Future

P 3515 The old person in your future.    

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P3503 Live in this minute.

/ DVH

“Anxious fear brings depression, but a life-giving word of encouragement can do wonders to restore joy to the heart.” Proverbs 12:25 TPT. Anxiety can seem quite normal under very difficult circumstances. When I read this, and other challenging bits of the bible, my first temptation is to check out what it says against my own experiences. This means I can easily get stuck on the bit up to the comma! If we check out what the Word says against our own experiences, we will find that a whole bunch of negative thoughts can assail our minds and emotions. Plus the other guy is delighted to pile on more!

It is absolutely essential that I understand that not every thought in my head comes from me. I am in a war, and the devil knows how to throw up all kinds of future situations and past defeats onto the screen of my mind. If he can affect my emotions, then he has me on his hook. The good news is – a fisherman will tell you that many a fish has jumped about so much it got itself off the hook, and went merrily on its way. My advice is — don’t give in. Fight the temptation to try to deal with the enemy’s wiles on your own – instead remind yourself that Jesus died for all the things we’ve done, past, present and future. Then cry out for “HELP!”

We all know that we can still choose to sin, and miss the mark, and let the Lord, other people, and ourselves down. Paul gives us the Lord’s answer in Romans 7:24,25: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, Who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…” It’s past and present tense – the work has already been done. We’ve been delivered and it is still going on. Now we put our faith in what Christ has done for us. It’s there in our bank. Rescue has come, just climb into Christ’s boat, and make a faith withdrawal!

My best advice is to drop whatever it is that has captured and hooked you, and jump into the river of His unchanging, never-ending love — repenting all the way!! Throw off the things that seek to hold you down and remind satan that Jesus WON. Done deal. If you need back-up then phone a prayerful friend. The battle for victory lies in what God Himself has already done and said. Not in what’s going on around you, and in your feelings. Forget what might happen, or what happened before. Glory to God, our past is gone, dead and buried with Christ, and we need to leave it there! Now we are here to proclaim His kingdom, which is full of His life.

I want to address something that can shoot anyone of us in the foot before we start. It is this – we need to learn to watch our speech. If we want to overcome the temptation to mull over bad news, here is a good rule of thumb. If it is bad, pray about it, then give it to Jesus, and ask the Holy Spirit: “Set a watch over my mouth please Lord.” Let’s not let our emotions lead us, the Holy Spirit loves to do that.

“And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to help them. The Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation. So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted His holy influence in your life. Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity, and insults. But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love.” Ephesians 4:29-32 TPT.

By the way, if we focus onto what is going wrong, we can easily miss the blessing that is available, now. The secret to deliverance, is to live in what we have been given, NOW! We’ve all messed up somewhere, somehow, so after we have repented and repaired stuff, and done what He has asked us to do, let’s deliberately decide to choose to stand still, and live our lives for Him now. We don’t have tomorrow, we have to seize this day. Hand it over to Him.

Then I deal with my attitudes or any incoming problems. Those things are a bit like a parcel. I hand them over the same way I would treat posting stuff at the Post Office. When I post stuff I give it to the person behind the counter, and I trust them to take care of it. Hand it over, and then trust God to lead you and get you out. Every time I am tempted to help the Lord out — I stop, repent and hand it back again.

This is what the bible means when it says: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:6. In all times and all places we go to Him. So now, I am actively: “…casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].” 1 Peter 5:7.

Did you see that? We do what He says and give it to Him. Cast means throw. Throw the difficulties onto our Saviour. He has already dealt with them. Our God is not careless with our hearts, He is protective. The knowledge that we can give Him our cares and concerns holds us secure. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of conviction, not condemnation. Stop and pray. Let’s deal with stuff immediately, and keep on trusting the Lord – He’s the One Who never sleeps!

If we project our problems into the future we can lose heart and give up. If we concentrate on our past, we’ll drown in it! Let’s choose to live in what Jesus has already done, just for this minute, and then take each minute one at a time. Bye.👋.

P3501 Setting the cadence.

/ DVH

Exhibit 1:”Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. Yeah I know, that’s every parent’s favourite scripture. First of all I am going to refer you to Jesus, because I am pretty sure this is how He was parented, and secondly, I want to remind you that this verse is in the bible. I think the lack of application of verses like this one, is where a great deal of our civil unrest and angst comes from. We only seem to do the bits in the bible we like, and throw out the bits we don’t … Maybe, sometimes we think we are now more enlightened than God! Moving on to a hypothetical child …

Let’s call our mythical-everybody-knows-one-of-these-kids … Johnny. Please remember, little Johnny will grow up one day — and BIG Johnny will become a force to be reckoned with!  But for now he runs about nursery school, or kindergarten, pushing other kids over, pinching their crayons or stomping on whatever they are doing, and he causes chaos. The person in charge of the group takes Johnny to one side and explains that behaving like that is being a bully, and she says: “We do not bully others here do we Johnny?” Johnny could care less, because he knows full well she is powerless to stop him. This is all so tragic! Johnny has the possibility of a better self, but he is being steadily corrupted by his unredeemed self. He needs to be taught.

Exhibit 2. “Do not withhold discipline from the child; If you swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die.” Proverbs 23:13. We know that the kindergarten teacher said what she said because: this is all she is legally allowed to do. She can’t discipline that kid because she could be charged with child abuse! Plus it is not part of her job to teach Johnny relationship skills. So little Johnny goes back to persecuting other children and refusing to come and do quieter things. The only thing that is going to stop little Johnny at this stage, is a horse tranquilliser! Eventually, a worn-out mummy comes to pick up her darling boy. She already knows exactly what he is like, she has two other kids and he makes the whole family’s life miserable. She can’t stop him either. If she smacks him she can go to jail.

So she smiles at the nursery teacher after ‘teacher’ explains that Johnny has not been on his best behaviour today and sighs. ”Yes,” his mummy says. “I guess Johnny is going to be a leader one day.” (Move over Attila the Hun!) We need to know what we are aiming at when we raise children. A truly great leader is a self-disciplined person. He knows how to lead others, but his ego is NOT the size of a planet. A bad leader subscribes to the theory: it’s my way or the highway. Personally, I think this is why we have so many megalomaniacs running our world. They only know how to give orders, they can’t take them! Remember the centurion with the seriously ill servant in Matthew 8:5-13?

The problem with our little mythical Johnny, is that he thinks running roughshod over the top of everyone else is his right, because he has the stronger personality. When he grows up if people bug him, he eliminates them. You won’t find the fruit of the Spirit hanging off his tree – his tree is full of bottles to ward off evil spirits. There is one of those people in the bible – his name was Saul. And get this … SAUL was the people’s choice! The descendants of those people went on to kill the Lord of all glory, because He saw right through their religious ways to the heart of the matter – which was a lack of personal submission to God Himself. Our children need to recognise our God-given protection and authority; and parents are obliged to exercise it. It is necessary to teach kids obedience.

Now, here’s my story. My middle child had her 2nd birthday, and stupidly … as only a mother would … I decided to ask all the little ones from her Sunday School class to come to a party. Most of them were really sweet. They just played, made a mess and smeared cake on each other. But this one kid ran about shoving all the other kids over, taking away whatever they had decided to eat, and thumping people. Then he did the unthinkable. He bit my eldest child, who was 4, on the arm … and left teethmarks!

Ya, don’t do that at my house and live! I did not think, or pray, or anything! I picked the little darling up by his arms and marched him into a spare bedroom and plopped him firmly on the bed – I freely admit I was quite fiercely spoken with him. I said: “We don’t do that here!” And added: “Don’t you dare move!” I turned around shut the door and marched back to the party. Then I put magic cream and a bandaid on my own little one’s arm – she was still wailing – and the party continued.

A while later the mums started turning up to collect their little ones. Then I saw his mother coming up the driveway, and I remembered him. Glancing about the room and I could see he was not there, so I went back to the bedroom where I had left him in and I opened the door … And lo and behold … he had not moved. He had merely tipped over sideways and gone to sleep. 🤣

I told his mother, what had happened and she laughed and dismissed it.“He’s always doing things like that,” she said. I was aghast, because after all, she’s the one in charge! Plus she knew what was going on, and had not done anything about it. I want to finish my little story by saying that being a parent has been vastly underestimated. Parents set guidelines in place for their children’s future lives. I urge you, if you are a parent, don’t let your children set the cadence, you do it. Bye. 👋 “Our children are the arrows we aim into the future.”

Genesis 18:19; Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Deuteronomy 11:19; Joel 1:3; Psalm 78:1-7; Psalm 103:13: Proverbs 3:12; Proverbs 1:8-9; Proverbs 20:7; Proverbs 29:17.

P 3479 Fix your eyes.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3475 Pause, remember … and reset.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3416 Do you — everyone else is taken.

/ DVH

The Lord has given us a brilliant tool – the bible – to help us to tighten up this screw of doctrine that may be loose, and that bolt of our creed that rusted out or needs replacing. That’s what the bible is for — transformation. It’s been given to us to encourage us day by day, and to correct our course when we wander off chasing random butterflies. The Lord “.. knows the plans He has for YOU, plans to give you a hope and a future …”

Jesus Christ, the Living Word, came to earth and died for each one of us. At the same time I know that Jesus is still continuing to speak, through ordinary vessels in His body. What HE says is important, not the vessel. We must stop putting pressure on our leaders by expecting perfection from them when we haven’t even achieved it for ourselves! Remember, what you and I know about Jesus, personally, is our testimony, and I don’t have your testimony! Neither of us need to be eloquent, we just need to be truthful. His Word is indestructible and more stable than the earth we stand on. My words won’t last one nano-second, but His Word stands forever. 

Personally, I believe that we will still be reading the bible in heaven. Why? Because it tells real stories of His love for us, and lovers love to hear things about each other. My faith is not in me, it is not in you — it is not in some famous brother or sister in the Lord who, praise God, reaches thousands of people. My faith is in the living written Word of God, the Living Word Himself, Jesus Christ! The Holy One. The Righteous One. Whatever He says is true.

The Lord Jesus saw the people around Him clearly, and He went right to the heart of the matter in their lives. He didn’t even have to try.  Love just flowed out of Christ like water. … Until one terrible wonderful day they pierced His side and then water flowed out onto, and into, this earth. God’s Word can teach us, you and I, how to see Him through our own renewed grateful, worshipful eyes. Here’s what Paul saw in Ephesians 3:9-11.

“Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul knew that Jesus had so much life in Him that one man was never going to be able to describe the Lord completely. So we have Luke, Mark, Matthew, John, Peter, James, John and Jude to help us. They are inspired by the Holy Spirit Who knows Jesus and our Heavenly Father personally. We can excuse our lack of sharing what we personally know about the Lord with others, by saying things like: “I’m not as eloquent as Paul ..” Who is??

The thing is, unless we choose to be someone who walks with Him, we will miss the blessing of holding the Holy Spirit’s hand and walking into brand new, and sometimes scary territory, but we will be taking that territory back for Christ. We are not just witnesses to what happened to Jesus, we are witnesses to what happened after He left this world! What He has done in your life and mine. 

We can’t beat any kind of fear by avoiding the things we are afraid of … we beat fear by facing it and doing whatever it is anyway.  And the glory of this whole administration of gifts is the Holy Spirit knows exactly how you should minister your gift. Someone else can point you in the right direction, but because the Lord knows you, inside and out, He knows how to walk you through truthfully witnessing and sharing His love with others.

God’s Word has millions of applications, and sadly, most of them are still hidden because the church just keeps right on copying the people we greatly admire. But everybody has something to contribute! Hubby recently kicked his toe on a skirting board at our house and he limped for ages. It hurt! He has nine other toes that didn’t hurt but when that one little toe met the skirting board it jumped up and down and made every other cell in his body aware that it was ‘not happy Jan!”

This is why I say: ‘don’t follow me, you’ll end up in a ditch.’ We can follow someone else the way they follow the Lord, but that is meant to lead to us into a bigger place, where we learn to be ourselves-in-Christ. This world doesn’t need clones, it needs real, truthful, testifying people. The Apostle Peter was very outspoken, yet you don’t hear a peep out of James, son of Alphaeus, who was also a faithful disciple – and one of the twelve. Yeah I didn’t know him either until I looked him up!

We have this incredible kaleidoscope of colour available to us and yet we keep painting Christ in monochromatic ways as we seek to influence this world around us. Let’s stop narrowing other people’s view of Him. Be the ‘you’ Christ meant you to be, sincerely walk with Him, and stay open to being transformed by being near Him. Do YOU! Someone else needs to hear you talk about HIM. Bye.👋.

P 3412 I will choose to know Christ Himself.

/ DVH

“Yet all of the accomplishments that I once took credit for, I’ve now forsaken them and I regard it all as nothing compared to the delight of experiencing Jesus Christ as my Lord! To truly know Him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace Him as Lord in all of His greatness.” Philippians 3:7-8 TPT.

We will get to know Jesus, day by day, particularly as we choose to live using our faith all the time. Don’t take a day off – it’s not worth it! It is great to know that we are His kids, saved by His grace, but I still need to be able to do the ordinariness of life. That day by day routine and include Him in those things too. So when we wash up – we glorify Him, when we go to work – we glorify Him. We are His kids, and we bear His Name, so our attitude to the ordinariness of life matters. Let’s be careful that we do not over-glamourise what Christianity looks like in action. Some of my most profound learning curves have turned up on a day that looked just like the one that went before it. 

I believe we start living like this by putting into practice letting go of the past. We can oversimplify what that means. This thought isn’t just about the fact that you were bullied and tormented in school long, long ago, or whatever other dreadful thing happened to you. This life is far more about what is going on today! Stop and think for a minute … what did you do yesterday that you regretted afterward? Maybe you snapped at someone who didn’t understand what you were trying to say, and things were left awkward between you. When we talk about letting go of the past, the past is also the last two seconds, not just something that happened when you were five!  

“Catch us the little foxes, it is the little foxes that spoil the vine …” Song of Solomon 2:15…  Sometimes we can get stuck over someone else’s big sins against us, and the little things that we do can be easily glossed over. Our responses to someone else’s rotten attitudes are still our responsibility. In plain language – let’s learn to own our own attitudes. Specks and planks anyone? Matthew 7:3-5. Nobody makes us do anything, any compulsion we feel indicates a stronghold. Strongholds can be broken and our attitudes come from inside us.

In a movie I saw recently, the heroine made this remark: “Oh, I don’t do the past… it’s so over …!!” That remark made me laugh because it is exactly my meaning today. Let’s leave the past behind and make today a better day. We will get nowhere fast if all we do when we look at someone who has hurt us, is to see them through the lens of their past sins. Caution is great. But building a whole doctrine around something, just so we can stay in the slums of our own stupidity is dumb. Paul has a bit to say about that too.

“I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into His abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me His own. I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead.” Philippians 3:12-13 TPT.

None of us have acquired the absolute fullness we are pursuing … however,  it is way too easy to forget that we have something else we can do, when this kind of attitude is bashing on our door. Jesus has the richest kind of abundance that never runs dry. So I can use my disgruntled, painful energy to run toward Him instead. When I do that I am not injuring anyone else.

At the same time … I can choose not to be flattened by my own penchant for playing in the dirt of my perception of what you did and why! I can’t know that, and what does it matter anyway? I’m going to need all my energy to run after Him. Otherwise I’m dragging yesterday’s garbage behind today’s list of things I must do!! Let’s discipline ourselves and learn, with the Holy Spirit’s help, to keep short accounts. Because our aim is to bring His love with us, not drag along garbage. 

We can also get so caught up in yesterday’s victories that we forget that today is another day to praise and glorify Jesus for what He has done in us, and through us. Here’s something that helps me heaps. When we glorify the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit we become immersed in what surrounds Them … in Their love. They have perfect love between Them. We need the Trinity. Even a glimpse of Who They are, individually and together, will overwhelm us. Doing that will take our eyes off ourselves, and put our thoughts squarely back onto why we are here.

I will choose to know Christ Himself, instead of focussing on me, so I will deal with my past. That stuff that is recent, plus the long term, and pull my focus back onto everything that the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit have done for me. That’s a great, ever-present overriding thought, on any day. Bye.👋. 

P 3390 Without Jesus we can do NOTHING…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3363 Forget material blessings.

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Colossians 2:2,3,6,7,9. AMP. “[For my concern is] that their hearts may be] braced (comforted, cheered, and encouraged) as they are knit together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, [which is] Christ (the Anointed One). In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden. …   … As you have therefore received Christ, [even] Jesus the Lord, [so] walk (regulate your lives and conduct yourselves) in union with and conformity to Him…. … Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving…  …  For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].”

Paul is carefully explaining that there are much better things to aim at than a ‘happy life with everything I want in it.’ That’s what this world is busy doing right now, scrabbling around trying to save money for the future, or simply make what they have go around. I’ve discovered that sometimes when we pray, we won’t always see the answer right away. Jesus is ‘drawing us after Himself so we can run together.’ He loves us! We are His joy... who you are gives our Heavenly Father great joy. He doesn’t see a failure, He just sees His family.

When our lives are rooted and grounded in what Jesus did, then material things become irrelevant. Personally, I’m grateful to have somewhere to live, a bed to sleep in, a chair to sit on, and a car to take bibles to far away places — but I wouldn’t give you tuppence for the extras that seem to occupy most of this world’s time. Those things get old or disappear or become obsolete. My greatest joy is to see God’s children prosper in their relationship with Him. And I love seeing my immediate family put the Lord first despite the difficulties they face. Who could possibly be richer than that?

Paul calls this kind of life, full of wealth and blessings. It can be our daily choice. We’ve been taught previously that once you choose to follow Jesus we will have a better life down here. Rhubarb. This isn’t heaven, we are living in enemy territory! The blessings Paul talks about are hidden inside his relationship with Christ. I’m not there yet, but I’m not giving up either! We need to choose to walk with Him, and let Him help us live our lives according to His Ways. God’s blessings are definite realities, but they will seem inconsequential to the people around us … until they need them.

Paul makes it clear that once we are saved, we need to pay even more attention to Jesus than we have ever done before. Why? God’s deep mysteries are hidden in Christ. Hidden means we gotta go look for them, it doesn’t mean they will automatically fall upon us. Investing in Christ is investing in eternity, and that’s way better than superannuation! Our inheritance comes from Him. We need to stop waiting for the pastor to give us a word and go and look for one in the bible for ourselves, plus find one for someone else! The Lord Jesus cares for each one of us, and He will provide whatever we need. But what if He doesn’t? Well, we really don’t need it then! God’s kingdom is about faith, not the stuff this world admires.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”  We can get daily caught up in wanting things, blessings — the so-called ‘good bits,’ but we can’t afford to skip over the prerequisite conditions. First we must seek His kingdom! Everything we will ever need is hidden in Christ – spiritual knowledge, life, healing, our daily bread, and we become His companions. Jesus is visible to us in the book and He walked the earth like we do! He didn’t have to pray down healing — He was healing. He didn’t have to pray down deliverance—demons couldn’t wait to get away from Him. If we aim at walking with Him day by day, then when we need it, wisdom will come. Why? Because we are walking with the Wisdom of God personified, that’s why.

We can’t afford to allow ourselves to be shallow-rooted plants, who are affected by our outward circumstances. Abiding means He is now our reference point, our life, our hope, our future, our everything. If He isn’t Who He says He is then we are sunk! That’s the kind of abiding that doesn’t have emergency contingencies. Of course we will make mistakes, but we have chosen to be honest about them. We own them, we repent and repair and move on again. The lumps and bumps are normal! This life is a journey, if you aren’t DEAD, you haven’t arrived at the destination yet. 

Our faith is designed to grow – it’s like a tree – it is meant to get bigger. Jesus’ kind of faith is more than the emergency exit button, that we try to press when thing get hard. While we are learning to walk with the Lord, our faith will expand. But it isn’t knowledge that expands it, it is living it out day by day, and making choices to trust Him. If we forget and wander off … well, you get the idea. Don’t let fruitlessness, or seeming  lack of wisdom scare you off. We can learn to depend upon Him, not our circumstances. Jesus is FOR each one of us and because He is FOR us who can be against us? He told us things would get difficult sometimes, it’s normal.

Our reactions can be changed by His Grace and His point of view. Forget material, physical blessings, our real riches are in Christ, go after them. He will blow your mind and enrich your life in ways you never even thought about. BTW, seeking doesn’t mean a mild curiosity – it took those three kings years to reach that stable! Bye. 👋

P 3347 What can I do?

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What can I do? We can all see our role in God’s plan as essential. Because the Lord loves people, our main focus has to be outward, toward people. Praying and giving are both great – do it! But remember, now you and I are His temple, we take Him with us everywhere we go. So interacting with others is our goal, we dare not live solitary, individually based lives any longer. Christians need to live their lives looking outward. 

My daughter-in-love teaches Religious Instructions in a local school. Her little group of multi-denominational RI teachers have had to lobby to stay in the school they minister in. They fight yearly, for the right to teach these kids. Not with bats, rocks or guns, but with loving insistence, and perseverance. Children are the church’s future, they are arrows we fire into a tomorrow we may never see. There are at least two generations in our country that know nothing,  or very little about Jesus.

It is extremely important to use the bible wisely – not like a literary weapon to wallop people. The book is a healing balm, an overflowing ointment that excels at providing human beings with our Father’s love. It helps us gain wisdom, and learn how to love others. It is filled with His life, and more life! It isn’t a bat or a club. Battering people with God’s word makes them angry, and afraid of it. And if they know about the Lord, they blame Him for all the bad things that happen. 

The people in this world don’t know God is good. I don’t know about you but I still find myself on every single page. It is a powerfully underestimated living book. The Holy Spirit speaks through it. It is a book about the goodness of Lord and His Ways and it is our joy to make His Word available to other people, as well as demonstrate what is in it.

So, let’s recap a bit, we could teach RI, or Children’s church, or produce plays, lead singing groups, etc. but whatever it is, please don’t limit yourself to doing these things only inside your own church. We need to be visible, yet we are starting to look like an independent nation in the middle of our societies — instead of the sweet flavour of God. Churches can seem so intimidating to people who have never been inside one – the people inside know the rules – but strangers can be frightened by what we may do next!  

It is good to remember, that the Body of Christ has all the spiritual H20 — and everyone outside Her is slowly dying of thirst! Let’s deliberately make plans to get the Water of Life, and His Word, outside our churches and into our local communities. We cannot influence others unless we are face to face with them, loving on them. What we do is a response to His love toward us – He came here ‘while we were yet sinners.’ So because we know His love and we love Him, our Christian faith should never slide onto the back burner of our minds. After all, we’ve never left His mind! When our faith slips into the background, it can quietly leave, and we won’t even notice. That’s a tragedy. 

When we went away this last time, the people we met thanked us so much for coming and bringing aid, they were very grateful. But we also had a number of people who are working for the government with very little support because the needs have increased exponentially — they thanked us over and over again with tears, simply because we came. “I was in prison and you visited me.” Matthew 25:36.They were blessed because they felt we were showing solidarity with them in their bottomless coal-faced interaction with individual heartache and pain.

Prayer should be the beginning of anything we do but let’s remember that Jesus prayed on His own time. He publicly and privately ministered wherever He could. This world has become so incredibly busy, it seems we are all afraid of losing what we have. So we work harder and harder in order to maintain a lifestyle where God is a PS, and not our main purpose. Our trust in His provision for His children only seems to show up when we lack stuff.

I have always thought that buying a bunch of single gospel  booklets – see above – to give away when we can. Most of the people we talk to on the road, haven’t ever read the bible. We have even had some of them ask us: “What’s a bible?” Being generous to strangers gives them an opportunity to learn about His love for them. We give away individual gospels and they cost around $A2.50 each. The real point is to give others something to hold onto to remind the person God loves them. What can we do? Live the life Jesus died to give us. Bye 👋. 

“But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know Who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God! But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.” Romans 10:14.