Focus

P 2912 Great bible advice.

/ DVH

“Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God. I am God above all the nations, and I am exalted throughout the whole earth.”Psalms 46:10 TPT. Well this verse in the Passion version gives us a lot to think about! I love the order in it. First we voluntarily give up anxiety, and then after we’ve surrendered everything, we are to be still and remember Who He is, and all He has done. I’m a fan of clear instructions, they make this life easier. BTW it doesn’t say you will feel differently! The bible is full of those kinds of faith things – it endlessly blesses me.

Living this way actually provides us with opportunities to plant, water and fertilise the fruit of the Spirit. Self-control, for instance. We need that particular fruit badly today. In our homes, in our relationships, in our countries  – we ALL need this fruit. The fruit of self-control actually germinates through recognising opportunities, and following His instructions, pray, and then application. It’s what I call an obedience fruit. It is like love, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness, more fruit that begin to develop in the heat of obedience.

Self-control is actually more than just not saying or doing stuff, it is resting in what Jesus did so thoroughly we allow God to bring His peace in the place of worry and anxiety.  Hand everything over to Him, piece by untenable piece. And then, make a decision and take the time to be still, and simply think about what HE is like …what Jesus did for us. 

There are so many things the Holy Spirit does, and most of the time, we don’t even see Him working. When things go crazy inside our hearts and minds, and outside in the world around us, we need His perspective.

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”2 Corinthians 4:17-18.

When I am upset and anxious, I read a Psalm. I need to say at this juncture that I’ve found reading great chunks of the bible just causes further confusion and angst for me. However, music helps me too. But I try to spend time reflecting on Who He is and what He has done for all of us. I’ve learnt you can’t BAM the truth into place, but you can settle your heart, so you can YIELD and He can put His beauty in there. It is a battle, not a walk in the park! Battles like these don’t make us sinful – they show us our weaknesses and our need for His comfort.

Jesus is speaking in these verses in Luke to His disciples about the turbulent times ahead of them: “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of My Name.  And so you will bear testimony to Me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.” Luke 20:12-15.

Even in extreme circumstances, we are exhorted not to worry! Imagine that … easily said … not easily done! It is a fight against our own carefully cultivated instincts and it takes practice and trust. It can seem weird when you just let go. Strangely, worry can make us feel like we are doing something – if we can just find the right answer! That’s a lie. We can’t add one minute to our lives with worry and anxiety.  

Instead of having to give their testimonies in hard places – those men mentioned in Luke are going to be imprisoned. Kings and governors, are going to demand an explanation for what they believe and the One they serve. And the Lord virtually says to them: ‘Don’t worry about it! I’ll be there!! I promised to be with you so I will be there! I’ll tell you what to say and when to say it. What you say will be so amazing and full of wisdom your enemies won’t be able to say a thing.’ Imagine the fruit on that path. And we think our lives are hard. 

I’m comforted by the fact that Jesus once said this:  “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3. AMP.

Children trust and that is to be our response too. Let go, and look up at Jesus, and let Him take care of it. Do what you can see, plus the things He tells you to and then …let go.Unfortunately in these moments, the voice of personal experience is very loud and it can be a huge distraction. We need to become humble enough to lay our own personal experiences to one side, and believe the bible is truer than what we’ve known and experienced. 

We have to deliberately throw off our old ways of thinking and make a decision that Jesus is able to do what He said He will do, and He will do it for ME! Now the winds of chance, challenge and change cannot blow us around any more. Instead we are gently blown, by the Spirit of the Living God, onto His pathways. We learn His ways, and we start to experience Him for ourselves. 

The bible offers us all kinds of good advice, when it is treated with reverence, and applied into our lives. It shifts our focus off the things of this earth and pulls us into seeing what is happening in His kingdom. The things we cannot see. Bye. 👋

P 2911 LET.

/ DVH

‘Let’ is actually a really big word despite it only having 3 letters! God clearly tells us: “I will LET you learn.” The dictionary says this about the word LET… not prevent or forbid; allow. As we deliberately pick up His yoke, He has promised to teach us everything we will need for our new life. But the Lord won’t push us, we still need to choose what He wants. So … let’s move on and look at a few of the many blessings of ‘letting’ …

“Let us gaze upon Jesus, as the Author and the completion of our faith,…” Hebrews 12:2;  Looking at our failure kills faith, but looking at what He did for us, opens us up to learn His Ways.“And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds…” Hebrews 10:24. WE set the pace, we choose our growing edges. God is always waiting and willing to teach us.“Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not …” Galatians 6:9. If we get tired we can ask for help, that’s how we will learn how patient He is, how ready to help us. 

“…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus,…” Hebrews 12:1.We need to let Him guide us, and teach us what we need on our journey with Him, His book is a revelation of His will. Some things are weights, so we can get tired if we don’t  leave them behind. We need to choose to confess our sins, and receive His forgiveness, be-ca-use … “IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

So much is available to His kids when we chose to deliberately learn His Ways and practice them! Jesus said: “…Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:29a&30. The Lord allows us to learn how Grace works, as we read and put into practice what He said in the book. This is how we learn to trust Him, because what He does can be seen unfolding around us.

His overflowing Grace is always there for us, and we have more than enough to give away. That’s because we have a more-than-enough God Who is rich in these qualities and HE LOVES TO SHARE!  A.S.K. and … keep on asking!  Jesus gave this world an inexhaustible supply of Grace. We are encouraged to learn how His Grace impacts our lives and the lives of those around us, with His help, by using our faith. We are now grace dispensers.

Grace is our all day, all night, in every circumstance – enabler of good! It’s the Holy Spirit’s forte. He is so-oo good at it! Sometimes I have been as dumb as the dirt I came from, but HE knows how to do anything and everything – well!  When His Grace is present it means my focus is on Him, not just any pain or circumstances. I deliberately choose to put my focus onto the Lord and His eternal provision, and at the same time, I understand that He is teaching me about Himself. Then: “having done ALL I stand!” … until I hear from Him again. The Holy Spirit helps me, and praise Him, He will help and allow His kids to learn LOVE in all its forms.

We can gladly embrace the Love God has for every single human being, because our focus is not on what they have done, or did or didn’t do — it is on Who He is and what He already did! As we let that kind of love in, using our faith — it opens us up to the infinite possibilities of His Kingdom. He helps us by pointing out where we are falling down … so we don’t have to fall down next time! He lets us learn His Ways with His loving Eye upon us. Our God is never an absent God – He can be silent – but He is never gone!

You and I are a part of Him now, because we are His Body. We know we will always be received and He loves to help us to be ministers of reconciliation.. We need to make Him welcome, as our personal tutor/teacher/helper/guide/interpreter. We just need to A.S.K. I am so grateful that He lets us learn. I’ve found that the action of letting Him, or allowing HIM to take charge, is a HUGE thing.

Despite this word’s actual size, it is incredibly important. It has opened the door to a whole other way to live – in another Kingdom – His! Bye. 👋

P 2904 New way of life.

/ DVH

“Keep turning your back on every sin, and make “peace” your life motto. Practice being at peace with everyone.”Psalms 34:14 TPT. This psalmist says that we need to practice maintaining peace, because that will be always needed, so in every interaction with the Lord, or someone else, we will need to use our faith. I ask for His help a lot! You can tell I am very literal about what the bible says – I use it diagnostically. I find that this helps me focus on Him and not get overwhelmed by the ‘stuff’ that keeps coming at me.

Isaiah 26:3 says: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in YOU.” This new life we have been given, is about continually, steadily, believing we are who the Lord says we are. We need to fix our minds and hearts on His goodness. The fruit of the Spirit will come alive in us when we believe the work has already been done, and act accordingly, using our faith. “We cast our cares on the Lord, and He will sustain us, He will never let the righteous be shaken.” Psalm 55:22.

I think we often look at many verses in an unhelpful way – we look at them as a rule to be kept, and when we fail, we blame ourselves. That’s a vicious circle produced by our enemy to keep our hearts and minds off how good God is! The bible has within its pages a description, as well as God’s MODEL, (Jesus!), of our vibrant ongoing faith. I don’t have to listen to what I feel, I am guided by what He said.

In the above verses the writers are teaching us about who we are now – they are telling us how to bring God’s peace into our daily lives. We do that by refusing to invest our time, energy, angst –  in anything that is not God’s will, and focussing on what He says about everything. Peace thrives when we live according to His purposes, remembering that God saved us to faithfully serve Him.

This is not wish thinking, or even … ‘I-will-obey-God-about-that-someday’ thinking! Instead, this is now what we need to invest our God-given time in. We choose to step into our new life in Him by standing on what He has done for us. He saved us, delivered us, empowered us to overcome this world, sin and the devil, and our emotions are secondary. Jesus did more than die for us, so we can go to heaven one day, He died, to get heaven into us, here and now. He died to give us the power to have a different relationship with Father God — as His precious child. Now we live a life that begins to resemble the way Jesus lived. 

Peace is a Person. So we need to learn to protect our peace, and keep our eyes on the bigger prize which is walking with Christ, because He’s the Prince of Peace! We daily read the bible to become familiar with what He thought was important. You know whatever we focus on will become bigger – so it is best to aim at focussing on Him, and then after that, other people. Our prize, right here and right now, is that we will get to know Him better. Particularly as we practice keeping our eyes on Him, and His Ways. 

Following ‘do this, don’t do that rules’ can lead to failure, disappointment with ourselves and others, and discouragement. However, when we trust that God knows what we need and when we need it, we are investing in our faith life. Following Jesus by being obedient, taking that step by step, leads to His new life flourishing in us. As we live like this, what He wants becomes more important than any superficial gratification here and now. 

Instead of getting mad and distracted with ourselves or others because we’ve missed the mark, now our focus is is to be about – who or what He says we are. What He has already said about us in the bible, already has the power of transformation in it, as we use our faith and act on it. So we leave behind what we were before. Mark 9:23 says:“IF you can?” said Jesus.Everything is possible for the one who believes.”How can we believe Him for miracles if we cannot believe He can transform us, minute by minute?

Turn your faith eyes toward following Him, looking at what He would do. I’ve noticed that there are times when we try to use prayer as a way out of the very thing God wants us to learn from! Here’s a good question: “What’s Your will in this Father God?” The power to overcome is in doggedly, unemotionally, choosing to follow Him, by obeying Him, loving Him, enjoying Him, and preferring Him. At all times we must keep our eyes on the prize — His Presence is our Prize.

In a nutshell, when we read the bible, we obey what it says, believing that the power to obey comes from the fact that Jesus Himself said it – not from how we feel about it! From now on we ignore those parts of us that are clamouring for pity or relief because it all seems too hard. Of course it is hard, we are dying to our own will, by choosing to believe and honour the exchange we made when we said yes to Him! 

Faith has a ‘way’ to approach this life. Jesus began our faith, and He has already finished the job – 2,000+ years ago! In this life, we simply use our faith to access what has already been done for us. Sin has no longer power over us, because we died when He died. We simply choose to be obedient to what He has already told us in the book. The more we do that, the easier it becomes to hear His voice. My advice? Tackle the hard stuff first!  Let’s live in freedom in spite of the devil’s harassment and enjoy this new way of faith. Bye. 👋

P 2901 Walking in love means …

/ DVH

… that I will probably never get my own way! According to 1 Corinthians 13, this kind of heart attitude is now my NEW priority… Now I will need to rely upon God to help me be patient in the middle of unpleasant circumstances. The Lord has promised He will help us. There is no reason to be envious of your fruit, because I’m way too busy growing my own! At the same time I will cultivate a caring concern for your well-being, while I’m putting my own needs on His altar. Also I no longer want to keep records of all the dumb things you’ve done!

Pardon me a minute, now I need to dash off and look in His mirror, (His Word) and see if there is any chance my reflection there backs up what I just said! Meanwhile, fake fruit looks a lot like the real deal nowadays, until you take a bite out of it! Here’s an interesting side note: fake fruit is too shiny. Just like those fake plastic smiles we slap on when somebody has stepped on our heart for the 15th time and we lie and tell them, “Oh I’m OK, really!” It’s a wonder that my nose isn’t longer than Pinnochio’s. Why do we do that? Here’s my answer … a lack of humility. An aversion to correction and connection, plus I’m deathly afraid you will continue to tell me the truth about myself … and… I don’t want to hear that, thank you!

Here is my point for today, this life is constantly taking bites out of us – our response to those bites is a much better thermometer or diagnosis, than even any reflection could be. Instead, now we want to make His Word flesh in our lives – that happens when we do it to obey Him. Living like Jesus’ told us to, means we learn to be quiet when someone else is utterly wrong and we can prove it to them but instead we choose not to do that. We won’t even brag about the fact that we’ve resisted temptation, because we know, that the Holy Spirit helped us through it. 

Let’s be clear — it is not our behaviour that is at fault – it’s our belief system. We use our experiences to validate what we believe, instead of His Word. This side of the cross we need to believe in His love IN US more than we believe the lies that flourish around us. I can’t do anything without Him, because I know I will dive straight back into looking after ME. I can make pretty good excuses for doing that. Sadly, sometimes we keep right on using our own understanding, instead of acknowledging Him in all our ways.

We must continually revisit truths from the bible. looking for things for us to apply into our lives. Jesus did all this work for us, all by Himself, at Calvary …once and for all! If I give you a brand new house with everything you ever personally wanted or needed in it, and you still chose to continue to live in falling down rented digs – because you are too proud to say “thank you” — whose fault is that? The Lord has already deposited everything we will ever need to be transformed, in our forever account.We just need to learn to live in forever, instead of the immediate. Otherwise the immediate takes over.

Romans 4:20–25: “Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for US, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” 

Those words: ‘fully persuaded that God had power’ …matter. We’ve met SomeOne Who is not like anyone else we’ve ever met. He doesn’t just tear up any record of our sins, at the same time, He deposits His love, righteousness, goodness, compassion, mercy, loving-kindness etc. inside of us. We already have whatever we need for this way of life. Jesus did not just empty out the bad, He is in the process, with our co-operation, of loading in the good. Abraham believed God and He acted on His belief, and God said: Now that’s righteous.”

Now we choose to stop doing things the way this world does them, and we ask Him how He wants us to handle everything that comes our way. Loving others is our permanent focus. Instead of asking the Lord to make you patient, (generic wish thought) you and I ask Him – ‘Who am I being impatient with, Lord?’  (Specific attitude check.) And we don’t argue with whatever He suggests, even if it happens to be someone we can’t stand! We go to them and humble ourselves. If we wait for that other person to deserve it … it will never happen! 

LOVE ACTS. It is unafraid of the consequences. Walking in love means my whole life changes! Bless ya 👋

P 2900 We pray from a kingdom perspective.

/ DVH

“Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm.” Colossians 3:2 TPT. There are so many instructional verses in the bible, just like this one, that we could apply one of them every single day and still not get through the book even once in this lifetime! So how do we feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm while we are still on earth? We live like heaven is our home, not this world.

It’s all about focus. Most people today are focussed on me, myself, and I. My family, and my relatives, and my goods and possessions, my country, and my job or lack of one! In order to have a heavenly point of view we need to focus on what God wants – and fortunately He has told us what He wants – in writing! 

Jesus came here and He actively taught us what a heavenly perspective looks like. Our Father always has a greater plan than we can imagine — praise Him! Jesus was a walking, talking, teaching, healing illustration of God’s plan and His love for each one of us. Then He died to seal the deal, to give us our opportunity to live the way He did. Sacrificially. He didn’t just die to get us into heaven – He died to get heaven into, and flowing out of, US!

Jesus Christ is Father God’s faith in action be-ca-u-se … ‘faith without works is dead!’ Faith has substance – Jesus Christ is the substance of His Father’s faith. This is why without faith we cannot please God – our God is faith-filled! He has invested His Son’s life in each one of us. His kingdom is not just a place, somewhere ‘up there’ — it is a new way to live. The miracles Jesus did were secondary to the carrying out of His Father’s plan.

People could say: “Well being a Christian doesn’t sound like much fun, if God gave me a life  I want to live it, my own way.” And so the Lord steps back and says: “Have at it!” This means right here, right now, surprise, surprise, we are living in a world filled with people who want their own way. Even if what they actually want is a peaceful life, that is still what that person chooses for themselves! We should never be surprised at the mess this world is in, because human beings are in charge. And human beings, without Christ, are susceptible to demonic influences!

I think we all do our best to pray for good things, Godly things, things inspired by the Holy Spirit … but many times we pray for change or healing of things on this earth. Please Lord, heal this. Please Lord, change that. Please Lord, help those people etc. We are praying for the things that will one day pass away. Jesus Himself told us what to pray for: “Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; THY KINGDOM COME; THY WILL BE DONE; on EARTH as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

In this new reality, we pray for His kingdom, His will to be done, first.. In this prayer that Jesus gave us as an example – God is the centre. Yes we can pray to be delivered from sickness, sin and evil, let’s do it! We sure need it!! But the point of being born again is to live in His new kingdom with His oversight. He tells us how to do that in the book. He even tells us what the fruit of that kingdom looks like … in the book! No fruit – no kingdom!  

Our new life means we have chosen to live in His kingdom, and we are to manifest that kingdom in this life down here …in the middle of wars, trouble, strife, evil, compromise, hatred, murder, lust, lies. That’s why Jesus said “don’t be surprised when bad things happen.” Those things are the fruit of this world!  We are to walk within this world’s worst nightmares, shining with the light of Jesus’ love for every single human being, always praying people will be saved by the truth of what we believe, as it is acted out right in front of them! 

“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.” 1 John 4:17.

Now we pray from our new heavenly position within Christ. ‘Lord I want what You want.” I’ve learnt, from experience, that what HE wants is so much better than anything I can think of or dream about! We have given our lives to Him so He can live through us – we are blessed to be able to release His point of view, His healing, His love, peace, joy, into the darkness. That is not a part-time job, it is a kingdom lifestyle.  We need to learn to pray from a kingdom perspective.Bye. 👋 

P 2899 Never give up, never surrender!

/ DVH

One of my all-time favourite movies is “Galaxy Quest.” My title today is one of the lines in it. This phrase inspired me  because the disciples often seemed to give up at the drop of a hat. Hubby and I were talking about them and the continual spirit of stupid they seemed to prefer to live under, recorded in the gospels! Even though Jesus was right there… like … they could see HIM! Those disciples remind me a little of those bobble-headed dogs that people have in the rear window of a car. They nod their heads up and down all the time, but they aren’t really saying ‘yes,’ – movement and momentum got them instead!

Picture this, the disciples are in a boat, (Matthew 8:23-27) and the wind and the waves are threatening to sink it, but Jesus has fallen sound asleep up the back of the boat with His head on a cushion. He’s tired. Let’s take a second to think about what He had already done in that day. He actively taught His disciples, as well as the crowds who had come to hear Him speak. He healed many others, including lepers. Like I said – He’s tired! And the disciples climb all over each other in total panic to wake Him up! Then they wail and whine at Him and say: “Don’t you care if we are going to drown?” 

I mean, Jesus is in that boat too, right? If they are correct, then everybody is going to drown not just them! It seems that these men still had not grasped what He had given them. Let’s be clear, panic can easily set in for all of us, but I’m not talking about what you or I might say out loud, I’m also talking about the miscellaneous rubbish that rolls about inside our heads when we shift our gaze OFF Him … and onto some problem or other! Bad move. Our focus matters. We simply cannot afford to forget Who our Father in heaven IS.

I can’t count the times when I have said, inwardly — and, sigh, sometimes even out loud: “Oh God, don’t You care that I am not coping?”  Like how I feel should be HIS number one priority!? The bible says this: “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. Yield, BTW means I’ve given in to fear and I am flap-doodling about.. But it also says that if I can’t see Him, guess who turned their head?? … Not the Holy Spirit!! We are under His gaze 24/7. 

How about another time when the Lord is teaching the disciples to forgive over and over and over and over again … and: “The apostles came up and said to the Master, “Give us more faith.” (Luke 17:5). Boy that last line made me chuckle.  Basically, what the disciples are saying is: “We want to do it! And we would do it if we just had more faith Lord!” Hah! Like somehow their faith or lack thereof is HIS FAULT. What a miserable excuse for them to make. Remember, the boat story above in Matthew? But Jesus said to them: “Where is YOUR faith?” He expected them to have faith in Him, and what He had already taught them. Those guys had private personal lessons.

Faith is personal. God gave each one of us a measure of faith and sometimes I think we feel and act like He short-changed us. Maybe what we actually think in hard times is that He hasn’t given us enough for something this big! Our faith is not like fairy dust, which can blow away in the winds of bad circumstances, and melt in the heat of tribulation — it is a real gift given to us straight from God’s throne in heaven!

ps: That faith is the same faith we received when we said ‘yes’ to Jesus in the first place. We all have it, it is what causes us to read the bible, pray, fellowship with others, and go to church. Faith is not a feeling, it is a choice we act on! If I have feelings then I have evidence! BUT!! …“…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things NOT SEEN.'”Faith has no evidence but the cross.

It is designed to grow. It will grow quickly if we use it! But if we park it on a shelf and only drag it out when the sky falls in on us, we can easily find our faith is not as big as we hoped it was! That was the problem for the disciples, they weren’t using the opportunities He gave them to stretch and strengthen their faith. When things got hard, I think they kind of figured that Jesus would fix it. But the Lord knew He had to eventually leave them, so embracing that tactic was not going to be a viable solution. Remember, He sent them out in twos to practice their faith! And when the Lord saw their faith was in the results, He rebuked them. 

They were His servants, they served Him. Being a servant is simple, you obey whatever it is you are told! You know, some truths are more weighty than others. The fact that one day we will all die and leave everything we know and love behind us is true. But there is a bigger truth, our salvation. It will sustain us through that end-of-life process. If one day I prayed for someone for a headache and they still have that headache, that is not proof that my faith does not work- it means it needs more using and stretching!  My faith is in what He said, not in what I can see.

Jesus will never leave us, EVER. Just because we can’t always see anything, that doesn’t make how we feel true. It probably means we need to crucify our flesh and move on over into the Spirit. We need to have more faith in His goodness, than we do in our circumstances! Never give up – never surrender! Bye. 👋

P 2880 Use your faith – pray for the sick.

/ DVH

Christians often want to know God’s will, or perhaps what gift they have been given to contribute to His kingdom. That’s admirable. But I have a short-cut to all those diagnosing courses, seminars, conferences, and fantastic inspirational books. Do something using your faith in Who He is. Christ didn’t come to make US famous. We are here to make HIS NAME famous.  In other words use your faith. It’s the same faith that got you saved and be prepared to pray for anybody.

Begin by praying for any sick people around you. What if they are not healed? You might think like me:  “I’m pretty ordinary. How can I pray for the sick?”  First of all, you are not the Healer, you take the Healer with you. My suggestion is this — choose to BE there for that sick person. Talk to them about Jesus, how much He loves them. Encourage them. Walk with them, even if it is just for a little while, as they trudge through their personal dark valley. Or be an extremist, and find an enemy and pray for them too – that will stretch anyone’s faith!

This is what disciples of the Great Shepherd do! They love people – they genuinely care for them. We are not supposed to be a hit squad. In the past, we prayed for someone, a-n-d … we moved on … … NEXT!  Jesus didn’t do that! He talked to people when they came to Him. He gave them His attention and interacted with them. In those moments, the Holy Spirit hovered over both of them. There are no magic words – say what He tells you to say. Your heart of compassion speaks to His heart of compassion. I once prayed for a baby who was blue in the face and not breathing. I yelled: “Don’t you dare die on me.” The kid opened his eyes and started screaming. The words don’t matter. It’s Who we are connected to, that matters, not what we say or how we say it. Jesus spat on the ground once. I figured we all came from dust, so easy-peasy to make another eyeball out of it!

People have never been projects to God. His love wants to draw out the very best in each one of us. Here’s a revelation for you, some people need their hearts healed even more than their bodies. They need to know they matter to Him. You don’t have to move IN with them, but you can be there for someone!  Sick people can be lonely people. They can’t move about and see others because their illness isolates them. That isolation easily leads the neglected into despair.

We can get so caught up in seeing the results of our prayers— so we can feel good about ourselves — that we forget we are not here for us we are here for them!  Jesus didn’t pray to get results, He prayed because He was filled with compassion and pity for the sheep who didn’t know He was their Shepherd. We can justify wanting results by saying that praying for the sick is glorifying God, and people will come to our churches and get saved. Yes, they probably will! But what people really need most is genuine love. And we are their all-weather, every-situation access pass to Christ Himself! He’s the Lover of all our souls!

When we pray we give Him an opportunity to touch them with His love and Presence. We’re His temple, and the Body of Christ has a job to do. We’ve been saved to serve Him, so we all need to begin to use and stretch our faith. As He leads us, and we take a risk and step out in faith, we will learn about loving others. The church at large has put so much importance on results we seem to have forgotten all about being filled with His love and compassion for people!

Whether people are sick or not, all of us need love, appreciation, exhortation, kindness, patience, etc. and Jesus is the eternal fountain of all those things. WE NEED HIM – because Jesus knows how to love!! Remember, He is the ever-lasting, ever-living fountain – He’s bigger than results. We want His dear face, not just His hands! 

So how do we get to know Him better? My advice is to talk to the Lord and always be honest with Him. There’s no use pretending. We may need to step away from distractions and read the book. Look at how other human beings in that book … who were just like you … interacted with Him. Meanwhile Jesus hasn’t changed His focus just because He went back to heaven! He came here to redeem us, and He is still interested in every single bit of our lives … even the bits we can’t manage. He’s the Saviour Who came!

People ask God to: ‘change this or that in me,’Lord.’ Great! It’s OK to pray about stuff, but most of the time it won’t fall on you. You and I are going to have to engage with His processes. We will need to make some hard decisions and stick by them. Maybe we got stuck somewhere because we’ve been ignoring what He said – there’s a great place to practise repentance! We gotta stop chucking worship AT Him and start talking TO Him. Ya might want to think about that one. 

Jesus’ death and resurrection covered everything. If we’ve fallen down a hole because of some weakness, some habit or other, then WE are going to have to change. Duh! Will He help us? Too right He will!! It’s His nature. He utterly understands humanity – He fell in love with His future Bride, when He was here!!. You and I need to stop waiting for other people to step up to the plate and stand up myself and participate. Salvation is not pie in the sky when we die — it’s about dying daily, simply because He’s always worth it. Bye. 👋

P 2878 Unconditionally forgive everyone.

/ DVH

““Your ancestors have also been taught ‘Love your neighbours and hate the one who hates you.’ However, I say to you, love your enemy, bless the one who curses you, do something wonderful for the one who hates you, and respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying for them.”Matthew 5:43-44 TPT. Many people don’t like this scripture because it hits something inside them that they don’t care to acknowledge. Personally, I think things like gossip have their roots in these attitudes. We try to bring people down by badmouthing them to others, especially if they threaten us or we can’t forget what they did! 

Hatred can be generational. It can be taught to us by the people we dearly love, who raised us. After that sort of family indoctrination, it can become quite easy for gossip, slander, lies, and hatred to be passed down from one generation to another. When generational things are cherished and repeated endlessly, eventually they break out against other people Jesus died for! Meanwhile, how sensible is it to hate some people ‘cos your folks, or your friends, or people we esteem hate them too? You know that voice that you can hear in your heart that keeps saying: “Wrong way, go back.” Listen to it.  We have the power of God in us — we can usher in generational change by our choices.

Any unloving focus can drag us away from our main objective – loving others. Gossip and judgment build themselves, through repetition about what some perceived enemy did or said.  And when the bad incident that started with anger, or judgment happens to our people, our house, our group of friends – then it becomes personal!  That personal experience adds weight to everything else that has gone before it. It’s a distraction from our main purpose – let’s not allow ourselves to be distracted away from our purpose.. 

Between all the hating, cursing, lies and the repetition of the terrible stories — hatred is now flourishing in this world. Now this ghastly attitude is set firmly inside a demonic stronghold. I think the press/media etc. lies to us regularly in order to provide sensational stories to get our money and attention. Advertisers love that idea! The press blows up information and twists things to make what we read, see, or listen to, sensational. 

Meanwhile, our thirst to be in the know, and our efforts to find out about something that garners a lot of attention, have created a monster. We have made ‘knowing things;’  or ‘having the skinny on this or that,’  into some kind of a competition, and in the process we have devalued the people Jesus died for. Those people who are supposedly informing us – prefer making money, or gaining information — to caring about their fellow man. Real lives are affected and sometimes destroyed, by falsely reported things. 

This happens when the story becomes more important than the participants. Things like that help to create hard, and sometimes deceitful hearts. Meanwhile the media is about money and making some people rich. It seems to me, that the press take their little texta pens, and colour-in what really happened, by bringing up the bad shades and diminishing the good ones, so that we will read/watch/listen to their version of what is actually going on. We can easily get sucked into this filthy whirlpool and end up angry with somebody we’ve never met!

I believe this practice is a device of satan, because he loves to capitalise on greed, plus our own perceived desire to know stuff. Gossip etc. has become a new form of addiction. But the truth is, we don’t actually need to know! We can pray for the people involved in terrible things, but we often can’t do anything about whatever is going on. All we can do is to STOP and deliberately let His light in through prayer. Unfortunately our idea of light, and the Lord’s idea of light can be very different things. How do I know that …? Because our light can often be hidden under a basket – that’s how! Hidden light is not useful. Darkness still remains in the corners. We dare not bring our own agendas into our prayers. 

Even some churches have been deceived, they have become more concerned about being politically correct than loving others. Our priority is always LOVE. There are times that we too borrow the press’s textas and do some colouring-in of our own – villainising people! We are here to shine His light into the dark places – not to spread the darkness around. To me, that means I need to be like Him no matter what is going on around me. A light illuminates, it doesn’t have an opinion, it simply shines by its nature. 

So what can we do about these things? Well, I think investing emotionally in something we have no control over, is the enemy’s way of wasting our time. We may even feel better initially, more in control of things, but unless we pray for both sides of whatever is going on, we are missing the point. We don’t get to judge who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. My advice is – don’t believe everything you hear, and remember to unconditionally forgive everyone. Let’s not get so tied to the things of this earth, that we can’t hear when heaven comes calling. Bye. 👋

P 2877 Suffering is a door.

/ DVH

The bible tells us that the Apostle Paul had something or other wrong with him, health-wise. Meanwhile there has been much debate about what it was … I mean … who cares… really??  Any-way, the man asked God three times to take it away. My point is this: Paul asked God to take it away! Three times!! There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change your circumstances when hard times have overtaken you. Paul did that!.

Be comforted, there is no judgment from me, if you want to put up your hand and say; “Enough please. Point me toward Your exit, Lord.” I pray that myself.  Amazingly, in those times, I feel like I can’t take any more – but … meh! I’m still here talking about it! That ought to tell me something!

Back to the Lord, God told Paul this in 2 Corinthians 12:9 and it provides us with a clue as to where He is coming from: “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” We need to understand, from our heart, that weakness is not a fault, it is an asset in God’s kingdom! Boy, if most of us managed to absorb that info it would help us daily, mightily. 

It’s OK to not cope and feel weak and overwhelmed! Because when we are weak we are in a prime position to experience the power of God in, and on our lives. Of course we will need God’s opinion about how He wants you or I to respond to our own personal current awful circumstances — but at the same time, just remember … … the Apostle Paul wrote nearly half of the New Testament, so he wasn’t a small character on this stage. Paul was one of the people that God specifically chose, to write about what he was learning and experiencing first-hand as he followed Jesus. 

You know, speaking for myself it is way easier to write down an acceptable faith answer, than it is to live it out! But it seems to me that Almighty God wanted Paul to understand personally the depth of Grace that He has released toward each one of us, and so He allowed many things in Paul’s life that human beings aren’t keen on. And God said ‘No!’ to Paul’s escape prayer. NO is an answer! By the way, ‘no’ means we can’t say that God didn’t answer us, we are now stuck, simply because we didn’t particularly like that answer! 

We need to pray that we will continually grow in our understanding of what Christ’s sacrifice did for us. He did it so we can be called Sons and Daughters of God. To me that means that sacrifice is a part of our new life in Christ. The bible says: We are now capable of MORE, and that’s why Christ died – to give us more! He died to give us access to His kingdom, right here, right now, so we can live this life like He did.

I can see the enemy’s subtle hand in a lot of Christian articles produced today. They have been written by Christians in all kinds of genuine pain and distress, who need answers to their suffering. Actually, my personal experience is that the more I walk with Him, the less I will care about what you are doing… I have my hands full already with the dumb stuff I do! These articles have called some sorts of behaviour this specified thing, and other kinds of behaviour something else. They excuse the judgment that flows from such things,, as “protecting ourselves.”Understanding, or analysing other people’s behaviour, doesn’t remove pain, it can actually increase judgment. 

Gird up your girdle, Gertie, I’m about to take down some myths that have no references in the bible. My bible says: “My God is my protection and with Him I am safe.” Psalm 18:1-2. My point is this, IF He is my Protector in some circumstances and not in others … because apparently in those circumstances I can protect myself from the bad people … How will I know where His protection ends and my self-effort begins? Meanwhile please notice the word ‘effort’ – grace doesn’t flow through efforts, it flows through unconditional love. 

Maybe our first and only question needs to be: “How can I continue to live in love while this is going on please Lord?” Christianity is not meant to be a part-time, hokey pokey way of life. We are either IN and walking forward, or OUT, sliding backward. Living any other way slowly removes His power to change out of our lives. It pushes transformation to one side. Then some of us go round and round achieving nothing and going nowhere. Please note: I speak from experience!

The power of God to overcome the trials of this world is free to people of faith, BUT, that does not mean we can turn it on and turn it off. Instead we now have a new focus, we choose to serve others at the pleasure of our King. Christians need to remember that if the Holy Spirit doesn’t like what we are doing then He will vote with His feet. He.Will.Leave! There is no room for compromise in the bible. You either do what He says or you don’t. It is a very exacting book.

Paul’s response to his suffering is a wonderful key for us, when suffering impacts our own lives, it’s a door. He found something to focus on that increased and stretched his faith. This man understood that being powerless in the face of adversity is not the end of things … it can even be the beginning of a new way to think. Bye. 🤔

P 2867 Aim higher…!!

/ DVH

One of the biggest problems we have in Christianity today is that we are not living like we are His kids. We’ve fallen prey to the deception that raising the dead, healing the sick, walking on water, multiplying food, or producing miracles is the only way for us to look like His kids. And … at the same time … we all know that only really spiritual people can do that stuff! Wrong! Those things are a side benefit of knowing Him! Knowing Him means that we will see His Grace operating all around us in this natural world. Any miracles will occur as and when we need them – based on the Lord’s directives. 

Let’s look at the Lord Jesus, He operated in miracles whenever, and wherever they were needed — but His focus was always on the greater good — communicating His Heavenly Father’s Ways. It was far more important to Him to usher in God’s Kingdom in all its forms, than it was for Him to produce miracles to order. Listen He’s talking to the Pharisees:“Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” John 6:26. Miracles produce visible results, and they gain attention in the natural world – but a changed life becomes a permanent spiritual sign post. Sacrifice is even more powerful than miracles – a life laid down for His sake, and for the benefit of others, is the best gift we can give Him.

When we have problems, difficulties or burdens, we need to go to the foot of God’s mountain and give all our ‘stuff‘ to Jesus. Then we begin to climb that mountain, by reading His word, giving thanks and worshipping Him. As we climb, we start chewing over the things we’ve read, and/or the things we’ve been singing. Jesus walks with us, He will tell us where to put our feet. The thing is, when we no longer have to have those burdens tied about our necks, our hands are free to worship and climb. Christians are not betraying anyone by climbing up above our difficult situations with prayer, praise and His word. Instead, we are looking for a clearer view – HIS VIEW.

We must stop focussing on the mountains of fear, sin, unbelief, and sadness, the things that are in our way and instead we make a quality choice to focus on the Answer – Who Jesus is, what He already did for us. We need to refuse to be overwhelmed or become …“weary in the well doing.” Instead we are deliberately climbing with the Lord. Sometimes we can find, that there are things that have become so established within us, they seem like they ARE us! They can’t be! We’ve moved kingdoms!! Jesus told us what to do with mountains like those … speak to it. Name it. And fight the good fight against our own yet-to-be-redeemed-flesh. Those mountains are no longer substantial, because now we are a new Creation, made in His image. 

Every single thing Jesus ever said had a spiritual application. We need to continually uncover those hidden mysteries that have been waiting for those who want to press in and move on. So we turn our backs on the things of this world, with all its troubles and cares. It was on the Mount of Transfiguration Christ’s true identity was revealed. Christians are not meant to be static – we are in a process of ongoing transformation. It is not enough to fight for peace, we are His peace carriers. It is not enough to wrangle with our own spiritual hard times … because we’ve been commissioned to be His joy bringers.The way to find real joy is right in the middle of a hardship or sorrow.

Hubby and I’ve just been looking at some scenic views of Lake Louise in Canada, on Youtube. We once saw that place from the ground level. Here comes my point… the people who took the videos I saw today, were climbing the mountain. The view below always changes as we climb His mountain! To start with we can see more and   get a different perspective.“The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside”  (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle.) … Aim higher and bless you! 👋