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P 2832 Get ready to be stretched.

/ DVH

Years ago, a young fellow who had no family and would have been all alone for Christmas, joined us for Christmas lunch.  And when he started in on his third helping of a heaped plate, we started to suspect something was amiss. In those days we didn’t know a lot about the munchies, but the evidence spoke for itself, so we sort of kind of figured it out. The sad part was his everyday behaviour was often all over the place, even though he was part of the leadership team, yet nobody had ever noticed that this poor kid was hooked on Marijuana!

Did you know that in Proverbs 11:25, it says: “A generous person will prosper; Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Today I want to present what I think could be an interesting idea. Ask someone who lives a lonely life, to Christmas lunch. Have you ever prayed: “Lord please show me something I can do for You?” Well, asking someone you don’t know very well to join you and your family for lunch at this time of the year could open a door to deeper relationships and possibilities, and it just might stretch you … all at the same time. Plus, bonus buy, everyone could make a new friend.

Over the years our family has learnt to have an elastic house. One year a young person slept on a fold-away-bed in our lounge, because his family had chucked him out. This dear young man could break things better than a compactor, but he was the most sweetly natured person. Eventually, after he left us, he matured, he married and now he is a plumber. Only heaven knows why his folks chucked him out – he was a great kid! Having him live with us was totally inconvenient, we lived in a tiny cottage, and we had to move his bed whenever we wanted to watch TV!  Plus at that time I was as sick as I could be. The immediate years post-liver transplant were not fun. But helping out people who were virtually homeless brightened up all our lives. Living an extra-ordinary life is challenging, but the rewards outweigh the negative bits. Especially retrospectively. 🤣

The thing we’ve noticed is that we can’t afford to let our own circumstances, govern our generosity. Back then, our lives were made so much richer by the people who came to live with us … even at the worst of physical and financial times – by God’s Grace we all managed. Father God is not trying to interrupt our carefully planned existence … He wants to enrich us. Other people and their unusual ways of thinking, being, and doing, will stretch us and bring us out into that bigger place mentioned in Isaiah 54:2.“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”

We can pray that scripture for ourselves, and then wait for Him to do it for us until we are blue in the face, but the truth is, WE must learn to stretch our tents open and take risks… It is blatantly obvious that this kind of stuff is supernaturally natural, because Jesus Himself told us that when we do these things:“…for the least of these…”we are doing them for Him! Hands up anyone who wants to minister to the Lord? OK, you have your instructions. 

Just settle in your heart that it will be inconvenient, and put stuff away if you don’t want it broken! Actually, the surest way to discover the things that we are unreasonably attached to, is to have someone else break them! I learnt that the hard way!!  BUT … no matter what, we cannot lose, because of what we win… “Everything … everything … EVERYTHING … works together for our good, … for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”

His purpose is to find willing vessels to fill with the Holy Spirit’s love and power! He doesn’t need experts — Jesus Himself chose ordinary  fishermen, a taxman, a former prostitute to be His followers  I mean, did you ever ask yourself Who taught Peter to speak like he did  in the book of Acts? The Holy Spirit did! The Lord is not looking for perfection – He doesn’t have to, He already is!

Like I said before, we will have to stretch ourselves to find His purpose for our lives. Remember, Jesus was homeless,  because there was no room at the inn. To me that means that you will never know who you could be taking in! Maybe a homeless angel, or a lost kid whose life was so painful he had to smoke his way through it. 

I think the poor are so poor, they have no time or energy for pretending, they are simply trying to survive. From a distance, it is easy to be put off by how they look … but God sees people clearly, He knows exactly who they are. We’ve found that poor people don’t need to be convicted of sin, when they are confronted with His Loving holiness, they know. The poor are easier to save than middle class people who think they are mostly pretty OK. 

Christianity is neither a hobby or a part-time job … it’s a life well lived. It’s a life lived the way Jesus would live it. I exhort you to begin to stretch your home and take in someone who might have Christmas dinner alone – or maybe even a bed for somebody who needs a safe place to sleep. That’s the way to get elastic houses. Bye. 👋 

P 2795 We serve Jesus … no matter where we are.

/ DVH

The MSG bible says this, about working for a living and serving others: “Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.” Colossians 3:23-24.

Well that’s pretty plain eh? In a nutshell these verses explain what our attitude is to be toward our working life. We are serving the Lord in our place of employment, no matter what the man says … we are no longer just working for the man! Submission, thoroughness and meekness are not signs you are weak, or a loser or  – they are a sign to the Lord, and others, that you are following Him, no matter what people say. If you are doing it right, people may not agree with you, but they will be attracted to the Saviour within your life and heart.

We are not influenced by this world and its upside down ideas anymore. We have a whole other way to live, and not just at our house where we feel safe. The way we live now, is to ask for the Holy Spirit’s help and seek His transformation in every situation.That means we will be a better employee than anyone else, because we primarily serve Jesus as He leads us in His ways, in our place of employment. 

Now if your earthly boss wants you to do something dodgy, then you will have to take the time to give him or her your opinions, prayerfully and respectfully. And then politely decline. But feel free to tell your boss that you serve Jesus and that means you won’t lie, steal, manipulate or cheat others. You can also tell him that the UP side of your beliefs is that you won’t lie, steal, cheat or manipulate him either! Be prayerful and remember: “Help! – Is a prayer!”

“When we are pressured to do something wrong, we need to depend on God’s power to stand firmer against evil than we ever believed we could. Yet we also need to bear Christ’s word of compassion and forgiveness when we find that Christians cannot over­come all the evils of the world’s workplaces.” (The Theology of work.)

Meanwhile we need to engage with, and take every opportunity to practice listening to the Holy Spirit, instead of trying to manipulate anybody else into doing what we think will benefit them. Even if we know personally, that our plan is better!  I honestly think this is where a whole lot of people have missed the rails and been sidetracked. Manipulation, no matter what our motivation is, is not God’s Way. His Way always involves people’s freely-given choices. 

Some people vacillate between wondering if they should stand up on the tearoom table and start preaching about Jesus … but that thought terrifies them … so they shove that aside … and do nothing at all. They turn into ‘undercover brother instead!’ I truly believe you can serve Jesus and others, and not be a bible basher or an evangelist. You just need to be ready to give an account for the hope that resides within you, and let love rule. Simply be ready to talk about the Lord as opportunities occur, and He leads you. Feel free to be natural, and be sweet and kind in your speech, not pious!   

The Lord talked a great deal about faithful employees, and I recommend that employees or employers read His parables prayerfully because they are relevant to working situations. (Matthew 20:1-16;  Matthew 25:14-30; Matthew 7:24-27;  Matthew 21:28-32; Matthew 21:33; Luke 16:1-13; Luke 17:7-10; Mark 13:34-37) Jesus’ parables were often in the context of a manager and his workers. They highlight the servants loyalty to their master, and his instructions were a premium point in these stories. 

We don’t have two lives! One at work and the other at home. HE is our precious Lord in either place. Otherwise it is like trying to wear two hats. Plus it’s in opposition to what the bible says! His book says we work for the Lord wherever we are. We don’t just work for money – we live and work and receive our reward from HIM. We care about the way we treat others because this is our mission field. It is extremely important to be prayerful over the way we use our time every day. A Christian will work harder, as well as more efficiently than the next guy, who cheats on his income tax and feeds the boss bribes at the pub…

Ephesians 6:5-8 says:“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.”

This is a big subject and there are a lot of scriptures pertaining to it, which is good, because work is a big part of most people’s lives! I think this work ethic applies to all of us, even those engaged in caring for their homes and kids. I will leave you today with my initial thought: We serve Jesus no matter where we are. Bye. 👋

P 2749 Don’t settle for less than on fire!

/ DVH

I’ve been listening to a number of different things lately, all made possible by YouTube. I discovered Project of Love this morning. It consists of verses from the bible in spontaneous song. Featuring books like Isaiah, Psalms, Habakkuk, Mark, and many more – about 22 so far, and these Scriptures set to music are accompanied by the really powerful images. It was a breath of fresh air.  Xander, the guitar playing singer, heard the Lord tell Him to pick up his guitar and sing what He was reading from Isaiah.

At that time, Xander did not know God, and he had been deeply depressed, he was on suicide watch. He was saved on the spot! After watching this man’s joy in action it really convicted me that it is easy to get stuck in the ways of the past. In the days to come I think that the Lord will bring out some extraordinary gifts from ordinary people, in whatever He is going to do next. Meanwhile, maybe we’ve made worship or teaching about having musically experienced leaders, and competent musicians. In other words we look for the people with the best voices or those who have been trained. But we sing to help US focus and to bless His heart. Ephesians 5:19 – “Speaking to yourselves, in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” 

This thought meant that I asked myself some questions …  why should worship be about the sound, and not our hearts? The danger for all of us who know exactly what to say and do, is that worship can become a routine, and everything is left to the leader out the front. Yet I think we could see a day when the Lord might take members of society that the church would reject, or maybe pass over, because they don’t meet some sort of ‘ministry’ standard. He wants them contribute.

Personally, I believe God is going to gift some people in extraordinary ways, like our friend Xander! But because the people outside our churches are ‘unchurched’ they will not have the inbuilt agendas most of us cheerfully adhere to. 

Sometimes it seems that the church at large has accepted fear as a subtext, accidentally. It seems that we are afraid of wandering off into error. However, that’s when we can unfortunately trample on the very gifts God wants to raise up! It is much too easy for us to get stuck in the way that things have always worked in the past.

Here’s a thought: … muscles are developed when they are gently but regularly stretched. Maybe the Body of Christ needs to do some heavenly stretching! Is our collective faith big enough for what He wants to do next? Our trust in His ability to care for us in any circumstance, seems to have given way to the fear of making mistakes or being misled by enthusiasm. Are we settling for the known and the comfortable, the routine and predictable, because those things are regarded as being normal and controllable. Our God is bigger than that. When Jesus came into this world, He challenged the norm by His very Presence!

Does our preaching and teaching rely more on expertise and knowledge than passion? I heard someone preach the other day and they were all over the place like jam, and yet they still managed to challenge me! Is strict adherence to conformity the very reason the church has settled into separate denominations? In many churches we go along with the same old same old, because somebody more senior and knowledgeable in God sets the rules and now we just blindly follow them. Maybe this is why some people continually hop about changing churches like the pop-up moles in Whack-a-Mole? Perhaps we are shopping around for churches that make us comfortable? Who are we here for again?? HIM or us?

We all know that I’m not the biggest fan of jumping around between churches –  yet in my denomination that seems to be almost expected, as well as accepted. But it is extremely important to remember that the Lord will choose the setting He wants to place us in. A new church is not like choosing a new shirt – for us to reach our full potential we need to rub up against people who are going to annoy the living daylights out of us! If we choose our comfort over His opportunities for our growth – we will stay babies and toddlers. 

Growth occurs as we discover our own hearts have deceived us and we are convicted by our sinfulness. So, do we  avoid change because it is inconvenient or we don’t like it, or we don’t think it is necessary? Maybe we even know we are stuck but we keep waiting for the Lord to turn up and fix the mess we’ve made?  Our job is to repent, and work with the Holy Spirit — to challenge ourselves and face up to the things we don’t like. Then we need to prayerfully revise our attitudes. Change is not just agreeing with the bible, change is when we look like Jesus and act like He would.

As Christians we cannot afford to settle for anything less than being on fire! Let’s reject the comfortable same-old same-old status quo, and press in to make sure we please His heart as well as continually press in to expand our love for Him. Bye.👋

“Don’t you realize that together you have become God’s inner sanctuary and that the Spirit of God makes His permanent home in you?” 1Corinthians 3:16 TPT

P 2711 Faith is not just agreement.

/ DVH

I’ve met plenty of people who agree that God is real, yet they have no visible faith! Some of them have what I call, fashionable faith. However what they say has no substance in their lives. God clearly values OBEDIENCE- read the book! Disobedience is not a viable alternative. So if we truly want our faith to grow, then we need to cultivate an attitude that is consistently, actively obedient. Faith has evidence. Our faith brings unseen things into the realm of things we can see.

Meanwhile, even the devil believes there is a God! (James 2:19) The only way we can showcase our faith is to use it – and not just when the sky is falling. Our evidence is always seeable. People ask both of us why we go on the road a number of times during a year? Because the Lord asked us to do it. Actually, He asks all His kids to follow His Son into a life of voluntary, loving service …it’s in the book! So why is it so hard to obey? Dying is hard! Everybody wants the benefits, but very few people want to be changed and transformed. FYI the older you get the harder transformation becomes.

We meet all kinds of difficulties when we are on the road. Hubby has to do everything. He does all the driving, then he has to pack and unpack the car … all by himself. Then he needs to set up our overnight stay. When we get to the destination, he can’t rest … he has to look after me. Showers, cooking, setting up the bed! If we travel every single day, then he does this every single day. He packs up in the morning, and then he sets up again that night. He only gets a rest from this kind of intense work when we stay more than two nights in one place. However, there is nothing special about this – he is just being obedient. Obedience costs us comfort and ease.

Jesus says this about a servant who works all day for His Master …I’ve put this scripture here because we need to pay attention to it as well as others like it. It always reminds me of my dear husband. Luke 17:7-10 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?  So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

I have found that many ministers ignore verses like these these, because those verses aren’t what I call, popular theology. Most people like the kind of verses that support them – their personal lives as individuals. Jesus didn’t come to earth and do all He did for us to give us a happy life down here – He came to get us to HEAVEN. And when we pray for others – when we tell them what Jesus did for them – we are using our faith for good. Yesterday my hubby shared the gospel with a mainland Chinese gentleman who had never heard it before. What a privilege! Our God is our HOME. He’s the place where we put down roots. Of course, He loves to help us, He loves His kids — but He is not an elderly benevolent ga-ga Grandpa either!! 

When we simply mentally agree with what the bible says, that is not faith. Faith has substance and substance can be seen! Jesus bought and paid for the right to ask us to live that way. Living for Him will involve sacrifices too. We will end up living differently than the world around us. Sometimes Christians are like starry-eyed people who fall in love… they only want the romance, and they never really settle into the marriage. Marriage involves love and romance;  and also sacrifice and hardship. Deep relationships do not come cheap! 

Here are some other less popular verses: John 12:26:“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honour him.” Ask yourself, would Jesus prioritise leisure time or reaching-out-to-others-time? Galatians 5:13: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” There’s a lot of them if you want to do the research.

Salvation is not only about you and I going to heaven – we were saved to bring other people with us. That won’t happen if we do not practice obedience. There are enough instructions in those four gospels, to keep us busy for the rest of our lives!! We don’t have to wait upon Him to find special things to do – we have a book full of things we can do. We need to put aside the practice of simply memorising verses that promise US some sort of a special advantage over someone else, and start living by all those verses, so we can demonstrate them to other people. Real faith is not about just agreeing with the truth, it is about living by it. Every single day. 👋

P 2677 Looking for the good.

/ DVH

“Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.”1 Corinthians 13:7TPT. I highly recommend speaking life into whatever you can see that is good, and of God in other people. It is God-honouring to tell the people we know, what’s good about them. So today, I wanted to follow up yesterdays’ blog with something positive we can hopefully all do.

I am not talking about flattery. I believe we need speak real things, positive things, things that will help others feel encouraged and loved. You can be used by God to create a safe verbal shelter for the people you care about — and who doesn’t need that?! Flattery is also deceitful. It can’t build anything because it has a rotten foundation. Often the motivation behind flattery is to gain advantage over someone else.

I love this verse from Song of Songs 4:7: “You are altogether beautiful, my darling;  there is no flaw in you.” Oh, the things the Lord says! This whole book is about a love story and worth reading just from that POV. The bride/beloved in it, is not flawless, the Shepherd is talking about the way he sees her. On the other hand, unfortunately, the Shulamite woman can see her flaws clearly. Some of them are even physical, but the Shepherd sees so much more than she can see. When we look through LOVE we can see so much more. It is interesting to note that if we have a physical flaw, sometimes we cannot see beyond it.

The Lord rebuked me recently about the way I view myself and He said something that was so accurate I laughed out loud. It seems I avoid mirrors. If there is one in the room I look away from it, or even down. Apparently, I am ashamed of the way I look … so … I don’t look at me unless I have to! This attitude shows me a place inside, where I need His loving, caring touch. I know I need to let His Love into my mind and heart, or I will just pass that shame on to someone else in my own speech. 

The way the Shepherd in this book speaks to his bride, as well as about her, is a wonderful example of love building the other person up! Song of Songs is a fantastic illustration of the power of words to transform a life and develop LOVE. The Shepherd’s love spoken out, freely deposits that quality into the Shulamite’s life, and she does the same for him. That love transforms everything it touches.

This principle, prompted by the Holy Spirit, and activated in our own lives, can empower someone else to be bigger and more positive than they are. The other person discovers life is not about outward looks, or talents, it is about loving and being loved. In my opinion, there is a whole other person inside most of us, just waiting to come out. But we’ve learnt early on in our lives that freely expressing ourselves, and being ourselves, led to disapproval – so we quit.

Christians have the capacity and the power to speak life – Jesus died to give that to us. His truth was always tempered with mercy and hope. Everything He said contained within it the power to bring about transformation and security in love. BTW, I’m not talking about being fake, rather, ask the Lord to show you accurate things to say that encourage other people to see themselves through your eyes. This involves taking note of things that are often not easily seen. We glorify God when we notice His Ways in others.

The amazing thing is, you and I don’t have to be perfectly healed and totally whole to live this way. And the even greater bonus is that speaking out life actually increases our own faith. It takes faith to speak out kindness and love when what you are receiving from that person is anger, apathy or indifference. People don’t have to yell at you for you to know they are suspicious of you and your motivations – you can kind of guess….

Lastly I would like to include a short word of warning from 1 Corinthians 3:16: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” If I use my words to destroy you and I don’t repent for what I’ve done, I am actively cursing you. I am destroying God’s house! Not to mention the harmony that is meant to exist within that house!  Words matter. They are more than a means to communicate, they are the building blocks that open a way to build a place for God Himself to live in!

I exhort you to start praying the Lord will show something good, upright and beautiful about someone who inhabits your world. At home, at work, in your church. Let’s begin to look for the good in others and tell them. Bye. 👋

P 2625 Love needs to be given away.

/ DVH

“Love is never wasted for its value does not rest upon reciprocity…  …To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” (C.S. Lewis – The Four Loves.) “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:21.

I was challenged by what C.S. Lewis said, because I think it is so true. I have met people who decided loving others was not ‘safe’ — and, sadly, they seemed to be some of the most black and white people I ever met. It was as if all colour was sucked right out of them. In my opinion ‘compassion and empathy’ bring God’s glorious out-of-this-world’s colour into, and out of our little lives. Those incredible gifts are the very essence of Christ’s being and life. However, without His Presence we can do nothing but flap our gums and look awkward. But with Him, we can usher in His kingdom here on earth, right here, right now. Our God is always NOW.

Let’s be clear, loving others is not only hard, like C.S said, it is fraught with danger. People are not reliable by nature, instead they have been badly influenced by the world around them. However, we have, inside us, the power to speak His life into others. Nobody can tell me that this kind of thing doesn’t or can’t happen, because I’ve watched it happen time and time again! A seemingly ordinary person, who is polite and helpful – but distant – suddenly floods with the Lord’s colour and His light, and they are alive in a way that seemed impossible a second ago. It takes my breath away every single time.

If we want to see Him at work and watch what He can do, first we need to lay aside our fear of rejection, abandonment and looking foolish. We will need to be brave. At times like this my favourite thought is: “I am never going to see these people again, what do I care what they think of me?”  So I start with whatever small thought He has given me, and I just keep pulling on that thread. Then, I stop and wait. I’m waiting to see what the Lord will do next. I try not to speak in paragraphs or whole pages. Instead, I do my best to speak as simply and clearly as I can. But the main point is: I do what He tells me to do the way He tells me to do it.

My dear hubby has been used by the Lord in this way, in front of my eyes, many times.  And he illustrates this releasing of God’s  glorious colours in others, time and time again when we are on the road. He is normally quite shy, and retiring, or that’s how he appears, until the Lord lights up inside him! At those times he is so bold when he speaks, even to strangers. And they glow under the lamp-light of God’s kindness and approval.  Then they tell him all kinds of personal things they probably wouldn’t even dream of telling people they know!

Hubby’s personal transformation illustrates to me what the kingdom looks like when it flows through us toward others. In those times we do not have to persuade anybody that God is real … when He turns up, His Presence is self-explanatory! Everyone knows that He is there. They don’t know, how or why … but they know that something extraordinary is going on. Mostly, the people we speak to look like little children who suddenly feel at home and LOVED.

God loved us so much He gave… and unless we participate in a lifetime of giving, loving and continually caring for everybody we meet, we will get stuck in a grey world that is the same old same old, day after day after day. You know, when many Christians get stuck spiritually, they end up hoping that going to church week by week will do. Actually, our relationship with Him is meant to be alive and vibrant minute by minute. If we only have Christian friends and Christian fellowship, then we have limited our exposure to the world around us. This means we will most likely never see the Lord shine as brightly as He does in the darkness.

Lately, we’ve all been so focussed on making ourselves feel better, we forgotten we are keepers of the most precious substance on this earth – HIS LOVE.  Love is meant to be given away, not hidden or hoarded. Hiding it defeats the very purpose we were given love in the first place! The more we give His love away, the more our lives will be bombarded with His colour and beauty. Jesus can’t help Himself, He just loves to do extraordinary things … usually without our permission! YAY! Our privilege and joy is – we are allowed to watch Him do them.  Aren’t we the blessed ones? 👋

P 2613 Make it your aim to speak life to others.

/ DVH

Part of living as a member of God’s kingdom, is to love and respect Him, as well as others by the way we speak to them. Our society is pretty free with its opinions – we tend to throw them around like we are sowing wheat. As His representatives, we don’t tear things down, we build them up.

Today, it seems to me that the news services go out of their way to highlight difficulties. In fact every day, with astonishing regularity, we seem to have some catastrophic circumstance or other that is impossible to solve, and it is always some authority figure’s fault! That’s when opinions fly about like leaves on a blustery day. The Lord has been repeatedly teaching me that what I say matters. Words are meant to be tools that shape His kingdom in front of someone else’s eyes. Speaking life is not just about communicating, it is actively breathing His life into others using words. 

Because we are His kids, the bible tells us we have His authority to speak to other people in such a way that they will go away from meeting us, lifted up, or challenged, or comforted. I am not always sure I get that bit right, but … I repent … then I press on…!!  Speaking life means that I am communicating with someone else so that they feel empowered. They want to do or try something they have never done, or tried before. They feel loved, not rejected. Encouragement is a great gift — I urge everyone to ask for it. It can lift someone else up when they are in despair, and help them so they can move forward.

However, I am not talking about flattery, that is temporal at best. Flattery can be really deceptive and destructive. Flattering someone often means I have an agenda, and I am trying to sell them something. But speaking life is about speaking out something that is good, right, and pure. These words are containers of His love. It is often something sweet that our Heavenly Father wants to say to us, or someone else. Personally, I have found when the Holy Spirit says to me: “Say this to that person” – it seems like I am simply taking dictation, as there is a spiritual component to it.

He whispers something to me, and I simply pass that on to the other person. It may be about how well they are doing their job. Or their friendly face. Just simple things. A lot of the time it comes out in my own words. It is not the same as prophecy, but it can contain elements of that in what is said. As an observer, it definitely seems to me like more oxygen comes into the room and I think that’s because Jesus always inhabits what He says! People stop being aware of their failings and become aware of His kingdom because His Presence blows the irrelevant things away. 

This quality has been illustrated wonderfully for me when my hubby talks to complete strangers. First of all they seem to be attracted to Him. I see them look up and instantly smile. Secondly, because what he says is not religiously framed, they accept it immediately. I think it looks like they actually feel God’s grace on hubby’s words.

Human beings can have all kinds of theories about Almighty God  – but there is no denying it when He steps into a room. His people know Him … even if they aren’t His adopted people yet!! They are still His… “Delightfully loved ones…  ”  That verse goes on to say: “…if He loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life!” 1 John 4:11. That’s great advice!

Hubby says that speaking out encouragement is like giving people courage. I like that idea – who doesn’t need courage? Some days I need it to get out of bed! What he says to strangers is personal, real and almost tangible. They often reply: “How could you possibly know that?” Then he says: “I don’t, but HE (points to the ceiling) does.” You know,  I have never seen the Presence of God make people anxious. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but I haven’t seen it. Our God IS love. When people encounter His unconditional love – there is no need for fear or striving – their heart has found HOME. 

Our daily task is to grow into that kind of generous, unrestricted love. That’s the only real assignment we have every morning. After that we simply pass on what we’ve been given. There are no agendas, no subtexts, we take the time to be His conduit toward that other person, as we relax into the fact that He loves us and them. … Then we just follow His instructions. Our words have power in them, they can build someone up – or leave them flat.

Jesus made His aim clear in John 10:10. “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” Bye.👋

P 2584 Hang onto your hat. 🎩

/ DVH

Here’s some stuff to think on today …Have we inadvertently reduced the Living Word of God to a series of unwritten, but strongly supported rules about who is acceptable and who is not? I believe the church at large reacts badly to people who are not living inside our pre-set rules. Unlike Jesus Himself, Who treated everyone the same … including drunks, lepers and promiscuous women! Unfortunately, we are not responding with love or compassion – instead we react with abhorrence, fear, accusation, and condemnation. We just don’t know what to do with some people in this world. Here’s a big thought:loving anyone with His love isn’t giving them permission to continue with a sinful lifestyle.

It is as if we believe people must be changed BEFORE they can come to Jesus. That’s not in my bible! We look at others with terribly unbiblical ways of life, and tell them if they really want to be saved they have to stop doing what they are doing. We are looking for self-control from those who don’t even know anything about His power. I dunno about you, but I am like a snake still shedding old skins as I go along, I’m not yet perfected in Godly things. Personally, I think you clean fish after you catch them!

Our denominations have put unspoken rules in place to make life easier, nicer and safer for us. So what about a person who is unsure about their gender identity for a number of reasons? Hmmm. If that turned out to be your precious relative or immediate family, what would you do then?? The hard lines that we have drawn against this type of person and that way of life, could end up dividing families. I know people who have chosen terribly destructive lifestyles, and now they cannot go home anymore. Their parents won’t even talk to them and they are doing that in Jesus’ Name! What a price some outcasts have paid. Imagine the kind of passion those people could have for Christ, if and when He delivers them!

Personally I cannot bear it when the church looks at others as if they are filthy. We are all fallen people. All have sinned.  I HAVE A SAVIOUR … and others need an opportunity!  Do I like how some people choose to live? Of course not! Like I said, it is abhorrent. Yet in our own churches we often turn a blind eye and allow gossip and spite to thrive… and eliminate others before they’ve even had a chance to respond to Christ’s teachings. “…straining out gnats and letting through camels!” 

We often choose to tell people who are not living a lifestyle described in the bible, you can’t come in here and be THAT!  And that’s them – ELIMINATED FROM GRACE. Personally, I can’t exist without grace … without Him I can do nothing!  Yes, I am aware that certain behaviour is described as an abomination to the Lord, but Jesus died for all. Here’s a think spot: I’ve told lies, how about you? Check out Revelation sometime: liars go into the lake of fire and random judgment diagnoses the person judging, it doesn’t end well for them either!… Just saying is all.

At the same time, I understand that Christianity is meant to be an all or nothing kind of faith. Jesus said this: “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth.” Revelation 3:16. Lukewarm people don’t do well in His book either! When we water down salvation to simply saying a prayer, instead of it being a process, we are misleading those who-do-not-know-Him-yet, regarding true salvation. Meanwhile, are we behaving with repulsion because we have lost the power of God to deliver, anyone, anywhere, any time? I am not talking about forced conversions either. You can’t grow an apple tree from a weed’s seed, and you can’t usher in His kingdom with FEAR – instead of His love.

Some people are magnificently changed instantly. But that is not everyone’s experience. We must not ignore those souls who are trapped by appetites cultivated over time, or even circumstances beyond their control. There are people have been forced to live in all kinds of unimaginable decadence, that they didn’t deliberately choose. Or they have been exposed to horrors by care-givers. How dare we lock them out of knowing the One Who bore every single horror and atrocity for their sake?! Deception is rampant in our society … and most of our western governments support it. What’s the answer to that? Murder the government?! Heaven forbid. Change comes one soul at a time.

I really don’t have to approve of your lifestyle or way of thinking to tell you that God loves you dearly and He always will. My criteria for transformation is simple: ‘do you need a Saviour or not? Will you give Him your whole life and leave your old life behind?’ Whatever anyone does about His love is then up to them! It is my passionate belief that we have missed, and will continue to miss, some of the greatest miracles we will ever see because we are denying others the opportunity to know Him because of the way they look, or live. And that thought might blow a few hats off.

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you WERE. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) It seems even in Paul’s time, people with all kinds of ungodly lifestyles were changed by Christ’s life-giving death! Bye. 👋

P 2562 Living this life aware of the Dove.

/ DVH

“Loving Me empowers you to obey My commands. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Saviour, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a Friend just like Me—and He will never leave you. The world won’t receive Him because they can’t see Him or know Him. But you know Him intimately because He remains with you and will live inside you.” John 14:15-17 TPT.

What does LOVE mean to God? Here’s what Jesus, our resident Expert, explained about that in John 15:13: “No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends.” I liked that verse so much here is another version! 😊…”For the greatest love of all is a love that sacrifices all. And this great love is demonstrated when a person sacrifices his life for his friends.” (TPT).

To our God, love involves sacrifice – and He set the example. If we want to learn His love language we are going to need to learn how to love the way He loves…. and He loved us, so He sacrificially gave us everything He treasures. And the Lord Jesus loved US so much that He sent us His dearest Friend and Guide ever – the Holy Spirit, His constant beloved Companion …to help us! Think about it. Jesus’ Best Friend can be our best Friend too! Not just SomeOne Who comes alongside … SomeOne Who lives INSIDE. Ya can’t get closer than that!! We have SomeOne Whose very Presence imparts God’s POV, living inside us. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us, so He can reveal Jesus through us!

Can I be honest with you? It seems to me that the Precious Holy Spirit deserves a glorious palace, or a spectacular house, yet my heart can seem more like a barely inhabitable tenement, some days! Mainly because I know He is incredibly pure and holy, and I comfort myself that He wants me to learn so we can be together. With His help, I am learning to make sure He feels welcome and my heart is continually being transformed into His home. One thing I have noticed about the Holy Spirit, He never elevates Himself. He ALWAYS points to Jesus, He is the Word of God, as well as to our Father’s great love for us. He’s so selfless.

How do you keep SomeOne this loving, powerful, pure and kind as a friend? TREASURE HIM above everything else. He is our most glorious treasure! He is the pearl God has hidden inside the ordinary field of our hearts … and we need to give up all we have in order to have the privilege of having this incredible treasure with us always. Because the Holy Spirit’s Presence is definitely more precious than all the things of this world! He is also worth our every effort to love the people who may actively hate and oppose us. We are to live this life, OUR NEW LIFE, aware of Him. All it takes is the power of choice, and making sure we know what He likes. That’s in the book!

Over the years I have learnt that He will never bully me, or disapprove of my careless, selfish actions – instead it is His very Presence within me that convicts and convinces me of my sin. And if I do something incredibly dumb … He just quietly leaves, and He waits for me to realise His absence. At the same time He will help me with whatever I did so that I can restore the relationship again. 

You know human beings can be pushy, but He is not. People can be mean, but He is not. He simply speaks His truth to me, and that truth exposes things I never knew were inside my heart! He speaks to me through the bible, as well as personally. We are blessed to know SomeOne Who utterly loves us and only wants the best for us – as well as the people that we care about. He will do this for everyone every single minute of every single day.

The bible says that we show no greater love than if we lay down our lives for our friends, and we have the most glorious example of what that looks like. Jesus Christ willingly made that choice for all of us! BUT, then the Lord exploded our finite ideas of what love looks like by saying this in Matthew 5:43-45:“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”   Meanwhile, we cannot possibly fulfil the harder criteria Jesus gave us, without the Holy Spirit’s help, guidance, and counsel!! Which is why, first of all, we are to lay down our lives for our Heavenly Friend, the Holy Spirit.

We need Him! We cannot live the Christian life without Him. He is not rules, He is not disapproval – He’s a Person Who dearly loves us, FOREVER. Let us continually purpose to become acquainted with what His Love, looks likes. Human beings when they are crossed, hold grudges, get bitter, and happily cultivate resentment. This means we desperately need our Helper to guide us through the minefield of our emotions, and errant thoughts. He will set us up back on our feet so we can continue with our spiritual journey. Praise God! There is a step that is above learning to be obedient – and we do need to be obedient! And that deeper step is about … falling in Love – people do anything for Love.

Loving Jesus will give us the power to obey Him. That’s why He sent us the Helper Who is an Expert in Love. Without the Grace and power of God we will fall into sin, and oh so many snares. Praise God for our Friend Who is closer than a brother – the Holy Spirit. Amen. 🙌 Learn to live this life aware of the Dove. 🕊️

“Those who cling to their lives will give up true life. But those who let go of their lives for My sake and surrender it all to Me will discover true life!” Matthew 10:39 TPT. 👋

P 2518 Faith says I need HIM more than stuff!

/ DVH

“Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.”1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

The difficulty we face with verses like these, as I see it, is that we can read them and say to ourselves: “Oh, dear, I’m not like that. That means that I am failing God. I don’t see how I can ever be like that, I’m too bad tempered, too selfish, etc.” Hmm. There is no faith needed to diagnose what everyone else around us can already see! However, these verses are about faith, they are not there to diagnose lack. They are a description of what the Lord’s love does, and His design and purpose for our lives. They show us what we are aiming at! We can have anything on that list IF we are prepared to die to self!

Using our faith to act on what He says is the key to giving these things substance —  BUT — telling ourselves that we already have them, without using our faith, is not scriptural! Be-cau-se  “FAITH is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not yet seen.” Hebrews 11:1. Faith is not just claiming stuff — it is love in action so others can then see our faith! Ya might want to think on that the next time you are shouting at someone. It will be hard for them to believe you have faith to overcome sin when all the evidence they have to hand is to the contrary! It will hurt to deny ourselves take up our cross … (that cross is often people who just don’t get us!)… and follow Jesus.

These things already exist in Christ, and HE is now our new home. In Christ we have all these glorious qualities – Jesus died to give us all this, and more. Jesus didn’t just say He died – HE DIED! We cannot pretend to have this stuff and hope He is fooled. These things are precious Holy Spirit qualities, and they are real tangible things, not wish-thinking. They are the language of love between the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ died to give us what He already has with the Father. “In this [union and fellowship with Him], love is completed and perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him]; because as He is, so are we in this world.”1 John 4:17. We are destined to look like Him, and we get there by our obedience, one step at a time. Which includes shutting our mouths when we want to let fly, or by curbing our ungodly desires etc., and asking the Holy Spirit to do what He does best. HELP US.

Those qualities written down in 1 Corinthians are a check list, but they are not there to condemn us. They are there to help us recognise that when we deliberately choose not to keep score of someone else’s sins – we are manifesting His love toward that person. When we choose to be satisfied with what we have, then we are manifesting His love! Practically speaking … when we are supernaturally patient, using our faith, when we are dealing with a two year old who wants what he wants – we are manifesting God’s love toward that child!

But if and when, we miss the mark, then we confess our faults, to the other person, and repent and restore relationships as needed.Repentance is now a part of our way of life because we are be-i-ng perfected … but we ain’t there yet! Right now we are all learning to walk in the WAY … “I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.” Proverbs 8:20,21. See?! We are to be a source of great blessing to many … and I’ve always started with my family! Here’s an example of what that looks like from the book —“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her …” Proverbs 31:28. This is a way of life, not a book of nice theories. It is a faith book.

Unfortunately, many of us have misinterpreted scriptures as a free for all to ‘ask and you shall receive,’  and think that means that we can have whatever we want if we just ask for it in His Name. 😱 Jesus Christ lived a life full of LOVE from God — to manifest GOD — here on earth as it is in heaven! Not a new yacht or a diamond ring or a McDonald’s cheese burger!  He will supply all our needs and this is a huge gift to us, because Jesus Christ is rich in glory with every heavenly blessing, but those things are not necessarily material! They are kingdom things.

However, because God is a loving Father we can always ask Him. And we can always ask Him for help. But our very real need is transformation, not material things! Priorities matter.  We can have the kingdom of this world, but it is far better to chase after the kingdom of our God! So now we use our faith to access His Presence. His fruit. His incredible love for us, that other stuff will follow along … or not!  Bye. 👋