Barriers

P 3340 Learn to fight …

/ DVH

…for what is yours by birthright! And remember, we don’t fight against flesh and blood. It’s not your spouse, or your parents, or your uncles and aunties – it’s the devil! 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 :“The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.”

And Ephesians 6: 1-18 says: “And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and He wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angels.                                                                           Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare.” 

We are in a battle, day by day, whether we like it or not, and even earthly soldiers get battle fatigue. However, we have the power of God within us to make the difference, and we need to use His power to help ourselves thrive in His Ways, and for the benefit of others. We don’t just fight under adverse conditions – we learn to thrive. Many times in our lives together, hubby and I have commented it seems like it is one thing after another, and another.

You can get very weary from fighting things. Like battling to maintain a Godly-attitude with His help; or not reacting to the same thing happening for the 479th time! Let’s face it satan doesn’t fight fair. he will kick you and beat you when you are down. One of the best weapons against despair and disappointment is the realisation that Almighty God will not ever give up on us. There are things float through our minds: “Does God care about what is happening to me?” Those are the battles we must fight in our emotions, and minds — they can be overwhelming, and potentially, destructive.

Remind yourself that Jesus took every single sin and mistake we’ve made to the cross with Him. And our God is not a fair weather Friend! Now you and I are blameless in His sight – that’s what His Grace is all about. The truth is a weapon we can use when our minds are full of doubt, unbelief, and anger or disappointment with ourselves or others. We must stop! — and remember Who we belong to now. It’s a supernatural task, so it needs supernatural tactics, not just mind games. 

We can’t continue to quote the scripture without knowing the reality behind it. The reality comes from living this life eating His bread, daily, and reminding ourselves of His blood over our lives, daily. I am reminded of someone else who tried head knowledge in Acts 9:11-17: “Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you… ?” Being known by our enemy means we are bothering him. Good! Someone famous once said this, I have no idea who it was – “Be the kind of Christian that the devil says every day – oh no! He/she is up again!!”

People can sometimes be defeated because they are not pointing their will toward what the Lord wants. Obedience is essential. If you feel you can’t obey, then point your will toward His will and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. When God talks about truth, He means His truth, not just something that sounds like truth, but it is indulging me in self-pity – or making me feel justified in my sad sack attitude. I cannot BE justified outside of the blood of Jesus. He gave that to me, I didn’t earn it… I’m so grateful for His goodness!

When God says “renew your mind” He is not talking about parroting off some scripture or other, as a weapon against satanic attacks. Our own personal knowledge of His goodness, is a mighty weapon. I stand and face my fears, or other people’s accusations and misunderstandings  by saying: “This one thing I know — MY GOD IS GOOD.” Ergo, if it is not good, then it is not God! … BUT!! Please remember to check your heart first, and  make sure you are not blaming someone else simply because you don’t want to deal with yourself! Our beliefs are not second hand they are up close and personal. I dun fell down that hole many times! Sigh.

When it comes to battles I am like a three year old. I run to hide in my Father’s robes. I want to be that spectator in Psalm 91… I don’t even try to peek out to see what is going on. I let what He has already done do the work for me. Shape your life around the Lord, make Him the centre. Then we can’t be dragged about by the winds of change and impulses of whimsy. If you are under attack drag your heart back to thinking about how good He has been to you. Read the bible aloud!

Let’s choose to live this life, by finding out stuff from the bible for ourselves. I am no longer a child, if I need to know something, then I ask the Holy Spirit to help me find the answer. Then I go and dig around in His book. Learn to fight for what is your birthright by the way you live. I need to participate and feed myself daily, digesting what He said with actions. We can’t win with hot air, we need real weapons forged in our lives with the fire of His life in us. Bye. 👋

P 3303 Tongues.

/ DVH

Before you freak out, because people do … I just want to say I think the subject of tongues have been bashed up a bit. Between some denominations who stay well away from this blessing, to others that insist we are not born again Christians without it – tongues have been misunderstood. However, I think about this subject like Paul does – I pray in tongues, and I pray in English. But I’m eternally grateful that when I run out of words, the Holy Spirit always knows exactly how to pray – for me, and through me, and for others. The bible says: tongues edify us, they build us up personally in the Holy Spirit, because speaking in tongues needs us to use our faith.

Today I want to look at what the bible says about it. Paul seems to be the most instructive and vocal person, but I want to start with the book of Acts chapter 2:1-13, where it all began. I think we are emphasising the wrong bit –what happens to us! And we seem to fly right over the fact that the Holy Spirit visibly arrived here on earth! A whole lot of incredibly unusual things happened. The Breath of God became seeable, hearable and people experienced Him. It was awe inspiring and terrifying all at the same time. The power of God was tangible.

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Indeed! What DID it mean? I think Almighty God, the Holy Spirit, arrived in Jerusalem, at the Lord’s appointed time, and the same Spirit that helps people speak in tongues —- helped people from so many different places understand what was spoken! No prayer, no urging, no force at all, no stress – God Himself just showed up!And people who could not understand each other suddenly understood what He said. When Father God did that He made it clear what happened was for everyone. The barriers we all carefully erect between each other, were gone. This means Almighty God speaks your language!

This wasn’t a ‘choice’ moment, it was a ‘sovereign’ one. Ordinary fishermen, started to speak languages they had not learned, and God’s message was broadcast aloud through the streets of Jerusalem by nobodies. People physically saw the tongues of fire, they heard the rushing wind, they felt the buildings shake. It was momentous. Jesus Christ came here as a little baby, but the Holy Spirit arrived with a huge blast of glory from heaven! Imagine it. The disciples start speaking words they don’t understand and perfect strangers are convinced and convicted that Jesus is the Messiah. And they repent!

Peter stands up and explains. How does an ordinary fisherman know what happened? Well, he had walked with Jesus for three and a half years, suffered through Christ’s death and burial and resurrection, and at the end of all that, all the disciples had to cling to was the word Jesus gave them. WAIT. Then suddenly the living Word stashed inside Peter’s heart, was ignited with a roar. He and the rest of the disciples had been with Jesus, day after day, listening, learning, making mistakes, seeing things they never thought they would see, and then suddenly the word of God came alive in each one of them. They were so impacted by the Holy Spirit that His Words burst out of their mouths and reached everyone around them. Nobody cared who the preacher was – all the listeners knew was Almighty God was speaking to each one of them personally. 

For me this is the essence of speaking in tongues. The enlivening of the listener’s spirit to the point where they see God Himself, and Jesus Christ His Son, more clearly than they ever have before. This gift is meant to impact our hearts. It goes right past our thinking and bursts straight into our spirits. This is what speaking in tongues is for – it helps us when we are stuck, or dismayed, or bereft or lost. It rescues us with God’s Words spoken through us or someone else, and our spirit jumps up and down and says: “I know that voice!” 

It’s not some sort of fairground party trick. God Himself speaks through us. I have prayed in tongues with tears pouring down my cheeks because the Holy Spirit gave me the interpretation as I was speaking. My ears didn’t understand a word I said, but my heart jumped up and down and said: “That’s it! There’s the answer.” 

We were made by the Holy Spirit in our mother’s womb, we know His voice. When He comes and breathes upon us, we recognise His breath. Tongues are a sign and a wonder, but they are a supernatural sign and a God initiated wonder. It is not just babbling. It’s the Lord!  The power of God, His wisdom, His authority and His never-ending passion for mankind, speaking into and kissing someone’s heart, spirit and soul. Impacting them with pure unadulterated love! Not man’s thoughts, HIS!  Bye. 👋

P 2708 Why would we limit the LIMITLESS ONE?

/ DVH

Let’s fervently pray for our understanding of Him and His ways to be stretched instead! Why would we settle for other people’s limited views when we can go after and know HIM personally. My best and only thought is kind of a small one – and most probably a big fat understatement! When someone asks me what God is like, I say: “He’s like Jesus!” That’s because Jesus clearly told us in John 5:19 that:‘He only did what He saw His Father doing, and only said what He heard His Father saying.’ 

Also Hebrews 1:3 it says: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”From those verses alone, I learn that Christ is indeed God stepping into time and limiting Himself to our ways. It blows my mind! At the same time, Jesus walked this earth and still lived within our normal human limitations, except HE lived a totally limitless life. Nothing stopped Him – nothing took Him by surprise. Read the book and keep on reading it. It will blow your mind, it always blows mine!

Our Heavenly Father speaks to us in many ways. He has so many more ways to speak than human beings realise. God speaks the languages of angels, as well as every human one – past, present and future! Even the sky shouts to us daily about Him. Plus the stars sing out His praises. Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” Job 38:7 “ …while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy …”

His Love speaks a language that doesn’t always have words, and His idea of faith reaches beyond mere human understanding into the supernatural. My point is – we are chasing after SomeOne unknowable, without help. We need revelation from His Word and the Holy Spirit. I think we can easily succumb to over-reaching if we think we can define Him without His help! Our finite beings are too small to understand the incredible complexity of Who He is..🙌

Today I want to talk about our limitless Heavenly Father, from this POV … we need to understand our side of this glorious endless relationship. There are times that we can think this prayer, or that question has remained unanswered and become disappointed with Him – although we probably wouldn’t say that out loud! It is imperative for us to understand that Almighty God always answers us … HE JUST DOESN’T ALWAYS USE WORDS! Continually pray for eyes to see and ears to comprehend His Answers – because even His silence has a purpose!

Sometimes our understanding of His Ways etc .can come later, perhaps retrospectively. But in order to walk with Him and grow, our faith in His goodness must conquer our doubts and disappointments. Otherwise we will impede our progress in our faith, and we may never reach our full potential. Jesus died to give us the capacity to be stretched and transformed, not because He finds us unacceptable, but because our personal and even learnt inclinations, limit our understanding of Who He is and How much He loves people.

The very best mutual language, the one that will always be understood, by Him and us, is LOVE. That’s why it is imperative that we learn how His kind of love works. How it functions  – what it produces. When we begin to uncover the mysteries of LOVE we will begin to understand Who He is.  I know I rattle on about that over and over again – but knowing His Ways is an important key to defining the way WE need to live.“How can two walk together unless they be agreed?”

We can’t walk with Him and be restored into the innocence and purity we were always meant to have – unless we put aside those things that weigh us down. Both personally and corporately, we are currently limiting ourselves. We allow a few men’s insight to rule many churches, at the cost of broadening our base by going after insight for ourselves. “In order that the many-sided (multi-faceted) wisdom of God might be made known now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places through the church,…”Ephesians 3:10. BTW innocence and purity were restored to us at the cross. It is time for us to fight this world’s definition of wisdom and freedom – and return to the simplicity and power of the cross. 

One of the things we will need to put down is accepting religious doctrine as representational of ALL of His truth. You and I are the only people who can limit the size and function of our faith. When we deliberately choose to learn to love as He loves, all sorts of barriers will blow away, our eyes will be opened;  and then we will look at others with the joyous word “brother” on our lips! 

This is when we will begin to “know one another after the Spirit”instead of eliminating others because of their beliefs. Only God Himself can take the muddle of our denominations and personal proclivities of faith in Him, and bring it into a cohesive whole. Defining God separately is a waste of our time … we must start learning what His love looks like and begin to fervently pray that we walk in it, toward each other. Why would we settle for a limited edition god when we can know the LIMITLESS ONE?  Bye. 🙏

P 2189 Fellowship.

/ DVH

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

Hubby is Singaporean Chinese, a chosen-Aussie, but he doesn’t speak a whole lot of Chinese any more. Meanwhile, his mother speaks 5 Chinese languages as well as English – she was matron of a hospital! I adore her, she is the sweetest, dearest lady. There are plenty of highly-motivated people in my hubby’s family. His father was a nursing educator before he retired, as well as a lay preacher – his family is filled up with over-achievers. There were no Christians at all in my family, but several generations of Christians on my husband’s side. What a contrast! Meanwhile, because I am a multi-generational Aussie, I can have trouble with this world’s idea of English … forget Chinese!

Years ago now, my dear hubby’s beloved mama, his precious grandmother was still with us, here in this world. When she died, we both cried and cried for days. I still have tears in my eyes while I am typing this. What a truly wonderful little lady she was – from the minute she met me I was instantly family – and hubby was a favoured grandson. She didn’t speak a great deal of English and her main fellowship came from her church family. 

The Holy Spirit pointed out to us one day that whenever we saw her, she always had her dear little nose in her bible. He reminded us that we could talk to her … using the bible. So we did. Her bible was written in Chinese, and ours was in English. We just made sure we had the same version and … away we went! Oh, we had such a glorious time together. It was truly God-kissed.

We laughed, we cried – with joy – and we shared our love for Him together as well. Other people couldn’t work out how we were managing to talk to her because she only spoke Teo-Chew. But that didn’t matter one bit, the Holy Spirit’s system worked splendidly! And every time we went to where she lived, we’d go down to the room where she sat, and fellowship with her, we never wanted to leave her. It was just such a blessing and  something we looked forward to doing.

Because of Mama, I learnt to say ‘praise the Lord’ in Chinese, pretty quickly. And hallelujah is the same in any language. Mama prayed for us, and we prayed for her – and nobody understood a word anybody else said but it didn’t matter! There are no barriers in the Spirit. Hubby’s grandma went to a Chinese Church of Christ, and we went to a Pentecostal one and that did not matter either! Theology never came up – but Jesus came up a whole lot. You know this dear elderly lady merrily gave out words of knowledge to other people? Even though she didn’t actually have a label for it – she just told them whatever God told her to say! And those words were accurate, every time. 

At 85 she used to catch the bus to go across town to visit the ‘old’ people in her church. Some people are just pure gold! … And she was one of them. I learnt so much from our too-short time together. I plan on hugging her to bits when I get to heaven I can tell you. Because Mama taught me so much about the unity we can have in the Spirit – the unity that has nothing whatsoever to do with theology.

I was not exactly a prized granddaughter-in-law in this world’s eyes, but that did not matter at all to her. She loved me on sight and I loved her right back. You know, older people still have a lot to give if we don’t park them in the snoozing bay up the back of the church. 😂 The bible tells us not to despise wisdom, and growing old teaches you a lot – if you let it, and your brain doesn’t periodically go on strike!  Age teaches us all about what is important … and what is not. 

It seems today, that I am bragging on family, so I’m just going to continue. As you know, hubby just had a nasty operation on his right hand recently. His dominant hand. He is sitting two feet from me painting some things to give away on our next trip. My dear man likes to paint prophetic paintings for other-people-who-don’t-know-Jesus-yet. Right now he is painting with his LEFT non-dominant hand. And it looks no different to the lovely work he does with the right one. I told you we have really talented people in our family! See above.↑

My point today is obvious, there are no barriers that can keep the Holy Spirit out. Not language, race, creed, or attitude … if you see a barrier ask the Lord how to bring it down. He comes up with the most amazing things. We can spend so much time trying to figure stuff out, trying to be the people we think we are meant to be – and heaven’s vast resources are left dormant.  We need to learn to access those heavenly things … and throw our supposed skills out of the window, by cultivating Holy Spirit’s Presence. He will do amazing things in our ordinary everyday lives. Let Him. 👋🏻