God

P 3221 Let’s have some Clarity.

/ DVH

I Corinthians 12:4-13 MSG. “God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God Himself is behind it all. EACH PERSON IS GIVEN SOMETHING TO DO THAT SHOWS WHO GOD IS: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel; clear understanding; simple trust; healing the sick; miraculous acts; proclamation; distinguishing between spirits tongues; interpretation of tongues.

All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of His one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which HE has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptised.) Each of us is now a part of His resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—His Spirit—where we all come to drink.”

I love this version of 1 Corinthians. I personally think it is worth reading it several times. Clarity is a wonderful thing! We should never ever doubt that our Heavenly Father has a purpose for each and every one of our lives, He says so, right here. Believe Him! That’s what faith does. He tells us here that every single gift is needed. Unfortunately this is also where our enemy loves to lie to us. he whispers to our hearts that our presence, our gift is useless and it won’t be missed. Perhaps he tells you it won’t matter if you aren’t here. he’s a liar BTW. But we both already know that!

I wonder if the problem is this, we aren’t valuing those people who are unseen, and that is the very reason why some of us seem to be floundering about not doing very well? Many valuable unseen and seemingly unimportant parts are missing. Perhaps all the visible parts are starting to get worn out, and misfiring? Simply because some of us are not in our God-given place doing what He sent us here to do. He planned our lives even before we arrived here, and each one of us has something to do that no-one else can. Even though our presence can seem insignificant in the light of this world’s aims and judgments … there are no insignificant people.

Our neighbour died last week. He wasn’t old, but he wasn’t all that young either. However we knew him and we cared for him. I cried and cried. And initially I didn’t have a clue why I cried so much! Then I realised that this world seems a little poorer now he isn’t in it. I will miss him walking by our house on his way to his. He didn’t seem to contribute much outwardly, yet:   “…the death of one man diminishes us all.” Just because our world has stopped valuing ordinary individuals in favour of bright shiny talented people, that doesn’t mean it is true! Because God Himself sent you and I here, we are here for a reason. 

Let’s just spend a few minutes thinking about YOU, and your body and how it works for you even when you are not aware of it. Your health relies upon things inside you that you will, hopefully, never see! All of those things – some of them are big, but most are small – ticking away doing their various God-appointed jobs. If one of them misfires or ceases to perform, the rest of your body will tell you about it pretty quickly. Here’s today’s thought: maybe the Body of Christ needs YOU to do what God put you here to do so we can fully function. 

Thirty-six years ago when I had a liver transplant I began to realise just how important my liver is! It’s a funny-looking filter that nobody talks about. Health professionals worry and puzzle over hearts, and lungs, and limbs, too much fat here, not enough there — but actually our body ceases to function normally when our liver is diseased or injured. They don’t know why mine needed to be replaced. It just kind of lost heart and gave up. Let me tell you when it did begin to lose function I felt it. I was quite young but I just got slower and slower and sicker and sicker. Actually, I think the Holy Spirit used our body in this scripture as an illustration, because it is personal, and some bodies can be problematic.

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to believe the enemy’s lies. Importance does not have to come with bells and whistles, trumpets and a parade. Maybe seeing you just going about doing what you do, helps someone else keep on walking from one day to the next. Perhaps your kindness reminds them this world isn’t all that bad. Sometimes what makes someone important is that we suddenly find we don’t like living without them. 

If you don’t know why you are here, then ask the Lord to show you. Just by simply living, we are changing the world around us. Especially when we offer to help someone, and we notice that they are alive and struggling like we do. Clarity is a very valuable asset, it helps us to see and appreciate each other. Bye. 👋 

P 3220 Let’s watch what we do with our keys.

/ DVH

“Now may the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God, Who loved us and in His wonderful grace gave us eternal comfort and a beautiful hope that cannot fail, encourage your hearts and inspire you with strength to always do and speak what is good and beautiful in His eyes.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17.

Watching what we say is an incredibly important key to walking with the Holy Spirit and living in the kingdom of God. I’m not talking about being fake, or using flattery, or saying stuff that is not true – that stuff feels hollow. I’m talking about coming into agreement with the Lord and how He sees things. Now there’s a good thing to do just because He said to do it. However He didn’t say we would always enjoy it. I find the fun comes after the faith step!  

Doing what it says, even if we do it badly. and not always with the best of attitudes, certainly alleviates this problem. Jesus is not legalistic and He knows we are trying to obey our Heavenly Father. We are so blessed, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us. Watching our words is a ‘key’ part of walking with the Holy Spirit. I’ve said dumb stuff and afterwards I sat about thinking – “Did I really just say that?” Instead of joining into a conversation that downgrades, or bad mouths someone else, it’s best to say nothing, inwardly pray and head for the exit! 

The thing that grabs us and traps us into opening our mouths, is that what is said is often true in some way or another. None of us are perfect, so somebody can often find something or other to criticise someone else about. Our negative comments will not help! At the same we don’t have any idea how this gossiped-about person arrived wherever it is they landed. 

We have been given, at great Personal cost by the GIVER, the power of agreement. Jesus gave that to us. So when we agree that so and so is a pain in the neck — we are thoughtlessly adding our powerful agreement to a bad thing. And then we wander about wondering why that person never changes! It’s because we aren’t helping with our opinions. So here’s something to chew over: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:23. That’s an enormous responsibility!

We can be so consumed by the momentary gratification of flapping our gums, we forget we are doing untold damage to someone else. The enemy lies to us that we will feel better if we talk about this slight or that incident. Sadly, we can easily forget about what that person may have done for us in the past — what was good, what was right what was profitable. We must get rid of the idea that our opinions are more important than someone else’s reputation and spiritual welfare.

What we say needs to build other people up — and in the heat of awkward moments, we desperately need to say things that are true, right and profitable, or … … say nothing. However, when we actively dislike someone, or we are mad at them – those precious positive things can be hard to locate. I ask Him to please help me and spend time with Him working on forgiveness, because that’s the only way through it..

This world we currently live in has a me-centred focus, so we can easily have a consumer mentality … which means that other people are like chess pieces, we move them around a board in our minds to help us to win.  I can’t find that in His book! Winning that way means everybody loses. We immediately begin to negate our gifts in the body, and eliminate or minimise someone else’s ...all at the same time. 

Guilt, blame, and shame render everyone powerless!  If we want to see change, then we need to approach difficult situations or people, His Way. At the same time I think we need to pray far more for our leaders, they meet most of our bad attitudes head on. In moments of temptation I am learning to lean hard on forgiveness and to rebuke spite in me. In the past if someone had a problem with gossiping etc. they were either ostracised, or everyone simply joined in. Neither of those things will help us follow Him. 

When I say something stupid, it can be so much easier to try to justify what I just said, than it is to own my mistake and apologise. But that is the only true way to deal with the problem. James 3:10 says:“Out of the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. These things, my brothers, should not be this way [for we have a moral obligation to speak in a manner that reflects our fear of God and profound respect for His precepts].” 

This is the major reason why we should avoid gossip, or even continually chewing over someone else’s faults! We may dislike that person who is being slowly dissected in front of us, but that is not the real point. We need to remain silent because we love and respect the Lord more than our own opinion. When we disrespect others, we are disrespecting Him. I don’t want to make a law out of this, however, I am simply stating a truth.  When our God says don’t do it – don’t do it!

Jesus has given us the joy of speaking life to other people and that privilege is powerful. “I will give you the keys of heaven’s kingdom realm to forbid on earth that which is forbidden in heaven, and to release on earth that which is released in heaven.”” Matthew 16:19. We can easily lose or misplace our God-given keys, and this is why we need to watch what we do with them! Bye. ✋

P 3219 A different kind of fasting.

/ DVH

Isaiah 58:5-11: “Is this what I want—this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind, putting on sackcloth and covering yourselves with ashes? Is this what you call fasting? No, the kind of fast I want is that you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless, poor, and destitute. Clothe those who are cold, and don’t hide from relatives who need your help. If you do these things, God will shed His own glorious light upon you. 

He will heal you; your godliness will lead you forward, goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then, when you call, the Lord will answer. “Yes, I am here,” He will quickly reply. All you need to do is to stop oppressing the weak and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumours! Feed the hungry! Help those in trouble! Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”

In my opinion Almighty God makes it perfectly clear, in passages like this one, how to walk with Him. Here’s another interesting one from another prophet, Micah 6:8:“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Our spiritual wellbeing, and our spiritual health, relies upon our choice to do things His way. God is quite simply not into alternative theories. He has laid out His own eternal plans, plus He has written down His interactions with other men and women just like us, for everyone to see and for us to notice and obey. 

If someone asks me, ‘what should I apply myself and obey? Well, Isaiah 58:5-11 keeps me pretty busy! So do the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. PS they are called the BE-attitudes because we are to live like this, personalising His instructions into our lives. Jesus doesn’t waffle on making ridiculous, ostentatious, new age remarks – He simply taught. Everything He said and did in the New Testament was teaching. Here He is teaching us how this new life we have been given works — what it looks like in action.

In the past in our home, we have had a procession of people – mostly young people – who had nowhere to live. Their relevant adults threw them out, so we simply applied Isaiah into our lives and made room for them. Now we choose to help other people who do the same thing we did, only they do it on a grand scale. We don’t act like an organisation when we do this stuff, because we are not. People get quite puzzled that we are not ‘official’ in what we do. To me helping others is just normal Christianity. Our first response to people in trouble is: “how can we help you?”  

Meanwhile, whether the other person is a Christian or not – what’s that got to do with anything? We can’t afford to be selective … Father God wasn’t when He picked us! Despite current theology none of us is any prize …Yet He is so amazing because we are all prizes to Him. The value you put on another human being can change their life. It will most certainly change you! If we only take care of those people who care about us, then we are more concerned about our own comfort, than obedience.

We look after our family, plus we help others – that’s the mandate in this scripture. Once, in a major city, we were walking down the street and a young man was sitting on the pavement with a sign that said: “I‘m starving.”Who could walk past that? It was a busy city and loads of people never even saw him. Someone might say:  “What if he’s a drug-user? It isn’t good to give them money!” Quite right! But you can go buy the guy food and a drink! I don’t have to solve his problems, but I can help him a little even in a small way even if I am just passing through.

Another time, an elderly gentleman was huddled in a doorway, it was so cold. He had a thin little jacket on, pulled tightly around him. The wind was freezing, whistling away … I was cold and I had a jumper, a coat and scarf on! Hubby gave the man his pseudo-suede coat, some food vouchers and we prayed for him. Hey, if you want to open doors, this is the way to do it. Help them. We prayed for him and told him how much Jesus loves him. He told us he’d never had a coat like that one before. That’s when I teared up then, because the coat was not all that good, but … it was warm. 

If you want to know Jesus intimately, then do what He did when He was here. Put God first. Then choose to see what He saw, hear what He heard, look at what He looked at, without judgment – help the ones He helped.

In this fast-paced life today it seems that we think we can’t ever have enough money, because the line for enough, always moves away from us. However, it is good for us to do what we can. Things like, treating other people with kindness and respect, no matter how they look or smell! The poor, the downtrodden, the weak, the disenfranchised are far more likely to listen to what Jesus says, than the supposedly comfortable people who are spending their lives making money and collecting things.

Father God has clearly told us in Isaiah what sort of fast we need to participate in. He even tells us He has chosen it. The next move is ours. Bye. 👋

P 3217 This book is alive!

/ DVH

“God has transmitted His very substance into every Scripture, for it is God-breathed. It will empower you by its instruction and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness. Then you will be God’s servant, fully mature and perfectly prepared to fulfil any assignment God gives you.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit  and life.” John 6:63. ‘For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12.

Today’s blog is about the sort of expectation we can fall into, because we mistakenly believe God has to fit in with our agendas. Over the years my hubby has found that he can often interpret the meaning in other people’s dreams etc., it goes with his name. He explained to me yesterday, that people can sometimes have an attitude that the Lord is obligated to answer them. 

So here’s a slightly exaggerated illustration: “God has talked to me about this problem 10 times, in my dreams. And a stranger gave me some confirming verses. What do you think I should do?” Hubby cracked me up with this answer: “Ten times?!!! Go right now, this very minute, and do what He said! What do you want, an angel with a trumpet?!”  How many signposts do we need??

How many times does the Lord have to speak to us before we obey Him? I know that there is a kind of paralysing fear about stepping out into faith – it’s normal. We are scared of being wrong, and so the enemy attacks us. We think things like: ’But what if I do what the Lord says, and nothing happens, or, even worse … something BAD happens.’ That’s easily fixed! You say: ‘I’m so sorry Lord. Please forgive me for messing up. Would You help me with it? I got it wrong. Please will You redeem it?’ 

Then you repent to anyone else involved, and repair any relationships wherever it is necessary. Humility never killed anyone – it’s good for us! When you are done repenting to Him and others, and repairing relationships, then you give Him whatever it is, and leave the rest to Him. Go home, lie down, have a big cry and then blow your nose… then get up and get on with your life. 

People say: “If only I could just get a word from the Lord for my situation …” Let’s think about this, the New International Version contains approximately 728,000 words, the Amplified has 820,980 words. Choose any bible you like and go for it. Our God is so incredible His life inhabits every single word. It is not like reading Charles Dickens! Father God doesn’t do background, or character depictions, or scene descriptions – every single solitary word in His book has power in it.

And those words don’t have to be big incomprehensible words either. The Holy Spirit has taught me so much through just one little word “let.” Three letters that changed my life. “Let this mind be in you …” “Let us make every attempt to enter that rest …” “Let us love one another…” “Let us throw off everything that hinders us …” ‘Let us not become weary in doing good …”  You get it… … Trust me ‘let’ is a very BIG little word.

I’ve learnt many times that the Lord wasn’t doing some things, because I wasn’t giving Him permission to do it in whatever way suited Him! He had something for me to learn, and sometimes He had an even greater blessing if I just followed Him in faith. Here’s another made-up illustration: Let’s say I wanted a new car, but I found out through prayer and reading the word, that He wanted me to give my old car away first. So my prayer asking for help with a new car could remain unanswered, because I have an agenda. I am not yielding to Him, and praying for His Will His Way. 

We can’t be in charge of what we think we need, like we can give a chemist a prescription. But, spiritually speaking, we must choose to put God in charge of our needs – that way He gets all the glory! We live on His timetable, not our own. If you didn’t decide to die to self when you were baptised, or nobody told you that was what baptism is all about — then make a quality decision to do it now!  And ask for His help to live this way. You know, some of the Apostles made a living to support themselves, but they did not have two careers – they simply served God first, whatever they did. Putting the Lord first is a sensible response to His generosity toward us. And if things remain unclear, then ask for wisdom, and keep right on reading the bible. 

Please, don’t get stuck on ‘what hasn’t happened,’  move on to ‘what do you want me to do now, Lord?’ Some things happen as we are going along in the way the Lord leads us. “He(Abraham’s servant) said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not denied His lovingkindness and His truth to my master. As for me, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brothers.” Genesis 24:27. This servant had no idea how to go about what His master Abraham told him to do. But God met him as he stepped out and tried to do what he was told. He was simply obedient.

“In the beginning the Living Expression was already there. And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God. They were together—face-to-face, in the very beginning.” John 1:1. Jesus is God’s living expression of His Word, that’s how powerful God’s Word is. His book is alive. Bye. 👋

I have discovered this sweet little series by REAVO. This one seemed appropriate for today. (Two minutes 39 seconds)

P 3216 Obedience is not an optional extra.

/ DVH

Being obedient is the best way I know to walk with the Lord, and it can prevent a whole lot of confusion. I discovered that I needed to purpose in my heart to simply choose to be obedient. I’ve learnt to read the bible, pray and meditate on it and — do what it says. At the same time, I’ve found as I focus on loving other people, suddenly a whole lot of stuff that I needed, was added unto me along the way. “We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love He has for us. God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them.” 1 John 4:16.

I believe that the depth and purpose we desire to love the Lord, appears when we intentionally, continually apply our dedicated obedience to His Word. Father God doesn’t need our mental agreement with whatever He has said, Jesus and the Holy Spirit agree with Him and that’s a majority right there!! This is what Jesus said about obedience in John 14:15-17. “If you love Me, you will obey My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper Who will be with you forever. That Helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it doesn’t see or know Him. You know Him, because He lives with you and will be in you.”

The Holy Spirit is our Helper, and Jesus specifically asked the Father to send Him to us – to help us to obey the Father. At the same time, the Lord expects us to treat the Holy Spirit with reverence and respect. The Spirit of God is gentle in His heart, like Jesus is, and we need to respect that He will not cannonball all over the place, or even push us along. He clearly knows what truth is, and it is unfortunately quite evident from the above scripture, that a lot of the time, we do not! 

My favourite times with the Holy Spirit happen when He shows me what the truth is, in whatever scripture I am reading. It’s like someone turns the light on when I’ve been sitting in the dark trying to puzzle out what God wants to say TO ME.The precious Holy Spirit will not show us His heart, or what He wants from us, or even share His secrets with us, if we have no desire to be obedient. What would be the point? 

Let’s look at Jesus’ own personal lament over man’s lack of willingness to live their lives close to God. It is recorded in Matthew 23:37, where He says to Jerusalem:“How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Have you ever tried to cuddle a child that didn’t want to be cuddled? They are all wiggles, arms and legs and cranky with it. That’s what I think about when I read Matthew 23. God wants to love on us, but we want to hold ourselves far enough away from Him so we still have a say. Or we try to wrestle ourselves out of His grasp, as we go as close as we dare to — but no further.

Here are some more specific scriptures about being obedient: 1 Peter 1:14 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,…” Acts 5:29: “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” Psalm 1:1–2: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.”  What we think about matters. The problem seems to be this — when we think about obedience long enough — if the change in our life is going to be hard, we postpone it, or try to go around it. 

Human beings keep their minds busy, trying to figure out this life so we feel more comfortable. So we problem-solve. Many times our minds will keep on returning to the difficulty, trying to figure out another answer, because we don’t like the one we have! The Lord has taught me to give things to Him. He told me to put every problem down, at His feet, and refuse to pick it up again. I give my problems to Him and He carries them for me. 

Matthew 11:28-30 “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.” That burden we worry about all night might never happen, and even if it did, what can we do about it? Our King promises to intervene and teach us how to get through things, AS we learn to rest in Him.

Years ago, I kept getting stuck on the way other people I knew were living. What I thought they should do. All that stuff meant I was not meditating on God’s goodness to me! Instead I was whining, grumbling and complaining because my feelings were engaged in things that weren’t anything to do with me. At other times I wanted someone to help me, but I wanted them to do it my way. I didn’t want to consider God’s answers in case I was convicted of sin and I needed to change my attitude. I blamed those other people, because they wouldn’t change their way of doing things, and … make my life easier for me!  Yeah, you heard me! Oy vey!

Luke 6:46: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”  I kind of think I might know why we do this… we want all the lovely benefits—but not the training in righteousness. We want a maid, or a butler, or a personal trainer following us about doing the hard yards for us. Jesus did all those the hard yards for us, long, long ago. But now, today, we must enter into the battle of all battles with our old self! The battle to think like He does! 

Obedience is not an optional extra, it’s the narrow way mentioned in Matthew 7! It is designed to reveal His heart to us, and our hearts toward Him. Living for His sake is always a choice, but it is also part of our ongoing salvation. Bye. 👋 

P 3215 Eternity starts now.

/ DVH

“Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes.” Romans 12:2 TPT.

What we think about affects how we handle our days, and so this transformation process is a progressive thing. The more we act on what we believe, the more our thoughts become tied into what the bible says. Eventually this process produces an automatic response in us, and in the end, transformation is seamless, and we don’t even notice it is happening – now we are too busy falling even more in love with Jesus. 

I hate to rain on anyone’s parade, but the biggest problem many people have is that when they read what the bible says, they agree with it, maybe even smile because it is so accurate …but THEN –– they don’t take the time to find out how to apply what they’ve read, into their everyday life. Application is the key that opens the door so we can participate in His kingdom. Let me put it this way, the language of the Lord’s kingdom is faith – we don’t need faith to do what we can already do! We need it so we can participate in the impossible!! And change can seem impossible.

OK, let’s look at some verses. The bible says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit …” Matthew 5:3. In order to ask for help you need to know that you need help! We must recognise that knowing we are poor in spirit is not a bad thing! Doing nothing about it, however, is not good. God says we are blessed when we live aware of this reality. Poverty of spirit looks like this: you can see what is required is beyond your own ability to change yourself. We need His help – this is a good time to remember that we already have it! Just don’t wait to feel like you have it. Step out in faith.

Now, I want to look at another scripture and it’s about holiness. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8. This means we make a quality decision to choose to become aware of where we have not lived in purity of heart, and talk to the Lord about it. Then we repent and repair things. At the same time, we need to be real and aware of the kind of pressures we live under in today’s society — ghastly thoughts tormenting us don’t make us a bad Christian, it’s what we DO about the torment that matters. 

Part of transformation is the realisation that just because something exists in my life now, that does not mean God is not dealing with it. It also does not mean He likes it or wants it!  Timing is a key factor in God’s Ways. Let’s remember that Jesus never let what was going on around Him sway Him from His God-appointed ministry. I picked purity today to look at, because in today’s atmosphere it is impossible to remain pure without His help! 

Jesus’ devotion to what His Father wanted was His priority – so we also need to continue to assess our priorities. Because we follow Him, purity needs to be our priority too. Jesus answered His enemy’s remarks with God’s Word, because He already knew what the bible said. The Lord has the right word to give us when we are attacked too. However, we can quote scripture up one side of the hill and down the other. Remember, we will always need His help! We need a specific word from Him, for us, at that moment … ‘an apple of gold in a setting of silver. ‘

When our aim is to hear from God about whatever He wants from us, sometimes we will have to wait. He is not at our beck and call, we are here for Him. Our Father knows what stretching does for our faith. He will never postpone His answer to hurt us, but He does want to see growth in our character and hearts. Often all we want is a short cut that shows us the way through these learning processes quickly. Most of us are ‘allergic” to difficulties – not hardened to them. (See Isaiah 42:10) 

Let’s look at another scripture that I think ties in well with the one above: Psalm 24:24:4-5: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”  So what do we ACT on? We need to watch what we say, and be careful to be truthful. 

Here’s another one: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”  Philippians 1:9. Loving others has to be a tangible, seeable, thing – not just a theory. And our knowledge of what is excellent also requires our participation but the bible has lots of suggestions! So we need to step away from things that will contaminate a pure life. 

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8. Discipline in our thinking helps, and that part is up to us. Our Wonderful Father does not just say, ‘don’t do this,’ —instead He says: “DO, DO THIS.” 

He is always preparing us, helping us to live in His Presence. He is not just interested in us living with Him in eternity, down the road when we are dead. ETERNITY STARTS NOW.  We will all be pure of heart in heaven because we will be changed to be like Him. It’s what we do TODAY that’s important.. Bye.👋

P 3214 Let’s aim higher.

/ DVH

My beautiful daughter said this to me the other day when we were talking about 1 Corinthians 13 and its application. She emphasised some words in 1 Corinthians 13:3, like this:“LOVE REMAINS!” In other words, our love for Him and others, shouldn’t float in and out with the tide. The Lord’s love STAYS with us, no-matter-what-happens, steady on its course, and ours needs to aim at that too. That thought stopped me in my tracks. As comforting as it is to know that His love will never fail me, what’s going on where I am? Let’s aim together at having His kind of enduring, never-ending love … the love our Bridegroom deserves. A love that dies for another’s sake.

Everything that the Lord mentions in these really well-known verses is designed to REMAIN, so that it becomes who we are. Previously it seemed to me that it was a bit of a dream to think I could attempt something like that. I believe obedience is the key factor when you want to walk with the Holy Spirit, but sometimes I’d give up for a while, because it seemed like I was letting the other person get away with being difficult. 😱 It is quite useful and just a little bit shocking, to let yourself hear your own thoughts out loud. All I learnt from wandering in and out of love as the mood took me, was that you can make an awful mess all by yourself!

Let’s look at what the bible says: ‘love is patient, kind, not envious, doesn’t boast, is not proud. It doesn’t dishonour others, and it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, and doesn’t keep a record of wrongs” etc. We can’t walk in His kind of love, and do the opposite the next minute! Love doesn’t change, so neither should WE! Big breath in … in other words we can’t have this kind of love one week, and lose it the next! Faith, hope and love remain. Ergo, if it doesn’t remain it’s probably me still trying my little heart out! When I’ve thought about these verses previously — before my darling daughter opened her big mouth, was: “Yeah, those things remain – in heaven!”  Whoops.

I went a bit off my adult daughter momentarily when she pointed out that whole remaining vibe thingy. I didn’t like that idea much. I’m only human, and people mess up, everyone does. And that’s when I hit another speed bump – Jesus didn’t mess up and He was also human! And there I go again … underestimating the power of God to bring about real change.

Remain can mean more than one thing. It means that it lasts, but it can also mean if it is His kind of love — you have proof it exists because it is still there! You can’t shake it, break it, or lose it. I was always good at sums at school, and I did this sum pretty quickly… If I don’t have that kind of love then I don’t have the real thing yet. I’ve let my AIM settle for less. Now I know why the bible says: “Earnestly pursue love…” (1 Corinthians 14:1a) ‘Cos that stuff runs away from you, and we are going to have to chase after it, it won’t fall on us.

If I am going to let His love remain in me, I am going to need loads of help. I know that by myself, I definitely can’t remain in love – but just because I can’t do it, or I think I can’t do it, that should not change my AIM! People annoy me, just like they annoy you, and I have learnt how to repent, repair and move on …BUT … when I am having the same difficulty over and over and over again … it’s time to revise what is really going on.

I rapidly came to the conclusion that if I don’t choose to walk with the Holy Spirit, I’m going to blow this incredible lasting transformation in about 5 seconds flat. Actually, it’s probably more like two seconds — I was hopeful and I exaggerated!! The truth is — if the Lord doesn’t have a way to help me with this I’m sunk. The very best I can do is say nothing, and … I’m not good at saying nothing! Sigh. Guess what? God always has a way.

I did some further research. and I also found this verse. It said: “… follow after this kind of love…” I am assuming the translator meant follow after Jesus, because I don’t personally know anyone currently alive who is walking in this kind of love! However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t available to us. We too can learn to live and walk this way, but we will have to DIE to self, first. Jesus promises to teach US how. In 1 John 3:18 – we are exhorted to practise love: “Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.”

That is challenging too. Plus it says in Colossians 3:14: “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” So this kind of love can be ‘put on.’ Some versions say: “clothe yourselves.” It seems to me that we need to put on this kind of love and never ever take it off!! Even if we are harshly provoked. It’s kind of like the idea some nationalities had in the olden days before proper heating. They sewed themselves into their long johns for the winter. (They did make provision for the loo, BTW.) They put that garment on, with no view in mind of taking it off again, any time soon.

I think we need to let the Lord stitch us so far inside God’s Word – forever – that we have no thought about ever taking it off!  We must be so committed to Jesus and His cause that we will die rather than excuse ourselves. We cannot afford to think that obedience to His word is OPTIONAL any more. The thing is, if I look at love as a lifestyle, I will probably get overwhelmed and be tempted to opt out. I need to be devoted to what I believe, minute by minute.

I’m just going to leave that thought there so you and I can stew on it. I think that sounds like a permanent change. How about you? Let’s aim higher. Bye. 👋

P 3213 Gird up yor girdle Gertie.

/ DVH

I try not to be negative on this page because, thanks to the Media – social or otherwise – there is enough negativity floating around. It is like some sort of malodorous stench that can saturate everything we see and hear. The thing I want to talk about today is that we seem to have forgotten that we were saved to serve others, no matter what creed, or religion they belong to.

Here’s a question – if someone else is from another faith, do we automatically limit our exposure to them, or discard their words as error – maybe because we are afraid? Isn’t that making our God too small? The Lord saved us and He can keep us. Are we comforting ourselves that we’ll be OK – after all we are in the ‘right group.’ Yet millions of people are tipping off the edge of this life going straight into hell. They are going there because they don’t know any better.

God is good to both believers and non-believers. He sends His rain on the just and the unjust, and we don’t get to decide who is who! Our job is very clear – we are to love the people around us with His love. We need to remember Jesus is always present to save, and those dear souls that seem to be the furthest way from Him, often turn around at the speed of light!

Hubby and I have had people in our lives that are absolutely not walking with Jesus, and they haven’t got a clue that He came to save them, but these people have blessed us. We have all kinds of friends who support us as we give away bibles, and help the poor, and they do not know the Lord – yet. I believe when this happens these people have been touched by God’s hand, so at the same time, they are not far from His kingdom. Many times someone like this has said or done something lovely, and I know it’s the Lord working in them, and through them.

I wouldn’t dream of following what my friends believe, because I know their beliefs are error, and some of them are from the pit. But how can they know any differently if I do not tell them? Ostracising people alienates them. We can call it respecting someone else’s space – but isn’t that just evasion? Doesn’t it justify our fear of being contaminated, and persuade us to ‘play it safe,’ and do whatever we do, within the boundaries of our own churches? 

This world has so many other faiths. Let’s choose to learn to love people who are of another faith, and not treat them any differently than we would treat our brother or sister at church. “… they will know we are Christians by our love…” That love needs to go outside of the church and reach out to everyone. The Lord Jesus is altogether lovely, and He can and will win anyone over.

At the same time, we are not only required to tell people the truth, we must demonstrate it to them. Sometimes over and over again. We cannot afford to throw people away because they don’t have the same beliefs we do – we are reinforcing false boundaries when we do that. It is time to stop dividing others into categories and deciding who is IN, and who is OUT. Speaking for myself, I have noticed that the Lord is not far away from anyone, so what is needed is prayer, not judgment! There are many people today – no matter what they seem to believe, who are not far away from His kingdom. If they have some other faith, it means they are spiritually minded. Maybe they just haven’t met the Truth yet.

There are two ways to approach life – the easy way and the hard way. Most people like the easy road, whether they are Christians or not! In Matthew 7:13-14 it says: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Only our Shepherd Jesus, is the true gate and at this moment in time, He is out there amongst ALL His sheep, calling to them to walk through that narrow gate, and follow Him. Peter once thought he knew who was what — and then Jesus straightened him out! Acts 10:9-16.

How anybody comes to know Jesus is His business, not mine. No matter what god they have worshipped in the past – we are all still HIS sheep and every single sheep counts. We are commanded to live a life of love, and speaking for myself, that’s plenty to go on with! Let’s jump in and watch His love win all kinds of people that we thought would never come – no matter what idol lives at their house. Many people follow idols because of family, or tradition, or nationality. However, the greater One lives in us. 

Here’s the way God approaches even the people who deliberately sin against Him. Isaiah 57:16-19. “For I will not fight against you forever, nor always show My wrath; if I did, all mankind would perish—the very souls that I have made. I was angry and smote these greedy men. But they went right on sinning, doing everything their evil hearts desired. I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort them, helping them to mourn and to confess their sins. Peace, peace to them, both near and far, for I will heal them all.”  Interesting verses eh? We must never forget our God is GOOD and MERCIFUL. 

Like I said, ‘gird up your girdle, Gertie,’ we are in for a bumpy ride. You and I could end up talking to strangers at the shops! Father God has hungry people everywhere, even in the enemy’s camp. Bye. 👋.

P 3211 Procrastination.

/ DVH

“Procrastination is the thief of time.” I was taught that saying in my teens, years ago. Here’s the meaning: procrastination is the act of unnecessarily delaying tasks, even when you know it will lead to negative consequences, by choosing less important activities instead. It’s a common behaviour, not just laziness, often stemming from poor emotion regulation, perfectionism, fear of failure, or executive function challenges. While occasional procrastination is normal, chronic procrastination can cause significant stress, guilt, anxiety, and harm productivity and well-being. 

If you are a Christian, this particular attitude can cause doubt, fear, unbelief, and eventually inactivity to grab us. These traits often show up in our thought patterns: “Did God say that?’ “He wouldn’t really want me to do that would He?’ ‘I need to wait to be ready to do what He said.’ ‘He knows I can’t do that!’ ‘There are other people who can do things like that better than me.” ‘I don’t have an anointing to do that!’

That last thought is just plain dumb. We have the Lord’s instructions written down in the bible, signed in Jesus’ blood. It almost goes without saying that none of us are ever ready! I urge everyone to stop looking at famous Christians and let go of the kind of thinking that says, they are our example. Maybe you and I don’t have their anointing but we can still be obedient to our own personal heavenly calling. Besides —Jesus is OUR example, and motivation – not other people.  

Sometimes all I can do in a ‘talking to people’ situation, is to get my feet moving. When that happens it is not because I am disabled, it’s because I’m scared! Scared of someone else’s response, scared of somebody being mean to me, scared of the consequences in my life and in theirs. Maybe I will mess witnessing etc. up! This is a good time to remind ourselves of the things the Lord has done in the past. God fought without-number Midianites with Gideon and 300 men, and He also got Jonah to Nineveh via a whale taxi. Of course He can help us! Here’s something from His book to sort out our excuses. PS … when the Lord says ‘ME” He means YOU too!

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on ME, because the Lord has anointed ME, to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent ME to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour.” Isaiah 61:1-3.

If we both sit about waiting to feel super spiritual, or hoping to have some wild experience with Him, to signify we have been sent by Him – we will miss the boat. Famous Christians are the exceptions, not the norm. Procrastination can easily steal the time that God has generously given to us, and we will end up at the end of our lives in the land of regret.  

The bible says this in 1 Corinthians 3:15 In the Message bible: “Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely.”  Um… found out? We won’t get BY?! Torn out and started over?!! Barely survive?? None of that sounds good! 

There is a kind of evasive thinking that can dominate our hearts and minds, spiralling us into fear, as well as hiding from our calling. We can never afford to forget that we are now dead! We died with Him. We’ve been saved for His purposes now – plus we’ve been given gifts to use for His glory, and to benefit other people. None of that has anything to do with our comfort, lives, families, or our careers. When we live our lives for His glory our focus actually changes.

Someone once told me that their boss was so demanding they couldn’t find a minute to talk to anyone about anything, so Jesus was relegated to the back seat…. plus it didn’t seem fair to do the Lord’s work on the boss’s payroll! That kind of sounds OK eh? Except the bible tells us we can ask for anything and it will be given to us, and if we have a need He will supply it. Ask the Lord to make a way, where there seems to be no way! He’s really really good at it. 

I’ve had to face facts, one of them being there is nothing extraordinary about me. I’m everybody and nobody rolled into one older lady! But it’s a New Year and Father God has left us on this earth for a purpose. We need to find out why, and start doing it. Postponing God’s will, together with doing things His way, means we are postponing the very thing that will set us free from fear, anxiety and the spirit of stupid that seems to be extremely prevalent everywhere.

We are called to pray so we can find out what we are here to do. We do not pray to get Father God’s rubber stamp on what we think we should be doing! If HE is not in charge, then whatever we do, it will fall on its head! And produce no fruit! Procrastination is the thief of time, I urge you to watch out for it. Otherwise it will steal your birthright away. Bye. 👋

P 3210 NEW YEAR’S DAY, is just another day.

/ DVH

“Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 TPT. A whole lot of sweet, sincere people look at a New Year as an opportunity to turn over a new leaf, and begin their life again, choosing to leave something that is bad for them – behind them. We call them New Year resolutions. However, whether you make them or not, it can be good to revise our thinking and behaviour … but not just once a year! 

The-people-who-don’t-know-Jesus-yet only have their will power to cling to, but you and I have SomeOne of substance Who will not only help us — we can cling to HIM! I’ve seen my own will-power in action many times in my life, and sadly I think it’s overrated. Some of these things we think we might be better off without, are not habits … they are strongholds ruled by the demonic. My prayers at this time of the year go a little like this:

“I love you so much Lord Jesus, but You and I both know that there is stuff in my life that has got to go. It needs loads more effort than just my will-power. I will fail without You! I need Your power active in my life and decisions, to deliver me from the things I have willingly embraced in the past. I throw myself on Your great mercy and grace because I know I can trust You to change those things that need changing. I give You permission to get to the bottom of anything I am unaware of, or ignoring. My goal for 2026 is to be more and more like You. Thank you, again and again, for saving me Jesus!”  Amen.

So, what does it mean in 2 Corinthians when the author uses the word ‘enfolded?’ It means ‘to surround, envelop, hold or clasp (someone) lovingly in one’s arms.’  Who wants that? Me! I need lots of enfolding. Being surrounded by the Lord Jesus’ loving arms is more than just a wish, or a dream, it’s a promise. And do you know what? The minute you and I said “yes’ to Him that’s where we’ve landed – right in the middle of those arms that loved us so much, He died for us.

The Lord Jesus loved the world so passionately that He allowed His enemies to pull His precious arms out of their sockets to make room for all of us so He could enfold us. He is so terrifyingly amazing. And the minute the Holy Spirit arrived at Pentecost everything changed. Now we live our lives in the middle of that change – we don’t have to wait, the power to overcome is here. The Love of God, that had been exclusive to the Trinity, was made available to people everywhere, for free. That Love we’ve been given isn’t full of pity or condemnation, but full to the brim and running over with compassion, understanding, and a new way to live.

Here’s a clear explanation of the word ‘pity.’ ’“To pity someone means to feel sad, sorrowful, or sympathetic for their suffering, misfortune, or unhappy situation, often with a sense of looking down on them or feeling superior, but sometimes just a gentle sorrow for their undeserved hardship. It involves feeling bad for them but doesn’t necessarily require action, differing from compassion, which actively motivates help.”

Jesus knows we are all just glorified dust, so instead of lowering His expectations of us, or even eliminating us — He chose to became one of us. Then He paid the necessary price for us to be able to receive the Father’s Love, all day, every day, for free. He chose us and now we freely choose Him and His ways, right back. 

In these turbulent times, let’s remember there’s no room for fear in love. When love is present fear has to leave. LOVE IS SO BIG – FEAR SIMPLY CAN’T STAND IT – it has to get out of town. If we have fear, then we have not yet been perfected in our knowledge of His love for us. Ask to be perfected in His love. Our prayers are powerful, so let’s pray for the spiritual things we need. Unfortunately, waiting for fear to go before acting, is not wise. We must oppose fear with faith in what Jesus did. His love truly, truthfully, accepts everyone. As human beings, we are so helpless without Him. This life is too difficult alone – but we are not alone. We are IN HIM.

If our inner man is not transformed, then the outer man has very little or nothing to contribute, to changing our lives. Our inner yes, accompanied by suitable actions, is so powerful! Our feelings often change with our circumstances, so it is unwise to trust them, so our attitudes can start taking over our actions, because we’ve chosen to sit on the fence, and not actively participate in our own transformation. It is easy to make up reasons why we shouldn’t or can’t love this person or that one. We all have very real earthly reasons. But our higher calling demands obedience, it is not optional, nor can it be re-shaped to suit us!

I’m not big on “HAPPY NEW YEAR” simply because it  means that we will only think to revise our behaviour once a year, and most of the time, failure is tolerated. We will all fail without Him, but we do not have to be without Him. Only a fool lets his enemy steal everything from right under his nose! I urge you to go to the enemy’s camp and take back what He has stolen from you. Take your clean hands, cleansed by repentance and reparation and go and take that stolen stuff back! Whether you’ve lost work, health, your family, or love, joy and peace. Tell satan to take a hike, you are in God’s kingdom now. Bye 👋