Citizens

P3457 Peace is our guide.

/ DVH

“Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, Who called you to peace as part of His one body. And always be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 TPT. Peace is not a feeling, or even an absence of conflict – peace is a Person. Jesus. He wants to help, comfort, guide us and lead us on. The Lord Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit for that specific purpose. We can have peace with God forever, because of what Jesus Christ did for us. He resolved the conflict between mankind and our Heavenly Father. He will help us with the one we daily confront – those difficulties we have with each other! Peace lights the way ahead.

Because we are His children, God Himself always has a Way that we should go so we can live with His peace on the inside of us at all times, even when the world around us is in rising panic. Peace is our portion, if we don’t have it, then we are told to seek it out – go after it. Peace helps us decide between what is Godly and right, and what is not. We need an umpire when life gets messy, and only the Lord knows our hearts – we don’t.

The Holy Spirit lovingly guides us into a new relationship with God Himself, one of trust. We can’t afford to simply know about Him — we need to know Him, His ways. The Holy Spirit manifests Himself in different ways, so we need to stay alert in our spirits, so we can recognise Him. The bible shows us what the things of God look like. Some things are a warning, others are there to show us how God Himself deals with individuals, as well as nations. Plus we learn Who He is, from this book – when we look a little deeper. Otherwise human beings can get easily tangled up in the things that don’t matter.

This world is filled up with lots of opportunities to be distracted. Noise, trouble, and hardship, even entertainment. If we focus on what is going on around us – we will lose our peace, little by little. Our finite minds try to resolve the conflicts that exist today by leaving Him out. Let’s remember that we don’t know what that other person is thinking. They don’t approach this life like we do. At times stuff just happens to us, and we are drawn into a whirlwind. That’s when we need to grab our anchor – Jesus – and throw what He did for us, down into the depths of our troubles and hold fast to it.

We can pray for peace, or we can simply embrace and surrender to Jesus – because He is the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ bought us peace with God, because of what He did for us, now peace is our home country. WE ARE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN – no longer of this world. Peace won’t just ‘happen,’ we must value it enough to prioritise it, and repair the things that are broken. Then repent if you have tried to be the whole ballgame by yourself. His Peace is His gift to us. We deliberately choose to walk in harmony with Him and others because we want to understand the WAY He thinks and acts, because we want to know Him even more than we want to be understood. Jesus is not like us. Read the Gospels — He does not think the way we do. To start with, we often reject the people He reached out to!

This is what Paul meant when he said we need to be “in Christ.” When we choose to live ‘in Christ’ that means we do the things He would do, and His opinions become more important than our own. Then we stay hidden in what the Lord would do, that means we can’t afford to rush about excusing ourselves when we’ve done something He wouldn’t! Things like gathering people around us to feel sorry for us when things get hard. The plain fact is we can’t be seen by others, and hidden in Christ, all at the same time. Instead HE is seen and WE are hidden inside His Grace. We can ask people to pray for us, but then we will have to let go of self-pity and our need for sympathy, and hold on tightly to His Grace and faithfulness.

“For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3. This is how we become one of those ‘spectators – ourselves hidden in the secret place of Almighty God.’ (Psalm 91) A spectator is an observer. They simply watch what is going on around them and pray for the other people who are stuck in conflict. Jesus is our own personal hiding place – not our own resources, which may be many … or even our head knowledge of the bible. Head knowledge has to become heart knowledge if we are to be hidden in Christ. 

Paul also said “In Christ I live and move and have my being.” Acts17: 28. Paul let his own reputation crumble in favour of living for Jesus and what the Lord told him to do. Who or what motivates you? The Lord, other people, or circumstances? There are times when fear, or our feelings can get in our way and we end up trying to BE what we already are! Instead, let’s use our faith, stand still and watch Him at work, then do whatever He asks us to do, and then we will slowly start to see the way Jesus does things. That’s how we get to know Him better.

We have peace because we are His – not because we deserve it. His peace is the inner assurance that God is all over whatever is going on, and He will see us through it. That does not mean we will get our own way, instead peace will lead us into participating in HIS WAYS. His peace will guide us through to the place where we are resting in what Jesus already did. This peace is not just a feeling, it is an inner assurance that God is in charge and He is always present with us. Bye. 👋

P 2803 Choices.

/ DVH

All our lives we have been influenced by our own choices. Even if we choose not to choose – that’s still a choice! Yeah, I know irony central!! We are the people God Himself has chosen to represent Him, so we need to choose to do things the Way He does things. We have come into agreement with what He says and He will not enforce His will upon us. He will not take over, instead, the Holy Spirit has been given to us to lead us.

Jesus made choices while He was here on earth. “I don’t speak on My own authority. The Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it. And I know His commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells Me to say.”John 12:49-50. My point is this, we all know SomeOne, personally, Who knows how Jesus would choose if He was in our situation! He wants to help me, so I need to choose to rely upon the Holy Spirit’s guidance and wisdom. Look, you can make a cake with a fork and a whole lot of effort, but if you know you have a mixmaster you will do it far more efficiently and thoroughly!

We can fall into doubt and unbelief when we don’t know what the Lord says about something. And then our choices can get muddied and muddled. That’s where the bible, as well as prayer need to be our first choice. We cannot leave out the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is the Person Jesus deliberately chose to send back to His people to help them. After choosing Christ to save us – the Holy Spirit is the BEST CHOICE to help us grow. He can be everywhere, at all times, all at once. We have SomeOne Who now lives within us, and He will help us make the kind of choices Jesus made, and He will give us the strength to carry them out!

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was ON certain individuals to carry out the Father’s wishes. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is now IN us. He flows through us because of our choices! I have a great sadness in my heart when I think about the doctrine that says that the Holy Spirit is all about speaking in tongues. He is so much bigger than a heavenly language, which, BTW, is for an individual’s benefit. I have no opinion either way about whether anyone else should speak in tongues. I refuse to major on this issue because I believe it is a personal choice. The Body of Christ has inadvertently majored on minor things, and it has separated us. Obedience to His Word needs to be our first priority.

However, in my opinion, speaking in tongues is a Holy Spirit aid. Doing this helps me get my own thoughts out of the way. Let us say I have an argument with Mrs Kerfoops down the road. She’s a bit of a nasty old biddy. When I pray for Mrs Kerfoops using my mind, I could easily pray for her attitude toward other people to change – I might even do that with great passion and fervour! But when I pray in tongues the Holy Spirit prays His truth from within me, through me. So I could end up praying for the lady like this: “Ke-yesus se min Abah  etc.etc.”  

If I were to translate that, and translation is part of speaking in tongues, I could be praying like this: “Jesus please help me to love Mrs Kerfoops like the Father does.”  And YES! I can also just pray that in English! Like I said, it’s a choice!  “Then what am I to do? I will pray with the spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me] and I will pray with the mind [using words I understand]; …”1 Corinthians 14:15 AMP. I need to remember that the Holy Spirit knows Mrs Kerfoops better than I do – He knows how to pray for her perfectly. After I’ve prayed as He leads me … that’s when something from His word that I already know, rises up within me, and helps me pray the way He wants me to pray.

So, instead of praying from my mind: ‘change her because she annoys me!’ – I choose to let Him guide me. The Holy Spirit speaks Armenian, Icelandic, Pakistani, and every known language on this earth. He also speaks in the tongues of angels. Sometimes my squirrelled-up thinking gets in the way of what He wants. I have found that speaking in tongues helps me to pray for bigger things than I could possibly think.

It is a common thing for human beings to excuse their own behaviour, and accuse other people about theirs. The fact that it is common, doesn’t make it Godly! I know this from personal experience. When hubby and I argue, it is often because I have lost my Peace somewhere, and I’ve just plain run out of Grace. As peace is like a RIVER and Grace was released by what Christ did at Calvary. What I need is already within me – IN HIM. I just need to access it through my choices. There are times, sadly, I don’t want to let go of my own opinion, I want to make my point instead! Yeah, I know … awful ain’t I?

The Holy Spirit is a Person Who is activated in and through our lives by our choices. Let’s look at using our faith. The bible says: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not yet seen.” (Hebrews 11) I will give my own personal faith substance when I choose to act on what I’ve read in the bible, or whatever I feel the Holy Spirit within me is saying to me. That prayer takes whatever I am praying and turns it into an action. That’s what gives my faith substance – ACTING ON IT.  Christianity is not a faith of theories, it is a faith of choices. It is up to us whether we make those choices or not, but many people will judge what we believe, by the way we live. 

We are not powerless. We are now citizens of His kingdom. Some things in our lives are more stubborn than burnt-on grease on the bottom of a frying pan! So it will take perseverance and choice to shift them. It will also take devotion to the stated end game;  and the end game is transformation. At the same time, as we concentrate on working out our salvation day by day – we need to be helped by the Holy Spirit. His input helps us see, understand, and appreciate truth, and He inspires us to go after it. He helps me to make the kind of choices that lead me after God’s ways. Our choices matter. Bye. 🕊️

P 2745 Are you a policeman … or a shepherd?

/ DVH

Our police force upholds our laws. He or she can throw people acting badly into jail, particularly if the law agrees with them. They can and probably will get rough with you, if you get rough with them … or if you hurt someone else. If we are not breaking the law, then we are in no danger of being accosted by a policeman. Personally, I smile and say ‘hello officer’ and just go about my business. People who don’t break the law don’t have to worry about the police. 

I watch TV news occasionally, and I have seen the unruly crowds of truly dumb people provoking officers of the law who have a large shield, a face mask, a helmet, steel capped boots, a baton, and a gun! 😳 Now there’s the spirit of stupid on steroids!! These misguided protesters are trying to make a point whilst yelling abuse in someone’s ears and waving banners and charging at them. It seems to me that they are shouting at the wrong people! Sadly, we need the police because human beings cannot always be trusted to act in a rational, loving, manner toward each other. 

On the other hand, shepherds watch their sheep, their flock is the centre of their thoughts and hearts. They look out for danger, and make sure that they are leading the sheep to good food and water. However, lest we think that shepherds are always nice, I would like to mention that shepherds have something I call a whacker! A nice long bit of hard wood with a knob on the end. Shepherds protect their sheep with said whacker. Some people call it a shepherd’s crook. The shepherd’s crook is useful to fish sheep out of water, as well as thorny bushes and holes. It is also useful for bopping dumb sheep on the head if they keep wandering off, or biting other sheep!  

Now, the whacker doesn’t really hurt the sheep, because the idea is to stun the stupid creature into some semblance of sense — not to have roast lamb on Sunday. Besides, it is a well known fact sheep have really really hard skulls. Nowadays, we also have brilliant dogs who are well trained and they nip at the heels of any silly wandering sheep and bark loudly at them. Because said sheep are easily frightened, they run away from the beast that bites. Not so dumb after all! Let’s hope that we don’t just see the creature as a potential lamb sandwich with pickles.

If the riotous, aforementioned, sheeple crowd had a brain in their heads, they too would run away from the lines of armed police, before they get injured. Some public figure idiot with a big mouth told our citizens that they have the right to say whatever they want to say. They call that free speech. That is a rumour. In other countries that law applies, but it is not part of this country’s constitution. Which is why it is best not to go on a protest!  

So here I am, back at my point, after meandering on about like a sheeple for a while. I will refresh my question:  in your family —  are you a policeman or a shepherd? Do you enforce the law? Maybe you have grave concerns that the rules must be kept or bad things will happen? Are you prepared to use force, vocal or otherwise, to maintain those rules? OR, are you a shepherd, daily walking and leading your sheep, watching out for good water, and green pastures? Are you willing to do whatever is required to rescue a dumb sheeple if it becomes necessary?  You are there to lead, and guide, and care for your own personal flock. 

What do you think is more important to you? Maintaining some sort of unwritten status quo, so you can cope with your already overcrowded busy life whilst trying to fit your kids in around everything else? Or raising loving human beings who care about the next guy? Ministers and pastors aren’t the only people who have a flock, parents do as well. Is it your aim to be the kind of shepherd that will go after a lost sheep, as well as carry an injured one home? Or do you rule your family with a rod of iron whilst standing safely behind your shield of –“I’m the boss!”

Let’s see what God says by looking at a couple of Psalms, 127:3&4: “Children are an inheritance from the Lord. They are a reward from Him. The children born to a man when he is young are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.” Psalm 102:28:“The children of Your servants will live in Your presence;  their descendants will be established before You.”

Lastly, I just want to mention that the police are great but they are dispassionate, they are doing a job. They are enforcing rules for societal good. In contrast, a true shepherd is passionate, he cares for every single sheep, knows it by name, and will go to great lengths to keep it safe. Our children are the arrows of the present we fire into the future. What will you and I leave behind us — the memory of a policeman or a shepherd? In the school holidays I had a tendency to turn into a policeman — just to survive! Bye …👋