Emeralds

P 2978 Our God writes poetry!

/ DVH

“We have become His poetry, a re-created people that will fulfil the destiny He has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfil it!” Ephesians 2:10 TPT.

David and some other guys, wrote lots of poetry for us, about the Lord … but we are also His poems, written for all time. Because we are joined to Jesus – the kingdom things we do, are part of His poem. The fact that you love helping people —-that’s part of His poem. The way you sing your heart out in worship times—is part of that poem. You might not always be great at witnessing, but our God-given uniqueness in Christ, makes us His treasure. God doesn’t care about diamonds, gold, pearls, emeralds or rubies … He uses them as building materials … but He cares so-oo-oo deeply about people.

Have you ever met someone and you just clicked, you seemed to have so much in common? Think about this … you and Almighty God just click together. Jesus is the ‘permanent joint’ that binds us into God’s heart. And whenever He looks at His precious Son, He feels delight. Each one of us has been made as a reflection of Who Jesus is. And each one of us is a tiny mirror sliver of all the majesty and glory and honour and wisdom of Who Christ is. We’ve been given the honour and pleasure of reflecting what we find in Him, into this world. 

God has written poetry and we are part of His poem. That’s a bit more easy to believe when you see a new baby, and a little bit harder when you look at someone quite old! Nevertheless, you and I are a love poem to the rest of this lost, sad world. Greed, and the lust for more and more, blinds all the occupants of our world to the glory of God … but then there is YOU…

Shining away, daily reflecting whatever light He has given you. Some of that light is practical, and some of it is spoken out loud or in prayer, but because the Lord is our all in all – we just can’t help sparkling, like a bright gem on dusty ground! Goodness has its own light because goodness has its source in Him. We are daily being recreated so we can shine even more brightly with His light. Being a witness is about shining where other people can see you… like the old song says… don’t hide your light under a bushel.

“Yahweh says, “You are My witnesses, My chosen servants. I chose you in order that you would know Me intimately, believe Me always, and fully understand that I am the only God. There was no god before Me, and there will be no other god after Me.” Isaiah 43:10 TPT.

Sometimes a witness does not have to say anything.  All you and I need to do is to reflect His goodness to the people around us, and knowing Him makes us shiny. His love in us gives us a glow that cannot be ignored. The things of this world fade when He is around, they seem trivial and unimportant, and people start to realise the depth of love and acceptance, they have been given just because of His love and Presence in His people.

Becoming God’s love slave is a choice and we have given ourselves to Him simply because He willingly gave Himself to us. That’s what marriage is – we reflect our Heavenly Bridegroom into this world. Father God did that for each one us when Jesus came here to serve mankind. Our lives are poetry, written day by day – often speaking to this world without words. Love brought the Lord here and love kept Him here, until His work was done.    

You already know hubby and I go on the road and perfect strangers start telling my dear husband their secrets. He doesn’t have a system, or a clever repartee — sometimes all he says is “hello!”  But because each one of us was made by God, and destined to be a reflection of His precious Son, God goes with us and it is His Presence that draws people to us. These people don’t even know they are being drawn toward Him. But because we are part of His love poem, people hear and see Him through our little lives.

Our fatal flaw as human beings is that we see our mistakes, sins, and stinky attitudes as some sort of cancellation to our blood-bought destiny. Our destiny can’t be cancelled – our job is to rise above this stuff around us, and let Him shine! He’s IN you! Sometimes our windows might be a bit dusty with the cares of this world, plus dirt and unbelief, but the King of glory can’t ever be kept under wraps. That’s like trying to put the sun out – it can’t happen! Here’s a huge useful secret for you to think about – whatever God OWNS, He kisses.

Knowing Almighty God intimately means we have been granted access to His deepest heart secrets. What a privilege! Is anything else in this world, that is worth the price of forgetting about that privilege. It cost Him everything. If we are not careful we can end up defining ourselves by our sin … BUT …He defines us by His Son. Wouldn’t it be a pity if we let the junk from today — newspapers, hobbies, fashions, the way we earn our living, parenthood, or even circumstances etc. define us? We are His poetry… HAND-written to bless the rest of this world as we glorify His Name. Bye.👋

P 2604 God’s word is a revelation waiting to happen.

/ DVH

Psalm 19:10-14:“God’s Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries.There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure. Otherwise how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool? Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over Your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray.”

Have you ever watched someone panning for gemstones or gold? They swish water over the collected river gravel and then they swirl the contents around. The heavy stuff, the gold and the gemstones, fall to the bottom and the other useless gravel ends up on top. It is a process of elimination. I think that’s what the Lord does in our lives daily!

This trip has become one of those swirly, whirly times for me. Just when I think I might know something – round we go again and I’m wondering whether I’m sinking or not —- or whether this time I’m gunna end up at the top and be thrown out! I only know one thing, I want to be found to be gold, not gravel. So I keep on digging into His word, looking for things that speak to my heart, as I press on to face each day. Then I look for ways to apply what I read.

To live like that as a body, we will have to be prepared to be rumbled and tossed about – yet at the same time stay incredibly pliable, always prepared for change spiritually speaking. Our trust is definitely going to be stretched  as we get tossed about! We will need to see what the Holy Spirit sees when He is dealing with us. The glint of gold, the sparkle of a gemstone, hidden under the detritus of every day life. The only way that that can happen is to continually expose ourselves to His Word, taking everything we read seriously, and personally. 

Faith says God’s Word is good, it tastes like honey – even if it is sometimes hard to digest! “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Psalm 119:103-105. His word can give us understanding about ourselves, and others … it will expose and illuminate our personal circumstances. It takes us out of self-interest into His interests …plus it makes the impossible, possible. 

It can seem that miracles are spectacular things, like raising the dead, turning water into wine, healing the sick, preaching sermons that convict and convince. Maybe when we read the word ‘miracles’ we are blinded by our own ideas. But when Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people, I wonder if everyone knew where that food even came from! We can miss our own miracles, because they don’t come with trumpets and angel song. Instead we need eyes to see and ears to hear what He says and does daily, quietly, without any fanfare. Every single day I submit to His word, I have found He opens my eyes to new perspectives. He also keeps me aware of danger.  

The Holy Spirit, through the bible, challenges who I think I am. He checks me when I am about to lose my way. Before I became aware of the reality of Christ, I just blundered about saying what I thought … when I thought it. Because I was living that way, I was blissfully unaware of how what I said affected other people. Truth alone can be harsh and unyielding, but truth kissed with LOVE will set people free to see Him, and find themselves.

I like to use the above scripture as a prayer. Especially the ‘keep me from stupid sins’ part! This psalmist understands God’s dealings with mankind. He knows, that we are like the precious, but yet-to-be-revealed gemstones hidden in the accumulated gravel of our lives. We all need shaking up. We need to be sloshed about in the whirlwinds of this world, so we can be separated away from the false comfort we think we need. Unfortunately we won’t cry out for deliverance if we don’t think we need to be delivered. Instead, we could easily blame someone else for our own faults, and make them the fall guy! Here’s a hot tip: try asking Him; “what did I do?”

God’s Word is everything we need for personal revelation. There are things for each of our lives that are poised, waiting to happen, waiting to be discovered. I exhort all of us to search for the gemstones, and be careful what we throw away!  Think about the bible says, chew on it, sink your teeth into it until you get happy honey nourishment from it.  👋