Impatient

P 3515 The old person in your future.    

/ DVH

Senior Christians can be a huge help in our churches, especially with advice to younger ones. The negative thing about growing older is that these very important senior citizens sometimes think: “let’s leave all the moving forward and work, to the younger ones.” And they just sit back and enjoy the ride. When we do this we are forgetting that younger people can lack patience, faithfulness, self-control and wisdom. Those fruits grow slowly! Older folks have it in spades, because life demands it. It beats you up then you need Jesus’ help to cope, over and over again. And … tada! Eventually, unless you are thick as a plank – you get wisdom!

Living longer presents people with all kinds of difficulties that aren’t apparent to those who are quite young or in middle age. These saints literally have to learn new things, or this life gets harder than your coping mechanisms! The truly great thing about age is that you don’t only get wisdom, you get loads of humility. ‘I can’t do that’ becomes the new norm. However, us oldies cannot afford to let it become a cop-out. I pick myself up daily when my mind has wandered about, and tell it “one more time, let’s go again.”

My point is that the Body of Christ needs its senior members. Packing them off into Old People’s homes means they can bore one another silly, or they will vegetise ← I made that word up! Don’t just let them clump about talking to each other. They need fresh input or they will get so bored with their circumstances that they tune out and wait for death. Now there’s a happy future. Everyone wants to wake up and wonder if they will die today! We may long to go to be with Jesus, (Paul did!) – but Jesus doesn’t always seem to be in a hurry to pick some of us up!

Sadly, some younger Christians don’t want to look at the fact that one day … in their not-so-distant-future, because-it-is-coming-at-you-faster-than-you-think … they too will be hobbling about on walking sticks, or stuck in wheelchairs, or dribbling their soup! Here’s a red hot clue for you … the only way to avoid old age is to DIE! … you see my point.

Having a sense of humour and being able to laugh at yourself helps. Especially when your bodily functions … UM … pardon me while I digress … what a laugh!! … “functions” literally means things work! Hmmm. Hey ho, your bodily functions will probably let you down. Repeatedly. And you will no longer go into the cupboard and forget what you went in for … you’ll probably forget you HAVE a cupboard, or a house. It isn’t just that you can no longer find your glasses, rather you no longer remember to wear them and wonder why the world’s gone blurry.

Back to the Body, Christ’s Body needs its senior citizens because they have loads of experience. Older people can look like naysayers sometimes, but they can also prevent others from falling down holes in their theology, because they recognise repeated scenery as it scrolls by. We’ve seen it before and it didn’t work then either! However, our minds do sometimes play tricks on us, producing the spirit of grumpy. That’s your chance to practice patience.

An elderly mind can wander about a bit as parts of it rust out, but because we are the Bride of Christ we are the people who have cultivated gentleness, kindness and love, so we won’t make older folks feel like fools. Instead we’ll use our wits to help them when they’ve lost theirs! Whether they sleep all day, or call out at night from fear — or get cranky for absolutely no reason other than old age — all that stuff is nasty, and often inevitable. Older people are still people that Jesus died for. Love is absolutely transferrable, so love will help them when its time to go be with Him.

When talking with an older person ask them about their past. Like… what was school like?  What were the things they loved to do in their youth?  Ask them how they met Jesus, how have they served Him? The thing I’ve noticed about youth is that they can quickly grow impatient when someone can’t find the right word instantly. Computers aren’t the only things that have speeded up. People have too.

This is what the bible says about age: Isaiah 46:4 – “Even to your old age and grey hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Psalm 71:9 – “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Psalm 92:12-14 – “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 – “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

We can learn all kind of important skills for this life from older people – things that education can’t and won’t teach you. They know so much about enduring faith and long-suffering, plus they are living proof of God’s faithfulness sustaining us, even unto our own old age. A church will have deep roots when those who are older are welcome.

Bye. 👋. PS As I grow older, I am often greatly comforted by the fact that Father God is called the Ancient of Days!

P3407 Getting older in the computer age. 🤪

/ DVH

Today I was reflecting on the different stages of my life and remembering a little bit about when I was younger. The only thing I cared about as a teenager was … does my hair look OK? Is my lippy on straight? Eventually, at 20, I married, and started having kids. That’s what you did back there in the ark – only truly brave people did something else. Having kids changed my whole outlook. 

When you have kids what you look like comes last! Instead you care more about getting all of them in the car at the same time, plus finding the car keys. Now my hubby does all that running about, and my job is to say “of course” to any suggestion he makes because he has the conn, not me. I don’t miss being in charge, because this life seems to have gotten so complicated. Not only for me, but everyone around me as well. I thought computers were meant to simplify things! 

These days, my personal-computer-that-sits-on-my-neck-and-shoulders starts forgetting stuff around about mid afternoon. It is a waste of time getting impatient with yourself when you are forgetful. A bit of a snooze helps. While I am relaxing my brain it gives it a chance to hobble on over to the old style filing system in my head to find the answer. There is no zippy or flash modern NBN computer ruling in my head, just a bunch of memories of other days.

Today I ended up laughing a lot, as I thought about my history with those old-style main frame computers. Computers joined the banking scene not long after I did, I was 14 at the time. These monsters took up whole rooms and each room was devoted to only a few tasks. Before that most of the banking work was done by various levels of complex adding machines, and people. Even then, computers threatened real people and their jobs! We never even dreamt we would one day wear a computer on our wrist or in our glasses.

You know, curiosity is a marvellous, useful thing – especially when it comes to faith – but back when I was still a kid, it just made me a pest!  I have no clue what’s in the innards of my tiny little Temu count-your-steps watch, – a teeny tiny motherboard perhaps? But long, long ago, I was given an actual wind-it-up-yourself watch … no batteries thank you … by my favourite uncle. It was a fancy one, I was bored and about ten, so I eventually pulled it apart and put it back together again. It mostly worked well after that… it just got a bit poorly from time to time. The parental response to my curiosity was that I had the hand of learning applied to the seat of knowledge, and sitting down became far more complicated.

Anyway, in my time in the banking sector, I had a lovely friend who made me laugh so much I used to have to hold on to something to stay upright  … and neither of us drank! She would walk past these you-beaut, brand new, ooh-ahh computers, grin at me with a twinkle in her eye …and say: “Watch this!” And then she’d throw a single paper clip into the aperture at the front. At that moment, one of two things happened. The machine would ignore it … OR …it made all kinds of truly dreadful noises and then paper went everywhere! That machine vomited reams of perforated paper all over the floor. It just kept on spewing out paper. It took maintenance quite a while to get the stupid thing up and running again. Meanwhile we tried to look innocent and busy, all at the same time. Back then we thought computers were great because they gave us time off. These days I remain unconvinced that computers improve our lives – they seem to consume most of our time instead.

In the past few years, I have been kept informed by my son about the computer scene, he is a very talented computer programmer. He very patiently taught me how to write in HTML! That fact still surprises me. Yes, I really can write in the most basic computer language. My son talks to me about computers, but, sad to say, now I hear waves instead of information and instructions. I nod and listen. It is amazing what you can learn if you nod, smile, and keep your mouth shut. You can even look pr-et-ty smart that way. Most days, I do find my laptop is extremely useful, simply because my handwriting ain’t what it used to be.

I said all that to say this … one of the dumbest things I think Christians can do is to mistake knowledge for application. Those things are not the same.“Now about food offered to idols: of course we know that all of us possess knowledge [concerning these matters. Yet mere] knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature].” 1 Corinthians 8:1.

The bible tells us that knowledge puffs up, and it becomes a big hurdle regarding true humility – it keeps us from God’s kind of love. There sure were a few big headed people back in the computer section of the banking ark. Yet I want to thank God for my mischievous friend back then, who taught me machines aren’t everything. Bye 👋.

P 2901 Walking in love means …

/ DVH

… that I will probably never get my own way! According to 1 Corinthians 13, this kind of heart attitude is now my NEW priority… Now I will need to rely upon God to help me be patient in the middle of unpleasant circumstances. The Lord has promised He will help us. There is no reason to be envious of your fruit, because I’m way too busy growing my own! At the same time I will cultivate a caring concern for your well-being, while I’m putting my own needs on His altar. Also I no longer want to keep records of all the dumb things you’ve done!

Pardon me a minute, now I need to dash off and look in His mirror, (His Word) and see if there is any chance my reflection there backs up what I just said! Meanwhile, fake fruit looks a lot like the real deal nowadays, until you take a bite out of it! Here’s an interesting side note: fake fruit is too shiny. Just like those fake plastic smiles we slap on when somebody has stepped on our heart for the 15th time and we lie and tell them, “Oh I’m OK, really!” It’s a wonder that my nose isn’t longer than Pinnochio’s. Why do we do that? Here’s my answer … a lack of humility. An aversion to correction and connection, plus I’m deathly afraid you will continue to tell me the truth about myself … and… I don’t want to hear that, thank you!

Here is my point for today, this life is constantly taking bites out of us – our response to those bites is a much better thermometer or diagnosis, than even any reflection could be. Instead, now we want to make His Word flesh in our lives – that happens when we do it to obey Him. Living like Jesus’ told us to, means we learn to be quiet when someone else is utterly wrong and we can prove it to them but instead we choose not to do that. We won’t even brag about the fact that we’ve resisted temptation, because we know, that the Holy Spirit helped us through it. 

Let’s be clear — it is not our behaviour that is at fault – it’s our belief system. We use our experiences to validate what we believe, instead of His Word. This side of the cross we need to believe in His love IN US more than we believe the lies that flourish around us. I can’t do anything without Him, because I know I will dive straight back into looking after ME. I can make pretty good excuses for doing that. Sadly, sometimes we keep right on using our own understanding, instead of acknowledging Him in all our ways.

We must continually revisit truths from the bible. looking for things for us to apply into our lives. Jesus did all this work for us, all by Himself, at Calvary …once and for all! If I give you a brand new house with everything you ever personally wanted or needed in it, and you still chose to continue to live in falling down rented digs – because you are too proud to say “thank you” — whose fault is that? The Lord has already deposited everything we will ever need to be transformed, in our forever account.We just need to learn to live in forever, instead of the immediate. Otherwise the immediate takes over.

Romans 4:20–25: “Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for US, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” 

Those words: ‘fully persuaded that God had power’ …matter. We’ve met SomeOne Who is not like anyone else we’ve ever met. He doesn’t just tear up any record of our sins, at the same time, He deposits His love, righteousness, goodness, compassion, mercy, loving-kindness etc. inside of us. We already have whatever we need for this way of life. Jesus did not just empty out the bad, He is in the process, with our co-operation, of loading in the good. Abraham believed God and He acted on His belief, and God said: Now that’s righteous.”

Now we choose to stop doing things the way this world does them, and we ask Him how He wants us to handle everything that comes our way. Loving others is our permanent focus. Instead of asking the Lord to make you patient, (generic wish thought) you and I ask Him – ‘Who am I being impatient with, Lord?’  (Specific attitude check.) And we don’t argue with whatever He suggests, even if it happens to be someone we can’t stand! We go to them and humble ourselves. If we wait for that other person to deserve it … it will never happen! 

LOVE ACTS. It is unafraid of the consequences. Walking in love means my whole life changes! Bless ya 👋

P 2723 The one word that changes everything!

/ DVH

This morning when I prayerfully thought about what I wanted to write about today, I realised that a great deal of what I have previously said over all these years, that can be accomplished by simply walking in love.

1 Corinthians 14:1a says:“Make love your aim …” I’ve often found myself wishing that there was a full stop right after those four powerful words. In fact, I don’t think we can read the bible without remembering LOVE WAS GOD’S AIM WHEN HE WROTE IT! In another version, the same verse says:“Earnestly pursue love …”  In another it says: “make it your great quest …” 1 Corinthians 13 is titled … the WAY of love. Sometimes I think we can get so enthusiastic about using methods and acquiring knowledge, as well as implementing this and that, we can quickly forget Jesus exhorted us to be a people with a child-like attitude. Matthew 18:2-4 says:

“He (Jesus) called a little child to Him, and placed the child among them. And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

So did you get that? Grown ups don’t qualify. Knowledge and power actually mess with our obedience levels and simplicity. As a child I can remember wishing I could hurry up and grow up because grown-ups had power, and I had none. Hmmm. Many many years later I can see the error of that thought, but it took me a while.

So what do I mean by walking in love? Here’s what that means for me, I often ask myself the question …is it love? You know sometimes things are expedient, but there’s no love in them. In our hurry hurry rush rush world, which always seems like it must run full speed ahead at all times, we can do things that are not love, because they are easier. We might even justify them by saying: it is not natural to respond with love!  Ya might like to think about that thought… because we are supernatural people now. Yet it seems far easier to shout, grumble, and find fault with someone else, than to question yourself… but ….

… what would LOVE do? 

Did you notice how I just left that line there all by itself?? That’s because it is important. We really can’t fit love in around the edges of our busy lives. Loving God and others IS our life now. So how do you love others easily? Here’s my answer – you choose, over and over and over again, to die to yourself. The self is a major factor in most of the wars, evil doings, illegal operations, and appalling treatment that we have all perpetrated toward other human beings. A whole lot of sin starts with Me thinking about ME and mine and what I want.

Now if you are wondering what kind of love I am talking about? Then 1 Corinthians 13 supplies us with the answer and a perfect description. If you like to memorise verses, that’s a great one to memorise. Sometimes I ask myself these questions: Was I impatient, not allowing someone else to have a learning curve and forgetting that I often need one? Was I unkind, hurting someone else to make my point? Was I envious, because someone else has managed something better than I could? Was I boastful, full of myself, or just plain rude. 

Did I insist on my own way above the needs of others? Was I irritable, did I bring up the past, because of my own harboured resentment? Was I finding my jollies by pointing out someone else’s sin? Did I put the truth aside to make sure my POV was more important than anything else? Have I celebrated someone else’s downfall because I don’t like them?

Do I personally love the Lord’s revealed truth? Is it more important to me to feel good about myself than to help someone else see the best in themselves? Have I forgotten to hide myself under the overwhelming love of God? He knows how to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and how to endure all things. Jesus is my perfect illustration of what love in action looks like. And the Holy Spirit is my Helper, Guide, Companion, Teacher …

The thing I have learnt is that WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN, EVERYTHING CHANGES…even me! All I need to do is to pause, ask for His help and do what love would do. Love is never wasted. It can be tested and tried to enhance its purity but it cannot be wasted. That’s because this kind of love is eternal. Instructions come and go, systems fail, but love will last forever, so I need to learn this truth before I run out of time. Love, is the one word that changes everything. Bye. 👋