Cope

P 3349 Real life.

/ DVH

I have a question —  how do you handle the everyday difficulties that frustrate you? When we get back from a mission trip, all kinds of not-so-nice things can happen. Instead of floating about on a cloud of victory, praising God for His goodness in our travels, we suddenly need to cope with unexpected illness or some frustration or other. I like to be truthful about this life, and that’s because our faith needs to be realistic, not glamorised. Trust me, nobody needs to feel a failure for being human – Jesus took man’s humanity in His stride, and kindness and compassion flowed out from Him. 

Let’s remind ourselves that whatever happens that is good, right and profitable, it is the Lord doing what He loves to do, reaching out to people. Personally I definitely need that kind of spiritual exercise!  The deliberately renewing of your mind when you’d rather have a hissy fit … kind. When there are day-to-day difficulties and challenges, it is easy to fall into the trap of over-emphasising the good, diminishing the bad, and deliberately losing sight of the ugly! But we can’t afford to live in the beautifully, hand-painted land of one glorious victory after another, either. That’s not reality … not where I live! 

We are no less His kids just because we can’t cope. Living in victory every moment of every day is just a happy story we tell ourselves because we are desperately longing for  brighter days. We we really need is relief from pain and we’ve forgotten our true hiding place is in Him. “God is close to the broken-hearted,” Psalm 34:18 …But when our feelings are fierce and we’ve been stabbed through the heart, or we are afraid, we don’t often remember verses like that. If you have a friend who will remind you – cherish them.

Today I want to talk about something so simple, sensible, and clearly thought out, it thoroughly blessed me in the middle of a difficult time. I was listening to a very ordinary little old lady (Yes I know I are one!) She was briefly speaking in a YouTube clip. She said this: “Why do we think everything should always be wonderful in our lives, and work so hard to achieve it, when we are actually living in enemy territory?” … … I was poleaxed. She blew my mind. What a wise older lady! The Lord sure has His precious gems hidden away in secret, and when you discover one like this precious saint, they bless you. When I find someone like this I want to adopt them! 

My point is, we need balance. We can’t make excuses for our behaviour when it is less than what we are aiming at,  but we mustn’t beat ourselves up either. Our response is to increase our faith in what He did for us – that’s the renewing our mind bit.  Blame is the enemy’s sharpest tool of discouragement and distraction. The only Person we can ever safely invest in is Jesus – everybody else suffers from harassment, trouble and strife just like we do.

Here’s a verse that doesn’t always suit our version of theology … Romans 5:3-5: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us.” Almighty God does not see our hard times the way we see them. I can become very concerned when Christianity is driven along by our desperate need to be positive. We sometimes try so hard to make gold out of straw! The only Person Who can do that is the Lord … and it is our joy to watch Him do it. 

Every single Christian needs the Lord’s help to manage what comes at them. You and I are not exceptions. When we cannot cope, we need to remember for ourselves, and also remind others that we are human. Let’s remember where our help comes from  – “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”  Psalm 121:1, 2. Find a hill and look UP! I’ve found that doing something He asks me to do for someone else, cheers me up when my spirit is flagging. Meanwhile, we need to allow the Holy Spirit the freedom to do what He loves to do – redeem situations. 

Our favourite tiler came and finished tiling our main bedroom floor yesterday, which means we might be moving back into a bigger, more comfortable bedroom soon. We are a bit squashed in a single room. But at the same time, we were able to share the gospel with our tiler friend and his beautiful wife, and they responded so well. They are a Muslim couple, and the very sweet young wife read parts of the bible out loud, to practice her English! I still get misty eyed thinking about it. 

My point is, we all suffer. Sometimes with niggly, messy irritations, disturbing interruptions, or even some sort of unspeakable agony, when life turns into a nightmare. So we pray and pray because we want it to stop; we can pray and ask for His help, and remember that we are living in enemy territory and bad stuff will happen. There is no need to punish or deride yourself for failure, or missteps, or a lack of faith … right when you most need it. This is real life and some days it can be hard to take. Bye 👋 

P 3234 PAIN.

/ DVH

I have been a daydreamer since I was first conscious of my thoughts. Life was pretty tough when I was a child, so daydreaming became an easy, silent, escape route. I quite literally “built a world of my own.” Of course I was the star in that world. Well, they were my thoughts… so why not? This method of escaping reality … which, was at the time, blooming awful… became a habit. 

Sometimes I used to imagine what I could say to the people who were tormenting me. However, I didn’t say that stuff out loud, I was too scared. Let’s be clear —the pain I felt was always present and it was real! I couldn’t imagine that away … whether it was an angry parent, or my siblings, or teachers, or a boss who barely knew or liked me, or anybody else who didn’t like me! The pain of rejection was fierce, and I had been traumatised by it … so I chose to opt out of this life and live a life of distraction instead. Here’s the clanger…Jesus was standing there with me, loving me, while all this escapism went on. He wept with me, and for me, but I was too afraid of HIM punishing me like I was told He would. Man can be cruel.

Over the years I learnt that pain torments everyone, and anyone. However, now I am learning to ask the Lord to help me, when fear or rejection grabs me by my throat. Sin is common to man – we all do it to others… and we all have it done to us. Damaged people do daft things to cope! Pain can drill itself into our psyches, and the person in pain would do anything to avoid it. However, we really do need His help to stop judging each other and realise not one of us is better than another. We are all in pain, but our God has the Answer. PERFECT LOVE.  He wants to pour out that perfect love on us, and out through us, onto other people who are tormented by pain. Kindness is the first step to helping others.

The Lord has a Love that will not criticise or attempt to destroy someone else – His love only wants to do each one of us good. Just because we think we know what is good for us, that does not make us right! We all have limits. If you are suffering and you’ve adopted patterns that hurt others in order to stay safe, go to Jesus – repent, and ask Him for His help and His MERCY. His death brought mercy and grace into this world, for free. He has the power to walk any one of us through trauma and pain. Pain is like a barbed leather whip across the soul. I believe that’s why Jesus endured being beaten by those Roman soldiers — with that awful whip that was studded with nails! For us, to bring us healing.

This happened right before they killed Him, and He took those blows for every one of us. The bible says we all deserve punishment, but Jesus loves us so much He did what He did for us. Now He offers us transformation. It took me years to realise that being ‘fine’ is a lie — everybody’s broken — even the people who used to beat and abuse me. It is a bare-faced lie from our enemy that we are the only ones who don’t fit, and we shouldn’t be here, because we are a mistake. God Himself brought each one of us here. There’s simply no point in arguing with Him! His plans for our lives, are for our good and to give us a good forever future.

I know it can seem very scary to give away your life – but be honest with yourself.  What if Jesus asks you to do something you don’t want to do? Let’s fix that now shall we? HE WILL… but if you ask Him, He will give you the grace to do it. Meanwhile how are YOU doing, all by yourself with the life you are living? The very best way to stop living our lives tormented inside, is to put aside our own ways of thinking, doing, being, and even escaping! And go to the Lord Jesus and ask Him to save us from ourselves. 

Read the Gospels, and take note of the way He speaks to people. We can trust Him, He will not reject us. He is, now and forever, the God Who understands and chooses to stand with us. He chose to die to take satan’s power over us, away – from our thinking, our broken-hearts, our situations, so that now we can live this life free from torment and rejection etc. and live it the way He intended us to live it. Jesus Christ is our living hope. 

“We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God Himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold, and where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone in before us. He is now and forever our royal Priest like Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:19-20 TPT. Now we have a true priest Who is just like Melchizedek. Our precious Prince of Peace can’t be bought off, or scared off — unlike many other kinds of priests who have not been trustworthy. He is totally trustworthy! Jesus cannot be influenced in any way – except for our good.

When He suffered for us, He also suffered with us, AS us! He has perfect understanding of what it is like to be human. He knows the Way through to the other side of those things that torment us. He is our Redeemer Who can and will redeem anything. The way through pain is to give it to Him, not to try to work it out for yourself, surrender to the One Who is ‘altogether lovely’ and trustworthy. Please don’t take your pain out on everyone around you, whether they are the perpetrators or not. Salvation changes everyone and anyone.

Pain is vicious, it can destroy everything around it, but Jesus brings healing. “He came to bind up the broken-hearted, bring relief to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed – to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Amen. Bye 👋

P 3194 Fear is our enemy.

/ DVH

Good morning. I wanted to say a little about what happened at Bondi beach here in Australia on Sunday the 14th of December.. I had to wait on and ask the Lord what to say because … I simply had no words. I would like to add my prayers to yours and ask for our Heavenly Father’s comfort for anyone and everyone who has been affected by it. “Oh God our Father, please comfort and care for those who have suffered such incredible losses. Help their hearts, their spirits and their minds. I pray for the injured, their carers, their families, and especially our precious Jewish brothers and sisters. Lord please continue to guide and help the first responders, the police, the doctors, nurses and paramedics. Please help us all and comfort the broken hearted. Oh Lord, I pray the you will give those men and women who lead us Your clarity and wisdom. in Jesus Name,” Amen.

“For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit Who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:7 TPT. 

By the Grace of God we all can quote the above scripture and others. Things like this one from Philippians 4:8:: ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things …’  Of course we should only think on those things. But tell me this … are we?? Or are we lying awake at night trying to figure out the things that only God Himself can do? I exhort everyone reading this today to turn your fears into Godly prayers. Use them to diagnose what ails you. 

Let’s actively learn and prayerfully understand these things from the Lord’s point of view, because our own ideas fall apart under pressure. In today’s current climate, I suspect you aren’t doing a great deal better than I am! Cheery thoughts are wonderful, but there are times when our hearts fall down into our socks with all kinds of bad news. That is when we need to do some essential revision with our Personal Trainer, the Holy Spirit. I ask for His love, and wisdom, and a new clean heart all the time.

The bible says: “…His ways are higher than ours.” Isaiah 55:9b. It also says: “His ways are past finding out…” Romans 11:33. Right now, our self-made ladders are daily looking less and less like they are going to be useful. WE.WILL.ALWAYS.NEED.GOD’S HELP. Day or night. We are living through times when we don’t know what will happen next. So instead of waiting to ask for help when things get worse, let’s start out every single day asking Him to help us. And then …’ask and keep on asking’ all day! He’s always there with us, and for us.

The above scriptures are wonderful diagnostic tools. We all know them. They were probably some of the first bible verses you and I memorised after we were born again. However, knowing the words is not the same as deliberately applying the meaning. If whatever we are facing produces fear, hatred, anger, despair then it is absolutely and totally not from God. We need to deal with it and yield to Him. After that we start out by doing anything we know we can do, in consultation with Him. Then we need to let those things go. Hatred nurtured, produces wickedness.

When you or I do not feel empowered, or loved, in our hearts, then whatever is coming at us, is an attack. It is not Almighty God. It’s the other guy!  Meanwhile it’s not our mother’s fault, or our father’s fault, or my spouse’s fault or even so and so’s fault! The scriptures are a sword. A sword is for fighting. Especially at the times when the enemy of our souls bombards our minds with horrendous thoughts. 

Let’s replace these evil thoughts … those rotten, ugly, desperate, despairing thoughts that are continually coming toward all of us … let’s replace them with what He says. There are thoughts that satan tosses into our heads like hand grenades, Let’s replace them with what the Lord Himself says. Our prayer needs to be – ‘Dear God please help me.’ And our ability to cope always comes from reading His word enough to know that we know —that He is FOR us — so if what we hear or think is not FOR US, it is not GOD! 

I have been learning to refuse to debate the ugly stuff that slithers into my brain. When it comes to satan, even debating stuff is a dumb idea. Those things are sent to steal our peace, time and eventually ruin our lives. Let’s channel our grief and anger into prayer, and replace those evil thoughts with what I know about His goodness. I walk about waggling this sword in my hand: “I know You are good Lord, despite what I can see, You are always good.” And I keep on whacking until I pass out, or the other guy goes away. Seriously. 

The Holy Spirit knows how to deal with all kinds of stuff. Let’s ask what He wants us to do, rather than stewing on what somebody else did. There is no need for us to be afraid, because FEAR is not from God. He has accepted us, irrevocably … eternally, Bye. 👋

BTW, we turn the news off. The more we listened the angrier we got. The news does not facilitate love.

P 3102 Memories are important.

/ DVH

I was remembering the days of early motherhood just recently, and that sparked off some thoughts that gave me fresh insight into what we call Holy Communion. First, let’s look at what the bible says in Luke 22:19-20.

“And He (Jesus) took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

This is the last meal the Lord and the disciples were to share together, before Jesus’ crucifixion. These men were more than just dear friends and disciples to Jesus, they were His family, and He knew that what was about to happen would devastate them. One of their number, would betray Him. In the end, of course, they all ran away, and then something unimaginably worse transpired. But even though everything that happened was necessary, if you read all three accounts of this incident in Matthew, Mark and Luke, you can see Jesus wanted to prepare these men to cope with what what was ahead, when He would no longer be with them. 

The bottom was about to fall out of their happy little world, even as they were sitting round the food together, sharing, talking, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. After they had finished their meal, Jesus took bread and a cup of wine and began to teach them. We have all heard this preached on many times, especially right before we take communion together – but this time I saw something that I wanted to share here today because these verses reminded me of my own past.

When my kids were quite little, the church we attended had annual weekends away for the women who came to our church. These were sweet spiritual times, with teaching and prayer and fellowship and a time for all the women to relax together. But it also meant that everyone’s kids were left at home with their fathers. I felt so guilty about leaving my kids, because I did not want them to feel deserted by me. Plus I wanted them to know I loved them! So before I left, I cooked all the food that would be needed, plus special treats, and I bought each child a stuffed toy to remind them – ‘Mummy loves you.’ I left the toy on each of their beds so they would find it at bedtime, when little kids sometimes get a bit uncertain about things.

So, let’s go back to the scripture in Luke because I do have a point! Even after the crucifixion, and the resurrection, for everything to be accomplished in the Father’s plan, Jesus had to return to heaven. The disciples were looking at Him when it happened – they watched Him go! And suddenly they were alone. I thought about the time between His Ascension and Pentecost and realised how hard that the length of time would have been for them. The promised Holy Spirit had not come yet, and they were all virtually holding their collective breaths for what ever was going to happen next.

Today, we remember Jesus from the perspective of hindsight – we’ve read the end of the story! This means we see His death and resurrection, and ascension from a distance. It is our history, but for them it was present and acute. When we talk about time retrospectively, that amount of time doesn’t seem very long, but those disciples were afraid, and they huddled together praying in an Upper room – not knowing what came next. They only knew to wait together, because the Lord had told them to wait.

That’s when I realised that the Lord had given them something concrete TO DO to remember Him. It was not just about them being sad, solemn and serious …it was also about them remembering being with Him, walking, talking, laughing, eating meals, going to the temple together. Those thoughts were to comfort them. It was a way they could reassure themselves in any time of doubt, pain, discomfort, and grief. They had lost their dear Friend and Master — their beloved One, the One Who utterly changed their lives. And just like we might look at a photo of a loved one who has died, Jesus gave them something concrete to do to remind themselves of all they had seen and done with Him. 

We all know that taking communion together is a spiritual blessing. It is a time of family fellowship and intimacy with the Lord and each other, where we give thanks for all He did for us. But just like those toys on my kid’s beds when I was absent from them – the disciples had been given something visible to hold onto, to remind themselves, in the middle of their loss, of how much He loved them. Any time they wanted to remember their lives together, they could take bread, and wine and give thanks and remember Him and all He did for them.

My thoughts about communion have been stretched a little, because I can do even more than simply remember, and thank the Lord for dying in my place. Now, I can remember we met together this morning. Just yesterday He showed me something that helped me with my life. I can remember the relationship we share. Not as a past event, but a present reminder of how good He is to us, every single day. Sometimes it is the little personal memories that get us through our difficulties. Bless you. 👋 

P 3059 Up close and personal!

/ DVH

“Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings, but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms. For they are a powerful class of demon-gods and evil spirits that hold this dark world in bondage.” Ephesians 6:12 TPT. 

Ignoring our enemy may well be one of Christianity’s biggest mistakes so far. But I totally believe in the Lord’s great all-encompassing goodness. I know He is raising up a generation of believers who will face all of our enemies, unashamed, and fearless. The way we can enter this brave band of brothers, is to practice fighting the good fight in our own little lives, every single day. Up close and personal! I pray all the time for His Grace to be abundant upon me because I’ve lived long enough to know that I need it!

Lately it seems the Lord is stretching my patience, while He is perfecting me and transforming me …Sigh. So there is a big l-o-n-g space between whatever bad event just happened in my life – to finally being able to see the Lord’s outcome. I will always need a big dollop of His hope daily to cope. Here’s a freebie …put your hope in Jesus, not in the Answer. Sometimes we don’t actually know what is good for us. My faith can be feeble and self-serving, and without His help, impatience will jump up and down on the inside of me – demanding my attention.

I battle with a sense of overall tiredness daily. It’s the kind of tiredness that makes you want to sleep for a week and hope that everything will be fixed when you wake up! I sort of understand the whole deal with the Israelites when they left Egypt and wandered around in the wilderness. I don’t like to live my life feeling uncomfortable either! The solution is easy – instead of waiting for my circumstances to change I need to give the whole thing to Jesus and walk away, leaving it with Him. And refuse to pick it up again..

God is good ALL the time. I simply need to cultivate my spiritual eyes and ears and make what He wants my priority. The problem is not with Him. It’s me!! There are days when I realise there is much more of the world inside me than I’ve comprehended so far. You know some days I also understand the Israelites longing for the leeks and garlic of Egypt, even when Manna fell out of the sky every day. It seems to me that there’s not that many ways you can cook Manna over an open fire! Boiled? Scrambled? toasted? I have a limited diet but manna porridge every day for forty years seems hard to bear. That problem is not with what I am eating – it is with what I am thinking!

The bible says in Galatians 2:20:“I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” I love the bible so much,.it shows me clearly there is no way forward without sticking to, leaning on, and totally surrendering to Jesus. ‘By faith’ means He is now my reference point, not the awful circumstances, or my feelings, but Jesus.

I love the bit in Galatians that says: “in the body.” My ability to conquer what’s going on in my head is already inside me – it came in when He came in! Salvation is not just something that happens only once. I am saved from all kinds of sin every single blooming minute of every day! Especially when icky thoughts float through my educated-idiot-box if I am irritable. That thing says stuff inside my head to the person who is annoying me: “If I give in to you, I am letting you win and there is no way you should win … because I don’t trust you!” Look at me, thoughts of reconciliation flowing about like a river! Hah! Fighting with YOU will not help ME overcome!!

That’s what this verse from Ephesians 6:12 is about. It is reminding us …“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4. The war we fight daily, sometimes minute by minute, has nothing whatsoever to do with guns, spears, swords, or nuclear weapons – but it has everything to do with my own private thoughts … by the time that junk comes out of my mouth, I’m sunk!

If I let irritation with you pull up a chair in my private thoughts … then … all by myself, I can personally conjure up why you said what you said, and what you meant by it!   You did get the whole “conjure up” vibe right? I mean that junk floating about is not valid. It shows me that somebody else has been whispering to me:  “They said that because of this – and they mean this because of that!” That’s like one step away from necromancy and that stuff is bad news according to the bible. Saul lost his kingdom and his life to that sort of Chinese whispers because God did not answer the man according to his timetable. 

All of this fight is internal, and most definitely up close and personal! However, yielding my will to His, when I am in the middle of it, changes everything. When I choose to daily learn to give up quickly, and lay my life down for His sake, not yours …then He can make whatever He wants to make, out of it – and it is always good! Bye 🤗 

P 3054 Opting out.

/ DVH

Do you ever want to go back to bed, and hide under the covers? I get like that occasionally too. When I was working, eons ago, back in the ark, there were no ‘doona days.’  You were sick or you were there! Mental health did not rate a mention.

Recently I discovered that I have a previously unknown default position when it comes to pain, heartache, stress and strain. I’ve learnt that what seems to be normal day after day—may not actually BE normal! And what seems to be a part of who you think you are – may not be the real you after all! Sometimes we simply adapt our behaviour to fit in and cope with life’s difficulties. 

My mother died a week ago. She was 97, almost 98 years old. At the end she had cancer and awful pain. However, other people’s expectations of my response to this sad situation showed me that I apparently wasn’t grieving enough. Everybody I spoke to seemed to think I should be distraught and practically paralytic. They were, of course, being very sympathetic and kind at the same time, but I constantly felt like I was giving the wrong response to their sad, empathetic faces.

So I got stuck between their expectations, and my own reactions. In those moments I was incredibly grateful for all the intercessory prayer that came my way  … but, to be honest, I simply wanted everything about it all to just go away! Yesterday, the Lord Himself helped me, and I want to share here what I’ve learned from Him — in case somebody else finds my little story resonates with them.

I’ve learnt no matter how hard we try, we can all get stuck. Maybe you may have been stuck in something that put a ceiling on your growth because you’ve labelled some things as too hard. I know I’ve done that! My ‘ceiling’ kept telling me how much I could manage … then my own judgement of myself kicked in, and pointed out that anything over and above that, was just “too much and too hard.“

I’ve been in the land of ‘too much ’ for a week or so, since she died. But then a very sweet palliative care lady took the time to explain to me that there is no right way to grieve. We are all individuals and what seems right to me may not be right for you. Everybody’s got a story… What this lady said was such a relief!! Sometimes my own ideas of right and wrong, seem to overpower whatever the Lord is saying to me, and the result is I zone out and become deaf spiritually. However, the Holy Spirit has been incredibly gracious, He persevered with me.

The Lord gave mum and I two very sweet years at the end of her life, when I was able to tell her sincerely that I dearly loved her, and she returned that affection very vocally toward hubby and I. What a blessing that was! The more I talked to the Holy Spirit, the more I realised that He had helped me complete everything He wanted me to do for her.

It can be hard to cope when your sole parent is the most difficult person in your life, simply because you are very different people. During these last days, we forgave each other, and we also had fun and laughed together. So the reason I wasn’t weeping all the time, was that I had nothing to cry about, our situation had been turned around, and … praise God, I know where she is now! 

Hubby and I spent a lot of time talking to her about the Lord and how much He loves her. Although she is no longer here with us, something I had longed to see for 52 years, had finally happened. I’d been praying and hoping that my mother and I would both get to a new place at the same time! The Holy Spirit wonderfully answered me, and He did it all without any help from me! 

I know a happy ending may not occur for everyone, but today I wanted to share that there are also times that it can. I want to pass on the hope that even seemingly impossible situations can be turned around. Our God has a plan. We don’t always understand what He is doing, because our eyes have been dimmed by the sorrow and suffering of this world.

Opting out of dealing with difficult things means we are left with unanswered questions, and He is much too kind and loving, to want us to live with the terrible pain of loss, and things being unsaid, and unresolved. The land of regret is a terrible place. He knows the right moment for you and your loved one to reconcile. Bye. 🙌

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:..” Ecclesiastes 3:1a.

P 2988 I can’t cope Lord.

/ DVH

There are times where we feel we need to make a ‘good confession,’ and repeat some scripture or other, when life has knocked us down — or we will be failing Him, or betraying our faith. No pressure or anything! I’d like to momentarily call your attention to the Old Testament where real people grizzled their heads off!  There are also plenty of illustrations in the New.

Today I want to point out that the Psalmists talked a lot about their enemies flourishing, plus having to hang around with wicked people, and their souls being tormented etc. So did the prophets. It is not a sin if you cannot cope! It is a sign of our own humanity. None of us are perfected yet, we are on a road with Him, learning as we go. We have the benefit of the bible, and the Holy Spirit telling us to ‘put our foot here, and put our foot there.’  And on many days we are walking up a very slippery slope. Without Him we would slip away. Overcoming is not just about having a positive outlook. Overcoming is getting up again, soaked to the skin by our own tears, covered in other people’s filth, or our own … and taking yet another trembling step.

The Holy Spirit is incredible. He can be in Dubai comforting someone, and in Tasmania comforting someone else etc. – all at the same time! He’s everywhere – because He is needed everywhere.There are some places that are so deep, so fraught with despair, that only Jesus Himself understands them. Other people can only look on in horror at our suffering. The Holy Spirit gives us Christ’s own words to shed light at these times when others are on the darkest of paths. But that does not mean the path is not painful. We cannot psyche ourselves into thinking evil to be ignored and pretend we are fine. That’s Disney – not the GOSPEL! God’s glory in these situations, is that these dear people keep on following HIM, trembling, walking on in naked bleeding faith.

In my limited experience, sensitive souls are often fighting off oppression through no fault of their own. If we are not careful we will end up developing a ‘Cone of Silence’ …thank you, Maxwell Smart! That spy loved that stupid thing … but it never did work properly!! Moving on …the bible is full of people who felt that what God asked them to do was bigger than they were. Starting with Moses, who pushed his younger brother into the firing line.  Whizzing right past Abraham – who tried to help God out because the Lord was taking His own time.  

Sometimes the “silence of God” can lead to not coping, and that is where we need our Christian families. Not to labour the point, but the other day I mentioned Ecclesiastes 3 — where not coping is clearly legitimised. God has allowed us time to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. That valley can be the death of a loved one, the death of a dream or the death of greatly needed relationship or position. 

Almighty God Himself chose to become human, so now He has a personal understanding of the result of pain in human lives.  Jesus stands next to His throne, praying for us as we walk through those valleys and He doesn’t have a stop watch on us! He has a big staff in His hands so He can clobber our enemies, not us!  We must always remember the compassion that Jesus had for people in all kinds of trouble, some of it self-inflicted.

There is no right way to suffer:“For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us!” Romans 8:18. God has a plan – it’s a good plan – because He is a good God. Jesus told us that we would have trials, He said this to give us heart, as we wade through evil times and circumstances. What He said is meant to be a comfort, because He is there with us. John 16:33. “These things I have spoken unto you, that IN ME ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” HE WON!! That’s all we need to know, and sometimes it’s all we can handle.

It is mean-spirited to judge and sentence others about their inability to handle any kind of pain. What someone else can blissfully sail through, might bring my life to a screeching halt. Compassion is a real word, and it is lacking in the body of Christ today. “When He (Jesus) saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36. And compassion is not just the ability to say: “Oh, I am so sorry that happened to you,” sincerely. That’s a good beginning, but it is not the whole story. 

Compassion is understanding that any sheep – plagued, damaged, and surrounded by wolves and lions – will struggle to keep going. Meanwhile what do we think WE are still in this world for? We are His hands and feet, our place in this world is to take kindness and compassion to those who suffer. Whether they are Christian or not. Faith fades when you are in pain. Many battles are too much for us – we need help from those around us.

I have often said: “I cannot cope Lord.” And I have seen the Lord deliver me so many times I can’t count them … but I don’t always whistle a happy tune…sometimes I bawl my eyes out.  He gently holds my hand either way. Showing caring compassion is the very least we can do for each other. Bye. 😭

P 2953 Peace.

/ DVH

In some versions of the bible, Colossians 3 says: “let peace be your umpire…”  However, I like the translation in Colossians 3:15 Amplified bible: “Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].”

I’ve learnt a lot about peace in the past few years. I don’t honestly know why it has taken me so long to learn this truth, because it is one of those foundational factors that hold everything else in place! Maybe some things are harder to grasp than others, I guess. Today I want to share a bit about what I’ve learnt — bearing in mind that God’s word is multi-faceted and I only have one tiny view!

Peace can be a glorious feeling, but the idea of nice, juicy, happy and content feelings should not govern us – the Word of God does that. Sometimes, if I am upset, I read the Psalms until He speaks to me, and my busy mind and frantic feelings quiet down. That’s what listening to our Heavenly Umpire looks like. Getting this right is not the point … sinking into His peace is what is desired, so avoid pressure because doing that is the antithesis of what you want! Try not to second-guess yourself, instead give it to Jesus, and leave it with Him.

Peace is also not the absence of conflict. I think in our busy, sometimes frantic and frenetic lives we live today, true peace – His peace, has become scarce. We get glimpses of it, only to have it snatched away by some crises or other. Those things that regularly turn up, right outside of our ability to affect them. But in our day to day walk with Him, because of His purposes and plans for us, we need to know that we know, that certain basic facts that have been written down and are absolutely established. The minute I know I’ve lost my peace I know I can start restoring it by praying: “I want whatever You want Jesus, Your ways are much better than mine, I yield to Your better judgment, please help me I need Your peace.” Amen.

As we choose to love one another… in spite of the circumstances and obstacles that this life can put in our way — that will also help us to focus on the things that last forever. When we choose LOVE instead of our own justification, we pull focus into the things of God. Then we progressively lay aside all the worldly things we’ve used in the past to help us deal with the difficult times that come at us. Those external things that have previously helped us cope. And we deliberately remind ourselves of what He has already said. Our human resources need to be put down in order to lean on Him in faith, and grab hold of His peace. This new way to live is part of our God-given inheritance. 

As I said before, I like the idea that God’s peace is like an umpire, because an umpire is a pretty good illustration of how it works. We could say that sentence like this — God’s peace in our hearts, needs to be the deciding factor in how and when and why we move forward. So if we haven’t got His peace then we are not going anywhere until we have it!  Expedience is a poor motivator! We need to learn to wait for Him to show us any impediments to living in peace that we have picked up along the way. I ASK for it. It is covered by the “ask and keep on asking..” verse.

At the same time we can still have multiple problems to the right and left of us. Stop. Breathe. Tell yourself “God is bigger than this!” Even though disaster is thumping on the front door and chaos is trying to sneak in the back one. That noise is trying to distract you from your goal – glorifying Jesus with your obedience. We are standing on something that is far bigger than the intrusive things that demand our attention and try to thrust their way into our lives and hearts. 

We are standing on what Christ has already done and what He has promised us, in His Word. If we have no peace, then we should stop every bit of self effort, and ask the Lord to help us! Losing our peace means we have somehow lost track of the things in this life that are most important. So we stop, repent and wait. At the same time there is always a chance that we’ve actually given our peace away trying to figure things out with our own understanding. Whatever has happened a simple “help help, please Lord” will focus us again. He.Will.Help.Us. That’s in the book too!

Peace with God, has been given to us by what Jesus did. It’s ours! Just like salvation is ours – so is peace.  Let go and leave whatever it is with Him.  Walking with the Holy Spirit is part of our birthright, and it is not an insurmountable task. Jesus has already done all the work to make living with His peace ruling our hearts possible. We simply need to use our faith to believe what He said is truer than our day to day upsets, circumstances or feelings. Faith is the Way into Peace. 

Often, if we are busy we can end up settling for the absence of conflict … instead of seeking out His peace. I’ve found if I do that, then I need to repent and turn around and go back to what is “good, right and profitable”  and start  “letting my mind focus/dwell on Him.” This is how we become acquainted with HIS PEACE, because Jesus is the Prince of Peace!! So we live in an incredible kingdom! Then we begin to know what peace is, and what it isn’t! Plus you get to know what it looks like when you have it. Bye. 🕊️

P 2615 Fighting fear at 3.00am or thereabouts.

/ DVH

We all know this one in some form or another. As we start to get a handle on wrangling fear, fighting with the Lord’s strength during the day, the wretched thing pops up at 3.00am when you can’t sleep. I call it the ‘what ifs.’  

What if this bad thing happens. What if that even worse one does? … What if I can’t cope? … What if I let my family down? First of all – let’s remind ourselves that at 3.00am very few sleepless people cope! These thoughts and many others like them, are a direct attack on our faith. Cheer up! The other guy wouldn’t be attacking our faith if we weren’t actually going somewhere with it. It is time to remind ourselves that …

“… God will NEVER give us the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit Who gives us mighty power, love, and self-control.”

2 Timothy 1:7 TPT. Did ya get the word NEVER??! So that clears up any possible suggestion of just who is behind those worries that are nagging at us, no matter what time it is, because it will NEVER be the Lord Jesus. 

Yeah, I know that seems to go without saying … except in those moments when a lack of sleep robs you of your ability to think clearly. But we can learn to fight for our peace. However, this verse is more about Who we have to help us, than about what we are fighting. We have the Holy Spirit Who wants to give us His mighty power, His love for the Lord and others, plus a spiritual gift called self-control. Ya might want to think on that for a minute or ten. 🤔 But not at 3.00am, or there’s a chance that we will get even more awake!

At that hour I personally need all the mighty power I can get, thank you Jesus! My brain turns into a washing machine. Strangely, that reminds me of something … old person’s ramble alert … many years ago, there was this ad on TV with a cute kid in it who is probably now in his 60s … if not dead. This kid says: “Guess whose mum’s got a Whirlpool?” I dunno about a fancy washing machine, but sometimes it sure feels like a whirlpool in my head! How about you? PS they don’t make Whirlpools any more – they cost a fortune even back then. Let’s mo-ve right along from useless trivia that no-one cares about … 

… And just look again at that terrific verse. At all times, in all places, sometimes even despite our lack of obvious spirituality… God GIVES US the Holy Spirit. I’m going to say that again because maybe it didn’t quite sink in  … our GOD GIVES US THE HOLY SPIRIT!! Now here’s the Gift Who keeps on giving! And He is totally unearned or deserved. At 3.00am very few people feel spiritual, but we know that our God will always help us. Ask for help! ← I’m just going to let that sit there so we can both think about it.🤔 🧐 

Here’s another weapon suitable for the 3.00am screaming meemies …“because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. ”So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”Hebrews 13:5b-6. Whatever is trying to pinch your sleep is between you and our precious Helper, the Holy Spirit, He’s the Person God has given us to be our Friend forever. He is always there. Other people. and the spirit of stupid they are currently swimming in, don’t belong splashing about inside our heads! Remember, distraction from the real point is the enemy’s biggest tool. he tried that on Jesus … and it didn’t work on Him, either. 

Psalm 34:15-18: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”← Did ya get that word all? So you and I can’t actually be an exception because all means ALL!“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Which is why we repent about anyone we are angry with, even if it IS 3.00am. 

Despite the old fashioned bible version above, I urge you to fight against fear for your right to sleep and be at peace, be-ca-use … “…  to His beloved one He giveth sleep.” Psalm 127:2. You are His beloved one – sleep belongs to you. Hmmm. At 3.00am it seems that I speak King James English. Meanwhile there is no truth whatsoever to the rumour that I am that old!  Bye …👋

P 2348 Really?? Have we become this small?😱

/ DVH

Look, I totally get that we cannot, and must not, even by inference, give others permission to live sinfully. Yes, there are people in our society who live what we might call depraved lives. But please !! It’s time for the Lone Ranger and Tonto to climb down off their horses and walk amongst the ordinary people living in this world and start living a life of love – instead of judgment. Some of our finest warriors will be people who have been snatched away from the fires of hell!

Meanwhile what do WE have that was not GIVEN to us? “For who regards you as superior or what sets you apart as special? What do you have that you did not receive [from another]? And if in fact you received it [from God or someone else], why do you boast as if you had not received it [but had gained it by yourself]?” 1 Corinthians 4:7. 

Where do we ‘get off’ looking down our noses at other people – people who may never even have heard of the Saviour – and start judging their lives. We are not here to be permissive but we aren’t here to be judgmental either. Is this really how we think we should introduce people to the One Who loved them before this world began? Like that’s gunna work! Condemnation just drives people further into excuses, and defensiveness. If we want to see people set free, then we need to stay in Love with the Saviour and live a life of sacrificial love toward everyone around us.

“Oh, but they will go to hell if they don’t repent and change their ways.” RIGHT. So our plan is to use FEAR to push them into God’s ways? Fear always leads to faith doesn’t it? NOT!! Hmmm. Aren’t we confusing FEAR with CONVICTION? Have we utterly forgotten who WE were before Jesus saved us? Speaking for myself I was a huge bag of superiority – “I would never do stuff like that!”  says I as I looked down my nose at others. Meanwhile even though I didn’t blatantly lie, but I exaggerated heaps – and of course, that meant I was always the hero of any little story or anecdote I told. 

I was guilty of lust, plus a complete lack of honesty. I couldn’t stand my sole parent and the way I was raised, and I said so to anyone who was dumb enough to ask me about it. I hated some people with a passion — usually people who had the effrontery to not like me! In short I was as ugly inside as most people are, but I had become quite adept at hiding it so I would be accepted. But it is hard to hide yourself from yourself, you gotta be dedicated to do that stuff! That kind of self-deception has to be practised.

You know sometimes I think we have not matured enough to understand that sin is not contagious, it is a choice. I will concede that bad circumstances can, and will often appear to line up against us, and temptation often pops up when we are at our weakest. BUT… people make bad choices for many many reasons. 

Some things are not actual life-style choices, instead people are driven to these dark places because they cannot cope with how they feel, and our common enemy takes advantage of their needs and weaknesses. When we are starved of love and natural human affection we are easily swayed onto darker pathways. Desperate, lonely people do daft things to fit in. And … sometimes these things are also the cumulative result of cultivating rotten attitudes and activities.

Following Jesus means we leave that proud judgmental lifestyle behind us. We call our SIN – SIN. Not whoopsies. We don’t blame our parents for our unloving ways, because we have and regularly read HIS BOOK and understand that our parents probably did the best they could based what this life shoved at them! We look at the next guy and think: ‘that could have been me, God have mercy on us both!’

Jesus touched the unclean. He interacted with two thieves – Judas and Zacchaeus – one repented and turned his life around and the other didn’t. He even dealt kindly with promiscuous women, and spoke into their hearts instead of condemning them. The only language we’ve been licensed to speak now, is LOVE. Christians fall down when we use the bible as a club to punish, damage, judge and banish people – when in truth the bible is that glorious balm in Gilead that will save the sin-sick, wounded soul.

We need to remember where we were when He found us and called us. We have been GIVEN the greater portion, so let’s use that for everyone’s good and find His better ways to reach out to the lost – ‘cos they ain’t called that for nothing! 💕