Lord

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 2524 This natural world has to yield to the spiritual one …

/ DVH

“Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with Him.Your mission is to live as children flooded with His revelation-light! And the supernatural fruits of His light will be seen in you—goodness, righteousness, and truth.” Ephesians 5:8-9 TPT.

We need to deliberately determine in our hearts, to actively cultivate our relationship with Jesus – on purpose! We do that by regularly reading the bible, and going to church. And also when we pray  – which is talking to Him – referring to Him, and deferring to His will, His way. This is how we make Him a part of everything – we come into UNION with Him. I talk to the Lord all day long. I include Him in everything.

One thing makes all the difference to daily living constantly aware of Him, so I can be obedient. I lay my life down at His feet, deliberately. I have made a quality decision to live this life dead to what I want.  And that includes revenge on anyone who has hurt me. Then I ask Him for His help. I pray things like “You’re in charge, Jesus, please do whatever You want Lord, whatever You decide will be exactly what I need.” I pray like this even when things look awful. Or I’m scared. Or I can’t see anyway through something.

I don’t lie! I tell Him that I am scared etc. … but I probably won’t tell YOU! I’ve found that talking about fear or anger etc. makes those things bigger. It brings temporary emotional relief, but not permanent heart change. Over time Jesus has helped me to normalise my thoughts into His kingdom thinking. He taught me that I sometimes panic unnecessarily. I can scare myself by projecting even more bad thoughts into unknown or difficult situations, based on my previous experiences. So I’ve learnt to yield to Him all the time, not just once every morning. Day by day I accept whatever happens during the day, as my training with the Holy Spirit – because He is my Coach. One of my all time fav prayers is: “How are you going to get me out of this Lord?”

He often reminds me of some scriptures, and then I have something I can hold on to. But I have come to understand that in those difficult moments — I am confronting my own fears. Those things I have allowed to remain in my life because it seemed to be too hard to deal with them when they happened. Jesus always does over and above anything I could ever hope for… every single time. And it never ever looks like I think it will … the Lord knows the very best way through anything. I remind myself that the SPIRIT Who lived in Christ Jesus now lives in ME! (Galatians 2:20) He guided Jesus and He will guide me too.

“… Your (Our) mission is to live as children flooded with His revelation-light! And the supernatural fruits of His light will be seen in you—goodness, righteousness, and truth.” Ephesians 5:8-9 TPT. Love is an action not a feeling. We forgive those who trespass against us because He said to do it – that’s called faith in action.  When you and I bring the bible’s teachings — the supernatural thoughts and actions of Jesus into any natural situation, the natural world has to yield to the spiritual one. 👋🏻

P 2515 Exhortation and encouragement.

/ DVH

Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

In the above scripture Paul is talking about meeting together for the purpose of helping each other to move on, and grow, and expand our faith. And in 1 Corinthians 15:58: he is encouraging believers not to waiver in what they believe. In 1 Thessalonians 5:14: he exhorts the family of God to be active in helping others with weaker faith. In Ephesians 4:29: Paul also talks about being careful how we speak to one another to benefit each other. These are just a few of many ways that all the writers of the Epistles exhort the reader. And they are also an example of how to exhort others to continue on in faith toward our ultimate goal – to wholeheartedly love Jesus … and keep pressing on … 

The gift of encouragement is supernatural, it instills courage into someone else’s life. That encouragement can include things that need to be put aside because they are a hindrance — as well as telling others what they do that blesses people. This gift can give our leaders courage. Leaders face a great deal of discouragement – very few will talk about the ‘stuff’ that comes at them – sometimes almost hour by hour, daily. We can be a blessing to everyone we know in many ways – such as giving, helping, as well as using words. Prophecy is for the wider church, but encouragement is for individuals. One of the disciples had his name changed because he encouraged others so much. His name was Joseph but it was changed to Barnabas. That name Barnabas means ‘son of encouragement.’ 

Encouragement is a spiritual gift, just like mercy, helps or healing…this gift gets behind others when their spirits are flagging, and it lifts up their arms so they can praise Jesus freely again. It comes directly from the Holy Spirit andit is part of His Character! Two of the Holy Spirit’s 10 Names, are ‘comforter and strengthener.” When we operate in the gift of exhortation and encouragement, we are choosing to flow with Him, moving in His Grace and goodness to build up someone else’s hope and faith. This gift is about things that touch someone’s spirit and go right around their mind into their hearts. The person immediately becomes aware of the Holy Spirit working. He is SomeOne Who is outside our own understanding – BUT whatever HE SAYS rings true. It feels like home! Spirit-given words have eternal consequences as well as earthly ones. They can encourage others to take risks, and grow their faith.

I think the Body of Christ lacks a lot of encouragement and my advice is this — don’t just wait for the Holy Spirit to speak to you, regularly and faithfully go to Him and ask Him to give you words etc. and make you an encourager of others. This world is very negative toward anything that has absolutes, and Christianity is all about absolutes! I exhort us all to practise listening to the Lord, and then share whatever He gives us with others – gently, and with great humility. Let Him do the work. We don’t have to push or strain – He’s Almighty God. He knows which words will touch the downtrodden, needy, or even a flagging spirit in that other person.

“I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.” Colossians 4:8. The ‘him’ in this scripture is a man Paul trusted. This unknown man, Tychicus, was someone Paul commissioned to carry his letter to encourage a church. If you look at Paul’s Epistles as letters, you will find they are full of encouragement and exhortation – as well as information about what is happening in his life. Including the things Paul is and has already learnt, about his own faith. We need to remember, we are reading this Apostle’s personal mail – Paul had no idea they would end up in the book we read every single day!  

I urge anyone reading this blog to read Romans 12. Clear precursors to beginning to operating in any of the gifts of the Spirit, lie in that Chapter. Meanwhile I present my body to Him as a living sacrifice every single day, because the bible says in verse 1 “this is your true and proper worship!” One of the best ways to grow, is to step out in faith and use our spiritual gift/s. If we are wrong, then …oh well … not perfected yet!! That’s the humility bit. If it blesses others then … Glory to God!! It is such a privilege to have the Holy Spirit flow through us. His life in us is like a pure river of gold flowing through our kitchen taps! Some of that gold always clings to the pipes and then we are blessed too, because His goodness clings to us.

The more we yield to Him, the more the desire to exhort and encourage others will grow! Whether they are Christians yet, or not! Bless you. 👋

P 2514 Stuff we don’t like to think about.

/ DVH

I listened to someone preach the REAL gospel the other day and it made me realise how easy it has become to water down the foundation of our faith. Jesus didn’t make excuses for anyone in His book and He was especially tough on sin, but … He was always kind to the sinner. That kindness is meant to lead us into repentance. It is not permissiveness, BTW.  (Romans 2:4).

It seems we’ve managed to modify His words to the point that we’ve made the bible more, so-called, user-friendly. Hmmm. After watching that man’s sermon, I’m totally convinced we need to rectify that in a big fat hurry! Somehow we managed to gloss over dying to self, living our lives for Him now, and giving our life away for others so we can bring His kingdom to those around us. Those are kind of important points don’t you think?

I cried as I listened to the speaker. The title of his sermon was – “6 popular lies we believe.” And, to make things much worse, I couldn’t argue with even one of the man’s points! Here’s a thought — do you know nowadays we hardly ever talk about hell?  That is a definite destination for some people, and yet we don’t want to talk about it! But hell was made for the devil, not for human beings. Our God wants us with Him! Now isn’t that ← a marvellous sentence? 

Listen to this:“…The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance., But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:9-10.

And just in case you thought when you read those verses, what’s that in English??… Here’s a more modern version for you: “God isn’t late with His promise as some measure lateness. HE IS RESTRAINING HIMSELF ON ACCOUNT OF YOU, HOLDING BACK THE END BECAUSE HE DOESN’T WANT ANYONE LOST. HE’S GIVING EVERYONE SPACE AND TIME TO CHANGE. But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief.…”

Jesus talked about this particular day a lot. As a matter of fact He actually talked about hell a lot more than anyone else in the entire book. He preached about it many many times in the Gospels. But …Praise God!! Christ also spoke about heaven nearly 3 times as much as hell. I think that shows us He was far more concerned about us understanding heaven … and how to get there … than He was about frightening people out of their sinful behaviour. Repentance includes understanding, and gratefulness – people need to make informed choices!

The Lord is not really interested in our particular version, or even our doctrine of those above events. He will do what He will do! Meanwhile we have watered those things down to the point of them being almost invisible. Nobody wants to embroider the verses in 2 Peter, on a sampler to hang on their wall so they don’t forget them! Right now we seem to prefer “my God shall supply all our needs according to His riches in glory…”  !!! That thought made me wonder – I wonder what else we have sort of, kind of, diluted? Maybe we have allowed our experiences … or the lack of them … to dictate our faith? Just saying is all … 

So, how about the rich man and Lazarus the beggar at his gate? (Luke 16:19-31.) Now there’s a bedtime story for all!  This bit stuck out at me: “In Hades, where he (the rich man) was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.” Luke 16:23. This rich man is in hell yet he can see, hear, feel torment, as well as speak, and he has a conversation with Abraham, who is far away in heaven. Side note: did you notice that story is all about ignoring the poor?  We know that Jesus Christ’s death bridged that chasm between heaven and hell.  Phew!!… But does your family? Does mine? Do your neighbours? Do mine? We seem to have minimised the reality of eternity without Christ! 

You and I are passing through this life going to a banquet at the other end … our job is to hand out free invitations to other people who have no idea what comes next. You know, if we were to ask people in war torn countries, I think that they can all tell us what torment looks like!!  … But the never-ending kind? … Only God knows what that looks like, and I pray none of us ever will! 

Here’s another verse to think on:  “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” Philippians 3:4-11.

Let’s aim higher, and include the stuff nobody wants to hear, the things we don’t like to think about! The current popular opinion that somehow “niceness” and “not hurting anybody” will get people into His kingdom is error!! 👋🏻

P 2513 Jesus is the very best Prince – EVER.

/ DVH

When I was a little girl, I loved fairy-tales. Mainly because my home life was pretty real and raw, so I hid my nose in the Blue book of Fairies – and others like it. And BTW, Grimm’s fairy tales were actually, really GRIM! Even as I was growing up I held fast to the idea that some day my prince would come. Well, he did! A-n-d … that’s when I found out that childhood dreams are destined to crash and burn. Sigh.

However I also learnt, sometimes the hard way, that JESUS Christ is the authentic PRINCE, He’s the Prince of peace … and that has never changed.  Even now, I can sincerely say the very best thing I ever did with my life wasn’t having children, or getting married, or having a good job, or a nice home – the very best thing IS, and always will be giving my life to HIM. I wish I had known about Him sooner because I would have followed Him earlier!

In the beginning of my relationship with the Lord, He and I were going to change the world! I was convinced that when I told people that He is real … they would instantly believe me, because of my sincerity and passion. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve definitely still got all that passion. But now, wisdom and years and years of living this new life, have shaped me into someone with more understanding than I had – to start with I stopped believing in fairy-tales a long time ago. 

I met the Lord when I was in my twenties. At that stage, I had 2 little ones under 2, both of them in cloth nappies at once and I was permanently tired. Then we added another one 3 years later!  We didn’t have those nifty disposable nappies back in the ark. Which means that I didn’t technically add to the mountain of rubbish we are trying to shove under the grass all over the planet!!  Hmmm … the real truth is, we didn’t have disposable nappies back then …but — I’m pretty sure that if we had had them, I would have used them!!  I’m not stupid. 

Chasing 3 kids under 5 kept me pretty busy in those days. I didn’t have a car or drive. So we walked – everywhere. In the rain, in the cold, in the heat. We walked 1.5 kms to the shops, and we stopped and looked at nature along the way. Actually I think I used those nature pauses to just plain rest! It was a pretty BIG hill, especially when you were pushing a heavy stroller UP it to do the weekly shopping. That stroller looked like a Christmas tree on the way home, with shopping bags hanging everywhere.

I think I spent a lot of time as a young mother being terrified something awful was going to happen to the kids or I would ruin their lives. I’ve always felt inadequate for the task of raising children …but then the Lord saved me and that meant, at that time, that I had even more pressure on me to get it right. PS… of course I didn’t! If you are raising kids right now, reading this, God’s got you – He’s been raising kids for thousands of years.  Almighty God Himself grew the lovely adults and parents my kids have all become.

On a further fun note …. about growing older  … without your permission! I’ve found that life has presented me with interesting challenges. There is a world of adjustment to face as bits of you start to wear out. Yes, yes, I know you saw someone on TV the other day, who inspired you to believe (falsely), that old age is going to be as good as you want it to be – just keep fit and use this face creme. Maybe you saw some old guy or gal with a face that has been reshaped so many times, it now looks like it has been ironed.

Yet these old/young codgers are still able to cheerfully hang upside-down from the roof like a bat, or they are doing 50 one-armed push-ups every day. Don’t you believe it – they are selling something! Meanwhile, I couldn’t even do that stuff when I was young! Fat chance now! It’s all a big lie you know! The bible says Moses was 80 and his eyesight was fine and so was his hearing – so that wasn’t common – that’s why those words are in there!

However, now the Lord and I have found a new way for me to live. Quietly. You won’t see me roaring around the suburbs at 3.00am doing donuts in the car park! The truth is, I have never done that in my life! But nowadays, I’ll be pushing up Zzzzzs in bed, groaning as I roll over. 😴 But you know what? The older I get the more grateful I am for SomeOne Who doesn’t see me as an old crock, He sees me the same way He has always seen me … I simply belong to Him. And that means even more to me now, than it did in the beginning.

After Jesus came into my life, I had SomeOne Who loved me so much, and my great joy is that He is so much wiser than I am. He is always more than happy to help me. The reason I gave this blog this title today is:  despite my childish wishes, blunders, and all my sins – both wilful and accidental, my Lord has never ever changed. But because of Him, everything about me has changed. One day my Prince DID come – His Name is Jesus! 👋🏻

“And His Name shall be called … Prince of peace, …” Isaiah 9:6

P 2512 Who’s the Boss?

/ DVH

Part of the reason I think that most Christians have lost their free access to the power of God, is because we thought, or hoped, or maybe even prayed, that He would rubber stamp our grand ideas. I think we meant well … we were simply trying to advertise or showcase the goodness of God to those who didn’t believe. However, the power of God resides in every word that comes out of His mouth. Not our mouth – or even our head! If the Lord kisses an individual’s idea, then that person needs to start praising Him for His goodness toward them. He is under no obligation to do that. Even our faith comes from Him! 

God’s utterly kind consideration of mankind started in the garden. That’s where Eve came from – His kindness. After all, Almighty God was there with Adam in the cool of the evening, so he was not always alone!  Yet the Lord knew man needed someone who was the same, but different. God Himself saw and said:“It is not good for man to be alone …” Nothing is hidden from His sight, not even our needs. He is so good to us that He pays attention to every single detail. Which is why I am happy to say that if I don’t got it, then I don’t need it!

Read the bible carefully for yourself, and find somewhere where a man told God what to do, and how to do it, and it happened. “No one can tell God what to do or accuse Him of doing evil. He has always been praised for what He does; you also must praise Him.”Job 36:23-25. I found in my search for such a man, that Abraham bargained with God for Lot, and the city of Sodom and Gomorrah and God graciously listened. And Jonah was as cheeky as a man can get, but His attitude did not stop what God wanted to happen from happening – Nineveh was saved! And still God reasoned with that man. Moses ended up talking to Pharaoh even though he told God he couldn’t speak. The Lord let Aaron speak until Moses grew into the job! Our God can take a maladjusted man and make him into a great leader – He did that with Gideon. But with all these great men, Almighty God’s hand held them up!

The great Patriarchs in the Old Testament, knew enough to work with the Lord under His instructions. Moses knew the value of listening to Him and doing things the way God said. So much so, this great man refused to move forward without Him! These men, who had wisdom and understanding, as well as an established relationship with God, often learnt that kind of obedience by utterly messing up their lives first. Moses killed someone. Abraham treated Sarah like a bag of candy – he passed her around to save his life a number of times. Even Job learnt WHO is in charge the hard way. It is, I believe, an enormous error to think that we can organise God to do things our way.

Oh! If we could only enjoy what we have been given! He is a God unlike any other, Who watches over us, comes to live in us, came to earth to save us, and deeply cares about every single little detail in our lives. Independence is overrated! Total dependence upon the Spirit of the Living God is to be appropriated and cherished forever. Amen!

Sadly, submission is not a popular topic in this world – human beings are incredibly busy fighting for their own rights. Everybody  thinks if they yell loud enough and make a good enough logical case that things should change in their favour. I cannot imagine anything more frustrating or fruitless than going along banging into the Lord’s will, and getting up and doing it again! We show our ignorance and lack of maturity when we start to think that being saved means we are the boss now. WE do not have the omniscience and omnipotence of Almighty God – Who knows the end from the beginning … and all the bits in between.

Having said that: we can, and we should command the things of this world that are out of order to come into order – but that needs to be HIS order, not ours. I think that is why Jesus rebuked His disciples in Luke  “…  but the people there did not welcome Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” *But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then He and His disciples went to another village.” Luke 9:53-56.

In another version it says that like this: *“Jesus turned about and rebuked them, saying, You know not what manner of spirit you are of. The Son of man has not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” It is plain from reading the book that we cannot be trusted with that kind of power. Mostly, because we don’t know if we are in the Spirit or not, half the time! Yet those men watched, walked, slept and ate, for three and a half years with Jesus Christ, God’s Son. And they still said and did the dumbest things!! Using our own understanding got us into this mess in the first place. The most blessed place to live is the place of freely submitting to His will. Like I said: Independence is overrated!

Who is the boss? Here’s a verse to think about:“Why do you call Me LORD, and you don’t do the things I say?”

Luke 6:46. 👋🏻

P 2508 People who have authority have great power.

/ DVH

Yesterday, I had an early early appointment to go to an out-clinic at a major hospital. I hate going there. That particular hospital and I are not friends, because I have had some very nasty things happen to me, inside it. Plus I’ve met very grumpy, uninspiring staff! And yes … I have repented and forgiven them. Things are so unhappy in there, to cheer the staff up at Christmas, I give the clinics I attend, chocolates.  

I was kind of grizzle-praying at the Lord about it – I know you would never do that  — but, sigh, sometimes I do. An-y-wa-y … as I was …… praying, the Lord interrupted me, and told me if I gave the whole thing to Him, He would give me a testimony. So I shut up … and gave the appointment to Him.

First of all, we were seen immediately and that never happens. Unfortunately you also never see the same doctor twice, and this one had a Uni student following him around. That fully qualified doctor empowered me by the way he treated me. Instead of the usual brick wall you meet in the hospital… I think I met someone who actually liked people and his job. 

Anyway, at the end of our short time, I told him that in 36 years of attending there I had never ever met one doctor, or nurse, or care-giver who cared enough to ask about my personal comfort: This nice man actually asked me: “How have you been? Do you think, that the medicine you are taking is helping you?” I was gob- smacked … going there often feels like an assembly line: this guy sees my liver, that one oversees my endocrine system, this one my skin, and on and on. No-one asks me how I am. Rather it is like facing a health test, and it seems like I’m failing that all over the place.

Then this very nice doctor utterly surprised me, again. He said, after looking carefully at my chart with all the various clinics, I attend on it: “With all the difficulties you have, you need to be kind to yourself and take it easy on yourself. You have a lot to contend with.” I was totally blown away again. Nobody in 36 years has actually verbally paid any attention to how my health affects my well-being! Colour me astonished!!

They have, in the past, offered me counselling for depression …which would mean more time at that hospital(!) Hah! Like I would say yes to that!! So yesterday, I was so empowered by this nice man’s attitude, I spoke up. I did that mainly because the young student medic was sitting there. I thought it wouldn’t kill this young fellow to learn that people like to be treated like people, not like one sausage in a string of sausages! You know, people with authority can lend you their power, by the way they treat you, and that is an essential part of healing too.  

After the appointment, I spent quite a while thanking Jesus for all that He did. He promised me He would surprise me and He did. When He surprises me, it hardly ever looks like I think it will!  Meanwhile, hubby went to get the car, and left me in my chair by the front door. And then another patient came in. He was incredibly morbidly obese, and it broke my heart. I’m sitting in my chair, NOT looking at him, weeping away behind my mask. (Masks are great for that stuff, they are good for praying in tongues too!) I did both.

I still have tears in my eyes when I think about him. At once I started praying and I will keep on doing it until the Lord takes him out of my memory. This dear man sat down. I immediately noticed that his very very large legs were purple, and his poor tummy was so big it reached the floor from a sitting position. I just sat, and prayed, and discreetly cried for him – I can’t imagine how that man copes in such a judgmental opinionated world.

Outside on his way to get the car, my husband was having his own adventure. He encountered a tormented soul who was screaming at some security guards. They were trying to calm him down, and he was becoming more and more violent and agitated. So hubby started praying for the man as he went quietly by, and slowly this guy started to calm down. It occurred to me, who would pray for all these tormented, and often tortured, very ill patients, if people with faith weren’t around?

As Christians, we are a people with great authority and with that authority comes His great power. This means we can change the atmosphere around us – even when we are learning. You know sometimes we can only actually walk in compassion, through identification. Bye. 👋

P 2497 Even our motives need to be purified.

/ DVH

“I just want to obey all You ask of me. So teach me, Lord, for You are my God. Your gracious Spirit is all I need, so lead me on good paths that are pleasing to You, my one and only God!” Psalms 143:10 TPT. 

What a wealth of faith, hope, and love has gone on in this life, before any of us arrived here! This morning I was overwhelmed by thoughts of the wonderful saints of God who have died, and now they are singing their hearts out around the throne! You and I are standing on everything these incredibly faithful people have contributed in the past – because of their devotion to the Lord and the things they have said, and done, and written down. Their example is our platform. These men, women and children have gone on to their reward, leaving behind a legacy of faith in Christ for us. 

Maybe there have been incredible saints in our own personal lives who shared what they knew with us, so that we too can know the reality of His love. Mothers, Fathers, Aunts, and Uncles and Grandparents etc. all sorts of relatives who made faith choices, and stuck by their choices through thick and thin – giving us individual platforms to stand on. Many of them chose a life of service over popularity and fame. And now it is our turn. We have the opportunity to serve and obey Him, and glorify Him, through our little lives so we can pass an even deeper legacy onto our children. 

I love the attitude of the Psalmist David, in the scripture written above. There is great humility in what he said. “I just want to obey all you ask Lord … so teach me …”  King David had the most incredible heart. How amazing that this passionate, loving, shepherd boy kept on writing Psalms, and kept on documenting his life with God, right up until the end of that life. I know he also failed and sinned, and he betrayed the trust the Lord had put in him – don’t we all! But the bible indicates that at this time, when he wrote this Psalm, he was in one of the hardest times of his life. His much-loved adult son, was betraying him – yet he still maintains his soft heart, which is quick to repent.

David’s son, Absalom despised his father, because he had not sought or learnt the faith of his father.  This younger man was lobbying and doing all he could to replace David as king. As we read the entire Psalm we find that David is yet again, in turmoil, overwhelmed with yet another different kind of sorrow and broken-heartedness. But David knows the only Person Who can get him through the incredible pain of betrayal in his shattered heart, is the Lord Himself. What a lesson God has taught this man! The first place and the only Person we need to turn to in times of trouble, is the One Who has shared this ordinary life by living among us.

There is such wisdom in knowing where our help comes from! I don’t know about you, but I have lived in the ‘phone-a-friend-because-the-ceiling-has-fallen-in-on-me’ vein for years and years. My help was sort-of-kind-of in somebody else. I was looking for a person, someone I could see and hear more easily. Someone who would buddy me through any pain and heartbreak until it was over. I wasn’t interested in growth, I just wanted relief from pain.

Our Christian families, church, or otherwise, are the biggest blessing — but they are not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with God Himself. This personal relationship with Jesus Christ is our highest calling. Yet one of the paradoxes of Christianity is that we often deeply feel the need to have someone next to us, someone with skin on – someone who will pat our hand and tell us that God will get us through … whatever it is…   And we miss the opportunity to identify something that David himself, understood. OUR GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US.

At the same time, I am personally guilty of trying to be all things to everybody, so I can help others in any way I can, and some of the time I mess that up badly. Everyone misses out, including me!! There have also been times where I tried so hard to impart my faith to my immediate family that I know I got in the Lord’s way. I have never wanted fame or such, but I have definitely been guilty of wanting to leave a legacy behind me. That’s when I realised I desperately needed to have my motives purified. King David had a pure heart that was devoted to Almighty God above everything else. 

This man was tested in ways that appall me, yet he stood fast. He repented quickly, accepted any consequences of his wrong actions, and moved right back into leaning on God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. I truly pray that my motives are pure toward the Lord. The mind is a funny thing, it hides things it doesn’t like from itself … Today, I want to remind myself that I want my motivation to be like David’s, trusting in God’s wisdom and strength to get me through whatever comes next. Bye. 👋

P 2496 Choose the Faith Highway …

/ DVH

“When you’re joined to the Anointed One, circumcision and religious obligations can benefit you nothing. All that matters now is living in the faith that works and expresses itself through love.” Galatians 5:6 TPT.

If we want to gain the benefits of everything Jesus did, we need to stop ticking those little boxes that make us feel like we are OK — simply because we go to church and tithe and know the bible. We dare not treat what the Lord did to save us all, as a get-out-of-jail free card. Right here, right now, is the time we have been given to start learning to live in love, using our faith. Living by faith is not just for the preacher on TV, or your pastor or some super-spiritual person we know. It has always been the Body of Christ’s new way to live.

Walking with Jesus, and living our lives for Him, is supposed to change the way we live, as well as our nature. We begin to learn to live this life, loving others, because this is now our destiny. Our destiny has nothing to do with being identified as a Christian, or a prophet, or an evangelist or something or other with a fancy-schmancy title – instead we are here to make HIS NAME famous. Our God-given destiny is to be transformed to be like Him. “This is how His love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.” 1 John 4:17

Let me put that this way: because we are now Jesus’ disciples, that means we are now choosing to learn about His Way of life. NOW we follow the Lord and His way of thinking and doing things the way His disciples did. The disciples in the Gospels, illustrate for us that we are allowed to learn — however when they did get stuff wrong, Jesus corrected them. These men, on one occasion got so enthusiastic about the power they were given, they wanted to call down fire from heaven on people who wouldn’t listen. In those circumstances, they totally missed the point!

I believe we are missing the point today as well. We are not here on earth to maintain the status quo, and then rock on into heaven at the end. Those continual learning experiences around us, are for us, and they are meant to humble, as well as transform us. Humility needs to be our favourite overcoat. Being famous, or always right, is not a badge of honour or excellence. We cannot live like that and achieve eternal results. Plus as we change, we will give the Lord glory – because everything He does in us and through us is glorious. These things have been written down in the bible for our benefit, to help us to live a new loving by faith life. 

The reality is that we have been saved to lay down our lives for others. Jesus Christ didn’t die on the cross just to get humanity into heaven. He died to get sin out of the way so WE can live here in this world, by faith, loving others, like He did. Jesus died to get heaven INTO us – here and now!  After all He did not deserve what happened to Him so why would the Lord waste His time talking about transformation, if we can do whatever we like, whenever we like? Our aims, matter. Christianity is not a patched-up, part-time religion, it is a full-time relationship with a Person.

Listen to this from: Matthew 41-43 “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. THEN the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

We will shine with the light of His glory, one day. That’s why we need to let His light and LOVE transform our lives here on earth. Loving others is not an optional extra – its a disciple-making process. Meanwhile, feel free to pray for more Iove, I do that all the time!  But after that prayer — we need to expect that extra difficult people and circumstances are going to turn up in our lives to give us an opportunity to practice that love …using our faith. 

We can’t get to the kind of faith that embraces love on the try-harder highway. Transformation comes as we daily, consciously yield to His will, His way, in our everyday circumstances. That takes faith. Because – “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by MY Spirit says the Lord.” 👋🏻 

P 2494 Have you nearly dropped your bundle?

/ DVH

Well, make sure you drop that heavy darn thing in the right place!! ““Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to Me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis.” Matthew 11:28 TPT.

Hmmm. You know, we don’t need a ‘spa’ day, or new shoes, or some fantastic overseas trip to refresh our lives. King Jesus gives us living water, for free – anywhere, any place, any time. My best advice is to stop and take the time to drink, as well as drop off that bundle on your back. He is the place where PEACE lives. If you or I need peace, then we actually desperately need Him. Never leave home without HIM!

Jesus told us in the scripture above that He is our oasis, and He spent a lot of time outside, sometimes walking though desert places. He knew about people needing somewhere to stop and put down their burden, permanently. The Lord spoke in spiritual metaphors a lot, and I love the way He did that. This way of speaking takes intangible things and brings them into a place where we can begin to understand His truths and absorb them. It is an interesting thing to take note of the imagery presented through what He says in the stories recorded in the bible. When things are weighing us down, we need those tangible insights to help us understand spiritual things and get rid of our burdens. 

Today I would like to briefly talk about the story of Hannah and Samuel, even though it is actually in the Old Testament. Because boy did THAT lady have a burden! She shows us that the Lord deals with each one of us as individuals. Fortunately she knew where to take that thing that weighed on her! Let’s remember in those times, the gods worshipped by other nations were not personal or interested in someone’s life – those gods had to be regularly pacified. But this snippet shows us how personal our God really is – there is simply no detail of each one of our lives that He overlooks. That’s a great trait in our wonderful Burden Bearer, Jesus. 

Hannah’s huge burden was that she was barren … not to mention that there was another wife in the picture, so she had competition too!  After great suffering, loss, persecution and pain, the Lord took pity on her and He gave her a child.. And what a child – an Old Testament prophet! That little boy knew the Lord from when he was tiny. Back to Hannah, who prayed about her barrenness every time she went to the temple. I think she wanted a child to validate her role as a wife and God understood it.

Life has greatly changed from then until now – but our God has not changed – His eye is always on the one fervent, weighed-down sparrow. At one stage the High Priest thought this poor woman was drunk she prayed so deeply. (That’s a good thing to do with a burden, BTW, passionately pray over it.) The other wife in this story lorded it over Hannah because she had given their husband children and Hannah hadn’t. My best guess is those two women were not friends! Meanwhile … what man in his right mind needs TWO wives??  

Moving on … I actually think Hannah’s husband was not switched on to the feminine mindset – he didn’t understand her pain. MEN: here’s a little lesson for you – what you think is not always what she wants!! But he was trying to be sweet to Hannah. Actually, it kind of sounds like he thought the fact that he loved her more than the other wife was enough – the big self-centred dill! This teaches me that other people can try to help us with our burdens, but they don’t always understand how deeply we have been affected by them.

Incredibly, after God answered her prayers, Hannah gave that beautiful God-given little boy right back to Him, even though the child was very young. Giving that little boy she’d prayed so desperately for, and loved so very dearly, back to God, must have cost Hannah so much. But the Lord gave her five more children to comfort her and by doing that, He restored her status. It shows us that He cares about the things that we care about.

Today I want to finish with this thought, our God always has a way to comfort us, but it may not end up looking the way we think we want it too. Part of the wonder of Almighty God is the fact SomeOne so amazing even bothers with us and our little lives!  Even though He has taken great pains to become personally engaged in humanity’s affairs, yet He IS still God! Oh, the wonder of knowing that such a glorious Being cares intimately about every single details of our lives is a an opportunity for reverence, not for carelessness.  

Almighty God is the only place to take our burdens and bundles, but remember, just like Hannah – we don’t just want His advice, WE WANT, and DESPERATELY NEED HIS INPUT! Take your burdens to the burden-bearer, He cares for YOU.👋🏻