Faith

P 3394 Do you react or respond?

/ DVH

This subject has been a difficulty for many of us. If you have lived with a reactionary parent, you may find yourself reacting to antagonistic stimuli almost automatically. The people who illustrated this trait toward us, could also be our biggest source of distress, irritation and pain. Often the person who is led by this trait is impulsive, and they regularly need some sort of diversion. They live almost on the edge of their nerves and they have no peace in them permanently.

I think doing things on impulse can be great fun, I have done it myself … but doing it continually makes for an unstable, unsettled lifestyle. What I have written here is not aiming at criticism, it is simply my best illustration of what over-reaction can do. It can quickly destabilise situations and usher in instability for others. Someone with a temper might say: “That’s just me. I flare up, but I cool down again.” I’ve found when this situation happens to me, I’m often reacting to a perceived slight, or word out of place, rather than responding to whatever is really going on. Human beings need stability, that’s why the Lord Jesus is so incredible – “He’s the same, yesterday, today and forever.”  Hebrews 13:8. He’s stable.

The insecurity created by a reactionary response can foster a deep sense of fear of things being out of control. (PS It is much better if we leave Jesus in control – fighting for control leads us to a much darker path!) Because of my own upbringing, I had a huge need to study everyone, including those close to me, carefully. Purely because I was afraid of what might come next! So I learnt to read faces, and body language to help me deflect aggression before it started. That BTW, is still a reaction!

Reacting to a situation actually means something else, or someone else is controlling us. Something unforeseen has happened and we act defensively so we can cope but then we can easily be provoked further. I don’t want to get into a debate about whether this or that is right or wrong. Instead I think we give away our ability to rationally work our way through things when we react. It took me years to realise my reaction to someone else’s instability meant I was also reacting! But I did that stuff inside my head. I was simply managing and manipulating any potential ugly circumstances beforehand, so I could pacify or placate the difficult person or circumstances.

Father God has gently peeled back the layers of anger, despair and heartache, and He showed me that I wasn’t actually escaping, instead I was becoming just like the person who was treating ME like that! He began to teach me to respond instead of reacting. Reacting means we let someone else’s actions define or create a deficit in us. However, responding is about making a quality decision about our own situation or someone’s actions toward us. Reacting is much easier than responding – our feelings jump in and they are trying to control things we feel we can’t control any other way. We need to turn to Jesus, not a default system. Control in any form, and Christianity do not mix. 

Responding means you take a second to think about what is in front of you, and ask the Lord to give you His plan. Sometimes He says to me: “Just wait…”  One thing I’ve learnt is that some reactionary people don’t like waiting, they want the difficulty escalated or resolved, NOW! But responders assess, pause, and then they act. If we are having problems with a reactionary person, waiting can prompt the other person to get even madder. This type of person doesn’t like that potential silent space, it doesn’t fit their “accelerate into war,” or “fix it now” agenda. However, somebody else’s anger is not our problem. Instead we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us say something soft to turn away that wrath that’s coming for us. 

I’m learning to say: “You really matter to me. Let’s not damage our relationship, instead let’s turn down the heat and talk about it quietly.” Responding means you have taken control of yourself, and your own feelings. This is one of the ways we can cultivate the fruit of self-control. Our feelings aren’t useless, they just don’t have good leadership skills, because they don’t make good decisions under pressure. I have learnt when I wait, that the Lord will give me a scripture to hold onto. It helps me to bolster my faith, and it gives me something concrete to stand on. It helps me with my own response. Confronting a reactionary person is not necessarily the best time to use that word as a sword. That might only escalate things. 

However responding treats the other person like they have rights too. Controlling others so we can feel OK about ourselves, and get what we want, is not a good Godly plan. The bible says we get our worth in Christ. Our value comes from what He has done for us. When we choose to pause, then we have some time to choose to how to respond under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. If we read the entire story about Christ’s torture, punishment and death, we can see that He chose to be silent in the face of blatant untruths. His response was to say nothing. Responders understand they have the power to make things better. 

Like the scripture says in my blog heading: “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I PRESS ON …” Philippians 3:13,14a. Bye. 👋

P 3393 And a-w-a-y we will go… … again.

/ DVH

Very early this Sunday morning, we shall pack the last few items into our car and set off again. The Lord has asked us to go and take more bibles etc., blankets and toiletries to two separate hubs out in the country, because the weather has been so very cold and the people out there need to know SomeOne wonderful cares for them. Jesus, of course.

As we travel, we often also find ourselves comforting the people who help those who are down and out. The government workers suffer because there are far too many people and not enough funds. Plus as we go, we pray for and help those whose lives have taken a terrible turn and they are now on the streets, or hiding from brutality, grief, and chaos. They are the homeless and defenceless.

The news has finally begun reporting on the crisis our farming communities are currently facing. Many families on the land rent their properties and their rent has gone up too. And some, who have a mortgage, are now facing those awful rising interest rates. Sadly, the oil crisis has caused the prices of fertiliser, feed, seed and spray to rise. 64.1% of farmers have been heavily impacted by rising transportation costs.

Australia runs well because of our truck drivers, but it is a hard life, driving vast distances, and the roads are often not good out in the bush. All these people need our prayers, plus any emotional, practical, and financial help we can give them. When we act like they don’t matter, we are biting the hand that feeds us. They provide our food!  Let’s do more than think about that.

Here’s some info -14% of our entire population, that’s approximately 3.7 million people Australia-wide —including one in six children …are currently living below the poverty line. I am choosing to speak for those human beings among us who have no voice, they are too busy to have one!

Especially farmers – those faithful men and women who are far too busy getting up at 3.00am to 5.00am to milk their cows or pick their crop, to be complaining about the way someone else lives. The people in our cities simply cannot afford to forget them. Those who work on the land suffer the hardships of this great, wonderful, sometimes frightening land we live in — along with children, the elderly and the disabled. We need to help each other. 

My own personal success rate with growing our own fruit and veggies at our house is about 5%. So I definitely need them or I would starve. I don’t even want to begin to think about killing a chicken! I just thank God for someone with greater skills than I have, who will do that for me. Maybe today we can take the time to prayerfully remember those people who put the food on our plates. And I don’t just mean just the supermarket magnates – who have entirely different problems! I mean the little guy stocking the shelves all day every day, just so you can have your favourite brand of Cornflakes.

In the past 21 years we’ve found that we don’t always have to give money to help, even a tiny bit of love shared, lightens the load. We just try to spread kindness, compassion around wherever we go, as He leads us. When His Grace visits these precious souls He loves so dearly, we’ve seen people with tears pouring down their faces because we simply came to help them however we could. “… I was in prison and you visited Me…” Matthew 25:36. Poverty, despair and abuse, are all types of different prisons. 

The Body of Christ has been told to live this way. It’s not an optional extra. Over the years, many of us have left ministry to our leaders, instead of understanding that we can all do something.  This time some children in a local school bagged up the toiletries for us. When we take care of the poor and disadvantaged, we are doing it for Jesus, because He has chosen to totally identify Himself with them. He has also been rejected and misunderstood by the world around Him. Not to mention His parents, and immediate family. (Mark 3:20-21), (John 7:1-5), (Mark 3:31-35).

For three and a half years the Lord Jesus Himself lived on the road, going from town to town, walking long distances. And He lived like that to totally identify with all of us. He slept by the side of tracks, and relied upon the kindness of friends and strangers for food. He even ate grain straight from a field, and drank water from a well!

At the beginning of His life – not long after He was born, in the poorest of circumstances, His parents took Him as an infant and ran for their lives from persecution. This is one of the many things I love about the Lord Jesus. It says: “…He shared our sorrows and pain….” Not just in theological theory, but in practice. A follower, is someone devoted to Jesus’ Ways. They choose to pick up their cross and learn from the Master Himself, daily.

Jesus Christ, God incarnate, deliberately chose to live like we do. I remind myself … that the KING of heaven chose to live like an ordinary human being. This means He knows suffering, firsthand. After all, none of us can live this life without bumping into it! That’s why the Lord Jesus is the perfect Saviour. His compassion for mankind is so much greater and all encompassing than we can imagine. We don’t have to be millionaires to care or share. When our lives are not our own, its easy. We just share whatever we have.

So off we go again… Bye …🚙  PS I’ll be writing blogs as we travel, and a huge thank you to all those who are praying for us.

P3392 Wisdom must be sought.

/ DVH

Sometimes we verbally understand, but we still can’t see what Jesus is showing us, because our minds are so filled up with the things of the ordinary life we are living. We listen carefully, but there are times when we can’t hear what the Lord is saying – because we already have a preconceived idea about the subject and the answer. Those things stop us from mixing what we read, or can see, in the bible, with faith. The following thoughts are suggestions by the way, and I hope they will prove to be helpful in the area of gaining wisdom – they help me. The bible clearly tells us in James 1:5-8: 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” Double-mindedness is sure to shoot any one of us in the foot. To have a single mind, we need to keep our focus on what Jesus wants. He is more important than our own personal, or even denominational principles.

Here are four keys I really like and use, that talk about walking in wisdom. The first is we need to live prepared to say: “I’m sorry.” There is nothing more powerful than a genuine apology prompted by repentance. Some of us say: “I’m sorry” like we are saying: “Would you please pass the salt?” Sadly, that can be merely lip service, not repentance. I believe “I’m sorry” is a heading, under which both people can come to understand one another better. This means we will gain back our brother and learn something … all-at-the-same-time!

My next step about finding and recognising wisdom is this: “I need help.” In the verse above from James, he advises us that we should ask the Lord to help us. Father God Himself is the source of all wisdom. He knows what we need to hear, and how we need to hear it. In my limited experience, many people often go from one person to another asking the same question. It seems to me they are looking for someone to agree with what they think or hope, rather than actually seeking God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom is an arrow that shoots straight at the heart – it does not miss its mark. Man’s wisdom can be corrupted by human agendas.

The Holy Spirit’s wisdom is sound and strong, it doesn’t have to look for a consensus, because His Word can stand up anywhere, despite any opposition. When we count how many people said this, and how many said that, and then pick a winner suiting ourselves, that’s foolishness. Our Heavenly Father’s wisdom is sovereign, and if we want a second opinion about what we think we’ve heard from the Lord, then we need to go and dig about in the bible, or find someone else, a more mature Christian, who knows stuff we don’t yet. Some people have walked with Jesus for a while, and they’ve picked up His wisdom along the way. 

That leads me to my next point, which is this: “I don’t know.” We haven’t “arrived’ anywhere – we are all still in His processes, so we are always going to need to hear His point of view. The bible is a huge book that has so much in it. Give yourself a break, not knowing everything is not a disaster, it’s human. Feel free to ask questions of the pastor, or more senior members of the Body of Christ. Do a word study for yourself.

Most of the wisdom I have personally gleaned, comes from doing things the wrong way first! Sigh. Not knowing in our hearts, or understanding something is not a sin. It doesn’t make us stupid, or, even worse … un-spiritual! We often accidentally misunderstand the Lord and each other. And the Lord is non-partisan – He gives wisdom to profit everyone, not just a select few. In today’s world, knowing things equals power. Our carefully cultivated, deep abiding respect for the Lord and His Ways, is the beginning of wisdom.

Here’s the last one: “I was wrong.” All of us could find ourselves stumbling over this one. It has become very easy to avoid responsibility for our own actions. People move from denying whatever happened, to publicly stringing others up naked, by their toenails … out of pure spite or revenge. We dare not use His truth to prove our own point, unless we are sure He asked us to do it. That’s not what truth is for!

I’ve noticed that other people are so desperate to vindicate themselves they resort to using the media to make a point. Saying things like: ‘It’s not my fault! It can’t be my fault, I will fall apart if it turns out to be my fault. NO! A thousand times NO … I simply must blame you, because I can’t face my own sinfulness and lack of love. ERGO: YOU made me do it. It’s YOUR fault.’

That sort of attitude cannot foster a cohesive and interactive congregation, where relationships can thrive. It can also be why churches have cliques, or why we shop around and try to find someone else who shares our pet answer to life – simply to use their opinions to reinforce ours. In other words, I’ve decided my safety will take precedence over yours, and now we are stuck in a situation that is going nowhere.

So! Let’s recap: we have four less-than-popular attitudes that could limit the possibility of us walking in wisdom as His child, unless we choose to take them in. “I’m sorry,” I need help,” “I don’t know,” “ I was wrong.” These things will all come naturally as we learn to embrace humility. We can easily limit ourselves by working hard to maintain a point of view that is not a reflection of His heart toward others. Lastly, God’s wisdom must be sought, treasured, and applied to ME, first. Bye 👋.

P 3390 Without Jesus we can do NOTHING…

/ DVH

… ergo … Jesus must become the central focus of our lives. He talked about a way to live – not just a life-style with optional extras. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. Nothing eternal can happen without Jesus, and what He has already done for all of us. Nothing. He died, rose again and sent us back the Holy Spirit to help us, and now we dare not do anything without that guidance. After all the Holy Spirit is the Spirit Who helped Christ live and die, for His Father’s glory.

Let’s chew on this next scripture a bit: “If I give all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3. If we can do nothing without Him, (and the scriptures make that clear), then why would we get up every single day and try very hard to do the things that we think or hope will please God? Instead let’s make His kind of love our priority, and stop striving our way through each day. Love has to be our starting place not an add-on. Every time we listen to the Holy Spirit and do things Father God’s way, we are glorifying the Father.

Jesus deliberately sent the Holy Spirit back to help us.“I will not leave you alone, I will come to you.” John 14:18. Listening to the Holy Spirit means we are listening to Father God’s will. In another version it says: “I will not leave you as orphans.” Because of God’s great love for each one of us, we are not orphans, because we are never alone. He has promised to be with us. If we want to live this life in fellowship with Him, we need to learn how to speak His language of love and remember that everything He does comes from that love. Here is something to think on:  it is utterly impossible to speak ‘love,’ and go out and live and act like everyone else does. That’s why we’ve been called ‘vessels set apart, fit for the Master’s use.‘

So, I need to do more than just memorise the scriptures, although: ‘…hiding His Word in our hearts, so we may not sin against Him”… is not a bad thing. However, as we learn and experience what the bible says about the way God Himself sees love, then we will begin to understand how to speak His language. Love sent Jesus to the cross — first of all it was His all-encompassing love for His Father, plus His overwhelming love for all of mankind. Love for us caused His Father to send Him here in the first place! If the Lord Jesus could do nothing without the Holy Spirit’s help, then neither can we.

Let’s look at the way Jesus faced death: “And going a little farther He (Jesus) fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 36:29. The Lord prayed for relief … for rescue … for a way out … but there was none. The next time it appears as if you are stuck in something or other, then try praying the prayer Jesus Himself prayed when He was faced with the unthinkable. “Not what I want, but what You want Father.”

The major difficulty we face daily, is that we want an easy answer to everything, so we can continue to live our lives uncluttered by complications. But that is not how God loves – He sees trouble and difficulties as normal – as opportunities for change . (John 16:33) His love looks for the best in us because He can already see the results! I think, for Almighty God, cost is a part of expressed love and the results are often long term! We can’t afford to do this living day-to-day stuff – without His ongoing guidance. And He has not left us alone.

It can be easy to ask: “why won’t God answer my prayers? Well, maybe neither you nor I know what’s good for us! Perhaps the Lord has entirely different plans for our specific situation … ask Him! “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11. I’m sure you can see from that verse that the Lord has our future in mind, not just the immediate present. The nation of Israel became Jesus Christ’s own people – God’s plans for Israel were already in place.

There is more than one way to look at the things we think that God is saying. I think this is why we shouldn’t use the scriptures to hurt one another, because the bible can say more than one thing at a time. It’s in layers. Have you ever read a verse and gone back 6 months later and seen something brand new in it, something you had never seen before? Maybe that’s why brother-such-and-such doggedly says: ‘this verse only means that’ … and sister I’ll-always-argue-with-you says: ‘no it doesn’t, it means this.’ It may well be that both people are just looking at the same thing from a different direction!

We can’t understand what the Lord is saying, if we already have a pre-conceived idea what the answer should look like. Let’s live this brand new way of life with bigger thoughts. His. We can do nothing without Him. 1 Corinthians 13:12  “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly just as He knows us!” Bye. 👋

P 3389 It’s always Personal.

/ DVH

I believe the Lord treats each one of us as individuals. Especially when it comes to salvation. Many people make a strong personal decision that they want to follow Christ, and then they start going to church. For others baptism is a catalyst. And some hear something preached that strikes them in the heart and they are convicted and convinced of their need for a Saviour. An even smaller group are simply pole-axed when Jesus sovereignly makes Himself real to them.

We only know about the 12 men Jesus called —- but others also followed Him around — 72 went out on a mission trip, and there were 120 in the room at Pentecost. We don’t know their stories. These are all legitimate ways to get to know Christ. Ananias and Sapphira were followers of Jesus until they decided what Jesus didn’t know wouldn’t hurt Him. It’s what we do about stuff next, that matters.

The place many of us stumble is in the area of commitment. Total commitment. Those people all have one thing in common – the Lord Jesus means everything to us. Whatever He wants us to do, we do. In contrast, loving Jesus, and going to heaven seems to be more than enough for others. And many of us think that total dedication belongs to people like pastors, evangelists, missionaries, prophets etc. Today I want to talk about the importance of moving from … Getting to Know Christ — into deliberately choosing to follow Him, day by day.

The bible shows many examples of this, I have chosen two. In Matthew 19:21 it says: “Jesus answered him, “If you wish to be perfect [that is, have the spiritual maturity that accompanies godly character with no moral or ethical deficiencies], go and sell what you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].

The guy in this story walked away, sad because He was too attached to material things. This is why I want to differentiate between knowing about Jesus and deliberately following Him. This choice is every individual human being’s responsibility. We choose for ourselves to change the direction of our lives, get rid of the things the Lord says to get rid of, and then walk in this world the way He walked in it. It is not enough to agree with Him, or even like His principles. “A disciple, when He is fully trained, will be just like His Master.” Luke 6:40.

Let’s read John 6:60. This comes up as Jesus talks about eating His flesh and drinking His blood:  “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”  

We can often be offended by the bible, because it jumps on the things we think are OK. Why did these people quit? Because what the Lord Himself said offended them. These people judged Him, they said; “That’s just wrong. I’m not doing that.” It would have been better for them to simply ask what the Lord meant by what He said, but they took it literally and left. People leave churches and Christianity itself for even sillier reasons. There is a deeper meaning in what the Lord said here, and the people who walked away didn’t press in to find out what that was.

He will test each one of us. He knows what is in the heart of man and He tests us, because He is preparing us. Love does that! It sees what is coming next. We prepare our children for school, when they are tiny because we know they will have to go. God’s love for us means He does not want us unprepared for what comes next. We learn to train our mind, body and spirit into obedience to Christ – and like James says, the hard bit is to teach our tongue not to flap about saying anything and everything!

I wish I could tackle the problem here, of the Charismatic bent to feel something when we follow Jesus. The truth is, more than half of us feel nothing. We set out to do what He says to do, acting in obedience, not on feelings. I personally feel nothing most-of-the-time. The bad feelings however, can sometimes assault me all over the place! I’ve had to learn to choose to believe the Lord, no matter what else is going on – in season and out! For years I struggled with the ‘feeling stuff people” who seemed to fall down or laugh or cry at the drop of a hat. I was jealous (!)—  now I’ve learnt that Father God values our obedience no matter how we feel. John 20:29.

Following Jesus is personal. Just like being a Christian isn’t an inherited thing, every single one of us needs to choose for ourselves Whom we will serve. Sometimes daily. I cannot blame you, or others if they are making my life difficult – my response comes from me. It is very hard to grow the fruit of self-control. Taking what we read in the bible every single day seriously is personal. When I read about others in the bible I ask the Lord: “Do I do that?” If it is a bad thing, then I repent on the  spot. If it is a good thing, then I thank God for giving me the Grace to prevail under difficult circumstances. Bye 👋. 

P 3388 Just include Jesus in everything.

/ DVH

I want to start today’s blog with something that the Lord has said: “WE CAN demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. WE CAPTURE, like prisoners of war, EVERY THOUGHT and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 TPT. Now we know what God says, let’s move on into real life and how that works for us. We want to remove any seeds of opposition and doubt that will stop the tree of His life from growing in our lives.

Here’s an imaginary scenario — the roads are busy, and your kids are squabbling in the backseat of the car on the way home from school. On that same day, the electricity bill turned up and you know you can’t pay it, because all your financial reserves have been exhausted by other important things. Maybe you are a single mother, and your ex has suddenly decided to disappear without paying the alimony you and your kids need. Someone cuts you off in traffic and nearly causes an accident.

These sorts of situations are where temptation grabs us. I think we fall prey to this stuff, because we think that temptation is about deliberately doing something really terrible – like robbing a bank, murdering someone or sleeping around etc. —but it seems to me that this life tests us far more regarding ordinary, everyday things. All those places where anger and frustration seem to be just the normal response. However, if we deliberately choose to trust what we know about God Himself over, and above all our circumstances, then we will learn to manage our thoughts with His help.

Jesus wants to be IN every part of every single thing that affects our lives. But if we only ask Him to help us for the big things – the little things will have a collective negative result. It’s those little foxes, that spoil the vine and wreak havoc with the fruit! It seems normal to think what has happened to you, like this: “It’s not fair.” That’s the place to put the stop sign! Taking thoughts captive is about dealing with ourselves asap, because after we have succumbed to temptation it is harder to walk ourselves back. Physical responses become engaged once our thoughts are racing.

Not every thought that enters our head is ours. That random thought that flits through my mind is not necessarily ME talking to myself. Did you know that the enemy can even use our own ‘thinking voice’ to trick us into assuming that we came up with some hair-brained scheme or other? he loves to target us when we are under pressure. Here’s what happened as a result of that fiasco in the Garden of Eden. Mankind actually gave satan access to influence and put thoughts onto the screen of our minds, simply because WE LISTENED TO him. 

Now he and his minions take advantage of any hard situation that crops up. Maybe we have a random icky thought, and then we feel bad. Right then satan turns around and bashes us with self-condemnation. “You are supposed to be spiritual,” he hisses at us. he gave us that thought and now he is going to use it to beat us up. The bible tells us what to do with stray icky thoughts. We prayerfully take them captive, because we want our knowledge of Jesus to be more important, and prevalent in our minds, than those other thoughts are.

What to do? Let’s start with the lie. Start by hitting that sucker with the truth. Take note of your thoughts and bang them on the head with scripture. Even if it is muddled it is still His word! It’s about you using your faith, not just accuracy. It’s not a magic formula, it’s Jesus, He loves you and He reads your heart. “There is no condemnation for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS.” Romans 8:1. We are In Christ Jesus because of what the Lord Jesus did for us. These tempting situations are far more about our faith working for us, than they are about getting stuff right, through our own efforts.

There are times we can be tempted to try harder because we are very busy. The phone keeps going, the boss wants something done, like yesterday. The kids are whining and nagging at you, so you pick yourself up off the floor and make yourself do that thing that you don’t want to do. You are tired, so it is easier to just get on with it.

Your rationale goes like this: ”I prayed at the beginning of the day that the Lord would be with me and help me, and I took care of business with Him. So now all day, I will just do the next thing.” That’s not the optimum way to approach this subject. Jesus wants to be with us to help us with every-little-thing that happens in our day. He wants us to win the battle against unproductive works, because those things rarely give God glory. Right about now you could be thinking: “Okay, but I’m a very busy person, I don’t have time to stop and pray, and these things keep flying at me.”  Yup! That’s what the other guy is hoping for —- he wants you to go back to trying harder, because it seems easier. Here is my suggestion just quietly, say “HELP!”

The Holy Spirit is here to help us. Once you’ve asked for His help, then tackle what needs to be tackled with His help, from His point of view.  Following Jesus means we include Him in everything. The good, the bad, and the ‘OH! my goodness what have I done now?’  Walk with Jesus, He will work with you and help you. Bye 👋.

P 3387 Just to be clear.

/ DVH

“But if you live in life-union with Me and if My Words live powerfully within you—then you can ask whatever you desire and it will be done. When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are My Mature disciples who glorify My Father!” John 15:7-8 TPT.

What a great scripture eh? We are called to demonstrate His Ways and these verses tell us how to do it. When we live this life unified with Him, we will automatically bear fruit. Not just because we can quote the bible, but because we are living the bible day by day, minute by minute. Doing that writes His law on our hearts! No matter what comes at us, we’ve learnt to thank Him for showing us the way through. 

Anybody can argue with a theory. If we aren’t living out His Word every single day, then all we have is a THEORY. It’s not faith, because faith is a VERB, as well as a Noun. Just like LOVE — that’s a verb and a noun too! Nouns are names. Verbs, on the other hand are doing words.

This verse is telling us that when His Word has powerfully impacted our lives, we will only pray for what the things that Jesus would pray for if He were here. We can be trusted to have His mindset in our hearts, not our own. Things aren’t about me anymore, they are about Him and His kingdom. Our faith is not just nice words bundled up for us every week by the pastor – Jesus is our inspiration, our Leader, our passion. It’s “I am the Vine and you are the branches,“ in another form … I call it the NO SAP, NO FRUIT method. Be a good gardener and protect His fruit in your life ’til it is fully formed.

We all like to think that Jesus is with us, but sometimes we only want Him to be with us to answer our prayers, and bail us out of the dumb stuff we cheerfully jumped into. Many times in my own life the Lord has said to me: “Repent. You willingly walked into that mess now turn around and walk out.” I imagine not many people would like that theology – me included – so I asked Him for a scripture. He gave me too: “Samson, and Jonah.”  I checked, they both made a mess and had to walk it back, at personal cost – yet they experienced God’s mercy and redemptive power in the end.

The secret to growing good sweet fruit is staying alert to anything that might damage it. Repentance is not just saying ‘I’m sorry!’ Putting it into literary terms, repentance is a heading under which the real action occurs. We must do something that will produce fruit worthy of that repentance. That means concrete actions, not just tossing off “I’m sorry” and walking away, leaving the other person bleeding on the pavement. Here’s an illustration in Matthew 3:8,9.

“When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin!”

The bible is saying that when we repent, we need to ask the Lord what can we do to bring forth fruit worthy of our repentance, and then do it. Repentance is a fabulous deterrent … anybody can say they are sorry, whether they mean it or not, whether they cry or not … but bearing fruit is a whole other ball-game. You get SKIN in the game. It will cost you, and it will most definitely humble you. We will probably feel lower than a worm, but changing the way we think about sin is worth the ghastly bit in the middle. Sin is to be avoided, and repentance is not a back door out of the mess we’ve made. It is the entry way to an entirely different way to live.

Jesus’ disciples long to bear fruit, simply because we have chosen to follow Him. But that fruit has to flow from His sap, it cannot be forced. Real repentance softens our heart, and the other person’s heart, and it gives us both a heart like His. That allows the sap flow between us again. Next we yield to His greater judgment, instead of responding to our own inner angst and turmoil. He knows the way out, followers follow Him out of difficulties to a new better-for-everybody place, no matter what the cost.

“For we have already experienced “heart-circumcision,” and we worship God in the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit, not in laws and religious duties. We are those who boast in what Jesus Christ has done, and not in what we can accomplish in our own strength.” Philippians 3:3 TPT.

The need for approval is a tough nut to crack, but Jesus will help us and strengthen us. Just to be clear … if we read the bible as optional suggestions, or even as good things to aim at, nothing much will change – except you could give yourself a headache. The bible is a practical book, and things like repentance and a change of heart come from a quality decision to go in His direction, because we want to be where He is! Bye 👋

P3386 Unusual style of fighting.        

/ DVH

When Jesus’ disciple Peter’s anger flared up at some soldiers who had come armed to the teeth to take the Lord away — the Lord Himself said: “put your sword back in its place … for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52. Hatred can so easily explode into actions, and then we hurt others, and ourselves, in the process. We hurt our own hearts when we hate. We can’t afford to live any other way except for living in love. In love with God, and the people who drive us crazy.

We are the people who fight on our knees! Unfortunately, many of us cannot be trusted with a gun, because most of the time, we don’t know what spirit we are in! Jesus had already fought and won the above battle, in the garden of Gethsemane, on His knees — while His disciples were sleeping. Peter’s sword was just going to hurt someone, and it did! Meanwhile, what is Peter – the fisherman – doing with a sword? … Moving on …

We are not fighting the same kind of war that many other people fight, although what we have to say, is equally as explosive. Our war is spiritual. Because “the weapons of our warfare are not CARNAL but they are mighty because they pull down strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4. We can’t win if we continue to fight with the weapons from this world, because Jesus has already given us our appointed task. All we will do is kill off more people that our Lord loves. We are clearly told, by the Lord Jesus Himself, to “pray for our enemies” and “do good to those who despitefully use us.” 

Open hands in prayer, are far more effective than the clenched fist of war. If we are tempted to hate, then we must choose to bow our knee. And then we start praying for the people who are hurting, persecuting and despitefully using us. Pray for them like they are your own family!! Sometimes those people hurting you ARE your own family!

Pray for their salvation. Pray for redemption from sin. PRAY and then pray some more. We are not fighting that person in front of us, we are fighting the devil on his back. Those people who hate us believe in what they are doing because they’ve carefully been taught to hate. They don’t know what real love is. When an honest man meets Jesus, his first response is to bend his knee and say: ‘I didn’t know love like this existed.’ 

You and I have been appointed by Him to bring His love with us wherever we go. That happens when we choose to put down this world’s plans and ideas, and pick up the life Jesus has chosen for us. LOVE is the only antidote for hate, and love is the way to win. Even if we die … WE still WIN! Paul said that in Philippians 1:21. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” That is our banner. 

Oh, let’s be real here for a minute. How can we possibly say that being dead is better than living, when we have a mortgage, kids, extended family and obligations to others? Because we have been practising dying to self for years. That’s how. Now we live our lives making daily hard choices to die to our own desires – and then, at the moment of deep impact, we will have enough freedom to choose to follow the Holy Spirit, wherever He goes.

Let’s use the right weapons to fight. The bible says: Love conquers everything. Meanwhile, we can’t fight a spiritual war with tolerance  … because tolerance wears thin – and eventually it wears off – we need God’s supernatural love. Press in, beloved of God, and don’t stop until you get it! The people we think are our problem, are the ones God calls us to.

When we put on the whole armour of God we are not doing it to go to WAR, we are doing it to protect the faith that is in us. These weapons , these protections – this armour – has been given to us to protect us. It will stop us from being taken out of the fight. Our Father needs every single one of His kids standing in their place doing what He put us here to do – loving Him first, then others. In His eyes ALL of mankind is irreplaceable. 

We see a multitude of people – but Father God sees Amar, George, Hina, Amanda, Lev,  Malosi, Mary, Rufus, Jai, Vasilisa, Jessica, Patrick, Joachim, Freya, Zyar, Ikem and Leah! Our Heavenly Father is such an incredibly good, good Father. He sees each one of us as if we were the only one. We’ve been told to “put on the whole armour of God.” It will protect us from the fiery darts of the enemy so we can stand in the middle of the war raging all around us. Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, stood in a fiery furnace and Jesus joined them there. He’ll join us in prayer for our enemy’s souls too.

Jesus came here to show people just like you and I, that there is another way to live this life, one day at a time, one step at a time. He did not pick a fight with anyone. These battles need to be stopped in our prayer closets. Then we can see our TRUE purpose, because we’ve chosen to put aside this world’s ideas of what a perfect life should look like.  

In the meantime, we can have utter confidence, because we know how this fight ends. We win! So we will continue to participate in unusual fighting with interesting weapons. Prayer, grace, kindness, forgiveness, love, joy, peace etc., these things are our weapons. We choose to turn the other cheek, and walk the extra mile, and we give some demanding guy our tunic when he asks for our coat! Bye, 👋. 

P3385 Don’t let fear knock you out of the ring.

/ DVH

“So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6. That’s one of those rhetorical questions nobody likes. That’s probably because most of us could give quite a list of stuff man can do to us. But I wonder if we know, just as thoroughly, how much God has done for us, right here, right now? Time for revision. 

This verse tells us, He didn’t just save us, He also enables us. “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8. Notice the predominant word “all.” Now let’s look at 1 John 4:18 it says: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.” 

Begin by revising how much God’s perfect love has given you, personally. Yes, He saved you, and yes, He has helped you – thank you Lord! But there’s more … read the bible. Go through your journals. A journal can help you revise what He has already done for you spiritually, physically, and mentally. After all that revision – go and find someone who needs His love and love on them. The action of loving others uses faith, which releases more faith. Faith fights fear, so use yours. Go and spread the love He has already given you around. Start SINGING!! “Sing for joy to God our strength …“

Moving on to Psalm 55:22 MSG bible: “Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders, He’ll carry your load, He’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. But you, God, will throw the others into a muddy bog, Cut the lifespan of assassins and traitors in half.” And we think video games are blood thirsty! The point is, God’s always with us even though we may not feel it. The bible says it, we believe it, and that settles it.

Actually, it is far more accurate to say: We’re with Him!  Don’t look at the size of the things coming against you, look at the  power of our God to get you through. Read and reread the book! Sometimes we are viewing this life through the wrong lenses. Let’s not borrow someone else’s glasses, let’s ask the Lord for HIS. His eyes see the things we don’t. (Ephesians 1:18)

2 Timothy 1:7 “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” What a way to identify the Holy Spirit!! Anything short of this verse means we are messing about in the wrong spirit. Never forget we are all in a battle, we live in enemy territory, and we don’t belong here.

Now let’s recap what our truth is: God is with us, and He will help us. We do not need to be afraid of someone else’s face. When I was little, and I did something my parent didn’t like, I would see ‘the unhappy face!’ However, our Father’s face always says: “I love you so much, and I am here for you. Let’s do this thing together.” He’s not just sending you out – He’s going with you!  The same God Who helped Abraham and the Lord Jesus is going with us.

We were not designed to carry burdens in this new life Jesus gave us. Part of that new life is freedom. Freedom means I can refuse to accept the weight of whatever is going on. I still get to fix whatever He tells me to do, but I am obedient, under His instructions, and the weight of what the Lord says I need to do, will not drown me.  I can stand still and see God Himself work on my behalf – I just have to learn to leave my clock behind. Our God doesn’t do timetables, and He does not fit in with ours. Instead, He does PERFECT TIMING. There’s a difference. 

If Father God did not give me a spirit of fear then what the heck am I doing with it? Why am I entertaining these thoughts? Jesus was teaching His disciples God’s Ways, in Luke 11:10, 11.“If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask Him?” 

Jesus is using these illustrations to demonstrate the fact that God is wa-a-y more loving than we are. Because our Father is like that, we can, and should, always expect loving help from Him, not trickery. Good outcomes. Trickery comes from the other guy. We will have to fight our feelings; they can come at you roaring, or even in insidious whispers, telling you God has left you and He doesn’t care.  Fear is a shadow on the wall of the reality of Christ IN us.

Let’s fight for what matters – it’s OUR peace, and Jesus paid dearly for us to have it. It’s called ‘renewing your mind.’ We have the Word of God to remind ourselves our side already won! We may live in a war zone – but Jesus already won this war. Don’t let the enemy knock you out of the ring. Bye 👋.                                                                             ”Dear Lord, I thank you that I can come to You always for any reason. I’m grateful that when I pray to You, You answer me. Help me to come to You at the beginning of my fears and anxieties instead of waiting until I can’t stand them anymore. The quicker I come to You the better. You want to free me from ALL my fears. Help me look to You for help all the time so that I can be radiant with Your joy. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

P 3384 Not done yet.  

/ DVH

Apparently, I am not done with yesterday’s theme. Here are some verses to chew on, and Jesus Himself is speaking – actually, He’s praying, for us!  “I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:14-20.

Did you notice that our Saviour did not pray for us to be taken out of the world, but rather that we would be protected from the evil one while we are in it. A lot of lovely Christians kind of clump together, forming a sub-group in society. I’m not sure that’s a faith step – actually I think it’s more like opting out! It means we hardly ever interact with the people-who-don’t-know-the-Lord-yet. Jesus loves us so much, He prayed this prayer for His family, (us!), long before we ever arrived here. That prayer is still out there, protecting us. Instead of clumping, maybe we could listen to Him and learn to use our faith daily.

When we were born again, we entered a new kingdom – HIS!  We left behind all the temptations and irritations of this world around us and started out on a journey to learn how to live in His kingdom. This is why we are IN this world but not OF this world. We no longer need what the world has to offer, it has no appeal to us, because we have something far better! That’s why we don’t have to hide together all the time – what the world has we don’t want! We quit hiding when the Holy Spirit came! We live here, but we don’t belong here. Our ‘true home’ is with the Lord, wherever He is and whatever He is doing. 

Just like Ruth with Naomi – wherever Jesus IS, that’s now our home. When our Lord came here, He lived the way He did sacrificially, for our sanctification, but He did not live like a monk. He had no fear regarding this world and what it could do to Him – He believed that the “… steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…” This world could not even kill Him, He prayed about it with our Father and then He went out and laid His life down. The Lord is with you while you are reading this, and He’s with me while I’m typing it!

The Spirit of God is with us, to be IN us. He gives us the power, minute by minute, to live this life, from day to day, differently. We can’t, and should not do a thing without Him. The Holy Spirit speaks faith, fluently. Now we are learning from Him how to speak faith too. We learn His kind of faith from being obedient. Heavenly languages are things like faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Why? There is no law against those things in heaven or on earth. Father God speaks them, that’s why we can hear Him – if we can’t hear Him, then we aren’t speaking His languages. Let’s go out and BE what we say we believe.

Our new life is not just about going to heaven when we die, our lives now are about bringing heaven down here, to one person at a time, challenging their perspectives. Just the same way His Presence in our lives is changing ours! Despite our often outward appearances – Christianity is not a secret society – nor is it a bunch of do-gooders who love to ruin other people’s fun. 

I’m just going to leave that remark there, laying around staring at all of us. 👀 … We are a people on a mission. It’s not just the pastor who participates, it’s all of US. So, let’s make a plan to obey what the Lord has already told us to do in His book. We need to follow our Leader and do what He would do. In the bible I cannot find once where Jesus shot, stabbed, maimed, punched or blew up someone else in the Name of God. I don’t care what David did to His enemies, I’m following Jesus. He forgave His.

In the following scripture we have a fabulous example of someone who had no idea where he was going, and no clue how to find what he went to find. It seemed an impossible task — but He obeyed His master (Abraham) and went! “And said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, Who has not left my master bereft and destitute of His loving-kindness and steadfastness. As for me, going on the way [of obedience and faith] the Lord led me to the house of my master’s kinsmen.” Genesis 24:27. 

The God of Abraham is still guiding people to this day. He didn’t quit talking to us after He sent His only Son to spell stuff out — instead, He turned up the volume, exponentially. He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us, a book full of instructions, plus the things Jesus taught. Take a risk: find someone to help. Give to someone in need. Tell someone Jesus loves them. Do something different. because we aren’t done yet. Bye 🙏.