Children

P 3393 And a-w-a-y we will go… … again.

/ DVH

Very early this Sunday morning, we shall pack the last few items into our car and set off again. The Lord has asked us to go and take more bibles etc., blankets and toiletries to two separate hubs out in the country, because the weather has been so very cold and the people out there need to know SomeOne wonderful cares for them. Jesus, of course.

As we travel, we often also find ourselves comforting the people who help those who are down and out. The government workers suffer because there are far too many people and not enough funds. Plus as we go, we pray for and help those whose lives have taken a terrible turn and they are now on the streets, or hiding from brutality, grief, and chaos. They are the homeless and defenceless.

The news has finally begun reporting on the crisis our farming communities are currently facing. Many families on the land rent their properties and their rent has gone up too. And some, who have a mortgage, are now facing those awful rising interest rates. Sadly, the oil crisis has caused the prices of fertiliser, feed, seed and spray to rise. 64.1% of farmers have been heavily impacted by rising transportation costs.

Australia runs well because of our truck drivers, but it is a hard life, driving vast distances, and the roads are often not good out in the bush. All these people need our prayers, plus any emotional, practical, and financial help we can give them. When we act like they don’t matter, we are biting the hand that feeds us. They provide our food!  Let’s do more than think about that.

Here’s some info -14% of our entire population, that’s approximately 3.7 million people Australia-wide —including one in six children …are currently living below the poverty line. I am choosing to speak for those human beings among us who have no voice, they are too busy to have one!

Especially farmers – those faithful men and women who are far too busy getting up at 3.00am to 5.00am to milk their cows or pick their crop, to be complaining about the way someone else lives. The people in our cities simply cannot afford to forget them. Those who work on the land suffer the hardships of this great, wonderful, sometimes frightening land we live in — along with children, the elderly and the disabled. We need to help each other. 

My own personal success rate with growing our own fruit and veggies at our house is about 5%. So I definitely need them or I would starve. I don’t even want to begin to think about killing a chicken! I just thank God for someone with greater skills than I have, who will do that for me. Maybe today we can take the time to prayerfully remember those people who put the food on our plates. And I don’t just mean just the supermarket magnates – who have entirely different problems! I mean the little guy stocking the shelves all day every day, just so you can have your favourite brand of Cornflakes.

In the past 21 years we’ve found that we don’t always have to give money to help, even a tiny bit of love shared, lightens the load. We just try to spread kindness, compassion around wherever we go, as He leads us. When His Grace visits these precious souls He loves so dearly, we’ve seen people with tears pouring down their faces because we simply came to help them however we could. “… I was in prison and you visited Me…” Matthew 25:36. Poverty, despair and abuse, are all types of different prisons. 

The Body of Christ has been told to live this way. It’s not an optional extra. Over the years, many of us have left ministry to our leaders, instead of understanding that we can all do something.  This time some children in a local school bagged up the toiletries for us. When we take care of the poor and disadvantaged, we are doing it for Jesus, because He has chosen to totally identify Himself with them. He has also been rejected and misunderstood by the world around Him. Not to mention His parents, and immediate family. (Mark 3:20-21), (John 7:1-5), (Mark 3:31-35).

For three and a half years the Lord Jesus Himself lived on the road, going from town to town, walking long distances. And He lived like that to totally identify with all of us. He slept by the side of tracks, and relied upon the kindness of friends and strangers for food. He even ate grain straight from a field, and drank water from a well!

At the beginning of His life – not long after He was born, in the poorest of circumstances, His parents took Him as an infant and ran for their lives from persecution. This is one of the many things I love about the Lord Jesus. It says: “…He shared our sorrows and pain….” Not just in theological theory, but in practice. A follower, is someone devoted to Jesus’ Ways. They choose to pick up their cross and learn from the Master Himself, daily.

Jesus Christ, God incarnate, deliberately chose to live like we do. I remind myself … that the KING of heaven chose to live like an ordinary human being. This means He knows suffering, firsthand. After all, none of us can live this life without bumping into it! That’s why the Lord Jesus is the perfect Saviour. His compassion for mankind is so much greater and all encompassing than we can imagine. We don’t have to be millionaires to care or share. When our lives are not our own, its easy. We just share whatever we have.

So off we go again… Bye …🚙  PS I’ll be writing blogs as we travel, and a huge thank you to all those who are praying for us.

P3385 Don’t let fear knock you out of the ring.

/ DVH

“So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6. That’s one of those rhetorical questions nobody likes. That’s probably because most of us could give quite a list of stuff man can do to us. But I wonder if we know, just as thoroughly, how much God has done for us, right here, right now? Time for revision. 

This verse tells us, He didn’t just save us, He also enables us. “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8. Notice the predominant word “all.” Now let’s look at 1 John 4:18 it says: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.” 

Begin by revising how much God’s perfect love has given you, personally. Yes, He saved you, and yes, He has helped you – thank you Lord! But there’s more … read the bible. Go through your journals. A journal can help you revise what He has already done for you spiritually, physically, and mentally. After all that revision – go and find someone who needs His love and love on them. The action of loving others uses faith, which releases more faith. Faith fights fear, so use yours. Go and spread the love He has already given you around. Start SINGING!! “Sing for joy to God our strength …“

Moving on to Psalm 55:22 MSG bible: “Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders, He’ll carry your load, He’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. But you, God, will throw the others into a muddy bog, Cut the lifespan of assassins and traitors in half.” And we think video games are blood thirsty! The point is, God’s always with us even though we may not feel it. The bible says it, we believe it, and that settles it.

Actually, it is far more accurate to say: We’re with Him!  Don’t look at the size of the things coming against you, look at the  power of our God to get you through. Read and reread the book! Sometimes we are viewing this life through the wrong lenses. Let’s not borrow someone else’s glasses, let’s ask the Lord for HIS. His eyes see the things we don’t. (Ephesians 1:18)

2 Timothy 1:7 “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” What a way to identify the Holy Spirit!! Anything short of this verse means we are messing about in the wrong spirit. Never forget we are all in a battle, we live in enemy territory, and we don’t belong here.

Now let’s recap what our truth is: God is with us, and He will help us. We do not need to be afraid of someone else’s face. When I was little, and I did something my parent didn’t like, I would see ‘the unhappy face!’ However, our Father’s face always says: “I love you so much, and I am here for you. Let’s do this thing together.” He’s not just sending you out – He’s going with you!  The same God Who helped Abraham and the Lord Jesus is going with us.

We were not designed to carry burdens in this new life Jesus gave us. Part of that new life is freedom. Freedom means I can refuse to accept the weight of whatever is going on. I still get to fix whatever He tells me to do, but I am obedient, under His instructions, and the weight of what the Lord says I need to do, will not drown me.  I can stand still and see God Himself work on my behalf – I just have to learn to leave my clock behind. Our God doesn’t do timetables, and He does not fit in with ours. Instead, He does PERFECT TIMING. There’s a difference. 

If Father God did not give me a spirit of fear then what the heck am I doing with it? Why am I entertaining these thoughts? Jesus was teaching His disciples God’s Ways, in Luke 11:10, 11.“If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask Him?” 

Jesus is using these illustrations to demonstrate the fact that God is wa-a-y more loving than we are. Because our Father is like that, we can, and should, always expect loving help from Him, not trickery. Good outcomes. Trickery comes from the other guy. We will have to fight our feelings; they can come at you roaring, or even in insidious whispers, telling you God has left you and He doesn’t care.  Fear is a shadow on the wall of the reality of Christ IN us.

Let’s fight for what matters – it’s OUR peace, and Jesus paid dearly for us to have it. It’s called ‘renewing your mind.’ We have the Word of God to remind ourselves our side already won! We may live in a war zone – but Jesus already won this war. Don’t let the enemy knock you out of the ring. Bye 👋.                                                                             ”Dear Lord, I thank you that I can come to You always for any reason. I’m grateful that when I pray to You, You answer me. Help me to come to You at the beginning of my fears and anxieties instead of waiting until I can’t stand them anymore. The quicker I come to You the better. You want to free me from ALL my fears. Help me look to You for help all the time so that I can be radiant with Your joy. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

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 3347 What can I do?

/ DVH

What can I do? We can all see our role in God’s plan as essential. Because the Lord loves people, our main focus has to be outward, toward people. Praying and giving are both great – do it! But remember, now you and I are His temple, we take Him with us everywhere we go. So interacting with others is our goal, we dare not live solitary, individually based lives any longer. Christians need to live their lives looking outward. 

My daughter-in-love teaches Religious Instructions in a local school. Her little group of multi-denominational RI teachers have had to lobby to stay in the school they minister in. They fight yearly, for the right to teach these kids. Not with bats, rocks or guns, but with loving insistence, and perseverance. Children are the church’s future, they are arrows we fire into a tomorrow we may never see. There are at least two generations in our country that know nothing,  or very little about Jesus.

It is extremely important to use the bible wisely – not like a literary weapon to wallop people. The book is a healing balm, an overflowing ointment that excels at providing human beings with our Father’s love. It helps us gain wisdom, and learn how to love others. It is filled with His life, and more life! It isn’t a bat or a club. Battering people with God’s word makes them angry, and afraid of it. And if they know about the Lord, they blame Him for all the bad things that happen. 

The people in this world don’t know God is good. I don’t know about you but I still find myself on every single page. It is a powerfully underestimated living book. The Holy Spirit speaks through it. It is a book about the goodness of Lord and His Ways and it is our joy to make His Word available to other people, as well as demonstrate what is in it.

So, let’s recap a bit, we could teach RI, or Children’s church, or produce plays, lead singing groups, etc. but whatever it is, please don’t limit yourself to doing these things only inside your own church. We need to be visible, yet we are starting to look like an independent nation in the middle of our societies — instead of the sweet flavour of God. Churches can seem so intimidating to people who have never been inside one – the people inside know the rules – but strangers can be frightened by what we may do next!  

It is good to remember, that the Body of Christ has all the spiritual H20 — and everyone outside Her is slowly dying of thirst! Let’s deliberately make plans to get the Water of Life, and His Word, outside our churches and into our local communities. We cannot influence others unless we are face to face with them, loving on them. What we do is a response to His love toward us – He came here ‘while we were yet sinners.’ So because we know His love and we love Him, our Christian faith should never slide onto the back burner of our minds. After all, we’ve never left His mind! When our faith slips into the background, it can quietly leave, and we won’t even notice. That’s a tragedy. 

When we went away this last time, the people we met thanked us so much for coming and bringing aid, they were very grateful. But we also had a number of people who are working for the government with very little support because the needs have increased exponentially — they thanked us over and over again with tears, simply because we came. “I was in prison and you visited me.” Matthew 25:36.They were blessed because they felt we were showing solidarity with them in their bottomless coal-faced interaction with individual heartache and pain.

Prayer should be the beginning of anything we do but let’s remember that Jesus prayed on His own time. He publicly and privately ministered wherever He could. This world has become so incredibly busy, it seems we are all afraid of losing what we have. So we work harder and harder in order to maintain a lifestyle where God is a PS, and not our main purpose. Our trust in His provision for His children only seems to show up when we lack stuff.

I have always thought that buying a bunch of single gospel  booklets – see above – to give away when we can. Most of the people we talk to on the road, haven’t ever read the bible. We have even had some of them ask us: “What’s a bible?” Being generous to strangers gives them an opportunity to learn about His love for them. We give away individual gospels and they cost around $A2.50 each. The real point is to give others something to hold onto to remind the person God loves them. What can we do? Live the life Jesus died to give us. Bye 👋. 

“But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know Who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God! But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.” Romans 10:14.

P 3339 Let the children come …

/ DVH

“When Jesus saw what was happening, He became indignant with His disciples and said to them, “Let all the little children come to Me and never hinder them! Don’t you know that God’s kingdom exists for such as these?” Mark 10:14 TPT. I’ve taught this text in Sunday School. The Lord’s exhortation is so precious, He was never too busy for little ones. We had a couple of lovely times with tiny children when we were away, and I thought I would share them here, today. Bearing in mind, that when marriages don’t work out, the kids will suffer as well. As a child I had no father, I know how much Daddys are needed.

Our first encounter was with a young mother and her little girl, who is about 2 years of age. We think they had been homeless, but then the mother found a job for a short while, running the motel. Unfortunately when we met them, that job was about to run out. Hubby always takes a bag of goodies for people, so he took one and a lovely book for a little one. This series talks about Who God is, how He made the world and how He loves children. It’s just right for little ones. 

So hubby gave the little girl one of those books, and the child was so delighted she ran to our door. Her mummy said she could give me a hug and, I have to say, it was the loveliest hug I have had in years. She danced off holding the colourful book beaming all over the place. I cried. Little ones today often want this expensive thing or that, and this dear little girl was so thrilled with an ordinary colourful book! I’m praying for her and her mummy that God will land them in a safe place. People don’t always tell us their stories, and we are just happy to help however we can.

The second incident involved a miracle. OK, many people might not call it that, but they are allowed to be wrong! The place we stayed in was attached to the owner’s garage, and there was a little boy, about 3 years old … and his little brother, who wasn’t walking yet. The boys were outside with their dad raking up the dead leaves. You get a lot of dead leaves in autumn! The child informed us he was going to be a gardener when he grew up! I must say, he did a fair job of sweeping and raking up leaves for a little guy.

The Lord reminded me of this series of children’s books we had brought with us, so hubby dug about in the car and came up triumphantly holding the right bag. I sat down with the Lord asking Him which ones He wanted us to give the two children. My intention was to find two books, one for him and one for his little brother, but I especially wanted pictures with gardens in them, for the 3 year old. I found a couple, there was one I thought would be suitable for a infant, and then I just picked up an odd extra one just to be sure. Hubby went off to give the gifts we always bring with us to bless our hosts. 

He came back beaming. Get this — it turned out the eldest boy had been collecting this whole series, and he lacked two books. Those two books we gave him were the only ones the parents couldn’t find for him anywhere! Of all the books we carry, the Lord had highlighted the two this little boy wanted. The ‘extra’ one I tucked in, ‘just in case’ it was not  needed, the child already had that one.. He was so delighted, apparently Daddy was told to read them both at bedtime. I just marvelled at the Lord’s heart toward little children. We had over thirty copies of these books from the series, yet God Himself picked the only two this child wanted, just to bless him. 

That is so like Jesus! He does not need a brass band, He loves to do things quietly, and secretly to bless us. The boy’s parents didn’t appear to have a living faith, they had collected the books because the little boy liked them so much, but they were very interested in what we were doing.

Last one – not quite the same as the other two, but it shows the Lord’s provision for a grown man who has a daughter he doesn’t see much. This one is fun, but it is bittersweet when you think about the pain of the child and the father. Previously, in the car, I had told hubby that he was going to meet a man in this place – most refuges only have women in charge for obvious reasons – and that he should give this man a compass. I was so sure about what the Lord had said! So hubby rolls up with our packets of blankets and …. a man greeted him at the door. It turns out they did have a man there … just one!

Compasses make a great illustrative gift for people who feel lost. Hubby brought this man outside to meet me, because he was thrilled that the Lord was right. I, on the other hand was pretty tired by now so I just blurted out: “God says you need a compass!” The young man stepped back when I said it, and his eyes filled with tears. Then he nodded. “I do!” He said. The Lord really impacted him. Eventually he said that he would take it with him when he picked his daughter up after school, so they could enjoy it together.   

Jesus told us to let the children come to Him, however, it was a great surprise to me to realise that we can help children come to Him simply by giving them something as simple as a book designed to speak to them. Bye 👋.

P 3330 Jesus is the Hero not us!

/ DVH


2 Corinthians 3:4-5: “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Our life is now, today, not tomorrow. Tomorrow literally never comes. So, today our life is about relinquishing our own personal power, and gratefully receiving His power into our lives to help others and overcome sin. Now there’s a big thought! The Holy Spirit is our Resident Expert in all things spiritual, which is why we choose to defer to Him, even if at the time, it makes no sense to us. Obviously the bible is our yardstick in all things, but learning to practically trust the Holy Spirit is essential if we want to walk with Him.

In the Lord’s kingdom we are children, His children. He loves our obedience – especially in the face of our own logic. I’ve learnt over time, that things will eventually make sense, and we will learn patience in the process… bonus buy! I wish I had the space here to recount the times I have badly messed something or other up — and then, when I realise my sin, I repent, and ask Him to redeem the mess I made. Some of the most brilliant answers to prayer I have ever seen, come from those moments! Don’t be afraid of getting things wrong as you walk with Him – Jesus is a Redeemer.

The Lord’s wisdom and clarity are astonishing. When I am writing this blog I often can’t think of a good, clear, simple way to explain many concepts that seem exceedingly complicated to me. I don’t just want to write my ideas here, I like to do my best to write things that will give other people insight into Who the Lord is. So I pray, and He literally hands me the sentence I couldn’t find.

Often a particular sentence, a word, or a phrase pops up and I know it didn’t come from me. It suddenly drifts through my mind and as it does that it occurs to me that isn’t the kind of thought I would have. Even when I get stuck reading the bible, I ask Him to help: “I just don’t get that Lord. Would You mind explaining it to me please?” And He does.

Reading the bible without the Holy Spirit is tedious and boring, reading it with Him is like slowly unveiling a puzzle as it fits together. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.” Ephesians 1:17. We will never understand His Word with our hearts, if we simply analyse it with our heads.

I’ve been reading the bible for over 50 years so I guess I am familiar with the overall gist of it. But I still need the index every now and then to find stuff! I know what I am looking for is in there, somewhere, but I often dunno where! Thanks Google. However, I also know it is His thought when it simplifies something that seemed so complicated that I couldn’t understand it at all …

One of the most frequent things the Lord says to me as I read His Word is this: “What doesn’t it say?” Here’s another one: “What would it look like if i did what it says here?” Man I love/hate that last one. I love it because He is going to show me something about Himself I haven’t seen yet, and I hate it because I know that somewhere, somehow, I’m going to end up taking a risk. Believe it or not I am not a risk taker by nature. 

I once went to Niagara Falls, but I skipped going over them in a barrel, the second I looked at them! Man that’s a whole lot of water!!  No risks for me! I am often aware that I’m not other people’s taste when it comes to speaking – because I’m too blunt, but I don’t much care if I hurt your feelings to reach your heart. Yeah I hear the irony!! I totally love the Body of Christ, but my first priority is that I want Jesus to have the  reward of all His suffering. We can be part of that reward for Him when we value what He says above what we think and act on it.

I have definitely fallen in love with the way Jesus thinks about people. When I have trouble with someone I ask Him to help me to see them through His eyes. People are His favourite subject, no matter how they look, or what we think is wrong with them. He doesn’t SEE race or creed, He sees people who need His love. Our Western selfishness and sense of entitlement is tragic. We scrimp and save and work so hard for the things that do not last. And we can easily ignore the eternal because it doesn’t jump up and down and demand our attention.

Paul says this kind of stuff so beautifully in Philippians 4:12&13: “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I’m still learning … especially not to complain when things aren’t easy.

As I am typing this today, I know He has something for you to do, that no-one else can. That’s why you are here. Please don’t let searching for fame and recognition take up your precious time. Be you, and let Him have His way in your life, you will fall in love with how gentle and kind He is. We need to quit hero-worshipping anyone else but Him!

Once when I was back-slidden I ended up talking to a junkie about the Lord Jesus. He said: “I know you love Jesus because I can see Him all over you.” This dear muddled up young man was wrong. The Holy Spirit was all over me because He loves that man and He quite simply can’t help Himself – He will use a donkey if that is all that is available. Jesus is the Hero, not us. Bye. 👋

P 3298 Live for today.

/ DVH

Lately I have seen so much written about the end of the world, and the rapture, and the Lord coming again, it is starting to concern me. We seem to be more interested in bailing out of this life, than accepting the challenges it brings. Maybe we want to leave behind the giant mess we have made because of our reluctance to reach out to other people. Instead of avoidance, let’s live our lives today aware of fulfilling the great commission, together with obedience, and choosing to learn to love others His way.

Sometimes it seems a bit like we would rather leave this world, than have the Lord change our behaviour. That’s a scary thought. Jesus will come when He will come, and His timing will be perfect — it always is! But I am pretty sure we are not meant to be hiding away waiting for these incredible events to happen. I don’t care if you believe in before, during or after, when it comes to the rapture. Maybe you don’t believe in it at all… and I still don’t care. I refuse to squabble with anyone about the subject of timing, something that no-one knows anything about. The bible says in Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”  That’s “I dunno” in today’s language. If Jesus doesn’t know that, how on earth can we?

I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ and have been one for a long time. I have personally had ups and downs, but He has constantly remained faithful to me. I think these things were written to warn us that we need to make the important things, the important things! So I take what the bible says literally. So if God says I don’t know something, then I don’t know it. Nor do I care to either. If it was important for me to know this information, it would be in the book! Jesus told me to be like a child, and little children accept what they are told. Teenagers, however, are a whole other ballgame.  🙄 Moving on… 

Very little of the bible has repetition in exactly the same words — but the above two verses are repeated almost verbatim: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…” Mark 13:32. For me, fighting over this eschatological subject is just like straining out gnats and letting through camels – it is a waste of our time. My opinion changes nothing. But I can either waste my time debating about it, or choose to go out and do what He says each day. I can’t actually do both, because both will demand and take up my attention. The end of the world scenario demands opinions, conversations and obscure verses used as proof, and our focus goes off doing, into postulating. If Father God didn’t tell His Beloved Son then why the heck would He tell me? Yeah, I know I’m overly simplistic – I’ve heard that one before.

In my opinion, this end times stuff is a giant distraction from our main task, which is to walk in this world like Jesus did. It seems to be so much easier to talk about irrelevant stuff, than live the life He paid for us to live. Our confidence is in Christ, not in me knowing when the world will end. I want to spend my time going after perfect love because perfect love throws FEAR out of the door. And fear causes us to huddle behind closed doors, like the disciples did before the Holy Spirit came. But the bible says: “When the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?”  Luke 18:8. I know the Lord Jesus will absolutely come back, but in the meantime, I plan on concentrating my efforts and energies on loving and serving Him, loving others, and using my faith, day by day.

We need to abstain from soaking in something that is quite clearly none of our business, and move on into the things that are. I just want to say that I’m not a big fan of the way prophetic things are sometimes used within the body of Christ. It seems it can be more about a person’s need to be seen than it is about serving one another. I’m also not happy when one gift is valued above another, we need ALL of them. Paul says this eloquently in his exposition of the gifts in Romans 12. The good gifts God Himself has given us. 

In Romans 12:6-10 (V7) he says: “[He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching;…” There are two separate gifts here, side by side. Yet one has been made less of because it supposedly involves practicality. Paul tells us here we are to use the gift we’ve been given to benefit others. Personally, I have found that spiritual gifts not only bless the brethren — they also affect the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet. It is incredibly important that we know our place and simply stand in it under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We are not looking for natural talents, we are looking for spiritual gifts that find a way where there seems to be no way! 

Think on this. Service does not seem to be an important gift, but it is an office in the Body of Christ. It is not just about knowing how to keep the books, and making sure the rosters are filled. Serving Christ is the highest honour we have. Women in the bible are mentioned by name, simply because they served Him. Service requires just as much faith as prophecy does. We need the gifts of administration and service desperately, and they are not minor or lesser gifts. The Body of Christ cannot function without them.

God has ways for things to happen that we have not even imagined or seen yet, simply because we have relegated some roles into the natural. But the bible clearly says they are supernatural. I pray we will not be misled, there are so many influences that will excuse us or drag us away from the purity of the daily things the Lord wants us to do for His kingdom. Let’s live for Him, today. Bye. 👋

P 3291 Here’s a part of the blueprint.

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“Here’s how we can be sure that we’ve truly come to know God:  if we keep His commands. If someone claims, “I have come to know God by experience,” yet doesn’t keep God’s commands, he is a phoney and the truth finds no place in him. But the love of God will be perfected within the one who obeys God’s Word. We can be sure that we’ve truly come to live in intimacy with God, not just by saying, “I am intimate with God,” but by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.”  1 John 2:3-6.

A blueprint is a plan that reflects an intention to build something. God gave us His Word as a clear guideline of what He intends to build in us. As well as what He has built in many, many other people, who have gone before us. When I read what the Passion Translation says, I find my self wishing I had contributed to it. The clarity and personal application in that version is amazing. It contains the nuances that I have embraced over the last 50 years, and also the things I consistently pray for, and about. I hear the Holy Spirit’s voice very clearly showing me how to walk with Jesus. I also like two other versions:  the Good News bible, and the Amplified.

I love switching bible translations around because my desire is to understand, so I can put what I read into action. I want to know what the Holy Spirit is saying TO ME. When I’m puzzled, I often say to Him: “Lord, I just don’t get that!” This typically happens after I have read, and reread it, and then I access it in a couple of other versions. Then I wait. I’m waiting for the ‘aha’ moment when the Holy Spirit shows me what I am missing by tossing the words about in my mind. I don’t believe the individual Words are set in stone, I refuse to see the book as static. 

I believe the Holy Spirit is so brilliant He can give the same verse to billions of people, and they will each hear what He is saying to them for their lives. That’s the moment when the bible stops being black writing on a page, and it becomes real, living and transformative. Then I press in, because if I don’t “do” I know I will immediately forget what I saw… what I look like!’ (Thanks James.) Now I need to know from the Holy Spirit how to activate what I’ve just read. He tells me how to put it into action in my life. 

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that the thing the Lord loves the most … is time spent. I also know He loves acts of service and worship, we see those in the Gospels and Epistles. Like 1 Timothy 2:8 says: “Therefore I want men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and disputing or quarrelling or about (in their mind.) ” And I know He loves gift-giving. Proverbs 19:17. “He who is gracious and lends a hand to the poor lends to the Lord. ” The bible supports and delights in our personal, every day interactions with Him. But I suspect the Lord values time spent with Him, not just in a ‘quiet time’  but during the day in the moment by moment remembrances of Who He is. He loves to be included. 

Let’s look at our relationships with others: “Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds. We know that the truth lives within us because we demonstrate love in action, which will reassure our hearts in His Presence.”1 John 3:18-19 TPT. In other words John is describing HOW we do it. “…not just by saying, I am intimate with God,” but by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.”  We can’t walk like He did and still live our lives the way everyone else around us lives their life. What sets us apart is WHO we are following!

I laughed when I typed that, so many people ask nowadays – “Who do you follow? Facebook? Instagram? Tik Tok?” I just love that question because… you guess it… I say: “I follow Jesus! He’s got a book and everything.”  They smile, sometimes not all that sincerely, and move the subject away from my answer very quickly! But a few are curious about what I mean. 

Jesus Christ is the Pioneer of social media! People have been following Him for 2,000+ years. He started out with 12 followers, lost one, quickly went to 120, and then … wham! 3,000 followers in a heartbeat in Acts. This year, early 2026, there are 2.38 – 2.64 BILLION followers! These people don’t have to stare at their phones all day, they have a direct inner hook-up installed by the Holy Spirit. And you get born into that app!  We don’t have to stock-pile foodstuffs or petrol, God Himself supplies all our needs.

So if you want to know if you have truly come to know Almighty God, then this is what it looks like: We love God and each other. Jesus summed up the 10 commandments in 6 words. That works for me. I don’tcollect followers  … I ARE ONE.  I spend my time practising the love of God on everyone I meet. (I need the practice BTW.) We are never alone, and we don’t have to wander about aimlessly either. Because we’ve chosen to follow in the footsteps of our Master, Lord, Saviour and friend, Jesus! 

This means we have chosen to pray for the sick, speak deliverance to those who are held captive, as well as pray for blind and deaf people. We have chosen to love the unlovely the same way we love our friends and family. If we sin, we know exactly what to do about it. Repent, confess, repair. Like John said in 1 John 1:7-9 , “…knowing that the blood of Jesus will cleanse me from all unrighteousness…” It’s all in the blueprint. Bye. 👋

P 3255 We can easily miss what He is doing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3216 Obedience is not an optional extra.

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Being obedient is the best way I know to walk with the Lord, and it can prevent a whole lot of confusion. I discovered that I needed to purpose in my heart to simply choose to be obedient. I’ve learnt to read the bible, pray and meditate on it and — do what it says. At the same time, I’ve found as I focus on loving other people, suddenly a whole lot of stuff that I needed, was added unto me along the way. “We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love He has for us. God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them.” 1 John 4:16.

I believe that the depth and purpose we desire to love the Lord, appears when we intentionally, continually apply our dedicated obedience to His Word. Father God doesn’t need our mental agreement with whatever He has said, Jesus and the Holy Spirit agree with Him and that’s a majority right there!! This is what Jesus said about obedience in John 14:15-17. “If you love Me, you will obey My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper Who will be with you forever. That Helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it doesn’t see or know Him. You know Him, because He lives with you and will be in you.”

The Holy Spirit is our Helper, and Jesus specifically asked the Father to send Him to us – to help us to obey the Father. At the same time, the Lord expects us to treat the Holy Spirit with reverence and respect. The Spirit of God is gentle in His heart, like Jesus is, and we need to respect that He will not cannonball all over the place, or even push us along. He clearly knows what truth is, and it is unfortunately quite evident from the above scripture, that a lot of the time, we do not! 

My favourite times with the Holy Spirit happen when He shows me what the truth is, in whatever scripture I am reading. It’s like someone turns the light on when I’ve been sitting in the dark trying to puzzle out what God wants to say TO ME.The precious Holy Spirit will not show us His heart, or what He wants from us, or even share His secrets with us, if we have no desire to be obedient. What would be the point? 

Let’s look at Jesus’ own personal lament over man’s lack of willingness to live their lives close to God. It is recorded in Matthew 23:37, where He says to Jerusalem:“How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Have you ever tried to cuddle a child that didn’t want to be cuddled? They are all wiggles, arms and legs and cranky with it. That’s what I think about when I read Matthew 23. God wants to love on us, but we want to hold ourselves far enough away from Him so we still have a say. Or we try to wrestle ourselves out of His grasp, as we go as close as we dare to — but no further.

Here are some more specific scriptures about being obedient: 1 Peter 1:14 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,…” Acts 5:29: “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” Psalm 1:1–2: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.”  What we think about matters. The problem seems to be this — when we think about obedience long enough — if the change in our life is going to be hard, we postpone it, or try to go around it. 

Human beings keep their minds busy, trying to figure out this life so we feel more comfortable. So we problem-solve. Many times our minds will keep on returning to the difficulty, trying to figure out another answer, because we don’t like the one we have! The Lord has taught me to give things to Him. He told me to put every problem down, at His feet, and refuse to pick it up again. I give my problems to Him and He carries them for me. 

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” That burden we worry about all night might never happen, and even if it did, what can we do about it? Our King promises to intervene and teach us how to get through things, AS we learn to rest in Him.

Years ago, I kept getting stuck on the way other people I knew were living. What I thought they should do. All that stuff meant I was not meditating on God’s goodness to me! Instead I was whining, grumbling and complaining because my feelings were engaged in things that weren’t anything to do with me. At other times I wanted someone to help me, but I wanted them to do it my way. I didn’t want to consider God’s answers in case I was convicted of sin and I needed to change my attitude. I blamed those other people, because they wouldn’t change their way of doing things, and … make my life easier for me!  Yeah, you heard me! Oy vey!

Luke 6:46: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”  I kind of think I might know why we do this… we want all the lovely benefits—but not the training in righteousness. We want a maid, or a butler, or a personal trainer following us about doing the hard yards for us. Jesus did all those the hard yards for us, long, long ago. But now, today, we must enter into the battle of all battles with our old self! The battle to think like He does! 

Obedience is not an optional extra, it’s the narrow way mentioned in Matthew 7! It is designed to reveal His heart to us, and our hearts toward Him. Living for His sake is always a choice, but it is also part of our ongoing salvation. Bye. 👋