Holy Spirit

P 2226 Jesus helps me to keep going.

/ DVH

When I sit and read about the Lord, and think about what He did while He was on this earth, and how HE struggled with facing His own death – it helps me to keep going every day. First of all, let’s look at the fact that the Lord needed to pray 3 times in the garden of Gethsemane. He needed to pray what He was facing through, and He waited on God for the spiritual strength to carry it all out. Jesus prayed until He knew the job was already done – spiritually speaking. His total surrender, in those awful moments, gave Him the power to endure what came next. He died to Himself in that garden and it was a terrible battle. 

This scene shows me that it is OK to struggle with spiritual stuff – it doesn’t mean I’ve missed His will, or I am going the wrong way. When things are hard to do – we need to press into Him. Jesus spoke a great deal about His death in the days before the crucifixion, so He already knew this time was coming. Yet He still prayed for that destiny to be taken away! He struggled with God’s Will. Praise the Lord, because Jesus is my visible illustration of God’s Will in action! It’s OK to struggle – remember to surrender and then go into trust. Push on past your fears etc.

Let’s look at this in Matthew 26: 38-46 …“Then He (Jesus) said to them, (His disciples) “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then He returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with Me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

“He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” When He came back, He again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So He left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then He returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners…”

Jesus allowed Himself to feel the total appalling impact of what was coming toward Him. He didn’t hide from it, or  have a stiff-upper-lip mentality, nor did He deny the reality of what He was facing. It’s OK to hurt, it is OK to be disappointed or even grieve about whatever has happened to us. But, at the same time, we need to remember that we have HOPE – His Name is Jesus … He is our anchor. If someone you love is suffering then pray that God will give them real HOPE in the face of adversity.

Jesus was very hurt with His disciples, for not praying with Him. I think He was also disappointed for their sake. Getting in touch with God in a crisis is the only way to get through whatever is coming next. The biggest test those men had ever faced was hurtling toward them… and they were vastly under-prepared for it. He was still caring for them on the brink of His own pain, suffering and death.

Lastly, the Lord Jesus helps us to have courage because He did everything He did for all of us. Our failures, fears, sicknesses, disappointments, sins, those things were all dealt with as He struggled with the concept of being a substitute for us. He was about to be separated from God’s bright Presence and He did that deliberately for our sake. He became our separation so we don’t ever have to be, or go anywhere without God’s Presence again! 

In times of despair difficulty and trial – I think of the Lord Jesus saying, with such incredible faith: “… Your will be done.” That was a faith statement. Christ had never physically suffered to the point of His own death and He had to rely upon the Holy Spirit to bring Him out of that grave. Jesus knows how hard it is to have faith in times of crisis. His vulnerability at that time helps me keep going when stuff happens in my life.  Praise Him. 👋🏻

P 2225 Insight.

/ DVH

“Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” 2 Timothy 2:7. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” John 16:12-15.

“but just as it is written,“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” For to US God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2: 9-13.

Let’s start with the meaning of the word … insight ..“the capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of SomeOne, or something.” There are many scriptures on the subject of INSIGHT – feel free to look them up when you can, but every single one of them belongs to us, the believers. Almighty God wants to reveal Himself to us. The first thing I want to say about insight is this – the Holy Spirit is our guide and source – and in case you haven’t read Acts Chapter 2 – plus the rest of the New Testament … HE’S NOW HERE. HE NEVER LEFT. He’s with YOU.

Other people’s books and articles can help us with insight, but there is absolutely NOTHING like going to the source. And.WE.ALL.can. ← There’s that full stop again. It means thinkaboudit. I write this blog every day using that gift from God and it is a gift that belongs to every single Christian. ANYONE can do this. The Holy Spirit will always give His insight to anyone who wants it, He loves to give us little glimpses into the Ways of God and reveal the Father to us.  

I’m like every other writer – sometimes I stare at a blank page when writing this blog and my brain is going …ho-hum … nothing, nothing, blank, oh it’s sunny today! ☀️ More nothing. Now I’m hearing waves, and there ain’t nothin’ happening around here! 😶 If the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak to me I have nothing to say on this blog. I cannot write without Him. Writing this blog every day is a supernatural thing, and what He gives me here, is available to you too! I do not have the corner on INSIGHT.

You simply need to ask Him to help you, and then be prepared to INSIST.  Spiritual insight is one of the greatest ways to step into the arena of the supernatural I know.  You activate it by using your faith. It’s a great faith builder for other gifts! So don’t just read the words in the book, ask Him questions and wait for answers! Treat the bible like a puzzle you’ve never done before – no matter how many times you’ve read it HE can make it brand new. He’s there to help you put all the pieces in the right places for you, and your life.

The secret to this blog is not me. It’s the Holy Spirit. He ALWAYS wants to speak to YOU guys!! 🤗 The Holy Spirit is never silent. If we think He is silent, that means we’ve somehow tuned out. We tune out by ignoring Him, or treating other people, badly. REPENT, fix it – I don’t care who did or said what – fix it. Now you need to believe that He has restored you, no matter how you feel, and go back to reading the book! And don’t skip the little words either – but, and, the, if, to, for, let, if, then – are little words. Unlike every other book in this world, in God’s book the little words count.

Every single day He speaks to me – sometimes it is just one word. But one word from God has power in it. I’m sitting there praying, staring at the walls, then He whispers into my heart – ‘read blah blah blah in the bible.’ I’m like, yeah, yeah sure! So I go to biblegateway.com … type in the name of the book and read it. I sit there after I’ve read it … and some of the time … I’ve got bupkis. Nothing. Just more wa-a-aves of silence. Don’t stop there.

At this point He often says to me: “You missed it, read it again.” So I read it again until He stops me, OR something catches my attention. Sometimes it is just one word. It’s like pulling on a string, the more I throw that word about prayerfully the more insight I get. The secret is to keep after what you are asking for, He loves faith … so INSIST. Tell Him: “I just have to hear from You Holy Spirit, what do You have for me today, please?” Then, take the time to WAIT. Time spent waiting with Him is one of His love languages. 

The Holy Spirit doesn’t have a clock, so He is never in a hurry, but … He is never late either… He will take care of the time for you. Our job is to treasure what we hear. Don’t argue with Him. If He reminds me that I was snippy with my husband, then I get up and go to my hubby and ask for his forgiveness. Always let the Holy Spirit correct you – He is never mean about it. I value what He says, so I write things down! Sometimes, people have an agenda, or a timetable .. so it helps to deliberately put those things down too … BE-CAU-SE …

… The King of all Kings has stepped away from His throne and He is sitting in your car, lounge, office – wherever you are. WOW! He came for you. He wants to talk to YOU. You have all His attention. Nobody else can take this time away from you. He lo-o-ves to share His secrets with people who take the time to want to hear from Him. Godly insight is available daily, for every single Christian. It’s part of our inheritance. 👋🏻

P 2223 Speaking in Tongues.

/ DVH

I would like to say first of all, speaking in tongues is definitely a God-given gift – we should ask for it. It is a faith gift. Anything that requires us to use our faith is good. However, speaking in tongues is not proof you are a Christian! (Yes, I have heard that said – sigh.) As an aside, I want to say that it is not good to let our own personal experiences dictate to us or others. We live by His Word and His Word is in His book!  Jesus said in Mark 16:17: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues.” 

Because our new life is to elevate Jesus …  it is not only about fruit, or gifts or anything else! We have those things to elevate Him too! Gifts are given – by the Lord – fruit grows as we let Him change us. His gifts are given to us as the Holy Spirit desires, and they are not badges of honour to anybody – but HIM!  Speaking in tongues is a blessing from God, it helps us communicate with Him without our minds meddling with what we are praying. EG: We could easily pray “please God change that person” – when we actually need to pray: “please God change ME!” Speaking in tongues gets my own agendas out of the way. When we speak in tongues we are speaking to Him, spirit to Spirit.

Unknown tongues are a brilliant vehicle that helps us to pour our love upon the Lord’s feet. When we’ve run out of our inspiration in our own language – the Holy Spirit provides another one we don’t know! In 1 Corinthians 14 it says: “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, … For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.” Because of this ‘mystery,’ tongues have become a bone of contention in Christianity. That is a shame, because they are a wonderful way to pray with no other agenda, but HIS. Plus tongues build up our own faith at the same time.

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Moving on to Acts 2:4-6 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because EACH ONE heard their own language being spoken.“

In this incident, the Holy Spirit incredibly arranged for every person who was there that day to hear His message in their own language.

HOWEVER! The message given and received was what was important, not the medium He used! Otherwise we’d all be sitting about waiting for tongues of fire to land on us and a huge windstorm to blow our church roofs off!  Tongues are a sign – not the end product, the end product is knowing Him without our brain arguing with us. Plus speaking in tongues helps to activate our faith.  Almighty God came upon people that day in a way they could see and hear. What happened, was a result of His Presence. 

Jude talks about speaking in tongues as building ourselves up in our faith in chapter 1:20 ”But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit …”  (Romans 8:26&27 explains this.) Speaking in tongues helps facilitate the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, insight and thoughts into our lives, purely because tongues require us to use our faith. If we want to walk with the Holy Spirit it helps to be able to speak to Him without our minds and emotions in the way! Tongues are a direct communication between our spirit and His.

We don’t always know how to pray about things, so the Holy Spirit helps us. However, the point is – HE HELPS US – not how He does it! 🙌  He will help us pray in our own native tongue as well!  We’ve made this blessing into something far bigger than it should be. It’s all about HIM – His generosity, His loving provision for us. My spiritual language comes from inside my heart, He will not make anyone pray that way – we will have to ask for it – because it is a gift. Encountering Jesus personally is the end product, and tongues are a supernatural, faith-supported gift.

However – LOVE is always the theme of any of the Holy Spirit’s languages. Speaking, or even singing in tongues, supernaturally encourages our faith.Ephesians 5:19 says:“Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, [offering praise by] singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; …”  It’s in the book. 👋🏻 

Matthew 7:9-11“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”

P2214 FRUIT is our evidence of change.

/ DVH

“When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are My mature disciples who glorify My Father!” John 15:8 TPT. Now there’s a wonderful promise from the Lord. However, when we turn that coin over … if we don’t have any visible fruit, then we are not mature …yet. Sometimes I think in the church, we choose people to be leaders who have really great, pretty, fruit blossom flowers growing – they have lots of GIFTS and great charisma. Unfortunately those flowers are only a promise of what is to come … the potential for mature fruit is there … but that is only the beginning of the Lord’s processes. 

If you elevate and display those flowers in someone’s life too early – I believe you may hinder or eliminate the fruit. That person can get puffed up with their own importance, or even overwhelmed by responsibility, and stop living their lives under His direction … within a lively ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit. Then they can get too busy with their ministry to work on their own fruit. The popular thought often, is this – these people have great gifts so let’s follow them and go build a church! Instead we need to pray that our leaders have the right discernment from the Lord to be able wait for the fruit in people’s lives to be ripening before they elevate immature believers. GIFTS ARE NOT FRUIT.

Now let’s take a look at what that fruit looks like: Galatians 5:22 MSG  “But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard— …” Galatians 5:22&23 TPT “But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” “You didn’t choose Me, but I’ve chosen and commissioned you to go into the world to bear fruit. And your fruit will last, because whatever you ask of My Father,  for My sake,  He will give it to you.” John 15:16

First of all – did you get that word limitless? Wow! 😳 And let’s please remember Whose fruit it is! Hallelujah for the Holy Spirit and His work in us – by ourselves we can’t produce anything that will last into eternity, and eternal edible fruit is the main thing! He alone produces limitless. The Holy Spirit is not limited by our perceptions of how He works or how He should work – He once used a whale and a donkey to bring about His purposes. He is limitless! Just wrap your thoughts around that HUGE word.

A pear tree will always produce pears, whether it grows untamed and untrained, or in nice neat little rows. But a wild pear tree won’t produce a lot of fruit, and it will probably be full of bugs!  The one in the orchard is nurtured, trained, sprayed, pruned, fed by fertiliser, watered by rain. It is being cultivated! We are all under cultivation right now – so let’s not pick at each other like blackbirds. The Holy Spirit needs to cultivate our lives, removing the stuff that is unprofitable, and fertilising the things that lead to greater growth and better fruit. 

When someone eats a nice, juicy piece of fruit, they say: “that fruit is good.” We begin to mature when we let the Lord decide what is good for us, and what to do with the fruit He is growing in our lives. The Lord needs to cultivate the right attitudes within us. satan, on the other hand, cannot produce good fruit even if he tries.  We saw what he produced in the garden of Eden … sin, disobedience and estrangement! Our enemy cannot produce anything that is good because he is not a creator. 

So how do I know if what I am producing is God’s fruit? His fruit is sweet and ripe and juicy, people are attracted to His fruit like bees to honey. Even the smell of the Lord’s Presence in a room attracts others. The bible says: “…taste and see that the Lord is good.” So anyone can taste God’s fruit as well as see and smell it. His fruit comes from within, from the sap of His tree of new life growing inside us. We will always need our daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit. He enriches our lives and our relationship with Him produces His fruit. We co-operate with the Holy Spirit and then the fruit comes from within us.

As we read His word, and let, or allow Him to change the way we walk, talk and think – we are giving the fruit of the Spirit opportunities to develop within us. His fruit in our lives will produce change. We should not be surprised to find that we don’t do the things we did before – that’s because we are now way too busy producing fruit fit for Our King! 👋🏻 

P 2212 It’s OK to be a weak people! I recommend it!

/ DVH

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But He (Jesus) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Our new life in Christ HINGES on these verses.

I think this is one of those oxymorons in the bible that kind of muddle and mess with our minds. It seems to be saying: ’Let us be glad about being weak because then Christ can be strong in us?’ Huh? How does that work again?? It works and relies purely on the power of His Grace. Christ’s death released so much grace and power it not only saves us, it can utterly transform us – from the inside out. But we have to LET it – and letting it means giving up before you even start, or turning it over to Him when you realise YOU can’t do it. It means unconditional surrender.

We need to learn to deliberately lay down all our escape plans, clauses and subclauses, and decide to live our lives helpless without His help and input. Jesus totally relied upon the Holy Spirit and we need to learn to rely upon Him too. But first we need to admit we cannot possibly be spiritual in a way that is acceptable to the Lord – without His help.  If we want His perfect power, then you and I need to start from our utter weakness and live there!

BTW, I am not talking about indulging the flesh with things like polishing off a large packet of potato chips or a whole chocolate bar! That may well be a weakness but it is not the only weakness that Paul is talking about here! The weakness Paul means here, is the lack of willingness, or motivation to live this life we have been given, differently. It is the weakness that shows up in our flesh and attitudes, when somebody treats us badly, or life squeezes us tightly and everything starts going wrong. It’s about dying to self at those times when we want to give in to our old self, and do and say, whatever we feel like! That’s called living by your own strength and it is not only over-rated –  living that way has no real Holy Spirit power in it. 

Well, for me to continually live out what these verses say, I follow Him … straight down onto my knees! Then I tell the Holy Spirit I want to obey Him, but it’s too hard and I’m not going to lie to Him! This is where my all time favourite word motivates me. Nevertheless … I’m gunna give in to You anyway Lord. It’s where I ask for His strength and admit my utter weakness, plus my lack of motivation and I ask Him to help me. So, what’s the difference between making yourself – or praying first asking for His help – and then still doing whatever it is anyway? After all you still end up doing whatever it is you don’t want to do! Well, NOW, I am leaning on Him not me – I gave up on MY strength when I asked for His help. Then I tell Him I am so sorry I didn’t want to do whatever it is, I get up, blow my nose, use my faith and go and do it.

You see to collect this particular promise you have to start with ‘I can’t’ and sometimes … ‘I am not sure I want to either!’  Speaking for myself – I can’t – a lot! So I give up – A LOT.😂 I can’t shower myself, dress myself, give myself energy, eat anything I want, sleep well all the time, or even make myself something to eat or drink. Most of the time I have just enough energy to do whatever that day requires. And some days I run out early. (I usually make no sense at all after that!) And on other days I just plain don’t even want to try. So then I hope that being sick and disabled is an excuse He will accept. Fat chance! Those are the times that the Lord likes to blow my mind by asking me to do something utterly impossible without His help. And, low and behold, I can do it after all. 😳 “… But because you say so, I will…” Luke 5:5

Meanwhile, strangely enough, I actually consider myself extremely blessed, and fortunate. God has given me a learning curve that is pretty steep at times, but that curve has actively demonstrated to me that my ability to perform, is ZERO. I learnt to rejoice in my weakness. I discovered His strength really IS made perfect in weak people – because I ARE one! With the Lord I can do anything, without Him I can’t even tie my own shoes. What a blessing this life is! I feel very sorry for other able-bodied people who have to wrangle with the reality of this verse, because they are hindered by their own human talents, strength and abilities – including the ability to push themselves … and I am not. Bye… 👋🏻  Hang on folks…  Easter is not over …Sunday’s coming!!

P 2209 Easter is an invitation to transformation.

/ DVH

Like I said yesterday, rest and faith are essential parts of a Christian’s walk with the Lord. The Israelites missed their opportunity to live that way – because they preferred to complain about, and critique His provisions, plus they demanded their own way. Bad move. My advice is this:  when the food falls out of the sky, and your clothes and shoes don’t wear out, plus nobody gets sick for 40 years – give thanks, and follow the Leader!  (Read Deuteronomy.)

The bible talks about resting in what Jesus has done for us in Hebrews chapters 3&4. Our rest in what He did begins the very moment we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour. His active Presence in our lives guarantees change. We can now rely upon the fact that our sins have been washed away by His life’s blood. Now we’ve started to live a new life, using our faith that what Christ said He did at Calvary – He did. And that door flew open for everyone. Knowing Him personally, and walking with Him, is the door into peace, rest and a brand new way to live this life we have right here and now. Christ gave us the ability – the power –  but He also gives us a choice whether to follow Him… or not.

Now we live our lives believing that what He did on the cross was utterly comprehensive. It covered our past sins, present sins and even those stupid things we haven’t done yet! Why would the Lord Jesus do such a thing? … It sounds like we have carte blanche to be able to do whatever we like – and indulge our base natures? (Paul talks about this extensively in Romans.) The thing is: sin is dangerous. It is like quick sand, it sucks you in and drags you down. When I look after myself, and I don’t care about you, and how much living like this hurts you – that’s sin. When I live by the rules and I don’t use my faith, every day, to obey Him – that’s sin!

When Christ died, He paid the ultimate price for every human being’s forgiveness. And after He returned to heaven, He sent back the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Person Who helped Christ to walk out His earthly life in purity, holiness, and passionate devotion to His Father. He will help us to live that way too, in exactly the same way He helped Jesus. Now, we do what is Godly by following Him and using our faith. Second by second, minute by minute. We simply need to be obedient to what He asks us to do, in our hearts – and in the book. The power to overcome anything, including our own sinful habits and attitudes, was released that day long ago, at the cross. Now, we can participate in that power in the same way we received salvation – using our faith.

Sadly, many Christians want Jesus to save them, but they reject His daily government, and consequently their lives are now devoted to keeping rules. Rules are easier to follow – you can write them down or look them up! But the bible is not a set of rules, it is a personal invitation to know God and live this life, right here and now, His way. It is an invitation into a relationship. You cannot regulate a real loving relationship, instead you have to live it out, by making hard choices, and you do that … day by day. FEAR keeps more people out of that freedom than anything else.

As Easter draws near, we celebrate the fact that Jesus not only died in our place – He came out of that grave and personally illustrated that a new life walking in His Ways is available to us. That new life transforms His people  from the inside OUT. You can’t kill human beings. Our bodies die, but the real person, inside, lives forever. We choose where we will live after we die by the way we live this life, here and now. Christ made an exchange, His life for ours. Every day we live out that exchange by making the sort of choices Jesus would make … living this life for Him, here and now. 

Father God has asked us to be obedient and pay attention to what He wrote in the bible. Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, we have a choice. We can do things His way – or continue to walk round and round going nowhere – wasting the time He has given us. As we walk with Him – His way, we will be transformed. Now we can join in with whatever He is doing, because Jesus is working all over this earth, today – through us.

None of us can claim that we are powerless to change any longer – because the power to change came into this world when the Holy Spirit came into this world at Pentecost. He’s here … and He’s here to help us overcome!  Transformation is the only way ahead. 👋🏻 

P 2208 Walking with Jesus = REST.

/ DVH

Matthew 11:28-30 says: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Hubby and I go away at least a couple of times a year on our bible trips. What we do when we go away sounds like work … but it isn’t to us. We do what we do from His rest. So what does that mean? We go where He says to go and speak to the people He picks out. We’ve learnt to live with our spiritual ears and eyes open and we trust Him to make our paths straight. 

We’ve also learnt to let Him choose what happens, and when. Walking with Him in this way is amazing. We have been sent to people we didn’t know, in places we’ve never ever been before. We both love to choose to stand back and let Him move. Out there, with non-believers, is His favourite place to be!  He’s a shepherd, and a true shepherd wouldn’t dream of walking away from any of His sheep. Jesus loves to go after the lost ones! 

Did you notice that the verse above said “burned out on RELIGION?” Religion uses compulsion, guilt, punishment and shame, to motivate. Unfortunately that stuff produces works, and works produce resentment, comparison, despair and jealousy. That’s the wrong production line! (Galatians 5:22&23)  But when we walk with Him, this life is an adventure – it is never predictable. We’ve found the Lord’s attention to detail is astounding. I always tell people that we just follow the prompts. We are no longer motivated by a desire to get things right – we are motivated by a desire to do what He tells us to do. (John 2:5) And sometimes that happens on the spot!

This means we’ve learnt to listen and follow His instructions – and He always gets the glory. Jesus says: “…walk with Me and work with Me.” This shows us the Lord never intended for us to be spiritually idle – or ALONE. Anyone can live in and from His rest, every single day, even while we are doing whatever is in front of us. You just keep your heart open to whatever He might say or want, and then obey Him. 

So, how did the Lord Jesus rest and still work?  He ‘only did what He saw His Father doing.’ This means Jesus kept His spiritual eyes on His Father. Now, because of Jesus, we have a highly personal guidance system inbuilt in our beings – the Holy Spirit! We need Him like we need air – He is not just some happy feelings or goose bumps while we are worshipping in church or at home. He’s outside in this world, sitting beside a dirty smelly homeless person or a broken hearted mother. And He wants to get our attention!

A young man we knew years ago was part of that church’s ministry team. One year, he left the Christmas service, almost at the beginning, prompted by the Holy Spirit, and he went outside. There were literally loads of street kids hanging about outside the church. He took out his phone and asked them: “Who would like to call Mum or Dad, or someone at home for Christmas?” Many of the kids said ‘yes,’ and he gave them his phone and stood there with them while God reunited these kids with their caregivers. It took hours.

Now here’s the miracle. Those kids called people all over the country, so his cell phone bill was bound to be astronomical!  He was just an ordinary guy and he didn’t have loads of money, but he did what he did in faith, because the Lord prompted Him to do it. Eventually, the time came for the bill to arrive. But the charges were not on the statement. So he went and called his telecommunication server to check because he knew he must owe them money. However, when they carefully checked the date, nothing was there – at all. He never ever received a bill for what would have amounted to hundreds of dollars.

My story about this brother had a sad ending, he was rebuked by the leadership for leaving the Christmas church service that day. Today, he is no longer serving Jesus. What a tremendous gift we lost because religion and works got in the way! God’s Grace can be learnt, even though it has unforced rhythms. (Matthew 11:20-30) It is not rigid, it flows toward people with needs. It is far more like water than ice!  His Grace is not designed to be controlled … it is meant to be let loose! You might want to think on that. 👋🏻

P 2207 Let our words be with demonstration of His power!

/ DVH

Oh! The danger of defining the Lord by our own particular theology! Pray for wisdom, and the mind and heart of Christ in your life, because we have all become stuck in powerlessness, and we often lack His wisdom. The Pharisees in the parable below lived their lives esteemed as the resident experts. The problem with being a resident expert is you can eventually start to believe your own publicity. Moving on…

…to Matthew 12:24-30.“But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If satan drives out satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”

We are sometimes very happy to use our minds and logic to define what God means or what He wants. That is a waste of our time! Jesus didn’t just talk, He demonstrated God’s power. But if we go inside many of our churches you’d be forgiven for thinking that all He did was talk! I urge everyone reading this to get real revelation, for yourself, from the book, and start participating in the power of God. Personally, I think that logic will eventually kick faith out of the window because it is a poor substitute for living, loving, kingdom-minded saints who demonstrate the power of God and don’t just talk about it.

Did you notice in this scripture that Jesus knew their thoughts?! That’s what supernatural living looks like – inexplicable miraculous things happen! At this time, Jesus is announcing the truth, and refuting the Pharisee’s logic and lies with a demonstration. There is always a danger that we will cling to our belief and traditions and miss what God is doing NOW – unless we remain humble and teachable.

Most people hate absolutes. Jesus said in those verses above in Matthew: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.” There you go … now there’s an absolute! Someone in my family believes in Jesus, but not enough to follow Him. They are not ‘with Him, so everything they do, scatters.’ There is no lasting legacy from their lives because they are sowing into the wind. Permanence, together with a lasting legacy, takes a total commitment, not just a mental agreement with what Jesus said. Even the devil believes in God! James 2:19.

In the Gospels, Jesus shows us the way to make the kingdom of God available to others is by living it out in front of them. He was criticised and critiqued by the Pharisees for delivering some poor sod who was held captive by the devil. But this how you make God’s power see-able! “And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.” Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 2:4. 

Talking about Jesus, or even arguing with other people, no matter how cleverly we do it, will not help the-people-who-do-not-know-Him-yet to embrace His kingdom. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit…” (John 3:6). Our minds find security in what we think we know – unless Jesus is allowed to cut away the stuff that is hindering us, with the sword of His Spirit. Like the bible says in Hebrews:“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”The Holy Spirit doesn’t just want to win an argument – He wants to win the person!

In these brief moments in Matthew, Jesus is giving the Pharisees an opportunity to re-examine their idea of truth … be-ca-use … the Truth was standing right in front of them demonstrating LOVE with power.  Ask yourself some hard questions today. Is my life fruitful? Can other people see the kingdom of God being manifested through me? Am I living a life of laid-down love for the people I love, plus the people I don’t know? Or do I just give others a good argument to prove my POV? Do I pray for the sick to be healed and the captives to be set free? That mind stuff is a dead-end street. However His Love through us divides the rubbish away, and cuts straight to the truth. 

Jesus demonstrated the truth in front of their eyes, while the Pharisees left the poor demonised man captive! Just because it makes no sense to me or my personal theology – that doesn’t mean it is wrong – perhaps it is what Christ is saying – today. To me! 👋🏻

P 2203 It sometimes seems a bit weird…

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2201 Don’t leave the fun stuff to the so-called experts!

/ DVH

Instead, ask yourself – what am I here on this planet to do? And here is your answer!! Matthew 5:14-16. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” You and I are here to shine.

So what do I mean – don’t leave all the fun stuff to the so-called experts? I mean doing stuff with the Holy Spirit is FUN, AN ADVENTURE. Take my advice and get over the idea that you can’t possibly talk about your faith to a total stranger. A total stranger is like the easiest person E-V-E-R. You are never gunna see those folks again! Win, win! It’s the easiest way to talk to people. I exhort you to take Jesus with you on holidays. On purpose!

Seriously, buy some bibles/New Testaments/or tracts/ pass-it-on cards and stick them in the car with the kids’ ball games, stuffed toys, and the blow-up floaties for the pool at the caravan park. Yes I know you also have everybody’s clothes, and your food, and a first aid kit … BUT, those book type things really don’t take up all that much room if you think about it. When you do this you are telling the Lord you want Him to come with you …. and you never know what HE will do! … But IT IS guaranteed to blow your mind! 

OK, right – you are busy – you wanna rest. And when you go on holidays you already have a parent in the way-back seat who is deaf, but they won’t admit it. Plus they have a cane, and they grumble a lot.  And they probably want to do sudoko in the car, but the blamed pen won’t work! You also have 2-4 kids and a dopey dog and they all think that your car is a boxing ring. So they repeatedly say: “Are we there yet?” “How much longer is this going to take?” “I want an icecream! You promised!” “He’s sitting on my side of the seat, tell him to move Dad!” Blah blah blah. You know the drill – you’ve bin there already a thousand times. Plus the road is busy, and you and your spouse are wishing you had stayed home … and here I am saying: “take Jesus with you … in your car?? Lady, HE WON’T FIT!” 😱

Aha! I hear ya. But the Lord Jesus is fantastic, He brings peace with Him. “Great! Fabulous, you say! Now, according to YOU, I have to do all this stuff and you want me to be spiritual as well? Have you lost your mind?” Nope. You are right. I don’t have 2+ kids, a dog, and a grandma with a broken pen up the back. But … I have a husband with one hand, cos the other one was operated on, and I can’t drive. And we both suffer from chronic fatigue. And we have to take our own food because we can’t eat out.

Plus hubby has to get out of the car, talk to strangers, then get back in the car again, drive some more, then talk to more people, give away stuff, and still find the caravan park. Me?? I’m praying. Meanwhile I can’t travel 10kms without getting exhausted – let alone 400 kms per day. Then, when we get there, hubby has to cook our dinner – we don’t eat the same food – as well as unpack the car, and strip and remake the bed with bed-stuff so I can sleep. Then he goes off to talk to our hosts and give them whatever God says, to bless them too! Would you believe this still is his most fav thing to do? Mine too!

I soooo get that you are busy and this is the only holiday you are going to have this year… BUT you have never ever lived until you’ve told a perfect stranger that Jesus loves them so much He sent you to their caravan park to tell them that He loves them and cares about THEIR lives. You see, they also have kids, grandkids, daily visitors, beds to make, rooms to clean, a park to look after, plus the expectation that you and everyone else has that they will make your holiday a happy one. Their lives are busy too. And when we tell them the Lord Jesus loves them and smile at them, we may be the first person in a week who didn’t have a complaint about this, that or the other!  

These people don’t know the Lord. When they are desperate, overwrought, tired and fed-up they go down to the back of the park and sit under a tree. Maybe they have a beer (or ten!) and smoke a pack of cigarettes instead. They do not know that IF they pray, God will listen to them, because their prayers for help do not seem to be answered. But HE did listen … HE.SENT.YOU!

Look, people are not going to grab you by the front of your shirt and demand that you tell them about Jesus. They have no idea where their help is! And we get to tell them that the God Who made heaven and earth sent us to tell them that He has not forgotten them – He loves them. You probably won’t even need the 12 spiritual laws. LOVE WILL DO THE JOB BEAUTIFULLY. Send the kids off to buy that icecream, and park grandma or grandpa under a tree and go and introduce yourself to the people who run the park. 

Nothing is more refreshing or fun than refreshing someone else. Why should our pastors have all the fun?  Most people-who-don’t-know-Jesus think pastors have to talk like that – but YOU … you will surprise them! 👋🏻