Harvest

P 2411 We are all seed sowers.

/ DVH

Today I just want to share one small story from our current trip – and I have a point for sharing it. We’ve been to a whole lot of places in the last 17 days and we’ve been travelling about like this for 18 years. We’ve literally been almost everywhere! Some places twice or three times. We regularly give away one of the more modern versions of the Gospels. Last night we stayed in a little seaside town. Now, on with my story… 

We’ve previously stayed here before, and on a past trip we went to a much smaller caravan park. Back then it was run by an older man. About 10 years ago, hubby went into this park clutching a bundle of bibles. The older man in reception was delighted to take bibles and they chatted about the Lord for a while. Hubby promised we would come back, in the future, when we could with more bibles. People pinch them – ya-ay! Yay Jesus – You get them anyway!

In the middle of the night, yesterday, the Lord spoke to hubby and told him that he was going to meet someone that day who needed one of his paintings. He gave him a message for that person. We ended up at that same caravan park we’d visited so many years before, again. This time there were only 5 caravans, but hubby faithfully went off with bibles under his arm. There was a different older man behind the reception desk. He told this man that we had been there before, and that, at that time there was another much older man in reception. 

The man behind the desk indicated that the older man was his father, and sadly he had died 5 years ago. He pointed to a photo of his Dad and hubby indicated he was the man he had met years ago. The current caravan park guy said his father had owned and run this little park, all of his life, and he inherited it after his father’s death. At that point, hubby brought out his painting, and said he felt it was for the owner. The older man teared up immediately when he saw it and hubby explained that it is called: “Take the plunge.”  Then he delivered the message God gave him the night before.

It transpired that the current owner badly wanted to retire, but he was hesitant because of filial obligation. The sad thing was, running this park was not something that he wanted to do. He was simply trying to honour his father and his inheritance. He felt trapped there. However after receiving the painting and the word from God hubby gave him, he strongly felt he could sell the business and retire. Father God wanted to set him free to live his own life. This man doesn’t go to church, and has no Christian affiliations. The Lord’s timing is amazing… I don’t want to comment any further on this story, because I wrote about it for another purpose, entirely. 

This is what hubby and I do. We take what God says, and what He tells us to do, out there to ordinary everyday people who have no idea God speaks to ANYONE personally. Most of them have never even been in a church. We say what He says to say, and give things away freely. We don’t push church at anyone. Sometimes we pray for them, then we walk away and leave the results up to the Holy Spirit. These gifts that the Holy Spirit has given you and I are for everyone’s benefit, to encourage, to heal, to guide, to bless. It seems to me things like this are the Lord waving at people saying: “Yoo-hoo I’m real!”  He touches them in ways that have nothing whatsoever to do with us. Our spiritual gifts are not just available to the people who go to church … after all … Jesus healed everyone! He didn’t check out their church credentials. 

Anybody can do this – you just take the gift He has given you and use it wherever He says to do it. We bless these strangers however the Holy Spirit tells us to bless them, and then we are done. We have faith that the Lord will send people after us. They have their job and we have ours. However, we are all, collectively, seed sowers, or witnesses. To have a harvest, the Body of Christ needs to sow seeds in obedience to the Lord’s leading. Actually to even have a testimony, we will all have to face our fears and move way outside our comfort zones!! Jesus moved wa-ay outside His comfort zone for us – it is the least we can do for Him. Bye. 👋🏻

P 2393 Those who have gone on before us.

/ DVH

“And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let His mindset become your motivation.” Philippians 2:5 TPT. Isn’t it marvellous that we have incredible, recorded, Godly examples to follow? Praise God we have what Christ did and said, in this book we read every day. Jesus made God’s will very clear! 

We have all of the New Testament to explain how the things of God unfold and transform, and how they worked for someone else. Whether it was Paul or Peter or Jude – they all lived this way… HIS WAY. All we need to do is to take what it says seriously and apply these things we read about into our lives! The sky is the limit when somebody starts living their life doing what God’s book says for Jesus’ sake.

Here’s something that Peter said: “Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.” 2 Peter 1:3 MSG. Peter knew that what he was given was also for others who would come after him – that’s you and I. 👏 We have been left an enormous inheritance by these great men and women of faith. 

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that getting to know Jesus is a series of endless spiritual experiences. It is so much more than that – we get to live the way He lived and do what He did – we get to be like Him, in this world. His loving heart, His Character, His devotion to the Father. Jesus Christ shows us how to live a transformed life of devotion to God and He actively taught us what God wants from His kids.

Let’s look at His disciples, who totally relied upon the Holy Spirit for Christ’s guidance, and they too lived overcoming lives. They lived that way in a world that used Christians for target practice, lion chum and barbecue lights! Nothing much has changed today, many Christians are still paying for their faith with their well-being, lives and health. However  I can be inspired into action, when I read about the saints’ of old’s adventures, missteps, and godly actions in His book — and from there I get the courage to have some adventures with God myself. 

Both the Old and the New Testament tell us about people who gave up this life to gain the next. They watched Almighty God work on their behalf. I’ve written down some examples from the New. Let’s look at Ananias who got a word from God and was used to restore Paul’s sight. That man was scared to bits about his God-given assignment, but he did it in spite of his fear. He teaches me that fear does not have to win! Plus, I can simply go and do whatever God tells me, I don’t have to feel like it.

There was another Ananias – Ananias and Sapphira. That couple taught me that lying to God and others has a really really bad ending! Or Timothy, who listened carefully to his mother and his grandmother, and ended up as a companion to Paul. He had two whole books in the bible written for his personal edification. Timothy has taught me that godly mothers with faith are powerful people. 

Or Simon Magus the magician. He taught me the Holy Spirit cannot be bought. Grace can embrace the Holy Spirit but a lack of Grace, together with greed, sends Him away. Or there was Stephen, who waited tables and witnessed to the Sanhedrin, Jerusalem’s supreme rabbinic court. He recited the whole Jewish history from Abraham to Christ! I believe Stephen’s pure faith, together with everything the Holy Spirit gave him to say, had an effect on Saul as he stood and watched that stoning, and heard Stephen pardon his murderers as he died. This shows me that the word of God is a SEED – it has the power to change a life. Stephen died, but Paul eventually converted!

We have these witnesses in God’s book to help us to enrich our own faith. We don’t have to stay within the status quo, living our lives in dull little always-acquiring-new-things lives. We can be led by God Himself, the Holy Spirit, to “go into all the world and preach the gospel…” Acts 1:8. Hubby and I are about to go out again into Samaria, even though we preach the gospel where we live, to anyone who will listen. 

We go out there where the people are and to our amazement – Jesus is out there too!  Listen to what Jesus said about the Samaritan woman and her village in Samaria: “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”John 4:34&35. What more do we need than… ‘GO?’ That was enough for the people in the book.👋🏻

P 2380 Gentleness has been greatly underrated.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2298 The little foxes.

/ DVH

Song of Solomon 2:15  “Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love], While our vineyards are in blossom.” There are times when our love for the Lord is bright and burning hot with passion – and there are other times when it seems this life is full of surprises — and — none of them are good!

In my mind, these are situations that Solomon describes here, and they can come upon us unexpectedly.  Just when you start to think that your spiritual life is turning a corner – wham! Especially when you seem to be getting the hang of walking with the LORD, and understanding His ways. Now here’s a good time to remember “…pride goes before a fall..” !!!  I’ve fallen on my head at this place, many MANY times and probably will again, unless the Holy Spirit helps me. AGAIN!!

When stuff piles on top of us, and life seems relentlessly overwhelming, and way past our ability to cope with it, this is like the best prayer ever. Song of Solomon 2:17a “… Return quickly, my Beloved,…” Jesus is described in Song of Songs as the Chief Shepherd, the Bridegroom, and a gazelle, a mighty deer Who can overcome any obstacle to get to His beloved. He has feet that can go anywhere, just like a stag can! Call out to HIM!  Then wait. Do nothing, just wait to be rescued. BUT at the same time – don’t keep rehearsing other people’s sins against you … take those thoughts captive.

These little foxes invade our vineyard when there is a potential harvest. There are blossoms on the vine… that means … fruit is coming! These circumstances, our difficulties, etc. are here to spoil and steal our fruit!  These things are attacking us so they ruin spiritual fruit before it can even form. The Holy Spirit’s potential to produce fruit in us, is under threat from things we have allowed, or indulged in, or tolerated in our past – or just plain enemy attack.. 

The beauty of this passage is that the bride knows Who to call out to, for help. She knows her Beloved is stronger, more mighty and wiser than the foxes that have come to steal their future potential harvest from them. Sometimes we can race about spraying this and protecting that, when what we really need to do is call out for help to the One who can defeat anything. The Bible says so. Jesus Christ beat death, little foxes are nothing to be concerned about.

But it will still be a battle, simply because we have invested in those things that these foxes stir up. Things like our own self-pity, anger, hatred, bitterness, resentment, and our own self-justification. And this battle can draw blood. It’s going to hurt, because we’ve invested in these things in our past. Start with repentance, and then fight to protect that hard- won fruit you have.

Yes our current circumstances maybe dire and difficult and cringeworthy but however they look – the reality is: “… greater is He that is IN ME than he that is in this world.” We don’t just get to say that or think it, we actually have to live it out minute by minute, battling with our own imaginations, feelings, thoughts …until every single thought obeys CHRIST.

These pesky foxes can be chased off. The Holy Spirit in you, with you, is the winner. However He won’t do it FOR YOU because we all need these skirmishes to develop battle readiness. We cannot allow our enemy to thwart God’s processes by giving in to stuff that we have authority over. Jesus gave us authority! Like I’ve said before: “…having done all, we stand!” And then we keep on standing because our Shepherd/Bridegroom/Mighty Stag is coming and there aint nothin’ gunna stop Him!

Lastly, Jesus said this to His disciples: “I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.]”  ←This is our task and aim — to take away the ground in our lives that we have given over to our enemy — whether accidentally or on purpose. Now we can fight satan for the lives of the people around us and WIN.  It is time to eliminate those foxes. HE WILL HELP US. 🙌

P 2243 On your mark…

/ DVH

Start TAKING FAITH STEPS. Seriously, if we keep sitting around in our ordinary little lives, no wonder we are disappointed. Perhaps we once went to a meeting and someone told us we could aim for the moon!  And then, in the everydayness of this life, the enemy took us out with discouragement, disappointment and despair – I call those things the three D’s. They will grab you around the throat and throw you on the floor, weeping because you think you’ve failed. We only fail, when we fail to try! Every single thing we do in faith, no matter how big or small, or hard it is, brings Glory to God! That’s what we are here for, to glorify Him in the face of opposition.

Faith is always needed. We exercise faith when we cross a road! The God kind of faith is about stepping out and doing that thing the Holy Spirit is quietly prompting us to do. Maybe we have bills to the sky and we are tempted to stop tithing or giving, “just until we get past this hard bit.”  Or… when we ask our neighbour if we can pray for them. That’s really using our faith. Faith is not a theory, it’s an action. All of the fruits of the Spirit are verbs, action words. If you can’t find His fruit in your life then you are probably not meeting opposition – with faith. It is good to remember, that when His fruit is eaten by someone else, it nourishes their spirit. 

I want you to think about NOT living by faith, for a moment. Do we really think satan is going to leave us alone if we do nothing? What would you do if you were the bad guy? Would you soothe the people with the power to change the world off to sleep and distract them until they run out of time? The bible is clear, our side wins in the end. It’s not the end yet guys. Don’t fall asleep bored, or join the rat race striving to get bigger better brighter things!  Get up and fight for the people God has all around you.   If we are always preparing, or recovering from our past, we will never get to GO! Go anyway!! Limping if you have to.

We’ve been brainwashed to think that winning means we come out on top all the time! That’s a fairy tale. When we decided to follow Christ we chose to follow SomeOne Who knows all about a higher purpose. Christ served God’s higher purpose, and when we live by faith we actually can’t lose. Our God always has a bigger plan! Read Hebrews 11 – many people actually died knowing they couldn’t lose. Initially it even looked like Jesus lost – however His death opened a door for us that cannot be shut ever again. We are not living this life we live for visible success.  We have eternal eyes.

We are no longer our own, we’ve been bought with a price … I l💖ve this scripture!! …”You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honour and glorify God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:20. How do we glorify God with our BODIES? That doesn’t just mean we toddle off to church or bible study or sing loudly. We glorify Him by living this new life we have been given for His purposes, not our own. Jesus is our example of how our new life works. 

Father God planted His Holy seed, Jesus Christ the Righteous One, into this earth – and you and I, we are part of Christ’s harvest. But His harvest isn’t meant to stop with us … look outside your door … there are people everywhere with no hope. Today, right here, right now, we have the hope of the world living inside us! So what are we going to do about it? Faith is not pie in the sky when we die. Faith is our new way to live. Galatians 2:19-21 “For through the law I died to the law SO THAT I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

God asked us to live this life here in such a way that we bring a taste of His heaven to the people around us. We give them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy for mourning – love for hate.That’s what the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control does. It brings a taste of heaven here. Our primary mistake is that we think it is meant to be easy. Dying to yourself while you are still alive isn’t easy. However, we are not alone as we step into this new faith dimension. The Holy Spirit will help us.

You know if you have ever joined a gym, or started an exercise routine, your muscles screech at you when you first start. When we start using our faith muscle it will be hard, because our faith has been frozen over by a lack of movement. But the more we use it … the more supple and stretchable it becomes. Faith is made to grow – and that kind of growth will demand our growth too. Ready? Set? Go!! 👋🏻

P 2227 Off we go…..again!!

/ DVH

Well, our travelling gypsy show is off again on our next trip – we are hoping to make 3 trips this year by God’s grace. We will be giving out blankets, bibles, bookmarks, groceries, grocery cards …telling stories ...all that PLUS giving away His enormous LOVE for the people-who-don’t-know-Him yet. Every time we go, I like to read about the sower in the parable that Jesus told, especially when I think of us trundling about from town to town in our car. 

Luke 8:4-10a MSG “As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.“Are you listening to this? Really listening?” His disciples asked, “Why did you tell this story?” He said, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom—you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren’t going to get it: …”

That’s us, BTW, God’s people are to be seed sowers – Father God invested in us, and now He wants us to invest His seed in others. The Lord told us years ago: “You can’t have a harvest if you don’t sow seeds!” So, we chuck out seed in every direction just like that farmer. What if they don’t keep what we give them? That bit is not our problem – our bit is to sow seeds. Meanwhile it’s great fun to be a seed sower, you should try it, you meet a lot of lovely people – and you get a bigger view of this world.  We also pray for the churches we pass as we drive along. Plus we pray those people the Lord will send along behind us, one day soon, to harvest the crop we’ve sowed everywhere we’ve been. We want a bumper harvest for Jesus! 

Hubby and I have given away a whole lot of stuff in faith, over the past 17 years. We’ve driven more than 200,000 kms – not including the plane flights! This time we’ve had to leave a bit early because the journey on the first day was too long for some people – namely me!  So, we found somewhere to break the journey and now we get to meet some more people we’ve never ever met before. 

The sad thing we have found out over the years is that many Christians don’t sow any seeds. However this next bit of that parable has a great point: V13,14: “The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble it’s gone. “And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.”(Yeah I know, bring THAT up! – God sows seeds into our lives too!)

HOW we HEAR and respond to WHAT GOD SAYS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT – as you can see for yourself. This life is very crowd-y and so many things take over our time. Suddenly we are busy about the things that make this life work for us and we forget we are not here for us anymore – our time is HIS TIME. Tick tock! ⏰ Despite the fact that from day to day, time often appears to pass slowly – that’s an illusion. Just ask any parents whose grown up child is finally leaving home – talk about an express train! Suddenly it seems like ten minutes ago you were wiping noses and now you are getting the church ready for a wedding or someone is calling you Grandma or Grandpa! 

I write about what happens to us on our journeys to encourage  …our faith, your faith, anybody’s faith! Please sow seeds. The more New Testaments you buy the cheaper they are. And the people in this world love free stuff. You know: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” (Benjamin Franklin) Jesus is counting on our obedience. 😳Ya might want to think on that one. Catch you in the next town … 👋🏻

P 2203 It sometimes seems a bit weird…

/ DVH

I have never prayed for TV actors in tough fictional situations…because that’s like, weird. BUT! … I do have a fun anecdote. Years ago I had a friend who was really devoted to soap operas, and she assured me that she prayed for the actors that God would help them out of their scripted troubles. 😶 I have nothing further to say about that except it takes all kinds …! However, it brings me to my point, today. I want to talk about praying for strangers. Now that can definitely feel weird if you have never done it before. Hubby in particular, often prays for people in the supermarket, or in caravan parks or on the street.

So here we go – and these are not rules they are suggestions: first of all, I counteract those weird scary feelings by telling myself over and over – “I’m SO never seeing these people again in my lifetime!”  Yeah. It sounds nuts but it works for me. IF I were more spiritual, I’d probably take authority over the feelings of fear and inadequacy, instead of soothing myself with a stupid platitude. Anyhoo, I ain’t there yet – I’m still working on the fear I get when I am talking to strangers about intimate subjects like heaven and the Lord Jesus! 

Mo-ving on … when you pray for the people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet, always use the name of Jesus – not “the Lord,” or “God,” or even “Father God.” Jesus is the Name above every other name and no one else can be saved except through His Name. Next … pray simply. It is not necessary to include the 12 spiritual laws on how to get saved, or 79 scripture references, the person will grow a beard! Or – they will tune out, like you do, when the pastor preaches for too long.  

When we pray for the people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet, this is how I do it – first of all I make it as ordinary and quiet as possible, I don’t make it into a big deal, I don’t close my eyes, or kneel down – I pray very simply: “Dear Jesus, please help George with His problem (state the problem briefly) and make yourself real to him. Please bless George and His family. Amen. “

I do and say that however the Holy Spirit says to do it. The point is not the actual prayer. It’s not an incantation, you are talking to SomeOne the other person can’t see!  The prayer itself is secondary. The point is that you and I walk around in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. He loves to be with us, and He wants to touch that person in front of us. He’s the point. We are carriers of His Presence, the light of God. The light of Christ lives inside us. I can’t outshine a glow-worm by myself!

The problem with doing some of this stuff is that we have over-spiritualised it. When you do that you make praying for strangers hard. It needs to be natural, normal. Please, DON’T ask them to wiggle their ankle if they had a sore ankle and you prayed for their ankle – that’s about YOU making YOU feel better when there is a result. Suddenly you start thinking maybe I’m an evangelist after all!  Look you and I have always been witnesses, that’s everyone’s job description. You can sort that other stuff out with the Lord for yourself, but right now whatever is happening is not about YOU – it’s about the person in front of you, and HIM .. and that’s plenty to go on with.

In my country one of the things people always say after they greet you is “how are you?” I’ve learnt to make their answer my opening. Here’s how that works for me. They tell me after I’ve asked; ‘how are you today?’ … “my big toe hurts … or some such thing.” I figure the Holy Spirit is already working, because like … who tells a perfect stranger their toe is hurting? Then I say something like: “Oh, I am so sorry your big toe is throbbing. That must be awful because you have to stand behind that cash register for hours.” Then I let them talk about it – and at the same time I’m asking Him what He wants. Then I say: “I believe in prayer and healing. Would you like me to pray for your big toe, right now?” 

If they say no. Then I smile, take my change etc. and say have a nice day and leave. If they say yes, I pray quietly and simply. What am I doing? I’m allowing Jesus in me to reach into their lives. Most of the time after I have prayed, they say “thank you,” sometimes they tear up, but I still say “bye … have a nice day … etc. etc.” There are times that we have stood at the check out for a while talking to someone, because people become very open and vulnerable when the Holy Spirit touches their lives for the first time. However we are always aware of the queue behind us who are waiting to get their items checked out! They matter too.  

Meanwhile, hubby and I have looked up after praying to discover there was a different sort queue behind us – more people who wanted prayer! We are not the answer – He’s always the Answer! So we simply carry out His wishes. He does not push, so I do not push. I am seed sowing. I am taking seed from the harvest inside my life and sowing it into someone else’s life. BTW, it stops being weird when you do it often – however, it does kind of stay a bit scary. 👋🏻