Christianity

P 3025 The three “C’s.”

/ DVH

“So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are His lovers who have been called to fulfil His designed purpose.” Romans 8:28 TPT. 

Paul was convinced about what he says here. He looked at his life – including the floggings, beating with sticks,  shipwrecks, and physical violence. The imprisonment, as well as the persecution by various groups of people – some of them supposedly Christian. Plus the people who ignored his good advice because they had a better idea…  and he came to a conclusion. His conclusion was that “everything works together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”

God wants to transform the difficulties we experience into something meaningful and good, for His kingdom’s sake. We simply need to hang on in there believing in His goodness.‘The trying of our faith produces patience but we have to LET patience have her perfect work in us.’James 1:3-4. There’s that little word that gives everyone the pip! LET. Allow. Permit…Yield! Allow patience to do a number on you. Permit it to stretch you, let it teach you, and allow it to transform the way you think and act. That is what yielding looks like. WE are the boss of our thoughts  … and just like we won’t permit pornographic thoughts to occupy our minds – we refuse to LET impatience take over. We ask for the Holy Spirit’s help and hang on.. to Him.!!!

The Apostle Paul was not only convinced, he was convinced continually! That is actually the only way we can be changed. We choose to hold onto the fact that God will work our present circumstances out for our good. Continually! This spiritual stand happens over and over and over again! Christianity is a progressive pushing forward into more of what we already have been given. And sometimes there is no ‘exit’ to be seen — there is only the minute by minute pushing through how we feel, to grab hold of what God has said. This creates trust in Who He is. We lean on Him, persevering with the situation, waiting for His patience, and seeking after the love that never alters.

Stuff happened to Paul over and over again. There was a whole lot of ugly stuff in 40+ years of ministry. That’s an average of 6 rotten testing events a year! He paid a high price to evangelise, as well as minister what God told him to write … Paul once wrote that he “despaired of life itself.” Well you would, wouldn’t you? His life was no picnic, but I bet he has never given it another thought since he arrived in heaven!!

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us,..” 2 Corinthians 1:8-10.

Paul knew how to suffer, but he did not do it lying down. He grabbed hold of the hope that God had what He needed and wanted to give it to Him. He believed in the goodness of God Himself. If we take the time to consult our feelings about this scripture in Romans, it might seem inaccurate, utterly impossible. Nobody feels like pushing against a seemingly immovable object. But what if I told you that if you press in just one more time that object will move? I think you’d convince yourself to take a big breath and push one more time! It’s just like birthing babies, but, with His help, we are birthing and raising good fruit!

That’s what continually convincing yourself of God’s supreme power and goodness does – it draws you into a conclusion! Almighty God can’t fail us, His goodness always wins! There are some unresolved things in my life that I may not see this month, or this year, but I know that He will do them – whether I am still here or not. I do not believe those things simply because I prayed —I believe it because HE SAID SO in the book. I’m always convinced of His goodness as I continually read His book. We ain’t seen nothing yet! The best place to be in a battle is on the front line. WHY? You get to be the first to see the enemy turn tail and run… that’s why!

 Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:12: “This is why I suffer as I do. Still, I am not ashamed; for I know Him [and I am personally acquainted with Him] whom I have believed [with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in the truth of His deity], and I am persuaded [beyond any doubt] that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him until that day [when I stand before Him].”

I am learning to be convinced continually, and that exercise led me to this conclusion – the Lord is worth it all. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18. In order to be convinced, I need to continually revise my belief in His goodness every single time something unexpected occurs, and then I keep reinforcing my belief that God cannot fail me. That’s the best conclusion! Life surely does happen but God has a plan!! Bye. 👋

P 3024 The sky is the limit.

/ DVH

How many people today have been boxed in by this world’s interpretation of their ability to learn, or their mental condition, or emotional or physical skills? Today’s so-called experts analyse people and put them into categories, with more labels on the outside than a misdirected parcel! This one has ADHD .. that one has Autism …  the kid is three and someone has boxed it up and classified it for life!  Our kids are actively being “categorised” before they have left High School. We need every member of our Father’s huge family and some people are just plain late bloomers.

It is a very bad idea to put this world’s ceilings on what we think someone else can do – no matter how many letters they have after their name. We must appreciate what each of us has been given for the benefit of others  “… preferring one another in love…”  There are times we try to use someone else’s differences against them – that’s ungodly. Almost half of the recorded disciples were fishermen and Jesus chose them! Today, in order to manage humanity, our societies’ categorise people, so we don’t have to deal with each person, one at a time. 

Thank GOD! He is not even remotely like that! He sees every single one of us and loves each one of us as His very own individual children. He doesn’t look down and think; “This one is broken” OR –“That one is no use to Me.” We are all incredibly dear to His heart – no matter how this world sees us. And we are all incredibly important to His Body too. We are going to need every single member of the Body of Christ standing in their place, because the enemy of our souls is at the gates and he is trying to pinch our kids by writing “not acceptable,” “don’t expect much” and “broken at birth” all over them. Don’t you believe it.

Our Heavenly Father is a redemptive Father, Who longs to reveal Himself to all of us. Every single one of us has a place in His plan! Yes, even the so-called broken ones!! We are all broken one way or another— some of us are simply badly broken inside where nobody else can see. Occasionally some of that ugly stuff leaks out every  where and that person gets put in jail. We must not disqualify people on the grounds of what this world thinks about them. Jesus clarified sin: “…but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” Matthew 5:22.

Sinfulness is our common denominator, not so called beauty, athletic prowess or intelligence! Right now we are reaping what we have sown into this world through our own ambition, and greed for more. Sadly we have sown into the whirlwind. Our children are growing up believing that to be pretty, handsome, athletic, gifted and/or highly intelligent is something to be greatly desired. Who says that? 

Manufacturers, fashion gurus, universities, teachers, people in political arenas — the people who will make money from what we do … THAT’S who is saying it! Give me one reason why we should trust their judgment? Unless making money is your god, these attitudes are poisonous vapours. They come, they go. Even the best athletes get hurt, highly intelligent people go wandering off into abstract land, and supposedly beautiful people are constantly criticised. What are we doing to our kids? Why are we not teaching them to be who God made them to be? We are a gift to each other. 

Even in the church we fail. We can easily make too much of one gift over another …“But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”?

As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honour just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?” 1 Corinthians 12:21-27 MSG.

I think the bible tells us very clearly how we need to treat each other – we need to encourage other people’s potential to serve the Lord. Let’s look for Jesus in others, watching for the Grace of the Holy Spirit on each life. I’m not talking about positive speaking either. I’m talking about having a genuine prayerful appreciation for someone else’s POV. You never know, if we all do that we all might learn something!

We need every single member of the Body of Christ, even those gentle, timid souls who hide up the back and hope nobody asks them a question. We are limiting a limitless God if we limit His kids based on our own opinions and experiences. Instead we need to proclaim – the sky is the limit and the heavens beyond it! Bye.👋

P 3023 The testing times.

/ DVH

John 19:11: ”When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free You or to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

The fear of God is real! Here is an illustration of that reality from the Gospels. Pilate did what we all do from time to time — we question God, and then we chase about looking for a loop-hole because we don’t really want to know His answer.. We are not sure we will like it, and we definitely don’t like the cost! This man was looking for a way to let Jesus go free that wouldn’t throw blame on him … be-cau-se … his wife had told him to be careful….

Pilate’s wife told him to ‘have nothing to do with this good Man’. Pilate was not a complete numb-knuckle, he was  trying to negotiate a way to do both things at once. After all he was the procurator/prefect of Judea – this man had power! He really wanted to release Jesus, listen to his wife, plus try to please the Jews. Fat chance of that! Sadly the Jews had already made up their collective mind. But God had a bigger plan!

This portion of John shows us a wonderful truth about Father God’s dealings with His precious Son — and us. Jesus clearly tells us that nobody can have power over any one of us unless we give it away, or God allows it. Now before you get alienated by that statement, we need to look at Job. Job is greatly underestimated!

“And the LORD said to satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.”So satan went out from the presence of the LORD.” Job 1:7-12. Job loved God, but he feared for his family. and those fears put him squarely within satan’s reach. God did not hurt this man satan did. 

However, it is clear that Father God believed in this man’s ability to endure, or He would not have allowed him to be tested in the first place..so satan went all snarky about God’s blessings on this man’s life. Because our Father is a good, good God and Father, He knew that testing would bring out things in Job that were not there before. He and Job would grow closer – and one of the things that Job grew into was a greater intimacy with Him. Job himself says: “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen You with my own eyes.” Chapter 42, verse 5.

Once we have given our lives and hearts to Jesus, Almighty God is constantly transforming our circumstances, our joys and sorrows, our likes and dislikes to shape us into the image of His Son. He’s God! He can do lots of things at once!! Remember, our destiny is to be Jesus’ bride … it’s far bigger than just going to heaven. The Lord Jesus deserves a bride worthy of His sacrifice for her. That is why our character – our heart toward Him – day by day by day, becomes more and more important. 

This is also why the bible says:  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28. My translation of this verse is this:  nothing can happen to me in my situation – or to you in your situation – that is beyond our Father’s redemptive loving care and transformation. All He requires from His Son’s bride-to-be is that she would yield to His greater wisdom as it is revealed in the bible, plus we have the precious Holy Spirit’s guidance always with us.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3. We can count on the fact that God knows the end from the beginning, and there is nothing that can prevent Him from taking all things—every single thing, and weaving and working them together for our good. This is the way the Apostles lived and worked and spread the Gospel. They believed In their Heavenly Father’s power to redeem bad situations into good. 

Doubt is our enemy. So is carelessness and a lack of love for others, and we dare not doubt His goodness and His faithfulness.  We are transformed from day to day by believing what He has said about WHO we are now, because of Christ’s sacrifice. Let’s not miss the mark and get picky and choosy about being obedient. Meanwhile, the Lord is all wisdom, so we would have to be mighty dumb, or pretty disobedient not to pay attention to the things that are written in His book. If He has allowed a testing time, then He knows you can get through this – the Holy Spirit will walk you through it – ask Him to help you..

We will get stuck if we believe the enemy’s lies that we can’t do, or endure whatever God told us to do. We quite simply cannot afford to believe our feelings over Christ’s life and His testimony. If we mess up and go the wrong way then we repent, turn around and go back and do whatever He asked you to do, the way the Holy Spirit said to do it. 

We are His, and He is ours, and nothing can separate us from His incredible love. Jesus Christ Himself died to release all of us from satan’s power and JESUS LOVES HIS BRIDE!  Keep believing God is good, and turn your eyes away from any and all of the circumstances that drag you under. Ask others to pray for you. When God stretches our faith, our faith will be even bigger on the other side of those testing times. Bye. 👋

P 3021 “There is more than one way to skin a cat.”

/ DVH

OK. Don’t freak out. I have not lost my mind, that’s an expression. I don’t secretly engaged in cat-skinning!  EW! That saying simply means: There is more than one way for something to be done. Hopefully the title got your attention. Gird up your girdle Gertie, its gunna be a bumpy ride. 

This world is currently extremely “me-centred” and hedonistic. Today, our society has been forced to make room for all kinds of weird, ugly, and downright disgusting ideas, and it has gone on to legalise them. Some self- expressions are from the pit. However … ”You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”1 John 4:4.Here’s my point for today:  do we believe that or not? 

Without the Lord Jesus in our lives, none of us could ever know who we truly are, or why we are here. Without Him, all we can produce is dissatisfaction, rage and despair. People everywhere are so busy chasing happiness like a lepidopterist chases rare butterflies – it seems like they think that is what this life is about …grabbing happiness where they can.

We know, from the bible, that what these ?alternate? groups think about this life is chock full of sin — but unfortunately the church has taken a bad stance when it comes to God’s POV. We’ve eliminated many people before they’ve had a chance to change their minds. And at the same time the Father of all light is losing HIS beloved children, while we are erroneously operating on the idea that their sin is worse than ours!  Um…even liars end up in the lake of fire! And yes, fibs count – even well intentioned ones.

Everybody’s sin has been paid for.…including Hitler’s and sexual deviants, and let us remember that Jesus Christ overpaid! Read the book. We are concentrating on the wrong bit – other people’s sins, not the people themselves. I know that some churches welcome all sorts of nasty things from the pit, yet others would never let that sort of person darken their doors. And they wear that attitude with misguided pride.

We cling to bits of the scripture like they are our entire life-raft, when God has given us a whole book! And then we thump it over other people’s heads, because …”we know the truth and it has set us free …”  (Let’s please remember that we were not set free to be judgmental and unloving!) …God Himself is the truth that rules everything. The bible is not a private, or public opinion poll. It’s a book about God, and what He wants from His people.

There is room for ALL at the foot of the cross. Let’s at least give any outcasts an opportunity to find out!  God loves them as much as He loves us. We don’t have to become them to love them! In His eyes, there is no grading system to love. He loves us because HE IS LOVE. Who knows what an encounter with Jesus will do in someone else’s life? Pray for that!

But the lost cannot decide if we won’t allow them to find out there is another way to live. We are keeping our own faith supposedly safe at someone else’s cost. And pretty soon, those other people might be our own sons and daughters! Lot lived among people with deviant lifestyles and still maintained love.

We need to aim higher. Almighty God is bigger than I think He is! And He is bigger than my denomination thinks He is. And much much bigger than this world thinks He is!  Here’s the right attitude from Jude V 23: ” Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” Hate the sin, not the sinner … there’s more than one way to skin a cat! Bye.🐈.

P 3020 The heartbeat of faith is love.

/ DVH

You could say that another way – if your faith is alive, it will have a pulse. The bible talks about this subject in an interesting fashion in James 2:14-17, (which you can read for yourself) but I particularly like verse 18: “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith BY my works.” Faith makes itself visible by the way it reacts and the things it does. Love never has a bad day.

Galatians 5:6 states: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love,…”So what we gather from this verse is this:  no expression = no love. Boy, that seems to me to really hit at the heart of what is wrong with our society today! We have become superficial, and we are teaching our kids to be content with superficial things. It is no wonder they are lost! Faith’s heartbeat does not paste on a smile and pretend that something terrible is OK. That’s called deception.

In my country we have a saying: …’some people are all talk and no action.’ And here’s another one…“show us what you’ve got.” If you are rude … and, sadly, Aussies can often seem rude, as well as blunt… the clearest version of that expression is: “put up or shut up.” Sadly, none of the previous statements are all that positive! They mean the person who is speaking to you is looking for substance not just lots of hot, nicely-phrased AIR. Instead of getting insulted, or hurt – start thanking the Lord for exposing places where you are weak. Weak places are a set-up for God’s strength to be perfected.

We Aussies like the sort of people who are the real deal … we can smell a set-up, or hypocrisy a mile off. The thing we’ve learnt after 20+ years on the road is that Australians know Jesus when they see Him, and most of them love Him at first sight. And therein lies the problem with what we call Christianity. We want to be sincere – we mean to be sincere – we try oh so hard to be sincere! But we are trotting about spouting things that make no sense to people who live in the real world. Half the time, I strongly suspect they do not make sense to us either! We nod, and smile at church, and go home as puzzled as we came. A lot of Christian people are so scared of the world around them, that they’ve “pulled their heads in!”  

Many of the saints of God in Australia are in hiding, keeping company with other people who are like them – people who understand the churchified language.They hide in bible studies, prayer meetings, conferences and weekly church. They have a permanent disguise out in the actual world around us. I dunno what the heck we think we are disguised AS … but, in my opinion, all that pretending means we are one step away from not having a pulse at all!  And that is definitely not good.

This next bit sounds like a digression but it isn’t. I’m older, so every now and then we locate the blood pressure machine, and check my blood pressure to make sure it is OK. Meanwhile, because I’m me, then if I’m still talking you can be sure I’m still alive! 

But my point is this: as His Body we need to regularly take note of our spiritual pulse and blood pressure, and check up how long it has been since the last time we shared what we know about Jesus with someone else! Or the last time we  deliberately loved someone – a difficult person, someone we don’t like – using our faith, and spreading His loving kindness all over them? Praying for people is great! Do it. But don’t forget to pray for you!  Ask the Lord what He wants you to do, to show them love – the answer may amaze you!  

Our faith must have a pulse — a heartbeat. No pulse means dead… or nearly dead. The bible clearly teaches us that our faith needs to be continually expressing itself, either through our actions or our words — but most of the time, through both. We don’t have to shove the 12 point plan of salvation at people, all we need to do to keep our faith active, is to stop censoring ourselves, get real – practise repentance — and treat loving the Lord Jesus as part of our everyday life. He’s God! He is not an afterthought! And if you start to think bad thoughts about others – stop! Repent. Ask for His help and keep reminding Him you need it. Be prepared to enter battle over it.

Like I said, it is not just about being all talk, and no action… faith and works go together. So faith goes to help somebody in need, and, at the same time, it tells them that you came because God loves them. Jesus needs to be so much a part of our lives when we are squeezed by bad or scary stuff, only LOVE comes out. We don’t have to have any enemies. Right here, right now – we have the power to genuinely love everyone. Jesus did it! He loved the guy who betrayed Him, and the people who nailed Him to the cross. He didn’t help them do what they did … but He accepted that God was in what was happening and it had a bigger purpose!

Our enemies are our blessing. They show us the holes in our faith and they clearly show us where we lack love. The bible says: “…a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” Matthew 10:36. Now isn’t that a fun thought? The people we love have the most power to hurt us. This is why the love we receive from Him and give away to others has to be supernatural. The heartbeat of our faith is love. No love means our hearts need to be truthfully examined by His word. The Holy Spirit will always help us! Bye, 👋

P 3019 Get on with it …

/ DVH

Hebrews 12:1-3 “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, Who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost sight of where He was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—He could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now He’s there, in the place of honour, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility He plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”

Postponing our contribution to whatever God is doing right now, leads to eventual non-participation. Life roars along — it almost flies through the air, at times … then it lands on us!  And we can’t easily get out from under it. We all know there is always going to be stuff:  things like opposition, or situations that put pressure on us, and things in our immediate family that need to be taken care of. That’s why verses like these 3 in Hebrews 12 are so accurate, and pointy, all-at-the-same-time! It’s the Message version, by the way.

I’ve written about the following situation as an example. My 97 year old mother is now in palliative care, the powers-that-be don’t know how long she has left in this world. In my opinion their guesses will be all wrong anyway, because they don’t know my mum! She’s determined, and strong-willed and she won’t go anywhere unless she is ready. She has had to be this way, all her life, she was her own parent from 5 years of age. We’ve spent ages with her, lovingly explaining when the Lord comes for her, she definitely needs to go when she is called. In my opinion Jesus is the only Person that she will move on for!

The Lord spoke to us about this situation before we left to take blankets etc. into cold places. After all we were going away and, of course I’m bound to be concerned because I don’t want to leave my mum alone in case something happens to her. I’m just being real here OK? This whole thing is not about whether she is coming or going in this life — for me it is about me being there for her when she leaves. She is my sole parent, and I am an only child, so that responsibility falls on me.

That’s when the Lord reminded me of this verse: “He (Jesus) said to another man, “Follow Me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:59&60. 

I’m like: “Well, that’s not the answer I was hoping for!” And suddenly I found a whole lot of inside stuff I didn’t know was there. Things like … how could I even think about leaving her alone at a time like this? Or what will other people say if we trundle off and leave her when she is dying? Obligation hit me like a train. “Good children” are supposed to be there for their parents in a crisis to help them. Meanwhile, for your info, on yet another occasion, the Lord also accused the Pharisees of using the law to avoid their  filial responsibilities – which is why we need His wisdom every single time!

Then the Lord came up with this fantastic thought, He said: “Ask her what she thinks.” Well, she smiled at both of us and said: “Of course you must go!” So, as you know, we did. I had to wrangle with my feelings for a bit, but I eventually went back into His peace. I asked my daughter-in-love to keep an eye on mum and she faithfully went to see her for us. Then I remembered that Jesus had to leave His mother behind when He died. Suddenly that didn’t seem such a little thing anymore. I know that Jesus loved His mother just like I love mine!

You see, our society puts all kinds of expectations on us, and we can be grounded by them. Then we can’t fly like the Lord wants us to, because … well, you know the reasons … but part of us running after Him will mean sometimes we must leave others behind. Otherwise we will end up with one foot nailed to the floor, going nowhere fast. One of the most difficult things to do in the Christian life is to obey God and not let fear of man, or even human consideration for other people stop you – while you are doing it. Of course this has to be done prayerfully, with oversight, or you can end up doing exactly the same thing—for totally the wrong reasons!

The Christian life is full of widely, wildly different alternatives. The only hope we have to make it through these scenarios is to know His voice, and obey Him. Plus I always ask for His voice through the scriptures! I refuse to just listen to voices. satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. When I am in doubt, I give everything back to Jesus and then I make sure I leave it there. The God Who made this world can deal with my inadequacies and fears, and letting go is a good beginning.

However, there are times when we don’t get answers, because we’ve allowed double mindedness to step in. When that happens to me, I try to repent quickly and then wait for further instructions. We’ve seen my mum since we’ve been back, and she was fine about our 8 day absence. She loved the photos we’ve shown her, as well as the testimonies, and even more importantly – she realised she was part of what we did because of her faith that He would take care of all of us. 

I do hope this little testimony helps somebody who needs to know that God can do anything but fail. What we need to do, sometimes, is just get on with it. Bless you! 👋.

P 3018 The Dove.

/ DVH

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them:  if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;  he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12:3-8.

It is the Grace of God that gives us the ability to flow with the Holy Spirit – and the best place to stay is in that Grace. Nothing can, or will stay the same in His Presence! Unfortunately, that is also when it becomes easy to believe a LIE. That lie is that someone has somehow become some sort of expert, a special spiritual person. This thought causes us to elevate some people above others.

My point today is this, we are so badly acquainted with the Holy Spirit’s gifts, the person sitting next to us in church may also have gifts — but their faith has not been activated to even begin to try to follow His instructions! Or even worse, they tried and fell on their head … so now they sit silently by. Feeling like a failure.

So, let’s look at the disciples — those guys who walked around with Jesus every day for three and a half years. Boy was that some intensive conference!! There was a time when they started thinking that they were pretty special and they could use the power of God to get rid of people that ignored or annoyed them. Jesus immediately made Himself really clear. “You don’t know what spirit you are in!” 😱These men even fought over who should have the best seat in heaven. The only human being who ever was all that, is Jesus. The rest of us are in boot camp and ignorance is not bliss.

I want to really stress how important it is to know the Holy Spirit, and watch Him at work in our own lives, as well as in the bible. You won’t see Him capitalised or underlined – but you can see where He has been and what He does – if you choose to look carefully. The Holy Spirit is not some sort of lesser Person that Jesus sent back to help us. He is called our Helper, Counsellor, the One Who comes alongside of us etc., but His beauty, truth, and devotion to Almighty God is beyond comparison. He doesn’t appear to care if He is seen or worshipped or adored. Instead He wants to teach US, and help US to learn to worship and adore the Father and the Son with every part of who we are. 

Let us always remember the Holy Spirit is gentle, kind, and easily grieved by our careless behaviour, so we need to treat Him and His Ways with reverence. Because He will not defend Himself – He will simply GO AWAY. Trust me, we don’t want to find out what kind of stuff we are capable of, if He is not guiding and directing us! He is the source of all Wisdom. And here is the best and biggest clue to His seeing Him at work  — He loves to be around loving people. Whenever He comes, He brings with Him peace, joy, long-suffering, self-control etc. BTW, that’s not just a description of what He does — those things are Who He is!! 

If we ignore the supernatural effects of being around such a glorious, often unobtrusive Person, we are ignoring the very essence of Almighty God Himself. The Holy Spirit at work within each one of us, is why Godly people voluntarily choose to die to self. It’s an incredible honour. We cannot afford to put our focus on the gifts He brings, and ignore the Giver of the gifts! He must not be ‘used’ to bring about what we want. Human beings are so innately stupid we will start to think the marvellous things He does are because of us, and these miracles are happening because of the way we behave.

You and I are destined to be God’s gifts to Jesus’ bride – the Church.  While we are here, our task is to build one another up, stimulate each other’s faith and live a life of love. We are to be good bridesmaids, keep our lamps trimmed, and make sure the entire bride is ready for this unimaginable honour God has given us. It is not about “me” having a big ministry – it is about helping you find yours! That cannot happen without the Holy Spirit’s input. He is our “Resident Expert” on what love looks like, and how we, in turn, can be loving. 

Instead of asking Him for stupid worldly stuff like – should we go to Bali for a holiday, or save for a new car, or send our kids to this or that school?  We need to change our prayers from ‘Please fix this or that’ or “please heal this or that’ or ‘please oversee this or that” …OR even ….dare I say it … “please help me to find a car park!” TO this—- “What can I do for the Kingdom of God today, Holy Spirit, as I am going about my everyday life. I want to please my Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus and You. Please lead me into the places You want me to be, and help me to say the things You want me to say.” Amen. 

Jesus thought the Holy Spirit’s Presence was so important, His arrival on the earth was the reason the Lord went away! Let’s remain awake and aware of His enormous role in what God is doing and value the gentle wise Dove for all He is. Bye.🕊️

P 3016 The Kingdom of God is like …

/ DVH

Yesterday, I had the above phrase in my mind. I felt the Lord tell me to look up the scriptures that say … the kingdom of God is LIKE …  … The first thought I had about this subject is that wherever God’s kingdom is present it means He is in charge. So …who rules my life? When we accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord, that means His processes begin, we begin to learn His Ways.

The seed of the life of God within us germinates and inside that seed is the potential for a fully mature tree of righteousness  ‘… that He might be glorified.’  However the growth or unveiling of that seed is a progressive thing. Something we should always seek – first. Maybe we could pray like this: Dear Holy Spirit, Reveal God’s kingdom to me, and for me, as well as through me, today please Lord, Amen.

I noticed that Jesus often described or illustrated His Father’s kingdom by telling His listeners parables, stories. I mentioned one yesterday from Matthew 20. It seems to me that prayerful, meditative reading is one key to unlock the revelation of how His kingdom can rule and reign in each of our lives. Mainly because “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” So “God’s kingdom is not a physical place – but a spiritual reality and a way of living.” (Thank you Google!)

Here’s a brief synopsis of what the kingdom of God is like in the stories Jesus told. The kingdom is like a farmer sowing a seed;  a man hunting treasure;  a woman kneading dough;  a fisherman casting a net;  a man forgiven a debt;  a wedding guest evicted from a wedding because he forgot his jacket. Or unmarried, pure young women waiting to greet the bridegroom;  or a landowner being generous.

Each one of those individual parables provides us with a story and within that story is a revelation – an unveiling – of a much bigger truth. We can let our pastor do all the work, or we can pursue God and His Ways for ourselves. The word ‘find,’ is sometimes used, as well as ‘hidden.’ We see His kingdom through our spiritual eyes using our faith, and we go on reading to find something to obey. The kingdom of God gives us a new way of thinking which leads us into a new way of living.

“Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows—he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain.”Mark 4:26-33.

I think the Lord used the illustration of something hidden and ordinary because that intimates there will be a revealing of something unexpected, so a revelation is necessary. When God gives us a revelation those new thoughts rise up from our hearts, into our heads and we begin to think and act differently. What He says becomes our reference point, taking preference over what we think, or whatever we think we already know. One day we are reading away, and suddenly the thing we’ve stared at for ages, not only makes sense – it jumps off the page at us. 

Because this is His Grace in action we have nothing to contribute to this process of growth, just our willing obedience, and love for Jesus Himself. Often this stuff happens when we are not even looking! In His kingdom a single seed produces more seeds. So the kingdom of God is like the potential to change, digested and applied. Bye. 👋.

P 3015 ‘The Lord loves a generous giver.’

/ DVH

We all know the above verse, it is one of many verses that get dragged out whenever the cost of living gets higher than the pastor’s wages! Actually, I think the real issue about money is this: people work hard for their money. Unless they are aware of their own inner attitude, they don’t see the money that they earn as coming from the Lord Himself. 

Let’s look at what Almighty God thinks about money – Jesus is speaking: “For the kingdom of heaven is LIKE a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. So they went.“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.“ He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’”

I believe this parable shows us what God thinks about money. Money is a tool for generosity! You know, our God is so rich that the streets of heaven are paved with the purest gold, and precious jewels are the walls and gates. He asks His people to give because it is good for US, as His kids, to be generous too. PS God doesn’t need our money, but the pastor and his family just might like a new pair of shoes every 9 years or so! 

The above parable is about generosity. Jesus is explaining God’s generosity to the people around Him using a story that will challenge them. “Well, that story is unfair” – we cry – “why wouldn’t the guys who came late get paid less, or the guys who worked all day get paid more!” Because it was the OWNER’S money! Sadly most human beings still half kill themselves trying to get more and more money and aim at things that are beyond our reach. We put our sense of safety in our money, in our ability to earn. When it comes to money we all forget Who promised to take care of us. God made the Israelites rich and they were escaping slaves!

The biggest mistake Christians can make regarding their faith, concerns money. I’m sure you have loads of places etc that you love to give, but ask yourself this: who, in your own mind and heart, OWNS whatever you have? That’s the real issue. Sometimes the things we own – own us. BTW, I am not talking about selling everything, giving all our money away and sitting on a street corner – I am talking about deliberately setting ourselves free from the love of money. And that includes the idea that we need it. God will supply all our needs – so if we don’t got it we don’t need it. Tell Him what you need.

Here’s a bigger thought – make the Lord Himself your money manager! He’s been managing our money for years – we pray and ask for His help whenever we need it. So give whatever you have to Him and then deal with the fear of not having enough .😳 We know we must pay our bills so how do we give to others hilariously? “Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity!” 2 Corinthians 9:7. Giving flows out of a full heart, so we need to deal with our hearts first. Instead of hoping one day that that awful fear we have in the back of our mind about not having enough, will go away!!

Some of the best givers I know live like all of their money is the Lord’s. They do not give out of excess, they simply give as the Lord tells them to give. This means they need to use their faith to live. Like I’ve said before, giving is a win-win situation! Think about that little widow lady in the temple who took her two small coins, all she had, and put them into the coffers. And Jesus commended her for it, right in front of His disciples.

What we do with our money is an issue of control, and when we follow Jesus, He is in control. If and when we want to deepen our faith, it is going to cost us. And that, in my opinion, is the reason most of the church is idling along in neutral, going nowhere much. Our God dearly loves us! It’s His nature, He can’t help it! But we can choose to go to our graves stuck in the mud and mire of a “gimme gimme gimme” world. Sadly, the line for ‘having enough’ always moves away from us. Think about it. Bye. 👋.

P 3013 Our God is incredibly generous.

/ DVH

When the Lord comforts us, He is also giving us something we can pass on to someone else who is in need. Almighty God is so incredibly, over-the-top generous, He doesn’t only give us what we need, He gives us more than enough, so we have plenty to give way!!

“All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 TPT. I’m a conduit, a channel. You are one too – all of God’s children are conduits of what He has given us.The secret to thriving in His Ways is not to own anything! I don’t just mean that literally, I mean whatever we have is always available to help someone else. Time, love, compassion, faith etc… as well as practical things.

We give away what we have already been given, because sharing is now part of our new nature. We don’t have to squirrel stuff away for another day, because we already know that:“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.“ 2 Peter 1:3. As the bible says what we have is: “…pressed down and running over…” This means we will always have more than enough! We simply have to be flexible and divide between our needs and wants. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1. God loves His kids. Each one of us is precious to Him – He covers, guides and protects us.

We get comfort from Him, through other people, and through His Word, plus other people’s prayers for us – and then we give it away. I have found that right along with comfort we also get “hope” when ours has started to wobble and get wonky under duress. The next time something dastardly happens to you, instead of hunting about trying to find Him, just remind yourself that He is right next to you. The bible says that like this: “He ALWAYS comes alongside us …” That means we can bank on it. Don’t feel around to see if it is true, remember Peter — he got out of the boat and stepped onto the water, and LET GO, and then he did the impossible. 

Believe God is with you because He is. If your difficult situation has not gone away, then He knows that together you and He can get through it. Ask Him to show you the way through. Some things are meant to be endured with patience because that’s how you get the fruit of long-suffering love. We cannot afford to consult our feelings when the ceiling of our life just fell in. Our feelings will react. It’s normal.  Read the book – Jesus had feelings! But … they were not in charge of His responses. 

The society we live in makes feelings way more important than they ought to be. In years gone by people elevated the brain. It seemed that knowing stuff was going to help us through any crisis. Information proved to be a dud, because our knowledge kept changing along the way! If we elevate our feelings over our faith we are missing out on His generous flow of wisdom and comfort that constantly comes our way. God wants us to win. Everything He has done is to help us win in this battle called ‘life.’

We are the people of His Spirit, so feelings and knowledge take a secondary place in our lives. They are still there – after all we are not stoics, beating our feelings into submission! We simply relinquish how we feel and whatever has happened, to the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us to pick up and wear the yoke He wore. His yoke was obedience to His Father in every circumstance. He saw the “Yes” of God and He saw the “No” and the result was the same – He continued to glorify God. We simply can’t afford to let our feelings stay in control of our lives or reactions. Cry if you have to, yell if you have to, but yell out to God for His help to walk through whatever has happened. 

We have been exhorted, with His help, to grow suitable, sustainable fruit… the fruit of the Spirit called “self-control.” That fruit grows in good times and in bad, as we ask for His help to watch over our inner lives.. As we yield our will to Him, and follow His instructions from the book, we prepare the ground for good fruit. Fruit takes time, so we need to be ready to persevere. That allows His fruit in us to ‘set.’ The very first year our mango tree appeared to have fruit, it got all these happy little nubs on it and we got so excited … fruit at last … then they all fell to the ground! The fruit had not set – it had not been successfully pollinated. God will pollinate our feeble attempts at faith, with more faith, because He is generous!

Our knowledge of Who He is, and the Way He does things, needs to be established in an ongoing fashion in our hearts, otherwise we will continue to flounder about like a fish out of water. We were born for this life. He chose us to be His, before the foundation of the world. Did you get that? He picked us to be His children before there were trees, stars, oceans, dry land, good food to eat! And Father God is incredibly generous, He will give us everything we need for a Godly life. So we can complete the works He sent us to do. If you don’t got what you think you need, then you don’t need it! Believe in your Father’s generosity – He believes in you. Bye. 👋