Exercise

P 3473 Have extra-fit faith!

/ DVH

“We can get so busy looking at the waves that we forget to look at Jesus!” My daughter said that to me the other day, and I thought it was so accurate. Having faith that works matters. Otherwise, when the roof falls in … and nowadays the roof can quite literally fall in on anyone … that’s when we hit despair and start spiralling down. Our faith resources can be depleted by everyday difficulties, and we become disappointed and disillusioned because our faith is not in God … it is in what He is supposed to supply.

That’s when those waves start looming and we start sinking – because we are looking in the wrong place. Our faith is not in walking on water, or getting whatever we need — our faith needs to be in Jesus’ ability and His willingness to help us. We can nearly drown if we don’t prayerfully assess how fit our faith is for the mountain we are facing, or if we try to do whatever it is without our eyes on Him.

We can totally miss what Father God wants to give us, when we take our eyes off Him. When Jesus said “COME!” — it was the whackiest idea any of the disciples had seen thus far. But Peter was so enamoured by the miracle of Jesus on the water … that he wanted to do it. Jesus could have said: “Your faith isn’t up to this Peter” — because it clearly wasn’t — and Peter and 11 other men would have missed out on seeing what faith in action does. IT TAKES A RISK. God won’t stop you or I from trying, just remember to ask Him if you are up to the answer to that prayer you keep on praying. If the answer is ‘no’ or ‘not yet’ then ask Him to help get you fit for it.

A number of years ago the Holy Spirit told me to learn to lean on Jesus and not on my own understanding. I think Peter failed because he knew more about the ways of the wind and the waves, than he knew about the power of God! It is so easy to be distracted by the things we think we already know. We end up making those things our yardstick and fail to remember that God’s ways are higher, more sure, more reliable than ours.

At one time, Jesus made wine out of water … BUT WE make wine out of a whole lot of effort! We can get so distracted as we think about how a miracle will help us, that we fail to realise that faith grows as you exercise it. Our faith may only be little (a mustard seed) – but it must be IN HIM, and not just in the answer to our prayer. Peter wanted to do what Jesus was doing to prove that it was really the Lord. “Lord, if it’s You,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to You on the water.” His faith was not engaged in God’s matters, it was engaged in proving something.

Our faith is designed to grow as we stretch it daily. We can’t live an ordinary life doing what we want, and expect to grow miracle-working faith! Our enemy will fool us into thinking we are failing in our faith, because some things don’t turn out the way we prayed they would. But the truth is, are we learning to lean on Him, or are we still independently minded? Will we trust God more the next time, or less? Human beings like to categorise things – God has a WAY, not just a category. We need to know His Ways.

Peter had faith. He climbed out of that boat … against years of personal knowledge and experience. I think He simply needed the Holy Spirit’s input to put his faith into action and keep it there. This man didn’t just take His eyes off Jesus, he transferred his faith to what he could see and what he already knew. The task was bigger than his faith, and his personal knowledge about where he was standing, overcame him.

Getting extra fit faith is not the same as spending a fortune on gym membership and regularly going there to build up your strength. That’s all about what you can do. It’s the wrong direction for eyes of faith. Eyes of faith look at Jesus not our puny muscles. Let’s look carefully at what He said and did: “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God ..” Romans 10:17. Our faith grows as we get to know Him through His Word.

We must stop trying to manoeuvre God into doing this and that, and become intimately acquainted with what He wants and what He doesn’t. The faith to move a mountain starts and is strengthened by knowing the One Who made that mountain, not by looking at bulldozers and explosives or how high, wide or deep that mountain is!

We learn to exercise our faith by living daily for Jesus. When things are easy, and the water of our lives is still and steady … OR when this life is riotous and the water looks like a washing machine in full cycle. When hard things happen, let’s pray – give it to the Lord and wait for further instructions. If that takes time, then we relinquish it and walk away, and leave it with Him. Safe in the knowledge that we are merely spectators, not the main event. 

Having extra fit faith means everything we do revolves around that faith. We hold nothing back because Jesus held nothing back. If Jesus wouldn’t do it, then we won’t do it either. Faith is the substance of Jesus Himself, kissing our prayers, as we choose to learn to daily trust Him with our whole life. Bye. 👋

P 3422 The bible.

/ DVH

I think the version of the bible is less important, to me this book is a springboard into hearing from Him. It’s His Word and He can take His Word and touch our hearts however He chooses to. The Lord makes a lot of statements in the bible that sound wonderful, but unless we choose to act on them, as the Holy Spirit brings a verse to our minds — we can easily forget them again.

The scriptures are given to us to be life and health to us — food for the weary soul. Let’s look at Jeremiah 31:25 TPT: “For I will refresh the weary soul and satisfy all those who have given up on life.” Here are a few more versions. Amplified bible:  “For I will [fully] satisfy the weary soul, and I will replenish every languishing and sorrowful person.” The King James version: “For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” Last one, Easy-to-read version:  “I will give rest and strength to those who are weak and tired.”

So looking at all that, what can we do when we are full of sorrow, tired and weary? We’ve learnt that we need to REST and be REFRESHED by the fact that God has given us His Word. He will help us find answers. He will take care of … whatever it is! What the Lord is doing is far beyond our scope of our limited imagination most of the time. His timing is totally perfect, but it simply doesn’t always scratch where we are itching, when we are tired and sad. But He is still doing something.

I think the secret is this – don’t pre-decide how the answers to your prayers will look. When we do that, we can utterly miss His answers to our prayers. Resting on what He says in the book, is our faith at work. Fussing and fretting about what we can do about things when we are already worn out, is a misuse of our God’s freely given resources. Take a big breath, look up and give it all to Him and wait for Him.

The Holy Spirit is our primary resource and His Word is our reference book. If we start looking at other people, and comparing or judging what’s happening to them, we are living under the misunderstanding that we are all supposed to be in the same spiritual place at the same time. We aren’t. We learn His ways by walking with Him individually. This is the God who makes enemy armies fearfully run for their lives, when no-one is actually there!  What one verse means to me, may not be what it means to you.

It is so important to value the cross. Every now and then go back to it in your mind, and remember what He did for you. What He did then, He is still doing! And don’t forget that empty tomb either. Our faith is founded on these events. The bible teaches us how to live and respond to difficulties, based upon a war that has already been won. He won it for us.

If we don’t feel ‘fully satisfied,” like Jeremiah said, then don’t blame yourself, someone else or even the Lord. Instead ask for eyes to see what He IS doing. He’s God … He can do trillions of things at once. Maybe we are missing what He is actually doing because we are too busy meditating on our unhappy circumstances. Let’s choose to be singleminded about these things. Focus on what His book says. That’s a skill we can cultivate, and it involves trust. For our faith to be real it has to be tested. The bible tells us how to face and move through those tests.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4. 

This verse reminds us that God is always doing something. At the very least, He’s testing our faith in His goodness. He wants us to know that when our faith is tested we are developing perseverance. So we decide to rest. That means we stop trying to figure it out by ourselves and just WAIT. We are on God’s assembly line and our tested faith will produce perseverance, but we need to hold fast to what He said in the book. Let’s allow Him to finish what He has started.

We are faithfully waiting and looking to see God’s goodness in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13) Sometimes we can miss the answers to our prayers because the Lord is doing something so much bigger than we could ever hope or imagine. The thing to remember is that we are also doing something, when we choose to trust Him and His Word, instead of running about like a headless chicken. The Lord says: “That trouble is the exercise that will strengthen our faith muscles.”

The bible is a spiritual document. That kind of thing is often hard to read, but we are so blessed … we have the greatest Lawyer ever, praying for us, helping and teaching us. He understands the law and He operates freely in GRACE. This means He knows how to plead our case for us. Let Him. Bye. 👋

P 3419 Keep on… keeping on!

/ DVH

“My beloved ones, just like you’ve always listened to everything I’ve taught you in the past, I’m asking you now to keep following my instructions as though I were right there with you. Now you must continue to make this new life fully manifested as you live in the holy awe of God—which brings you trembling into His presence. God will continually revitalise you, implanting within you the passion to do what pleases Him. Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves. For then you will be seen as innocent, faultless, and pure children of God, even though you live in the midst of a brutal and perverse culture. For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe,” Philippians 2:12-15 TPT.

It’s important to look at the things we end up focusing on day by day. If we constantly and consistently focus on the immediate, we will more easily lose sight of the eternal. These verses make it clear that there is only one way to live. In AWE of God Himself. Ignoring what He says won’t help me – instead I will be presuming upon His grace.

I think that most of us have absolutely no idea what our Father is like … or we would all live differently. God has withheld revealing His glory to us, for our benefit.  When Jesus revealed His glory once, Peter started babbling on about building shrines. He was in the middle of something awesome, yet this man was so overcome by what he saw, he wanted to memorialise the event, instead of worshipping Jesus. It’s one thing to know in our minds Who He is, and totally another to be confronted by His reality!

The fear of God is a real thing, and we all need it. A whole-hearted reverential respect for the Lord and what He says, plus following His ways, just might save our lives one day. Paul is saying here that we need a deeper passion for the things of God. I’m a big believer in grace so if I know I don’t have it, then I ask for it! Jesus is so kind, He will give us His kind of passion as a gift. So if I am to serve and worshipfully love and honour my Father in the way Paul mentions in Romans, I will need to accept that the Grace we’ve been freely given to approach our Father, is way out of proportion to who we really are. We can’t earn anything!

However, we are sadly mistaken if we think that the Lord doesn’t require our actions to match what we say. Change is not optional, it is essential. God wants to protect our hearts from the stuff that is coming next in our lives. It’s our choice and we have to exercise it, and live a new way – the way of faith. Let’s seize every opportunity to deal with our flesh. Our Heavenly Father loves faith, and He wants us to respond to Him in good times and bad, by believing in His goodness. Faith can’t be an optional extra.

I think most believers really want to do what pleases our Heavenly Father, they just can’t come up with the goods by themselves. Like Paul says in Romans 7:24, 25: “Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will [rescue me and] set me free from this body of death [this corrupt, mortal existence]?” As believers we need to move past the diagnosis of our lack, into the arena of continuing to use our faith in His amazing goodness toward us, despite our shortcomings. God really is THAT good! Jesus has done the work for me. I just need to appropriate the GRACE He daily gives me, by using my faith and following His Ways now – “…not my will be done … THY will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

This is how Paul follows up Chapter 7 … in Romans 8, he says: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” What Paul is saying is that we might fall over as we are learning to live a life of faith, but we are to no longer to live believing we have to mess up, it’s inevitable. God Himself has already provided for everything because of what Jesus did.The Lord Jesus’ death and resurrection is utterly complete. What He did for each one of us is like paying 2 trillion dollars for a 1 cent stamp. He overpaid.

Plus when Jesus died, I died. Dead people don’t sin, they don’t even want to, they are dead, they want nothing. When I chose to live this life dead to what I want, and live it for His glory, then I am free to live my life the way Jesus taught me to live it. I will always need to rely upon His Grace, love, mercy etc. to get me through my days, deliberately going after these things for myself, and then I freely give them out to others.

I live my life with Him in mind … which means I am learning to live my life in Christ Jesus. Believing and acting on what we’ve been told to do, is our outward expression of inward faith. This does not mean life is going to be easy. It simply means we know He will help us through things step by step, growing our faith all the way. The bible helps us remember whenever we forget, and we have the Holy Spirit, Who never ever forgets anything.

Now I live this life, here and now, attached to Him, obeying His ways, looking to Him to start and finish growing my faith as I learn to exercise it. We must keep on, keeping on. It is our God-given destiny to get the hang of the Spirit-filled life, loving what He loves, doing what Jesus would do. Our new life has been already bought and paid for, and we need to move our old thinking out of the way, and start thinking like He does. Bye 👋.

P 3410 God is Limitless.

/ DVH

“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” Galatians 5:22 TPT.

This kind of limitless love is not only ours to receive, but it is also ours to give away. We already have His overflowing love to give to everyone we meet … within us. When we have Jesus Christ in our lives, we have limitless love available to us. It’s our purpose. Just like birds sing, because it is what they do … we give away love. It’s natural. And it means we choose to stretch our faith by using it, instead of just talking about it. The thing to remember is that when we give away all of those things mentioned in Galatians 5, it is HIS love in different forms.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t seem have endless patience! However, I don’t have to have endless patience, I’ve learnt to ask Him for it, and then step out in faith and exercise it. This is a demonstration of His love through me, for someone else – and I give it away by not letting what I’m really thinking fly out of my mouth to punch someone else in the face! While I am doing this, two things are happening, I am learning self-control, and I am also learning what God’s kind of patience looks like. Meanwhile, I’ve also learnt that not everyone we meet needs our opinion.

LOVE, God’s kind of love – hopes all things, bears all things and it never gives up. Even though WE aren’t automatically like that, we can learn His kind of love by responding to His word using the faith, He has given us. The bible teaches us, in2 Peter 1:3: ”His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and goodness.” WE ALREADY HAVE IT!

So whenever we meet true joy, we are meeting His love. When we meet endless patience, we’ve met His love in action. even when we experience never faltering faith, this means we’ve encountered and been operating from the presence of His Love. We need to stop expecting other people to bring these things to us on a platter and start living a sacrificial life, because that’s what Jesus told us to do.

Love has so many expressions. That is what Galatians tells us. In our society, love has been downgraded into feelings, but God’s Love is a powerful limitless force – it constantly displays itself through actions. The Love that God Himself has for mankind displayed itself in Jesus Christ, and that is clearly explained for us in Galatians 5, and 1 Corinthians 13. Through these words, Almighty God’s passion for mankind’s destiny is revealed. It was fulfilled by Christ, and then released – and now it is a part of our history! 

Everything around us is a part of His story! Jesus Christ is Father God’s Way of endlessly saying “I love you and I forgive you.”  He says this to each of us personally, and those words are also an everlasting promise to all of mankind. Jesus is God’s Love perfectly personified. So what does that mean to me? I left my old self behind when I said ’yes’ to Jesus, now – day-by-day I choose to live that out. Read the book and see the Lord Jesus’ responses to other human beings. Do the same. He didn’t lecture people, He taught them when He had the opportunity and it was necessary, but most of the time He simply demonstrated what God’s love looks like in action.

Whenever we read about what Jesus did, do we nod our heads in agreement, smile, and go about our day without any thought of participation? This revelation of GOD’S LOVE CAN BE SEEN AND EXPERIENCED, daily. We are His demonstrators. As we read His Word, worship Him, talk and pray with others, or walk around enjoying everything He made, we are experiencing His love for us. Let’s pray for eyes to see Him at work in our lives and hearts. 

His kind of love was created to be given away, not kept in a box hidden from other people. God’s love is like the bread and fish that Jesus gave to the disciples, to give to the people who were hungry. Because we’ve been fed by His love, now we give it away. The disciples saw the miracle of multiplication He performed. That’s all WE do. We give away what He has given us, and He multiplies it.

And we give it away in the same form we receive it – by using our faith. Most days I don’t ‘feel’ anything when I sit down and start to write this blog. I start typing as He opens up His thoughts to me in ways that I can understand them. If you like titles, then let’s say that the Lord gives me insight. He takes the scriptures in the bible and turns it upside down and explains to me: ‘This works like that.’ That is how I write this blog. I am not wise, sometimes the phrases in the bible sound to me like someone tipped over a scrabble bag. But, as I pray, the Holy Spirit enlightens me. The second before that insight I’m as dumb as dirt. But there’s one thing I do know, He tells me stuff for ME first, then I am allowed to share it with you. And the Lord chides me if I am not doing what I write here. 

At the same time, I’ve learnt to press in, and ask questions. I marvel that SomeOne so wonderful, bothers to share with someone like me. That’s why I like to encourage others to press in and then act upon what the Lord says. I’m not special, but I know that He wants to relate to each one of us in personal, practical ways. His ways are limitless and they are there for the taking for everyone who wants more. Bye for today, 👋.

P 3358 More of Jesus.    

/ DVH

Colossians 1:3-8.“Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can’t quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you! We keep getting reports on your steady faith in Christ, our Jesus, and the love you continuously extend to all Christians. The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope. The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn’t diminish or weaken over time. It’s the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you’ve been hungry for more.”

Have you eaten too much of something you like, but you kind of still kept on going? Yeah me too. Maybe you’ve binge-watched something on Streaming? Yeah me too. Well today have I got news for you! I found something you can indulge yourself in that isn’t fattening or mind numbing – the quest for more of Jesus! 

People say this all the time, and we might easily feel like an inferior Christian, because that thought never even crossed our minds. My question today is: what does it actually mean?  We can say a whole lot of Christian-ese words sometimes, without any bible verses or experiences to back them up. So what does wanting more of Him look like? 

I can remember being so in love with my hubby that I would go long distances to spend five minutes in his company. Hmm. I would still do that, but I might need some personal assistance nowadays! He’s still the nicest person I know …  well, most of the time. I think more of Jesus means, at the very least, that I will want to spend more time with Him getting to know Him. I actively ask and look for the Lord in my day. When I see Him, I thank Him!

I’m just going to let that sit there while we both think about it. That’s because spending more time with Him means we need less time for us to do the things we have cultivated in our lives to relieve stress, and fear, and help us to cope. Yeah. I’m just going to leave that one there too …

I think more of Jesus is like falling in love. Ad when life gets difficult, we approach those things with Him as our Saviour, Lord and Friend. Then we choose to appropriate what He said He has given us, using our faith. That means WE DO SOMETHING. It’s an exercise of our will, and we accept whatever comes at us, because the bible tells us He filters that stuff.  If I need something, He will provide it – if we don’t, then He won’t. We live to make love our aim, because Love is His language, and that means we are looking at life through His eyes.

More of Jesus also means our value systems will become  like His, and our hearts will break for the things that break His heart. Because Jesus lived to please His Father, and we like being around Him, so we will choose to live that way too. Our needs and wants become secondary; we pray, ask, then we leave it with Him. He’s God He can do anything. If someone provokes us or pokes us in the ego – what will come out of us automatically is a help prayer.

All of those things are great aims!! But like the Psalmist says: “Such knowledge is too lofty for me to attain…” Psalm139:6. My translation to that bit of this Psalm is — we can’t possibly do this stuff and not exercise our faith. We need His help, because change happens one step at a time, but we begin with the firm knowledge that what Jesus did is already complete.

We no longer have to live like other people, the Lord has given us His word that He won’t leave us. He will also provide us with a way to get out of whatever dumb thing we’ve gotten into. Our minds and emotions, become secondary to His Word, because they can fool us into thinking that reacting the same way we always did, means we have not been changed. It’s a lie. Jesus did everything that ever needed doing on the cross. So we choose to use our faith to apply what He did, once and for all, into our own lives, now. 

There are times we can get stuck because our convenience wins over what Jesus said, but we know that repentance restores our relationship with Him. There can also be times we haven’t done the things we know He asked us to do. How can we learn to trust in Jesus, and want Him and His ways more, when we choose to be a slave to convenience and time?

This is the real point of today’s blog. I think we fail because we live in a fast-paced society where time is a thing to be used … … not savoured. So let’s look briefly at the consequences of not using our time well. We will probably stay in the same place spiritually, going up and down, always waiting for God to make the difference, when He already did! We allow His truth to be merely a reminder, instead of a prompt for change.

According to Colossians Chapter one, more of Him also contains a whole lot of thanksgiving! Actually, the bible says we shouldn’t stop giving thanks, no matter how we feel. So we need to practice thanking Him that He is in charge, even when it looks like He’s not! Now there’s something to go on with. Remember that’s not lying, it is lining ourselves up with His Word, instead of being led around by circumstances.

Paul thanks God for the growth of the faith of the Church in Colossae. He can see it because it is seeable. We go on and on about answered prayer, but what about Jesus’ prayers?? Paul himself has heard about the things that are happening in that church. God’s Word grows spiritual fruits, and that fruit is visible, not a euphemism. Wanting more of Jesus means we recognise the difference between what God says, and what is seeable and actually true in our lives. Visible fruit is proof of more of Jesus in our lives.

The believers in Colossae used their faith that what Jesus said He did, He did. They staked their lives on it. We need a whole lot less of ‘spooky filter’ Christianity and more fruit! More of Jesus signifies that we choose to obey what He asked us to do, and we get to see the results and so do other people. Bye.  👋

P 3293 Hypothetical??

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James 2:2-4: “Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”

When I read this thought today I saw something I haven’t seen before … but …more about that in a minute. The Lord often says to me: ” What the bible doesn’t say is just as important as what it says.”  It took me quite a while to figure that one out, but the Holy Spirit helped me by telling me: “That means turn the coin over.” This is a saying I have known from my youth. It means something is there but it will only be apparent when we exercise our faith, and actively press in to find out. We need to think laterally, with His help.

My point today is a bit like the parable of the ten virgins Jesus Himself told. 5 had enough oil, the other 5 didn’t. But EVERYBODY fell asleep. I didn’t see that one for years, even though I read it, and reread it over and over again. At the same time, I was keen to make sure I had “oil in my lamp”… the Presence of the Holy Spirit … so I could keep on burning, like the old song says. But the fact that the bridegroom was later than expected actually meant that NOBODY was awake and waiting for Him! 

Yeah. That’s kind of big eh? I think that means no matter how hard we try, we are still human, and our humanity will let us down. The thing was, the 5 virgins who came prepared for any eventuality didn’t miss out. Big clue there! That instantly explains to me, that near enough won’t be good enough. Let’s be so devoted to Jesus and His cause, that we will always go the extra mile. And that will probably include lugging along more oil than we think we will need!  I wonder … how often does convenience get in the way of obedience?

Now, let’s go back to James, the trip to Matthew 25 was a side thought, but still on point for what I want to say today. Be prepared for any situation. Just to remind you: “…  a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in…”  This poor man came to church. He was smelly, and dirty … a-n-d… he rolled up to church. Maybe he too needed Jesus! He couldn’t come in his best clothes because he didn’t have any. Imagine what would happen if a dirty old poor person turned up to your church and came and plopped himself in a pew, or on a chair in the middle of the congregation? Picture it. Hilariously, all I can see in my mind’s eye is that everybody else is squished up, far way, peering surreptitiously at this person. Maybe they were hoping nobody else would notice what they were doing?

It seems James had similar thoughts. “Stand here,” … as far away as we can get you from the clean people! Or  “sit there” … on a seat of the congregation’s choosing … preferably the floor! This whole idea made me smile.. It is amazing how little we know about ourselves until the situation occurs, and the smelly guy wants to sit next to me! Here’s a happy clue, BTW, if you are sensitive to smells … because street people can be very smelly — very few cities have free shower stalls available… Any-way, whack a little bit of Vicks Vaporub under your nose, it does the trick. FYI we used to serve street people for a number of years. Ya learn a lot about who you really are when you serve them! 

The reason for all that caution, in this passage, is pretty clear. The rest of the congregation won’t like sitting next to someone like that, and because the rest of the congregation are probably tithers … let’s not tick them off!However,  the nice clean rich guy might just like us, and if he likes us, then maybe he will tithe and the kitty will get fuller. Yeah. Like I said, you learn a whole lot about yourself. 

Funnily enough, without even thinking about it — Jesus took the sweet smell of heaven with Him everywhere He went! Earthly smells did not bother Him! He prayed for lepers and blind beggars .. all kinds of people. They were the people who knew they needed Him. The rest of us go to the doctor, or take out a loan. It’s a bit difficult to do that when the only collateral you have is yourself and a whole lot of grime. Being poor in spirit is a huge plus.

James is full of God’s wisdom, but at the same time, he is also full of the knowledge of how people like us operate. His advice is as pertinent today as it was back then. You see, he knows what the outcome of that kind of behaviour has, it corrupts the person who participates in it. It leads to discrimination and judgment. 

James is caring for the reader’s soul, because they were heading in the wrong direction with their attitudes. So he does what Jesus often did. He told a story. The Lord’s stories are designed to diagnose what is wrong in our lives — so they are a good place to listen and act. Did you know there are over 2,000 verses or stories regarding how we are to treat the poor? Maybe what James said, is not so hypothetical after all. Bye. 👋

P 3273 Spiritual exercise.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3160 Let your mind focus on these things.

/ DVH

“To truly know Him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace Him as Lord in all of His greatness. My passion is to be consumed with Him and not cling to my own “righteousness” based in keeping the written Law. My only “righteousness” will be His, based on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—the very righteousness that comes from God. And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus and to experience the overflowing power of His resurrection working in me. “Philippians 3:8-10 TPT. 

When I read this today the first thing I did, was to go back and read it all over again! Sometimes another version of the bible makes it sing. This one is like a symphony to our Lord’s incredible Grace, and it clearly shows us Paul’s personal thoughts. I urge you to read it one more time, and take notice of this man’s choices. 

What we choose matters – not what we say, or what we preach, or what we sing – what we choose! Our spiritual lives depend on choosing Him, first. Then we follow up our choices with scripturally based actions.The Holy Spirit does the rest. He can do so much with a heart that chooses Christ and His Ways over everything else. The Holy Spirit made this world out of nothing – think about what He can do with your choices. The harder the choice, the greater the power will be released to overcome. We can’t afford to let our feelings influence our choices.

One of the amazing things about Almighty God, is that He made so many billions of things out of nothing! He made man out of dirt and He made that dirt out of nothing. It is much easier to see that we are NOT ALL THAT when you look at us that way! I could sit in my backyard and add water to my own dirt, and make a muddy resemblance of a person. But God made a living breathing functioning human being out of dirt. Then He made a woman out of a rib. I don’t care how impossible your situation is — and boy we can all get into terrible situations that are not of our own choosing — this is your take home for today — God is so much bigger than that situation. 

We need to learn to trust in His Ways, His timing is perfect. He knows more about ramifications than we know about how to spell it! Here’s Ecclesiastes 3:1:“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:…” Galatians 4:4,5 says: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” For the Lord, timing is everything. He knows the end from the beginning and all the bits in the middle as well.

We can survive whatever is happening if we just hold on to Him tightly and wait for His timing. But, sometimes, in the middle of any kind of difficulty or trouble, help seems far away. We so often “…Have need of patience…” And we can easily lack the ability to “…let it have it’s perfect work in us.” (apologies to James 1:4). Patience is so much more than just standing around, waiting and hoping things will change. It’s a fruit of the Spirit. Fruits take time to grow, they don’t just turn up when we need them — unless God’s grace billows over us and we find we have something we haven’t cultivated. Now there’s a great time to thank Him!

Patience doesn’t normally arrive gift-wrapped and hermetically sealed. It must be cultivated, by surrendering what you want to do and say — at the very moment you want to do and say it (!!) – and then go on to deliberately ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. Next we step out in faith and exercise our teeny tiny, kind-of-soft muscle of self-control, and either stay quiet, or give a sweet answer. There are times when it seems that the other person has not appreciated what was just given to them— but this is where patience comes into its own. The more you stretch that muscle the more it stops hurting as much when you do it again. It takes a whole lotta of perseverance to grow patience. Some things grow by deliberate repetition, not by will power.

In the process of growing patience we will find our spiritual eyes opened in a way they were not open before. We will notice things that we have never seen about ourselves and others. That’s because we have chosen to look at this life from a kingdom POV. Once you get a glimpse of what He sees – well, you are hooked! Now I run to Him yelling “help, help’ all the time! I can’t wait to see what He can do with the mess I have somehow gotten into. We cannot afford to live in this world reliant upon our feelings – our feelings are not our friends, they lie to us – they want to be petted and soothed. 

Our feelings come under the heading of SELF-preservation. Even blind Freddy can see that self-preservation has little or nothing to do with God’s kingdom coming, right here, right now! And whether we can physically see Jesus or not, we have what He said written down in every language in this world. Written instructions can work even better than spoken ones – because you can keep on going over them. When the Lord tells us to let our minds dwell/focus on these things, Jesus is not trying to control us, He is giving us advice on how to survive what’s going on right outside our doors. Bye. 👋

P 2736 Do something different.

/ DVH

2 Timothy 1:7: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” I read this recently and I realised I had not been reading this verse correctly for years!! I missed the bit at the end … “and self-discipline.” In spite of our feelings, the bible says we already have the power to discipline ourselves, we were g-i-v-e-n it the moment we said yes to Him. I strongly suspect that we all like the thought that: “God doesn’t make us timid – He gives us power and love …” bit!  ”But the self-discipline … meh! Not-so-much.

I could spend a week on this subject mainly because very few people seem to be enthusiastic about dying to self. I can count on one hand the number of people I know personally who know how to discipline themselves. Most people I know have an unusual response when they read verses like this. They expect that they would be the exception, because they have legitimate excuses. Good luck with that one! We are dealing with Almighty God – the Person Who knows everything … if that doesn’t make your knees knock together … there’s something wrong somewhere!

People say things to me like: ‘I had a terrible childhood ‘ – We have been  blessed. We do not have to get stuck back there. So forgive, move on! Or they say something like …’you are just being mean, my life is full of difficulties and I’m very vulnerable right now.’  Mature Christians learn to take the rough with the smooth because they understand they are not living for themselves anymore! Let’s remember that Jesus hung on the cross with no clothes on. That’s vulnerable!! Lastly, here’s my all time fav excuse…’It’s too ha-ard, I can’t.’  Whoever said Christianity is easy, should be smacked upside their head every day for a year! Oh my, I think I just found some of that anger I rattled on about yesterday. Moo-ving on … rapidly! Of course we will have to pray to enter into this process of change, otherwise our flesh will rise up and cry ‘uncle’ way too soon.

It is bound to hurt when we stop ourselves from doing and saying things that have become part of the fabric of our old lives. If someone else points this stuff out, it is highly likely that we will probably get snarky at them. I have no clue who said this particular saying but it sure sounds good — they said: “Along with great power comes great responsibility.” If we truly want to be over-comers we will have to seek His help to deal with the stuff in our own personal lives that can take us away from walking with Him. That will not be fun. It isn’t easy either. But it is not impossible – I just need His strength, not mine. I know I will quit far too soon and pronounce the situation untenable rather than deal with it and persevere.

The bible says that the Holy Spirit does not make us timid. And that means if we are think we are timid it’s not HIM! It’s our flesh jumping up and down demanding to be fed or kept hidden. Unless we are planning on joining the undead it’s best not to feed our flesh anything, or hide it anywhere. Just saying …!! Here’s a great tip BTW, it’s a bad plan to feed your old man sympathy and pity – that stuff will turn into self-pity in a heartbeat. Treat these things like a surgeon, cut whatever it is out, cauterise it, put a nice bandage on it and start exercising the new YOU. The more we walk in our new identity, the more it becomes who we are.

Let’s not kid ourselves, this process can feel strange, a bit like you are betraying yourself. Because we’ve spent most of our life giving in to timidity, and calling it shyness – but it is really fear, and God doesn’t give us that! He gave us power, love and a sound mind/self-discipline. I like that it says self-discipline in the Passion Translation, it makes it do-able. A sound mind just sounds like something most people already have – we hope! But self-discipline sounds like work – and it is. 

And yes, I know that Jesus told us that: “His yoke is easy, His burden is light.”  Yeah it is. After we put that yoke ON and pick up that burden. We can’t go with what we can see, because this stuff is never going to LOOK easy. Christianity involves cost. Avoidance goes entirely in the other direction and it creates chaos. That means we are not in-step with the Master. His yoke, is not only easy – it’s REAL. Being yoked together with Him means we fall into step with Him, so we go where He’s going. His strength as our Leader holds us up.

Self-discipline is not just about admitting our own faults, and kind of laughing over it like we care … but we are mostly powerless to change. It is about engaging in His processes and doing something about them. We already have the power to change. We exercise that power when we pray for His help and step out in faith. Let’s do something different! 👋

P 2679 Stress – the peace devourer.

/ DVH

This is the dictionary’s interpretation of the word – STRESS: great worry caused by a difficult situation. People under a lot of stress may experience headaches, minor pains, and sleeping problems  As if life isn’t difficult enough!

Here are some of my own thoughts about combating stress. I believe exercise can help. Repetitive gentle stretching and moderate exercise gives my brain more oxygen to work with! Plus I use intentional breathing. I quiet my emotions and thoughts by simply concentrating on my breathing. And a few good night’s sleep in a row can help! Also do something fun to break the cycle of “I’ve gotta be, gotta do, gotta go, gotta help …” Instead prioritise helping yourself to get rid of the stress. Stressful people ain’t fun to be around!!

I think parents often find themselves striving to keep their kids lives on an even keel. When kids are on edge so is everyone else! My advice is to let them practice fixing their own problems, instead of adding their problems into your list! I do this all the time. 🙄 Older kids need to be given opportunities to resolve conflict and trouble for themselves – it’s a much needed life-skill. I’d encourage them to ask the Lord to help, but I would also pray for them. The thing is, we often problem solve things for our kids because if they are stressed then they over-stress us and … round and round we go! Pray God will help them and step away. If they are too young to think things through, then present them with two alternative answers to their barrage of questions – tell them the answer is this OR that.

Laughter and humour are great stress breakers. But if you are dealing with another person I recommend that you explain you are not laughing AT them – otherwise war may break out! Watch something you like on TV, that is not stressful. I use Youtube a lot. I put on some Tim Janis or Dappy T Keys and I just listen and watch the pictures! That stuff is like peace on a stick. It’s incredibly peaceful. Or you can listen to music that you like. Sit and read a book and zone out. If you are going to read the bible then read your favourite Psalms. Just don’t read great big swatches of it – it is better to soak, not study. Just read a couple of verses that show you how much God loves you, and regularly pause while reading, to let it sink in. 

People often behave irrationally when they are under stress – it is not intentional – stress has a way of sneaking up on all of us. The thing is, if you are stressed then it is more than likely the rest of your family will pick up on it and they will eventually join in! I believe stress is the cause of more disagreements and strife in our everyday lives than we actually realise. You can’t think your way out of it – because over-thinking got you into it!  FYI, none of us have the ability to solve a whole lot of problems all at once! Just saying …

Stress can tip over into worry when we are unaware of it. The mind winds up and shoots off in a number of directions trying to solve every problem in our universe  – then, quite naturally, our mind objects to being overtaxed because we are not made to deal with a whole lot of problems all at once! I recommend prioritising. Make lists if it helps but remember to cross things off the list once you have accomplished them. Human beings need the feeling of winning, of gaining ground, to help us keep on moving forward. So do celebrate your successes – do it on purpose!

There have been times in my life when I have forgotten what I was stressed about, (good thing!) but then I drove myself nuts trying to remember what I forgot. (Bad thing!!)  At the same time, I have been known to annoy people in my near vicinity with my somewhat over-emphasised problem-solving attempts on their behalf. A problem-solving person may not be what a stressed person needs! I found that out the hard way. Suggestions can just muddy the waters and frustrate everyone.

I have left the best until last. God does not want us to live this life like a frayed end. Please don’t leave the Lord out. He wants IN. He wants to show Himself strong and active on our behalf. I have often made the mistake of thinking that the best way for God to help me, is for Him to solve all my problems. Wrong! God is not our personal problem solver any more than He is our personal trainer! His aim is for us to get through the difficulties holding onto His hand, totally at peace and releasing that peace into the atmosphere around us.

John 14:27 says:“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” How do we enter this peace? There’s this groovy little word called “let,” it means “allow.” When we find ourselves buzzing about like a bumble bee trapped by a window, it is time to realise that we have let ourselves be overwhelmed by the circumstances. Time to stop and pray about letting things go and handing them over to Him. See all the above suggestions … I told you I like to make them!! 😊 Lastly, fix the things you can with His help, but relinquish the ones you can’t. Bye. 👋