Fear

P 3517 Love Himself will stand with us.

/ DVH

(TPT)“God, I invite Your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way— the path that brings me back to you.” Psalm 139:23-24. (NIV)“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

If I choose to evaluate what is good and what is bad in me — or my circumstances, or this world, or even … dare I say it, Almighty God Himself — this means I am defining things using my own reasoning, standards, thoughts and hopes. At some point I will need to remember that I am limited, which means my conclusions will be faulty. I need the Lord’s searching gaze all over my life because I can be self-deceived. That can happen so easily when what you hear the Lord say, disagrees with what you want to hear.

I have observed that there are some things in my own nature I simply do not want to see, so I will most likely hide them from myself, or worse … I will blame you for them! EG: “If you didn’t do this, then I wouldn’t have done that.” Some people call that passing the buck. The thing is in the middle of all that evasion we are missing the most incredibly important thing … we no longer have to hide from our sin! It was bought and paid for.

However, let’s not sit about planning our next nasty plot either! And we no longer have to hide. Hiding is a genetic trait we inherited from Adam and Eve. This is what the Lord, Himself says! “BUT … YOU are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9.

Hiding implies we have something or someone to hide from – we don’t. We don’t have to live in that sinful unproductive place anymore. God Himself has seated us in heavenly places – and He bought and paid for our seats! If only we would stop thinking about this statement as some sort of elevated, coveted, arrogant place;  and start thinking about it simply as our God-given God-planned home. It’s the place we serve others from. So we can be transformed as we go about our daily living, loving others the same way He loves us.

Asking God to search our hearts is wisdom. Otherwise we will continue to move aimlessly on, hoping against hope, some how, in some way, we are pleasing God. But John 6:40 – “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life.” Looking at Jesus intently and reverently, changes us. Let’s put that another way, what we behold we become. We please God when we believe in Him, and we read what He has said, and act on it. Then we are adding our yes to His Amen. Who would knowingly look at our suffering Saviour and be presumptuous?

We don’t have to be afraid to ask the Lord to search and try us, because He already gave His life for whatever is IN there. We no longer have to be ashamed of our malformed characters: Jesus knows it all and He loves us – because His love is not based on feelings it is based on His choice! He chose to come here and He chose to die for you and me. He took our shame on Himself, and set us free to be obedient children of Almighty God.

Paul said this to Timothy:“This is why I suffer as I do. Still, I am not ashamed; for I know Him [and I am personally acquainted with Him] Whom I have believed [with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in the truth of His deity], and I am persuaded [beyond any doubt] that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him until that day [when I stand before Him].” 2 Timothy 1:12.

I don’t have to be afraid or ashamed anymore than Paul was, because I’m choosing to live persuaded! I read His Word, I trust what He says. Jesus is far greater than the ugly things I have done in my life, to myself or others. The only reason to hide from God is fear and shame. And our precious Saviour took them to the cross. When we go to the Lord and ask Him to search us, and look for any wicked way in us, we don’t have to be ashamed of our past sins. That sin was put on Christ. He hung there naked … that means nothing was hidden. Oh, if we would only understand what He did for us! Not just with our minds, but with our whole lives.

There is no fear in love … because Jesus’ love is so perfect. It minimises all the other kinds of love we cling to that are imperfect! Let’s stop expecting other people to supply what only God can give us — simply because it is more convenient to demand it from the people we can see. We are burdening each other by expecting perfection, but the Perfect One already did all the work. We can’t do anything to make Him accept us, because He did everything that was necessary in our place! Now we work out of love for Him and others.

I invite us all to regularly pray this prayer from Psalm 139 – because Love Himself will stand with us. And Love Himself will lead us on from the place where our hopes and dreams died, into a new place of His total love and acceptance. It is easy to forgive others when you realise what you have been freely given. Bye. 👋.

P 3515 The old person in your future.    

/ DVH

Senior Christians can be a huge help in our churches, especially with advice to younger ones. The negative thing about growing older is that these very important senior citizens sometimes think: “let’s leave all the moving forward and work, to the younger ones.” And they just sit back and enjoy the ride. When we do this we are forgetting that younger people can lack patience, faithfulness, self-control and wisdom. Those fruits grow slowly! Older folks have it in spades, because life demands it. It beats you up then you need Jesus’ help to cope, over and over again. And … tada! Eventually, unless you are thick as a plank – you get wisdom!

Living longer presents people with all kinds of difficulties that aren’t apparent to those who are quite young or in middle age. These saints literally have to learn new things, or this life gets harder than your coping mechanisms! The truly great thing about age is that you don’t only get wisdom, you get loads of humility. ‘I can’t do that’ becomes the new norm. However, us oldies cannot afford to let it become a cop-out. I pick myself up daily when my mind has wandered about, and tell it “one more time, let’s go again.”

My point is that the Body of Christ needs its senior members. Packing them off into Old People’s homes means they can bore one another silly, or they will vegetise ← I made that word up! Don’t just let them clump about talking to each other. They need fresh input or they will get so bored with their circumstances that they tune out and wait for death. Now there’s a happy future. Everyone wants to wake up and wonder if they will die today! We may long to go to be with Jesus, (Paul did!) – but Jesus doesn’t always seem to be in a hurry to pick some of us up!

Sadly, some younger Christians don’t want to look at the fact that one day … in their not-so-distant-future, because-it-is-coming-at-you-faster-than-you-think … they too will be hobbling about on walking sticks, or stuck in wheelchairs, or dribbling their soup! Here’s a red hot clue for you … the only way to avoid old age is to DIE! … you see my point.

Having a sense of humour and being able to laugh at yourself helps. Especially when your bodily functions … UM … pardon me while I digress … what a laugh!! … “functions” literally means things work! Hmmm. Hey ho, your bodily functions will probably let you down. Repeatedly. And you will no longer go into the cupboard and forget what you went in for … you’ll probably forget you HAVE a cupboard, or a house. It isn’t just that you can no longer find your glasses, rather you no longer remember to wear them and wonder why the world’s gone blurry.

Back to the Body, Christ’s Body needs its senior citizens because they have loads of experience. Older people can look like naysayers sometimes, but they can also prevent others from falling down holes in their theology, because they recognise repeated scenery as it scrolls by. We’ve seen it before and it didn’t work then either! However, our minds do sometimes play tricks on us, producing the spirit of grumpy. That’s your chance to practice patience.

An elderly mind can wander about a bit as parts of it rust out, but because we are the Bride of Christ we are the people who have cultivated gentleness, kindness and love, so we won’t make older folks feel like fools. Instead we’ll use our wits to help them when they’ve lost theirs! Whether they sleep all day, or call out at night from fear — or get cranky for absolutely no reason other than old age — all that stuff is nasty, and often inevitable. Older people are still people that Jesus died for. Love is absolutely transferrable, so love will help them when its time to go be with Him.

When talking with an older person ask them about their past. Like… what was school like?  What were the things they loved to do in their youth?  Ask them how they met Jesus, how have they served Him? The thing I’ve noticed about youth is that they can quickly grow impatient when someone can’t find the right word instantly. Computers aren’t the only things that have speeded up. People have too.

This is what the bible says about age: Isaiah 46:4 – “Even to your old age and grey hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Psalm 71:9 – “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Psalm 92:12-14 – “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 – “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

We can learn all kind of important skills for this life from older people – things that education can’t and won’t teach you. They know so much about enduring faith and long-suffering, plus they are living proof of God’s faithfulness sustaining us, even unto our own old age. A church will have deep roots when those who are older are welcome.

Bye. 👋. PS As I grow older, I am often greatly comforted by the fact that Father God is called the Ancient of Days!

P 3512 Someone else’s thoughts.

/ DVH

“Keep turning away from your sins and come back to  God, for heaven’s kingdom realm is now accessible.” Matthew 4:17 TPT. Some words in Scripture don’t merely give us information. They give us a new way of seeing reality.

One of those words is basileia – the Greek word usually translated “kingdom.” But basileia isn’t primarily about geography—a territory with borders, a palace, or a throne. When Jesus announced that the Kingdom of heaven had come near, He wasn’t simply telling people where they could go after they die. He was announcing something far more radical: The unseen realm of heaven is constantly breaking into the visible world of earth.

Jesus was introducing a fresh worldview—a way of understanding reality that says the physical world we see isn’t the whole story. There is another dimension of reality. And Jesus was showing us, in His main point in the heart of the Lord’s Prayer and most of the parables, how the two realities overlap.

A new way of seeing the world: Israel had been waiting for God’s Kingdom for centuries. The prophets envisioned a day when God would reign, justice would be established, evil would be defeated, and creation would be restored. Daniel saw a kingdom that would outlast every human empire: “His dominion is everlasting and will never pass away, and his kingdom will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:14 TPT.

Then Jesus appeared and made an astonishing announcement at the launch of his ministry: “At last the fulfilment of the age has come! It is time for God’s kingdom to be experienced in its fullness! Turn your lives back to God and put your trust in the hope-filled gospel!” Mark 1:15 TPT. The Greek ēngiken means “has come near” or “has drawn close.” Something from God’s realm has moved toward ours. The Kingdom has come near, and King Jesus came to announce it! Jesus wasn’t merely teaching people about a future Kingdom, although it is eternal, He was revealing that God’s reign was already breaking into the present.

And suddenly, people could see it. The blind saw. The lame walked. The oppressed were set free. Sinners were forgiven. Outcasts were welcomed. The dead were raised. These weren’t isolated displays of supernatural power. They were signs of another reality invading this one. Jesus was showing people what happens when heaven’s rule touches earth.

The Kingdom is a world view: This is why basileia is more than a theological word. It gives us a potent way to perceive our world. We tend to divide reality into two categories: What we can see—and what we can’t. The physical world feels real because we can touch it, measure it, photograph it, and analyse it. The spiritual world can seem distant, mysterious, abstract, or even absent. But Jesus presents a radically different picture. The invisible realm of God is not less real because we cannot see it. And the physical world isn’t disconnected from it. Heaven and earth intersect.

That’s the worldview Jesus introduces. The Kingdom is where God’s rule becomes present in the world we inhabit. Think of it as an intersection. Heaven isn’t merely somewhere far away. God’s Kingdom is the very source of our physical reality. And Jesus teaches us, through His miracles and through His parables how to look for it.

“Your Kingdom come:” This is why Jesus taught His followers to pray:“Manifest your kingdom realm, and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10 TPT. Notice the direction of the prayer. We’re not simply praying, “Help us get to heaven.” We’re praying: “Let heaven come here.” Let what is true in God’s realm become true in our realm. Let God’s peace enter our anxiety, relationships, and communities. Let God’s healing enter our brokenness. Let God’s generosity break the grip of our fear. Let God’s truth penetrate our confusion. Let Your Kingdom come. This changes the way we walk through ordinary life. The Kingdom means that the kitchen, workplace, hospital room, campsite, classroom, church, and difficult conversation can all become places where heaven touches earth.

We have access to the Kingdom’s power: Here’s the astonishing part. Jesus doesn’t merely tell us that the Kingdom exists. He gives us access to it. He teaches us to pray for it. He invites us to seek it. He sends His followers to announce it. And He gives His followers authority to participate in its work. When Jesus sends out the disciples, He tells them:

“As you go, preach this message: ‘Heaven’s kingdom is accessible, close enough to touch.’ You must continually bring healing to lepers and to those who are sick, and make it your habit to break off the demonic presence from people, and raise the dead back to life.” Matthew 10:7–8 TPT. Notice the connection: Announce the Kingdom. Demonstrate the Kingdom. Words and works. Proclamation and participation. The disciples weren’t merely supposed to tell people that God reigns. They were supposed to show evidence of God’s reign. Power evangelism. And that invitation extends to us. We don’t create the Kingdom. We don’t manufacture God’s power. But we can recognize it, receive it, pray for it, and participate in it.

Learning to see what’s already happening: Perhaps one of the great challenges of Christian spirituality is learning to perceive the Kingdom. Jesus said:“The kingdom is not discovered in one place or another, for God’s kingdom realm is already expanding within some of you.” Luke 17:21 TPT. The Kingdom isn’t always spectacular. Sometimes it looks like forgiveness. Sometimes courage. Sometimes unexpected peace. The Kingdom is God’s reign becoming visible in human lives and in the physical world. Once you begin looking for it, you start seeing the world differently. The question changes from: “What is happening to me?” to: “What is God doing here?” That’s basileia.

The Kingdom changes everything:  Jesus didn’t come merely to give us better religious information. He came announcing that another King is already ruling. And if Jesus is King, then reality is bigger than what our eyes can see. The Kingdom means that your circumstances are not necessarily the final interpretation of your life. The physical world is real—but it isn’t all there is. There is a greater reality pressing into this one. Heaven is touching earth, all the time, right now and forever.

And Jesus invites us to live with our spiritual eyes open. So today: when you walk into an ordinary day, try this simple prayer: “Jesus, help me see Your Kingdom here and now.” Amen. Look around. Where is God bringing life? Where is love overcoming fear? Where is forgiveness breaking through resentment? Where is truth defeating deception? Where is generosity overcoming scarcity? Where is healing beginning? Where is the Spirit prompting you to act?

Then ask the second question: “How can I participate?” Because the Kingdom isn’t merely something we wait for. It is something Jesus has brought near to you. It is the reality we learn to perceive. It is the power we learn to receive. And it is the reign we are invited to embody. The King has come. Heaven has touched earth. And because of Jesus, you live at that intersection. And until earth looks like heaven, we have work to do.”

My guest author is David Housholder, Fulbright scholar, writer, broadcaster and senior pastor at Robinwood church, Southern California. As an aside the Passion paraphrase itself has caused some controversy and it is not a recognised translation. Personally I found this overview of the Kingdom of God helpful and insightful. However, it is certainly not every point of view available to us… and no substitute for legitimate recognised translations of the bible! Bye 👋.🙏.

P3505 A good, good Father.

/ DVH

“The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” enfolding you into the family of God.” …. As you can see, maturity means we will understand our position before the Lord. So we volunteer to flow with the Holy Spirit seamlessly. The Holy Spirit will make our Heavenly Father real to us. Then whatever He wants is such a joy we can’t wait to comply with His wishes and ideas!

“… And you will never feel orphaned, for as He rises up within us, our spirits join Him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!” For the Holy Spirit makes God’s Fatherhood real to us as He whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!”” Romans 8:14-16 TPT. Amen!

In these tragic days, many people have no concept of what having a father looks like. So many fathers are absent. Not all have moved away, but sadly, some male role-models are working hard to provide food and shelter for their families and they are using up their time, to provide. Plus the first thing to break under the stressors and temptations of marriage today is the bond between husband and wife. This can mean many children lose their father figure. (About 1 in 6.).

In our current society the pressure to be good parents is huge. Everything parents do, or say, is judged and can be found wanting. At the same time, it seems like a child’s needs have become the centre of everything. Children don’t just have a place in society, they have become more important than everyone else! It seems we are making up for the neglect of the past with overindulgence. Now let’s look at that thought another way.

The primary need every child has, is to have both parents! Whether they are good or bad, kids need role models. Without that, they are reduced to patterning themselves, or they can end up admiring people, through rose-coloured glasses, who are not worthy of their attention. Many other parents just ‘don’t have enough quality time’ to parent — and so they abrogate their responsibilities to other people – including the media – a vehicle that exists to make money – not look after kids! The danger is obvious. Unless I actually know you in real life, I can’t possibly know if you are someone who preys upon innocent kids to steal their innocence away.

Likewise if we don’t know our earthly fathers, then we can be disappointed and disillusioned by that consequence – because fathers provide children with security, significance, and stability. We need our Heavenly Father’s input to help us understand these things, as it seems that our ideas about what male love looks like – has been reduced to judgment. So if someone proves to be human and weak, then they are pronounced faulty. Good time to remember all of us are broken!

Father God understands mankind’s plight so well, He chose to became one of us. I am not commenting on surrogacy, but this morning as I typed this blog, I suddenly realised Father God understands surrogacy. He put His seed inside a young woman and watched His Son grow from a distance. He also understands having to give up His right to parent His only Son, to someone else. He gave Joseph the privilege of raising Jesus. Plus He understands being an adoptive parent because He has chosen to adopt us! Sadly He also understands the loss of a Child. He is a true Father, with a true Father’s heart, and His wisdom and loving kindness has voluntarily shared man’s predicaments, despite our penchant for sin.

When we are meditating on the goodness of our Heavenly Father we cannot afford to compare Him with, or expect Him to have, the flaws of a human parent. That’s a mistake many people make. They transpose their idea of an ideal father onto SomeOne we cannot possibly even begin to describe. And when that juxtaposition does not work, they choose to regard Almighty God as faulty because He doesn’t meet their logic.

God is not answerable to our logic! To understand Him, even a little, we must use the tools He has provided for us – the Holy Spirit’s help, the bible, the gifts He has given to the church. And we need to start by “ …believing that HE IS, and that He is a rewarder of those who genuinely seek Him.” Applying our own rules borne from fatherless situations, is bound to lead to failure, because then we are putting ourselves by means of our own judgment – into His role. Almighty God is above our understanding, That’s why Jesus came here in the first place, because man’s idea of Who Father God is, is too limited and cannot provide us with a complete picture of His Ways. We need faith not logic.

“Woe to him who strives with his Maker!—a worthless piece of broken pottery among other pieces equally worthless [and yet presuming to strive with his Maker]! Shall the clay say to him who fashions it, What do you think you are making? or, Your work has no handles?” Isaiah 45:9. “But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the One who formed it, ‘Why did You make me like this?’” Romans 9:20.

We need to understand that HE IS Who He says He is: “A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.” Psalm 68:5-6. He is a good good Father, and He always has a good purpose, even if we cannot see it, YET. Bye 👋.

P 3494 Start from the right place — His Grace.

/ DVH

“Even if the mountains were to crumble and the hills disappear, My heart of steadfast, faithful love will never leave you, and My covenant of peace with you will never be shaken,” says YAHWEH, Whose love and compassion will never give up on you.” Isaiah 54:10 TPT. God’s love is not limited … but our time here is.

“Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from Me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with My strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with My victorious right hand.’” Isaiah 41:10 TPT. He will help us to flow in His Grace.

“Don’t be obsessed with money but live content with what you have, for you always have God’s Presence. For hasn’t He promised you, “I will never leave you, never! And I will not loosen my grip on your life!” So we can say with great confidence: “I know the Lord is for me and I will never be afraid of what people may do to me!”” Hebrews 13:5-6 TPT.

Aren’t these scriptures great? If we choose to read the Word of God like a love letter, which has been made complete with loving personal instructions, we can be utterly blessed by it. Loving eyes see far more than scared, nervous ones … … or even constantly distracted ones! Distraction is a big deal today. It is no longer strange to see people flick flick flicking their phones trying to find something that interests them. If we take that attitude over into reading the bible, we will get bored quickly. Even the language used in it will defeat us.  

Let’s choose to start from His Grace, and never lose the kind of gratitude that acknowledges we are nothing without Him, because He is everything to us. Religion can often be part-time — but GRACE cannot. Grace is a living thing that accomplishes far more than we can ever imagine. Let’s choose to see His Grace like the tide, flowing in and out. It flows in to us, and with our permission, back out toward others. That tide is lovingly relentless in it’s quest to saturate human beings with the kind of loving Grace that bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

There are times when I can get pretty snarkey if someone pinches a parking spot, or pushes ahead in a queue! That kind of response started in the garden and flowed out onto Cain and Able. It’s sin. The truth is, my negative response to someone else’s thoughtlessness is sin. It shows that I still don’t understand that God’s Grace goes where it wants to go — it is not hindered, or restricted by my prejudices. No matter how many verses of scripture we can find to prove our point! Walking in Grace is facilitated by walking in His love, and we can have it all! 

Let’s daily, minute by minute, buy up the days, because our time on earth is finite and precious. And let’s choose to be obedient, pushing aside our reluctance to engage with strangers, or even family members. Grace flows beautifully when we make God choices. We can stop up that God-given flow with revenge, indifference, anger and unbelief … not to mention guilt. Entering into it is so simple – we simply stop thinking about our lives as our own, and start living them for Him. That is not just for the few keen ‘spiritual’ people who seem to find it easier than we do.. It’s for all of us. 

Father God will never give up on us, but we can short-circuit our progress in our life of faith by believing our sin is greater than His sacrifice. Or we can tell ourselves that we simply must say thus and thus, otherwise that other person will never get the point. That kind of vigilante attitude is not the way the Lord wants us to operate. That person who irritates us, is the vehicle we step into and discover how far short we are from Jesus, God’s glorious ideal. That person is our friend because they show us what is truly inside us. Let their attitudes be their problem. We just need to keep following Jesus, listening to Him, obeying Him.

He sent out His disciples to heal the sick and raise the dead and preach the good news that God’s kingdom had arrived. It was good news — not a list of everyone else’s sins. I suggest we use the energy that is needed to maintain anger and disappointment to propel us forward into giving away God’s Grace. It’s our job. We take that Grace in and then we pass on all the forgiveness, acceptance and love we’ve received from Him, to others. Please be encouraged, this is a learned skill!

We don’t have to love someone’s behaviour to love them. God loves us, and our behaviour stinks sometimes! Jesus saw beyond the sin to the trapped person who needed an opportunity to get free from it. Sin is a prison. It won’t let you think about anything else, whether it is your sin or their sin, it just rumbles about inside like concrete in a concrete truck. However, the Holy Spirit can soften our hard hearts when we ask for His help. That other person’s heart isn’t our business.

Other people’s sins can trap us into a cycle that seems never-ending. That’s why Grace is needed. Grace, by it’s nature is not earned or deserved. But it blossoms and creates new life when it is given to someone who doesn’t deserve it, as we use our faith. However, if WE keep reacting the same way, we are continually going to get the same annoying response! Grace changes ME first, and it opens the door to God’s Way of thinking. Grace keeps silent when it has a LOT to say.

I urge you, don’t keep what you have been freely given bottled up inside, give it away. Let’s start from the right place, releasing His Grace to those who don’t deserve it anymore than we did. Bye. 👋

P 3479 Fix your eyes.

/ DVH

““Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t even remember these former things. I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19. This is one of those keys we need to pay attention to, because the past should not affect our future. When Jesus made a way when there seemed to be no way, He died to give us His power to overcome those things that can trip us up or weigh us down.

I have been caught up in eddies from the past — those  things that go round and round and get nowhere. We can’t afford to define ourselves by stuff like that. It will grab hold of here and now, and destructively head toward the future! We need to remember that God does new things all the time. Just because something was fruitful last time, that doesn’t mean it will always be that way. Relationships are moving things, to last they need to grow, change, continue to become new and fresh.

The Lord wants a relationship, not a system. He gave us a system. That system, the Ten Commandments, only failed because we weren’t up to our end. Thank GOD our God is a God of generosity, grace and mercy! There is nothing wrong with the Ten Commandments, they are all about Loving God and loving others! That’s why Jesus said what He said in Matthew 22:38&39. “Jesus replies, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Jesus adds, “And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.” It’s a synopsis, not just a new commandment!

Transformation flourishes when we read what He says and live it out, day by day. God made it easy to obey Him, because He took punishment and fear out of the way. Now we do not need to wade through desperate times alone, the Lord has already provided the most wonderful Person we will ever need — the Holy Spirit. He is our Helper. Living this life, with His help ushers in the kingdom of God, right here where we are. And remember Jesus died to change our past – even if it was only yesterday, ten years ago, or ten seconds ago! 

The past will hold us down if we keep clinging to its ways. We must lay aside those things that go after our peace and freedom so we can love others from a pure heart — and keep walking on. Some of us might end up limping. That’s not a bad thing! Jacob encountered God’s Kingdom and he limped after it happened. That limp reminded him of his encounter with heaven. It’s our chosen participation in the kingdom of God among us that will transform this world around us. Thousands of wonderful people have made all sorts of incredible efforts, and sacrificed everything, to change whatever is going on where they live – they left the past behind, and followed Jesus.

However, if the Spirit of God Himself is not doing it, whatever we do cannot last or produce fruit. Only God Himself does the things that last. In the Western World we like to think that God is on our side. But the reality is … the Lord wants to know …. ‘Who is on the Lord’s side?’  ‘Unless the Lord builds the house we are labouring in vain.’ (Psalm 127) Father God cares about what is in our hearts. He wants our hearts perfect toward Him and each other. (2 Chronicles 16:9; John 13:35.) That means we keep short accounts with Him and other people.

We simply can’t afford to let our past, affect our future, no matter how awful that past may be. My advice about former sorrows, is this — prop open the door to the past, clean out everything in that cupboard of guilt, pain, shame, revenge and hate, and deal with it bit by bit, including exercising reconciliation, forgiveness and repentance, then close the door! Write: do not enter! … on it. And give the key to the Holy Spirit. Walk away. Go out from that place and live your new life in Jesus. Do not be tormented by the things you can’t fix, give them to God and leave them there.

I urge all of us to start seeing faith as a commodity stored in heaven and when we prayerfully use it to live, we are bringing that faith into this life. There is a portion we have each been given, and as we give it to Him and start using it, I believe our faith grows, incrementally. “… faith comes from listening to this Good News ….” Faith comes from reading the book and doing what it says, because doing what it says takes FAITH. 

So today, I want to urge you to put the past behind you. Getting rid of any past sins we have done, as well as the ones against us … lines us up with heaven. We are so blessed, the Kingdom of God is a storehouse of every Grace we will ever need on this earth. We simply access it, using our faith, and we must discontinue using it to greedily grab the things we know that can’t last.

Let’s study the bible to find out what He says about this day – today. As we comfort ourselves with the fact that we can rely upon the Lord to hand us the right tool at the right time. The sad thing is, the past is our enemy’s favourite tool of distraction – he drags our eyes off the Lord and distracts them with the things that have hurt us. Instead, let’s fix our eyes on Jesus and ask ourselves, what is the Lord doing today? Bye. 👋.

P3476 Speaking His language.

/ DVH

The bible is full of what the Lord thinks, what He wants, and what happens when men and women listen to Him. We can see first-hand the result of someone else’s obedience, or – disobedience. We can also note that obedience leads to miraculous events, big and small. It’s in the book!

Eons ago, back in the ark -when I was a very young, not-quite-so-spiritually-focussed-Christian – there was a lady at our church that I did not particularly love. She drove me bananas. This Christian sister would turn up at my house with her little one at around 8.00am unannounced. I had three children under five, so my mornings were chaos. She did not call to say she was coming, they simply randomly turned up. Then they stayed, and stayed, and stayed. Often until lunchtime. Of course her child wanted to play with my kids the instant she arrived, just as I was trying to get my day started. There was no time to spend with Jesus, this lady was sitting in my lounge, drinking countless cups of tea.

OK, it is confession time. In those days I rarely cleaned the toilet until after everyone else in the house was finished with it. So my toilet was not in great shape first thing in the morning. Back in the ark those things were important – people critiqued each other’s housekeeping. An-y-wa-y … I was wandering about one morning, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, whilst encouraging my kids to eat up their breakfast etc. as I fed the baby, and the Lord spoke to me. He said: “Quickly go and clean your toilet now!” So I did. Two seconds after doing it, the door bell rang. It was my not-so-welcome-Sister again. She wanted to use my toilet. In case you don’t know, Father God cares about our difficulties.

I became very irritated over time. During this time, I began to try to hide from this semi-regular visitor. One time I climbed back into the shower. I had already taken a shower but I jumped back in again. I did it just to avoid her. I didn’t know how to tell this lady that appointments need to be made and agreed upon, and that 8.00am was way too early at my house! Inexperience had me by the throat, and religion wouldn’t let me speak up! So now I will come to the point of my sorry little tale. I was praying and talking to Jesus, reading the Word and as I was talking about my dilemma, He said this: “You have aught against any.” (KJV)

In my immaturity, I argued with the Holy Spirit. That didn’t last long… He showed me that I had so many ‘aughts’ they were now my anchor, holding me in place because of someone else’s sin. To be clear, this meant that Jesus Himself was no longer my anchor. My hope had gone out of the window, with one push of a doorbell. Instead, life was planned around avoiding this lady, plus trying not to shout at her. I wanted to be a ‘good’ Christian – OK?

I try not to wait to fix the stuff the Lord points out – over the years I’ve learnt that the enemy is right at my elbow explaining away any conviction when it comes. The answer to this kind of sticky problem is never condemnation, it is confession. It was clear to me what I had to do. So I bundled up the kids and I just went – actually, I practically ran, to her house, because I knew otherwise I would talk myself out of it. She answered the door and I blurted out what I had done and apologised. Then in fear and trembling, I asked for her forgiveness. The most amazing thing happened …she laughed and laughed and laughed and then wiped the laughter tears out of her eyes. I was not expecting that response! She was not laughing AT me, she was laughing at the dumb situation. We sorted it out.

After that morning this nice lady didn’t bother me anymore. To be fair, she stopped banging on my door so early, and we made appointments instead. However I learnt something extremely valuable … God cares about the things we don’t cope with. He has answers, and we simply need to ask Him to show us what we should do about these things. Sometimes obedience to His Word will open our eyes to things that we can’t see, yet. The bible is full of fabulous stories, but they can seem irrelevant to our life, today. Plus there are times when our automatic response is the wrong one, but we don’t know what to do about it.

First of all, I think we have to stop treating the bible as information and start finding ourselves in it. The Lord wants to help us, that’s why Jesus taught so many lessons. He wants us to know that instructions and the law – when they are misused – can deaden the life of God in us. We only have to look at the men and women in His book  – they had to ask God how to carry out what He told them to do. The bible is not just a book that tells us stories about God and His people, nor is it simply a list of dos and don’ts — the bible is His language – His way of thinking … written down. 

It shows us what is important to Him. When we reduce it to a list of dos and don’ts, we are totally missing the point. It is a love story, carefully laying out the tender interactions between God Himself and mankind — it shows us the Way He does things, and how His relationship with mankind is always uppermost in His mind. It is not the stories per se, although we can learn so much about our own humanity and His goodness when we read them — it is about Father God taking the time to explain Himself. His ways! 

When we read it from that POV we will begin to learn to speak His language too. It is a language of love and redemption that reveals His heart toward all of us. Bye. 👋. PS He will not only “be with us in trouble” – He will bail us out too!

P 3475 Pause, remember … and reset.

/ DVH

“God, You’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need You. So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in You. Pause in His Presence” Psalms 46:1-3 TPT.

When I read this today I realised that the last 4 words are the key to the first 79 ones! “Pause in His Presence.” What does that mean to you? To me it means when ‘the stuff’ is flying about so rapidly I can hardly breathe, my very best first response is to stop … and stand in His Presence. Why? Because those first 79 words remind me of Who He is and how much He loves and cares about us all – every single minute of every single day!  Those last four words show us how blessed we are. We can be in His Presence anywhere. Doing this will remind our spirits to defer to His ways.

Wherever you are reading this blog today, now is a good time to stop … and just stand or sit, in His Presence. Remember, it says pause, it doesn’t say ‘you must spend three hours.’  Anyone of us can pause for a few minutes, just long enough to slow your breathing and look into Jesus’ dear face. This is one of the best habits we can cultivate. We will momentarily block out the immediate, and focus on the eternal.

Our world may be groaning and griping all around us, but Jesus is not fazed by it. He knows what comes next. “He knows the plans He has for us – the ones that give us a hope and a future.” What we focus on gets bigger. When we focus on Him, He gets bigger than the problems, especially when we take a moment to renew our trust in Him.

Everything seems to be spinning around so fast sometimes, it is hard to keep up with what is going on. However, when we go and stand with Jesus and look up at Him, the noise, the fear, the challenges and the heartache come into perspective. These things come, and they go … Jesus always stays the same. His loving face toward us will not change.

The Lord Jesus’ love does not change, that’s why we can trust it. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases …” Our ineptitude in spiritual matters will not change His response. His love continually comes toward us. You are taking a moment to be with SomeOne Who truly understands humanity. And as you pause, please remember, despite what is going on around you, He’s the same Jesus Who loved you so much He died for you. Just let that soak in … then go back to your day. 

He is praying for you right now, right where you are. He prays perfect prayers. Pause and remember… ‘His goodness in the land of the living.’ ‘He is with us to give us His abundant life.” Those promises are not only about earthly things, they are about forever things. Like love, joy, peace. We can have peace with God because Jesus came here and made peace for us in His own Body, with His own blood. He will not take it back … “He demonstrated His love while we were still sinners….”

Troubles come and go, but our God’s Word remains the same. Your version of the bible may be a little different than mine, but it is still His Word to you today, right where you are. Pause, remember how much you are loved. He loves us when we first wake up and we haven’t even done anything yet! This love is not the kind of love that keeps score, because Jesus is not interested in Himself, He came here for mankind. We are His joy. The Lord looked through the pain He suffered and saw US. It is His greatest joy to facilitate our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Let go of all those bad, unhappy feelings, because they will cause you to stumble. Just cling to His truth and remember … the God Who made the Universe loves you. As we take a moment to pause in His Presence, we will begin to realise that these afflictions we are going through are momentary. They simply seem endless while we are in the middle of them. Remember, disappointment and despair do not come from our Heavenly Father, God. That’s the other guy. Resist him and bring all those busy thoughts captive, and just take the time to breathe. 

These moments belong to you and the Lord, whether you are on the train, in your car, on a bus. Wherever YOU are HE is there. You and I both know that the Lord has asked us to keep no record of wrongs, because Jesus Himself doesn’t remember our wrongs! In your pausing, remember to let go of any hurtful or bad things — just like you would let go of a balloon and watch it float away. Those things can’t hurt anybody when we let them go! Jesus understands … let that be enough.

We pause, remember, and reset, even if it is just for a few moments on our way to somewhere else. Stand in His Presence and watch the worries, cares, and seismic shifts jostling you, simply melt away. God’s got you, your family, and this world. Like Jesus said to the wind and the waves: “Peace, be still.” So let’s take any opportunity to quiet our hearts in the middle of life’s bustle and strife… and pause in His Presence, remember and reset. Bye. 👋. Thank you Jesus!

“So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 TPT. 

P 3469 What a Saviour!    

/ DVH

“In many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the Truth] and in different ways God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets, [But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order]. He (Jesus) is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high, …” Hebrews 1:1-3. Amplified Bible.  “For the rule and authority over all things has been given to Christ by His Father; except, of course, Christ does not rule over the Father Himself, Who gave Him this power to rule.” 1 Corinthians 15:27. 

Like I’ve said many times before, God’s ways are not our ways. The Lord has been revealing Himself constantly for over 2,000 years, through His various servants, but now, on our side of Jesus’ history … He has chosen to reveal Himself through His own dear Son, Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus came here and showed us what was in our Father’s heart toward mankind. So when we see Christ being kind to sinners, that’s God Himself doing it through His Son. That’s Almighty God healing the sick, delivering people from evil … He’s doing it, in Person.

The bible says something so extraordinary in these verses. Jesus Christ Himself ‘is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power.’ Here’s my translation of all those words, if we want to know what Almighty God is like then look at His Son … Jesus came here to show us what our Father is like. The Holy Spirit’s power guided Him, sustained Him, held Him up, and Jesus is now our example.

God’s Word is so powerful it makes sure the earth doesn’t bump into anything, as we rotate our way through the days, years and seasons. Almighty God loves this planet, and the people in it – He called all of it good. You know, if God had fingerprints, they would be the same as Jesus’ fingerprints, They are so close to each other. We don’t understand Oneness, we think it’s just about agreeing. Actually, it is hearts blended and beating together so completely they have exactly the same purpose. That purpose is for our benefit. We need to get some of this kind of thinking out of our heads, and into our hearts. We are so loved – all that He did for us shows us that.

If we really understood the things we say we believe, inside, where it counts, we would ACT differently. Nobody would have to tell us what is good and bad, because the same Spirit that was in Jesus, would be guiding us from the inside. We definitely don’t want the Holy Spirit to quietly leave … if He leaves us it will be devastating. We will be left to our own devices … and that is not good! Let’s stop pretending to be what we’ve already been given and live this life differently because of what Jesus did. He did these things before we were born!

The same God Who sent Jesus here to help us, is now IN us. We give Him our lives and He is now the occupying Owner. We have been freely given the power to choose  —  so let’s choose to do whatever He asks us to do, simply because our relationship with Him is so valuable we can’t bear to walk away from, or without Him. That’s passion. Our constant prayer now, is for the Lord to stay with us and help us to walk in total fellowship with Him. I pray I will never be too busy to care about what Jesus thinks, because He is all I want to think about!

Jesus didn’t forget one thing that was necessary to reconcile us with God. He did it ALL – and all means all! His eyes are on you and I even in these times, wherever we are, despite all the ruckus going on around us. He is loyal to mankind. But the question is … are we loyal to Him? Father God is not distant, or far away from us. He deliberately came here, as a man, and lived the same kind of life we are living, so we can have SomeOne we can see, and follow.

People follow Marvel/DC comics and their movies with far less incentive! They also follow pop groups, sporting heroes, and music stars — and some of those people have such filth coming out of their mouths their momma should have washed their mouths out with soap … many, MANY times! Jesus told us: “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” Don’t be surprised if you choose to eat bad fruit and end up with a tummy ache! These people are blind guides …trying to sell us something. We can end up in ditch.

“But we are certainly not those who are held back by fear and perish; we are among those who have faith and experience true life!” (Right here, right now!) Hebrews 10:39 TPT. How can that be? He did the work for us, purely for LOVE.  Love Himself will lead us into the Ways of Love! There is no room for fear anymore, even if we step out of love – we can repent and go right back in again – because His sacrifice has made our new life possible. What a Saviour! Bye. 👋.

P3459 Popularity with man.

/ DVH

This is a current theme in our society, everyone has to be PC, or you will be told! I am all for being sensitive and careful, because wisdom itself demands the kind of thoughtfulness that allows it to speak clearly to someone without the distraction of offence! However, our priority should always be whatever the Lord says to us. And I think we need to practice tolerance and forbearance toward other people not political correctness. I want to look at a brief few verses from Jeremiah today, bearing in mind that this man was a salmon swimming upstream for most of his life!

“Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”“He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.” So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.” Jeremiah 38:4-6.

Jeremiah was doing what God asked him to do, yet he was being persecuted for what he said. That’s because other people interpreted his actions for their own agenda. Lately, I have had to become so much better at forgiving people, simply because they have thoughtfully given me so many opportunities to do it! Meanwhile the Lord helps me, every single time, or I would succumb to self-pity. Sigh. But that’s an observation, not my point. My point is things have not changed all that much since Jeremiah’s time. We still think we can judge other people and put pressure on them to be just like us.

Pressure comes from all sorts of directions – but many of them are internal. We fall into political correctness by saying we don’t want to offend others – but actually we are scared of what others will do to us! The point of this passage in Jeremiah is that all kinds of pressure will be unfairly applied on us. It is to be expected. We may not end up in a cistern, but ‘the fear of man (still) brings a snare’ if it affects our ability to be truthful.

Proverbs 29:25. Here’s the Message version – “The fear of human opinion disables;  trusting in God protects you from that.”  Yeah. That’s the rub, moving away from what others might say, into …’what do YOU want from me Lord?’ Then we need to take the time to find that out for ourselves. Christians have hidden behind denominational creeds for too long. We need to hate any sin, but love the sinner just like Jesus did. The point is, the gospel is for everyone and we can’t possibly know who the Lord is going to turn around.

I think that Jeremiah was a victim of the downside of popular opinion. I like this verse from Proverbs 18:13: “Answering before listening is both stupid and rude.” It is so easy to decide that we already know what other people need, and miss the Lord’s wisdom altogether, because we have prejudged our own way to be the right one. We can also fall into the trap of being ‘nice’ and insincere, all at the same time. For times like ours, we need the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, not just a creed, or what we think.

If we are serious about extending love to other people who are not like us, then we cannot be motivated by political correctness. We must be motivated by God Himself. Here’s a verse to chew on: “Make love your aim.” Folks! The elephant is now actually in the room! We cannot avoid it any longer. Our real problem is, we have avoided some subjects for so long, we no longer know how to address them! It is time for the kind of prayer that leads to action. Choosing to loving others is never easy. God’s love can turn all kinds of people around, I think we would be better occupied remaining full of His love ourselves, than finding reasons to exclude people.

I don’t have to love what you do, to love you! The church has an opportunity right now to choose how she will behave toward people, especially those She has decided are already illegitimate because of their choices. The bible says: ‘Love is patient, kind, it is not jealous, it doesn’t brag, it is not selfish or rude, angry or resentful. It hates injustice, it loves the truth, it bears all things, hopes all things – it is long-suffering.’ Love is an ETERNAL quality. We can’t afford to draw up our ‘holy robes’ around us anymore – our holy robes have holes in them that you can drive a truck through. If we are hiding any kind of sin from others, the Lord in His Grace will allow those things hidden in the darkness to come into the light. He is not punishing us – He is cleaning up His house. 

I believe we simply don’t know how to love anybody who lives their life in ways we find unacceptable. We think love is approval. We need to pray for real revelation about His idea of love – He loved us long before we arrived here! Jesus Christ had no qualms about touching the unclean … the religious people did! His power, glory and strength are released by loving others.

Maybe it is time to admit we were wrong and ask forgiveness for the way we have treated others. Humbling ourselves won’t kill us. Sin still remains sin – one is not worse than another. We also need to remember, many times it is the people in our own churches who have hurt others. The Body of Christ has misplaced our discernment and used religious rules to compensate. Then we boarded up, and sealed our hearts of compassion against the very people the Lord wants to speak to … and fear of contamination made us do it. We’ve thrown people into a pit of despair simply because we are not walking with Him – we need the Lord’s input, we need His heart! Gifts are not a sign of holiness – loving others in what we do and say is.

Jeremiah was thrown into a pit because what he said was unpopular, and the King didn’t want to enter that arena. We can’t afford to approve of sin because we are swayed by popularity, anymore than we can afford to label people and walk away from them. We need the Lord Himself “to extend the boundaries of our tents” and “pull up the stakes” we have driven into the ground, to define who we are, and what we believe. Popularity with man is not just political correctness – it’s also religion that can bind us. Look after widows and orphans instead – that’s true religion.

We are His people and we are so blessed, each one of us has been given a chance to change. Walking with the Spirit of the living God means that whoever we meet, will meet with the Lord Himself through us… then we leave the results to Him. Let’s extend His love to everybody, in the hope that we may see some saved, and refuse to judge because that leads to even more judgment. Our part is to extend Grace and Mercy to everyone, and focus on being a carrier of the Presence of God Himself. He has straightened US out, and we know He has the power to do that in other people’s lives.

Lastly, let’s value intimacy with Him above all else. We need to read the bible and do what it says, and love others, because love is our priority. Forget political correctness, and religion — we love people because He loved us first. Loving them does not mean we agree with them. Popularity, or unpopularity with mankind is over-rated. Bye. 👋.