virtually says to them: ‘Don’t worry about it! I’ll be there!! I promised to be with you so I will be there! I’ll tell you what to say and when to say it. What you say will be so amazing and full of wisdom your enemies won’t be able to say a thing.’ Imagine the fruit on that path. And we think our lives are hard. 

I’m comforted by the fact that Jesus once said this:  “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3. AMP.

Children trust and that is to be our response too. Let go, and look up at Jesus, and let Him take care of it. Do what you can see, plus the things He tells you to and then …let go.Unfortunately in these moments, the voice of personal experience is very loud and it can be a huge distraction. We need to become humble enough to lay our own personal experiences to one side, and believe the bible is truer than what we’ve known and experienced. 

We have to deliberately throw off our old ways of thinking and make a decision that Jesus is able to do what He said He will do, and He will do it for ME! Now the winds of chance, challenge and change cannot blow us around any more. Instead we are gently blown, by the Spirit of the Living God, onto His pathways. We learn His ways, and we start to experience Him for ourselves. 

The bible offers us all kinds of good advice, when it is treated with reverence, and applied into our lives. It shifts our focus off the things of this earth and pulls us into seeing what is happening in His kingdom. The things we cannot see. Bye. 👋

P 2656 Let’s remember we are to be married.🕊

/ DVH

Romans 7:4-6 MSG: “So, my friends, this is something like what has taken place with you. When Christ died He took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with Him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to “marry” a resurrection life and bear “offspring” of faith for God. For as long as we lived that old way of life, doing whatever we felt we could get away with, sin was calling most of the shots as the old law code hemmed us in. And this made us all the more rebellious. In the end, all we had to show for it was miscarriages and stillbirths. But now that we’re no longer shackled to that domineering mate of sin, and out from under all those oppressive regulations and fine print, we’re free to live a new life in the freedom of God.”

Oh man, some days I can’t wait to get to heaven to listen to the Apostle Paul preaching  – that’s if I ever get over following Jesus around! What a conundrum … Picture this: Jesus is talking about how He and the Holy Spirit made the moon and stars, as He heard the Father speaking them into being. At the same time, Paul is talking about the beauty of Christ Jesus;  and James is reminding us of what we’ve been given … OR …OR!!! … every now and then we fall on our faces from the sheer wonder of where we are! And… AND!!! Here’s the biggest plus of all! We can run into the throne room and fall on our faces and worship at the throne. Choices, choices!  Maybe in heaven we can do all those things at once?! Sorry I got so distracted … moving on …

Romans 8:1-4 MSG: “With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when He sent His own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In His Son, Jesus, He personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all.”

Feel free to stand on a chair and cheer! 🥳 What a brilliant explanation! First of all I want to say, there is no worship and devotion toward the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit like the worship we choose to give All of Them down here. Why? Because down here worship is a choice, a sacrifice – in heaven, worship is joyously spontaneous. We give the Trinity the best gift when we choose to worship Them, because They are so worthy. Despite our busy lives, or whether we feel like it or not!

Just imagine the throne room for a second … there are these incredible angels — flying around the throne crying out; “Holy holy holy” over and over and over and over again – they never stop. I asked the Holy Spirit once why they do that and He told me this: ‘Because at every single turn they see something new, something glorious to enjoy, some aspect of the Father’s Love and Grace they have never seen before.” 🤯 Well, that’s my mind blown… how about you? Down here, we are always running after whatever is new – in heaven we simply have to gaze at our Heavenly Father and the view will be breath-taking and endless.

I shall vacate this heavenly rabbit trail and get back to my point … which is … look at what our beloved Bridegroom has done for us!  Take a minute to wander back to Romans 8:1-4 and read those verses again. Just when you think things can’t get any bigger or even more wonderful, we are reminded that our precious bridegroom, Jesus Christ, volunteered … because He loves us that much. Well, there’s me in a soggy heap in the corner. 😭

Christians can live like everyone else, staring at the ground, thinking that the next episode of our fav show is the only moment of joy in a week of drudgery and effort — OR — we can reread Romans and rediscover what we have been GIVEN. Those verses mean that we have the power to throw off depression and the cares of this world, because of our Bridegroom’s gifts. Those freely-given gifts mean we can be at rest, care-free, living in pure peace, despite our circumstances and difficulties.

JESUS HAS GOT US AND HE WILL NEVER EVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US. How we feel is just a blip on time’s radar. We don’t have to live under this world’s clouds of pessimism, constant drama and angst. Instead we can choose to embrace what we’ve been given. Each and every time I take hold of those hard-won gifts that He died to give me, I fall in love with Him over and over again.

Real Love is like that. It is a journey of discovery, familiarity …  as well as delight, where we visit and re-visit the Lord’s loving kindness, mercy and grace, and realise how much He loves us.  It’s time to remember we are engaged to be married to the most incredible Bridegroom … Who loved us before we even knew Him! Our faith is not based on pretty thoughts or theories, now we live in the daily reality of being totally forgiven, loved and cherished … And if we aren’t living there, then it is time we did!  Bye. 🙌

P 2572 Life is hard, we need His Oasis.

/ DVH

““Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to Me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with Mine. Learn My ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in Me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.”” Matthew 11:28-30 TPT. 

We can easily lose sight of Jesus, our oasis, when we try to figure out, or fix things by ourselves. That’s why Jesus said … “Come to ME!” The first place we need to go is to Him. I have personally prayed so many many times, “Lord please hold me up.” The stuff that is going on in my life doesn’t always disappear, sometimes it even gets worse. Man … I hate worse the same as anyone else! At this stage of my walk with the Lord, I have yet to say to myself: “Hooray, everything has gone upside down, here’s another great opportunity for me to learn stuff, and watch Jesus at work!” However, now I am being held up by SomeOne greater than me.

What I say is more like … “Oh NO! Not again!!” But I have also learnt from experience that my very next best move is to scurry alongside Jesus and start reminding Him of His promises! And the first promise I remember is “I”m sinking fast Lord. Help help!” I’ve learnt to do that from reading the Psalms. Those psalmists knew how to praise God, as well as worship … and they definitely knew where their help came from! Read them again and count how many times they cried out for help. These were grown men!

An independent spirit is the antithesis of what learning to follow Jesus is all about. Our task is to learn how to lean – on Him, and on each other. What we are doing is learning to lean into Him. This life is bigger than we are. It’s harder, meaner, and contrary. We need a hiding place. He’s the HIDING PLACE. I run! Most of the time like an elderly bunny rabbit – I’m slower these days OK? – yelling all the way … “I need you Lord!” There is something about acknowledging that we cannot do this life alone, that touches the heart of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

The bible says: “It is NOT GOOD for Man to be alone!” That verse isn’t just talking about finding a spouse. It means human beings don’t do well without SomeBody else wiser and greater than we are, looking after us. Sheltering us. Caring about our pain, suffering, and our deep deep sorrows. My advice is to talk to the One Who suffered so much alone, Jesus knows how not good it is to be alone.

Just like spouses are designed to walk together, we have been remade to walk with Almighty God, like Jesus did. This means we are never alone!  And the Holy Spirit will help us to do it. When I am in pain or troubled, I don’t always feel anything but I kick start my faith by praying anyway. Our God knows how we feel deep down in our hearts. Holding that stuff inside us will not help us live through it, or even cope. It is part of learning HIS WAY to share with Him. Jesus did not hide anything from God and neither should we. Remember, we don’t have to BE the Answer – HE IS!

We can sometimes get stuck seeing something or other as a bad thing, because there is an un-renewed place in our minds. That mindset will prevent us from seeing His blessings. Yesterday the Lord spoke to me about something I’ve been praying over for ages, and He said this: “You are looking at this event as a bad thing, what if I intend it to be the answer to this other prayer?” 

You could have knocked me down with a feather, literally. My mind was fixated prayerfully on the thing I thought was insurmountable – but that thought from Him blew everything bad away in milli-seconds. My thought then was – “He is doing something else!” We desperately need to know His ways – especially in this time of great deceit, with all those smoke and mirrors swirling around us. Nothing is the way it seems … not even the weather forecast! 😂 We need a fixed place in our hearts that will not move. Jesus is our fixed oasis, at any given time, and the Holy Spirit will always lead us to Him. 

This means that now I have a place of REST because I have HIS POV. I tell myself: “The Lord has got this, I will not give it another thought.” And then I take the thoughts of worry, stress, and angst captive, when they blast at me from all sides, and give them to Him as they come. I quote whatever He says to me, at that time, at those thoughts. Now I can rest, knowing He’s got me.

This is the way we find out He is gentle, humble, and easy to please  – by following His instructions. Step by step. We get to know Him from His responses. And then we hold fast. God is bigger than our understanding and we must stop trying to organise Him into doing things our way, and learn how to do things His way. Stepping into His oasis is His way!  👋

P 2552 Look up in the sky … it’s a bird …

/ DVH

…no it’s not, it is an illustration!! Matthew 6:26-34: “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  

We can say His kingdom is our aim, but are we actually living like that is true? I am reminded every single day of the ‘birds of the air’ because my not-friend, the noisy miner, is parked every morning outside the room I’m in, while I am typing. And that little grey bird is just doing what comes naturally. In this passage Lord is not talking about ornithological or botanical interests here. Instead, He uses birds and flowers to point out a great key to our living overcoming lives. The above verses are actually about our personal value to the Lord and WHY we should not worry. 

Day by day our focus needs to be on how valuable we are to Him simply because having that thought will help us live within His kingdom. When we grab hold of the fact that our God cares about plants and birds etc. and He looks after them, it highlights the thought that we are so much more valuable to Him. This means human beings are way up the “pecking order” (s’cuse the bad pun)  when it comes to provision. Simply because we can see that birds are fed and flowers are beautiful, then those things become living visible evidence of God’s far greater passion for us.

I’ve found that worry can paralyse me. It totally distracts me from my real purpose. We were sent into this world to witness to, and visibly live in, God’s kingdom. His kingdom is not just for Sundays, high days, or holidays. It is to be our focus for every single day we are on this earth!  At the same time, Jesus is talking about something that is very important to any human being, our basic every day needs. Food, clothing, shelter. He is not saying we should not pay attention to those needs – He is saying they should not be our major focal point in this life because the birds around us show us that He is more than capable of looking after them!

Yeah. At the same time Jesus is not telling us to go and live under a bridge and dumpster-dive for food and clothes … like some poor souls have to. I believe He’s telling us that worrying about such things is counter- intuitive to the growth of our faith and our daily living within His kingdom. Worry takes over our minds. We become obsessed with things that do not benefit us spiritually. The Lord told me this one day, “turn your worry into prayer and leave it there.” It’s really great advice … and … it definitely takes practice. 

In this passage He explains why worry is bad for people. Worry takes over and accomplishes nothing but angst.  Plus when we worry we forget how much we are loved! Jesus is explaining that God will totally take care of all our needs, and we have that promise to cling to every day … simply because we can see His commitment to the seemingly insignificant things of this world. At the same time He wants to show us that our priorities matter, so we can simply enjoy living in His Kingdom – worry is not ever to be our priority.

I have personally found that worry brushes aside whatever He is actually doing, in favour of what I think or hope He will do. We are far better off to take the time to ask Him to help us understand what is really going on. Instead of overthinking stuff or pouting because some problem or other is not resolved immediately. That doesn’t mean we quit praying about whatever it is, it simply means our first and foremost priority is to believe He is good, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

In my experience, you will not diligently seek SomeOne you are disappointed in, or SomeOne who appears not to care if you are struggling away with this and that. You may even actively avoid them. The Lord is telling us that worrying is a way to dissolve faith, and end up with a barrow load of doubt instead. So we should use the physical signs around us to remind ourselves that God cares. He looks after budgies and eagles, equally as well as roses and petunias, and they are our tangible day-to-day witnesses that our lives are far more important to Him than we can ever imagine.

🦅🦆🦜🦉 … 🌹🌸🌷🌻  Bye…👋