Doors

p 2429 Bless others and be generous.

/ DVH

“Those who live to bless others will have blessings heaped upon them, and the one who pours out his life to pour out blessings will be saturated with favour.” Proverbs 11:25 TPT. Boy that verse paints a great picture, especially at a time like this, when things everywhere are so difficult. You know, when things are tough we can tend to look the other way, and hope any other people who are suffering, will look after themselves. There’s another way to look at tough times. “If it is this hard for US, what must it be like for THEM?” 

I want to be clear right at the very beginning of this blog – generosity is not just about money, or goods etc. or service. Being generous and blessing others, these are heart things. Things we voluntarily do to enrich someone else’s life. This life will never be about who has the most – it is about who loves the most. Jesus told us when we do this stuff we are doing it for HIM. This means anything we do for others is not related to their relationship to us. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance we care deeply about what happens to strangers. It happens because His love wells up inside us, and we start praying He will show us how to help.

Sometimes living like this means we will text or phone someone just to see how they are doing. It means becoming involved in the day to day issues that many people face, but doing that…without taking over. Blessing others means offering support, and letting the other person know that they are not alone. It also means not storing up our wealth down here on earth, but instead we share it with those who are less fortunate – and Jesus says that is storing it up in heaven!

It also means spending time on our knees, as we hold up someone else’s plight before the throne of God like it is our own issue. God’s love in us does not stand back and wait to see what will happen next. Nor does it wait to see if it is going to be needed. That’s because His love is not afraid of rejection. Jesus was always incredibly generous with His time. He sought to bless others, simply because it is a part of His nature. As we follow Him our goal is to become a people whose generosity increases.  

We need to continually ask Him for His help so we can make practical and caring suggestions. We do that because in times of trouble people have enough to cope with, and thinking up something for you to do to help me, when I’m drowning, is too much work! Plus that isn’t actually helping!! The only thing that kind of action helps is our own conscience. “Well I tried to help them, but there didn’t seem to be anything I could do.”  Suddenly it is their fault if they are going down for the third time, because they couldn’t think straight under pressure!

Suffering people need somebody to lift the rubble of this life off them, and stop their proverbial bleeding. Somebody who cares enough to take them into their hearts until that injured party can stand up again. Love looks like something. In things like this it looks like commitment! Generosity, and blessing others looks like something concrete.“Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds.” 1 John 3:18 TPT.

Blessing people is not just restricted to helping those who cannot help themselves or even people who have little or no resources. All kinds of people can be spiritually and emotionally poor. We can open doors for the spiritually hungry by loving them in spirit and action. In prayer, words, and also practical ways. Being generous toward other people is also about the way we view what we actually have. Is it ours … or is it HIS? Do we bless the people we know and like, or will we help anyone? A life poured out for others is a life well-lived. Jesus modelled that.

Sometimes our time given to someone else includes weeping with them. Then we pray. One by one we hand all the things that are concerning that person back to the Lord, without preaching at them, or imparting condemnation. Always remembering that we are there specifically to bless, and we want to bring forth “An apple of gold in a setting of silver” — not a baseball bat and a lump of coal! 

A generous person who blesses others is selfless. Their aim is to leave the other person better off than they found them – closer to God and each other. Our generosity with our time, and care, as well as our finances can utterly transform someone else’s life under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It opens inner doors. 🤗

P 2392 Words can build and heal.

/ DVH

“And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to help them. The Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation. So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted His holy influence in your life. Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity, and insults. But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love.” Ephesians 4:29-32 TPT.

Man this is a scripture that can change lives. I love the way the bible gives us such clear instructions. That word ‘let’ is huge. It is surrounded by a whole lot of other words, but I think everything in this passage hinges on ‘let’ – ‘allow.’ It is much too easy to allow things that do not help us in our Christian life. It is that sort of self-permission, often carelessly or thoughtlessly given, that steers our main focus away from the One we love best. And suddenly we are in the middle of a virtual freeway with cars and trucks coming at us, (other people’s angry words), wondering how we got there.

Often one small decision to let someone have it … opens doors to a flood of disobedience that changes not just our day but our lives. ‘Permission to speak sir,’ is often used in the Armed forces – in my mind’s eye I need to ask the Lord that all the time! You know, I can’t count the times when one word has sent me down a plug hole! Sadly a word out of place can do immeasurable damage. To both parties. Words can seem harmless but James 3:5 (NIV) says: “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.”  That’s proof that James understood what he was on about eh?

Here are some interesting verses that further diagnose the problem. “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8 NKJV ”Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29 from the ESV this time. What we allow out of our mouths governs our ability to bless others with our words. Our speech is intended to spread Grace, to build one another up, not to hobble each another, or throw thunking great rocks, either! Words are powerful, and because we know and follow Him, there is great power in our words!

For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;” 1 Peter 3:10 ESV“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Colossians 4:6 ESV. That little word let, is easily passed over, but there is such a wealth of power in it! Well-flavoured speech needs both guidance and obedience. The best way to season what we say is to know the bible well enough to quote it, to yourself and someone else and then we bear in mind what it says when we open our mouth.

Speaking personally, it is my ever-present opinions that often shoot me in the foot.  At the time I know it is unwise to say something, but I let the circumstances;  or feeling provoked, or hurt;  or even pain;  take that guard off my lips and then I let fly. “I’m sorry” afterwards seems so shallow. Still, “I am so sorry, please forgive me” are the best words of reconciliation we have. Words can heal. Especially if they are followed up by appropriate actions! ‘I’m sorry please forgive me’ is hot air without follow up. Repentance produces fruit. Fruit may take some time, but you can see it growing and developing!!

I have also found that words give me opportunities to humble myself.  Actually it is usually somebody else’s words that give me that opportunity! The ability to say nothing unless you are speaking blessing, is vastly underrated. But opportunities come with every new day and I am still learning how to ‘lay aside’ stuff that won’t profit anyone. I have learnt to value the power to speak LIFE, and healing, that Christ died to give me. 👋🏻

P 2390 Spiritual hitchhiking.

/ DVH

“I hear the Lord saying, “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with My eyes as your guide. So don’t make it difficult; don’t be stubborn when I take you where you’ve not been before. Don’t make me tug you and pull you along. Just come with Me!”” Psalms 32:8 TPT

Now this has totally got to be the safest ride on the planet! Fancy hitching a ride with the One Who always knows where He is going! How do you do that? Well, speaking for myself, I run toward the Lord calling out His Name. He’s so close to us. Like I said …He loves us dearly! It is way too easy to think that peace etc. will come when we are dead. Faith lives in His peace NOW.

If you are broken-hearted …. that means He’s even closer. (Psalm 34:18) The broken-hearted simply have to turn their eyes to Him. If that’s you, then right now, please just take a few minutes to sit where you are, and remind yourself  … HE’S CLOSE to ME. Pause. Breathe – in and out, in and out. Sometimes, when life has knocked us flat, it takes a little while to let go and remember that He doesn’t ever change. Be kind to yourself. The Psalms tell us that ‘He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the Wings of the Wind.’ (Psalm 104:3) The stuff that happens to us doesn’t surprise Him.

In difficult times we need to quiet our hearts and rely upon what He has said in the book – because He tells the truth. (Numbers 23:19) We don’t have to live our lives on hyper-alert. After all, no matter what is going on, all around us, we don’t have to rely upon our own eyes, our own eyes can deceive us because fear clouds our judgment.  But now we are relying upon His eyes. The Good News is this: He hardly EVER sees stuff the way we do! Which is why many of the things that happen to us don’t make sense. It’s because His plans are higher than ours. We don’t look at this life the same way He does. It is also the reason why we can sometimes pray ‘please make this go away’ …. and nothing happens. (Proverbs 16:4)

In those moments I tell myself ‘He’s got a bigger plan. Always remember, our God does not cause these things, but He isn’t fazed by them either, He will guide us through them, comforting us all the way. The secret is to go with the flow of the Holy Spirit. You will recognise His work very easily – He’s so kind. He does the most amazing things and no-one gets hurt. Things might get challenged… but His gentleness opens doors, it simply does not bash them in.  

This is why we need to learn the art of stilling our souls … so we can listen and follow Him through things.. What does that mean? It means my mind, goes at about 900 revs a minute darting here and there, and I must sit and let Him be God… because, no matter how clever I am … I am not! In these moments I choose deliberately not to be distracted by whatever is going on around me. This is how we renew our God-given (… Jesus paid for that )… strength. That happens when we wait for Him and take a ride with Him into peace.

In our pain, it is very easy and it almost seems normal to pray that God will take whatever it is that is hurting us or confusing us away …  but He has a plan for our hope and our future and sometimes that includes us going through the fire, (Isaiah 42:3). This is where we learn to hold on tight to Him, relying upon Him, believing that we cannot be burned or drowned. Our times are always in His hands. (Psalm 31:15) And nothing can ever snatch us away from Jesus. (John 10:21).  He simply has a bigger plan than we can see right now.

You know, the Lord Jesus even went after the people who had died before He came to earth, these people died believing God was going to send them a Messiah. Be assured, He will not and cannot ever forget you! 1 Peter 4:6. He simply can’t! Those wicked nails carved you and I into the palms of His hands. Every time He looks at His hands He remembers us. That’s why it’s good to go to the cross daily, and remember Him.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ride on the Wings of the Wind. I just love that picture. Forget Theme park rides! Sometimes we must put everything down, just breathe, and take a ride with the Trinity into peace and safety. Human beings are frail —  we are not God! This means we do not have to succeed at everything. Let Him be God and you be you, and enjoy being cared for. He loves doing it.

Jesus has asked each one of us to choose Him and His way, in every situation and circumstance, and that seems fair to me … because He chose us first.. When Jesus was tired, when He was hungry, when He was persecuted, and abandoned, by God and men – He chose us. The fruit of the Spirit comes from abiding, not striving. Hitch a ride with the Lord, and let Him do what He does best… be GOD. 🙌

P 2380 Gentleness has been greatly underrated.

/ DVH

Today, gentleness can be sometimes seen as weakness, or even a particularly feminine quality. But Jesus said: “What blessing comes to you when gentleness LIVES in you! For you will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 TPT. Jesus Christ was Father God’s perfect expression of gentleness and mercy toward mankind.

Let’s look at the One Who gave us the best illustration ever of being gentle, and showing mercy under pressure, from the cross. “Then he (the thief on the cross next to Christ) said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into your kingdom.”Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” Luke 23-42-44. And there it is… mercy and gentleness without rancour, or a lecture. It just automatically flowed toward the one who needed it, despite the Giver’s pain. 

Here’s something I’ve learnt that I will pass on for free. We need to LET gentleness LIVE in us. That means we need to be aware of what it is like, and then use every single opportunity to use this particular form of Grace to cultivate it. Let’s consult the dictionary about gentleness:  kindness, tenderness, mercy, understanding, compassion, kind-heartedness, tender-heartedness, love, mildness, humility, peacefulness, serenity, reverence, and meekness.

Yeah. I put this list in today because many of these words are no longer common. We are not often likely to use them in every day language …However, I believe many of the responses we meet from other people are based in fear. People who do not know that they are God’s original creations, hold onto the images of who they think they are, very tightly. They can use anger, pride and spite to shove others away. I’ve watched gentleness in action, and it does not threaten or create fear – it lovingly and carefully opens new doors for His love to go in and then it waits. Gentleness is aware of the other person’s need to be authentic and to feel safe and unthreatened. 

The bible talks quite a bit about sowing and reaping, and I believe we need to learn to sow mercy, and gentleness into other people’s lives because there is so little of it around. We are to live that way because that’s the way Jesus was. He gave us mercy when we didn’t deserve it in the first place. He didn’t appear, all guns blazing like Rambo! But He came here in the most vulnerable disarming form ever – as a new born infant. When the Lord Jesus spoke to people His loving kindness went right around their objections and piqued their interest. This is what I have found the Holy Spirit is like in His Character. He is not rough with people. He doesn’t threaten them, He walks with human beings, gently suggesting other ways to interact and approach things. He doesn’t push or pull.

I often laugh when I see people and their dog going for a walk, because, even though the owner will say they are walking their dog, to all intents and purposes, their dog is walking them!  However, on the market there is another form of leash, it is called a gentle leader. It wraps around the dog’s muzzle instead of its throat or chest, and the dog, no matter what size it is, finds it impossible to pull with its nose. So it trots alongside the owner peacefully. Without trying to be blasphemous, AT ALL (!!), the Holy Spirit leads us like that. He doesn’t push and He doesn’t drag, He waits for us to walk together, in agreement.  

The thing is, with the kingdom of God, whatever is given to us will flourish and grow inside us … if we cherish it. His kingdom is not like this world — giving love, mercy, gentleness away to the undeserving, or a perfect stranger, actually helps those things grow inside us. In this world if you give something away, you’ve lost it – but in the kingdom of God, generous humility helps gentleness and mercy to flourish in our hearts. 

When we sow gentleness into the lives of the people who cross our path – the love of God is released to create a harvest. We do not have to be a fierce people – our war is already won. So this is how we deal with others …”Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.” Galatians 6:1. 

Save your warrior face for fighting our common enemy! Not the people you meet. They may never ever deserve it, but we are releasing His Grace into their lives and that means that a little seed of gentleness or mercy is planted into a life to flourish in His timing. So Instead of a harsh word, we have a gentle one to turn away someone else’s anger. That’s what sowing gentleness and mercy looks like. It means that thoughts of revenge or punishment disappear from our thinking.

The people who give His Grace, His peace, His gentleness, His mercy away, are not just being nice, or polite, instead they have an inner barn on the inside of them that is filled to bursting with these things. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34. What’s IN there will come out under pressure. That pressure is simply life from day to day, but the other person’s need will create an opportunity.

Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, it is neither soft or girlish – it opens doors that would remain tightly closed because it does not push … it respects the other person enough to lovingly watch and wait for an opportunity. 👋🏻

P 2357 Love is about choices – not feelings.

/ DVH

Hubby and I just celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary a couple of months back. I still think he is the nicest and best man I ever met. But SOME DAYS … that’s a choice not a feeling!  And I’m pretty sure he shares that sentiment with me. 😂 Not as often, of course – ‘cos I’m MUCH nicer than he is! Okay. That’s a joke. Haha!!

What I mean is this – some days we have to choose to love each other, because we don’t always understand the other person’s POV. I so-o don’t man-speak and he has no clue how to speak female, so we collide. Because we are both quite passionate people, there are times we collide loudly. No fun is had either side in that collision. People make times like that about individual issues – points of differences – you won’t get anywhere that way, trust me. The real ‘issue’ that needs to matter in those moments IS THIS: who is gunna repent and ask for forgiveness first? Sigh. It is usually him not me – he’s way better at saying ‘sorry’ than I am. It’s mega-annoying. 😡

I said all that to say this:  just because we disagree and feel horribly abused, misunderstood, and uncomfortable – that does not mean we quit the marriage or give up on the relationship. It simply means we have temporarily lost our common ground – and one, or both of us, has dug their heels in and refused to compromise or even listen to the other one. My particular fault in these matters is that I always have a point, plus I absolutely loathe not being listened to! 

People often say sagely: “Marriage is about compromise.” Phooey!! Marriage is about CHOICES. I choose to forgive because it’s in the bible! That’s true wisdom. At that moment when I am no longer feeling like my precious hubby is the nicest man in the world – I still have a life-mandate to fulfil. I promised to follow Jesus and He is offering me a new opportunity to choose to follow Him and die to self. These moments are the little foxes that spoil the vineyards of a husband and wife’s love for each other – we need to seize those moments for the Lord’s sake. The power of agreement opens doors that will not open any other way – we need to cherish and protect it.

If I choose to stop fighting the current issue and instead ask the Holy Spirit to help me keep my mouth shut, I will accomplish two things. The first is establishing His Lordship and the second is an opportunity for the Lord’s wisdom to prevail instead of chaos. I may have to insist about these two choices … and, to be fair, I quite often fall into the trap of seeking to be understood – instead of working to see the other person’s POV. However, even if what is happening makes no sense to me – it makes sense to the Lord – I know He can guide me through it.

It is extremely difficult, but not impossible, to lay aside your claim to be right – when you do it for the Lord, and not just for the other person. When you lay down your arms for His sake, whether you are right and they are wrong, THAT IS WHEN JESUS’ LORDSHIP PREVAILS! In that moment I have yielded my control back to Jesus and the Holy Spirit because I love Them more than winning or being right. Meanwhile, do not be fooled – those moments are hard. The other person may not have the same view of Lordship you have.

Here’s what I have observed – it only takes one person to turn things around … but that Person needs to be Him! Get a load of this scripture: “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (works against) his [Christian] brother he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20) At this point you could be thinking that you don’t ‘hate’ your spouse – yeah! But at this moment you are not in the middle of some dumb argument that you both feel it is imperative to win!! You can hate anyone given enough provocation trust me. Plus spouses often know each other so well they can lean all over each other’s buttons. In the middle of an argument neither of you are working together!

One of our biggest faults as Christians is that we try to wiggle around what He said in the book so we come up with a hundred reasons about why this particular verse does not apply to me. We all hate to be wrong and in those moments we forget about the One Who hung on that tree for our sake, so we would have the power to resist temptation. Please remember this line: It is not about winning a point or an argument, it is about losing the Holy Spirit’s Presence and YOUR PEACE. We have a choice. Selah. 😶 👋🏻

P 2335 Some light-hearted suggestions for difficult people.

/ DVH

The ones you never seem deal with well, but can’t avoid, I mean? I’d say shoot ‘em … but I’m pretty sure God won’t like that! AND YES, I’M JOKING … well, sort of anyway. 😳 Just keeping it real here, folks. There are some people in my life I like a whole lot better …when they are far FAR away!

We all have people who can’t, or don’t, or maybe they even don’t want to, understand us. Some of those people  it seems, go out of their way to deliberately misunderstand us. Now if you only have one or two prickly people in your collection …count yourself blessed.

I have, BTW, met people who cheerfully tell me that they don’t struggle with anyone, because they l-o-v-e 💕everyone … really?! Well, I struggle with them, because I want to shout liar liar pants on fire at them! Why would Jesus talk so much about forgiving people, if it is so easy? So, then I repent, calm down and add those people to my list of human beings I just don’t get.. Sadly there’s a few people on that list too!

The bible tells us we will have trials, and sometimes those trials are people!  If we are lucky they move, or we move, and we don’t have to see them anymore. This means that we can join the ever rapidly growing list of people who don’t hate anyone. How cool is that? When people you don’t get on with move, it makes it that much harder to be reconciled. Now you gotta add travelling in as well!!  Meanwhile its hard to hate people you can’t remember … so do yourself a favour and don’t try!

And then I found this scripture – more’s the pity!: “Be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only harm your cherished unity. Don’t allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic humility put others first and view others as more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 TPT. So now I have to have yet another list, beside the list of people I do my best to try to avoid. I call this third list, scriptures I try to avoid. Howzat working for you babe! Not much. 

God loves to bring these people up with me, especially at a time when I’m feeling pretty good about myself, because I’ve been talking to someone else about Him. A-N-D … that scenario would be the ‘pride-filled opinions’ bit in that verse that I am starting to HATE. Well. Goodie. You’d think I would get a day-pass after all that free advertising for Him, but no… He and I are gunna look at it.

Right about now, that person I hoped was gone forever from my thoughts, is floating up from my subconscious and … looking at me. You know it would be so much easier to continue my you-are-not-a-person-I-really-like campaign if this difficult person looked grumpy. But that’s not gunna happen either, be-cau-se, something else is going on. 

Then the Holy Spirit says these perfect words … ‘What are WE going to do about this one?’ Conviction hits me between the eyes. Couldn’t you just love Him for those words alone? I sure do. That’s when I remember that Jesus totally identified with me, without sinning. That means HE KNOWS THE WAY THROUGH THIS. Now it’s up to me to follow the Holy Spirit’s prompts. I know He knows how to restore things for me, I just need to trust Him. I can be sure He will help me because Jesus is heaven’s answer to sin, works, and total restoration. 

I said all that stuff to say this – pretending we are OK, and making believe that the people who bother us don’t really bother us – all that guff is a waste of time and energy. It is better to be honest with ourselves and the Lord. So don’t just tell your spouse or a friend, how much this person drives you nuts …tell Jesus. Let’s trust His wisdom, His kindness, and lean on HIS understanding. 

Confessing our faults opens the doors of our hearts and minds to real renewal and a fresh start. God can give us a fresh perspective on those people we don’t understand or like. Jesus will provide all that for us from the book.There is no such thing as a vacuum spiritually, we either actively pursue the Lord, or our enemy will keep handing us loads of  reasons to stay mad. And those dumb people who drive us crazy will continue to compound the felony in our eyes.

Difficult people are a fact of life … the sooner we face ourselves, the sooner we will embrace change and usher in restoration. IT’S OUR JOB – we are the Grace-spreaders of this world.  👋🏻

P 2321 I read the bible for MY benefit.

/ DVH

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” James1:22-24 NIV

There is this movie I quite like called ‘Take the Lead.’ In it a retired ballroom dancer decides to start a program for drop-out disinterested kids, and this man teaches them ballroom dancing after school instead of them doing detention. The group of kids he teaches are of diverse cultural backgrounds. 

There is only one white guy and he is a genuine redhead so he is really really white. Another white person, a girl, decides to join this culturally diverse group. There is a brief exchange between the existing red-headed group member, Kurd, and the newbie white female dancer.…Caitlin. He resents her upsetting the balance of the group. 

Kurd : ‘We don’t need any more white bread tourists seeing how the other half lives. We don’t.’ 
Caitlin : ‘White bread?!! Excuse me, do you even OWN a mirror?’ 

I love that line, mainly because I think it needs to be said out loud regularly, in Christian settings. We are wa-ay too enthusiastic and quick to point out to the rest of the world what’s wrong with them. We can draw up a list of things these people simply must not do in a heartbeat, about their sins, actions, and reasons why they will go to hell. My point is that …our mirror is for our own use. We actually OWN a mirror! And we need to use it.ˆThe bible has enough exhortations about change in it to keep all of us busy for the rest of our lives … and then some. BTW, I don’t look in that mirror TO SEE YOU … I look in it …TO SEE the real ME … more clearly!

If I am reading the bible to find ways for you to change, or to learn how to cleverly persuade you to change your behaviour, especially where your behaviour impacts mine – I’ve missed the point. I need to be thoroughly engaged for myself in this process, and that means I’m learning about my faults, not yours. There is no such thing as proxy faith – the only person the bible applies to, is me. 

However I can encourage you, using scriptures. But if we try to sugar coat what we want to say by wrapping up any criticism in nice stuff – then we are only fooling ourselves. And the other person involved will quite quickly S-U-S-P-E-C-T. This is where church division comes from, trying to shove my revelation and my POV off onto others. Even if we think we are helping God get what HE wants! His book is still for my growth. 

Let’s let God open doors for us and stop shoving our shoulder against those doors and blaming someone else for what comes next. We need to learn from the Lord Jesus how to take the lower seat. That’s what ‘the Word become flesh’ means. King David shows us clearly that God has a plan, but He doesn’t always stick to a timetable that suits us.The best thing we can do for others is to pray, and prefer. 

This means we pray and then we continue to prefer the other person in love. Romans 10:12. “Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.” This life is not about me being righter than you. Any righteousness I have, and any you may have, ALL of that comes from Christ. Here’s something further to chew on:

“All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].’ 1 Corinthians 10:23. 

Until we take verses like these seriously, instead of just holding on tightly to the ones we like – we will not grow UP into the fullness of Christ, our Saviour and Bridegroom. Exercising self-awareness helps us to achieve whatever the Lord wants, so I read the bible to change me.  🙏 Bye.

P 2286 Love that grows.

/ DVH

“I continue to pray for your love to grow and increase beyond measure, bringing you into the rich revelation of spiritual insight in all things. This will enable you to choose the most excellent way of all —becoming pure and without offence until the unveiling of Christ.” Philippians 1:9-10 TPT

Love is not just about having nice feelings toward other people – it is not even about being glad to see them! Paul prays for US in these two verses that our love will increase beyond our ability to measure it. Now there’s a mighty fine ambition! However, Love has a purpose over and above human beings simply feeling good. Love opens spiritual doors that will remain shut fast without it. Love opens the door to insight and revelation into the secrets and ways of God Himself. 

His love is not even remotely like our human experiences with love here on earth. ALMIGHTY GOD LOVES THE UNLOVEABLE, freely. Human love can be fickle because it depends on feelings and perceptions, and our feelings often depend on circumstances. God’s love dictates holy circumstances, it is not influenced by them. 

The wonderful thing about God’s love, is that when we choose it in the face of difficulties and hardship, THEN we begin to use our faith. We simply make a God-given choice, then ask for His help, and then we step out in faith and do whatever He says to do. Just the same as Moses had to, or Peter or Timothy.  At the same time we are giving out His love in faith we are personally receiving it. Insight and revelation are God’s love in action. 

Actually all of the gifts of the Spirit are God’s love in action. It is not enough to say kind, or sweet things, those kind of things need to ride upon the wings of the Spirit. His Love changes everything. I hope it is obvious that I’m not talking about man-made flattery. When we partake of His love, using our faith, and then we give it away, we are personally touched by Him, and changed, and the person we give it to is also touched by Him. The only thing you will touch with theories or flattery, is the mind. 

If we pick up the sword of the Spirit under the instructions of the Holy Spirit then it becomes a powerful weapon that can clarify, divide and open up circumstances so we can see what is actually going on in a situation. A lot of the time we are boxing with or fighting shadows when we are unhappy with people. Shadows have no substance so you feel like any discussion is pointless and not worth the effort. 

This means you have not fully connected with the Holy Spirit, because He will not frustrate you, or anyone else. When He is present, it is as if a veil has been lifted off our eyes and we can see the real issues clearly. My advice is this, always be prepared to be the one who is in the wrong, the one who has judged the subject amiss. Even our own hearts can deceive us – live prepared to repent and repair things.

God’s word exposes the reality of the condition of our hearts. There’s nothing like discovering that the person you are mad at is being sinful, and suddenly realising YOU are sinful too, because clarity and wisdom removed the logs and specks! Initially we can see the person we are mad at with seemingly righteous indignation, but then insight comes and we see that person’s heart as well as our own, and we realise that we are all sinful.

‘Sin is common to man!’  When the love of God illuminates our hearts we find we all have sin in common. Now we can identify with the other person’s weakness, and mercy starts to flow because in them we can see ourselves. Difficulties occur when love is not present and we use man-made judgment to try to rectify problems. We need wisdom from above, not earthly judgment – that judgment always prefers itself. 

Every single time we call on the Lord for His love and insight and revelation in a difficult situation we are building a bank inside us of knowing Him and His ways. Those revelations change us. His Love expands situations. It gives meaning, it does not obsess about problems – it looks for the pain behind the problem in both parties and addresses that. Love grows as it is experienced through ordinary circumstances and then it is applied as the Lord Himself sees fit. Living a life of love is challenging but oh so rewarding. 👋🏻

P 2254 Advice about ‘open’ doors.

/ DVH

Doors are for going through, from one place to somewhere else. 😊 You don’t need a degree to go through a door or love people! As Christians we can spend a lot of our time waiting for God to sovereignly intervene in our lives… waiting for a door to open. Today I want to say this – don’t just stand there… hoping to be noticed …DO something! Show the Lord that you want to be transformed by His love, and start living this life, the one you already have – by giving that love away to others. Don’t wait to be empowered – OBEY instead!  Show God your willingness to be His vessel. 

Pick one or two difficult people in your vicinity and love on them and plan on not giving up on them – no matter what! Anyone can find something loving to do for strangers and do it … if you can do it in secret, even better! Visit the sick, talk to people in the supermarket. Help the poor, teach little kids, lead a bible study group … do something. It is easier to steer a moving object than a stationary one. It’s when we sit down, arms folded, almost daring Him to interrupt our well-made life-plans, that our lives become static and lifeless.  

The kind of life this world presents consists mainly of plodding along, day after day, doing pretty much the same stuff over and over again. If you want things to change, then see a need and do something about it. Open doors don’t just suddenly appear. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you find your purpose, while you are doing your bible study and praying. Nag Him about it. Show the Lord you mean business. There are unmotivated people everywhere. Instead, make a quality decision to learn His Ways – and start practising them. Start living like everything in the bible is true… because it is.  

Scare your pastor – volunteer to help out at church! Movement is a sign of life… um …that’s why they shake people who appear lifeless! You and I can debate spiritual theories about anything, up one hill and down the other. The truth is that His truth will always win…not my opinion, not your opinion, not your fav preacher’s opinion – His truth. One day all our theological errors will be revealed – because Christ will appear. And He will simply blow our theories away.  

At the same time, study the bible, but don’t study it so hard that your brain takes over from using your faith. Faith is an action word, and we need to show our faith a whole lot more than we tell it. “For the one who has will be given more, until he overflows with abundance. And the one with hardly anything, even what little he has will be taken from him.’” Matthew 25:29. Learn to overflow with love toward other people. Get rid of NICE, and go for real love. And if you get it wrong. Repent. Start again. Remember, love always looks like something.

Quit staring at, or ‘following,’ all those bright, shiny people in Christian circles, as if they have something you don’t! Phooey. They have the same Holy Spirit-Helper you do. If God withdraws His hand from their lives they will look just like everyone else. What you can see is the fire of God within!  Isn’t He so beautiful? So go after Him for yourself. Thinking about Jesus and what He likes, needs to be encouraged. Also remember to be grateful, even for little things.

There are great exploits awaiting any of His kids that dare to stand up and say: “Here I am Lord, send me!” Even if it is just two doors down the road, to the depressed guy whose yard looks like a tip! You don’t have to be anyone to love people – just HIS! Sometimes we sit around, mouths open like baby birds waiting to be fed. Read the book, Paul says, ‘come off milk, and get into meat!’ 

Meanwhile, don’t just sit about and hope and wait for someone else to tell you what your spiritual gift is. Instead, work on loving people, forgiving them, helping them. Gifts turn up when you do what He said – on purpose. Nobody told me what my gifts were for over 30 years. Nobody cared – they were too busy looking for their own. 😂 The church at large is often so busy that they need people to do practical jobs. Sadly they aren’t always looking for blossoming gifts .. Here’s a thought …stop using the pastor and love on him instead.

We need to stop making the wheels of routine relentlessly turn, and pick up His yoke. Whatever your gift from God is, it is not about you – your spiritual prowess, your calling. God doesn’t need our help – He needs our obedience! Everything, everything, EVERYTHING is about Him. “What do we have that was not given to us?”Last of all, please don’t settle for less. Open doors appear as we go along, doing good wherever we can. Real faith involves taking risks. 👋🏻