Hebrews 10:38

P 3514 Things we can do to grow our faith.

/ DVH


Proverbs 11:25 TPT: “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.” AMP: “The generous man [is a source of blessing and] shall be prosperous and enriched, And he who waters will himself be watered [reaping the generosity he has sown].”

Good morning! Let’s get into today’s thought …Hubby and I have been, financially speaking, living by God’s grace and allowing that life of giving to develop our faith for many years. We have learnt that this verse in Proverbs 11, in any version, is an excellent guideline. Using our faith and finances for the Lord’s purposes has stretched our faith in all kinds of directions.

I am mentioning this today because living by faith seems to be a huge step, and while many Christians aim at going to heaven, not quite so many aim at using their faith, here and now! Our faith can be suitably stretched and instructed when it comes to finances. Everything we have been given is for sharing with others….

So here we go again, with the same thought in four different verses. Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38: “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” That verse is in the bible four times. Repetition means pay attention! I have said on a number of occasions that the most practical way to step up into living by faith is to give. Money helps us live, and giving by faith outside of our human limitations, as Jesus leads us, stretches our faith.

We’ve also met a number of quiet givers over the 20 or so years we’ve been travelling for Jesus and giving away bibles. They have taught us so much about giving! These brothers and sisters are rarely seen, they give in secret. Jesus loves that idea – it’s in Matthew 6:1-4. These undercover brothers and sisters support others and don’t care if they get recognition or not. They simply love to give and help, as they trust Jehovah Jireh to provide for them. The truth is hubby and I couldn’t possibly do what we do without givers … but this is not my reason for writing about this subject today. I am not looking for your money!

My point today is that giving … no matter how strapped for cash etc you are… is a fantastic learning curve when it comes to practising faith. Tithing is great …do it. The pastor needs to live somewhere, he kind of enjoys EATING … plus his family may need transportation. However, I’m talking about giving above the tithe, because it is a way to love others. Give sacrificially. It has helped our faith grow when we’ve given, even when we didn’t have any spare finances. Can I be honest? We’ve found that there never seems to be any spare money! When we give sacrificially our faith becomes costly, and giving provides a great opportunity to use it for other people’s good, and our faith to grow.

When I talk about this subject I have had all kinds of lovely people explain that they don’t live this way because they can’t give cheerfully. See 2 Corinthians 9:7. Boy what a cop out that is! My advice is that anyone can learn to whack a smile on their face, grit their teeth and give their money, time, and help to … the Lord Himself. ‘Whatsoever you do, do it as unto the Lord.‘ The people we help are not the end of the line, they are the means God uses to teach and train us. When we do things for them, we are doing it for Jesus.

Almighty God uses our finances to diagnose what is really important in our lives! Money, or even the lack of it, makes a terrible god. Our God is a generous God – we can’t out give Him. Father God fed ALL the Israelites supernaturally in the wilderness … not just some of them, or the ones that were more obedient. If we want to be like Him then we will also need to be a generous people, guided by the Holy Spirit, helping others.

Loads of lovely Christian people flunk this test. BTW, God tests us – it says so in James 1:2-4! He tests and disciplines us. Hebrews 12:5-6 and Proverbs 3:11-12. Yet another excruciatingly popular subject. Back to giving. Giving is like breathing air. It provides us with opportunities to grow our faith. If your faith is down in the dumps and you are longing for a breakthrough, start by blessing other people. When we do that we are acting like Jesus did in Mark 1:21-38. The Lord had little money, but this passage shows us what Jesus did with His time, over the course of just one day.

James 2:14-17 says this: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Yeah, I know, bring that up! This is what James advises us to do to exercise our faith. Let’s not practice dead faith by doing nothing! James is giving us good advice. Faith needs to be exercised or it flattens out and stops moving. My last point today is this: “without faith it is impossible to please God,” see Hebrews 11:6. So cultivating faith is a great asset that will help us in other areas, including pleasing our Heavenly Father.

We exercise our faith when we believe that He is, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently … did ya get that? … diligently seek Him. It has to be worked at. Sharing our finances is one of the things you and I can do to grow our faith. Bye. 👋.

P 3335 ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER.

/ DVH

“This gospel unveils a continual revelation of God’s righteousness—a perfect righteousness given to us when we believe. And it moves us from receiving life through faith, to the power of living by faith. This is what the Scripture means when it says: “We are right with God through life-giving faith!”” Romans 1:17 TPT.

Father God had a plan for mankind before He ever spoke the words …”Let there be light…”  I really like the picture below because the bible says: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God …” John 1:1. Jesus Christ is the personification of this written Word and we too, will be transformed into living testaments for God’s glory. Father God gave us His perspective of what this life is about … and He sent us the best example to show us that there is no other way – Jesus is the Way!

Unbelievable Grace was released the day Jesus chose to die, but this action was planned by Father God, from the beginning of time, so that you and I would learn to live using our faith. And that faith would grow so big in us, we would use it to live this life, day by day, minute by minute, here and now. Our faith is not just to be used to get us out of trouble, or sorrow or strife— our faith is a WAY OF LIFE. Pressing us deeper into relying totally on Him, no matter what our circumstances are. “The just shall LIVE by faith.” Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38.  

Like the scripture above in Romans says …our faith is not just meant to be an occasional exercise – we are to live there. Everything that was done for us will be continually revealed to us, over and over again. There are golden threads of heavenly wisdom that criss-cross our lives enriching them with His value, depth and colour. Jesus’ righteousness has been freely given and sent to keep us moving forward, deeper and deeper into our Heavenly Father’s love. His love is about WHO HE IS. 

We dare not take advantage of His generosity by doing whatever we like and thinking: “That will be OK, everybody does it.” That’s called presumption, and it is holding us back from the depths of His love. Sticking our heads in the sand and hoping no-one (like the Lord) will notice that we are not being transformed, is futile. The first person to notice transformation should be ME and hopefully my spouse etc.

In our struggles to maintain our personality – which is a selfish concept from this world – we are hurting other people. “Love does no harm.” The Lord’s love has been freely given to us and we need to gladly share it with anyone … including our enemies! Not living by faith will restrict our spiritual breathing. Faith is a road not a one-time destination. But we can so easily stop at the knowledge, and not move forward into the actions that appropriate the POWER to live like Jesus did.

Living by faith produces that power. The more we obey Him in faith, the more we increase God’s power in our lives to overcome our own peculiar foibles, this world’s temptations, and the devil’s wiles. We must keep moving. Moving ON… Christianity is not meant to stand still, or rest on the laurels of things that have been revealed in the past. There will always be new mountains to explore, new rivers to cross, and other oceans with new worlds that have brand new beginnings on the other side of them.

Stopping that loving way of life moving forward is fatal. Whether we are a church group, denomination, or a single soul following Christ for themselves, there is no arrival place this side of heaven. However, our faith down here is designed to be mobile – tested, sometimes weighed and measured, as we willingly choose to live in love and experience the Holy Spirit’s transformation. 

Jesus left this earth so He could leave behind a group of people who were so enabled by the Holy Spirit they would do what He did and more. God’s righteousness, so freely extended and given to all of us, is the vehicle that makes this forward movement possible. As we obey, using our faith, we will stop going round and round, wasting our time doing the same dumb things over and over, and start fulfilling our personal destiny. Our destiny is to love others the way He loved us. Forget grubbing around in the dust looking for this gift or that ministry – let’s go for what God Himself says is GOLD. A love that will die for each other.

Then we’ll become like pure spring water leaping into this life over all the rocks and barriers that a life on earth has constructed in us and around us. We bring that joyous life and loving to others, no matter what tribe, tongue or creed they have. The thing is – it has to be real. We can’t fudge transformation or even try to maintain it. All this holier than thou stuff that goes on in our lives is an impediment to the real. I’ve seen the real, it is tangible, life-giving and powerful!

Many saints want God’s power without transformation, and that is as dangerous as giving a lit stick of dynamite to a little kid to chew on. The kid doesn’t know what it is playing with! … Nor the danger it is in. Without a Christ-like character being developed in us, we cannot be trusted with Holy things, because our minds and hearts can easily be corrupted. The good news is this:  we are all standing on the same ground. No-one is better at this than someone else. If we are still breathing on this earth then we are still in His processes and He promised to finish what He started!

The Good News is, the more you live this way the more you fall in Love with the One Who paid the ultimate price for you! Remember, one thing — using our faith – leads to another — living by faith. Bye. 👋

P 3212 Four immobilising traps.

/ DVH

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 2645 Faith is our way of life.

/ DVH

In many churches today we have grown to think of evangelism as outreach.  That brave, but weird guy who stands on the corner preaching is kind of embarrassing – so we secretly hurry by him. We don’t like to confront people, instead we invite a ‘special’ person with an evangelistic gift come to our church. Now our job is to ask everybody we can think of to those services so the man with that precious gift can present the Lord to others. Hey! That’s great – do it!…  BUT!! … … you just knew there was a ‘but’ coming eh?… What about the guy who sits in the next cubicle at work, or the person you see daily on the bus, or the parent you meet every day by the school’s gate??? 

When we think about reaching out to others perhaps we feel that we have no spare time to prepare ourselves? What with the kids, our spouse, our church, our job, our extended family, our friends, the gym, and our pets! Here’s something I have learnt. Don’t pray for anything unless you are prepared to be a part of the answer! God loves participation, He loves to do things with us. Everybody gets to join in. WE are His part of that answer to our prayers for the guy at work, or the person on the bus, or little Jimmy’s mum at the gate. 

We’ve forgotten that Jesus goes with US, everywhere we go …even to the school gate. Christ won’t ever leave us or forsake us — the bible says so! He is already standing right by the throne, praying for the person in the next cubical to ours, and the cubical next to that one etc.etc. He also knows the NAME of every single individual on that bus, or train. He knows Jimmy’s mum, and everything that happens at her house. He is limitless.He just needs an interested, available conduit to both pray AND speak.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect …” 1 Peter 3:15. Our job is to be ready to speak at any given moment. Hubby and I have found a fascinating thing, when we speak to one person, other people often ‘hover’ about eavesdropping around the edges! Jesus Christ is a great fan of ‘as you are going’ … He lived that way. Witnessing is a state of mind, a way of life, not a spiel we have memorised.

It kind of works like this: …you are praying for Jimmy’s mum and you meet her at the gate. She starts to tell you how Jimmy’s been a right pest lately and she is nearly insane trying to deal with his rudeness, and constant obsession with the internet, plus his grumpy moods, etc. etc. She says: ‘How do you get your Johnny to co-operate?’ You shrug your shoulders, roll your eyes, and say: “I have to pray about that all the time. Jesus helps me.” “If you confess Me before men then I will confess you before My Father.”You don’t have to go to that gate all primed up to speak to Jimmy’s mum – you just truthfully answer her questions.

After that I would leave that remark lying out there. Just tell Jimmy’s mum in your own words that you can’t manage Johnny or your life without God! And then leave it alone. It would be good to volunteer to pray for her and Jimmy if she wants you to. BTW the previous remarks are my suggestions to illustrate simplicity  – they are not a script anyone is meant to follow. The REAL secret is, don’t leave the Lord out of anything!  Tell Him you are on deck for what He wants at any given moment. We need to use our faith to be available to love on people, help them and tell them about the SOURCE of our help! 

Our faith is not meant to be a privacy issue … that’s this world’s idea of faith. Active faith is about the way we live. We simply need to be upfront and honest about what we believe. As we go along, other things will be added unto us, which means some stuff happens automatically when our faith is alive, active and central to everything else. That’s what seeking His kingdom first means. A part-time faith leaves room for confusion – you never know whether you should speak or not. That’s why it is good to always be ready to give an account of the faith that is within you.

For years Christians have been taught, and encouraged to think, that they have to be a perfect witness to the society around them. They have to look right, sound right and behave well everywhere under all circumstances. Good luck with doing that, without the Holy Spirit helping us! Sadly when we pretend with others, it actually becomes more difficult to be real with the Lord. Hiding becomes a habit. We stop talking to Him about our failures.

Meanwhile it is highly likely that other people can see through our pretence anyway!. And if they live next door to us, they probably hear us shouting at each other or the kids – on a very rare occasion, of course! 😂 Our whole life’s focus is Christ, what He did for everyone, and that cannot be a part-time pursuit. Faith is not just about salvation, it is the way we live now. “The just shall live by faith.”  Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38.  Bye 👋