Command

P 3344 Do we love others well?

/ DVH

My dear hubby came up with a great thought for today. When the Lord told us to love one another – it was a COMMAND, not a suggestion. ‘I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.’ John 13:34. Boy I can sit and soak in that one for a while. Loving others is not an optional extra, it is the reason we are still in this world – our great QUEST. (1 Corinthians 14:1) 

Here is a question I ask myself regularly: “If I were to be taken to court, could I be found guilty of loving others? Is there enough evidence?” Truthfully, it can depend on the day. But questions like this one can leave me flatter than a cane toad hit by a semi-trailer. Look, I don’t want to know my real answer, anymore than anyone else would, but it is essential that we all understand that a lack of love matters to God. We are looking to walk in His Ways, not ours. Our own way of thinking often excuses us, and accuses the other person!  Some of us have not come any further than the playground at school – we whine: “They started it!”

Well, let’s start today by looking at our responses to other denominations. The bible says in Matthew 25:31-33: “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left…”  So what qualifies somebody to be a sheep and not a goat? If you read far enough in this passage you will find it all depends on how we treat the poor and needy! Verse 40 says this: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.” Jesus identifies Himself with the poor, and He is motivated by compassion and love – most of the time we can easily be motivated by partisan attitudes.

The reality is we know we are guilty of merely tolerating other denominations and their doctrines – by secretly thinking our little group has the skinny on God and what He wants.  But is tolerating others the same as love? Self-examination under the Holy Spirit’s supervision is a useful thing. It can lead us out of self-deception into repentance. Getting rid of unloving attitudes will make loving others with His love easier. It starts by asking for His help and … ends in repentance. There is only one thing that can separate us from other people – our own inner prejudices and attitudes. People have to be taught to hate, little ones don’t care who you are, and where you are from.

The disciples walked around with Jesus for three and a half years. They listened to every sermon, saw every miracle and  yet we can see that they had unChrist-like ideas. They all needed to undergo transformation and the Holy Spirit did it at Pentecost. They needed a new heart and so do we! What WE do and think about, it is what matters. In the example below, the people who were bound by satan got free!  Well Hallelujah!!

So here are two verses, in Luke 4:49,50: “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”  It is so easy to make Christianity an exclusive little club. We really must stop categorising other Christians as wrong, or right. Because our differing doctrines are ruining the actual message! Christianity is sometimes like the somewhat divisive doctrine about speaking in tongues. Here’s what I think – if you can, then please DO IT often. But don’t make it a merit badge!

A lack of love can also occur when we stop tending the garden of interpersonal love. We can spend too much time concentrating on the other person’s faults … a-n-d … not enough dealing with our own. Then weeds disguised as attitudes and behaviours start to appear, and choke out the beautiful blooms of love in a marriage; or in the love between a parent and child; between siblings; or even in the church. 

We don’t have to like those people who continue to abuse us or treat us badly … Jesus Himself did not say: ‘Thank you very much for pulling out My beard and pushing the crown of thorns onto My head causing Me excruciating pain.” He simply said nothing and surrendered His body to their torture.. Saying and doing nothing is sometimes the best course of action. Suffering often doesn’t have words.

We need to pray for our enemies and those who despitefully use us, but that does not mean we walk around with a target over our hearts, minds, emotions and bodies. Jesus died for their sin too, so we don’t have to bear it by ourselves anymore. Your sin, my sin, their sin, anyone’s sin – just don’t carry it around any longer. That’s a burden that will weigh you down, and keep you from loving others with His love. Give it all to the Lord. Put it down and walk away. Repent if you need to, ask for healing because you need it – but walk away and refuse to worry it with thoughts.

When Jesus Christ said: “It is finished,” He meant FINISHED. Allowing yourself to be battered by satan’s lies will keep you from learning to love, and love is what lasts. This life is passing away … you can’t save others… but He can. Loving others well, means we love like Jesus did — not with indulgence, but truth undergirded by His love. Bye. 👋

P 3322  What’s so important about obedience? 

/ DVH

“For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey Me, and I will be your God and you will be My people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.” Jeremiah 7:21-23.

“Why are you so polite with Me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.” (Jesus is speaking.) Luke 6:46.

Without obedience, our foundation in the Lord can be a bit wonky. He will never let go of us, but if we ignore Him and don’t obey Him, we are letting go of our relationship with Jesus. It really does matter if the Lord tells you to go and fix things with this or that person. Obedience is not just witnessing about Him, it is the every day practical submission we carry out as we deliberately obey His Words. The Lord Jesus loves us so much — He doesn’t want us to carry those things around inside us. That’s a burden that needs to be thrown down at the foot of the cross. He carried it for us, so we don’t have to.

When it comes to forgiveness there are no exceptions.  God tells us these things for our own good, not because He is a control freak. Why would we choose to walk around in satan’s backyard when God has already picked out His pathway for us to walk on? Unforgiveness nails one foot to the floor, and then we go round and round talking about it – trying to figure out what to do next about that person. Ruminating over imaginary conversations that never work out IRL. Instead, go and ask for the Lord and your abuser’s forgiveness for ‘not loving your enemy and not doing them good.’ It’s probably best not to use those exact words BTW. Remember – healing often needs time – and forgiveness sets me free. 

God’s plan for us is a plan for our good, it includes righteousness, peace, love and JOY, as we walk with the Holy Spirit. He has plans to give us a hope and a future. We can short-circuit His processes when we choose not to obey Him, and our foundations will rock and creak. That’s because they are not fixed on what Christ already did. Jesus did what He did so we can have the freedom and grace to forgive others and live free from all kinds of angst and fear.

Forgiveness is not about giving permission for someone to keep tormenting you. Instead it teaches us to speak one of Almighty God’s languages. Some things work so much better when they are a fixed part of our lives, and obedience and forgiveness are two of them. Jesus forgave us. He didn’t just forgive the men who killed Him – those words from the cross have echoed down the centuries and provided access for us here and now. Forgiveness is a lifestyle choice not an optional extra. 

When we live in unforgiveness, we are rebelling against the very thing that the Lord came here to do for US. Living like that will expose us to self-deception. His blood is our permanent refuge, so put the past under His blood. I don’t care what the person who is still hurting you did. You need to be free of it.  Freedom doesn’t always come when the other person acknowledges their sin – it comes when we choose to put our focus on Him. If you don’t put those carelessly repeated actions down and walk away it will strangle your own faith.

You don’t have to like people to forgive them. And the bible doesn’t say “feel like it” – it just says do it! Remember love is a choice not a feeling. We put our hearts into compromising positions when we harbour unforgiveness. Please remember there are often a lot of things we don’t know about that other person that could be causing them to behave the way they do. Plus I have noticed that when two people collide, one of the best ways of finding resolution is for one of them to change the way they respond to any oppositional stimulus. Be that person – the peace-maker.

I have forgiven a number of people a great deal of manipulation, hurt and vicious behaviour, some of which was deliberately malicious and some of it was unwitting. Some have even insisted that I vindicate their behaviour … but I declined, because their behaviour is not my responsibility. I refuse to take somebody else’s response into account, or let it influence my own actions, as I continue to move forward toward Him. 

If I need protection from an aggressor then the Lord will tell me to avoid them. He has told me to “leave now,” when I was in danger of being hurt again. At the same time, I’ve learnt some things can’t be easily resolved. They need REST, not instant RESOLUTION. Forgive, and then let Jesus do what only He can do. At the same time resist the temptation to hold a grudge. If it comes up again then I forgive again, and give it to back to Him again. We forgive others because God says so. We do it because He told us to do it. It becomes so much easier to do the things He asks of us, when we choose to obey Him. That’s why forgiveness is foundational in its importance. Bye👋

P 3309 Anxiety.

/ DVH

Charles F Stanley wrote the following. I hope it is helpful: “Anxiety is a problem we all will deal with at one time or another. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”(Matt. 6:25-26)

The Greek word for “anxious” in this passage means “distracted.” It’s a word that refers to uncertainty. That’s what anxiety produces in us. It gives us a feeling of, what’s next? It’s a feeling that the rug has been pulled out from underneath us and we have no idea if we’re going to fall, how hard, in what direction, or onto what.

The word “anxious” is also translated as “worry” in the Bible. For many people, worry has become a way of life. If that describes you, I encourage you to read again the words of Jesus. His words are not a suggestion—they’re a command. You may say,“I can’t help feeling anxious, I’ve always been a worrier.”I’ve heard that from many people through the years. My response is, “Yes you can.”

There’s nothing about a circumstance that automatically creates anxiety. Anxiety occurs because of the way we respond to a problem or troubling situation.Your ability to choose is part of God’s gift of free will to every human being. You can choose how you feel. You can choose what you think about, and you can choose how you will respond to a circumstance. It certainly isn’t God’s purpose for you to feel anxious—He doesn’t allow situations in your life so you’ll have anxiety. 

The Father may allow a situation in your life to develop stronger faith, grow and mature, or change a bad habit or negative attitude. But God doesn’t set you up for anxiety. He’s always at work to bring you to a place where you’ll trust Him more, obey Him more fully, and receive more of His blessings.

You can fall into a downward spiral of anxiety, or you can say: “Father, I bring this to You. It’s beyond my control. I feel helpless in this situation, but You have the power to change what I’m facing. You love me perfectly, and I’m trusting You to handle what concerns me in the way You see fit. I know whatever You’ve planned for me is for my good. I look forward to seeing the way You choose to express Your love, wisdom, and power.” Amen. Friend, this is the way of peace—the road out of anxiety and worry.” 

Back to my little bit for today! I think this is the stuff that haunts most people. I put these thoughts by Charles F Stanley on my blog today because so many people are under siege from the things he talks about. His writing is clear and concise and he said it a whole lot better than I can! My motivation is this:  whatever it takes to help someone else get free is useful!  

This mini-sermon was particularly helpful to me, because we are preparing to put far too many things inside our car and even more stuff on top of it!— And still fit us, in it! Plus we will end up talking to a whole bunch of strangers. All this happens as we are travelling over 3,600 kms in the middle of a petrol shortage with prices through the roof. Some generous people have already helped us out financially with the extra burden of the cost of petrol. But my point is this: hubby and I are not exempt from anxiety either, it’s an ongoing battle for all of us.

I do have one helpful hint that works for me. If anxiety and worry start to build and I end up mentally knitting, I phone a friend or text someone. I don’t always tell them the problem, I simply ask them to pray. God knows what I am concerned about. I can fall into worse trouble when I talk about the difficult stuff, it actually kind of magnifies the problem in my mind. I might end up looking for sympathy instead of explaining that I simply need to hold fast. I have to pick my battles. Sometimes there are some things I can’t solve, but I can pray.

I’ve learnt that as I relinquish my anxiety about the things that bother me, I am far more open to His passions than my own. It’s not hard to love a God who values human beings so much, that He died for them. I think anxiety is a bit like a snowball rolling down a steep hill, it gathers momentum as it rolls on, and on. You can’t stand in front of it, it will squash you flat! The important bit is to know where and when that snowball begins in your life, so you can stop it at the top and jump all over it to disperse the thoughts.

The bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 …  “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  Anxiety is our enemy’s lies on steroids.  We can pay attention to the incessant ugly noise or give our attention to the One who lives inside us. Yes, it is a battle, many, many times – but Mr Stanley offers great advice, I intend to take it. Bye 👋.

P 2512 Who’s the Boss?

/ DVH

Part of the reason I think that most Christians have lost their free access to the power of God, is because we thought, or hoped, or maybe even prayed, that He would rubber stamp our grand ideas. I think we meant well … we were simply trying to advertise or showcase the goodness of God to those who didn’t believe. However, the power of God resides in every word that comes out of His mouth. Not our mouth – or even our head! If the Lord kisses an individual’s idea, then that person needs to start praising Him for His goodness toward them. He is under no obligation to do that. Even our faith comes from Him! 

God’s utterly kind consideration of mankind started in the garden. That’s where Eve came from – His kindness. After all, Almighty God was there with Adam in the cool of the evening, so he was not always alone!  Yet the Lord knew man needed someone who was the same, but different. God Himself saw and said:“It is not good for man to be alone …” Nothing is hidden from His sight, not even our needs. He is so good to us that He pays attention to every single detail. Which is why I am happy to say that if I don’t got it, then I don’t need it!

Read the bible carefully for yourself, and find somewhere where a man told God what to do, and how to do it, and it happened. “No one can tell God what to do or accuse Him of doing evil. He has always been praised for what He does; you also must praise Him.”Job 36:23-25. I found in my search for such a man, that Abraham bargained with God for Lot, and the city of Sodom and Gomorrah and God graciously listened. And Jonah was as cheeky as a man can get, but His attitude did not stop what God wanted to happen from happening – Nineveh was saved! And still God reasoned with that man. Moses ended up talking to Pharaoh even though he told God he couldn’t speak. The Lord let Aaron speak until Moses grew into the job! Our God can take a maladjusted man and make him into a great leader – He did that with Gideon. But with all these great men, Almighty God’s hand held them up!

The great Patriarchs in the Old Testament, knew enough to work with the Lord under His instructions. Moses knew the value of listening to Him and doing things the way God said. So much so, this great man refused to move forward without Him! These men, who had wisdom and understanding, as well as an established relationship with God, often learnt that kind of obedience by utterly messing up their lives first. Moses killed someone. Abraham treated Sarah like a bag of candy – he passed her around to save his life a number of times. Even Job learnt WHO is in charge the hard way. It is, I believe, an enormous error to think that we can organise God to do things our way.

Oh! If we could only enjoy what we have been given! He is a God unlike any other, Who watches over us, comes to live in us, came to earth to save us, and deeply cares about every single little detail in our lives. Independence is overrated! Total dependence upon the Spirit of the Living God is to be appropriated and cherished forever. Amen!

Sadly, submission is not a popular topic in this world – human beings are incredibly busy fighting for their own rights. Everybody  thinks if they yell loud enough and make a good enough logical case that things should change in their favour. I cannot imagine anything more frustrating or fruitless than going along banging into the Lord’s will, and getting up and doing it again! We show our ignorance and lack of maturity when we start to think that being saved means we are the boss now. WE do not have the omniscience and omnipotence of Almighty God – Who knows the end from the beginning … and all the bits in between.

Having said that: we can, and we should command the things of this world that are out of order to come into order – but that needs to be HIS order, not ours. I think that is why Jesus rebuked His disciples in Luke  “…  but the people there did not welcome Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” *But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then He and His disciples went to another village.” Luke 9:53-56.

In another version it says that like this: *“Jesus turned about and rebuked them, saying, You know not what manner of spirit you are of. The Son of man has not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” It is plain from reading the book that we cannot be trusted with that kind of power. Mostly, because we don’t know if we are in the Spirit or not, half the time! Yet those men watched, walked, slept and ate, for three and a half years with Jesus Christ, God’s Son. And they still said and did the dumbest things!! Using our own understanding got us into this mess in the first place. The most blessed place to live is the place of freely submitting to His will. Like I said: Independence is overrated!

Who is the boss? Here’s a verse to think about:“Why do you call Me LORD, and you don’t do the things I say?”

Luke 6:46. 👋🏻

P 2420 A living faith!

/ DVH

Safety and Comfort can be weapons used by the enemy to prevent Christians from moving into their God-given destiny. This is not a thought any of us want to have… but … these two things may well be the biggest deterrent to Christians being totally sold-out to Jesus. Hey, I like having a house to sleep in, and a doctor I can go to when I am sick. I also like knowing my kids live right around the corner and the supermarket is five kms away.

But .. these things that look ‘normal’ are actually a trap. The truth is the best thing for our relationship with the Lord isn’t safety and comfort, because that’s when we kick off our shoes and coast along – and become careless about His plans. Have you noticed that ‘there ain’t nothin’ like trouble’ to improve your prayer life?!  And yes, I am speaking from personal experience. The problem in the Western World is that distraction and busyness are a way of life.

Whenever we read the Old Testament we can see that peace and ease sent the Israelites down the plug-hole very quickly. That is a warning to us! We are told in the bible that our lives are not our own, yet most times, for the past 50+ years or so, Christians in the Western World live happily settled lives in their own communities and very few take the Lord’s command to “Go and preach the gospel to all creatures …” seriously.  Actually, I’d like to paraphrase the way modern Christianity, it seems to me, has responded to the Lord’s command …. “Let’s send somebody else out into the world to preach the gospel …not me …I already have a life!” 

Yeah! I know, that statement is not going to make me popular. But the truth is — we are all missionaries … sent ones. I can’t find an exemption clause in anything Jesus said. Yet it seems — apparently — you don’t have to go if you have a family. Peter had a family. BUT … you don’t have to go if you have a job. Paul had a job. BUT… you don’t have to go if you are rich, giving is OK instead. And why don’t we want to go? Safety and comfort! That’s why. Hey, I have no rocks in my hands, I’ve just slept in 15 different hard and uncomfortable beds recently, I’m totally delighted to kick off my shoes and sleep in my own bed again!! 

Speaking personally, I wouldn’t care if I didn’t go outside the door at all, this world is pretty rough on the elderly and disabled. But then I remember… I have courageous brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. They are in places that are not safe or comfortable … Places where people point machine guns or send missiles, or they wave nasty cleavers and machetes at you with the intention of removing body parts. Those people definitely don’t appear to be gospel friendly! Yes, we can send money  to help others go… and we should. But “GO” still applies to me, uncomfortable and unsafe, or not.

Here’s a question for you … is Australia an atheist country? “According to NORC … 20.6% of Australians don’t believe in God and never have, while 9.7% are “strong atheists”. Of those aged under 28, 26.8% have never believed in God and just 14.7% are certain God exists.”  39% of people in this country have no religion at all!  Well, those figures don’t bode well do they? Even more disturbingly …48,000 people call themselves Jedi and worship the Force!  😱 The very least we could do is to tell these dear souls that ‘the force’ has a NAME and He’s the Holy Spirit Who is a gift from Jesus! Paul once used a god with no name on it, to preach Jesus.

The truth is, we all actually like our comfortable lives. We don’t want to be out in the middle of nowhere, where crows or magpies have to bring us food! Or maybe travel miles to talk to strangers. It doesn’t feel safe or comfortable. But, here’s a thought:  those people-who-don’t -know-Jesus-yet are walking about in our local supermarket. They are at the school gate, they work in the next cubicle at our office. 

And the good news is – we don’t have to convert them. We just need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us LOVE them. We  act like the good Samaritan, and make everyone our neighbour. Reaching out to others, is and will always be, paramount to maintaining a living faith. 👋🏻

P 2299 God’s authority is transferable.

/ DVH

This is not a popular subject in today’s independently-minded society. Instead of authority being transferred, and cultivated, it is grasped at and treated like a weapon for control. It is only when we yield control that we find out it does not matter … God’s will does … Most people aren’t having a problem with submission – their problem is Lordship.

Let’s look at the Roman Centurion incident “…just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those following Him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…” Matthew 8:8-10.

The first thing I want to mention is that Jesus saw that the Centurion understood how faith works. Christ saw what this soldier said and did … as faith. Many people are so afraid of being controlled by others they have limited comprehension of the safety of submission. They have not been taught about its benefits – instead they have been made subject to a perversion of this truth. 

This illustration explains that first of all, authority is transferrable, and secondly, when you are submitted to God using your faith, you can’t be controlled by men. We can only be controlled by others, when we are not fully surrendered to Christ. NOBODY CAN CONTROL YOU IF YOU ARE DEAD – spoiler alert …you no longer CARE! Ya might want to stew on that one for a while! 🧐

This Roman soldier was a man under authority, and he understood authority and how it works. He willingly and respectfully surrendered his own authority in favour of Christ’s greater authority. He was actually spiritually aware. He could have ordered Christ to come with him, as a Roman soldier he had all the power in that world available to him, but he recognised there was a greater authority present. 

God’s authority is not something to be snatched at, or about bossing people around. It doesn’t work by yelling the loudest, or making a better point. When we put ourselves under authority we are choosing to be totally submitted to Christ. Submission is not something Christ talked about to keep unruly, power-hungry, dissatisfied followers under control. It is a chain of command. We gotta stop thinking we have to control other people’s behaviour with threats and doctrinal points and start dying to self, serving others and put the Holy Spirit in charge of what happens to US. 

So … wives do not submit to their husbands because they have to, they submit using their faith. And children obey their parents exercising their faith. It’s a choice freely made. Remember, Jesus Himself chose the cross – HE LET humanity torture and kill Him because He believed in His Father’s greater good.  He understood submission is powerful.

Almighty God has given us people who have delegated authority. His AUTHORITY.  The point to be concentrated on here is not who’s got the ‘power’, but ‘are we walking by faith?’ Submission is about faith not power. It’s about delegated authority — look at this interchange between Pilate and Christ. “Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above.. “ 

Power comes from total submission. That person in charge, the one who has delegated authority, does not have to know everything, and be able to dot all the ‘i’s’, cross all the ’T’s’, for us to submit to them. As a matter of fact, I have submitted to people in faith and I knew they had no clue about the things that were important to me, but I wasn’t submitting to them, I was submitting to the chain of command, which always goes back to Christ. 

I could quite honestly care less whether the person in charge understands what end game I might have in mind, because I gave all my end games to Jesus. I don’t have any kind of agenda either because I gave those to Christ too! My faith is in Christ’s ability to go round the numpty in the middle, and bring about what He wants. 

Authority is totally transferable when we don’t try to steal or snatch it, or usurp it, or batter it away from someone else who has already been given it by God. Food for thought. 👋🏻