Holidays

P 3044.

/ DVH

“Jesus said to all of His followers, “If you truly desire to be My disciple, you must disown your life completely, embrace My ‘cross’ as your own, and surrender to My ways. For if you choose self-sacrifice, giving up your lives for My glory, you will discover true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will lose what you try to keep.” Luke 9:23-24 TPT. 

These verses mean our lives have been whittled down to one important choice – will we live this life we have been given for Jesus’ sake? Or will we continue to choose to try fit Him in around the edges? I’ve noticed that dividing our time between what we want and what He wants, never ever works. What I think and want takes over.

In my opinion this particular choice needs to be presented to anyone who wants to give their life to Jesus – right at the beginning. After all, the Lord’s exchange rate goes right through the roof – we get His loving goodness for our sin! And this type of total surrender should be mentioned before anything else – we need to make it clear that people are giving their lives away.

We are not selling cars, holidays or houses – we are by His Grace, consistently revealing the One we know, to the people-who-have-not-met-Him-yet. I don’t much like the idea of total commitment coming later, as an after thought. In my mind, this needs to be the only thought. This is the choice! I live for me OR, I choose to live for Him. When I mess that up, He’s there helping me back onto my feet again. He’s Almighty God, He gets to make the rules, that means – I follow Him. 

Jesus loves to do great exploits and He wants to do them through all of us. That means we will talk to other people about what we’ve personally known about Him. He isn’t just helping the people on Youtube or the enthusiastic souls who make podcasts or write books. He will help all of us. But our faith levels need to increase. 

The Lord wants to do whatever He wants to do in your life … with you;  through you;  in you – to help others. What He does for us, every single day is so incredible — the sun came up where I live this morning! How about you?! Every single Christian has testimonies about how God’s glory has transformed their lives. But we can become so enamoured with this worlds’ razzmatazz and hype, we miss what He is doing! There is no need at all, for us to ever shift from Him being our central point of focus, because that’s the place we stand on.

We choose to view everything else that happens to us through what He has done. Even our calendars are founded on two abbreviated terms that take Jesus birth as a pivotal date. B.C. means before Christ. AD means Anno Domino(latin) — it means in the year of our Lord… We count time by Jesus’ birth!  Apparently some people have come up with a PC version, but I gave that the flick. If I listen to them I am a descendant of a short-sighted amoeba! Yeah right. Rhubarb.

What Jesus is saying here in Luke 9, is that none of our lives will reach their fullest meaning and potential outside of a totally committed life. God is good, we will always have a choice. So we can self-govern if we want to — but then our responses can be limited by our personal experiences, our intelligence, and opportunities. Deception floats about this world like pollen on a windy day – unseen and dangerous. But when Jesus is our catalyst – the sky is the limit. Let’s remember that this world has no knowledge of what real love looks like and everyone’s lack hurts other people. Love is NOT a feeling, it’s a choice.

The key to the passage in Luke is the word truly. “…If you truly desire to be My disciple…”  That means commitment is going to be needed, whether we feel like it or not. That stance takes bravery! Christianity is not a try now and buy later scheme, it is an all or nothing one. As a matter of fact, I think trying now and buying later is downright dangerous. Many people have decided to try Christianity – and in their view, when God did not met with their untaught irreligious expectations, they dismissed Him with a wave of their hand. They explain that they’ve bin there and dun that and they’d like to keep their options open!

Of course you can ‘try’ Jesus, but please be aware that you just put a giant target from His enemy, on your back. Everything that can oppose you will! Jesus cannot be an optional extra – He has to become the point of our lives. When we give our entire life to Jesus, He takes it. In return, we begin our journey into eternal life, right here, right now. We do that against a backdrop of imperfection, in ourselves and others. That’s why the light in us shines brightly – the darker it gets in this world, the brighter we will shine.

Eternity is not ‘pie in the sky when we die.’ It is perfectly expressed, here and now, by a life lived in faith, following Jesus wherever He takes us. We bring His kingdom down here, by the way we walk, talk, think and act. We can’t psyche ourselves into that kind of stuff – we need His help. And He is always with us, in the Person of the Holy Spirit. All means all. Jesus Christ gave His all, so now we give Him ours. Christianity is not a part-time thing – it is a life-time commitment. Selah. Bye 👋

P 2942 Obedience is a great healer.

/ DVH

Be-ca-use … as we are going off to do what He told us to do, He can heal us. I’m not just talking about ailments, although He loves to heal those too! I’m talking about the kind of troubles that say: “I’ve been alive a while and people-jumped-all-over-me-with-their-hobnail-boots-on … and hurt me badly..” So many Christians are sitting around with hurt feelings, waiting for God to heal them, so they can do something for the Lord. … Because their mother, father, spouse, kid – has been, or is still being – mean to them. Bin there dun that, the t-shirt was a dud!

We can’t change that behaviour … IT’S IN THE PAST. You can only have so much prayer that even with anointing oil you will slide down walls!! I’ve learnt, through His Grace, to leave the past behind me. Walk on. Like Jesus said,‘let the dead (past) bury the dead! NOW is the hour of salvation.”This is what ‘loving those people who despitefully use you‘is all about … putting the past where it belongs – behind you!

People have done dreadful things to each other, and their kids … Forgive, repent and … get over it. Jacob always had a limp. Some things mark you for life, but let it go and get on with your life. Don’t let someone else’s sin hold YOU hostage! And pray for the offenders, love on them, then … move on. Go out and be obedient to His heavenly vision. You don’t have to dig ditches to serve Jesus, your story may be a blessing to someone else.

I am not talking about neglecting our families or kids, or our family life – I’m talking about priorities. This world has subtly presented the idea that we cannot have fun without being whole. ROT! People had fun before they had electricity. I’m talking about living a godly life in front of your family as an example. Let your kids see that Christians value God’s opinion more than their own, and they value obedience.   

Many loving, fantastic parents put their lives on standby, while their most productive years are being devoted to raising their children, and contributing to the kid’s well-being. Protecting and helping your kids can become a habit that is hard to break — even when the little darlings are turning 55 soon! That person we fuss over is a grown up, by the way. The best way to learn about this life is to live it!

We have carefully cultivated a million reasons why we can’t be involved in that banquet the Lord talked about in Matthew 22:1–14 and Luke 14:15–24… ’I got married. I bought a field. I’m just too busy!’  That banquet story is not just about heaven, it is about here and now. Do yourself a favour, don’t ever be too busy to be obedient to the Lord! That is a slippery slide that leads right out of the building.

Many bits of my body either don’t work, or constantly complain at me, it would be easy to sit in a corner and wait to die. Somebody I love is doing that with their life, even as I am writing this blog. It’s sad. We have no control over the time of our own departure – unless we make a dumb decision to take the matter into our own hands! Our time is in HIS hands. I’m not trying to criticise others for their choices, but that’s not what I call a LIFE.

Hubby and I always have so much fun together on the road, but his back is often pretty dreadful. Sometimes he can’t hear or see as well as he used to, and now his memory falls out on him like money slips out of a purse with a hole in it! I used to rely on his memory, mainly because I can’t remember what I said 5 minutes ago – and the harder I try to locate it, the less successful I am. Hubby is a bit younger than I am. He is younger by … …mind your own business … so now we both have to rely upon God to remind us, because we are both terrible at it.

We go on the road and we drive thousands of kilometres simply to obey God. The Lord has sent us to care for the people that He knows are waiting for someone to come and help them understand what He is all about! Acts 8:26-4O. There are times the people we meet don’t know what they don’t know, until hubby talks to them. Then they cry all over the place.

We spoke to 51 specific people this time – we don’t do thousands! We are just posties for Jesus, on the road bringing others the mail/message He wants them to have. You don’t have to be an evangelist to witness to God’s goodness. And we’ve proved that don’t have to be well either! Everybody likes to go on holidays, just take blankets and bibles with you. Find a homeless shelter or a women’s shelter – sadly there are plenty of those. 

We can waste our God-given time claiming we’re waiting for God to heal us, or for a sign from heaven. Here’s an interesting scripture to chew on about signs …“But He (Jesus)replied to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign.”Matthew 12:30. We can make excuses and not obey Him, OR we can limp, hop, crawl out there back into this world and just love on people, and see where that leads us. There really are better things than healing – and obedience is a great Healer. Bye. 👋

PS I’d rather wear out than rust out!

P 2922 Help!

/ DVH

‘🎼Way out west where the rain don’t fall’ …🎶”. The people living out here, In Western Victoria, have been in drought for 6 years!! We discovered that on this trip. You won’t find it in the news, I looked. Because of overseas politics, or rampaging delinquent kids, plus people maliciously hurting each other – those things have pushed this kind of news off the front page. Instead we know more about what some movie star is doing!

These people have also had terrible bush-fires, which are a direct result of electrical storms and very dry foliage. Hubby and have driven for days and days on empty roads, past paddocks where farmers are desperately hand-feeding their stock off the back of their ute. Imagine an electricity bill for a farmer… when you pay your own bill next time.

These people, in our very own country, need help, and a loving caring acknowledgement of the fact that they are doing it tough. Money is a help but it is also a temporary solution. Maybe if we lived sacrificially we could be more help— why not store your money up in heaven like Jesus suggested and help the poor. You never know, the poor may live next door to you!

There are a number of passionate Christians who want to go on a mission trip to a much poorer country and be a blessing to the inhabitants, by joining in with some famous evangelist or other … They want to be a part of their team and see miracles…but … NOBODY comes to places like these! Jesus stopped for the one who was sitting beside the road, just as easily as He ministered the Word of God to thousands of people. 

We’ve just come through an extensive period in the church where we’ve had such incredible teaching – on the net, there are great bible schools, or through social media, on TV, even evangelists and healing ministries have come to town … But now, many churches are as dry as the paddocks hubby and I have seen — day after day after day. We all love going up the front and being prayed for, but it seems when those feelings went away … so did our passion for growth!

Instead we seem to have become more greedy for signs and wonders and not fruit. (John 4:48). The Lord spoke to me today and told me that in this life we sometimes think the majority must be right … “That is error,” He said. “I died for everyone. I want My children to bless that one right in front of them. You will find them under bridges, in doorways, huddled in bus shelters …  … winter is coming. Their homes have been repossessed, they can’t find a job, and they have nowhere to live.”

Helping others opens doors to all kinds of conversations. When you speak to a middle-aged woman about Jesus and the bible;  you could discover that she has no clue what you are talking about. And yes, hubby shared the gospel with that particular lady and gave her a bible … among other things!

Everywhere we have been for the past 14 days, we have discovered that there is a huge need for kindness and generosity. It seems many Christians have lost touch with the wonderful blessing of using what we have, to reach out to others who have so little. You know, it never hurts children to learn, firsthand, to freely share with those less fortunate than themselves. 

Hubby was telling me that he spoke to someone where we are right now. This man said electricity bills are bad in people’s houses, everywhere. But for a business like a country supermarket, for example, they pay up to $20,000 a month. Imagine that! Without even buying stock to fill their local store, these people out here have to find more money than I can imagine, every single month just to keep the doors open and their fridges cold. We shop locally wherever we go, to sow money back into the country towns.

We are used to travelling through the countryside now, so we never pass a dam, or a creek without looking for water in it. We know water is life out here. It is not a mistake that the bible is called living water. Maybe you could take bibles on your next holidays, and give them away. Don’t forget bibles and books for kids —or the next generation will know even less about the Lord Jesus than the last one does! The days of trusting other people to do this work are over — those of us who say we love Jesus, must pay much greater attention to what brother James said in his bit of God’s book.

James 2: 14-17.“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Mankind is a family, a global family. The Holy Spirit loved and cherished each one of us enough to spend 9 months forming us inside our mothers!  We will serve our better selves when we help each other. People say to  me: ”Well you are always going on about listening to the Holy Spirit and He didn’t tell me anything, so it must not be my job.” This is my reply: “I’m sorry but you are wrong. Looking after the poor and helpless is mentioned over 2,000 times in the bible. He has never stopped speaking about it – you have just stopped listening. Loving one another is a strong theme.”

The people we’ve met out here every single day, need Help. They are not rich and they do not have ‘spare money!’ They need His help through us. He will become real to them, through you. Thinkabout it. Bye. 👋

P 2917 A peek behind the curtain – OR – trouble is part of the process …

/ DVH

I am no longer what I would call a small person. I was, before I had 35 years worth of steroids etc. but now, not-so-much. It can be difficult for people of my size, because this world is not actually designed for bigger people. We often have to hire Barnum and Bailey tents if we want to go out and still be decently covered! Those ridiculous things are often covered in very large, bright red hibiscus flowers to make sure bigger people don’t get lost in the crowd. Ho-hum!

When we go into caravan parks to deliver bibles etc. if I go with hubby he has to get the wheelchair out, help me into it, and then drag me across the many stones that often inhabit country car parks … all that makes for a great massage, and a few bruises! We do this kind of thing a few times a day and so now I’m the designated prayer warrior in the car. This means I don’t actually meet many people.

The places we stay in are not always advantageous to the disabled either. When we travel — chairs, toilets, even beds are all too low. I can get INTO them, but then I can’t get OUT again — not unless I want to break hubby’s back, and that seems a bit extreme. So he packs a heap of extension lifts for the “I’m almost sitting on the floor furniture.” Even disabled units don’t seem to have been designed by disabled people. There are toilets where your knees almost touch the opposite wall – it can be a bit squishy.

In a home shower you may notice there is quite a nice space for one person, or even for a couple of little people. But, it is a whole other ball game to fit in a quite chubby person, plus a carer to help them, plus a shower chair … it’s a bit like trying to shower in a thimble! The taps in the shower are always in the wrong place, and someone’s back will eventually end up bumping into the hot and cold controls.😳 Bathrooms are always much too small and then there is that dratted slippery shower floor… sigh…

I don’t much like slippery floors because I am not a fan of falling down. I did that last year and it was an abysmal failure. Getting up again is a whole other tragic long-winded story, that very nearly involved a crane! Meanwhile the car we’ve hired to tour about in, is like … ten centimetres off the ground, but it does have wheels and an engine … a-n-d  — did I mention that the seats are almost on the ground?!? Yes really. Another inch, Mr Manufacturer, would have really helped! I think I could have managed if the car was a Lamborghini.. but… alas!! Anyway a low-slung car makes getting in and out quite a laugh-riot for the disabled and their knees.

The other day we needed to use a McDonald’s toilet – they are always clean and tidy. We had to wait five minutes, with me propped up against a wall, because an able-bodied person had decided it wouldn’t matter if they used the disabled toilet. Hmmm… ! Meanwhile, it looked like this toilet had suffered from an internal explosion. It seemed to have had a fit, flinging toilet paper etc. everywhere. Fortunately we managed to find some that wasn’t floor decoration. 

One town looked rather like its primary industry was producing angry and aggressive youth. And their fav hang-out was … that very same McDonalds – lucky us! We smiled, and-moved-on-very-quickly.There were about 50 young people hanging around. So I’m prayer-thinking to myself: “I’m gunna have to run, but I can’t run, so please protect us Lord. Dear God please help these kids to find jobs and end up responsible citizens!” Amen! By the way, the disabled park was light years away from the actual building. Not quite sure how that one works.

However, the place we have been staying at for a couple of days, is very scenic. I don’t remember when we have seen so many cockatoos, mobs of kangaroos, deer, ducks, and all sorts and varieties of other birds. Even though there has been a bushfire through here recently the scenery is pretty. Apparently visitors don’t enjoy burnt  Aussie bush for their surroundings on their holidays so this park is almost empty in peak season. Sad for the owners, who want to make living. It is also very, very quiet. We have little WiFi or TV service so you get to sit about in silence a lot! 

Stuff happens to us all the time — and it prompts us to live by the scripture:”I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”  But depending on the day and how we got out of bed …we can choose to whine and whinge!  Thank you Jesus for helping us all! May God truly bless all the lovely people who are praying for us. My point is simply sometimes you will learn to suffer long. Remember – Jesus slept by the roadside and went without food… He was so tired once … He slept in a violently rocking boat!

If you think you might want to be a missionary, and let’s face it, it is not the most popular job ever — then you need to be aware that heaps of untimely, inconvenient, annoying stuff is guaranteed to get your old self rumbling away. But, bonus buy, those things will help you to learn how to rely upon Jesus! Finally, I wanted to make it clear that living for Him is always costly, no matter where you are. So, if things are hard at your house, that does not mean you are doing it wrong —trouble is often part of the process… Bye for now 👋

P 2871 Everybody loves a holiday.

/ DVH

Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday 🎉 and we are going away for a few days to give him a ?rest? from all the things he has to do every single day to make our household run! So …  …we are taking half our house somewhere else that we’ve never been before, and packing all of it into our car. Personally I think he’s knocking off work to pick up bricks, but he’s pretty cheery about it. We will drive up the coast – where none of the services we actually need will be anywhere near where they should be … but for a little while we will have a great view!  🤣 As everybody already knows, a great view changes everything! 

Ssshh! I bought hubby a gizmo for his camera for his birthday – plus a car puzzle. He wants to take better pictures of birds, up really close. Fortunately, he does not see any sort of photography as work, he sees it as fun. And at the same time he is hoping to do some painting for our next trip. There is also a swimming pool available, downstairs, which is a big boon for his bad back … all that floating about. And me? I go where he goes… that is … anywhere but outside! Outside and I are allergic to each other — literally!

Holidays are often a big deal in many households. Lots of careful savings so we can afford all that fun! We mustn’t forget the right clothes so we aren’t too hot or too cold. And in our case we can’t afford to forget a very large bag full of all kinds of medicines … plus the … camera, of course. After all,  we must try this new whizz-bang gizmo out! Sunglasses, hats, sunscreen, the kids … Ha! I’m glad you picked up the fact that we have no kids at our house anymore … I’m just projecting your life onto mine!! 

We will also need to make sure we take all the cords for charging things, plus the things that we know that will need charging! I’m never quite sure how much of a holiday things like this are, as hubby often has to lug everything needed up lots of stairs … But fortunately … this … time … tada!! There is a lift. Happy birthday dear – I got you a lift!

The people in these holiday-land places always seem so nice, and friendly, when you get there. It makes me wonder if they are paid extra to smile – maybe they learn smile-practising 101? Meanwhile I can’t imagine anything worse than living in holiday land and having to paste on a smile every morning! We know that the staff’s smiles are pasted on, BTW, because when the Holy Spirit shows up, they cry all over the place. We are so blessed that He wants to come with us. We don’t even want to try to go anywhere without Him. Neither of us would cope!

The Holy Spirit coming with us actually stops us from fighting— whoops, sorry — disagreeing loudly …  That’s a  huge plus! Why is it when holidays happen people get a bit tetchy? It must be all that extra work we have to do, so we can get away to have fun and a rest. Oxymoron anyone? Maybe all that effort to relax makes human beings even more cranky. You’d think the very word holiday would do the trick, but sometimes it’s so much work to relax, it becomes very stressful! 

Plus there is the responsibility to make the holiday fun for everyone else. The plan-ner has to provide suitable entertainment for the other passengers on this happy jaunt to places unknown. I seem to recall when my kids were teenagers, that it didn’t matter what you planned, somebody would moan about it not suiting them! There are days when you can almost hear people on holidays saying through gritted teeth to each other: “Are we having fun yet?”

I’ve watched people work so hard to make their holiday fun – that they actually worked all the fun out of it, by over-planning every single thing for every day they were away! I don’t have a solution to this first-world problem, except I think that perhaps we might need to stop and count some blessings along the way. BTW, FYI, even the Lord Himself rested  – check out Genesis 2.

Meanwhile … we are off  🚘… and I’ll see you same bat-time, same bat-channel tomorrow! Just watch for the sign in the sky OK? Toodle-oo. Obviously – I’m bat girl, there’s no WAY I’m fitting into cat woman’s suit! 👋

P 2618 Waiting to move is a trap.

/ DVH

“But I promise you this—the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and you will be seized with power. You will be My messengers to Jerusalem, throughout Judea, the distant provinces —even to the remotest places on earth!”” Acts 1:8 TPT. Instead of waiting for a sign, obey the book. This is what we have found – HE COMES WHEN WE GO! It ain’t rocket science. And yes, I am on about that today, again.

I learnt twenty years ago, that waiting to be well enough to do what Jesus told me to do was a trap! Yeah I know that’s a tough thing to say. However, I live out that kind of tough every single day. I hardly ever feel well enough to even get out of bed, let alone type this blog! I will not bore you with a list of things that have stolen away my health and well- being, but I totally want to say this: since hubby and I have been travelling on the road for Jesus – I’M HAPPY and He’s over the moon. Neither of us are nuts either. Oh, well, maybe! Maybe you should ask our kids! 

Actually, I wouldn’t live any other way. But … being well would be nice! I remind the Lord about that daily too. I live expecting my circumstances to change, and … I utterly do my best and refuse to live in disappointment, when they haven’t … so far! Hubby too has his share of aches, pains and trials, and between us it takes a while to get going in the mornings, so we get up early, and we go to bed at a ridiculously early hour. Some nights one of us is battling for sleep. (Which is why I wrote the blog a couple of days ago about not sleeping!) It happens here quite often – it sure improves your prayer life!!

I try not to be negative, but in this life trouble needs to be normalised – not accepted, but normalised. This world is not heaven! Things happen. Awful earth-shattering things a-n-d… petty insignificant things that make you mad. Paul had to escape trouble by being stuffed inside a basket and lowered down the outside of a city wall! These men we read about daily, were beaten within an inch of their lives on a regular basis. However, getting beaten up was regarded as an honour for His sake! It meant they were doing something right.

We have to stop hiding in our religious wish-thinking and start to live in the real world. The bible says ‘in this world we will have trials’…Sigh… You know, I am a tiny bit tired of hearing testimonies about “how God made someone’s life better” … but …I hear absolutely no testimonies about how wonderful it is to serve Him! Watching Jesus come into the picture – however He chooses to do it ….is the most amazing thing like E-V-ER. It is such a privilege.

I was giggling this morning, remembering when hubby presented the gospel in Nyngan to a whole family, and then the father said something that every pastor wished his people would say!! ”Could you tell me that story again please?” This man was asking hubby to repeat the sermon!! And there they were, the four of them, their eager shiny little faces waiting to hear the good news, again. The only trouble was — hubby couldn’t remember a word he said! He looked at me, and I looked at him, and then the dear man started prompting him. Hubby had the good sense to ask him which bit he meant. Let me tell you – that man was listening – he could repeat what he heard. Me? Not-so-much. 

Is everyone we meet going to be like that? Nope. We’ve met a few who were not even remotely interested. Here’s a thought — maybe they are waiting for you to turn up in their neighbourhood! It is a glorious thing to be part of someone else’s journey toward Jesus. However, we simply cannot have a harvest if no-one will go out into the fields and sow seeds. Some starving people might stagger through our church doors. That’s great! Yay Jesus. But most people have no idea that what we believe is any different from any other religion.

Many people choose what to believe by default, not a spiritual encounter with a real Person. It’s a bit like choosing a political party to vote for. Some people even choose a religion because the statues that belong to it make great decorating items!! 😱 They don’t know Jesus is alive —- and … hot tip … you and I can show them that just by turning up! There’s this first aid thing we are meant to do if we find an unconscious person — it’s called shake and shout! And this is me … shouting and shaking … wake up Sleepy Bride of Christ!

We cannot afford to wait to move, that’s a trap. Jesus had this problem with His disciples. They had no spiritual clue about what was going on around them … He had to tell them ..”Do you not say, It is still four months until harvest time comes? Look! I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for harvesting.”John 4:35. The Lord’s harvest is ready for planting all over the country – let’s all grab some seeds and go!  Everybody has holidays!

Here’s my advice, don’t sit about waiting for inspiration to fall on you, go because He said GO! Show Him that you mean business, that the people that are on HIS heart are on your heart… Insist. 👋

P 2566 JESUS is the reason for this season – TOO!

/ DVH

Easter is well advertised where I live. Chocolate bunnies, chickens and eggs, pop up like daisies all over the place, weeks and weeks before this season comes along. These things clog the supermarket aisles and sell like we’ve never seen chocolate before. At the same time, the hot cross buns with all sorts of weird ingredients started appearing right after Christmas! After all we mustn’t miss an opportunity to sell SELL SELL!

The local fishermen love Easter time, loads of people eat all kinds of fish this weekend and they count on selling tons of it! I saw a snippet from a news story the other day where it was suggested that the crosses on top of these buns were old-fashioned, so one bakery has started putting a Nike tick on the top instead!  True story!

Recently, a trusty news crew went out to interview people on the street and asked them what they thought about this new development of hot cross buns without the crosses. One young lady said: “Well, we are a secular society so I don’t think it matters.” My first thought was, ‘She’s right!’  And my next one was: ‘Whose fault is it that she thinks that way?’ Sadly the more I thought about what that young lady said, the more it made sense. Isn’t that tragic? Easter has become the reason for all kinds of gluttony.

Too many years ago, somebody somewhere at sometime or other, thought putting crosses on top of a spiced bun was a great way to celebrate and remind everyone about what Christ did for them. But now the true meaning has been LOST over time. However, after I prayed about it, I began to be glad that people today are actually rejecting the whole thing. This is happening because nobody has told them about the reality. The reality would definitely blow them away – IF somebody who knows the Saviour, took the time to tell them!

It is sad to me that the average person in our society thinks that Easter is all about what we eat, as well as a couple of nice public holidays. Speaking for myself, I have never actually been a fan of the symbolic – whether it is a rabbit, a bun or a chocolate egg. And, right here and now, I simply must mention my distinct aversion to that jolly red fat guy who pops up at Christmas – I don’t like HIM much either.  At the same time, I am also not crazy about those baby in the manger pictures as well. Do people bring out your baby photos when they are celebrating your birthday? I think not! 

HOWEVER, if ALL Christianity has to offer is a cross on a BUN, or rampant rabbits, exorbitant gifts and chocolate eggs or a tiny baby born under adverse circumstances – no wonder they could care less! That got me thinking about what really matters. It is so easy to get stuck on how far down the plug hole our society has gone, and gloss over the fact that this world’s apathy toward God, has been caused by the church’s silence …. plus a lack of obedience by ordinary people like me.

Fortunately, the reality is Jesus Christ doesn’t need advertising gimmicks, or pretty foil covered chocolate, to gain popularity and fame be-cau-se … even though He was exactly like us, humanly speaking, and we probably would have passed Him in the street, dismissed as just another middle Eastern man. This MAN changed this world FOREVER. How? Not by clever sales marketing or other 21st century tricks, but by Who He is and what He chose to do for people He has never met. 

Yet we avoid telling His story, the reality of what He did, because we find that truth somehow distasteful. Hmmm. It is odd how we can cheerfully watch all kinds of people shoot one another apart, or blow-up, slice, dice, plus punch and kick each other to bits … for entertainment… yet it seems that the sight of an innocent pure man hanging, dying on a cross, is not palatable or marketable! He has been described perfectly in Isaiah 53:1-6, long before He was born … like this: 

“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

Maybe this seemingly ordinary man is far more challenging than anyone thinks, when He is authentically and passionately presented to others by people who actually know Him. It would be good to clear the market place of rampant commercialism and present something real for a change! I seem to recall writing about that yesterday? Something about Jesus clearing God’s temple out of money lenders and sellers??

The Lord Jesus IS the reason for this season, and we need to take our responsibility to walk with Him seriously, and use this opportunity to shine His light into other people’s lives. There are no secret agents in His kingdom … whether they supposedly look like rabbits, chicks, buns, or way too much chocolate! Perhaps then people will believe our message is authentic. It all depends on how seriously we take our faith. Bye. 👋