Logic

P 3330 Jesus is the Hero not us!

/ DVH


2 Corinthians 3:4-5: “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Our life is now, today, not tomorrow. Tomorrow literally never comes. So, today our life is about relinquishing our own personal power, and gratefully receiving His power into our lives to help others and overcome sin. Now there’s a big thought! The Holy Spirit is our Resident Expert in all things spiritual, which is why we choose to defer to Him, even if at the time, it makes no sense to us. Obviously the bible is our yardstick in all things, but learning to practically trust the Holy Spirit is essential if we want to walk with Him.

In the Lord’s kingdom we are children, His children. He loves our obedience – especially in the face of our own logic. I’ve learnt over time, that things will eventually make sense, and we will learn patience in the process… bonus buy! I wish I had the space here to recount the times I have badly messed something or other up — and then, when I realise my sin, I repent, and ask Him to redeem the mess I made. Some of the most brilliant answers to prayer I have ever seen, come from those moments! Don’t be afraid of getting things wrong as you walk with Him – Jesus is a Redeemer.

The Lord’s wisdom and clarity are astonishing. When I am writing this blog I often can’t think of a good, clear, simple way to explain many concepts that seem exceedingly complicated to me. I don’t just want to write my ideas here, I like to do my best to write things that will give other people insight into Who the Lord is. So I pray, and He literally hands me the sentence I couldn’t find.

Often a particular sentence, a word, or a phrase pops up and I know it didn’t come from me. It suddenly drifts through my mind and as it does that it occurs to me that isn’t the kind of thought I would have. Even when I get stuck reading the bible, I ask Him to help: “I just don’t get that Lord. Would You mind explaining it to me please?” And He does.

Reading the bible without the Holy Spirit is tedious and boring, reading it with Him is like slowly unveiling a puzzle as it fits together. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.” Ephesians 1:17. We will never understand His Word with our hearts, if we simply analyse it with our heads.

I’ve been reading the bible for over 50 years so I guess I am familiar with the overall gist of it. But I still need the index every now and then to find stuff! I know what I am looking for is in there, somewhere, but I often dunno where! Thanks Google. However, I also know it is His thought when it simplifies something that seemed so complicated that I couldn’t understand it at all …

One of the most frequent things the Lord says to me as I read His Word is this: “What doesn’t it say?” Here’s another one: “What would it look like if i did what it says here?” Man I love/hate that last one. I love it because He is going to show me something about Himself I haven’t seen yet, and I hate it because I know that somewhere, somehow, I’m going to end up taking a risk. Believe it or not I am not a risk taker by nature. 

I once went to Niagara Falls, but I skipped going over them in a barrel, the second I looked at them! Man that’s a whole lot of water!!  No risks for me! I am often aware that I’m not other people’s taste when it comes to speaking – because I’m too blunt, but I don’t much care if I hurt your feelings to reach your heart. Yeah I hear the irony!! I totally love the Body of Christ, but my first priority is that I want Jesus to have the  reward of all His suffering. We can be part of that reward for Him when we value what He says above what we think and act on it.

I have definitely fallen in love with the way Jesus thinks about people. When I have trouble with someone I ask Him to help me to see them through His eyes. People are His favourite subject, no matter how they look, or what we think is wrong with them. He doesn’t SEE race or creed, He sees people who need His love. Our Western selfishness and sense of entitlement is tragic. We scrimp and save and work so hard for the things that do not last. And we can easily ignore the eternal because it doesn’t jump up and down and demand our attention.

Paul says this kind of stuff so beautifully in Philippians 4:12&13: “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I’m still learning … especially not to complain when things aren’t easy.

As I am typing this today, I know He has something for you to do, that no-one else can. That’s why you are here. Please don’t let searching for fame and recognition take up your precious time. Be you, and let Him have His way in your life, you will fall in love with how gentle and kind He is. We need to quit hero-worshipping anyone else but Him!

Once when I was back-slidden I ended up talking to a junkie about the Lord Jesus. He said: “I know you love Jesus because I can see Him all over you.” This dear muddled up young man was wrong. The Holy Spirit was all over me because He loves that man and He quite simply can’t help Himself – He will use a donkey if that is all that is available. Jesus is the Hero, not us. Bye. 👋

P 3249 He says we can.

/ DVH

Hey, you can argue with the King all you want, but … He’s gunna win… in the end! Living in and for the kingdom of God is like an investment. What we decide to do today, influences tomorrow. Unfortunately, bad decisions can often lead to worse ones. We are constantly faced with choices — will we invest in His Ways, His kingdom, or in our own needs and wishes? One of those things provides instant gratification, and the other builds trust in God’s Word. Plus it proves its reliability peace and joy in our personal experiences. Daily we are faced with choices, some of them easy and others are puzzling, that’s why we need our Helper, the Holy Spirit. 

My point for today is this — nobody feels equipped to do and say what the Lord asks us to do and say all the time. And if someone tells you something different wait for it… just like Pinocchio their nose will grow!  So let’s add  to that the idea that we all have stuff at the back of our spiritual closets, that we hope nobody else knows about! We can easily pile all the good stuff up in front, and hope that it’s all that is seen. But the point is –the Holy Spirit knows and sees, and He can clearly see what will make us stumble. That’s why He allows difficulties into our lives — under pressure who we really are comes OUT and e-ve-ry-bod-y can see it. Here’s what I’ve learnt along the way… the stuff you hide, from others and yourself, ends up leaking out, anyway!!

So that’s why I like to keep things simple and deal with nasty things as they happen. BTW, SIN is not a personality trait!  I’ve mentioned before – that I can’t remember details easily anymore – like what I wrote yesterday!! Sorry ‘bout that!  Sadly if I panic about it, it gets a whole lot worse! Hasn’t the Lord got the most hilarious, funny and amazing sense of humour to pick an old lady to write a blog – and she can’t remember what she said ten minutes ago! That’s why I need my editor.

Here’s the thing that helps keep me humble. My short-term memory has been affected by minor explosions in my brain. All of this happened without my permission, more’s the pity! All the positive speak didn’t fix it, so I just roll with the punches. However…my spouse remembers the stuff I wrote, because’s he’s the editor. Well, I can sometimes end up cranky at him because I am sure that “I never said that!”  And he is sure I did, and off we go… … to places we’d both better avoid. Getting older is really good for humbling yourself because you need help with almost everything…which is why I recommend that we learn to humble ourselves before we get there. Too late for me – sadly, I’m learning on the job! 

Here’s a helpful hint when it comes to living with other people. I love this particular scripture in 1st Corinthians 6:7. It says this: “These court cases are a black eye on your community. Wouldn’t it be far better to just take it, to let yourselves be wronged and forget it? All you’re doing is providing fuel for more wrong, more injustice, bringing more hurt to the people of your own spiritual family.” What is Paul saying? I think you can end up in even more trouble and strife, when you try to defend yourself, and you set out to prove it. Legally or not! It is far better to take a big breath, and just let things go. Boy, do you find out how much PRIDE … yeah, that’s it, the ‘P” word… when you try to let things go that have really irritated and irked you! That’s when logic tries to take over … and logic makes a terrible commander-in-chief.

The reason Jesus is a great leader is that He beat our enemy once and for all, and then He died for us to set us free from compulsively serving satan. We don’t have to do, or react, or entertain those nasty things anymore. Investing in God’s kingdom is like putting things on lay-by, the gratification usually comes later.  We  continue to invest in Him by our actions. We remind ourselves that in His kingdom there are ongoing costs – things we will have to let go of – but we walk with the King. Nuthin’ beats that! Here’s the bad bit, investing in this world’s kingdom is like putting stuff on your maxed-out credit card when you just got fired! There’s no way you are going to pay that debt off in a hurry!

The kindness of God is that He will never make us choose His Ways, that choice is always ours. Here’s another verse I love, it is a hard one. 1st Corinthians 12:31b says: “And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one of the choicest graces and the highest of them all: unselfish love].”  We can find many ways to serve God and others, but Paul tells us this is the BEST way. This isn’t hard to remember! Big plus for me – absentminded Annie! I simply ask myself: “Is this love?”  If I am in doubt about what love would do, I refer to His book, and I ask Him to help me find an appropriate scripture. 

Don’t despair if you lose your way, or maybe your will seems like it is acting independently! This can happen when we stop regularly meditating on His love for us. Remind yourself that nothing can separate from His Love and go back to what you were doing in the first place. Putting Him first. The joy of belonging to Jesus is that our debt has already been paid, and with Him we are safe and saved. We have His power in us to overcome our own selfish ways, and we can let other people’s selfishness go, plus we look in our own back yard to see if we are growing the right fruit! Love is always the right fruit. 

Our first and most important ministry is to love others the way He loved us. We may not feel like we can, but because HE says we can, we can. We simply need to choose to believe His Word, over whatever we think we know about ourselves. PS When I read stuff like the Beatitudes I ask the Lord to show me what He thinks, I don’t excuse myself. Bye. 🥰

P 3246 Watch the Holy Spirit at work.

/ DVH

For years now, three of my precious granddaughters have taken it in turns to go with their Dad to work for one whole day, every year. It was kind of a “bring your kid to work’ day – supported by his boss. The result was they knew why their Dad was late sometimes, and they understood what traffic did, and what working hard all day really means! Observation is a great way to learn.

I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit working in us, because I think we are missing the things that He does for us, unseen, every single day. He is so good at working in secret – you have to want to see Him! But our current circumstances can distract or overwhelm us and we shut down, and stop being spiritually aware. That response will rob us of something so valuable. Look for the good! … that’s my catch cry. Find the good and focus on that. He’s IN THAT! We will always see Him at work when we look for the good. 

Unfortunately we can give credit to man, or circumstances, instead of seeing His hands in everything good that happens to us. Let’s stop crediting good things to ‘luck’ (a pagan god) and start looking in our own lives, for the Holy Spirit’s loving touch. This is part of the way we train ourselves in holy things. Sadly, most of the time, any one of us can get through a whole day without even acknowledging His Presence, except for daily bible reading and prayer. He is our heavenly air – we need to take Him with us. It’s good for us to know what He does, and see and appreciate it, so we can participate in it.

The Holy Spirit never takes credit for Himself. He is the silent One—the One Who is most easily overlooked. Maybe that is because a/ we are selfish and self involved and b/ we don’t know what He looks like when He is doing stuff! He looks just like Jesus would if He were here. Can you imagine being among the people who saw the Lord Jesus heal the lepers, feed thousands, and teach – yet they walked away thinking, or even saying: “Well, yeah, I dunno. I liked what that Man said but I can’t live like that. I think I believe what the synagogue teacher does. My Dad did, so did his Dad and they are nice people…“ Logic kills seeing Him stone dead.

Look, I don’t really know how to say this ‘nicely’ so I am just going to spit it out. The devil gets more air-play than the Holy Spirit does! That ought not to be so!! It’s an abomination. The Holy Spirit is the most Creative, Loving Being we will ever know this side of heaven. He is not secondary to our Heavenly Father or the Lord Jesus – He is part of the Trinity. Jesus sent Him back to us to help us, and told us that it was BEST for us that He went away. He’s God-with-us today and every single day we are here. Listening to Him is our new normal!

The problem seems to be that the enemy has snuck into our camp and made praying in tongues, or this or that spiritual gift, more important than HE is!  Big mistake! Huge!! He is a Person, not an activity! (I told you I didn’t know how to say it!) Pray for eyes to continually see Him at work. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if it is Godly, and good, it’s HIM!… Always look for His fruit in any kind of situation… If what happens helps you believe God, or it lovingly challenges your existing belief system… It’s HIM! 

But if it indulges your sense of self-importance, and implies you don’t need to pray, or read the word or repent and repair things … guess what? IT’S NOT HIM! Easy peasy. And if the bible doesn’t say it … it’s not Him. The bible is His reference book, and we have His personally signed copy of that book when we decide to choose to do what it says. The Spirit of God wants to get our attention! This is how we fall in love with our Heavenly Father – we watch and see Him work! Just like my granddaughters watched their earthly Dad. He wants to spend our lifetime with us, opening up new horizons, and new ways to praise God – plus a whole new ME. Bonus buy = transformation from within.

Take a few minutes to reflect, not on the bad things, but on the good ones.  Ask for His help to focus on the things that will last. Otherwise distraction will take away whatever time we have and waste it. Our God first sent the Holy Spirit to each one of us, in the form of a Saviour – His Name is Jesus. Then Jesus Himself sent us the Holy Spirit to be with us, every moment of every day, in any situation, to be our helper, comforter, guide, counsellor, advocate … live and in Person! He can be at your house inspiring you, while He is at my house comforting me. What’s not to love about that? Teach yourself to look at even bad things and find something good in them.

Here are some verses for all of us to chew on: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  Romans 15:13. He’s the HOPE bringer. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is IN you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own;…” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. We are His house! Take the time to put out the welcome mat! “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”Acts. 1:8. Most of us have no power because we are not co-operating with Him. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 4:26. 

We have an on-the-spot, resident Teacher. Let’s open our spiritual eyes and watch for Him quietly working in our lives – working all things together for our good. If it’s good – it’s Him! Bye. 🕊️

P 3152 God cares deeply about the nations.

/ DVH

“Listen to Me, My people, listen to what I say: I give My teaching to the nations; My laws will bring them light. I will come quickly and save them; the time of My victory is near. I myself will rule over the nations. Distant lands wait for Me to come: they wait with hope for Me to save them… .…“Listen to Me, you that know what is right, Who have My teaching fixed in your hearts. Do not be afraid when people taunt and insult you; they will vanish like moth-eaten clothing! But the deliverance I bring will last forever; My victory will endure for all time.” Isaiah 51:4-5, 7-8.

This is His promise to everyone, no matter where they live in this world. The ‘nations’ consist of individual people, So whenever we see a person on TV, or our phone, in the street —wherever we are, we know we are looking at someone Jesus loves. How can we say we love Him when we don’t love what He loves?

This earth was made for people, God decorated it to delight us, but people have always been His focus. Recently I noticed we sing a lot of songs about helping ‘me’ and what I think need from Him. It’s great. I am so grateful for how much God loves me, how He wants to do this and that for me. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if we decided to get over our own insecurities and needs and focus on ‘them’ — those other guys who live in other places who have bigger needs than we do. Covid did one good thing, it showed the world that we are together here, whether we like it or not!

We can use our emotions or logic to discount people — like the guy who grabs the only seat left on the bus when you are exhausted and you know need it. And then he looks up and gives you a smirk. Jesus loves him. The neighbour who could cares less about their dog barking away day and night, Or someone else’s cat that always wants to poop on your nice clean, newly mowed lawn. Jesus loves them.

Maybe there is a kid in kindy who keeps picking on your little Mary and your hand gets ‘itchy’ even when you look at her. Jesus loves that kid. Those people who operate the drones that bombed and killed someone’s  family, Jesus loves them too. 😢 Let’s be clear, He doesn’t love what they do!! He loves them. and all their potential to do good and help others, and He lives to intercede for all of us because we ALL need it.

The Holy Spirit wants to show each one of us how we can care about the nations. Here’s a thought: we can do this when we live like loving the nations is yet another way to know God, then we will share His passion. If we choose to share His passion for people – we will see Him! “But the love of God will be perfected within the one who obeys God’s Word. We can be sure that we’ve truly come to live in intimacy with God, not just by saying, “I am intimate with God,” but by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.” 1 John 2:5-6 TPT.

I’m sad. Our churches don’t send out many missionaries anymore. Why not? Maybe we are so comfortable in our lives  — plus we all work very hard to make sure our lives stay comfortable — and today the rest of the world has become a ‘grab,’ a newsflash, that makes us momentarily sad and we move back on to what we need, again. Isaiah 6:8 says:“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” I wonder what answer Jesus would get if He asked that question of the church today. …could it be…???  “Here I am, but I’m busy Lord … send that guy.”  It kind of reminds me of the Wedding Banquet eh? 

God has a different kind of banquet for each one of us. It is ready right now. This banquet doesn’t consist of food, or wine, or happy chatter about the bride and groom. It slowly emerges from the lives of other people that we choose to care about. People who have never heard that Jesus loves them. His banquet is not meant to be pie in the sky when we die – it’s here. Now. In the transformation of the lives and hearts of the people all around us. God cares deeply about the nations. Bye and bless you.👋

This young person blessed me and I wanted to share it. It’s a little over 10 minutes long. It does my heart so much good to think that there are young people out there in the world, living out what they believe. PS: This is what someone else wrote about the clip below: “This video drove down my street, parked in my front yard, walked in the front door, sat down at the table and looked me directly in the eye…!!”   … Amen!

P 3128 We need a sure measuring tape.

/ DVH

Imagine that you want to measure out the parameters of a house. You could use a dressmaker’s measuring tape, but it has limitations – to start with it isn’t big enough! It would be an arduous task that required strict concentration and somebody to help you hold that waxed cloth tape tightly at the other end. A dressmaker’s tape does not have enough substance to it to be really useful. You need special equipment, and at the very least a builder’s stiff zippy metal measuring tape. 

Reading God’s word using only your mind, or emotions is a little like that inadequate measuring tool. You may arrive at some form of understanding, but it will lack pin point accuracy. I cannot successfully and accurately hit a nail in by bashing at with a fork! I will need a hammer to complete the task. (The truth is I can’t bash a nail in with a hammer either, but that’s another revelation for another day!) You will do so much better as you walk with Him, if you ask the Holy Spirit to help you to read His book – and then wait for Him to speak to you. 

Expect Him to answer. Not necessarily out loud! We have been taught to pray by the Lord’s prayer, “give us this day our daily bread.” Jesus is talking about the food that God provides for us every single morning. It’s like His mercy, that is also new every morning! I don’t care what bone-head thing you did yesterday, today, when you woke up – God’s mercy was brand new toward you. Mercy doesn’t just give us a fresh start, it also helps us to deal with yesterday’s junk today! I urge you to quit carrying a load that doesn’t belong to you anymore – repent, repair and move on!

I know, I have mentioned this topic before, but without God’s Word dividing what is good,  right and pure, from what is pizza, bad temper, and our imagination – we will go precisely nowhere.  Instead of skipping over the harder bits, I’ve learnt to dig my heels in and ask Him to explain it to me. It is FAR more important to hear from Him than it is to add to my own personal knowledge, or fill up my daily bible quota. I could care less if He highlights something ten pages later, or it happens on the first line – I’m looking for“every word that proceeds out of His mouth.” Not just clarification or human understanding. I covet His Word to ME … God’s Word has power in it. The Word that comes out of His mouth has the power in it to accomplish whatever HE wants.

We are told to live by that kind of daily bread. And every single day, we deliberately go to Him, and ask for fresh bread. Otherwise we can end up with excuses, logic, or digging up previous knowledge – or someone else’s findings – and that stuff really IS stale bread. It can get maggots in it just like it did for the Israelites when they were chasing butterflies around in a desert that should have taken them just a few days to cross! Pretty soon a whole lotta doubt will start banging on our door, because we just went off the reservation chasing tumbleweed! 

We need God’s measuring stick. His Word, in us and on us. Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” We can sing, shout and quote psalms fit to beat the band, but if it does not come inside us and do us good then we are just spouting HOT AIR. Did you get the very first word in verse 16: LET!  Allow God’s word to be a part of you. Don’t just jump head first into teaching or leading worship or quoting Psalms – let God’s Word do what only IT can do! His word will change us, and others as we obey it.

“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.” James 1:21. Good old James, he let the word of God dwell richly within him! And he didn’t mince words either. If’n ya didn’t like what this disciple said – bad luck! WEEDING is part of soul and spirit care. Let’s do it. We need to stop and look at that nasty stuff growing in sneaky places in our hearts, and identify the bits that are choking out the good seed, and then pull those weeds out. After that we replace all of it with what God says.

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);..” Romans 10:8. The Word of God is not just meant to be inactive in the pages of an old book – it is meant to be alive and well, and inside us. No matter what version you or I read, the primary task and motivation of His book is for it to be written on our hearts, minds, and spirits – so that other people can see His Word in action. We can’t just proclaim it, we must live it out. The bible is full of verbs!! A very old friend of mine used to call it the Manufacturer’s hand book – the thing you use to keep your life on track and help walk with the Lord.

“And in keeping with what is written, “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak, …” 2 Corinthians 4:13.  The bible increases our faith and enables us to speak. What I think isn’t worth anything, sadly what I think often depends on what happens to me on the day! I need a secure, specific, tried and tested measuring tape, that will go to any length to give me an accurate report and measurement. Something that is strong, durable, and in my heart while I go about whatever I want to do. The bible meets that need. Bye. 👋

P 2860 God will deal with it!

/ DVH

Sometimes we need to use our faith to deal with the blooming great rock that is in the middle of the pathway between us and what God asks us to do. And then we need to keep on walking forward in faith. Let’s look at Mark 16:2-4“Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”

These dear women wanted to make sure that the Lord Jesus was buried reverently, according to their religious customs, so they woke up early and hurried to the tomb. They loved the Lord so much they wanted to minister to Him in this way – even though, in their minds – He was dead. The bible teaches us that Father God loves to surprise His passionate lovers!  On the way to His tomb the ladies suddenly realised that a whole lot of big soldiers had rolled a huge rock across the entrance, and these women had no hope of moving it. They showed their faith in God when they kept on walking toward the tomb!

When I read those words today, I thought of many past scenarios in my own life, where I had projected my own physical, mental and emotional inadequacies, into a situation and felt hopeless. Actually, those inadequacies had become the hypothetical large rock in my way … but those oppositional things didn’t exist in reality. My mind used logic to bring them up  It made me wonder how often we do that to the Lord – we start out in faith and end up in logic! 

So here’s an illustration from my own life. There are times when the Lord says to us: “I want you to go to this city or that state.”  In my mind’s eye, I immediately eliminate the apparent rock of air travel, because of my disabilities. To start with, a two hour air trip takes us nearly 4 hours. We have to get on the plane long before anyone else, and we can’t get off until the people on the plane have been off-loaded, and they are on their way home! Waiting is not good for chronic fatigue. The result is like trying to drag a dead horse around.

Meanwhile our luggage is often the only bit left on the carousel, going round and round all alone. Poor little lonely suitcases!! 🤣  Plus we can’t afford to go on a plane because it is too expensive. If we were to allow even those two thoughts, (and there are loads more)to guide us, we are putting a (faithless) rock in our own path, and suddenly going by plane seems insurmountable. It just seems easier to go with our own understanding – which, means limited faith. This happened to us recently – and yes, we are going by plane!

Of course we would be foolish to ignore the fact that plane travel is a pain in the neck, that’s the rock-that-is-in-our-way and we know it is there, it was there the last time we looked! Yet we cannot live by the fear that we are inadequate and can’t move it, because the bible says: “The just shall LIVE by faith.” And fear and faith are completely incompatible. The thing I’ve noticed about fear is that it is a pesky little gnat, it slinks away to return at a moment’s notice! So here’s what I do:  as I walk along toward the blooming great rock that I know will be in the way of what I need to do … I give that obstacle and its removal to the Lord, every single time the thought of it harasses my mind and emotions. And I do that on repeat.

Sometimes, as I get near whatever mythical-rock-that-shall-not-be-moved-by-the-likes-of-ME — I begin to wonder what incredible thing God will do this time to fix the situation I find myself in. Thinking like that creates a sense of spiritual anticipation. David ran at Goliath, remembering that he had once killed a lion and bear with the Lord’s help, while he was minding sheep. I like that action. I like the idea of running at my enemy yelling and screaming: “God did it before and He will do it again.” Sometimes I even remind the other guy how dumb it is to get in the Lord’s way.  

Yeah, . I tell my Saviour that if He really wants me to do what-ever-it-is, then this is His problem, and if that rock/hurdle is still there, then I am packing up the fight and I will go home. I remind the Lord that I am easy either way, going home, or pounding on a rock that I can’t move … but my mustard seed of faith is still in whatever HE is going to do next. I have even been known to say: “How are You going to get us out of this one Lord?” 

I just want to say that at the same time during this process my emotions will be jumping up and down yelling: “Gotta find a solution NOW!” So I tell that stuff to shut up, in His Name. Whatever happens, I like to remind myself that one way or another our God will deal with that rock! And in the end, I get a brand new testimony of how wonderful He is! On that note, bye again for today. May God bless you!  👋

P 2821 Wisdom.

/ DVH

Proverbs 4:7-9,13. “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you;  embrace her, and she will honour you. She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.”……Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”

I would just like to begin by saying that Wisdom is not just being clever or smart or super intelligent. Wisdom is choosing to see this life from Almighty God’s POV. It is deliberately asking for, and then carrying out His Ways, even when those ways appear to undermine our own logic and day-to-day experiences. How many people do you know Who can walk on water and feed thousands with a kid’s lunch? The Lord thinks differently to us.

Today, the people of the 21st Century are getting smarter and smarter. We even have smart cars that drive themselves — which is pretty clever considering the first combustion engine was invented in 1600, and the first car in 1885! Henry Ford invented the first affordable car and he used mass production for the first time to do it. (1908)  The 20th century has totally changed our world – helping us with this, and entertaining us with that.

Before that men were tinkering away in their workshops, plus earning a living. Women were slogging away in their homes … minus electric anything. Electricity became commonly useable in 1880! So there were no washing machines (1868), vacuum cleaners, (1901) disposable nappies (1930) etc. etc. Up until the first world war, women did all the work in the house, and then in 1914 they joined the work force out of necessity. My point is that it is easy to see people are smart …but God’s wisdom is a whole other way to think, and that’s why the writer of Proverbs exhorts us to go after it and seek it out. God’s wisdom does not lie about like a lost newspaper, we have to actively go after it.

The Apostle Paul suggests we renew our minds, all the time, because our minds are ‘me’ centred.  What we believe to be true can simply be our way of making God serve us. And if we are ticked off at someone, then we can easily get to be ‘them’ centred. No wonder Jesus talked about logs and specks, it can be so easy to ignore what’s wrong with me … I often think to myself: “how can you see at all round that blooming great log you are currently nurturing.” Sigh. 

The Lord thinks differently than we do. In His Ways – the first are last, the last first. The guy who works all day in the hot sun, gets paid the same as the guy who just started working at afternoon tea time! The guy whose theology was often wonky and small like a pebble – the Lord called a rock and He put that man in charge. Jesus throws a wedding feast and when the invited guests refuse to come He sends His disciples out to compel anybody going by to come to the feast. Jesus even washed the feet of his known betrayer. Who does that? God – that’s Who!

He doesn’t think like we do! Do I hear a hearty hallelujah?! I know I’ve got one. The sneaky way human beings think, and the way they present things is destructive and deceptive. Many people today are run by money. Even the people who haven’t got any! We settle for pity or attention instead of real love. I think the Lord’s greatest disappointment with His people is that we bail out too easily. The tough not only don’t get going … they get lost … on purpose!! (There’s a double negative in there somewhere!)

The wisdom of God is active – it mends, it creates, it opens new doors, brings about new opportunities, it gives people a chance to make a fresh start every single day.“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end… they are new every morning, new every morning, great is thy faithfulness O Lord, great is thy faithfulness.”  Now there’s an advertising campaign that would make many people sit up! BTW, God doesn’t make empty promises, if He says His love is new every morning, then it is!

His Word gives us the opportunity to seek fresh wisdom every single day, but we have to choose to open the bible and meditate on what He is saying to us, personally. Almighty God speaks human but do human beings speak God? I know One Man Who did! Praise the Lord someone wrote that stuff down. Wisdom enables us to understand His Ways like nothing else can. The Word of our God stands forever – because that Word is a Person – Who paid the price, lived the life, and died an unmerited death. Jesus gives us access to God’s loving Wisdom for free! Bye. 👋

“Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice:  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.” Proverbs 1:20-23.

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 2676 Judgment makes us blind and deaf –

/ DVH

… to God and to each other! In the beginning Adam and Eve chose to do what seemed right in their own eyes. What entered into them when they ate from that tree, was the knowledge of good and evil. That meant that they left the wisdom of God behind. Sadly, this was also when humanity lost the privilege of His Presence and suspicion arrived on the scene. After that, influenced by satan, we opted for our own thinking and rationale. The miracle was Almighty God did not utterly reject all of us, because He is never caught unaware – He always had a bigger plan. Over time, human beings walked further and further away from Him. And the further away we walked, the more we left HIS wisdom, His dear Presence, behind. In that garden, living in the Spirit came naturally. Our disobedience changed that.

I think the ongoing result of this action is that we have all lost the ability to see Him, clearly. We’ve become deaf and blind toward His Ways, and we can’t see each other, either! However the clearer we can see Him, the clearer and closer we will get to each other. In our current world we have chosen to live by our own judgment and this means most of us have rejected Him. This attitude is devastating in its overall consequences. Look at it like this – broken people come to their own conclusions. Often because of our own battered sinful past, we unconsciously analyse others, then we reject, avoid or persecute them. Eventually we make those conclusions into life actions and give those actions some sort of great sounding purpose that makes sense to us!

If someone in my life was cruel to me, inside my heart I may have carefully laid some early warning signals that mean if anybody even remotely sounds or looks like that person who hurt me — I will avoid or punish them. In effect, I am passing judgment on that other person without even thinking about it. It is as if I see others through a screening system that filters out the people I consider to be my enemies. I do not look for GOOD in others, instead now I am looking for DANGER. We can end up judging our brother by a standard that came from fear and the ever-present need for revenge.

Because I am human, and my human wisdom is faulty, in order to protect myself, I can easily learn to apply judgment to oversee whatever I think. Sadly when I do that, I am allowing the people who hurt me, or caused me to be afraid, or misled me, to continue have power over me – whether they are present or not! At the same time I have been blinded to my own sinful attitudes by fear and judgment. I can no longer see others the way God sees them, because my own judgment is exalting itself over His wisdom. Over time I will use my logic, and incidental observations to prove to myself that my judgments are right, and that those other people really are dangerous to my own well-being and they should be avoided. 

Hebrews 4:12 says: “For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Only God Himself knows our intentions –only He can rightly divide them using His Word.  I think the answer to this particular interpersonal difficulty is to ask the Lord to help us see other people the way HE sees them. Otherwise we are in constant danger of living in judgment, and that judgment will cloud our view over everything else. And at the same time it neutralises our understanding of His wisdom. That other person may have no clue that the way they behave is ‘pushing your buttons.’ Their own brokenness and faulty judgment causes them to act this way without them being aware of it.

Sometimes we can attribute motivation to other people’s behaviour, but it isn’t true discernment or a clear view of their actions, it’s a fear response. And at other times people may even employ demonic strategies because they feel a lack of personal control in their lives will be catastrophic. It goes without saying that demonic strategies are not only unnecessary, they are definitely likely to lead us into all sorts of temptations! Like …  Adam and Eve … or Cain and Abel. After all the Lord warned Cain he was in danger of crossing a line. Instead, we need to remember that we have a Redeemer, Who runs to our aid. He cherishes us all and He will always impart the wisdom from above. In order to see and hear His Ways – now we must put away personal judgment, and let the word of God change us. 

1 Corinthians 2:6-9: “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.”  👋

P 2487 The power of God is for the persistent.

/ DVH

The Lord Jesus went out into the wilderness and He was led there by the Holy Spirit, but, when He comes out of that place — He comes outin the POWERof the Holy Spirit. So this is what I want to say for today … some times when I am tempted to fight I think to myself – just one more time! The power to overcome comes with perseverance. Therefore, I will say that soft word that turns away wrath, one more time, I will turn the other cheek, one more time – I will forgive… one more time. Our enemy defeats us by projection – he projects a future that is not there, and he uses our past to do it. he says: “It has always been this way, and so it will always be this way. You have to fight or you will lose something valuable.” 

If God has not spoken to you, it is not over!  STAND. Sometimes we give up and quit fighting our enemy too early – we give in to our baser nature. Christ fought His battle through until His enemy was defeated. (Read Matthew 4:1-11) He stayed the course until the end! The power of God came and empowered the Lord in the middle of His weakness as He stood firmly on what the Holy Spirit gave Him to say, in this incredible fight. In those moments, it could have become a battle of wills, but Jesus was too spiritually attuned to play satan’s little game, He used God’s wisdom to bring about God’s purposes.

We cannot fight our enemy by ourselves! We too, need to be too smart to be pulled into “if only” and “what if.” It is what it is. A battle. Quitting early means we are letting our flesh win. Keep fighting until you hit His peace. Without His peace we can easily be sidetracked into places we were not meant to go. Seek God for a word, (or three) … and then WAIT. Let the Holy Spirit pick your battle ground – sometimes the battle is not ours. Whatever the circumstances, let the Holy Spirit guide you through them.

It was the verses with the POWER of the Holy Spirit on them in this incredible battle that WON! After the Lord was tested 3 times, the enemy had to leave. Jesus did not buy into satan’s ?logic? Remember the introductory verse to Matthew 4 says,  it was God’s idea for Jesus to be tested. The Holy Spirit led Him into that battleground. My advice is this – don’t be led into a battle you cannot win. When it comes to someone else’s will, or mind attitude – you and I cannot change it. We need to step back and let the Holy Spirit have His way … by letting love for the other person reign, the Holy Spirit knows the way through. Sometimes we fight, sometimes we die to self, sometimes we stand. But we always aim at maintaining LOVE for the other person.

In the first two of the three temptations mentioned in this scripture, satan says “if.” What is he doing? he knows the weaknesses of human flesh and he plays upon those weaknesses – he’s trying to get Jesus to accomplish what He was sent to do, in the flesh. Christ’s flesh was weakened by that fast. But Jesus had the One Who wrote the bible, with Him. (He is with US too!) We cannot fight without the Holy Spirit’s help.

In the end satan drops his pretence of helping, and blatantly goes for what he really wants … Christ’s worship. he wants the throne … satan has always wanted the throne.  he is jealous and he wants power. But because of what Christ did, we can sit, stand and walk with Jesus Christ daily. Never forget, that in times of trouble WE can walk right up to the throne of Grace and GRACE WILL MEET US. 

The Holy Spirit knows the perfect word of God to make our enemy flee. You and I may end up using more than one verse, but as the Holy Spirit hands them to us, we fling them at the things that are assailing us. Blame is useless in this place of battle – we are fighting the devil, not a human being. Stop fighting the person – resist the devil. Don’t be tempted to think up some snappy reply … the other guy has heard them all!  Just like Christ’s ministry belonged to Him, whatever we are fighting for belongs to us. But the way to win, is to lay whatever it is down at His feet, keep walking in Love, and use the scriptures that the Holy Spirit gives us to defeat our enemy. 

Lastly, Jesus had to fight the enemy in His weakened flesh – He was hungry and thirsty he needed food. The enemy is a snake, he will come at you when you are already weak. Then in Christ’s mind – He was offered everything He came to earth to buy back, without the cross. He saw those cities. Just one word and they were His … because satan owns them. The cities of this earth are corrupted. The power of God is the only true, permanent vehicle for change. There are no short-cuts. The only way up is down, the only way to live is to die, and the only way to do what He sent you here to do, is to lay it all down. Let the dream die. Maybe God gave you that dream … now, lay it down at His feet. Remember, this is one of the purest forms of worship. 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for He gives to His beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:1&2. The power of God is for the persistent, those who will do whatever it takes, and give up everything, for His sake. Doing that will not be comfortable! “If we perish, we perish …” Esther 4:16. God’s will be done. His will, His way. Bye 👋🏻