Demonstrated

P 3162 This is true worship!

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“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2. True and proper worship starts and ends with ME, voluntarily laying myself down on His altar, daily. All day, every single day. The secret to walking with the Holy Spirit is to deliberately surrender your life, even when things are good as well as when they are bad. Then I pray: “Your will, Your way Lord.”  I’ve found it is best to have no other agenda but His.

When we follow Jesus it means our lives change. It is our obedience to God’s Word that causes that transformation. As we read it, we begin to realise that worship from His POV, requires more from us than just happily singing songs of praise and worship … it is about giving Him the gift of YOU. Your time, your energy, your obedience, your love, your family, your sometimes-present difficulties. Our families are so much better off in His hands, no matter what is going on around us. We put them in His care – and we leave them there. Obviously I am not talking about whether the kids need a bath, or not, and Jesus won’t be cooking the dinner! Everything  we do we do in service to Him. “Whatsoever you do, do it with all your heart, as though you were doing it for Jesus!”

Realistically speaking, in today’s climate, we know that very few people have spare time! So the reality is like this — to honour Father God with our whole self, we will have to put something else aside. Those things we need to put aside are often important to us. And at the same time, we can have interruptions that need attention. Like, if your toddler falls on its head, that’s an important thing! But, the phone can wait. Leave that somewhere else, turned off. You can tell your pre-school child: “I’m reading the bible, I will be with you soon.” Showing little ones that we also need to pray and read the bible, is just as important, as doing it with them. 

We simply have to make reading the bible and praying, a priority, just like we make family times a priority. My hubby’s dear mother used to sit in the middle of chaos, people coming and going, the phone ringing off the hook, squabbling everywhere etc – and there she was, in the middle of it, bible in her lap, with her eyes closed because she was praying. Her alone time with God is sacrosanct. The things that dear lady has taught me without saying one word!!

We all know that God’s Word requires our obedience. We simply need to read it to find things to do, not just to tick off a daily quota. That translates into – read it, then do it! Or read until you find something to do. Actually I read until something stands out to me. This is part of putting our bodies on His altar. Don’t  dismiss these things because you haven’t got time to pay attention to them, instead make it a priority to act on them. It is a delusion to think: “I will get around to doing that.” Trust me, you won’t. We have an enemy who loves to distract and interrupt us. Make a plan to obey while you are with the Lord. Ask Him: “How do I do this Lord?” However, when it comes to repentance, do that right away, including fixing and repairing it with the other person if necessary. Never postpone repentance. Repentance blows away the cobwebs over our hearts. 

If we want to know God’s will, then we must align ourselves with Him. It’s simple. Most things about the Lord look like this… stay out of the stuff that is going to drag you down, and cling to what He has said instead – and don’t move from that place. We need to recognise some things are a distraction or temptation, and avoid them. Just because something is demanding, that does not mean we must give it our attention. Paul said: “…I die daily…”  That’s what laying our lives on the altar looks like. God’s great love and provision for mankind, has been clearly demonstrated to us, through watching how Jesus lived His life.

Jesus laid Himself on that altar by everything He did. We don’t even get a recording of the Lord’s private  thoughts or opinions in the Gospels! He didn’t even go on Israel’s got Talent! 🤣🤣 Instead, He validated God’s Words for our benefit by the Way He lived. He knew the Father so well, He could see what His Father was doing, and then He went and did it too. Ten lepers were healed once – Jesus saw His Father healing them before it happened! BTW, the Lord didn’t want the lepers to thank Him, Jesus wanted the lepers to thank Father God for what happened to them!“Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:18.

If we want to see what Jesus saw, and do what He did, then we need to live like He did, and do whatever our Father tells us to do. Obedience is one of the growth factors for flourishing faith. Our true worship is to lay our lives down for His sake, even as we sing and praise Him in our hearts. We are to be continually filled with the Spirit. And! We should take care of widows and orphans … James chapter one. All those good things are set into motion when we choose to lay our lives down, daily, for His sake, Galatians 2:20. Bye 👋

P 3069 Our true purpose.

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The more we live our lives focussed on our God-given purpose, the stronger that purpose becomes. Jesus Christ’s purpose is now our purpose. We inherited His calling. So now we are here to destroy the works of the evil one, and present God’s goodness to a world that already has a very bad definition of goodness!! However, if what we believe is an extra, or an add-on, then we will have very little grace to give away to others. Meanwhile whether the other people deserve what I am giving them or not, is Jesus’ territory not mine!

In really difficult circumstances, each one of us can experience a bankruptcy of faith, and end up doing the opposite of what we know to be true. Simply because the external and internal pressure can appear to get bigger than our knowledge of His Grace toward us. So we need to access His Love and Grace daily, because the bank of suck-it-up-buttercup, will fail! Sadly, when I try to deal with stuff in my own strength, that is often when I end up giving someone else an unwanted piece of my mind. Nastiness is such a waste of time, however, knowing our true purpose helps us to hone our spiritual attributes and instincts.

The Lord Jesus wants us to go to Him when we need His Grace, His Love, His Faith, because He has more than we will ever need! At the same time He also longs to lavish His love on us daily. Plus He wants us to grow up into His likeness – that’s our true purpose.

His help also includes whatever we need when we are dealing with other people. Other people can stretch our faith mercilessly, and when our faith is being stretched, it becomes harder to access His Grace and Love. That’s the growing edge. It helps me to remember that no matter what else is going on, Jesus’ love was always “on” so His Grace is essential in everything we do.

Grace helps me realise God doesn’t take sides – He is for all of us. I have no idea how He does that! Instead I go with the thought that He’s God, and so He can do the impossible! Sadly I often need a whole lot of roadwork to get there. However, He is so gracious, He will answer my prayer for help – even if it is half-hearted!

I don’t know what circumstances will present themselves today, unexpectedly… or when I will need His Grace to disarm fear, rejection, resentment etc. in myself. or from someone else. Grace is a great equaliser. However I don’t distribute His Grace like a powerful person would bestow a favour – instead, grace becomes a part of who I am, and giving it away is normal. I have learnt from experience, that if I tell Him I need it, He will always give it to me. I just need to  to ask Him! If I can control ME, by staying in the Grace of God, then I don’t need to control YOU!

My Faith in Who He is, and what He did for us all, is  an important foundation to anything that happens. My faith won’t be built up if I am not using it – because it needs to be stretched, and exercised – bit by bit. Meanwhile, five cents worth of faith probably won’t be all that useful when the sky is falling! I like to start my days by acknowledging that I need Him. He says He will supply everything I need, so that means I go right past my own efforts to look good, or feel justified, and focus on HIS CHARACTER instead.

That’s the only sure thing in the middle of chaos. Who He is. My own needs or irritations can easily cloud any issues, but fortunately, His Character is unchanging! If I choose to only use my faith like I am just renting it, or borrowing it – I will quite quickly find out I’ve sprung a leak! I must take ownership of my own faith! Faith is not faith when it is not owned, or used – instead it is more like wishful thinking. Faith needs to be visible and demonstrated. That demonstration pulls faith from the realm of the unknown, into this known world.

Our loving actions toward others can display our faith better than our words ever could. This also means I will choose to not put my focus on spiritual gifts, but rather I choose to focus on building Grace, Love, and Faith into my life as He leads me. Those other things will get ‘added unto me’ when I choose to concentrate on living a life of love, not self-centred defensiveness and anger. 

The need to change often appears in the form of a difficult problem, a destructive person, an impossible situation, or when things suddenly seem to be going upside down. Finding the Lord’s eternal attributes in those moments means I must deliberately decide to yield to Him. What I mean by that is this — I give up! I stop trying to find a solution, or an exit, or an excuse for my cranky attitude, and instead I wait for Him to lead me through the drama in front of me. Instant solutions are over-rated, sometimes all we learn from them is self-justification and presumption.   

Love is the kingdom we deliberately choose to live in. Grace is Jesus’ coin of that realm, and using our Faith to get those things, is the way to access whatever we need to fulfil His purpose in our lives. Bye. 👋

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We are going public with this, as public as a city on a hill…” Matthew 5:14-16.

P 3064 The missing piece to the meaning of life …

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… IS IN THE BIBLE! Our Heavenly Father God has not left us to our own devices, instead heaven invaded earth in the most innocent, harmless, least intrusive and threatening form – Jesus Christ came here as a little, helpless baby! HE IS OUR MISSING PIECE. In the bible we have a permanent record of God’s love in action throughout the whole book. Because men and women, just like us, saw our God in action and wrote it down. Now we need to act just like the leper in Mark 1:45 ‘… he…began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter,…” What do we proclaim everywhere? That God’s love is clearly demonstrated through Christ! He is the Major piece of our life’s puzzle.

We have discovered that His Love needs evidence — and Jesus Christ is our personal, and corporate evidence that mankind is now, and will always be, greatly cherished and loved by God Himself. This fact was never meant to be kept a secret – God Himself came here!! We’ve been incredibly blessed, because the bible says to each one of us:  “whosoever-will-may-come!” In other words:  we don’t care what you did. If you are willing to make amends and walk away from sin, and trust Jesus to save and heal you from the torments and angst that sin has produced in your life … you are welcome here! There is no secret password, handshake, keycard or any particular puzzle skills needed! The bible has been given to us to make God’s love for us clearly known. 

That Love for each one of us is another major piece to find. Christians have been reborn to be walking, talking demonstrators of God’s love in action. We are to live this way with each other, and that will be our witness to the world around us.“In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Colossians 3:14. The Father, Jesus His Son, and the precious Holy Spirit already have this perfect bond of unity. If we think about Their mutual love like that, then we will begin to understand how important OUR unity is to Them. Their kind of love explodes in us, and on us, and it intentionally fills up our hearts. But this love is not just a feeling – it is a choice. Choice is another huge part of our puzzle. 

Christ chose to love us and that love has always been on display through His words and actions recorded in His book. He did that whenever He chose to lift people up who were burdened by their sin, and He challenged those who thought they weren’t! He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers and delivered those long held captive by the devil’s wiles. One of our enemy’s greatest deceptions portrays him as a scary person in a red suit with horns. But, our bible portrays the enemy as disguising himself as an angel of light. So we need God’s wisdom to see and hear properly – there’s another puzzle piece. His book can teach us. 

Together with the Holy Spirit’s help, plus everything contained within His book, these things are our very best puzzle solvers, and part of God’s heavenly plans and tactics. However, even the bible itself can be a puzzle. We will sometimes need 3D laser skills to see the reality contained inside it. The Holy Spirit helps us to look through the words to the realities within. “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” John 10:10. If whatever you have bumped into steals, kills or destroys yourself, or others, it is not God. Jesus Himself made that clear. Our only hope is to tune into whatever the Holy Spirit is doing, then we can see beyond the obvious things in this world, into His realm, where love prevails.

We also need to hold tight to another puzzle piece that says ‘God chose to give His precious Son as a sacrifice.’ Jesus chose to come here. And the Holy Spirit chooses to be present all over the earth, guiding each one of us, as He is going to and fro. He is watching out for anyone whose heart is toward the Father. The Trinity’s deliberate choices have led to us having absolute freedom to choose which way we will personally go. And no-one else can take that choice, that puzzle piece, from you. You will have to choose to lay your entire life down at His feet. 

Day by day, we continually remind ourselves of His Ways by reading His book – that book is the key to every eternal mystery. My next proposed puzzle piece is an important fragment of the eternal puzzle we need to understand. When people die, where do they go? His book tells us that. The bible shows us the answer, when it tells us about a rich man who had a beggar named Lazarus at his gate. The rich man ignored the beggar’s needs. (Luke 16:19-31) You can read about the results for yourself. This puzzle piece looks like this:  whatever we’ve been given is to be used to further His kingdom, not ours.

My last pivotal puzzle piece is that salvation is available to every single human being, even the worst of us. In God’s kingdom ALL means ALL!  Almighty God does not use hyperbole, He doesn’t have to. What He says is truth! Jesus clarifies our view of our Heavenly Father and personifies His ways beautifully in the bible. This eternal puzzle was always meant to be solved by us… and FYI …Jesus Christ is the missing piece. Bye 👋

P 2999 God, You are more than enough!

/ DVH

“God, You’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need You.”Psalms 46:1 TPT.

‘Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another Person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, He got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one Man said yes to God and put many in the right.

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.” Romans 5:18-20.

We have a wonderful Heavenly Father, and the Perfect Saviour, Jesus Christ, and the glorious ever-present Holy Spirit to help us. Just let that sink in for a few minutes. We are not alone. The God Who made the world is more than enough for you and me! God’s Grace changed everything for everyone, and now we need to change our point of view to line up with Who He is.

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The Lord is not just talking to us about memorising scriptures when He tells us in Psalm 119:11.“I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” OR Matthew 4:4 which states: “But He (Jesus) answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”

Jesus is also talking about a heart attitude, not just a memory one. He is teaching us that we must value what He says above what we think, or feel, or have already experienced. When we measure God by human standards – things like results, or our ability to remember (!) – we are reducing all that He is to our ideas and opinions. However, the Lord Jesus came here to save us, and show us what a human being led by God looks like — He has deliberately empowered us to live that way with the Holy Spirit’s help. Just like He did!

We dare not even measure our God’s performance by our answered or unanswered prayers, because that is putting Him to the test! Jesus Himself said this in Matthew 4:7.“Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: “Don’t you dare test the Lord your God.” He was talking to the enemy at the time, but this is an incredibly important scripture. God reveals Who He is to us, through what Jesus said here. 

We must not question His goodness – His goodness hung on a cross until all of mankind was totally reconciled back to Him! He does not have to prove Himself to us … we have a book full of His history with mankind! When we come up against something that puts His goodness into question, our belief in His goodness needs to prevail. I firmly believe some of our prayers may not be answered until after we’ve gone home but that does not mean God has thrown them away. Men and women DIED holding onto God’s promise of His Messiah – I call that enduring faith.

God is holy, and He cannot lie, He is Who He says He is. It is fatal to our faith to question His goodness. Plus His unfailing love is unquestionable – He demonstrated it through everything Christ did. His ability to save us, transform us, and make us even bigger so we can receive even more of Him – is legendary! Don’t ever be satisfied with what you have, always go after more.

We need to learn to respond like that widow-woman, in 2 Kings, whose husband had run up a debt. She had two sons, who were going to be sold into slavery. She ran to Elisha the prophet for help, and as he instructed her, she grabbed anything that was in her house that might hold oil. These verses are not just an illustration or a great story about something God did long long ago …it’s for here, it’s for now … it’s for YOU! … and me! Give Him any areas that remain untouched by His Grace, His Spirit, His OIL in your life … and let Him fill them.(2 Kings 4:3) “We have not because we ask not.”(James 4:2)

The history of God and mankind related in the Old Testament are the true stories about the Love, Goodness and Grace of our Heavenly Father toward His own ungrateful chosen people. They rejected Him over and over again. Instead the Israelites just wanted to be like everyone else around them. Boy! That’s a big fat danger sign if ever there was one! If we want to fit in, more than we want what He wants, we are tottering on the edge of a ditch. God will get us out again, but then we will most likely have to battle shame and guilt afterward because the enemy will rub our noses in our failure. It is so much better to just do what He says!

Our enemy sneaks about watching for opportunities to pull us under, because when we are under pressure of drowning in our situations and sorrows, it is easier to doubt God. The thing is: with God on our side, any one of us, from the littlest child, to the oldest person is ENOUGH. We can’t afford to rate God by His Answers to our prayers, that attitude will make Him too small in our eyes. It limits our prayers. Just hold on to your faith and keep telling yourself God is good – He’s not done yet!  WAIT FOR HIS ANSWER – it will blow your mind!

The Lord values things that human beings don’t. The Old Testament proves that!!  It teaches us that HE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH.“Pressed down and running over …” and you and I had better believe it! Bye 👋

P 2979 Saturated.

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To be saturated means that when life squeezes the daylights out of you — all that comes out is love! The Holy Spirit’s Presence in us, transforms us, and touches everyone around us. He attracts people, and He knows exactly what every heart we meet needs to hear. We are not called to pat down or pacify other people’s sin – we are called to shine HIS light into sin, without destroying the person captured by it. Love shines into the darkness with such a brilliance that even grumpy people are surprised.

We don’t seem to understand that He is now in all of us, and it is our joy to co-operate with Him. We make our hearts, His home, with the Holy Spirit’s help, otherwise we will get progressively deaf. That’s what disobedience, and carelessness does. Because He is now our dearest, most trusted Friend, the Holy Spirit can put His finger on anything He sees that is clogging up our flow of His love, in us and for others. As He flows through us that is the normal Christian life. 

Peter told the lame man in the book of Acts: “I don’t have money but what I do have I will give you.” He knew the Holy Spirit was in him and with him. Peter’s focus was on walking with God not ministry, or avoiding sin. The secret to flowing with the Holy Spirit is to allow Him to lead you. He is not some kind of emergency spare Friend sent to bail us out of trouble or make us look good! Life is so much easier, when He is in charge. Meanwhile, I can guarantee you that whatever He wants us to do, we will need to use our faith to do it. 

I find it incredibly interesting that Jesus Himself did not teach the disciples about what we call “the anointing.” He did not speak about God’s Presence with these men as a method—because the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, not a method! He simply taught these men God’s ways, then He demonstrated them, and then He told them to go and do it! 

The Lord’s importance and proximity in their lives had an overflowing effect – they were able to do what He did because they were living in His Presence. Ya might want to stop and think about that one! 🤔 Yet these men, who walked with Jesus, weren’t perfected in their personal faith – until their spiritual debt had been paid, and the Holy Spirit came to each one of them at Pentecost. After the Spirit’s arrival, they would’ve gladly died for what they believed instead of running away, as they had previously done.

The bible tells us that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. We already have it, so we must stop checking out our feelings and instead follow His prompts. God loves it when we do what we do prompted by faith – every single day. Including TODAY! … “Today when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.” Hebrews 3:15. When you hear Him—obey Him. If He says you should apologise and fix things, then that other person’s response has nothing whatsoever to do with the outcome… even if they snarl at you! We are here to please Him, other people may be touched by Him as we obey, but that is not our priority. Our obedience releases our faith.

The source of His life in us is never US—it is His Presence IN us. “Christ in you the hope of glory..”  As we daily choose to use our faith to allow God to redeem our lives from fleshly habits—like holding apathy, offences,  bitterness, bad attitudes, wrong relationships and carelessness, we will become increasingly more free. Even seemingly unimportant things, that can trip us up — things like lying to save someone else’s feelings must go.

The love of God needs to fill us daily with the purposes and things of God. We can’t just pray: “Fill me now please Lord” and then walk out of the door and get grumpy because somebody parked across the driveway. And we don’t just go to work to do a job – now we work for Him! As we walk with Him we will move away from those things that are distracting us from our true calling and purpose. 

At the same time, the love of God captures our hearts. We begin to see Him do things through us that we cannot do ourselves. And I’m not just talking about walking on water! I’m talking about a bad tempered person finding that as they yield to the Holy Spirit’s promptings, and obey Him in faith, they are transformed. They experience the growth of the  fruit of self-control. Because of their obedience, they are choosing to remain in the vine.This love lifestyle doesn’t just work on things like a bad temper, it works on anything that keeps you and I from being distracted by this life. We remember how much God loves us! 

Our proximity to Jesus minute by minute, grows exponentially as we live aware of Him. The Holy Spirit is with us to remind us we are not guided by our flesh anymore.“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.” Philippians 4:6-7 TPT.

As you can see, God’s peace is the final umpire. Our task is follow His peace. We have to protect our peace and be guided by it.  Living this life saturated with His love is not a pipe dream – it is our new way to live.

Bye. 👋

P 2930 Our living expression.

/ DVH

We can all quote stuff from the bible, sometimes without exactly understanding the meaning. Probably because we don’t speak ye olde English, anymore. Possibly some of us never did!  There are times we can be so enamoured with the poetry of the bible, that we miss the opportunity to look for things to learn about God Himself, and His ways. Actively seeking Him, for Himself, is our imperative. At the same time we need to stay on the alert looking for stuff for us do. Today, what are the following words saying to us?

“In the beginning the Living Expression was already there. And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God.”John 1:1 TPT. Hmmm. What does that mean? Look, I don’t know about you but if I don’t understand what something means then I have a terrible habit of skipping around it! Sometimes I can be a teeny bit hopeful that I will discover the meaning from the words surrounding whatever it is, but in this case — not-so-much. The Apostle John has a great deal of awe and wonder in what he says. I think He wants us to comprehend God’s bigness… 

It is far more important that we take the time to understand and listen to what God is trying to say to me, today, than it is to get 100% for word comprehension! Here’s what I think God is saying through this verse… “I have always been. I became a man, and this means I understand whatever you face daily. Every fear, every bit of nastiness, every lack, every need for comfort and consolation – I know the way through all those things, just follow Me.” 

Jesus was with God before this world was created, and He is God Himself, come to earth to be with us. He was there at the time Almighty God spoke and the Holy Spirit created this world, and everything in it. When it came to MAN, God made an exception, unlike the capybaras, we were made in HIS image. In the Gospels we can see that Jesus was never concerned about mud and dirt, so I like to think He got His hands dirty in the process of creation, but that’s just me. 

So what does the above verse tell me about Him? Jesus is God’s word in human form. He is what God ordained to be written down – in the bible, per-son-ified. That’s why Christ is called the Living Word. When we look at Jesus —we are looking at God as a human being. He had to put up with the kind of stuff we have to put up with – He “gets” us. Jesus came here to help mankind find its true destiny. Part of our destiny is to BECOME the bible for other people to see – just like the Lord did. 

Jesus is part of God’s continuity. He was there in the beginning, knitting you together in your mother’s womb, He is right there with you now, and He will be with you until the end! “…and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCE, and on EVERY OCCASION even to the end of the age.” Well that pretty much wraps that lot up and sticks it into the reality file. Jesus is an ALWAYS there, always present, human revelation of what God has said and what He wants.  Boy is that a good thing to know. Here’s another pearl:“If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I go down to the grave, You are there.” Psalm 139:8. We can’t lose Him!

Our living expression of God Himself said this: “I am the Alpha and the Omega [the Beginning and the End],” says the Lord God, “Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all].” Revelation 1:8. He is always ON, He was always ON, and He can’t ever be turned OFF — because He is ETERNAL. And eternal doesn’t just mean forever and ever — it means something WA-AY bigger than that.

‘Eternal’ is not just about time, it is about the blow-your-mind glorious reality of God’s Being ever-present. We know that an incredible Person, came here and walked about the streets of Jerusalem etc. and yet He is with us as well, here and now.  He was there at our beginning and He will be with us as we walk on into Eternity. Jesus Christ is the very best demonstration of who we can be. He is the living expression of what God does, thinks and says about humanity – He is our potential.. 

What these few thoughts mean to me, personally, is that He is always watching over me, protecting, correcting me, loving me in ways I may not yet understand. I don’t mind that He is far greater than I can comprehend, because He has life in Himself, and He shares that life with me. I become who I was destined to by walking with Him. Jesus is the ever present, all knowing, totally-in-love with each one of us – SAVIOUR.

So, what He said in John 1:1 – how does this affect me, my life? This scripture shows me that God is always ON. I can’t turn Him off. His Presence doesn’t rely upon my feelings or lack of them. Because of Jesus, now I have His promise. Jesus said, and the bible says – our God is faithful. Then Christ, God’s living expression, demonstrated God’s faithfulness under extreme pressure. Jesus is God’s living, breathing, personal expression of God’s Word in action. He shows us how much we are loved, how faithful Almighty God is, and how constant and consistent His love will be – always.… Bye. 💕

P2734 “Let HIS mind be in us …”

/ DVH

People like the Apostle Paul wrote what they wrote to equip the saints, as well as to promote unity, and maturity. And most times today’s saints are scrabbling about in the dirt fighting over this perceived bit of turf or that pathway, or this verse interpretation, or that application! All our theories are just that – theories. We are more concerned about being doctrinally right, than we are about learning to love people – even when they are difficult.  One day – we will ALL know how wrong we’ve been. In the Presence of the Lord there is no room for anything but worship and awe, so what WE think won’t matter! 🙌 At that point, all our theories and ideas will be less than dust atoms.

The early church had skirmishes with each other and things weren’t always perfect. However I am so sad about the things that are not resolved in our churches today. Our sure foundation is Christ, we cannot build on the rubble of disagreement. Where we fall down is we are not working to restore people when things get broken and God is not pleased with our hard hearts. These men and women in the book could not live without Him – so they did whatever the Holy Spirit said, so they could stay in step with Him and others!  I am not trying to be rude, but YOU are not the Apostle Paul … we know that he had sound doctrine  … and neither am I! Let’s learn to walk in humility toward restoration.

I know so many precious people who are waiting, waiting. waiting for the next move of the Holy Spirit to come. They want Him to fix the mess we have made, because we’ve allowed opinions to become more important than people or God Himself! Human passion does not equal God’s passion. When we throw ourselves on the altar weeping, what do we do after that? Many of us want Him to transform us in a heartbeat, when most of us have had a lifetime to learn how to co-operate with Him! It’s time to repent of wasting the time He has already given us, and start pursuing living the way that He lived. 

Philippians 2:5-8: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”Humility is not about what we say – it is designed to be demonstrated, frequently.

In these turbulent times I’m personally looking for prophets that will tell us that we need to repent and repair things in our own lives, today – otherwise I’m not very interested in what they say. All I know is that Jesus will come back – one day, maybe soon, maybe not!… And He’s coming back for a passionate people who will die for each other and what they believe. The Holy Spirit is looking for the heart of Christ in all of us. And what we aim at matters. Even if we miss the mark, we need to keep aiming at loving one another, promoting unity, as well as embracing repentance when we are wrong. Humbling ourselves and admitting our faults to one another is part of the way that happens!  

The Lord is looking for the harmony that comes from seeking His Face, personally and corporately. We’ve all been aiming too low, we are aiming at promoting our churches and their doctrines, not Jesus!  The Holy Spirit is the One Who would love to lead us into true unity. His Presence with us, in us and through us will be that Unity. Unity is not just agreement – unity is a heart attitude. Agreements can be broken. Read the book. 

Transformation, for individuals and for all of us corporately, is a process. Let’s choose to participate in that process, voluntarily, every single day, whether we think it is necessary or not. Unity in the Body of Christ does not begin with everybody agreeing – unity is when you or I would die for someone else just because God loves them. I don’t have to agree with their theology!

Day by day, we His help to see and know one another after the Spirit, not just by what is said. Let’s learn patience from Him when people aren’t all they can be. To display kindness and mercy like He would to those who are in need. We will need to live in self-control when someone else jumps all over our toes. Lastly we must consistently practice attentive faithfulness to His ways. As we do these things, the Holy Spirit will help us. Unity is the centre of Christ’s joy. 3 John 4. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

The bible says things clearly. LOVE has to be our aim – our great quest. Love is not just another key – it is the way forward into UNITY. The Holy Spirit knows the way you should go, ask Him to help you walk that way. Let’s all pray for the same mindset that was in the Lord Himself … Bye. 👋

P 2697 Half-heartedness. (Matthew 6:24)

/ DVH

“Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31.

“Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord Himself and not merely for others. For we know that we will receive a reward, an inheritance from the Lord, as we serve the Lord Yahweh, the Anointed One!” Colossians 3:23-24 TPT.

It is easy to see why we might want to avoid confronting ourselves with verses like these, because they cut us to the core. Some verses are clearly directional, challenging and costly. Here’s free advice from me — don’t ask yourself IF these verses apply to you. ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT – He’s our personal Resident Expert. In my experience we can excuse ourselves from the hard bits in the bible much too quickly. That is when we will totally miss the greater blessing that is contained in HIS ANSWER. Obedience brings its own reward.

On a good day I can kind of wrangle up loving support for my neighbour, but loving God with all of me often defeats me. When I’m worshipping God in church maybe I have feelings like that, but living this out, all day, every day —  I know, for sure, in my own strength I can’t do that. I believe with all my heart that half-heartedness flourishes simply because we do not know the Lord intimately. We need to know His Ways. Time after time the Lord accused the Israelites of not knowing His ways. That happened when they stopped obeying Him and did what was right in their own eyes.

We know that what Christ said in Mark 12 above, was in the context of some sort of open forum. Jesus was engaging with the leaders who were the religious experts of His day. In a previous verse, V24, the Lord says this: “Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?“  These Jewish leaders had lost the power of God because they kept choosing to define Who He is to suit themselves. The result was that they had a spiritual veil over their eyes. They kept the letter of the law but missed His Spiritual direction behind it. Meanwhile the scriptures and the power of God are meant to go together. They are an arrow pointing us to a new way to live — IN CHRIST. He is God’s Answer to salvation, transformation and our sin.

You and I cannot raise this kind of passion for God, all by ourselves. But we were given it! … Christ died to give me His passion for His Father, as well as a love for His Father’s Ways. This was clearly demonstrated by Jesus’ hard fought victory on the cross. Christ not only loved this world, HE LOVED HIS FATHER so much that He died to bring about His Father’s dearest desire – mankind’s restitution and reconciliation with Him. This means I can see Almighty God through new eyes – His! Christ died to give this to me. I use those new eyes when I read the bible, I hear it like it is God Himself speaking to me.

So I let go of my old life, including who I think I am, as well as any religious formulas, and I choose to lean on and follow the Holy Spirit instead. I allow the bible to renew/change my mind/thinking by co-operating with what it says. To live in the new I simply have to let go of the old. We cannot love God with all our hearts when our hearts have a divided loyalty. Christ gave us all of Him, so now we live this life giving Him ALL of us! Our whole heart needs to commit to this new way to live. Because of what Jesus did for me, now I am free to do it. To love God with all I am, and serve Him in everything I do. I show God this, by being obedient. 

“I have been crucified with Christ. it’s no longer I that lives, but Christ Who lives in me. And the life I now lead, I lead by faith in the Son of God Who died for me.” Galatians 2:20. This verse means I leave my old manipulative, self-seeking way of life behind and I minute by minute, choosing to follow Jesus. Christ died to save me and give me the same power He had to overcome when He walked the earth. Now I choose to live my life the way He lived His.

If I temporarily lose focus, then I need to repent, repair and move on. Father God has good plans for my life. Things I could never imagine or dream about. However, my new choices may sometimes seem costly, simply because I am not a zombie! Instead I am a wilful human being, who is voluntarily laying down my own plans. But I have been given His power to obey and follow Jesus, and I use my FAITH in His goodness, His faithfulness to do it. I read what it says and I do it. Living like Jesus did is not a mystery! I simply read, listen to the Holy Spirit, and obey however He tells me to do it. Jesus died to give us His connection with the Holy Spirit. John 16:7.

When I daily see and discover our heavenly Father – and His loving help and concern for me – through the Holy Spirit’s eyes — my desire to love God with all of me, becomes a process of ongoing surrender. However, I don’t have to carry the weight of getting things right any more. I simply follow the Holy Spirit’s prompts and OBEY Him. I leave half-heartedness behind me and now I’m learning obedience – God’s love language.👋

Ref: Matthew 6:24; Revelation 3:16&17;  Deuteronomy 28:1-14;  1 John 2:3-6; and Romans 8:1-39.

P 2526 Some thoughts on what maturity looks like.

/ DVH

To begin, I need to say that I do not think the things I have mentioned here indicate a place of arrival, rather they are personal sign posts. I wrangle every single day with all of these things… but I refuse to lower my aim just because these things are hard! Becoming like Jesus to other people means everything to me.Today, I have added in my own thoughts as well, but I think that this is one of those times that I need to let God’s word speak for itself. 

It is also good to look carefully at Jesus in the Gospels to see how God’s Grace operated. How HE took it in and breathed it out. Maturity sees Grace as the coin of the realm, they freely give Grace away and they also receive it in. Romans 8:29: “For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Mature Christians have walked way past being dead to sin, that’s a no-brainer! Instead they are so alive they challenge you by the way they live.

Galatians 2:20 TPT “My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives His life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God Who loves me so much that He gave Himself for me, dispensing His life into mine!”

I think we all have a need to mature in the Western World, because, sadly, immature people follow fads as well as people — not Christ Himself. Ephesians 4:14 ”…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”  The Body of Christ will grow in spiritual maturity, by learning to persevere through the trials and challenges of our life. Mature people are humble because life itself and the Word of God has taught them, who they really are, without the Holy Spirit’s help. 

James 1:2-5 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  Trials are an opportunity to stretch and grow our faith!

Mature believers seek to live a life that is Spirit-filled — that is, they learn to be aware of and listen to God’s Spirit, who lives within all Jesus’ followers. Romans 6:11-14 says: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” 

These people Paul talks about understand that sin is a choice and the more anyone gives in to it, the harder it becomes to resist! So they “…present their bodies as a living sacrifice …” instead. They want what the Lord wants. They may not always know what that is … but they will take the time to wait on Him to find out! These people are a generous people. They not only share, but they make sure that their love is demonstrated not just talked about. Their only desire is to please the Lord above everything and everyone else. 

Mature people will quickly admit their faults and their lack, but they also know exactly where to go to repent and be filled again. Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God has forgiven you.” Forgiveness is never an optional extra to these people, it is a way of life. This means they do not judge others either. They know how to repent and admit that they were wrong, because their aim is Christ’s likeness not vindication. So they always repent quickly, then usher in real restoration, and go back into relationship again. Psalm 15:4:“They keep their promises to their neighbours, even when it hurts.” 

Philippians 4:11&12. “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  These saints have found their contentment in knowing God Himself, and the Lord and His Presence in their lives is all they want. They never have to pray – they simply want to talk to the Lord because they love to be with Him. Maturity will refuse to define what other people’s love should look like, it accepts what the other person gives them with His Grace.

Lastly, in order to grow spiritually and mature in our faith, we must draw near to God, because we cannot mature on our own. Without His personal input into our lives – our works and efforts are worthless.

Bless you and bye for today! 👋

P 2493 Are we fruitful?

/ DVH

The Lord God told Adam and Eve in Genesis to be fruitful and multiply, and I do not believe that  He has taken that directive back. We have sometimes translated that phrase into meaning we should have children. Here’s what I want to talk about today, what if that was also a spiritual directive as well as a physical one? Ya might want to think about that! 🧐 BTW, fruit-ful means full of fruit!

Jesus once cursed a fig-tree for not being fruitful. What that shows me is that fruit is extremely important to Him! The Lord also talked at length about remaining in the Vine, so WE can produce fruit. His fruit in our lives is an exhibition of His life in us, it shows us, and others, that we are abiding – we are living in Him; His ways; His life-giving light – by choice.

The Lord Jesus has a different way for you and I to live, but I think sometimes we would rather fit that new life in and around all the things we like to do, or maybe even feel we have to do. We sing and say that ‘He is our comfort, and joy,’ but do we take away that comfort and joy from being with Him, when we have a quiet time? Being close to, and attached to Him, produces fruit – stuff we have for ourselves and stuff that prompts us to think of others.

It cost Father God everything He cherished to buy us back. Our response is to live this life by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. A sacrifice actually involves loss – of time, control, people, or things. We own NOTHING. Owning stuff is an illusion. Sadly I think we are often missing our true mandate — the opportunity to use our time to be fruitful for His kingdom, by sharing material things with others.

Jesus didn’t play racquet ball or golf, or have a boat, and I’m pretty sure the only book He studied was the bible. He liked to spend His downtime with people. He knew how to live this life here on earth and be fruitful while He was doing it. Meanwhile, if He was in a boat then somebody else owned it and He was using it to reach out to … other people! 

Pursuing the growth of real fruit in our lives, by learning His Ways, and living the way He would – transforms us. We need to remember the King of all glory, is lowly and gentle in His heart. He demonstrated those traits by caring for those who were suffering for any reason. Many times at the bottom of our pitiful, less-than generous response to the poor all over this world, is entitlement, greed, and laziness. If we are not careful we will end up constantly exhibiting a distinct lack of love for our fellow man. No demonstrated love = no fruit! The sap of the Lord’s vine is LOVE.

FYI, nobody likes suffering or pain – no matter where we were born! It seems as if we Christians have laid aside our responsibility to care for our fellow man. Jesus warns us about that stuff in the book of Revelation 3:17.“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” People who do not give freely lack love! That’s why the Lord said we need to be cheerful givers. That cheer is the sap!

Those of us who can work, need to find ways to provide for those who can’t work, or have nothing. It’s simple. Help people who need help. Deciding whether people deserve it or not is a sign of entitlement. We simply must stop thinking that the privilege of wealth is a right and if we earn stuff then it is ours.  We have been blessed with material things to be a blessing. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,”Matthew 6:21. In my opinion, the line indicating that we have enough, which means maybe now we can share,  is always moving away from us. We need to be chasing His fruit – it lasts!

Paul said in Acts 20:32-35 “You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”The Apostle Paul worked hard to supply his own needs, as well as for the needs of those who went with Him. That sharing is a sign of living this life being fruitful!  He was showing all of us that it is NORMAL to think about, and supply the needs of others. It is not an optional extra, sharing and giving are signs of the life of the Kingdom within. 👋🏻