Battle

P 2560 We are in a war and we must learn to fight.

/ DVH

2 Samuel 2: 1-7, 8-9. 12-17 plus 3:1. “So “David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. … … …

Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us. “All right, let them do it,” Joab said… …

So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together…The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David’s men. … …

3:1 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.”

Saul and David had a ‘history’ which consisted of King Saul trying at every opportunity to kill David. At one stage this king even took David’s wife, Michal, Saul’s own daughter! … and gave her to someone else to marry! satan does not fight fair either! I personally see these battles between Saul and David as a parallel to the battle we fight every single day, between the flesh and the spirit. David only ever did this jealous King good, because His ultimate loyalty was to the Ways of God and Saul was the anointed king..That’s also the way the Spirit of God works for us – He only does us good. No matter how things look – He wants to bless us.

In this life, thanks to everything Jesus did for us — just like David, we’ve already won. Our Hero, our mighty Warrior Jesus Christ, fought for us and won. And one day He will fight the last battle and dispose of that enemy forever. But even though we know that Jesus has already won on mankind’s behalf, yet we are still destined to have to fight for what is ours while we are here, because our enemy refuses to let go of this battle. Just like Saul – he will cheat and fight ’til the end.

However we can daily defeat our enemy by the way we choose to live!  We are the peace bringers and peace-keepers. We are called to rout out the enemy’s damage in people’s lives and usher in God’s kingdom – by the way we treat others. Our weapons aren’t ordinary – they operate in the Holy Spirit’s power. They are the Word of God plus our humility, yieldedness to the Lord, and Love is our greatest weapon of all! Even when our enemy tries to take us out – the key to winning is being prepared to die for Jesus’ sake. However, if or when we do not choose to enter the battlefield, we will still be battered and bashed by this life’s sorrows and suffering, and our flesh will lose every battle by default!

Sometimes the enemy’s strongholds are inside us – which means we must choose to fight our natural inclinations to be snarky and nasty and grab at things by force or manipulation. We do this by asking the Holy Spirit to help us. The devil will also twist our perceptions and our emotions to trick us into fighting over the things that don’t matter eternally. That means we will waste our energy and get weary in the battle. Our flesh will always be at war with the Spirit, because the Spirit has a much higher aim … to glorify God … Dying daily is the only way to learn to fight and WIN.

It is interesting to note that David had been selected as King, by God Himself – but not everyone in the kingdom accepted God’s edict. A whole lot of people still followed Saul! Which is why popularity is never our aim! This story shows me that there are many people who are not discerning. Spiritual discernment is one of the treasures I talked about yesterday, it keeps us from falling into sin’s snares. However, at the same time, any difficulties in our day-to-day lives need to be used as opportunities to be transformed in our POV, attitudes and actions with the Lord’s guidance and help. We should never ever forget that we are in a war, and let the stuff that rushes at us, take us by surprise, and change our aims. Our aim is not comfort – it is Christ proclaimed – we are to bring His kingdom here, now.

Sometimes I think that the Body of Christ is like a bunch of small children at a Bazaar. They run from this shiny new thing, to another tasty thing …without any thought at all. They chase after easy answers that will give them what they think they want. Immediate gratification. We are in a war, we MUST learn to fight. Even our own flesh only wants what it can see. However, the Spirit wants what only God can see, so we can see it too! Now that’s a good place to praise God! 🙌 

P 2539 Fear must never stop me.

/ DVH

1 Samuel 23:1-3,4-5,9-13. “When David was told, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,” he inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord answered him, “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!…  “

First of all I want to point out today, that before David did anything, he went and asked the Lord …  It is essential that we learn to live by this game plan, because it is incredibly important to seek His kingdom first. Talking with the King ushers in His kingdom!

The next thing that popped up when I was reading this story, was the fact that David’s men were afraid to go when this battle opportunity occurred. They definitely did not want to go to Keilah, because they thought they would be even more afraid there!  These men were men of renown, they were known as ‘David’s mighty men’ … this was no rag-tag army filled with misfits and left-overs! Yet they were afraid before they obeyed, right where they were staying!

Fear is never a sign to quit. Fear is a sign we should press in to God! One of my favourite sayings is “do it anyway!!” I usually end up in a wrestling match with myself but, in the end, I’ve been doing it anyway for the past 50 years. Fear is not a good outcome indicator. But faith defeats fear and … … does it anyway.

Verses 4&5“…Once again David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him, “Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.”  So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah.”

As you can see, these guys went and WON —by God’s Grace!  They put their feelings to one side and obeyed. This is an essential thing to do when He tells you to do something you are downright scared about. Fear has kept so many of God’s precious kids from His blessings. There are blessings galore that are waiting to be heaped on us, they will fall on us because of our simple obedience. To start with we will be more free than we were before! So:  we need to go and speak to that person…. or go and do what He keeps telling us to do. If we need it in writing then read the book…!!

Verses 9-13 “When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”  David said, “Lord, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will.” Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will.” So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place.”

David’s mighty men experienced fear, but they were not afraid without a good reason. We, too, often have plenty of good reasons! These guys had already tangled with King Saul and his wicked ways, plus his deceit, so they definitely had good reasons to be afraid. That man was a slippery customer! But they followed their leader as he was following God — and God saved them and the town of Keilah as well. They accomplished their objective despite their fear and the circumstances. Our God is like that. He loves to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat! Remember the cross.

He is the same God Who says in: Isaiah 61:3 TPT “… to strengthen those crushed by despair who mourn in Zion– to give them a beautiful bouquet in the place of ashes, the oil of bliss instead of tears, and the mantle of joyous praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. Because of this they will be known as Mighty Oaks of Righteousness, planted by YAHWEH as a living display of His glory.”  We are His righteous oaks … … whether we feel like it or not!

Jesus died to give us these things, but we dare not just cherry-pick the bits we like. We all want the flowers, the joy, and the new garment, but to get them we need to go through the crushing, and ashes, and heaviness!  Meanwhile our feelings have nothing whatsoever to do with WHO HE IS. How can we learn to trust Him if we let fear rule our lives? He loves to snatch victory from defeat. The guys who look the least like the winners, the ones who start out fearful, and those who dare to believe Him  – WIN!

The following verse is also worth thinking about because it points to the fact that He is MIGHTY:  “You build Your balconies with light beams and ride as King in a chariot You made from clouds. You fly upon the wings of the wind.”  Psalm 104:3. TPT. Our God is not weak and wobbly, There is nothing too difficult for Him to handle – including our fear. Bless you. 🥰

P 2538 Self examination.

/ DVH

We need to learn to live our lives actively recognising any triggers or anger we have allowed in our lives, which can send us into a spin. I am talking about those moments when we are tempted to doubt that GOD IS GOOD … or we stop living by love and start living by our feelings. Your feelings will lie to you. In those shaky moments it is time to dig into the word. 

The Holy Spirit is here with us and He will help us to identify what is going on, because we can easily be misled by our own triggers, passions, and even infirmities. James 1:13-15: “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when by his own evil desire she is lured away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.…” 

Instead of laying the blame for our mistakes, missteps and contrary actions at the feet of others, or even blaming the Lord Himself — we need to make a choice to ask the Lord to help us see past whatever we did or thought, to whatever caused it! Ask yourself questions, and include useful thoughts like: “does the Bible support my thinking right now?” Making excuses for yourself, or others, is a waste of time and energy. It leads to keeping score. This journey we are on is one of progressively growing our faith, and that includes the faith we exercise to eliminate the things that cause us to stumble.

Meanwhile, our enemy is quite capable of capitalising on pain and anger. Even those things he deliberately seeded into our hearts and minds years ago. he does this to strangle out the strength of God’s Word in our lives. It is up to us to recognise what is going on, and then prayerfully challenge those things with the Holy Spirit’s help. “So give yourselves humbly to God…” (Because if anyone knows our motivations HE does!) …then we…“resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. Take a stand and tell the enemy he cannot send you down the plug hole of despair and guilt over things you did in your past. Even if the past was just … yesterday. Jesus Christ paid all our debts for us!

Personally – I repent, if I haven’t done that already, then I forgive myself and/or the offender, then I repair any damage done to everyone involved. That can involve me going to my brother and confessing my fault! Yeah wot fun! The thing is that if we are harbouring anger toward someone else, going to them and confessing our fault is humbling. That will probably hurt, but it has a huge ongoing heart effect. Then we pray for healing. 

To dig out any lies in our minds and hearts, we will also need the truth of His Word to be constantly hidden in our hearts.  Whether you choose to memorise scripture or not, let me exhort you that the …sword (God’s word) that you pick up in the heat of battle and USE, will not be easily forgotten. And digesting His word, by doing what it says, is one of the best ways I know to have any sword handy! Don’t just read – obey. 

It is a waste of time to say to Him, and to yourself: “I’m not mad at anyone.” It is way more fruitful to ask the Lord “Who am I mad at Lord?” In other words, let the Holy Spirit excuse you, don’t do it for yourself. When in doubt, ask for forgiveness, anyway. Think of grudges as being like a pile of dirty socks. If you keep throwing more dirty clothes on top of them, pretty soon you can’t see over the pile! Hiding stuff leads to mould growing in the corners. 

When you’ve finished sorting out your dirty clothes, ask the Lord to complete the work by cleansing you from all unrighteousness.“IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1John 1:9. Whatever the Lord asks us to do, we CAN do. He wouldn’t ask us to do it if we couldn’t. Feeling like we can’t do these things is living by our feelings and “… we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7. 

Self-examination in times of stress is often difficult. It is so much easier to let fly with anger than step into the Holy Spirit and gain the spirit of self-control – but doing the latter leads to growth. 👋

P 2487 The power of God is for the persistent.

/ DVH

The Lord Jesus went out into the wilderness and He was led there by the Holy Spirit, but, when He comes out of that place — He comes outin the POWERof the Holy Spirit. So this is what I want to say for today … some times when I am tempted to fight I think to myself – just one more time! The power to overcome comes with perseverance. Therefore, I will say that soft word that turns away wrath, one more time, I will turn the other cheek, one more time – I will forgive… one more time. Our enemy defeats us by projection – he projects a future that is not there, and he uses our past to do it. he says: “It has always been this way, and so it will always be this way. You have to fight or you will lose something valuable.” 

If God has not spoken to you, it is not over!  STAND. Sometimes we give up and quit fighting our enemy too early – we give in to our baser nature. Christ fought His battle through until His enemy was defeated. (Read Matthew 4:1-11) He stayed the course until the end! The power of God came and empowered the Lord in the middle of His weakness as He stood firmly on what the Holy Spirit gave Him to say, in this incredible fight. In those moments, it could have become a battle of wills, but Jesus was too spiritually attuned to play satan’s little game, He used God’s wisdom to bring about God’s purposes.

We cannot fight our enemy by ourselves! We too, need to be too smart to be pulled into “if only” and “what if.” It is what it is. A battle. Quitting early means we are letting our flesh win. Keep fighting until you hit His peace. Without His peace we can easily be sidetracked into places we were not meant to go. Seek God for a word, (or three) … and then WAIT. Let the Holy Spirit pick your battle ground – sometimes the battle is not ours. Whatever the circumstances, let the Holy Spirit guide you through them.

It was the verses with the POWER of the Holy Spirit on them in this incredible battle that WON! After the Lord was tested 3 times, the enemy had to leave. Jesus did not buy into satan’s ?logic? Remember the introductory verse to Matthew 4 says,  it was God’s idea for Jesus to be tested. The Holy Spirit led Him into that battleground. My advice is this – don’t be led into a battle you cannot win. When it comes to someone else’s will, or mind attitude – you and I cannot change it. We need to step back and let the Holy Spirit have His way … by letting love for the other person reign, the Holy Spirit knows the way through. Sometimes we fight, sometimes we die to self, sometimes we stand. But we always aim at maintaining LOVE for the other person.

In the first two of the three temptations mentioned in this scripture, satan says “if.” What is he doing? he knows the weaknesses of human flesh and he plays upon those weaknesses – he’s trying to get Jesus to accomplish what He was sent to do, in the flesh. Christ’s flesh was weakened by that fast. But Jesus had the One Who wrote the bible, with Him. (He is with US too!) We cannot fight without the Holy Spirit’s help.

In the end satan drops his pretence of helping, and blatantly goes for what he really wants … Christ’s worship. he wants the throne … satan has always wanted the throne.  he is jealous and he wants power. But because of what Christ did, we can sit, stand and walk with Jesus Christ daily. Never forget, that in times of trouble WE can walk right up to the throne of Grace and GRACE WILL MEET US. 

The Holy Spirit knows the perfect word of God to make our enemy flee. You and I may end up using more than one verse, but as the Holy Spirit hands them to us, we fling them at the things that are assailing us. Blame is useless in this place of battle – we are fighting the devil, not a human being. Stop fighting the person – resist the devil. Don’t be tempted to think up some snappy reply … the other guy has heard them all!  Just like Christ’s ministry belonged to Him, whatever we are fighting for belongs to us. But the way to win, is to lay whatever it is down at His feet, keep walking in Love, and use the scriptures that the Holy Spirit gives us to defeat our enemy. 

Lastly, Jesus had to fight the enemy in His weakened flesh – He was hungry and thirsty he needed food. The enemy is a snake, he will come at you when you are already weak. Then in Christ’s mind – He was offered everything He came to earth to buy back, without the cross. He saw those cities. Just one word and they were His … because satan owns them. The cities of this earth are corrupted. The power of God is the only true, permanent vehicle for change. There are no short-cuts. The only way up is down, the only way to live is to die, and the only way to do what He sent you here to do, is to lay it all down. Let the dream die. Maybe God gave you that dream … now, lay it down at His feet. Remember, this is one of the purest forms of worship. 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for He gives to His beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:1&2. The power of God is for the persistent, those who will do whatever it takes, and give up everything, for His sake. Doing that will not be comfortable! “If we perish, we perish …” Esther 4:16. God’s will be done. His will, His way. Bye 👋🏻

P 2458 Compromise is the enemy of true passion.

/ DVH

“In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6)  I am reading Judges at the moment and I came across this interesting verse in Judges 17. Briefly that chapter goes like this:  a mature son pinches his mum’s money, then owns up to it. Then the mother who cursed the thief,  blesses her son. She dedicates some of that money to building an idol.

It’s a strange story. 😳 The son then makes his own little church, complete with one of his own sons as a priest. 😳 (He’s not a Levite or anything!) and sticks that newly made, nicely silvered idol into the new church, together with a whole lot of other idols. Then a real Levite is passing by so the son is replaced because now they’ve got a real one and a real Levite is better than someone you just called a Levite!

I shan’t bother to go on about it any further except to say it gets much worse from there – this family starts a trend of personally hiring Levites! Anyway, I’m reading and looking, and mumble praying, then I looked the chapter up in other versions and it was no easier to understand in them either. I’m like: “What’s the point here?” Eventually, after prayer, here’s what I came up with – without strong leadership people do stupid stuff! (I’m simplistic …OK?) 

Well then, what’s the point in that story for my life? I instantly thought of Colossians. You know making up your own private version of how to live the Christian life has never been, and will never ever be  — in it!  There is no assurance outside of the blood of Jesus – which means … “as He was in this world so are we ...” And Colossians 3:5 says: “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” That means what I want is irrelevant. Well, yay. Merry Christmas!!  So how can that be??? Because you’re dead, you’re dead, you’re dead! That’s how. You died with Christ.

Think of NOT bothering to die to self, like this … you tell yourself that you will get around to taking the bible seriously, but … you don’t. – and change gets harder as you get older! Instead you watch a TV preacher who tells you that you don’t have to be that serious about God because He loves you and wants you to … be happy! Then you find a bunch of other people that agree with you. After all, you tell yourself, that God-stuff in the bible is only outdated suggestions given for another time. You comfort yourself with the idea that God understands you are doing your best. Besides, you just hired your own priest who will continue to tell you stuff like that … just like the story in Judges!

In the verse in Colossians the Lord is reminding us that we personally have control over what we choose. ‘Consider’ means … think about it!!  Our appetites are not meant to rule us, that’s what these verses in Colossians say. Nevertheless, people-type appetites can sure try hard some days! Nobody talks about this stuff, but it needs to be said so we can steer our way through the mine-field this life throws at all of us. Yes, I know you think you are coping OK with watching porno movies because after all, you still go to church. Yes, I know, everybody else does it because this holy, purity thing is too hard in these times … rah rah rah! 😱 Jesus had a barely-robed woman thrown down at His feet … and He saw her need, not her disarray.

Okay, moving on into  …coveting. In times of need and lack, coveting starts rearing its ugly head. It is hard to say “…my God shall supply all my needs...” when your family is hungry and they are gunna have a lousy Christmas. Plus the guy next door just bought a boat for his family for Christmas, and he had his house painted, to boot! 

An impoverished person can get stuck wondering why God doesn’t help them… and then temptation strikes again. Governing our needs and wants, is never a walk in the park – it is an ongoing, ever-present battle. Whether we need a fan for the heat, or a house to sleep in — this world’s current lifestyle constantly nags at us that our life would be so much better with that creme or this gizmo! 

The biggest temptation I think we face in these kinds of circumstances is that we are tempted to doubt God’s goodness toward us, because we don’t like feeling uncomfortable. And maybe our own personal theology says that Almighty God doesn’t want us to feel uncomfortable! So we bought a book that gave us 53 verses that prove we don’t have to be uncomfortable! It is essential that we understand that our faith needs protecting. Which is why we watch what we read and see, and hear, as well as the places we hang around in, so we can look after our faith.

Christians have been redesigned to be human beings who know Jesus Christ personally and treasure His Presence above their own comfort and pleasure. If we are stuck wrangling with something or other, like sex or coveting or selfishness:  that means that Father God is encouraging us to trust Him in a new way. He is taking our relationship with Him deeper. Compromise is way too easy. Making up what we think can tolerate, is indeed, the enemy of real passion. 👋🏻

P 2452 Further to yesterday … another important key.

/ DVH

Here is a very interesting picture from the prophet Joel: “The invaders charge. They climb barricades. Nothing stops them. Each soldier does what he’s told, so disciplined, so determined. They don’t get in each other’s way. Each one knows his job and does it. Undaunted and fearless, unswerving, unstoppable. ……”God Himself bellows in thunder as He commands His forces.” … …Look at the size of that army! And the strength of those who obey Him! God’s Judgment Day—great and terrible. Who can possibly survive this?

But there’s also this, it’s not too late— God’s personal Message!— “Come back to Me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!” Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe He’ll do it now, maybe He’ll turn around and show pity. Maybe, when all’s said and done, there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!…” Joel 2:7-14 MSG (parts of it.)

Yesterday, I talked about the blessing of actually knowing, standing, and operating in your own place in God’s plans. And lo and behold, that morning, hubby read me this great descriptive scripture from Joel. You can almost hear the clashing of swords! I understand, BTW, that these verses are an illustration of something else, but I think the coming reality is going to be way beyond anyone’s imagination… … And I also know the Lord needs an obedient people to do whatever comes next!

The soldiers described here are not only ready for battle, they know exactly what is required from them and how to go about it. This is what true submission accomplishes, it brings about harmony within the troops. There is no competition because each mature soldier already knows everyone else relies upon him doing his designated job. These people cannot be intimidated out of their tasks or position. They can’t be stopped because they are not just a ragtag well-armed army busy doing their own thing — they are an unstoppable God-disciplined force. So they understand the strength, both individual and corporate, that gives them a spiritual unification and purpose and they protect it.

Right in the middle of this battle in Joel … because there is faith present in those who make up this army, there is a God-given opportunity for those who are being attacked to repent. The kind of faith these soldiers of the Lord need to have in this spiritual army, releases Grace. And Grace draws people to the Lord Himself. This kind of army serves the King’s real purpose. They show the world who He is, and who we are to Him, and what is possible when you and I, and anyone else who wants to come, serves Him! There is no competition, because there is no need for competition. Nobody has anything to prove. They just want other people to know Him the way they do.

Sometimes I think we are too busy trying to show the world that WE — our little church or big denomination — have all the answers. “We’ve got it right you can follow us.” But our job is to showcase the glory of our King not to point to ourselves or our churches. Our doctrine isn’t worth bupkis unless the Holy Spirit kisses it, and that kiss is not authentication  – it is a further display of HIS GRACE. Otherwise our churches will become yet another man-made institution that actually serves and produces nothing … except maybe loads of hot air. Plus four million helpful handy books that sit on shelves after the new fad has passed. It seems that so many authors have a short-cut to maturity – there is no short-cut. Dying is hard.. Did I say that out loud?? 😶

I am not saying there is anything wrong with Christian books, fiction or non-fiction, but my heart’s cry is that we need to read and esteem His book above any other. We are to be a living example of His book to other people. Meanwhile, I am pretty sure we still don’t get what He is saying, by the way the people outside the church regard us! We’ve put doctrine over Spirit and life, because I suspect Spirit and life seem harder to discern and walk in. The disciples did not put any kind of organisation over obeying His command to “Go!” They just went. Sometimes LIFE itself pressed them into moving on, but they trusted God, used their faith and took the gospel all over the known world by following the Leader – the Holy Spirit. 

It is incredibly important to find our own place and stand in it. Rather than creating some grandiose ministries that have an enormous buzz, but they raise rebellious believers who think that being right is more necessary than dying to self, or serving one another! God does not need our help. Our partnership with Him comes from His Grace toward us and His Love, not expertise. We need more Holy Spirit balance, and balance readily comes when we love and serve Him and others, no matter what the cost. This is a key we desperately need. Bye. 👋🏻

P 2344 Let go and LET GOD.

/ DVH

Just a few thoughts regarding ‘letting go‘ and learning to get out of His way. When the body of Christ fights, we don’t fight like this world does. We fight on our knees. Plus we fight by the way we choose to live and die.“For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energised with divine power to effectively dismantle the defences behind which people hide.”2 Corinthians 10:4.

We don’t need to fight like this world does – we have miraculous weapons. Those Godly weapons will tear through the enemy’s schemes and lies like they were made of tissue paper. Our overriding theme/weapon is LOVE that just won’t quit. It renders hate into sad oblivion. God’s LOVE won’t quit on us! It’s never-ending – eternal!

Today I want to talk about another interesting verse in 2 Chronicles 20:17 “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”There are times when our current battle belongs to the Lord. This kind of battle means we stand and wait to see what He will do. Oh, how I love to stand and wait and see what He will do next! It is so much fun! He never does anything the way I think He will, so that means I am able to glean more revelation about Who He is. I just love the surprise of it all! He loves to fight for us.

When I asked Him why this kind of battle is so important, He said: “It takes great faith in the face of overpowering adversity to DO NOTHING.” Well that made sense to me! I mean I‘m all for heavenly armies turning up and fighting on our behalf, but faith often touches the invisible and makes it visible. Faith is so much more powerful than what we can see. And faith that is motivated by love cannot be stopped. Even if you were to kill the person who is praying, love is eternal. So that kind of faith stays out there, waiting for the right opportunity to land. 

Did you know that one of Jesus’ prayers has not been answered? … SO FAR! Here it is – “I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are One—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You.’  First of all, can you see that the answer to this prayer is participating in a sacrificial relationship? We cannot keep our own pet way of doing things and participate in Oneness. Big clue about Unity right there! We need the fellowship of the Spirit. When we all walk with HIM oneness follows and HE is not divided. We need to let go of the things we keep declaring to be right and allow Him to fight for us on our behalf.

We have never seen the Lord’s prayer for total unity answered so far. It is out there waiting for the right time, the right people, and the right place. None of those things are fixed so we could easily be those people. The reason we are not those people is because we tolerate selfishness, our own opinions and desires, over other people and their ideas and needs. We keep straining out gnats unity-wise and letting through camels. 

Back to my original point. In some battles our job is to wait and wait, and wait, and … not take our faith back. Just like Jesus did. We do this in an undemanding way. We become steadfast because our eyes are fixed on the One Who cannot lie and He never changes. He’s faithful. If Jesus has had to wait 2000 + years to see one of His prayers answered, some of ours might take a while… He let the answer go, and He is waiting for His Father’s plan. No immediate answer to prayer does not mean we were not heard and He isn’t going to answer. HOLD ON!!

In the meantime, we get the opportunity to look carefully at our yet-to-be-answered prayer and with His help, discern whether it is for His kingdom or our comfort! Obviously things may need some adjustment, and sometimes – as it is in Jesus’ prayer for the Body of Christ’s unity – the answer doesn’t entirely rest on the pray-er. He doesn’t care who thinks what is right or wrong – He’s waiting for the fruit of the Spirit to show up. And for all of us to drop our prejudices and let them go.

There are times when Almighty God fights for us. He is not taking sides per se, it can simply mean one of us has stumbled into His purposes. AND … it can also mean that He is being just plain undeserved merciful. We need to start our prayers by letting go, and the Holy Spirit will show us what He wants us to do next. Remember when He fights for you, to watch … and be grateful. But get out of His way – OUR SOVEREIGN GOD IS COMING THROUGH. 👋🏻

P 2328 Tenacity.

/ DVH

The bit that is actually easy in the Christian life is doing what He wants with the help of our ever present Helper. ‘His YOKE is easy, His burden is light.’ If it is hard then maybe we have wandered away from His yoke. However, sometimes we can get so caught up in trying to find ‘comfortable’ when things assail us …we can forget we are in a battle. We live in enemy territory, not the garden of Eden. STUFF is gunna happen. After a while when that stuff keeps on coming, and coming at you, you can feel you are permanently under siege. Time for a time out with Jesus.

At our house right now, we are two people with only two good useful hands between us … and both of them are left-hands. 😂 You’d be amazed how much you need both hands – maybe that’s why the Lord gave us two in the first place! Whatever. 🙄 For the past 9 weeks I have typed this blog with my left index finger. Boy has that been interesting! I am not, BTW, looking for sympathy, other people have their own problems. I simply think the Lord is currently making the Western world uncomfortable … HE wants to be our reason to live — not just an optional add-on.

So hubby and I have started to pray together that the Lord Himself will be our strong right arm … because our own arms are letting us down big time. There is nothing like running out of your own strength to remind us that we can’t do this stuff by ourselves! We never could. Some days I can be seen mumbling to myself – ‘Its OK – our side wins in the end.”

I am writing about these types of situations today to put forward the idea that we all have these blooming awful, hard-to-find-anything-good-about-them, times. This Christian life is not always some sort of ongoing party – where we all cheer for our side, because we won! Hallelujah! We DID win! Thanks to our precious Saviour – but now you and I have to walk out that victory minute by minute, day by day, week by week… …. And it will cost us.

It’s officially a fight – the man of God said so in 2 Corinthians 1:8.“We were so utterly burdened we despaired of life itself.” You and I are not failing just because we are struggling. It just so happens we are struggling to keep the faith!  Meanwhile the Lord is filling us with His endurance and stamina so we can run our race well. Paul also said this: 2 Timothy 4:7:“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…”

We are winning, because even though we might despair and fall down, eventually we get up and go again. Sometimes we may crawl, but that’s ok – that will humble anyone pretty quickly! Tenacity is invaluable. Perseverance the bible calls it, I call it refusing to quit. And don’t be fooled by that seemingly positive statement, it sometimes takes all you have to even get up off the floor, but remember the Holy Spirit will not break bruised reeds. 

In the Western world we are often vastly under prepared for life’s storms. But Christians can survive any storm because Jesus is in our little boat with us. HE can calm the stormy sea of anxiety, sorrow and suffering inside us. Creating an awareness of His Presence and help can be our most daunting task … and our greatest asset. Mainly because life happens and it ain’t like the TV ads.

Sometimes I think I’m like Peter on one of his earlier incredible revelation/dumb days… John 6:66-69.“After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.”That was the great revelation bit…

A-N-D … here comes the dumb …’”Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” Matthew 16:22. Poor guy, he so totally went the wrong way – into his flesh. One minute in the Spirit … the next, not-so-much. I have a theory about that BTW, sometimes we go the wrong way to learn about ourselves. It sure helps to keep me humble!  

Tenacity is not about getting it right. It’s about not giving up when you get it wrong. It’s about facing your fears and failings and clinging to the Lord. It’s about repentance and humility and clambering up from the floor when you’ve fallen on your face. You know sometimes this life is not about making great strides… its about taking the next step. 👋🏻 

P 2293 Sound advice.

/ DVH

“Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (MSG) When I read this today I thought … brilliant. This verse is simple, concise and extremely clear.  Sometimes our biggest hardships occur when we overly complicate things and in the end we have so many things to remember, the truly important things get lost.

In my case they seem to fall out of my ears despite my hearing aids! More’s the pity. Keeping it simple stupid works best for me. I love to remember those bible verses I first fell in love with – back then we had pure scripture in song. When things get tough those versions flood back into my heart. These older versions remind me in the heat of battle of the reason why I live this way. 

I don’t know about you, but under pressure from the really high and low tides of this life, plus the normal everyday wear and tear and daily grind, my little faith boat sometimes slips its moorings and starts floating away. That is not good in a crisis. Then we need something sure and solid to hold onto, and the bible has such strength and stability in it.

Ideally, because His book says so, our faith should have substance to it, and not just bob about on the sea of life getting tossed by this and that. Otherwise it is unfortunately far too easy to feel like you are nearly sinking all the time. I know that faith can have its highs and lows, but in the main, our faith needs to be a slow steady progression upwards. We should literally be able to see our faith grow over a prolonged period of time, especially when things have been rough. 

In those times this is where we need to learn to cling to the Lord and His book more tightly. However we must remember, no matter what season we are in – GOD IS FAITHFUL. HE WILL NEVER EVER LET GO OF US! Even when we are faithless, He is always faithful. 

The above scripture from 1 Corinthians 16 doesn’t actually sound like it includes ‘time off for good behaviour.’ There are no holidays from being His kid! When stuff gets tough cling like a limpet to the Rock of all ages!  This particular scripture is both directional and instructional. ‘Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.’ 🤔 There is order in these instructions. The easiest place to end up defeated is in our HEAD. This is where self-talk, from the Word, is a strong rope keeping us moored safely. It directs us so we know what to look for, and how to do it.  You may need to pause and think about that. I did. 

And this verse is definitely correctional, because the absolutes in it are not muddy or unclear. I personally love it when the bible is like that. I definitely love the stories of people just like me and how they succeeded in spite of themselves. Or even how they got it wrong, and God rescued them because He pitied them. But I also love this kind of clear directive. Forget the language, look for the instructions.

Things like the word pity, in any language, is not common today. That word is like …’feeling sorry for.’ But God actually pities us and has mercy on us, because He remembers we were made from dirt. He knows our frame and He knows our weaknesses, and He never despises us for them. To top that kindness off, our Lord Jesus came and walked through this life as a human being, subject to the same temptations and distractions that we are, and He did it without sinning. It demeans His total reliance upon His Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit, to think that this life was easy for Him, because we think He somehow had a special advantage we don’t! 

Actually, we have exactly the same advantage He had, the same Helper He had, the same Person Who would’ve held Him fast to His purpose – holds us. The one thing I admire about the Lord Jesus is the only time we see any outward struggle is during His time at Calvary. All of time this everyday stuff was totally settled for Him, He knew where victory lay. Victory lies in obedience.

His purity of His purpose is our benchmark, plus it is also a place of wonder and worship. Remember, the Lord knew irritating people too! He walked around with people who didn’t understand His purpose and started trying to enforce their own agendas. It kinda reminds me a bit of politicians, who start out enthusiastically wanting to help people, and quickly discover there are an awful lot of hurdles in the way! Jesus made that complicated process extremely simple, He loved the person in front of Him. He treated each person in front of Him with God-inspired attention. It totally fascinates me that He didn’t give up under pressure, which is where I sadly fall over.

Thank God we all have His righteousness undergirding us, plus His grace flowing freely through the open channel of our lives, as we give away His love for us, using our faith. One resolute step after the other, in good times and bad, is the only way to follow Him and remain steadfast. Bye. 👋🏻

P 2252 Trust is more than a word!

/ DVH

Genesis 15:6 “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” I think this is one of the most important verses in the Old Testament.  Paul says this about Abraham in Galatians 3:6-9 TPT:“Abraham, our father of faith, believed God, and the substance of his faith released God’s righteousness to him. So the true children of Abraham have the same faith as their father! And the Scripture prophesied that on the basis of faith God would declare Gentiles to be righteous. God announced the good news ahead of time to Abraham: ““Through your example of faith, all the nations will be blessed!” And so the blessing of Abraham’s faith is now our blessing too!”

Abraham’s example of faith and trust is an illustration of our new place of freedom in Christ. We accept that what Christ did for us, was complete. Being subject or powerless to avoid any kind of sin is living in slavery!  Christ set us free to choose to follow Him and the Holy Spirit leads us into a new way to live. Just like Abraham chose to follow God to a new land – we choose to follow Christ into our eternal destination – living in His kingdom right here, right now. We use our faith to live this life differently, as the Holy Spirit leads us.

Abraham’s decision to follow God’s instructions, implicitly, even to the point of sacrificing his only son, Isaac, shows us the focus of this man’s heart. He utterly trusted God. In conversation with Isaac about where they would find a lamb for the sacrifice – Abraham said this: “…“God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”And the two of them went on together.” That was a faith statement and it also pointed toward Christ, 4,000 years later! Jesus is our Lamb of provision – He is our way out of serving sin… His Spirit leads us into serving God.

We need to actively learn, day by day, to trust our God … and that means we will do some dying to self along the way! To live in Christ’s freedom means we leave our old life behind, and we use our faith to live the life that God has prepared for us. Sin is not our main focus – what He wants for our lives is. We know that God Himself has provided the sacrifice for our sin, just like He did, on Mount Moriah, with Abraham and Isaac. So we press on, following in the footsteps of Christ, denying ourselves the things we want, in favour of the things HE wants. We’ve decided, once and for all, that what He said He did, He did. It’s finished. It’s done. 

Now it is our responsibility to live our lives, every single day, for love’s sake. Because of our devotion and allegiance to Jesus we accept that the things that happen to us, around us, and in us, are opportunities for change. That change consists of finding out what Jesus wants us to do in any kind of situation, for His kingdom to come. That’s the way we live now – we choose Him. He chose us, and now we choose Him right back. 

Sometimes that may mean that our days pass uneventfully, but those are the days that we need to stay focussed. Because we’ve learnt, that when we least expect it, we are going to need our faith … in the heat of sudden battle. We’ve learnt that our faith is developed by the everyday choices we make. It is strengthened every time we use it. Our faith will be tested, just like it was for Abraham! And he is called the father of our faith – he did it first. This is why we need to practice letting go of what we want, and learn to trust God instead. True freedom comes when we live in that trust because we are not driven about by our own sinful desires.

However, there is no real working faith if we simply let life happen to us. Instead we need to purpose in our hearts to rely upon God’s Grace to only do those things we need to do – and some of those things will involve sacrifices. That is part of our new life, our commitment to Christ. We cannot serve our God part-time or half-heartedly. We will end up disappointed and we will miss out on the freedom Christ died to give us. As Christians we need to pay attention to developing our trust in His ways. 👋🏻

Titus 2:11-12,14.“God’s marvellous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone. This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age.”…  … “He sacrificed Himself for us that He might purchase our freedom from every lawless deed and to purify for Himself a people who are His very own, passionate to do what is beautiful in His eyes.”