Joy

P 2590 United we stand … divided we fall.

/ DVH

Here is today’s verse, John 17:23 NIV.“I in them and You in Me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.”This is the Passion Translation: “You live fully in Me and now I live fully in them so that they will experience perfect unity, and the world will be convinced that you have sent Me, for they will see that You love each one of them with the same passionate love that You have for Me.”

First of all, whenever we are reading the bible we need to do our best not to get tangled up in the complexity of the words or thoughts. If that happens, it becomes way too easy to shut the book and think ‘I don’t get it’ and walk away. Here’s my recommendation, instead – stop. Pray. Tell the Holy Spirit you don’t get it, and ask Him to explain it to you. WAIT.

This is why it is not always the best thing to fit God in around everything else we have to do each day. If reading the bible is an add-on, then we are more likely to give up on a complex thought that may give us insight into Who He is. Especially if we are mentally half-way out the door, or getting ready to hop on the bus! If you have to take your bible into the loo to get peace and quiet … then do it. Reading this book is like an adventure, it is well worth the effort to wait for insight. Otherwise you will miss all the excitement of discovery and joy, especially if you treat simply the bible like a chore that must be done.

OK, back to my real point today… The body of Christ is looking for unity the wrong way. Please let me explain… we think unity is about coming into agreement about theology, activities, styles of worship, bible translations, doctrine, dogma, philosophy. So we search and search and kind of try to bend our heads and ideas about stuff around, so we can obey Christ and learn how to agree. But that’s not what Jesus actually said… Feel free to read it again. Be-ca-use God lives fully in Jesus, and now Jesus lives fully in us …  we can use LOVE as our glue … 

Why is that so? Because the Lord Jesus has way more sense than we do. He will not fight with Himself!! The Jesus in me is the same Jesus that lives in you!! It’s the life of Christ IN us that will sort out our differences! As we walk in a life of love, we will recognise each other no matter what church we go to! Ya, might just want to stew on that one for a while …🍲

Jesus loves unity. The psalmists say unity is like oil! Oil flows everywhere, it is not fussy. So, if you and I stop fighting about principles and words … and I sort of kind of, peer at you, and pray, then I can see HIM! In your eyes, in your smile, in the way you treat me, your whole demeanour.  I can also see Him in the way you do this and that… or the way you regard this or that … in other words I need to stop looking to see if our theology matches, and start looking for Christ Himself!

We cannot go outside of ourselves into rules and regulations to come into unity. We need to start unity with – I love Jesus and so do you – that means we are coming from the same place, and everything else is advertising! He lives inside both of us and we know that Christ is not divided. Here’s Paul explaining his version of that – 1 Corinthians 1:13&17 “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul? … … For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

We have become so adept at maintaining our own little insight, or theological POV, we’ve missed the actual big picture. We are all here to preach the Gospel to the world, and tell them that Christ loves them, and saved mankind from their sins and themselves! As long as we keep pushing our own ideologies or holding fast to our own denominational POV we will always be inefficient! Agreement is powerful. If you were satan wouldn’t you keep pointing out what’s wrong with those other guys over there, plus reminding everyone why we can’t be friends??  Our desire to be right is holding us away from our calling of UNITY.  Just imagine what we could do to-ge-th-er?? 🤔

Two true stories – I was once buying apples in the produce section of the supermarket. Another lady was over the other side, carefully selecting her apples too. We looked up at each other and smiled. Then something amazing happened. The Jesus in HER recognised the Jesus in ME.  We had a lovely time having fellowship together in the supermarket, and hugged one another as we parted. I never saw her again. But I know I will!!!!!

A dear little old man used to come to my house monthly, talking about his church and their beliefs. His church was very different than mine. Theologically we had big differences. But the Jesus in me saw the Jesus in him, and loved this man instantly. This dear old man used to kneel down on his tired old knees on my hard tiled floor, and pray for me and my family before he left.

I think it is time to take down the barricades and start look for Christ in others who believe. ‘It is Christ IN us that is everyone’s hope of glory…’ United we stand … let’s not get pushed over by highlighting our differences. What will unify us is His love in us.👋

P 2583 True salvation.

/ DVH

“Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance, like a helmet to protect your thoughts from lies. And take the mighty razor-sharp Spirit-sword of the spoken word of God. Pray passionately in the Spirit, as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times. Pray the blessings of God upon all His believers.” Ephesians 6:17-18 TPT.

This way of life we have chosen can be difficult! We will have to press in and learn to thrive in all kinds of hardships. And to grow spiritually in times of rampant prosperity as well as deep poverty — to find joy in the midst of our mourning. And at the same time we will give constant praise to our God, while this world goes on its spiteful, murderous way. Our success in any of these issues probably won’t ever be seen. But Jesus sees.

What we lay aside, in prayer, love, kindness and sacrifice, for His sake, may not ever be recognised where we live every day. If we choose to live like Christ lived, we will need to learn to love, live and … even die for the people who hurt us, and despitefully use us. Even though some of them may actively pray for our demise and pain — we continue to reverently pray that they will only meet unconditional love, from Him and us! True salvation is more than a prayer – it can and should change the way we live.

Those things that are mentioned in the above scripture from Ephesians are our fighting tools!  They just don’t look like fighting tools. Nothing about this life we have chosen, looks like we thought it would. People we’ve known for years will betray us, and then blame us for their obvious blatant betrayal! You can’t fight that kind of stuff singing “Kumbaya!” We need weapons … and our weapons are not of this world. But they will pull down strongholds that have been established for centuries, as we set our faces towards honouring Him – living for Him.

If we really want to defeat our enemy, we need to live this life we have, fully saved. What does that mean? It means that no matter what happens … how many bugs, snakes, marauding, deceitful, angry, bad people, hit the windshield of our existence … we know that we know that we know, that our God is loyal and He will never, no NEVER leave us or forsake us. HE.MEANS.US.GOOD.  And now we live our lives, believing HE means us good!  “What can man do to me?” This is what knowing the Word of God means. It is not just regurgitation – it’s part of who we are now.

Jesus died to give us a place in our Father’s heart. It is a safe place. We live there protected purely by the fact that it cost the Lord everything He had to buy us that place! We know that Jesus Christ held nothing back. He left it all there at Calvary. And now what He bought for us, is ours. The only response we can give to that kind of sacrifice demands that we stop living by appearances, and start living by faith, in the Son of God Who died to save US from sin, this world, our enemy and ourselves! When His salvation fits our heads like a steel helmet … nothing can get through that sucker, because nobody can tell us that our Heavenly Father isn’t with us and He doesn’t love us. 

We are protected by the fact that – even if you kill me, I will still love you!! Jesus did it first. He was betrayed, deserted, lied about, falsely imprisoned, accused and murdered. HE KNOWS! And right now He is at His Father’s right hand praying for us. He also knows our weaknesses, that’s why we can rely upon His strength. When we feel like an elastic band that is about to break, just roll all that stuff off onto Him … and leave it there. Do all you can and then STAND.

Because of His death, Christ has provided us with a way to escape …“God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Look, taking the sword of the Spirit isn’t just memorising what the bible said and spouting it off at the devil. It is the assurance inside us that what His book says is true! God’s word is not a magic charm or incantation … it’s the truth. The real truth about mankind and this world. We need to know that, and the way we find out that it is true is to stand on it. Looking at His Word from a sidebar and wondering if it will hold us up, is not faith! Jesus Christ DIED standing on God’s word believing that He would be resurrected!  

We must understand that there are bigger priorities than our comfort – His kingdom must come. And you and I are charged with the responsibility of bringing that kingdom with us wherever we go. No matter who we speak to!  It’s a way to live, not just a get-out-of-jail-free card. True salvation delivers us from a wasted life, into a way of life that reflects God’s kingdom, here and now. When His word changes us we will know that we are saved. 👋

P 2581 Living Grace.

/ DVH

“God’s marvellous grace has manifested in Person, bringing salvation for everyone. This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age.” Titus 2:11-12 TPT.

Our God’s great grace has been manifest in Christ. In order to understand it we must carefully observe and interact with Him. Jesus Christ is God’s grace in human form. I deliberately said that today, because sometimes grace is reduced to a nebulous thing that we are supposed to have toward everyone else, as well as live by it. Nebulous things add to uncertainty and they are definitely hard to grab hold of!  

Our uncertainty disappears when we understand that Christ is God’s illustration of grace, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness etc. in action! Almighty God gave us a glorious gift – CHRIST. Grace we can see and hear in His book. Reading the Gospels makes us acquainted with what grace looks like because it is the way SomeOne lived. It is not about stories – the stories Jesus told are illustrations of God’s ways in action. If all we do is read the Gospels and think, “oh that’s so nice.” We missed the point!  These ‘stories’ show us how to act and react!

Jesus Christ is God’s LIVING GRACE. God does not need visual aids – He went way beyond them to sending SomeOne Who would illustrate a lifestyle! The bible is not just teaching – Jesus, in the Person of the Holy Spirit,  is with us so we can learn His Ways. The way Christ lived His life, is the way we have been designed to live ours. Yeah. Ya might want to sit and think on that one for the next 20 years. 

It is error to think that Jesus could do stuff because He is God’s Son and He is ‘special.’ He’s not superman who came from another planet and that means He can do stuff we can’t!  He did not operate in some sort of incredible way that meant He always did things right and was full of the power of God all the time. He simply chose to live in the Holy Spirit’s Presence in all things.  

Jesus Christ chose to come to earth and be a man – that’s Grace and Love IN ACTION. That was a normal little baby boy born in Bethlehem, He chose to learn about God from when He was young, and He did so well at it He amazed all the people who supposedly knew everything! Jesus made knowing God His priority from His youth. He had grace on His life as a child.

But He was tempted just like we are. The difference between Him and us, is that He said no! There is great power in our NO! I know that today, it seems like ‘no’ is an optional extra, but it isn’t. Saying no to temptation and sin is the way into bringing that new heart God gave us into this life … our reality. Doing what God wants becomes our life-blood. It’s the way to be dead to self and alive to God. And every single thing you do counts! Praise God we can repent from our lack of single-mindedness and go back and partake of His grace – over and over again.

We are limiting ourselves by thinking that Christ was some sort of special-case human being so He could do stuff we cannot. That is a lie from the pit. “God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.” 1 John 4:17.

Fear of over-stepping our place in God … is still FEAR!  We start to overstep when we use God for our own purposes or benefit.  Our Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect example of grace in action. He had authority, but it was love-based authority, and He allowed His Father to decide what that looked like! Our hearts matter, and God knows when we choose to excuse ourselves rather than obey. It is the things that we choose to do that can shoot us down. Power can be misused by self-indulgence, instead of ushering in God’s kingdom! Jesus came to serve, and so we are here to serve – God first, and then others. 

God’s Grace is not of this world. It is a heavenly quality which is to be lived out in everyday life. And when we look deeply into how Christ acted, and what He said, we gain His clues from His lifestyle. He lived in grace, He constantly gave away grace even to His tormentors.  Like I said, the things Jesus said are not just stories or parables – they are a way to live. Paul, Luke, John and Jude etc. developed these themes in the Epistles. They tell us how these things worked in their lives. In Paul’s case they give us further revelation of what God did when He sent us Christ, why He did it, and how it works! 

The bible is God’s book about GRACE. Grace is God’s enabling power to prevail over our own sinful nature, sin in this world, and the devil. This is God Himself speaking …“I will graciously give you a new, tender heart and put a new, willing spirit inside you. I will remove your hard heart of stone and give you an obedient, responsive heart instead.” Ezekiel 36:26.

We have already been given this new heart, God gave it to us – because Christ made a way for us. Grace is LIVING  and practical it is not just a mushy attitude toward others. It is strong and powerful. Jesus Christ is our perfect example of God’s grace – alive on this earth!  He showed us that it can be done and how it is done! 👋 

P 2577 Grief and death.

/ DVH

Yeah, I know, everyone’s least favourite subject. The only Person who is well-qualified to talk about life after death is the Lord … as well as people like Jairus’ daughter, and Lazarus! And the very worst point about dying and death, is we won’t know what it is like until we get there. Fortunately this concept is all over the bible and we can study it, so the Holy Spirit can help us.

The bible is not silent about death. It simply says: “we must not grieve like someone with no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) But our lack of experience with God’s goodness can often carry us into head knowledge, not grief and sorrow resolution. If that is you, then please don’t be condemned. Tell the Lord you need His help. Some kinds of grief are like liquid mud – if we fall in it is hard to get out! Everybody dies, however it seems most human beings don’t cope with the finality of death. Sometimes, someone dies and our unresolved grief gets muddled up with other terrible losses. Daily keeping short accounts with others makes a great deal of sense because it is inevitable that those left behind will need closure.

The hard part of losing someone important to you, isn’t simply just because of their absence – it is that the possibility of change dies with them. Your relationship with that other person suddenly becomes stuck in time.  And now we must somehow go on to build a new life without them, and move on from the pain, regrets, failures and losses of the past. This is why we need to repent as we go along, wherever necessary. And, at the same time, we also need remember to give our pain back to the Lord. Jesus bore it on the cross and He carried it. (More on that later.) Eventually, all of us do our best to move on. Yet every time we remember, sadness rushes in.

I think grief is a vastly misunderstood normal response and emotion. It manifests itself differently through different people. Some people get mad, some people are sad – some people get mad and sad, and some just walk on, furiously suppressing how they feel. I like what a psalmist said:“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”Psalm 30:5. This tells me something about grief. It can seem like it will drag on forever, but it is meant to be a progressive moving thing – not a parking station we can’t get out of. 

Also grief is not just about shedding a tear, it is about a dark place our hearts sometimes go into, when any hope for any kind of further future has gone. Now this world seems to be a place where true reconciliation is suddenly out of our reach. We start to regret things that we’ve said;  what we didn’t say – and the things we should have said. Like I said, repentance helps. In those days we need to remember Jesus is our hope, He is our anchor. Park your little boat (life) and throw out the anchor – He will hold you through the storm.  Meanwhile, I’m all for appreciating people while they are still breathing! 

Our society is quite intolerant of the effects of grief upon individuals. We do not seem to have the freedom to allow a mourner to pass through this kind of tough season. The BIBLE says in Ecclesiastes 3:1ff- (bits of it): “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; … …A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; …  …A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;” I love this scripture. It explains there is definitely a time for all kinds of things to happen to us in this life — BUT IT DOESN’T SAY, HOW LONG that time should be. 🤔

Now let’s look at what Jesus Christ has already done for us in this area. Remember, the bible says these things are a living established fact! “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”  Isaiah 53:4. Jesus Himself said:‘Come unto Me all you who are labouring and are heavy laden.’ In exchange for griefs and sorrows, we can have HIS REST. That doesn’t mean we leave grief and sorrow behind us, it means He carries it FOR us.  It is an exchange. We will all suffer from some sort of grief, but it does not have to weigh us down, because Jesus has already carried it for us. I’m a literalist when it comes to the bible, I use it like a prescription. I believe that we can pray and exchange our grief and our sorrow for His REST.

Personally, I think as long as the bereaved person is moving forward in their grief, we should butt out and simply support them in ways that are meaningful to them. Grief suppressed can be dangerous – so let’s biblically learn to deal with the reality, and the pain, instead of using avoidance. Somebody – I can’t remember who said it – once said: “Grief is love with no place to go.” I think that sums this situation up beautifully. Remember our griefs can be given to the Saviour, Who knows all about it and took it with Him to the cross.   🥲👋

P 2559 WE ARE ALL IN THE WILL.

/ DVH

“I am contending for you that your hearts will be wrapped in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric. This will give you access to all the riches of God as you experience the revelation of God’s great mystery—Christ. For our spiritual wealth is in Him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered—heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3 TPT.

It is good when we read scriptures and look carefully at the order that things are written in.. Paul is praying for us .. that AS our hearts are so wrapped up in the comforting thought that heaven is our home, and we decide to allow His Love to bind and weave us together — then we begin to get access to everything Christ died to give us! Did you see that? … I am reading the Lord’s Will! It is utterly fascinating that the word Testament means WILL. The bible has an Old Will and new Will! Ya might want to think on that! 🤔 Our Lord did not just buy us salvation – He LEFT us treasures! As a matter of fact He left us a whole lotta things … things that are so precious and priceless it should leave us breathless just thinking about them.

The main difficulty between us reading about, or collecting all of that incredible inheritance … which BTW already belongs to us  … is that we often become way too attached to what we have here. And we will need to give up one thing in order to access the other. We can waste the allotted time He has given to each of us right here, right now … or live in our inheritance today. This means that His kingdom will come, here and now – in us and then through us! Our Heavenly Father is way-out-of-our-imagination rich in heavenly things – things that are incredibly powerful when they are used and spent for the benefit of mankind.

Meanwhile. let’s briefly use our imaginations … here’s a fantasy scenario.’ A couple of years ago you suddenly found out that some trillionaire decided to leave you all of his wealth, including all his assets. Boy are you incredibly excited and you make sure you turn up to hear the reading of the will. But all you can think about is that your benefactor has the latest Ferrari, and what is more it’s bright red! Red cars always go faster, it’s a proven fact. 🏎️ So you listen, oh so patiently, to the lo-o-ng list of assets that have been left to you. Including the pots of money without number, but the truth is you are actually just listening for the word Ferrari! So you take the bit that you dearly want and then you leave.’ 

Going to church is, quite simply us reading Jesus’ will – week after week!  And so, BTW, is reading the bible!  And the good news is this …you and I, we qualify for ev-ery-thing!! 🤔 However when the mythical will in my fantasy scene is read, it would be a mistake to grab the keys and jump into that new Ferrari and off you go – never to return! That means you never go back and find out what else you’ve been given – because your sole focus is on that red car. So all those incredible riches are still sitting there, waiting for their rightful owner.

This is what salvation looks like to most Christians → Jesus saved us! Hallelujah! Amen! But He saved us from something FOR SOMETHING. If we just sit down and settle for salvation, and forget to take the time to find out what else the Lord Jesus died to give us – what He has left us, we are not reading all of the will. There are glorious God-designed and God-given riches that are available to us right now. We just need to find them and fight for them. Some of those gifts are PEOPLE!!  All of these things are far more incredibly valuable than we can ever understand. It isn’t until we discover them and start to use them, that we discover their true worth.

Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 13 …We all know what that says! Here’s an example of just one of those riches that I want to mention. JOY is God’s own happiness supernaturally spilled over into our hearts. Ya might want to think on that one! All of those spiritual traits mentioned in chapter 13 are supernatural — and we will have to fight with our own old nature, our enemy and life’s circumstances to claim them. But it is definitely worth the fight. Look! … We can go into a fierce battle with a pocket knife and a pop-gun, but we have more chance of winning if we take other people with us and an arsenal! Time for more thinking here …

Over to Colossians 3:12-14: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  See? We don’t even wear the same CLOTHES anymore!

These sometimes seemingly impossible Graces are part of the very same inheritance as salvation. So is every bit of revelation He has given to us! Christ Jesus didn’t die simply to save us – He died to transform us. But the Lord Jesus is a gentleman and He will not make us do anything. We have a choice. We can fight for our inheritance, our promised land or settle for the Ferrari! Our God is, beyond-our-wildest-imagination-and-dreams rich in things that are for right here, right now, yet they are priceless and eternal. And HE LOVES to share. 💕 Fight the urge to settle for less and go after the whole of your inheritance. We are ALL in that will! 👋

P 2556 Take the time to be observant.

/ DVH

Reflecting on this life and it’s activities is almost an automatic past-time as you get older. You can even end up zoning out … and sometimes you might just plain fall asleep in the process! This seems to happen fairly regularly when there is more of your life behind you than there is in front! 😂 However… taking the time to be observant is an enormously overlooked life-skill. 

Humanity is always busy. This life is about hurry hurry, rush rush, everywhere — gotta be, gotta do, gotta make money, gotta buy stuff! Gotta help this guy … gotta yell at that one! If we sit down at all,  it’s because we simply have to veg-out and stop thinking, purely because we are exhausted – mentally, and physically. I believe we will build our own faith if we take the time to notice the beautiful things God does for us every single day, plus the incredibly lovely things He has put all around us.

Here’s a verse to chew on: “Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing].” Amp. Isaiah 55:1-3. Maybe, if we have stopped being thirsty, it’s because we are trying to satisfy spiritual needs with physical activity and busyness etc? Trust me, that won’t work. If you feel like you are working yourself to the bone but you are going nowhere, this could easily be the reason. Perhaps you’ve lost the power to observe and reflect.

True rest, joy and peace only comes from Jesus. From knowing Him. From seeing this life from His POV. I believe that is why Christ said: “… consider the lilies” AND  “… consider the birds.”  Mankind can get so busy providing, buying, doing and planning, we can easily forget this life is not all there is! Walking with Jesus down here on earth is preparation for walking with Him up there in heaven. How do I know that? Because the bible says: “…on earth as it is in heaven.” There ain’t nobody rushing about in heaven! There is no need, time as we know it, doesn’t exist up there.

Being reflectively observant means we take some moments to actually pay a different kind of attention to the world around us. We aren’t racing along so task-focussed we have no thought for anything else.  My favourite thing to look at when I am just chilling, is birds. It seemed to me, when I prayed over this, that birds have another lesson to teach me. To start with Jesus told us to consider them – so that kind of makes it legal! 

Did you ever wonder why Jesus mentioned flowers and birds as good illustrations of the way we are to regard His kingdom? As I’ve said I watch birds a lot. It seems to me that the only time they are not busy is when they are sleeping! However,…birds never actually ASK where their food comes from. Aha!— thinks I… so perhaps this bible thought is about not busyness but what actually occupies or fills our minds. Like the stuff we think about as we go about our days? Maybe birds are simply occupied “…with the self-surrender that accepts the blessing.“ 

Have WE learnt the self-surrender that accepts the daily blessings that God sends us? We know He does bless us all the time because He is a far better Father than our earthly fathers ever could be! (Matthew 7:9-11.) But can it be that we are so busy rushing here and there and everywhere, that we don’t notice, or even pause and see what He is doing? I believe in the power of pausing. The bible calls that “selah” – it means pause and think on this.

So I’ve asked the Lord to help me to stop, and pay attention to whatever He is doing, plus what is going on around me. I am learning to take the time, moment by moment, to notice and thank Him for doing it. Our steps are ordered by Him. (Psalm 37: 23,24.) That means there is not one fraction of a second in your life and mine that is not considered, gazed upon, and lovingly reflected upon, by God Himself. Just that thought should blow anyone’s mind into reflection! Yet another great way to know our Heavenly Father is to see this life through His eyes, and He is never in a hurry.

It is amazing that there are things that we can miss from day to day, unless we are prompted by the Holy Spirit. However, He is not a TADA! kind of a Person. But He will bring these things to our attention if we ask Him to, so we can carefully observe and reflect on them. Bye. 😊👋

Proverbs 4:20-22“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.”

P 2554 Stuff happens.

/ DVH

I don’t think we should go about anticipating, or expecting trouble. However, if and when difficulties come up, we need to understand that living for Jesus in a corrupt world can put a target on our backs. It may not be our fault the sky just fell in! Yet we will have to respond somehow! Obviously the enemy wants us to live selfish, rude and uncaring lives … but now our sole desire is to do the opposite … so we can sometimes end up in conflict. Things happen. satan targets us, and at the same time he will actively discourage us through others and complicated situations. he can even use something that someone else says to cause more trouble. Anger and worry choke out clarity. 

James tells us how to deal with trials etc. Start by being glad! (No I am not nuts!) James explains clearly that stuff happening means Almighty God is doing something. The Lord is growing something spiritually. He wants to add to our existing faith, steadfastness. Immovability. The bible says that like this ; “…having done ALL (we can)… (then) STAND.”  Do whatever you can do, and then turn it all over to God. Then wait. Here’s James 1:2-4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Standing still allows steadfastness to develop.

Living this life taking faith-filled risks is a scary premise. It is so much easier to live in the safety of our own known responses. We are personally familiar with our own reactions – changing them means taking a risk. But true faith takes risks even though it doesn’t know the outcome. Following Jesus means we will take every one of those risks, prayerfully. Jesus Himself faced trials, and misunderstandings. He was blamed for things He didn’t do. But He held firm to His faith in His Father’s goodness and committed His way to God. He went through the difficulties knowing God’s purposes would be achieved, and He put those purposes above His own personal comfort.

When trouble strikes and doubt comes at me, first of all I like to go back and check with the King and make sure I am currently doing whatever He wants. I usually ask Him for scriptures, because I don’t trust my emotions or my mind to give me the answer I need to hear. At the same time I am really bad at making good decisions when I am under pressure to get things right. It is good to wait and give yourself some time to calm down, and at the same time, actively listen for what He wants to tell you.

Investing in God in these moments of conflict pays huge dividends! You learn how to stand! My sole aim is to deal with how I feel, before I deal with the problem. At that time can seem like I am in a period of stretching and testing. The temptation is to do something, like explode, worry, or become anxious! Waiting seems counter-productive. But panicky, worried people make emotional decisions that create even more problems. 

Paul offers us an excellent solution.“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honourable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always.” Philippians 4:6-8 TPT. Paul is saying we need to go to prayer to get God’s PEACE in stressful pressurised moments. Peace helps us make clearer Godly choices.

Isaiah says this in Chapter 40, verses 28-31“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I have learnt to wait because otherwise the enemy plays with my emotions, and paints scenarios on the screen of my mind. At the same time satan will try to hand me reasons to get mad at other people. Waiting on God renews my strength to resist the devil. The biggest problem I’ve found in these difficulties is some of my reactions are almost automatic. Over the years I’ve cultivated defensiveness and fear to the point where it can overcome me. So I like to begin all processes with repentance. That means I’ve positioned myself to hear from the Lord, and removed any hindrances.

I love the line … “He gives strength to the weary.…” Trials and problems wear people out! If you get enough of them all at once you can feel like you are buried alive and you can’t manage anything that is going on. That is why Isaiah is so smart. He doesn’t try to think or psyche his way out – He goes to the One that he knows Who never gets tired and he WAITS. “In this world, you will have trials … don’t be afraid … everything that Jesus did for us overcame them all.” (My paraphrase.) Like I said, stuff happens! Bye 👋

P 2550 A fantastic exchange rate.

/ DVH

“We have become His poetry, a re-created people that will fulfil the destiny He has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfil it!” Ephesians 2:10 TPT.

First of all, isn’t that verse above a beautiful thing? I may feel like last week’s washing on a bad day… BUT … I’m not!! I am His poetry … and … so are you! Re-created to fulfil the destiny He planned for our lives. And it’s all because of Jesus Christ and what He did for us. Our redemption story is not some sort of quick adjustment on our Heavenly Father’s part to our sin. NO – He planned this stuff before we were even born. Before my father met my mother. Before my grandmother met my grandfather etc. He planned us all. And His plan was always to give us a hope and a future.

Great place to stop and praise the Lord! 🙌 It is good to remind ourselves that our God is creatively brilliant beyond everything we can hope, dream or imagine, He can use anything — even awful stuff and transform it into wonderful. If’n ya don’t believe me … listen to this …”To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion—to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit—that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3. 

Did you get that? Our God already has a plan in place to exchange our sorrows etc.  Even when all we have is ashes, mourning, a heavy burden, and a failing spirit. That’s a heck of a trade-in! His plan is for us to glorify Him in the middle of the awfulness that this life rains down on us. He doesn’t have to demand praise either — praise will bubble up when we look at Him and what He does! And that trade-in mentioned in Isaiah will help us to radiate love joy peace etc. to the people around us. We aren’t going to stay sorrowful for long with that kind of exchange rate! I remember this gorgeous old song we used to sing years ago: ‘I’m so happy and here’s the reason why, Jesus took my burdens all away. Now I’m singing as the days go by, Jesus took my burdens all away.”

Some of those old geysers were really switched on to the way God works. (Whoops. I are one!)😂 … Moving on … everything, everything God does is GOOD. We may not always initially be able to see the good — particularly if we switch off our faith and throw our hands in the air and panic. Did you know if you do that often enough it becomes an automatic response? Neither did I until He pointed it out. Since then, my first response is always “help” — and my second one is – “how are you going to get me out of this mess please Lord?” The Holy Spirit lives to run toward us when we need Him. Then I repent, because I know I did something!! … I’m definitely not perfected yet! And then I ask for His help to start looking for what’s good about it.

Sometimes what’s good is that I am in the middle of surviving whatever it is, no matter how I feel. The bad can drown out even His hope, His love and His truth …if I let it. That’s when my emotions will let me down and drag me under. Those bad things that happen in our lives are REAL, but we don’t have to stay there. I have learned to fight the good fight, sometimes second by second. I tell myself I won’t give in to my feelings just in this minute, and I choose to praise Him. (Did you know there is such a thing as a sacrifice of praise? Hebrews 13:15.) After that I avoid going back and looking again at the thing that dragged me under in the first place.  

I am talking about switching focus from what is going on … to whatever He told me to do next. Sometimes that might be “have a cuppa”  or “that lady needs help.”  We are always on assignment. Cry when you have to, but keep on walking. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9. Don’t faint, just keep going – this is how you develop perseverance. Do you remember that guy who talked to Jesus and said he wanted to follow the Lord but he had to go home and bury his father first? I love what happened, next … Jesus talked to this man about making the main thing, the main thing. (Read Matthew 8:21-23)

How can we live this life reassured, if we don’t talk to Him about everything – even our pain? Our DAD never sleeps and His thoughts are always towards us. I mean … really, does it get any better than that? We need to continually remind ourselves His destiny for us is to be saved, healed, transformed and delivered. Not necessarily always in that order! If we mess up then we repent, repair and move on. Getting stuck in sin and guilt is not part of our destiny. 

We have been pre-destined to look like Jesus. “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:29. Right here, right now, let’s concentrate on becoming His re-created people who are writing poems about Him with our lives, to His glory and grace. Amen! And let’s leave the details to the One Who created hummingbirds, jellyfish and daisies! He’s fantastic at it. Our God has the greatest exchange rate, every single day BTW. Bye ✋

P 2547 We are here for His pleasure.

/ DVH

““You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honour, and power, for You created all things, and for Your pleasure they were created and exist.”” Revelation 4:11 TPT.

When I look at that scripture above, from Revelation 4:11 it gives me perspective. It reminds me Almighty God is always worthy of my praise, no matter what is going on in my life right now. Plus the fact that I am not here for me. I am not here for you. I am not even here for my family or friends or country. I am not even here for what I do, or don’t do … I was made for God’s pleasure a-n-d … praise God, so were YOU. Ya might want to pause and think about that! 🤔 So today, I am delighted to be able to say; “I serve at the pleasure of my King, Jesus Christ.”  

And that small sentence changes everything. It adds purpose and meaning to life because God Himself did that for US! Other people may not always understand why we are here, which can lead to conflict and estrangement. But we are His people, the sheep of His pasture! Yay!!  At the same time we can have difficult days and when it comes to loving other people, our Heavenly Father knew we would all need help! 

So we have been given a precious gift, the Holy Spirit. He is our greatly Beloved, Personal, Ever-present Friend. Jesus had to leave us, and so He sent the Person Who helped Him, back to help us! The Spirit of God has been given to us freely and His Presence in our lives is our most valuable asset in this world. He reminds us we are greatly loved.

Here is some dead easy Math — if we add what Jesus did for us to our sin, irregardless of how nasty a person we can all be sometimes, we end up with the completed, perfect solution to SIN. You can call it whatever you like …Salvation. Redemption. You and I were given the plus and the Answer in that little sum!! It means we got out of jail free. That’s a big plus!! The only sensible response to this gift is gratitude. Unlike the game of Monopoly – this “get out of jail free card” may not be sold or exchanged.  It is as personal as the moment you and I were conceived. 

“For you formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:16. 

There are over 100 bible verses in His book about how the Lord knew us before anyone else ever did. Plus how He created us in secret, and it gave Him great pleasure to do it. He planned each one of us and brought us into being. Personally, I’ve found that thought incredibly reassuring. SomeOne wanted me to be here, right here, right now. I’m not sure either of my parents had a child in mind when they started out, because they only knew each other for four weeks before they married — and I turned up about nine months later! Given that my mother quickly realised her mistake in marrying a virtual stranger, it totally blesses my heart to know that I am here for the King’s pleasure!

I hope these thoughts are comforting for anyone who feels like an orphan, or even misplaced persons … None of us are an accident — Father God always had each one of us in His heart.  Our He has good plans for us too. Life hands us lemons all the time, and the bitterness that stuff brings, needs to be sweetened by the Presence of SomeOne Who knows all the Answers and the way through our troubles. Right at this moment, our presence on this planet gives God enormous pleasure and our troubles are momentary things. Remind yourself of that whenever you feel like a big fat failure, or someone else has not-so-kindly pointed out your failings … God bless ‘em. 

The Holy Spirit helps us negotiate the twists and turns and sudden land-slides of this life. And, praise Him, we have a whole bible full of the things He wrote. We have a book filled with instructions about how to relate to Him and others! Plus we don’t have to run around hoping against hope that we might manage to do something right. Our Heavenly Father was pleased with the idea of us before we got here, and He gave us SomeOne to guide us through this maze.

You are here for the pleasure of your King, for such good works He prepared for you before you ever got here. Those things He set aside that only you can do. They won’t get done if you don’t do them. I believe this means that you have something unique to contribute to this life. Bye. 👋

““…but I run with passion into His abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me His own.” Philippians 3:12a,13.

P 2542 Take the lid off …

/ DVH

When I was way younger – ( ie:12 years old) – I was forced by the existing school system to make a choice between the Arts, History, Science, etc. – and the business world. I loved all those former things passionately – outside of a business POV, English and Maths were also fascinating to me. But sadly, someone else chose my career path for me. 

Practically speaking that meant I had two more years at school trapped in a world that operated in opposition to everything I loved learning and doing. I remember looking with longing at those who went into art, while I trudged off to book-keeping. To this day, I still follow up all sorts of stuff on Google because I am extremely curious about the world around me. FYI, I have NEVER ONCE looked up business studies! 😂

Among the many things I had to learn to do in those days, was typing. I loathed it. That particular skill intimidated the daylights out of me. I have very poor hand to eye co-ordination, and that meant that physically regulated things like sport and typing were torture for me. My hands visibly shook every single time I faced a typewriter – of course that was hilarious to all the other kids in the class! After I left school, I was sent to work in a bank, and daily there were even more torments, because every single day I confronted adding machines, sorting machines AND typewriters. Things with KEYS on them! Aauuugghhhhhh!! 🙄

HOWEVER, today, over 60 years later … I am sitting here typing away without looking, or even thinking about it — because of a skill I gained – that I didn’t want! … back then.  At that time, and for years later, I let that fear and ineptitude intimidate me. My point today is this:  it is incredibly easy to think that WE are the only people who know what is best for us, but actually – only GOD knows what we will NEED. And there are days when you can learn stuff from other people too!  However, in my flesh, back then, the whole idea of typing of any kind, was an abomination.

At school, we used to have speed tests as a competitive way to improve our typing. I don’t like competitions, I turn into Wylie coyote – I get completely flattened by a downward speeding anvil! My point is this: the very thing that flattened me and weighed me down, was actually the first of many opportunities I had, to learn to embrace difficulties and learn from them. Plus it gave me room to try to tackle the things that I thought I wasn’t good at. But I inadvertently, and ill-advisedly used up all my energy by being afraid and actively hating the task!

Years, later I had to walk back from that place I chose for myself. Since then God has also given me plenty of opportunities to deal with the pile of animosity I had against the person who forced me to do something I despised! And at the same time, I know I have learnt something, retrospectively … I am much bigger and braver inside than I think I am. Jesus and I are a majority – as I let Him lead me.

My point in relaying this story today is that it is oh! sooooo easy to limit ourselves! But this new life we have been given can teach us about our old selves, if we let it. Gideon found he was far bigger inside than he ever imagined possible when God became His coach! You know … you and I, …we have a live-in Coach! The Holy Spirit will walk us through the hard scary bits, step by step – if we just keep our eyes on Him, and follow His instructions.

Perhaps we need to stop telling ourselves that we can’t do this and that – and start taking the lid off our perceptions.  Living with a list of things we can’t do hanging over our heads, indicates that we are also actively removing possibilities from our lives that could bring us joy! How do we know what we can do with Christ’s very own Spirit residing within us? (Philippians 4:13.) Maybe, here and now, it is time to drag out all those dusty dreams we had about serving Jesus way back when. Personally, I think the Body of Christ has self-limited itself long enough.

It is time to remember that Peter, James and John were just ordinary fishermen with no particularly spectacular skills. Perhaps they were even forced to do that kind of work because it was the family business. Yet, there were some days when those experienced men couldn’t even catch fish! But under the Lord’s leadership and the Holy Spirit’s power they did extraordinary things – they even caught fish they didn’t know were there!!  So can WE. If we just ask for His help and take the lid off. 👋