Believers

P 2785 “To each one of us …”

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In the bible it says that the Lord Himself gave gifts to the church … read these scriptures along with me: “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He took many captives and gave gifts to His people… …” 11-13 “So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7-8,11-13. We don’t have to wait for our birthday, or Christmas! Jesus has given us all gifts to help us grow and know Him…NOW!

“There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people. The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all.”1 Corinthians 12:4-7.

“If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other. 

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable.” Romans 12:7-17.

Today, I want to say, loudly – that, despite how you might feel, you have a gift. Actually you could easily have more than one of them!! But don’t ask me what they are, it took me a while to figure out what I am here to do! This Grace the Lord has given me to help others, has also helped me to feel that I have a place within the Body of Christ.

Many Christians have excused themselves from being activated for His kingdom, on the grounds that they are not worthy, or clever enough, or gifted enough, or they don’t know what they are supposed to do, or they don’t have time and they hope that the Lord understands! However, we all need your contribution. You don’t have to be an evangelist standing on the back of a flat-bed truck, you simply need to live a life of Love everywhere you go, towards everyone you meet, and be prepared to give an account of the hope within you.  That will stretch everyone’s faith and your gift will rise up as a result.

The thing is, this New Covenant we share is an agreement between us and the Lord – it’s a promise that we enter into between Him and us, and it is binding. (Read the book!) Jesus covered our sins with His blood, so we can be free to live the life God planned for us to live … and it is never too late to start. Jesus deliberately provided us with SomeOne Who will always help us and never leave us. SomeOne Who will teach us His ways, and help us with the process of transformation. It’s the Holy Spirit.

One day, not long ago, I woke up and realised that my complete spiritual poverty,  is my strength.🤔 So today, the Lord asked me to remind you of your place in His Body by using His Word. The Holy Spirit wants you to know that there is a place in His plans for you. Sometimes, for a small group of people, that is a place that is seen, and for many, many, many others, they will remain unseen. But He has promised to touch us all in extraordinary ways, with supernatural gifts.. I look forward to the day when the vast, unseen multitudes of ordinary Christians step into what He has for them.

So today, I just want to encourage everybody reading this, He wants you to participate in His plan in the lives of those people you know and influence. He needs you to be you. Who you are, because of His Presence in your life, will reach others. Last of all, I want to use my favourite vehicle, the bible, to pray for you. I am totally convinced He will answer these prayers because they rely upon His faithfulness, not on anyone’s ability.  

“I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!” Philippians 1:6 TPT. “And I pray that He would unveil within you the unlimited riches of His glory and favour until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with His divine might and explosive power.” Ephesians 3:16 TPT.“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24. Amen. God gives gifts to each one of us. Bye. 👋

P 2705 On being tested.

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Jesus Christ, God’s precious Son, became a man. He respected and obeyed what His Father wanted above His own personal needs and ideas. He lived, and then He chose to die, in accordance with His Father’s will. He is our example of how to deal with temptations. Right at the very beginning of His ministry, the Lord Jesus was thoroughly tested, under extreme circumstances. FYI, that is recorded in Matthew 4:1-11, and Luke 4:1-13. Jesus came through it all, despite the incredible hardship He faced. But He met with the Holy Spirit and POWER on the other side of that test. This is a great place to stop, and think about what that means to ME. 🤔

The Lord personally demonstrated and proclaimed during this testing time, that the way for human beings to live – is primarily by the Word of God. He did this, under dire circumstances, live and in person, in front of His enemy. That is when He put a stamp on the scriptures as our primary source of spiritual food and defensive weapons..

After that, in the second temptation, His enemy offered Him physical well being, protection and personal safety – for the exorbitant fee of worshippinghim. Jesus refused to have anything to do with getting where He needed to go using His enemy’s help. He responded to this temptation with another scripture. Making it clear that He was not going to trust in anything but God’s Word to care for Him. The truth set Him free. Another good spot to stop and think about what that shows me! 🤔

The last and final temptation was that His enemy would give Him everything He came to do, without making the ultimate sacrifice. Our enemy tried to blind the Lord with success, which included the price tag of saving the world … without Him having to die. It looked like an easy answer, but it involved putting this world into satan’s hands permanently. 

I believe we all face temptations, often we face them daily. We are tempted to lose heart, and put our faith and hope down. Sometimes we are tempted to live by what Brother so and so says, and when we do that means we have put the Word of God second. We are taking another man’s interpretation of the scripture over what God wants to say to US, personally. The most valuable thing we have is our bible… obedience to what is commanded in that book is incredibly personally powerful. When we choose to live by His words — instead of our circumstances, or experiences, or what someone else thinks — we elevate Almighty God in our lives to His rightful place as GOD!

Secondly, there are times when we too are tempted and tested regarding our participation in whatever needs to be done in His kingdom, by methods other than FAITH. Things like clever marketing, slick presentations, and popularity without us having to make sacrifices. The Word of God is powerful all by itself, it does not need to be marketed! In the hands of someone who is obedient to the Holy Spirit, His Word will cut between human thoughts and intentions and go right into the heart of any matter. On that day in Christ’s life – it cut the enemy to pieces! When we rely upon our own skills and energies we are succumbing to the temptation to help God out, and so the accolades may go to a person, instead of the One Who made us and deserves our worship.

I think Father God is very particular about where our worship goes, because: a/ He is a jealous God. And: b/ our frame is not strong enough to be able to manage the kind of praise and worship that belongs to Him – alone. However, His power will flow quite naturally through our lives as we learn to resist temptation and live in obedience. There is always a way through whatever is going on, we just ask Him for His help! Christ was led into the wilderness, by the Holy Spirit — but He came out IN THE POWER of the Holy Spirit. Facing temptation and overcoming it, is part of our growth process – it is meant to test and stretch our faith and resolve to rely upon God and His Word. That means it will hurt!

The bible says this about being tested:“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.”1 Peter 4:12&13. And in James 1:2&3: “My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as a valuable opportunity to experience the greatest joy you can! For you know that when your faith is tested, it stirs in you the power of endurance.”

Let’s reflect for a minute – in Jesus, Father God finally had a man He could talk to and trust. Just imagine the depth and breadth of the Lord Jesus’ faith!! God’s will was His only aim! In this world we will face trials and tests, but we do not face them alone. Praise God, our knowledge of His Word is our personal shield of faith. Jesus Himself overcame our enemy, and because of what He did on the cross, we can too. Now we can walk forward like Sons and Daughters of the Most High God. Bye. 👋

“Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life.”Galatians 5:16 TPT.

P 2583 True salvation.

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“Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance, like a helmet to protect your thoughts from lies. And take the mighty razor-sharp Spirit-sword of the spoken word of God. Pray passionately in the Spirit, as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times. Pray the blessings of God upon all His believers.” Ephesians 6:17-18 TPT.

This way of life we have chosen can be difficult! We will have to press in and learn to thrive in all kinds of hardships. And to grow spiritually in times of rampant prosperity as well as deep poverty — to find joy in the midst of our mourning. And at the same time we will give constant praise to our God, while this world goes on its spiteful, murderous way. Our success in any of these issues probably won’t ever be seen. But Jesus sees.

What we lay aside, in prayer, love, kindness and sacrifice, for His sake, may not ever be recognised where we live every day. If we choose to live like Christ lived, we will need to learn to love, live and … even die for the people who hurt us, and despitefully use us. Even though some of them may actively pray for our demise and pain — we continue to reverently pray that they will only meet unconditional love, from Him and us! True salvation is more than a prayer – it can and should change the way we live.

Those things that are mentioned in the above scripture from Ephesians are our fighting tools!  They just don’t look like fighting tools. Nothing about this life we have chosen, looks like we thought it would. People we’ve known for years will betray us, and then blame us for their obvious blatant betrayal! You can’t fight that kind of stuff singing “Kumbaya!” We need weapons … and our weapons are not of this world. But they will pull down strongholds that have been established for centuries, as we set our faces towards honouring Him – living for Him.

If we really want to defeat our enemy, we need to live this life we have, fully saved. What does that mean? It means that no matter what happens … how many bugs, snakes, marauding, deceitful, angry, bad people, hit the windshield of our existence … we know that we know that we know, that our God is loyal and He will never, no NEVER leave us or forsake us. HE.MEANS.US.GOOD.  And now we live our lives, believing HE means us good!  “What can man do to me?” This is what knowing the Word of God means. It is not just regurgitation – it’s part of who we are now.

Jesus died to give us a place in our Father’s heart. It is a safe place. We live there protected purely by the fact that it cost the Lord everything He had to buy us that place! We know that Jesus Christ held nothing back. He left it all there at Calvary. And now what He bought for us, is ours. The only response we can give to that kind of sacrifice demands that we stop living by appearances, and start living by faith, in the Son of God Who died to save US from sin, this world, our enemy and ourselves! When His salvation fits our heads like a steel helmet … nothing can get through that sucker, because nobody can tell us that our Heavenly Father isn’t with us and He doesn’t love us. 

We are protected by the fact that – even if you kill me, I will still love you!! Jesus did it first. He was betrayed, deserted, lied about, falsely imprisoned, accused and murdered. HE KNOWS! And right now He is at His Father’s right hand praying for us. He also knows our weaknesses, that’s why we can rely upon His strength. When we feel like an elastic band that is about to break, just roll all that stuff off onto Him … and leave it there. Do all you can and then STAND.

Because of His death, Christ has provided us with a way to escape …“God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Look, taking the sword of the Spirit isn’t just memorising what the bible said and spouting it off at the devil. It is the assurance inside us that what His book says is true! God’s word is not a magic charm or incantation … it’s the truth. The real truth about mankind and this world. We need to know that, and the way we find out that it is true is to stand on it. Looking at His Word from a sidebar and wondering if it will hold us up, is not faith! Jesus Christ DIED standing on God’s word believing that He would be resurrected!  

We must understand that there are bigger priorities than our comfort – His kingdom must come. And you and I are charged with the responsibility of bringing that kingdom with us wherever we go. No matter who we speak to!  It’s a way to live, not just a get-out-of-jail-free card. True salvation delivers us from a wasted life, into a way of life that reflects God’s kingdom, here and now. When His word changes us we will know that we are saved. 👋

P 2576 Kingdom people.

/ DVH

When you have a moment perhaps you could read all of Psalm 73 ….Here’s and excerpt Psalm 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds.” Luke 17:21: “The kingdom of God is within you ..”

We have a hiding place in Christ. The King Himself is our hiding place and our city of refuge. In Him we have guidance and protection. Jesus faced everything this world can throw at humanity — every sin, every ugliness our world was ever going to produce — and He conquered it. Now, we live our lives refusing to let this world, or even our experiences, dictate our actions and reactions. Whether we experience defeat or sorrow – we know personally that our experiences cannot negate the truth. We have the power of God to help us live and respond differently.. 

We are outwardly, visibly, telling the world, around us that we love Him and belong to Him when we live this life FOR Him. However, we still have a choice to live our lives for our own benefit! But when we do that, we are turning our backs on our God-given inheritance. At the same time, by default, we’re giving satan permission to keep us busy being envious of the rich and healthy, plus those whose lives seem easier than ours. Instead of living this life fulfilling the purposes that God gave to each one of us — which is literally, the reason we are here. We were made for His pleasure. He gave each one of us a purpose and a destiny. That destiny will be progressively revealed, as we learn to trust Jesus and walk with Him.

We have an incredible destiny. It is to be the people of God in an ungodly world, reflecting His love everywhere we go. I read this whole Psalm again the other day. It seems to me that the writer’s focus had switched from God’s goodness to the world around Him, and that eventually led him into a dark place. Suddenly he felt that following God was a waste of his time, because the people who were not believers were doing better than those who were believers!

This Psalm shows us that it is a normal human reaction for us, to struggle with the difficulties of this life. We are not faithless if we do. It’s staying there that clouds our judgment. When the psalmist went on into God’s house – everything became clear.  If we have not grasped the concept of Christ’s ultimate victory, our God-given peace can be shattered simply because the bad guys are well, and they keep on prospering! However, we are exhorted to cultivate eternal eyes. 

Jesus talked about that. He talked about His people living in God’s kingdom, ushering in God’s kingdom … NOW. That fact alone means we cannot allow ourselves to be double-minded. In order to bring God’s kingdom with us wherever we go, we need to demonstrate it, as well as live in it ourselves. His kingdom must fill our view. The kingdom of God is within us – we joined His kingdom when we asked Jesus to save us. If we don’t let it out by the way we live, then other people will remain ignorant of its existence.

We are to be like the guy selling the ‘you beaut’ vacuum cleaner. Talking about it is great, explaining its benefits is pretty good too, but the best way to know if that darn vacuum cleaner is gunna work at your house is to see it working! We are God’s illustrations of what life with Him is like. You and I are His visual aids. We show others that they do not have to face this life alone – we have a Helper and they can too!

If we do not learn to cultivate these things in our renewed mindset, we can fall prey to the less-than-subtle-influences around us. Life will no longer be liveable, instead it will crash over us, and take our legs out from under us. Unless we choose to lay back on Jesus’s shoulder despite any storms that are raging and ask the Lord: “How are You going to fix this Lord? Over to You, I’m easy either way.” 

I call living like this leaning into Him. By learning to follow the prompts and doing what He says, we show Him we trust Him. In this century we are living more than ever in an information age, and we often are led by this world into thinking that if we understand something – we can handle it. Rhubarb. Unless our understanding comes from the King of all Kings, all we will get from comprehension is a deeper knowledge of how unfair everything is, like the psalmist did. 

To be kingdom people we need to progressively live in His kingdom, and start to leave this world’s idea of “the good life” behind us. We do that by choosing to love instead of indulging in hate or indifference. It is the highest form of worship we can give our precious King. Bless you 👋

P 2526 Some thoughts on what maturity looks like.

/ DVH

To begin, I need to say that I do not think the things I have mentioned here indicate a place of arrival, rather they are personal sign posts. I wrangle every single day with all of these things… but I refuse to lower my aim just because these things are hard! Becoming like Jesus to other people means everything to me.Today, I have added in my own thoughts as well, but I think that this is one of those times that I need to let God’s word speak for itself. 

It is also good to look carefully at Jesus in the Gospels to see how God’s Grace operated. How HE took it in and breathed it out. Maturity sees Grace as the coin of the realm, they freely give Grace away and they also receive it in. Romans 8:29: “For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Mature Christians have walked way past being dead to sin, that’s a no-brainer! Instead they are so alive they challenge you by the way they live.

Galatians 2:20 TPT “My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives His life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God Who loves me so much that He gave Himself for me, dispensing His life into mine!”

I think we all have a need to mature in the Western World, because, sadly, immature people follow fads as well as people — not Christ Himself. Ephesians 4:14 ”…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”  The Body of Christ will grow in spiritual maturity, by learning to persevere through the trials and challenges of our life. Mature people are humble because life itself and the Word of God has taught them, who they really are, without the Holy Spirit’s help. 

James 1:2-5 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  Trials are an opportunity to stretch and grow our faith!

Mature believers seek to live a life that is Spirit-filled — that is, they learn to be aware of and listen to God’s Spirit, who lives within all Jesus’ followers. Romans 6:11-14 says: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” 

These people Paul talks about understand that sin is a choice and the more anyone gives in to it, the harder it becomes to resist! So they “…present their bodies as a living sacrifice …” instead. They want what the Lord wants. They may not always know what that is … but they will take the time to wait on Him to find out! These people are a generous people. They not only share, but they make sure that their love is demonstrated not just talked about. Their only desire is to please the Lord above everything and everyone else. 

Mature people will quickly admit their faults and their lack, but they also know exactly where to go to repent and be filled again. Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God has forgiven you.” Forgiveness is never an optional extra to these people, it is a way of life. This means they do not judge others either. They know how to repent and admit that they were wrong, because their aim is Christ’s likeness not vindication. So they always repent quickly, then usher in real restoration, and go back into relationship again. Psalm 15:4:“They keep their promises to their neighbours, even when it hurts.” 

Philippians 4:11&12. “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  These saints have found their contentment in knowing God Himself, and the Lord and His Presence in their lives is all they want. They never have to pray – they simply want to talk to the Lord because they love to be with Him. Maturity will refuse to define what other people’s love should look like, it accepts what the other person gives them with His Grace.

Lastly, in order to grow spiritually and mature in our faith, we must draw near to God, because we cannot mature on our own. Without His personal input into our lives – our works and efforts are worthless.

Bless you and bye for today! 👋

P 2515 Exhortation and encouragement.

/ DVH

Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

In the above scripture Paul is talking about meeting together for the purpose of helping each other to move on, and grow, and expand our faith. And in 1 Corinthians 15:58: he is encouraging believers not to waiver in what they believe. In 1 Thessalonians 5:14: he exhorts the family of God to be active in helping others with weaker faith. In Ephesians 4:29: Paul also talks about being careful how we speak to one another to benefit each other. These are just a few of many ways that all the writers of the Epistles exhort the reader. And they are also an example of how to exhort others to continue on in faith toward our ultimate goal – to wholeheartedly love Jesus … and keep pressing on … 

The gift of encouragement is supernatural, it instills courage into someone else’s life. That encouragement can include things that need to be put aside because they are a hindrance — as well as telling others what they do that blesses people. This gift can give our leaders courage. Leaders face a great deal of discouragement – very few will talk about the ‘stuff’ that comes at them – sometimes almost hour by hour, daily. We can be a blessing to everyone we know in many ways – such as giving, helping, as well as using words. Prophecy is for the wider church, but encouragement is for individuals. One of the disciples had his name changed because he encouraged others so much. His name was Joseph but it was changed to Barnabas. That name Barnabas means ‘son of encouragement.’ 

Encouragement is a spiritual gift, just like mercy, helps or healing…this gift gets behind others when their spirits are flagging, and it lifts up their arms so they can praise Jesus freely again. It comes directly from the Holy Spirit andit is part of His Character! Two of the Holy Spirit’s 10 Names, are ‘comforter and strengthener.” When we operate in the gift of exhortation and encouragement, we are choosing to flow with Him, moving in His Grace and goodness to build up someone else’s hope and faith. This gift is about things that touch someone’s spirit and go right around their mind into their hearts. The person immediately becomes aware of the Holy Spirit working. He is SomeOne Who is outside our own understanding – BUT whatever HE SAYS rings true. It feels like home! Spirit-given words have eternal consequences as well as earthly ones. They can encourage others to take risks, and grow their faith.

I think the Body of Christ lacks a lot of encouragement and my advice is this — don’t just wait for the Holy Spirit to speak to you, regularly and faithfully go to Him and ask Him to give you words etc. and make you an encourager of others. This world is very negative toward anything that has absolutes, and Christianity is all about absolutes! I exhort us all to practise listening to the Lord, and then share whatever He gives us with others – gently, and with great humility. Let Him do the work. We don’t have to push or strain – He’s Almighty God. He knows which words will touch the downtrodden, needy, or even a flagging spirit in that other person.

“I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.” Colossians 4:8. The ‘him’ in this scripture is a man Paul trusted. This unknown man, Tychicus, was someone Paul commissioned to carry his letter to encourage a church. If you look at Paul’s Epistles as letters, you will find they are full of encouragement and exhortation – as well as information about what is happening in his life. Including the things Paul is and has already learnt, about his own faith. We need to remember, we are reading this Apostle’s personal mail – Paul had no idea they would end up in the book we read every single day!  

I urge anyone reading this blog to read Romans 12. Clear precursors to beginning to operating in any of the gifts of the Spirit, lie in that Chapter. Meanwhile I present my body to Him as a living sacrifice every single day, because the bible says in verse 1 “this is your true and proper worship!” One of the best ways to grow, is to step out in faith and use our spiritual gift/s. If we are wrong, then …oh well … not perfected yet!! That’s the humility bit. If it blesses others then … Glory to God!! It is such a privilege to have the Holy Spirit flow through us. His life in us is like a pure river of gold flowing through our kitchen taps! Some of that gold always clings to the pipes and then we are blessed too, because His goodness clings to us.

The more we yield to Him, the more the desire to exhort and encourage others will grow! Whether they are Christians yet, or not! Bless you. 👋

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 2228 What ministry is really about.

/ DVH

No it’s not surfing – but it could be!  All ministry must come out of our own personal walk with Jesus, and any kind of ministry is hard work. Actually, it is a whole lot of unseen, hard work. This current adventure we are on, started even before we left home. We had 20 brand new blankets, so we called around to find somewhere we could take them. We found a great group in Tweed Heads who look after the poor as a ministry. Unfortunately, 😂 there were so many complications to organise our delivery of said blankets that in the end, we just gave it all to the Lord and gave up trying to make it work.

The lady who wanted these blankets, promised to ring us the next day if she could arrange a pick-up on our forward journey and we didn’t hear, so we went into the Lord’s rest, and packed them into the car anyway. She called like 15 minutes before we left..😶 Ya just gotta be fluid if you wanna work for Jesus. We delivered said blankets after a very large detour. Convenience is a luxury God’s kids can’t afford. It’s about Who we are living for.

This made me think a great deal about the idea of having “a ministry.” It may seem like fun to others, and innocent people often ask us – ‘how was our holiday?’ The truth is we haven’t had what this world thinks is a holiday, in over 17 years! But I also know we’ve had more fun than anyone on holidays could ever expect. The Lord sometimes sends us miles out of our way – for just one person. We are more like Phillip with the Ethiopian man, than Peter on the day of Pentecost. At the same time we have had people turn down bibles … but most people don’t. There have been maybe two times, when they were not-so-polite about it!  

As Christians we need to know that living our lives His way IS ministry. However, simply living for Him also means that you don’t have a nice natty, spiritual label. There is only one Person we need to recognise whatever we do. Jesus. At the same time we do have a responsibility to anyone who chooses to support us – prayerfully, or with funds, or both. This is not how hubby and I earn our living, we are pensioners, so all the money God gives us through faithful people, goes into these trips and bibles etc.

I also need to say that with any kind of ministry there will be opposition. Whether it is living for Jesus or having a title. You enter the battlefield instead of sitting in the stands. Because when you do what Jesus says, the other guy doesn’t like it. The week before we left, we discovered hubby’s elderly mum is not doing very well, and my mum was also quite ill last night. She’s 95. Just what you need to hear when you are going off out of the state on a bible run. Plus yesterday, hubby couldn’t lock the front door, or the back door – the key refused to turn in either one of them. 🙄

We also had to change one booking at the last minute, mainly because there were quite a lot of outside stairs. That is not good for people with disabilities. Stairs and I have come to an agreement that we will probably never get along again! Hubby’s hand is still sore from the operation he had on it, so he is one-handed and it’s the wrong hand! None of that is good for moving luggage every second day. So he is driving with one hand in a plastic cast – the doc says it is OK for him to do it, BTW. 

My point is this: we all have troubles, and feel inadequate, but with Christ we can do all things because He strengthens us. If you want to live for Jesus then learn to be a stealth bomber – fly under the radar, don’t go after a ministry or a title –  just be someone who loves and obeys Jesus, all the time instead! There were 120 people in that upper room when the Holy Spirit fell on them – we don’t know all their names because they didn’t write stuff that ended up in the bible, they were too busy living and dying for Jesus’ sake!

We met a whole lot of lovely people today, and gave away 74 things about the Lord including 44 bibles – plus those blankets for the homeless. Hubby had a nice friendly chat with someone who loves to surf. The man looked almost exactly like the above picture that hubby painted, and this man knew surfing terms so he knew all about “the blue room.”  ‘Bob’ thought it was a miracle hubby could paint with his non-dominant hand! Everybody we talked to today was thrilled that we came, and they were so glad to receive anything we wanted to give them.

What the church regards as ministry can be highly romanticised. It might seem to be filled with importance, and have a high profile, but don’t be fooled – visibility ain’t all it’s cracked up to be! I believe that the Lord is looking for His army of believers to rise up and do whatever He gives them to do as individuals, as part of their every day lives. Hubby and I give prophetic words – we constantly give words of knowledge etc. to people who don’t know the Lord. They are astonished. First of all by the fact that God knows their names. and circumstances, and secondly that ordinary people like us are His messengers. Our anonymity is our greatest strength in terms of ministry. 👋🏻

“I refuse to be ashamed of the wonderful message of God’s liberating power unleashed in us through Christ! For I am thrilled to preach that everyone who believes is saved—the Jew first, and then people everywhere!” Romans 1:16 TPT