Heaven

P 2465 Stick-to-it-ivity.

/ DVH

““Staying with it—that’s what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14 MSG.

The biggest problem we will ever face, as Christians in my opinion, isn’t just the temptation to disobey, it is the temptation to give up entirely and live mediocre lives. Comfort and ease are our enemies. So is thinking we have arrived and this is as good as we will get!  Ask your family, they can tell you if you have arrived or not … they live with you. Here are two more verses to chew on … and yes, they give me indigestion too! James 1:2-3. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

2 Peter 1:5-8 “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”It is not enough to have these things, they must be growing!

Did you catch the point that our own inner attitudes are essential to help us overcome? The more we choose to obey the Holy Spirit, the more we will have these qualities added unto us! That, BTW, doesn’t mean that we can’t short-circuit the process, by being disobedient and self-indulgent. It simply means that one thing builds upon another. The thing beneath it, holds the next one up! Faith holds goodness up! Goodness holds Godly knowledge up… etc! PS w are not just meant to sort-of kind-of have these qualities – they are meant to increase as we go along.

We cannot afford to pretend this stuff doesn’t matter … that attitude will whittle away at our faith. The bible says when bad stuff happens:  count yourself/consider yourself… blessed, because this stuff is a sign that you are doing something right!  Everything changes when we stop regarding the bible as sweet sayings that are there to comfort and bless us – and instead we ingest them and regard them like they are medicine or vitamin pills. So we take them as prescribed. If we watch over our own words, they will give us a clue about what is going on inside. BTW, this isn’t censorship, it is self-awareness.

I’m not saying you have to be false about how you feel when hard things happen, these scriptures simply mean this is the way we are to look at those things. It definitely doesn’t mean paste a fake smile on your face and pretend stuff doesn’t hurt you! We are to regard these sorts of difficulties as a witness that what we are doing is right. Plus sometimes nasty scenarios tell us that the other person involved is being convicted by the way we are behaving and living. Conviction is good! It can lead to repentance, reparation and new beginnings.

The bonus buy of living the way the bible prescribes, is that we start up God’s production line on the inside of our spirits. We begin to grow Kingdom qualities. These qualities come from heaven and they hold incredible power to bring about change. Sadly, it is so much easier not to do any of this stuff at all, and short-circuit the process… OR … you can get sick of doing it and lose the prize.  That’s where stick-to-it-ivity comes in! The prize is having our automatic inside attitudes, changed. It is incredible to find that you are keeping your mouth shut when you know that’s impossible, especially if you are being provoked! It’s real, and you have no desire to chop the other person up into little pieces!  

Now bear with me, one more scripture – of course it is about difficulties producing some God-designed quality when we allow them to work on our characters! …”We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience.  And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.”  Romans 5:3-5a. Even more of the construction process!

Joy is not just a smiley face, or a really really happy attitude, joy is a God-quality. It comes from the inside out. It does not wear out, because it is in there to grow. We need to trust the Holy Spirit to produce what He said He will as we obey Him and follow His instructions. We can always ask for His help but we cannot simply pray God-qualities into our lives and then do nothing. The bible is a faith book, and obeying it, using our faith, activates growth. Plus we will need stick-to-it-ivity. Hold fast to what you are aiming at with His help, “we will win if we don’t faint.” Bye 👋🏻

P 2461 The bible is often contradictory.

/ DVH

Much of what His book says, is contradictory, or even contrary to our own instincts. Things like … Gain your life by losing it. Love people who hate you. Seek things that you can’t see or feel, and you’ll get what you need. A-n-d for one guy… get rid of nearly all your army and go fight someone else’s much much bigger army with lights and trumpets!…Or you could become whale chum as a taxi service  I mean … really!!! Moses once talked to a shrub and it changed his known world! Here’s the last one that seems odd …serve to lead.

The bible says: “What happiness comes to you when you feel your spiritual poverty! For yours is the realm of heaven’s kingdom.” Matthew 5:3 TPT. See? This guy thinks being spiritually poor is the best thing ever. Either his brain fell out or he is onto something. I think he’s onto something. God’s WAYS are always about RISK and they include our freely-made choices. Nothing about following Jesus will be easy — we will all have to die-to-self to carry those things out.

For a long time, Christianity has been about been acquiring of information. I’m going to start out by saying… I think bible school is great because knowing the bible well is the best tool we can ever have. I urge you to do it – we cannot fight the enemy without faith, and weapons. And the weapons in His book are not carnal they are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds! Actually, I think the bible will save your life if you use it the way it was designed to be used! BUT, the real point is… it was written to show us that without God — man can’t do anything. Yeah, well, that kind of cramps our super-spiritual super-star style. (Try saying that 10 times quickly.)

Hubby read me this bible verse from the Passion Translation, yesterday – “It felt like we had a death sentence written upon our hearts, and we still feel it to this day. It has taught us to lose all faith in ourselves and to place all of our trust in the God Who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:9 TPT. That kind of stuff can seem a bit loopy to someone who has studied and worked very hard to realise their full potential. However, this verse suggests that living life according to what human beings know and learn, can be a waste of time. But it seems to me that experience has taught this man something. 

Personally, some of the best stuff I’ve ever learnt has come from experience. Like Paul, I have also despaired of life a number of times. I’ve also wondered if I was really a Christian so many times I can’t count them! The Christian life is not for the faint-hearted- thank God it doesn’t rely on our faith, it relies on Him. Jesus once had a brilliant conversation with a man who knew all the right answers. We probably would have made him into a pastor or a deacon, but that man walked away from following the Lord!

Continually read this book for yourself. I advise each one of us to stop looking for human heroes to follow, or pattern yourself on … and instead …look for people just like you. People who didn’t cope and made mistakes. Some of those mistakes were so huge we are still dealing with the results today. Yet Almighty God had a plan for each of their lives. The thing is — the REAL hero of God’s book is … wait for it … GOD. Funny thing that. Who’d have thunk it?

I have been ill for most of my life and that means that I have had to continually reinvent the way I live with His help. Nearly dying numerous times will do that to you. I’ve learnt that His way not only works – it will blow your mind! His way is difficult, challenging and … life-changing.

I consider myself totally blessed because everything that has happened to me so far has led me to the place where I KNOW I literally can’t do a thing without Him! That’s not just a pretty saying to me, my life depends on it. Yet I have no idea what the Lord is going to do next! Life is one big surprise filled to the brim with more challenges than I can count. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord will deliver them out of them all.”  I can say Amen to that!!

“YOUR mission, should you choose to accept it “ 😂 … will totally blow your mind. Our own human resources are limited, but HIS, are limitless. And He has made His limitless resources available to us! Each one of us will have to rely upon Him in ways we have never ever even dreamed about. My advice is to stop trying to get everything right and start following His instructions in the book. Start with the Be-attitudes and work from there. Paul, Peter, and John also have heaps of great instructions… not to mention my good friend James! 

The bible is filled with people who obeyed, and they got it wrong and … God rescued them.  It is a contradictory book – filled with things that should never work … but they do … Remember, Almighty God planned stuff in advance for each one of us to do – if we don’t do it, then it won’t get done. 👋🏻

p 2429 Bless others and be generous.

/ DVH

“Those who live to bless others will have blessings heaped upon them, and the one who pours out his life to pour out blessings will be saturated with favour.” Proverbs 11:25 TPT. Boy that verse paints a great picture, especially at a time like this, when things everywhere are so difficult. You know, when things are tough we can tend to look the other way, and hope any other people who are suffering, will look after themselves. There’s another way to look at tough times. “If it is this hard for US, what must it be like for THEM?” 

I want to be clear right at the very beginning of this blog – generosity is not just about money, or goods etc. or service. Being generous and blessing others, these are heart things. Things we voluntarily do to enrich someone else’s life. This life will never be about who has the most – it is about who loves the most. Jesus told us when we do this stuff we are doing it for HIM. This means anything we do for others is not related to their relationship to us. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance we care deeply about what happens to strangers. It happens because His love wells up inside us, and we start praying He will show us how to help.

Sometimes living like this means we will text or phone someone just to see how they are doing. It means becoming involved in the day to day issues that many people face, but doing that…without taking over. Blessing others means offering support, and letting the other person know that they are not alone. It also means not storing up our wealth down here on earth, but instead we share it with those who are less fortunate – and Jesus says that is storing it up in heaven!

It also means spending time on our knees, as we hold up someone else’s plight before the throne of God like it is our own issue. God’s love in us does not stand back and wait to see what will happen next. Nor does it wait to see if it is going to be needed. That’s because His love is not afraid of rejection. Jesus was always incredibly generous with His time. He sought to bless others, simply because it is a part of His nature. As we follow Him our goal is to become a people whose generosity increases.  

We need to continually ask Him for His help so we can make practical and caring suggestions. We do that because in times of trouble people have enough to cope with, and thinking up something for you to do to help me, when I’m drowning, is too much work! Plus that isn’t actually helping!! The only thing that kind of action helps is our own conscience. “Well I tried to help them, but there didn’t seem to be anything I could do.”  Suddenly it is their fault if they are going down for the third time, because they couldn’t think straight under pressure!

Suffering people need somebody to lift the rubble of this life off them, and stop their proverbial bleeding. Somebody who cares enough to take them into their hearts until that injured party can stand up again. Love looks like something. In things like this it looks like commitment! Generosity, and blessing others looks like something concrete.“Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds.” 1 John 3:18 TPT.

Blessing people is not just restricted to helping those who cannot help themselves or even people who have little or no resources. All kinds of people can be spiritually and emotionally poor. We can open doors for the spiritually hungry by loving them in spirit and action. In prayer, words, and also practical ways. Being generous toward other people is also about the way we view what we actually have. Is it ours … or is it HIS? Do we bless the people we know and like, or will we help anyone? A life poured out for others is a life well-lived. Jesus modelled that.

Sometimes our time given to someone else includes weeping with them. Then we pray. One by one we hand all the things that are concerning that person back to the Lord, without preaching at them, or imparting condemnation. Always remembering that we are there specifically to bless, and we want to bring forth “An apple of gold in a setting of silver” — not a baseball bat and a lump of coal! 

A generous person who blesses others is selfless. Their aim is to leave the other person better off than they found them – closer to God and each other. Our generosity with our time, and care, as well as our finances can utterly transform someone else’s life under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It opens inner doors. 🤗

P 2424 This is His way.

/ DVH

“So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth. And I pray that He would unveil within you the unlimited riches of His glory and favour until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with His divine might and explosive power.Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of His love will become the very source and root of your life. 

Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is His love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!” Ephesians 3:14-19 TPT.

We don’t do the things that Jesus did or the things He asks us to do simply because He needs our hands and feet. We are not His robots, or even His portable advertising!  Christians do what they do to be obedient and their obedience expresses their loving devotion to Him. But at the same time the more we walk with Him in that obedience, the more we will see and experience His incredible Love for us. This is the very heart of these wonderful verses in Ephesians 3.

His love for us, as well as in us, these things are the riches we’ve been promised. Forget gold, silver and precious stones, His love is beyond price! And His Loving heart is toward us. He is like that King, Ahasuerus, who adored his wife, so he held out his sceptre toward Esther even when she  disobeyed the rules of his kingdom. God’s heart reaches toward us, to relieve us of our burdens and to help us with life’s difficulties. There are days when others do not like me or my company, but those days, those feelings, don’t reflect Him. Nothing will alter His love toward me. That is a huge gift. In those moments, I simply must believe what He says, not how I feel.

Years ago on ancient TV in the 1950s, we had an ad in this country for a man’s hair product, called Brylcreem. Its motto was “a little dab’ll do ya.” Father God’s love is NOT like Brylcreem! It is not mingy, or space-saving or economical! Christ’s sacrificial love sustains this universe and beyond. Despite what the scientists say, if God withdrew His loving favour from mankind the stars would fall out of the sky. Read the book of Revelation! You will see written there what happens when His boundless Love is withdrawn from the earth. His love is the incredibly powerful force that holds this world, including us, together.

The more we use our faith by being obedient, the more His love expands within us, until it becomes the very centre of our lives. Slowly His love transforms and replaces any imperfect human love we have that may have done damage to our hearts. Some of our responses are not sin – pain causes reactions too. However, the knowledge of His love is expanded in our hearts as we watch Him touch other people’s lives through us. 

While we were away this time, because of a series of God-ordained events, we managed to give an older cleaning lady a keychain. Her face seemed hardened by age and life, she was tiny but she looked tough. Scary even! But the Lord said to bless her, so we did. And the most amazing thing happened. Her face cracked open, and she looked just like a happy little child. Transformation happened right in front of our eyes. She danced up and down on the spot. This keychain was the most delicate one I have ever made. I probably would not have given her that particular one – my own judgment of how she looked would have gotten in the way! 

None of us know how hardened anyone else can become inside and out, because this life can deal each one of us terrible blows. In order to go on, human beings put on protective armour. That armour often changes our outward appearance, and at the same time it can alter what comes out of our mouths! Just like a barking dog that is scared of a stranger – we can become vicious and mean. But Father God’s love goes right around our disguises and touches hearts. Then we have the privilege of seeing someone else the way He designed them, that utterly transforms both parties, and opens their eyes to new possibilities. 

The bible says:  “perfect love casts out all fear…” The reality is, if we are afraid, it is not enough to just know this verse, that’s simply words. We need to know the heart of the One Who is speaking love over us. Watching Him work in the lives of the people around us opens our eyes to how incredible His love is. It seems upside down to think that in order to get love, we will have to give away Love. But that is His Way. It’s the way of faith. His way forward is for us to learn LOVE. 👋🏻

P 2417 The cross = LIFE.

/ DVH

There is no other place for sin but the cross. We need to pick up the hammer of our pride and rebellion and nail our sin right there, with tears of gratitude pouring down our faces. However, it would be fatal to think of the cross simply as a place of death and shame. People avoid the things they are ashamed about. Jesus Christ’s cross is a place of life. Life and – more life! His death bought us a new life. 

I often struggle with our religious concept of Good Friday, with all the solemnity and sorrow … meanwhile, we should always have Godly sorrow over our sin! … That’s what repentance looks like. But the cross is the place that our new life began. It is a place of bittersweet JOY! Not a funeral parlour. That funeral has long since past – HE. IS. RISEN.  Christ is no longer in that grave – He is seated at the right hand of the Father praying for you and I. That’s called AMAZING LOVE. 

Jesus could have gone up into heaven and rested on the marvellous thing His death and resurrection accomplished – But He Didn’t – because HIS HEART IS SO INCREDIBLY PASSIONATE TOWARD EACH ONE OF US.  He didn’t quit when He reached heaven, instead He started interceding for you and I to win. That we would overcome all the obstacles, sin, and hardships this world will throw at us. 

Some people have it tough in this world from the minute they open their eyes. Nothing goes right for them. Illness and calamity chase them like wraiths. Sorrow and suffering cloud their eyes, and they are unable to lift their heads. Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, is praying for them, right now.

There is not always an easy out from pain and suffering – the way to overcome these terrible afflictions is the way Jesus did it. Go through them with your eyes on God’s love for you. And don’t take your eyes off Jesus for a second. All hope is IN HIM, not in a solution to your problems. People say stupid things when they feel they are drowning in pain. They question the love of God because He has not made this life easy for them. I would never say don’t pray for healing or deliverance – but I would say don’t hinge your faith on an answer – hinge your faith on what He did and Who He is.

We are living in some of the most horrendous times since the Middle Ages. It’s incredibly spiritually dark outside! We must face the fact that in order for His light to shine so brightly in us – it simply MUST get dark outside. “The light shines more brightly in the darkness!!” I am not here to explain God’s Ways to you or anybody else. But I do know what darkness looks like, personally – it is like a vacuum – sucking energy, enthusiasm and hope out of you.

However the bible says:“The people who were sitting (living) in [spiritual] darkness have seen a great Light, And for those who were sitting (living) in the land and shadow of [spiritual and moral] death, Upon them a Light has dawned.” Matthew 4:16 AMP. Darkness cannot put light out. Light dismisses darkness in a heartbeat. 

We have lost the attention of so many people who were once practising Christians, because we handed them lollies and ice creams and salty potato chips and called all that …GOD and His Ways. Saying things to them like this: ‘Whatever you want God will give it to you.’ “My God will supply all your needs …” Lollies and ice cream will freeze our brains and rot our teeth, and too much salt will give us high blood pressure! Unfortunately when people prayed prayers that were not answered, they became disappointed and disillusioned with Him. We RE-PRESENTED Him BADLY in those times. Good place to repent right there!

GOD HIMSELF WILL FOREVER BE OUR PRIZE. Not what He does or does not do. The church at large marketed God and failed. Now we need to LIVE to re-present Him, alive and well and living in each one of us!  Now we live our lives, this only life we have, in the glorious light of that cross … Rejoicing that SomeOne loved each one of us so much He went there for us. The cross is a place we visit to WORSHIP, repent, and remember Him. That cross is a place of JOY. The whole game of life changed on that cross!

We need to remember that Jesus Christ knows suffering first hand – this means I am never alone. He knows how to get through this stuff – whether He tells me to hold on in faith because He will heal me – or He tells me He will be with me in my suffering and sorrow. Just grab His hand and follow Him through it … and get to know HIM as you do it!

The cross = Life. It transforms the life we actually have, from day to day, into something so beautiful we have no words to explain it. We simply know His eternal life touched ours and now we are not the same. 🥰 👋🏻

P 2413 Some thoughts about fatherhood.

/ DVH

“…This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who You are. Set the world right; Do what’s best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with You and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything You want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.” Matthew 6 MSG.

Today I want to talk about a place some people may have a lack. Those of us who have not had a present, engaged earthly father, may find the entire concept of a father is hard to grasp. Personally, I don’t remember my birth-father at all, I met him much later in life, and to be perfectly honest with you – I had no idea what to do with him! At that time he gave me a big bag of jelly-beans, because I loved them when I was 7, which was the last time he saw me … However I was 27 when I saw him again … and not much fussed about jelly beans! He died not long after that meeting, and he had another family by then, so we didn’t get a chance to mend bridges. 

I totally fell head over heels in love with Jesus when I met Him. His willingness to accept me and save me from myself plus His unrelenting kindness and goodness blew me away. But, a Heavenly Father … that was a whole other ballgame. Father God was more of a written concept than an actual father to me. I said all that to say this … my early lack meant that I have had a limited idea emotionally, about a father’s generosity. How a good man cares or watches out for his children’s well being. His strength and solidarity in a time of crisis. I virtually grew up fatherless in the real sense of the word.

But I had two stepfathers. One of them taught me how to forgive people who sin against you, because his form of government was extremely physical. Unfortunately, at the same time, he taught me to be afraid of men. This meant that a loving, engaged, and a totally-committed-to-my-welfare-father, like our Heavenly Father is to all of us … was right outside my childhood experience. A good father helps his kids with their identity. These wonderful men provide abiding security, so that their kids do not major on minor things like they are the end of the world..

This is why the above prayer from the Message bible blesses me. It says so clearly: “reveal Who You are….” I know that I need that kind of revelation from Him. Obedience comes easily to me – fear of consequences is a terrible motivator – but it also means I have a fear of God that isn’t biblical or healthy. This verse explains that our God loves to help us in the places we have a lack. My advice is to simply ask Him to supply that particular need. He isn’t just talking about somewhere to live, or a nice car!

BTW, we are not being disloyal to our earthly parents just because Father God can meet our needs and they didn’t – or can’t – or won’t. Even a good earthly father can mess up! And trust can be fragile at best when someone ill-equipped to be a godly father, turns out to be your parent. All told I had 3 fathers and none of them taught me anything about what a loving Father was like – they did however teach me to be scared of loud voices and angry men.

Enter my dear husband. In the past 35 years. He has patiently taught me more about what men and fathers are like, than I ever learnt in all the years before we were married. He is still teaching me about man-speak — because the way that men think, is a total enigma to me. Until he came along there were no men in my life to contribute any insight into the male psyche;  so whenever they got loud, I wanted to run! 

However, I also expected men to ignore me, because that’s what happened regularly too. To avoid the grumpy disinterested men in my life, I learnt to hide my personal self away. I came from a female dominated family line, and that means I don’t understand spontaneously, or naturally, how men think. Why they do and say what they do and say – puzzles me and I have very little insight. Sadly, some of the things that we do, even as adults, we do defensively, sometimes automatically.

The bible tells us that our God is a “Father to the fatherless.”  I want to encourage anyone with the same problem that I have had, to ask for this heavenly revelation. We were not just born again into God’s family, we have also been ADOPTED by Him. Adoption means choice! Father God can definitely supply this kind of need for validation and security etc. because He is everyone’s Father and He knows all our names. People like me need to pray over every verse that talks about the Fatherhood of Almighty God, and deliberately renew our minds – this is how we will change our thinking.  👋🏻 

P 2406 True kindness – not the mushy kind.

/ DVH

The Lord wants us to be kind the way He is kind – He is kind to the sinner, as well as the saint – He shows no partiality. Kindness can open up a heart far better and faster than any probing, or carefully crafted questions. Whenever we think about approaching other people … kindness needs to be our motivation. We need this fruit of the Holy Spirit activated and operating through us. Active in us – means we understand that when God or a brother or sister points out a fault in us, they are being kind. Christians are always ready and unafraid to be corrected, because we own and rectify our untoward actions and attitudes. We have a secret – WE HAVE A SAVIOUR. 

One of the best things to put far from our minds when we are talking to strangers, or friends, is whether they are Christians or not. We need get rid of this isolationist idea that we have one face in church and another outside it. I urge you to simply be the same person at all times. To start with, there will be huge untold benefits —- you will do what you do with sincerity and true kindness, and other people will be impacted.  

Hiding our sins from others gives the enemy an opportunity to shoot us at the worst possible moment. Our sin is gone, not disguised. Many Christians hide their sins because they hate to be seen to be wrong —I dunno why?!?! We have been permanently set free and we are now open to be led by Him. Honesty means humility. Win win! However wearing a nice veneer leaves no room for acts of faith. The Holy Spirit loves all things to be open. Hiding our sin from ourselves and each other, is a sign of pride. But a humble heart gladly repents and makes reparation. If we are not careful we can treat being changed like it is our enemy – transformation into His likeness is always a JOY. 

Meanwhile pride is the stuff that will make anyone fall over quicker than a runner who trips on a shoelace. The bible says:“It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.”Here that verse is in the MSG version:“You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because He’s such a nice God, He’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but He’s not soft. In kindness He takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.”Romans 2:4.

Isn’t that version a hoot? Because if we are truthful, sometimes this is exactly the way we think. We think He will be kind to us because … because… “I can’t help it. I had a hard life and my parents were mean to me … blah  blah blah… I hate my job and it’s not my fault… blah blah blah. Because my spouse is mean to me and my kids don’t listen to a word I say… I know God understands that when I shout I don’t mean it….” … This sort of attitude denies the power of the cross. Be real! Admit your faults – then you can get on with living life His Way instead. Being fake excludes the power of the Spirit.

God’s idea of kindness includes discipline. “The Lord disciplines those He loves.” God loves us but He won’t put up with our stuff. The stuff has to go! It is stopping us from being all we can be. His huge, very real love, challenges anything and everything that will stop us from growing up into the fullness of Christ. Any parent will tell you that it knows their kid’s potential, and when the little darlings go on and on about ‘it’s not my fault, the teacher is so mean to me!’ An engaged parent will see through that. And so does the Lord. Everything is an opportunity for us to know HIM better … this side of heaven.

Here’s what I’ve learnt – we can only avoid change for so long, and then the Lord kind of squishes us into a corner where we have to look at whatever it is … and despite our pretty pictures of a God Who is more like Santa Claus – He won’t let us out! This is when He is being incredibly kind to us. He never demands that we succeed – instead He wants our participation, our willingness to engage with Him in His processes. And that has nothing whatsoever to do with simply agreeing that what we are doing is not Godly! We need to learn to apply God-given answers and deal with ourselves. Real faith grows with application and demonstration.

Godly kindness will open doors that have been slammed shut by pain, betrayal, anguish, grief, and hopelessness. Human kindness will eventually get fed up, and give up! God’s kind of love perseveres. Its only requirement is that it is genuine. And there is nothing like staying real, to release the sort of kindness that heals and impacts someone else’s life. Kindness means forgiveness is always ready to make an appearance – it doesn’t demand a penalty because it knows the penalty has been paid.

In the kindness of our God, our faith and beliefs are open to anyone… so we need to be open, generous, truthful and considerate with other people, no matter how they treat us. That’s how we spread what He did for mankind around, and it is what true kindness looks like. 👋🏻

P 2400 We are not powerless – we can choose.

/ DVH

We need to accept the reality that as God’s family, we have power. JESUS GAVE IT TO US. Luke 10:19: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” 

We have the power to choose to obey and work together with the Holy Spirit. That cannot be taken away from us, but it can be voluntarily surrendered if it is unknown, or under-appreciated.  satan can’t make US do anything – but he can tempt us in any area where we are weak … areas in our hearts and minds that are still unredeemed. 

This is why we need to deliberately pay attention to our spiritual lives. Our physical, emotional and mental lives will take over otherwise. Most of the time we do not fully comprehend that the power we have, means we can actually say NO to the devil, or even to the Lord Himself. I don’t recommend the latter but we can! Our God will not force us, but ,,, He may allow circumstances to persuade us to revise our decision. Remember Jonah??  

When we add the power of God, to the power of choice – human beings become unstoppable. I want to be clear about that. You or I might have prayed a prayer for someone to be saved, and so far that hasn’t happened. Even if we die – that prayer is still out there. Almighty God values our prayers. Jesus showed us that, when He prayed for Christians to be One. That particular prayer is awaiting its tipping point — it hasn’t happened yet, but that does not mean it won’t! “There is a TIME for every purpose under heaven …”  Ecclesiastes 3:1. 

I personally don’t think that our prayers have an expiry date, but sometimes the content needs to be checked with the Lord, first. Our problem is that it is unfortunately too easy to think that when something goes unanswered after a longish period of time, it won’t be answered at all. In the bible, we see people negotiating with the Lord. Maybe some things need negotiation!  When we pray something in agreement with the Holy Spirit, together with God’s Word, it cannot fail – because our voice is joined to His. 

Sadly, for years we’ve applied this scripture or that scripture as leverage to get what we want —for things that were about gain, to make our lives better. I honestly don’t think that things, no matter how important they seem at the time, matter. Because things don’t last. Human beings, however, last forever! We are eternal beings.  Even when I give to benefit others, I am entering into His eternal principles. But if I only want to gain things for my own comfort in this life, then my prayer is simply to satisfying my desire for temporal things. 

The enemy of our souls has hooked us into caring more about temporal things than we do about eternal things. The result has been great disappointment and disillusionment for many. However the transformation of a human heart from selfishness, strife, anger, lying, cheating, and disloyalty etc. IS, in itself, a miracle. What we allow God to change in us, in our lifetime – is a glimpse of eternity to come, here and now. That is how we become carriers of His glory and partakers of His nature. Rom. 6:11-14; Gal. 5:16,25.

We are not powerless in the Lord’s process of redemption in our lives. But change does not come by osmosis either. It happens as a co-operative. We obey His will, His way, and as we do that, He transforms us. We can still wilfully choose to be bad tempered, and sometimes it has nothing whatsoever to do with anyone else!  Although there are some people who delight in creating what I call opportunities for us to fall into! 

The way to be strong in the Lord, is to learn to resist temptation. The bible calls it ‘overcoming’ and it tells us to “…flee from temptation…”  Unfortunately if we walk too slowly away, then we can also sort of kind of stroll back again! And in those moments we start assessing how bad could those things really be? And then at other times we dive in where angels fear to tread. These temptations are things that we already know will bring only a temporary thrill or satisfaction. Our aim is to walk with Him – so that’s where our focus needs to be.

We are not powerless – we can choose, because we are a powerful people.“(God’s) divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 NIV. 👋🏻 

P 2388 His will is always our priority.

/ DVH

Matthew 22:1-14 “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not DESERVE to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

At this time, Jesus was preaching to the spiritual leaders and the crowds about a King who was holding a wedding feast. Astonishingly, at that moment, the Master of that feast was standing right in front of all of them inviting them all to think differently about God Himself. I think the Lord was giving the religious leaders who were listening, a chance to understand, that although they thought they were so right with God, they were actually rejecting Him in favour of their own more self-important made-up chosen ways! They are the people saying NO in this parable! They are the invited guests who are too busy with their own lives to respond to the honour. He is saying, if they are not careful, the little people, the so-called bad, less-spiritual people that they look down upon, will actually be the ones who end up at this feast – not them. Because the religious people will exclude themselves.

All of these different types of spiritual leaders had presumably come to check out His theology. They enjoyed a prominent spiritual position before God and man, and they were revered because of their place in that society. In His parable, the Lord is saying that they’ve used their privilege to avoid going to the feast – even though they had the invitation first. Because what they wanted, and deemed important, was more important than honouring their agreement. The Master of the feast is always more important than anybody invited to it! However, these men were so entrenched in what they had embraced, they couldn’t see Him and spent all their time trying to catch Him out.

Now, if anyone ought to know about the things of God it should be them! These guys studied the truth for a living … yet they still missed it when the Truth was standing in front of them. They did not see the value of their invitation to be His chosen people, and they blew it off. Even though the food, everything needed was all ready for them, and the Master of the feast would have to waste it … they still said no. Their religious ideas had grown so big, so all encompassing and powerful, that they thought their theology was more important to them than what He was saying. Just to be clear, the feast is actually God Himself, knowing Him … and He was standing right in front of them. But their pride in what they knew, said they knew better. They were too greatly invested in proving Him wrong and themselves right!

Now, you and I — who were never going to be a part of that elite group without Christ’s sacrifice — have been temporarily given their place. Let’s be clear, MAN cannot dictate the terms of any agreement between God and us. Almighty God does. And if He says ‘come’ we come – and if He says ‘GO,’ we go! Otherwise we are acting like we are in charge and we are not. Actually, when we think we are in charge, satan takes advantage of us! As outsiders, we have now been compelled by His love to be His honoured guests at that bridal supper. He personally sent the Holy Spirit to bring us in! We’ve been given brand new bridal garments washed in Jesus’ blood – because our own clothes will not do. 🙌

Our Heavenly Father God wants His house full of people who are glad to be included, and they are rejoicing because they know they are so blessed to be asked to His feast. In the mean time …let’s not ever forget how easily we can exclude ourselves, like these religious men in Matthew did. We must not use good-sounding excuses … they show the Lord our hearts, and reveal our lesser priorities. We’ve been invited to live the Way Christ lived this life. He is our priority. We must not ever make our personal priorities bigger than His. His free Grace is not permission to do what WE want.👋🏻

P 2379 You shall receive power …

/ DVH

“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.” Acts1:8. The power Christ sent back to us, through the Precious Holy Spirit’s Presence, isn’t simply the power to raise the dead, heal the sick, preach the gospel, give words of knowledge, serve thousands lunch, or walk on water! That power is with us to help us read the bible, and live out our daily lives bringing glory to God. However, the Holy Spirit is also the power to overcome the daily stuff that often trips us up.

Please don’t quit relying on Him before you’ve won the prize – I am talking to myself as well as you, OK? Learn to press IN when difficulties overtake you – insist. Tell Him you don’t want to go a step further until you start, thinking, acting and looking like Jesus. Risk takers see miracles – in themselves, as well as others. Imagine what this world would look like if every single professing Christian in it at this moment, started acting like Jesus would? What if we all started loving people, and putting others first? What if we all lived our lives for His sake, and obeyed what He told us to do in the book?

Let me put that another way – if a squatter came to your house and sat down in it, and started to say things like: “This is my house now …you have to leave.” What would you do?  Would you sadly pack up your things and head for the front door and leave? NO-OO-OO-OO-OO!!! You’d tell the guy: “What?? Have you lost your mind? I have a piece of paper that legally says this is MY house.OUT!!  Get the heck out of here. Or I’ll call the police to turf you out.” 

WE HAVE A BOOK! That book is a heaven-sent legal document that tells us what God will and won’t do. It tells us what we can do on His behalf. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we now have His power of attorney. We are legally able to act like He would if He was here … because He IS here – He lives inside US now. Please don’t let satan lie or trick you, by influencing your feelings out of what is legally yours!

Don’t lose your birthright over a bowl of stew like Esau did. That young man gave away his future, to bring relief into HOW HE FELT in the immediate moment. Sadly we can do this often, I know I do! I can easily let how I feel, rule what I do, how I pray, what I concentrate on. We can’t afford to do it. We are giving away our birthright so we can try to deal with the difficult or sad things in this life. Instead of leaning on Him, we lean on our own understanding. Or … we try soooooo hard to ‘look’ right, and feel like a fake.

The most difficult moment there ever was … was that moment Christ died. To the disciples, it looked like hope died. I can’t imagine what the world was like for those three days, but I bet nobody from that group was walking and leaping and praising God! Then, the change slowly unfolded. First the tomb was empty, then someone else said they saw Him, then two other someone’s said they saw Him … BUT in those terrible moments…the disciples valued what they saw and humanly understood – more than what Jesus had told them would happen. Those guys still went back to what they knew. That’s the biggest danger for us as Christians. The old life, the life we are familiar with … beckons.

Nobody was waiting for Jesus to walk through a wall! Let me tell you the Person of Christ got incredibly bigger the moment He walked through that wall!! This was SomeOne Who had defeated death and was even more alive than they were. We cannot afford to limit God. We have to let Him do things the way He wants to do them. Our obedience to what He has said, and what He is still saying today, is paramount. 

For example, He told us to love our enemies, to do good to those who deliberately hurt us. (Read the Beatitudes!) Our journey forward as a Body depends on our willingness to obey no matter what the cost is. Disobedience to His Word makes us deaf. We often can’t hear HIM, because we are listening to self, and then we start making pretty excuses so we don’t have to do what He said. We tell ourselves that that sort of devoted obedience belongs to missionaries and pastors and evangelists etc etc.. Go back to the book. Did it say it was only written for an elite few? We ALL need the mind of Christ – to get that we must stop simply reading, and start doing.

“Please Lord Jesus we want our hearts be on fire like Yours! Help us to use Your power in our lives to defeat our own personal enemies and failings.’ Amen. It’s OK to realise you are spiritually poor, because our God is so rich in the things we need – and that’s a good place to live! Depend on Him. Just remember we have the power of heaven behind us to be transformed choice by choice. 👋🏻 

“What happiness comes to you when you feel your spiritual poverty! For yours is the realm of heaven’s kingdom.” Matthew 5:3 TPT.