Guard

P 2895 God’s Love is inexhaustible.

/ DVH

We all need to leave behind the lies we have inadvertently swallowed regarding God’s Love. Our enemy goes out of his way to tell us we can’t have the Lord’s love and grace anymore because we did so and so, and God cannot forgive so and so – it says it in the book. That is a horrible lie sent to torment us. The bible is a balanced book, one thing leads into another – leading us back to HIM.

Today, I am hoping to pass on some reassurance to those of you who have become bogged down in legalism – because I know from experience that our adversary never misses an opportunity to nag at someone – day and night. Many Christians have walked away from what they believe, because what they believed became untenable in the face of their desperate pain-driven reactions to this life. Say this with me: …”there is NOTHING our God cannot do!’

We need to focus on His faithfulness. Here are a few swords for you. 2 Thessalonians 3:3:“But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.“ Lamentations 3:22–23: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Exodus 34:6-7a.“The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD,a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin …” Fortunately we are this side of the cross, and Jesus took any curses we might pass on to other people with Him to that cross. Read the book.

Confession is often the best solution to accusation. Think of sin as mould, it needs treatment, light and air. Darkness and lack of air will make it grow. We can always have a new beginning. Here’s a verse we all know: “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. What Jesus did was complete and comprehensive. Deliverance from the enemy’s lies starts with us making a quality decision to stop believing those lies, and instead we deliberately choose to put a verses of scripture in its place. The Holy Spirit will help us find them.

Accusatory thoughts can overwhelm and dismiss the power of God’s Love, together with the grace Christ released by what He did. Many times we do not have a sin problem per se, we have simply allowed God to become too small in our eyes, and Jesus stops being the Saviour Who saved everyone. When He said “…it is finished.”It was a universal statement for all time. However, if you are currently doing something or other and you clearly know in your heart that it is sin, and it is slowly dragging you away from everything you believe then you need to repent!  

Almighty God provides us with a tool to access His inexhaustible love. It’s called repentance. That is the quickest route to restoration. Almighty God is incredibly kind. He will lead us out of temptation, AND He will also deliver us from fast approaching evil. Because we need to withstand further and future attacks from our enemy, our faithful God will sometimes allow him to ‘gnat’ at us, so we have opportunities to develop spiritual strength. We fight back with “God says: …”  This is not about how we feel, it is about what HE has already said. Our job is to believe He is a merciful Father Who has done everything necessary to bring about our redemption.

Jesus made reaching God’s standard impossible without His help.I dunno about you – I’ve wished people dead, told thumping great lies, and worse things – and I’ve fallen down the hole of desperate despair. I think it is necessary to point out that God judges hearts, and none of us fully know what’s in there! Sometimes we can be too lenient, and at other times w-a-y too permissive. We need the Holy Spirit’s ever-present, always current, on-the-spot wisdom.

God lets us learn! That’s not an excuse it is a blessing. Think of repentance like this, as regaining our strength after we have allowed it to lapse. Every action we deliberately take against sin, strengthens us spiritually. It strengthens our faith when we step away from something purely because God says: “Don’t do it.” The Lord advises us in this manner because He knows what comes next. It isn’t always about sin – many many times it is about the kindness of God. He leads us into repentance because He doesn’t want us to end up in the land of WORSE – fighting shadows from the past.

We can also choose the road of humility and tell someone else so they can pray for us. Other people can lift us up when we feel lower than the ground we are standing on. Always remember, God’s Love is inexhaustible. Bye.👋

P 2873 “If you understand this, you need to respond.”

/ DVH

“Speaking to the people, Jesus continued, “Be alert and guard your heart from greed and from always wishing for what you don’t have. For your life can never be measured by the amount of things you possess.” Luke 12:15 TPT. When Jesus tells us to guard our heart He is not just talking to the people who are in front of Him. He’s also talking to us, right here, right now, and we really do need to pay attention. We need to avoid the consumerism trap all around us. 

Money, wealth, excess etc. are funny things – people react to them. You can tell a Christian they shouldn’t sleep with their neighbour’s wife and they are like: “Oh OK, God doesn’t like that. Cool, I will watch out not to put myself into compromising situations.” Nobody is insulted, nobody takes offence and if they have wrong thoughts toward their neighbour they repent. But the minute you mention money …!! 

Meanwhile, it doesn’t seem to matter if the pastor and his family are starving – it boils down to this – we don’t want to be told what to do with OUR money, because we’ve earned it. Christians start leaving churches all over the place when somebody mentions money because they get offended. I’m left wondering if they’ve actually read His book at all. No wonder the prosperity doctrine has its roots dug in so deeply into some churches. 

This verse above in Luke is clear. Instead of guarding our hearts against somebody taking our money, or somebody talking to us about giving, or even if they are saying that we should not prefer money over everything else … Jesus is telling us we need to guard our hearts from greed and coveting — money is a tool, not a god. Ask Him, “Lord do I do this?’

Here’s an interesting example: do you remember what happened to Gideon? We all know how he fought the Midianites and God miraculously delivered him. We also know that Gideon had lots of faith because he sent all those potential soldiers home when God told him to. I mean, that guy obviously had FAITH …But in the end, Gideon was actually seduced away from God by … wait for it …GOLD! 

He made an ephod out of the stuff, and then he and the Israelites turned that ephod into an idol. Eventually Gideon led God’s people back into idolatry. It isn’t money, things, or power – or the lack of them that is the problem – it’s whether this stuff owns US. Actually, poor people can have exactly the same problem. There are times when poor people are afraid to give because they may not have enough left if they do. Then it’s time to remember the widow’s mite. 

We’ve all forgotten how to trust God to take care of us! The Israelites did that in the wilderness.  Unfortunately it seems that today’s Christians want to love Jesus and stay safe. Those two things are incompatible!  Just imagine the risk Father God took sending His pure spotless Son to earth, to save all of US. Our God has promised us that He will be with us in trouble, and He will protect us because He loves us. We need to live, believe and act on what He’s said in His book.

He needs brave men and women who will throw off this society’s ideas and dreams of fame, notoriety and fortune, and live like a people who have much bigger dreams about His kingdom coming into their lives, and the lives of others. People who will esteem what HE says above everything else. People who will run into this crumbling world with His love and help for the lost. How long can we sit in our comfort zones and ignore those who will at any minute tip over the edge of this life into eternity?

You know, Jesus also said this, and I don’t believe He was talking about money, or taxes for that matter, at all! I think He was talking about the way we are to live.  “They said unto Him, Caesar’s. Then said He unto them, Give therefore to Caesar, the things which are Caesar’s, and give unto God, those things which are God’s.”  Matthew 22:21. You and I, you, me! WE belong to God now, so we no longer live for ourselves that’s the deal. His life for ours. So now we go wherever He says to go, and we live however He tells us to live. Jesus Himself said:“if you understand this, you need to RESPOND.” Mark 4:9. Bye 👋

P 2821 Wisdom.

/ DVH

Proverbs 4:7-9,13. “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you;  embrace her, and she will honour you. She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.”……Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”

I would just like to begin by saying that Wisdom is not just being clever or smart or super intelligent. Wisdom is choosing to see this life from Almighty God’s POV. It is deliberately asking for, and then carrying out His Ways, even when those ways appear to undermine our own logic and day-to-day experiences. How many people do you know Who can walk on water and feed thousands with a kid’s lunch? The Lord thinks differently to us.

Today, the people of the 21st Century are getting smarter and smarter. We even have smart cars that drive themselves — which is pretty clever considering the first combustion engine was invented in 1600, and the first car in 1885! Henry Ford invented the first affordable car and he used mass production for the first time to do it. (1908)  The 20th century has totally changed our world – helping us with this, and entertaining us with that.

Before that men were tinkering away in their workshops, plus earning a living. Women were slogging away in their homes … minus electric anything. Electricity became commonly useable in 1880! So there were no washing machines (1868), vacuum cleaners, (1901) disposable nappies (1930) etc. etc. Up until the first world war, women did all the work in the house, and then in 1914 they joined the work force out of necessity. My point is that it is easy to see people are smart …but God’s wisdom is a whole other way to think, and that’s why the writer of Proverbs exhorts us to go after it and seek it out. God’s wisdom does not lie about like a lost newspaper, we have to actively go after it.

The Apostle Paul suggests we renew our minds, all the time, because our minds are ‘me’ centred.  What we believe to be true can simply be our way of making God serve us. And if we are ticked off at someone, then we can easily get to be ‘them’ centred. No wonder Jesus talked about logs and specks, it can be so easy to ignore what’s wrong with me … I often think to myself: “how can you see at all round that blooming great log you are currently nurturing.” Sigh. 

The Lord thinks differently than we do. In His Ways – the first are last, the last first. The guy who works all day in the hot sun, gets paid the same as the guy who just started working at afternoon tea time! The guy whose theology was often wonky and small like a pebble – the Lord called a rock and He put that man in charge. Jesus throws a wedding feast and when the invited guests refuse to come He sends His disciples out to compel anybody going by to come to the feast. Jesus even washed the feet of his known betrayer. Who does that? God – that’s Who!

He doesn’t think like we do! Do I hear a hearty hallelujah?! I know I’ve got one. The sneaky way human beings think, and the way they present things is destructive and deceptive. Many people today are run by money. Even the people who haven’t got any! We settle for pity or attention instead of real love. I think the Lord’s greatest disappointment with His people is that we bail out too easily. The tough not only don’t get going … they get lost … on purpose!! (There’s a double negative in there somewhere!)

The wisdom of God is active – it mends, it creates, it opens new doors, brings about new opportunities, it gives people a chance to make a fresh start every single day.“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end… they are new every morning, new every morning, great is thy faithfulness O Lord, great is thy faithfulness.”  Now there’s an advertising campaign that would make many people sit up! BTW, God doesn’t make empty promises, if He says His love is new every morning, then it is!

His Word gives us the opportunity to seek fresh wisdom every single day, but we have to choose to open the bible and meditate on what He is saying to us, personally. Almighty God speaks human but do human beings speak God? I know One Man Who did! Praise the Lord someone wrote that stuff down. Wisdom enables us to understand His Ways like nothing else can. The Word of our God stands forever – because that Word is a Person – Who paid the price, lived the life, and died an unmerited death. Jesus gives us access to God’s loving Wisdom for free! Bye. 👋

“Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice:  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.” Proverbs 1:20-23.

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 2700 Let’s keep our eyes on forever.

/ DVH

The bible tells us to “… above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.”Proverbs 4:23. When I watch over my heart I am watching over who I am and what I produce!

Sometimes the hardest thing to watch over is our own heart. From my limited experience, other people often tread on someone else’s heart unknowingly. However, whoever started whatever has happened, if someone is offended, it means that there is something we both need to look at..Sadly, we can mistake somebody else’s motivation for evil intent, when the truth is this:… a whole lotta people are just big dummies, (like me), and they talk without thinking.

It goes without saying that forgiveness is the key that opens the door to understanding and reconciliation, but we all have people in our lives who are repeat offenders. So today I want to talk to the offended as well as the offender. Have you noticed how easy it is today to take offence? My first bit of advice to the one who is offended, is that forgiveness will require resolve, it will take self-discipline. There’s a happy thought! However, this is how we mature, and grow the fruits of self-control and patience…  by hanging on firmly to the VINE – true forgiveness is in that vine.

So we: “…set our mind on the things above.’ Colossians 3:2. Most growing points in our lives are a matter of forgiveness. The thing is, people aren’t doing whatever they did AGAIN – if we really forgave them in the first place! There may be some times when we read this bible stuff and say to ourselves, “yeah, yeah, great thought, but how do I do that?” I wish I had some snappy whizz bang methodology, that took care of our instant responses – but I don’t.

Here’s my advice for the one offended. My experience in this area of forgiveness has come down to two words – DO IT.  Don’t expect to feel good about it – just do it. Deliberately, and with great resolve, take authority over all the mean, niggly things you want to say to that offender, and ZIP IT. 🤐 When Jesus hung there silently on that cross for us. He gave us the power, by what He did, to shut up when we desperately want to put someone else in their place or comment on their behaviour.. 

Seriously, don’t give into your feelings for a minute, because you will find yourself circling the plug-hole going down for the last time! The bible says SET your mind because sort of kind of hoping the conflict will magically go away, will not work! Let me clarify this – we are changing an internal mindset in our lives, and doing that is not easy. Mindsets change when we consistently ask Him for His help,  use our faith, and keep our anger to ourselves. I say to myself: “I wanna be like Jesus and this is the Way to get there.” People who have no self-control haven’t totally realised what He gave us when He died for us. We already have forgiveness – LEARN TO SHARE. Read Romans! The more we die to self the more we gain!

Transformation takes hold when we find we can say something positive to the person who is jumping all over our last nerve. The bible says: “Bless those who curse you, do good to those who despitefully use you.”  Look, we are not talking about a walk in the park, we are talking about pressing into God until you forget what you were mad about! It IS hard! Hullo!! I say to myself at this point: “Oh there’s that thing that I am not going to remember, because it is a trap sent to distract me!”  That scripture from Colossians is not just a nice thought – it is an essential part of victorious Christian living! Why would we hand our enemy a loaded gun to shoot us? Disarm the gun.

Now to look at the offender: If something is your fault. If you opened your big mouth and hurt someone else and they tell you what you did … then don’t make excuses, and don’t give endless explanations… simply APOLOGISE. Humble yourself. You are not the judge of what hurts someone else! Actually we are not the judge of anything — read the book. Ask what you can do to make amends. People can easily forget that “I’m sorry” is not what the bible says. It says repent. Repentance involves humbling yourself and taking responsibility for what you did. Hurting someone else IS a big deal, because we don’t live by this world’s standards, now we live by His! And He clearly tells us not to make each other stumble.

Offending people is a big deal! I’ve met many people who say they are sorry, but they don’t go that one step further to usher in reconciliation. The aim of repentance is reconciliation. We need to remember that in this Christian life our hearts belong to Him. Father God takes this stuff seriously – it cost Him His life!  When people are mean to you they are being mean to His child. This means we need to pray for them!  Christ’s ministry is all about love and reconciliation, and that is our ministry now too. To live this way, it will help us to keep our eyes on forever, instead of just the here and now. Bye. 👋

P 2554 Stuff happens.

/ DVH

I don’t think we should go about anticipating, or expecting trouble. However, if and when difficulties come up, we need to understand that living for Jesus in a corrupt world can put a target on our backs. It may not be our fault the sky just fell in! Yet we will have to respond somehow! Obviously the enemy wants us to live selfish, rude and uncaring lives … but now our sole desire is to do the opposite … so we can sometimes end up in conflict. Things happen. satan targets us, and at the same time he will actively discourage us through others and complicated situations. he can even use something that someone else says to cause more trouble. Anger and worry choke out clarity. 

James tells us how to deal with trials etc. Start by being glad! (No I am not nuts!) James explains clearly that stuff happening means Almighty God is doing something. The Lord is growing something spiritually. He wants to add to our existing faith, steadfastness. Immovability. The bible says that like this ; “…having done ALL (we can)… (then) STAND.”  Do whatever you can do, and then turn it all over to God. Then wait. Here’s James 1:2-4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Standing still allows steadfastness to develop.

Living this life taking faith-filled risks is a scary premise. It is so much easier to live in the safety of our own known responses. We are personally familiar with our own reactions – changing them means taking a risk. But true faith takes risks even though it doesn’t know the outcome. Following Jesus means we will take every one of those risks, prayerfully. Jesus Himself faced trials, and misunderstandings. He was blamed for things He didn’t do. But He held firm to His faith in His Father’s goodness and committed His way to God. He went through the difficulties knowing God’s purposes would be achieved, and He put those purposes above His own personal comfort.

When trouble strikes and doubt comes at me, first of all I like to go back and check with the King and make sure I am currently doing whatever He wants. I usually ask Him for scriptures, because I don’t trust my emotions or my mind to give me the answer I need to hear. At the same time I am really bad at making good decisions when I am under pressure to get things right. It is good to wait and give yourself some time to calm down, and at the same time, actively listen for what He wants to tell you.

Investing in God in these moments of conflict pays huge dividends! You learn how to stand! My sole aim is to deal with how I feel, before I deal with the problem. At that time can seem like I am in a period of stretching and testing. The temptation is to do something, like explode, worry, or become anxious! Waiting seems counter-productive. But panicky, worried people make emotional decisions that create even more problems. 

Paul offers us an excellent solution.“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. 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 4:6-8 TPT. Paul is saying we need to go to prayer to get God’s PEACE in stressful pressurised moments. Peace helps us make clearer Godly choices.

Isaiah says this in Chapter 40, verses 28-31“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I have learnt to wait because otherwise the enemy plays with my emotions, and paints scenarios on the screen of my mind. At the same time satan will try to hand me reasons to get mad at other people. Waiting on God renews my strength to resist the devil. The biggest problem I’ve found in these difficulties is some of my reactions are almost automatic. Over the years I’ve cultivated defensiveness and fear to the point where it can overcome me. So I like to begin all processes with repentance. That means I’ve positioned myself to hear from the Lord, and removed any hindrances.

I love the line … “He gives strength to the weary.…” Trials and problems wear people out! If you get enough of them all at once you can feel like you are buried alive and you can’t manage anything that is going on. That is why Isaiah is so smart. He doesn’t try to think or psyche his way out – He goes to the One that he knows Who never gets tired and he WAITS. “In this world, you will have trials … don’t be afraid … everything that Jesus did for us overcame them all.” (My paraphrase.) Like I said, stuff happens! Bye 👋

P 2463 Faith verses doubt.

/ DVH

James 1:5-8 “If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, Who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask [for wisdom] in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind.  For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything [at all] from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides].”

How cool are these verses! Sadly, this is also the place where we can become unstuck. Under pressure we can start to doubt God’s goodness and that erodes our faith in Him. And by pressure, I mean that we’ve forgiven others and done everything we know how to do, and still our bad circumstances have not changed. Sometimes circumstances don’t change! Why not? I dunno! I would not even remotely dare to explain the way Almighty God thinks and acts. I have not got a clue. I just know that in those moments our faith level comes under pressure. Now we can learn something about ourselves.

We need to ask ourselves what is my faith actually IN? Is it in my circumstances — or in God Himself. At these times we have been plunged into the perfect place to revise what we actually think, and what that is based on. However, our thoughts dare not rest on His performance because we are not wise enough to understand all the things He does. We must rest in His proven, revealed character in the book! 

BTW resting is not begrudgingly parking, sulking, or dismissive. Resting is a positive God-appointed action that is deliberate —- it has a purpose. The purpose is to quiet our busy minds and hearts and simply be still before Him. Those other things are mere reactions – they need repentance. Like I said yesterday, our faith is to be founded in Christ alone because God did not spare His only Son to have us for His own family. This is how and why we know His purpose is always greater than ours, and that His goodness is irreproachable. He sacrificed Jesus. We dare not move away from that.

When we need wisdom from God: “we must believe that HE IS and that He is a REWARDER of those who diligently seek Him.”  (Hebrews) That’s what true faith is … it is not about US or even our ability to believe, it is about the truthfulness of the One we believe in. That is why Jesus said any one of us can have faith as small as a mustard seed and it will still grow a huge tree! Because our faith is in SomeOne’s Else’s incredibly reliable nature, and that faith can be teeny tiny and it will still grow and work.

Therefore we need to guard our hearts against letting in doubt. We dare not doubt His willingness to act in our behalf …because we have proof! Christ is our proof. Whether the answer is yes, or no, is irrelevant. God is for us. So NO is the right answer if that is what we get. Remember, doubt is the thought that God is not good and not trustworthy – that His thoughts and actions are not FOR us. When we pray we are looking at the nature of the Person not at the answer to our prayer.

That’s what happened to Adam and Eve in the garden. satan used their careless knowledge of God’s overwhelming goodness, against them, and caused them to doubt His truthfulness. Faith is never about our circumstances, or what we have or what we don’t have — faith is in a Person. Christ Himself. It is up to us to make the decision that we will not doubt this Person as He is described in the bible. “I know You and I trust You.”

So when we need wisdom, we go to the source of all wisdom, God Himself, in prayer, and ask for it. Then we wait. We rest in the knowledge that His bible says that we will gain strength while we wait! Win win! We rest in the fact that He will give us His wisdom because He says He will … in James1: 5-8!! It has nothing to do with us, or our thoughts or lack of them or even our behaviour. Our faith is always in God’s faithfulness, which is revealed in His book and His faithfulness is gloriously demonstrated in Christ. I am now following Christ’s example – I do things the way He would.

When I gave my life to Jesus, He took it. Jesus trusted God with His life, and if I want to grow to be like Him and follow Him, I need to learn to give my life to Him and trust in God’s faithfulness, too. Trust comes when I believe what He said over what I feel or think, or even what other people feel or think. This means I am now occupied with making His thoughts my thoughts. (Renewing my mind!) We become double-minded when we entertain the idea that trouble and circumstances are ruling our lives. When I ask Him for His wisdom, I am asking for His thoughts. 

Double-minded people are like yo-yos. They are up, they are down. They get stuck, plus they get tangled up in their own ideas. They have a continually moving focus that depends on what is going on around them. Single-minded people look at Christ and tell themselves: “Jesus died for me. My faith is in Him. God is not deaf, and His arms aren’t short. If nothing is happening then it is because He has a better plan, or I will gain something by waiting.”  That’s faith. 👋🏻

P 2392 Words can build and heal.

/ DVH

“And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to help them. The Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation. So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted His holy influence in your life. Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity, and insults. But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love.” Ephesians 4:29-32 TPT.

Man this is a scripture that can change lives. I love the way the bible gives us such clear instructions. That word ‘let’ is huge. It is surrounded by a whole lot of other words, but I think everything in this passage hinges on ‘let’ – ‘allow.’ It is much too easy to allow things that do not help us in our Christian life. It is that sort of self-permission, often carelessly or thoughtlessly given, that steers our main focus away from the One we love best. And suddenly we are in the middle of a virtual freeway with cars and trucks coming at us, (other people’s angry words), wondering how we got there.

Often one small decision to let someone have it … opens doors to a flood of disobedience that changes not just our day but our lives. ‘Permission to speak sir,’ is often used in the Armed forces – in my mind’s eye I need to ask the Lord that all the time! You know, I can’t count the times when one word has sent me down a plug hole! Sadly a word out of place can do immeasurable damage. To both parties. Words can seem harmless but James 3:5 (NIV) says: “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.”  That’s proof that James understood what he was on about eh?

Here are some interesting verses that further diagnose the problem. “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8 NKJV ”Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29 from the ESV this time. What we allow out of our mouths governs our ability to bless others with our words. Our speech is intended to spread Grace, to build one another up, not to hobble each another, or throw thunking great rocks, either! Words are powerful, and because we know and follow Him, there is great power in our words!

For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;” 1 Peter 3:10 ESV“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Colossians 4:6 ESV. That little word let, is easily passed over, but there is such a wealth of power in it! Well-flavoured speech needs both guidance and obedience. The best way to season what we say is to know the bible well enough to quote it, to yourself and someone else and then we bear in mind what it says when we open our mouth.

Speaking personally, it is my ever-present opinions that often shoot me in the foot.  At the time I know it is unwise to say something, but I let the circumstances;  or feeling provoked, or hurt;  or even pain;  take that guard off my lips and then I let fly. “I’m sorry” afterwards seems so shallow. Still, “I am so sorry, please forgive me” are the best words of reconciliation we have. Words can heal. Especially if they are followed up by appropriate actions! ‘I’m sorry please forgive me’ is hot air without follow up. Repentance produces fruit. Fruit may take some time, but you can see it growing and developing!!

I have also found that words give me opportunities to humble myself.  Actually it is usually somebody else’s words that give me that opportunity! The ability to say nothing unless you are speaking blessing, is vastly underrated. But opportunities come with every new day and I am still learning how to ‘lay aside’ stuff that won’t profit anyone. I have learnt to value the power to speak LIFE, and healing, that Christ died to give me. 👋🏻