Change

P 2315 The Way ahead, is dead.

/ DVH

If we want to see God’s way ahead of us in this life then loving the people who hate us – is actually the way to go.  Meanwhile we are going to need His ‘eyes of faith’ to see that pathway. And I don’t care if those mean, unpleasant people are Christians or not. If we want God permanently making His home in us, instead of Him just being a Sunday visitor, then we need to make the Holy Spirit our new BFF and let Him change our lives accordingly. 

The bible tells me that I have been saved, delivered, and changed, but unfortunately … none of that can show up in who I am, without me choosing to change. Long ago, I had a huge expectation of what Christians should be like. Now that was a crushing blow. In the church I met people who were supposed to be nice … but … actually they hadn’t got that memo yet, so they were sometimes nice and most times NOT! Some of them were meaner than the people out in the streets..

Meanwhile the difference between who the bible said I was supposed to be, and who I still was, was wider than Bass Strait! These new lovely people of God stuffed me full of information, bible studies, prayer groups, conferences, but the gap between what I read about who I was in the book, and who I really was IRL, or even who I was supposed to be, was ginormous …to say the least.

Eventually I actually realised I was never going to fit in, because the Lord made me into the kind of person who wanted to know … why not? If it was in the book, then why weren’t we doing it? Why did we not make the poor a priority when Jesus clearly told us to? Why didn’t we pray for the sick? How could Christians live a life of pretending to be nice – when they could be mean etc. at the drop of a hat, and then smile at you next time …without ever asking for forgiveness?!  

Disappointment and discouragement dogged my footsteps for years. I would try my best, get provoked by circumstances, then fall flat on my face, cry for a bit, get up and … try again.  … I had no idea that Christianity was to be gloriously lived by totally transformed people –  not just better actors than me! Also I was ignorant of the fact that I now had my own personal Guide, Helper and bible translator … If I just paid attention to what He said instead of merely reading the bits in the book that made me feel good!

I did not understand that transformation is not just about trying harder.  Or even about praying about stuff and if God did not answer my prayer to be a sweeter Christian, then that was not my fault. That was on HIM. AFTER ALL I HAD PRAYED, I had asked … and if He didn’t answer me, then maybe my behaviour didn’t bother Him, or He just hadn’t gotten around to that stuff yet. Fat chance. 

In a nutshell I pushed away my own personal responsibility to co-operate with the Lord and humble myself enough to tell others that I did not know how to live the kind of life Jesus did. Privately I was of the opinion, given my current circumstances – that I probably never would make it.  Nobody told me that in order to be changed I would have to give up my right to live my life my way and do it HIS way instead. When I finally realised this truth, I hit another snag. I HAD NO POWER TO CHANGE because I had been feeding my flesh for wa-a-ay too long.

The way through stinky attitudes is death! Death hurts. We cannot bury these things and hope no-one will notice. GUESS WHAT? They will notice!  Christians can’t come out of following Christ alive. We need to get honest and admit we are not special spiritual people, but human beings who have cultivated wrong attitudes and habits that need to be killed off with His help. Jesus suffered and struggled with this truth and we do too. WE MUST DIE!

The way ahead is death to self, and living for Him and others. “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And your neighbour as yourself.”  Good luck with living that way by pretence and effort. Good luck with praying it falls on any of us out of the sky. WE DIE DAILY, or we ain’t dead at all. Read the book. 👋🏻

P 2306 Authenticity verses His plans.

/ DVH

Our society insists on authenticity, even when that particular state of mind bumps into someone else’s life. Somehow then my authenticity can and often seems to override or negate yours. OR it wants to!  People can always build a great case for themselves and I can definitely build a better case for me! 

I believe with all my heart that the Lord wants us all to be authentic. BUT, He wants the real us, not just the person we think we are – or even what we want or hope to be … The person we try so desperately to hide – who is actually sinful, careless, self-centred one. Or maybe even a demanding twerp who is stuck somewhere between two and five years of age … and never wants to grow and change – they just want power!  

Growing up, or maturing, is a part of authentic Christian development. It’s the moment I stop blaming you for my own short-comings and responses, and begin to understand that not only am I not perfected yet – I ain’t ever gunna get there unless I start acting like God is real and He can do exactly what He says He can! 

Meanwhile, I am responsible for any ugliness inside me, and you can’t make me do anything. You might just give me appealing opportunities and choices, but Jesus actually died to give me a free choice. I have a Saviour Who is daily constantly imparting and infilling me with His new life. To get that new life – I will have to give up my own perceived right to live MY life MY way, and stop trying to manipulate your life to make ME comfortable. Wouldn’t all that be loverly? 😳 

I have a great diagnostic tool that will clarify these issues. When you read the bible or Christian books or articles etc. and they talk about people’s faults – do you know people who fit these descriptions given, and they instantly flood your mind? Or – do you fall on your face crying out to God that you know what you just read fits you and you need His help to repent? Maybe then another sort of list pops into your mind … a list of people you have sinned against. None of that will kill us!

Do you listen carefully to your pastor’s sermons, mentally wishing your mother, brother, cousin, neighbour was here today to hear this … ? Ah-huh! Oh yeah, you gotta a case of extreme religious-itus. The only cure, is genuine I-gotta-fix-this-now repentance. 

That kind of revelation always opens the door to real transformation. Unfortunately, I can choose to put my own shoulder against this revolutionary door to try to shut it again! Or even try to board it up, a little, just to keep it ajar, to let in a little light… and no more. People stuck in these thoughts can also get fixated on ‘its not fair’ …PLUS …we can all drift off into …’what’s blatantly obviously wrong with YOU.’

It is just so much easier to see how someone else can and should change, instead of me personally choosing change with His guidance and help! To gain real God-given authenticity I will have to lay down my plans for me and my life… and pick up the plans clearly laid out in the bible. However it is way too easy to use God’s book, selectively, to prove our own POV. What takes actual courage is to let His book read us, feed us, and correct us. The Lord is so tired of the ‘where is that thing You promised in Your book’ prayers. He is looking for saints who will lay down everything – simply because they want to see His kingdom come, and His will be done – so HE might be glorified. 

Here’s a really big thought – if I choose to change, then the way I see you will begin to change too. Instead, I will get His POV – and Jesus doesn’t see you negatively. Lastly, if being authentically ME means I am stomping on you then I missed the part where I need change and prayer more than you do. 

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” 👋🏻

P 2260 Kingdom farming!

/ DVH

Matthew 13:31-32 “He (Jesus) told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

The kingdom of God it is described by the Lord, as being like many things: a treasure, a pearl, many seeds, family treasure, leaven, sprouting seeds, a net, and for today’s blog – a mustard seed. The more we tend to His kingdom in our lives, the bigger it grows. The more we cultivate, acknowledge, and obediently interact with His kingdom in our lives, the more we will grow. This means that other people can come to our little ‘kingdom of God mustard tree’ and shelter in its safety.

We don’t make this tree grow by ourselves – the ground it is planted in does. A whole lot of people move around from one church to another in Christian circles, because they decide they don’t like the soil they were planted in! Imagine a tree that moves around?? In His kingdom we do not grow because of the soil – we grow as we accept that it is our destiny to grow, and dry ground or rocks provide us with the opportunity to adapt and grow stronger. 

Every time you and I do whatever the Lord says in the book, on purpose, His way … we are nourishing the kingdom of God within us. Just like we would fertilise and water a mustard seed plant. That seed inside us is nurtured by  obedience and by us choosing to abide where we were planted. Saying ‘no’ to yourself in difficult moments, and ‘yes’ to God’s way, can seem very insignificant, but when we live that way, we are providing the right atmosphere for the Kingdom of God to grow inside us. We are abiding!

Sadly, we can’t just speak about growth and claim it, and hope it will magically appear. Like I said a tree when it has been planted – does not pull up its roots if it doesn’t like the spot it is in and go walk-about. It yields to and adapts to its circumstances. This means WE will need to change. The major point of this parable is that this particular seed is destined for greater things. It is there to grow and provide safety for others. When we have deep roots, our ‘tree’ won’t just flop over when a storm hits. Storms, I have decided, are inevitable. We cannot prevent them. Despite all our efforts to the contrary, we can’t control much of anything. Sadly, in some circumstances, we can’t even control ourselves!

It is also important to take the time to meditate on the fact that His kingdom has no end. So every time we co-operate with His kingdom coming into our lives, we are touching the eternal… and the eternal is touching us. Like I said before, we are providing for others when we live this way. I’ve watched this happen through my husband’s attitude toward strangers. He believes in the kingdom of God within Him and He knows God wants to touch others! 

Recently our bank changed its system. Yay! We were told if we did thus and thus all would be well. Naturally, we promptly did thus and thus – BUT … all was not well! The bank had provided for this time of change by listing a number we could call. Hubby called the number. But as he was talking with the bank operator, he empathised with her about what a tough day she must be having, because she had to deal with so many calls. Hubby cared for her, instead of getting grumpy because this new system inconvenienced us. She opened up to him like a sunflower. The young lady came into his mustard tree’s shade and was able to rest. For a few minutes she was free from having to explain her work’s policy and she was able to be herself. They had a great chat and in the end, all was finally well!

Matthew 13:10-12 says this: “The disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance…”

The way to get an abundance of His love to give away, and provide shelter for others, is to cherish and nurture His kingdom within us. His kingdom must go deep inside us – this means it will challenge and expose flaws and hindrances to growth. But many many people will find rest, comfort, encouragement, healing and a greater knowledge of God Himself in our own personal mustard tree. This is why we need to be good Kingdom farmers – so people can personally, “…taste and see that the Lord is good!” 🌳 Bye 👋🏻

P 2256 Move!

/ DVH

Some people, in the past, have said that I’m a bit prophetic. Hmm I don’t know about that! However, yesterday, in my mind’s eye, I could see time like a large wall, stretching backward and forward. In this wall I saw a window. It was a large window but the scary thing is – it was slowly closing. I believe this window is called the window of opportunity. 

Meh! Ask the Lord about that for yourself.“And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and He will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but He will overwhelm your failures with His generous grace.” James 1:5 TPT. He straightens out my theology all the time!

Back to my point: what with Tsunamis, 9/11, Covid, the war in Ukraine, earthquakes, monetary markets crashing, food and medical shortages, plus various other awful things happening;  these things have polarised the world and affected everyone on this planet. It seems to me that nobody feels really safe anymore, because we have quite regularly experienced worldwide destructive events in an unprecedented fashion. 

However, this also means that the church all over the world, has a huge opportunity, because the people-who-don’t-know-Jesus-yet are ready for something real. And we are incredibly blessed because we know that Answer, personally. And, right here, right now, it’s our time to shine with the light of heaven, Jesus Christ. It is remarkably easy to put your light under a basket when things are overwhelming. But our time to live His way – I believe, is here and now. We must stop sort of squashing Jesus in, around the edges of all the fun things we can do, and live up to our Master’s faith in us. He is our place of safety.

I know that I know, that this is the time to start taking our Christian lives VERY seriously. We must stop thinking that going to church Sunday by Sunday is all there is, and take the faith that Jesus died to give us, and use it. If we do not start to use it, I am deeply concerned that we will lose it. As I said before, these are unprecedented times with unexpected and terrible pressures. That’s when the pressure to survive becomes more important than anything else, and real active faith goes on the back burner. The thing is, we need our faith now more than ever, because the enemy is distracting us away from our true God-given purpose.

Let’s believe and act on what we talk about. Hubby and I have been out there, where people are, and we know they are ready for something real. Like James, said, we need to show forth our faith by our works. Obviously I mean the kind of works that originate in His heart and are led by the Holy Spirit. It’s time to prime the pump of obedience. Sadly, because we’ve had a lot of unknown factors recently  – we are all a bit wary of more bad things happening – so we’ve kind of bunkered down, waiting for the storms to pass. But they haven’t. Praise God, it has opened the hearts of the people outside our churches, instead!

So what happens when we decide to take a risk and to talk to family, friends, and strangers about Him? We could get to look like a goose … and in my case, that wouldn’t be the first time!  Many people have crashed and burned in their desire to bring glory to their Master, Jesus. When we do that we are in some really great company … like the people who have gone home before us! It’s also time to face those things in our lives that we would rather ignore and hope they will go away. Our faults, our flaws, our generational, soul-destroying stinky attitudes and actions!  The Lord Jesus is absolutely excellent at putting broken Humpty-Dumpties together again. So true active repentance is the order of the day as well.

Getting this stuff wrong, ironically … is good. It is like a cleansing fire, it burns away all the dross that this life has accumulated. Pride disappears, so does fear. Instead, living for Him and obeying Him humbles us and sends us to our knees. This is not the time to sit back and look at our hypothetical barns, (Luke 12:16-21). We can’t afford to relax, or maybe even plan to build a new one! Our time has come. And we need every single one of us active and ready to obey Him. We all have a part to play in His plan. There is simply nothing like seeing the light of illumination come on when you are talking to someone who does not know Him. 💖

The alternative is to try to wait the bad times out, promising ourselves when things get better – then we will try to follow Him. There is another kind of trap that says that we will obey when we are more informed. It doesn’t work that way. First we obey and then we learn of Him. Stepping out is putting on His yoke. This yoke is not about Him blessing me while I am going in my direction, but it means I am following the lead oxen – Christ – and going in His direction instead.  Submitting to change, no matter how settled we are, or how old or young we are, stretches us. It’s time to wake up and stretch. Move it or lose it. 👋🏻 

P 2215 Time to remember we are all human, and shouldn’t pretend otherwise.

/ DVH

I had a very difficult day yesterday. My blog site went down, because there was a problem at the server’s end, and it took most of the day for it to be restored. Computers! They are great … until they aren’t!  I, of course, lived up to everything I say here – and … promptly panicked, and got ratty at the server. 😢 I’d like to say I have an excuse because I was not notified about the extensive IT work on the site… but I’m not real sure about that one – I think it was more a case of looking at who I really am, under pressure! 

Today has been a day filled with identifying and making all kinds of adjustments, and not all of them were happy ones. It isn’t a lot of fun peering into your mirror/bible and finding you aren’t the very nice person you hoped you were. Sometimes I think I should wear an under construction sign on my forehead. Sigh. I was extremely anxious, and then alternatively, ticked off at the IT guys. There was not a lot of praising God going on at my end, and I wasted most of my day fussing about it. When it got to nearly 4pm and the site still wouldn’t load, I gave up all hope of ever being able to post my blog that day. Of course, that was the exact time when everything began to work again, so I could finally post it! My sincere apologies for any inconvenience.

Don’t you hate it when you find out who you really are, when you are under pressure? It’s like one of those pop quizzes they used to give you at school – and there you are with egg on your face, and nothing you can do about it either! You know you are winding yourself up, but you just can’t seem to stop. It’s much easier to make good decisions when everything is going well!  But the real test is when things aren’t going well at all. The young customer service person helping me was very helpful to me, and far nicer than I deserved – I wasn’t rude, but I wasn’t happy either!

Obviously I have asked the Lord to redeem the situation I found myself in, but the fact that the blog was about the fruit of the Spirit when my OWN fruit appears to have been attacked by nasty little fruit flies was not lost on me!  It became extremely clear to me that I should not have one face for the brethren, and another for the people I meet in the supermarket or – customer service! That’s called hypocrisy. Sadly I have observed it is much easier for me to get cranky at others than I would like. There is no excuse BTW – I’m just plain cranky.

Unfortunately at those times it is also so-oo-oo easy to see other people’s mistakes rather than identify my own! It is also pointless to pray about our faults and leave them to the Lord to fix – He won’t do it for us. We must confess our faults to one another … and then stay alert for opportunities to change our responses.

It took an obscure movie on Brit Box to alert me to the fact that the only interaction I will have with some people on this planet will be brief – so I’d better make it count for the Lord’s sake! I personally think it is quite sad when we wear one face in church and another in public. That irony is not lost on me. Living a dual life can actually lead to self-deception, plus excusing our own behaviour over and over again … and eventually … complete avoidance of the need for personal change. 

Confession seems to me to be the best way to neutralise this kind of situation. There is nothing like sunshine on mould to get rid of it. But first I took a good long look in the mirror. I listened to Sir David Suchet reading the Epistles of Paul. Listening to that convicted me. I learnt once again, that people can only give you opportunities to find out what is really inside. It ain’t their fault when it accidentally pops out! Reality rush! 😬Meanwhile it is far easier to sort yourself out, than it is try to change their responses. Now that’s a real lesson in frustration. 

Time to remember, yet again, what James said in Chapter 5 verse 16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  Feel free to pray for me dear reader! “Dear Lord may I never forget Your mirror is my friend.”  Amen.👋🏻

P 2200 Wisdom is a Person.

/ DVH

Wisdom is the Person of the Holy Spirit. If we will value His opinion above our own, He will share with us. HE LOVES TO SHARE. The Holy Spirit’s wisdom is not the same as ours. His POV is sin-free! Thank you Jesus! 👏 He only wants to see the Father and the Son glorified. HE HAS NO PERSONAL AGENDA. 

We need to understand that we won’t always comprehend what He says … because most of the time we are pre-occupied with our lives, and we definitely have agendas. Plus what the Holy Spirit says will often cut across our own way of thinking. Sometimes we could turn away His wisdom, because it doesn’t make sense to our minds. But when we choose to pause and listen and obey – then the whole world gets bigger. There is enormous value in PAUSING and WAITING.

We need to value the Holy Spirit’s Presence in our lives above everyone else. He’s here, right here right now. He’s there with you while you are reading this. His desire is for you to go from strength to strength – and He knows the Way through everything you are facing. Here’s something that helps me: just because He did something a particular way last time something happened to us, that doesn’t mean He will do it the same way this time. Stay open to change. Things get clearer and bigger when the Holy Spirit is around – He brings His light, His way of thinking, with Him. Be like the blind man in the bible who said to the Pharisees: “One thing I do know: I was blind but now I see.” John 9:25. We don’t have to know everything because we know SomeOne Who does …and how He lo-oves to share!! 🙌

Even when you are reading the book, never ever think you already know it! I’ve become fairly well acquainted with His book over the years. However, when I started out I had to use the index because I couldn’t find anything!  But from the very beginning of writing this blog – He cautioned me to look up every verse I put here  – even if I think I know what it says.  Why?  Because He expands those verses as I am rereading them for the umpteenth time and suddenly I see something I never saw before. I exhort us all to decide to be as dumb as the dust we all came from. To interact with the Holy Spirit and walk with Him we will need great humility – because He is not self-exalting. 

True humility never assumes – it leaves human knowledge at the door and goes for what is in the book. It asks “what would my Father say?” If that was good enough for Jesus then it is good enough for us! Seriously, don’t put all your hopes in this or that revelation, or some sort of insight, or voices, or dreams, or what someone else said. Ask for His wisdom for yourself. “Ask and keep on asking …” The Holy Spirit opens up His Ways to us as we read His book. Our own human psyche has an agenda, so we must deliberately leave our agendas behind, and focus on the desire to hear from Him, and ask for the patience to go after Him.

Our God doesn’t care about man’s logic. Man’s logic is easily influenced by greed and need. Remember what happened in the garden:  “…the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom … “ (Genesis 3). Eve sinned when she valued her opinion over what Father God said. Obedience matters. Think about every bible story you ever read, they don’t make sense to the human mind. 5 loaves and 2 fishes to feed thousands? Ridiculous! “Hey, let’s climb out of a perfectly good boat and walk on water???” I mean … the bible has loads of stories that are wa-ay out there … 😳 Almighty God does not think like we do. It’s not that He thinks bigger – He thinks in an incredibly comprehensively Way. He has everyone’s good in mind, not just yours. 

His wisdom needs to be esteemed – not only must we value it – we must not discard it just because it doesn’t initially make sense to us!  File the stuff you don’t yet understand under – “things I will understand one day” – and leave them there. I drag them out every now and then and ask again. We must learn to make His wisdom our treasure. I exhort everyone to read the bible like a treasure map. Humanity reads the stories in the book, and sees advantages, short cuts – “Oh, if I do this, then God will do that, because He did that for Fred and Mary. SO!! … if I do that, then He will do it for me too.”  

Beware of the ‘SOs’ – our God is incomprehensible. He rarely does the same thing twice. (Read the book!) There are no short cuts, but there is only always MORE. Ask for His wisdom. And please don’t just ask for wisdom when you’ve run out of your own ideas, instead walk with Him, be led by His wisdom, all the time! 👋🏻

“Wisdom cries aloud in the streets…” Proverbs 1:20; Proverbs 4:5-9; James 1:5; Luke 21:15; Ephesians 1:17.

P 2198 Let’s talk about what faith isn’t.

/ DVH

Faith is not just praying about something and leaving it with the Lord … and doing nothing about it yourself. Faith is an arrow that turns into an action. True faith is doing what Peter did, he had to swing his own legs over the edge of that boat. Then he had to get his balance, stand up, and start walking. Jesus didn’t come to the boat and take the man’s hand and lead him out onto the water! Peter had to make those moves for himself. Faith isn’t a theory, or an unproved thought – it has fruit – you can see it. “Faith is the substance …“

So don’t just think or pray about seeking forgiveness from that person you don’t like, or the one you keep hurting … go and do it. Keep on doing it until YOU change. We can ask the Holy Spirit for mercy and grace and ask Him to prepare our way – but then deliberately – on purpose – GO! After that, keep asking for grace to see and interact with that person differently – don’t just avoid them. And if you mess up again, then ask for forgiveness again. Forgiveness has nothing to do with shame, it is an acknowledgement of my own sin. It is a positive move, despite our feelings, because we are getting something we’ve lost back. Peace! Faith has feet it is not motivated by shame.

We make the biggest mistake ever if we think that when we pray about something, that is all we have to do. It is useless to pray that the old lady down the road can manage her money well so she can eat! Pray, then go and do whatever the Holy Spirit tells you to do, like take her a box of groceries, regularly. God’s ways are practical. But there is always a step of faith to be taken – it’s hard because it is not our nature – yet. Faith leans on His understanding (the stuff in the book). Faith won’t stop.. . until it sees a change in me. Faith is not self-deception, it doesn’t have to hide because it freely admits its own faults.

We probably won’t feel like we’re doing anything at first. We may even feel stupid. However, walking and stepping out of the boat requires our participation and the Lord does not do that for us. Our faith steps activate God’s kingdom, because His kingdom thrives in an atmosphere of faith. Remember, if we don’t ‘like’ someone it may take time for the Lord to open our eyes to see them the way He sees them. Faith is not afraid to get things wrong, it thrives on the Saviour’s loving acceptance. So it does not avoid people just because something is awkward.

When we are angry with someone, the Bible is clear. We go to them. And if they are angry with us, we go to them. Either way there is an action required to step into what God wants us to do. We will not see the kingdom of God in operation while we pass all the responsibility for our transformation, over to Him and do nothing. Faith never thinks the kingdom of God is someone else’s responsibility. If I can see it then it is my job.

Gideon had a set of difficult tasks to complete before he saw an incredible miracle. God coached this man’s faith. His story makes us aware that faith often requires us to do the very thing we would rather not do – like going into the enemy’s camp to win! Our pride and theories have to go down, and Christ’s servant humility has to come up. It takes a humble person to disregard what they think, in favour of doing what the Lord says. Faith will not hesitate to do the hard thing because it lives to see Jesus glorified.

When the Lord comes back for us, He will be looking for faith – that means faith is something that can be seen. It is not airy-fairy – it has concrete actions. Prayer is just the beginning of activating our faith. It is a conversation with the Holy Spirit about the thing we probably don’t want to do! We simply ask for help to do things His way. Like Gideon we would rather round up thousands of troops – but God spent that time eliminating the human answer. Faith doesn’t hesitate to step up into the fight because it knows our side already won.

This is real life, bad things happen. Faith needs to be constantly stretched, otherwise it may not be big enough when we really need it. We need our faith working right now, today. Faith is about being obedient when we just plain don’t want to, and doing it simply because He said so. Faith is not telling the Lord what He should do for us, it is asking Him what He wants US to do for Him! 👋🏻

P 2194 What is God aiming at?

/ DVH

I Thessalonians 4: 23-24 “May God Himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One Who called you is completely dependable. If He said it, He’ll do it!” Amen. The Person Who can teach us Holiness is the One Who has HOLY in His Name. We need to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit, from the bible as He leads us.

There are times when we think we know what the Lord wants from His kids, and so we get nit-picky about superficial things. What people wear – what people say – but the Lord looks at hearts. Think about this – the woman that was taken whilst she was committing adultery was thrown down at the Lord’s feet. She did not look pure and holy – she looked guilty! Jesus went around the visible things and her actions and He taught her accusers a lesson, plus He spoke to her heart, all at the same time. His love released her from fear and guilt …

Human beings look at attitudes and actions for proof of sin – but the Lord looks at our hearts. Ask yourself, am I amenable and open to change? Do I listen to what other people say about me or am I suspicious of others and their motivations? Our hearts can be changed easily when they are soft toward Him and others. Unfortunately we don’t always know what is IN there. So we need to take note of what we do, feel and say, and how we respond to others.

Our circumstances will uncover the real US. We are who we really are when we are damaged, provoked, or passed over, or treated badly. Our responses to those things reveal our actual heart attitudes. My best advice is don’t make excuses for yourself. Repent anyway. Make His pleasure in who you are, more important than saving face, or pretending to be someone you aren’t. Don’t be afraid to be your real self – Jesus paid for all our sinful attitudes. However, let’s keep working on those attitudes while it is still day, because night is coming.

We are not here to uncover other people’s sins! Instead, His kids are always looking for a way to love, connect and help each other – we choose to see the good in each other. Sin starts in our minds and if it is unattended to, it will drop into our hearts. Sin needs justification. “I do this because they did that!” But Jesus’ death and resurrection empowered us to a higher place where the greater law prevails.

Our God is not content with lip-service, He works from the inside out, but we must overcome our fear of change and embrace the fact that because what Christ did – He totally and utterly loves us. He loved us all before we were ever born. Sadly, for too long our aim has been our own comfort, but the bible makes it very clear – we are His kingdom people – we are here to usher His kingdom here on earth the way it is in heaven so our comfort is non-existent or secondary.

This is why verses like this one in Thessalonians are important. They show us the Lord’s AIM. His aim is not to fluff our pillows and make sure our beds are all comfy cosy – His aim is to have a people – a family. And Jesus Christ is our example of what that family will look like! You will, however, still be you, and I will still be me – but we will both be changed, praise the Lord … because we both need it. Maybe me more than you!

The thing this verse shows us is that God Himself will do this work in us, as we step out in faith and use the bible as our guideline. As we continually use our faith, we step into His kingdom and then even our own transformation adds weight to His kingdom growing around us. The more we change, the more the world around is influenced by our new way of thinking, doing and being. 

Almighty God will make us holy the same way He is holy. And the Person Who totally understands and knows how to implement it into our lives, is the Holy Spirit.  But we need to continually learn to co-operate with Him. One of the most important revelations to grasp, is our utter helplessness without Him. We cannot do this work of transformation ourselves. We can read about it, agree with it, and eventually we will realise that we come up short. Paul talks about this in Romans. 

When we discover it is beyond our reach to change ourselves, that is the time that the Lord has begun His work in us. Poverty of spirit is a good thing. That’s why Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…” Our Spirit-led responses to life’s difficulties are the building blocks of our new life. We need to learn to rely upon the Holy Spirit to show us how to be holy the way He is holy. 👋🏻

P 2132 Reading the bible leads to faith in action.

/ DVH

The Word of God, without His mercy and grace upon it becomes legalistic. John 1:17, ESV: ‘For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The Lord Jesus didn’t change the commandments, instead His life, death and resurrection introduced Almighty God’s GRACE into His truth.

I don’t know if you have thought about this or not, but Jesus took the ten commandments and virtually made them impossible – without the Spirit of the Living God helping us. The Lord made rote obedience harder.

Listen to this in: Matthew 5:22, Jesus is speaking … KJV: “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”

Of course this verse doesn’t apply to anyone out there in blog land – none of US are ever unreasonable, and we never get mad at other people and call them an idiot… well … maybe … not that often, anyway! 😂 Me neither.  I am not going to offer you any sort of personal explanation, interpretation or application for this verse BTW … it’s in my how the heck do I do that (?) file … see below. BUT, I would like to point out the thing that jumped out at me today – the words – ‘danger of.’  Yeah. Some people find that getting mad means reaching for a baseball bat, and I can see that ending very badly. But I still need to apply that verse to me – so feel free to pray for me. Thank you!

Here’s my advice: never ever give up on understanding anything in the bible. If you don’t ‘get’ it, and you can’t figure out how to action it – then put it down, and take the time to go back to it later and ask Him to help you. I have a lot of things in my I-have-no-clue-how-to-action-this file. But just because I don’t know what to do with some of my automatic bad tempered responses, that does not excuse me from pursuing the answer. Instead I pray then go back and reread them, and I remind the Lord that I still don’t get it. In my opinion the Lord loves it when we follow things up.  

I am currently wading through 1 Corinthians. The thing is – I actually don’t need these verses explained to me, I can read English, I simply need to hear His voice in them. I need a plan of action! I wait for Him to speak, but I don’t excuse myself from obeying if I don’t know what to do about it. I want to change, and I’ve come to understand that God Himself has a WAY for me through the temptation to avoid losing my temper. I need to be changed from the inside out – which takes time and patience from everyone around me. We can all analyse the words but that is not what will change our behaviour – our behaviour changes when we have a plan of activation from HIM.

I don’t want to be surprised by any ugly stuff coming out of me when I am under pressure, because that means that things that have only been changed on the surface of my life. Agreeing with the bible, leads to surface change. However, I badly need my heart to be changed. The new attitudes and actions that the bible talks about need to become so much a part of me that I don’t react to stuff anymore, now I respond to it instead. As you know, I recommend doing what it says because reading it is one thing, and memorising it is another, but I’ve found doing what it says engages my whole body, and that forms a bigger memory cue than just reading it or remembering the words. 

Sometimes I am doing something else when the Lord reminds me about whatever I’ve read that day. He talks to me about what I said or did, and then He reminds me about what He said or did about that subject, in the book. Then I can see the contrast for myself. I must be honest with you … I would love to tell you that I smile and jump up and immediately obey whatever He tells me – but the truth is – I need Him to take what He said and show me how it works in the situation in front of me – otherwise I am stuck. Honesty and humility with other people is the only manageable way to deal with being stuck.”I’m sorry” is a part of the process not the end result.

I need guidance. Actually, I need HIS guidance! I need Him to take that “apple of gold” He just highlighted to me, and have Him help me to put it “into a setting of silver.” Because I want to know to how respond to His word and act in faith on it. A Christian book will tell me how it worked for someone else – but, I want to know how it works for ME in my life. When it comes to relationships, most of the time He tells me to fix things … now! This does not always enchant or delight me. 😶 Most of the time it does not even suit me! Obedience is always costly – humbling yourself when you do not think you are wrong costs even more! 

The Lord told me years ago: “If you let Me correct you, you will hear Me when I direct you.” If we let Him speak to the sin in our lives and act upon what He says in faith, we will hear Him more clearly. People often ask me: ”How do you hear the Holy Spirit?” I obey His corrections. When He corrects me, He is showing me HE LOVES ME. However, I don’t always instantly, passionately fall in love with what He tells me to do! Most of the time I have to humble myself, but the bible says that going after humility means I am on the right road. When I feel resistant to this process, I’ve learnt to do whatever He tells me to do, despite my feelings. I have scripture to back that one up BTW.  Read about the two sons in Matthew 21. It’s a real eye-opener. 

When we digest the bible, it is like eating our food with the chef in the room. The Holy Spirit has prepared that daily bread with us in mind, and He knows what we need to hear. He wrote this book and despite the 724 translations of the entire book and 1617 translations of the New Testament – we all still need a Personal Translator. He will daily apply what it says into our lives so we can obey Him. Reading the bible and applying what it says means we will start using our faith, every single day. 👋🏻

P 2128 ‘God won’t mind.’

/ DVH

1 Corinthians 10:23&24 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.”… a-n-d … that’s a big fat full stop there!

When we give our life to the Lord, our lives are destined to immediately change. We do not have to live like everyone else anymore, because, now, the Holy Spirit lives IN us. Now, we need to practice obedience to the Lord’s ways and this is how we learn to LET His Presence guide us. Because of what He did for us, we live for the benefit of others, and we regard this life’s external trappings the same way the Lord Jesus Himself sees it. Most human beings see things as important. People are more important than anything else to the Lord, that’s why He slept outside and travelled long distances, to see, teach and help people.

However, now we are free that does not mean we can do whatever we like and forget the consequences. We’ve simply been set free from the captivity of sin and selfishness. BTW that’s what the book of Romans takes a really long time to say!  We are no longer sin’s captive because of the reality of His salvation in our lives. Now the Holy Spirit in us, teaches us which way to go … through circumstances, His quiet voice, and the bible. BUT HE WILL NOT MAKE US OBEY. ⬅ That bit right there is essential information.

And now here’s my hot tip:  Christians have spent a whole lotta years doing what we want, or pleasing someone else other than the Lord, so along the way, we’ve picked up a lot of nasty habits and thought patterns. That’s what transformation is all about, learning to say no to what probably seems OK or right to us, and yes to what He says about what He wants … IN THE BOOK.

Now we have the power within us to walk away from the things that will trip us up. However, the Holy Spirit will not take over – instead He helps us walk, as we ask Him for His help … step by step, forward into freedom. That’s where the revelation of freedom grows from a theory, into a new way to live. And we practice obedience. Father God will not make us do anything because real, internal transformation comes from volunteering for change.  I just want to say one little thing about this process from my own personal observation. Sometimes our needs can drive us along, and those needs can be very primal. So we can quite easily feel like we don’t have a choice, because whatever we are battling has been in charge for a very long time. Sometimes those things have become strongholds.

In our journey with other Christians, we are bound to meet people who fight this kind of battle the same way Joshua did at Jericho. They sing, pray, or speak to the wall that is holding them captive and it falls down. This is a good time to remember, that Joshua obeyed the Lord’s instructions … to the letter. And what the Israelites did was obey instructions from their leader. However, the people who praise God about the pre-existing walls in their lives, are often the exception. Many many MANY other times Joshua and the Israelites had to wade in and fight! Most of the stronghold battles I have fought in my life, have been about wading in and fighting spiritually.

“For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energised with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide. We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raise up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 TPT.

Fighting means I’ve learnt to stand on whatever bible verse the Lord gave me and insist that His word is bigger than my logic or feelings. I use that sword of the Spirit He gave me, whenever the temptation to doubt the Lord crops up and then I demand that the enemy leave me alone. The whole Garesene demonic incident holds another big clue about fighting the enemy and forcing him to leave. The enemy in the demoniac man negotiated with the Lord Jesus, because the demons did not want to leave the man – the Holy Spirit will personally give us strategies.

It is useful to know that some things we fight against are stubborn, but at the same time, they probably make us feel comfortable because we are familiar with them. We need to learn to insist, despite how we feel. Always remembering that our new AIM for Godliness and purity is far superior to staying in the same old pig pen, eating satan’s slops. The Lord has set a table before us in the presence of our enemies… it’s time to access that table and tell the enemy to take a hike!

We simply cannot afford to continue to make excuses for our own bad attitudes and behaviour. We have to start calling it sin and disobedience. And sometimes we need to hear that in our own ears, from out of our own mouth! I believe we cannot afford to allow anything in our hearts that Jesus died to set us free from. We also can’t comfort ourselves with the thought that God understands, and He won’t mind. Those thoughts will keep us in a COMA – out of touch with the real world around us, and pacified by platitudes that have no power. We all need our faith to work, and we learn how to use it by fighting the enemy within and without. 👋🏻

“Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of His love will become the very source and root of your life.” Ephesians 3:17