Grow

P 2588 Can you tell me how I can hear God?

/ DVH

It’s like the telephone or the internet. First you need a connection! Jesus talked about that in John chapter 3 – He told Nicodemus …“you must be born again.”  This is not necessarily a feeling – it isa spiritual transaction. To hear God all the time, you need to give your life to Him. BTW, this is not a try now and buy later system. When you jump in, and surrender to Jesus Christ, you are all in – you can’t just dangle your feet in and hope that will do! This place is a place of decision and complete surrender. That means I have given away my life, my hopes, my dreams to Him.

It is a serious place. This decision is not just about whether you will spend your life in heaven one day or not. It is about here and NOW, because when we’ve made this decision, we want to become God’s kids. Now, we bring heaven with us wherever we go.  This process is described in Galatians 2:20. NIV. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” 

The minute I gave my life to Christ, for Him to use for His purposes, I died. However, I am not a zombie, nor am I subject to mind-control! Instead, I have been given power to control my own mind because of what Jesus Christ did for me. Sadly I can still choose to do and say dumb things, but now I live my life knowing Christ has already forgiven me – He will not give up on me.

Because of my decision to follow Him, His life has flooded my heart, soul, mind, and body, and I found the real reason I am here… Which is to serve Him, and you!  An eternal seed was planted within me when I made that decision. It is up to me to water, fertilise and care for that seed, otherwise I am just going to stay a teeny tiny fragile little plant who expects everyone else to look after them. However, I was born into God’s kingdom to grow and mature. I can’t blame my pastor if I don’t talk to Jesus, or read the bible or obey what God has told me to do in His book. Like the mustard seed Jesus talked about in Matthew 13:31-32. I’ve been designed to grow into a spiritual tree, that gives other people spiritual food, shade and shelter, in this life. 

From the moment I was born again, I was given spiritual ears to hear Him and spiritual eyes to see Him at work in my life, and in the lives of others. However, He does not necessarily talk to me through a booming voice, or angel visitation, He talks to me in the place where I have always talked to myself. Some people call that my conscience, or my thoughts – others might say: “He speaks into my heart.” Because this new kingdom we have entered is spiritual, we can be deceived if we don’t read the bible. The bible is the manufacturer’s handbook, so it tells us what spiritual people are, and what they do. Jesus’ life and death is our visual aid. He shows us what living a life of love toward Him and others looks like.

Because … the devil has been talking to you and I from the moment we first understood language– we know that satan also talks to us in the place where we think. he’s been lying to us and telling us God does not want us or care about us, because we are not special enough!  It is up to me to read the bible so I know for myself, what God says — then I can hear when satan tells me a lie. satan is pushy, loud, and mean. he twists things and tries to make us feel stupid, small and inadequate, because he uses the place where we self-talk, to play on our feelings and bring up old circumstances. satan will even use our rational thought processes against us.

We have been absorbing knowledge one way or another all of our lives, However, what we’ve absorbed from that knowledge does not have to be accurate. It can be influenced by who taught us, or our past experiences., and by the dumb things we’ve chosen to do or read, or the people we’ve hung around with. Not every thought that pops into my head is God speaking, and sometimes those thoughts that sound like me are my enemy. satan sounds like me because I am used to his whispering. Nevertheless, I must always take whatever I hear/think, and hold it up against what God says in His book.

The best thing anyone can do to prevent deception is to know, for themselves, what the Holy Spirit has said in the bible. We need to keep reminding ourselves that we are now God’s house:“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. 

We are meant to digest His book by reading it, and then we must obey — do what it says. That’s how the bible becomes part of us. It will change our minds and thinking. It will help us diagnose our own wrong thinking, as well revealing as satan’s whispers.We are in a war … we live in enemy territory.  Some of the worst wars often happen INSIDE our own heads! But sometimes we blame satan for stuff that is really us. Maybe we chose it, or we continued to participate in things that the bible says are not good for us. Everything we do in this life is about choices. As we start to mature, we will make better more informed choices. 

When you and I hear, whispered quietly inside our own thoughts, “I love you” ….that’s God speaking! satan doesn’t love anything. I urge you to pray for eyes to see the Lord at work in your own life, plus ears to hear Him, then check out what you hear with what it says in the bible. The bible is one of God’s ways of manifesting His steadfastness. 👋

P 2564 Life’s tough, but you can’t beat a good laugh!

/ DVH

Many Christians could get quite offended if I imply they are actually not nice people. So, today I want to start off with this — of course you are a nice person! We have to learn to be nice people – it’s almost kind of mandatory! But we can easily be a misinformed person, because nobody has taught us how to use our faith to grow, and live transformed lives! The reality is, we could be rich, we may even have a BMW parked somewhere safe, plenty of funds in the bank, and a 200 square foot house … but we still get furious with other people and run off at the mouth! I’ve noticed that success appears on the outside, but a heart change takes a while to show up.

The truth is: the person who has to co-operate with the Holy Spirit here, in this life, is me. You may drive me nuts, but it is still up to me to stop the negative monologue in my brain from rolling around on repeat. The Holy Spirit will not shut our mouths for us. He won’t even make us read the bible so we have something good to think about instead! He will not switch off the TV or the radio either. Our precious Friend, the Holy Spirit is terrific, He is a fantastic Helper! He wants us to win over sin and temptation, so He warns us over and over again. He says stuff like: ”Turn back now” or “Why not die to self?” But our only way out is to obey what we’ve heard – not just wish-pray stuff away! 

Thinking over what you really want to say to that guy at work who annoys you all the time, will pretty much guarantee it will fly out of your mouth at him, sometime or other, unexpectedly. But the Holy Spirit won’t stop that either – if He did He would be violating our free will! He will warn us but if we ignore Him, HE WILL QUIETLY GO AWAY. Choice is everything. He won’t yell at us about our bad choices – the Holy Spirit quite simply votes with His feet! What do I mean by that? He leaves. WE will have to deliberately DO things differently as in Me. Myself. I!

He will not make a puppet out of us, we must choose to change – on the spot, in the heat of the moment – when you really want to let someone have it! We must take steps to walk out of the many things we have allowed to control our lives — and we do that on purpose. We ask for His help and then purpose to change the way we respond. And here is another enormous truth – ministry, good works, etc. will not change us – choices do. 

The Lord Jesus walked every single step of the way to Calvary. Nobody gave Him a ride. He had to take that walk knowing He was walking to His DEATH. We too, are on a daily death-march. Every single day, we will be tempted all the time, to avoid or postpone dying to self.  Postponement has a fatal flaw— every time we give in to temptation, we are empowering the wrong spirit in us. Just saying is all…

2 Corinthians 10:5 says:”We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  As you can see we can’t just say:  ”Mind! You must not think that!”  We need to replace what our minds naturally run to, with something that is good, right, pure and just. That is what taking thoughts captive means. So we read the book intentionally and we puzzle over what He is saying to ME!  My advice is to read it until you start punching the air and saying – “Yes! This shows me how much God loves me – He wants to help me!!”  When did we ever get so darn cool and laid-back that we no longer show enthusiasm for the things of God? 🙄

Lastly I am going to give you a great secret when it comes to dealing with your angry, frustrated, wandering mind. Learn to laugh …at yourself. Please don’t laugh at  someone else, that has been known to start wars! Laugh at the situation, or how seriously you seem to be taking it, or the fact that you just screeched at someone like an angry parrot! Learn to laugh …at yourself. Maintaining a sense of humour in the midst of all the angst, pain, irritation and suffering this life hands us, is almost mandatory. All those things are not funny, I know that – I live with them! But when you’ve tried to dress yourself and successfully put the stupid garment on backwards for the 4th time … it is funny.

Years ago, when hubby and I were fighting …playing word interpretation ping-pong back and forth, I often found there were moments when I wanted to laugh. But of course, in my mind it was wrong to laugh be-ca-use …after all, THIS.WAS.SERIOUS! The sky was falling! Our marriage could be over! Except … it wasn’t! After realising that I-can’t-count-the-number-of …semi-trailer loads of God’s grace that fell on us — 37 years later we are still enjoying each other’s company. And yes… we still disagree, at times, loudly. Not!Dead!Yet!  We are both a work in progress – sometimes driving each other batty – of course it is always his fault! He still hasn’t learnt that the woman is always right! 😂

Laughing at ourselves or even a situation, releases tension. It will help us feel better, even temporarily, and it breaks the coldness that creeps into our hearts when we get angry. It also gives us an opportunity to think about and choose what we will do next. Apologies are great! “I’m sincerely sorry I was such a grouchy angry person …” that’s all good. But you can’t beat a good laugh … at yourself. It really is a medicine that cures the soul. You can’t be angry and laugh all at the same time. 👋

P 2553 Ssssshhhhhh!

/ DVH

I John 3:9 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.” This is an extremely comforting verse in all its aspects. To start with, if this world didn’t know the King of all glory, then I am not a failure if the world thinks I’m peculiar because I believe what I believe, and I act on it, seen or unseen.

Despite the fact that Christianity has been stuck in super-star mode for many years – the truth is, ordinary unknown people with 9-5 jobs, doing whatever the Lord tells them to do, day by day – are actually our greatest strength! They are the real army. Here’s why … ordinary people aren’t doing loving stuff to make a living, they are doing whatever they do because they love Jesus, as well as other people. Ask yourself, how do I show His grace and love to others? And please don’t try to be someone else – we need YOU to be YOU!  By all means, go for transformation, but we don’t need clones, we need the people God designed us to be, each one of us. He had a plan when He made you – don’t stuff it up by trying to be someone else!

Meanwhile my point is this:  we can’t and won’t all win some quiz show or talent contest or start some super church to give us fame and a platform, so then we can publicly testify to His loving kindness. If we aren’t already witnessing now, we will not witness then! Witnessing is a life choice. That whole fame thing is just a disaster waiting to happen. Lovely people can end up on the rocks simply because they’ve entered a much larger playing field, vastly unaware that the bigger the audience and responsibility we have, the greater the dangers, we will face! 

Human beings can easily fail, fall over and do dumb stuff, because it utterly messes with most people’s heads when they become important. They start to think that they are the only person on the planet that knows the truth. And, sadly, sometimes that idea works with churches too. Many churches nowadays affiliate themselves with others, to form some sort of sub-denomination, But the fact is, they have affiliated themselves with other people that they basically agree with, whose theology isn’t different from their own. There is not much reconciliation in there! We all need to be challenged beyond what we can manage in order to grow.

The truth is we can have a whole lotta theories, some of them are vastly untested – because to test stuff you have to live like it! I am aware that some of these theories have been tested by Brother or Sister ‘I’ve-written-ten-books-and-it-works-for-me-what’s-wrong-with-you? Hmmm. That scripture about our road being narrow and hard suddenly popped into my head, right now! The anointing of God is not a stamp of approval, it is freely given to us to empower us to love, bless and reach out to others! Many Christians slog along, trying hard, standing on their tiptoes. They are killing themselves trying to reach someone else’s mark! Jesus gave us the mark – LOVE GOD AND LOVE OTHERS!

In my life I have known a number of people over the years who were called by God to be evangelists. I would not call them ordinary, not by any stretch of anyone’s imagination! As a matter of fact, it seems to me, they can’t say: ‘hello how are you’ without getting right in your face and leading you to Jesus! I’m being serious!! Their calling is so intrinsically woven into His new creation in them … that they can’t help themselves! They simply don’t have an “off” button. They see this world through their gift. Whenever we meet, I had the strangest feeling that if George the evangelist went to the fish and chip shop to buy fish and chips for dinner, he’d end up evangelising everybody who came in the store, as well as all the people who stood behind the counter … and then he would step into the busy street! 

George has a gift – he didn’t earn it or deserve it – God Himself chose it and gave it to him. We need to be like George regarding the gifts God has given US. Things you spontaneously do to bless and help others. We have all been called to do what He chose for us to do. And over time, we will start to be flavoured by the gifts He has given us. Just find your gift and use it to benefit others. It ain’t rocket science!  At the same time we dare not use the Lord’s calling on our lives to make ourselves important. Jesus chose us and He saved us. He’s the One Who is important! Our greatest blessing in this life is to testify to that. Be glad to be ordinary — being extraordinary is not what it’s cracked up to be. Ask Moses!

This world does not know us, because we’ve been chosen to remain mostly unseen. We don’t have to be seen to do good to others. Anonymity is useful. I believe our greatest strength lies in our ordinariness. The time is coming when secret agents will do what all the evangelists in this world have not been able to do by themselves. Every single person on this planet will hear about Jesus and that won’t necessarily be from some huge evangelical campaign – instead it will come from people like you and I who testify that Jesus is entirely wonderful, because we know Him, personally. ”And as you go, preach this message: ‘Heaven’s kingdom realm is accessible, close enough to touch.’“ Matthew 10:7 TPT.  👋

P 2526 Some thoughts on what maturity looks like.

/ DVH

To begin, I need to say that I do not think the things I have mentioned here indicate a place of arrival, rather they are personal sign posts. I wrangle every single day with all of these things… but I refuse to lower my aim just because these things are hard! Becoming like Jesus to other people means everything to me.Today, I have added in my own thoughts as well, but I think that this is one of those times that I need to let God’s word speak for itself. 

It is also good to look carefully at Jesus in the Gospels to see how God’s Grace operated. How HE took it in and breathed it out. Maturity sees Grace as the coin of the realm, they freely give Grace away and they also receive it in. Romans 8:29: “For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Mature Christians have walked way past being dead to sin, that’s a no-brainer! Instead they are so alive they challenge you by the way they live.

Galatians 2:20 TPT “My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives His life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God Who loves me so much that He gave Himself for me, dispensing His life into mine!”

I think we all have a need to mature in the Western World, because, sadly, immature people follow fads as well as people — not Christ Himself. Ephesians 4:14 ”…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”  The Body of Christ will grow in spiritual maturity, by learning to persevere through the trials and challenges of our life. Mature people are humble because life itself and the Word of God has taught them, who they really are, without the Holy Spirit’s help. 

James 1:2-5 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  Trials are an opportunity to stretch and grow our faith!

Mature believers seek to live a life that is Spirit-filled — that is, they learn to be aware of and listen to God’s Spirit, who lives within all Jesus’ followers. Romans 6:11-14 says: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” 

These people Paul talks about understand that sin is a choice and the more anyone gives in to it, the harder it becomes to resist! So they “…present their bodies as a living sacrifice …” instead. They want what the Lord wants. They may not always know what that is … but they will take the time to wait on Him to find out! These people are a generous people. They not only share, but they make sure that their love is demonstrated not just talked about. Their only desire is to please the Lord above everything and everyone else. 

Mature people will quickly admit their faults and their lack, but they also know exactly where to go to repent and be filled again. Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God has forgiven you.” Forgiveness is never an optional extra to these people, it is a way of life. This means they do not judge others either. They know how to repent and admit that they were wrong, because their aim is Christ’s likeness not vindication. So they always repent quickly, then usher in real restoration, and go back into relationship again. Psalm 15:4:“They keep their promises to their neighbours, even when it hurts.” 

Philippians 4:11&12. “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  These saints have found their contentment in knowing God Himself, and the Lord and His Presence in their lives is all they want. They never have to pray – they simply want to talk to the Lord because they love to be with Him. Maturity will refuse to define what other people’s love should look like, it accepts what the other person gives them with His Grace.

Lastly, in order to grow spiritually and mature in our faith, we must draw near to God, because we cannot mature on our own. Without His personal input into our lives – our works and efforts are worthless.

Bless you and bye for today! 👋

P 2515 Exhortation and encouragement.

/ DVH

Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

In the above scripture Paul is talking about meeting together for the purpose of helping each other to move on, and grow, and expand our faith. And in 1 Corinthians 15:58: he is encouraging believers not to waiver in what they believe. In 1 Thessalonians 5:14: he exhorts the family of God to be active in helping others with weaker faith. In Ephesians 4:29: Paul also talks about being careful how we speak to one another to benefit each other. These are just a few of many ways that all the writers of the Epistles exhort the reader. And they are also an example of how to exhort others to continue on in faith toward our ultimate goal – to wholeheartedly love Jesus … and keep pressing on … 

The gift of encouragement is supernatural, it instills courage into someone else’s life. That encouragement can include things that need to be put aside because they are a hindrance — as well as telling others what they do that blesses people. This gift can give our leaders courage. Leaders face a great deal of discouragement – very few will talk about the ‘stuff’ that comes at them – sometimes almost hour by hour, daily. We can be a blessing to everyone we know in many ways – such as giving, helping, as well as using words. Prophecy is for the wider church, but encouragement is for individuals. One of the disciples had his name changed because he encouraged others so much. His name was Joseph but it was changed to Barnabas. That name Barnabas means ‘son of encouragement.’ 

Encouragement is a spiritual gift, just like mercy, helps or healing…this gift gets behind others when their spirits are flagging, and it lifts up their arms so they can praise Jesus freely again. It comes directly from the Holy Spirit andit is part of His Character! Two of the Holy Spirit’s 10 Names, are ‘comforter and strengthener.” When we operate in the gift of exhortation and encouragement, we are choosing to flow with Him, moving in His Grace and goodness to build up someone else’s hope and faith. This gift is about things that touch someone’s spirit and go right around their mind into their hearts. The person immediately becomes aware of the Holy Spirit working. He is SomeOne Who is outside our own understanding – BUT whatever HE SAYS rings true. It feels like home! Spirit-given words have eternal consequences as well as earthly ones. They can encourage others to take risks, and grow their faith.

I think the Body of Christ lacks a lot of encouragement and my advice is this — don’t just wait for the Holy Spirit to speak to you, regularly and faithfully go to Him and ask Him to give you words etc. and make you an encourager of others. This world is very negative toward anything that has absolutes, and Christianity is all about absolutes! I exhort us all to practise listening to the Lord, and then share whatever He gives us with others – gently, and with great humility. Let Him do the work. We don’t have to push or strain – He’s Almighty God. He knows which words will touch the downtrodden, needy, or even a flagging spirit in that other person.

“I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.” Colossians 4:8. The ‘him’ in this scripture is a man Paul trusted. This unknown man, Tychicus, was someone Paul commissioned to carry his letter to encourage a church. If you look at Paul’s Epistles as letters, you will find they are full of encouragement and exhortation – as well as information about what is happening in his life. Including the things Paul is and has already learnt, about his own faith. We need to remember, we are reading this Apostle’s personal mail – Paul had no idea they would end up in the book we read every single day!  

I urge anyone reading this blog to read Romans 12. Clear precursors to beginning to operating in any of the gifts of the Spirit, lie in that Chapter. Meanwhile I present my body to Him as a living sacrifice every single day, because the bible says in verse 1 “this is your true and proper worship!” One of the best ways to grow, is to step out in faith and use our spiritual gift/s. If we are wrong, then …oh well … not perfected yet!! That’s the humility bit. If it blesses others then … Glory to God!! It is such a privilege to have the Holy Spirit flow through us. His life in us is like a pure river of gold flowing through our kitchen taps! Some of that gold always clings to the pipes and then we are blessed too, because His goodness clings to us.

The more we yield to Him, the more the desire to exhort and encourage others will grow! Whether they are Christians yet, or not! Bless you. 👋

P 2489 Allow His beauty to inspire us.

/ DVH

“Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing. In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning.’Hebrews 10:24-25 TPT

We can concentrate on relating to others, by nagging away at someone else, and doing our best to get the other person to understand our POV. The objective of that idea is that the other person will change. OR, we can help motivate the people around us further in God, by encouraging them to be bigger!  One way leads to war, and the other leads to expansion. Personally I think that winning in any conflict is hollow. We simply must decide to learn to speak life, not criticism. But maybe we got our feelings hurt by somebody else? Boo-hoo! Move along please … you and I aren’t meant to be living in our feelings in the first place! We.Walk.By.Faith.

Will we grow our faith, or will we invest in our flesh, our feelings, or our supposed needs, and allow those needs etc. to grow stronger and even more demanding? Let’s not be the generation the Lord has to pass over to get to the next one coming after us! Right now, it is our turn, our time … on the stage of life to shine forth His light and motivate this dull cranky and crabby old world into better things! Having come so far, we cannot afford to quit on this faith life now!! At the same time, we can always inspire each another. Because of Jesus, we are the broken who can be made beautiful.

There are people who are leaving churches because they are not happy in their current church – their focus has gone off others onto themselves. They have stopped contributing beautiful things, encouraging things, and started to focus on “how hard MY life is.” Join the club, nothing is easy for anyone nowadays!  Spreading around His love and kindness is a high AIM, that sort of thing can be harder to do when we don’t practice it. However, deciding to do positive things and making them into a lifestyle… changes us. Always remember, we have a Helper!  Plus what we focus on grows bigger in our minds. If I focus on your faults and mistakes those things will eclipse any good stuff you might do… Just saying is all …

Going to church has become difficult for many people, for all sorts of reasons, but that is not a reason to stop going. We need to meet with others in order to receive the kind of understanding and encouragement that comes from talking to other people who want to live a life of faith like we do. It isn’t about bragging on this spiritual exploit or that – it’s about our kindness and mercy helping others to press on, and prevail, against those pesky difficult things that stop growth. Other people’s stories, their testimonies … even their struggles can be used to reassure us that even though our lives may be topsy-turvy at that moment, the Lord is still busy on the Body’s behalf.

“You know God has bigger plans for us than we have for ourselves.” (The director of the movie “Journey to Bethlehem” said that.) It seems to me that we all need to stretch and decide that internal growth is not a great theory, it’s a lifestyle. When we focus outwards, on others, on blessing and encouraging them … the things that bug us daily shrink back to normal size. Self-focus is self-limiting.

In our everyday world, art, nature, literature and such things can inspire people to appreciate beauty. In the world of His kingdom, the things He does, sometimes silently – almost unnoticed, those things need to become our inspiration. If we don’t talk to each other, the little things that He does, will come and go and we will all have missed the opportunity to be grateful for those blessings. What are we here for if not to appreciate the One Who saved us, and the One Who is continually helping us transform our lives?

As I read this scripture today, I wondered, what “beautiful works as expressions of love,” look like! Thankfully, I have dear friends who love to let me know how God has blessed them, even in a small way, so I can give thanks with them. I have a pastor who produces the loveliest tracts with reminders of the things He preached about recently. I know those things that he makes take time, and effort and research, so I think that qualifies as a beautiful expression of love. 

But then I began to wonder what do I do, that would qualify me. And that led me to write about this subject today. Sometimes in this life, one day follows another with almost alarming similarity. There is a lot of same old, same old in our days! I think that is why I like to make bookmarks etc. I feel like I am investing in someone else’s future, in their opinion of Who God is, and helping them to see Him in a unique way that is unchurch-ified. 

Today, I want to leave us all with a challenge for this coming year — are we going to let the darkness hide everything God has done and what He is continuing to do, all over this globe? I think we need to let the beauty of Who He is inspire us to grow and encourage others even when things are tough. Bye 👋🏻

P 2448 I’m a fan of James.

/ DVH

“Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change.” James 1:17 TPT. ” Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].” James 1:17 AMP

I really like James. His subject is always related to Who God is, and what He expects from us. When you write a blog like the one I write every day, you should really only have one point each time. I sneak a couple of others in every now and then – but James jumps about like a grasshopper in a grass fire! This means that sometimes even the smallest part of each paragraph or chapter has an individual point worth meditating on. You simply can’t rush reading James! The deeper you dig, the more you will find.

He’s full of prayer points. He makes reading, simply for the sake of general reading, harder. James is a book to be studied, not just casually read. I find I have to stop and think and pray a lot! We need to savour what he says as we go along, then decide to take the time to chew on each of his points, because James has not made it easy for us. Instead we simply have to stop and pray and ask for help. Today I want to look at the above scripture. I put it in two different versions to help give it breadth. I often read the same thing in other versions when I read from the book of James!

As he carefully tells us, our God has given wonderful gifts to mankind — salvation is definitely the greatest one. However, wisdom is also a great gift. Further on in this book James tells us to ask for wisdom, and use our faith to receive it. Wisdom will not simply fall on us, we have to go after it. Every single thing Father God gives us is great. – no matter how it looks at the time. And these gifts are not meant just for you and I, they are meant to be shared with everyone else around us.  Someone once told me that the best gift from God, is the one you need at that moment! That sounds good to me.

At the same time the verse above contains revelation about Father God’s character. Who He is, how He relates to us. Our precious Father is not deceitful, or whimsical. He doesn’t change His mind according to His moods … because He doesn’t have them! Our Heavenly Father is not subject to moods like human beings are … His love is always ON! He doesn’t like us one minute, and not the next, simply because we did some awful or dumb thing or other. Jesus Christ took care of that.

When you read the Old Testament, God’s incredible patience, and endurance with man’s poisonous self-serving manoeuvring, plus controlling manipulative ways, becomes apparent. Mankind constantly questions the Lord’s purity of purpose all over the place in the Old Testament. That is still a huge danger for us today. We can end up negating our own faith by questioning His goodness and His loyalty to us. In this scripture, James highlights Father God’s goodness. It needs to be firmly established within our hearts, without question. However, we must continue to look for signs of His loving goodness, when we read – otherwise His goodness becomes an add-on to our own needs.

The Holy Spirit will help each one of us uncover how loving and kind He is. Just simply ask for eyes to see Him as you read it. Otherwise we can end up looking for something to benefit ME, help ME in my hour of trial, and miss the very best part. HIM. God is always the best portion. The more revelation we have about His Love and Character the more our faith will grow. I have personally discovered that the more I intentionally look for the best in other people, even when it seems elusive, I will see something good I haven’t seen before. Living like this changes my attitude towards others.

This scripture in James tells us that Almighty God never changes. That word never is powerful. Never means … not ever! So when our circumstances are not favourable or even incredibly difficult, GOD HAS NOT CHANGED TOWARD US.  Our circumstances must never dictate our faith. We need to practice relying upon His goodness and faithfulness to get us through life’s hard bits, and continually look for evidence of His involvement in our lives, despite our personal situations. Acknowledging that I don’t know everything, diminishes pride and it humbles me … all at the same time.

All of this may seem obvious, but under extreme pressure we can easily question “why?”  ‘Why has this thing happened, why are things so difficult?’In those times I believe that it is almost impossible for us as human beings, to understand the kind of love, wisdom, forbearance, faithfulness, and gentleness Father God gives us AS A GIFT. I love that James reminds us that if it is good, then it is God, and even when it looks bad, it can still be Him …working in ways we do not understand. We can count on that fact because God’s loving consistency is without question.  Bye. 👋🏻

P 2416 Mercy is a fountain.

/ DVH

“Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has shown us His extravagant mercy. For His fountain of mercy has given us a new life—we are reborn to experience a living, energetic hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3 TPT

In everything we do and say, we must never forget God’s mercy, because of what Jesus Christ did for us. This mercy is not a small pool of water – it is not even a large body of water like the pool at Siloam – it is a fountain. A fountain has life in it. It is not static;  it flows, dances, bounces and beams light in every direction. A fountain is a symbol of His joy dancing over each one of us – all the time. We spend our lives in that fountain! Bathing in it, praising God for it, allowing God’s mercy to impact the way we think and act.

Our Heavenly Father’s mercy is like that. His mercy transforms everything it touches. We do not have to instruct people into the kingdom of God. We simply need to bring them into the proximity of that fountain. Our relationship with Him provides the proximity. So how do we do that? We extend mercy and grace to everyone – whether we like them or not! Then we stir up that fountain within us, and act on everything He says to do to keep it alive and bubbling. 

This includes showing mercy to people who don’t deserve it. PS neither did we!  That fountain resides in us now, the minute we said yes to Him. Everything Jesus Christ did on our behalf contributes to that living fountain. We stepped under/into that fountain and it began to bubble and grow inside us. Christ’s mercy is always so incredibly extravagant beyond our wildest dreams, because that flow always exceeds our demand upon it. Why would we abuse such Grace?

Our God knows everything, but that is no threat to us. Not to His kids. It is a promise that the fountain of His life is more than adequate for everything that has happened to us in our lives so far … and it will carry us in its sweet waters right on to the end. The thing is – when we appreciate that fountain and the cost that was paid – we would not dream of skating on by doing the minimum we can, hoping we can somehow fool Him into thinking it is enough. We would never dare take advantage of such a glorious gift that was given so freely for all of us. 

Christ is always our example, and the men and women who followed Him after His death and resurrection illustrate the sort of devotion we need to cultivate and protect in our ordinary everyday lives. It means whenever I talk to my neighbour, that mercy fountain within me reaches out to them, it embraces them. There is no pressure needed, because that fountain is so appealing, so incredible, so sweet, it draws everyone in. Are they grumpy neighbours? Then this fountain is more than adequate. Ask for His help! He made His help for us available through that fountain.

We have found as we talk to people all over this country that religion glazes their eyes and stops conversation. But mercy and grace opens unseen doors within them and you cannot shut them up. The person in front of us who seemed business-like and together, is suddenly transformed into a person with needs and hopes and dreams. They cannot believe that God is interested in them. They are drawn to His fountain – inside us  – they know they need Him. Both hubby and I would say we are totally inadequate to do this work, but daily He rises up within us, like a fountain springs into the air alive and working. He does whatever is needed! 

Mercy and joy go together. They transform lives by their very presence in us and through us. We will get so blessed by blessing others! Believe me this world has nothing to offer that competes with the reality of seeing His Presence touch someone. His little hidden ones, out there in every nook and cranny of this grumpy old world, know His voice. They may not know His Name, but something inside of them knows His voice. 

You and I carry that glorious wealth inside us everywhere we go. I exhort us all to bathe in that fountain, take it in with every single breath, and then allow it flow through us. Enjoy what Christ died to give us. Don’t spend so much time feeling guilty – use your time to be grateful.  Like Jesus said to His Father in the Lord’s prayer:“Manifest Your kingdom realm, and cause Your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10 TPT.

“Use me Lord. Let your joy-mercy flow out of me.” Bye.👋🏻

P 2380 Gentleness has been greatly underrated.

/ DVH

Today, gentleness can be sometimes seen as weakness, or even a particularly feminine quality. But Jesus said: “What blessing comes to you when gentleness LIVES in you! For you will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 TPT. Jesus Christ was Father God’s perfect expression of gentleness and mercy toward mankind.

Let’s look at the One Who gave us the best illustration ever of being gentle, and showing mercy under pressure, from the cross. “Then he (the thief on the cross next to Christ) said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into your kingdom.”Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” Luke 23-42-44. And there it is… mercy and gentleness without rancour, or a lecture. It just automatically flowed toward the one who needed it, despite the Giver’s pain. 

Here’s something I’ve learnt that I will pass on for free. We need to LET gentleness LIVE in us. That means we need to be aware of what it is like, and then use every single opportunity to use this particular form of Grace to cultivate it. Let’s consult the dictionary about gentleness:  kindness, tenderness, mercy, understanding, compassion, kind-heartedness, tender-heartedness, love, mildness, humility, peacefulness, serenity, reverence, and meekness.

Yeah. I put this list in today because many of these words are no longer common. We are not often likely to use them in every day language …However, I believe many of the responses we meet from other people are based in fear. People who do not know that they are God’s original creations, hold onto the images of who they think they are, very tightly. They can use anger, pride and spite to shove others away. I’ve watched gentleness in action, and it does not threaten or create fear – it lovingly and carefully opens new doors for His love to go in and then it waits. Gentleness is aware of the other person’s need to be authentic and to feel safe and unthreatened. 

The bible talks quite a bit about sowing and reaping, and I believe we need to learn to sow mercy, and gentleness into other people’s lives because there is so little of it around. We are to live that way because that’s the way Jesus was. He gave us mercy when we didn’t deserve it in the first place. He didn’t appear, all guns blazing like Rambo! But He came here in the most vulnerable disarming form ever – as a new born infant. When the Lord Jesus spoke to people His loving kindness went right around their objections and piqued their interest. This is what I have found the Holy Spirit is like in His Character. He is not rough with people. He doesn’t threaten them, He walks with human beings, gently suggesting other ways to interact and approach things. He doesn’t push or pull.

I often laugh when I see people and their dog going for a walk, because, even though the owner will say they are walking their dog, to all intents and purposes, their dog is walking them!  However, on the market there is another form of leash, it is called a gentle leader. It wraps around the dog’s muzzle instead of its throat or chest, and the dog, no matter what size it is, finds it impossible to pull with its nose. So it trots alongside the owner peacefully. Without trying to be blasphemous, AT ALL (!!), the Holy Spirit leads us like that. He doesn’t push and He doesn’t drag, He waits for us to walk together, in agreement.  

The thing is, with the kingdom of God, whatever is given to us will flourish and grow inside us … if we cherish it. His kingdom is not like this world — giving love, mercy, gentleness away to the undeserving, or a perfect stranger, actually helps those things grow inside us. In this world if you give something away, you’ve lost it – but in the kingdom of God, generous humility helps gentleness and mercy to flourish in our hearts. 

When we sow gentleness into the lives of the people who cross our path – the love of God is released to create a harvest. We do not have to be a fierce people – our war is already won. So this is how we deal with others …”Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.” Galatians 6:1. 

Save your warrior face for fighting our common enemy! Not the people you meet. They may never ever deserve it, but we are releasing His Grace into their lives and that means that a little seed of gentleness or mercy is planted into a life to flourish in His timing. So Instead of a harsh word, we have a gentle one to turn away someone else’s anger. That’s what sowing gentleness and mercy looks like. It means that thoughts of revenge or punishment disappear from our thinking.

The people who give His Grace, His peace, His gentleness, His mercy away, are not just being nice, or polite, instead they have an inner barn on the inside of them that is filled to bursting with these things. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34. What’s IN there will come out under pressure. That pressure is simply life from day to day, but the other person’s need will create an opportunity.

Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, it is neither soft or girlish – it opens doors that would remain tightly closed because it does not push … it respects the other person enough to lovingly watch and wait for an opportunity. 👋🏻

P 2286 Love that grows.

/ DVH

“I continue to pray for your love to grow and increase beyond measure, bringing you into the rich revelation of spiritual insight in all things. This will enable you to choose the most excellent way of all —becoming pure and without offence until the unveiling of Christ.” Philippians 1:9-10 TPT

Love is not just about having nice feelings toward other people – it is not even about being glad to see them! Paul prays for US in these two verses that our love will increase beyond our ability to measure it. Now there’s a mighty fine ambition! However, Love has a purpose over and above human beings simply feeling good. Love opens spiritual doors that will remain shut fast without it. Love opens the door to insight and revelation into the secrets and ways of God Himself. 

His love is not even remotely like our human experiences with love here on earth. ALMIGHTY GOD LOVES THE UNLOVEABLE, freely. Human love can be fickle because it depends on feelings and perceptions, and our feelings often depend on circumstances. God’s love dictates holy circumstances, it is not influenced by them. 

The wonderful thing about God’s love, is that when we choose it in the face of difficulties and hardship, THEN we begin to use our faith. We simply make a God-given choice, then ask for His help, and then we step out in faith and do whatever He says to do. Just the same as Moses had to, or Peter or Timothy.  At the same time we are giving out His love in faith we are personally receiving it. Insight and revelation are God’s love in action. 

Actually all of the gifts of the Spirit are God’s love in action. It is not enough to say kind, or sweet things, those kind of things need to ride upon the wings of the Spirit. His Love changes everything. I hope it is obvious that I’m not talking about man-made flattery. When we partake of His love, using our faith, and then we give it away, we are personally touched by Him, and changed, and the person we give it to is also touched by Him. The only thing you will touch with theories or flattery, is the mind. 

If we pick up the sword of the Spirit under the instructions of the Holy Spirit then it becomes a powerful weapon that can clarify, divide and open up circumstances so we can see what is actually going on in a situation. A lot of the time we are boxing with or fighting shadows when we are unhappy with people. Shadows have no substance so you feel like any discussion is pointless and not worth the effort. 

This means you have not fully connected with the Holy Spirit, because He will not frustrate you, or anyone else. When He is present, it is as if a veil has been lifted off our eyes and we can see the real issues clearly. My advice is this, always be prepared to be the one who is in the wrong, the one who has judged the subject amiss. Even our own hearts can deceive us – live prepared to repent and repair things.

God’s word exposes the reality of the condition of our hearts. There’s nothing like discovering that the person you are mad at is being sinful, and suddenly realising YOU are sinful too, because clarity and wisdom removed the logs and specks! Initially we can see the person we are mad at with seemingly righteous indignation, but then insight comes and we see that person’s heart as well as our own, and we realise that we are all sinful.

‘Sin is common to man!’  When the love of God illuminates our hearts we find we all have sin in common. Now we can identify with the other person’s weakness, and mercy starts to flow because in them we can see ourselves. Difficulties occur when love is not present and we use man-made judgment to try to rectify problems. We need wisdom from above, not earthly judgment – that judgment always prefers itself. 

Every single time we call on the Lord for His love and insight and revelation in a difficult situation we are building a bank inside us of knowing Him and His ways. Those revelations change us. His Love expands situations. It gives meaning, it does not obsess about problems – it looks for the pain behind the problem in both parties and addresses that. Love grows as it is experienced through ordinary circumstances and then it is applied as the Lord Himself sees fit. Living a life of love is challenging but oh so rewarding. 👋🏻