Blessing

P 2601 One way to find out where the holes are …

/ DVH

… is to go on the road for Jesus. We seem to have found every single pothole between here and Cobar, all the way to the Blue Mountains. The worst bit is you don’t see the potholes until you hit them! Yikes. All that rain they have had in NSW has made the countryside very green — but it ruined the tarmac! Nyngan and Cobar, however, were dry before the rain, and, they still are! 

We went through a plague of locusts to get to those two places. Locusts make this icky noise when they hit the car or windscreen. EW! The front of our car looks like somebody peppered it with dead bodies. Yeah, I know, charming right?? Lest you think today’s blog is going to be about damaged bitumen, and dead bugs, right about now I need to clarify what I am really on about … and it ain’t potholes! 

Coming out here to demonstrate the Lord Jesus’ love to others, means that you can often find out exactly where you are ‘not nice.’ As well as learning about how quickly you can judge other people … without knowing their back story. It is unfortunately much too easy to take people’s speech or actions as an example of who they really are!

Here’s a story about us. We arrived at our destination for the night, it was in the middle of nowhere, and hubby went to check in. The lady gave us a list of unheard of rules that must be obeyed to stay at this motel, which included paying bond money. While hubby was talking to her, the Lord said to me firmly: “This is the person you made that bookmark with the elephant on it, give it to her now!” So we did and she was thrilled —- but she would take nothing else. Nothing for her kids, no bibles for the motel. Just a flat refusal. She apologised but said ‘no.’

So we left it at that, smiled and took their large list of things we must not do, and trundled off to our room. Hubby tried several times during our stay, to talk to the man of the house but the guy seemed to be very unapproachable! So he prayed for him and God said: “Keep blessing him, keep being generous.” Meanwhile we delivered more blankets 120 kms down the road, and two days later when we were in the middle of packing up our stuff to leave, when the manager appeared at our door. 

Like I said before, we don’t actually know people’s stories, so when he came to speak to us, he was so happy and nice, I actually wondered who hubby was talking to? Without being asked, he started to explain why he had so many rules — in his mind they were reasonable. Meanwhile this family had been rejected by the whole town. Nobody there liked any of them, or understood the way the accommodation was run. Somebody in the town had been incredibly mean to them and put up rude comments on facebook, all out of context. This other person put up a photo of their family as well. The manager was desolate and bewildered about this betrayal. In our host’s mind he was simply being responsible and doing his job. 

He was hurt and the result had been a huge mistrust of other people. So hubby stood in the motel doorway and talked to him ever-so-gently about Jesus and how much the Lord loved him and his family. Then the Lord Himself turned up and touched all of them. Their kids got happy, and mum and dad were openly weeping … and we had church in the doorway of a motel! Hubby preached the gospel to them all, and showed them one of his pictures of Jesus helping the disciples when they were caught in a huge storm. They strongly identified with that story. When my dear hubby stopped speaking our host kept laughing and crying and asking him to please continue – “keep going, we can hear you,” he said. It was like he was a different man – it all reminded me of the story of Zacchaeus.

Hubby tried again to give the man the picture he had painted, to remind him that Jesus was always with them – but he said no, again. Then he explained that they were leaving in 20 days and everything was already packed up ready to go and …that’s why they didn’t want bibles or more stuff! So the Lord said: “Tell him to take a picture of the painting on his phone!” This dear man, was suddenly our new best friend! …he was utterly delighted with that answer. 

We had a lovely time, hugged all round and eventually we headed off to our next destination. At the same time I personally learnt another huge valuable lesson. Everyone has a story, and people have what they think are valid reasons for the way they behave. They don’t always see themselves the way they present outwardly to others. We can see the way they are behaving, and interpret those things through our own internal thought processes, but that might have nothing whatsoever to do with what is actually going on! 

Like I said, one way to find out where the holes are in our own behaviour … is to put our ideas under pressure. 👋

P 2572 Life is hard, we need His Oasis.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2561 Anonymity can be a great blessing.

/ DVH

When you were a kid did you ever wish you had a cloak of invisibility? I did! Especially when an adult was coming at me with something in hand to punish me. Whether I was wrong or not …I truly felt I needed that cloak!. Unfortunately my mouth let me down a lot and I usually managed to say some dumb thing, or argue with my parent, and that resulted in even more discipline! I just kept digging holes with my mouth instead of remaining shtum. Kids have limited wisdom! 

However, that is not my reason for talking about anonymity today. In my opinion, fame is fleeting. The people who pat you on the back on the way up, will kick you in the tush on the way down! Fame is not always what it is cracked up to be, you only have to read the news to see that. Famous people are subject to a great deal more criticism and critique – the word jealousy springs to mind.

These words from Galatians 5:15 in the bible leap out at me: “It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?”

Fame is not only overrated, it is most definitely NOT OUR aim.“For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served but to serve and give His life in exchange for the salvation of many.”” Matthew 20:28 TPT. So let’s get this sorted … the One Who saved the world, did not aim at fame, or power, or notoriety … Jesus Christ aimed at elevating Almighty GOD when He saved US – not Himself.  Which may well be the reason that most kids today know way more about Star Wars, Harry Potter and Pokemon than they do about the Lord Jesus!

Over the years I have come to notice that we kind of look down a bit on our faithful Sunday School teachers, or Religious Educators in schools, as being a bit old fashioned. But these people know all about anonymity. Most of us won’t have a clue about what they do, week by week, so the children of these times can find out that the Lord’s Name is the name of a wonderful Person … not just a swear word. Today I want to take the time to remember those who faithfully serve. It seems to me that most of the time nobody notices what they do. 

You know who I mean. Brother So-and-so, who faithfully puts out the chairs week by week and is always up for a letter box drop to let people know where your church is. Or Sister-I-forgot-her-name who calls up younger Christians regularly to make sure that they haven’t wandered off the path. She also goes to the hospital to visit people as well calling into homes. She prays for the saints that are sick, and sincerely asks them if she can help in any way. She’ll probably hand you a cup of tea or coffee next Sunday!

I find it fascinating in a world that is obsessed by fame that these quietly achieving servants of God go virtually unnoticed. Because these people are the ones who actually understand they are not here to be served, they are here to serve. Oops! I think I said a bad word. That would be the word … SERVE. In this blab it and grab it, everything belongs to me lifestyle, where my service has to be noticed or I won’t do it — we are incredibly fortunate to have any people who still think that following Jesus means serving others. Because I strongly suspect the idea of serving the Lord and others nowadays, means other-people-are-supposed-to-serve-me and make my ministry famous. 

Many people want to be like the characters in the “Cheer’s Bar” on TV,  we want to be where everybody knows our name! Well I want to point out that if we are following Jesus, then those steps always go down. Not up. They will lead us on an excruciating journey like the one HE had — carrying something that weighed 165lbs (75kgs) on bloodied torn open shoulders and back. Not to mention a horrendously painful headache! Let’s think about carrying that lot up and down through a large city to a hill outside it, where the people we pass by yell abuse at us. 

Even when we arrive at our destination, we will be flanked by known thieves. Our reputation is in the bin. People jeer as they see us, because human beings have an incredibly perverted sense of winning when someone else appears to be losing! Humility is lost on most people. Yet while Christ was suffering excruciating pain He still breathed out forgiveness. That’s real service. We are called to be laid-down lovers of Jesus – that means, my kingdom go – His kingdom come.

Today, more than ever, we need to follow Christ into serving mankind by demonstrating His love to people who will never deserve it. And anonymity can be a blessing. 👋

P 2556 Take the time to be observant.

/ DVH

Reflecting on this life and it’s activities is almost an automatic past-time as you get older. You can even end up zoning out … and sometimes you might just plain fall asleep in the process! This seems to happen fairly regularly when there is more of your life behind you than there is in front! 😂 However… taking the time to be observant is an enormously overlooked life-skill. 

Humanity is always busy. This life is about hurry hurry, rush rush, everywhere — gotta be, gotta do, gotta make money, gotta buy stuff! Gotta help this guy … gotta yell at that one! If we sit down at all,  it’s because we simply have to veg-out and stop thinking, purely because we are exhausted – mentally, and physically. I believe we will build our own faith if we take the time to notice the beautiful things God does for us every single day, plus the incredibly lovely things He has put all around us.

Here’s a verse to chew on: “Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing].” Amp. Isaiah 55:1-3. Maybe, if we have stopped being thirsty, it’s because we are trying to satisfy spiritual needs with physical activity and busyness etc? Trust me, that won’t work. If you feel like you are working yourself to the bone but you are going nowhere, this could easily be the reason. Perhaps you’ve lost the power to observe and reflect.

True rest, joy and peace only comes from Jesus. From knowing Him. From seeing this life from His POV. I believe that is why Christ said: “… consider the lilies” AND  “… consider the birds.”  Mankind can get so busy providing, buying, doing and planning, we can easily forget this life is not all there is! Walking with Jesus down here on earth is preparation for walking with Him up there in heaven. How do I know that? Because the bible says: “…on earth as it is in heaven.” There ain’t nobody rushing about in heaven! There is no need, time as we know it, doesn’t exist up there.

Being reflectively observant means we take some moments to actually pay a different kind of attention to the world around us. We aren’t racing along so task-focussed we have no thought for anything else.  My favourite thing to look at when I am just chilling, is birds. It seemed to me, when I prayed over this, that birds have another lesson to teach me. To start with Jesus told us to consider them – so that kind of makes it legal! 

Did you ever wonder why Jesus mentioned flowers and birds as good illustrations of the way we are to regard His kingdom? As I’ve said I watch birds a lot. It seems to me that the only time they are not busy is when they are sleeping! However,…birds never actually ASK where their food comes from. Aha!— thinks I… so perhaps this bible thought is about not busyness but what actually occupies or fills our minds. Like the stuff we think about as we go about our days? Maybe birds are simply occupied “…with the self-surrender that accepts the blessing.“ 

Have WE learnt the self-surrender that accepts the daily blessings that God sends us? We know He does bless us all the time because He is a far better Father than our earthly fathers ever could be! (Matthew 7:9-11.) But can it be that we are so busy rushing here and there and everywhere, that we don’t notice, or even pause and see what He is doing? I believe in the power of pausing. The bible calls that “selah” – it means pause and think on this.

So I’ve asked the Lord to help me to stop, and pay attention to whatever He is doing, plus what is going on around me. I am learning to take the time, moment by moment, to notice and thank Him for doing it. Our steps are ordered by Him. (Psalm 37: 23,24.) That means there is not one fraction of a second in your life and mine that is not considered, gazed upon, and lovingly reflected upon, by God Himself. Just that thought should blow anyone’s mind into reflection! Yet another great way to know our Heavenly Father is to see this life through His eyes, and He is never in a hurry.

It is amazing that there are things that we can miss from day to day, unless we are prompted by the Holy Spirit. However, He is not a TADA! kind of a Person. But He will bring these things to our attention if we ask Him to, so we can carefully observe and reflect on them. Bye. 😊👋

Proverbs 4:20-22“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.”

P 2536 Giving, whether it is money – or help …

/ DVH

… giving transforms our hearts. I’ve found that opening up my wallet, sharing my time, plus helping people opens up my heart like nothing else does. “We will show mercy to the poor and not miss an opportunity to do acts of kindness for others, for these are the true sacrifices that delight God’s heart.” Hebrews 13:16 TPT. Did ya get that? Giving delights God’s heart—if you want to make Him happy, then act like He does! We are true sons and daughters when we act like He does.

Hubby and I have found we can give our way out of difficulties, simply because any sort of giving has His favour on it.  God loved us so HE GAVE… We have been blessed … to be a blessing!  Hubby and I have noticed that when someone tells us that they are not coping, that is our cue to go to the Lord and ask Him what He would like us to do to help them. Praying for people is great. Do it. But caring enough to engage with them to help them is greater.

The problem, as I see it, is that we all have busy lives that can be fraught with financial difficulties. So let’s just settle in our hearts that giving any sort of help, financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical – means sacrifice. Time, money, energy, emotional input….we will need to give it all. It will absolutely be inconvenient! And all of that means we probably won’t feel like it – most of the time. 

Personally I’d rather go without stuff, than miss an opportunity to give – that’s how much I value the blessing of giving. I  want to esteem Him with everything I have. There can be no price put on His forgiveness – because none of us deserve it! Yet we can easily, in this day and age of self-satisfaction, rationalise ourselves out of one of the greatest blessings God has for us, by not passing on His loving provision to others. Hubby and I love to give, every time the cost of living goes up, we give more! You literally cannot out-give God. Obviously, we pray over it but that’s what we do.

Christians fervently tell Him that they want to know Him, but then we go on to ignore His very nature. A shared experience is a way to discover and know someone else. Giving is plainly written down in His book for everyone to see, so it is not like you have to take some huge retreat to an obscure place on the earth to find Him! We can find Him when we start looking and reading in the bible about how He speaks, and what He did, and why He did it. It is in God’s nature to give. He gave the garden to Adam, then Eve to Adam, and children to bless them! He gave us … even before we had a clue Who He is and what He could literally demand from us (!!) … a Saviour. And because of what Jesus did, now we live by another kingdom’s rules.

Our God loves things that are freely given because that is Who He is! I think we need to be the giving-est people on earth! Because even though we may be materially poor, we know we are already rich because we belong to Him. Now, we can help someone else, Christian or NOT, to feel loved, noticed and cared for. Plus we will share our giving experience with our Heavenly Father, and discover a teeny bit of how He feels as He constantly gives to us. 

People need encouragement – FYI, encouragement is just another way to GIVE. I once wrote to a famous author to tell him that his work was soooo good, it made me laugh over and over again. That man was absolutely delighted. He told me that the only feedback he gets is negative. I guess that people obviously feel free to express their negative emotions, but don’t feel free to share encouragement?!! What kind of world are we living in? Don’t answer that, I won’t even go there.

Giving should be like breathing to us. It is an outward sign of an inward change in our hearts. You cannot follow Jesus Christ and not give. Giving is the essence of WHO HE IS and because of what He freely gave us (Himself!) – it is now part of who we are. That’s what being changed to be like Him is! It means at the other end of this life we will have laid down our lives for other people, just like Christ did. 

Just because His Heavenly Father asked the Lord to die, that didn’t mean Jesus had to do it. He had a choice … and it cost Him to make that choice. Giving is a choice. Giving in any form, transforms our hearts, our lives! My very best advice is this … don’t just think about it, and spend an hour checking your budget. You may never be able to afford more giving on paper – DO IT anyway. God is wa-ay outside this world’s monetary system! 👋

P 2498 Transformation is an ongoing process.

/ DVH

1 Samuel 10:6&7 “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.”

We can choose to walk away from our birthright. King Saul did. These two verses from 1 Samuel are a great example of how someone who was anointed by God and totally transformed, could still go on to be corrupted by the very power he was given. King Saul shows us that sin is a choice – and this man made very bad ones. Almighty God gave this king many chances to repent. But eventually, the Lord withdrew His hand on the man’s life and the demonic took over. You can read the whole story in the bible. King Saul is the perfect example of a man who was transformed and continued on with his life – in the flesh.

Today, I just want to highlight the fact that our God does not give up on people, but His patience with man’s careless sinfulness does have a limit. Saul illustrates that. He was made King by God’s grace only. Meanwhile, presumption is not faith, surrender to the Lord’s will is faith. See Genesis 6:3. It is up to us to choose how we live after we are saved – but God’s greatest desire is to walk with us. I know I rattle on about this, but our ongoing transformation is essential for whatever comes next! King Saul valued the power he was given, over the opportunity to be continually transformed.

Yes, I know – we are blessed to be alive on the other side of the cross, because Jesus paid our debt for us. But Christ did not go through that tremendous ordeal simply to allow us to remain the same. He came and died for our sins, and we now have the power to overcome them. We need to live in love, and for love, not for ourselves. Transformation is now our aim. Voluntary transformation provides immediate humility. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36. King Saul is an example of someone who did not take the opportunity to be continually transformed – instead he used the power he was given for his own purposes.

We have been given the power to choose to turn away from this careless attitude that says we can do whatever we want, because He will forgive us. Nor are we supposed to assess how we are doing with the Lord by His answers to our prayers! We have been born again to inherit an attitude of humility, love and service. We inherit this from Christ our big Brother. Almighty God didn’t save us to allow us to go our own way with a handy get-out-of-jail-free button. Let’s not get puffed up by our own self-importance. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20.

King Saul forgot that he was chosen by God, to be king, it was not his birthright! His lack of humility, together with his jealousy, arrogance and rage, pulled him away from the very One Who could have helped him with his new role. Our God wants us to trust Him, daily. We use our faith, every single day, to allow Him to remove those things that will destroy us. We already have evidence He is incredibly trustworthy, by the written fact that when we didn’t deserve it, He came and saved us. We must not betray the Lord’s trust by mis-using His good nature and grace to fulfil our own agendas. This was Saul’s mistake. 

Our God is not a back-up to our imaginings or ambitions – He is the main event. His will, will always be the main event! He saved each one of us so we can voluntarily walk with Him into a totally new life. This means that transformation is meant to be part of our focus. The new birth is an invitation into knowing Almighty God, here and now in our daily lives. He will help each one of us leave the past behind, so we can step into a future where we are a loving blessing, from Him, to everyone around us.  

Overcoming our own old sinful nature, is part of the great adventure we have in front of us. We daily move forward with the Holy Spirit’s help. Transformation is an ongoing process, it is the outworking of the new birth in all our lives. 👋🏻

“May my only boast be found in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him I have been crucified to this natural realm; and the natural realm is dead to me and no longer dominates my life. Whether a man is circumcised or uncircumcised is meaningless to me. What really matters is the transforming power of this new creation life.” Galatians 6:14-15 TPT

P 2474 His Presence is our PRESENT.

/ DVH

Christmas is a time when we think about the giving and receiving of presents. This is one of my favourite things in the whole world to do – I just love giving presents. I always invest a great deal of time, prayer and thought into this process because I want the people I am giving stuff to, to know that they are cherished and special. 

However, over time, I have discovered there is something that I love much more than blessing others. His Presence. Please understand I am not talking about feelings because I don’t approve of them – I rarely get them! But whenever I open the pages of the bible, I am always blessed. HE’S right there. Which is why I recommend doing that, all the time, when I write this blog. When you love the bible, the Holy Spirit loves you back, because its His book, He wrote it!

I’m writing about this today because so many people miss the blessing of knowing Him, and His Ways, through His book. They do the obligatory half hour etc. with the bible, reading more info, and absorbing more knowledge, but they miss the opportunity to meet with Him. Jesus loved the Word of God – He is called, in the bible, ‘the Living Word.’ The Holy Spirit brings Him to life every single time you open its pages. 

Jesus quoted the bible He had, everywhere He went. And, even better … He unfolded it in so many ways, in front of the people He was sent to help. When I say unfolded it, I mean that this book is an incredible book, unlike any other. The meaning in it is layered. It will teach you one thing one day, and something else entirely new the next!! I believe this book won’t ever come to an end. 

“and He (Jesus) will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:33.”Your Word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” Psalm 119:89. “Jesus Himself said … “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” Matthew 24:35.

When we read the bible we are reading something eternal!! Ya, might want to ‘selah’ that for a minute or ten! 🧐 People can drive themselves nuts, chasing around trying to find Christian services or conferences, where they can feel His Presence … because being in His Presence is just beautiful beyond words. BUT … there is absolutely nothing like finding His Presence in His book! It’s real, it’s personal, and its free – you don’t even have to leave your chair!!

Most of us have lots of bibles at our house, and if we don’t … well there is always the internet. I read the bible online all the time. I want to know Him … just as much as my little heart can while I am in this world.  I freely admit I am easily distracted. But sometimes when I am reading His book I’ve just read 3 words and I’m like … “WOW! Who put that in there??” I dearly love this book. It is like a trillion pathways to other things I’ve never even thought about … then He tells me something else, and my mind is blown again.

I’m reading in Ruth at the moment and I will share some stuff from that book in a little while. Look, I too have soldiered through the Old Testament, skipping whole passages in Numbers, Genesis and Chronicles. Yawn! 🥱 I complained to the Lord about how boring they were, full of weird names I can’t pronounce, and He told me this: “Genealogies show that I am very interested in families, and family lines.”

That tells me that Father God knows all our names and He gave us our families. He even knows how many hairs are on each head. Meanwhile, if you are bald that info won’t matter much!! We need to stop being clever all the time, and stand in awe of what He reveals about Himself! God loves families. His Precious Son was born into one! So much so, in the books mentioned above, He wrote down all their names. And meanwhile, they weren’t all ‘good guys!’ Well, there’s a place of worship right there!! 

Cherish the book, and you will end up cherishing the Author. I am not talking about the leather bound, scritta papered physical item, I am talking about the Person Who spoke it into being. 66 different people wrote these books, but the One Who called them to write stuff down, is the real revelation that runs all through each one of them. Read the book looking for the Author and read it like you never read that portion before. Always ask questions and keep badgering Him until you understand … don’t give up too quickly.

His Presence is always in His book. We can cherish His word spoken to us, personally, just for us, just for this day. What kind of daily bread has He got for you today? His Presence in His book, is our PRESENT. Bye 👋🏻

P 2447 We need to learn His Ways –

/ DVH

He already knows ours!!Judges 7:1-7 “Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against Me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.  But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men.

Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”

The first thing I want to say, is that it is extremely important to:  a/ make sure you don’t miss any of the details when reading scripture;  and b/ today, take particular note of the fact that Gideon eyeballed every single man as he drank and there were 10,000 men! There were 22,000 cowardly custards BTW! Our God is always in the detail! Human beings love to run on and start planning how to make what God says work.

Maybe like this? … “Oh so the lappers stay, and the cupped hands guys go? Hands up all the lappers.” But Gideon had to listen to God for each individual man’s involvement. All 10,000 of them! God’s answer to prayer and Him helping us, doesn’t look like we think it will. I cannot begin to count how many times that has been my experience. My advice is this – don’t get ahead of Him – you’ll miss the blessing. HE’S THE BLESSING. 

When you are about to fight an army that is called, by reputation, ‘without number’ … eliminating fighting men does not seem all that clever. And that’s the bit I want you to take away today – the Lord does not do things the way we do them. HIS WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS – HIS WAYS ARE PAST FINDING OUT. I often wonder why people drive themselves nuts trying to figure out and plot the way that the Lord is going to do something or other, in the light of a story like this one. He exhorts us to wait for Him.

His ways are so far above ours! I urge us all to read the book looking carefully at the details, He reveals Himself there. Otherwise, it can seem out of touch and pretty weird … that He would even think of saving a whole city with an evangelist who spent his entire preparatory time for preaching, in the belly of a whale! Maybe getting swallowed up, helped with repentance and obedience.  

Let’s look at the New Testament to see if things like this are any different from the stuff in the Old… sh-a-ll we? How about feeding thousands of people from 5 loaves and 2 fishes … Now you and I don’t see that every other Friday at the fish shop do we? Or how about making a brand new eyeball out of spit and dirt? Granted, it was Jesus’ own spit, but … … you get my drift. You know I figure the Lord was there when Father God made man in the first place, so He knew all about how to make people’s spare parts out of dirt! 

What about walking past a pool, which was specially set up for sick people to congregate around, and yet the Lord went there and healed just one man! Where did ‘He healed them all’go?? We need to learn to laugh at ourselves and our pitiful attempts to understand what He is doing and WHY! To know Him better, and stand in awe of His awesomeness, we must begin to notice the details in the book. We can’t just cherry pick and choose the bits that suit us and our own understanding – which, BTW, we are not supposed to lean on (!) … when we read the bible.

You know, the bible says God Himself laughs!! Psalm 2:4 “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.” I thank God that I have an Advocate standing right by my Heavenly Father’s right hand explaining the way human beings think. No wonder the Lord laughs! We make such hard work out of everything!

Finally, have you ever reflected upon why the Lord God chooses such unusual methods of operation? Why was that snake allowed in the garden? What can I learn from that?? Why stick Jonah in a whale? Why take trumpets and lamps into a battle, or march round the city for 7 days in silence, and then shout!  Why pour gallons of water over an altar that is meant to be set on fire? God’s ways are past finding out … we need to stop trying to finagle Him into bringing about the results that we think are going to be great, AND instead start listening to Him. Let’s follow His implicit instructions, obey what He says and learn how to trust Him instead. Learning to listen… another great key.  Bye👋🏻

p 2429 Bless others and be generous.

/ DVH

“Those who live to bless others will have blessings heaped upon them, and the one who pours out his life to pour out blessings will be saturated with favour.” Proverbs 11:25 TPT. Boy that verse paints a great picture, especially at a time like this, when things everywhere are so difficult. You know, when things are tough we can tend to look the other way, and hope any other people who are suffering, will look after themselves. There’s another way to look at tough times. “If it is this hard for US, what must it be like for THEM?” 

I want to be clear right at the very beginning of this blog – generosity is not just about money, or goods etc. or service. Being generous and blessing others, these are heart things. Things we voluntarily do to enrich someone else’s life. This life will never be about who has the most – it is about who loves the most. Jesus told us when we do this stuff we are doing it for HIM. This means anything we do for others is not related to their relationship to us. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance we care deeply about what happens to strangers. It happens because His love wells up inside us, and we start praying He will show us how to help.

Sometimes living like this means we will text or phone someone just to see how they are doing. It means becoming involved in the day to day issues that many people face, but doing that…without taking over. Blessing others means offering support, and letting the other person know that they are not alone. It also means not storing up our wealth down here on earth, but instead we share it with those who are less fortunate – and Jesus says that is storing it up in heaven!

It also means spending time on our knees, as we hold up someone else’s plight before the throne of God like it is our own issue. God’s love in us does not stand back and wait to see what will happen next. Nor does it wait to see if it is going to be needed. That’s because His love is not afraid of rejection. Jesus was always incredibly generous with His time. He sought to bless others, simply because it is a part of His nature. As we follow Him our goal is to become a people whose generosity increases.  

We need to continually ask Him for His help so we can make practical and caring suggestions. We do that because in times of trouble people have enough to cope with, and thinking up something for you to do to help me, when I’m drowning, is too much work! Plus that isn’t actually helping!! The only thing that kind of action helps is our own conscience. “Well I tried to help them, but there didn’t seem to be anything I could do.”  Suddenly it is their fault if they are going down for the third time, because they couldn’t think straight under pressure!

Suffering people need somebody to lift the rubble of this life off them, and stop their proverbial bleeding. Somebody who cares enough to take them into their hearts until that injured party can stand up again. Love looks like something. In things like this it looks like commitment! Generosity, and blessing others looks like something concrete.“Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds.” 1 John 3:18 TPT.

Blessing people is not just restricted to helping those who cannot help themselves or even people who have little or no resources. All kinds of people can be spiritually and emotionally poor. We can open doors for the spiritually hungry by loving them in spirit and action. In prayer, words, and also practical ways. Being generous toward other people is also about the way we view what we actually have. Is it ours … or is it HIS? Do we bless the people we know and like, or will we help anyone? A life poured out for others is a life well-lived. Jesus modelled that.

Sometimes our time given to someone else includes weeping with them. Then we pray. One by one we hand all the things that are concerning that person back to the Lord, without preaching at them, or imparting condemnation. Always remembering that we are there specifically to bless, and we want to bring forth “An apple of gold in a setting of silver” — not a baseball bat and a lump of coal! 

A generous person who blesses others is selfless. Their aim is to leave the other person better off than they found them – closer to God and each other. Our generosity with our time, and care, as well as our finances can utterly transform someone else’s life under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It opens inner doors. 🤗

P 2421 The saga of the queue.

/ DVH

“For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served by everyone, but to serve everyone, and to give His life as the ransom price for the salvation of many.”” Mark 10:45 TPT. BTW, we would be wise to remember that just because lightning doesn’t strike us from heaven – that does not mean that the Lord approves of what we are doing!! It’s not called MERCY for nothing.

It’s verses like this one that convict my heart. You see, I was caught in our car recently, waiting for a half an hour, in 33 degree heat. It happened twice. There were very complicated road works and we were waiting to be given a green light so we could move on. Sadly my response was best not repeated here! I got my crank on. I was hot, hungry and not feeling well … I totally forgot I was not my own, and it was Jesus’ time that was being wasted not mine. 🙄

Let’s just think about the above verse for a minute as it applies to me in that situation. In reflection I realised I was expecting to be treated differently by a bunch of hard-working roadwork guys  … just because I wasn’t well etc. Yeah, I totally lost any kind of realism in those thoughts eh?!? Like they would know what was happening to me while they were digging ditches! 

The thing is – if I want to follow Jesus I’m probably going to go down a whole lot of difficult uncomfortable roads … that may have endless troubles — plus road-works!  However, instead of getting cranky I actually had plenty of time to pray for the poor boiling hot road workers digging away in 33 degree heat!  Rats! I definitely missed that opportunity. 😶 So today I wanted to include something in my blog that cut me to the heart – because it needed to. I urge you to read this like Jesus is speaking to you personally, I did!

I Hear His Whisper … hold nothing back from Me…

“I want to be Lord over every part of your life—over your joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, goals and disappointments. I don’t want you to hold anything back. Beloved, come face-to-face with Me. Stand in My Presence and ask for my Spirit to reveal the areas that you haven’t fully surrendered to Me. It’s time for you to release control of those parts of your life that you’ve held on to.

Let the searching gaze of My Spirit into the secret caverns of your heart. There are situations and people that I will gently bring to your remembrance. It’s important that you don’t push such a thought back down but acknowledge it and bring it to me. 

Any pain, fear, trust issues, bad habits, wrong attitudes, or areas that you’re still holding tightly to must be given to Me. They are not yours to control. I love you, and I will lovingly correct you and draw you into the place of safety, where you can lay these things at My feet, once and for all. It’s time for you to rise to a new level of freedom.” Written by Brian Simmons and Gretchen Rodreguiz

Sometimes stuff simply ‘gets’ at us. And before we know it, we are reacting – without asking for any help, or Grace. And then we end up wondering where our peace went! That’s a good time to remember Jesus’ OCEAN OF GRACE and His MERCY FOUNTAIN.  We get there by way of repentance but we don’t have to go either place via the road of shame! I can’t apologise to those particular road workers, who had no clue I was cranky at them. But I can repent and ask for the Lord’s help to change. After praying I found a whole lot of stuff inside that I had no idea existed. Including pride and resentment, plus entitlement … because I’m often ill… poor me! I was reminded again, that my time is His time and He can spend it how He likes. 

Secondly my comfort – or not, is now in His hands. I repented and spoke a blessing over the men working so hard to make the roads safer for everyone, and revised my attitudes. Being ill and tired is no excuse. Actually I’m doing my best to give up excusing myself, it’s a waste of time. I want to go straight to: “What’s the problem here Lord please?” 

The thing I’ve noticed is that if I am being truly honest, I also must leave behind that sickly sweet little voice – that comes from inside ME. It’s definitely not the Lord! That voice is soooo sympathetic and it says things like: “That’s OK, you can’t help it, you have a lot to deal with.” You know, not every voice we hear is the devil. Sometimes it’s just OUR FLESH! Yikes! 

Like I’ve said before, deception comes from careless choices, and there is no other place for that junk but the cross! I want to close by saying it is worth reflecting on the fact that Jesus came to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many and He always had time for everybody – even when He was dying! So it’s no big deal if I’m asked to give a half an hour of my time, for a few hardworking road makers. 👋🏻