Good fight

P 3149 Fight the good fight, your faith is worth it.

/ DVH

“Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honourable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always.” Philippians 4:8 TPT. When I read that scripture, I can look at the magnitude of the task of keeping my thoughts fixed on Him, and fixing them to everything wonderful that He does … a-n-d… I could easily feel like Don Quixote … in Man of La Mancha. Tilting at windmills, and dreaming the impossible dream! 

We often ruminate over the wrong task. It is easy to think that verses like this one only apply to the bad thoughts that flit through our brains like greedy moths. But the real thought I need to deal with here isn’t those incidental distractions. The actual real thought that demands my attention is … wait for it .. “I can’t possibly do that! I can’t meet that standard. No matter how hard I try – I know I will fail.” When I sink into that state I am sinking into a lake of despair, and I begin to slowly relinquish my faith, bit by bit. Right now, I need to remember I have a Lifeguard and He’s already right there, with me, ready to help me, and He wants me to win!

Let’s be clear – I cannot possibly meet that standard in Philippians in my own strength, I never could! However, that thought means I can get discouraged and give up too quickly. I continually need to remind myself that I have SomeOne else’s strength that is made perfect in weak people like me! It’s time to talk to Jesus, Who promised to be always with me. Meanwhile that standard in my mind that I am missing, is not actually the point. The real point is I’ve stopped looking at Him. Now I am looking at my failure, my performance. But IF I stop to  consult Him, then I am fixing my mind on Him!

This means I will begin to think about good things – like what Jesus means to me! Otherwise, day by day, I get busy in normal life-land, having a shower, eating my breakfast, making the bed etc. and I am totally unaware that a negative attitude toward my own faith is running along like a silent script in the background. We are not performers, we are followers.

The verse needs to be digested, and that means I need another scripture! (This BTW is why people memorise scriptures … to help them out when they are under attack!) “…[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),…” 2 Corinthians 10:5. The true knowledge of God is that He unequivocally, without reserve, LOVES ME, and that has nothing to do with His feelings – it’s His choice! And at the same time He wants to help me out of that hole of despair and dumb theories I’ve fallen into.

I’m going to need to make a decision to capture those dratted moths, that keep trying to eat away at my faith in His goodness and everything He has done for me. The above verse in Corinthians is a good one. It contains instructions. So, first of all, I humble myself and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. Now it’s no longer me, all by myself wrangling those thoughts of “what a failure I am.” Because I have THE penultimate Helper. Whether I feel like it or not. Obedience is never about feelings. 

This negative argument I’ve come up against is a ‘works’ argument  … the argument goes like this…I must try harder to rid of my negative faith thoughts. But what if — instead of trying harder — I give up? And then I follow and trust by obeying His instructions. I fix whatever needs fixing in my heart, and follow through by doing whatever He tells me to do about it. ‘Works’ wants me to believe I have to be all that, because I gave my life to Jesus. But Jesus already DID ALL THAT WORK FOR ME, 2,000 years go.

It works like this:  I remind myself that that work is already done, there is no longer any need for me to try to achieve it. Instead, my task is to repent and release my fear of failure, grab hold of the Lord, and humble myself. After doing whatever He says I should do, then I jump straight into REST. If I mess this up while I am learning, then I tell the Lord, and anybody else I may have accidentally trodden on, that I’m sorry — and, I go right back into expecting Him to help me with the situation. That’s what faith is. It’s not IN my performance but IN a Person.

It’s in Him. I don’t have it but He already gave it to me.  I will keep failing Him in my own mind while my focus is on MY failure. But when I begin to rejoice, and give thanks for Who He is and What He did for me – that means I am fastening my mind to: “…all that is authentic and real, honourable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind.”And He IS those things. I am practising what the verse says I should do. I have taken my thoughts captive and fixed them, using my faith, on the One Person Who is all that and more.

“Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” Hebrews 11:1. Our faith in His ability to save us is ongoing. Jesus cannot and will not fail us – we give up and give in too quickly! We simply need to do our part, because He has already done His. And our enemy has already lost, because we have chosen to focus on the Lord. This is how we fight the good fight and boy is it worth it! Bye. 👋

P 2890 Further to yesterday.

/ DVH

Hubby and I occasionally talk about what I’ve written in my daily blog. During our discussion today we talked about various adverse scenarios. Did you know that any of us can lose the MAIN battle – which is fighting the good fight for the Lord – simply because we are trying to make a point? Making a point is a distraction. That point will quite quickly be lost in time!

Here’s a question:  is it really more important that we are understood by someone else – or does Jesus totally deserve the reward of His suffering? ← That’s the real battle! Our needs will be supplied by Him – but we can’t see the good stuff when we are snarking around growling at other-people-who-don’t-suit-us. And the reward of His suffering is to see everyone saved. We can’t con God. He is not impressed with who is right, or who thinks they are innocent, and who is not. We have been given the revelation of His Grace, in the book, that alone makes us responsible to spread it around.

There is a much greater, constant war going on over the souls of those men and women living all around us. The other guy can waste our God-given time fighting with our spouse, our kids, our parents, the pastor … whoever!! But there are people who do not know what Christ has done for us. They are dying without being told about His Love for them. An ambassador exists to represent, publicise and extoll the virtues of his home country.

What does it matter lady, if your husband leaves his dead socks on the floor? It’s those little foxes that spoil the vineyard of your love and obedience to the Lord! Maybe your house-mate won’t take out the garbage? So what? And what does it matter so much that your wife’s idea of tidy, is to drop whatever it is where she stands? You have hands, and your wife is not your mother. Work on your own responses to them, not the other person’s actions.

We can easily waste the life God gave us going on and on over things that have happened in the past — things nobody can change unless they have a time machine!! Do the schmuck who hurt you a favour, will you? That person who wrecked your life when you were little — let ’em off the hook! The only person captive is YOU. You are stuck somewhere, like a record, going round and round what happened in your mind. Repent, forgive, and …move on. Have you ever done or said something so terrible but you couldn’t take it back? I have! 

Our enemy clouds the very real issues surrounding us. he makes the daily stuff about being understood, or making a point, seem to be incredibly important in that moment.“Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God…” Is what is important. We are wasting our time hoping that the other person will hear us, understand and change. The point is not for the other person to change – it’s for US to change. Lemme put that another way, when we stand before the great white throne do you think Jesus is going to ask you why you didn’t change your spouse?!! He’s looking for us to love impossible people, by spreading around His Grace, that’s what HE did!

These little every day skirmishes we try to dodge, or even indulge ourselves in when we feel rejected, dismissed, or looked down on – can actually prepare us for the REAL wars when they suddenly hit us! Have you noticed that people don’t announce wars? They are instigated by stealth movements, done that way to surprise the people who are to be conquered. The element of surprise throws the other guy off. 

Think about this for a minute: our enemy suddenly throws an accident in our path, or someone gets dreadfully ill, or a job is lost. Terrible things happen to people every single day. Just ask the people in the countries currently at war, they can give you a billion reasons why they can’t forgive the other guy! We need to practise forgiveness daily, or we have nothing to give the guy who utterly shatters our lives! Learning to fight those daily battles for His kingdom in us IS our boot camp — these things prepare us for the things we may not know about, that will turn up unannounced.

I do not want to be negative but I think the positive thoughts movement grew out of disobedience to His word. We made up a god who would always understand us, always be on OUR side. How on earth can that work? Plus He is supposed to give us precisely whatever we want! Where does the bible say that? Joshua asked the Israelites this question:“Who is on the Lord’s side?”That’s the only side that matters, by the way … not yours, hers, his, theirs – God’s side! And if we are on His side then we need His help to act like Jesus would. Maybe instead of constantly collecting promises, we can look at what He says as instructions!

It is not up to us to sort other people out. We are here to preach the word, in season and out of season. We are to live out what He said, in front of the very people who deny He is Who He says He is. Every single time we choose to forgive and release people from our expectations, etc. we release the power of God’s grace into their lives. Why waste your energy fighting? Time is short and a larger life awaits us. The bigger battle is raging all around us. Let’s us our faith and grow. May God bless you as you serve Him, bye.👋

“If a ruler loses his temper against you, don’t panic;  A calm disposition quiets intemperate rage.” Ecclesiastes 10:4.

P 2881 This is the battle.

/ DVH

“So fight with faith for the winner’s prize! Lay your hands upon eternal life, to which you were called and about which you made the good confession before the multitude of witnesses!” 1 Timothy 6:12 TPT

Entering into eternal life here and now, is not just a one time event. It is an ongoing process that is designed to saturate every single part of our lives, so that we progressively become like Christ, while we are still in this world! It is very important that this thought becomes the way we see everything. Some not good things we choose to do are one off actions, but other things are entrenched in us as part of the way we think and conduct ourselves. The more we become saturated by His life in us, and through us, the easier it is to identify the stuff that is the wrong way to think. God Himself has the best Way to think no matter what we are going through!

He is so incredibly good to us while we are learning to yield every area of our lives to Him, His patience with us is far beyond our imagination. It is far greater than any of our experiences have been with other people! Sometimes people’s attitudes and responses may be harsh, so it is extremely important that we know what the bible says. I can’t stress that enough! This is why we let Him and His Word have the last say on our lives, over our personal responses to hardship and trouble. However, to do that we have to be honest with ourselves, and with others.

We have Christ’s example from the bible that show us what His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control look like! Read the Gospels, follow the Lord Jesus around, you will see that fruit all over His life! God’s kindness etc. is not indulgent or self-serving, it is something steadfast that we can stand on. This means we can identify the things that come to attack us, simply by knowing what real Love looks like. At the same time, we must remember that we are not in a popularity context, and that means that there are times we can end up at odds with someone else – because their learning curves and ours may not match. Grace needs to prevail.

Things like this, are not just tests, or trials. They are opportunities to learn God’s ways. We learn how to hide from the storm, in Him, when there is an actual storm in our lives blasting away. His transformatory ways are often learnt right in the middle of situations we would much rather avoid! As we understand and remember this, it becomes part of our way of looking at this world. Difficult circumstances are not sent by Him, but they are used by the Lord to teach us His Ways of thinking, doing and being. They teach us our limitations. Plus our often unknown weaknesses, and they present us with situations where we can practice relinquishment, by leaving stuff with Him. 

It takes humility to let go of our own solutions, defence mechanisms etc. and trust the Lord to take care of us and the people, or the things that we love. And humility is often learnt, firsthand, when we submit to others – especially people we don’t like! That’s what not leaning on your own understanding means. Experience with His Ways will grow us up in the things that last! We learn trust by trusting Him when everything around us screams “Panic!”

Jesus Christ was man-handled roughly even before those Roman Soldiers beat Him mercilessly. He was verbally abused and He did nothing. He knows what silence in the face of lies looks like and what it costs us when we do it. This was a grown man in His prime – He could easily have fought back! Instead, He humbly submitted to those evil circumstances that battered and beat Him, when He paid for our sins. And now He can identify perfectly with US!

When people come at us with untruths against our character, we have SomeOne who knows how hard these things are and He knows how to get through them without defending ourselves. Jesus was not stoic about what happened to Him — He was GRACE personified. He fought the battle before He ever got into that courtyard, where evil people questioned and beat Him. He knows how to get through things.

This voluntary submission to Him is our daily battle. We choose it. Because of what Jesus has already done for us, we will always have the power to enter into His rest, and lean on His understanding. Bye. 👋

P 2867 Aim higher…!!

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2787 Guard your heart.

/ DVH

I am so over this whole election news stuff. It’s been going on for months. The whole: ‘can you believe what he said, she said, or they said’ info, has taken over everything. Why would anyone choose a leader based on what other people say, surely our own prayerful choices are more valuable? The Lord controls the future and our times are in His hands. All I can do, and have done, is to pray for the people involved. If my opinion could change things I would start with those terrible wars where all sorts of people are dying daily! Instead I pray as He leads me, and then … I give it all back to Him.

I truly believe this never-ending running flow of information is the enemy’s way of tuning people out from the very real things that happen in this life, all around us. It keeps us agitated and on edge. It may provide something interesting to talk about at work around the water cooler, but I believe it also has an impact on the listeners!  Unfortunately, I think human beings can become immunised against the things that are in our own little basket, because the barrage of information at us gets to be too much.

We need to be focussed on those people who need our prayers, concern and help. Otherwise our hearts can be overwhelmed by the constantly overflowing, questionable information, and then they start to become hardened. Sadly, we stop caring, purely out of extreme tiredness and self-defence. We are being fed opinions and agendas under the guise of information. It’s like having root canal – it’s endless, painful and somebody else profits! I would go so far as to say, the media is currently responsible for steering many people away from faith, and into fear. 

I had a dear Sister-in-the Lord who had MS and she was housebound. She loved to watch the news. The Lord had set her as a watchman on the walls, (a spiritual gift BTW) so she prayed for everything and everyone in the news. Because the Lord gave her this ministry, when you went to see her, there was never a negative word about any shocking or pressing situations in this world. She had His POV and that was enough!

The bible says we need to be careful what we take in: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”Proverbs 4:23. The Hebrew translation of guard – means to keep above all keepings. So, above ALL you guard – your marriage, family, bank account, passwords, your car or house – guard your heart with more vigilance than anything else.

Indifference, and annoyance starts in our heads, and seeps down into our hearts and it eventually affects the way we regard other people. We start to think negatively about the people Jesus died for. “Oh those people are all idiots anyway, why should I care?” We care because we are called to be salt, and to be salty we need to flavour the world around us with the taste of Jesus, not the despair of the lost.

I also love the Message Version of Proverbs 4:23 “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.
Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust.” 

Pretty clear good advice there! We continue to fight the good fight by asking Him what He thinks – without deciding arbitrarily that, of course, He only cares about what I care about – and then we leave the results to Him. Bye. 👋

P 2328 Tenacity.

/ DVH

The bit that is actually easy in the Christian life is doing what He wants with the help of our ever present Helper. ‘His YOKE is easy, His burden is light.’ If it is hard then maybe we have wandered away from His yoke. However, sometimes we can get so caught up in trying to find ‘comfortable’ when things assail us …we can forget we are in a battle. We live in enemy territory, not the garden of Eden. STUFF is gunna happen. After a while when that stuff keeps on coming, and coming at you, you can feel you are permanently under siege. Time for a time out with Jesus.

At our house right now, we are two people with only two good useful hands between us … and both of them are left-hands. 😂 You’d be amazed how much you need both hands – maybe that’s why the Lord gave us two in the first place! Whatever. 🙄 For the past 9 weeks I have typed this blog with my left index finger. Boy has that been interesting! I am not, BTW, looking for sympathy, other people have their own problems. I simply think the Lord is currently making the Western world uncomfortable … HE wants to be our reason to live — not just an optional add-on.

So hubby and I have started to pray together that the Lord Himself will be our strong right arm … because our own arms are letting us down big time. There is nothing like running out of your own strength to remind us that we can’t do this stuff by ourselves! We never could. Some days I can be seen mumbling to myself – ‘Its OK – our side wins in the end.”

I am writing about these types of situations today to put forward the idea that we all have these blooming awful, hard-to-find-anything-good-about-them, times. This Christian life is not always some sort of ongoing party – where we all cheer for our side, because we won! Hallelujah! We DID win! Thanks to our precious Saviour – but now you and I have to walk out that victory minute by minute, day by day, week by week… …. And it will cost us.

It’s officially a fight – the man of God said so in 2 Corinthians 1:8.“We were so utterly burdened we despaired of life itself.” You and I are not failing just because we are struggling. It just so happens we are struggling to keep the faith!  Meanwhile the Lord is filling us with His endurance and stamina so we can run our race well. Paul also said this: 2 Timothy 4:7:“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…”

We are winning, because even though we might despair and fall down, eventually we get up and go again. Sometimes we may crawl, but that’s ok – that will humble anyone pretty quickly! Tenacity is invaluable. Perseverance the bible calls it, I call it refusing to quit. And don’t be fooled by that seemingly positive statement, it sometimes takes all you have to even get up off the floor, but remember the Holy Spirit will not break bruised reeds. 

In the Western world we are often vastly under prepared for life’s storms. But Christians can survive any storm because Jesus is in our little boat with us. HE can calm the stormy sea of anxiety, sorrow and suffering inside us. Creating an awareness of His Presence and help can be our most daunting task … and our greatest asset. Mainly because life happens and it ain’t like the TV ads.

Sometimes I think I’m like Peter on one of his earlier incredible revelation/dumb days… John 6:66-69.“After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.”That was the great revelation bit…

A-N-D … here comes the dumb …’”Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” Matthew 16:22. Poor guy, he so totally went the wrong way – into his flesh. One minute in the Spirit … the next, not-so-much. I have a theory about that BTW, sometimes we go the wrong way to learn about ourselves. It sure helps to keep me humble!  

Tenacity is not about getting it right. It’s about not giving up when you get it wrong. It’s about facing your fears and failings and clinging to the Lord. It’s about repentance and humility and clambering up from the floor when you’ve fallen on your face. You know sometimes this life is not about making great strides… its about taking the next step. 👋🏻