Circumstances

P 2806 Healing.

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“…you will lay your hands on the sick and they will get well…”I’ve checked out these verses in Matthew, personally, in my own life and here’s my point for today —  sometimes when I prayed for people who were sick, and sometimes they got well, and sometimes … they died. To be fair, the ones who died were terribly sick, and they definitely died happier than they were before they were prayed for — but that was not the result ANYONE was hoping for in the first place.

Praying for sick people involves us taking a risk. When we love them dearly, that risk for them, and for those who love them and us, is HUGE. Sometimes we could think that the answer relies on us – or maybe we think that we won’t pray correctly? Loving compassion and obedience are our part, because prayer for the sick relies upon the Word of God. Meanwhile nobody likes ‘no’ for an answer.  

Plus, at the same time, we may have to … “wait.” Sometimes, there is a space between our prayer and His answer. We need to always pray and not give up and that is a painful place to have to live! In the meantime, the bible says: waiting upon the Lord renews our strength. That waiting is ghastly for the sick person, who is trying trying trying to believe and get well – and horrible for their loved ones at the same time – but keep right on praying. Jesus dismissed people telling Him that a child had died and a bigger miracle occurred.

I am comforted by the fact that the Lord’s disciples walked with Jesus, they themselves saw all kinds of miracles when they prayed for others, and they watched Him bless people with astonishing miracles. BUT at other times they prayed for people and nothing happened. His disciples were unable to minister to an epileptic person, or deliver a demonised child. These men were blessed to have Jesus walking with them, in Person, and He stepped in and healed the sick one. The Lord pointed out to the disciples that their faith was too small. We must point our faith at God Himself, His nature, His loving kindness – not just at an illness or even healing. 

I’ve learnt some stuff along the way. I am not God and I’m not perfect! In my passion for others I can easily promise things I can’t deliver. Meanwhile, I don’t know everything either! I am His representative, not the answer. My part in this process is to keep praying and not give up, because somebody’s well-being is at stake, even if my own faith is being shaken. The reality is:  failure can lead very quickly to disappointment for everyone. Particularly if the person concerned is someone special, and you love them. This is the place where our faith can atrophy and grow weary. Even when we don’t feel like fighting we must continue to fight. 

If you have ever prayed for someone for healing and they got sicker or they died, you may have noticed that shortly afterward … disappointment rushes at you like a freight train, coupled with incredible grief. Jesus said this to Peter in Luke 22:32:“… but I have prayed [especially] for you [Peter], that your faith [and confidence in Me] may not fail; and you, once you have turned back again [to Me], strengthen and support your brothers [in the faith].”   Jesus prayed for Peter before his testing time ever happened. He is praying for us, right now, too.

We are so programmed for positive results, that when the answer to our prayers is negative, logic takes over. Well why wouldn’t anyone grieve after a terrible loss? The thing is… the bible exhorts us not to grieve without hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13b “…so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”  There’s a reason for that exhortation – our faith can falter when it appears to be unfulfilled.

Even in times of deep despair and sorrow we must ask the Holy Spirit to help us. We need His help to watch over our hope — because HOPE is our anchor. Our hope is IN Christ – His goodness, His mercy, His loving-kindness. It is not in the answers to our prayers – no matter how important they seem, or how fervent they are. Prayer changes US – it does not necessarily always change our circumstances. Talking with God and getting His perspective is essential, otherwise disappointment can crush us. I’ve noticed when this has happened to me, the next time someone needed prayer for healing, it was easier to step back, instead of forward.

We are commanded to pray for the sick etc. in Jesus’ Name. At the same time it is good to remember that the sick person’s life is ultimately in the Lord’s Hands. Like the disciples, we pray as He leads us and the opportunity presents itself. Acts 3:1-8 … bits of it: “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried … …at the gate of the temple … …to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.  And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; BUT SUCH AS I HAVE GIVE I THEE: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”

Part of our problem concerning healing is that we don’t know what we have. Peter knew what he had. Do we understand that Christ lives in us, and He was, and still IS, always delighted to heal the sick? His compassion for mankind is huge. That thought should be the centre of our thoughts, not: “will it work – or not? We are commanded to pray for the sick to be healed. it is not an optional extra. I believe the biggest sin in the Body of Christ is inactivity. Bye. 👋

P 2781 Spiritual delays happen.

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John 11:11-15: “After He (Jesus) had said this, He went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 

Some answers to prayer are delayed for reasons that only make sense much later! Today I want us to put ourselves into the position of Mary and Martha. Their beloved brother was dead after an nasty illness, and their faith in their Rabbi and friend had been rocked. Even though they sent for Jesus, He deliberately did not come when they thought they needed Him.

Disappointment grabbed hold of them. These two women had seen and experienced Who He was for themselves in the time they had known Him – they knew He was their deliverance – that’s why they sent for Him!  But the Lord had a bigger plan. Experience is only a good teacher when it reinforces that there is nothing Jesus cannot do. At those times we have to press through the hard bits, to conquer our fear and hopelessness.

Back to the two sisters. Their precious brother was now dead. Dead always looks hopeless. Let’s be real, shall we? 3 whole days had gone by – the man was not only dead, He was buried! They knew Jesus was from God and it seemed as if He had let them down … on top of that He was also a dear friend of theirs, they needed His comfort. Days of mourning had passed and still Jesus did not come. This happens to all of us.

Lazarus is a fantastic illustration of God’s ability to do the impossible. What happened to this man shows us something amazing. First of all, Lazarus resurrection proves that dead is not dead! You might want to stop and think about that. The people we love, who are no longer with us, are not dead, they are just not here anymore. I’m so sorry for your loss and suffering, but, even in the middle of our grief, we must take the time to remember that Christ is our living hope! Right here in this story, Jesus shows us that not only is He God, He has power over life and death. Weeks later, He would do the same thing Himself! 

The thing is that human beings often react to the circumstances. And if they are sudden or dire, then we throw up our hands and let our hope slip through our fingers. The time is upon us when we need to be the most hope-filled people on this planet! Yes, suffering is real and it is dreadful, and one way or another we will all meet the nasty side-effect of living and dying on planet earth – but we cannot afford to let go of our hope that God can work all things together for our good. Our hope is always in Him! It is not in the immediate circumstances, no matter how they seem. Grief is normal, and He’s still good. He’s holding tightly to you, in the middle of your circumstances.

Whenever we give things to Jesus, He takes them. Now, our faith is attached to His faithfulness, not to an answer. We have a book filled to the brim with how faithful our God is! In the daily grind, or especially in desperate moments, we need to learn that no matter what happens to us or around us, the Lord is still in charge. He has not forgotten us. Disappointment dogs our footsteps when we misplace our faith. Our faith is in Who He is, not in the answer to our prayers. Every single thing He does is good!  Never ever let go of your hope in His goodness.

“He is the Rock; His deeds are perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright He is!” Deuteronomy 32:4. We need to trust Him. And my best advice is  …we can practice this skill on those little ordinary things that irk us from day to day. Then if the roof falls in – we will have a platform of faith to stand upon … that is the evidence of those things we can’t see yet! His goodness, His provision in Christ is our sure foundation. When difficult things don’t resolve quickly we know we have an opportunity to stretch our faith in His goodness. We may need bigger faith some day down the road.

Fear of change can paralyse us, especially if we only look to the things we can see. Take Mary and Martha, after what they thought was the end, Jesus came…and He had a much bigger plan! His plan was not just to raise Lazarus from the dead … It was to give God glory! If we let our circumstances dictate how we regard our Heavenly Father, and His precious Son, and our wonderful Friend, the Holy Spirit – we run the risk of giving in to fear, disappointment and losing our hope. Hope is not meant to disappoint us, it is meant to lead us into greater things. Our hope is not in the answer to our prayers, it is in the goodness of God.

Spiritual delays happen. But because He is the greatest Father this world has ever seen … we can seize hold of His goodness in whatever circumstances are pressing against us and keep our hope alive. Bye. 👋

P 2775 The best kind of knitting.

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“He Himself carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we would be dead to sin and live for righteousness. Our instant healing flowed from His wounding.” 1 Peter 2:24 TPT. This verse shows us that Christians have been totally restored in God’s sight through Christ’s selfless act. When Jesus said: “It is finished …”  — the exchange of His life for ours was complete, signed in His own blood, forever. When He rose from the dead He proved, once and for all, that He had the authority and power over death. He authenticated His claim.

You and I don’t have to be trapped, or sucked into sin anymore – because Christ’s death has taken us out of the kingdom of darkness and put us firmly into the Kingdom of God’s marvellous light. This is a fact, it is already established in heaven. Our job is to believe Him and start spreading this good news around. God is not angry with mankind – SomeBody else PAID for our sins. We are to introduce, and display God’s kingdom, down here, in Christ’s absence. However, we have His Presence, the Holy Spirit –inside us. He is always with us to help us accomplish the things He tells us to do.

God said way back in Genesis, that the sun, and the moon and stars, were put into the sky for a sign. They are there to exhibit His faithfulness. Human beings know that the sun will come up again tomorrow, but before that happens it will disappear temporarily, and night will come. In the same manner, we know that we are as eternally saved, today, as we were yesterday. The sun and the moon are there to remind us that what God has established cannot be changed, until this world passes away.

As Jesus’ followers, we really do need to make sure we understand what Christ did for us. When He died – we died. Even if we don’t feel any differently, we can no longer legally be held captive to death anymore. Our old life is gone. We’ve been given a new life and that means we no longer have to sin. Sinning was part of our old dysfunctional life. Now, we can choose to operate in His power and overcome our old ways. Christ’s death gave us the power of choice.

Before Christ did what He did for mankind, people were trapped by their proclivities, heartaches, family habits, and lacks. But we’ve been taken OUT of that life and given powerful, eternal choices. Our sole thought now, is how do we live this new life the way HE would?  We gave away our old way of life, when we said yes to Him. We serve Him now. Christ died voluntarily, and now we serve Him voluntarily. Simply because we love Him and we are grateful to God that His Son saved us from the previous life we were trapped inside. Now we live in freedom – one decision at a time.

We useour faith in His truthfulness and goodness to believe that we are free from the impulses and attitudes that bound us in the past. That’s why we read His book, so we can see His faithfulness and truthfulness in action, with other people who are just like us. We probably won’t feel any different when we begin to live like this, because it will take a while for our feelings and thoughts to come into line with what the bible says. We don’t have to live in that old kingdom where feelings and circumstances run our lives anymore! Instead, we choose to obey what we read in His book. Jesus Himself taught us that this is the way God has chosen to release His Kingdom into this world.

“When someone curses you, bless that person in return. When others mistreat and harass you, accept it as your mission to pray for them.”Luke 6:28 TPT. This verse from Luke shows us that the way Jesus did things is not at all like the kind of response we would expect in this world. When somebody’s sin, or their attitudes against us come up in our minds, we need to take those thoughts captive … Why? Because what God said is the greater reality! Then we act upon His Word, rather than our feelings. The Kingdom of God has a language, a culture, a way to treat others that is foreign to this world. We are now ambassadors of that Kingdom. That is our mission. To bring heaven down to earth.

The language of heaven is LOVE. Love recognises no boundaries, no faults or sins, no personally inflicted pain and hurt –love loves others, simply because He received us, first. His love is powerful! It has an ongoing effect in the lives of those who receive it. That love motivates and propels us forward into serving others. Even people who hate us. By choosing to live a life laid down for His sake, we gain continual freedom to release the power of God in extraordinary ways. As we walk in this kind of selfless love, the Body of Christ will grow. It is knitted together. Bye. 👋

“From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up in [unselfish] love.” Ephesians 4:16.

P 2774 It’s time we started …

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… to hear His Voice in someone else’s voice. Someone prayed for this at church the other day and it impacted me. We need to find and see Jesus in each other. How? Well, to start with – He lives there! We said: “Come into my life Lord Jesus, and take over.” And He did. How we feel from day to day is irrelevant. Emotions are fickle they change with our circumstances.

However, sometimes what we are really saying is: “You can come into the lounge Lord. It’s nice and tidy in there, I cleaned that up the other day. But please don’t go into the bedroom, that’s a mess. And definitely stay away from the kitchen and the bathroom, You won’t like what You find in there!” A “Keep out” sign is a warning bell, clanging away trying to get our attention. It is not good to have keep out signs in our lives. It usually means something is badly amiss. Something we don’t want to fix or even pay attention to, because we like it, and we know full well … HE WON’T. It also contaminates our relationships with others.

I had keep out signs practically everywhere, when I first started to follow Him. Life had greatly shattered my trust in humanity. I was afraid I might lose something I cared about. Like my snarky attitudes that I had previously cultivated before I met Him, so I could protect myself. Did you know that keeping a bad attitude toward someone else is like SUPER GLUE? We have the power to stick them there, right in a place where we don’t like them! Read the book. We have the power to forgive people … or not!  A bad attitude is like wearing coloured glasses.

The Lord is far more patient with any of us than we will ever deserve. Praise God, Jesus came here as a human being, so He gets … PEOPLE. If you don’t believe me then read the way He relates to the disciples when they’d lost their brain. Or they didn’t want to change their minds because they couldn’t see anything wrong with their thinking! Those keep out signs stop US from changing too. Meanwhile it’s a wonder, at the beginning of my relationship with the Lord that He had somewhere, at all, to put a toe on. 

But after it took me awhile to realise my error, here’s what I did instead. I’ve pulled out all the keep out signs, because they limit God and I don’t want to limit the Answer! And instead I put up a “proceed with caution, please Lord” one. That sign is for my benefit, not His. He has more loving kindness than I will ever experience anywhere else, but I need to say it, and He listens to me so patiently. I love Him for that.

I think this is part of the problem with our fellowship within the church. Some of us have been so badly bruised by the very people we thought were perfect when we were growing up spiritually, that we put up keep out signs everywhere. On the chimney, on the lawn, in the window, by the front gate… you name it! Now we are just plain scared of other people’s faces and responses, so we live guarded lives. Lives peppered with plastic fruit. Other people could hurt us … BUT …we won’t tell them about it, because that would give them an advantage over us. No faith there.

Here’s a not-so-wonderful revelation — keeping His kids out, limits our growth. The Lord will not limit His right leg, His elbow or His kidneys by seeing them as separate to Him. We are all part of His body. We do whatever we do on His behalf. Jesus has owned us, and become engaged to us, by choice. And He will do everything He can, without violating anyone’s free will, to keep us safe with Him.

Accepting any difficult or nasty people at church is part of loving Him… it’s in the book. Actually it’s often in the part of the book, we don’t much like reading so we avoid it. But the Lord is so gracious, and spiritually attuned, that He can look after us and our overwhelming feelings of fear and doubt, and still not hurt someone else who scares the life out of us. Boy is that a skill I really want!

So, here’s the answer to the church-is-the-place-where-everybody-pretends-to-love-everybody problem. I look for Jesus in that other person. Sometimes  we may need the Lord to install a huge love filter.  My filter is in Colossians 3:14: “Together with these things, the most important part of your new life is to love each other. Love is what holds everything together in perfect unity.“Let the Holy Spirit do this whole relationship thing between each of us – He’s brilliant at it… At the same time we need to prayerfully insist that now, today, we want to accept and love other people. The real deal can take time to grow .. keep pressing on. 

We may have to throw out a whole heap of our own prejudices and smelly attitudes to get there – but embracing love helps us all grow beyond platitudes. Honesty is great, but please don’t tell the other poor sod that you’ve always hated them – that’s counterproductive. Seeing love through His eyes, means we develop spiritual sight, which goes right along with spiritual hearing. We need to turn off that snarky voice inside our head that comments about other people’s sincerity – and aim at love.

My last clue to solving the problem of loving the brethren is pray. Pray, pray, pray pray pray. Then do something nice, like ask them about themselves. You can get a whole lot of insight into someone else’s attitudes by simply listening, it’s a greatly underestimated skill. It is time we started to hear His voice within other people’s voices. The spirit of isolation leads to error. Bye. 👋

P 2766 Contentment.

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God is so good. He’s a good, good Father. He loves it when we sing songs, and preach sermons that talk about Him, and Who He is. … but He loves it even more when we go out from church, and live this life – the only one we have(!) – like we belong to a good good Father!  A Father we trust. A Father who has plans for us. Hope-filled plans for a future that we can embrace because He is in it. Those plans include our total transformation – we end up being the “ME” I was designed to be. Paul says this in Philippians 4:11: “Not that I speak from [any personal] need, for I have learned to be content [and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances.”

The essence of who we are now, is IN CHRIST JESUS. God did that for us. His love was squeezed so tightly, that even when the world chose to reject Christ  – all that came out at that moment was even MORE LOVE. That’s our  hope and our aim too. ‘No matter how tightly we are squeezed, dear Jesus, let pure love come out!’ Amen. God loves us because it is His nature – He IS pure Love. But pure love is not permissive, nor is it wishy washy – read the book!

I know one place where anyone from any circumstance, crime, or foul attitude can go, where they will always be welcome to live.  His door is always open, and the lights are always on, and there is love and acceptance in our Father’s house! Even for the vilest sinner. They can exchange their old life for His new life. He died and took my place, my punishment – so now I choose to die and take HIS PLACE. Our FATHER did everything He could to snatch each one us from the fires of hell — and it cost Him dearly. He had to watch His beautiful, godly, pure and holy Son die, covered in our filthy sin.

Contentment in God is acquired as we voluntarily choose to learn, for ourselves, that He is enough. It is not second-hand knowledge. True contentment is about trust. Trust is built into our lives by taking faith risks, and watching Almighty God redeem things that we thought were unredeemable. He doesn’t actually need our help – He simply enjoys our company in those adventures!  That’s because nobody thinks like you, nobody loves like you do. Your uniqueness is His treasure. We can wander along through this life thinking only we know what is good for us, and what will make us happy and produce contentment. BUT true contentment is found by living in Christ’s transforming Grace.

Learning to love like He does is our destiny. There is a higher love than human love. It is the kind of love that sees everything that you and I can become. That kind of love wants to work everything that happens in our lives for our own good. Which is why I pray, all the time, that the Lord will redeem stuff that crosses my path. I pray:’Change me please.” OR … “Please give me the Grace to live through this like You would Jesus.’ I never know which answer I’m going to get — sometimes it’s both. PS — He’s God, HE can do that! I have learnt over time that I like His way better than my way. My way means I might get what I want … but His way everybody benefits.

1 Timothy 6:2c -8. “These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

Paul is talking to a young pastor, Timothy, he pastors the church at Ephesus. Paul’s teaching him that contentment can be learnt, and it is a sign of God within us. Those awful things Paul describes in these scriptures we hear about every single day in the news!  However, we understand that Godliness can’t be bought, or sold, because SomeBody Else, Jesus Christ, already bought it for all of us. Our response to this truth, makes all the difference to our ability to live in contentment. Hallelujah! You and I can both learn to be content – Paul says so.

Almighty God is our ‘enough.” He cannot disappoint us. Deuteronomy 31:8 says:“And the LORD, He it is that goes before you; He will be with you, He will not fail you, nor walk away from you: don’t be afraid or dismayed.” And that’s what true contentment looks like. (That’s my version BTW). Bye 😌

P 2743 HE is our Hope …

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… our ever present help in time of need! “Here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Don’t give up; don’t be impatient; be entwined as one with the Lord. Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope. Yes, keep on waiting—for He will never disappoint you!” Psalms 27:14 TPT  Today, I want to exhort everyone to embrace the hope that we have because of what Jesus Christ did for us!  When we dredge up or try to conjure up hope based on our circumstances, we can get disappointed in God, others, or ourselves. The bible makes it clear —if we have become disappointed, then we’ve lost our hope. God’s hope does not disappoint!  And Christ is that HOPE.

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It seems to me that we often want the Lord’s help, but we don’t want to live our lives looking to Him all the time. Maybe we are a bit scared that God’s idea of what is good for us, will not match up with what we think it is! Philippians 2:21 says: “For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.”  We must take the time, even if it is just a few minutes every day, to stop, and specifically remember what Jesus did for us and thank Him. This pushes the refresh button in our hearts spiritually.

If we simply take the cross for granted, seeing it as a past accomplished event, there is a strong chance that eventually we will run out of hope, because the world around us is continually creating false finishing lines. I’m talking about running after those transitory things that really aren’t worth it when you get there! But Christ’s work and intercession on our behalf will create amazing things from our ordinary little lives. What Jesus did perfectly for us, is our best point of reference. His sacrifice is the hope that keeps us going, His POV is the lens we deliberately choose to look through.

Here’s what Paul said. It really sharpened my view of HOPE: Colossians 1:22,23a  “But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.”

We choose to stay with the reality of the Gospel because we can’t afford to move. We can’t wander off into theology land. Our hope cannot come from there, owing to the fact that theology land creates debate and uncertainty. Our hope comes from what Jesus did, and it’s in the book! It is very important that we don’t use up our energies running toward false finishing lines. I’ve found there is a huge blessing after I realised that hope actually comes from somewhere else – actually, it comes from SomeOne Else! I learnt that if I’ve lost hope, then I’ve moved away from my real life in Him.  It means I’ve wandered off and gone over into my own agendas.

Christ is always our only hope – not our circumstances, not the possibilities tomorrow presents, or something material we are striving for. He is our HOPE source, and He will stretch and enlarge us as we choose to walk with Him. Our hope isn’t IN what we think we believe, or what our favourite preacher said – but Jesus Christ Himself! That’s what building your life upon the Rock, looks like. The sand in our lives is the stuff in that shifts and moves, it gets stolen away, fades, or falls away and it can’t last! Hope is now our leader, it takes us, day by day, further into what the cross did for us. We choose to trust in Christ because of that cross.

Paul finishes his thoughts a few verses further on:  “I have become its (the church’s) servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the Word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory.”(V25-27).

Real hope now lives inside of us. We all received that hope when we said yes to Jesus – at the same time we gave away our old life and began to learn how to live the way the bible says.  Our task is to keep feeding and watering our hope with an ever expanding knowledge of what the cross of Christ did, in us and for us. I add to that  whatever the bible has spoken to me today, together with my obedience. We can’t afford to get our hope from our circumstances … practically everything around us can change in a heartbeat. 

The way to get through the times when it seems like our hope is fading, is to look at the cross and revisit what Christ did on it, for us. Because of what He did for us  – we changed kingdoms. Our sins were ever-so-real to us and others, before, but now they are gone! When our Heavenly Father looks at us – He sees Christ. Our bit is to co-operate with the Holy Spirit so that what Father God sees, becomes who we really are!  We need to daily remember Christ is IN us. He is our reference point. He is our hope of glory. 👋

P 2727 This is our way forward.

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Hubby sent me this lovely bit of writing the other day and it was so sweet I wanted to put it here, today. It’s from: “I hear His Whisper”:.. and it’s called – “Kindness reveals My nature.”

“When you act toward others with a heart overflowing with compassion, you are living out the very heartbeat of My mercy. When you line your life with kindness, you cannot miss the blessings of My kingdom. Your return will be great when you live a life of generous love.

I tell you the truth: acting in love toward others may sometimes feel like the greatest sacrifice. However, when you train your heart in generosity, you purify your motives. I delight when you reflect My magnanimous love by choosing to extend mercy to others. Self-defense won’t get a person very far in life, but look at the rich lives of My beloved ones who live to benefit others. 

Rather than seeking only to fill their own bellies, they freely give to others in need. Model your life after the generous rather than the stingy, and you will live in the beautiful blessing of a clean conscience. Look to Me whenever you need grace to empower your choices. I will always help you!” written by Brian Simmons

Hebrews 13:16 TPT:“We will show mercy to the poor and not miss an opportunity to do acts of kindness for others, for these are the true sacrifices that delight God’s heart.”

I love it when I read something that exhorts me to live this life to the full and it shows me how to walk with Him. Bonus buy … isn’t it wonderful that things like this delight His heart! To be honest, I’m sick to death of long winded theories on how to be a better Christian, and things that have never seem to work out for me. I can’t seem to stay the prescribed course, and then I fall on my head and get disheartened. Sigh. I’m always glad for the person who wrote the book etc. it just doesn’t seem to be my thing. My memory ain’t what it used to be, so I forget what I’m supposed to be doing almost immediately. Cultivating kindness and generosity suits me better, because it isn’t hard to remember and it has a powerful effect!

I have noticed that different sorts of lives have different handicaps. For instance, I can no longer do the sort of things that other people take for granted. But I also know that others are handicapped by busyness and their essential activities as they try to press forward into their high calling in the Lord. Some people are handicapped by their home circumstances — they have parents or children, or spouses or friends that don’t support their Christian POV. Some are trapped financially. I think that we all have difficult lives in this modern world. Today’s special thought from Brian Simmons is a great example of how anyone can live this life for His sake, even when there are other things making their lives difficult … simply by living generously.

We can also choose kindness – and when we do so we are revealing the Lord’s own nature. And the bonus bit is that we don’t necessarily have to have a speaking gift! Generosity speaks its own language. I love this kind of over and above giving because the Holy Spirit has taught us personally about the power that lies in unexpected kindness through giving. I find it opens doors that we can’t see, in other people’s hearts. We’ve both seen people who are very restrained and quite formal, suddenly divulge all sorts of info about themselves in response to something or other we did. 

Today I want to talk about the ways I’ve noticed kindness can transform things that seem to be rock solid. Being kind as well as generous is an incredible way to bless others and open up hearts – ours, and someone else’s too. First of all, we can actively choose to be kind, loving and forgiving, when we know that the other person is expecting a totally justified rebuke. This sort of kindness is incredibly powerful. It can be tempting to take advantage of a situation where one person has done something damaging, and we are on the wrong end of it. But when we are generous with our love, forgiveness and kindness, we can be used by the Lord to usher in change into their lives. Kindness opens doors.

It can give energy and hope to the weak. Whether the person is weak in spirit, or mind or body, it energises others when we treat them with respect and love. At one time we saw a severely disabled man on the street. He was unable to control many of his bodily functions. His carer was a charming kind man, mopping up for him with a loving touch. The carer was so happy to chat to us, but I must confess that we wanted to talk to the person in the chair! The disabled young man’s whole bodily demeanour indicated that there was nobody home, but as we spoke to him – his face came alive. He couldn’t speak, but his eyes shone. It was almost as though he responded to the love and said: “You can see me!” We told him we could see how brave and courageous he was, and we prayed for help and healing from the Lord. We kind of floated away from that interaction much more blessed than the young disabled man was! 

Kindness like Mr Simmons mentioned above also shows up in generosity. God will always repay us when we give to unselfishly to others. That’s because HE is where kindness comes from – so we are mirroring Jesus’ example. The truth is, we’ve noticed you can get blessed by paying attention to the way the Lord repays you! I know someone who used to make up boxes of food for people in their congregation who were doing it tough. They’d fill a basket or a box with the kind of things that these folks could not afford, plop the box on their doorstep, ring the bell — and run away … like naughty children ringing a doorbell and escaping before being caught! 😂 Someone hid around the corner to watch the response. They said doing that was so much fun, and they highly recommended it for unexpected excitement and joy. 

The bible clearly says: “it is more blessed to give than to receive:”(Acts 20:35) and our task is to personally prove that scripture is active and effective! I know it cuts away possessiveness and the desire for more stuff we don’t need! Human beings can get so caught up in their own terrible circumstances, or this or that bit of dreadful news, we can forget God has a plan and He has given His kids the power to change things. We may not be able to change the course of a war, but we can pray and intercede for those trapped inside one. 

Kindness and generosity are powerful weapons in our spiritual arsenal of God’s ever-increasing love and mercy. I believe this is our way forward into reaching the world. Bye. 👋

P 2722 Our attitude to making mistakes, matters.

/ DVH

Galatians 2:11-16: “When Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

These verses show us a number of things. The primary one I want to speak about today, is that this is an example of the way we can sort things out with another believer. Paul spotted Peter’s hypocrisy and said so. He didn’t give into social pressure, instead he called out what he saw, when he saw it. What I understand from that action is — because we love each other, we need to watch each other’s backs, so that none of us miss out on fulfilling our heavenly calling. The thing that matters in what Paul did wasn’t confrontation, it was loving concern for this fledgling church.

The issue Paul mentioned is an important issue. Grace or works?? Unfortunately Peter, the Apostle — fell down the hole of agreeing with something that was not the gospel, because of FEAR. We must note when we read this that Peter was not challenged by anyone of the people who were already around him, instead … he was actually leading others astray. The real subject was not theology – it was GRACE. Was Grace going to lead them?

Sometimes, instead of just accepting the norm, in the name of not being divisive, it becomes necessary to challenge it. This must be done in a true spirit of humility and for God’s glory — not just to elevate or manipulate.The key is that you do it to protect someone else’s back, not because you think you are smarter, more right, or more spiritual than they are. I put those verses here today because they are the kind of verses we can easily read and think … yeah yeah yeah, Peter got it wrong… yada yada yada … meh …Paul is showing us how to deal with error.

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Meanwhile, there is no truth to the rumour that if I do nothing I can’t make mistakes. Doing nothing IS a mistake, unless the Holy Spirit is guiding you. Mistakes aren’t the enemy, fear is, and sometimes fear of making a mistake is an even bigger enemy!  Peter’s personal enemy was often FEAR too. That stuff showed up once in a boat as the disciples were crossing Lake Galilee in a storm. Peter dared to believe he could do what Jesus was doing. He went really well, walking on the water … until the circumstances distracted him and he sank! (There were other instances as well, but I have no room here!)

However, the Holy Spirit transformed this man of God at Pentecost into someone who seized the day, wherever he was. It totally looked like fear had been defeated, but then popped its ugly head up again in today’s story. Fear is like that. It goes away and comes back wearing another hat! This time fear looked like being non-partisan. This stuff often runs many people’s lives and they don’t even know it is happening, because they don’t admit it or recognise it – even to themselves. It will not kill us to be wrong!… Actually it can help us to die to self. We cannot follow Jesus and not die to self. 

We need to realise that dying to self is a lifestyle, not something we visit and walk past. Much later on in his life, Peter says this in 1 Peter 4:8“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”This is the real point. It is not about messing up, it is about the kind of faith that gets up and goes on!. We need to stop hoping that everyone else will make an exception for me in my sad, sorry little life, and man up and start choosing to changing ME! Almighty God’s power has not been weakened by the evil things that have previously happened to us. Read the book!

Peter is someone who I really appreciate. There are times when he has a big mouth and blurts out stuff better left unsaid. We know He made mistakes because he made public mistakes. One of the blessings of Peter’s life for me, is that it was obvious he was not perfect. Paul’s lesson impacts every single one of us. When we leave God’s Love behind, we leave Grace behind. Our attitude to mistakes will rule us if we let it. But let’s always remember that LOVE WILL RULE US FAR MORE EFFECTIVELY.  Bye👋

P 2717 Let the Holy Spirit teach you how to add.

/ DVH

The principle of addition in the Spirit is a wonderful thing to learn, under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. That knowledge will save and help us from going under or giving up when storms, or even the wiggly daily annoyances of this life, hit us. 

Our Christian life is not just about survival, it is about overcoming. The word overcoming means conquering; subduing. By His grace, we conquer and subdue our old nature. Christianity is not about changing other people – it is about the Holy Spirit being charge of ME, my old nature. We can overcome anything when our knowledge of Who He is is bigger than whatever nasty attitude we have fallen into again. We simply turn our heads and instantly look to Him and ask Him: “Help Lord, please forgive me. How are You going to get me out of this mess this time?” 

As we read His book and take faith steps, we learn, experientially that God does not desert His kids ever. Even when He was teaching the Israelites about Who He is — He did not take His eyes off them. Our God is a promise keeper. He loves to keep His promises – and He has promised to never leave us. It is dangerous to put our feelings in charge of our circumstances.

Difficulties can occur if we only memorise promises that talk about making MY life better. We need to go on from that immature POV to understand Who He is, and what He wants from us. Knowing Who He is, is far more important than escaping from the trials of this life, because His faithfulness will hold us steady in contrary winds. We can walk with Him through minefields and His Presence will guide, teach and comfort us.

We need to know the Lord personally, and intimately. We can’t do that by pasting someone else’s testimonies and teachings over our lives. Under stress those things will fall off. Instead we need to ADD personal knowledge of Him into our way of life. This means we will continually, carefully be watching every word in His book for clues about what the Lord wants from ME. That is the seed bed of our faith.

When things drag on and on, and in this life sometimes they do … we use those unwanted opportunities to do what 2 Peter 1:5-8 says:“And beside this, giving all diligence, *add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We can short-circuit the Lord’s processes in our lives by choosing not to use our faith and follow the Spirit’s guidance – step by step into a new way to live.

Every test, every trial, every harmful circumstance has an opportunity within it to learn how to add ONE GRACE to another! Every single one of us needs this kind of addition in our lives. The things we read in the bible are not just words on a page – they are the personal revelation of His progressive sequences, with the goal of transformation at the other end. Instead of looking at all those words as a jumble of sayings, we need to start asking: ‘What does that mean Lord?” ‘How can I make this true in my life?’ ‘How does this scripture apply to me?’ This kind of personal revelation is the most wonderful thing – it will help us to personally have confidence in Him.

That means that the next time we want to give in and give up, we won’t!  Instead we will ask for help to make it through our lack so we can continue to add the things that will last. In the above verses we learn that we can add – by being consistently true to Him and using our faith to do it – we add greater knowledge of the Lord and His ways. As we take faith steps toward Him. That kind of deliberate obedient movement will get rid of extremes and help us gain restraint (choice).  Restraint can lead to patience;  and if we press in and keep on going we will arrive at godliness.

Godliness is not just a series of actions, but inner transformation. We will stop blaming others for our missteps and repent, repair and move on. The Lord wants us to learn that making bad selfish choices will not discount us from becoming an overcomer – but hiding from our stinky attitudes will!  At the end of all this adding we find we have been enriched by His benevolent, generosity – especially toward those in need or in disfavour. Plus we gain leniency toward other people’s sins against us. This whole thing is an ever-expanding process, not an arrival place. This means we trust Him to get us through every single issue we face. (And NO! I am not there yet, either! I panicked about something just last night!)

Knowing the Lord’s Ways teaches us that if we haven’t arrived at good yet, then whatever is going on is not over yet!  Our God has goodness in every single aspect of His nature. Even when He punished the Israelites for their appalling behaviour it was to help them – to bring them back under into the safety of His sheltering Love. Let’s use His book to prove His goodness in our lives, daily. There is nothing stronger than a personal testimony about God’s Grace in action in my own life! We all need to learn how to ADD. Bless you. 👋

P 2715 Learning to love means learning to obey.

/ DVH

“This is how we can be SURE that we love the children of God: by having a passionate love for God and by obedience to His commands. True love for God means obeying His commands, and His commands don’t weigh us down as heavy burdens.”1 John 5:2-3 TPT.

Because we love the Lord — we need to consistently remember that to Him, obedience is everything. Seriously, I know I flog this concept almost to death, but it is the truth. The way to show the Lord that we are utterly and totally HIS — despite any current circumstances — is to read His book and deliberately find the things that He has asked us to do, or not do – and then act accordingly. In His book God is imparting His heart and His will for our lives. I believe that we particularly need to pay special attention to those things we haven’t done before! Those things that we quickly read around, or glance at, hoping it doesn’t apply to us! 

While all this is going on — we simultaneously need to bear in mind one of the prerequisites to participating in everything the Lord has for us, is that we don’t care if we look like an idiot to other people! We will definitely die to self when self doesn’t get a say! Daily we understand that because we have chosen to follow Him, this way to live is part of the cost. Remember, He will not leave us, we have the joy of His Presence every minute of every day. Today and every day, our love for the Lord looks like obedience.. At the same time loving God also means we love His kids, in ways that they can see and experience. ‘Not just in words, but in deeds …’ 

Here’s a fun story from this trip. Hubby had toddled off to buy himself a pie in a country town we were passing through … when a much older lady walked by our car. She read the sign on the car door: ‘You are God’s happy thought.’ She smiled at me, then she carefully read the licence plate on our car. She waved, I waved, and she walked slowly back to her own car. Meanwhile hubby came back with his pie and the Lord said to me: “That licence plate says ‘Love looks like something.’ She read it. So what does love look like to her?”  🤪 Quick as a flash I told hubby what had happened, I held his pie for him and he chased after the older lady and he gave her a bookmark. She immediately wanted to pay for it and he said told her it was free. Love looked like a free bookmark to her. She waved happily at us as we left. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

That day was long and arduous but we kept on smiling as we remembered that dear lady. The Lord has taught me to look for the good. Basically what the Holy Spirit said to me was this — ‘This life IS difficult. And IF you only enjoy it when everything goes the way you want it, you will waste a lot of the time you have been given by being miserable. FIND THE JOY I send you in every day and you will win.” So now I’ve made it my quest to find the joy!

It’s good to remind ourselves that God’s kids aren’t just the people who go to our churches or attend other denominations. His kid can be an enemy who keeps on hurting you! He wants you and I to reach out to them – this is how we learn to love the unlovely. His kids are also people you and I have never met before. We met Steven, a former Chinese national who owns a motel. Hubby gave him a pen and a keyring for his lovely wife. The dear man was worried the keyring was too expensive, but hubby reassured him it was a gift. The result was Steven heard the gospel for the first time, ever. And we left him with gospels for his motel – we are hoping to see him on the way back home. 

When I think about it, I am not sure that we have taught our kids that following Jesus will probably mean that this life will have battles sent to destroy their faith. We cannot keep teaching the popular theology that says the Lord is supposed to make our lives happy all the time, and expect our kids to take our faith seriously. They will become disappointed when they discover it is not true. In our efforts to be fair and reasonable to all and sundry, we have lost the kind of absolutes that matter eternally. 

We can end up failing the Lord if we don’t take His command to love Him and others seriously. At the same time we need to love and tell the people in our particular corner of this world about Him! What we preach will never win popularity contests, and it will not lead us into a quiet life of ease. We will find our rest in Him, alone!  But when we said yes to Jesus we said yes to a different kind of life. A life of sacrifice and love for those who do not deserve it. It’s part of the cost of obedience.

Learning to love others through obedience is tough, but fruitful. However, if we have a part-time God there is a chance we will never know what shift He is on! Bye … 🤪 👋