Kindness

P 2824 Hanging on by a thread …

/ DVH

I found this picture the other day and I my first thought was this – if I can identify with what it says… maybe someone else can too. Here’s a few lines in a song from a great movie – The Fighting Temptations, that sum up how hard life can be from day to day.

“I used to wake up some days And wish I’d stayed asleep ‘Cause I went to bed on top of the world Today the worlds on top of me. Now everybody’s got opinions  But they ain’t been in my position That it breaks my heart when I hear what they have to say about me, yeah Seems like I always fall short of being worthy ‘Cause I ain’t good enough – But He still loves me (but You still love me, Lord) I ain’t no superstar The spotlight ain’t shining’ on me ‘Cause I ain’t good enough (oh, no) But He still loves me…”

Not every day turns out to be a day when we will knock the proverbial ball right out of the park and end up on a high. There are days, that the stupid ball machine malfunctions and every ball lands on your head. I have those days and I have the bruises to prove it!  Meanwhile I’ve learned a thing or two along the way of desperation… It only seems like that kind of day/week/month/year is endless. Sorrow and suffering weigh us down, and they seem to slow down time. Plus emotional, mental or physical pain can render us inactive. 

People, in their efforts to help, may tell the suffering person to ‘cheer up, get over it, it will all be OK.’ But in those dark moments they may as well be speaking another language — because they sure don’t know how to speak the language of pain! I have found there are people who are decidedly unhelpful when it comes to difficult circumstances  — they would rather preach happiness AT you, than come and sit WITH you. Then the sufferer gets to forgive those cheery Charlies for their ineptitude, on top of feeling like they’ve been run over by a truck.

Pain is nobody’s friend, and nobody in their right mind stays deliberately in a bad frame of mind and heart – not when they know the Lord. Nobody gets depressed, temporarily or not, on purpose!  Some people have either forgotten their bad times, or they have a grand happy solution that simply will not fit into your situation. “Just do this and all will be well,” they say. Yeah, yeah, great. Hmmmm. “Please go away now, my ears have stopped working.”

It is a good thing to try to limit your exposure to these happy enforcers, especially if they annoy the living daylights out of you. They seem to have an endless barrage of utterly useless thoughts .. like: “There are many people so much worse off than you are.” And how, pray tell, is that meant to help me? Should I feel sorry for them, as well as struggling to breathe? Christians do struggle – this life can be terribly hard! Sin is still rampant in this world and we have an enemy who wants to target us whenever he can. That other guy does not want us to believe and stand up! he wants us lying on the floor counting the ceiling tiles. 

Now let’s look at the fact that when Jesus said: “Cheer up” …  the power of God was present in His Words to overcome the situation! We need to remember sometimes it can be impossible to cheer-up without supernatural help. Sadly there also times when any one around us can lack compassion for someone who is suffering. The thing is, life itself is weighing this person down, and they are drowning in their own sorrows. These things are real … not over exaggerated or imagined! Personally at those times I pray for truck-loads of MERCY for that other person. You know, sometimes there is more to be gained by living through those dark moments, than there is by escaping.

Sadly, sometimes the way we feel about people we don’t like, or someone who has deliberately hurt us, when they get sick or hurt etc., those reactionary thoughts are a fantastic personal diagnostic tool. Our immediate responses can take the inner temperature on the condition of our hearts, and whether we should repent or not. Those unsympathetic symptoms we feel, mean we are going to need lots of His GRACE right alongside MERCY and compassion, ASAP. I like to remember that the bible says God will supply all our needs, so I ask for what I need …which is mercy, grace and compassion.

The woman in the bible with an issue of blood had the right attitude for recovery from her pain. She just kept right on pressing through the crowds to grab at His hem. Meanwhile, imagine the noise, the dirt, plus the feet nearly stepping on her! She had to crawl to get her answer! We have this kind of power on someone else’s behalf — to crawl through the noise and heartache to bring healing and comfort. Kindness and understanding are the vehicles that can transport someone out of their negative focus and into His Love. We can always go to God on their behalf.

There are times when anyone can end up feeling spiritually flattened by their circumstances, as if they are hanging on by a thread. In those times if we cannot press through to grab at the hem of His garment, then we will need the Body of Christ to intercede for us. Human beings always need grace, mercy, peace, kindness, patience etc. far more than anything else, we need those things for ourselves, and others… Bye. 👋


“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,” Says the Lord Who has compassion on you.”Isaiah 54:10.

P 2794 Be spiritually focussed.

/ DVH

Here’s a thought:  attitudes that we PUT ON to look spiritual, can be taken OFF when it doesn’t suit us!  We need to become intimately aware of spiritual things, instead of leaving everything to the minister or pastor. The secret to abiding in Christ is to keep His attitudes ON, and if and when we ever choose to take them OFF, then we need to quickly repent and put them on again. It is a new way to think. Just as you and I once learnt to read and write, we can also learn, with the Lord’s help, to live a Kingdom-focussed life. Listen to these scriptures in Colossians 3:3-15 ESV.

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your  life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry… … But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator… 

 …but Christ is all, and in all. Put ON then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.”

Action needs to be our middle name. We don’t just read things, smile and agree with them – now we put them into practice by choice! Many Christians are totally unaware that they have not changed their lives. They avoid and frown on supposed identifiable bad stuff, like swearing smoking, drinking, taking drugs, sleeping around, stealing, lying, gossiping etc. This means they are often ‘good’ people ‘on the ‘outside’ … but they have very little power to witness, or to overcome the habits and attitudes of their former lives. So they live, they sin, they eventually repent, but they are never changed. 

Transformation is not an optional extra – it’s a part of the deal! These people I am talking about do not move on from getting to know Him, into living their lives, here and now – differently. Prompted by the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance. It’s a progressive thing. We can see an example of this ongoing learning in the New Testament. These people kept faithfully doing what they knew and were taught to do, but they were not taught everything, initially.  Paul says this in Acts:“And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” These people did not know the Helper, so Paul laid hands on them and then they did! When you read parts of scripture like:  Matthew 16:5-12, you can easily see the difference between carnal thinking and Holy Spirit inspired thought.

Meanwhile I’m with Paul, things like fasting or praying in tongues, will definitely help my devotion to the Lord… but it will not change my character without my consent! I have to choose, every single day, sometimes minute by minute, WHO I will serve, There is a world of difference between salvation and transformation. Meanwhile, there’s also a whole ARMY of Christians stuck in that valley of decision! The decision facing them is whether they will serve Christ with their whole hearts, and lay down every single bit of their lives, for His sake. This path has just gotten a whole lot harder, because we are living in a hedonistic society.

We need to choose to submit to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and be governed by what the bible says. It’s called OBEDIENCE. I’ve met heaps of Christians who pray up one hill and down the other, God bless them for their devotion, but they are still as internally ornery and rebellious as they ever were. Their hearts aren’t soft, or changed. Transformation is part of the deal. Jesus didn’t just die to save us from our sins – He died to give us the power to live this life differently. To live life like He did… here and now! People will get saved if we stop living for ourselves and start living our lives for His sake.

However, the Lord will not do anything without our consent. And a blanket “I surrender all” at the altar once, long ago, doesn’t cover it.  God is looking for our active allegiance, not lip service. Our minute by minute lives need to be under the Holy Spirit’s control to make a difference. We have the power to release His Presence into this world by our God-given chosen attitudes and actions. Otherwise, sadly we can all be motivated by self-preservation.

Any manipulation and control, so I can feel ‘happy,’ will short-circuit this process. When I live that way, I cannot bring His life into anything I touch. I have to let go of what I want, and what I think is best for everyone else, and allow the Holy Spirit to have HIS WAY … and He’s not pushy. To be spiritually focussed I need to choose to DIE – every minute, every second, of every day I live. But when we choose to die to self – the Holy Everliving One – lives in us! And He makes all the difference. Bye. 👋

P 2793 Learn to value peace above everything else …

/ DVH

…including toilet paper!More on that in a minute! … Peace can become quite elusive in this world today. My best advice to help maintain your peace is to make every effort to get along with others. I’ve learnt over the years that our emotions and wrong thinking can led us onto a slippery path where tempers flare and little things drive us insane. The bible tells us to “pursue peace.” We will have to run after it, it rarely falls on you, and it will take some pretty specific choices to avoid quarrelling. Loving others despite their behaviour, can stop any reciprocal attitudes. My rule of thumb to disengage from crankiness is this – what would love do? Then say something nice instead. 

Here’s a laugh… back when Covid was ruining everyone’s world. In my country there was absolutely no toilet paper in our supermarkets. It was all over the news. People were panic buying toilet paper … rolls and rolls. Why? I dunno! 😳 They tore about like demented loons chasing toilet paper. Peace went out of the window! Obviously some people can’t live without it. How hilarious! When I was a kid, our toilet paper consisted of torn up newspapers hanging on a hook. It totally blows my mind that at the same time in my history, fish and chips came wrapped up in newspaper too! 

The thing to remember, in times of unrest – the Lord’s peace often seems elusive and it doesn’t seem to make any sense. We want to defend ourselves. I am talking about internal peace – external peace is another story. That takes humility and a willingness to forgive. Our world around us can be exploding and/or falling apart and yet when we have His peace, we are internally, supernaturally removed from whatever is going on. We become spectators, not participants. (Psalm 91) So we can totally see what’s is going on, but we’re watching things happen from the outside. We cannot afford to leave that place of His peace to participate with the bad stuff – because we will lose what the Lord has given us.

Peace disappears, slowly … one bad decision at a time. We give it away when we start using our minds and emotions to analyse trouble or other people’s actions. That’s when we begin to participate. It helps to remember that dead people have no rights! If we talk, talk, talk about how I feel about this or that, or I choose to have an opinion on why someone else is behaving the way they are – I am giving away my God-given right to live in HIS PEACE in those moments of agitation, I become enmeshed within the perceived problem.  Even if I allow myself to become secretly angry with someone else’s behaviour, I will slowly lose His peace. We need to learn to value peace more than self-expression.

God’s kingdom is a PEACEFUL KINGDOM. There are no enemies there. No battles to fight. It’s a real place where everybody’s aim is to glorify the Trinity! We can also be faced with the same choices to overcome that Jesus had in Matthew 4:1-11. The Lord used the scriptures against our enemy. We too have the power to overcome sin, the world and the devil, the same way He did, but we need to choose to allow the Holy Spirit to show us the Way He wants to do it. There were times when Christ was silent in the face of His accusers. The value of saying nothing is often greatly underestimated. At the same time, the Holy Spirit will hand us the scriptures, (the sword) we need to fight with – we just need to calm down enough to hear Him. Spectators do not participate, they WATCH.

God’s peace is not fragile, it is robust when it is established, but it needs to be treasured and respected.  It was given to us for free, because of what Christ did for us. When Jesus suffered for our sins He became our new identity. He shows us the way to cultivate this peace in the following scripture. ““I leave the gift of peace with you—My peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but My perfect peace.Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!” John 14:27 TPT. 

Fear, anger, and worry will always come knocking in times of trouble, but we don’t have to answer the door, we can use our courage to fight those things off. And refuse entry to our hearts and minds through the enemy’s ghastly thoughts, painted scenarios and hideous suggestions. Our enemy is always there, like he was when Christ was tempted – he will hand us the next nasty line to throw at the other person. There is no winning in a war –  even the guy fighting with you has an eternal soul. At the same time, we need to remind ourselves, through bible verses —who we really are. We simply tell the enemy that we are not going to accept his nonsense – God’s in charge here! 

The way to keep His peace with us all the time, is to die daily to what suits us, and live for Jesus. He will help us but we must ask, and in some stressful moments we may need to keep on asking, because God stretches our faith. However, the Lord is never demanding – so if a demanding thought comes into your mind it is not Him. Jesus is kind, gentle and lowly in His heart, He simply wants to help us, the same way He was helped when His life seemed so bleak.  He sent us the Holy Spirit so we can learn to live with His peace prevailing. We need to learn to value that peace. Bye 👋

“You are always and dearly loved by God! So robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy. Be merciful as you endeavour to understand others, and be compassionate, showing kindness toward all. Be gentle and humble, unoffendable in your patience with others.” Colossians 3:12 TPT

P 2785 “To each one of us …”

/ DVH

In the bible it says that the Lord Himself gave gifts to the church … read these scriptures along with me: “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He took many captives and gave gifts to His people… …” 11-13 “So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7-8,11-13. We don’t have to wait for our birthday, or Christmas! Jesus has given us all gifts to help us grow and know Him…NOW!

“There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people. The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all.”1 Corinthians 12:4-7.

“If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other. 

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable.” Romans 12:7-17.

Today, I want to say, loudly – that, despite how you might feel, you have a gift. Actually you could easily have more than one of them!! But don’t ask me what they are, it took me a while to figure out what I am here to do! This Grace the Lord has given me to help others, has also helped me to feel that I have a place within the Body of Christ.

Many Christians have excused themselves from being activated for His kingdom, on the grounds that they are not worthy, or clever enough, or gifted enough, or they don’t know what they are supposed to do, or they don’t have time and they hope that the Lord understands! However, we all need your contribution. You don’t have to be an evangelist standing on the back of a flat-bed truck, you simply need to live a life of Love everywhere you go, towards everyone you meet, and be prepared to give an account of the hope within you.  That will stretch everyone’s faith and your gift will rise up as a result.

The thing is, this New Covenant we share is an agreement between us and the Lord – it’s a promise that we enter into between Him and us, and it is binding. (Read the book!) Jesus covered our sins with His blood, so we can be free to live the life God planned for us to live … and it is never too late to start. Jesus deliberately provided us with SomeOne Who will always help us and never leave us. SomeOne Who will teach us His ways, and help us with the process of transformation. It’s the Holy Spirit.

One day, not long ago, I woke up and realised that my complete spiritual poverty,  is my strength.🤔 So today, the Lord asked me to remind you of your place in His Body by using His Word. The Holy Spirit wants you to know that there is a place in His plans for you. Sometimes, for a small group of people, that is a place that is seen, and for many, many, many others, they will remain unseen. But He has promised to touch us all in extraordinary ways, with supernatural gifts.. I look forward to the day when the vast, unseen multitudes of ordinary Christians step into what He has for them.

So today, I just want to encourage everybody reading this, He wants you to participate in His plan in the lives of those people you know and influence. He needs you to be you. Who you are, because of His Presence in your life, will reach others. Last of all, I want to use my favourite vehicle, the bible, to pray for you. I am totally convinced He will answer these prayers because they rely upon His faithfulness, not on anyone’s ability.  

“I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!” Philippians 1:6 TPT. “And I pray that He would unveil within you the unlimited riches of His glory and favour until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with His divine might and explosive power.” Ephesians 3:16 TPT.“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24. Amen. God gives gifts to each one of us. Bye. 👋

P 2757 Flowers ain’t fruit!

/ DVH

We have a large mango tree in our backyard, and it has grown heaps in the last couple of years. Now its taller than our house. However, last year there were hardly any flowers on it, and what was left were little nubs of potential fruit, that got blown off by some high winds. That large tree gave us about 12 mangoes. Boy were we disappointed. Especially after feeding it, watering it, and protecting the fruit from the birds of the air who think they have a right to eat anything and everything. Stupid noisy minas. Grrrr. 😖 Where was I again? Hah! Growing fruit … hmmm.

“BUT the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.”Galatians 5:22-23 TPT. Did you get that? The life and health of any tree is the reason we can produce good fruit. Our mango tree must have had a tummy ache last year or … it was a bad weather year for mangoes. Sadly we can’t use that excuse for spiritual fruit!

The thing is, this year I totally refuse to get excited about fruit any more, even though this year our tree is covered in mango flowers. So what happened? Where did my enthusiasm go? I learnt something. I learnt flowers ain’t fruit! Some fruit trees have masses of beautiful flowers everywhere, they smell so pretty … spring is in the air, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the bees are buzzing away around each little flower. and the whole idea, at that moment that there may be no fruit from that tree is far far away … 

The Lord Jesus had that happen to Him once. He was hungry and went to a fig tree that should have had fruit on it but it had none. (Read Mark 11:12-25) So the Lord used that tree as an object lesson for the disciples. We should pay careful attention to that little story. I’ve heard people speak about it in sermons — they said that this bit means that, and that means this, and the tree is the other thing … on and on…  Do you know what I think? I think if our trees/lives have no fruit of the Spirit, then we better look hard at our tree and find out what’s ailing it! 

Simply because fruit trees are meant to produce fruit. And we know that the Holy Spirit living within us will always want to produce His fruit. So what does no fruit mean? I think I’ll just leave you to think on that, I did. Long and hard!  You know we can comfort ourselves by the fact that our lives have produced pretty blossom flowers that smell so lovely – but! … Ya can’t eat the flowers! Well, you can … but I wouldn’t – there is not much nourishment there. 

There are many people living around us today who are eager to take ‘a bite’ out of us, just to see what our fruit will taste like, how we will react. Think about it. Some clown cuts in front of you and your precious kids in your car, in traffic, and you have to slam on the brakes and tell the kids to hold on. What kind of reaction does that invoke in us? Do we say unprintable things and curse the idiot who did it? Or do we bless the young man – let’s be fair, it is often a young man with little sense, who thinks he is a racing car driver … So. Do we bless him with wisdom and common sense so he won’t kill himself or someone else? Hmmm. Probably not.

Moo-ving on … Some pretty young thing pushes in front of us in the coffee shop and turns and gives us a dazzling smile and she says; “you don’t mind do you? I’m in an awful rush.” And you stand there, smile back and say .. “of course not.” Meanwhile you are thinking: ‘You are not the only one with a busy day lovey!’ Or other things I will not mention… 🤬 And there we are, wearing a fake pasted-on smile. That’s not real fruit by the way, its wish-fruit. We just made plastic fruit. That stuff falls off the minute you shake the tree and it tastes like plastic be-ca-use … it’s … plastic!

The point is – fruit can’t be faked. It’s either real or it isn’t. And the faked stuff is inedible. So what conclusion can we come to? We need to ask ourselves what actually comes out when I am under pressure? That is what is actually INSIDE my tree – it seems I lost my connection to the sap that flows from Jesus along the vine. Now, I can’t blame you for that, because no matter whatever is inside me, the truth is I let it stay until it got good and rotten and expressive. 

To bear good fruit we need to value the Holy Spirit and His ways and, as I said a minute ago, we can’t manufacture good fruit. Farmers grow fruit, and manufacturers churn out the plastic stuff! That’s why the bible says: “The fruit of the SPIRIT is …’ It’s His fruit in me, not mine. It is also what Jesus meant when He talked about abiding in the vine. Here’s the cruncher … without the sap of the Holy Spirit flowing through us, we can’t manufacture fruit at all … Our pretend, isn’t worth a hill of beans, and flowers ain’t fruit! 

We gotta go to the tree, our own tree, and see what is stopping us from letting the sap of the Holy Spirit flow through us. We need to ask ourselves questions. What are we hanging onto that grieves the Holy Spirit? It doesn’t have to be too much TV etc. it could just be a lousy attitude that we won’t let go of! Honest repentance starts the fruit growing again, and watering our lives with the knowledge of His unconditional love for us, plus feeding ourselves on the bible by doing what it says – all that grows fruit. Christianity is not a club, it’s a lifestyle, and fruit takes time to grow. Let’s get rid of any blockages to fruitfulness with His help — be-cau-se… …flowers ain’t fruit, they are simply po-ten-tial.  Bye.👋   

P 2748 Faith is now our reset button.

/ DVH

Colossians 3:1-4: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

Colossians tells us that we have a clear focus – it’s a forever focus. Because of Jesus we have eternal eyes, so we can see what He sees. Now we see beyond the here and now, into whatever the Lord is doing – we don’t always understand … but we can learn. That broken-down car, or that angry person yelling at me, won’t bother me because now I am dead by choice. I’ve hidden myself in Him, under His blood, that made everything eternal possible.

This is what our PAST looked like — Colossians 3:7-10: “You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” 

Because of what Jesus chose to do for me, to set me free, now I have the power to choose to actively get rid of the ghastly stuff of this world, that weighs me down. Colossians says: ‘rid yourselves …’ I think that shows us that we have work we must do – with the Holy Spirit’s help. Our old way to live is no longer compulsory. It’s gone. Now we have the power to overcome our old ways of thinking and doing. So we become focussed on getting rid of that stuff, step by step, as the Lord convicts and convinces us of sin. The old grouchy way of life still rears its ugly head, but we choose a different response. We do everything we do now, simply because we love Him. 

Currently, I am learning to identify, then take off those old clothes, the things that have been fashioned by this life … through my personal choices and experiences. Even the things I think I feel comfortable in — I deliberately put behind me. The Lord’s clothes seem to be difficult at first, as I learn to leave my old responses behind. Maybe these new clothes aren’t always smooth and silky, because in the past I carefully chose my clothes so they won’t irritate me. But choosing to follow Jesus means change and dealing with my irritation.

Anyway … here’s what the bible says to wear! Verses 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.”

That’s a much nicer wardrobe! But how does this happen? Do I pray a prayer and bingo bongo – suddenly I have this brand new wardrobe. Meh! Not-so-much. The transformation happens whenever I use my faith to obey and walk with Him, and listen to Him. I have to deliberately choose to change my behaviour, (my clothes) and continually remember that I will always need His help. Meanwhile, those old clothes can be like a siren calling out me to drown in my feelings!

Life happens to everyone. Someone else accidentally bumps into a pain deposit inside us and we realise we are still wearing an old coat of anger, or shame or hurt. Our new way to live means that we pray and step out of that boat of same old same old responses — and step onto the water of a new miraculous way to live. His way.

There is healing in His new clothes. We can walk out of things that seemed to be just our lot in life, and daily discover that Almighty God has a bigger plan for us. There is nothing quite like looking at a difficult situation, knowing full well that 6 months ago you would have had anger issues and now you don’t! The thing is we won’t care if someone else seems to win, or not, because as we walk with the King we start to see this life from His perspective. And that changes everything.

Living like this means we use our faith. We step out in faith, every single day. Faith feels odd when you first use it, it seems risky and scary —  like maybe people will have an advantage over me. However, using our faith brings us into a much bigger arena. Who knows what gift the Lord has put inside us to benefit others? Or what gift they may have that will bless us? Faith will now become our reset button. 🙌

“Wherever I go, Your hand will guide me; Your strength will empower me.” Psalms 139:10 TPT.

P2734 “Let HIS mind be in us …”

/ DVH

People like the Apostle Paul wrote what they wrote to equip the saints, as well as to promote unity, and maturity. And most times today’s saints are scrabbling about in the dirt fighting over this perceived bit of turf or that pathway, or this verse interpretation, or that application! All our theories are just that – theories. We are more concerned about being doctrinally right, than we are about learning to love people – even when they are difficult.  One day – we will ALL know how wrong we’ve been. In the Presence of the Lord there is no room for anything but worship and awe, so what WE think won’t matter! 🙌 At that point, all our theories and ideas will be less than dust atoms.

The early church had skirmishes with each other and things weren’t always perfect. However I am so sad about the things that are not resolved in our churches today. Our sure foundation is Christ, we cannot build on the rubble of disagreement. Where we fall down is we are not working to restore people when things get broken and God is not pleased with our hard hearts. These men and women in the book could not live without Him – so they did whatever the Holy Spirit said, so they could stay in step with Him and others!  I am not trying to be rude, but YOU are not the Apostle Paul … we know that he had sound doctrine  … and neither am I! Let’s learn to walk in humility toward restoration.

I know so many precious people who are waiting, waiting. waiting for the next move of the Holy Spirit to come. They want Him to fix the mess we have made, because we’ve allowed opinions to become more important than people or God Himself! Human passion does not equal God’s passion. When we throw ourselves on the altar weeping, what do we do after that? Many of us want Him to transform us in a heartbeat, when most of us have had a lifetime to learn how to co-operate with Him! It’s time to repent of wasting the time He has already given us, and start pursuing living the way that He lived. 

Philippians 2:5-8: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”Humility is not about what we say – it is designed to be demonstrated, frequently.

In these turbulent times I’m personally looking for prophets that will tell us that we need to repent and repair things in our own lives, today – otherwise I’m not very interested in what they say. All I know is that Jesus will come back – one day, maybe soon, maybe not!… And He’s coming back for a passionate people who will die for each other and what they believe. The Holy Spirit is looking for the heart of Christ in all of us. And what we aim at matters. Even if we miss the mark, we need to keep aiming at loving one another, promoting unity, as well as embracing repentance when we are wrong. Humbling ourselves and admitting our faults to one another is part of the way that happens!  

The Lord is looking for the harmony that comes from seeking His Face, personally and corporately. We’ve all been aiming too low, we are aiming at promoting our churches and their doctrines, not Jesus!  The Holy Spirit is the One Who would love to lead us into true unity. His Presence with us, in us and through us will be that Unity. Unity is not just agreement – unity is a heart attitude. Agreements can be broken. Read the book. 

Transformation, for individuals and for all of us corporately, is a process. Let’s choose to participate in that process, voluntarily, every single day, whether we think it is necessary or not. Unity in the Body of Christ does not begin with everybody agreeing – unity is when you or I would die for someone else just because God loves them. I don’t have to agree with their theology!

Day by day, we His help to see and know one another after the Spirit, not just by what is said. Let’s learn patience from Him when people aren’t all they can be. To display kindness and mercy like He would to those who are in need. We will need to live in self-control when someone else jumps all over our toes. Lastly we must consistently practice attentive faithfulness to His ways. As we do these things, the Holy Spirit will help us. Unity is the centre of Christ’s joy. 3 John 4. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

The bible says things clearly. LOVE has to be our aim – our great quest. Love is not just another key – it is the way forward into UNITY. The Holy Spirit knows the way you should go, ask Him to help you walk that way. Let’s all pray for the same mindset that was in the Lord Himself … Bye. 👋

P 2727 This is our way forward.

/ DVH

Hubby sent me this lovely bit of writing the other day and it was so sweet I wanted to put it here, today. It’s from: “I hear His Whisper”:.. and it’s called – “Kindness reveals My nature.”

“When you act toward others with a heart overflowing with compassion, you are living out the very heartbeat of My mercy. When you line your life with kindness, you cannot miss the blessings of My kingdom. Your return will be great when you live a life of generous love.

I tell you the truth: acting in love toward others may sometimes feel like the greatest sacrifice. However, when you train your heart in generosity, you purify your motives. I delight when you reflect My magnanimous love by choosing to extend mercy to others. Self-defense won’t get a person very far in life, but look at the rich lives of My beloved ones who live to benefit others. 

Rather than seeking only to fill their own bellies, they freely give to others in need. Model your life after the generous rather than the stingy, and you will live in the beautiful blessing of a clean conscience. Look to Me whenever you need grace to empower your choices. I will always help you!” written by Brian Simmons

Hebrews 13:16 TPT:“We will show mercy to the poor and not miss an opportunity to do acts of kindness for others, for these are the true sacrifices that delight God’s heart.”

I love it when I read something that exhorts me to live this life to the full and it shows me how to walk with Him. Bonus buy … isn’t it wonderful that things like this delight His heart! To be honest, I’m sick to death of long winded theories on how to be a better Christian, and things that have never seem to work out for me. I can’t seem to stay the prescribed course, and then I fall on my head and get disheartened. Sigh. I’m always glad for the person who wrote the book etc. it just doesn’t seem to be my thing. My memory ain’t what it used to be, so I forget what I’m supposed to be doing almost immediately. Cultivating kindness and generosity suits me better, because it isn’t hard to remember and it has a powerful effect!

I have noticed that different sorts of lives have different handicaps. For instance, I can no longer do the sort of things that other people take for granted. But I also know that others are handicapped by busyness and their essential activities as they try to press forward into their high calling in the Lord. Some people are handicapped by their home circumstances — they have parents or children, or spouses or friends that don’t support their Christian POV. Some are trapped financially. I think that we all have difficult lives in this modern world. Today’s special thought from Brian Simmons is a great example of how anyone can live this life for His sake, even when there are other things making their lives difficult … simply by living generously.

We can also choose kindness – and when we do so we are revealing the Lord’s own nature. And the bonus bit is that we don’t necessarily have to have a speaking gift! Generosity speaks its own language. I love this kind of over and above giving because the Holy Spirit has taught us personally about the power that lies in unexpected kindness through giving. I find it opens doors that we can’t see, in other people’s hearts. We’ve both seen people who are very restrained and quite formal, suddenly divulge all sorts of info about themselves in response to something or other we did. 

Today I want to talk about the ways I’ve noticed kindness can transform things that seem to be rock solid. Being kind as well as generous is an incredible way to bless others and open up hearts – ours, and someone else’s too. First of all, we can actively choose to be kind, loving and forgiving, when we know that the other person is expecting a totally justified rebuke. This sort of kindness is incredibly powerful. It can be tempting to take advantage of a situation where one person has done something damaging, and we are on the wrong end of it. But when we are generous with our love, forgiveness and kindness, we can be used by the Lord to usher in change into their lives. Kindness opens doors.

It can give energy and hope to the weak. Whether the person is weak in spirit, or mind or body, it energises others when we treat them with respect and love. At one time we saw a severely disabled man on the street. He was unable to control many of his bodily functions. His carer was a charming kind man, mopping up for him with a loving touch. The carer was so happy to chat to us, but I must confess that we wanted to talk to the person in the chair! The disabled young man’s whole bodily demeanour indicated that there was nobody home, but as we spoke to him – his face came alive. He couldn’t speak, but his eyes shone. It was almost as though he responded to the love and said: “You can see me!” We told him we could see how brave and courageous he was, and we prayed for help and healing from the Lord. We kind of floated away from that interaction much more blessed than the young disabled man was! 

Kindness like Mr Simmons mentioned above also shows up in generosity. God will always repay us when we give to unselfishly to others. That’s because HE is where kindness comes from – so we are mirroring Jesus’ example. The truth is, we’ve noticed you can get blessed by paying attention to the way the Lord repays you! I know someone who used to make up boxes of food for people in their congregation who were doing it tough. They’d fill a basket or a box with the kind of things that these folks could not afford, plop the box on their doorstep, ring the bell — and run away … like naughty children ringing a doorbell and escaping before being caught! 😂 Someone hid around the corner to watch the response. They said doing that was so much fun, and they highly recommended it for unexpected excitement and joy. 

The bible clearly says: “it is more blessed to give than to receive:”(Acts 20:35) and our task is to personally prove that scripture is active and effective! I know it cuts away possessiveness and the desire for more stuff we don’t need! Human beings can get so caught up in their own terrible circumstances, or this or that bit of dreadful news, we can forget God has a plan and He has given His kids the power to change things. We may not be able to change the course of a war, but we can pray and intercede for those trapped inside one. 

Kindness and generosity are powerful weapons in our spiritual arsenal of God’s ever-increasing love and mercy. I believe this is our way forward into reaching the world. Bye. 👋

P 2724 Love …

/ DVH

… the all purpose, all seasonal garment— that freely leads to praise and worship. I fall in love with our God over and over again, because He has so generously provided us with a way to please Him and live at peace with others. Jesus has already given us the Way we can be reconciled, and the Holy Spirit shines His torchlight upon the right path. Actually, to be perfectly truthful, the Holy Spirit often says to me … in a nice way, of course. “Don’t say it, don’t do it, don’t throw a party for that thought.” OK, so the bible says don’t “entertain thoughts” – same thing.

So today let’s look at Colossians 3. Love is a positional thing. It depends upon where you think you are seated. And I am not talking about being seated on your lounge, or on a chair! We are now, today, in this moment — seated in a new kingdom, where we choose to set our hearts on eternal things. We look toward Jesus because He started our faith and He will finish it. His precious blood bought that for us! Most of the time we fall down disagreeable holes because we get preoccupied with the stuff going on around us.

I know that a screaming baby, or a rampant selfish teenager, or an illogical argument with an angry spouse, or even a particularly pedantic elderly person, all have a way of grabbing at our thinking and attention. BTW, I think that those scenarios don’t help our teeth either … we can end up grinding them down to a NUB! Things like that happen and they don’t just happen once. That is the hardest thing of all! … instead they happen over and over and over again! … until your nerves are shredded and you want to go jump in the river.  Fortunately we have no eligible rivers near our house!

But when things get really severe that other person might well want to chuck YOU in that river. 😶 Meanwhile our own selfish tendencies that want to strangle someone else, need to be put to death. Sigh. So how do I personally do that? I remove myself before I get to the strangulation or the utterly unbridled abusive stage. I go somewhere else and talk to the Lord. At the same time, I don’t shut my inner ears to Him talking back to me! God is on my side, but He will not let me off the hook for whatever I did – He does not take sides. Do I get my attitudes right all the time? Of course not! Every now and then my temper takes over and I give the other person a serve. Not a point to be excited about trust me, the fall-out is appalling.

Here’s something to chew on in those moments – and NO! It is not comforting, or soothing … it requires obedience. Colossians 3:8-10 says: “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Here’s something my Mum used to say to me in a threatening voice: “Watch your mouth.” Always remember one unpleasant thing can lead to another! So this is how you deal with moments like these … you tell yourself “BOTHER – I’M WEARING THE WRONG CLOTHES!” and then you refuse to make excuses for yourself while whatever it is, is going on. Get to the place where you can say, ‘I’m so sorry’ quickly! That’s the exit!! Then shut up. Excuses or accusations actually add to the general feeling of unrest. So don’t do that either. 

There’s this really cool spiritual gift, that is a part of our new blood-bought clothes that Jesus bought and paid for … it’s called self-control. Oh, this is such a complex garment! It is needed in all sorts of situations. Self-control helps me to make the kind of decisions that allow HIM to take over. Now let’s look at what our new clothes actually look like … just so you don’t pick the wrong ones when you are getting dressed! 

12-16a: 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. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly …”

The best thing to ask yourself in any moment of difficulty is this – where did my peace go? And no! The answer is not … he/she/they stole it. The answer is where did YOU lose it? Peace is our portion as well as our umpire, we can’t afford to lose it … but that’s for another day. Today we are talking about a Christian’s wardrobe and what we need to wear to thrive, not just survive.  And love covers a multitude of sins – not just your sins – THEIRS. Bye. 👋

P 2695 Loyalty matters to God.

/ DVH

Let’s not take Father God’s kindness toward us for granted, or we can end up walking in presumption. To start with, we can easily be distracted by the cares of this life and forget Who He actually is! That’s when we could end up focussing on our own greedy little agendas of what we need or want. The point of a relationship is not just about what the other person does for me, it is also about what I bring into that relationship! What do I do that benefits that other person? We must not use Him for our own ends, He needs to be our great treasure. 

Our God’s benefits are for always seeable, and available to be easily seen, when we are living our lives loyal to Him. And He loves 💕 loyalty! Read the book. In the Old Testament we can see that His people spent more time being disloyal to the Lord than they did being loyal. But, whenever they repented and turned back to Him – His loving provision and benefits were seen and recognised and appreciated. I believe in order to see the Lord’s benefits, we need insight into the way we regard Him. God is not wishy-washy, whimsical, or careless. His preference for our salvation is crystal clear, but the decision to accept that, with all it means, needs to be taken seriously.

This is a good time to ask ourselves, where do I, personally, stand on this loyalty issue? Am I ”on the Lord’s side?” …like Joshua was? Joshua was prepared to die for God’s will to be done. Or am I on my Saviour’s side purely for so-called benefits, “I’m saved, He answers my prayers.” Maybe I get disengaged or ticked off when I happen to get trouble or tears? Is my main desire to live in His Presence? Can I see past His hands to His face? In my observation, most of the time when the going gets tough for Christians – the not-so-tough bail out!

I want to briefly talk about the incredible value of the Lord’s benefits. We have such wealth. We are strongly exhorted in Psalm 126:3 to: “… forget not all His benefits…”. In this Psalm, it talks about restoration of fortunes, reaping in joy, carrying seed to sow, and bringing in sheaves. But all of that comes after a whole lotta shaking and hardship going on – including sowing in tears! The thought struck me that we all want the joy, and the restoration, and the seed plus the sheaves … but not-so-much with the tears. It’s a package deal.

Some Psalms contain lists of the benefits of our loyalty to God. In Psalm 119 there are a whole lot of stated benefits. However, I think seeing God’s benefits is linked to our loyalty – and if we do not value Who He is, we won’t SEE them. These things are way too costly to be treated carelessly, haphazardly or poorly. Anybody can participate in everything He has done for us, but our response needs to be a heart filled with loyalty to Him because He has been so gracious to us.

Let’s look quickly at Psalm 23:1. In the Living bible it says:“Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!”  This shepherd was totally in charge of his sheep! While they were under his protection the sheep lacked nothing. Even if they wandered off he would go and seek them out. This is a fine example of Jesus’ loyalty to us! Outside the camp there are wolves etc. This shows me that our faith can easily be devoured by cares and worries of this life – the shepherd’s sheep knew the value of staying close.

Some times we merrily produce our largish lists of needs and wants, and post them off to the Lord without bearing in mind where our loyalties are currently lying. Are we paying lip service, or are we His devoted servants, looking to simply be His sheep? Meanwhile if we are that distracted, will we even see the answers He sends? In Philippians 4:19 it says: “I pray that God will take care of all your needs with the wonderful blessings that come from Christ Jesus!”

Our God is so much more than the supplier of our needs – He’s Almighty God. He made everything we can see!

Every blessing we’ve received was bought for us by Jesus Christ’s own suffering. This life is not about Him getting us a new car, or having a baby, or getting into a course we think we want!  It’s about belonging to SomeOne so incredible, so loving, so focussed on us, that we take the time to see His heart and love Him back. We need to carefully inspect the origins of some of the things we claim and ask for, because loyalty and gratitude matter – especially to Him.

GRACE IS FREE BUT IT WAS NOT CHEAP. This is why everything we do, or want, needs to be prayerfully requested with our eye firmly on the prize of honouring Jesus. Otherwise we can go from faith into presumption in a heartbeat. Let’s not rob the Lord of our loyalty … 👋

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