God is always good

P 3488 Finding faith is personal.

/ DVH

We can’t afford to have second hand faith, we need our faith strong enough to survive all that this world throws at us. It is so tempting to think when bad things land on us, that God has left us to battle them out by ourselves. But nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus experienced the pain and consequences of our sins and difficult situations on that cross. How could He ever forget us?

Listen to what Isaiah 49:16 says: “Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; [O Zion] your walls are continually before Me.” We are forever with Christ! He can look at His own hands to see us. That’s written in Isaiah for you and I to take comfort from it.

What interferes with our connection to the Lord in our terrible moments, is like static on a radio, and our thoughts and emotions start reacting. We are tempted to imagine worst case scenarios. I have to say, I have repented so many times for judging what God has done and seems to be doing a poor response to His goodness. Sadly, when life squished me, I came to my own conclusions. ‘This happened because of this, and that person did that because of that other thing.’ — When we lack understanding we make very poor observers.

The bible says this in Proverbs 4:7: “The beginning of wisdom is: Get [skilful and godly] wisdom [it is preeminent]! And with all your acquiring, get understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation].”

My advice is to ask for His wisdom, as well as asking how to proceed from wherever you are stuck. Press in for yourself, so you can personally understand what He is doing at this moment in your life. Christianity is personal, present and powerful — we can’t out-source it – but we can rely upon what Jesus did for us. Let’s start from “God is always good.” Here’s another truly beautiful word of encouragement for today from Luke 12:6-7, something that can be tucked inside our own hearts permanently. Jesus said it: 

“What is the value of your soul to God? Could your worth be defined by any amount of money? God doesn’t abandon or forget even the small sparrow He has made. How then could He forget or abandon you? What about the seemingly minor issues of your life? Do they matter to God? Of course they do! So you never need to worry, for you are more valuable to God than anything else in this world.” Luke 12:6-7. 

I pray that we will believe and act on what we read, which means we will take things like this scripture to heart even when our life gets tough. Don’t just read it, take what it says to heart even when things appear to be contrary to what it says. Make what He says your yardstick. These words are full of life, and His love. We cannot afford to join in with the people around us in their quest for happiness, prosperity and comfort. As Christians we have another goal. We are deliberately, purposefully going after the heart of God – which means we cherish Him.. Jesus will come after us because that is His very nature. 

Read John 15:9-13: “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Living this life the way the Lord has told us to, helps us to remain in Him. He’s not like a doona – you can’t just tuck Jesus in around the edges. He’s the bed, He’s the floor, He’s everything and IN everything! We simply can’t afford to leave Him out! In this scripture the Lord is sharing how to live a life of love, and true joy. It is not enough to know what love looks like, we must experience it flowing through us toward others who are not lovely. Then loving others becomes our own personal way of life. God’s love does not look like this world’s idea of love, so we need to learn to love like He does. Father God allowed people to kill His precious Son. He always has a bigger plan!

Sin is our enemy, but I think there is something is even worse than sin … because Jesus Himself dealt with sin. We have to faithfully deal with our own penchant for living a compromised life. People think like this: ’A little bit of this, a little bit of that, what’s the harm?’ Those thoughts lead us the wrong way. Living a life of compromise means we can easily be distracted by pressure, our needs, terrible events and legalities. That’s what I think happened to the Pharisees and Sadducees. They didn’t plan to start a religious system, they wanted to sincerely follow God. Unfortunately they became enforcers, not supporters.

There are many things that can try to interfere with the Lord’s personal directives for our lives. And compromise is a big one. Sometimes I think even all our learning and note-taking can keep us from the truth. Father God wants to teach us personally. He wants you to go chasing after the truth for yourself. Your pastor can show you where, what and how to look, and why — but being mature means we need to dive into the bible and forage about for ourselves. Finding faith is personal. Bye. 👋

P 3359 In which I talk about Elephants.

/ DVH

I have been ill one way or another for the past 50 years, I have a cranky immune system. Why? I dunno. Loads of people have prayed for me. I imagine if I asked people-who-are-much-smarter-or-more-spiritual-than-I-am they could probably list some sin or unbelief in my life that has caused this stuff. All I know is it stretches my faith daily. 

I don’t always find other people’s suggestions, even though they are well intentioned, all that helpful. Because these not-quite-so-helpful souls go home and do ordinary stuff, and yet I still need help going to the loo! I realise that others are trying to be inspiring by telling me to declare this, and remember that verse from the bible. It’s all good! But when I am in the middle of a physical battle, I can’t pick stuff up, I am too busy fighting my overactive mind, feelings and symptoms, and I feel condemned if I can’t do it.

I truly believe Jesus has the Answer so I go to Him minute by minute for the strength to manage this kind of weakness. At the same time, I can use all of His life in me that I can get, when my own life is sitting on me! Unfortunately, another problem with ongoing chronic illness, is that you can get used to it — and sadly, you don’t have to like it to get used to it. One of my least fav feelings is the one that says: “Here we go again!” I’m doing OK today, BTW.

I want to take the time to encourage others who happen to be sick or broken. The people who love and desperately need Jesus day in and out, just to get out of bed every morning. It takes courage to choose Jesus when it seems like there are no wellness benefits- yet. I salute you. So does Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, and 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. Without the Lord’s help, chronic illness can become the overriding flavour of any life. 

You will have to fight against the idea of giving in to it, and grab hold of your courage to fight that same battle one more time. I believe I have discovered a small but helpful secret to surviving with elephants…what we focus ON, fills our minds and emotions and it filters down right through our everyday lives. A person with a disability has to fight harder, but I’ve learnt to comfort myself with the thought that God loves me dearly, sick or not.  Plus I strongly resist the urge to fling blame and angst about. Instead I put my sights firmly on Him and keep on following Him.

It’s extremely profitable to look for some good in life – especially if you are laid aside. That attitude can become a refuge in itself. Two sentences have helped me: “Oh well,” and “God is always good, no matter how it looks.” God is still good when everything looks BAD! I want to be clear, these two things are not an exit sign, they are simply a way to keep my spirit man, who isn’t sick (!) energised and active.  

So I say: “oh well” and postpone any plans when things get icky. It’s become a spoken cue to shift my focus back onto the Lord, and off some painful thing or other that has forced itself on me. What we pay attention to, fills our vision. Bad stuff can happen to anyone, and ‘oh well,’ reminds me I’m in great company. Otherwise self-pity grabs me by the throat and I start circling the drain. Then I’ve just lost an opportunity to rely upon Jesus, as well as renew my mind to think like He does. The Body of Christ focusses on healing, but we need to focus far more on the fact that Jesus SAW sick people!

Problems come disguised as ordinary every day incidents that are easily solvable for most people …but when they land on the chronically sick and disabled they become distractions to keep us busy elsewhere …so we will forget who we really are! When praying for myself shows no visible signs of relief, then I choose to pray for YOU. Otherwise pain and illness can take over my thinking, and block out the reality of Who He is and what He has done for all of us.

The other thing I hang onto is: “God is always good.” I say that out loud, and I’ve learned to treat it as a lifeline. Then I resist evil, focus on Him – and I have peace instead of turmoil. When we use the truth of the bible as our plumb line, it steadies and focusses our inner thinking. This means we can pick up on whatever the Holy Spirit wants to give us, so we can fight the enemy’s insinuations with it.

Sometimes, realistically speaking, we may have to gird up our loins, and do everything we can, including ignoring our battered feelings.  In those moments, it helps me to keep going when I remember what the Lord has already done in my life. I’ve learnt to let the little things that might otherwise go unnoticed, become my focus. I give thanks for the small things! Even if we don’t know how to fix ourselves—let’s face it if we did we would do it! We can still always go to Him and ask for His help and healing. Believing ‘God is always good,’ switches our focus.

Chronic illness means some people around us, are running this race set before them with a handicap – and some are barely holding on. Perhaps other people don’t realise how much courage it takes to hold fast to what is true, in the face of the lack of answers to fervent prayers. The Body of Christ needs everyone, including the lesser, unseen parts, so we must stand with the chronically ill and keep remembering them in our prayers. “I was sick and you visited Me.”

I vote we support the person and stop ignoring that elephant, because love looks like something – a prayer, a real hug, tears, even a sandwich! Let’s not make someone’s healing more important than comforting the person themselves. Bye. 🙏

P 2484 He is always with us.

/ DVH

“… for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”Hebrews 13:5.

The sun is still always there in the sky, even when we are surrounded by lightning and thunder and overwhelming circumstances. Despite how we feel, nothing has actually changed between us and the Lord. Perhaps, something ugly and overwhelming has just pushed its way between us and the One we love… but His truth does not change. His love is unchanging. And the sun is still shining above those dark roiling clouds that are producing fearful storms. It will return. Breathe … and hold on. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

There are times in all our lives when we feel assailed on every side, and overwhelmed by circumstances beyond our control. Even beginning to know what to do next, seems so far away – and right now it is buried under the weight of trying to hold onto what we desperately need to believe. I hate that feeling of waking up into a brand new day, only to have the memory of some darkness or other crowd out His light. 

However, the Lord is so precious, even when we let go of Him — He will not let go of us. His goodness is always flowing toward us constantly. Like a heartbeat. There are no easy ways through dark times, no magic words to say … instead, it seems our worst fears have exploded into despair and destruction … but we are always His, and partakers of His unchanging love. Hold on. 

The first thing I would like to contribute, something that I’ve learnt myself, is that when desperately hard things happen, don’t ‘should’ on yourself. What I mean by that is don’t start counting up things you think you should have done, or should not have done. The past is the past, all the regret in the world cannot change what has already happened. Now we are waiting for redemption – not a rewrite.  

Even if we have what we think is evidence proving that we have accidentally contributed to our dire situation, don’t let the enemy of your soul use that regret to throw you into a sink hole. Fight for your right to believe in His goodness and then grab hold of Jesus’ hand. We don’t even have to pray, just grab hold of Him and hang on! Some prayers don’t have words! But do yell if you need to … our emotions are never too big for our precious Saviour to handle. 

Despite the temptation to continually think things through to try to somehow find a different ending, just let finding the answer, an answer, ANY answer … go. This is not the time to revise or review things, this is the time to REST in what we already know about Him, not change our theology or methodology. There is no easy way through the rivers that have risen above our heads, or a fire that threatens to burn through our very existence. There is no quick quote, no scripture, no quick fix when our faith is being severely shaken by overwhelming circumstances.

The things to bring to mind are things like …God is always good. He is still on His throne. Jesus died for this too plus the Holy Spirit is ever with us. These awful circumstances are not punishment – He took ALL our punishment onto Himself.

I can’t even try to begin to explain why bad things happen to people, I just know they do. In my limited experience sometimes the people who love Him dearly, have hell thrown at them, and there is no rhyme or reason to it. And I know, that I know, that HE hasn’t caused it. I also know, that blame of any kind, is always deadly – it poisons the soul. This trial, this suffering or sorrow, is not something that Almighty God thought we deserved – it is simply what life looks like in a fallen world. 

Sometimes the way through difficulties is one step at a time, so do what David did. He used his awful times to remember the goodness of God. “These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.” Psalm 42:4. Remember how passionately you feel about your faith, even though those feelings may have disappeared at this time. Our faith is so much more valuable to God than gold or diamonds or precious stones.

In these times, we particularly need to do our best to take care of our bodies. We are not betraying anyone else if we take care of ourselves. When a crisis happens, each day can bring its own troubles, and we are going to need strength to face things as they come at us. Read scriptures that have great meaning to you, over and over again, when you can. Say them aloud, so your ears can hear them. And let the Body of Christ send love to you, in whatever form it comes. I pray, today, that whoever is needy, will find comfort in Him. He is always with us, even in this life’s darkest valleys.  Bless you. 😢