KIngdom

P 2339 Christians have a different normal, it is not ‘of’ this world.

/ DVH

My intention is to put an exclamation mark on what I wrote yesterday. Luke 17:26-33:“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.  Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. “

Yesterday, I spoke about this scripture briefly and I felt the Lord tell me to go back, and look at it further. What He said to me was this: “Did you see that?” Of course I hadn’t. I can’t see this kind of stuff until He helps me by opening my eye to what He’s thinking. 

He said this: “THEIR LIVES were going on from day to day NORMALLY, when the sky literally fell for Noah and his family, and Lot and Co!” Then the Holy Spirit asked me this question – “What do people do when their lives are violently interrupted?” 

My answer for myself was I probably hit despair and then panic! So, I asked for His help and I began think about what human beings see as ‘normal.’ Those things we sometimes valiantly seek after, are actually poor preparation for the extraordinary situations that really do occur in this life. Yet I can see that most people strive, and pay a great deal of their attention to the status quo, trying hard to fit in – or find it – and live in it. Fitting into what this world calls normal. 

It is almost as if superstitiously, we are scared of and avoid thinking about bad things and contemplating their existence.  But they actually happen anyway … without our permission. It seems to me that as difficulties occur regularly, it is careless not to prepare our hearts, with practice, by meditating on what HE says and renewing our minds. We need a substantial spiritual root system to give us severe storm strength. We get that from our confidence in HIM, using our faith, and applying His Word. He is always ready to help us.

We buy insurance for our cars, houses, lives, and the future etc. and yet we remain vastly ignorant or experienced with, those things that are eternal. Those things that cannot be moved or shaken, because their roots are in our Almighty Immovable, ever-present God, Maker of heaven and earth. We need a deep confidence and experience with His involvement in our lives. We need to know personally, first-hand what He thinks.

Otherwise we end up gauging His care for us, by answered, or seemingly not-answered prayer!  Normal is never our aim – ushering His kingdom into our current situation and surroundings is! To do that we need to be very personally well acquainted with what our King did, or will do, no matter what else is going on.  And when we are hard pressed we need to learn to lean on Him. Always remembering that – His kingdom gives out of poverty, it loves from lack, it tenderly engages others despite personal feelings and proclivities.

Secondly we need to stop aligning ourselves with who this world says we are meant to be, and allow Him, and trust Him to take us step by step into our eternal destiny.  He knows the way through … anything! As it says in Psalm 23 we will be led by the Shepherd through the valley of the shadow of death. In order to be properly led, we need to know and trust the leader.

Noah and Lot were confronted with horrendously difficult circumstances, BUT their societies were not unlike ours. Yet they each had a relationship with God to fall back on. What we need to fall back on to sustain us through trials is our personal irrefutable knowledge of Him. Otherwise we will let this world’s scenarios be painted on our hearts, and default into fear.  We must see difficult things as opportunities to deepen our faith. Psalm 34:19 says: “Disciples so often get into trouble;  still, God is there every time.” 👋🏻

P 2338 Live willing.

/ DVH

We’ve been isolated at home for 11 weeks so far … and the saddest part is that we love being on the road for Jesus. We like to go where He says to go, and talk to anyone we meet along the way. It is the most fun you can ever have, and we have been doing this over and over again for the past 18 years.

But the Lord has decided we need to be home, laid aside while we are waiting for this bone in my upper arm to heal. Hilariously, since then, hubby too has fallen UP the stupid stairs – TWICE. But fortunately he skipped the bouncing all the way to the bottom part. Our dog has also nearly had the same accident as well. Someone is coming to check out those stairs next week. Yay! Now our back stairs are against us!

What might be a holiday could easily feel like a prison. It’s Covid all over again. Now here’s some fun facts for you. We’ve interacted with so many people since we have been stuck in this Cul-de-sac of injury, even though we are, hypothetically, marooned. OT’s, administrators, PTs, doctors, radiologists, specialists, hospital clinics, government provided home assistance etc. These people, and the things we literally have to do as part of the healing process, have been thrust into our isolation. 

Of course there has been a whole lotta pain, no continuous sleep, and HEAPS of waiting waiting waiting in those very appropriately named waiting rooms! But let’s just skip over that part. With home help alone we have met a total of five different helpers, with three more government assist persons coming this week.These are all strangers that we’ve never met before, and each time we have had opportunities to talk to them about the Lord. 

Hubby asked one young man to open up his heart to Jesus last week, and invite the Lord in. He did. This particular young man talked non-stop all the time. The first time he came, I got so mad at him. He was completely non-compliant about the work he was supposed to do, and he argued with everything that normally happens. It was a total nightmare. I was so incensed by his lack of sensitivity in a hurting household. So … tada! JESUS SENT HIM BACK AGAIN! 😂 Goodie. Now we are praying for him and his life and having fellowship together. And only God can organise that …!

One young lady helper came from Burundi – which, BTW, is the poorest country in the world. Horrendous things happen there. We blessed her and her family with all sorts of stuff and had fellowship together. And another lady covered in tattoos is about to get married, so we had books and a bible for her. Everybody has been delighted to listen and take stuff, and our front door is like a revolving door. We’ve never seen so many people come into our house in such a short time before. 

I said all that stuff to paint a picture. First of all life never goes the way you plan it. Almighty God has His own ideas and He probably won’t consult you – or me either! It has been fascinating to see how something so painfully awful can be worked together for everyone’s good!  And I mean everyone. It seems to me that hubby and I are currently stuck in Jerusalem, and we haven’t been able to get to Judea, or Samaria, let alone the uttermost parts of this world! Anybody can live like this – we simply have to stop seeing other people as a service industry for our lives, and see them as people Christ died for. We need KINGDOM EYES.

All this has caused me to be more reflective, if our Christian lives remain undisturbed and we continue to live our life routinely, we can easily think that we are doing sort of, kind of, OK.  (See Luke 17:27) The same old same old is dangerous. When trouble comes and we are no longer ‘on top’ of anything, rather we struggle to be pleasant in unpleasant circumstances … and fail. That is when we start to understand just how deeply we’ve been lulled off to sleep. Business as usual is deadly for Christians.

Personally I found all sorts of bad stuff in me that I didn’t know was there – until somebody pushed the right button. I have also found I must constantly revisit my desire and intention to remain willing, in spite of my circumstances. Life is about moving – people who don’t move are often DEAD, and not the good kind of dead either! 👋🏻

Acts 1:8 “You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

2 Corinthians 11: 30 ‘If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am.’ 

P 2337 Do we value comfort and healing ABOVE obedience?

/ DVH

Are we prepared to follow Jesus no matter what shape we are currently in? There is a trait within the body of Christ to seek healing and wholeness first, because we think we will be in better shape to serve Him. Actually, the bible says we are to seek His kingdom, first. When Jesus died for us, and the Holy Spirit came here to stay with us on earth – the doors of healing and transformation flew open. They cannot be shut. The cross of Christ sealed the most incredible deal mankind has ever seen.

As we walk with Him, using our faith, day by day, endless possibilities open up in front of us. The Lord our God is a fantastic, reliable, all-powerful Healer. The bible says so, over and over again. However, there are people who are very used to having healing available and handed to them through other people’s recognised gifts. Their OWN faith has not prepared them for spiritual opposition or the strength to fight and go get things for themselves. I think the power to grow in our faith is linked to our willingness to go all out for Him. Sadly the children of God have not always fought for the kind of God-given strengths we need to combat all the stuff that comes at us.

We’ve have made being ‘whole and trained,’ a more valuable attribute than things like ‘servanthood, surrender, discipleship and being a laid-down lover of Jesus.’  The truth is, in our interactions with the Lord, sometimes, like Jacob, we could end up limping! I’ve ended up as sick as you can get in hospital, only to discover there was someone I was meant to comfort, and witness to, that I would not have met any other way. My little story was relevant to them. I am NOT saying God made me sick – but He used it for His purposes. Sometimes, like Sarah we could end up healed and whole, with a whole life scenario that is is just plain impossible. These things serve God’s purposes. Did you get that? His purposes.

Some of the most fruitful transformational words I have ever had are words of correction. I love to see the body of Christ grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord.  And when we receive what we believe is a prophetic word then we need to take it seriously. BUT, we also know that God corrects His kids, and if we accept His correction with faith – we will also grow – we don’t always have to be babied along. Take whatever God gives your pastor to preach as food for your soul, pray over it and ask the Lord to make it personal to you. We desperately need ‘every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” because that’s where the power of God is. In the truth of what God Himself says.

Perhaps we are inadvertently waiting for the Lord to swoop in, and zap us, and then we will get an instant spiritual makeover to prepare us for the wonderful things that lie ahead. That thought makes no sense whatsoever to me. This is the God Who we know does things, ‘layer upon layer, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.…’ We need to be in agreement and prepared to engage with His processes – complete with His correction when we’ve wandered off into lah lah land.

Otherwise we will limit Him to our own understanding. There are totally sold-out people all over this planet who will follow Jesus anywhere anytime into any kind of danger. My problem is I can’t see where those dedicated people are supposed to be in a separate category to ME.  For those of us who live in the West, we need to make it our great quest to take His Words even more seriously … otherwise ease, and comfort will distract us into the grave and we will have lost the precious time allocated to us by the Lord.  We cannot be distracted by the so-called quest to be READY for whatever He wants us to do – no matter how difficult, or life-changing it seems to be. We need to step out in faith and obey.

We are at the place where we need to be relying upon Him  and His written word more than anything else. Fortunately that is a learned skill – gained by using our faith, followed up by action. Let us not allow the enemy to lie to us that we are not ready, or we are not up to the task. Instead let’s remind ourselves that our God uses the willing! He qualifies hearts that are passionate and sold out to His purposes. He will heal, correct and guide us as we go ahead living out His word, for this world to read in our lives.👋🏻

P 2332 Our perceptions can limit our expansion.

/ DVH

Almighty God’s goodness, faithfulness, loving kindness, mercy, grace, love, joy and peace does not, and will not ever, depend on our perception. He IS all those things and more … simply because it is Who He is. Now there’s a good place to stop and cheer! 🥳 I have learnt during my life so far, that the ability to laugh at yourself is invaluable. Christians can be a bit ridiculous and intense, as well as ever-so-slightly pompous at times – if we are not careful we can suck all the spontaneous fun out of a room with a well placed raise of the eyebrows. 

We can also take ourselves way too seriously. I think we need to enjoy this life we’ve been given more. We can end up trying so hard to appear godly and pious, we give the impression that following Jesus is no fun at all. We should never be ashamed to share our faults and missteps with everyone around us, including our brothers and sisters – who knows what that kind of honest freedom could produce? 

How will others know what Christ did FOR US, if we are so busy trying so hard to look right all the time – without the Holy Spirit’s help. Trying to look good all the time, uses up way too much energy. No wonder we have no extra energy to witness and love on people. Keeping up that kind of appearance is exhausting. Conversely, some of us turn into undercover agents, and work on that sort of attitude so hard that the people around us don’t know we are Christians at all. We just ooze disapproval instead.

Today I decided to share some of the dumb things I have done in my lifetime. You know appearing to be the goods is exhausting, and when you get older you need all the energy you can find just to manage the stuff going on. Being changed from the inside out is the thing, it makes the supernatural normal!  

Hmm … back onto my point …I’ve done so many dumb things – it’s hard to pick. 😂 I once tipped a whole bottle of Shalimar perfume down the drain. I was utterly convinced that very expensive stuff was of the devil … so glub＄glub＄glub＄… down the drain it went. What was I thinking? I thought holiness was about being minutely careful over every little detail. I had no idea back then that holiness has already been imputed to us through our relationship with Christ. 

In other words holiness is about WHO we choose to hang out with, not just how paranoid we are about sin. How we look is mostly irrelevant, Who He is and what He has done for us is the main thing. Meanwhile down the plug hole went the Shalimar. Sigh. My drain smelled gorgeous for weeks! Retrospectively, my poor ex had heaps to put up with. 

Then there was the time I was utterly convinced that God was going to heal my severe short-sightedness. What a laugh-riot that was. I smashed my contact lenses convinced I needed to prove to God how serious I was in my belief that He heals today. You ain’t gunna believe the next bit … for two whole years I went about blind as a bat … doing all the normal things I always did. Fortunately, I didn’t drive back then! 

But I crossed roads, chopped stuff with big nasty knives, looked after my little kids and other people’s kids etc. caught buses, took trains, and carried on pretending that any minute now, praise God, I was going to be healed! Our wonderful Father protected and looked after this ding-bat and her kids, in spite of my theological blooper. I also told everyone else I was healed. Naturally, it was blatantly obvious to everyone around me I wasn’t. SO, what happened? A dear friend gently pointed out that not only wasn’t I healed … I was living dangerously. So, I cried heaps, swallowed my pride, confessed my fault and put my glasses back on. Then I apologised to everyone, and I put it all behind me.

I said all that to say this: at that time –  my perception of Who God is and what He will do, was skewed. I took the word of other people who had experienced His healing, and had actually been healed, followed their steps, and stood on that. Let me be clear, testimony from others can inspire and encourage us but we cannot stand on it. When we stand on things like that, we are trying to piggyback our faith on someone else’s belief – instead of using their faith to springboard us into a deeper relationship with Him, by praying over what the Bible says for ourselves. 

Our perception is incredibly important, it can limit our God-given expansion – we can waste the time we have, trying to be someone or something else! To get a bigger perception we must take His word seriously, wait for His personal input, and let Him expand our view of His kingdom. Be yourself – everyone else is taken!  👋🏻

P 2326 God always has a plan.

/ DVH

Exodus 36:3-7 “They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.” Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.”

When I read this my first thought was this – when is the last time we heard in church, on the tele, on Facebook, on some Go-fund-me page etc. ‘Don’t give anymore, we have enough?” Yeah, me neither. It proves my favourite theory… the line for ENOUGH always moves away from us. You know in the light of extra funds, Almighty God did not suddenly decide on an alternate plan, like maybe He needed to build a two storey tent/sanctuary just because those excess funds became available. He also didn’t decide to put gold-plated taps in the bathroom either! 

This shows us the Lord already had a plan, and that plan was to build a tabernacle that foreshadowed the one in heaven. (Hebrews 8:5) Remember? “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth,as it is in heaven?”

I think this story teaches us something about our Heavenly Father’s Character. Money, riches, excesses, are not an issue for our God. He is not greedy and He does not take advantage of people. Money is a very real issue for human beings however. We work hard for it so we think it is ours. In my opinion that is a big mistake – it says in Deuteronomy 8:18: “But you shall [earnestly] remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

This story in Exodus also shows us that Almighty God is extremely happy to re-distribute wealth as He sees fit! It is also interesting to ponder the thought that what the Israelites were actually giving to create that tabernacle … was not originally theirs. It seems to me that it is much easier to be generous with someone else’s loot! This stuff was the plunder they had taken from their Egyptian taskmasters when they left Egypt behind.

I love stories like this one. Mainly because it creates a whole lot of ‘why’ questions. Asking why is one of the best ways to get further revelation and go deeper. into Who He is. Why would God want Egyptian gold etc to be used to build a tabernacle to Him? Yeah. I dunno. My only thought is that God provided that wealth so He’s entitled to use it however He wants to. 

On a side note, sad to say, down the road it appears that the left-overs, the bit the Lord allowed them to keep, was involved in the golden calf debacle. (Exodus 32.) Aaron called for earrings, rings, whatever … to be given to him, because the Israelites wanted a God they could see, of their own design, and control! Meanwhile, I dunno how anybody could have possibly missed the reality of the Presence of  Almighty God, when there was a thick black cloud, with lightning and thunder on top of the mountain they were camped right next to … 🙄 …

Later on, they complain that: ‘God scares us too much – you go Moses.…!!’😶  Like, would you, could you, please make up your minds??! A-n-y-w-a-y!!! … Aaron then claims he threw all that left-over gold into the fire and a golden calf ‘jumped out.’ Sounds like a Pinocchio moment to me. And then the Israelites had a very decadent nasty time worshipping that thing. However it made pretty awful snack food later when Moses ground the calf up and made them eat it. Exodus 32:20.

It seems to me that the Israelites did not know how to manage what they were given. None of that gold was theirs and the portion God gave back to them was mismanaged into sin. He had a plan, a purpose, to build a place for Him and His chosen people to meet. But they valued immediate gratification and their own ways over His. They virtually said:  “We want a god we can see and we can manage all that by ourselves thanks.” 

Boy I was convicted by that particular thought alrighty! I have had it myself, when the road ahead of me seemed dark, filled with lightning, extremely thunderous and scary. And at the same time, I was so-o-o over whatever situation I am stuck in. This is the time when we need to cling to the sanctuary we have already made in our hearts, with the gold and precious stones He has given us along the way. In those moments we need to remember HE’S GOT A PLAN. 👋🏻

P 2317 The power is IN the One Who rescued us.

/ DVH

“He has rescued us completely from the tyrannical rule of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom realm of His beloved Son. For in the Son all our sins are canceled and we have the release of redemption through His very blood.” Colossians 1:13-14 TPT

THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH BUT…” the free gift of God is eternal life IN Christ Jesus.“ His power released into our lives brings transformation.

If we want to get ‘paid,’ or ‘rewarded’ for having faith;  OR if we view having faith in Him as doing God a favour;  or even if we expect immediate answers to our prayers, or our difficulties fixed, or lifestyle choices magically changed …. then that kind of faith ends in death. That way of thinking will kill off real faith faster than weed killer on a weed. Instead of expecting God to fit in with us and accommodate us… we must learn how to fit in with Him! 

We really must stop anxiously looking for answers to unanswered prayer as proof that He loves us, and start looking for what He IS actually doing – and join in. Right here, right now. Personally, I think we simply can’t have God AND …

… God and a happy carefree life — God and beautiful always obedient children — God and a lovely home/car/job etc. —God and plenty of money to spend — God and the right mate—God and no trials. If you or I do have these things then they are a gift. My advice is share them with others and don’t hold on to anything too tightly. Holding on to stuff is a trap. Always remember that Father God is not content to be an add-in or add-on. His kingdom coming is His first priority.

WHY?  Because HE is God and we are not. We must LET the WORD of God become flesh in us.

Living our lives IN Christ Jesus is not an optional extra. The biggest sin the Israelites committed in the Old Testament was they wanted a god they could manage.  We need to beware of the trap of carelessness and selfishness. It is so easily tip over into expecting our lives to always be carefree and care less. 

The joy of the Lord IS our strength but that joy comes from knowing HIM, not getting what we want. We are now His obedient kids, not spoilt pouty brats! It is up to us to learn His Ways and live like Jesus would, or salvation has not achieved everything the Lord wants to accomplish in us, and through us. 

Our Heavenly Father punished Adam and Eve for eating that forbidden fruit. Then He went on to punish HIS ONLY one-of-a-kind-dearly-beloved-Son for OUR SINS! The cost paid is a huge indication of how important it is to now live our lives His WAY. If that doesn’t make our knees knock together – what will?

We need the reverential fear of the Lord back. We lost it in the touchy feely 90’s and we have not picked it up again.

We’ve been sold a big bag of hot air that is not substantiated in the book. He is absolutely our Father, but He does not ignore sin. And He is not an optional extra, add-on insurance policy .. after-death-cover.  If we think we truly want to know Who God is, then we must first face who we really are. 

We are not sort-of-kind-of nice people who maybe made a mistake but-we-know-better-now people! We are sinners saved by Grace. Grace that cost the Lord His life. We need this kind of balance because true gratitude will lead us away from self-centredness into a lifetime of service. The power to overcome lies in our day to day choices. All we need to be overcomers has been given to us – it is IN HIM. Doing what He would do, going where He would go.👋🏻

P 2314 It’s a Redemption story.

/ DVH

In the bible we have the clearest picture of our God and His desires for mankind. I can see redemption spelled out so clearly – over and over again. Destruction can and will overwhelm us, without our constant awareness of His glorious redemption. To women like Ruth and Naomi His redemption looked like Boaz. To the 2nd thief on the cross next to Christ, it looked like paradise was knocking on his door.  

In Exodus 35:4-9 there is another redemption story: “Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded:  From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze;  blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair;  ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood;  olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;  and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breast-piece.”

So what are these verses in Exodus about? Are they about the local desert and wilderness ‘Stitches and Craft Show??’ 😳 These guys were formerly slaves – they were beaten, starved, and owned by somebody. So where did they get such incredibly rich and costly items? They were given to them by their captors the Egyptians, before they left Egypt. God gave the Israelites favour, so they were able to collect all these riches. 

The point is not the riches, it is what the Lord did with them! Let’s just think about this, those precious materials were used to build a temporary house for God and man to meet… now that’s redemption! They were booty. The spoils of their captivity. God took the fruit of their captivity and turned it into a place of worship. 🧐 Think about it. He will do that for you and I. He will take the places of our greatest pain and loss, and make something so incredibly beautiful out of them – we will fall on our faces in worship.

I have two more illustrations. When Abraham went up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac, at that place of potential sacrifice, there was already provision. God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his precious son. On yet another occasion God provided a whale to preserve Jonah’s life – even though it was Jonah’s sin and disobedience that put him in that position in the first place! 

My point today is this – do not let past failures, or circumstances, or even captivities, rob you of TODAY’S DELIVERANCE. Our God ALWAYS has a bigger plan. And don’t be surprised when the Lord takes whatever you give Him, no matter how decadent, destroyed or even wrecked it seems, and makes something glorious out of it! Just like the tent of meeting the Jewish people crafted, under the Holy Spirit’s tutelage and guidance. God had a purpose for it all – a place where He and mankind could meet.

He will take our failures, or exhibits of our captivity and destruction etc. and use those things we are ashamed of … TO BRING GLORY TO HIMSELF. Just follow the Holy Spirit’s prompts. JESUS IS A ‘BEAUTY FOR ASHES’ SAVIOUR! Those seemingly disastrous things become the places where our faith leads us on into further, deeper trust.

“For Yahweh is always good and ready to receive you. He’s so loving that it will amaze you— so kind that it will astound you! And He is famous for His faithfulness toward all. Everyone knows our God can be trusted, for He keeps His promises to every generation!” Psalms 100:5 TPT

Those scars that are still on Jesus’ body are not marks of shame —they are marks of redemption. Our whole bible is a redemption story. The whale in Jonah, and the ram provided for Abraham, show us He will do whatever it takes to bring about His purposes. Naomi and Ruth show us nothing is irredeemable. That tent of meeting shows us He will give us favour, but He has a kingdom purpose for that favour. 

All these things reveal His character to us. Our job in the face of defeat, despair and suffering is to not faint but to use any and all opportunities to learn TRUST. Love the bible – in its pages are incredible redemption stories. 👋🏻

P 2305 HE is our hope. Not our circumstances.

/ DVH

Exodus 33:12b,13a.”You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favour with me.’ If You are pleased with me, teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favour with You.”

This is a fantastic prayer. We simply must put to one side any self-serving, ‘placing our order’ prayers like: “I’m praying for this,” or “You need to do this Lord,” or “could You please do this Lord?”  In favour of prayers like this one Moses prayed. Moses’ prayer puts Almighty God back in His rightful place – IN CHARGE. Remember …”Seek the kingdom first … then the stuff we need gets added.”

Human beings can struggle with biblical concepts. We love the idea, those concepts are exciting … it’s the practical everyday, minute by minute outworking of it that gets on top of us! Having our faith run our lives seems so extreme. Actually that very thought shows us how far we’ve drifted away from His plan. The kingdom life is a totally committed life. Think about your faith life like this … how would you cope if God changed your plans?

You see the reality of our new life is that “the Lord will have His way…” He wants to be with us and be a part of our lives. I cannot comprehend why people leave Him out. Why leave out the One Who made penguins, dragonflies, and platypuses?? People say things like, ‘why did God give me a brain if He didn’t want me to use it?’ He gave us a brain to use it in His service, and in our service for others. Not to swell up our own sense of self-importance.

We constantly need to refresh and remind ourselves as well as reinforce our personal desire to: “…proclaim the Name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! “The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He.”  Deuteronomy 32:34. He is perfect and … we ain’t!! 

We cannot be trusted by ourselves to ‘do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.’ Sooner or later we will all start blaming and shouting at each other and that is followed by all sorts of division, plus a whole lot of … wandering vaguely off into la-la land. And I don’t mean Los Angeles! We need the Holy Spirit’s input in our everyday lives – HE IS OUR STABILISING FORCE.

Moses understood the fact that sooner or later, without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, people stumble off into a wilderness and then they will turn around and blame GOD – and their leaders – even though they consensually walked off! I know we’ve all been transformed, washed by Jesus’ blood, but …at the same time we still are, present tense, being transformed and daily being washed! 

Without the Holy Spirit’s input, human beings can easily get arrogant and lose the desire to change. People enjoy being comfortable and feeling safe. We only like the kind of ‘adventures’ we plan. Being a Christian takes enormous courage, personal motivation, loads of action, and the sort of flexibility that is always prepared and willing to make personal sacrifices and life-style changes. You know, very few people just walk away from Christ – they slide away – one seemingly innocent bad choice at a time.

The thief’s greatest ploy is to steal away our confidence in our Father’s trustworthiness, love for us, and His goodness. It is incredibly important that we stop majoring on the loss or gain of material things, and start to realise the incomparably true value of our faith. Our personal faith and our corporate faith mean so much to Christ – He gave His life to buy it back from the enemy. Jesus has given us an opportunity to develop HIS kind of faith – the stuff that brings heaven to earth. And MOSES knew all about that! That man had a wife, a job, a home, relatives that respected him, as well as kids – and God asked Moses to give all that normal stuff up and go and save a nation!

Our circumstances can change in a heartbeat when God is our hope. Following Jesus is not meant to be boring! He turned fishermen into Apostles. 👋🏻

P 2291 Speaking of maps…

/ DVH

The bible shows us where we’ve been, and even more importantly –  it show us where we are going! Like any other instructional book/map, it is not useful unless we read it and then carefully take its directions as instructions for how to get there! Unfortunately, sometimes there is only one viable route to some destinations. 

I’m a big fan of paper maps. Google Maps and I have an awful lot of trouble with each other. Sometimes Google is totally inaccurate and hopelessly out of date. However I do enjoy the task of being a navigator. Hubby drives and I read the maps. Basically, I have no problems at all with paper maps. Well, maybe sometimes I have a problem with the fact that the map seems to disappear into the dent between two pages, but aside from that I kind of like them. 

Google and I however, will never be friends. We do not seem to be compatible. We’ve christened our GPS Betty, and Betty and I go to war, mainly because Betty is relentless and insistent and often utterly wrong. Her idea is to get us where we’re going as quickly as possible … never mind the fact that you end up weaving in and out through teeny tiny streets in big cities, because BETTY thinks it’s shorter. 

She’s also not good at identifying when a new road has been built, so you end up flying because she has no knowledge of any updates to the roads. Our pal Betty hates flying. So she demands – translate that into …NAGS INCESSANTLY – that we leave the road we are on and turn around immediately and go in the other direction. I totally dislike computers telling me what to do. They are supposed to be an AID, and Betty is bossy. I don’t do bossy, especially when I’m smarter than the stupid computer chip. 

At the same time I often use dictation when I’m writing my blog, and that ends badly as well. Apparently the computer dictation microphone does not speak my actual language. Actually, I’m not sure it speaks anyone’s language really, because what it types never makes any sense. I can get quite cranky when I’ve gone to all the trouble of dictating and what it appears on the page is totally irrational, grammatically insane, plus irritating to boot! Add to that the fact that I forget what I said 10 seconds ago, this doesn’t make me a very happy camper. 

Unfortunately, people with one functioning arm have limited choices. Hubby very obligingly types for me sometimes, but as I speak at the speed of light that doesn’t always work out well either – he feels like he’s chasing a galloping runaway train – down hill! Oh well! 

Back to the bible being a road map …my point is that the thing with a map is to follow the directions. And it’s the same when reading His book. Many people have become inordinately fond of choosing a destination without paying attention to the route! Here’s a word for ya – that won’t work when you are engaging with the Lord. Unlike Betty or my computer microphone – He really does know everything!

Let me explain… The Bible says stuff like ‘and all these things will be added on to you.’ But first it says – ‘seek first the kingdom of God!’ If you want the natty addition then you gotta start doing the seeking. Otherwise you will end up like our Betty, promising stuff she can’t deliver, because she’s not up to date with the manufacturer’s instructions. The Bible also says ‘God’s strength is made perfect in weak people.’ So in order to qualify for His strength you have to admit you’re a weak people!  I could go on, but you get the gist.

OK, I lied, last one …23rd Psalm – in order to walk with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, through the valley of the shadow of death, as well as fearing no evil, our own feet get to be involved. It does not say we will magically be transported. No, indeed! We get to actually walk through that dreadful vale. However He promises He will be there with us. I check on that fact by asking; ‘are You there Lord?’ – when the ceiling just fell in. It’s the same with that super duper table prepared for us to eat from … you and I gotta eat with our enemies glaring at us! A lot of what Jesus tells us is conditional. Way too many people try to get the prize without meeting the qualifications!

And like Betty our GPS, or the dictation button on the computer … there has to be a level of understanding of the truth if we want to get to our destination. The bible is not a catalogue of things we can pick and choose from. Instead it is a roadmap to show us how to qualify for the things our loving Father has planned for us. HIS TERMS NOT OURS. Catch you later !! 👋🏻

P 2288 HIS righteousness.

/ DVH

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33. Going after, and relying upon our own righteousness is a waste of our time, plus this life we have been given – which is why works will never get us anywhere. Our works need to come from faith, from the Holy Spirit’s leading, not from our own hopes, dreams, or clever ideas. GOD IS LOOKING FOR OUR FAITH IN HIS ABILITY TO LEAD US through this life – minute by minute. Just like He led Abraham a-n-d … everyone else in His book!

Jesus Christ suffered and died to give us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, His position before His Father. This blessing freely belongs to all of us but we can too easily ignore this incredible sacrificial gift by living what I call a divided life. A divided life views this life we have now, as our time – it only looks at what the Lord wants for us, for our own gain, not HIS. A person living this way has not fully comprehended the value and cost of what we’ve been given.  

Our Heavenly Father now views us the same way He viewed His Precious Son. But we can eliminate ourselves from this faith walk by using our own understanding, and not taking the time we’ve been given to treasure and go after what He has told us we are here to do. Our God dearly wants to protect us from many, many difficulties – but … not all of the blows this life throws at us. Some things are permitted, they prune things from our lives that are irrelevant, to shape us into His Son’s likeness. 

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  John 15:2. We must get it fixed firmly in our minds and hearts ‘that His Ways are not our ways.’ Expecting God’s ways to make sense to our finite minds is simply unrealistic. Without the Holy Spirit’s revelation and enlightenment, human beings can fall prey to disobedience, pride and gathering knowledge. Human beings like systems. ‘If I do this, then that happens…’ 

If we think about those words carefully, we can see that ‘I’ am still in charge. HE wants to be in charge of every single thing in our lives because He has a plan for our good, for each one of us. But when we go through this life with our preconceived ideas – plus the things we have embraced because we have been taught them – and leave out relationship, we can’t step into the place Jesus Christ died to give us. 

Righteousness is a position we can readily occupy with God. It’s ours. Christ gave it to us with all that He did on mankind’s behalf.  When we occupy this position, striving goes out the window and true relationship comes in! Jesus modelled this way to live for us in His life and ministry. All He cared about was doing His Father’s will.  There was no room for any other earthly agenda. Every single time something came up to drag Him away from His God-appointed purpose He rebuked it!  You can check it out for yourself. 

His purity of purpose within His relationship with His Father was essential – BUT! all of this happened under a huge banner of love … not works, or even destiny. Jesus Christ loved His Father, and us, so much, He did what He did in joyous anticipation of our restoration to our Heavenly Father and our total redemption.  IT WAS HIS SOLE PASSION! When we read the bible with that in mind, it ceases to be a book of mere instructions and becomes a living thing. Deftly shaping us all into a bride worthy of our Saviour King. The Word of God cuts away anything that spoils our growth and fruit production. 

We have been tricked too many times by our own appetites. and needs. into living this new life that we were giv-en – in a half-hearted fashion. I believe our greatest mistake is to put ambition for God’s ways and ushering in His kingdom, ahead of our own passionate response to our beloved bridegroom.  Nothing substitutes for that. We must not put aside our eternal destiny for immediate gratification! Christ gave us HIS robes of righteousness for us to wear here and now. We wear them by faith, in purity, embracing our earthly lives as a gift to be sown into His purposes.

Isaiah 61:10ESV “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks Himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” 🙌