Guide

P3329 Vindication is God’s business. 

/ DVH

Ephesians 4:25-32: “What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretence. Tell your neighbour the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself. Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge.                                                                                    And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life. Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work. Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Don’t grieve God. Don’t break His heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for Himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.”

The premise we need to note over everything else that is said here – is the IMPLIED “YOU!” WE need to listen and act. When the bible says ‘you’ – it doesn’t mean your spouse, family member or your boss. It would be so nice if everyone read the bible and took what is in it seriously … but the only person we have to work with is ourselves. The real question is this, can we live His way and not walk about with ‘a holier than thou attitude?’ True humility is our friend. Anyone can agree with the bible’s principles, and then skip submission to what it says – but other people have to live with the pain of our mistakes.

Submission ushers in humility and love. Boy is that kind of thinking at odds in today’s society. People want to avoid responsibility for their own actions. Plus we can get very busy defending our own rights. Seriously, we need to reconsider the way we live with the Holy Spirit and each other. Is He that important to you or not?  The spirit that seeks to enforce our own rights is not from Him. How can you die daily if you want your own RIGHTS? If Jesus had enforced His rights, we’d all be in the soup. There is a far better way to live that honours Him. 

The secret is to revere the Holy Spirit, and cherish His company. Let’s love Him and His ways more than we like our own. Think of that like this, there are things you probably wouldn’t say to a dear friend. Like: “Yes, those pants do make your butt too big!” We don’t say those things because we don’t want to alienate our friend, whose company we value. The Holy Spirit needs to be valued more, not less. Maybe this is made more difficult because our obedience is voluntary and we must make a choice. I’ve found that the Lord will vindicate His own – if we get out of His way and stop trying to manipulate things in our own favour. “Why not suffer wrong?” 1 Corinthians 6:7b.

It is easy to vomit icky stuff all over someone else. Anybody can have trouble with anger, but the bible is clear, anger can lead us into far worse situations when it is not dealt with asap. Our emotions are not the best guideline of spiritual reality, because they are based on our often faulty reactions to situations. Personally, I think it is better to respond than react, and asking questions can prevent misunderstandings. If we value the Holy Spirit’s companionship and opinion above our own, this kind of change is normal. He is delighted to be our companion, advocate, counsellor, guide, and teacher. 

I need to be clear that I don’t know everything and I definitely don’t have the corner on what the Holy Spirit thinks and does! However, I think it is important to choose to learn to grow and be challenged by His Ways. Otherwise we can grieve Him, and then our best way through trouble leaves with Him! Openness about our personal attitudes is a key to allowing His Will to prevail. It keeps us in fellowship with Him. Who we are at any given moment can easily be a reaction to what has happened to us so far in our lives. Good things, bad things.

Many of us still live our lives protectively – and we are afraid to change. It takes courage to admit you can’t fix yourself and then trust God will take care of you. Why not seize any opportunities to give a different response? The Lord knows everything, and we can benefit from His wisdom. Why not choose to value His oversight over our own knowledge? We have a book full of what He thinks.

Our desire needs to be to live to please the Holy Spirit, first, and then to love and encourage our brothers and sisters. We cannot afford to keep on demanding that our way is the only right one. “His ways are perfect” …  … nevertheless, mine ain’t! Humility will flourish and grow as we know our place before the Lord, and learn to honour and prefer one another. Let’s protect our relationship with Him over everything else. It isn’t a matter of who might win … because it isn’t a competition. We all win when we allow Him to fight for us.

This is why what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 is essential. His love is our great equaliser. It will sort the chaff out from the hay in our own lives, and allow us to see what God’s Ways clearly look like! When Paul describes these qualities, He is making it clear what love is, and what it is not. Love is the thing that must take precedence. I ask myself: “Is this or that love, the way Jesus would define it?  I don’t need my own faulty definitions, I already know I can be too selfish and self-centred to answer clearly. However, this kind of question gives me clarity when things are unclear. 

People sometimes tell me that they can’t hear the Lord. Try letting Him correct you with His eye on you! Let’s choose to embrace LOVE and leave trying to wriggle out of things on a technicality behind us. Vindication is His business. Bye. 👋

P 3308 Living for Jesus, daily.

/ DVH

Colossians 3:12-17: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

These few verses give a comprehensive overview of what our new life in Christ looks like, every single day. To be honest, we can’t say Almighty God hasn’t told us what He expects – He has told us right here! If you like memorising verses, I’d like to suggest that these five verses are worthy of any effort you might make. This new life must be embraced personally —using our individual faith. By engaging with the Holy Spirit. 

He will help us to follow the Lord’s instructions, and at the same time He will expose all the damaging, misleading, useless things we have embraced. None of us in the Body of Christ can do these things alone! Let’s thank the good Lord He has given us SomeOne Who is so personal – He lives inside us. Learning to listen and obey Him is essential. We need to learn how to host Him, in our lives. That means somebody will have to change. He’s holy, and we aren’t — so you do the math! I know I can easily be polluted and distracted by the things of this world and arrogantly dismiss the Holy Spirit’s promptings as “something I made up.” 

So my responsibility is to check the thing I think I have heard from Him, as I am reading the bible. I read carefully, and then I jump in and obey. Some things are obvious. We know what God thinks about generosity, or forgiveness, or helping others. We ask for Him for a scripture and then go and do those things. I have many times when I need to pray and ask Him to redeem any mess I made. Then I choose to embrace the bible’s idea of what faith is, and how it works. I’m personally grateful that Jonah ended up in the bible. He shows me my ideas and thoughts are much too small. He ended up whale mail. In the end he still did what the Lord told him to do – grumbling all the way. Haven’t we all been there?

In the course of writing this blog I have written many pages that I have subsequently deleted because the Holy Spirit didn’t like them. I wrote them in faith and He told me to throw it out. Plus I cannot remember how much re-writing I have had to do along the way! I’ve given groceries to ungrateful people who didn’t need them, spoken to people about Jesus who promptly showed me the door — but the amount of individuals impacted by God Himself far outweighed the risk of me looking like an idiot! I will be a fool for Christ, even though I probably won’t much like it! But I will do it, because for me, taking risks is part of the cost. If I already know that something will turn out alright at the beginning, then I am not exercising my faith.

The bible clearly tells us that we need to change. (Malachi 3:6) Almighty God won’t ever change because He is already perfectly holy and wise. Jesus said this to help us:“And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in Me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in Me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!”” John 16:33 TPT. 

God’s peace inside us, is our pathway into confidence in Him and His Ways. If the Holy Spirit says ‘repent’ and we don’t – then our peace will slowly disappear. We will get caught up in the very thing we can’t seem to let go of.  The Holy Spirit Himself IS our peace, and because He is perfect love, He and fear can’t occupy the same space.  So fear has to go, as we make room for more of His perfect love to be shed abroad into our hearts. It isn’t about getting this stuff right, it is about being willing to enter His processes, and co-operating with Him. To do that we   believe what He has already said, in the book. We show Him we are willing to change by operating in things like repentance— not by what we say … but by what we do! “You must prove your repentance by a changed life.” Matthew 3:8.

All this teaching and preaching we have today, isn’t about gaining more knowledge —it is about the speaker prayerfully allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to the listeners. Boredom is irrelevant. Just because a speaker may be boring, that does not mean we cannot be changed. We need to listen to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to ME. Pressing in despite how we feel about things, shows God we are serious about change, we are willing to pay the cost. Not everything that is said from a book, pulpit, podcast etc. is a pearl from God for you. But we can enter God’s processes by voluntarily co-operating with what we hear and read, and then applying it into our lives, daily. If something seems hard to do, then it is probably right! 

BTW, I am as prone to panic as anybody else is, and if the ceiling falls in I can easily fall apart without His Grace helping me. The great part about that, is that over time, I have learnt to recognise His Grace in action. Walking with Jesus daily, is allowing Him to lead and guide me. This means I am prepared to step into the unknown when it is convenient, and when it is not. We can’t fail, He’s holding us tightly. Bye. 👋

P 3306 Learning to yield.

/ DVH

“You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a spell on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, FOR IT’S OBVIOUS THAT YOU NO LONGER HAVE THE CRUCIFIED JESUS IN CLEAR FOCUS IN YOUR LIVES. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough. Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God.                                                  

If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up! Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with His own Presence, His Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does He do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust Him to do them in you?” Galatians 3:1-6 MSG bible.

You might want to sit a while and think about those 6 verses. Then if you dare, ask yourself some questions … ‘Do I act from day to day like the Galatians did? Does what I think and how I behave, seem more powerful than the Holy Spirit — Who was specifically sent TO ME, to help me? Am I excusing myself from the things I know He doesn’t want me to do and saying: ‘I can’t help it?’ “Our help comes in the Name of the Lord Who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2. Our own welfare depends on forgiving others. We need to surrender and yield.

Does anybody reading this have a toddler? You will probably be well acquainted with the: “me do it” stage! It’s a healthy, but annoying sign of independence in a toddler – but it is less than healthy in a grown person. When it comes to spiritual matters, giving up quickly and asking for help is the way to go. Those people who work hard at ‘being Christian,’ are trying to BE what God already says they ARE. I’ve learnt that trying harder without Jesus, leads to even more fruitless effort. Expending all that effort can result in despair. Or even arrogance. Especially when we are dealing with other people who do not have the same strength of will we have. We can end up in judgment quicker than a bee sting hurts!

The Holy Spirit has helped me to manage my feelings and responses on countless occasions when I was interacting with someone who was difficult. I had persevered and anguished over them in my prayers, with loads of tears, anger, frustration and lots of effort. At times, I actually made myself go and see them and I’d tell myself: “It’s the right thing to do.” I dunno why! You would think that bumping into that brick wall would have registered on my Richter scale … but no! I just kept trying harder and falling flat on my face. I not only came up with bruises, I came up angry.  After all, I was doing my best! 

Here is the solution the Holy Spirit gave me within seconds, when I stopped pouting, and complaining, and asked Him for His help: “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,…” Philippians 3:13. I was holding on to the way they had treated me in the past, and the past could easily have been last week! I had to forget the past. What they had done, what I had done, and the things I felt. Then yield to Him and move on. I was stuck because I wasn’t forgetting what lay behind me. 

‘You don’t know what they did to me blah blah blah.’ In my life there were many people who had damaged me to the core. So how do you forget that stuff? DELIBERATELY … that’s how. No, I am not kidding. This is a war about our spiritual well-being and the wrong result means our feelings will interfere with our ability to hear the Holy Spirit. BTW forgiving is not the same as trusting the other person. Jesus knew what was in men’s hearts, and the bible says He didn’t entrust Himself to them. (John 2:24).You don’t have to trust those people who hurt you, just forgive them, and start renewing your mind. We have to be Kingdom of God thinkers, not just ‘immediate comfort’ ones.

Then, whenever what happened, pops into your mind, shove it straight out — don’t even entertain it for a minute— and whack at that thought with scripture. The Holy Spirit will give you something. Learning to yield to the Holy Spirit is so necessary as we go about our day. He is our Guide, and He’s the One Who leads us into good works that God Himself has prepared for each one of us. Everything is about making a choice. Drag your feelings and thoughts back to the centre … Jesus. When we treat people consistently differently, they act differently. His mercy is new to everyone every morning.

The Lord suffered so we could have the right to choose to ask for His help — not just be forced into doing it by rules, fear, or obligation. Over a period of time it transpired that yielding my will to His, had enormous benefits in my daily walk. I stopped listening to my feelings, which were kind of ‘over-developed’ and learnt to refer to what the Lord said in His word. My feelings needed to be tamed and replaced by grace, peace and love in what God says about me. Our feelings lie to us, they tell us we can’t, when we have Almighty God resident inside us! And His Son, Who came and died for everyone’s sins. Yours, mine, and theirs.

Once I made up my mind that I wanted to choose His Way over my way, because His way was far far better than mine!! I realised the Lord wanted to do something  deeper inside me. Back then, in my past, my trust had been betrayed as a child, so my idea of HIS goodness, kindness and unfailing love was all messed up.  That was healed as I decided to yield to Him, instead of trying to fix it by myself. I simply surrendered my perceived right to be angry with others, and the Lord proved Himself faithful! Bye. 👋

P 3304 Thank God for EASTER SUNDAY!

/ DVH

“We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and Who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because His heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be His, He endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!” Hebrews 12:2 TPT.

Isn’t that a lovely version of this beautiful scripture? The hard bit can be looking away from the natural realm —  mainly because it surrounds us, and jumps out at us at every turn! For example, the news of the moment is all about war, and petrol, plus the effect of this war on all of us. We have been almost battered into submission by journalistic or expert opinions to think a certain way. 

Unfortunately, their particular stream of thought seems to include picking bad people and good people. Whereas the Lord simply sees people He loves.← That’s a full stop right there! It is incredibly sad to think God is on OUR nation’s side. Our daily efforts are best expended by permanently living on HIS SIDE. Let’s look for love to guide us, not popular opinion, or even a lack of oil or diesel. We live because of Easter Sunday. The tomb that contained His body was meant to crush Christianity, but instead it ushered in eternity. It is so like Jesus to take what satan meant for evil and turn it to everyone’s good!

I thank God I was born on this side of the cross. That tomb is still empty! Never forget on Good Friday to throw off your burdens at the cross and then… walk past the cross to that empty tomb. It’s a place of thanksgiving and remembrance. Our reality on this day, is far greater than any monument. Today is the day we remember that Jesus didn’t just SAY He conquered sin and death – today is the day He proved it! His Presence in our daily lives defies death, this world, and our enemy. The wolves of this world can ‘huff and puff” and try to tear down our house, but we’ve been built on the Rock that is Christ Jesus.  

We can look through our daily trials and tribulations, and see Jesus Christ and His resurrection through a glorious vista of living faith. I love what Paul writes in the bible. He stays focussed on what Christ has already done, not on what we lack. I pray we too will continually focus on the joy of that long ago Easter day and what it means to us in our own lives, here and now. Because of that day, the blind and deaf, still see and hear, (physically and spiritually). Because of that day we are no longer afraid of Almighty God. He is cherished by us, He is knowable and close to us, always. Now there will always be more than enough love for all!  

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 2:13,14. We don’t have to be important in this world’s eyes to be a part of what Jesus is doing on the earth today. We simply need to stay close to Him. He’s our Friend that sticks closer than a brother, and He knows what is happening in our lives. He has won every victory, despite how it looks.

Take Paul’s advice, remember Jesus’ victory at Easter. And forget what is behind you, press forward toward the goal God has set for you. When we could not possibly reach Him, God reached down and lifted us up — and now we stand with the Lord Jesus, shoulder to shoulder — we are called His brothers and sisters and covered in His Love. Easter is our proof that we do not hope in vain. 

Let’s look at Psalm 27:13,14. “I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait for and confidently expect the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.” Psalm 27 reminds us how good God is. That cross is His goodness in the land of the living! Paul in Philippians 4:13 clearly tells us where we get the strength to continue. Christ’s overcoming strength burst out of that tomb, and He has never been contained since. Men and women over the centuries have lived their entire lives based on the One Who did not stay dead! I can have confidence, strength and courage, because He didn’t do what He did for Himself … He did it for all of US.

So, we can face any unpleasant relatives with love, even the ones who have behaved horrendously toward us. They can’t reach us to hurt us, anymore. We are now spectators, no longer participants in their sin. Drop that junk off at the cross and let your heart be permanently hidden in Christ the Risen One. Now it is easy to be forgiving, loving and kind to that friend who stabbed us in the back. We can live this life, the only one we have, differently. 

Even if you are facing the threat of death today, Jesus’ death and resurrection shows us that He trusted the Holy Spirit to bring Him out of that gloomy grave – so we can too. Because of Easter Sunday, we now live in the ever-expanding Grace and Love of God. May He Bless you to be strong and courageous! Happy Easter! Bye. 👋

P 3282 Live dead!

/ DVH

“Since Christ, though innocent, suffered in His flesh for you, now you also must be a prepared soldier, having the same mind-set, for whoever has died in his body is done with sin. So live the rest of your earthly life no longer concerned with human desires but consumed with what brings pleasure to God.” 1 Peter 4:1-2.

It is good to ask ourselves questions about our own reactions. The thing I have learnt is that you can think you have utterly surrendered to the Lord, and you only want to live for His will — then suddenly something unexpected happens and things that you didn’t know were inside, pop up like daisies! My advice is this, don’t excuse your behaviour, pay prayerful attention to it. Making excuses gives us a back door out of personal growth. It stops us discovering the real issues. These issues are far more likely to be about us, than others. We can make other people’s lives a living hell by refusing to confront our own inner attitudes.

When life stays on a pretty even keel, we begin to understand the normal day by day pressures, and we learn to manage them, by yielding to the Lord, and watching Him do the miraculous on our behalf. But it becomes easy to dismiss some not-so-great attitudes we have as …”that’s just who I am. It’s normal for me.” Ignoring the fact that we have a new normal now, and it isn’t based on our individuality, it is whether we look like Jesus, inside and out.

What comes out under pressure? Love, or temper, and impatience, or a distinct lack of mercy etc. What happens if it is your kid suddenly being bullied at school? satan knows that we will lean on the Holy Spirit to manage stuff coming at us, but what if trouble hits your kids, or your parents, or your friends? Maybe your spouse has to take a pay-cut, or even lose their job. Who are we then? I learnt many years ago, the yardstick we use to measure things must be based on the Word, not on our feelings, or our personal coping skills. The place of equality for all is in Christ Jesus, it is not in our ability to make nice noises under pressure.

For a number of years, Christians clung to what we believed about a group of wonderful verses that tickled our ears and made us feel good about ourselves. Sadly, I believe that has led to a distinct lack of adulthood in the Body of Christ. Pastors are often so busy trying to wipe adult noses, and soothe adult bumps and scrapes, plus sort out their life issues, that they have very little time to do what the Lord wants them to do! The way to maturity is through selflessness.

Years ago, I was a latch-key kid I got into all kinds of mischief because there was no parental eye on me. I was reduced to what I could get away with, rather than what was required of me. Not a good place to be. I realised I could out-think the person in charge and go around the rules! That is not obedience, it is evasion, half-truths and deception. Who are we when nobody is looking over our shoulder? 

Our new life is a new way to live not just a theme. The other day I spoke a little bit about money. I think most people don’t like it very much when money comes into the picture — however, the truth is dead people don’t own their money anymore. When we give everything we have to the Lord, He takes it and that includes the things WE think WE own.

Let’s be clear. This life we are living flows directly against our old one. And we are more familiar with the old way of thinking than the new. Some dear people don’t last, because they give up too soon. The cares, worries and struggles of this world overtake them.The best news ever is that we are NEVER alone! The Holy Spirit is a brilliant strategist and leader, we simply follow His Ways by reading the bible and applying what we’ve read, with His help, into our own lives. Plus we obey His inward checks and prompts. 

Initially that can be scary. But this also is how we find out, for ourselves, that we don’t like apologising, or looking like a daft goose. Human beings don’t like making mistakes or even having them pointed out – the old life rises up within us. We are always going need the Holy Spirit’s help – we can’t do this alone. But He’s not a tap we can turn off or on. He’s a Person! Let’s learn to live in such a way, that we are not distancing ourselves from Him. 

As we let go of the reins and allow Him to guide us through the potholes and bumps, He becomes the driver in my life, and I get to sit in the car as a passenger. But some days I really do think I belong in the boot! Soldiers are trained to obey orders, and as we learn to be obedient and cherish the Lord’s will, we are dethroning the whole me, mine, myself and I, mindset. Most people don’t drift away from faith because they hate the Lord — instead they drift away on a sea of careless indifference, aimlessly floating along unaware they are being  influenced by the changing tides of this world around us.  

Living dead’ means we have chosen to exchange our old way of life for His Ways instead, our faith is in Jesus and it is progressive,  Bye. 👋

P 3270 The impossible is easy for the Lord …

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but it is also very challenging to our faith. In the gospel  of Mark 2:1-12, some men tore off a house-roof so they could lower down a paralytic friend in front of Jesus…. Did you get that? They tore up some poor guy’s roof! This hospitable family man offers his home for a meeting and that’s the thanks he gets?! I suppose the man could have used the resulting hole for a skylight…? !

The details we are given in the Word make this story extraordinary. Mainly because I don’t imagine digging a hole in any kind of roof would be easy. But these men were so devoted to their friend, in their desire to get him to Jesus, that they would have done anything. Meanwhile nobody seemed to care too much about what the occupant of the house thought when they burrowed into his nice little house like gophers either. Why not?! Somebody got healed and they all saw it.

 Are we willing to risk possibly offending people in order to bring someone into the Lord’s Presence? (Remember wherever we go, He goes.) The fear of retaliation or offence is very real in our society. Nowadays if somebody tore off a church roof to get a sick person to Jesus, they’d probably sue them for a replacement roof!  Plus they’d grizzle at them — ‘don’t you know how to use a door?!?’ But these friends were undaunted by societal rules, and motivated by love for their sick friend, instead. I’d like to be a friend like that, and boy would I like to have a friend like that myself!

Jesus didn’t really seem to care who He offended. The Lord did not ever set out to be offensive but if that happened, well, it happened. He didn’t even pause to explain Himself, or His motivation etc … He just moved on. His priority was  His Father’s will. How can we possibly imagine how incredibly difficult it must have been for Him to carry out the Father’s will, even when it included His own suffering and death?  

Not to mention the fact that when it came to the time of His death, Jesus did everything He did, without the comforting Presence of the precious Holy Spirit. He was SomeOne the Lord had always known intimately. It must have been so painful for the Father, and the Spirit stand back and not rescue Jesus from such villainous wickedness. But there was a higher purpose. Meanwhile it is not hard to imagine satan firing mental missiles at Jesus while he was tormenting the Lord inwardly and outwardly on the cross.   

Today I want to remember how very much the Holy Spirit loves to help, comfort, and guide. And yet at that point in history, He had to step away. The Father’s Will could only be accomplished if the Holy Spirit didn’t step in. The Lord Jesus did all that He did for us, so we can be sons and daughters of God!  Otherwise the doors of heaven would have stayed shut to the likes of you and I! Jesus chose to do this so we would never have to be separated from the Holy Spirit’s loving kindness, and wisdom ever again. It stands to reason that His devotion to mankind is so huge – HE WON’T EVER LEAVE US. The Spirit of God loves us the way He loves Christ. Imagine that. He freely shares with us  His life-giving ways. If it is not love, then it is not Him. 

The Spirit of the Living God creatively uses the power of love and grace in ways we cannot imagine, over and over again. To one person He says, “consider Jesus” … to someone else He says: “you have been forgiven” and to another He says: “the Father loves you with an everlasting love.” No matter what the Holy Spirit says: there is always  unimaginable, overwhelming love in it. He chooses to meet some people in their dreams, others while they are reading the bible, or through someone else’s books. He met with me in front of a clothes line! His originality is mind boggling.  

Someone else might say what I just said, in a totally different way, and that is just another example of His incredible creativity. He is also out-of-this-world wise. There are so many ways to describe Who He is and what He does – silently -we can easily lose count! That’s why I love Jesus, we can see in Him the things our natural mind couldn’t possibly make up! And the Lord Jesus totally relied on the Holy Spirit’s help – so should WE.

This is Paul speaking to the Ephesians, about the diversity of the things He has for us. 3:8-12: “To me, the least of all the saints, was given this grace: to proclaim the good news of the fathomless riches of Christ to the Gentiles, and to enlighten everyone as to what is the administration of the mystery hidden from the ages by God, Who created all things, in order that the many-sided wisdom of God might be made known now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places through the church, according to the purpose of the ages which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in Him.”

Please do not allow anyone else to minimise the beauty of the One that Jesus Himself chose to entrust with our care. We all matter so much to God, even when our faith is severely stretched, let’s not limit Him. Let’s learn to walk with Him instead. Watch out for evidence of His work in your life as well as around you. Seeing Him at work helps our faith.  He will show us how to repair the things that this life has broken in us, or in our relationships with others. He will tear up and get rid of anything that is holding us back from reaching Jesus, just like those friends tore away the roof in order to get to the Lord that day. Despite challenging our faith, the impossible is so easy to our God.  Bye. 👋

P 3246 Watch the Holy Spirit at work.

/ DVH

For years now, three of my precious granddaughters have taken it in turns to go with their Dad to work for one whole day, every year. It was kind of a “bring your kid to work’ day – supported by his boss. The result was they knew why their Dad was late sometimes, and they understood what traffic did, and what working hard all day really means! Observation is a great way to learn.

I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit working in us, because I think we are missing the things that He does for us, unseen, every single day. He is so good at working in secret – you have to want to see Him! But our current circumstances can distract or overwhelm us and we shut down, and stop being spiritually aware. That response will rob us of something so valuable. Look for the good! … that’s my catch cry. Find the good and focus on that. He’s IN THAT! We will always see Him at work when we look for the good. 

Unfortunately we can give credit to man, or circumstances, instead of seeing His hands in everything good that happens to us. Let’s stop crediting good things to ‘luck’ (a pagan god) and start looking in our own lives, for the Holy Spirit’s loving touch. This is part of the way we train ourselves in holy things. Sadly, most of the time, any one of us can get through a whole day without even acknowledging His Presence, except for daily bible reading and prayer. He is our heavenly air – we need to take Him with us. It’s good for us to know what He does, and see and appreciate it, so we can participate in it.

The Holy Spirit never takes credit for Himself. He is the silent One—the One Who is most easily overlooked. Maybe that is because a/ we are selfish and self involved and b/ we don’t know what He looks like when He is doing stuff! He looks just like Jesus would if He were here. Can you imagine being among the people who saw the Lord Jesus heal the lepers, feed thousands, and teach – yet they walked away thinking, or even saying: “Well, yeah, I dunno. I liked what that Man said but I can’t live like that. I think I believe what the synagogue teacher does. My Dad did, so did his Dad and they are nice people…“ Logic kills seeing Him stone dead.

Look, I don’t really know how to say this ‘nicely’ so I am just going to spit it out. The devil gets more air-play than the Holy Spirit does! That ought not to be so!! It’s an abomination. The Holy Spirit is the most Creative, Loving Being we will ever know this side of heaven. He is not secondary to our Heavenly Father or the Lord Jesus – He is part of the Trinity. Jesus sent Him back to us to help us, and told us that it was BEST for us that He went away. He’s God-with-us today and every single day we are here. Listening to Him is our new normal!

The problem seems to be that the enemy has snuck into our camp and made praying in tongues, or this or that spiritual gift, more important than HE is!  Big mistake! Huge!! He is a Person, not an activity! (I told you I didn’t know how to say it!) Pray for eyes to continually see Him at work. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if it is Godly, and good, it’s HIM!… Always look for His fruit in any kind of situation… If what happens helps you believe God, or it lovingly challenges your existing belief system… It’s HIM! 

But if it indulges your sense of self-importance, and implies you don’t need to pray, or read the word or repent and repair things … guess what? IT’S NOT HIM! Easy peasy. And if the bible doesn’t say it … it’s not Him. The bible is His reference book, and we have His personally signed copy of that book when we decide to choose to do what it says. The Spirit of God wants to get our attention! This is how we fall in love with our Heavenly Father – we watch and see Him work! Just like my granddaughters watched their earthly Dad. He wants to spend our lifetime with us, opening up new horizons, and new ways to praise God – plus a whole new ME. Bonus buy = transformation from within.

Take a few minutes to reflect, not on the bad things, but on the good ones.  Ask for His help to focus on the things that will last. Otherwise distraction will take away whatever time we have and waste it. Our God first sent the Holy Spirit to each one of us, in the form of a Saviour – His Name is Jesus. Then Jesus Himself sent us the Holy Spirit to be with us, every moment of every day, in any situation, to be our helper, comforter, guide, counsellor, advocate … live and in Person! He can be at your house inspiring you, while He is at my house comforting me. What’s not to love about that? Teach yourself to look at even bad things and find something good in them.

Here are some verses for all of us to chew on: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  Romans 15:13. He’s the HOPE bringer. “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;…” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. We are His house! Take the time to put out the welcome mat! “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”Acts. 1:8. Most of us have no power because we are not co-operating with Him. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 4:26. 

We have an on-the-spot, resident Teacher. Let’s open our spiritual eyes and watch for Him quietly working in our lives – working all things together for our good. If it’s good – it’s Him! Bye. 🕊️

P 3212 Four immobilising traps.

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How do I know that God loves me? It’s in the book, over and over again. His Love does not have to be felt — it is best dem-on-strat-ed — not necessarily felt!  Feelings come and go, they are often subject to outside influences. I am not saying don’t have them, but I am saying don’t let them run your life!

Experiences with God are precious, but they are not meant to guide us. That’s the book’s job, and the Holy Spirit’s territory. Experiences are meant to follow us, not lead us! “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you…”  We do what He says – and then we experience His joy, or peace, or rest for our souls, or a boost in our faith etc. Personally, I think the Lord loves it best whenever we do everything using our faith, and we choose to stand firmly on His Word. “The just shall LIVE by faith.” (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38.) 

BTW, when God Himself says something in three scriptures – we’d better listen! Our feelings are unreliable. This is one of our enemy’s sneakiest ploys to get us to continually live in the land of  “I don’t feel anything.” We must constantly remind ourselves that God has already demonstrated His love – Jesus came here and lived and died for our sake. Let that be enough. 

The second stumbling block that can stop our spiritual progression in our faith, is when we focus on the past. Listen to what God says about that subject: ““Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t even remember these former things. I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19 TPT. When we choose to personalise scriptures like this one—verses that point us in His direction—that means we’ve decided God’s Word is true. We are putting some skin in the game, and demonstrating our love and faith in Him, even in the face of difficulties. The past cannot be changed by revision, it can only serve as a sign post, a warning for the present and the future. And we can repent and put it away.

The third stumbling block is fear of loss. Obviously any sentence that includes fear has nothing whatsoever to do with the Lord! The only fear that is acceptable to the Lord is called “the fear of the Lord.” The bible tells us: “…the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10. Fearing God makes us wise, not afraid. Meanwhile, living this life fearful about what God might take away from us, is from the enemy, it is not from the Lord. The Lord is like a surgeon, cutting away the things that will cause us to stumble. He adds. He does not take away. The only thing He has taken away is our sin … and that was at great personal cost.

The last thing I want to mention today seems to be a current trend. I call it somnambulism – the sorry state of “being asleep in the light. ”I’ve used that odd word deliberately. It literally means — walking around asleep! No wonder we crash into other people all the time if we are not properly spiritually awake!

Instead we let God’s Word flow by us, while we are listening to the preacher/speaker in church —without allowing it to wash off the mud, dirt and the cloudy film this world puts over our eyes. That leads to a sort of nether state, where we are more asleep than awake. We are not alert enough to release His life wherever we go – the oil that prepares us to be His Bride is the same oil of God’s life in us, as described in:

Matthew 25:1-13: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 

The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

We simply can’t afford to go through this life half-asleep. That’s called sleep walking! We need His oil to flow through us, all the time, enlivening us to whatever the Lord is doing now. Both of these virgins fell asleep, but one group was not prepared for any delay. The preparation the wise virgins made for any eventuality, placed them in a prime position to keep ready for the groom! We can’t afford to live our lives not ready for whatever comes next. 

Let’s live the Word, by walking it out. We dare not allow these four things to circumvent God’s will for our lives:  like chasing experiences; or being haunted by the past; or living our lives afraid of what we might lose. Or not  preparing well. I think we are now living in a time when we need to practice being alert. Bye. 👋

P 3170 Gratitude opens new doors.

/ DVH

Paul spent a whole Chapter on thanking and acknowledging people in Romans 16 – it seems it was extremely important to him. These people, whose names I struggle to pronounce! … are warmly acknowledged and greeted. You don’t find too many kids called Apelles, Epenetus or Ampliatus in birthday books today! Back then those names were normal. 

This godly man was an apostle and a missionary, and he travelled from one country to the next, founding churches. But he was not alone. Many people helped him fulfil this God-appointed mission. and he did not forget them. It seems to me, that we need to think about our new life with Jesus, and remember the people who have helped us to get this far. They have given up their valuable time on our behalf, to study and be available, to teach and guide us, and to pray for us,  to rejoice or weep with us. Let’s just take a moment to thank God for them, and heap blessings on their heads, simply  because they chose to give up their time to walk with us while we have been learning. Grateful people remember those who have sacrificed for them. Paul did!

I think time should be recorded as a most valuable commodity, along with gold, silver, various minerals and oil! Time is not a commodity in heaven, the way it is down here. Eternity, is by nature, timeless, and heaven is a place that we barely understand. That’s why it is so important to regularly listen to Jesus, because He kept on talking about God’s kingdom and what it looks like so we can recognise it.

The kingdom of God is not just ‘up there,’ its destination is also ‘down here’ where we are. As we lovingly share and care for others we need to know what it looks like. This man was so enthralled by Jesus, he was personally taught by Him. The Holy Spirit took all the carefully stored up, but under-developed fruit from his Old Testament knowledge, and blew Paul’s mind! The Spirit of God developed what this man already knew into mature, juicy, ripe, edible fruit. Who knows what He will do IN us if we gratefully allow Him to do it?

Paul’s gratitude for Christ’s own intervention in his life was paramount in everything he said and did. Gratitude is always a wonderful attitude to have – wherever it is cultivated. Paul was in jail on and off for five to six years, and the Lord used that time to download and develop great deep Kingdom truths into this man’s heart. The Holy Spirit gave Him incredible revelations, and the words to explain them! We cannot know what God will do with the things that seem terrible to us at the time. My advice is to always pray for deliverance and healing, but at the same time, pray for understanding IN your circumstances. God Himself will show us the many things we’ve overlooked in our pain, so we can continually be grateful to Him. 

When I look at someone like the Apostle Paul, I begin to understand that what I know is incredibly limited. Knowing about stuff in heaven, is not like knowing ordinary everyday stuff down here. Our whole beings are expanded and transformed by even just one encounter with the Lord Jesus …whether we feel something or not. I think we have barely begun to understand our own potential in Christ. It never ceases to amaze me that the Holy Spirit can just drop a word, or a phrase into my spirit, and suddenly I’ve gone from reading with a tiny little torch, into a room flooded with all kinds of light! I’m so thankful we have such a glorious Helper, Teacher, Guide, Comforter, Advocate. 

In the past many Christian men and women have thoughtfully and carefully studied God’s words over and over again with a motivation to extract deeper, clearer meanings for all of us. God bless those translators for their tireless efforts on behalf of the Body of Christ! But! One moment of personal inspiration and revelation, can save us years of living puzzled and disappointed lives. WHY DESCRIBE THE WIND WHEN YOU CAN CATCH HIM?

We dearly need translators and expounders of His word, but we also desperately need His personal insight in our own lives, day by day — so we can walk with Him unashamed, peaceful and content. Even in the middle of all kinds of trouble. We cannot afford to allow someone else go up the mountain of God, like Moses once did, and miss out on the kind of inner expansion that only comes from being with God Himself! 70 elders once sat, and broke bread and ate with Almighty God present at the table. Even that thought is mind-blowing! 

I believe the deepest revelations can come from the hardest situations. Let’s pray even more during difficult times, not just for healing and deliverance, but to thank Him for walking us through each and every one of them. Every test or trial contains His wisdom, plus the opportunity to build our own faith. It would be a shame to live our lives simply trying to escape from trouble, when there is so much to be learnt about Him in the middle of it!

To sum up, one way to bless and encourage others in their walk is to be thankful for the way they have helped you and say so! Gratitude in any and all circumstances, blesses God Himself and it opens new doors. Read Luke 17:11-19, you will see how important gratitude is to Jesus. Bye 👋

P 3147 Walking with the Holy Spirit.

/ DVH

Romans 8:5-9b “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you..”V5(NIV) “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

The battle over whether we daily live and walk with the Holy Spirit is first fought in our minds. Quite simply, the secret to walking with Him means we can’t even think about continuing to walk accomodating our flesh. When you and I gave our life to Jesus – He took it. It’s a done deal. Now, by our choices, we daily step out of this world’s way of thinking, into His Way of thinking.

The Holy Spirit loves to glorify the Father and the Son. That’s more than church or preaching or singing! It’s the way we live now. Walking in the flesh sadly comes naturally to us, after all, we’ve been doing that all our lives! But walking with the Holy Spirit requires hard choices. Cheer up! He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows what you can and can’t do – He will “let you learn at your own rate.”

There are some people who think that they have to be super-spiritual to walk with Him, or have some kind of supernatural encounter, or they need some special spiritual gifting! None of that is true. When we welcome Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit – we can’t be born into God’s Kingdom without HIM. Now we need to value Him, more than we value what we or others want, or think or feel. If we go about our days only doing the things we feel, or want, or we think we need —we are ignoring His input. He has a WAY for us to do those things that will give Him a channel to impact the people around us. The more we ignore Him, the less we will hear His voice saying:“…this is the way, walk in it whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21b.

The Holy Spirit wants us to personally know Him, His voice. He came to be with us, to stay. This is how I think that works – when we choose to live this life mindful of Jesus and His Word and we take His word seriously, and obey what He tells us – we are walking with the Holy Spirit. The word mindful means your mind is full of Him and His Ways. Our ability to perform does not come into this – His ability to keep us, as we lean on Him, does. It is another way to look at our lives – which are now HIS. This is how we die to self.

It’s all about priorities. When we look at Jesus, our Heavenly Father, and the Precious Holy Spirit as add-ons to everything else in our lives, that is all They will ever be. But when we take our commitment to Christ seriously, and live each day with our spiritual antenna up, watching and waiting for anything that He might ask us to do — we will see His kingdom come …all around us, as well as in us. Honestly speaking, we cannot afford to hang onto our nasty attitudes, bad temper, lack of generosity toward others, cold-heartedness etc. and expect to walk with HIM! He loves people more than we can possibly imagine. Jesus has invested Himself in mankind!

Sadly, we’ve accidentally made a club mentality out of something that was intended for everyone. The Holy Spirit’s Way is living like Jesus did. He lived for the Father’s will. He “only did the things He saw His Father doing… He only said the things He heard the Father saying …”Now we too need to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us, by yielding to God’s Ways.“How can two walk together unless they are in agreement?”That’s when we become a channel for His love to flow through.

Let’s think of other people, no matter what they believe, as people Jesus loves. He loves them so much He died for them. Now He has appointed and anointed us to be His witnesses and representatives, alert to what He wants, as well as the needs of others. We can’t afford to only love the people we like.

The bible is our guide and governor, under the Holy Spirit’s tutelage. This book daily shows us what God wants from us. We are alive in this world to demonstrate His word, His kingdom, and we’ve been given the honour of revealing His love to others. Let’s choose to see things through His eyes. Ephesians 4:17-18:“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”

Every single time we say no to something the Holy Spirit brings up with us, we are hardening our heart against HIm. The Holy Spirit is gentle, mild, and unobtrusive, so He will quietly step down, and we will not even know that He is gone. I don’t care if you are the best preacher in the country – how’s your heart doing? The state of our hearts is our business, and we need soft hearts. We have been destined to live this life alive to the Spirit, walking with Him and yielding to His wishes, just like Jesus did. Bye. 👋