Living Word

P 2527 It can be hard to change …

/ DVH

“And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to help them.”Ephesians 4:29 TPT.

I think I was almost born talking – a born communicator. Evidently I could sing every song on the radio at 12 months old, and I said the usual stuff long before that!. But after I started talking, it was apparently quite difficult to shut me up.  I was labelled a chatterbox, and it seems to me, that I also arrived here somewhat opinionated! 

An-y-way … words are very important to me. I’ve always loved to read and I enjoy writing as well, so my vocabulary is regularly stretched. However, when words are used badly – it irritates the living daylights out of me!  In my generation, good handwriting, spelling and grammar were … everything. I am sure you can imagine how well I have taken to this age of texting and abbreviations! 😳 I have had to make myself to adapt, but there are still days that I don’t like it much…

This penchant for accuracy has been a thorn in my side for years. Back in the ark I can remember saying to my kids: “You can do such and such …but you may not!” It seems that I may have been a bit of a pestilential mother. But the world kept turning, and then everything I knew, or I thought I knew, turned upside down. We entered the Year 2000 and some things that used to matter in our society didn’t matter any more. Colour me somewhat unimpressed!

Some days I think the Lord might be falling off His chair laughing at me, because now words are the very things I can easily forget from day to day! I can forget what I was going to say right in the middle of a sentence. Boy is that humbling for the grammar queen!  Have you ever noticed how the Lord loves to take the things we think we know, and use His Word to puncture that fat little balloon we have inflated inside us — permanently?  Well, some of us probably deserve that shiny little pin-popping exercise, because we were being snobbish fatheads in the first place. 

One of the biggest problems was that I could, most of the time, out-talk my enemies. Now that sounds good … but it is totally unscriptural!  Unfortunately, in those days I kind of knew how to go for the jugular too. Then the Lord began dealing with me on how I was avoiding facing my own mess, but blabbing away about other people’s sins. Matthew 5:29: “Let’s not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here’s what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly…”  I have learnt one thing through this life-time adventure – there IS no out-talking Almighty God! He is the Living Word and He has the last word, and there is no doubt He is always right. 

It has been a huge challenge for me to only let beautiful words come out of my mouth. BUT … here’s the kicker folks … Father God sometimes very graciously lets His power come through my words when I am talking to others. All those years of tormenting myself because I knew I talked too much, and I was way too sharp with other people in some situations … and the Holy Spirit took the very thing I thought I could never change and … CHANGED IT… and now He is using it. 🙌 Please do not misunderstand me, I really did try to keep my mouth shut, because I knew I could do a lot of mischief with it … but most of the time, until He helped me — I failed miserably. 

Eventually I chose to surrender, and I learnt to yield. At the same time, I confessed my faults, even to my enemies, and I went to the altar, where I cried buckets …But the solution was dead simple. I just had to learn to stick my hand over my mouth, repent, and at the same time cry out to the Holy Spirit to help me. I also had to learn to say the words “I was wrong to say that, I am so sorry…” … repeatedly! Of course, I choked on that lot as it was coming out. It was  humbling! You know how it says in the bible that “God gives Grace to the humble and He resists the proud?”  Hmmm. Almighty God knows exactly HOW to humble each of us! He’s great at it!  My advice is take your faults seriously –early!

So today, I want to encourage others to pray over the very thing that they have anguished over, and spent their life feeling like it can’t possibly change … and, instead, give it to God and ask for a practical solution. It can be hard to do, but it could be as easy as taking the your hand and putting it over your mouth. It was for me! 👋🏻

P 2474 His Presence is our PRESENT.

/ DVH

Christmas is a time when we think about the giving and receiving of presents. This is one of my favourite things in the whole world to do – I just love giving presents. I always invest a great deal of time, prayer and thought into this process because I want the people I am giving stuff to, to know that they are cherished and special. 

However, over time, I have discovered there is something that I love much more than blessing others. His Presence. Please understand I am not talking about feelings because I don’t approve of them – I rarely get them! But whenever I open the pages of the bible, I am always blessed. HE’S right there. Which is why I recommend doing that, all the time, when I write this blog. When you love the bible, the Holy Spirit loves you back, because its His book, He wrote it!

I’m writing about this today because so many people miss the blessing of knowing Him, and His Ways, through His book. They do the obligatory half hour etc. with the bible, reading more info, and absorbing more knowledge, but they miss the opportunity to meet with Him. Jesus loved the Word of God – He is called, in the bible, ‘the Living Word.’ The Holy Spirit brings Him to life every single time you open its pages. 

Jesus quoted the bible He had, everywhere He went. And, even better … He unfolded it in so many ways, in front of the people He was sent to help. When I say unfolded it, I mean that this book is an incredible book, unlike any other. The meaning in it is layered. It will teach you one thing one day, and something else entirely new the next!! I believe this book won’t ever come to an end. 

“and He (Jesus) will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:33.”Your Word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” Psalm 119:89. “Jesus Himself said … “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” Matthew 24:35.

When we read the bible we are reading something eternal!! Ya, might want to ‘selah’ that for a minute or ten! 🧐 People can drive themselves nuts, chasing around trying to find Christian services or conferences, where they can feel His Presence … because being in His Presence is just beautiful beyond words. BUT … there is absolutely nothing like finding His Presence in His book! It’s real, it’s personal, and its free – you don’t even have to leave your chair!!

Most of us have lots of bibles at our house, and if we don’t … well there is always the internet. I read the bible online all the time. I want to know Him … just as much as my little heart can while I am in this world.  I freely admit I am easily distracted. But sometimes when I am reading His book I’ve just read 3 words and I’m like … “WOW! Who put that in there??” I dearly love this book. It is like a trillion pathways to other things I’ve never even thought about … then He tells me something else, and my mind is blown again.

I’m reading in Ruth at the moment and I will share some stuff from that book in a little while. Look, I too have soldiered through the Old Testament, skipping whole passages in Numbers, Genesis and Chronicles. Yawn! 🥱 I complained to the Lord about how boring they were, full of weird names I can’t pronounce, and He told me this: “Genealogies show that I am very interested in families, and family lines.”

That tells me that Father God knows all our names and He gave us our families. He even knows how many hairs are on each head. Meanwhile, if you are bald that info won’t matter much!! We need to stop being clever all the time, and stand in awe of what He reveals about Himself! God loves families. His Precious Son was born into one! So much so, in the books mentioned above, He wrote down all their names. And meanwhile, they weren’t all ‘good guys!’ Well, there’s a place of worship right there!! 

Cherish the book, and you will end up cherishing the Author. I am not talking about the leather bound, scritta papered physical item, I am talking about the Person Who spoke it into being. 66 different people wrote these books, but the One Who called them to write stuff down, is the real revelation that runs all through each one of them. Read the book looking for the Author and read it like you never read that portion before. Always ask questions and keep badgering Him until you understand … don’t give up too quickly.

His Presence is always in His book. We can cherish His word spoken to us, personally, just for us, just for this day. What kind of daily bread has He got for you today? His Presence in His book, is our PRESENT. Bye 👋🏻

P 2095 EVERY word that comes from God Himself.

/ DVH

“But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written,‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that comes out of the mouth of God.”  AMP. Today I want to talk about words of power. For a long time now, Christianity has been guided by, listened to, and studied carefully, what this verse calls:  ‘bread alone.’ The word of God has great bread for us to eat. It is about what other men heard and learnt from God and wrote down. Sometimes it is the memories of other people’s interactions with Him.

Some of us who have been around a little while, are beginning to know the bible quite well.  We use it as a reference book. But, at any given moment, the Holy Spirit can take the ‘bread’ in His book and kiss it, then it becomes ‘every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ What we want, what we need to grow and mature is the specific – every words. Let me explain this by using the bible – because the bible is the best book to explain itself! 

In the story of the Samaritan women (John 4) Jesus and this dear lady-He-never-met-before, have a very ordinary spoken exchange by a well. The Lord asks for a drink and she points out that He wouldn’t want a drink from her. Then Jesus shares with her ‘a word from God that came from God’s mouth -a word of power.’This word He shares appears to be out of the blue and off the topic. He speaks out a deep thought. 

(V10)“Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and Who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” That one word Jesus spoke, begins a conversation that peels open her whole life and their conversation changes her. Some people would call something like this a word of knowledge. For the purposes of today’s blog, I will call it a word of power. This word had power in it to change her life. The Lord is telling her there is an everlasting, better kind of water. 

Let’s go to another example. In the Gospel of Luke we are told about a Centurion who asks Jesus to heal his servant who is ill. This centurion says to Jesus, “Lord I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed” (Luke 7: 6-7) This man understood that when a man with authority speaks, those words have power in them.

Next example: Jesus is moving about amongst crowds of people in Luke 8:43-48. A little lady has a specific need so she comes up behind the Lord to touch His garment. She does not want to be noticed because she’s not meant to be there – the law says she is not allowed out with the problem she has. Jesus perceives someone with faith touches Him and asks: ‘Who was that?’ Then He says this to her: “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”

What I want to say today is that we can read the bible and get information, but when we touch the heart of God or His heart reaches out to us through His Word – the bible goes from being BREAD to being A WORD FROM GOD. Don’t misunderstand me – ALL bread is good – but a word from God spoken to you or me, has His power in it to accomplish whatever He wants to do in us and for us. Psalm 107:20, Jeremiah 30:17 says “He sent His word and healed them.” Isaiah 55:11: “My word, which comes from My mouth, is like the rain and snow. It will not come back to Me without results. It will accomplish whatever I want and achieve whatever I send it to do.” We need to go beyond being satisfied with ordinary everyday bread, and go after the individually spoken words from Him. Those words that jump off the page and speak to our hearts – not our heads. I exhort us all to go and find examples where this happens for yourself. 

I exhort you to look for the WORD the Father or Jesus gives you as an individual. We pray: “speak to me Lord” whenever we read the bible – but what we want, what we need, isn’t just information. We need His words of power. Those words, when we use them as a shield and sword will transform our lives. I exhort you today, don’t be content to accept stories from the book – go after a word from God Himself. Bye 👋🏻