Death

P3445 Hold fast, dear saint of God.

/ DVH

“I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him to the place of highest honour and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!” Ephesians 1:19-20 Amen.

Paul was given the ability by God, to understand what we have been given when Jesus died for all of us. In this verse he talks about this power being available to each one of us, as well as being released through us. But we have been given even greater opportunities than Paul had. Christians are so blessed, we have the revelations Father God gave to Luke, Matthew, Mark, John, James, Peter and Jude. Thank you Lord!

Paul was given incredible revelations about what Christ’s life, death and resurrection did. He teaches us that one act brought about the possibility of transformation for every human being. He shows us what living this life “In Christ Jesus” means. No exceptions. The problem is we can see these things as theology, (information), but they are not, they are a powerful way to live. We’ve grown used to thinking of God’s power as the power to do miracles, but the greatest use of God’s power is allowing it to transform each one of us, day by day. We are no longer held captive by a yoke of slavery — we’ve been set free to live the way our Saviour lived. Please notice the present tense!

Like Paul says, we can choose to live for Jesus and as we do so, we glorify HIM. That does not mean we are part of some clever marketing campaign, as we try hard to appeal to other people. Instead it means we are to be a showcase of Who He is, and what He has done … for everyone else to see. BTW, the gifts of the Spirit are a separate thing to being transformed. Now it is our choice to reflect Him into this world around us. We don’t set the standard, Jesus Himself does that! Human standards without the Holy Spirit’s input, create chaos.

The Lord Jesus’ action on mankind’s behalf, took every single human being out of the realm of sin and death, and broke it’s power over us. Then He firmly established mankind as the Father’s favoured children. Yes … even the people we don’t like!  Now sin is not compulsory – it is an optional extra – we are not powerless against it anymore! The Lord Jesus and what He did, transformed everything, and we have the Holy Spirit as  our Helper. It doesn’t matter what you think, or what I think – it only matters what He thinks and it is in the book!

We’ve been translated “out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His marvellous light.” And the view is mind-boggling … which is why our minds and hearts need to catch up with what Jesus Christ has already done for us. That’s why we read the bible, we are playing catch-up! What you and I knew before we met Him has been wiped away with His own blood, so now it is natural for us to have His point of view. His point of view is LOVE.

Our relationship has been destined by God Himself to be totally intimate and functional, so we can go back to the place before mankind sinned. Where Father God and human beings were friends who deeply loved each other. He is willing to share His thoughts with us, just like He did when He walked and talked with Adam and Eve. 

I choose to read the bible to find out exactly how His point of view works itself out in my life… by taking what the Lord has said and then I ask Him to show me how, when and where I need to apply it. Then I act on it. I am not a powerless person, a victim of my former circumstances any longer. What Jesus did for me restored me, and my whole life. With my permission, He takes every one of those hard, difficult, and sometimes terrible things in my life — the good, the bad … plus those ones I sadly think of as — “boy I wish I hadn’t done that!” …and He redeems it in ways I cannot possibly imagine. Those ways are so perfect, as I recognise them, they take my breath away. 

Giving my life to Him is not a sacrifice, it is a joy. I can have God’s opinion for free, at any time. If it happens that the Lord is silent, then I don’t have to panic because His Word clearly tells me He will NOT leave me, nor forsake me. The Lord cannot be unfaithful to His Word and that is what I now stand upon. That and the blood that Jesus willingly shed on my behalf that washed me clean. Everything my Heavenly Father does is good. If it looks bad then that means I can’t see the end yet – it isn’t over, I am just observing His processes.

I refuse to reduce my Saviour to mere actions, or answers to prayer. Instead I rely upon what God Himself says in His book, and what Jesus has taught me. God does not have to prove Himself to me, He already did. Once and for all. This life has seasons, seasons of the soul. Some of our seasons are rich and bright like summer, or spring, and others seem destined for death like winter and autumn. But the life of God for us and in us, remains steadfast. Jesus taught us that.

Let’s hold fast to Him. In season and out. “Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, He remains faithful to us and will help us, for He cannot disown us who are part of Himself, and He will always carry out His promises to us.” 2 Timothy 2:13. Bye. 👋

P 3439 “To be or not to be…”

/ DVH

“[It is that purpose and grace] which He now has made known and has fully disclosed and made real [to us] through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, Who annulled death and made it of no effect and brought life and immortality (immunity from eternal death) to light through the Gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:10.

When you get older, death pops up in your thinking wa-ay more than you’d like it to! Seriously. Hey, I read the bible lots of times, I know what comes next … Yet sometimes I am like Elsa in Frozen 2 – digging in my heels because what I see and know here, can be realer than what I know about that other place! When I see Elsa struggling against her destiny, I think that her struggle resembles the calling of the Holy Spirit, in the song  … ”Into the unknown...” Moo-ving on …

Paul tells us in this verse from 2 Timothy, that Jesus has annulled death. Here’s the meaning of the word annulled, I put it in because it offers great insight, plus, I am a big fan of the dictionary. Here’s the meaning of — “Annulled” …it is the past tense and past participle of the verb annul which means to officially declare something legally void, invalid, or as though it never existed.”

Did you get that? Death doesn’t exist anymore, it is officially invalid. Jesus wiped it out forever with what He did for mankind at Calvary. He told the man dying beside Him on the cross that he would be with the Lord in PARADISE that day. Human beings were created to be eternal, as well as being created in His image, that’s in Genesis. You or I might have some weird family trait that means we can roll your tongue over so it is upside down … I can by the way, its my one claim to fame 🤪 …

But that weird trait that found its way genetically through all the previous generations, to me – was a gift from my forebears. Money would have been better, thank you! However, despite our personal inherited genetics, we are made in His image. The point is – we need to practice looking for Jesus in each other – instead of looking for faults.

Here is a quick recap … spiritually speaking …we both look like the Lord, and we can’t die, forever. About now, you may be wondering if I have lost my mind? Probably. But both things are true, and… they are in the book. The bible is our plumb line when it comes to spiritual things. FYI, a plumb line is used for making buildings straight, vertically. They’ve found those doohickeys in Egyptian tombs in 1250 BC. And they still work today. The guys who built the pyramids weren’t stupid, they simply were no match for God’s incredible wisdom. Remember … their chariot wheels fell off and got bogged??? Revenge is never a good plan.

Yet even the Egyptians who chased the Israelites are not dead! They are just not here anymore … unless some museum preserved their dusty bones. However, the inner person is not gone. Your great great great Grandpa is not dead, he is either asleep until the judgment, or with Jesus already. Which is why Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13: “Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life].” 

We can’t NOT ‘be.’  We are forever people, and I ain’t talking about the undead! Jesus didn’t just remove death, He introduced into this life, a brand new eternal way to live – right here, right now. That new indestructible life in Him burst out into this world when Jesus left that grave behind Him. 

When we pray “thy kingdom come” we are not just speaking about the truth of a new rule and reign in heaven one day. We are also talking about US – TODAY. We bring His new Kingdom with us wherever we go. Look in the mirror. The kingdom of God is within you. Are you planning on letting that kingdom OUT any time soon? We all know what it looks like, the book tells us – it is empowered by LOVE. 

Eons ago, when I taught Sunday School about this subject I made sure I wore a cardigan. I said this to the kids: “I am alive here and now, right? Pretend this cardigan is part of my body … whoops! There it goes” – then I let the cardigan fall to the floor behind me. “When I die, I will leave my earthly body behind, it will die, but the real me is still alive. My body/cardigan will get old and start to fall apart, but the inside me lives forever.” We can start living forever, now … it is our choice where we spend it afterwards.

When Jesus took the keys of death and hell away from satan, He said this: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Revelation 1:18. Jesus Christ NOW has those keys. He bought them with His own blood – to let us OUT, not keep us IN. We have a choice, TO BE all we can be! Bye. 👋

P3403  Let’s keep jumping in the river. 

/ DVH

Many people have been hypothesising about the type of fruit on the tree of life. The bible says that fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. I read 1 Corinthians 13, and it says “…the fruit of the Spirit is …” Huge hint there!! Right. Now that is clear, let’s choose to follow the Holy Spirit, deny ourselves, and take up the cross of whatever this life throws at us – and joyfully serve Him and His purposes, right in the middle of our strife and trouble. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

We often want to gather the strength to do what is good and right and profitable, before we jump into the stream of the Holy Spirit’s Love. Here’s my advice – JUMP IN FIRST. All that other stuff gets added unto you while you are in there! We can get so busy on the side of that river of life and love – trying to fix ourselves, our attitudes, our actions that sometimes we get stuck trying to figure out how to fix someone else. All that means is we never get around to actually jumping in! If our enemy cannot corrupt us, he will try to distract us with the things we can’t change. We need to utterly trust the Holy Spirit to finish what He started in us. He’s the One with the Plan.

Let’s use the fruit of self-control as an example. Our aim is for any self control in our lives to become a natural response. It’s good to know what you are aiming at! Clenched teeth, and yelling and shouting, kind of defeats our purpose. As we jump into His love, we need to repent and repair, then throw off blame, straining and striving – self control will flow out of us because self control is IN that river.

Like Jesus said, staying attached to the Vine produces fruit. We can’t produce fruit without the Vine, so let’s just grab hold of Him, jump into the river of His love and learn to float. If Jesus says “pruning” then we say “OK!” If He says “time for rest” then we say “OK.” Our task is to stay attached. Obedience to His Will – plus focussing on His Love which never ends – will keep us attached to Him and floating. Keep continually thanking the Lord for loving you, and teaching and helping you with this life.

We will begin to take on the Father’s characteristics toward us, as we deliberately choose to learn to obey Him – whether it is convenient or not. No matter what kind of fruit we are producing, that fruit develops and grows because of our obedient responses to God’s Word for us, today. Don’t excuse yourself from obedience, instead, be honest, tell Him ‘I can’t cope, it’s all too much’ – He’s kind and compassionate, He will help us. He knows we are all just glorified dirt.

Christianity is the way we’ve chosen to live now. Let’s learn to lean into His Ways and yield to Him, no matter how inconvenient it is, or how hard it seems to be. Obedience to His instructions facilitates His life in us. Read the Beatitudes, start there! Now there’s a lifetime adventure. Valuing the Father’s Ways above our own, also gives us glimpses into Who He is. 

Jesus was obedient to the Father’s Way even though it killed Him. He’s our Leader, our personal human illustration! The Lord Jesus had so much faith and trust in God’s goodness, He allowed Himself to fall into the hands of men who could not be trusted, because God told Him that was the way to complete His mission. 

Many other blessings will flow into our lives as we yield to the Lord, and let go of those things that are holding us back. Then those blessings start overflowing onto others. The point of Christianity is not sameness — it is about transformation. All kinds of individuals have been personally challenged, and then changed, by walking day by day with Him, daily jumping in the river of His never-ending love, while still doing the seemingly ordinary everyday things we usually do.

We will see the fruit of the Holy Spirit blossom and bear fruit, first-hand in our own lives, as we participate in doing things His Way. Jump into His eternal, unshakeable love and stay there. Hold tight to your birthright! We were born to live in the river of His love, and be washed, minute by minute in our fresh clean new life. We must learn to use our faith, because this is how we bear God’s fruit. Obedience to Jesus’ instructions, clearly written in the bible – will produce Almighty God’s life in us, as well as total transformation in our lives. 

Living for Jesus means we will release the Holy Spirit with every single step we take. We can’t know what He will do in that other person’s life, but we know it will be good. If eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil produced death —- then eating from the tree of His life in us produces His living eternal fruit. That life is not a feeling … it is the flow-on result of loving, walking and living with Jesus. All of the fruits of the Spirit are born out of His love.

We had trouble with our mango tree last season, the mango buds came in abundance, but the fruit didn’t ‘set’ and it fell off before it reached maturity. This tree that had dozens of mangos in previous years, but last year it had barely more  than a half a dozen fully formed fruit. Under pressure the tree dropped it’s fruit.  That was a big lesson for me. It can happen to all of us – we can let go of how much He loves us when we are swamped by this life all with it’s trials and sorrows.

Our God is so good- even these bad things have a purpose. Pressure and discomfort are potentially developing faith-filled resistance in us. These are the things we are going to need on the next stage of our journey as we walk with Him. They help set His spiritual fruit and keep it attached to the tree. Attachment to the tree is just total dependence on Him – we all know we can do “nothing without Him..” It also says in John 5:19: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

Jesus chose to limit Himself, by simply obeying His Father. The fruit from the Tree of Life in our lives, will produce God’s life in us, for others. People will come and pick that fruit and take a bite out of it. The real question is — what will our lives taste like?  Heaven? Or unripe, unformed,  unpalatable fruit. Let’s just keep our focus on jumping in that river. Bye. 👋

P3382 Ours is an Eternal Love story. 

/ DVH

Romans 8:15: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”                          Psalm 103:13:“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.”                                                                                                                                    1 John 3:1:“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.”

Our God’s love is eternal, and redemption was always part of His plan. This means His love for us will never change. Most people often have no concept of what real love, the kind of love the Father has for us, looks like. Our ideas of love can easily be limited by our earthly experiences of it. 1 John 3:1 throws some light on that. It says ‘behold what manner of love the Father gives’ … behold means look at that love thoroughly and carefully. When we look carefully at God’s love, we can begin to understand His manner/His kind of love. God’s kind of love holds something special for us all inside it. It is a Love that never goes away, despite the unworthiness of the recipient.

Almighty God’s kind of love has no ending or beginning, it is complete in itself, and it is utterly altruistic. “Altruistic means someone is acting out of pure, unselfish concern for the well-being of others. It describes behaviour driven by empathy and a desire to help, without expecting any reward, recognition, or personal gain.” That’s what our Heavenly Father’s Love is like. The bad things that happen to us aren’t sent by Him, they come from our enemy. This is why we cannot afford to live our lives in the soulish, emotional and reactive realm. This world doesn’t produce that kind of love – it is heavenly, straight from the throne.

However, every single time we go into FEAR we will go back into slavery. This what Romans 8:15 is telling us. If we have fear, we are misunderstanding His love. Eventually, under duress, we can begin to be captivated by, and start serving the feelings of fear, instead of serving Him. Fear paralyses us. Fear likes to be protected and kept hidden. It demands to be fed lies and half-truths to keep all of us captive in it. Praise God, that our experiential knowledge of the love of God, personally, and through His word, chucks fear out of the window!

The fear of God which is mentioned in Psalm 103:13 is not the same as this world’s fear, which only bears the fruit of destruction. The fear of the Lord opens the door to further wisdom. Fearing God is not about being afraid, it is about being respectful and compliant in the things He has told us to do, because we acknowledge His Wisdom, His Ways and authority over our lives.  

God has provided for us to live in, and from, wisdom. The Lord’s wisdom is available to us at any time. Because of His incredible loving generosity, He will give us His wisdom whenever we ask for it. The Bible talks about wisdom like this: “For the reverence and fear of God are basic to all wisdom…” This is why our living, breathing, thriving relationship with the Lord matters … as we walk with Him we become aware of Who He is, and how much we need Him. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5.

When I read scriptures like the ones above, I am reminded of how generous the Lord is toward us – how remarkably rich He is in love. Being rich in love is almost incomprehensible to us – we are used to all kinds of poverty in this life, including spiritually – even though it has never been God’s will for us to be poor. Understanding the Lord’s love means we will develop a quiet confidence in HIM, not our circumstances.

He is reliable, faithful, good – so if I don’t see what I am asking Him for – I remember that James told me that I can ask amiss. Then I ask the Lord where I’ve missed it.  Romans 3:4 “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar;…” Making His Word our plumb line changes our perspectives, because we begin to understand real truth from His perspective.

Before we were even brought into this world, Father God’s Love was complete in itself. The Trinity worked in perfect harmony, They had such a precious bond of love and unity we can’t even begin imagine it. They did not need mankind … the love They have for each Other is already perfect and complete. Instead, They chose to create us from that love. The bible says: “Let us make man in Our image.” Genesis 1:26. We’ve been created to look like Them – we were born out of Their love.

The Father has given us the freedom to choose to love and obey Him … or not. Sadly, those “no”  choices have released death, destruction and decay, loose in a world that had never even seen an electron or proton out of place. You and I are designed to be like God, like His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in this life to others. We have the opportunity to know His kind of love, and give it away to others while we are still in this life. Our disobedience, ignorance, and disrespect can short-circuit this process.

The Holy Spirit chooses to reside within us, when we give our lives to Jesus. Now we have the capacity to share the same kind of complete and powerful love that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share. Let’s thank God for His salvation plan incredibly implemented by Jesus Christ His beloved Son. Because of Jesus we are now part of His wonderful Eternal love story. Bye. 👋

P 3295 What becomes of the broken-hearted?

/ DVH

Now here’s a question we need to be asking ourselves daily! Many Christians, our very own brothers and sisters in the faith, have wandered off into the wilderness like Hagar did, and sat down under a bush, hoping death will come quickly. Very few have done this by personal choice. Sadly, they know a part of the truth, but not the whole truth. A lot of them gave up on God, because what we told them He wanted was too hard for them to do.

The Lord is re-grouping together the Body of Christ to comfort, support and uphold one another. He always goes after the lost sheep!  We were never meant to be islands. Most of us, despite what we’ve been told, were not meant to be seen, either. I dunno about you but my body has loads of place that are better off unseen, but those unseen parts, do an incredible job helping my entire body to function. 

What we aim at, and want to do as His kids, is difficult. This is why we can’t do anything without Him! But we can’t do anything without each other either. We need to learn from the Merciful One Himself the kind of mercy that will never judge, but instead, it will come alongside and lift up someone who is stumbling or falling. Here’s something from Job 6:14: “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So that he does not abandon (turn away from) the fear of the Almighty.”   

We have so many broken-hearted people in our midst. People who were taught one thing, only to find out later that the scriptures they were taught didn’t mean what they thought they did! Disappointment grows in that kind of atmosphere. In God’s kingdom there are no failures, or screw-ups – we’ve all been made acceptable by the blood of Jesus! The strength of His blood’s efficacy is not measured by our sin …it is measured by what He did and Who He is!

Sometimes people get stuck and it is not their fault. They’ve suffered much at the hands of many! We have no excuse to remain in sin, but I can well understand that if there is a slight inclination toward judgment in a church, some people may not feel free to confess their faults, because it will label them. Minding one’s own business is a good thing, but not when we can see another person struggling to keep their head above water. 

Jesus is a Man of compassion. He doesn’t throw people away because of their mistakes, the only person He lost, refused to repent. Judas trusted his own judgment, when he was given opportunities to turn around and stop doing what he intended. Listen to this in Matthew 26:25: “Then Judas, the one who would betray Him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

We need to get it firmly fixed in our heads that we are not the judge and jury of anyone. He is. Let’s move on past judgment to better things. Stuff happens in people’s lives and it shapes and warps their way of thinking. These precious people, after they become Christians, often go round and round, and never seem to be getting anywhere. Our part in their progress is to love them. And at times, kindly, and reverently point out any sin that could be holding them back from the freedom Christ came to give them. It says this in Isaiah 42:3:

“Take a good look at My Servant. I’m backing Him to the hilt. He’s the one I chose, and I couldn’t be more pleased with Him. I’ve bathed Him with My Spirit, My life. He’ll set everything right among the nations. He won’t call attention to what He does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and He won’t disregard the small and insignificant, but He’ll steadily and firmly set things right. He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped until He’s finished His work—to set things right on earth. Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for His teaching.”

The broken-hearted are the people Jesus came to save. Their hearts can be broken by what they’ve done, or what someone else has done to them. Loving one another means we have an agreement — ‘you put my sin against you under the blood of Jesus, and forgive me, and I will do the same for you.‘ It’s mutual. If we see a brother or sister struggling then we come alongside them and ask them quietly, and gently: “How can I help you bear that burden you are carrying?” We need to pray for them like they are US. There is no room for grudges or spite in God’s kingdom. 

In Luke 9:55, Jesus once said to a couple of His disciples: “ You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to.”  At that moment they weren’t walking in Grace, they were walking in judgment. Our Heavenly Father, doesn’t batter us into holiness or submission – He wants us to want what He wants because we love Him! We need to treat the broken, the wounded, the wandering, the bewildered, and the lost, all the same way .. with love, compassion and kindness. Because next time it could be our turn! 

Compassion is limitless – Jesus Himself proved that. He prayed for the very people who were killing Him. His compassion leads us into choosing to help the broken-hearted, wherever we find them. We have the privilege of carrying  God’s Love, and it is a love that brings out the best in the loved one without indulging their weaknesses. When my shoulder was broken, I didn’t throw it away, I did things to help it mend – because I need that arm! The broken-hearted need our kindness, and support and we need them. Bye. 👋 

P 3288 Life attracts more life.

/ DVH

Here’s a dumb but logical thought:  dead things don’t move. The life that was in them, has been extinguished. You and I, will pass through death. However, it’s a doorway not a brick wall. We simply move on… to somewhere SO MUCH better! God’s Love for mankind is written down in BIG impactful words in John 3:16;  Romans 5:8: 1 John 4:16;  Romans 8:37-39. The thing about the Lord is this – what He says He means!

While we are on this earth, here and now, for some of us waking up alive is a faith statement we make every morning! And some bits of me are harder to wake up now. When I was younger I didn’t even think about moving my body — I just did it. Now I approach any kind of moving with a modicum of caution, and a boat-load of human history. However I am not about to wail on about how getting older means getting creakier! Instead, today, I want to talk about spiritually moving and how essential that is in our living faith. His life in us encourages others to believe. We were reborn spiritually, when the Holy Spirit first breathed His life into us.

So, right now, we have life in us the way this world understands it … and His new life in us … but many other people don’t understand the difference … yet. This world should be able to see that kind of life too! Here’s James, who talks at length about the way we are to live this new life we have been given. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”  James 1:23-25. One of the best ways I know to keep our faith a living faith, is to share it with someone else!

James is teaching us that this new life we now have must be expressed. It needs to be seen, and be conspicuous. This might be a good time to repent of getting angry at those people in your church who would preach salvation to a donkey, if God said to do it!  We might get angry with them because we are convicted by their actions! But then we feel guilty because we feel like we can’t do what they do. We may not be called to preach to people, but you and I were called to exhibit faith by our works, as well as our words. “Faith without works is dead!” (Also in James.) That’s dead dead – all dead, no sign of life – DEAD!

I have one of those nasty questions nobody likes to answer. If you or I were taken into a court of law could we be convicted, with clear evidence – of knowing and loving Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? Stephen was. (The book of Acts) His reward for his boldness was that he was able to see into heaven just before he got there!  The Lord does not ask us all to be Stephen. You get to be you, and I get to be me. But whoever we are, we can, and must both obey what the bible says: 

“We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the One Who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.” John 9:4. “For this reason He says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine [as dawn] upon you and give you light.” Ephesians 5:14. Here’s a song to ponder on, from a man who lived what he believed. His life was short, but fruitful, and his legacy continues to this day. Click here for some of Keith Green’s lyrics they will blow the dust and fluff out!  https://genius.com/Keith-green-asleep-in-the-light-lyrics

In the book of Matthew, chapter 25, the parable of the ten virgins shows us clearly that we need to be prepared for any eventuality. We can’t just slough off our responsibilities. We are His kids, so we can’t afford to do nothing. Jesus weeps over the millions of people who are falling off the cliff of this life into the next, and they don’t know about Him and what He did for us. Please don’t fool yourself with the idea that this kind of work is for someone else. Complete strangers ask me how I cope with illness in my life? I tell them I can’t, I have to lean on Jesus all the time!  I don’t have to have a clever answer to trick them into wanting to follow Him – I HAVE A TRUTHFUL ONE. They also ask hubby why we give away things to the poor, and he tells them that Jesus sent him!

We don’t have to convert or convince others, that’s the Holy Spirit’s job, our job is to speak, or act, or do something that shows them that our faith is not a theory!  ‘What if I get it wrong?’ Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go again. Absolutely nothing enlivens our faith more than using it! Faith made those five  virgins provide more oil than it seemed like they needed at that time. Everybody fell asleep that night, but the ones that used their faith had provision for the delay. Moving is a sign of life, otherwise the church appears to be deader than a dodo. Who wants to go to a dead church? But His life in us attracts more life. Bye. 👋

P 3273 Spiritual exercise.

/ DVH

Every time we turn the TV on there is some new exercise ad with an enthusiastic person telling us we will die from some dastardly disease if we don’t start to exercise. We need their machine, which often costs more than half a house …but it is guaranteed to give you a longer life. These people are usually in their early twenties and they don’t have a spare ounce of fat on them. It would be funny if it wasn’t so darn annoying! 

It’s like those dumb endless ads about how my skin can be peach-like and greatly improved, if I just use this monumentally expensive cream that costs a month’s wages. And the girl in the ad who is having her skin transformed (?) as we watch —  well she is about 12 years old and she wouldn’t know a wrinkle or a pimple if she fell over one. Like I said the other day: ‘Liar liar, pants on fire.’

I have had plenty of thoughts about the constant pressure in ads from people trying to sell us something. The powers that be must be pretty desperate to save on hospital costs, to threaten us with death that will come too soon!  Um… fellas? Hot News Flash! We are ALL going to DIE one way or another. Nobody gets out of this life alive. Those guys who get cryogenically frozen are in for a big surprise. Huge.

Back to today’s point:  just like we have been told that we should be doing this or that:  push ups, pull ups, running on the spot, lifting weights etc. Plus we should jog/not jog, we should count steps/not count steps, blah blah blah. Here is a new thought today. Spiritual exercise. Oh no! You cry – here’s another place for me to feel bad about!! 

Nope. Jesus paid for all the selfish stuff we do or don’t do, so feeling bad is a waste of time, because it is unnecessary. Repent, and repair, move on. We have chosen to live our lives looking to the cross. Feeling about to find things that we have done wrong, will actually make us more likely to enter into avoidance, rather than transformation. I think we might daily pause and look more carefully at what we are actually doing. 

Faith opportunities turn up at odd times, and it does not grow all by itself. The bible tells us: “So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).…” Romans 10:17. Everybody knows this verse! You can read lots of faith instructions in the bible. My point is, that faith comes, but it can GO pretty quickly unless we purpose to act upon what we heard! Hearing by itself, is not enough to bring down the things stored up for us in heavenly places. Remember the parable of the sower Jesus taught us? 

Some seed fell on hard ground, some were picked up by the birds of the air, and some grew in the weeds. We need to expect that birds (relentless illness, prayer unanswered, situations remaining the same) those things will  come and try to rob us of our living faith. Plus there will be weeds. I think weeds come from half-truths, things that occupy our time, but are non-productive. We need to deliberately plant His productive seed into our lives. If our hearts ever get hard from ignoring what the Lord has told us in His book, then truth will be a casualty, it will slide right off us instantly. Rationalisation takes over.

Here’s some great food for thought:  “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” James 2:14-18. Are you exercising your faith?

Spiritual exercise is good for our spiritual health. So what is spiritual exercise? It always starts with prayer and then we do a whole lot more than just reading or hearing — faith deliberately looks for something to do then acts on what it has heard. We ask the Holy Spirit how we can put what we’ve read into action. This process is costly — it will cost us energy, time, dedication, plus we will have to fight our own fears along the way. 

It’s a bit like participating in a triathlon.That will cost you time, energy, even family time. Our friend is a triathlete. He is of another faith. One time he was injured and hubby prayed for him and the Lord healed him. Praying for healing for someone is exercising our faith! Praying by ourselves at home is great, but praying with a person we know, or don’t know, will take action, and courage. 

We need to live out our faith as well as talk about it. Faith that doesn’t act is not living faith — instead it’s a shadow of all it can be. We are mistaken if we claim to have faith, and yet we have nothing that illustrates it. Concrete illustrations, things like testimonies, will appear regularly in our lives when we choose to take a risk. Thankfully, the Word of God always accomplishes whatever He sent it to do. Lastly, don’t ever take your faith back, let’s leave things in His hands. 

Our spiritual exercise is not like push ups or sit ups. It is responsive, it keeps our faith alive and active in the middle of the stuff we face daily. God has given each one of us a measure of faith, so let’s give Him thanks! What a blessing we have inside these clay jars! 👋

P 3230 Active faith is essential.

/ DVH

The Lord Himself chose the Israelites to be His own people, and He chose Israel as the place for His precious Son to be born. When you read the book, it is incredibly obvious that the Jewish people were not perfect. Ps neither are we!!… The entire bible is a demonstration of how people related to Almighty God and the way He responded to them.  Jesus Christ, God wrapped in human flesh, is our revealed illustration of our Father’s will and love for ALL mankind. 

The story of God Himself and His Ways with men, is a two-part story, lovingly and truthfully disclosed by the Holy Spirit. The New Testament does not replace the Old, it completes it! In the New Testament, at the beginning of the Lord’s ministry, Jesus’ mother told the servants who came to serve fresh wine this: the wine that Jesus miraculously transformed – “WHATEVER HE SAYS TO YOU, DO IT.” That’s our mandate. Obedient actions, made and acted upon in faith, as we follow the Holy Spirit, will transform our minds and soften our hearts. 

“This is why the Holy Spirit says, “If only you would LISTEN to His voice this day! Don’t make Him angry by hardening your hearts, like your ancestors did during the days of their rebellion, when they were tested in the wilderness. There your fathers tested Me and tried My patience even though they saw My miracles for forty years they still doubted Me! This ignited My anger with that generation and I said about them, ‘They wander in their hearts just like they do with their feet, and they refuse to learn My ways.’ My heart grieved over them so I decreed: ‘They will not enter into My rest!’ ”  Hebrews 3:7-11. 

What did the Jewish people do that made God angry? They ignored Him, rejected His Ways, and hardened their hearts with disobedience. They chose to indulge and control their own destiny, and make themselves at home with other more controllable gods. We can’t afford to follow their example. Almighty God has incredible plans for each one of us to make all our lives better in ways we cannot imagine. Why am I saying this? Because the bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love Him—“

We definitely cannot imagine what kind of life we would have if only every time somebody raised their voice or were spiteful to us, we chose to give away His love instead! If you add to that, the fact that He never responds the same way twice, we cannot live without the Holy Spirit to leading us! Sadly our negative experiences often take over and poison our thinking against change. We need His power to open our eyes to understand exactly what His Love, in us, for us, and through us … will actually DO TO US. And that’s where Jesus becomes the very best illustration we can ever have! His Presence on this earth transformed other people’s lives forever. 

Most of us have experienced the worst of mankind’s attitudes and actions, and that negative stuff has so seared into our brains and emotions, we can’t even begin to imagine God’s kind of goodness. Many times we think we already know the outcome to things that we have not yet experienced, personally. Let’s not follow the Israelites down that dead end road of unbelief in His goodness – let’s simply choose to believe and live and act on what Jesus taught us! 

The Jewish people themselves continually experienced so much goodness – God’s deliverance, His provision, but they couldn’t see the bigger picture – because they hardened their hearts against Him, and willingly applied their own view. They were slaves to their immediate position. Their fear of change negated the possibilities of new revelations. We need to allow the Lord to continually deal with our own hearts, so our receiver works! 

Having said all that, I want to quickly look at something that illustrates the incredible generosity of God and what the possibility of change looked like in the life of Abraham. Abraham gives us a brilliant example of what obedience means to God. He gave this man righteousness, because of Abraham’s active faith – he was an old man, old people like comfort. What did he do? He followed God and took the Lord at His Word! This man’s faith changed his life choices, and he became the father of our faith. You can read it about in Genesis 15. 

In Romans 4, we can also read that God Himself declared Abraham in right standing with Himself not because of perfect deeds, but because of his complete trust in GOD HIMSELF. As Christians we don’t just want the appearance of goodness in our hearts, we want the kind of transformation that has His power in it! Genuine faith leads to obedient actions – and Abraham clearly shows us how powerfully an ordinary life can change. Then Jesus came along and illustrated His own perfect obedience, unto death. Death is also a needed part of obedience.

The bible teaches us that in order to please God we must die to the kind of life we want, in order for Him to progressively enliven us into His purposes. It is not enough to say, “I will die for you Lord,” and then turn around and go away from that moment, and continue to live this life, our only life here, doing whatever WE want. That’s called paying lip service.  We ALL need active faith – like Jesus Himself had and only the Holy Spirit knows what that will mean in our daily lives. Bye. 👋

P 3169 Tests-4-me.

/ DVH

Hubby said this to me yesterday: “I don’t live for me anymore because I’m dead! I have no rights, because dead people have no rights.” That’s all news to me BTW – I distinctly saw him climb out of bed this morning. He was a bit creaky but still living! Yeah OK, he’s right, I get it. And that sentence is the actual pointy bit in Christianity – the bit nobody likes that was drowned when we were baptised. Today, we are the people who choose to live fulfilling Christ’s law of LOVE. We came up out of death into a new life.  And we live to bless each other. Since when did that become such a hardship?

The beauty of the scriptures, is that they say different things at different times, but those things always fit together to make a much bigger picture…“…don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:3&4. Baptism is our declaration of our intention to live a new life for His glory, from now on.

Our new life of living in love depends on us prayerfully acting on the fact that we are minute by minute, choosing to be dead!  There’s an oxymoron if ever there was one! Now we live a life of obedient faith that says: ‘when Jesus died – I died! That’s the essence of the Spirit-filled life. A life where we live to serve Him and others. Not a life filled with what we think or hope we need, but a life that is voluntarily laid down for His kingdom’s sake.

We may not feel any differently when we come up out of the water of baptism, but the bible says that baptism is our access into this new life in Christ. It may be symbolic, but it is designed to become a reality in each of our lives. That’s because baptism is the stated gateway into our new life of submission to His will, His way. That choice means we’ve deliberately decided to leave our old way of thinking, being and interacting with others behind us, and we have begun to live our lives relying upon His wisdom, power and strength.

As our life of faith continues to grow, we begin to see this world differently – now we do what He has told us to do, using our faith to obey Him. We have everything we need to grow, in His book, when we treat it like instructions. For example, we don’t need to be told how to interact with other people, it’s all in the book. And repentance is not just a great occasional idea – we do that all the time! God’s book, as my dear friend Harold Hill liked to say: is the manufacturer’s handbook! Just like you get a book to tell you how to operate your new stove or motor-mower, people also come with a book of instructions, lovingly crafted by their Maker.

And this book has no exceptions, or exemptions – you can be fat, short, a bit dim, a clever clogs, thin, talkative, silent, energetic or even worn out. So long as we read what He said carefully, prayerfully looking for things to do. Then we act on the things  we are reading. This means we are exercising our faith and dying daily and living for Him now. God’s ways are so incredible and intricately designed for each one of us, we can obey Him every day for a billion years and still come up with something new we haven’t seen or done before.  

I love to invite the book’s Author, the Holy Spirit, to watch over my shoulder, as I read. I read and I listen for Him to reveal to me something I need to do – I don’t argue with it, or excuse myself. If it says repent I say “what do I need to repent from, please Lord?” The Gospels are our example. They show us over and over again, how our faith works. In those five books we have a human example, right in front of our eyes. Jesus Himself shows us that nothing is impossible – including transformation. Plenty of testimonies in there!

BTW, I always include Acts with the Gospels, because I think we all need to be acquainted with the how, when, where, what and why of the power of God when it invaded other people’s lives. The Holy Spirit fell on people in seemingly random situations, but at the same time His power broke down religious strongholds that separated one group of people from another. Acts is a marvellous book to watch the Holy Spirit in action. It stirs our faith.

The bible always has a word in season about real people and real situations. We have details about our heavenly Father interacting with all kinds of men and women right throughout their lives – from lepers to Kings. Their tests included fighting “without number,” “fiery furnaces” and “being covered in boils!” And they ended in tremendous testimonies even though they weren’t any fun for the participant. The Old Testament has become a glorious table He has already prepared for us to eat from – even in the presence of our enemies. It shows us what the Lord likes, and what He doesn’t like. I love reading about these people who respected and admired the Lord so much – they took risks!  Our new life in Christ means so we will too.

On the other hand I also enjoy reading what Paul and the other disciples said in the Epistles. Those books have clear and great instructions about how our faith works and why. They teach us so much about how to die to self. What is written in the Epistles are not suggestions, they are a map of how our faith grows and what hinders it. The power of God dealt swiftly with Ananias and Sapphira — and interacted and discerned inner motivations in Simon the magician. Our faith is not for people who want to use Him for their own purposes.

Finally – looking for things to do will help anyone grow and have their own testimonies. Inactive, lukewarm people don’t do very well with their faith and they have bupkis when it comes to testimonies. That’s because we don’t really know anything about this NEW LIFE until we actually physically participate in it! Like the people in the Old and New Testaments! Our new life in Christ means that if we want a real testimony for His glory – we will need to participate in a test-4-me!  Bye. 👋

P 3159 He will inhabit our lives.

/ DVH

“My beloved ones, just like you’ve always listened to everything I’ve taught you in the past, I’m asking you now to keep following My instructions as though I were right there with you. Now you must continue to make this new life fully manifested as you live in the holy awe of God—which brings you trembling into His Presence. God will continually revitalise you, implanting within you the passion to do what pleases Him.” Philippians 2:12-13 TPT.

We cannot afford to postpone following His instructions, they are life and health to our bones! (Proverbs 3:7-8.) This is not just about our bones, BTW, it is about us living daily in His standing-up-in-the-middle-of-difficulties strength! It is our responsibility to allow His life to be fully manifested in us. Jesus did not save us so we could hide away in religious activities and tell ourselves: “that will do.” He saved us to be His ambassadors to this world. To start with, we need to redefine what real love looks like, the people around us think love looks like getting my own way!

God Himself knows the best way for any of us to live our lives. We can think we know, but we cannot foresee the future –  it is outside our control. Even Christians rumble along, listening to this instruction the Lord has given us, and ignoring that one because it’s ‘too hard and God won’t mind.’ We cannot afford to cherry-pick the verses we want to obey and the ones we don’t. Jesus died for us, and we died with Him, and this new life we have now is His.

Jesus Himself knew the secret of being ‘in’ the world, but not ‘of’ the world. His FOCUS was always on His Father’s kingdom. He did not treat a KING any differently than a peasant! He simply spent His time ministering to  people, displaying His Father’s love to them, meeting their needs. The Lord Jesus lived to love others, and obey His Father in all things. He didn’t save His life – He spent it!

Jesus’ life and death shows us that living like He did can be done. But it is painfully obvious we will need help — our love is not as hot as it should be. When God is an add-on, or merely SomeOne we run to, to fix things, passion will not be a part of our love for Him. However, the Holy Spirit knows both passion and devotion. That’s why Jesus sent back Him back to us. The Spirit of God helps us see and live in God’s perspective about the things happening in our lives. Jesus does not have to prove He loves us by answering our prayers – His life, death and resurrection are all the proof we need.

And what’s more the Lord’s life shows us that there is a better life than we can ever imagine when we learn to walk with Him in His Ways!  We have been blessed, we can bring heaven here, right here, right now — when we live His Way for His purposes. Whether we can see or hear Him or not – we can live in joy, loving others the way He loved us. Obedience opens doors. Day after day I hear people talking about fulfilment in this life. Maybe they don’t feel fulfilled because they were made for a purpose, and believe it or not that purpose wasn’t just to live in comfort, or annoy the living daylights out of someone else! 

The Lord may be temporarily absent from us, but He is oh so close and present, in the bible. We can always find Him in His book. Jesus Himself is called the LIVING WORD! And I need a living word every single day. I am daily learning to put my feelings to one side. Now the only thing I care about is His peace in me. When I have His peace, I can do anything. Believe it or not I am as scared of other people as you are!  But …the Holy Spirit is so faithful. He can’t help Himself – it’s His nature.

“Let’s not get weary in the well doing…”  Galatians 6:9. Pressing in and on, can seem daunting. As you get older, like I have, you just want to sit down somewhere comfy, with a cup of tea, and watch the world go by. I like life in the slow-lane. But I love to see the faces of the people who have no idea how much they are loved by God Himself so much MORE than my own comfort. This life is a series of choices. It is not so much about making good or bad choices, as it is about making ‘A’ choice, any choice. It is very hard to move a stationary vehicle. 

My advice is to do something… anything. Be generous, share with others, mow someone’s lawn, talk to some elderly shut-in. And watch the Lord turn up and love on people just because you reached out to them. They will be attracted to Jesus-in-you. It’s not us – it’s never us! It’s because HE is altogether lovely!! We don’t have to market Him, advertise Him, or explain Him — we just turn up with Him … with the King in residence here → ❤️ in our hearts. He promised to never leave us or forsake us or give us up – so He’s with us, whether we feel Him or not. Why not just believe Him? 

The way to fill up your heart is in Matthew 7:7-8, and Jeremiah 29:13 – look it up. Choose to believe what He says and not your feelings.“Here’s what Yahweh says to you: “I know all about the marvellous destiny I have in store for you, a future planned out in detail. My intention is not to harm you but to surround you with peace and prosperity and to give you a beautiful future, glistening with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 TPT. Jesus will inhabit our lives as we step out and use our faith that what He said, He meant. Bye. 👋

PS. Don’t wait for a sign! Do it anyway… faith ACTS.