Good work

P 2869 Dealing with ourselves.

/ DVH

Luke 6:41,42: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”Now that’s what I call ‘plain speaking!’

Here’s a good suggestion that may be helpful. The next time you can see a glaring fault in someone else’s attitudes and actions, ask the Lord to show you WHY you can see it. That kind of ‘sight’ is not discernment it is judgment.  It is a mistake to see verses like these as something that may be true … but “I don’t think I do that.” In your dreams!

This verse clearly says if you can see it in someone else then you’ve got it yourself. It’s the old ‘familiarity breeding contempt’ idea. That means we actually recognise that fault because we are personally well-acquainted with it! An attitude like that is contagious – it’s like paspalum in your lawn – it takes over everything! Even your thinking and responses. 

You know it doesn’t say that you can’t gently help someone else along if they are caught in an eddy of indecision, or they’ve stepped off His pathway one way or another. But sometimes we can be so busy minding someone else’s business we fail to see the blooming great train of our own dumb actions thundering toward us! I’ve found asking ‘why can I see that?’ … is incredibly useful. I learn about me, and the Lord loves me through the bits I may have carefully cultivated for my own protection. 

We need to learn that our mistakes are not fatal, otherwise that negative connotation will distract us away from our main purpose, and occupy all our thoughts. Those things will pull us away from the very real kingdom assignments God sends our way. Humbly and quickly, repent and repair any damage you may have done to someone else, and see those mistakes as opportunities to understand and know more about the Lord and His ways. And don’t forget to check out your own dirty linen at the same time.

Remember, if we can see it – we have done it too!! BUT, focussing on any sin defeats our primary purpose – we are here to walk with the Holy Spirit the Way Jesus walked with Him. Because of what Jesus did for us, we can own what we’ve done, deal with our sin and get it out of our way so it doesn’t trip us up!

This scripture from Luke 6 is piercing. Judgment is such a sticky substance. Falling or walking in to it is like stepping into a pot of treacle – getting out becomes extremely difficult.  At the same time our enemy stands at our elbow handing us reasons why we have a right to be there. You know, sometimes I think that the other guy doesn’t have to do a great deal, he just stirs up the stuff in us that has been cultivated over the years, and then he walks off. he knows full well how easily we can be seduced “by the dark side …” 

The wonderful thing about the Holy Spirit is that satan’s ways are immaterial to Him. The Holy Spirit is incredibly busy revealing Father God’s word, and His ways, so most of the time … I hear Him say stuff like: “Watch out, those thoughts will trip you up!” He really IS the very best kind of Friend we will ever have. He watches our backs for us.

It’s great when we tell our friends at church about the wonderful things God has done for us —but I have personally noticed that we rarely hear testimonies about how the Lord helped us to overcome this or that, when we felt trapped by the enemy. Those things are our very real testimonies that have God’s power upon them to set other people free. Living this life differently to everyone else around us, is an incredible thing. And the Holy Spirit loves to be around humble, open, honest people … His very Presence opens up doors when we talk to others. 

Jesus is not telling us to ignore wrong attitudes in those around to us, instead He is warning us that there is a trap in dabbling in judgment. We will personally miss an opportunity to change – we do not have to get caught up in stuff that pulls us away from Him! But, when we deal with ourselves, we are in a better, kinder, position to help someone else. Bye 👋

P 2763 Mo-ove along the car …

/ DVH

…nothing to see here, I’m coming through … and I’M BUSY!! 

Nehemiah 6:1-9 tells us a story: “When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no more breaks in it—even though I hadn’t yet installed the gates—Sanballat and Geshem sent this message: “Come and meet with us at Kephirim in the valley of Ono.” I knew they were scheming to hurt me so I sent messengers back with this: “I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down. Why should the work come to a standstill just so I can come down to see you?” Four times they sent this message and four times I gave them my answer.

The fifth time—same messenger, same message—Sanballat sent an unsealed letter with this message: “The word is out among the nations—and Geshem says it’s true—that you and the Jews are planning to rebel. That’s why you are rebuilding the wall. The word is that you want to be king and that you have appointed prophets to announce in Jerusalem, ‘There’s a king in Judah!’ The king is going to be told all this—don’t you think we should sit down and have a talk? I sent him back this: “There’s nothing to what you’re saying. You’ve made it all up.” They were trying to intimidate us into quitting. They thought, “They’ll give up; they’ll never finish it.” I prayed, “Give me strength.”

I’m starting to love this guy Nehemiah! He not only knows how and where to start … he knows how to finish too! God has given this man great wisdom as he went about his work. We can always ask the Lord for wisdom at any moment. I’ve discovered that we often want it at the beginning of a project, but we also need it in the middle, while we are being harassed, plus at the end too! The Lord likes us to follow Him, as He leads us – using our faith. Nehemiah knew to stay the course.

So, back to this man of God:  next news you know, the Israelites’ enemies have sent someone with a flattering message, to supposedly support him… … As we begin to prevail in our obedience to the Lord, our enemy is not above sending someone else along to give us reasonable doubt about what we are doing. Four times these men tried to engage the man of God as he laboured over rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. The last time Nehemiah’s enemies used the fear of death to startle him into stopping. But he sent them away with a short, sharp word.

When we choose to do what the Lord wants – as we seek Him, He will guide us and protect us from the enemy’s lies. Nehemiah saw right through Shemaiah. This man wanted him to hide from his enemies and that meant he would stop building the wall God told him to restore. So Nehemiah went right back to prayer. You know it sounds to me like that man was praying as he was mending the wall!

Let’s be clear …Nehemiah had confronted a King about the Israelites’ plight. His courage and sense of duty caused him to make that request when he needed too – even though he was a minor player in the court. He was respectful, and clear, and dedicated to the cause. What he did was nothing short of miraculous, however, whenever Almighty God smiles on something you are doing – no-one can stop you … BUT YOU – and He will go around you, if He has to – His will, His purpose!

Nehemiah refused to be distracted. He called Shemaiah and his cronies, liars. You know sometimes we need to identify the spiritual opposition and name it! We can waste our time trying to be polite to our enemies in a difficult situation, when the reality is we need to confront them and tell them to take a hike. When God tells us to do whatever it is, it must be done no matter what, and Nehemiah kept on acting in faith. “And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in His grace until His task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.”Philippians 1:6.

The thing I want to highlight today is that all these interruptions and distractions led this man of God into prayer – they didn’t make him give up or give in. Instead he went back to His source of inspiration. I can only speak for myself but I am sure in my life so far, there have been times when I have given in to fear, much too soon. Afterward, I dearly wished I had pressed on.  My fear of ‘missing God’ – which is an enemy accusation – made me vulnerable. At that time I didn’t have enough confidence to believe I could keep going, so that meant that I gave into the pressure around me. The nagging voice inside my head kept telling me over and over again – “you’ve got it wrong, see this and this has happened.’ I limited God’s ability to redeem my errors – sinful or not. 

Nehemiah is a fine example to all of us of perseverance and faithfulness. Once this man put his hand to the plow – he would not be swayed from his appointed task. Sometimes, at the first sign of trouble, we are so anxious to get the job done, we can bail out too early! We too can have Nehemiah’s confidence in our lives. Our confidence is not in our hearing, it is in our God getting us where we need to go despite our wrong turns, fear and inadequacy.  So, like Nehemiah, we tell our enemies to, ‘move along the car – nothing to see here, I’m busy, and I’m coming through!  We must put our confidence in God alone, not in our ability or lack thereof. Just keep swimming …!!

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28. The Lord God is so great, so mighty, that He can take our mistakes, and turn them into shining stars for His glory. Bye. 👋

P 2710 ‘Have good day, make good choices!’

/ DVH

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8.”Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”Luke 6:38.

Did you get that? If you want MORE of God – then give MORE to God! Our generosity or lack thereof, can limit the blessings God has flowing toward us like a river. They will float on by us and we won’t notice them. Meanwhile, He says we will have everything we need – not necessarily everything we WANT! But we can always ask – He’s a very generous Father.  At first glance these scriptures appear to be about monetary giving – but I also associate these verses with the way we live. Let me explain:  our LIVES are also our tithes and offerings. This means that we choose to serve others, 24/7. All day every day. Are you cheered up yet? 

If you are a parent you will know that there is no such thing as a part-time carer for your brand new infant. New parents walk about looking like zombies for months and months, and sometimes years! They accept that no sleep etc is part of the deal. Now if you are a nurse, bus driver, IT specialist, accountant, father, sales assistant, then your employment – the way you use your days – are not bigger than your primary calling as His child. EG You are not a nurse and a Christian … you are a nurse who IS a Christian.

Belonging to HIM is our first priority. Not our families, not our friends, not work-mates, not even our own relaxation. We have chosen Him, so we have chosen to serve Him! Yay! And we do that by serving Him and others, every single day. We give our love, our time, our efforts, our insights, our kindness, our patience AWAY, all the time. There is no such thing as a part-time Christian because there is no off button. We live this life sowing blessings and being one!

Meanwhile, burn-out is a symptom of not yet knowing all we can about how to REST in Him. I am not condemning anyone for it, I am just saying that this condition is a diagnostic tool of how much self-effort we are putting into doing what the Lord wants. We need to continually remember that ‘His yoke is EASY … His burden is …LIGHT.’ That’s not just a pretty word picture — it is a way to live! We simply must progressively let Him inhabit every single area of our lives or we will not be living this life, our only life, in His Presence. That’s where the power of God resides, IN HIS PRESENCE. That’s how Jesus lived!! Yes, it is costly, just like giving away money you need is costly, but the results have results in other people’s lives.

The verse from 2 Corinthians above, shows us we cannot live this way by force. We must choose and we choose over and over again. Otherwise we will either become incredibly angry and extremely rebellious — or we will quit Christianity and wander off into the wilderness, complaining our heads off and eating quails until they make us sick to our stomach. The Lord knows we are all weak – that’s why He promised to be our strength! Because we are HIS we have access to His perfection, which is what that verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 says:“His strength is made perfect in our weakness…” or we can settle for little, instead of much. My premise today is this we cannot lose when we give! “God is no man’s debtor…”

We all love Jesus. But it’s probably pretty clear to everyone around us one way or another that we are not perfected yet, However we’ve chosen to follow Him and now we are straining to reach the goal. Are we always cheerful about it? Not always. But that lack of cheerfulness is a sign that we are in a process.  We don’t have to get it right, we just have to stay on the path – using our choices! (Repent and repair, remember?) And then we ask for His help to take every single opportunity He sends our way to choose Him all over again. When we choose Him and His ways – we are doing everything for HIM! ‘Whatsoever you do, do it with all your heart as though you were doing it for the Lord.’

We totally give Him our lives because He totally gave us HIS, first. He will guide, help, comfort, lead and teach us. If we sow sparingly into His kingdom and Jesus is not the centre of everything we do, then we will miss the blessing of provision He has for His kids. Only eyes of faith can see some blessings, because wrong attitudes block our eyes and ears. I once heard a mother say to her child: “Have a good day, make good choices.’ Amen! Bye. 👋

P 2327 The good fight happens in your head.

/ DVH

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV. 

After reading this scripture, I had this totally mad thought. Could this be the reason so many of us are stuck in the same place we’ve always been, with one foot nailed to the ground, going round and round? Mainly because we have not grown beyond the places of assent into action. Is this happening because we are not accepting the inspiration and discipline of scripture to correct us, reprove and instruct us in righteousness? And so we only read and accept the bits we like, rather than we actually read the book to find out where we need to be changed? Yikes! 

I know the bible says “…and forget not all His benefits…”BUT! That’s just one kind of verse. The bible has loads of other verses that are instructions, and it is time we started memorising scriptures that challenge our religious beliefs. Christianity is not a club, or a part-time occupation, it is a monarchy –  a theocracy.  A single Ruler …Christ.

That thought about scared the daylights out of me. Do we really think that simply agreeing with what it says, is the same as doing what it says?  Double yikes … and … an ‘oh my goodness’ thrown in! 😳 I know we can’t make every single change all at once, but we need to start somewhere. Sometimes the Holy Spirit is more willing to help us than we are to be helped. 

Pick something that comes up often in your life and start there. Maybe that could be traits that drive other people close to us nuts, YAY!! We need to be humble and open and pliable enough to go after change. Seek advice, don’t hide from the truth. “Confess your faults to one another that you may be healed.“ Otherwise we are easily diagnosed by James as double-minded. And we will get nowhere because we continue to ignore our own faults.

By all means be encouraged by the Lord from His book, but please don’t let the need for pastoral care overshadow, or eliminate the need to be transformed. We can spend so much time trying to make ourselves feel better over things that actually need forgiveness, or repentance, or reconciliation, or reparation… or all of them! 

We can end up so focussed on ourselves we forget our mandate…which is to love others, by sharing the gospel in all its power and authenticity. Plus living our lives the way Christ would – today. In our own homes, with our families, and the people who really know us – as well as other people we don’t know well. They can’t see through our pleasant exteriors. 

There is no lasting value or even any transformation in just admitting our faults and praying over them, and then leaving the transformation to Him. We simply must engage in the process. I’ve found that once the Lord highlights some fault of mine, opportunities to yield to Him and act in faith – pop up like daisies. I am not always thrilled by this, but I have also discovered that obedience and transformation leads to greater revelation and deeper commitment to the King.

I’ve also learnt that I need to actively, prayerfully, continually, revise my behaviour – especially when I find my thoughts start feeding me a diet of other people’s faults. Have you ever noticed, when someone is being provocative and contrary, how easy it is to remember the last time they offended you? Our enemy is delighted to run these things by us when we feel weak or vulnerable. Take heart — this means the Lord is giving us strength training.

I don’t know how we can ever think we can fight satan when we have difficulty fighting temptations. God sent us a round-the-clock, available at any second, Helper. Instead of denying the faults we have, we need to use these things as an opportunity to diagnose, repair and bring healing into our lives and the life of someone else. We are fighting for other people’s right to hear the good news for themselves. Of course our enemy wants to distract us at any turn, we have been given the power to usher in new beginnings for others. Ya might want to think on that. 🧐