P 3496 A little hopefully, helpful revision 🤠…

October 14, 2026October 14, 2026 / DVH

Here is a much repeated question down on the ranch… how can I hear God? My answer is simple. Read the bible, read the bible, read the bible. And when you get sick of that, deny yourself, pick up your cross, follow Jesus … a-n-d!!… read the bible some more! … No, I am not joking, and there aren’t any shortcuts on this trail pardner. Reading the bible is the best way I know to know, recognise, and check that you are hearing God’s voice. Doing that means we will become familiar with what He says, and what He sounds like.

Take notes if it helps you. But I don’t, unless you count this blog! However I’ve heard others say that taking notes is like telling the Lord you are going to take what He says seriously. That’s how we got the bible in the first place — people wrote stuff down. Those 66 books are proof that these men loved God so much, they chose to pay attention and take note about whatever He said and did. Even when it didn’t show them in good light!

Next clue, find something you have been ignoring, or simply hoping that it will go away, and fix it. Bite the bullet and just do it. Don’t consider it, or take a survey amongst your Christian friends, just do it. Yes, even if the other person was really wrong and you can prove it. Be prepared to suffer wrong. The people who choose to follow Jesus don’t have pride, dead people don’t — but they know they need humility, be-ca-use … that’s in the book! Humility means you are prepared to get it wrong, and look like a goose as you follow Him. We are all human and we don’t always get this stuff right.

However, I’ve learnt that when we start taking tiny steps of faith, Father God is so faithful! He takes our clumsy efforts and uses them anyway. It is amazing!! Remember, we can count on the fact that Jesus has already redeemed our mistakes and missteps, 2000+ years ago. Our God is out-of-this-world incredibly gracious to His kids. He’s a good, good Father, and this is how we learn how good He is for ourselves. He has not only saved us from our sins, He has also saved His kids from their own personal version of the spirit of stupid. Because sometimes we accidentally fall into the bad lands and can’t find our way out.

The Lord’s reputation for unprecedented goodness, is important to Him. If we do something dumb – and boy have I done some really really dumb things … we can be assured that He will redeem it, as we humble ourselves, admit the fault, fix it with others, and do what He says about it. That’s when I’ve personally seen the Father’s Grace in action all over my life. The minute I repent, things start to turn around. He sends the Holy Spirit to come and lead me back.

The Lord wants us to use our faith for so much more than earthly gain or fame. Fame is a trap – it puts a target on the person’s back. We can end up bumping into everyone else in our rampant enthusiasm, so we pray because we know that He told us to pray, and then we wait. We expect an answer: EG. yes, no, stop, go back. I urge you to read the Epistles. The Apostles expected God to answer their prayers, and they saw for themselves that the Name of Jesus is astonishingly powerful when it is used to glorify God.

At the same time, in everything we do, we must choose to do it with oversight. No Lone Rangers in this Western! That’s because Tonto is extremely dumb, and they beat him up every time he goes to town! So when hubby and I go on trips, we submit our plans to our pastor. We utterly trust this man with our lives. If he says, “don’t go,” then … we don’t go. End of story. Submission is not an outdated concept, it is a functioning biblical principle. Otherwise we can bump into other people like random atoms, and that can have dire consequences. Our Heavenly Father loves it when we defer to one another. So cowboys who enjoy wandering off the ranch into no man’s land need not apply.

Moving on … please don’t just read the bible. Instead, let the bible read you. And then let it challenge you and change the way you think and act. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to apply what you’ve just read into your own life – and take the time to listen for His answer. Newsflash — He is never in a hurry.

The things we say need to be monitored by the bible. Because our words count, Jesus taught us that. “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” Matthew 12:36. Yeah. I wish that one wasn’t in the book either – but ignoring it won’t help. I pass stuff like that verse over to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help me. Because I have loads of idle words, I am SO never going to manage that one by myself. So when He says: “shut up dear,” … I shut up dear!

Last tip; John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We all know that Jesus Christ Himself is the Living Word. He knew God’s Words so well — He WAS them! If we want to become acquainted with what He is telling us, then we need to read the bible like Jesus Himself is talking to us. That’s the way we become familiar with our Shepherd’s voice. When people say: “I can’t hear God,” then I give them this often revised and well-practiced advice. Read it – do it. Bye. 👋.

P 3494 Start from the right place — His Grace.

October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 / DVH

“Even if the mountains were to crumble and the hills disappear, My heart of steadfast, faithful love will never leave you, and My covenant of peace with you will never be shaken,” says YAHWEH, Whose love and compassion will never give up on you.” Isaiah 54:10 TPT. God’s love is not limited … but our time here is.

“Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from Me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with My strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with My victorious right hand.’” Isaiah 41:10 TPT. He will help us to flow in His Grace.

“Don’t be obsessed with money but live content with what you have, for you always have God’s Presence. For hasn’t He promised you, “I will never leave you, never! And I will not loosen my grip on your life!” So we can say with great confidence: “I know the Lord is for me and I will never be afraid of what people may do to me!”” Hebrews 13:5-6 TPT.

Aren’t these scriptures great? If we choose to read the Word of God like a love letter, which has been made complete with loving personal instructions, we can be utterly blessed by it. Loving eyes see far more than scared, nervous ones … … or even constantly distracted ones! Distraction is a big deal today. It is no longer strange to see people flick flick flicking their phones trying to find something that interests them. If we take that attitude over into reading the bible, we will get bored quickly. Even the language used in it will defeat us.

Let’s choose to start from His Grace, and never lose the kind of gratitude that acknowledges we are nothing without Him, because He is everything to us. Religion can often be part-time — but GRACE cannot. Grace is a living thing that accomplishes far more than we can ever imagine. Let’s choose to see His Grace like the tide, flowing in and out. It flows in to us, and with our permission, back out toward others. That tide is lovingly relentless in it’s quest to saturate human beings with the kind of loving Grace that bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

There are times when I can get pretty snarkey if someone pinches a parking spot, or pushes ahead in a queue! That kind of response started in the garden and flowed out onto Cain and Able. It’s sin. The truth is, my negative response to someone else’s thoughtlessness is sin. It shows that I still don’t understand that God’s Grace goes where it wants to go — it is not hindered, or restricted by my prejudices. No matter how many verses of scripture we can find to prove our point! Walking in Grace is facilitated by walking in His love, and we can have it all!

Let’s daily, minute by minute, buy up the days, because our time on earth is finite and precious. And let’s choose to be obedient, pushing aside our reluctance to engage with strangers, or even family members. Grace flows beautifully when we make God choices. We can stop up that God-given flow with revenge, indifference, anger and unbelief … not to mention guilt. Entering into it is so simple – we simply stop thinking about our lives as our own, and start living them for Him. That is not just for the few keen ‘spiritual’ people who seem to find it easier than we do.. It’s for all of us.

Father God will never give up on us, but we can short-circuit our progress in our life of faith by believing our sin is greater than His sacrifice. Or we can tell ourselves that we simply must say thus and thus, otherwise that other person will never get the point. That kind of vigilante attitude is not the way the Lord wants us to operate. That person who irritates us, is the vehicle we step into and discover how far short we are from Jesus, God’s glorious ideal. That person is our friend because they show us what is truly inside us. Let their attitudes be their problem. We just need to keep following Jesus, listening to Him, obeying Him.

He sent out His disciples to heal the sick and raise the dead and preach the good news that God’s kingdom had arrived. It was good news — not a list of everyone else’s sins. I suggest we use the energy that is needed to maintain anger and disappointment to propel us forward into giving away God’s Grace. It’s our job. We take that Grace in and then we pass on all the forgiveness, acceptance and love we’ve received from Him, to others. Please be encouraged, this is a learned skill!

We don’t have to love someone’s behaviour to love them. God loves us, and our behaviour stinks sometimes! Jesus saw beyond the sin to the trapped person who needed an opportunity to get free from it. Sin is a prison. It won’t let you think about anything else, whether it is your sin or their sin, it just rumbles about inside like concrete in a concrete truck. However, the Holy Spirit can soften our hard hearts when we ask for His help. That other person’s heart isn’t our business.

Other people’s sins can trap us into a cycle that seems never-ending. That’s why Grace is needed. Grace, by it’s nature is not earned or deserved. But it blossoms and creates new life when it is given to someone who doesn’t deserve it, as we use our faith. However, if WE keep reacting the same way, we are continually going to get the same annoying response! Grace changes ME first, and it opens the door to God’s Way of thinking. Grace keeps silent when it has a LOT to say.

I urge you, don’t keep what you have been freely given bottled up inside, give it away. Let’s start from the right place, releasing His Grace to those who don’t deserve it anymore than we did. Bye. 👋

P 3491 God has a bigger plan for your life.

October 9, 2026October 9, 2026 / DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3489 Our own personal purity of purpose.

October 7, 2026October 7, 2026 / DVH

Romans 7:6 says: “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” As you can see, we still serve – but now we do this service on a personal level. It is no longer one rule fits all, instead the Holy Spirit guides us, speaking to us individually, as well as corporately. We are here to benefit others. This does not mean we will become careless about our actions … instead our actions are to demonstrate His power in a broken world. Those actions are hallmarked by love, the way Jesus Himself defined it. His disciples are a wonderful example of love guided by purpose.

So much of our lives can be lived upon the surface, of ‘gotta be’ ‘gotta do,’ ‘gotta go’ — but human beings need much more than that. They need love, hope and … a purpose. Christians experience heaven’s ways while we are still on earth as we choose to obey our Master, Brother and Friend, Jesus. This means our priority is not about strictly obeying the law, but about walking in the abundant Grace Jesus Christ released when He died in our place. And we live giving that Grace away to others.

The Lord never presumed upon the Father’s great grace toward Him, instead He lived His whole life, from beginning to end, to God’s glory, giving away grace. Through His teaching He taught us we are to live the same way He did. The stuff He said often blows my mind. He once said to a rich young man. “Why do you call Me good? Only God is good!” Mark 10:18.

Let’s just pause and think on that. When you think of good, don’t you think of Jesus? I know I do! What do you think He meant by that? … How about you take the time to ask Him. Our relationship with Him is built upon the kind of freedom that asks questions. The disciples in the Gospels asked all kinds of questions. Usually when I ask the Lord questions He answers with scripture, and I learn something about Him, about His purposes. I also learn about myself … something that I didn’t know before.

This rich young man had an incredible opportunity to see what was really uppermost in his heart, it was handed to him by Jesus. It wasn’t about the Ten Commandments, this man had all of them down pat, however the Lord diagnosed his main impediment with one question. He didn’t condemn the young man’s passion, but Jesus totally revealed what was really uppermost in this person’s heart, to show him something that was in the way of what he said he wanted.

Jesus can ask us a question that will cut through all the white noise, and our nice image of ourselves, and it will show us we are not who we think we are. God’s way of being and doing is not superficial, and it is not satisfied with the right answers, it wants the heart answers. This young man thought he’d get a big tick, and a ‘well done you,’ from Jesus. It says that Jesus loved him, virtually on sight – and asked the young man to follow Him! Sadly the man was challenged by what was in his own heart. He found out that he could follow rules more easily than He could follow personal instructions. God will not slide neatly into our man-made, rule based, categories – He has His own plans.

And this is my point today. We have no idea what is going on in our hearts. We are much better at diagnosing what’s wrong with someone else and how it can be fixed! Jesus didn’t tell the young man an easy thing, instead — He told this man to sell everything he had and give the money to the poor. We can read this and think —‘right, I’d better be more generous, and pray that the Lord will help me give more.’ PS It’s not about money – He wants YOU not your money! He wants us to give up what dominates our hearts instead of hiding it from Him, or ourselves. We can ask the Lord to show us what is in the way of us being fully yielded to Him and if it IS money, then give it! We are not asking Him because He doesn’t know – we are asking the Lord because the reality is, WE don’t have a clue!

You know, when we don’t get the answer to our prayers that we were hoping for, instead of being disappointed with the Lord, why don’t we ask Him? ‘Lord, what is standing in my way?” We have the Holy Spirit nearer than our heartbeat He wants to help us. He will help us – but He won’t make us ask. Here’s something I have noticed over the years … I can remember past difficult situations quite well, but I often remember the bad things someone else did far more clearly than my own contribution. I think that’s called … “selective memory.” Sigh. In order to cultivate my own personal purity of purpose I will need to choose to put aside my need to be right, in favour of the truth. Most of the time those two things are not the same!

I love to read the Old Testament because it is filled with so many people who have no idea what they can do, until God gets ahold of them, and reveals His purposes in their lives. We can see ordinary people who were just going about their daily routines, some of them compromised their faith, while others were tried to doing their best to be obedient. But there were times when none of them had any clue what God can do through a man or woman … or even a little girl. Her story is in Kings – more on that tomorrow.

We’ve become so used to the whole idea of independence. The idea of relying upon SomeOne else, doesn’t even occur to us, and this is the very attitude that holds us back from living in fellowship with Him. Let’s live our lives sold out for Jesus. Not just in word, but in deeds. May the Lord bless you to find your own purity of purpose. Bye. 👋

P 3487 We have the freedom not to sin.

October 5, 2026October 5, 2026 / DVH

“Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The grammatical tenses of the above scripture are incredibly important. What Paul is saying is that we have spiritually moved. Our old life is behind us, and what we choose to do about that fact is the coal face of our new life in Christ. Now we have His power to help us. We take in what Paul said, remembering it is past tense. It’s done. Like Jesus said from the cross —- “… it is finished.” Some things can jump up and down and shout at us, and demand our attention – but those things are echoes, they no longer have the power to capture us. We’ve been set free from sin and death. We may die, but death can’t hold us!

The sin in our lives has already been dealt with – now we simply take His word to be truth and act on it, using our faith. We too, follow Jesus. It’s just like when Jesus said to Peter and Andrew …”I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus met them where they were, and took what they knew and turned it around into Kingdom actions. He will take what you already know, and who you are, and turn all that into glory for the Kingdom of God as you live this life for Him. He’s a brilliant Redeemer – He takes bad things and turns them into the kind of good that is beyond our imagination.

Yes, we must choose to repent, repair and reconcile, and that will mean humbling ourselves — but we don’t do that alone, anymore. We.Have.Help! Every time Jesus gave His mum, or His disciples an instruction regarding this world— when they acted on it, a miracle occurred. They were standing on His Word. That’s where we want to be. Standing on His Word. We listen, then we obey.

Where our word disagrees with what He said, we put what we think aside, and go with what He has already said in the book. No matter what the cost is. I’m not talking about selling your house and sitting on the curb, or some other extreme action — I’m talking about daily living for others, loving them the same way we have been loved…unconditionally. When we live cherishing Holy Spirit’s help, living His Way means He likes to hang around with us. I tell Him I need Him over and over again during my day.

I think the thing that gets in our way, even more than any error in our thinking – is how we feel. You can correct errors simply by reading the book, and obeying it – but feelings are demanding. I’m not saying emotions are wrong, I’m just saying they make very poor leaders. So many of us have become used to running on how we feel. The people around us had better watch out …because how we feel is probably going to run their lives too! Hubby found this helpful little piece by Dr Tony Evans, in something He was reading recently.

“Here’s an important truth about emotions: they don’t have an intellect. They don’t think. They merely respond.

Emotions must borrow thoughts in order to stimulate feelings. Therefore, whoever or whatever controls your thoughts, controls how you feel. Your emotions are established and ruled by how you think about the circumstances in your life. So, if you want to master your emotions and overcome emotional strongholds in your life, you will need to master your thinking.

When you align your thoughts with God’s truth, you will be set free.”

I agree! However, saying and doing stuff can be two very different things. As we know – agreement with what Jesus says needs our response. We must act on it. We simply need to recognise that we have a new Leader in the house of our lives, thoughts, emotions. Someone Else is in charge now. When we gave our heart and life to Jesus, He took it, but He will not take the power of choice away from us. Our habit of explaining away stuff away, by complaining or defending ourselves, has probably been cultivated for most our lives. Those things can be hard to break. We will need to use our faith and God’s power to overcome the way we have always reacted to trouble.

When I was tiny, about 5, my mother and I were walking down the street and she was explaining stuff to me that I wasn’t supposed to do. At the same time a bus roared past us. I said: “Shut up!” and she instantly fixed her eye upon me, prepared to pounce. “WHAT did you say?” Undaunted by her stare I said: “I was talking to the bus.” Looking back, I think I might have made a great politician.

Stuff has happened to each one of us as we have walked through this life’s ups and downs. Our response was often labelled – ‘normal under the circumstances’ by other people, who were learning to dodge their own bullets. But the truth that sets us free is this – nobody can make us do nuth’ng no more … we choose. At the moment of impact, when someone else’s will crosses ours, that’s when we need to call on His help to say that “soft word that turns away wrath, etc.”

We will never be alone again. Now, because of our Heavenly Father, our wonderful Saviour, and the precious Holy Spirit, we can be guided personally through any stuff that wants to capture us. We don’t have to sin, we can overcome sin with God’s already firmly established goodness, and as we do that, we are spreading His kingdom of love all around us. Bye.👋

P 3486 Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving.

October 4, 2026October 4, 2026 / DVH

One of the biggest mistakes we can make today, is to allow our own thinking to justify us … instead we need to ask the Lord to help us to see our situations with His kind of clarity. As I see it, Christians seem to vacillate between: “Oh, I am such a bad person” … OR … “I’m trying, I’m doing my best!” That last one sounds like a great answer… but the truth is – why would we try and try to do our best, when Jesus’ best is available to us? That’s just nuts!

But as we walk with Him, listening to Him, on purpose — we will discover a whole other way to live. Let’s acknowledge that we might make mistakes— but we should never plan to misuse His Grace. Walking with Him is the entire focus of walking on the narrow way – He is the narrow way. We enter into His kingdom … the one we are told to enter into first! Meanwhile, repentance hasn’t fallen out of the book, it is still there, Jesus Himself taught about it. So is repairing any damage we may do to others. Denial is also a foolish way to try to live a life built on GRACE. It’s the truth that sets us free.

Otherwise we can end up spiritually, living like we have to clean our house in order to get ready for professional cleaners! Boy is that a waste of time, angst and energy. Why try to do the job yourself when it has already been done and paid for? This shows a distinct lack of faith in what Jesus has already done. Let’s get this straight once and forever OK? We are all sinful people. There is no worse sinful, or mostly good sinful people, who occasionally do the wrong thing. There’s just sinful! The people who captured the Lord’s attention were the ones who were prepared to go after Him, and admit their faults, then humble themselves.

That woman who crawled into a dinner party to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears etc. most likely crawled past the men who had used her in the past! And the woman at the well ran back into the town that could easily have housed her previous four husbands in it! These women did not care what others said, they had found something worth more than position, or ego. Real life. Those Pharisees who turned up their noses and got legalistic with Jesus, had the personification of their rules right in front of them. Yet they yelled at Him for showing mercy because He healed the sick on the Sabbath.

However, the sinner on the cross next to the Lord, saw an opportunity and he took it. This opportunity is always ours to take. Life is short – live for Jesus right now, and keep on doing it day by day. This is an odd thing – the worst sinners often know how to repent better than we do. I sincerely exhort you, please don’t let your pride keep you from bonding with the One Who died to save you. Humbling ourselves helps us with true perspective. It hones our focus. It helps us take His … “…yoke upon us and learn from Him, for He is gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and we will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for our souls.” Matthew 11:29. (Alterations mine.)

Did you get that? Rest comes from being yoked with Jesus. Walking with Him at the same pace He is going, following His leadership. It doesn’t come from looking inside, it comes from looking at Him, and making adjustments with His help, wherever necessary. Looking inside only muddies the water. We can end up blaming others for our behaviour or endlessly berating ourselves. Neither of those things are profitable. However, the Word of God on the inside is designed to guide our daily thoughts. That’s what renewing our minds means. We exchange our POV for His POV!

The Lord made His participation in that process clear in John 12:49: “For I did not speak on My own, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me to say all that I have spoken …” And in John 5:19,20 we see that He had guidance in everything He heard and did. “Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all he does. Yes, and He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.”

The church is living below the standard Christ Himself set and MET. He has already empowered each one of us to meet that standard. We simply need to totally depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead us. Press in, and remember, that our Lord is not a vending machine. Up until now, we’ve been following rules – not a Person! Now we follow Him, just like the disciples did.

He LIMITED HIMSELF so we can follow Him. Living and dying to self, like Jesus did, is possible. Many people have followed the Lord down that same pathway of dying to self and being resurrected into a new life — while they were still here on earth. Their testimonies to His Grace in action in their earthly lives, are filling up the praises of angels and saints in heaven.

That’s what happens when you seek His kingdom first. He adds a whole lot of things to us as part of the package. He’s the glorious gift from God that keeps on giving and giving and giving. Hallelujah! Bye. 🙌.

P 3485 Living like a living sacrifice.

October 3, 2026October 3, 2026 / DVH

We all realise that the verse that says: “You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honour God and bring glory to Him in your body.” in 1 Corinthians 6:20, is not a suggestion! We need to choose daily to remember the cost that Jesus our Lord and Saviour … the One we love best … paid. This is what the Body and blood of Jesus Christ did for us.

Many times we have watered down what the bible says, acting like it is not for this age. We have assumed that the bible is mere written illustrations that have been exaggerated to add weight to come sort of cosmic set up. The bible is not ‘out of step’ with mankind — we are ‘out of step’ with it! It is filled to the top with the manufacturer’s instructions and warnings.

I want to show how wildly ridiculous it is to ignore His instructions and follow our own ideas. So let’s insert some lighter thoughts here, because I really do have a point! On occasion, hubby and I have bought things from overseas countries. The accompanying instructions have sent us both into peals of laughter. These man-made odd instructions have been translated into English and attached to the items purchased.

Pet Shampoo: “Eliminate all escape routes well in advance. A wet pet becomes smarter and faster than you are.”

Washing machine: “Do not put any person in this washer.”

Oven: “Do not dry pet in the oven.” (DUH!!)

Iron: ”Press red button for hot fume for smoothing of creases from tossed around clothes in washing machine. Do not touching surface of iron because of very hot!”

Lucky last: “Do not iron clothes on body!”

Most man-made instructions have a limit, and the meaning can get lost in translation! Living as a living sacrifice can’t be taught as instructions – it has to be continuously applied. That is because it is an individual choice, and each of us have different situations and opportunities to choose to die to what we want. There is no blanket rule. If I tell you that we need to love one another, that sounds good – but it can be generalised, without any thought about the specifics. EG: Do I have to love the person who beats me up regularly? ANSWER: Yes … and no! The Lord’s love is not like ours, His ways are not a blanket rule. Father God deals with things individually. We need to pray, and ask Him, first.

Love is always an action. And in this case the Holy Spirit could lead you to pray for this violent person, and give you an alternative way to do that, from a distance. We need to remember, that the Word of the Lord is designed to flow into and out of each life, but it also includes His wisdom, as well as His mercy and grace. At the same time, the Holy Spirit Himself knows how to reveal the things that we do, that we don’t realise are against love. Our job is to pay attention to them and ask for Him for His help, instead of explaining them away by our personal circumstances. We have a live-in Helper Who knows the way we should go.

He will make whatever we read personal, as we read it. That’s why we need to pray before we read the bible. Not just for clarity, although we all need that, but we also need His help to cut through the protective walls we have built up around ourselves, so we can see ourselves as we really are. For instance … if you annoy me then you are a pest — however if I annoy you then you just don’t understand me properly! Let’s be clear, we can all stand unashamed in God’s Presence because Jesus took our sins on Himself and He was punished in our place —-but then things need to get personal and specific to our own situations and inner attitudes.

Only we know what rolls around inside our heads, and why. And some of those things we can easily explain away, because of our personal circumstances. The Lord is not interested in our excuses — they will hold us in bondage to the past. So will other people’s sins against us. He bought us freedom — and the only way to live in that freedom is to progressively and deliberately reject this world’s premises of right and wrong, and learn to live in harmony with the Holy Spirit. He needs to guide us. Jesus demonstrated what mercy, goodness and grace looks like, from God’s point of view. Meanwhile, He didn’t just die for the people who said yes to Him. He died for everybody.

Now it is up to any one individual to apply what Jesus did into their own lives. And saying: ‘yes’ is only the beginning … not the whole ballgame. Our Lord gave His all and our only response is to give our all to Him, and live this life the way He did. We are now the only hands and feet Jesus has, so we must choose to put aside all the weights that will drag us down into the mire of self-pity, revenge, rage, and hatred. This world thinks those things are OK and sensible to adopt. It is into self-protection. and it collects proof, opinions, and illustrations to prove it’s actions are valid.

But we have chosen to rely upon what God says, simply because He said it. That’s what living this life as a living sacrifice looks like. We give up our opinions, our actions, our lives, in favour of His ways. End of story. Bye, and may His peace be with you and in you, as you follow Him. 👋 🕊️.

P 3484 A living sacrifice.

October 2, 2026October 2, 2026 / DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3483 Cling to Him.

October 1, 2026October 1, 2026 / DVH

“ … God doesn’t miss anything. He knows perfectly well all the love you’ve shown Him by helping needy Christians, and that you keep at it. And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. Don’t drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them.” Hebrews 6:10.

“We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up His permanent post as high priest for us, …” Verses 18-20.

Sometimes I find the scriptures are so extraordinarily clear, it’s almost like following a recipe! We are told to hang onto our hope with the same passion we show for the needy. Now there’s another great motivation to help others, it will give us a clear picture of what kind of effort we will need to hang onto our hope.. Meanwhile, truthfully speaking, I have found that when stuff happens, hope can be the first thing to go out of the window.

I get a bit like a headless chicken, aimlessly running on the autonomic nervous system instead of His word, which is hidden in my heart. This is when I know I need someone else praying for me, because I seem to have dropped the ball in some sort of overwhelming panic. At the same time, I don’t want to miss what God has for me in this new situation, so I cling to Him. I remind myself to hang on tightly to hope, because I know that hoping in Jesus, will not disappoint me! (Romans 5:5.)

My point being that hope and other spiritual things are absolutely, definitely, OURS – but they do not always come naturally to us. When we are in panic mode, we are more likely to remember the times things didn’t go the way we needed them to, especially when the ceiling has fallen in again and we are under pressure. Our faith muscles stretches when we deliberately choose to believe Him instead of our circumstances. Will it get better? Won’t it get better? Who cares! Jesus has got this and He always has a plan.

Let’s remember that without hope in His loving faithfulness we’ve accidentally thrown away the anchor, and it’s no wonder we are being tossed about like a tiny ship in a typhoon. We need a solid anchor in a storm, and Jesus Christ is our anchor. Throwing hope away means you are a couple of steps away from going under. He will save you but your emotional well-being will take a beating. Speak to your soul! I have to yell at mine sometimes … “Soul! Hope thou in God.” My soul understands King James English, even when my head doesn’t!

Verses 18-20 explain why we must hang on to our hope. Our hope goes right into the Throne room. It is our lifeline between us and Almighty God Himself. We trusted Jesus to save us, now we trust Him to keep us … no matter what kind of stuff is going on everywhere else … even in our own households! He made the world, He knows what to do about whatever is going on.

Bad times are never convenient … I know that seems obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said. It’s usually when your pay is short that God will ask you to help out someone else, and suddenly your gas bill turns up and it is overinflated … (pun intended) … the rent suddenly super-sizes in front of your eyes … and then your car starts making those weird noises that you have heard before, but now it is making them in earnest!

The thing is, our difficult circumstances can distract us from the reality of His hope. Unfortunately, these circumstances are what caused us to go under in the first place! This means we will have to deliberately look away from them back to Jesus, because He is our hope. He can’t fail because He already won. I often ask Him to help me to see what’s at the root of my over-the-top emotional reactions.

I had to do that earlier today. And the answer came like an explosion in my heart. “Despair,” He said. “You are in despair.” Then I ask for a verse to fight with, and if I can’t find one, I type in a word or phrase that currently fits the situation and I go looking. Mostly I hold on tight to WHO HE IS! Jesus doesn’t break bruised reeds and He knows we are all glorified dust.

Psalm 34:18 says: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Well that’s gotta be good! Jesus is close, He saves … those are great words! Skip over the crushed bit, or you will find yourself circling the drain, trying to figure out why you are feeling crushed or whatever …Just take those words ‘Jesus is close’ and ‘He saves’ and deliberately wrap them into your thinking. Cling to Him. Pull your thoughts away from the trouble, back to that phrase … ‘He will save you from this!’

I love this next one! Psalm 43:5: “Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? HOPE IN GOD, because I will praise Him once again, since His Presence saves me and He is my God.” Let’s remember, we are not relying upon our own faithfulness —our faithfulness can vary, depending on the circumstances. We are relying upon HIS, and His faithfulness reaches to the sky!! Which neatly takes care of flying on an aeroplane, if you don’t happen to like them. Bonus buy.

Last one – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” If we hit despair, like I did, then we’ve gone too far. Back up and turn around. The Lord can redeem any situation for good. Just watch Him do it! Jesus made a way for you to get through those things that seem impenetrable.

Now continue to look at Him, not the problems. Do what He says and keep your eyes on Him, not the storm. Earthly things fade away in His Presence as we cling to Him. Remember the cross. Have confidence in Him – speak it out loud, talk to your soul and start thanking Him for helping you through whatever is going on. Sometimes I pray blessings over every single person I can remember, including my enemies. Talking to Him reminds us that He is our hope, our ever-present help in time of need. Bye for today 👋.

P 3482 Priorities.

September 30, 2026September 30, 2026 / DVH

Our priorities matter. Making Jesus our first priority can seem foreign in a world where ‘how I feel’ is the main event. It is no wonder when we are under attack, we often feel weak. Mind power is strong, but it is not strong enough for the kind of testing this life will throw at us. You can’t fight the enemy with anything but a God-given sword. We certainly can’t think our way out of the bad stuff. I’ve learnt that broken hearts have jagged pieces, they hurt! I’m learning to make Jesus my first priority, I suspect that fight will go on while I’m still here.

Just stop and think and pray for a minute. What would my life look like if I made Him my priority and let the Lord have His Way, instead of talking my self out of doing the hard things? Some questions really challenge me … I do wish the Lord would give them to someone else! It is one thing to say it and another to back up the words with our chosen actions – in the middle of the battle is a hard time to assess things – but I want fruit more than temporary relief!

Sometimes this life hands us such ugly things — they look like toads or frogs. It takes faith to be able to see the Prince of Peace while you are in the middle of it, and it seems like you have to kiss the frog! The secret is to ask the Lord to reveal His blessings in the middle of the stagnant ponds of this life, instead of trying to avoid or escape from them. We desperately need to see His hand at work in and on whatever is happening to us, and around us. Although there may be enemy strikes everywhere, we can be guided by Him. He will show us when we need to resist the enemy, and when we need to yield to the Holy Spirit. Let’s make it a priority to co-operate with Him.

This new life we have is lived, minute by minute. This is no blanket methodology that we can throw over the top of difficulties. We live, move, and breathe with His eyes and hand upon us – and knowing He is always there is now our place of comfort. We can’t afford to aim at stuff like: feeling better or things changing. If that does happen it is a very precious plus… but instead, right now, we are learning to hold fast to what He has said. When He says He will not leave or forsake us, that’s what He means, and so that’s what we cling to. Let’s choose to remind the Lord that our trust is in Him, and then remind ourselves that He has a bigger plan than we can see. Life will batter us, but Jesus already WON.

We can’t even try to patch together some sort of human methodology so we can prepare ourselves for the same sort of situation when it comes up again. Here’s what I’ve learnt about that. The same things never happen twice, and even when what happens seems vaguely familiar, we often don’t recognise that until we are on the bottom of some nasty little hole looking UP! PS: At those times the only useful thing we can try to cultivate is to remind ourselves to keep looking UP.

We are not in some kind of test with the Lord looking at us, from a distance, clipboard in hand, scoring whether we did OK or not. Jesus already took that test you are struggling through. He took it in your name and mine and He not only WON — that whole thing was nailed to the cross, right through His own hands — together with everything else that needed redemption. Our job now is to trust what He did and live this life believing everything Jesus said is true. So now we can live that way too.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with presumption and everything to do with GRACE. He gave Grace to each one of us, when we were lost and forever damned to hell — no matter how nice everyone else thought we were! It’s our hearts that need to be transformed, we can get so busy concentrating upon the details, correcting this, loosing that … but the Lord values the state of our heart. I’m so glad one of the Psalmists prayed …”Create in me a clean heart O Lord, and renew a right spirit in me.” The heart is the place to start, not our outward actions. Those actions are like the leaves on a tree – they are simply a consequence of the state of the roots.

Meanwhile the bible shows us that we can legitimately cheer up because Jesus died to save sinners! Those things in your life that heckle you, and laugh at you … remember, He chose to hang there long enough for them too! There is no need for pretending when we truly understand that our inadequacy has been totally replaced by His adequacy. Now we need to use our faith to appropriate what we have already been given — our faith in His truthfulness, His loving kindness, His goodness and His power!

“So come on, let’s leave the preschool finger-painting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!” Hebrews 6:1-3.

Our priorities and our choices matter. Even the little, seemingly insignificant ones. When we choose to trust He is Who He says He is, even when the circumstances seem bigger than you are, let’s lean on Him. That’s more solid than the ground we stand upon. “God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfil?” Numbers 23:19. Bye 👋.

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"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.." Philippians 3:13,14.

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