Life of love

P 3343 It’s always a choice.

/ DVH

Philippians 1:27-30: “Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for Him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.”

I want to emphasise that we need to make sure that if we are suffering, it is not because we are unaware that we are being tormented by satan in a fake hat. If the Lord is allowing something for a greater purpose, then that is different, but a lot of what Christians put up with is sheer satanic attack — and the tragedy is they think they are suffering because it is about His kingdom, or their transformation, or they are just bad Christians and God is allowing this stuff to teach them something. 

Jesus suffered and died for our sins, but torment can quite often knock on our door especially if we’ve done something that we think can’t be forgiven. But the truth is our view of what Christ did, and what He allowed others to do to Him, is too small. We’ve made our sin bigger than Calvary. Our faith in God’s bigness, His love and His generosity toward mankind needs to grow by reading what the Lord Himself has said over and over. This will help to expand our faith levels and it goes from our heads to our hearts. It is literally, “life and health to our bones…”

Here are some scriptures to stew on: “For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit,…” 1 Peter 3:18. AND … Romans 6:9-10: “For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.” Hebrews 2:9: “But we do see Jesus, Who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

Jesus suffered for us, so now we need to make sure that we are not deceived. That part is clear. But His suffering had a purpose and it was humanity’s total redemption. Sin separates us from our relationship with God Himself – He’s the Life giver! Sin renders us a pale shadow of who we can be. Because of it, we can become deaf, dumb and unable to see, receive, or accept His goodness. Meanwhile we can’t kill ourselves, we have to let others do it for us – our part is to yield. We resist the devil and yield to God. We fight what satan says, and take what the Lord says to heart and stand on it.

Sin puts us squarely into satan’s territory, a place where he rules, and please remember, he hates people! Human beings can easily be deceived and dragged away from our primary purpose, which is to present Christ to the rest of this world, by who we choose to be now, today. The power of choice is enormous! And thinking that living a neutral, quiet life will hide us from satan’s games is unrealistic. Now we all have the potential to be like Jesus, and so we need our Resident Helper’s help – He is Jesus’ gift to us in this new life!   

It was not just the Lord’s death that impacted our faith – it was also the way He lived while He was on earth! Those two things go together. Jesus has given us the same power to overcome that He had when He walked the earth with the Person of the Holy Spirit. However, you can’t have a new life without dying — you can only get a resurrected life if you are dead in the first place!  Sadly, most of the time we aren’t prepared to die to self to get it. Both things are needed — death to self and a brand new life in Christ. The power to walk in our new life comes from the choice to die. Not just a little bit dead, but all dead. Dead dead. That old life cannot walk with Jesus, it will fail so it has to go. 

Now we surrender our hopes and dreams to His purposes. After we have chosen to lay down the life that we have now, then we choose to live a life of love. We put aside what we need, and let go of all those daily things that can act as abrasions in this life. Our responses to other people, help us to diagnose the places we are still clinging to the old life. That minute by minute struggle against voluntarily choosing His way over our Way, can show us where we are not yielded to Him. Father God will not do this for us – because that would rob us of our freedom. It has to be our choice. 

Jesus Christ chose the cross – He prayed, and then He followed it through by His actions. This is the pattern WE follow. We pray and then we deliberately choose to submit to Him. At Calvary the Lord submitted to every dastardly plot of the enemy – the stuff that was sent to destroy Him. But He chose to stay in Grace toward others. He is our example. It’s always a choice.  However, let’s remember: “God (Himself) is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Our Helper lives to help us. Psalm 46:1 Bye. 👋

P 3069 Our true purpose.

/ DVH

The more we live our lives focussed on our God-given purpose, the stronger that purpose becomes. Jesus Christ’s purpose is now our purpose. We inherited His calling. So now we are here to destroy the works of the evil one, and present God’s goodness to a world that already has a very bad definition of goodness!! However, if what we believe is an extra, or an add-on, then we will have very little grace to give away to others. Meanwhile whether the other people deserve what I am giving them or not, is Jesus’ territory not mine!

In really difficult circumstances, each one of us can experience a bankruptcy of faith, and end up doing the opposite of what we know to be true. Simply because the external and internal pressure can appear to get bigger than our knowledge of His Grace toward us. So we need to access His Love and Grace daily, because the bank of suck-it-up-buttercup, will fail! Sadly, when I try to deal with stuff in my own strength, that is often when I end up giving someone else an unwanted piece of my mind. Nastiness is such a waste of time, however, knowing our true purpose helps us to hone our spiritual attributes and instincts.

The Lord Jesus wants us to go to Him when we need His Grace, His Love, His Faith, because He has more than we will ever need! At the same time He also longs to lavish His love on us daily. Plus He wants us to grow up into His likeness – that’s our true purpose.

His help also includes whatever we need when we are dealing with other people. Other people can stretch our faith mercilessly, and when our faith is being stretched, it becomes harder to access His Grace and Love. That’s the growing edge. It helps me to remember that no matter what else is going on, Jesus’ love was always “on” so His Grace is essential in everything we do.

Grace helps me realise God doesn’t take sides – He is for all of us. I have no idea how He does that! Instead I go with the thought that He’s God, and so He can do the impossible! Sadly I often need a whole lot of roadwork to get there. However, He is so gracious, He will answer my prayer for help – even if it is half-hearted!

I don’t know what circumstances will present themselves today, unexpectedly… or when I will need His Grace to disarm fear, rejection, resentment etc. in myself. or from someone else. Grace is a great equaliser. However I don’t distribute His Grace like a powerful person would bestow a favour – instead, grace becomes a part of who I am, and giving it away is normal. I have learnt from experience, that if I tell Him I need it, He will always give it to me. I just need to  to ask Him! If I can control ME, by staying in the Grace of God, then I don’t need to control YOU!

My Faith in Who He is, and what He did for us all, is  an important foundation to anything that happens. My faith won’t be built up if I am not using it – because it needs to be stretched, and exercised – bit by bit. Meanwhile, five cents worth of faith probably won’t be all that useful when the sky is falling! I like to start my days by acknowledging that I need Him. He says He will supply everything I need, so that means I go right past my own efforts to look good, or feel justified, and focus on HIS CHARACTER instead.

That’s the only sure thing in the middle of chaos. Who He is. My own needs or irritations can easily cloud any issues, but fortunately, His Character is unchanging! If I choose to only use my faith like I am just renting it, or borrowing it – I will quite quickly find out I’ve sprung a leak! I must take ownership of my own faith! Faith is not faith when it is not owned, or used – instead it is more like wishful thinking. Faith needs to be visible and demonstrated. That demonstration pulls faith from the realm of the unknown, into this known world.

Our loving actions toward others can display our faith better than our words ever could. This also means I will choose to not put my focus on spiritual gifts, but rather I choose to focus on building Grace, Love, and Faith into my life as He leads me. Those other things will get ‘added unto me’ when I choose to concentrate on living a life of love, not self-centred defensiveness and anger. 

The need to change often appears in the form of a difficult problem, a destructive person, an impossible situation, or when things suddenly seem to be going upside down. Finding the Lord’s eternal attributes in those moments means I must deliberately decide to yield to Him. What I mean by that is this — I give up! I stop trying to find a solution, or an exit, or an excuse for my cranky attitude, and instead I wait for Him to lead me through the drama in front of me. Instant solutions are over-rated, sometimes all we learn from them is self-justification and presumption.   

Love is the kingdom we deliberately choose to live in. Grace is Jesus’ coin of that realm, and using our Faith to get those things, is the way to access whatever we need to fulfil His purpose in our lives. Bye. 👋

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We are going public with this, as public as a city on a hill…” Matthew 5:14-16.

P 3022 God’s faithful family.

/ DVH

God’s faithful servants are always up for change, because they choose to trust Him. They relish the opportunity to see the our world afresh through God-given revelations, and renewed spiritual eyes. These people don’t back away from a fight, instead they know WHO WON and that is enough for them. They know how to stand still until the Lord is the victor.

All these faithful people care about, is glorifying Him, not just escaping from hardship or difficulties, because the Lord promises to be with us in trouble. They don’t go looking for hard things, but they won’t back off if that stuff bangs on their door. These people pray for transformation, as well as patience —believing God will answer them. Their prayers are full of praise. They don’t expect their life to be a perfect because they know it has a purpose, and those two things are not always compatible. 

After praying prayers of commitment or holding fast to a promise  —they know there will be a test. They are alert to anything that could blindside them because they know that they are not perfected, but their trust is in Him. They respond to every situation with gratitude. Even the Lord’s discipline in their lives shows these people He loves them: “…because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.” Hebrews 12:6. 

The Lord needs His family to cultivate a very strong intimate connection to the Vine Himself, because we can’t do anything without Him. His faithful people realise His power is made perfect in weak people. So weakness does not surprise or intimidate us – instead we rely upon Him to get us through whatever happens.

God’s people know the battle they are fighting to win is in their OWN heart and mind —it has nothing to do with the other person in front of them. That is the true stance of an overcomer. Of course there will be times when other people will jump on any, or every nerve, especially when life is already difficult… that’s because  satan has no mercy…  Mercy is a love gift from our Father!

The reality is, those people who annoy us, are not attacking us. They are attracted to, and need the light that is IN each one of us. Even though it seems personal, it isn’t. Difficult people are tools in the hands of an angry enemy who knows he cannot win because he has already lost! satan will keep right on throwing hate at us, trying to cement rage, hatred, despair, disappointment, frustration etc. in all of us. We need to live this life AWAKE, rejoicing in the light of everything that Jesus has done for us. Sleepy, half-hearted people can make bad choices. 

God’s people don’t forgive their enemies because it is a nice idea —- we forgive them because we have been given the power to retain their sins. All that means is that everyone can get stuck if we choose to hold on to whatever someone did to us. Prayer for an enemy is powerful prayer. Forget praying for the sun to stand still! We pray for the guy who lords it over us and treats us badly. We pray blessings over the people in our lives who despitefully use us. This kind of prayer opens our eyes to new, deeper realities.

The bible says:“Owe no man anything but love.” Romans 13:8. God’s faithful family choose to live a life of LOVE despite the cost – because they know Love can never fail. Bye 🥰

P 2924 The future is HERE ……NOW!

/ DVH

“But you need to be aware that in the final days the culture of society will become extremely fierce. People will be self-centred lovers of themselves and obsessed with money. They will boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mock all that is right. They will ignore their own families. They will be ungrateful and ungodly. They will become addicted to hateful and malicious slander. 

Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, belligerent haters of what is good and right. With brutal treachery, they will act without restraint, bigoted and wrapped in clouds of their conceit. They will find their delight in the pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of the loving God. They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality they want nothing to do with God’s power. Stay away from people like these!”2 Timothy 3:1-5 TPT.

Yeah, I dunno about you, but at this moment, I’m thinking about heading for the hills, because this scripture sounds just like last week’s new’s headlines to me. Isn’t it scary when you can read something like this — which was written in 40-60 AD and yet you still think — boy does this sound so familiar! 

You know, God has never said that other people would like what we say – He just said: “TELL THEM.” And He also said, live like this – “make love your great aim” and the bible shows us how love lives. The news of today is filled to the top with death, anger, sorrow, murder, rage etc.and those things can subtly influence us to think people are not worth the sacrifice of laying down our lives. Sadly all we need if we want to be an influencer,  is to have a sad story, or  give away money, or stuff. Today you can buy people’s interest. And if you call it a competition, they will jump right in! 

But the bible says we are here to to tell them that they will go to hell if they keep going in the wrong direction. Yeah! That kind of changes the colour of anyone’s day. At the same time as we are actively loving them, we need to tell them what they are doing is eternally costly. 

However, we do not have to market God! There is a school of thought that says if we can be as slick and appealing as the things of this world, people will listen to us. This is what Paul was talking about in the above verse: “…having a form of godliness but denying its power …”True godliness is about fruit, it produces substance, not just appearances. There is no power in exhibiting the appearance of godliness, practising that will produce religion. When what we are looking for is inward transformation. 

Now, let’s look at that first line in Paul’s discourse. “The culture of society will become exceedingly fierce.”Hmmm. Does today’s world look like a loving, supportive culture? There’s a lot of talk about empowering people but not much talk about living a life of love. It seems to me that many people in the Western world have learnt to speak badly about others – so they can make money on TV shows by deriding the way people walk, dress, and live — we even pick on what other people EAT! We indulge in gossip simply for conversation’s sake. Gossip has become a way of life – a method of communication – a way to relate!

We need to assure the people around us that there is something much bigger, more important and infinitely more lasting, than working hard to look good. Mankind’s greatest challenge is to continue to be loving in the face of evil, and that will take the supernatural power of God! Meanwhile, the church can’t keep on doing what they have been doing because it isn’t working! Often our worst enemies are exactly who Jesus told us they would be – the people we dearly love.“… a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Matthew 10:36. We are going to need the power of God to cope, and still love them!

We have let our children down. Someone (??) decided the little darlings are basically good. Obviously these people haven’t read “Lord of the flies!” or “Grimm’s fairy tales” or the newspaper lately! Sadly we raised our children to be entertained, not instructed. But despite how cute they are, children are not born good. “All have sinned,” it says so in His book. Did you know that the first word most babies learn is “NO?!” 

We wonder why our kids are careless about the real things in this life that actually matter, and why haven’t they learnt integrity, obedience, and kindness etc? Wisdom and spiritual knowledge come from investing time and energy in people – not just chasing dollars. Our kids need to learn to contribute, not consume, and it is our job to teach them. Inanimate objects don’t cause delinquent behaviour, lack of supervision does.

I think Paul was looking through God’s Time Machine into a telescope of our future, when he wrote this letter of warning to Timothy. Let’s remember, Timothy was his disciple, he was teaching this young man the way he should go. He was also instructing Timothy about the times that were to come …  And now… happy, happy joy, joy, here they are! The future is here. Now! Always remember, the darkness cannot put the light out – HIS light in us will conquer the darkness around us. Love is the vehicle. Bye 👋

P 2900 We pray from a kingdom perspective.

/ DVH

“Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm.” Colossians 3:2 TPT. There are so many instructional verses in the bible, just like this one, that we could apply one of them every single day and still not get through the book even once in this lifetime! So how do we feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm while we are still on earth? We live like heaven is our home, not this world.

It’s all about focus. Most people today are focussed on me, myself, and I. My family, and my relatives, and my goods and possessions, my country, and my job or lack of one! In order to have a heavenly point of view we need to focus on what God wants – and fortunately He has told us what He wants – in writing! 

Jesus came here and He actively taught us what a heavenly perspective looks like. Our Father always has a greater plan than we can imagine — praise Him! Jesus was a walking, talking, teaching, healing illustration of God’s plan and His love for each one of us. Then He died to seal the deal, to give us our opportunity to live the way He did. Sacrificially. He didn’t just die to get us into heaven – He died to get heaven into, and flowing out of, US!

Jesus Christ is Father God’s faith in action be-ca-u-se … ‘faith without works is dead!’ Faith has substance – Jesus Christ is the substance of His Father’s faith. This is why without faith we cannot please God – our God is faith-filled! He has invested His Son’s life in each one of us. His kingdom is not just a place, somewhere ‘up there’ — it is a new way to live. The miracles Jesus did were secondary to the carrying out of His Father’s plan.

People could say: “Well being a Christian doesn’t sound like much fun, if God gave me a life  I want to live it, my own way.” And so the Lord steps back and says: “Have at it!” This means right here, right now, surprise, surprise, we are living in a world filled with people who want their own way. Even if what they actually want is a peaceful life, that is still what that person chooses for themselves! We should never be surprised at the mess this world is in, because human beings are in charge. And human beings, without Christ, are susceptible to demonic influences!

I think we all do our best to pray for good things, Godly things, things inspired by the Holy Spirit … but many times we pray for change or healing of things on this earth. Please Lord, heal this. Please Lord, change that. Please Lord, help those people etc. We are praying for the things that will one day pass away. Jesus Himself told us what to pray for: “Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; THY KINGDOM COME; THY WILL BE DONE; on EARTH as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

In this new reality, we pray for His kingdom, His will to be done, first.. In this prayer that Jesus gave us as an example – God is the centre. Yes we can pray to be delivered from sickness, sin and evil, let’s do it! We sure need it!! But the point of being born again is to live in His new kingdom with His oversight. He tells us how to do that in the book. He even tells us what the fruit of that kingdom looks like … in the book! No fruit – no kingdom!  

Our new life means we have chosen to live in His kingdom, and we are to manifest that kingdom in this life down here …in the middle of wars, trouble, strife, evil, compromise, hatred, murder, lust, lies. That’s why Jesus said “don’t be surprised when bad things happen.” Those things are the fruit of this world!  We are to walk within this world’s worst nightmares, shining with the light of Jesus’ love for every single human being, always praying people will be saved by the truth of what we believe, as it is acted out right in front of them! 

“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.” 1 John 4:17.

Now we pray from our new heavenly position within Christ. ‘Lord I want what You want.” I’ve learnt, from experience, that what HE wants is so much better than anything I can think of or dream about! We have given our lives to Him so He can live through us – we are blessed to be able to release His point of view, His healing, His love, peace, joy, into the darkness. That is not a part-time job, it is a kingdom lifestyle.  We need to learn to pray from a kingdom perspective.Bye. 👋 

P 2845 This is what love looks like.

/ DVH

Grace, hope, peace, joy, mercy, patience, kindness, these things are the love of God freebies we are to give away to other people every single day! The bible tells us that giving away this stuff is not even illegal. Galatians 5:22-23:“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Well, yay!! It’s great to find things that are legal! Sneezing on your kid is now called child abuse, so there isn’t much around us that isn’t illegal. The thing is legal systems can’t change hearts, but He can!

Regarding Love, Father God’s barns are always bulging full – there is no trouble with OUR SUPPLIER! I keep hearing from the Lord, it’s time to feed the poor in spirit! You and I have an all access-pass to that bulging barn of love-joy-peace-patience-kindness-goodness etc. we simply need to use our faith to grow the fruit, and then we can give away what He has grown in us. You get patience, kindness etc. as you lean on Him and ask Him to give it to you. Then you go out and act like you have it… Does that actually work? It has so far … !!! 

The spreading of any sort of excess is a very current subject in our household over the past few weeks. Our mango tree had stacks of fruit on it this year, so we have given away lots of huge mangoes, the largest was nearly 1kg in weight! We gave them away everywhere, to everyone around us. That’s what happens when you have an abundance of something, it means you have plenty to give away. I urge all of us to daily let the Lord overflow your spirit with loads of … lots of … an abundance of … as well as a huge excess of … all these things!! So you can give them all away! But make sure you take in some yourself OK?

The only thing that can take away our knowledge of His incredible excess is our focus. If we focus on our lack, of  patience, kindness, goodness etc. we will always see and feel that lack. That’s a good time to remember that Jesus took 5 loaves and 2 fishes and fed thousands. He can multiply and create anything, even intangible things. He once gave me love for a spoiled brat… strangely — after I began loving this child, I found it was a sweet kid after all! That’s what I mean when I say, most problems are both sides! The Lord has also multiplied bibles in the boot of our car. We counted them about 20 times, and sure enough, there was more than we put in! 

The poor in spirit, the unlovely, the forgotten, will never be hard for us to find because they are all around us. I’ve decided to just love everyone I meet the way He would. I figure that covers it, and makes it easy for a bird brain like mine. That’s not modesty BTW, as you get older things fall out of your ears far more easily than you would like!  I forget words all the time, always in the middle of a sentence. My poor hubby gets to be my memory bank, concordance, and dictionary all at once. And you thought your spouse was a pest! Meanwhile, hubby just shared these thoughts with me regarding God’s love:

“The expression of God’s love toward others is the fruit of HIS Spirit in us and through us. So His fruit is simply an expression of Who He is flowing outward. When we display His fruit of love, through us, it will produce life, simply because it flows from Him. But when we try to mimic the behaviour of the fruit of Spirit, without His help, those things without His love as our source – eventually produce judgment, intolerance, guilt, obligation and religion.” “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”John 3:6. 

The sap of God’s love in and through His chosen vine is constantly flowing … we will receive its benefits as we choose to remain in that vine. Remaining “in Christ” is the secret to living a life of love. Jesus simply can’t help loving people, despite their personal proclivities – He simply wants what is best for them without using force or manipulation.  Remaining in Him means that we learn to want what He wants, instead of living a life that makes us feel comfortable.

That will happen without us even thinking about it. This is what His Love looks like…. letting the Holy Spirit have His Way … and … loving every bit of it!  🥰

P 2840 We must remember, we sin against GOD, first.

/ DVH

“Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” 2 Samuel 12:13. 

“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’”Luke 15:21.

“Against You, and You alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in Your sight. You will be proved right in what You say, and Your judgment against me is just.”Psalm 51:4.

We often talk a great deal about sinning against each other, but today I want to talk about the fact that first of all, any sin is against Him. When we dismiss or disobey His word, our sin is dismissive of God’s holiness. Yes, we need to fix things with others, but we need to start at the top … with Father God Himself. Everyone of our sins had a consequence. And Jesus bore the penalty of those consequences on His body – so we need to treat these things with humility, honestly, reverence and respect. 

Let me be as clear as I can be … Our sins are absolutely, positively, completely G.O.N.E. – gone forever! Thrown into the sea of forgetfulness, with a NO FISHING sign clearly displayed. That sign needs to be read over and over again because guilt and shame no longer belong to us. “Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.”John 8:34-36.

This means that before we repent and repair things with others, first of all, we need to thank God and His precious Son again, for all Jesus suffered and chose to do for us. Thankfulness, not guilt is now our response – however presumption is not a right response either. We need to treasure our relationship with our Loving generous Father above all else. There is no longer any fear in sin and God’s love has now taken over our way of thinking, doing and being. We live a life of love now, standing by our choices- we are now free to choose His Will, His Way.

We’ve been set free from the demands and focus of sin, to focus upon HIM.  Freedom means we can still sin – however, now, we’ve been empowered not to!! Instead of blame and shame motivating us, we can be confident that we can restore things – simply because Christ’s death on our behalf has empowered us. Now we praise Him for all He has willingly done for us and we go back into happily submit to His will, His way. The point of the ‘get out of jail free card‘ is not carelessness – it is redemption. So we must acknowledge our sin against His freely-given goodness.

Here is another scripture for all of us to think on today:“My little children (believers, dear ones), I am writing you these things so that you will not sin and violate God’s law. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate [who will intercede for us] with the Father: Jesus Christ the righteous [the upright, the just One, Who conforms to the Father’s will in every way—purpose, thought, and action].”  1 John 2:1. The best news ever is this, JESUS is in the throne room praying for us, every single second of the day. IMAGINE THAT! Because of what He willingly did, sin is not the “norm” for us. Our new normal life is in Him. THAT’S WHERE THE POWER TO OVERCOME COMES FROM!

Almighty God does not wink at our sin … it says so in the book!  An exchange took place 2,000 years ago and Jesus Christ became the Lamb Who was slain, forever. It’s part of His title, just like Prince of peace, wonderful wise Counsellor, and Saviour of the World. So when we sin and disobey God, we take ourselves out of fellowship with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, Who is the One Who helps us – and the Son. The One Person Who perfectly understands how hard it is to be human! Dumb move … He knows the way through temptation!

Let’s be clear. God made sure all this stuff was written down, we have a book! Now we do not have to be dragged about by our weaknesses, and weird ideas. Because of what Jesus did, we have a live-in Helper. The Holy Spirit was our midwife! He birthed us and now He is raising us, day by day as we learn to live a life of obedience. God did not just trust our discipleship to ordinary men … Jesus Christ, Who followed the Holy Spirit’s instructions to the letter – is still making disciples! 

We have the bible to show us where we are out of order with His ways and we need to respond to conviction with real repentance. Because when sin happens we stop walking with Him and start hiding from Him. And people don’t just hide by leaving the church, they hide in busyness, and by elevating things that are distractions, or supposed  recreational activities. Dead people don’t need that stuff – they don’t have an opinion or a need. That’s why we rely upon God to meet them!

If we sin, we need to go to our Heavenly Father, first, and confess our faults, errors, lapses, nasty attitudes and selfish ways and He will empower us to overcome. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Bye. 🕊️

P 2762 Who are we listening to?

/ DVH

“There are… times when I spend so much time listening to the voice of reason, I’ve forgotten to listen to the voice of LOVE.” (A line from ‘Call the Midwives.’) What a great thought-filled thing to say! I think it sums up an attitude that easily prevails in our society today. Our logic, our reasoning, can overcome our devotion to living a life of love – if we are not paying attention. We have received God’s love and His blessings freely. He commands us to give to others – freely.

We can easily talk ourselves out of doing whatever God says, when reason takes over. God says: ‘Go and see your neighbour they need help.” Reason says:  ‘I just saw my neighbour the other day and they looked fine to me!” Well now, would you look at that?! Everything is all sorted and I didn’t have to embarrass myself, or move an inch. I can still keep on watching the footie or tennis!  I might even pray for my neighbour, which is a good thing, but are we letting good, take the place of best? Or maybe, our reasoning has diminished our love for the Lord and others.

People call loving the unlovely or giving as the Spirit leads us – risk taking. Yes. There’s no doubt about that – it certainly is! But there is a far worse risk we take when we choose to wholeheartedly live this life, the only one we have, ignoring the needs of others. Love looks like something! It is concrete. To a starving person it looks like a bowl of rice. Sometimes we would rather distract ourselves with something else – something we think of as more fun, rather than choose to live this life, the only one we have, loving others. And it actually doesn’t matter what kind of person that other person is, because otherwise we are using our reason to stand in judgment.

Here’s a way to show love that we can sometimes try to avoid. Jesus showed us how love and generosity works. Mark 12:41-44.“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Giving from what we have left-over, or what we think we can afford, probably won’t stretch our faith – love, on the other hand, gives sacrificially. If we are not prayerful about our own inner attitudes, we can end up limiting our love and subsequently our giving, because … reason says our need must come first. ‘We need money to pay bills, and school fees, plus we need a bigger car etc. God understands that we can’t afford to give any more than this.” 

This little widow woman in Mark 12 had learnt a great secret. She wasn’t selective in her devotion and she wasn’t just giving to the treasury, she was giving to God Himself. I think that’s why she gave all she had!  Colossians 3:23&24: “Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters, remembering that it is the Lord Christ who is going to pay you, giving you your full portion of all He owns. He is the one you are really working for.” Your boss does not pay you, now you and I are living this life for Christ, and He gives us our daily bread. Our choice is what are we going to do with it?

In this bible story, God Himself, Jesus Christ, sat on a seat and commented on the way people approached giving. Galatians 5:25 TPT.“If the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives.” That’s a very big word at the beginning of that scripture. IF!! If God Himself is our source, then money – or the lack of it, or even plenty of it – is not the issue. REASON IS. We can end up thinking very hard when we are trying to figure out what is reasonable for us. I think the god of reason is greatly underestimated in the church today. That sneaky little devil knows how to stop us from doing many things by comparing what we do, with others, or using the words ‘fair and reasonable’ all over the place.

We desperately need to live in a place where His LOVE prevails, not reason. If I invest in something or someone else, I just sowed my heart into it.“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,…”Matthew 6:21. Christ invested His whole heart in us, unreservedly. To the point where our own questionable priorities broke His heart … and then He died. If we are not attentively prayerful, we can easily let reason drown out love’s still quiet voice. Bye.👋

““The one who faithfully manages the little he has been given will be promoted and trusted with greater responsibilities. But those who cheat with the little they have been given will not be considered trustworthy to receive more.”Luke 16:10.

P 2622 Though none go with me …

/ DVH

Here’s a fun(?) fact no-one will like. Even in good relationships or bad ones – eventually, we all die alone. That’s a spiritual truth, as well as a natural one. When someone else we dearly love is not interested in walking in the Way with us, it is very disappointing. We can start to feel like changing stuff is too difficult, because of those other people who are deeply involved in our lives. For example, living this new life of ours exhibiting a spirit of generosity, could threaten someone else’s security levels.

First of all, I want to say that God’s expectations of each one of us is always good. He has the last word, we don’t. We must remember at all times, that HE DELIGHTS IN DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE. He can change anyone’s focus in a split second. Hallelujah!! But what He seems to prefer is that we work together with the Holy Spirit in order to change. (Read the book!) We choose to change the way we live today, because we want to please the Lord Jesus, not necessarily anybody else. We want to live differently because of our own convictions, for His sake, not theirs.

This new way to live becomes firmly established outside of our own normal ‘personal comfort zone.’ That comfort zone is the place where we live every day, and react almost without thinking … because we are not used to being governed by holiness. In every day life we can have good or bad attitudes, so we either expect praise, or we expect to be excused, using our ‘humanity’ as an excuse. But in reality, that’s the way to become lukewarm, and spiritually ineffective. 

It is easy in this life with its many pressures to formulate an image of who we think we are, and think walking with the Holy Spirit is ‘not really for me.’  But as I tackle being changed by Grace, there needs to be a conscious turning away from my old way to live, together with active repentance. I will need to seek the Holy Spirit’s prompting to help me remember that now my priority is walking with Him … not just getting along with you. After all I can easily get along with you if I know you well, and I choose not to bother you! We can all grow very used to letting sleeping dogs lie.

For some people walking that extra mile with a headstrong loved one, can turn out to be a difficult thing, fraught with angst and missteps at ever single turn. However, this is a lifelong way to live and die daily, and we can’t do it hoping the people we care about will get His point quickly. The reality is in order to achieve our new aim of living for Jesus, no matter what happens, one of the biggest costs will definitely be our comfort. Read the book. Comfort was always the first thing to go!!

Sadly, some people we care about may never get the point of transformation because they aren’t even looking at these areas. Why not? I dunno. Not a clue. They just don’t seem to think they are doing anything wrong. Walking in the Spirit seems to be for other, more spiritual people, not them! I have noticed that by the time people reach some age, or milestone, or other life circumstance, they start to think that they cannot change – this is now who they really are. Their perceived personhood has become established. That’s not what the bible says, BTW! Moses started his new life at eighty!

In some other instances, I know that people pray sincerely and constantly about change, but then they just leave it at prayer — and when nothing happens, they assume that God does not have a problem with them about such things and so they just settle back into … being comfortable. We simply must move past agreeing with God’s Word into actively living it out! This is where choosing to deliberately live a life of love facilitates transformation. 

Actually I’d say changing our way of life, from trying harder, to following the Holy Spirit while living a life dedicated to loving others — no matter how they behave — go hand in hand! One thing does not work without the other. When His love starts to flow out through us it is attractive to other people. One of the best things we can do when we decide to live a love-filled transformed life is to ask for His help and fix every single bad relationship we can, and then leave our past behind. If stuff comes up, then we repent, repair and … move on. “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”Romans 12:18.

Even if I were on a desert island, all by myself, my walk with Jesus would still be my own responsibility. I don’t have to be tripped up by what you do or don’t do, or what you say or don’t say. My aim is to please Him, and decide to live a life worthy of my own calling. That’s what following Him looks like. Bye. 👋

P 2590 United we stand … divided we fall.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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