Disappointment

P 3494 Start from the right place — His Grace.

/ DVH

“Even if the mountains were to crumble and the hills disappear, My heart of steadfast, faithful love will never leave you, and My covenant of peace with you will never be shaken,” says YAHWEH, Whose love and compassion will never give up on you.” Isaiah 54:10 TPT. God’s love is not limited … but our time here is.

“Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from Me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with My strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with My victorious right hand.’” Isaiah 41:10 TPT. He will help us to flow in His Grace.

“Don’t be obsessed with money but live content with what you have, for you always have God’s Presence. For hasn’t He promised you, “I will never leave you, never! And I will not loosen my grip on your life!” So we can say with great confidence: “I know the Lord is for me and I will never be afraid of what people may do to me!”” Hebrews 13:5-6 TPT.

Aren’t these scriptures great? If we choose to read the Word of God like a love letter, which has been made complete with loving personal instructions, we can be utterly blessed by it. Loving eyes see far more than scared, nervous ones … … or even constantly distracted ones! Distraction is a big deal today. It is no longer strange to see people flick flick flicking their phones trying to find something that interests them. If we take that attitude over into reading the bible, we will get bored quickly. Even the language used in it will defeat us.  

Let’s choose to start from His Grace, and never lose the kind of gratitude that acknowledges we are nothing without Him, because He is everything to us. Religion can often be part-time — but GRACE cannot. Grace is a living thing that accomplishes far more than we can ever imagine. Let’s choose to see His Grace like the tide, flowing in and out. It flows in to us, and with our permission, back out toward others. That tide is lovingly relentless in it’s quest to saturate human beings with the kind of loving Grace that bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

There are times when I can get pretty snarkey if someone pinches a parking spot, or pushes ahead in a queue! That kind of response started in the garden and flowed out onto Cain and Able. It’s sin. The truth is, my negative response to someone else’s thoughtlessness is sin. It shows that I still don’t understand that God’s Grace goes where it wants to go — it is not hindered, or restricted by my prejudices. No matter how many verses of scripture we can find to prove our point! Walking in Grace is facilitated by walking in His love, and we can have it all! 

Let’s daily, minute by minute, buy up the days, because our time on earth is finite and precious. And let’s choose to be obedient, pushing aside our reluctance to engage with strangers, or even family members. Grace flows beautifully when we make God choices. We can stop up that God-given flow with revenge, indifference, anger and unbelief … not to mention guilt. Entering into it is so simple – we simply stop thinking about our lives as our own, and start living them for Him. That is not just for the few keen ‘spiritual’ people who seem to find it easier than we do.. It’s for all of us. 

Father God will never give up on us, but we can short-circuit our progress in our life of faith by believing our sin is greater than His sacrifice. Or we can tell ourselves that we simply must say thus and thus, otherwise that other person will never get the point. That kind of vigilante attitude is not the way the Lord wants us to operate. That person who irritates us, is the vehicle we step into and discover how far short we are from Jesus, God’s glorious ideal. That person is our friend because they show us what is truly inside us. Let their attitudes be their problem. We just need to keep following Jesus, listening to Him, obeying Him.

He sent out His disciples to heal the sick and raise the dead and preach the good news that God’s kingdom had arrived. It was good news — not a list of everyone else’s sins. I suggest we use the energy that is needed to maintain anger and disappointment to propel us forward into giving away God’s Grace. It’s our job. We take that Grace in and then we pass on all the forgiveness, acceptance and love we’ve received from Him, to others. Please be encouraged, this is a learned skill!

We don’t have to love someone’s behaviour to love them. God loves us, and our behaviour stinks sometimes! Jesus saw beyond the sin to the trapped person who needed an opportunity to get free from it. Sin is a prison. It won’t let you think about anything else, whether it is your sin or their sin, it just rumbles about inside like concrete in a concrete truck. However, the Holy Spirit can soften our hard hearts when we ask for His help. That other person’s heart isn’t our business.

Other people’s sins can trap us into a cycle that seems never-ending. That’s why Grace is needed. Grace, by it’s nature is not earned or deserved. But it blossoms and creates new life when it is given to someone who doesn’t deserve it, as we use our faith. However, if WE keep reacting the same way, we are continually going to get the same annoying response! Grace changes ME first, and it opens the door to God’s Way of thinking. Grace keeps silent when it has a LOT to say.

I urge you, don’t keep what you have been freely given bottled up inside, give it away. Let’s start from the right place, releasing His Grace to those who don’t deserve it anymore than we did. Bye. 👋

P 3475 Pause, remember … and reset.

/ 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. So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in You. Pause in His Presence” Psalms 46:1-3 TPT.

When I read this today I realised that the last 4 words are the key to the first 79 ones! “Pause in His Presence.” What does that mean to you? To me it means when ‘the stuff’ is flying about so rapidly I can hardly breathe, my very best first response is to stop … and stand in His Presence. Why? Because those first 79 words remind me of Who He is and how much He loves and cares about us all – every single minute of every single day!  Those last four words show us how blessed we are. We can be in His Presence anywhere. Doing this will remind our spirits to defer to His ways.

Wherever you are reading this blog today, now is a good time to stop … and just stand or sit, in His Presence. Remember, it says pause, it doesn’t say ‘you must spend three hours.’  Anyone of us can pause for a few minutes, just long enough to slow your breathing and look into Jesus’ dear face. This is one of the best habits we can cultivate. We will momentarily block out the immediate, and focus on the eternal.

Our world may be groaning and griping all around us, but Jesus is not fazed by it. He knows what comes next. “He knows the plans He has for us – the ones that give us a hope and a future.” What we focus on gets bigger. When we focus on Him, He gets bigger than the problems, especially when we take a moment to renew our trust in Him.

Everything seems to be spinning around so fast sometimes, it is hard to keep up with what is going on. However, when we go and stand with Jesus and look up at Him, the noise, the fear, the challenges and the heartache come into perspective. These things come, and they go … Jesus always stays the same. His loving face toward us will not change.

The Lord Jesus’ love does not change, that’s why we can trust it. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases …” Our ineptitude in spiritual matters will not change His response. His love continually comes toward us. You are taking a moment to be with SomeOne Who truly understands humanity. And as you pause, please remember, despite what is going on around you, He’s the same Jesus Who loved you so much He died for you. Just let that soak in … then go back to your day. 

He is praying for you right now, right where you are. He prays perfect prayers. Pause and remember… ‘His goodness in the land of the living.’ ‘He is with us to give us His abundant life.” Those promises are not only about earthly things, they are about forever things. Like love, joy, peace. We can have peace with God because Jesus came here and made peace for us in His own Body, with His own blood. He will not take it back … “He demonstrated His love while we were still sinners….”

Troubles come and go, but our God’s Word remains the same. Your version of the bible may be a little different than mine, but it is still His Word to you today, right where you are. Pause, remember how much you are loved. He loves us when we first wake up and we haven’t even done anything yet! This love is not the kind of love that keeps score, because Jesus is not interested in Himself, He came here for mankind. We are His joy. The Lord looked through the pain He suffered and saw US. It is His greatest joy to facilitate our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Let go of all those bad, unhappy feelings, because they will cause you to stumble. Just cling to His truth and remember … the God Who made the Universe loves you. As we take a moment to pause in His Presence, we will begin to realise that these afflictions we are going through are momentary. They simply seem endless while we are in the middle of them. Remember, disappointment and despair do not come from our Heavenly Father, God. That’s the other guy. Resist him and bring all those busy thoughts captive, and just take the time to breathe. 

These moments belong to you and the Lord, whether you are on the train, in your car, on a bus. Wherever YOU are HE is there. You and I both know that the Lord has asked us to keep no record of wrongs, because Jesus Himself doesn’t remember our wrongs! In your pausing, remember to let go of any hurtful or bad things — just like you would let go of a balloon and watch it float away. Those things can’t hurt anybody when we let them go! Jesus understands … let that be enough.

We pause, remember, and reset, even if it is just for a few moments on our way to somewhere else. Stand in His Presence and watch the worries, cares, and seismic shifts jostling you, simply melt away. God’s got you, your family, and this world. Like Jesus said to the wind and the waves: “Peace, be still.” So let’s take any opportunity to quiet our hearts in the middle of life’s bustle and strife… and pause in His Presence, remember and reset. Bye. 👋. Thank you Jesus!

“So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 TPT. 

P 3440 We need EYES.

/ DVH

Jesus gave us His power to impart His life, healing, deliverance into other people’s lives. We need His power, otherwise we will end up trying to love others without His input. We must be filled with His love over and over and over again. I’ve met many people who inadvertently get this concept around the wrong way. Maybe they think that being loving is meant to come from inside us. Well, they might have lots to give away – but I plumb run out – all the time! 

When we realise we’ve run out of love, we need to go back to the Source — or like a broken down car, we will be running on empty. Unfortunate things can sometimes happen when we do good for the wrong reasons. We must go to Jesus our Supplier, ask for His Grace, and then go and do whatever He tells us to do, using our faith. Our reliance is upon God’s POWER, not ours, that is a key factor, not an optional extra. We must lean on Him.

Love comes from God Himself. It can come in many forms but it always includes the grace to share it. The grace to even see other people and their needs comes from Him, and the grace to meet those needs also comes from Him.  We don’t have it and we can half kill ourselves trying to dredge it up. If we cannot be persuaded to engage with Him and then others, then we will expect someone else to do it and step back. 

But engaging with other people’s needs, requires prayer, then action. Meanwhile, we can be running toward something while we are praying, but please remember we need to PRAY. The Lord has so many miracles for us to share with others — we can’t do them, but He can. Let’s do things the way He tells us. We also can’t afford to postpone our participation in the works He has prepared for us for a time when we feel up to it. I know I fight that all the time, when I feel unwell, and I am tempted to withdraw.

 “We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love He has for us. God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them.” 1 John 4:16 TPT.  The secret to our participation is to choose to live in love – then we can see other people’s needs. I’ve been reading a lot of written prayers recently – do you know that they all sound the same? “Please Lord help me with this, that, and the other. Please fix this and that about my life, please help my life.” Amen. It’s like we are ordering take-out! 

He is Almighty God, we serve Him and others. We cannot afford to allow any of our own needs, doubt, anger, disappointment, frustration, opinions to separate us from the Love of God. If we are not actively participating in His love then we are not truly living.  

Father God knows the end from the beginning – He knows LIFE wins! However, our faith will contain mystery – it can’t be faith without it. If a thing is a certainty then no faith is needed. But our little steps of faith responding to His love can move mountains. As we spread His steadfast love around us, we will help those who have never known or seen it before. And in the process we get blessed as well. That’s what God’s economy does – it blesses everyone it touches … we need eyes to see what is going on around us. 

We will also need to give up compromise. What do I mean by that? Perhaps we can see someone who needs help, or a bucketload of God’s love tipped over them, but we know them and they can be so grumpy, especially when it comes to the things of God. Nobody wants to run into the back of the truck of someone else’s prejudices, or hit the edge of their rage, because that person thinks the Lord didn’t do what they asked Him to do. Maybe rationalise away what we can SEE, by telling ourselves we don’t want to make things worse. We can’t afford to take that kind of risk, we could alienate someone we care about – so we don’t say anything.

We must look at others through His eyes of love and see them the WAY Jesus sees them. Which is impossible without the precious Holy Spirit’s help.  All we can see is the bluster or their external disguises on the outside, those things are put there to protect the person. Jesus can go right around the external and wave at them, and sometimes He says: “peek-a-boo.” 

Hubby and I have seen Him do it. We even had one person ask us: “What was that?” We explained it is a WHO not a what … and that led to an interesting conversation. Looking at this world through His eyes can give us a fresh perspective on the way this life was designed by God Himself to work. What we see as bad, our Heavenly Father has designed for our own good.

Let’s continually pray for love’s eyes to see what is really going on, because His eyes can see things we can’t. Otherwise our prejudices regarding what is good and what is bad … get in the way. I need more input from the Lord Himself and His eyes to see and understand what He wants from me, as He sends  me. Bye. 👋.

“And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at His feet, and He healed them,…” Matthew 15:30.

P 3428 A soldier does what he is trained to do.

/ DVH

“Since Christ, though innocent, suffered in His flesh for you, now you also must be a prepared soldier, having the same mind-set, for whoever has died in his body is done with sin. So live the rest of your earthly life no longer concerned with human desires but consumed with what brings pleasure to God.” 1 Peter 4:1-2 TPT. These kinds of choices are part of our suffering for His sake. We deliberately choose to give up what we want to do, and we yield to what He sent us here to do. It’s a total change of focus. But we can’t live like this by ourselves – we are wrestling against principalities and powers, we need our Commander-in-chief leading us, giving us His Grace every step of the way.

This verse is a magnificent thought, but a terrifying one as well. It is like a spotlight showing up the places where what we think – is different from what we do. In other words, it is easy to say we do this stuff, but can we actually live it? My only answer is “yes” we can — simply because Jesus did it first … but … we cannot do it alone! We’ve been empowered, by Christ’s death into living this life a new way. After the Lord Jesus died, even the disciples wrangled with their feelings of loss, and yet they went back to what they knew … fishing! Human beings without the influence and leading of the Holy Spirit can be loveable, but dumb as a rock when it comes to spiritual things. Those things won’t fall on us, we must go after them. His grace will help us. 

When I was a young Christian, I noticed that there was a level of commitment in a few people that I didn’t seem to have. It was as if there were some sort of line in my mind that I would walk up to, then I’d look over into the other side of it and it all looked too hard for me. So then, I’d walk back to where I came from. That line was called — a total commitment to Christ. I wanted His life in me, but I wanted my own ideas for my life too. I wanted to  ‘make my own choices’ – to be a Christian when it suited me, and walk away when it didn’t. My perception of His benefits  was all about me, instead of Him. Maybe that’s why Psalm 103:2 tells us not to forget His benefits!

I had plenty of friends, rabbits and relations who were quite happy to explain to me that my ideas about Christianity were nice .. but surely I didn’t have to take the whole thing quite so seriously!  And that was the beginning of an odd period in my life where I did the hokey pokey. I put one foot over the line, then took it back, then the other foot  … if you have ever done the hokey pokey … you get it. In the end I became double-minded. I got to the stage where I finally agreed with others. that I should coast along, do nice things when I felt like it – yet I could still be angry with the people who were mean to me, because I couldn’t help it. After all they’d been truly awful and they should know better! I succumbed to ‘poor little old me!’ Self-pity will wreck our faith in a heart beat.

At the same time I was told I had a “virus,” year after year and a lot of people prayed for it to be healed. But it wasn’t healed … because it wasn’t actually a virus! It turned out I needed a liver transplant. Meanwhile, I was in every healing line I could get into, and yet I still got sicker. Then something else unthinkable happened, I was divorced. I knew what the bible said, and I knew what Jesus said … and yet it happened anyway. The ambition to die for Jesus’ sake, fell in the dirt, I couldn’t do it. If I stayed inside that marriage, I would die.

I totally knew I had broken ‘the rules.’ I loved Jesus, but trying harder became impossible, I was too ill. I knew nothing about walking by faith, not by sight. Even though I had carefully memorised the verse! I didn’t actually understand what the New Covenant meant, except in vague terms that definitely didn’t apply to me anymore – because now I thought I was doomed to hell. Folks, religion kills. It murders your faith and it will take your life. Put it down. I exhort everyone reading this to ask the Lord to teach you to walk by faith, otherwise our common enemy will use your circumstances against you.

Even after the transplant, they couldn’t tell me why my liver was so damaged. It just was! Eventually I learnt that a simple very common blood test would have diagnosed what was wrong with me. I didn’t drink alcohol etc. so the medical profession didn’t think to give me the blood test. However, God in His great mercy, didn’t let go of me, just because I let go of Him. He’s like that! This advice in 1 Peter 4 is so incredibly important. Living our lives for Jesus is not an alternate way … it is the only way. God has given us a totally new way to live, step by step, little by little … He calls us to fall in love with His goodness and follow Him. He paid dearly to give us His grace to do it.

I think sometimes, we’ve had our eyes fixed on the wrong application of His principles. In the following verse from Hebrews the Lord is telling us about HIMSELF – not how to get what we want from Him!  “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (11:6) We’ve used our faith for years hoping to make our lives more comfortable, telling ourselves God wants us to be healthy and happy. But it actually says … He rewards those who chase after Him and the result is … WE WILL PLEASE HIM … He doesn’t have to please us … He’s GOD!

Take my advice and decide to live your life as good soldier of Christ – don’t wander in and out like I did. Leave behind the ‘stuff’ you’ve picked up along the way. Make that choice. Bitterness, anxiety, and disappointment doesn’t belong in our brand new heart. Neither does lying, hating others, abusing or hurting people. Whatever your excuse is for staying the same – it’s a lie.

A good soldier does exactly what he is told to do, no more, no less. We have been given a wonderful Companion in our daily journeys, He knows how to strategically get us through our battles – don’t leave home without Him.  We need the Word of God, plus GRACE. Bye. 👋

P3332 Where have all the encouragers gone?

/ DVH


“Let the inner movement of your heart always be to love one another, and never play the role of an actor wearing a mask. Despise evil and embrace everything that is good and virtuous. Be devoted to tenderly loving your fellow believers as members of one family. Try to outdo yourselves in respect and honour of one another. Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward Him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let Him fill you with excitement as you serve Him.” Romans 12:9-11 TPT.

The Apostle Paul did not write this stuff simply to impress people with His literary style. I believe he was giving the church a list of instructions as well as teaching them the way to walk with Jesus day-by-day. We skip over verses like these at our own peril. They are not just positive suggestions, they are life and health to us and they need action … digesting.

We have inadvertently allowed our feelings to get in the way of what Paul is saying here. This means we can end up avoiding Sister Mergatroid because we don’t like the way she is raising her kids – or the way her husband always takes over at testimony time. Whatever! You fill in the blanks. We need to continually remember that personal opinion, and the right to have one, died when we gave our lives to Jesus. Dead people don’t have opinions – they are far too busy accessing the new life Jesus promised us... live in the resurrection not the grave clothes!

Our new life is an example of what Jesus can do with people, who are living in ordinary circumstances. There is something quite astonishing about normal people living a life totally sold out to Him, yet we’ve become used to special people doing it. Maybe we have failed to comprehend the fact that the “old has passed away, behold the new HAS come.”  This is not just a form of adaptation to a different way of life – that very life has come to live in us now!

So now our job is to use our faith and walk out what we have been given. The unknown, unseen church-goer has far more effect upon the community than they realise. It all starts with the way we treat each other, and floods out from the church into the way we treat other people. Because we always rely upon His wisdom, we don’t look down on anyone. We have His Grace to see potential, not faults — so we take the time to speak into someone’s potential – and let go of criticism.

When my kids were small I did all I could to help them see that their one little life matters. Somewhere in that relatively short time of influence, I had to learn to let go of prodding and pushing, plus speaking good – and I had to watch them make mistakes. They became His people … not just my kids. They have their own way of expressing their faith. He’s their Father — and in my observation, fathers are great at speaking encouragement. They help us to have the ability to take a risk so we can grow, plus they offer us steadfast love, comfort and affection, when things don’t go so well.

We need more encouragers. People who help us believe that our breakthrough is our birthright. Encouragement is a spiritual gift found in Romans 12:8: ‘that empowers individuals to inspire, comfort, and strengthen others, bringing hope to the church and everyone else.” This gift is greatly underestimated. It has the ability to stand someone up on their feet so they can go again. It doesn’t push, or look down upon someone, instead it leads and instructs.

One of the Holy Spirit’s Names is “Encourager.” As an Encourager He helps people to find the faith to go on when everything inside them wants to give up. Our collective task is to keep our focus on what He says about us, because the Lord Himself is so reliably generous with His praise and love. This world has damaged many Christians, who have eventually fallen through huge cracks of disappointment and discouragement. Mainly because theyt have misinformed expectations and they are not met. Encouragement is about lifting them up again.

When you can’t find something encouraging to say, ask the Lord – He knows what that other person needs to hear. At the same time, you will be using your faith and you will see Him in action, for yourself. Sadly, there are also times when you have to be your own cheer squad. For one reason or another someone else is not available or you feel like you can’t hear the Lord. That’s when it is good to go to the bible, and read uplifting verses out loud. 

God’s Word strengthens us when we are weary, lost, or broken hearted. At the same time it is important not to deny whatever is going on, we live in a real world with real pain and human needs! These things are not just about sin, they happen because they are a part of life. We can be sidetracked if  we focus on how we feel, above what He says. Faith chooses to believe what Jesus said, despite these times. After all, acknowledgement is not the same as approval.

Let’s read the bible, and remind ourselves that these verses were written for US, for this day, for these moments. Encouraging ourselves in the Lord is important and it is also extremely helpful. David did it. Remind yourself that you are not a bad Christian, you are in a battle and our enemy is relentless. However, …”The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” James 5:16b. Bye. 👋

P 3311 Just enjoy the ride.

/ DVH

So many times we can be so caught up in ticking our daily boxes of things to do, we can easily forget that none of us get out of this life, alive! My advice for today is this: take the time each day to allow yourself to enjoy the ride. Taking pleasure in each day is the secret of true ongoing acceptance and happiness. It is much too easy to postpone JOY ‘until things get better.’ Don’t let disappointment jump on you and stay!

We can use up our allotted time here on earth, on things that won’t last, and those things can steal away the truly important things. Years ago, there was a saying: ‘Take time to smell the roses.’ Good advice! Unfortunately, today most people feel they don’t have time to grow roses … let alone smell them! We can spend so much time, planning this, and organising that, we can forget to live in the moment. But sometimes His JOY comes in brief moments that help to perfume our whole lifestyle. 

I just heard a story about two black holes which collided outside our universe, billions of trillions of light years away. There were two astrophysicists monitoring the night sky – night after dreary night – and they were tired of looking at nothing much. So one turned to the other and said: “I’m tired, let’s just go home early.” 40 minutes later, the gravitational pressure waves of those two black holes merging eons ago, washed across the earth! This phenomena had never been noted before. But that night it showed up, and registered on their many dials and gizmos. History happened and these men had gone home to bed. I laughed and laughed and laughed.Missed it by ←  that much → Things like this help me enjoy the ride. The two men laughed at themselves too.

If I have one piece of advice to anybody reading this – ya just gotta learn to laugh at yourself! Some of this stuff isn’t worthy of the angst you are spending on it! Make cherished moments just for YOU!  I truly enjoy the bible — it has lovely interesting, expressive words and phrases … a-n-d puzzles. I do love a good puzzle, and the bible is the best puzzle of all! Big confession! I’m a cheater, so I ask the Author loads of questions and He helps me. The more I read, the more I become delighted. Our Father’s Personhood comes out, particularly in the Old Testament. I enjoy this ride every day. At the same time we are so blessed to be able to know the Lord Jesus, He is there — on page after page, in the Gospels. “Jesus is God’s story!” Don’t treat reading it as info – see the Person.

Our Heavenly Father loves to hide things in plain sight. That to me is a big part of the enjoyment I get on this ride we call life. It’s the feeling that He isn’t half as serious about the things that turn our hair grey, as we are! Cyclone Alfred hit us last February, and we are still working on getting our bedroom fixed. So far we’ve moved out of our room 4 or 5 times – we actually lost count. All the furniture – in and out! At the same time, we’ve had people come to fix this, and remove that, and as a consequence — we have had the opportunity to meet people we would never have met who don’t share our faith. 

Enjoying the ride is a skill we can cultivate. It is like living with silence – it is incredibly valuable! I slowly picked things like this up, right after my last child went off to school, when I found I could think in proper English again! 10 years of babies, toddlers etc blew my brain. Sadly I got sick somewhere in there, and then I stopped enjoying the ride, for quite a while. So the Lord had to teach me step by step, how to see the good in things. Living this way helps me focus, despite what is going on round me. Despair bangs on my door too! But looking for Jesus has made it easier to see His pearls amongst the dark grey gravel of life!  

In Galatians 5: 17,18a it tells us why we need to look for the good. “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other …” The still-being-redeemed part of me can fight against what God wants to give me.That’s why I need to put to death the deeds of the flesh … because I can’t see the good until I change my focus. For me sometimes coping with life, is like turning trouble upside down … to find out what’s good about it! I’m going to shake that joyful sucker out of there somehow!!

One of my best blessings is my dear hubby who has the silliest sense of humour. Somehow I find his peculiar Dad-humour absolutely hilarious!! ‘A cheerful heart truly is the best medicine!’ And I appreciate the Lord’s joy through him. I have checked this out personally, and I can tell you —-‘the joy of the Lord really can be our strength’ … a couple of minutes of laughter will lift anyone’s mood.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1. The yoke we need to fight against is the idea that this life should be perfect. This verse tells us that God has already given us freedom, so we don’t have to be slaves labouring away to maintain something we already have! That’s like praying for more air in the middle of a forest. I think many man-made yokes rob people of enjoying the ride in their lives. 

Our participation in this life, is that we get to give our burdens to Him. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matthew 11:28,29. WE ARE WEARING THE WRONG YOKE. Jesus has a better one.  Let’s allow ourselves to enjoy the ride. 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 3274 We already picked a side.

/ DVH

A while ago, you and I decided to be on the Lord’s side and the following scriptures are about what that looks like. Our lives are not meant to be the same now. Our God is the God of the angel armies —— it says so in the bible. So, let’s look at what being on God’s side looks like! Get ready to chew on a heap of scripture:

Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 13:18…  “Go, find out where he  (Elisha) is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.”

If you ever went to Sunday School as a child, you would know this story. I taught SS for many years, the kids loved this one. I picked it today because it clearly shows what faith does. First of all — faith can see what is unseen by human eyes.That’s no small thing. Elisha’s servant was full of fear, but Elisha’s faith in God meant he was not ruled by fear, or even what he could see in the natural world around him. He saw the kingdom reality. We all need spiritual eyes. Ask for them. Spiritual sight will help us defeat our enemies instead of flailing about getting nowhere. 

Now, let’s look at David’s life, when he kills Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:37… “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine…” on to 1 Samuel 17: 45-47… “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 

This is what great faith looks like. It draws on its previous experiences with God’s goodness and grace and aims that knowledge at the mountain in faith’s way. We can read these accounts of God in action and His men and their obedience…  and enjoy them and rejoice …OR, we can go much further, we can use them to edify and build up our faith in the God Who did them! I think we aim too low,  because we do not want to face disappointment if things don’t work out the way we hope they will. We need to read these stories to build our faith up. Holding fast to things like:  if the Lord did that then what will He do now?

We are not here merely to preach the gospel, we are here to dem-on-strate the gospel. And if we are bad at doing that then we need to get on our faces and ask the Lord where we are missing His will. The bible says: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”  Mark 16:17. 

Jesus Himself said this in John 14:12: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Please note, just because some stories are in the Old Testament that does not mean we should assume those miracles were only for then – our God, the God of the angel armies, is with us! 

Jesus Himself testified to His Father’s army of angels when He said in Matthew 26:53:  “Do you think I cannot call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”  That’s approximately 72,000 angels! Jesus also referred to His Heavenly Father as the “Lord of hosts!” And look at this scripture in James 5:4 …  “Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.” We have God’s ear, we need to pray for those who cannot pray for themselves.

Our God will fight for us even before we ask Him to do it. When what is coming against me is too much for me to cope with, I ask the Lord to fight for me. Sadly we can sometimes lack experience of God’s goodness because we have not purified our motives. Here’s James 4: 2&3. “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” 

James shows us what can be wrong with our motivation. Here’s a useful prayer: “Jesus, is this what YOU want or is it just something I think I need?” Amen. This scripture is a diagnostic tool. It explains where we can lose the blessing of progressively learning how good our God is! We shouldn’t give up or cede the ground to our enemy, our quest is to take back the ground from him. he has no right to stand anywhere in our lives. We need to pray, and check that our motives are pure. 

When we gave our lives to Christ – He took them. We’ve already picked a side! A position that we now stand in. The Lord God Almighty expects us to act like His kids and come confidently to the throne of Grace, to receive help in our time of need. That help is not just some sweet words we read in His book – that help is Divine Intervention into our circumstances. I pray for help all the time, because I need help … all the time! Bye. 👋

P 3265 Where are you looking?

/ DVH

2 Corinthians 4:5-12: “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, Who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”    

 At times maybe we think following Jesus shouldn’t cost us! These verses give us the alternatives. The bible is so clear — words like:  ‘hard pressed; perplexed; persecuted; struck down; death is at work in us, but life is at work in you’… should be a major clue. Those among us who think this new life of ours should always be fun, fun, fun, well, they need their heads read. Or they need the bible to transform their thinking! Perhaps some of us are resigned to living with continual disappointment, which is definitely not fun and very bad for our faith! Just to cheer you up even further …

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” That was Verses 16-18 same chapter. 

Why does Paul tell us he did not want us to lose heart? With that list of unhappy endings, that thought seems a bit redundant! He goes on to explain that our outer man maybe diminishing all the time, but our inner man, our spirit, is being renewed by His Presence within us. We can’t live, work, play, or even breathe without Jesus! Seriously. Some of the worst damage has been done to the basic tenements of Christianity, by trying to make it sound like a cross between winning the lottery and a fun fair. In this passage Paul is describing a people who live to see Jesus get all the glory, all the honour – all the time. That’s because their eyes are on Him and they look at everything around them through the light of eternity.

If we focus on our comfort in the here and now, we are going to be utterly disappointed a lot. God is maturing His saints! What part of ‘stoned’ – (ps the writer isn’t talking about taking drugs!) ‘…and sawn asunder, sliced with a sword, tempted, wandering about practically naked with nowhere to live, don’t we get? (Hebrews 11:37) God doesn’t promise us flowers, happy endings and blue birds. Jesus said clearly that this is a narrow difficult road.

 Our fear that reality may put other people off is well-founded. Comfort is king in all our western societies. We desperately need the Lord Jesus to renew us every single day, or any one of us can lose heart and give up. Let’s ask Him to help us to produce the fruit of self-control and perseverance, and water it with tears and fertilise it with surrender. 

Paul calls these ghastly things that bowl us over in this life, “light and momentary afflictions.” Boy that sure puts everything into perspective. What would happen if we saw our difficulties through fresh eyes?  Imagine living life in such a way that love oozes out of our pores, and we leave puddles of glory behind us. We can’t go to the shop and buy Glory! His glory flourishes as we make our hearts His home.

The more we choose to die to self, the more He can be seen within us, flashing out His glorious brightness and capturing other people’s hearts with just one glance. It is imperative here and now, to fix our eyes on Jesus and what He wants for us – including the people He has gathered around us. When we fix our eyes on this world, we can be so easily distracted by what is going on, instead of focussing on Him, this allows other important things to pale into insignificance. I am not there yet …obviously! … But that’s my aim. To daily take in His love for me, and give it away. 

There is no other answer for this world but Jesus. Hubby and I can’t even watch the news anymore it is so chock full of – this person did that evil thing and another one did worse! The bible says: ‘Without Christ we can do nothing.’This whole world is without Christ – that’s why it is in the state it is in. Why are we so astonished? I am learning to assess my focus, and keep my eyes on Him – no matter what else is going on. Where do I look for daily inspiration? Let’s “… all look … unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, …” Hebrews 12:2. Bye 👋

P 3228 Let’s not miss our highest calling.

/ DVH

Instead of blaming another human being for our behaviour, and holding our own desire to change hostage to someone else’s desire to change – why don’t we pull up our grown up pants and deal with ourselves at the source of our own anger and need? We cannot afford to let anybody but the Lord Himself to be in charge of our feelings, because He’s the only Person we can truly trust. Our highest calling is to believe He is good, when everything around us and attacking us, is bad! It’s time we realised complaining, or boo-hooing doesn’t work.

The Israelites got into all kinds of trouble when they accused the Lord of treating them badly. They said He wasn’t doing things the way they thought a god should. BTW, that happened right after the Lord had just walked them all safely through the bottom of an ocean, killed all their enemies, brought water out of a rock, fed them angel food, plus nobody got sick, and their clothes didn’t wear out!! It’s a bad move to be an ungrateful, critical child of God. It shows a distinct lack of knowledge of Who He is, and it is incredibly important for us to know and trust Who He is.

Meanwhile, because of His love for His Father and humanity, Jesus deliberately ‘put skin on’ and came here and made Himself vulnerable to us. He had human needs, yet He ended up with a bunch of disciples who also totally missed the point of why He was sent here in the first place! Nobody else understood His mission. A wicked king beheaded the only person who understood living His kind of life. Things were so bad for Jesus that when Peter said: “Truly, You are the Son of the Living God,” the Lord knew that it had to be the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter, because Peter was just plain clueless.

Jesus had to rely upon His Father guiding Him internally, just like we do. Everyone else around Him was too busy with their own needs and wants. Why do you think — at the end of an already-busy-filled-with-people-grabbing-at-Him day – Jesus then went out and climbed up a mountain? Maybe He simply wanted to worship God, and have some real spiritual input and company … and we think we are lonely! Imagine being absolute purity and innocence, and having to deal with all kinds of people by choosing to live in never-ending Grace. The Lord did not spend one second in His Father’s Presence complaining about anything. Let’s thank Him for His self-control and patience.

.Here’s another dumb thing we can sometimes do. We dash about with hurt squirting out in every direction like a ruptured aorta, but at the same time we start recruiting other people to agree with us that our troubles are not right, and we shouldn’t have to put up with it! We grab at man’s sympathy over God’s love. There’s another bad idea! The Israelites did a whole of of mumbling and complaining … look where it got them. It is better to go to your Heavenly Father, and ask Him for the Grace to bear with whatever it is going on in you, or around you. Doing this stuff on our own is sheer lunacy. Human beings are not equipped to “love their enemies and do good to those who despitefully use us…” we will always need His HELP.

It seems to me when we were in Christian nursery school  learning the truths of God, we skipped right by, ‘please help me” into … “ME DO IT!” His Grace is our spiritual air, just like thankfulness is part of our worship. Here’s a prayer that I pray often, “Lord please help me because that person is driving me crazy! I desperately need your Mercy and Grace.” Amen. There is no shame in asking! God has provided, and we praise Him for His Grace!  If we need food or water or somewhere to live, we ask Him for that. We also need a constant flow of His Grace and Mercy to survive in a time like ours. There are a million self-help books to prove to us that we are in the right, but only the Lord’s Good Book to convict us of our own sin!

In my opinion this is why so many Christians are living mediocre lives. They try so hard to be faithful to God, but what they have been taught does not line up with their own personal experiences and failure gets to them. They don’t love Him any less – that’s still faith! In the middle of some of the worst trials any of us will ever see, they dearly love Jesus, and they do their best to do what He says. Amazing! But why work at it when the work has already been done! Let’s all make sure that we put our faith in His goodness, not in happy results. That’s where the Israelites missed it.

The truth is we don’t always need Him to change our circumstances, but we do need Him to change us. When our theology doesn’t match up with His Word, then our theology needs to change. Without our passionate devotion to obedience, we are doomed to live in disappointment when that lands on us. Following Him includes dying to self, and putting our own personal comfort behind us. Let’s shake off all the snares that so easily entangle us and move on past the first floor. He has work for all of us to do. Trusting Him despite the circumstances is our highest calling. Bye. 👋 

“Carefully consider all that I’ve taught you, and may our Lord inspire you with wisdom and revelation in everything you say and do. But make Jesus, the Anointed One, your focus in life and ministry. For He came to earth as the descendant of David and rose from the dead, according to the revelation of the gospel that God has given me.” 2 Timothy 2:7-8 TPT