Faith

P 2278 A great way to stretch your faith.

/ DVH

Over the years, I’ve learnt that giving is one of the best ways to prayerfully grow our faith. If you are a regular giver and have projects or organisations that you give to, as in offerings – bless you! I’m crazy about generous givers, however they do it. 

However, I have found an interesting way to breakthrough to another level in my faith. It is simple. Give more! No, I have not lost my tiny mind, and yes, I know that is definitely not a favourite subject in these hard times! Most of us need more money … not less…please bear with me.

Human beings can easily settle into a rut. That rut can be an alternative or even a substitute for stretching and expanding our faith, because we think we are already meeting God’s requirements. ←Sadly there is no faith in the previous sentence! The thing is, we can get comfortable even with things like our giving habits. If we already tithe and give special offerings, that means we are probably already giving way above the ‘prescribed’ biblical suggestions.

Although this is a great system, it is still a system. We can get stuck in it and stop using our faith, and give out of habit instead. We need to remember that Jesus is described as the pearl of great price in the bible. We all like to tell Him ‘You are everything to me, Lord’ … then we inadvertently organise our lives to suit our own financial situation, our logic and liking. Living day by day using our faith is neither comfortable or easy. However because He is now Lord of our lives, so He owns everything. Even the stuff we don’t want to think about.

What we really need to pay attention to is whether what we own, can own us!  Realistically speaking we don’t actually own anything … and that even includes the people we love.There is this guy I’ve mentioned before in the gospel of Matthew 13:45,46. He found a precious pearl buried in the ground. He immediately sold everything so he could buy the land it was buried in! He shows us that money is a tool, not an end product. My point is we can easily get stuck in a rut and think that ‘ I‘m already giving above and beyond what is required of me!’  That’s the time to remind ourselves if we want to be guided by the Spirit then most of the time the Holy Spirit’s guidance will probably cost us. 

Meeting the requirements of whatever internal law or agreement we’ve personally settled on, is not walking with Him guiding us – step by step. So my policy in this area, when I realise I’ve become stuck, is to increase what I am giving to an uncomfortable amount.  Actually it is only really uncomfortable because I am stretching my faith by following His plans not mine. Faith is a muscle remember? 

I have applied this lesson for giving above what I’m already giving, many, many times. We pray then we increase that amount permanently, That action made me extremely nervous. In fact I discovered I was fearful in a whole lot of places that I didn’t even know about, simply because they weren’t being stretched. Then I realised had more undiscovered holes in my faith walk than there are on a 18 hole golf course! ⛳️ Eventually I also came to understand that it is not faith if you feel you can control it. Ya might want to think about that. 🧐

At the same time I also learnt that you cannot out-give God. For some reason, after being stretched beyond what I thought I could do, having faith for other things became easier. But whatever I have left monetarily— which, BTW, hardly ever looks like it will be enough —actually stretches further. Sometimes it may only be a few dollars of extra giving, but those few dollars matter. The sacrifice counts. In fact my faith in His ability to sustain my life on less money actually increases my faith everywhere else.

Even though our comfort factor matters greatly to us … another word for comfort could be inactivity. And that is not good, at all! Human beings enjoy having routines, budgets, lists of things we can cross off when done. Unfortunately things like that are novocaine to our faith walk. Our God LOVES adventures. Read the book. Giving is one of the best and easiest ways ever to stretch our faith. Pray, ask the Holy Spirit what to give, and then carry it out.  Forget playing this life safe. Be a risk taker, use your faith.👋🏻

P 2277 The value of silence.

/ DVH

“I stand silently to listen for the One I love, waiting as long as it takes for the Lord to rescue me. For God alone has become my Saviour. He alone is my safe place; His wraparound presence always protects me. For He is my champion defender; there’s no risk of failure with God. So why would I let worry paralyse me, even when troubles multiply around me? 

But look at these who want me dead, shouting their vicious threats at me! The moment they discover my weakness, they all begin plotting to take me down. Liars, hypocrites, with nothing good to say— all their energies are spent on moving me from this exalted place. Pause in His presence. 

I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the One I love, waiting as long as it takes for Him to rescue me. Only God is my Savior, and He will not fail me. For He alone is my safe place. His wraparound presence always protects me as my champion defender. 

There’s no risk of failure with God! So why would I let worry paralyse me, even when troubles multiply around me? God’s glory is all around me! His wraparound presence is all I need, for the Lord is my Savior, my Hero, and my life-giving strength. Trust only in God every moment! Tell Him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to Him. Believe me when I tell you—He will help you! Pause in His presence” Psalm 62:1-9.

Sometimes the very best response to troubles or difficulties, is silence. There are times when talking about ‘whatever it is’ is the very worst thing we can do. Talking about our problems and trials can magnify them – plus other similar forgotten events can end up tumbling out adding to everyone’s ire. You can end up quite literally talking yourself out of your faith! Plus, why would we want to exalt the works of our enemy? Silence helps us pull focus back into trusting HIM, rather than focussing on the thing that is causing pain.

At one time, Elijah had just completed a major outworking of God’s power through him, right after that, somebody with authority threatened him, so he ran away. Eventually, Elijah ended up standing at the mouth of a cave, wrapped in His prophet’s mantle, waiting for God in silence. Whether you decide to fast, and/ or remove yourself from other people, some spiritual things become much clearer without this world’s distractions. Simply by quieting your thoughts and waiting, clarification comes. 

Psalm 62 has that interesting little word in it, Selah. It means ‘pause and think on this’. Pausing and silence are two of the least mentioned expected attributes of a Christian but they are greatly needed. I’ve found that the Holy Spirit is rarely loud, so if you want to hear Him, you will definitely need to take time to quiet yourself and simply listen. 

At those times it is good to try to soak yourself in His word. I’ve read all the way through an Epistle in one go, often pausing, or quietly thinking. I’m waiting for Him to speak. In times like this, what we are saying, without words, is… ‘I bow before You, Lord.’ Waiting and resting are signs of respect and reverence, as well as acknowledging Him. They help us remember He is God and … we are not! 

I have even been known to fall asleep whilst waiting – I don’t think that matters, my spirit is always on and so is His! There are other times when my mind is way too busy because I am overwhelmed by the enemy’s threats, distractions, and lies. Silence has helped me become more familiar with the Lord’s peace. In the Psalms it says ‘..I have stilled and quietened myself like a weaned child at its mother’s breast..’ BTW, I’m not waiting to get an answer as much as I am preparing myself to hear His answer by clearing away external noise.  

I believe that waiting and remaining in silence is good for us, particularly in today’s busy world. Our world demands that we keep active, busy or distracted most of the time. Sound washes around us everywhere we go until we are saturated in it. This means we could feel overwhelmed when there is complete silence. Silence is not only great for hearing the Lord’s thoughts on a matter – it’s terrific for keeping track of your own! Being silent before Him is like taking a cool shower on a boiling hot day – I always feel refreshed afterwards. 

It took me quite a while to wean myself off noise … I had to deliberately practice it, but eventually I fell in love with this skill. I have started to think noise and busyness can be a place we choose to hide in – instead of confronting our own feelings and facing this life’s dramas. Pausing and being silent is valuable and a great skill to cultivate, I heartily endorse it, because it helps us pull focus. 👋🏻

P 2274 How’s your hearing?

/ DVH

Have you ever had wax in your ears? Many people wage a war against ear wax. They are often forced to deny that they are going deaf.😂 The trouble with wax is it builds up slow-ly. However there are times at our house when I suggest that hubby should put his finger in his other ear so important information does not blow through. And this subject is kind of my point today. Making ‘allowances’ for any disobedience is like allowing wax to build up in our spiritual ears. It is far better to obey quickly – we can always ask Him to help us.

“Why do you call me Lord and you don’t do the things that I say.” Luke 6:46. I just love the way God hides important truths in plain sight. We can’t get anything plainer than Luke 6:46! In the parable of the sower, Jesus goes on to explain that some people don’t have spiritual ears yet. But when we give our lives to Christ we get a brand new heart, eyes to see the unseen, and a wonderful two-way radio thing going on with Holy Spirit. The Lord explains to the disciples that the reason He’s revealing the truth of the parable to them is because they now have spiritual ears. ”The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me.”John 10:27 AMP’

A lot of people feel they can’t hear Him, but I want to say here and now IF Jesus Christ is the boss of your life, whether you are good at that or not, you DO have spiritual ears. If you have a problem then it could be you need to read scriptures about having ‘ears to hear’ so you can renew your mind. I talk to myself a lot inside my head. If I say to you, 2+2=…?  the place inside your head that immediately comes up with four, is where you will hear His voice.

In that place where you talk to yourself, not out loud, is where the Lord speaks to you. And here are some things I have learnt over the years about that. The Holy Spirit often sounds like that inner voice. Unfortunately, so does the other guy.  And that is where most of us fall off the twig because every thought that comes into our dear little heads is not necessarily ours. So the Lord and I have this fabulous system. 

When I think what I’ve heard was from Him, I go and check in the bible and make sure what I heard is in there. I often ask Him to remind me of more than one scripture that backs up what I thought heard. Hearing the Lord is an always an ongoing developing skill. Sometimes what we hear is very appealing to us – but it’s really only our own ambition or wish-thinking. Whatever! 

Sometimes the fruit of our thoughts makes it obvious who is really talking to us. But there are times when we like a thought so much, we attribute it to Him and paint it on a banner and wave that in the face of anybody who dares disagree with us. That action should immediately show us that what we thought we heard was not God … duh.🙄

Personally I hear the Lord the most clearly through His book. I’m reading away carefully and something that strikes a chord in me and I go: “Hello, what was that…” Then I do what Moses did, I pause and turn aside so I can further examine, pray over and understand whatever that captured my attention.

The amazing thing about God’s word is it’s different every time you read it. I’ve been reading it for a whole lot of years now and I always find something new I didn’t see before. I check my circumstances. If I felt God was sending me to mainland China I would want a lot more than what I thought I heard to make me go! And there would be a lot of prayer over it, and I’d get people I dearly trust to pray for me and give me their insight too. 

Often, because I believe in submission, I also trust what my husband says – I do not fight for my own way. That word fight is a big clue for me about my attitude. I am exercising my faith when I trust what my husband hears, and my God LOVES faith … and submission. Here’s something for free: I do not understand how people can say they are submitted to God and they won’t submit to anybody else – I call that rebellion.

Disobedience for our own comfort’s sake has way too high a cost. It costs the Israelites 40 years in the Promised land, and some of them died. It didn’t occur to them to stop asking the Lord for an instant  answer, and start wondering if they were being disobedient. Ask the Lord ‘what haven’t I done that I was supposed to do’ – if you suddenly lose your connection with Him. Don’t be amazed if He says you haven’t forgiven … someone or other. Disobedience makes us deaf.  Better do it. Bye 👋🏻.

P 2273 Look for fruit.

/ 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 5:22-23 TPT. 

One of the biggest problems with knowing about something, or someone, is familiarity. We often gloss or rush through familiar words without true comprehension. We simply don’t take it in. It is just too easy to mentally say ‘yeah yeah – I get that bit’  and miss the point! What is in Galatians above is HOW we identify the Holy Spirit. In other words, in order to know the Holy Spirit as a Person, we need to be able to identify what He does, and what His Presence produces, so that we are living aware of Him. 

The Holy Spirit is not just goosebumps, laughter or tears or any other feeling. Sometimes He is present with us but we feel nothing. His presence can produce feelings, but those feelings are not Who He is – because He is so much more than feelings! He made everything we see around us.  He needs to be our very very best friend. Having the Holy Spirit for ‘the Friend Who sticks closer than a brother’ is a fantastic aim. 

Jesus would not have sent Him back to all of us, if we did not desperately need Him. I believe Christ would never have gone away and left His disciples if He didn’t have absolute confidence in the Holy Spirit’s ability to grow them up and to lead them in the ways of righteousness. The Holy Spirit’s Presence immediately eclipsed their fears. It would be a tragedy to sing ‘Blessed Assurance’ and not have any assurance that He loves us and wants to be with us!

I think this is why His qualities are listed in the passage above. That description shows us the fruit of His presence in our lives. The reason I am writing about this today, is, we often do not recognise Him when He is present. Instead of looking for feelings, we need to start recognising His fruit. There are some people that I know and love, and whenever I’m around them I immediately see His fruit in their lives.

If we are to walk with Him day by day, minute by minute, it seems to me we totally need to know what He looks like, plus what He sounds like, when He is around. The Holy Spirit is the very epitome of modesty and gentleness, He is literally invisible. So finding Him can be difficult. His continual presence is our constant quest. We need to do whatever is necessary to protect our relationship with Him. If we need to repent, then we repent and stop doing whatever it is by making Godly choices.  

Whenever He’s around this world looks very different. The things we think we can’t do at all, suddenly seem utterly possible because His presence evokes confidence in God in us. If we reduce the Holy Spirit to feelings then we will miss Him, because He chooses to be about the Father’s business the same way Jesus was. Like the scripture in Galatians says, He is constantly producing fruit – in our lives and in the lives of others around us. Jesus told us we would know what kind of tree it is by its fruit.

It isn’t enough to sing worship songs Sunday by Sunday, and feel peaceful inside. That’s just the beginning, not the whole thing, what we need to be looking for is a change in ourselves and the people around us. We need to be able to identify in ourselves, those times when we feel upheld by His grace. Without His fruit, we will have limited evidence of His presence. His fruit is not about being nice or polite. HE changes and renews our hearts as we obey and embrace His words. Instead of losing our temper etc., we suddenly find, because we cherish having Him active in our lives, that we have extra grace to endure. This is how spiritual fruit grows, it grows through the process of obedience to His word and His particular instructions for us individually.

The Holy Spirit’s fruit cannot be imitated, it has to be carefully tended and nurtured within our own lives. We need to value Him above everything and everyone else. We must respect what God is doing in us, and take every opportunity to feed and protect His fruit by choosing to remaining obedient, and willingly. Fruit matures as we obey, then rest and wait. Our part is to stay attached to the (vine) tree. Staying attached to Him will mature His fruit. Bye. 👋🏻 

“And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Savior, the Holy Spirit of Truth, Who will be to you a friend just like me—and We will never leave you. The world won’t receive Him because they can’t see Him or know Him. But you know Him intimately because He remains with you and will live inside you. Jesus replied, “Loving Me empowers you to obey My word. And My Father will love you so deeply that We will come to you and make you our dwelling place.” John 14:16-17, 23 TPT

P 2272 The Lord will fight for you.

/ DVH

Exodus 14:13&14  “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

These verses from Exodus 14 talk about the sort of commitment the Lord has toward our own personal situations. The Israelites are our illustration. They have escaped from Pharaoh and now he is in pursuit, so they complained at Moses and told him to reorganise God because they didn’t like their current circumstances. 😳

First of all I think their responses are quite normal for a people who have no real faith – or for anyone whose God is a concept and not a reality. The very essence of the story of the Israelites and the Promised Land is they were constantly wanting God to prove Himself to them. These people had grown up on the stories about how they came to be in Egypt in the first place. They called Abraham their father, yet none of what they had learnt and memorised was a comfort to them. 

They did what many of us do, they thought following the chosen leader was going to be enough and while they were being delivered, God was brilliant, He was wonderful, let’s all sing and have happy dances together. 🥳 Have a party. But at the first sign of trouble because their faith had no root, they were like the stuff you see blowing around in Western movies … tumbleweed. 

In the ninth and tenth plagues, it was obvious that God was making an exception for them, it was pitch black for the Egyptians when it was broad daylight for the Israelites. The Egyptian firstborn died and theirs didn’t. It was made clear to these people, by signs and wonders, that God was on their side. He had a purpose in mind, and He was going to perform it. Sometimes we can think if we can only see a miracle, if only something spectacular changed, then it could increase our faith. That doesn’t seem to have worked out very well for these people! Here in these 2 verses, God is promising to fight for them but the fear in their hearts was greater than anything He said. 

The truth is, seeing the miraculous and the extraordinary can be a wonderful way to boost your faith, but only if you have a mustard seed of faith inside you in the first place! Faith doesn’t fall on us from the outside, it’s our hearts that need to be changed – we need to learn to trust Him, no matter what. These people’s hearts need to be softened toward Almighty God. It is all too easy to be crazy about Jesus when we first meet Him, but then the trials and tribulations of this life erode that faith to a point where we almost become skeptical, hardened against the very God we profess to love. 

Sometimes bad things happen, so we pray, we get other people praying, we find a bunch of scriptures that express our needs and hold them up to heaven, but the real problem is inside us. Our faith is not strong and steady. HE wants us to grow in our own personal knowledge of how much He cares for us. But we just want the pain to go away, or we need a rest, and we need an answer. Every unmet disappointment, every time our hope is deferred, our heart gets sicker and sicker. 

I believe God fights for us all the time and most of the time we don’t see Him at work because the only answer that is acceptable to us is: ‘I need this fixed, I need it right here and right now.’  One of the best ways to pray is also the hardest – ‘Thy kingdom come Thy will be done ‘ etc. ‘and please give me the strength and courage to wait for YOUR answer.’ Yet despite what the Israelites felt and thought, God’s plans for them never changed, they simply needed to learn to TRUST HIM! He was always there, sometimes working out of their view, paving a way into a new life for them. A glorious revelation of Himself. 

Christ in us IS the hope of glory. The way to make our faith deeper isn’t always to be snatched out of problems, the way to make our faith deeper is to exercise it when it looks like there is no hope. Hanging onto the fact that He is good! Our faith should always be in Him. Who He is – not what He does. 

“I know what it means to lack, and I know what it means to experience overwhelming abundance. For I’m trained in the secret of overcoming all things, whether in fullness or in hunger. And I find that the strength of Christ’s explosive power infuses me to conquer every difficulty.” Philippians 4:12-13 TPT

P 2269 We need to use our faith to access His Grace.

/ DVH

Think of Grace as a huge endless heavenly container that has all the provision you will ever need to access in this life for anything you need to do. It is limitless. It is time to rely upon His boundless Grace to change our ways of thinking being and doing instead of misusing it as an escape clause to remain the same not change. We can’t see it, BUT … it’s in the book! Having faith is about trusting God to be true to His Word.

At the immediate point of impact when somebody says or does something that hurts or irritates us … we need to take a breath and ask the Lord for help. It’s a choice. It’s a hard choice because we are used to making decisions without referring to anything else other than what we know. Or maybe in desperation, we try to make scriptures back up what we want. Faith is about Who HE is – can we trust Him to work everything together for good, even in our bad moments?

Think of it this way God knows the way through anything we come up against, no matter what difficulty we are in. This is why we need His help, to put this Grace that is so readily available in our time of need, into action. In Exodus the Israelites could not go into the promised land because  it was in signs and wonders and provision. We need to change our focus. Our faith needs to be in Him, in the One who did everything for us. 

We don’t have to feel ashamed of being inadequate in the face of trials and tribulations. Our GOD loves to help and protect us. The more we use our faith to access His grace the more our faith will grow. Faith is not just the thing we drag out when the sky has fallen on us, or something bad has happened. If we live that way then we could easily find that our faith muscle will atrophy, and we have no faith strength to make it through whatever it is that confronts us.

The Lord Himself told us to live by faith. Living by faith means it’s a day by day thing, sometimes minute by minute. The only way to strengthen this kind of Living interactive  faith is to continually use it. Unfortunately we are way too used to relying upon our own understanding and strength so we automatically do some things out of habit or personal ability. 

This means we are living our lives acknowledging the power of God but not using it. It is no wonder that faith fails to uphold us, when it is the emergency spare. To live by faith means we live by our confidence in the power of His Word, from His book. Because we have become so used to referring to what we know, and going on with that –  this will mean praying without ceasing, sometimes. 

Not the sort of prayers that we sometimes use and try to hope in …these honest sorts of prayers … like help Lord or I need You, Lord. Heart prayers, not just pretty prayers we hope the Lord will accept. He already permanently accepted us, forever. In our efforts to be reverent and to pray the sorts of prayers we think God wants to hear, we’ve lost the ability to communicate with Him in every day language that comes  truthfully from our hearts. He’s our reference point, which means He knows what we need before we do! Believing in His goodness, and acting upon that thought in mind, means we are moving in faith.

This does not mean that we run around like loose cannons blaming our mistakes on the Lord, and taking credit for the victories. It’s an attitude of heart that says ‘I can’t do anything without You’ Jesus. We do not lose our independence by force, rather we surrender in favour of His great great wisdom and insight. I often find myself praying what do I do here Lord? 

True freedom exists when you have the freedom to make a choice. Automatic responses are not choices either. They are a reflex action. Sometimes we do things ourselves because it seems quicker than leaning on Him. The more we practice leaning on Him – using our faith, the more it becomes the way we think. That’s called renewing our minds. Do you think Jesus was ever so distracted by His circumstances, or whatever was going on around Him that He forgot about His Father or the Holy Spirit? He started from what God said and went from there. He was still Himself, but He was Himself with the benefit of the Father’s wisdom and the Holy Spirit’s applications. 

Using our faith is an investment in our relationship with Him and whatever ministry He has for us. Faith needs to be like sneezing or sitting down … a part of life. Remember we must never be afraid of getting it wrong, Jesus redeemed everything but He cannot redeem our inertia! Grace is accessed by faith, no matter how wobbly that faith seems to be to us. Let’s live our lives believing the bible is true. He said He did it, so it’s done. Bye 👋🏻

P 2263 Always remember, Love is the umpire.

/ DVH

I have spoken before about hubby and I and the blessing we have regarding spiritual connection. We think perhaps together, we are one of those supporting ligaments described in Ephesians. Let’s look in Chapter 4:16 “From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.” God has graciously given hubby and I that kind of connection. Praise Him. 🙌 Now, we can both be as stubborn and determined to get our own way as the next guy, but we know that the Lord put us together for a purpose. 

However, if your marriage is bumpy or shaky, maybe you could start to pray that God will create between you and your spouse the perfect joint, so that each side can function well, fully supported by the other one. Jesus is the greatest cartilage we could ever ask for to keep us from rubbing our end of the other joint raw. Put Him between you and your spouse, or prayer partner – it is not wise to tolerate friction, that is destructive. However, Love will not put all the work on the other person either. Remember, we are meant to support each other, this is not a one way deal – with one partner drowning in the other one’s ministry.

If you happen to be single, then find someone you trust to pray with, and support them. Paul had Timothy, and Silas – he supported them and they supported him. Today is the time to fix any dislocated joints we know about so we can begin to move cohesively together. As we are Christians this means repairing things to the Holy Spirit’s satisfaction, as well as both of the parties. Otherwise, we will push that joining together out of alignment by ourselves. We need to deal with any dislocation immediately. Serving one another and supplying each other’s needs, helps the body to function smoothly.

This has, recently, become so apparent to Hubby and I because of my accident on Saturday.  In difficult times, one part of that joint may need to serve as a ‘splint’ for the other one so the repairing process can take place. Many times I have noticed the reason for marriages struggling is because one partner is forced into trying to maintain the joint but without the other partner’s contribution.

Think about it like this:  even in our fingers, health for our digit relies on the blood supply being able to get through.  In spiritual matters, we can hold up the growth process for both people by restricting the blood supply – the Holy Spirit’s input.  The bible tells us one half of the joint supplies the other under His guidance, and hubby and I have seen that work many, many times. I cannot do what I do without him.  And he cannot do what he does without me.  Ministry of any sort, is not supposed to divide.

Hubby is typing this blog for me, he is taking dictation, because I need both hands to type. When we are on the road, giving away bibles etc, God might give me a word of knowledge that sets hubby off on the Lord’s pathway when he meets the stranger. It is astonishing to me that I can give him a word of knowledge, and he can act on it, and it all turns out wonderfully – but not at all the way I think it will.

This is where trust comes in, I trust my husband and he  trusts me. This kind of supply for the other person is based totally on trust.  Sometimes he says, “I’m going to do thus and thus..”, and in my mind, I’m thinking, “That will never work” – but it always does.  We need to learn to have faith in each other, to have faith in Jesus IN the other person.  It appears that trust and ‘submitting to one another’ go hand-in-hand, and that creates a spiritual flow just like the veins in our hands – blood goes up, it comes back down.  The important part is the Blood.  We must not restrict the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

He is the star on this stage.  The two people involved have laid aside their own egos and attitudes … even the things they have learnt from their family of origin, when they do not align with the bible. The Holy Spirit loves to flow, but He needs yielded vessels that want to submit to Him and to each other, for the greater good.  Always remember LOVE IS THE UMPIRE. 👋🏻 Bye.

P 2257 Finding your way….

/ DVH

I’m aware that because of the way the internet works, every now and then some poor sod staggers onto this site, thinking it is about running, or exercise, or fishing, or cooking or … whatever. I have previously used some pretty unusual titles, and I suspect that that means there may be people who have never even heard of Jesus Christ, wandering in through my cyber-door. 

Well, welcome! 🥳  I urge you not to bail out too quickly. Instead, spend a few minutes reading this, because my daily blog is not huge, and you just might find out something you don’t know.

However, first things first… I don’t want your money! 😂 Everything is always about money nowadays so I thought we’d better clear that up right away! At the same time, I don’t want to sell you a  … ‘you-beaut-all-purpose-gizmo that will wash the car or feed your pets and bath the baby as well as fix your marriage!‘ My advice about your marriage is… you broke it… you fix it! 

BUT…I know SomeOne Who would be DE-lighted to help you! His Name is Jesus. So today, I would like to encourage anyone who has happened to wander in here, to take the time to read the bible. It’s online for free, at biblegateway.com  You can even read it on your phone – did I mention it is free? I suggest that you read the bible in a modern version where they speak conversational English, or you can even find one in your own native tongue. It helps if you start with reading a Gospel. You will find that word in the index. There are four Gospels. I’m personally, a huge fan of the Gospel of John. John explains exactly Who Jesus Christ is. 

The book of Luke is great if you are sick, he shares a lot about Jesus healing people. Matthew is full of facts and figures for those who enjoy statistics, and Mark is written in a story form. Mark’s Gospel follows Jesus’ life from the beginning right up until the end. All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus from four individual POVs. You know, everybody ought to read the bible at least once! Then you need to decide, for yourself, if you believe what you’ve read … or not. Stuff like – IS Jesus Christ Who He says He is?

At this point, you will probably need to know that the bible is not like other books. Other books give us info. God’s book reveals Who He is, to anyone who is deliberately looking for Him. “Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who sincerely try to find Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) Almighty God deliberately came to this earth in Person, 2000+ years ago, to show us how much He loves mankind. 

That’s Who Jesus Christ is – Almighty God in Person. While He was here, Jesus healed people, counselled them, and taught them stuff. But the biggest thing He ever did, He did when He voluntarily died on the cross for all our sins. Your sin, mine, the Pope’s, people who are liars, drug dealers, alcoholics, promiscuous people, gossipers, murderers … everybody’s sin. Christ chose to be punished for all of mankind. 

The question I want to ask you today … before I bail out, (as promised!) – is this. Do you believe what Jesus says?  If you think the bible is another ancient story like Pinocchio, or Aesop’s fables, then nothing will probably change. Except you might give this site a swerve next time! 🤪 But, if you believe that Jesus Christ is Who He says He is – then take the time to find out about Him, read His book. 

Look carefully to see what kind of a man Christ is. See if you think He is God. Then you need to decide what you want to do about it. You could start by asking Him to make Himself real to you. I met Him 50 years ago, and He totally changed my life. Thanks for dropping by …👋🏻

P 2256 Move!

/ DVH

Some people, in the past, have said that I’m a bit prophetic. Hmm I don’t know about that! However, yesterday, in my mind’s eye, I could see time like a large wall, stretching backward and forward. In this wall I saw a window. It was a large window but the scary thing is – it was slowly closing. I believe this window is called the window of opportunity. 

Meh! Ask the Lord about that for yourself.“And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and He will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but He will overwhelm your failures with His generous grace.” James 1:5 TPT. He straightens out my theology all the time!

Back to my point: what with Tsunamis, 9/11, Covid, the war in Ukraine, earthquakes, monetary markets crashing, food and medical shortages, plus various other awful things happening;  these things have polarised the world and affected everyone on this planet. It seems to me that nobody feels really safe anymore, because we have quite regularly experienced worldwide destructive events in an unprecedented fashion. 

However, this also means that the church all over the world, has a huge opportunity, because the people-who-don’t-know-Jesus-yet are ready for something real. And we are incredibly blessed because we know that Answer, personally. And, right here, right now, it’s our time to shine with the light of heaven, Jesus Christ. It is remarkably easy to put your light under a basket when things are overwhelming. But our time to live His way – I believe, is here and now. We must stop sort of squashing Jesus in, around the edges of all the fun things we can do, and live up to our Master’s faith in us. He is our place of safety.

I know that I know, that this is the time to start taking our Christian lives VERY seriously. We must stop thinking that going to church Sunday by Sunday is all there is, and take the faith that Jesus died to give us, and use it. If we do not start to use it, I am deeply concerned that we will lose it. As I said before, these are unprecedented times with unexpected and terrible pressures. That’s when the pressure to survive becomes more important than anything else, and real active faith goes on the back burner. The thing is, we need our faith now more than ever, because the enemy is distracting us away from our true God-given purpose.

Let’s believe and act on what we talk about. Hubby and I have been out there, where people are, and we know they are ready for something real. Like James, said, we need to show forth our faith by our works. Obviously I mean the kind of works that originate in His heart and are led by the Holy Spirit. It’s time to prime the pump of obedience. Sadly, because we’ve had a lot of unknown factors recently  – we are all a bit wary of more bad things happening – so we’ve kind of bunkered down, waiting for the storms to pass. But they haven’t. Praise God, it has opened the hearts of the people outside our churches, instead!

So what happens when we decide to take a risk and to talk to family, friends, and strangers about Him? We could get to look like a goose … and in my case, that wouldn’t be the first time!  Many people have crashed and burned in their desire to bring glory to their Master, Jesus. When we do that we are in some really great company … like the people who have gone home before us! It’s also time to face those things in our lives that we would rather ignore and hope they will go away. Our faults, our flaws, our generational, soul-destroying stinky attitudes and actions!  The Lord Jesus is absolutely excellent at putting broken Humpty-Dumpties together again. So true active repentance is the order of the day as well.

Getting this stuff wrong, ironically … is good. It is like a cleansing fire, it burns away all the dross that this life has accumulated. Pride disappears, so does fear. Instead, living for Him and obeying Him humbles us and sends us to our knees. This is not the time to sit back and look at our hypothetical barns, (Luke 12:16-21). We can’t afford to relax, or maybe even plan to build a new one! Our time has come. And we need every single one of us active and ready to obey Him. We all have a part to play in His plan. There is simply nothing like seeing the light of illumination come on when you are talking to someone who does not know Him. 💖

The alternative is to try to wait the bad times out, promising ourselves when things get better – then we will try to follow Him. There is another kind of trap that says that we will obey when we are more informed. It doesn’t work that way. First we obey and then we learn of Him. Stepping out is putting on His yoke. This yoke is not about Him blessing me while I am going in my direction, but it means I am following the lead oxen – Christ – and going in His direction instead.  Submitting to change, no matter how settled we are, or how old or young we are, stretches us. It’s time to wake up and stretch. Move it or lose it. 👋🏻 

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. 👋🏻