Bibles

P 3463 Be really yourself…

/ DVH

…not the you, you wish you were! … Something has shifted in hubby and I as we’ve been travelling all over the country-side giving away bibles and stuff. We started out being traditional, and along the way, a whole lot of formal stuff fell off, and now we simply go to meet people, so we can love on them whenever and wherever we can. Before this adventure, it was like we had two ‘hats,’ one was for church and the other was out there… 

The thing is, what happened the other day with my young friend showed me how easy it can be to miss the main point. Especially when we have a mindset that separates people into categories, saved and unsaved, I think this is part of a mistake I’ve been making. I’ve learnt that my first priority is to love God, then others. So I asked myself what if I took the saved and unsaved categories out of my thinking and just saw people? Perhaps, as Christians, we are more honest and open with the people who love Jesus, than we are with the man in the street. My thought for today is …WHY? Is Christianity meant to be some kind of secret society, where you can’t get in if you don’t know the handshake?

Actually the bible says that Jesus loved the world so much He died for all of us, which actually means we are all in the same boat! Some of us have recognised the One Who saved us, and others haven’t heard about Him, or met Him yet. The difference between committed Christians, and the people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet, is simply a matter of who has received this revelation and who hasn’t.

We are all loved equally by our Heavenly Father. But for years we’ve kind of hidden behind our church doors and played the ‘we-are-the-nice-people’ game. That game had a false finish line, and to join in people had to come to know Jesus in a pre-prescribed packaged fashion. But when I decided to see this world from His point of view, I realised there will always be room for one more … even in the last minutes of His life, Jesus made room for one more! Our lives need to be lived in such a way that we are an invitation, telling everyone Who Jesus is, what we know about Him, without any stress or strain.

The reason we are asked by the Lord to tell everyone, is because we don’t know who will say yes and who will say no … like that rich young man from yesterday. That means I will say the same kind of thing to a murderer, that I would to the little old lady down the road. The good news is, Jesus died to save all of us from everything bad we ever did, and the next step is to ask Him to do that for you. It is not just about memorising a prayer of commitment, it is about living the life. We give up the way we currently think and choose to learn how God thinks – by reading His book, listening to Him and walking with Him.

Until we choose to live by His Grace only, we can never completely understand exactly what Christ did for us. And the plainer and more normal we are when we speak to others, the better it is for those who know nothing. I think choosing to take the time to digest what God says, by obeying Him, is the first step. Then what He said will come out of me, the way I’d say it. It’s not another Gospel, it’s the same Gospel, as it is lived out, from day to day, in my life. My life becomes His witness. I can’t have the whole picture and neither will you – that’s because in the Body, I am an eyebrow and maybe you are an elbow –  so our viewing platform is different.

Paul said “follow me as I follow Christ,” he didn’t say: ‘follow me the way I follow Peter or John.’  Christ was everything to Paul. Whether this man was in jail, out of jail, birthing churches, leading individuals to Jesus, or trying to remember who he had baptised and who he hadn’t! BTW, there is a really cute conversation about that in 1 Corinthians 1:14-16. He couldn’t really remember what he’d done, because for Paul, all that mattered was that he preached the gospel! 

I have an important reason for rattling on about this yesterday, and today. I strongly feel it is urgent that we all stop playing the ‘my church is better than your church’ game. Just because someone has 3,000 people, that does not make them a better minister than the guy who has 20. I like the way Paul says it: ‘I’m following Jesus and you need to follow me the same way I follow Him!’ 1 Corinthians 11:1-15. Paul is talking about his devotion to Christ as well as asking us to take what he wrote seriously.

“Put into practice the example of all that you have heard from me or seen in my life and the God of peace will be with you in all things.” Philippians 4:9 TPT. When I read these two scriptures I realised what a mighty statement Paul was making. It is a great aim to have in our daily lives, and the very essence of what our new life should look like. Father God does not want another Paul, he totally fulfilled his mission in his lifetime. He wants you to be you … and do whatever you do as you simply follow Jesus.

If you follow Jesus where you are, and I do it where I am, then we have doubled our possibilities. Not everyone likes or wants to hear what I have to say, but the person who does not understand me, may understand everything, when you say it. I recommend telling others what Jesus has done in your life and then leave the Holy Spirit to do what He does best – convict and convince people. Tell them how you walk with Him, day by day. Be real! Be the you that loves Jesus and still makes mistakes. People love real. Bye. 👋

P 3415 We simply need the right gear.

/ DVH

“We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8b. Faith and love protect our hearts. The helmet of salvation reminds us we are now new people because of what Jesus did, we don’t have to go back to our old ways anymore. The Lord is our ever-present, full-of-grace helmet, He helps us think right.

This verse means my active faith and demonstrated love for others protects my spiritual heart. How? Because these bits of clothing require that I do something. I have to pick them and deliberately put them on and then remember what I am wearing. I need actions to match my declarations. If I am in the middle of something difficult and I need reassurance that His love is always with me – I’m going to need protection for my heart. I pray that I will have this knowledge all the time. Salvation is not a one off gift … it’s the gift that keeps on giving! Jesus clearly tells me He loves me and YOU in John 3:16. That verse works great – even if you happen to be yelling at me! 

I dunno why some people feel they have to give you a piece of their mind. Speaking for myself, my mind doesn’t have that much spare stuff in it, so I can’t afford to give it away … under any circumstances. I’m far too busy paying attention to keeping my eyes on Him … !! So, I say to myself … “I can’t do this. HELP please Lord.” Free advice. Learn to be poor in spirit. God says we are blessed when we are poor in spirit. Don’t burst your boiler trying harder to be something you have already been given.

In Colossians 3:12 there are instructions: “Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behaviour marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].”

Who is ready for a rousing chorus of Man of la Mancha’s “Impossible Dream?” Me too. That’s when the Holy Spirit whispered to me: “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with GOD all things are possible.” Matthew 19:28. And there’s the answer, right there. We can’t do it, but He can, and He already did. Jesus will help us – ask Him. He left this world so He could send the Holy Spirit back to us to be our very own Personal Spiritual Trainer.

Let’s be utterly ridiculous for a minute – Jesus could have stayed in this world. Imagine the impact that would have had on mankind … A MAN NOBODY CAN KILL! BUT, the Lord left this world to send SomeBody better back. And folks, we better start believing that! The Holy Spirit can be in a trillion billion places all at once, unlike Jesus, Who deliberately limited Himself to space and time.

The Spirit of the living God is so wise. Let’s learn to appreciate Him. If we need a hug, He’s there with a hug. If we need a smack upside-of-our-heads, He will do that too. There ain’t nuthin’ He can’t do!! And just to make sure we didn’t miss what He said in Matthew, He motivated Mark and Luke to put it in the bible too! Mark 9:23 & Luke 1:37. The Holy Spirit is talking about someone who takes what God says seriously. If He tells us nothing is impossible to God, three different times, then we need to start believing Him!  This means, WE are not impossible for God – He made a talking donkey, way before Shrek did.

It takes faith to go and see someone who has told you they hate you and will never like you, and why don’t you just … blah blah blah and disappear? Here’s the thing, people who say things like that have their spiritual eyes wired shut. To start with you can immediately start to pray for them that the “eyes of their hearts would be enlightened.” (Ephesians 1.) These people don’t know there is another way to live. We can give them bibles until they have so many they could open a bible store, but the best thing to do is … demonstrate His love toward them. And to do that we are going to need these clothes He talks about in Colossians!

We can go to our enemy’s house wearing a breastplate that says: “I don’t care what you think about me, I’m going to love you anyway.”  Here’s a helpful hint: you might like to take your hand and whack it across your mouth for the first few times, because when you are mad at someone and they are provoking you – you could end up saying something you wished you hadn’t. This is the voice of experience. Bin there, dun that … sadly it did not go well. I forgot I had a breastplate on, and flapped my mouth unreservedly. 

That response lacked faith, it was not good! It can nail one of your feet to the floor. This is why we need the helmet of salvation … because the dumbest thing might come out of our mouth!! Being saved is not just like someone pulling you out of the water when you are drowning … but if you are drowning you’ll definitely need that … being saved is like getting mouth to mouth ’til the medics come, and they use their happy little machinery on you and then they cart you off to hospital for further care. Being saved is coming out of that hospital so much healthier than when you went in there! 

Salvation is not just a free gift. It’s a way to live. When we live out the gospel we will not look down on anyone, because we still remember the bruises from the CPR they had to do on us! Jesus didn’t just save us, HE BOUGHT US. We belong to Him now. He looked at forever and said: “I pick you to be with Me there.” We don’t have to shout for Him to hear, He’s the Friend that’s closer than a brother. Let’s get the hang of making sure we have the right clothes and hat on, and choose our wardrobe carefully. Put on LOVE and remember you are SAVED. Bye. 👋.

P 3337 Life ain’t boring, that’s for sure!

/ DVH

Here are some memories from our trip: At our farm stay the hosts had one Scottish Highland cow, multiple chickens, three dogs, not to mention a herd of ordinary garden-variety cows. The Scottish Highland cow loved carrots, so hubby went to feed it a number of times, as she was quite friendly. Her nose was as hard as a rock – it looked like a giant potato! And her tongue was so much longer than the large carrot he gave her. Crunch, munch … all gone! Some pet – half the size of a barn!

Two of their farm dogs were very active, but all of them were somewhat chubby from too much love. There was an elderly Pit-bull, a Labradoodle, and a Golden Retriever. The two younger dogs were quite bouncy – but fortunately, as you will learn, also a bit slower because of their excess weight. We were all in the lounge together talking about life on the farm, and suddenly the golden retriever runs by outside the large glass doors, with a pair of chicken legs hanging out of one side of her mouth and the chicken head hanging out of the other. She’s having a whale of a time. Hubby noticed her, said discreetly: “That doesn’t look like a good thing.” He’s a master of understatement. 

The owner went from a pleasant, friendly person to a distraught owner instantly. She screamed, “Lindy stop!” And ran out the door chasing after the dog. Lindy had quite obviously latently discovered her real role in this life … retrieving things. The dog thought the whole thing was a game, but when the owner yelled out “drop it,” Lindy dropped the ….mostly-dead-looking-straggly-wet—chicken on the ground. She’s still ‘smiling’ ‘cos she’s thinks she’s clever. Good time to note that retrievers have a soft mouth as they are often used for retrieving pheasants. Anyway, there were feathers everywhere because it seems the chook put up a bit of a fight. 

Now the dog sat by this totally collapsed chicken, looking so pleased with herself, wagging her flag of a tail. However, her owner was not amused. She picked up the chicken, the poor thing had fainted …  then she took the dog and the chook with her, and disappeared. Five minutes later she came back and announced that the chicken was going to be OK. For a few minutes I thought we might be headed for a chook funeral. How it survived that ordeal I will never know! However when we understood said chook was OK, we laughed so hard we couldn’t stand up. It truly was the funniest thing. 🤣 You could not have choreographed it.

Meanwhile the next day, in yet another town – we went to deliver some blankets, bibles etc. to a trained social worker at a local hospital. She brought tea and coffee with her, and came out to the car to collect packages, to save us the bother. An-y-wa-ay … we had already prayed for her before we met her, and when we were talking together, the Lord said to me: “Tell her she needs an exit. Tell her to pray for an exit.” We like know, zero, zilch, zip-didley-squat about this girl who is cheerful and smiley and looks professional and normal! I’m kind of dubious about this idea…”I can’t tell her that Lord! You can’t do stuff like this nowadays, it is not PC!”  Jesus said: “What are you concerned about? You won’t be here tomorrow!” 😂

I got the impression that the Lord was holding a big EXIT sign in His hands. “Tell her to look for the exit.” He said again. So bearing in mind the actual happy truth that I am definitely escaping soon, and I won’t have to see her ever again – see how heroic I am? … I simply told her what He said and Who said it. I had no faith whatsoever. None!

This precious young lady cracked open like an egg, weeping and nodding, and yes-sing all over the place. It transpired that she loves the people, but hates the job. She travelled 140km each way, every single day, from Sydney just to go to work – because she doesn’t live where she has to work. God sent us there — supposedly to provide blankets and toiletries —- but He really sent us to tell this sweet young lady to actively look for another place to do what she is trained to do. You never know what the Lord has up His sleeve and it can be a lit-tle bit scary. 

Next fun story:  someone back home mentioned to us that they just love autumn leaves, because when you pick them up, no other hand has touched them. They just kind of float down from the tree by themselves. Well, the town we were staying in was chock full of gloriously coloured trees and I had the bright idea that perhaps we could collect some and take them back to this person as a gift. So there is hubby, (I volunteered him, I sat in the car invisible to the world!… As you do!) He’s jumping up and down, bumping and thumping branches, so that leaves would fall off, and he could catch them in an open plastic bag – look Ma no hands! He’s racing round and round the tree holding the bag open. Yes we got some!

After that we trundled off to deliver bibles to a caravan park, 6 kms down the road, the last time we were here they said “No!” very firmly. This time, praise God, they said ‘Yes.’ However, on the way back we needed to buy some fruit, and the only Woolworths was on the wrong side of a very busy road. So I light-heartedly said to the Lord: “Do You think some angels could build a Woolies on this side of the street for us please?” Jesus said: “How long have you got?” He cracks me up every time. 

Last story, I promise! In one of our overnight accommodations, the ceiling of the unit was covered in tiny black insects. Hubby can get anaphylaxis from some bug bites, and I suffer from rampant hives. Well clever hubby carefully sprayed them with bug spray that we had brought with us – so now they are like … dead … on the floor, the bed, our clothes, the benches, the soles of our feet etc. were all covered in tiny black bugs. That was soooo fun! I am very glad neither of us sleep with our mouths open. Reaching out to people for His sake ain’t boring that’s for sure. Bye. 👋

P 3323 Follow the thread.  

/ DVH

Last night we stayed in a Motel room that was the worse for wear. The tiles were coming off the bathroom wall, and it looked like there had been a fire in the room at one time. It was however, immaculately clean. Yet, today we are staying at a resort-type place on the Murray River, right on the border of NSW and Victoria. Here’s the fun bit – the room with the tiles coming off the wall was only $AU9 cheaper than the resort. Go figure! 😂 

Life on the road is like that, and we have learnt not to concern ourselves about small things, because getting upset means we will most likely miss the blessing. Letting in anxiety also uses up heaps of energy, and we are running low on that at the moment. 1,250 kms in 5 days, 360 things given away! If we did a rocket imitation we could have driven the distance in 2 days. But then we would not have had time to stop for the people who turned up in front of us. We’ve had 6 or 7 close encounters of the God-kind, not to mention being blessed by these people just because we met them.

My poor hubby has to do absolutely everything. My contribution is to move things one at a time toward the door, then fold the dirty towels for the cleaner, and …. I do my best to stay out of his way. He’s kind of a skinny blue and grey blur that rushes in and out, packing the car. We’ve also given away 3 bags of blankets, 30 blankets in all, plus toiletries and bibles. But we have 7 bags and loads of extras to go, yet. 

One of the roads we traveled on is known as the worst highway in our state. We agree with that assessment BTW. Road trains of 3 trailers or more, were hurtling along swaying and bouncing all over the bumps. It ain’t boring!! But on one of those bad back roads – the Lord picked it – we met a Muslim man and his wife and shared Jesus with them.

In our very elderly motel, we met another Muslim couple, and hubby told these two young people about the Lord’s love for them too. They told us they were so lonely, because nobody in the country town talks to them. They even wrote us a thank-you-for-coming letter! Please pray, there are so many lonely people out here. A lot of the churches have closed, and there is limited support and a huge need.

Hubby sometimes has a hard time with me, not just because I am disabled, but because the Lord tells me stuff and he – poor sod – gets to do it for me. But there is a side blessing for him – he gets to talk to people, face to face. He loves that part. I honestly think he really was born to do this, it comes so naturally to him. I have to gird up my loins and pray like mad, or the words fall out of my brain. I can forget what I am saying in the middle of a sentence when I am tired!

We met one guy through a series of God-sent miracles, and  the Lord said to me: “Tell him he needs a compass.” We sometimes have compasses to give away, they often have a profound message for people. So, there he was, a youngish tough looking guy, and I blurted out: “God says you need a compass!” And as I handed it to him – he said, with tears in his eyes. “I’ll say!” What I’ve learnt from things like this is that the Lord Himself picks the people He wants you to interact with. This young man needed straight talk. Tee-hee, being older has its perks, old ladies can pretty much say whatever they like, so long as it is caring and sweet and fluffy. I like to take advantage of that.

We don’t have to individually be the whole ballgame. Jesus is the whole ballgame … He’s the ground, the sky, and in the players etc. Plus the Holy Spirit is the best Coach and our Father is the team’s owner! The Lord wants YOU to be YOU, but that doesn’t mean you are destined to sit in the bleachers watching on, while the game of life progresses. Too many precious saints are in the cheap seats thinking they don’t belong on the field because of this and that. The past is gone. It’s time to pick up a ball and bat and join the game – it will take all the members of our team to help us win, and you definitely have a part to play. The Lord has something planned for you that will knock that baseball out of the park and bless you at the same time.

When I was a teenager I wanted to be a journalist/reporter. Much later in my life, God gave me my dream. He kind of turned it upside down and tweaked it a bit, but now I ask questions and write things down. I listen and then obey. Now I write for Him. Like I’ve said before – it ain’t rocket science. America just sent 4 astronauts around the dark side of the moon, and they discovered something amazing – the earth is not just fragmented bits floating about in space. You might think it is, the way we all act! He made our earth with love, it was never His plan for people to chop it up in pieces. 

Today, together, we can each do our bit. Some of us trundle down dusty roads to meet the one person who needs to hear about Jesus, and some of us will have a conversation with a stranger in the supermarket. Some teach Religious Instruction in the schools, and some talk to people on the train. There’s an interesting bit of a verse in Genesis 24:27:  “I, being in the Way…” The no-name guy who said that ends up being an integral part of the story.

I think none of us need to continue to sit on the bench or in the bleachers. Let’s decide to live our whole lives in His WAY and get our head in His game. I hope to see you there, and you might see me. We’ll both be following His thread. Bye. 👋

P 3255 We can easily miss what He is doing.

/ DVH

“…but just as it is written [in Scripture], “Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, who obey Him, and who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed].” 1 Corinthians 2:9                                                                       

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, Who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, I who remember Your ways.” Isaiah 64:4,5.

The above two scriptures are such a comfort. They tell us how much Almighty God loves us and how He has plans for our lives. He’s so much more generous than we can ever hope or imagine. Somehow it seems kind of sad that He would need to tell us, via the scriptures, to remember to think about Him with loving affection and deep respect! The second part of the verse in Corinthians explains why. We don’t recognise what He does for us every single day. 

For instance, I woke up today. Lots of other people didn’t, but, by the Grace of God, here I sit typing away, doing something I love doing. This is one of many benefits, I can see that the Lord has given to me. I sometimes drive my family nuts because I am very vocal about what I believe! I’ve been loving Jesus and following Him for 53 years, and some of those times have been so very very difficult – but He has helped me through them.

Years ago, when I had a liver transplant, it all happened very suddenly. It was at a time of great massive turmoil, I had just been through a divorce. That morning seemed an ordinary day, the family was off doing their thing and I could barely drag myself about, so I ate a few jelly beans and an apple. Then the phone rang… I had to go into hospital immediately… Somebody else’s life had ended with the same suddenness that my new life was about to begin. I rang my husband, worried because I had just eaten something so maybe they couldn’t do the op! The things you think of at times like that – what I had eaten was the least of my concerns.

That was thirty five years ago. And so began a huge awful, scary adventure. I am typing this by the Grace of God plus a stranger’s unimaginable generosity, at probably one of the worst moments in their lives. Someone they dearly loved had died, and in those devastating moments, they had chosen to help somebody they would never meet.  

Eventually, I woke up in ICU with more tubes and bags of stuff hanging off me than I could have ever managed. I felt like a Christmas tree! Another incredible blessing that God had given me at that time was – I had the three finest liver transplant surgeons in the world operate on me that day. Many doctors came from other countries to learn from these three men. These doctors had travelled all over the world teaching a method founded in the very hospital, that was just 3 minutes down the road from where we were living, I could have walked to it. 

I won’t pretend any of it was fun. But I can remember, in the middle of the flowers on the curtains around my bed talking to me, I told the Lord I didn’t want to go on without Him. And He came!  Jesus stood right by my bed. I didn’t see Him, but I sure did feel His loving Presence. I felt Him there so strongly, that when my poor hubby turned up with his worried face, I kept telling him to not speak because the Lord might go away! I asked Jesus why He had come for someone like me, and He said:“You told me you wouldn’t go on without Me, so I came.”  God’s incredible kindness at one of my most vulnerable moments overwhelmed me – it still does. 

The Lord acted on my behalf in so many things regarding the transplant – the experienced surgeons, plus the nurses  So here I sit, typing this. I’ve lived long enough to see my three children married, plus I now have five grown grandchildren. All of this life we have now, has been an unforeseen benefit of God’s Grace. We had only been married for two years, when I had the transplant, we have now been together for 39 years in July. 

It is incredibly important to our overall health to remember all His benefits. It’s good to write things down, do it! But it is even better to sit with Him and remember.  At the time of that terrible illness I didn’t even dream about having a future. I had no clue about the places I would go to, what I would see, who I would meet – until after all this happened. We’ve travelled over 250,000 miles in this country, meeting ordinary people, giving away bibles, for nearly 21 years.

We can easily miss what the Lord is doing, and has already done, because this life can be one giant distraction. You have your own story of His grace, I hope I have helped you to remember it. Bye. 👋

P 3231 Stepping out in faith.

/ DVH

All of us meet people that are here in our lives one day, and gone the next. Living for Jesus means that we need to live this life prepared to spin around, and change our plans in a heartbeat. For some people we meet, we could be their only Christian contact, so let’s be alert to His leading. Sometimes strangers are more prepared to listen than friends.

Here’s one example of why it is good to talk about Jesus to people you barely know. Up until the age of 25, to my knowledge I had not met a Christian who had the life of God in them. According to Google, who apparently knows everything (!?!) this means I had met between 10,000 – 30,000 people. And not one of them impressed me with their own living faith. Faith that showed. Nobody talked about Jesus personally. He seemed to be an out-of-reach deity that we had to answer to, one day. A woman I barely knew, told me Jesus was alive and He wanted to know me.

Since then, in all the years of loving and serving Him, I’ve met heaps of religious folk – and let’s be clear about it – they were all lovely people. People with principles. People who went to church weekly… but hardly any of them stood out as someone filled with the life of Christ! What I noticed was this, those people who did stand out, did what He told them to do. They lived the kind of life He would. Jesus wasn’t only their Saviour – He was their Lord! Sometimes we skip that ‘Lord” part when we invite people to come forward to the altar. We forget to tell them they are giving their lives away. Making that kind of choice clear takes this huge decision out of head knowledge, into heart knowledge. 

Anyway, I attended the lady’s church, and I did so with happy anticipation. From my perspective, these were the people who knew Him. They had known Him much longer than I had, and I couldn’t wait to hear their stories. Sigh. They looked at me like I was from Mars whenever I talked about how meeting Jesus had changed  my life. It seems to me that this kind of sleepiness, has slowly been overcoming many of us who are attending  church. We’ve ended up as passengers. People who got onto the train with the destination of heaven in mind, but they know nothing about running the train.

Fortunately, our Lord wants to take us all on a journey, moving what we learn from our heads, into our hearts. Otherwise we end up leaving things like witnessing to evangelists, or we settle for asking people to come with us to church. Jesus never once asked anyone to come to the synagogue with Him! He simply proclaimed God’s love was Good News. Sadly we often leave proclaiming the good news to the pastor… because that’s what he’s paid to do! …And yes, I have heard that said, and similar comments.. 

However, if no-one dares to sound the alarm, or we don’t care to listen, we will keep on doing the same old, same old, until we leave this world. Consistently expecting that someone else will do what we’ve all been asked to do. Signing up is one thing, going out watching and listening to Him, is entirely another.

The way to totally transform our lives is to live our lives His Way! That’s in the book. This one decision — the action of complete and utter surrendered obedience — plunges us into a place where we need to rely upon His strength, goodness, wisdom, and loving kindness, because we’ve learnt our own resources aren’t working. The Lord is kind, the Holy Spirit will take us gently through His learning processes. He has never asked me to do anything He did not prepare me to do beforehand. Let’s be clear, I don’t always like His lessons, but I have definitely come to appreciate what they do for me, inside! 

These situations don’t appear in my life with big signs on them that mark them as ‘lessons.’  Instead I’ve found that the action starts by deliberately making a choice to do something He asked me to do. Today, I thought I’d give some ideas from my own life. —  I’ve found I am so much more willing to do a hard thing, after the Lord has taught my heart to be obedient in the little things… Like not telling someone what I think of them, when I am annoyed to the point of anger. Or perhaps I feel I am to give away funds I could personally use. Or I read the scriptures – and one word, one phrase or one verse jumps out at me, then I pray and ask Him to show me how to put it into action. 

At the same time we need Him to help us to be alert to every contact we make – some people are only in our lives momentarily. Hubby and I have had countless opportunities to speak openly and honestly to people who were never going to be a permanent or even a temporary part of our lives. Ships passing in the night, some people would call it. We were once driving a long distance, delivering bibles, and we stopped, randomly – so we thought – at a service station, to break up our journey. We decided to have a hot drink and sat at a table outside. 

An older couple asked if they could join us. After a brief conversation, during which we explained we’ve delivered bibles all over Australia, they asked if it was possible for them to buy one from us. They had no idea about where or how to buy a bible. We happily gave them one, and some simple things to help them to read it themselves. After that… they went north and we continued going south. We arrived as they were leaving! But I believe that when we choose to yield to Him, God personally arranges our steps. 

The bible says… “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord …” Psalm 37:23. When we live like the verses we read are true – He makes them true in our lives. My own life is proof that incidental encounters can change lives! However, not everyone we meet is our God-appointed assignment. That’s why faith is required. Stepping out, even when it is not anticipated, can open all kinds of interesting doors. Bye. 👋

P 3213 Gird up yor girdle Gertie.

/ DVH

I try not to be negative on this page because, thanks to the Media – social or otherwise – there is enough negativity floating around. It is like some sort of malodorous stench that can saturate everything we see and hear. The thing I want to talk about today is that we seem to have forgotten that we were saved to serve others, no matter what creed, or religion they belong to.

Here’s a question – if someone else is from another faith, do we automatically limit our exposure to them, or discard their words as error – maybe because we are afraid? Isn’t that making our God too small? The Lord saved us and He can keep us. Are we comforting ourselves that we’ll be OK – after all we are in the ‘right group.’ Yet millions of people are tipping off the edge of this life going straight into hell. They are going there because they don’t know any better.

God is good to both believers and non-believers. He sends His rain on the just and the unjust, and we don’t get to decide who is who! Our job is very clear – we are to love the people around us with His love. We need to remember Jesus is always present to save, and those dear souls that seem to be the furthest way from Him, often turn around at the speed of light!

Hubby and I have had people in our lives that are absolutely not walking with Jesus, and they haven’t got a clue that He came to save them, but these people have blessed us. We have all kinds of friends who support us as we give away bibles, and help the poor, and they do not know the Lord – yet. I believe when this happens these people have been touched by God’s hand, so at the same time, they are not far from His kingdom. Many times someone like this has said or done something lovely, and I know it’s the Lord working in them, and through them.

I wouldn’t dream of following what my friends believe, because I know their beliefs are error, and some of them are from the pit. But how can they know any differently if I do not tell them? Ostracising people alienates them. We can call it respecting someone else’s space – but isn’t that just evasion? Doesn’t it justify our fear of being contaminated, and persuade us to ‘play it safe,’ and do whatever we do, within the boundaries of our own churches? 

This world has so many other faiths. Let’s choose to learn to love people who are of another faith, and not treat them any differently than we would treat our brother or sister at church. “… they will know we are Christians by our love…” That love needs to go outside of the church and reach out to everyone. The Lord Jesus is altogether lovely, and He can and will win anyone over.

At the same time, we are not only required to tell people the truth, we must demonstrate it to them. Sometimes over and over again. We cannot afford to throw people away because they don’t have the same beliefs we do – we are reinforcing false boundaries when we do that. It is time to stop dividing others into categories and deciding who is IN, and who is OUT. Speaking for myself, I have noticed that the Lord is not far away from anyone, so what is needed is prayer, not judgment! There are many people today – no matter what they seem to believe, who are not far away from His kingdom. If they have some other faith, it means they are spiritually minded. Maybe they just haven’t met the Truth yet.

There are two ways to approach life – the easy way and the hard way. Most people like the easy road, whether they are Christians or not! In Matthew 7:13-14 it says: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Only our Shepherd Jesus, is the true gate and at this moment in time, He is out there amongst ALL His sheep, calling to them to walk through that narrow gate, and follow Him. Peter once thought he knew who was what — and then Jesus straightened him out! Acts 10:9-16.

How anybody comes to know Jesus is His business, not mine. No matter what god they have worshipped in the past – we are all still HIS sheep and every single sheep counts. We are commanded to live a life of love, and speaking for myself, that’s plenty to go on with! Let’s jump in and watch His love win all kinds of people that we thought would never come – no matter what idol lives at their house. Many people follow idols because of family, or tradition, or nationality. However, the greater One lives in us. 

Here’s the way God approaches even the people who deliberately sin against Him. Isaiah 57:16-19. “For I will not fight against you forever, nor always show My wrath; if I did, all mankind would perish—the very souls that I have made. I was angry and smote these greedy men. But they went right on sinning, doing everything their evil hearts desired. I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort them, helping them to mourn and to confess their sins. Peace, peace to them, both near and far, for I will heal them all.”  Interesting verses eh? We must never forget our God is GOOD and MERCIFUL. 

Like I said, ‘gird up your girdle, Gertie,’ we are in for a bumpy ride. You and I could end up talking to strangers at the shops! Father God has hungry people everywhere, even in the enemy’s camp. Bye. 👋.

P 3011 He is a Merciful Father.

/ DVH

“Lord, You’re so kind and tenderhearted and so patient with people who fail You! Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness. You don’t look at us only to find our faults, just so that You can hold a grudge against us.” Psalms 103:8-9 TPT. This Psalm was written 1100 years before Jesus was born. Imagine that! Just spend a minute drinking in the knowledge of Grace that exists in David’s words. He had such a clear, wonderful picture of Who God is. Almighty God was this man’s singular focus. Not sin. Not what he did, or what I did, or even what some Philistine did! His focus was on God Himself. David knew God and His mercy so clearly.

It would be an utter tragedy if we became so obsessed with our failures, that we cannot see, or imagine the Niagara Falls of our Father’s Grace falling, falling, falling into our lives, day after day after day. Let’s always remember to thank Him for it! He’s such a good good merciful Father! We must continually chase after Him, longing to know more about His goodness and mercy toward us, until it fills our thoughts and eyes. If we look at our failures, we will end up obsessing over them and letting those things rule us. That is that kind of stuff that makes people hide from God.

What we need is balance. The ability to see His mercy-in-action in our own lives and yet not presume on it.  To do that we rely upon what the bible says and the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance. His singularity and purity of mind and heart is like our compass, pointing us to true north. So we press on hoping to be more like David, he treasured our God with so much passion. Let’s leave our sinful attitudes and actions at the foot of the cross and praise God He didn’t given up on us!

The letters in the Epistles were written so we can understand the comprehensive everydayness of God’s divine intervention into our lives. Like the people who followed Him then, we lay aside the weights that try to attach themselves, and keep thanking Him for His goodness. Always remembering we are never ever going to deserve anything He has done for us. The pressure to perform is a weight. These saints knew, firsthand, that they could not have done what was done without our Father’s Divine Love, plus His incredible intervention. They marvelled at what they were allowed to see and take part in – their joy, suffering, miracles and troubles. 

That’s the starting point for each one of us, giving thanks that He loves us. We cannot move past that. Then we will begin to understand our role in His plan and receive power from Him to do the works He has prepared for us to do before we ever arrived into this world. I like to cultivate, fertilise and weed the seed beds of my life with His totally engaged oversight. When God puts His finger on something, then it is important and it needs to become a priority … not a postponement. He does this with loving mercy, not accusation.

I often think about all those other people-today-who-don’t-know-Him-yet. The people who worship so-called gods that have no power to help their followers to change the very things that have driven them to find someone, or something, greater than themselves in the first place! And, how I love the Lord Jesus so much for coming here and illustrating what LOVE looks like in a Person. 

Mercy is a greatly underrated virtue, today. Many people think it means we go soft on someone who has terrible attitudes and actions. Actually, mercy means we don’t kill them for what they’ve done, we forgive them instead. But mercy is not about standing against a wall for someone else’s target practice – that’s giving that person the opportunity to abuse Grace. It is not just bad for you – it is bad for them! Grace was expensive. We need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to help us live in it and administer it. Jesus persevered with those who persecuted Him, but He did not excuse their behaviour. Mercy is no-one’s free ticket to punish someone else.

Our God is full of mercy:  “… that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favour with God].”2 Corinthians 5:19. If you want to know more about what His mercy looks like in action – read the book. Bye for today, 👋.

ps For those who have asked about our trip: on this trip we gave away— nearly a hundred blankets. Plus donated tinned food, toothpaste, deodorants, baby clothes, baby bottles, nappies, toys, handmade bags, children’s books, bookmarks, pens, paintings, thank you cards, blocks of chocolate for the maids, prophetic words, plus nearly 300 bibles. That’s approx. 678 things in 8 days. We could have given away so much more, but our car was stuffed full, and we tied more to the roof! We had countless conversations talking about what we believe – many of the people we spoke to, wept. 

There are governmental agencies doing their best, but the funds are incredibly low for the sheer volume of misplaced, abused and over-looked people out here in the country. We met a worker in Nanango who had been a police officer for years. She had to give it up because of post-traumatic stress disorder. She looked at us with eyes filled with tears and said:“I couldn’t take the dead and abused children anymore. It nearly finished me. I couldn’t even talk to my husband about it for a year.”  Please pray for her, now she helps the homeless – you cannot stop a mercy gift and she has one!

The church needs the kind of mercy that stops seeing broken people as just someone we are meant to harvest for God’s kingdom and purposes, and simply see suffering human beings instead. 🙏

P 2990 The great wall of blankets … as seen from space!

/ DVH

“If we are out of our mind [just unstable fanatics as some critics say], it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit. For the love of Christ controls and compels us, because we have concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that all those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for their sake. 

But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him], that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favour with God].” 2 Corinthians 5:13-15,18-19 AMP.

Well you could easily think that hubby and I have lost the plot…until you read 2 Corinthians 5. Then, hopefully, maybe not! It seems the Apostle Paul also suffered from the same idiosyncrasies as we do, only his case was wa-ay worse than ours! He went on the road and stayed on it, permanently. He preached in jail as well. Gee I hope we never have to check that jail one out!! And what Paul is saying in Corinthians above in a nutshell is this – if I’m nuts, then I’m nuts for God, and if I’m sane then it is for your benefit.

He knew what was important, and he did more than ask people to church next Sunday – as if!!  Or hand out flyers and pass-it-on cards, he totally left comfort behind and travelled all over the Mediterranean preaching and starting churches. He was not just saying “I have A message” — he is saying “I have THE message.”  The message of the ages…  and … you in your small corner and I in mine ... we two are off on the road again! 

If I told you everything that is in our way you would think we have totally lost the plot! The thing is, we probably have. But Jesus is our Redeemer and He can take our spirit of stupid and do something amazing with it. All we need to do is be obedient. We are going because we too know we have been given the message of the ages and we want to give it away to everyone we meet. Our wonderful God is incredible, He turns up even when we have nothing to give. Actually, I should say – especially when we have nothing to give! He truly loves poverty- stricken people. Sometimes I wonder why we try so hard to look like we are coping, when God promises to be our strength. Moving on… 🙄

The above picture is just some of what we need to fit in our wonderfully elastic car. We have heaps of medical aids for me as well – not to mention some little things … like food and clothes! Every single time we go, hubby throws his hands in the air and says: “It is just not going to all fit in the car, I can’t fit it in.” This whole thing is becoming like a well-known play – the stuff always goes in. And afterwards we say things like:“I dunno how it went in, but it did. Just don’t sneeze OK?” Meanwhile the relief we feel when we off-load blankets, food, and bibles along the way is huge. Suddenly there is oodles more room… 

We once took our only slightly crazy dog on a trip with us … just once mind you … once was enough! Her presence added a degree of difficulty we were not equipped to handle. We are never doing that again. Instead we are giving her a holiday somewhere else safe. Anyway, hubby went around a particularly steep corner and a packet of chips and the lid of a container fell on her head.  She sat there for ages until we noticed she had a new hat, and then we figured out how far back that corner was! What a patient creature she is… I know I could definitely use some of her doggie patience.

As you already know hubby and I are big fans of love in action. Love in action facilitated me hearing the gospel. I was 27 years old. Years ago a dear older lady at a previous church used to come to my front door and give me the local parish newsletter every week. She didn’t have a car, and she walked all the way from her house to mine. I imagine I was one of many people she kept up with. 

I was highly suspicious of her kindness, and barely spoke to her when she appeared at my door, because I had 3 little kids who needed my attention. However, that lady just kept on coming … and when a crisis in my life occurred she was the person I phoned. I gave my life to Jesus on that day, all because she just kept on coming, week after week after week. We don’t always know what key will unlock someone else’s heart. But God’s love through her did not give up on me. She too was constrained by the love of God.

It is good to understand that loving God and others, starts with our obedience to what He has told us to do.“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.” Romans 12:1. 

I have absolutely no idea what God could possibly want with my busted elderly body, not to mention dear hubby’s bad back! My theory is this – let’s all just live our lives presenting whatever we have to Him, following Him. Visiting our neighbours, or people in hospital or old people’s homes, shut-in mothers, plus genuinely caring for those people who work alongside us. We may never reach multitudes, but anybody can talk to one person! Let’s live this life, stuffing our cars full of blankets. ‘Cos love looks like something. Bye. 👋

P 2942 Obedience is a great healer.

/ DVH

Be-ca-use … as we are going off to do what He told us to do, He can heal us. I’m not just talking about ailments, although He loves to heal those too! I’m talking about the kind of troubles that say: “I’ve been alive a while and people-jumped-all-over-me-with-their-hobnail-boots-on … and hurt me badly..” So many Christians are sitting around with hurt feelings, waiting for God to heal them, so they can do something for the Lord. … Because their mother, father, spouse, kid – has been, or is still being – mean to them. Bin there dun that, the t-shirt was a dud!

We can’t change that behaviour … IT’S IN THE PAST. You can only have so much prayer that even with anointing oil you will slide down walls!! I’ve learnt, through His Grace, to leave the past behind me. Walk on. Like Jesus said,‘let the dead (past) bury the dead! NOW is the hour of salvation.”This is what ‘loving those people who despitefully use you‘is all about … putting the past where it belongs – behind you!

People have done dreadful things to each other, and their kids … Forgive, repent and … get over it. Jacob always had a limp. Some things mark you for life, but let it go and get on with your life. Don’t let someone else’s sin hold YOU hostage! And pray for the offenders, love on them, then … move on. Go out and be obedient to His heavenly vision. You don’t have to dig ditches to serve Jesus, your story may be a blessing to someone else.

I am not talking about neglecting our families or kids, or our family life – I’m talking about priorities. This world has subtly presented the idea that we cannot have fun without being whole. ROT! People had fun before they had electricity. I’m talking about living a godly life in front of your family as an example. Let your kids see that Christians value God’s opinion more than their own, and they value obedience.   

Many loving, fantastic parents put their lives on standby, while their most productive years are being devoted to raising their children, and contributing to the kid’s well-being. Protecting and helping your kids can become a habit that is hard to break — even when the little darlings are turning 55 soon! That person we fuss over is a grown up, by the way. The best way to learn about this life is to live it!

We have carefully cultivated a million reasons why we can’t be involved in that banquet the Lord talked about in Matthew 22:1–14 and Luke 14:15–24… ’I got married. I bought a field. I’m just too busy!’  That banquet story is not just about heaven, it is about here and now. Do yourself a favour, don’t ever be too busy to be obedient to the Lord! That is a slippery slide that leads right out of the building.

Many bits of my body either don’t work, or constantly complain at me, it would be easy to sit in a corner and wait to die. Somebody I love is doing that with their life, even as I am writing this blog. It’s sad. We have no control over the time of our own departure – unless we make a dumb decision to take the matter into our own hands! Our time is in HIS hands. I’m not trying to criticise others for their choices, but that’s not what I call a LIFE.

Hubby and I always have so much fun together on the road, but his back is often pretty dreadful. Sometimes he can’t hear or see as well as he used to, and now his memory falls out on him like money slips out of a purse with a hole in it! I used to rely on his memory, mainly because I can’t remember what I said 5 minutes ago – and the harder I try to locate it, the less successful I am. Hubby is a bit younger than I am. He is younger by … …mind your own business … so now we both have to rely upon God to remind us, because we are both terrible at it.

We go on the road and we drive thousands of kilometres simply to obey God. The Lord has sent us to care for the people that He knows are waiting for someone to come and help them understand what He is all about! Acts 8:26-4O. There are times the people we meet don’t know what they don’t know, until hubby talks to them. Then they cry all over the place.

We spoke to 51 specific people this time – we don’t do thousands! We are just posties for Jesus, on the road bringing others the mail/message He wants them to have. You don’t have to be an evangelist to witness to God’s goodness. And we’ve proved that don’t have to be well either! Everybody likes to go on holidays, just take blankets and bibles with you. Find a homeless shelter or a women’s shelter – sadly there are plenty of those. 

We can waste our God-given time claiming we’re waiting for God to heal us, or for a sign from heaven. Here’s an interesting scripture to chew on about signs …“But He (Jesus)replied to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign.”Matthew 12:30. We can make excuses and not obey Him, OR we can limp, hop, crawl out there back into this world and just love on people, and see where that leads us. There really are better things than healing – and obedience is a great Healer. Bye. 👋

PS I’d rather wear out than rust out!