Body of Christ

P 3515 The old person in your future.    

/ DVH

Senior Christians can be a huge help in our churches, especially with advice to younger ones. The negative thing about growing older is that these very important senior citizens sometimes think: “let’s leave all the moving forward and work, to the younger ones.” And they just sit back and enjoy the ride. When we do this we are forgetting that younger people can lack patience, faithfulness, self-control and wisdom. Those fruits grow slowly! Older folks have it in spades, because life demands it. It beats you up then you need Jesus’ help to cope, over and over again. And … tada! Eventually, unless you are thick as a plank – you get wisdom!

Living longer presents people with all kinds of difficulties that aren’t apparent to those who are quite young or in middle age. These saints literally have to learn new things, or this life gets harder than your coping mechanisms! The truly great thing about age is that you don’t only get wisdom, you get loads of humility. ‘I can’t do that’ becomes the new norm. However, us oldies cannot afford to let it become a cop-out. I pick myself up daily when my mind has wandered about, and tell it “one more time, let’s go again.”

My point is that the Body of Christ needs its senior members. Packing them off into Old People’s homes means they can bore one another silly, or they will vegetise ← I made that word up! Don’t just let them clump about talking to each other. They need fresh input or they will get so bored with their circumstances that they tune out and wait for death. Now there’s a happy future. Everyone wants to wake up and wonder if they will die today! We may long to go to be with Jesus, (Paul did!) – but Jesus doesn’t always seem to be in a hurry to pick some of us up!

Sadly, some younger Christians don’t want to look at the fact that one day … in their not-so-distant-future, because-it-is-coming-at-you-faster-than-you-think … they too will be hobbling about on walking sticks, or stuck in wheelchairs, or dribbling their soup! Here’s a red hot clue for you … the only way to avoid old age is to DIE! … you see my point.

Having a sense of humour and being able to laugh at yourself helps. Especially when your bodily functions … UM … pardon me while I digress … what a laugh!! … “functions” literally means things work! Hmmm. Hey ho, your bodily functions will probably let you down. Repeatedly. And you will no longer go into the cupboard and forget what you went in for … you’ll probably forget you HAVE a cupboard, or a house. It isn’t just that you can no longer find your glasses, rather you no longer remember to wear them and wonder why the world’s gone blurry.

Back to the Body, Christ’s Body needs its senior citizens because they have loads of experience. Older people can look like naysayers sometimes, but they can also prevent others from falling down holes in their theology, because they recognise repeated scenery as it scrolls by. We’ve seen it before and it didn’t work then either! However, our minds do sometimes play tricks on us, producing the spirit of grumpy. That’s your chance to practice patience.

An elderly mind can wander about a bit as parts of it rust out, but because we are the Bride of Christ we are the people who have cultivated gentleness, kindness and love, so we won’t make older folks feel like fools. Instead we’ll use our wits to help them when they’ve lost theirs! Whether they sleep all day, or call out at night from fear — or get cranky for absolutely no reason other than old age — all that stuff is nasty, and often inevitable. Older people are still people that Jesus died for. Love is absolutely transferrable, so love will help them when its time to go be with Him.

When talking with an older person ask them about their past. Like… what was school like?  What were the things they loved to do in their youth?  Ask them how they met Jesus, how have they served Him? The thing I’ve noticed about youth is that they can quickly grow impatient when someone can’t find the right word instantly. Computers aren’t the only things that have speeded up. People have too.

This is what the bible says about age: Isaiah 46:4 – “Even to your old age and grey hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Psalm 71:9 – “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Psalm 92:12-14 – “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 – “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

We can learn all kind of important skills for this life from older people – things that education can’t and won’t teach you. They know so much about enduring faith and long-suffering, plus they are living proof of God’s faithfulness sustaining us, even unto our own old age. A church will have deep roots when those who are older are welcome.

Bye. 👋. PS As I grow older, I am often greatly comforted by the fact that Father God is called the Ancient of Days!

P3506 Which do we want to be?

/ DVH

Do you like Christmas trees, or fruit trees … or maybe you like both? Let’s not ever become so enamoured by God-given gifts that we omit to continually yield to Him so He can develop each one of us into a fruit-bearing tree. I think this could be why many men and women of God have fallen away from the faith, people see the gift not the person. We need to learn to care for those God-blessed men and women, who have miraculous gifts from Him. If we are not prayerful, they can become spiritual superstars. However, these gifts are God-given in the first place to be used for His purposes and glory. They are not necessarily a sign of complete maturity, with a force-field protecting the receiver from temptation.

At the same time, elevating one ministry over another puts instant pressure on the person who is ministering, no matter what other supporting gifts may surround them. Someone may have many gifts, but because of what they have been given, they are often used as a resource – instead of the Body of Christ developing and finding the gifts they have also been given. We’re to be an army first and foremost, not just a hospital.

I have said this before, but I want to repeat myself, a small congregation is no reflection on the minister. Sometimes Jesus gives His choicest sheep and lambs into special care, where they go from being one of many, to being intimately known and cared for. ““The one who faithfully manages the little he has been given will be promoted and trusted with greater responsibilities. But those who cheat with the little they have been given will not be considered trustworthy to receive more.” Luke 16:10 TPT. Jesus Himself had twelve men around Him whom He trusted with His life. But one of them was not worthy of that trust.

Sometimes big congregation numbers, can consist of people who hide within the larger structure. They are never really being challenged to grow themselves, and they continue to remain spiritually immature. People come for the miracles and/or brilliant preaching, not for transformation in their own lives. They are what I call musical-chair Christians. They can be devoted to a doctrine that they agree with, plus a ministry that benefits them, but they will move on the minute the music starts up again elsewhere. Their aim is to gain, not contribute.

Personally I think none of us should leave any church without making sure we love the people in the church we want to leave, wholeheartedly. Then if we must leave, we will leave love, not pain, behind us. Our churches can be a bit like ships. Some of us return to the shore and watch others move on into their destinies knowing that we will not be a part of what they are doing, but blessing them in their travels. Romans 13:8 says:“Owe nothing to anyone except to love and seek the best for one another; for he who [unselfishly] loves his neighbour has fulfilled the [essence of the] law [relating to one’s fellowman].”

Likewise we cannot learn to love others who are different to us, or difficult, or even those who don’t agree with what we think — if we don’t prayerfully and carefully, wait on the Lord, and discuss any proposed departure with our pastor. The Lord is never in a hurry to uproot people, unless they are physically moving house. If we take a good strong tree and plant it in the garden, but then uproot it regularly for one reason or another, we will eventually kill the tree. Let’s learn to bloom where we are planted. This life is not about our needs being met, children need that. Adults learn to care for others – for no reward at all, just to give glory to Him.

Likewise, I don’t believe we are to be like margarine, spread all over the place, going off to this church for this, and that church for that, doing whatever suits us! I have heard others say: “This church doesn’t meet my needs, so I’m going to move on.” The point is we don’t just go to church to get our needs met, rather we go to meet with Him, plus Jesus told us not to forsake meeting together! Perhaps we’ve been planted there to be a blessing to someone else!

The difference between a Christmas tree and a fruit tree is obvious, one is productive the other is not. Our own Christmas tree is soon to make an appearance again this year. Hubby will drag it out and carefully decorate it for the umpteenth time! Then after Christmas it will be packed away into its boxes until we need it again. But our mango tree is a huge blessing, it produces fruit from within it. A fruit tree will nourish your body, soul and spirit, a Christmas tree will nourish your soul and emotions, briefly. Fruit is far more important than decorations in the long run.

Let’s choose to go to church, because otherwise we will remain hidden and stagnant, and stay immature in our faith. Being in a fellowship means we will bump into and annoy each other, and that point reminds us of our shared humanity and our personal need for transformation. If we choose to follow someone else because of their gifts then we can easily become disillusioned and disappointed, and fail to develop our own. So let’s prayerfully ask the Lord where He wants us to be, and make a quality decision to learn to love others – warts and all!

A body cannot fully function when it has been dis-membered or dis-located. Your home church needs you, and you need it.  Be a fruit tree. Bye. 👋. Read … Psalm 1.

👋 c.c.

P 3491 God has a bigger plan for your life. 

/ DVH

Over the centuries, the church has progressively lost God’s plan. Today we are far too busy counting who belongs to our little group and who doesn’t. Jesus’ last resting place on earth was a tomb, and normal living people don’t live in tombs, if they can avoid it! A tomb is a jail unless you break out of it. The Body of Christ has been held captive for far too long in a tomb. We’ve been fragmented and separated from one another by rules and laws and opinions. Even today, we are still straining out gnats and letting through camels… and our inaction is one of those blooming camels! Tombs are only good for dead things! 

Father God loves to bless His kids, however blessing us is not all He wants from us. When we make our Heavenly Father into SomeOne Who is merely here to help us, we are reducing the power of Calvary. Our Father’s plan is so much bigger than a cross or a tomb. God made room for all of His glory to descend upon all human flesh. (Acts 1:8.) We’ve proven, over the past 2000+ years we cannot transform ourselves into vessels fit for the Master’s use. We need to be familiar with, and walking in His Grace and His Way of love, in order to walk with the Holy Spirit. This kind of walking changes us. You can’t walk with Jesus and be selfish. The two things are incompatible.

You may have noted that I hardly ever talk about when I think Jesus is coming back, I have other things to do. I don’t talk about it, because I want to be too busy doing what He sent me here to do, until that comes! If we think that He is coming soon, then we could easily slip into simply waiting for Him to come, and bunkering ourselves down, inside what we already believe. Instead of pressing on, under His guidance. There is more of Him for us to know this side of heaven. There’s far deeper reconciliation between people as well as denominations. Not just words, but true heart reconciliation, and we get to bring it with us – everywhere we go.

Just because we know the Lord will come back, that does not mean now we can lay back and wait, simply because we are all safe, bound for glory — singing happy songs, week by week, in our churches. There is such an urgency in the Spirit for us to move, individually, and corporately. That will be hard. It seems we’ve all been too busy building a life outside of Christ. “When Christ, Who is our life, appears …” Colossians 3:4. Thoughts like these should be uppermost in our minds. “Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?” 2 Corinthians 13:5.

There has never been this many bible-believing Christians in the whole of history. There are a billion of us, and approximately 8.32 billion human beings altogether. That means you and I have approximately 8 and a third people each! Sadly nearly all of us are leaving the work He gave us to do, to someone else – like a pastor, prophet, someone with a healing gift or teacher. Maybe we avoid witnessing because it makes us feel uncomfortable – it was more than uncomfortable on that cross.

We must learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading. This means our flesh has to die, in order for the Holy Spirit to flourish in us. Prayer is great – do it! But let your prayers lead your feet into action. Live for Jesus, let everything else that wants to capture your attention, fade away. 

The Lord wants us to be pressing in and pressing on, not just floating about – waiting to be rescued from this problem and that situation. The disciples died thinking Jesus was going to come back any minute for them. He did come for them – however, they still died waiting, first! We can spend a lifetime trying to figure out when He is coming back, when Jesus clearly said “No man knows the hour etc!”  Let’s buy back the days while we can!

This world is SICK, and sometimes Christians are contributing to it. We can’t get along with our neighbours, and we barely manage emergency compassion, let alone living a life of love. Father God has done everything He can to reconcile mankind back to Himself, as well as reconcile us back to each other. He is totally committed. Are we? Jesus Himself, handed this ministry over to us, and gave us  the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is not here so we can speak in tongues, or feel good … He’s our Empowerer! Doing things His way will change our lives.

Today, in our world, there are Christians who have lost everything they have, family, friends, a way of life, a place in society … all this and more, simply because they’ve chosen to follow Jesus. Now they live their lives standing on what Jesus said. They don’t have our Western choices, they live their new life wholeheartedly, because they value what they’ve been given. These people know what cost is. Often we think cost is about somebody being rude to us, and we refrain from  punching them in the face.

Our spiritual enemies look harmless. However, they want to woo, win and deceive us by encouraging us to do whatever we want whenever we want it. Encouraging us to pitch a tantrum if we can’t! We cannot afford to leave His work to someone else. You and I know people no-one else knows. Father God has a bigger plan for your life. You may speak to thousands, or only speak to one – but He has a plan for you. Let’s stop hypothesising about when He is coming back, and begin to live this life as laid-down lovers of Jesus.

We are wasting the time God has given us, right here and now. Christianity is not an add on, a PS to our real life. Unless Jesus Himself is our real life we are in big trouble, spiritually. I plan to follow Jesus … so wherever He goes, I go. Bye. 👋.

P 3490 A little unknown girl.

/ DVH

2 Kings 5:2-14:“Bands of Syrians had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a little girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day the little girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy!  Naaman told the king what the little girl had said.“Go and visit the prophet,” the king told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to carry to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, taking gifts of $20,000 in silver, $60,000 in gold, and ten suits of clothing. 

The letter to the king of Israel said: “The man bringing this letter is my servant Naaman; I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”When the king of Israel read it, he tore his clothes and said, “This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can kill and give life? He is only trying to get an excuse to invade us again.”But when Elisha the prophet heard about the king of Israel’s plight, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet of God here in Israel.” So Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s home. Elisha sent a messenger out to tell him to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times and he would be healed of every trace of his leprosy! 

But Naaman was angry and stalked away. “Look,” he said, “I thought at least he would come out and talk to me! I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call upon the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the Abana River and Pharpar River of Damascus better than all the rivers of Israel put together? If it’s rivers I need, I’ll wash at home and get rid of my leprosy.” So he went away in a rage. But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply to go and wash and be cured!” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the prophet had told him to. And his flesh became as healthy as a little child’s, and he was healed! “

Here are some great instructions from the past! I hope you took the time to read it, because I think that Naaman is an example of what we can often look like in our Christian walk, and the little slave girl is an example of what we can be. I don’t read the bible as irrelevant stories, I read it looking for me. I could be Naaman on one day, and the prophet on another, and that little girl on yet another! 

Because this child speaks up, Naaman is healed and saved. Even though she actually does nothing — she is still a witness motivated by LOVE. She doesn’t feel she should pray for the leprous man, she doesn’t have any deep thoughts to share – she simply points and says: “What you need is over there.”

I love it. I mean … how hard is that? How hard is it to say: “I know SomeOne Who can help you with that?”  Even though she is a captive, she is very loving and caring toward her master. You might want to think about that the next time your boss asks you to work late, and you want to go home early.

Back to Naaman, who automatically assumes this will be a financial arrangement – he’s rich, and he usually solves his problems by throwing money at it. But God gives this man what he wants for free – it simply costs him the price of humility and obedience. Yet he nearly misses it completely … because of his mindset.  He’s an important man, and he has the ear of the king. There are times when it can be very hard to admit we are wrong. Pride gets in the way. We can rob ourselves if we lack humility.

I’m going to skip right over the King of Israel, who tended to think globally, and focus on his own safety — and go right on to Elisha. Elisha doesn’t even speak to him, he hands this important man a simple answer through his own servant. ‘Go take seven dips in this river.’ Sometimes the simple answer IS the answer. But to get there, we will have to throw away the awkward, useless bundles of our own plus and minus thoughts, and pick up the solitary thread Jesus Himself gives us, and follow it. Naaman was fortunate, his men were watching out for Him… but he still had to overcome his own ideas and listen. Being bull-headed about stuff is only good if you are a bull!

The one thing we need to watch out for is being so separate and independent we don’t know where anyone else is. Unity can usher in healing, and other members of the Body of Christ can totally transform what we think we know. Naaman’s men helped him when his common sense wouldn’t … that’s why he was healed. We cannot be the whole ball-game alone, even if life has so separated us from others for good reasons, we still must pray for each other. Naaman’s healing was right there … and he nearly missed it. Thank God for the brave souls among us who speak up!

You and I have the benefit of hind-sight when we read this story. We know all the players in it, and what happens and how it turns out, but at that time, the people involved were doing what you and I do every single day. They were making decisions according to their individual needs and situations. The great thing about serving King Jesus is that He knows what comes next – because He knows the way through anything.

I have cultivated a hands off policy over the years. I don’t give up when I’ve finally run out of ideas, now I give up at the beginning! Stuff happens, and I hand it over. That bit is often accompanied by copious weeping, maybe some grief or anger, but eventually, I stand back and wait. There are times I have to wait, and wait and WAIT, because I want HIS ANSWER, not mine. My answer is often selfish and demands instant results. Today I will pray that I will be just like that little nameless girl who knew where to point – she pointed the way to a miracle. Bye 👋

P 3484 A living sacrifice.

/ DVH

Today I want to highlight two things that are part of our new way to live, led by the Holy Spirit.

ONE: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2 NIV.

Many of us think that worship is singing slow songs, like love songs to Jesus, or about Him — reverently, joyfully and with emphasis. For some it means raising our hands. For others that means kneeling down or standing up. We are told to be filled with the Spirit, singing to ourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs… fantastic, let’s do that! But we will need to change our whole way of thinking if we want to follow Jesus.

Paul talks about the reality of sacrificial living. Let us not be fooled … he says real worship is offering your body as a living sacrifice. That’s your dead, living body! All dead, really dead, never-getting up again DEAD, to the things of this world. It is to be laid upon the altar of “whatever You want, Father God!” That can get pretty grim when it hits close to home. Almighty God is a jealous God, He wants all of us, not just the left-overs.

It looks like Isaac did, when the boy allowed himself to be trussed and tied up like a turkey and placed upon the rough altar his father Abraham had built. Then his own father lifted up the knife to kill him. It’s that kind of “if I die I die” attitude that God sees as worship. Meanwhile, in the Western world, Abraham would have ended up in court defending his abuse of his son! And good luck getting your kid to lie down on an altar. They won’t even let you take their phone away. 😱

I think one of the biggest mistakes Christianity has made is to try to reinforce the things of the Spirit, in the natural world – instead of prayerfully allowing “God to break our hearts with the things that break His.” I don’t much like it – but that’s what our new life looks like. We can’t just teach this, because we have to embrace it as individuals. We need to fall in love with Jesus so deeply, that lip-service just won’t do. That means we will dig, chase, and go after anything that offers us the opportunity to mature, because serving Him is now our purpose.

Mature Christians don’t stand in corners grumbling about each other, other people, or the pastor. They take what the bible says seriously and do their best, with God’s help, to obey it. Even to their own hurt. They don’t offer excuses, blame their parents or their childhood, or even our current society for their choices. They understand the concept of free will and they exercise it by choosing His Way over theirs, simply because the bible says the Lord loves obedience.

TWO: Romans 12 Verses 3,6b-13: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you…                                                                               … … If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Love in Action. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” 

People often want to know what their spiritual gift is, perhaps to validate themselves within the Body of Christ. Sometimes leaders have their own little exclusive club going, and everyone else wants to be a member of the “IN” group. Well, there is no IN group unless we are ALL IN IT!  We are here to serve the Lord and one another, not promote ourselves.

Jesus did not promote Himself, yet He drew huge crowds because His teaching was truth, and healings and miracles followed Him around. He didn’t need an advanced group to prepare things for the Speaker who was the main event. He taught the people in a language they could understand, about their Heavenly Father and how to relate to Him and each other. These people were spiritual people … they already had a history with God. We too can have a history with God and still not be living sacrifices.

A gift is about the generosity of the Giver, not the receiver. Someone once gave me the most ghastly clock I have ever seen … it was all I could do to thank them! I still shudder thinking about it. But for a little while, they stopped what they were doing and thought about me. That’s where gratitude lies, recognising the other person’s effort even when it is way off course. We must let each other learn. There will be a bit of wiggling as each one of us tries to find our place. However, dead people don’t care where you put them.

If we are to lead, then we need to do it as a servant to all, in season and out. These gifts are not there to put in place some sort of pecking order in the Body, they are to be used for the benefit of all. Those who are saved, and the-people-who-don’t-know-Him- yet. The reality is now we must stop living our life, for ourselves, and start living out what we were put here to do. We live this life as living sacrifices to His glory! And choose to live out heaven’s realities down here, where life gets icky and unpredictable. Bye 👋.

P 3462 Wouldn’t that blow your mind?

/ DVH

The other day we had someone in their early twenties come to visit us. We were talking about something terrible that happened to this person last week. Their situation was both frightening and dangerous. so they were overwhelmed and afraid. Then the Lord said something to me that totally blew my mind — He told me to tell this young lady to hand those things that were too hard for her over to Him. He said: “Tell her to do it like this.”…

“She needs to treat her burdens like a footballer would treat a football, (she’s a mad football supporter). She can handpass any balls of trouble and heartache that come at her over to Me, right after it comes at her.” 🤯 I said: “Um.” (I say UM a lot!) “Would now be a good time to mention she definitely doesn’t know You yet?”  Boy there are definitely times when the Lord really rocks my Casbah. I’m older, I can easily get set in one way of thinking instead being open to new possibilities. Because right after that interchange the Holy Spirit simply said: “Why not?”

I didn’t have an answer. The more I thought about it, the more I realised I had an odd mindset, that said you can only have all of His benefits after you’ve signed on the dotted line and given your life to Jesus. I had relegated the Lord’s benefits and help to Christians in prayer lines etc. That’s when I thought about the Lord Jesus, and what He did when He was ministering and teaching.

Of course then I immediately saw how wrong I have been! He told all kinds of people all kinds of things and they didn’t all follow Him. The Lord once told a rich young man that he should sell everything he had and come and follow Him. You know that was an enormous step of faith for someone who simply asked a question?! This particular true story is in the bible in 3 different places.

Here’s what it says in Matthew 19:17-22 “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honour your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

Hmmm…. it seems like there is a big tendency in the Body of Christ to tell stories like this one without looking hard at their implications! That was a very big ask for a small conversation, but Jesus honed right in upon the real issue for this young man. Once He told a young woman about her past and a whole village was saved! Another time as He was going to raise a little girl from the dead, He accidentally healed a women who was crawling along behind Him, trying to reach His coat.

Then I had another big thought: maybe in a very well-intentioned way we kind of try to market Jesus into a package deal, because we want other people to make a commitment to Him. Our motivation is splendid, but  … where’s that in the book?? It says help people and TELL the world, not market Him. The whole idea of making Jesus Christ appealing, is appalling! Yeah. That’s when I realised I was nurturing a wrong mindset and repented. 

Back to my guest. I simply explained to her that she should pick up that negative experience and throw it like a football at Jesus because He wants to carry it for her instead. “I can do that!” she said smiling. After that the Lord dropped this other verse into my heart, from Hebrews 11:6. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” If and when she does what the Lord said to her to do, she will meet that criteria in Hebrews 11. Think about it. 

We spend a whole lot of time trying to fit Jesus into other people’s lives instead of using our faith, and talking about Him normally, wherever we go. The thing is, clubs have secret passwords and rules, but, praise God – the Body of Christ has a far broader canvas to paint on. Jesus never didn’t do same thing with a different person, twice. I think we need to meet the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet where they are, and show them Jesus’ love however HE wants to do it. 

The Lord Jesus talked to different people in all kinds of unusual and different ways, and situations. He caught their attention because He knew what was going on in their lives! I believe we cannot afford to overlook these seemingly ordinary, but varied supernatural events, as we follow Him. Our part in other people’s lives is to be a vessel that allows others to ‘… taste and see that the Lord is good.’ Especially because the Lord Himself did it first. He simply responded to whatever situation the person in front of Him was facing. 

Yet again, I have become convinced that the use of a Word of knowledge or a Word of Wisdom is powerful in its effects toward others. Forget marketing — that depends on your budget — listen to Him! He can tell you what He wants that other person to know about Him, and how to do it. That will blow everyone’s mind. Good! Our minds are all together too stodgy in the first place. Bye 👋

P3461 For those who are suffering.

/ DVH

I don’t choose what I am going to write about each day, but I pray about this blog and ask for the Lord to help me to follow His instructions, carefully and prayerfully. Plus I am exceedingly grateful for my beloved praying editor, my husband!  I said that because I want the precious souls among us who suffer daily, to know first and foremost that the Lord definitely had you on His mind this morning.

First of all, I want to clarify what I see as suffering. It includes, imprisonment, hunger, thirst, lacking shelter, and then there is pain — mental, physical and emotional pain, oppression, the pain of never being completely understood. Plus mental illnesses, devastating loneliness, life-altering dependency, all kinds of physical illness, including terminal illness – although I think living in this world is a terminal illness, one way or another! Together with loss and grief. This is not a comprehensive list, so I am hoping you will get the gist of my thought.

My thought is this — Father God hides His most precious treasures in the most unexpected places. We know that He has hidden so much in His Word, and people have spent their lifetime meditating on and studying the bible so they can pass what they have learnt on to others. BUT let’s never forget that PEOPLE are His very favourite treasures and they too can remain hidden. To the world, you may not necessarily be all that important, but to God you are worth everything dear to Him. 

Today, I want to talk about those precious members of the Body of Christ who are suffering from any, and hopefully not all, of the above maladies. I know a little tiny bit about some of these things. I think one of the hardest situations a person who is suffering has to face is the entirely well-meaning, enthusiastic, Jesus-loving Christian, who has no clue about the depth of human misery… so they rave on merrily sharing their positive healing thoughts about this subject. 

Actually, I wish people with those particular attributes would just give me money, because by now I would be so-o-o rich! Instead, the Lord has chosen to bless me with many opportunities to forgive those who have trespassed against me. Many of these dear, somewhat misguided souls have no clue what ongoing suffering does to faith. Especially in today’s current attitudes and atmosphere of ‘everybody should be healed.’ 

So although I am only one person, I want to start out by saluting your courage. It takes so much courage to stand firm in your faith, when something or other is kicking the daylights out of you and it rarely lets you go. On the other hand, there is the kind of situation where the hard bits stop … but you are not sure if they are completely gone or not … so you can’t relax into the Lord’s arms easily. Mainly because you have become hyper-vigilant. This means you often second-guess yourself because you truly don’t know what might happen next! It is hard to know what to do with your faith when you aren’t sure if it is actually in working order.

I try to take the time to comfort myself with thoughts like these:  if I cut my hand it would take a while for the cut to heal, so I will have to be patient during the process. I might need to take extra care of that hand while it is healing. But when it is your heart that is broken, taking care of it means you need to pray over everything you might like to do, instead of just blazing away into the next thing.

When a heart has been damaged by fear, or misguided Christian help, plus medical people who are, after all, still human — the person doesn’t always make good decisions. So ask others for their prayerful support because you really are vulnerable and under pressure. Bad things have happened to you. By the way, that does not mean you are bad, or you have some deep dark secret that needs to be forgiven or fixed. Life happens to all of us and survivors should be saluted, not chastised! You are also allowed to grieve because you have lost your well being.

So what happens if it seems your circumstances won’t, can’t, or don’t change because they depend on someone else changing first? That stuff is also very hard to live through.  At those times I start praying: “Thank you Lord for remembering I am just glorified dust! I need more grace to persevere and remain joyful, and if You don’t give it to me, then I won’t have it!” Amen. I also pray for Him to help me develop through the pain, because I have learnt that pain colours the way I see and hear things, and I can get really offended by stupid stuff when I am not able to listen properly. 

Actually I can get offended by stupid insignificant stuff all by myself!! Forget about pain actively colouring everything in around me! Ho-hum. Here are a couple of verses that may be helpful: Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Whether we can feel Him or not … the Lord is here with us. God is lovingly drawn to those who are suffering, Jesus demonstrated that. Luke 6:19:  “…and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.” Yes. It is His will to heal however, the sick and broken need the Body’s help! 

Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;  and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Lastly, cut yourself some slack – He’s God and you’re not! By His grace you will come through this. Amen. 🙏

P3459 Popularity with man.

/ DVH

This is a current theme in our society, everyone has to be PC, or you will be told! I am all for being sensitive and careful, because wisdom itself demands the kind of thoughtfulness that allows it to speak clearly to someone without the distraction of offence! However, our priority should always be whatever the Lord says to us. And I think we need to practice tolerance and forbearance toward other people not political correctness. I want to look at a brief few verses from Jeremiah today, bearing in mind that this man was a salmon swimming upstream for most of his life!

“Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”“He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.” So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.” Jeremiah 38:4-6.

Jeremiah was doing what God asked him to do, yet he was being persecuted for what he said. That’s because other people interpreted his actions for their own agenda. Lately, I have had to become so much better at forgiving people, simply because they have thoughtfully given me so many opportunities to do it! Meanwhile the Lord helps me, every single time, or I would succumb to self-pity. Sigh. But that’s an observation, not my point. My point is things have not changed all that much since Jeremiah’s time. We still think we can judge other people and put pressure on them to be just like us.

Pressure comes from all sorts of directions – but many of them are internal. We fall into political correctness by saying we don’t want to offend others – but actually we are scared of what others will do to us! The point of this passage in Jeremiah is that all kinds of pressure will be unfairly applied on us. It is to be expected. We may not end up in a cistern, but ‘the fear of man (still) brings a snare’ if it affects our ability to be truthful.

Proverbs 29:25. Here’s the Message version – “The fear of human opinion disables;  trusting in God protects you from that.”  Yeah. That’s the rub, moving away from what others might say, into …’what do YOU want from me Lord?’ Then we need to take the time to find that out for ourselves. Christians have hidden behind denominational creeds for too long. We need to hate any sin, but love the sinner just like Jesus did. The point is, the gospel is for everyone and we can’t possibly know who the Lord is going to turn around.

I think that Jeremiah was a victim of the downside of popular opinion. I like this verse from Proverbs 18:13: “Answering before listening is both stupid and rude.” It is so easy to decide that we already know what other people need, and miss the Lord’s wisdom altogether, because we have prejudged our own way to be the right one. We can also fall into the trap of being ‘nice’ and insincere, all at the same time. For times like ours, we need the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, not just a creed, or what we think.

If we are serious about extending love to other people who are not like us, then we cannot be motivated by political correctness. We must be motivated by God Himself. Here’s a verse to chew on: “Make love your aim.” Folks! The elephant is now actually in the room! We cannot avoid it any longer. Our real problem is, we have avoided some subjects for so long, we no longer know how to address them! It is time for the kind of prayer that leads to action. Choosing to loving others is never easy. God’s love can turn all kinds of people around, I think we would be better occupied remaining full of His love ourselves, than finding reasons to exclude people.

I don’t have to love what you do, to love you! The church has an opportunity right now to choose how she will behave toward people, especially those She has decided are already illegitimate because of their choices. The bible says: ‘Love is patient, kind, it is not jealous, it doesn’t brag, it is not selfish or rude, angry or resentful. It hates injustice, it loves the truth, it bears all things, hopes all things – it is long-suffering.’ Love is an ETERNAL quality. We can’t afford to draw up our ‘holy robes’ around us anymore – our holy robes have holes in them that you can drive a truck through. If we are hiding any kind of sin from others, the Lord in His Grace will allow those things hidden in the darkness to come into the light. He is not punishing us – He is cleaning up His house. 

I believe we simply don’t know how to love anybody who lives their life in ways we find unacceptable. We think love is approval. We need to pray for real revelation about His idea of love – He loved us long before we arrived here! Jesus Christ had no qualms about touching the unclean … the religious people did! His power, glory and strength are released by loving others.

Maybe it is time to admit we were wrong and ask forgiveness for the way we have treated others. Humbling ourselves won’t kill us. Sin still remains sin – one is not worse than another. We also need to remember, many times it is the people in our own churches who have hurt others. The Body of Christ has misplaced our discernment and used religious rules to compensate. Then we boarded up, and sealed our hearts of compassion against the very people the Lord wants to speak to … and fear of contamination made us do it. We’ve thrown people into a pit of despair simply because we are not walking with Him – we need the Lord’s input, we need His heart! Gifts are not a sign of holiness – loving others in what we do and say is.

Jeremiah was thrown into a pit because what he said was unpopular, and the King didn’t want to enter that arena. We can’t afford to approve of sin because we are swayed by popularity, anymore than we can afford to label people and walk away from them. We need the Lord Himself “to extend the boundaries of our tents” and “pull up the stakes” we have driven into the ground, to define who we are, and what we believe. Popularity with man is not just political correctness – it’s also religion that can bind us. Look after widows and orphans instead – that’s true religion.

We are His people and we are so blessed, each one of us has been given a chance to change. Walking with the Spirit of the living God means that whoever we meet, will meet with the Lord Himself through us… then we leave the results to Him. Let’s extend His love to everybody, in the hope that we may see some saved, and refuse to judge because that leads to even more judgment. Our part is to extend Grace and Mercy to everyone, and focus on being a carrier of the Presence of God Himself. He has straightened US out, and we know He has the power to do that in other people’s lives.

Lastly, let’s value intimacy with Him above all else. We need to read the bible and do what it says, and love others, because love is our priority. Forget political correctness, and religion — we love people because He loved us first. Loving them does not mean we agree with them. Popularity, or unpopularity with mankind is over-rated. Bye. 👋.

P3446 Let’s talk about Psalm 23.

/ DVH

“Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need! He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honours Him the most. Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way. You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as Your guest; blessings overflow! Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with You forever in Your home.”

This Psalm was written by David, who was a shepherd – so he knew what he was talking about! I sometimes wonder how a plumber or a taxi driver would write it? Moo-ving on … I enjoy watching a Scottish shepherd and his dogs at work on Youtube. The thing that hits me every single time I watch it, is that those dogs never take their eyes off their Master, and he never takes his eyes off the sheep, or the dogs.

David knew all about sheep, that was his job. His part in his large family was pretty minor compared to his big deal brothers who were allowed to join the army and help their Dad run the family property. The blessing of doing unnoticed things well, is a huge asset. It helps form character in us, when we are prepared to leave acknowledgement from others, behind us. It teaches me regularly how needy I am regarding praise!

David did what he did well. He knew how to care for his sheep, protecting them from harm, and when they needed a rest, he took them to a green, well-watered safe place. Jesus makes sure we are rested and ready for hard parts of our journey. Some tasks may look very small and insignificant but they teach us to rest. The Lord knows what comes next, and He will provide us with a safe place, right near Him. Jesus Himself taught us about faithfulness – it matters! “He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much.” Luke 16:10.

Psalm 23 tells us we can learn about fear, whether real or imagined, WHILE we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death! Our Heavenly Father often ‘trains our hands for war and our fingers to fight,’ in difficult, dark places, where we want to curl up into a ball and hope we die. Why would He do that? Theory in the Body of Christ doesn’t benefit anyone … but using our faith changes our view of things. The bigger the resistance, the stronger the muscles. Faith is a spiritual muscle – it needs to be resilient, because bad things happen unexpectedly.

We can theorise all we want, but the truth is – when the stuff is going down, and all hell breaks loose, that is THE very best time to practice what we believe. When we feel paralysed by our circumstances, then we can choose to lean on Him. HE becomes our  hope – not our changed circumstances. Our God is training warriors, not Tinkerbell! Later on, David himself became a mighty warrior, but when he was a youth caring for sheep, he had already learnt to fight with God on his side. That’s why he ran at Goliath.

The Holy Spirit, daily walks with us, guiding us, teaching us … He does not leave us. Instead He says: ‘put your foot here, put your hand there … stand on this scripture … do that other thing now.’ Our Shepherd doesn’t only lead us, the goodness of God in Jesus and His Word, glows right in front of us, lighting up the way ahead of us. Today’s Word, from the bible is our light for this day. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105.

The Lord releases His word to show us HIS pathway through our trials. When this happens, He is not punishing us, nor has He forgotten us. He took our punishment, once and for all. We can’t ever be forgotten because He carved us on the palms of His hands! This Psalm also tells us that the Lord prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.

So let’s look at 1 Corinthians 11:24,25 it says: “… and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”” This is the Lord’s table! His broken body and His blood willingly poured out for our sake, made a way for us to survive everything that comes at us. In Jesus’ mind what we need is already done, and we have been given His mind. 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf made a way for us to be certain that no matter how things look – God will not fail us. And then the Holy Spirit assures us that God’s goodness and mercy runs after us. He follows up our times of difficulties, to the point where we are so blessed we run out of words to thank Him! We won’t always feel it, instead we choose to believe what Jesus said, and live our lives depending on it. We are His people, and He knows when we need to lie down. Plus He knows the way through anything that comes against us to make us afraid and He will lead us through it.

Psalm 23 is an example of the Lord’s purposes in our lives, it is not just for funerals. It teaches us that He leads, guides, and travels with us every step of the way, every single day. He feeds us with Himself, and blesses us. His all-consuming desire is to walk with us, forever. Bye 👋.

P 3400 You clean fish after you’ve caught them!

/ DVH

In the church today we seem to have forgotten that WE are now the Holy Spirit’s temple. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit Who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?” 1 Corinthians 6:19. Just because we can’t always feel Him, see Him, or hear Him, that doesn’t mean He is not with us. But it can mean we are not making Him welcome or walking with Him! Like I said a few days ago, we can still choose to tune Jesus out when it suits us, and then we cannot hear Him properly to serve Him. Sound familiar?

The Lord promised us that He would send the Holy Spirit back to us, and He did. Now we are no longer our own “… for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:20… Now our lives are to be spent serving the Lord… He gave His life for us, and now we give up our lives serving Him. At the office, on the train, in school, at our house, wherever we are … now we are servants of the Most High God and we don’t get Mondays and Fridays off! Death to self is not just a Sunday way to think, it’s an all day every day, every minute of the day lifestyle. Whatever we do now, we do it with all our hearts as though we were doing it for Jesus Himself – because we are!

The consequence of our lack of understanding of our new life in Christ means we can end up trying to fit Jesus in around the way we used to live. Except for one fact, our old man died when we said yes to Jesus. At the same time there are Christian people right now, sincere precious saints, who are trying hard to serve God in their own strength. Sometimes they have the appearance of good or they fail secretly. Then they feel bad … and eventually they fail again. Where we are failing the worst is that we don’t understand, when He died, WE DIED. When we asked Jesus to save us we left our old lifestyle, our way of thinking being and doing behind us. Now we need to become best friends with the Holy Spirit. If He likes it, we like it. If He doesn’t then we don’t either. 

The more we apply the Word of God to this world’s injuries, and sinful activities in our lives, the more power we will have to follow Him. We simply can’t do that in our own strength. Even if we succeed in producing the outward appearance, we can’t change our hearts. However, because of God’s great GRACE, we do not have to do this alone. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to help us – to remind us. To ‘buddy’ us through the process of putting down all our old ways and picking up God’s new ones. I want to warn you, in my experience, that is not an easy thing. Mainly because we’ve begun to think that we already know who we are, so change/transformation is like peeling off your skin inch by inch.

I said all that to say this:  on this last journey we met two very different people, but they both had one thing in common. They had been thoroughly rejected by the Body of Christ so much so they didn’t dare go to church, nor did they associate with Christians. So whatever transformation they are supposed to undergo, became null and void under the attacks of seemingly virtuous Christians. Gird up your loins you ain’t gunna like this one bit …

,,, One person was a homosexual trapped within a lifestyle that offered them a perverse form of love. For some desperate people the wrong kind of love is better than no love at all. This young man cried and sobbed when hubby was kind to him, because he was so used to being rejected by the church. We don’t have to approve of this person’s behaviour to love them. Often we reject people simply because we don’t know how to display the love of God with power, we are not displaying Who He is into the world around us! And yes, I’ve read the book, I know how the Lord feels about homosexual behaviour. “Some will be snatched from the fire.” Jude 1:23.

The second person is a divorced lady, whose father is a pastor.  She had been thrown out of her family, her church, her Christian friendships for getting a divorce.  Divorce is not contagious, people, its a choice, sometimes made under terrible pressure. Her entire family no longer speaks to her, or associates with her. The Holy Spirit loved both of these people. In order to set prisoners like these people free, the people who actually want to love Jesus but have no power to stop what they are doing …  the church must stop eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and stuff ourselves full, daily, with the fruit of the tree of LIFE!

We’ve become like the Pharisees etc. We keep rejecting the lepers and the so-called unclean ones, but our churches are the only place ANYONE can get clean. People come to church to get clean! We need the power of the Risen, Resurrected Christ to help them. We were all sinners, every single one of us. We must stop judging the people who seemingly have HUGE sins against our supposed little ones. And start having compassion on those people who are trapped by satan’s lies telling them: ‘that this is who they are, and they can’t be any other way.’ 

None of us know who we really are, or what we are capable of doing until we are tested. I found that out the hard way. Read the book and take particular note of the things you want to gloss over. Have you ever wished someone dead? Have you ever looked at someone else’s spouse, family, house or job and wished you had them? Have you ever put Almighty God on a shelf because you were busy and asked Him to “please wait over there?”  Have you ever lied to make things easier?

It’s time to display the works of God through love and deliverance, not judgment and avoidance. We only get to clean the ‘fish’ after we’ve caught them – because then they will know for themselves, they are unclean. We didn’t know we were unclean until the Lord’s purity began to work on us. It’s called conviction. Bye. 👋