Exploits

P 2816 Do great exploits.

/ DVH

Matthew 25:14-30 TPT: “It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master’s investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money.“After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’ “The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’

“The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’“The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.“‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’”

When I read this passage today some things stood out, so I have highlighted them. It always seems to be important to me to place the things the Lord highlights into context. So let’s look at this one the way it happened in the first scripture where it says: “…according to their abilities…”

The servants’ master had taken into account each man’s ability when he handed out the money to be invested. That would be so foreign in today’s society. Grading people into categories would be a no, no. It might even be considered demeaning, and in some instances it could be taken very personally. However, these few words show me that the Lord doesn’t ask us to do anything that we can’t actually do, as we operate in His grace.. And at the same time, He may not test you the same way He tests me, because He knows our frames, He knows how far we can stretch.

The second thing I noticed was this: that man who buried his portion of the money was capable of far more effort than he gave his master. I don’t know if he was lazy, or he underestimated himself, but the point is – he could have done better, if he had just overcome his fear. Instead he was underusing what he had been given.

If we translate this parable into what our part in God’s kingdom looks like  — which is what Jesus intended — then that third servant did as little as possible because of fear. Yeah, I know, that sort of clarity sucks doesn’t it? It’s actually so clear we cannot deny it. Jesus was pointing out to each one of us that fear is never an excuse. This master points out that living in fear and evasiveness is a terrible way to live …Like the man said, nobody else is limiting our capabilities – the reality is that we are doing it to ourselves! I thought about it like this: our next miracle may be right around the corner of us taking a risk, and being obedient to whatever He has told us to do. 

Jesus Himself once used the phrase: “the least of these…”  Not everybody is born with excess talent oozing out of their pores. Whatever we want to do with our lives for His kingdom — we will need a calling, some talent …PLUS .. a whole lotta hard work. Many people like to skip that last bit. Devotion to the task is part of the prerequisite for a kingdom person. Our devotion to Him translates into action on His behalf.

Jesus was God Himself, personified, but He still had to live this life like every other human being. The exchange with our enemy in the wilderness proves that He did not use the Holy Spirit’s power to get things for Himself. He refused to turn a stone to bread – even when He was hungry. What I mean is this – Jesus knows man’s limitations personally.

You know I would much rather try, and fail … than sit and hope heaven will fall on me and motivate me. It is easier to steer a moving vehicle than a stationary one. The Lord is a Redeemer – He can take all the bits of our lives that seem useless and make something glorious out of them.  God can take a man who was killing Christians and make the greatest Christian theologian this world has ever seen. Paul!

Redemption is transformation on steroids. It is outside the realm of our thinking, or our efforts, because our thinking is too small and our efforts cannot be sustained. In His kingdom, redemption is normal. If we are going to invest our lives for His sake, then we need to expect that we will continually undergo the process of redemption. That man who buried his master’s money needed his mind renewed!  So do we, because: “ … the people who do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Daniel 11:32. Bye. 👋

P 2425 We can walk like Christ did – using our faith.

/ DVH

“But the love of God will be perfected within the one who obeys God’s Word. We can be sure that we’ve truly come to live in intimacy with God, not just by saying, “I am intimate with God,” but by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.” 1 John 2:5-6 TPT.

And listen to this verse: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world know(s) us not, because it knew Him not.” 1 John 3:1. This world cannot understand Jesus Christ and His mission because most of them have never ever read the bible! They have no clue there is another way to live. It is up to us to tell them. This is one of our prime objectives – to fill the earth with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea!

Christians have the same problems other people do, but we are no longer alone. However, sometimes our hearts need to be awakened … and in some cases re-awakened, to the incredible power of Love, forgiveness, and transformation that was actually released at Calvary. To access that power we must live this life we’ve been given … His way … instead of living for ourselves. We cannot fit Jesus into the way we were living before we met Him.  Jesus Christ’s death gave us a new way to live this new life, as well as SomeOne to help us do it. Change is always in the air!

We can walk as Jesus did by walking with the same Person He did.The Holy Spirit. Now we’ve been given a brand new heart — the same heart Christ had for His Father’s will to be done. We’ve been remade … from the inside out! The bible says: ’The just shall live by faith…’ That verse means if we are not using our faith to live — we are not fully alive in Christ.

“This new plan I’m making… isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time I’m writing out the plan IN THEM, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I’ll be their God, they’ll be My people.They won’t go to school to learn about Me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They’ll all get to know Me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great.They’ll get to know Me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.” Hebrews excerpt 8:6-13. MSG (Read Ezekiel 11:9; 36:26.) 

We cannot change our own hearts. Trust me, I’ve tried, and failed … and I’m guessing you have too!! The very minute we think we are getting it right … pride gets us. And if we get it wrong … shame gets us. 😱 This kind of transformation only comes about as we deliberately choose to obey what Jesus said. That stuff in the bible is not a whole lot of suggestions that we can ignore if we find those things too hard! It’s full of instructions to show us what this new way of life looks like – so we can live that way with the Helper in charge. 

The bible is not a magic book, full of spells and incantations that we can quote to make this life easier! It is a description of what the people who know their God and do great exploits look like! That’s why there are also people in it who messed up, big time. The bible has stories about all kinds of people in its pages. By reading it we can see that without Him — without listening to, and deliberately following Jesus — human beings are capable of horrific despicable things.

This new life that we have been given, does not mean we ignore the dumb sinful stuff we have accumulated in our lives over the years. Now we use this time we have been given, to walk out that new way to live – past and present. It means saying NO to some of our favourite things. It will mean repenting in front of people who’ve hurt us – because there are people we’ve barely tolerated. It will mean caring if we have lots, and other people have NONE.

A new heart means a totally different response. It’s not about pretending bad things didn’t happen and hoping that will do – this heart brings with it a Holy Spirit-filled new reaction. It releases HIS GRACE, everywhere. Now our responses to awful circumstances will sometimes even surprise US! Now, we actively remember, Jesus took everyone’s sin away …whether they believe in Him or not. The people who have hurt us have no more power to change than we do unless they follow Him too! After all, we had no power to change before we met Him, and we know we’ve hurt others, then and now.

SomeBody Else paid that debt we owed. He sent us the same Holy Spirit He walked with to help us to walk like He did. He forgave, so we forgive. He prayed for those who hurt Him, and now, we do that too. He was tolerant toward those who lived by religion, and so are we. We have the power to obey Him, because the Holy Spirit will help us.

This means we understand our mission: we are to use the faith God gave us to transform our lives, and enrich the lives of others … by loving, giving and serving. That’s going to mean we will use our faith – all the time! 🥰

P 2382 Faith needs to shape how we look at things.

/ DVH

A renewed mind creates an environment for faith to be activated. But even so, we still need to go past renewing our minds — into acting on God-given revelations. Because our mind is not the source of faith – the bible alive within us and coming out of us, IRL, is!  We need a faith revolution. We need people who take every word that comes out of God’s mouth, seriously. Let’s start whatever we do, with the book!

Our God’s idea of faith needs to shape everything, even how we see any disasters in our lives.  Sometimes all we want is trouble fixed and everything AOK and sorted, so we can get on with what we really want to do! Did I say that out loud?? 😳 Most things we’ve believed in the past were validated by the way we read His book. We actively went looking for verses to prove our point, because we wanted life to be easy. So we found lots of verses that suited our theology, tied them all together and went with them.

Sadly we were reading the book to get stuff and be happy and stay happy! Instead of letting it teach us how to follow Jesus. For a number of years we rattled off ‘positive verses’ at each other and we went right round the ‘hard’ ones about dying to self. Unfortunately, so many Christians believers fell down this plug hole. We quoted things to and at each other, and waved those things at our Heavenly Father when we wanted something. That came under the heading — “God loves me and He wants me to be happy!” And off we sailed, into the sunset, waving these verses around, like some sort of good luck charm.

From now on, we need to look deeper into the book and digest what is in there! Jesus Christ’s life led Him to a Cross – but many of us think that we don’t have to follow Him there, because He already did all that for us. Really?? The bible is way bigger than our thoughts of gain. Meanwhile, did you know that in God’s way of thinking more than two things can be true all at once?? So here’s another different thought  — Jesus died to give us the power to live the same sort of life He lived. Sac-ri-fi-cial-ly. He died to give us the power to live for Him, doing whatever He did to tell others the good news. He lived with total dedication to God’s will, laying aside the charm and comfort of this life so that others could hear about God’s plan. That sure sounds like a cross to me!

Jesus consistently talked about the sort of faith that had difficult kinds of actions to go with it – stuff like forgiveness. Read the book! In the Beatitudes it says: ‘If your brother offends you … go to your brother.’ ‘Leave your gift at the altar and … go to your brother.’ You know as a younger Christian attending a lively church … I could never figure out why the road to church was not busy with people being reconciled. 

The same people who believed that God could do anything that they needed Him to do, didn’t seem to believe that reconciliation was important. Instead they simply avoided anyone who annoyed them. Or, as a last resort, they left that church. Here’s a fun fact – reconciliation is TOP of the Lord’s list. Christ started that list by what He did. He was an example for us. If we want to live a life of faith then FAITH needs to run the life we live. Not just agreement. The devil agrees with the bible! Check out James 2:19. 

If we take one or two, or even four verses that we like the sound of, and paste them over our lives, we are missing the biblical wider picture. That’s why we need to do more than read. We need to act on these things – practise them!. Let’s be careful of presenting one thing, or even a group of like-minded things as the only answer… when they are merely AN answer – one of many! Our God cannot be summed up in human words – He’s God. Our only response is to fall on our faces and obey Him. 

It is time to get rid of the selective weeds we’ve taken on board, the sort that can strangle true faith and total dedication to His will. Great verses taken out of context become a weed. If you don’t believe me then read Matthew 4:1-11, and watch with your own eyes … satan is trying to plant weeds in Christ’s heart, in the temptation in the wilderness!  

There is nothing like working with Jesus, doing things His way, to experience Him. Here’s a verse to pray over: “The people who love their God will be strong and do great exploits.”  Daniel 11:32. That verse is not just a suggestion – it’s a statement of fact! Daniel sure knew all about great exploits and his were very costly. Our faith shapes how we see things, so let’s look hard at what we think we believe and get rid of any weeds – and start reading and doing the hard bits to renew our minds. 👋🏻

“ …My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives His life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God Who loves me so much that He gave Himself for me, dispensing His life into mine!”Galatians 2:19-20 TPT

P 2340 Your voice is incredibly important.

/ DVH

Don’t settle for this world’s assessment of who you are and what you can and can’t do. Smith Wigglesworth was a plumber when Almighty God invaded his life. Peter and his cohorts were fishermen! This world we live in currently knows very little about God’s purposes – but we are blessed, we are already on a sure thing – we know HIM.

Sometimes, sadly, I actually think our world only knows just enough about Christianity to focus on our faults and sins, and I think that is our own fault. We blasted them about their sins taking them to hell for years. It’s no wonder we look bad from the outside. This verse from Ephesians 2:10 explains the reality of who we are now!

“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

There are things in this life that will not get done if WE do not do them as the Holy Spirit leads us. You might want to read that sentence again just to make sure it sinks in. 🧐 

I have not been well educated, I left school right before I turned 14 to go and work in a bank. I sorted cheques for a living and left the bank to get married at 20. I had my first child at 22, and all 3 children were born by the time I was 27. I know I have no particular talent to commend me. 

I once went for singing lessons only to be told I should not waste my time or money. I can draw quite well, but I’m no artist. I can cook but I’m no chef… hmmm… you get it. There is nothing outstanding about me. My one comfort is this – this world has millions of people, just like me. I have discovered that being nobody has given me a platform and on it I can speak to others, who could easily be discouraged by this world’s assessment of them, too.

I have little education or experience and yet … I ran a street dance evangelism group, I’ve also produced a musical, and written 3 books and countless short stories. None of them published BTW, and none of it came from my natural talent! But I’ve watched people sob and get great comfort from reading something I wrote – and for me that’s wa-a-ay better than any publisher could guarantee, because what Jesus does – lasts!

I lack notable attributes, or even fantastic spiritual gifts… apart from knowing Jesus Christ personally for the past 50 years! I am not an evangelist, pastor, prophet or teacher etc. But I have prayed for people and they were healed yet I don’t have a gift of healing. I have had thousands of words of knowledge, but if the Holy Spirit doesn’t give them to me I too have nothing lasting to contribute. 

What I actually do have is the best gift of all and it was given to me when I was born again so I can take no credit for it. I’m crazy about the Lord, willing to take risks just because He asks me to, and I have a passion to see the Body of Christ – ordinary individuals like me, rise UP in the power and strength of His might. I would love to see the Body at large stop leaning on, and hiding behind other people’s fancy sparkly gifts and do great exploits themselves. So they can give Him glory for what He has done through their OWN little lives!

Today, I wrote all this with my trusty left index finger cos my other hand is in a splint and my broken right upper arm has a mind of its own. I wrote it to remind everyone reading this that with Christ any one of us is a majority. And together, all those little bits of His love we have to give away, are incredibly powerful. You and I might only hold one little piece of our Father’s fantastic jigsaw puzzle, but that piece is so totally needed. You are destined for great things, not because you are great, but because the Greatest One ever, lives inside you and He wants to come OUT. 

Being ordinary is not a crime – there are millions of people who qualify for that label, and God can use us to change this world and introduce people into His kingdom. Be like the triangle in a huge orchestra, you might only have one solitary note to play, but play it in faith, play it with all your mind, soul, heart and strength …to the glory of God! That music you can play is needed – someone will hear you, AND SEE HIM! Bye. 🤗 

So how do you find what you are here to do? Start deliberately loving everyone who comes across your path, with His selfless kind of love. Your part in His plan will make itself clear. 👋🏻

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. 👋🏻