Forgive

P 3478 Participation and dedication.

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“Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on Him to guide you, and He will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with Him in whatever you do, and He will lead you wherever you go.” Proverbs 3:5-6 TPT.

Living like this scripture says needs dedication. However, to be honest with you, when the Lord first brought this subject up with me, I kind of avoided it. I thought living like Jesus did was for the special people – the ones who had spiritual gifts and titles. I was just a bod. A nobody. Someone’s wife, someone’s mother, someone’s daughter. Jesus didn’t buy that little story when I kept trotting it out, BTW.

Due to circumstances totally beyond my control – prior to meeting the Lord, I had never had a life of my own that came from my own choices. I literally went from parental oversight to my ex-husband’s plans, and my own preferences didn’t come into it. My personal choices were framed by a threat of rejection, and that influenced me regarding total surrender. I did not want to give up my choices to SomeOne Else.

Inner rebellion grabbed me – plus I didn’t know how to change. I’d go up the front when the pastor called for the congregation to make a deeper commitment to Christ, and I’d cry my eyes out, then go home and  … wait for God to do His bit.  I had no thought that I would have to change my responses, and attitudes with His help. Or that I had to see my old life through His eyes, and TOGETHER we were going to walk away from the things I did, thought and said before.

I asked Him to help me, because at that time, I thought transformation relied upon what He did. Eventually I came to the erroneous conclusion that because He hadn’t changed this or that in my behaviour, then the things I did must not bother Him. I had blinded my eyes to the scripture and by doing so, I lost my hearing as well — mainly because I kept choosing to excuse myself from any participation! God is so kind, I reasoned – I knew He would understand that my life had not prepared me for this. Well, He is kind and He did forgive me  – but the reality was that I stayed in the same place because of those choices. I was not growing, or maturing – instead it was hard work not to go backwards!

Despite my squirrelled up thinking, Father God never rejected me. Not even once. At one stage I walked away thinking He could not possibly want me now, and I hid. I stopped going to church. Well we all know how hiding from God turns out … thank you Gideon and Jonah! However, the Lord, in His incredible Grace came after me. Father God is so much more faithful than we understand — He does not give up on us. He did not give up on me, and He won’t give up on you either!  

I had no comprehension of how faith works, so when the pastor preached that we were to ‘love others’ I automatically thought of someone I didn’t get along with at all, and I tried my best to love them. I did it using my own strength. Of course the Holy Spirit wanted to help me do what God asked of me, but without His help I failed. All that other person had to do was snarl at me, or be mean, and I would immediately run away like a scared rabbit – and then I went back to complaining about them behind their back. I felt imprisoned by other people’s attitudes which did not change – I had no sense of freedom.

The truth is, I didn’t know what was in my own heart – and I wasn’t sure I wanted to either! It takes pressure to show us what is really in our hearts. Our reaction to pressure is not a whoopsie, or a little error, it is a diagnostic tool. It shows us what’s really in there … hiding away amongst the pleasant smiles and happy little testimonies. Things like judgment can hover away in the background influencing the way we think. Plus, when bad things happen it can be far too easy to complain. Complaining seems normal, because we are human. I had no idea, at all, about how faith works and I took no responsibility for my responses to difficulties. Instead I made excuses for myself. James talks about the real issue, our lack of ability to change ourselves: chapter 3, verses 7-16. 

“This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women He made in His image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you? Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.” 

When we choose to merely tackle the outcome of the things we do, we are not tackling the root of these issues in our lives. The truth is, we don’t have to be afraid or ashamed of owning our faults because Jesus took all of that to the cross. Everything. Not some of it … all of it. Now we need to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness and learn to rely upon Him, and use our faith. Jesus forgave us unreservedly … so we have more than enough Grace to give away, which will flow on, to others.

The only claim to fame you and I have ever had is that we know Jesus Christ personally. The thing is — we aren’t  just meant to ‘know’ Him or say that we ‘follow’ Him. Jesus learned obedience through suffering … and SO DO WE. The same Spirit Who was in the Lord Jesus, is now in us, He wants to  teach us personally, how to follow the Lord, step by step. But that will require participation and dedication. Bye. 👋

P3477 Moving house.

/ DVH

“We cross the threshold of true knowledge when we live in obedient devotion to God. Stubborn know-it-alls will never stop to do this, for they scorn true wisdom and knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7 TPT. The bible says all kinds of incredible things that we can barely take in, let alone remember day by day. That’s cause for a pause, right there! Many people like to focus on the negative – sadly the daily news proves that point. Even the words used by the people writing these articles are evocative and negative, all at the same time. However, God’s kingdom is always GOOD NEWS.

The thing is, we were born again to WALK with God – not just sit down comfortably inside the door! The bible was not written as a list of the things we are no longer allowed to do or participate in – it is about how dear we are to Him, and how important it is to Him that we choose to live like His kids. Father God does not have subtexts like we do – His aim is LOVE. When He asks us to obey Him, it is so that we can live in that love and freely give it away. That place is the safest place on this earth. 

Stuff will still happen, but we need to remember, a yielded soul is a catalyst. That soul changes everything around it.  When I choose to cling to what God Himself says, I am not denying reality — I am yielding to SomeOne, greater than I am. He is a far far greater reality. Almighty God made this world, so He knows our place in it. Let’s trust what He says over what I think, or you think, or even what Brother-I-know-everything thinks. We need to forgive him … and move on.

In years gone by, we used to sing a song called “Come and go with me to my Father’s house.” I loved the idea of living in my Father’s house … but sadly, after I went home, it seemed to me that I was leaving behind the loving fellowship, and prayers, plus power of the Word preached. It seemed like I was leaving that behind until next week. Then one day, it dawned on me that I could go to my Father’s house and STAY. What’s more I could choose to live FROM that Kingdom, not the one all around  me. Jesus came here to usher in the Father’s kingdom. Now I follow Him along the narrow way, and I live by faith, in His kingdom, here and now.  

When God told us to seek His kingdom first, it’s because the things we do are meant to come from our place in His kingdom. We live there now – we never have to leave. What’s more, we take His kingdom with US wherever we go! It all depends on the way we look at what was said, and our personal decisions to obey Him. And the Holy Spirit helps us with that too! I think we’ve been looking at many scriptures from a negative reinforcement point of view – instead of seeing these things as a glorious statement of our new position. 

120 people were transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit came upon them, then they went on to live IN and FROM, God’s Kingdom. Their lives were now framed by it, and it occupied their thoughts, their actions. Everything they did was with God’s kingdom in mind. “Silver and gold have I none but such as I HAVE give I Thee.” (Acts 3:6) Peter was already living in that kingdom – so he could give the things of God’s kingdom away! All disciples now had it, and they took His kingdom wherever they went. Jesus Himself said: ‘…the Kingdom of God is among you.’ His kingdom is motivated and supervised by the Holy Spirit. 

What I want to say today is that we need to move away from the kind of thinking that God’s Kingdom is unavailable to us, unless we meet certain requirements. Jesus did that for us. So now we use our faith to live in the reality that God’s Kingdom is already here. It’s already IN you, and me. When we were born again, we left the kingdoms of this world behind, now we are in His kingdom seeking more and more of it. We’ve been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred  into the Kingdom of His marvellous light. 

However a negative bias on any number of verses can change the way we apply them. What I’m talking about means we choose to walk away from vague possibilities into reality – we need to do whatever we can to use our faith. This is why using our power in His kingdom to try to get what WE want is a travesty! Aim at living in His kingdom where love prevails.

Most of us already have so much information about His kingdom, but just like the sensational headlines in the news, we are limited by another agenda. That agenda says, “I can’t change.” The question I want to ask today is: ‘Then why do we have the Epistles in our bible, if we can’t be changed, here and now. Why did Jesus preach change if it was unavailable until we die?’ Like Paul I want to say, “Not that I have l already attained this, but I press on toward the mark..” (Philippians 3:12) Our aims matter. When we surrender them to despair, or destruction we will be the losers.

Some things may seem to be difficult to us, but they are definitely not unattainable. “…Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) Let’s learn to live from God’s kingdom. What does He say? What does He want from you and I right here, right now? We need to choose to move house and live our lives, from His kingdom, and see for ourselves what that looks like in real life. It’s all in the book. Bye. 👋

P 3411 Our hearts are so important…

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… they show us what’s inside us. Our lives today seem to be all about experiences, good and bad ones. We are raising an instant gratification kind of generation. The result is many people have become cautious about using their faith — yet we are told very clearly that we cannot please God without using it. The glory of Jesus Christ is that He has already walked this earth with the same kinds of stubborn, decadent and hard hearted people that are alive right now.

The Lord deliberately walked through His life, with Love, Grace and Truth all over Him, and the men who walked with Him, wrote it all down. At any given moment you and I can read about what Almighty God wants from His kids, because now we have a physical illustration, of God’s will for mankind, Christ Himself. As well as a signed document — the bible. 

This book is a serious eternal document.The Lord Jesus signed the New Covenant in His own blood! “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28. The proof of what Jesus did is not only written down. It is signed. When we come to Jesus to save us, we sign our part of that document with our faith, that’s why we are baptised. We are choosing to give Him our lives so that we can live for Him.

“For this reason He (Jesus) is the Mediator and Negotiator of a new covenant [that is, an entirely new agreement uniting God and man], so that those who have been called [by God] may receive [the fulfilment of] the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has taken place [as the payment] which redeems them from the sins committed under the obsolete first covenant.” Hebrews 9:15-18. Like I said, this new covenant is a serious thing not lightly entered into.

Our faith when it is in action looks like this: I do what the bible says, based upon the fact that I believe the bible is God Himself speaking to me. This means I choose to add my life (substance), to those words … those things that were only words before I acted on them. I started my new life by being baptised, (an action), and I continue to live in it by obeying His Word. I can’t trust my feelings, they will tell me it’s too hard and I can’t do this or that. So I need to use my faith to obey. He has promised to help me. I give time from my life to do whatever He asks me to do, and when I do that I am putting His new life in me, into whatever I am doing. 

My actions prove my faith is real whether I get to see the results I want or not. When I choose to live using my faith, I am investing my own here-and-now life into what I’ve read, and Almighty God promises I will see results. If not here, then I will in heaven. What I do daily, shows the world that what Jesus asks me to do, is worthy of everyone’s attention, because my faith in Who said it, has motivated me into acting on it. There can be no faith without accompanying actions. We don’t pick and choose what we will obey — the Holy Spirit chooses those things for us. 

Many people feel around trying to find faith, when their faith  actually becomes evident by the way we respond to God and each other. Faith is not a feeling, it is a way to live. Just like being a business person or a doctor is a way to live. Jesus Christ lived by using His faith, and then His disciples chose to live and die for it, and so have many others.

Like you, I’ve set my heart on being obedient with the Holy Spirit helping me. That’s what faith looks like, it is always on standby, ready to do whatever He tells me to do. I am prepared to look like a goose and to have other people question everything I say or do. I know that every time I obey, I will get another glimpse into the One I have chosen to follow. Jesus walked this way when He walked the earth. “This is because I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders [concerning] what to say and what to tell.” John 12:49.

People often say to me that they do not hear God’s voice. Today, I don’t want to go into impressions etc. or thoughts that stand out in our mind. My point today is that we have a BOOK FULL of things God told us to do. I tell people to begin with the Beatitudes, but the gospels have loads of instructions. Find something you don’t do and do that! Ask the Lord to help you and then just go and do it. Let God Himself tackle how the other person responds. Obedience to His word releases heaven. We are literally becoming a part of “… on earth, as it is in heaven.” 

Many hurt people don’t want to forgive, because it seems like they are giving someone else a licence to do whatever they did in the first place, all over again! That bit is not ours, we are forgetting God inhabits GRACE. Proverbs 4:23 tells us that He’s interested in our hearts not our feelings. “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” Our part is to guard our hearts. Faith is not just about results, it is far more about a freely given life of sacrificial obedience to Jesus. 

When we pray and want to be like Jesus, we will end up walking the same roads He walked. We will have to forgive people who are not sorry. Sometimes it seems like they will never ever acknowledge what they’ve done, and most of the time they think they are right and you are wrong! But that bit is out of our control. This life is about the state of our own heart. The Lord cares about that, because our responses show what is inside us. Just keep presenting your “paid in full” cheque, signed by Jesus Himself.  The Lord paid for them. He paid for you. Guard your heart and walk on. Bye. 👋

P3408 King David, an example of God’s faithfulness.

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“Holy Spirit, there is nowhere I can run to escape Your Presence! You won’t give up on me because You are too kind to leave me the way You found me. You guide me, counsel me, and show me the paths that lead to life. Today, make me more aware of Your goodness so that I can share Your goodness with others.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Isn’t this a great prayer? I didn’t write it by the way, I wish I had! It contains some beautiful truths about Who our Father is, plus it reveals His character, His intentional engagement with us and His ever-present, unfailing love for each one of us. Personally, there have been so many days when remembering His love keeps me going. Today I read Psalm 34:1-3.…“Lord! I’m bursting with joy over what You’ve done for me! My lips are full of perpetual praise. I’m boasting of You and all Your works, so let all who are discouraged take heart. Join me, everyone! Let’s praise the Lord together. Let’s make Him famous! Let’s make His Name glorious to all.”

This is David speaking and he is talking about his favourite subject, God Himself.  ‘David wrote this Psalm after escaping from King Achish of Gath. He was constantly being pursued by King Saul, so he fled to a Philistine city. And when he was recognised he feigned madness to escape execution. He wrote this Psalm when he was finally safe.’  

So this man, this King-in-waiting — who refuses to take his God-delegated throne by force, has been running away from practically everyone and yet he still so focussed on God’s goodness and kindness that when he is finally safe – JOY comes out, not just relief! These verses really made me think. When some hardship or other comes along, what is my reaction? Can I still see the Lord in the middle of my life crashing in on me on every side? When everyone else deserts me, am I incredibly glad He is still with me?

I’m not prepared to share my answer, it embarrassed me. It is not a sin to try to pray away our troubles and strife, even if we have caused the mess ourselves. But true heart repentance is only available to us as we begin to understand we can’t do anything at all without Him. Humility of heart is a huge key and David had it. As I see it, problems come up when we are so focussed on whatever is going on, we can’t see God in our situation anymore. And then — sadly — we actually stop looking for Him … because we are too busy trying to fix things on our own.

Here’s another Psalm, written by David at another time. This Psalm is addressing yet another terrible situation. He has been betrayed, again, and he is desperate for deliverance from those who seek to kill him. “Trust only in God every moment! Tell Him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to Him. Believe me when I tell you—He will help you! Pause in His Presence.” Psalms 62:8. David’s first thought is: “God is faithful, He will help me!” Meanwhile, can you believe this guy wrote PSALMS while he was running for his life??

It seems to me that this man’s heart was so precious to God because under pressure all that came out was David’s faith in our Heavenly Father’s goodness. He knew about God’s unswerving faithfulness to us. Here’s another important scripture for us to think on today:  “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51: 10,11.

These verses are great ones to pray over ourselves. While  the rest of the world runs about trying to impress the Lord with their great exploits, David understands the way to God’s heart lies through the way we regard Him … and this prayer shows us that we can ASK for a right heart.  We simply need to accept His Way of doing things is not the same as ours.

What an example to us David’s life is. As we read about him we watch him run, stumble, and also fall. In times of ease, he gets complacent. and he forgets Who he is serving ,and makes terrible mistakes. Yet his faith in God’s goodness is outstanding, and his ability to repent is monumental. It is almost like David had no deliberate thoughts about how to  cultivate his heart – rather his responses come from not being able to bear the separation sin brings. 

Because David is God’s idea of a heart that is right before Him, I think we need to note that it is this man’s belief that God is good, that holds him fast in that attitude. It has nothing to do with his actions, but everything to do with his responses. These difficult situations, in the main, aren’t about what King David is actually doing … with the notable exception of Bathsheba. Instead, they are far more about someone else’s jealousy of David’s position before God. An ambitious heart sometimes envies someone else’s pure motivations. It will often credit the other person with the same motivations they have. 

David’s love and passion for God’s Presence drove every other thought out of his mind.  When he allowed his humanity to overtake him, he immediately remembered that God is a God of forgiveness, and he threw himself on His mercy. He never forgot our Heavenly Father is faithful and despite our  circumstances, our God will help us! Bye. 👋.

P3406 Living like the bible is true.

/ DVH

Every single day, many people reading this blog get on public transport, or maybe they walk or get into a car, and head off to their place of employment. Before they go, they don’t check out how many accidents have occurred to their type of bus or train or car – they just get in the vehicle and GO. They have put their faith in arriving on time, and in one piece. We all need this kind of faith in God’s Word. What if we treat His Word the same way we treat ordinary things like public transport? What if instead of this life being clouded by stuff, we responded to Jesus’ teaching like He is in the room with us?

Instead of remembering those things that we think didn’t work, our thoughts need to be continually drawn back toward what Jesus has said and already done. Then all of the focus goes off me and my efforts, and over onto His finished ministry. His ministry benefitted every single one of us. Let’s live like we believe that.  Instead of living this life randomly, remembering Jesus at oddly choreographed moments — or perhaps when the roof falls in —- He needs to become the centre of everything we give our lives to.

So when we go to work, raise our kids, interact with others …  even our leisure time … is now lived for Jesus. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.” Colossians 3:23.  As we choose to live this way, we will be transformed daily, because living this way means we are using our faith. Over time, our thinking will change— it shifts to what Jesus wants from me and what He did for me. Now I read the bible listening for Him to speak to me. 

There is no need for a debate about whether I should forgive or not. That’s a done deal. I give freely and love others without thinking up good reasons why I shouldn’t!  There is no longer a debate going on inside me. Nothing is about  who is right and who is wrong— our new life in Christ is about knowing what He says and living my life the way Jesus would. Every choice, every step we make to do things His way, is a step or choice toward total transformation. So we choose to respond to things the way He would, because we can be like Him. And in this process our own ideas, plans and programs fall away. He becomes the central pivotal point – not what Sister-always-has-an-opinion thinks, or Brother-if-you-don’t-believe-what-I-believe-you-are-going-straight-to-hell thinks! Our thoughts centre on what does the bible say, and what would Jesus do?? 

It seems to me that we’ve mistaken authority for dictatorship, and they are not the same. Nor are we ruled by a consequences consensus. That’s what gave us all these denominations in the first place. Is Christ divided? 1 Corinthians 1:13 says otherwise. The Apostle Paul was utterly brilliant — until God Himself blasted him and threw him off his horse — then he also had to learn to think about absolutely everything he had already known from Christ’s perspective. Meeting Jesus didn’t just change this man’s mind, it changed his life! God must have given Paul a huge dose of humility on that trip to heaven!

The way to be transformed is to make the same choices Jesus made. He chose to die to what He wanted, or thought he needed, to live for the will of His Heavenly Father. By the way, it is one thing to metaphorically die to self — it is totally another to lay there and let someone else do it for you. That spouse, that neighbour, that boss, that child who drives you mad, is God’s grinding wheel to transform your life. And if it seems like it is killing us … that is what it is supposed to do! It is part of the process of dying to ourselves and daily learning to live for Jesus. It is as real as those nails and that cross were. Let’s use our faith to step out of the boat of this world’s opinions and start moving into our Heavenly Father’s ways. What if what we know about the Lord was more real than the things around us?

We learn grace when we choose to act like Jesus would  toward people who are not treating us well. Have you noticed that today many people have the most amazing energy to persecute others? It goes on and on – like most TV soapies. We can choose to default on our God-given new life arrangement, and many Christians do. It is so much easier to explain away the bits we feel we can’t do. But it is far better to seek out what He says in the bible, particularly in the New Testament. It’s not difficult to think like Jesus does, it is just very hard on our flesh. 

When we live, day by day, moment by moment choosing to follow the Lord, we are choosing LIFE. ABUNDANT LIFE.  We have yet to see fully what that means, we simply know that Jesus Himself lived like this. Heaven comes down, because heaven is attracted to the smell of sacrificial living, when it is done for Jesus’ sake. Let’s keep this fact before our eyes, Father God sacrificed His Son to redeem anyone who wants to be saved. That shows us that what we run away from, the Lord goes toward. 

As we live like His Way of thinking, doing and being is true, and it is — that’s when our faith-filled actions lead to His truth totally saturating and inhabiting our lives. Faith is the pathway into this new way of life God has given us. We don’t just live this way to raise the dead, we also live that way to raise our hopes when all seems lost.That faith that saved us, will transform our lives as we use it day by day. It all starts with what we SAY or choose not to SAY.

Living the way Jesus Himself did, day by day, by loving others and choosing to obey Him – means we are living like the bible is true. IT IS. We will continue to have only a little of the power of God, while we choose to put our faith into simply being saved. I believe that power is released through walking by faith in love, humility, daily releasing His grace to others, and following Him. Bye. 👋. 

P3404 What dominates you?

/ DVH

“May my only boast be found in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him I have been crucified to this natural realm; and the natural realm is dead to me and no longer dominates my life.” Galatians 6:14 TPT. 

Scriptures like this one come up, and if we are being real with each other, our response can easily be: “I don’t know, I sort of hope so.” But this whole thought sounds lovely doesn’t it? Especially the thought that this world no longer has that kind of hold over us. First of all, I want to encourage anyone reading this to resist the temptation to feel guilty if your answer happens to be: “I don’t live that way.” Guilt, shame, blame, etc. will cloud, and eventually overwhelm, our sense of God’s love, peace and acceptance toward us.

Yes, maybe you lost your temper last week and shouted at someone. Or perhaps lately you have been plagued by fear, but that won’t change the reality that SomeOne already paid, in real time, for whatever we’ve done. The point isn’t that we did whatever it was, the point is what are we going to do about it NOW? Are we going to allow ourselves to go round and round about something that no longer exists, or are we going to go to Love Himself – repent, and start thanking and praising Him for dying in our place. Jesus is praying for us, right now. He is not up there with a pen and paper and list of dumb things we have done. You asked Him to wash you with His blood and He already did!

It says this in Romans 8:31-34. “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one—for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honour at God’s right hand, pleading for us.” Hallelujah!

Instead of walloping yourself over the head with a handy umbrella, why not ask yourself why do I think I can’t live the same way Paul did? Nine times out of ten we feel bad because we are judging ourselves, and we are not happy about the answer. But in this statement Paul is pointing out that God is already for us. So let’s concentrate on the fact that Jesus voluntarily already reached that mark for us. How we feel about scriptures like these two, have absolutely no bearing on their reality and truth. The work is already done. Our thoughts and feelings must never rob us of His overriding truth. 

It’s like praying for more faith. There’s nothing wrong with that — but it helps if we are using the faith we already have, to praise and thank Him for what we’ve already been given.  We need to hone our focus, so we choose to  switch our thoughts off who we are … and intensely focus on Who He is and what He did. Is He trustworthy? Does He love us? Does He speak truth? I love that last one… Jesus is Truth. Game over… we win! This life is just a shadow, it’s a pale imitation of the reality ahead of us, those thoughts should dominate us.

Jesus leads us, He never shoves, bullies or coerces us. He doesn’t have to, He’s the real deal. His peace inside our hearts is our reassurance. God’s grace is bottomless. Here is something wonderful to chew on today, His mercy is brand new every single morning. Imagine that! There is no such thing as left-over, partly used up, mercy — God’s mercy is brand new and fresh every single day. Focus on that.. Don’t wait to be better, or do better, or be in a better place – do it now. Start thanking Him for it, and then give away the very things you have been given to everyone around you. Instead of keeping score, let things go. This is how we remain aware of what we’ve been given, we choose to live in utter gratitude and unrestricted generosity. 

The natural realm is temporary. People in war torn countries can tell us all about temporary things. One minute they have what they need, the next everything they had carefully collected and treasured is gone — including the people who dearly matter to them. Praise God…Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever! I love that it says yesterday, first. Let’s get rid of yesterday’s junk that can trip us up — and live in His light, His love, His truth, today. We need to leave the past behind us when we choose to forgive, repair, repent and then move on toward tomorrow.

Jump in the river of His love for you. Even when everything inside you screams at you to defend yourself and explain, or tell the other person your side of the story. The power to overcome those things that easily grind us down, is in the river of His loving forgiveness and acceptance. We need to leave our sins under the blood and jump on in. We cannot afford to let the devil and his lying ways dominate us. We will get discouraged if we do. Instead we submit to our Lord Jesus, because He loved us first. Let’s flow in love instead of being dominated by fear. Bye. 👋. 

P 3401 Be a happy doorman.

/ DVH

“If the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives. So may we never be arrogant, or look down on another, for each of us is an original. We must forsake all jealousy that diminishes the value of others.” Galatians 5:25-26 TPT. Taking the lowest seat without calling attention to what you’ve done can only be accomplished in Holy Spirit’s stealth mode. It may not happen  easily. It takes self-control and courage, to decide to be quiet, especially when someone has just provoked you, or they’ve said something that you feel is blatantly untrue. 

However, we can shoot ourselves in the foot and lose track of the Holy Spirit’s point, if we choose to defend ourselves and blast away!  By the way, an angry belligerent person probably needs some space … give them some. You can’t persuade someone like that to stop being angry. Remember, “a soft answer turns away wrath.” Proverbs 15:1. The Holy Spirit whispers scriptures like these to me when I am under pressure. Pay attention to what He says and He will help you too. Instead, say something sweet to poor old grumpy – they probably got out of the wrong side of the bed. Don’t be guided by how you feel in the moment.

When you go to see someone who quite obviously doesn’t like you, or maybe they don’t value the Lord’s truth – make sure you go with the Holy Spirit, under His orders. Don’t go into the lion’s den without the Holy Spirit! He knows the way to shut that lion’s mouth, without punching it in the face and irritating it further. He can turn a lion into a giant, friendly pussy-cat.

We can only truly hear the Lord and watch Him order our steps when we are prepared to do whatever He says – the way He says to do it. Many people want to hear the Holy Spirit, but a lot of the time they pick and choose whether they will obey Him or not. Maybe they have a lot of ‘buts’ or doubts. Choosing to obey when it doesn’t suit us, is beautifully illustrated by what happened to Jonah.

It did not suit that prophet to see the people of Ninevah saved. But God told this man to do something for Him. Let’s remember that Jonah was the Lord’s servant – like we are – we cannot pick and choose when it comes to obedience … Not unless you wanna end up in the belly of a big fish for a long weekend, anyway!! Thinking we can’t do it, does not mean it is OK to say no! 

Sometimes in order to escape we say unscriptural things like: ’God understands…He knows I am shy.’ Moses tried that tack remember? It didn’t work for him either. The fact remains, when God says; “Jump!”… We need to say: “How high?”  But what if it is not God speaking, and I do it? I could look like a goose! YES! …  … you probably will. And even that is good for us. Because we are told to humble ourselves before the Lord.

“But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but was striking his chest [in humility and repentance], saying, ‘God, be merciful and gracious to me, the [especially wicked] sinner [that I am]!” Luke 18:13. Jesus liked this guy. He used him as an example of humility. “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” V14. 

Sometimes when we hear stuff like that, we immediately think about someone else we know who could do with taking down a peg or nine. The thing is we can’t afford to read God’s book for someone else. This is not a proxy book – the bible is a personal instruction book. Because we truly want to follow Jesus then we need to do what He would do. Jesus was never arrogant about the things He knew. He’s God. Almighty God is His DAD … He had a lot He could go on about! 

Meantime our task is to hear what God says, then DO. Obedience is a fantastic key. It is right up there with being saved and forgiving others. But we can’t learn to love others if we are holding a demand list against them! So let’s leave jealousy, suspicion, and unforgiveness behind us. Keep a short list of aughts against any. Actually… take your little list out into the garden and burn it.  Those things are a rock we can sometimes tie about our ankles that will drown us. Automatically forgive, then deal with your anger and pray about how to make things right again. 

Paul said this, and I love it …  “Follow my example, AS I follow the example of Christ.” So if someone you are following is not following Jesus … then stop following them! Duh! Love them, forgive them, but don’t do what they do and don’t look down on them either. Next time it could be your turn to be the empty-headed numpty. We all need direction, correction, humility, and an appreciation for others in this world. Let’s learn to be content with that. If we want to keep the oil of the Spirit flowing in our lives, then we must learn to follow His instructions. HE WROTE IT DOWN. 

Lastly, listen to this wise Psalmist who knew what was important and what wasn’t: …“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather be a doorkeeper and stand at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10. Great place to say goodbye. 👋

P 3371 Cultivate Fruit. 

/ DVH

I love summer time when all kinds of fruit are in the shops and it seems like we are overloaded with choices. Any kind of fruit looks great to me. You know in the bible I can’t find one instance of anyone talking about dieting! Fasting – yes! Dieting – no! Father God has provided us with a tremendous variety of foods. He is the source of it all, including the fruity yumminess, because He caused every pleasant and fruit-producing tree to grow in the Garden of Eden. It was a fruit-bearing tree that seduced Adam and Eve! 

And today, I have a little theory I want to write about that. Here we go… inside any fruit there are seeds – most fruits have at least one seed. According to my little bit of research, most of the fruit we have today that are seedless, have been specially cultivated by horticulturalists to remove those seeds for our convenience sake. If you’ve eaten an orange with a great many seeds in it, you will understand why! 

If we look at the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I think we will find that when Adam and Eve ate whatever kind of fruit it was, its seed was in there too. It also became part of them, not just the fruit. Inside any seed is the potential for many other trees to grow. When Almighty God banished this couple from His garden, they lost all access to the tree of life, because they’d disobeyed when they ingested the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, together with it’s seeds.

Now this couple had the potential to decide what was good and what was evil … because the seeds of knowledge, and the quest for power were growing inside them. They decided disobeying God was evil, that’s why they hid. They already had the potential to be like Him … without His WISDOM, MERCY and GRACE and DISCERNMENT etc.

Their disobedience robbed them of their holiness, and the access to Holy fellowship that God Himself gave them. That fruit of disobedience, that they chose to eat, was passed on to their offspring. Then God planted Himself into the earth in the form of His seed in a virgin’s womb. Jesus was planted and He lived here, He died and was buried here. A seed has to die to bear fruit.

Cain became jealous and killed his brother Abel. The seed of ‘whatever I don’t regard as evil’ is not evil, has become my new idea of truth. This was fostered the minute Cain entertained the thought: “Why didn’t God like my sacrifice?” Independent thinking is a very popular theme nowadays. It seems to me that truth is no longer fixed, because we have thrown away our access to the Tree of Life, the bible.  People are planted in the wilderness, instead of being planted by streams of living water. The bible points us firmly to our need of a totally New kind of Life – in Jesus! 

Humanity has been sowing trees ever since. Conversely if I think it’s good then it’s good!  EG. You can’t tell me what to do, because seeds of disobedience and rebellion have already been sown and cultivated in my life from birth! We can’t blame Adam and Eve, because we are personally responsible for what we choose to cultivate in our lives. Every interaction, every chosen course, every single choice … feeds and waters His seed in us … or the wrong seeds.

Jesus Christ hung on a fruitless ‘tree’ and HE became the Seed that died to foster our new life in Him. When we ask Him to live within us, we received the potential to cultivate the Tree of Life in us. I think that’s the abundant life Jesus spoke about. Not spectacular houses, piles of money or fancy cars. We can spread heavenly seeds wherever we go.. When we were born again, Jesus Christ gave us His life and put His seed, inside us, WE DON’T HAVE TO SIN ANYMORE. We have a choice. 1 John 3:9 – “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” 

And Colossians 3:12-14 tells us what that seed looks like: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

This new life we have today is about cultivating His seed, His new life within us — together with all its graces. Jesus died for us, to produce IN us, a new way to live. That way to live isn’t just about us having comfortable lives, it is about our enemy meeting an army of people sold out to spreading God’s love, everywhere. They are being trained in righteousness by the Spirit of the Living God. God’s love is not a theory, it is His grace, let loose so mankind can lay claim to their birthright – the tree of life and the different kinds of fruit that freely grow on that tree.

We’ve been misled by religion. You and I can’t cultivate His seed in someone else – it is their choice. But they still need to know they have a choice. We are His witnesses to everything He did, and is still doing in our lives every single day. His seeds of obedience, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, love, and joy and peace are now in us. We simply co-operate with the Holy Spirit and follow His lead, using the opportunities life brings across our path. 

The seed of eternal life has been sown into us when we said YES to Him. So we choose LIFE, the way our Saviour lived it. Now is the time to cultivate His fruit… and that’s my little theory. Bye. 👋

P 3365 You don’t have to think that way anymore. 

/ DVH

Yesterday I spoke about living aware of God’s care. The Lord challenged me later that day about this blog, and He used my own words to do it. Here we go: “Instead let’s proactively remind ourselves that Jesus died to give us His holiness, His right-standing with our Father, and His Grace to finish whatever Father God has asked us to do. So we must lay aside ours.” First of all, it feels kind of weird quoting me to me, but let’s just move on and pretend it’s normal, OK?

In this life I’ve learnt to recognise the signs of someone else’s anger very quickly, because I was once governed by anger, and I didn’t like it much. So, all by myself, I figured out placating people was the easiest way to escape, and I did that! Unfortunately, placating people doesn’t work all that well within God’s idea of His Sovereignty, but I couldn’t seem to stop doing it. Fear of man drove me around like a bus!

If the person who was angry antagonised me enough, then eventually, I would blow up. The disagreement then went on to get very loud and all thoughts of placation flew out of the window. I had not cultivated the fruit of self-control, because I was used to shutting myself up or mouthing off, depending on the day. I didn’t get self-control by using my faith in what Jesus did for me – I got it because I was afraid of punishment!

When we come to Jesus we bring our sins with us, and lay that junk down at the foot of the cross. But, today I realised that we need to bring our own hard-learnt way of doing stuff and put that there too. In the end we can end up with what Jesus said, PLUS what our parents, teachers, friends, bosses, rabbits and relations etc. have said to us, and about us. Or those kind of things will compete for our attention. We can get caught between two worlds – the world of the Spirit, and the old me that used to be. We need to renew our minds and deal with the junk – on purpose. Otherwise we will do the right things for the wrong reasons.

Sin is easy for all of us to identify, because Jesus Himself told us that His primary commandments are to Love God and each other. Anything that isn’t that, is sin! Which, BTW, He has already paid for it. Thank you Lord! Stay with me, and don’t rush to the healing rooms just yet OK? I didn’t need healing, my mind must be renewed and transformed. I was still being influenced by other people’s sins and their actions against me – from when I was too little to defend myself. Those things also need to go to the cross – and I was still being partially governed by my own self-effort in some areas. Everything has to go to the cross, because the bible says: We‘ve moved out of darkness into His marvellous light. 

Before you and I came to know Him, there were things that we did that were sin, and maybe like myself, there were also things that life itself taught us were bad so we exercised our own will, and stopped doing them. I don’t think you could easily persuade me to steal. Years ago, as a child I used to pinch small change out of my stepfather’s money-box, and when he caught me, he taught me quite emphatically that this was a bad plan. Especially when He introduced me to his belt – I never did that again!

I was also clearly taught not to lie, so now I fall over myself trying to make sure I don’t lie. My point is this: both of my parents taught me those things by berating me and using physical force – I did not learn them from the Lord! I learnt THEIR WAY, not HIS. So when I came to know Jesus, ‘don’t steal and don’t lie’ were already firmly established within my list of things I should not do. I forgave my parents long ago but I did not take what I actually learnt FROM THEM, to the cross. I still had a harsh master in my head, and the Lord Jesus is not like that!

I know in my heart that Father God would have wanted me to learn those things in a different way – not involving violence. But learning from the Lord meant I wouldn’t pinch stuff or lie — and the roots of my responses would have come from love and respect for our Heavenly Father, instead of FEAR. And I had to take what I had already been taught to be true before I met Jesus, to the cross as well.

Like the scripture says:“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30. Ergo, if it’s heavy and hard, then it isn’t the Lord! It might be time to revise where those thinking patterns came from.

We don’t have to see those wrong belief systems as sin, unless we still harbour resentment toward the perpetrators. Instead we need to take them to the cross, put down the old way, and pick up His yoke. The Lord wants you and I to end up with a blank slate, not a whole lot of man-made left-over reactions. Obviously it is not good to blame the other person/people/culture … but don’t blame yourself either! So forgive everybody, including yourself, and move on using your faith. Leave behind your old ways of thinking and step into a renewed mind using the grace and righteousness that Christ Himself has already given you. Bye 👋 PS Remember, when you give something to the Lord, you don’t have it anymore! 

P3329 Vindication is God’s business. 

/ DVH

Ephesians 4:25-32: “What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretence. Tell your neighbour the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself. Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge.                                                                                    And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life. Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work. Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Don’t grieve God. Don’t break His heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for Himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.”

The premise we need to note over everything else that is said here – is the IMPLIED “YOU!” WE need to listen and act. When the bible says ‘you’ – it doesn’t mean your spouse, family member or your boss. It would be so nice if everyone read the bible and took what is in it seriously … but the only person we have to work with is ourselves. The real question is this, can we live His way and not walk about with ‘a holier than thou attitude?’ True humility is our friend. Anyone can agree with the bible’s principles, and then skip submission to what it says – but other people have to live with the pain of our mistakes.

Submission ushers in humility and love. Boy is that kind of thinking at odds in today’s society. People want to avoid responsibility for their own actions. Plus we can get very busy defending our own rights. Seriously, we need to reconsider the way we live with the Holy Spirit and each other. Is He that important to you or not?  The spirit that seeks to enforce our own rights is not from Him. How can you die daily if you want your own RIGHTS? If Jesus had enforced His rights, we’d all be in the soup. There is a far better way to live that honours Him. 

The secret is to revere the Holy Spirit, and cherish His company. Let’s love Him and His ways more than we like our own. Think of that like this, there are things you probably wouldn’t say to a dear friend. Like: “Yes, those pants do make your butt too big!” We don’t say those things because we don’t want to alienate our friend, whose company we value. The Holy Spirit needs to be valued more, not less. Maybe this is made more difficult because our obedience is voluntary and we must make a choice. I’ve found that the Lord will vindicate His own – if we get out of His way and stop trying to manipulate things in our own favour. “Why not suffer wrong?” 1 Corinthians 6:7b.

It is easy to vomit icky stuff all over someone else. Anybody can have trouble with anger, but the bible is clear, anger can lead us into far worse situations when it is not dealt with asap. Our emotions are not the best guideline of spiritual reality, because they are based on our often faulty reactions to situations. Personally, I think it is better to respond than react, and asking questions can prevent misunderstandings. If we value the Holy Spirit’s companionship and opinion above our own, this kind of change is normal. He is delighted to be our companion, advocate, counsellor, guide, and teacher. 

I need to be clear that I don’t know everything and I definitely don’t have the corner on what the Holy Spirit thinks and does! However, I think it is important to choose to learn to grow and be challenged by His Ways. Otherwise we can grieve Him, and then our best way through trouble leaves with Him! Openness about our personal attitudes is a key to allowing His Will to prevail. It keeps us in fellowship with Him. Who we are at any given moment can easily be a reaction to what has happened to us so far in our lives. Good things, bad things.

Many of us still live our lives protectively – and we are afraid to change. It takes courage to admit you can’t fix yourself and then trust God will take care of you. Why not seize any opportunities to give a different response? The Lord knows everything, and we can benefit from His wisdom. Why not choose to value His oversight over our own knowledge? We have a book full of what He thinks.

Our desire needs to be to live to please the Holy Spirit, first, and then to love and encourage our brothers and sisters. We cannot afford to keep on demanding that our way is the only right one. “His ways are perfect” …  … nevertheless, mine ain’t! Humility will flourish and grow as we know our place before the Lord, and learn to honour and prefer one another. Let’s protect our relationship with Him over everything else. It isn’t a matter of who might win … because it isn’t a competition. We all win when we allow Him to fight for us.

This is why what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 is essential. His love is our great equaliser. It will sort the chaff out from the hay in our own lives, and allow us to see what God’s Ways clearly look like! When Paul describes these qualities, He is making it clear what love is, and what it is not. Love is the thing that must take precedence. I ask myself: “Is this or that love, the way Jesus would define it?  I don’t need my own faulty definitions, I already know I can be too selfish and self-centred to answer clearly. However, this kind of question gives me clarity when things are unclear. 

People sometimes tell me that they can’t hear the Lord. Try letting Him correct you with His eye on you! Let’s choose to embrace LOVE and leave trying to wriggle out of things on a technicality behind us. Vindication is His business. Bye. 👋