Celebrate

P 3467 Our Joy needs to break out.

/ DVH

“Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has shown us His extravagant mercy. For His fountain of mercy has given us a new life—we are reborn to experience a living, energetic hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We are reborn into a perfect inheritance that can never perish, never be defiled, and never diminish. It is promised and preserved forever in the heavenly realm for you! 

Through our faith, the mighty power of God constantly guards us until our full salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time. May the thought of this cause you to jump for joy, even though lately you’ve had to put up with the grief of many trials. But these only reveal the sterling core of your faith, which is far more valuable than gold that perishes, for even gold is refined by fire. Your authentic faith will result in even more praise, glory, and honour when Jesus the Anointed One is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:3-7 TPT.

Did you see the bit at the beginning that says ‘celebrate?’ when I read that, I do it. Why? Am I pushed along by some sort obligation? NO! It’s an opportunity, not an obligation. I have just been reminded of how wonderful our Heavenly Father is, and how much He has done, and He will do, and is doing, right now in my life … and yours! That’s a really big reason to cheer wouldn’t you think? When I am in public I cheer inside. My “Yaaaaaaay Jesus,” can get a bit loud and I would probably scare other people. People find it hard to feel loved when they are scared. 

Did you get the bit where it says that His mercy is a fountain? That’s not a trickle, or a few squirts here and there, a fountain shoots water high up into the sky, and all over itself. It splashes anybody walking near it. Fountains remind me of freedom. There is nothing like running, leaping, flowing and bubbling water to illustrate that point. At the same time our hope isn’t just laying around, lethargically. No, our hope has energy it, moves  and gathers momentum. It is ALIVE. Well, of course it’s alive! JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE forevermore and He is our living hope. Hallelujah!

The Holy Spirit says that… “We are reborn into a perfect inheritance that can never perish, never be defiled, and never diminish. It is promised and preserved forever in the heavenly realm for you!” If you ain’t smiling by now you are officially DEAD. Peter is telling us that our God is our constant guardian, so nothing can get into my life, that He and I can’t deal with. I hold fast to that. OK. Are you ready now? We just got to the jumping bit. Gird up your girdle Gertie … the Bride of Christ is going to get happy.

The whole world around us has been waiting for this … “For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].” Romans 8:19. The people around you are waiting for you to stand up and be His kid! We can sit about feeling sad because we don’t have this or that, or choose to get bogged down in the things that we haven’t done that we ought to have done … etc. Repent and repair stuff! And then we can go back to cheering and jumping, because Jesus took all our sins on Himself, voluntarily.

I like the way the bible acknowledges that trials do happen, that tells us they are normal, and we can be temporarily held by them. But there is a plus, the bible also reminds us that these times reveal how our faith is currently doing in spite of the strains and stresses. Our faith is subject to the difficulties of this world, just like everyone else on the planet — whether they-know-Jesus-or-not!

The idea that we are supposed to never have difficulties, or, if we have them, then somehow God is mad at us … is unscriptural. Jesus said:  “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Trouble is normal. It’s not the yardstick – but it is normal. The point of trials is to have PEACE in the middle of them … not just avoid them, escape from them, or pretend they don’t exist. It is always helpful to know the point!

These trials expose how our faith is doing, because our faith  is incredibly valuable to Almighty God. When we have faith we are choosing to reveal Him in a faithless world. Even more importantly our faith gives our Heavenly Father, God, the glory He deserves. Our faith guards and progressively reveals our full salvation, which is now, and … also … not yet. Our living faith, the faith that has been revealed by troubles and trials, gives the Lord glory, honour and praise, and we have to celebrate what we have been given. And look at that … we have arrived back where we started. We started with celebration and expanded into eternal glory and honour for the Trinity.

One day we will totally understand what we have been freely given and what a party we will have! Some people think about heaven as a quiet peaceful place, but maybe that is simply because they need a lot of peace and quiet down here… However these verses in Peter indicate that there might be also be a whole lot of jumping and shouting going on as well. The good news is, we won’t get tired of doing it, because every time the Spirit of God turns and moves, there will be a fresh revelation of the Father’s love and grace toward us all. “Divine revelation is dynamic not static.”  

All of this and far more, is ours. I think it’s time for joy to break out in our hearts and lives, simply because … while we were all sinners … He saved us.  We can have joy because He has us and we have Him, forever. Bye.👋. 

P 3353 It’s worth a thought.

/ DVH

Philippians 4:4. “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in Him!”

Psalm 65:1-13. “Silence is praise to you, Zion-dwelling God, And also obedience. You hear the prayer in it all. We all arrive at Your doorstep sooner or later, loaded with guilt,
Our sins too much for us—but You get rid of them once and for all.
Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest at home in Your place! We expect our fill of good things in Your house, Your heavenly manse. All Your salvation wonders are on display in Your trophy room.
Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer, Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser,
Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash, of mobs in noisy riot—Far and wide they’ll come to a stop — they’ll stare in awe, in wonder. Dawn and dusk take turns calling, “Come and worship.”Oh, visit the earth, ask her to join the dance! Deck her out in spring showers, fill the God-River with living water. Paint the wheat fields golden. Creation was made for this! Drench the plowed fields, soak the dirt clods With rainfall as harrow and rake bring her to blossom and fruit.
Snow-crown the peaks with splendour, scatter rose petals down your paths, All through the wild meadows, rose petals. Set the hills to dancing, Dress the canyon walls with live sheep, a drape of flax across the valleys. Let them shout, and shout, and shout! Oh, oh, let them sing!”

I would like to start out this morning by remembering that King David in his heart, was first a worshipper; then he went on to be a great warrior and a Godly king. But he started out on the side of a hill, watching sheep, looking at clouds, and marvelling at God’s creation. Please note that not only does he admire the Lord’s handiwork – he worships Almighty God for Who He is, as well as what David can see! Hubby and I had opportunities to do that, on this latest trip while we were travelling.

It was autumn in most of the places we visited, and the hills and valleys were alive with colour, smells and movement. We stopped the car at one point, just to watch a little breeze stir some deep red, orange and green leaves into a delicate little dance. We saw lambs and heifers… and our personal favourite … birds of all kinds everywhere. Flocks of them. We haven’t seen some of these birds in years. Hubby took my photos today.

When I read this Psalm, it reminded me that in our cities, sometimes all we can see are buildings, cars, trucks, concrete and people — but in the country you can often see God’s creation, bubbling over with life. It’s like He decorated this world with every beautiful thing He could think of, just so we could see Him in another way. Father God is constantly revealing Himself, how glorious He is. We cannot afford to reduce Who He is into only words or language. no matter how revelatory language seems to be.

Sometimes the best thing to do, is to go outside and just take the time to look. What a pity it would be if all we know about Almighty God are some words that somebody else taught us. Instead, lets allow Him to reveal Himself to us, by what He has made.

We don’t have the season of autumn much where I live, it is semi-tropical. So all that happens is that the sun gets lower on the horizon, and the days seem shorter as it gets a bit colder. But when the sun is out, the rich golden daylight dances through leaves creating shadows. Every single time I look at it, I understand why the Impressionists thought that just painting representationally was not enough! 

Our God speaks so many languages, and one of them  — is visual, and exquisitely beautiful! I think what we call nature, is another one of our Father’s Heavenly languages. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” Psalm 19:1,2. 

It is interesting that David notes how important our obedience is to God. I think disobedience can render human beings a bit dumb and blind. Some people think we need entertaining to help us relax, but there was no TV, Media, books etc. in the Garden of Eden! Just God’s handiwork. Imagine the smells in that garden!

Then our sin put a tear into the perfect fabric of this picture. Human beings allowed disobedience and fear inside that glorious garden – and their inner silence was shattered. Sadly, I know I can do that myself by rushing past what really matters, to get to something that doesn’t – just so I can put a tick on a long list in my head! Sometimes I think mankind is almost a parody of who we are meant to be — instead of a glorious reflection of Who He is! We were created to look like Him – “Let us make man in Our image.”

If someone seems ugly to you, in the way they are acting or speaking, then ask the Lord to help you to see Jesus in them. There are so many angry, agitated, shattered people with so much fear in their eyes, that the light God put in them has almost gone out. Even our children have not been nurtured to appreciate the beauty around them. Their eyes are stuffed full of immersion in worthless stuff that ushers in distraction. That is so sad, children were made for wonder.

In my mind’s eye, I can see a tiny little two year old girl, hugging a small book to her chest, dancing with delight. She didn’t need the internet – which went off the day we left! She had a book. Who knows what sorrow her little eyes had seen before we met her that day? Today my thought is this — let’s never stop expecting to see the good things of God. Instead we need to treat what this world offers as a pale shadow of His life-giving realities. It’s worth a thought. Bye. 👋

P 3197 Christmas is almost upon us.

/ DVH

You can tell that when you step inside a shopping mall. People are buzzing about like bees in a hive, frantically buying gifts for family and friends. It definitely seems official — consumerism is addictive, just like smoking, drinking and gambling. Sadly, you don’t have to have actual money to participate in this particular not-so-merry-dance. Many people put themselves into a lot of debt to create some sort of happiness, even for a day. When life is hard even a little snatch of laughter is valuable. How about we find a way to put a smile on the face of our neighbour!

Here’s something I stumbled across while following Jesus, Psalm 127:1. It challenged me regarding gift giving..“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain…”  Man there have been a number of times when I wished that verse was not in there!  I need the Lord to help me with giving gifts. I love giving gifts to people – particularly if they like them. There is something about that surprised happy face when they open their present that just blesses me. I pay very little attention to what I am given – but boy do I love giving!  And little kids are my super-duper favourite people to give to — they rip into the paper, and tear apart the boxes to get at that prize. It’s a joy to watch them. Meanwhile who can afford to buy a teenager a gift today? You almost have to re-mortgage your house!

Wouldn’t it be great if we thought about unwrapping what Jesus has said to us in His book, with that sort of expectation and happiness? Imagine facing the bible like an unknown beautiful gift, all wrapped up and sparkly … instead of a chore that must be performed – otherwise our day might fall apart. What if we couldn’t wait to get at the treasure inside? And, what if seeing one another had precisely the same effect? We might even buy a whole field just to own a precious pearl like that. … now there’s a think spot!

Back to the verse. This verse kind of means I’ve laboured in vain a lot in my lifetime. I’ve gone for the hope of happiness for me, instead of leaning on the discernment of Jesus. When it comes to giving gifts I’m hopeless. I go nuts. Somewhere in my head, I think my wiring is upside down! I am not saying that Jesus doesn’t like presents and gift giving, after all He loved all of us by giving the greatest gift of all – His life. But what I am saying is that it is possible to use gift giving to try to bridge gaps between you and people-you-don’t-get-along-with, and that can often lead to great disappointment. We can sometimes try to use gift-giving to curry favour with particularly fussy friends and relatives – instead of seeking restoration.

Maybe you have recently spent days trying to find the right gift for Great Uncle Bulgaria, and then he just kind of sniffed at your present and said a dull lifeless: “Thanks” as he plopped it on the floor. Your heart sinks into your shoes and you can almost see the sign that says: ‘That one is going in the recycling bin!”  The things we drag along behind us like the tail on a comet. Those things we think we have no say over, and feel we cannot change – except because of what the Lord Jesus did – we can!  Maybe I just need to obtain more trusty book gift-vouchers instead of driving myself balmy trying to find something just right.

There is a plus side to all this to-ing and fro-ing regarding buying gifts at this time of the year.… people smile at you and say: “Merry Christmas.” Meanwhile, it’s just like Jesus to have HIS birthday benefit everyone else, in more ways than one! We’ve found you can end up chatting to people in the lifts, instead of staring at the floor hoping the lift will get to your floor quickly, because you are feeling trapped with strangers. I have this thing with strangers, the nature of who they are to me, means I’m never going to see them again! You can say anything!  Sometimes they even talk back – WOW! 

We love Christmas at our house. My dear hubby is a huge fan, and when you put that together with someone who loves giving gifts, well … Christmas is a busy time for us. We start shopping and planning decorations in August! My fella loves his outdoor lights and he plans them for months. Lights are a lovely way to speak to your neighbours without saying a word. Our manger scene and ‘Happy Birthday Jesus’ lights have been going for 12 years. We also have joy, hope, and peace signs that hubby made. 

Yesterday, my husband and one of our granddaughters went off to take some gifts from our church to the local women’s shelter. Those poor ladies leave behind everything as they literally run for their lives. I’ve left everything behind once, so I understand their pain a little bit. However, in that position, you can’t afford to look back, or like Lot’s wife you will turn into a pillar of salt. Anyway … we have a big pile of assorted gifts to put under their tree. Knowing people care won’t fix everything but it sure helps when you are all alone and scared about what comes next. They were immensely grateful. My hubby likes to talk to the ladies in the office – nobody talks to them.

As I said, Christmas is upon us and many families will gather together and celebrate. Yet, whether they actually know what they are celebrating is a whole other ball-game! I pray we all get a chance to tell even one other person that Jesus is not a baby anymore – He’s all grown up and fighting for us! Blessings as you prepare to remember the miracle God gave us all, when He became one of us.Bye. 🥳

P 3166 Judgment kills faith …

/ DVH

… Even when our judgment includes whether Christians can or can’t eat MEAT! Sometimes human beings seem to love to make up rules, especially where there are no rules. These man-made rules tie themselves and others up in knots. But Father God is far more concerned about our attitudes toward each other, than He is in splitting hairs over whether we order a vegetable or meat lover’s pizza! Order both and share. Here are some verses to think on, in Romans 12:1-4&23b. 

“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge SomeOne Else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.”… …“and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

I cannot stress enough how highly dangerous judgment is to our spiritual lives. We won’t always understand the people close to us, or even the ones that live around us, the way He does. This means we will have no idea how this person, or that person arrived at the way they think, because only the Lord knows their hearts. Drawing conclusions about someone else, is a waste of our God-given time and energy. Yet it is incredibly easy to do!! We simply must learn to celebrate each other’s strengths rather than point out any failures.

Let’s choose to remember what the above scripture in Romans says: not all of us have great faith! Some of us have faith in some areas, and zero to none in others. At the same time, life daily deals every one of us crushing blows, so putting weights on someone else’s feet when they are tired, or sick, or overwhelmed, and still trying to run, is cruel and unfeeling. It seems to me sheer honesty about your own flaws is far more useful! I think we do things like this to justify our own position, or give us an excuse to keep on doing the very thing we should not be doing. This attitude is not worthy of Jesus’ disciples. He was compassion personified when He walked among us – if anybody was right – He was! But He didn’t use what He already knew to make someone else feel small – His compassion set them free instead. 

I enjoy meditating on this next scripture. It is meaningful to me, because I mess up a lot — and I know I need wa-ay more patience toward other people. I really get tested when someone else hurts the people close to me, and then they want authentication for their own aggressive stinky attitudes. That’s like asking me to put a bow on a pile of manure. Not.Gunna.Happen! Isaiah 42:3 says this: “A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not quench; He will bring forth justice in truth.” If the God of all the Universe is so particular and watchful over each one of us, let’s do our best, with His help, to remember that our careless words affect others. I don’t care what they said – my real problem is this – how did I reply?

Verse 3 illustrates what walking with the Holy Spirit looks like, He sees the broken, and the broken hearted. He is so gentle, and easily grieved. Nastiness and judgment immediately takes us away from His influence. BTW my theory is this – at the same time that we choose to get uglier about someone else, we can longer see what He sees, and we also get deafer and deafer to Him. But, hallelujah! Heartfelt repentance opens the door to restoration of fellowship with Him and others. Words are like bridges, they can join people together, or break us apart. So let’s ask for understanding to go hand in hand with wisdom. Like Romans says above, we must learn to accept each other in our weaknesses. We need to come alongside others and help, not undermine.

Here’s more from Isaiah, 35:3-5, and it’s a great exhortation for all of us today:  “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way, say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution. He will come to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.” Miracles can be side-lined when we sail off into judgment! I believe that our faith in God’s power through us, very much depends on allowing His Word to minister to us first. Then humility stretches out its hand to someone else and says: “May I help you up?” 

Personally, I think it is deadly to faith to look down on one another. Instead, we need to practice, corporately, every time we are together, looking up at Him. We need the practice! Judgment, even when it is unspoken, hinders the flow of the Spirit between us. His freedom IN me, means I’m not scared to deal WITH me first. So when we get alone with Him, let’s ask Him how to fix things in us, first. Remember – our log has to come out so we can clearly see to help someone else with their speck.

Lastly, I cannot recommend highly enough reading the bible purely for your own benefit unless you want to get a word of blessing for someone else. Using God’s word as a club to beat people into submission to your pet theory is ungodly. We are exhorted by Paul to come alongside one another and bear each other’s burdens. Judgment kills faith – but the Spirit always brings life. Bye. 👋

P 2849 Watch carefully for the new.

/ DVH

“Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t even remember these former things. I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19 TPT.

Did you ever wonder what on earth God was doing in, and through your life …OR maybe even wonder IF He is doing anything at all? Well, that’s where this verse comes into its own. When God does something new, WE don’t always recognise it.

When Jesus was born as a baby and walked around Israel for 33+ years people had no idea what God was doing now! Even though they had had prophecies to say that new things were coming, they were still stuck in the rules and regulations of the past. The key to this verse is in the first line. “Stop dwelling on the past…” !!! When our eyes are filled with things that have happened before, we cannot see what He is doing today … in front of us.

The Lord exhorts us to not even remember those former things. That’s hard. Especially if the things we can see today seem quite minor in comparison to the things we once saw! The point is we cannot identify the NEW if we are looking through the OLD glasses of the past! We need to spend our time looking for what He is doing today — now, at our house, in our churches, in the Body of Christ worldwide. It won’t be the same as the things He has done before. He’s a creative God – He makes new things out of old ones, and I am not talking about recycling!

Seeing the new things our God is doing creates hope, but looking for the old ways can usher in despair. Move on … I don’t care how old you are, move on. Ask Him – if you already have a ministry – “how can I keep in step with what You are doing now, today?” God’s kingdom does not operate the way this world operates. In His world, older people are as important as the young. Even if you don’t have a recognised ministry, ask Him to highlight the things that you are doing that are from Him. We can’t see stuff sometimes because we have a preconceived idea of what spiritual things are supposed to look like. We are blinded by previous spiritual encounters.

Even when I read the bible, He keeps showing me new things from a book I have been carefully reading for over 50 years! It blows my mind daily. I’m reading the same words, but now they are saying something different to me. I can still see the old but the new things are like a giant flashing sign – almost blinding me with their brilliance. I must have said 4000 times last year “why did I not see this before?” BTW, in case you are thinking, “lucky you” – insight is part of our inheritance. It is not peculiar to a few people. It is God waving at us … saying… “Yoo-hoo, right here!”

Maybe you have been chasing the Lord and His wonders all your spiritual life – well, right now it is time to get new running shoes on, and start training again. In the Christian life, none of us arrive at some predesignated spot. There is no place where our ministry is perfect and we know we’ve been perfected in love. We simply keep pressing on while we can! The sign of a true believer is someone who falls down often and gets up again … one more time. 

Here’s a lovely testimony about something that has blown us away. We are rejoicing, even though we don’t know what comes next. One of our very elderly family members had an enormous heart attack followed by a horrendous fall. However he opened his eyes when people came and prayed for him around his hospital bed, and then he raised his hands when they sang his favourite hymns. The heart attack/fall should have taken his life. Even the staff at the hospital told the family, be prepared for the worst. Now he is also breathing a little on his own.

Who would bother to give a 93 year old, who has loved Jesus all his life, more time? Our God would. Why? I dunno. All I know is that it is a precedent, so we’ve made up our minds not to give up on anyone, no matter how old they are!  All because yesterday, this sweet old saint raised his old hands to Jesus, one more time again in this life, and he praised God. Maybe he is more there than here, we don’t know. The outcome does not matter, in the body or out of it, this dear precious old man is with the Lord. 

Our God keeps on doing brand new things, if we don’t take the time to see and celebrate them, we will find that regret over the loss of old things we have previously loved, will grab at us and pull us down. Watch carefully for the new. Bye. 👋

“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, …” Habakkuk 2:1a

P 2820 Christmas is coming …

/ DVH

and the older I get, the quicker it comes! I like to think about Christmas as a time when I can love on my family, friends and neighbours etc. You know, if you can’t eat the yummy food, then there ought to be something you can enjoy! I love giving gifts … it’s my happy place.

My dear hubby is like the star of Bethlehem – he points the way to Jesus all over the place. Literally! Well, he doesn’t shine like he’s swallowed a light bulb, but we have plenty of those shining away on our front lawn. We have lights that look like bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, deer, mushrooms, flowers etc. … we go for the ‘nature’ look. And in our windows there are three exhortations for the world around us: “Peace” “Hope” and “Joy.” Christmas is not just a holiday at our house – it’s an annual event. 

Our family comes around to our house, year by year, and helps him … I’m the cheer squad, OK? They weed this, and string lights around that. We can’t be seen from the stratosphere or anything … But I have a feeling hubby wouldn’t mind that much. I just go along for the wild ride and enjoy every minute. I also commiserate with him, over every dead string of solar lights from last year – thank you Jesus for cheap shops!

Honestly, I think hubby would put strings of lights on every blade of grass if he could! At the same time he has written  out a Christmas card for all of our immediate neighbours and invited them to pop in and bring their kids to look at … … even more lights inside! I think my husband’s new name from the Lord might be: “sparkle happy little star.” At this moment I am looking at a giant Christmas tree, and every bit of furniture in the room has something that lights up, or plays a tune, or looks like a glitter bomb. 

You know there’s an old song that goes like this: “Jesus bids us shine like a pure clear light, like a little candle burning in the night, in this world of darkness,so we must shine … you in your small corner, and I in mine.” Ya gotta love those old hymns. Those guys way back when knew how to exhort people. Right now, hubby is shining away, loving every minute of it, even though it hurts his bad back. In 2020 he was sick but he still put up the lights on that Christmas when Co-vid sent everyone inside. There is something so neighbourly about Christmas lights.

And my hubby knows how to celebrate. That’s my message for today. Do you know how to celebrate? Or has life ground you down to a shadow of your former self and your happy little star brightness has dimmed? (Talk about mixing my metaphors … hooley dooley! Sor-ry!!) Meh! Meanwhile, I want to ask you to think about who or what turned your lights off? … Sad and annoying things happen to all of us. Somebody dies, somebody gets ill, someone else loses a job, or a house – bad things happen to good people all the time.

Bad things happening to you does not make you a bad person, and it does not mean the Lord has given up on you either. Stuff happens, it’s life. I knew someone whose favourite saying was: “Stuff happens and then you die.”  It’s a great summation but a very bad premise. We need to deliberately focus on what’s good, what’s right, what’s profitable  and let our minds park on those things. Otherwise those bad things can blow up like a balloon and eclipse everything else around us. I feel like this year has been full of those lousy balloons for many people. Let Christmas remind you that He’s still, and always, the perfect Saviour.

Now here’s something that cheered everyone up who was present back in that day. “To the paralytic man lying helpless on a bed, Jesus proclaimed,“Be of good cheer”Matthew 9:2. To the frightened Apostles battling the tempestuous sea, Jesus appeared on the water, declaring, “Be of good cheer”Matthew 14:27. (C. Fronke.) Either Jesus is heartless – and that’s not possible – OR He knows something we don’t know … yet. Jesus was not exhorting these people because they weren’t coping – He’s the Answer! The Answer came on the scene. Today our Knight in shining armour isn’t miles away – Jesus walks with us and talks with us and He will help us saddle up and ride on. 

You and I must choose to cheer up, no matter what is currently going on, because right now, we are in such great company – the Lord Himself is WITH us!  Many of the people who have gone on before us lost their cheerfulness temporarily too … let’s not let the bad things eclipse the good ones. Let’s think on things like this: “And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you;  He is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11. Bye 🌟

P 2669 Stuff happens.

/ DVH

Sometimes I miss out on seeing what faith looks like. We can all quote this scripture and that, but when the chips are down and ghastly stuff is pouring all over us, it is easier to give in to despair, first. Scriptures are great for quoting and reading and understanding … but real comfort and victory comes from our actions and our decision to stand in the face of attack. But first we must recognise what is actually going on and grab onto Him.

Just recently we were awoken by some unfortunate news …my precious mum had fallen down – she IS nearly 97. Unfortunately, she broke both bones in her shin. Because of some old family circumstances, which are way beyond my ability to manage, I fell prey to despair. Now she’s older, someone who is not a Christian started making pronouncements, and this and that, and in the end, I started to think, ‘bye bye Mum!’ 

First of all, I want to start by saying God is so good to me, instead of panicking, I was actually calm inside. My emotions, were demanding attention, but my spirit man was fine. I knew it was the Lord, because I can quite easily flap-doodle. However, despite the very large clue of God’s peace-which-passes-all-understanding, — I started making burial plans in my head! Plus I forgot to pray – I simply accepted what that other person said. Of course when I finally came to my senses I prayed like mad and started praising Him for looking after Mum.

Nevertheless, when we finally got to the hospital after a whole lot of trauma finding parking etc. I expected to find my mother pale, in great pain, and at death’s door. And there she was sitting up on the bed like a cheerful white-haired budgie! She can’t see well, can’t hear hardly at all, and yet she was cracking jokes. At that moment, I was very grateful for everything the Lord has done to change our relationship … which has not always been great. Nowadays, talking to my mother is often hilarious, as she’s not as on the ball as she used to be. 

Anyway, normally, she can barely move about, and you have to shout – even though she is wearing hearing aids. She merrily describes herself as being as deaf as a badger. Honestly talking to her is so funny and yet at the same time it can be so frustrating repeating yourself over and over again. However she bears it all with a smile and her own weird self-deprecating humour. At the same time, like a lot of old folks, she tells the same stories over and over again, and when we returned from our last bible trip she asked us 4 or 5 times in just one visit, if the trip was a good one.😂

When I was younger she was a tour de force! Striding through crowds … picking up other people’s children who got in her way and putting them to one side. As a teenager, whilst trying to be invisible, I trundled along behind and copped the angst from the child’s parents who weren’t keen on their kid being man-handled! I was often mortified by her over-the-top exuberance. One of her favourite things was singing along loudly to elevator music. She sings quite well, so maybe she thought she was treating the other lift occupants – I dunno! Whether the lift was full or not, she’d sing away, and I would do my best to blend into the lift like wallpaper – madly hoping no-one knew I was with her.

Back to Saturday’s saga … apparently, both of the bones in her lower leg were broken but they had lined up neatly like soldiers, so a severe operation was not necessary. Thank the Lord that nobody wanted to give somebody that age an anaesthetic! When we left her she was demanding for someone to please cover her shoulders, and why hadn’t anyone given her a cup of tea? Meanwhile, the prospect of surgery had cancelled all food, and she was on a drip. 

Saturday helped me realise, yet again, that stuff happens, and we don’t always react as well as we would like to. But God’s grace is so enormous, there are times when He picks us up and carries us. I know my Mum’s forever starts in heaven, but I sure would miss her down here! Absentminded or not, I have my own private miracle which I celebrate every single time I see her. Sadly, we have not always been friends, but the Lord worked with me to give me such an appreciation of who she is. 

Meanwhile, Mum hasn’t changed one bit, she’s just a tiny little bit more sentimental now. Today, I want to celebrate the fact that nothing ever goes the way you plan it, and people do do the darndest things! But in every circumstance, LOVE IS THE VERY BEST WAY TO MOVE FORWARD. The bible tells us to pursue it and I can highly recommend the Lord’s wisdom. Because of His Grace, I have yet another testimony that He can take negative attitudes and transform them into a real appreciation of someone else’s personhood. He did it for me. He taught me to keep choosing love over my past hurt feelings and He transformed ME, along the way. Bye.👋

P 2472 Something incredible happened … because of the wonderful goodness of God.

/ DVH

And because of one particular event, Father God has decreed that His goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. These things are following us, because God loves all His kids – even the ones who don’t care to know Him! We don’t know the actual date of Jesus Christ’s birth. However, this world has many references to Christ’s Presence, in historical works, apart from the bible itself. He was in fact, a Jewish man, who lived a mostly hidden nondescript life … until He was 30. 

Please note:  Jesus did not have blue eyes and long brown/blonde hair. He was not Caucasian, and I’m pretty sure He did not walk around in some sort of light blue and white oversized nightie! He wore what the men of his time wore. After all, He was born Jewish, so Jesus Christ looked just like all the other Jewish men around Him. Oh, and there was no halo around His head either. We also know He had a beard because the report about His crucifixion says His tormentors pulled that out, bit by bit. His eyes were probably deep dark brown, and personally, I think they were incredibly kind. 

One day, after about 30 years, Jesus Christ’s life exploded into public view. I guess His Heavenly Father, God said: “It’s time.” And so Jesus went to be baptised by his cousin John, to fulfil what was asked of Him. Meanwhile, John the Baptist had a recognised ministry. His job was to tell people they were not right with God, and needed to be baptised and repent from living the way they were living. Which is actually a pretty relevant point to think on even today!!

So why does there seem to be all this fuss about an infant at Christmas? After all  — He’s not an infant anymore! He’s the King of all Kings and Lord of Lords and you would definitely know that in His Presence! Even evil people or self-important people crumble into a foetal position. He is no longer a baby in a barn. Jesus is not just the ‘reason for the season” … He is the reason this life is worth living, for those who follow Him. People all over this world acknowledge His birth for a number of reasons…  but why do we celebrate the birthday of an infant born in a country so far away from most of us? 

I think that Christmas, as we know it today, has been overtaken by commercialism, which is a natty reason to make more money.  Plus we now have Santa Claus… or whatever you happen to call him, wherever you live. A big, jolly, red distraction. I’m of the opinion that poor old Saint Nicholas is probably rolling over in his grave with what we have done with his loving gesture toward the children of the poor! He was following Christ in His own way, but we have managed to transform His selfless deeds into yet another shopping experience. Sigh.

Here are some reasons that I thought some people might have to continue to celebrate Christmas. Is it an opportunity for your family and mine to get together, and pretend they all like each other? … (but in reality we chew our nails down to the quick hoping no-one will say something abrasive or provocative!) Is it a time to decorate the house within an inch of it’s life? Maybe it is an opportunity in an incredibly busy year, to give a brief thought to what we hope we believe … and then go camping with other families in the bush or by the sea. In other words do we have Christmas for Jesus Christ or for us? It is, after all, HIS BIRTHDAY!!

The thing about Christmas, is that it has gone from celebrating Christ, to being a whole lot of things it wasn’t designed to be. That’s why I think this season hardly ever works out the way we all hope it will. Christmas today nearly sends nice people into bankruptcy, because they can’t afford to buy what their kids want, or what the little darlings think they deserve. And the overworked parents feel guilty if they can’t cough up. It’s become a time when we have to be nice to rellies that we hope will magically disappear from our sight … until next year. If that’s bit close to the bone, maybe you need to think about why you celebrate Christmas.

What does Christmas mean to you? Who do you think Christ is? Is He just a baby Who lived once long long long ago, and did extremely kind things for people and then He died? Do you actually celebrate Him? You take a holiday, and time off work, in His Name … but do you know the One Whose birthday you are celebrating?

I think if we limit ourselves to just looking at a manger with a newly born infant in it, then we have done what we always do. We’ve limited Almighty God again, because we don’t understand Him or His Ways – or don’t care to! Plus we are overlooking the goodness of God toward ALL men. That’s right, nobody has been left out. Everyone. And I don’t care what you’ve done…. neither does He. 

We owe a debt, Jesus Christ paid it for us. What are you planning to do with the gift of time, that He gave you? Spend it wisely, my friend. Merry Christmas. 🎁 👋🏻