Love

P 3517 Love Himself will stand with us.

/ DVH

(TPT)“God, I invite Your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way— the path that brings me back to you.” Psalm 139:23-24. (NIV)“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

If I choose to evaluate what is good and what is bad in me — or my circumstances, or this world, or even … dare I say it, Almighty God Himself — this means I am defining things using my own reasoning, standards, thoughts and hopes. At some point I will need to remember that I am limited, which means my conclusions will be faulty. I need the Lord’s searching gaze all over my life because I can be self-deceived. That can happen so easily when what you hear the Lord say, disagrees with what you want to hear.

I have observed that there are some things in my own nature I simply do not want to see, so I will most likely hide them from myself, or worse … I will blame you for them! EG: “If you didn’t do this, then I wouldn’t have done that.” Some people call that passing the buck. The thing is in the middle of all that evasion we are missing the most incredibly important thing … we no longer have to hide from our sin! It was bought and paid for.

However, let’s not sit about planning our next nasty plot either! And we no longer have to hide. Hiding is a genetic trait we inherited from Adam and Eve. This is what the Lord, Himself says! “BUT … YOU are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9.

Hiding implies we have something or someone to hide from – we don’t. We don’t have to live in that sinful unproductive place anymore. God Himself has seated us in heavenly places – and He bought and paid for our seats! If only we would stop thinking about this statement as some sort of elevated, coveted, arrogant place;  and start thinking about it simply as our God-given God-planned home. It’s the place we serve others from. So we can be transformed as we go about our daily living, loving others the same way He loves us.

Asking God to search our hearts is wisdom. Otherwise we will continue to move aimlessly on, hoping against hope, some how, in some way, we are pleasing God. But John 6:40 – “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life.” Looking at Jesus intently and reverently, changes us. Let’s put that another way, what we behold we become. We please God when we believe in Him, and we read what He has said, and act on it. Then we are adding our yes to His Amen. Who would knowingly look at our suffering Saviour and be presumptuous?

We don’t have to be afraid to ask the Lord to search and try us, because He already gave His life for whatever is IN there. We no longer have to be ashamed of our malformed characters: Jesus knows it all and He loves us – because His love is not based on feelings it is based on His choice! He chose to come here and He chose to die for you and me. He took our shame on Himself, and set us free to be obedient children of Almighty God.

Paul said this to Timothy:“This is why I suffer as I do. Still, I am not ashamed; for I know Him [and I am personally acquainted with Him] Whom I have believed [with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in the truth of His deity], and I am persuaded [beyond any doubt] that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him until that day [when I stand before Him].” 2 Timothy 1:12.

I don’t have to be afraid or ashamed anymore than Paul was, because I’m choosing to live persuaded! I read His Word, I trust what He says. Jesus is far greater than the ugly things I have done in my life, to myself or others. The only reason to hide from God is fear and shame. And our precious Saviour took them to the cross. When we go to the Lord and ask Him to search us, and look for any wicked way in us, we don’t have to be ashamed of our past sins. That sin was put on Christ. He hung there naked … that means nothing was hidden. Oh, if we would only understand what He did for us! Not just with our minds, but with our whole lives.

There is no fear in love … because Jesus’ love is so perfect. It minimises all the other kinds of love we cling to that are imperfect! Let’s stop expecting other people to supply what only God can give us — simply because it is more convenient to demand it from the people we can see. We are burdening each other by expecting perfection, but the Perfect One already did all the work. We can’t do anything to make Him accept us, because He did everything that was necessary in our place! Now we work out of love for Him and others.

I invite us all to regularly pray this prayer from Psalm 139 – because Love Himself will stand with us. And Love Himself will lead us on from the place where our hopes and dreams died, into a new place of His total love and acceptance. It is easy to forgive others when you realise what you have been freely given. Bye. 👋.

P 3516 Abiding.   

/ DVH

Every now and then the pressure of a blank page stares at me and I want to bail out of writing this daily blog. I have been given an opportunity to abide. Two of the fruits of the Spirit are patience, and self-control, if I want to abide, I’m going to need both.

Abiding is one of those old-fashioned words nobody uses much anymore. It means: “To stay in a particular place, or to continue in a fixed state over time. Continuing for a long time or permanent (e.g., “an abiding friendship” or “abiding memory”). John 15:7 says: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” This verse reminds us we are never alone. He comes to us to stay within us. When His words stay, and live in our hearts, they become a part of our thinking, speaking and actions. They comfort and direct us and make us secure in His Love, daily.

Abiding is a place where we can allow the Lord to cultivate patience, self-control and spiritual restraint. Abiding is not really a buzz word today, because it implies the kind of stick-a-bility that is quite foreign in our busy gotta-be-gotta-do-gotta-go lives. We can pray we will have it, without a clue about how you get it. But the thing is, this grace is actually a necessity for spiritual survival. This verse is not just about praying for what we want – it is far more about cultivating a relationship centred on the Lord’s will, out of a desire to fulfil His mission for us, and through us.

I often think of stuff like ‘having patience’ as something I need the Lord’s help to do when things are very difficult — but today I realised that I need far more patience when nothing much is happening. When I am living with the same old, same old. So let’s start there…  because in most of our lives, one day often follows another fairly uneventfully, yet they are still filled with busyness. But sadly, nothing changes either.

Our lives can be like a desert with the occasional tumbleweed rolling over the screen of our minds. Not much spiritually happening! Then occasionally, there are those times when the stuff of life flies at us like the worst kind of blizzard, banking up at the door of our hearts … locking us in… And at yet other times problems just quietly drift in blurring and blocking our path ahead.

The lack of insight to make our way through these contrasting times can drive us crazy, but the never-ending silence can be worse. It quickly becomes the time we need to remind ourselves that we are not alone. We have Our Father, His Son and the precious Holy Spirit Who are always with us, even if we do not feel anything. And if we need someone with skin on … then we have brothers and sisters in Christ who will lovingly take the time out of their day to stop for a moment, listen and pray with us.

We learn to abide on ordinary days as ‘abiding’ faith becomes part of us. As we learn to live in His Love, and keep on sharing it – right in the middle of one day following the next. Let’s practice the kind of skills that will see us through the silence of ordinary days. By reading the bible, and prayerfully listening for what He wants to say to us, today. On those days we may have to seek His kingdom first. And take note of what we are saying. Let’s not give our enemy the opportunity to find out what is momentarily afflicting us.

These seemingly empty times give us an opportunity to cultivate self-control, and that leads to contented abiding. Of course it will take a whole lot of patience to do it. I ask the Lord to “set a watch over my mouth.” He will. All glory to Jesus! At the same time, He, Himself, has an endless supply of patience and He allows us to learn at our own rate! (Psalm 32:8) Let Him guide you through whatever comes at you, one step at a time. ”Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

Personally, some days, my own rate can be …kind of …slow. So I totally love this verse: “But  God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, …” Ephesians 2:4-6.

Almighty God Himself: His goodness, His mercy is already personally invested in our growth, and He wants to help us learn to abide in Him. Abiding means we are looking at this life from His perspective not ours. When we are seated in heavenly places, we get a different perspective. Think of it like this, I can stand outside my house and see how it looks from the street, or I can fly a drone over it and take a photograph of it from the air above the house. Same location – different perspective.

We need heavenly perspectives for those ordinary same-old same-old days, as well as the days when the roof falls in. Let’s choose to quit only having emergency faith! Abiding in Him fosters faith. Bye. 👋. Ps. Plus abiding produces that fruit in 1 Corinthians 13!

P 3515 The old person in your future.    

/ DVH

Senior Christians can be a huge help in our churches, especially with advice to younger ones. The negative thing about growing older is that these very important senior citizens sometimes think: “let’s leave all the moving forward and work, to the younger ones.” And they just sit back and enjoy the ride. When we do this we are forgetting that younger people can lack patience, faithfulness, self-control and wisdom. Those fruits grow slowly! Older folks have it in spades, because life demands it. It beats you up then you need Jesus’ help to cope, over and over again. And … tada! Eventually, unless you are thick as a plank – you get wisdom!

Living longer presents people with all kinds of difficulties that aren’t apparent to those who are quite young or in middle age. These saints literally have to learn new things, or this life gets harder than your coping mechanisms! The truly great thing about age is that you don’t only get wisdom, you get loads of humility. ‘I can’t do that’ becomes the new norm. However, us oldies cannot afford to let it become a cop-out. I pick myself up daily when my mind has wandered about, and tell it “one more time, let’s go again.”

My point is that the Body of Christ needs its senior members. Packing them off into Old People’s homes means they can bore one another silly, or they will vegetise ← I made that word up! Don’t just let them clump about talking to each other. They need fresh input or they will get so bored with their circumstances that they tune out and wait for death. Now there’s a happy future. Everyone wants to wake up and wonder if they will die today! We may long to go to be with Jesus, (Paul did!) – but Jesus doesn’t always seem to be in a hurry to pick some of us up!

Sadly, some younger Christians don’t want to look at the fact that one day … in their not-so-distant-future, because-it-is-coming-at-you-faster-than-you-think … they too will be hobbling about on walking sticks, or stuck in wheelchairs, or dribbling their soup! Here’s a red hot clue for you … the only way to avoid old age is to DIE! … you see my point.

Having a sense of humour and being able to laugh at yourself helps. Especially when your bodily functions … UM … pardon me while I digress … what a laugh!! … “functions” literally means things work! Hmmm. Hey ho, your bodily functions will probably let you down. Repeatedly. And you will no longer go into the cupboard and forget what you went in for … you’ll probably forget you HAVE a cupboard, or a house. It isn’t just that you can no longer find your glasses, rather you no longer remember to wear them and wonder why the world’s gone blurry.

Back to the Body, Christ’s Body needs its senior citizens because they have loads of experience. Older people can look like naysayers sometimes, but they can also prevent others from falling down holes in their theology, because they recognise repeated scenery as it scrolls by. We’ve seen it before and it didn’t work then either! However, our minds do sometimes play tricks on us, producing the spirit of grumpy. That’s your chance to practice patience.

An elderly mind can wander about a bit as parts of it rust out, but because we are the Bride of Christ we are the people who have cultivated gentleness, kindness and love, so we won’t make older folks feel like fools. Instead we’ll use our wits to help them when they’ve lost theirs! Whether they sleep all day, or call out at night from fear — or get cranky for absolutely no reason other than old age — all that stuff is nasty, and often inevitable. Older people are still people that Jesus died for. Love is absolutely transferrable, so love will help them when its time to go be with Him.

When talking with an older person ask them about their past. Like… what was school like?  What were the things they loved to do in their youth?  Ask them how they met Jesus, how have they served Him? The thing I’ve noticed about youth is that they can quickly grow impatient when someone can’t find the right word instantly. Computers aren’t the only things that have speeded up. People have too.

This is what the bible says about age: Isaiah 46:4 – “Even to your old age and grey hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Psalm 71:9 – “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Psalm 92:12-14 – “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 – “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

We can learn all kind of important skills for this life from older people – things that education can’t and won’t teach you. They know so much about enduring faith and long-suffering, plus they are living proof of God’s faithfulness sustaining us, even unto our own old age. A church will have deep roots when those who are older are welcome.

Bye. 👋. PS As I grow older, I am often greatly comforted by the fact that Father God is called the Ancient of Days!

P 3513 Eternity minded.  

/ DVH

James 1:2-4: “Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.”

As you can see for yourself, God’s idea of Kingdom happiness does not look like this world’s idea of happiness. The whole idea of having the ability to be happy when life is full of difficulties and temptations, seems to be utterly ridiculous. But brother James has a different list of priorities than the ones we think we need to hold onto today! He’s following the way Jesus taught him. James’ mind, heart, emotions are all about what God wants, and he is seeking to grow the kind of graces we need everyday – eternal ones.

This is absolutely pure wisdom from above. Trying to maintain two points of view at the same time can unnecessarily complicate things. We can’t easily follow the Lord when one eye is obsessed with what’s going on and why, and the other is still trying to focus on Jesus. So we will need to learn to contend for our faith. Otherwise we’ll end up cross-eyed and bump into things and other people.

What James is saying is we cannot afford to focus our lives, our families, homes, energy, time and finances on anything else but our participation in God’s kingdom. We need to be singleminded. The Lord will take care of those things. James is teaching us how to live victoriously under horrible circumstances. As we obey Jesus’ instructions we will see, for ourselves, His power working in and through us, everywhere we go. Why? Because now we’ve learnt what faith in action looks like! Now we can identify the will of God in the middle of a storm. God’s kingdom is about how we live, not just ticking boxes.

Religion chokes spirituality – it instructs, orders, pats down, distracts and consumes us. Meanwhile, it’s good to remember that satan loves the word IF – he loves to drag in uncertainty. Father God has told us to do everything from faith and love, so we please Him when we make those two things our priority. He delivered us from the kind of slavery that ties us into knots by making the problem the priority, not love.

James is explaining that when our lives are in step with Jesus – and what He is doing – we will find our faith, our character, our inner man is enabled to stand up under trials or difficulties. Faith focusses on Him, not our circumstances. Jesus is in the eternal, He has an eternal POV. Now let’s take a quick look at Peter … Peter sank when his eyes went off Jesus, and onto his current circumstances. Big waves all around you can be a big distraction … ….huge!! But Peter’s adventure teaches us to keep our focus on the Lord.

Pray: “Help Lord, I’ve lost my focus, help me to get my eyes back on You.” When we stagger off and start looking at what is going wrong around us, that stuff will quickly fill our vision. We won’t be able to see anything else. Then our minds start searching about for solutions, because human beings don’t like feeling uncomfortable. Pray: “help!” That’s what Peter did. Actually that’s the perfectly abbreviated version!

It’s easy to lose sight of the Lord when the things around you get so huge it seems like you can’t see anything else. Change your prayer from “Why is this happening?” to “What are You doing here Lord, please help me to see it.” If the enemy can’t stop us from wanting to live our everyday lives for Jesus’ sake, then he will try to drown us with many problems and difficulties. Jesus has an eternal plan for those difficulties – He will use them to transform our lives. We need to be patient with ourselves, and faithfully turn back to our Source. Remember, we have His empowering life IN us.

We’ve chosen to build our house on the Rock. Remember, it’s harder and slower to build on rock, than it is on sand! But we have the Lord’s word that He will help us. Look at what He did with Peter. The Lord lifted him up when the man began to sink under the weight of his own fear. Then together they completed what Peter began on his own. Ask the Lord for His help.

James 1:5-8: “If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask Him, and He will gladly tell you, for He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask Him;  He will not resent it. But when you ask Him, be sure that you really expect Him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind;  and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.”

Don’t second guess yourself. What you begin in the Spirit must be completed in the Spirit. Repent if you need to, and return your focus to Him … His goodness, His love for you, His life in you, and what He willingly did and gave up for your sake. Otherwise we can become double-minded. Transformation is an eternal thing, so we need His help to get up and continue. We let go of the stuff we can see going on, and hold fast to Jesus’ faithfulness to get us through.

The saints of old knew about this concept. They used to sing: “Hold, to God’s unchanging hand. Build your hopes on things eternal … hold to God’s unchanging hand.” Nice place to say, bye for now. 👋.

P 3510 Don’t just read the ‘happy verses.’

/ DVH

“Isn’t it obvious that all runners on the racetrack keep on running to win, but only one receives the victor’s prize? Yet each one of you must run the race to be victorious. A true athlete will be disciplined in every respect, practicing constant self-control in order to win a laurel wreath that quickly withers. But we run our race to win a victor’s crown that will last forever. For that reason, I don’t run just for exercise or box like one throwing aimless punches, but I train like a champion athlete. I subdue my body and get it under my control, so that after preaching the good news to others I myself won’t be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 TPT.

Paul is talking about the fact that we are in a personal race against ourselves, and against the clock. We are running the race of our lives. Preaching the gospel is part of running this race, and we can’t afford to slack off now. His Truth is the thing that keeps us going. That means our will needs to be continually submitted to His Ways. Now what matters is the way we choose to run.

We will have to discipline ourselves to be fit enough to finish well, as we participate in a different kind of training. It means that we keep turning the other cheek even when we it seems like we have run out of cheeks! I discovered the thing that will help me, personally to win, is self-control. Quite honestly, sometimes I think I need to spend the rest of my life with my hand firmly clapped over my mouth!  I really can’t afford to be careless or thoughtless when I speak, instead I must learn to be ‘renewed in the spirit of my mind.’ And running well one day, and slacking off the next, will not help me to accomplish that aim.

When people read these verses in Corinthians, it is too easy to just see it as kind of specialised suggestions, that apply to really serious, deeply spiritual people, and dismiss what Paul is saying to you and I. But one day everything we’ve done or said, will go through the fire of His love. That point needs to be noted! Our love for others will face a reckoning. Everything we have worked on and for, will go through that fire. Paul says this 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

I call those verses serious! Personally, I could easily be swamped by them, if it weren’t for the fact that I know that Jesus has promised to help us every step of the way. That’s why He sent back the Holy Spirit — to help us. The Holy Spirit knows the way through anything. Many Christians have given a great deal of time trying to get well enough to do whatever Jesus told us to do, and not enough time has been spent teaching and helping ourselves to simply do it anyway.

Let’s be real for a second, do we actually think that athletes want to train every single day?? Me neither. The Spirit of our living loving God is so kind. He points out the things we need to fix while we still have time to fix them. The fact that He points stuff out means He not only knows, He is more than willing to help us to achieve whatever it takes for us to be fit enough to keep on racing.

He’s our Coach. Runners who don’t listen to their coach don’t do very well. They are expending valuable energy fighting against the very Person Who has sent to help them achieve their aim. Let’s yield to Jesus’ wisdom and do things His way. That means we need to be well acquainted with His way in the first place. I’ve learnt that His way and my way rarely look the same!

It’s great to be positive and optimistic, and rejoice that God loved us all so much that Jesus voluntarily came and died for us. That attitude is the kind of ‘juice’ this race runs on. BUT!! We cannot afford to be blasé about the way we run, or even the reason we are in this race. We aren’t in this race just to get to heaven one day — we are in this race to learn discipline, self-control, and purposeful running. Every runner in a race has a single purpose – they wanna win. You and I  are running toward Kingdom transformation. That means, any other thing that gets in the way of us running toward that prize, has to go.

We must throw it off because it is a weight that will slow us down. Human beings have a limited time span … an expiry date. Nobody wants to think about the expiry date, because most of us have found ways to enjoy this life. But the truth is, we don’t belong to ourselves anymore, we are His – we are now on His timetable not ours. We were bought for a purpose … to glorify God. Anything else is simply succumbing to this world’s advertising and we will be drawn into a side eddy and just go round and round and round – achieving nothing, going nowhere. That is not our God-defined destiny.

So, I urge you — don’t just read the happy, gimme verses, read the ones you wish weren’t there, and ask Him for His help to obey those too. You are all in my prayers – please pray for me! Bye 👋.

P 3508 Someone did it for you.

/ DVH

“And it’s true: “Everyone who calls on the Lord’s name will experience new life.” But how can people call on Him for help if they’ve not yet believed? And how can they believe in One they’ve not yet heard of? And how can they hear the message of life if there is no one there to proclaim it? And how can the message be proclaimed if messengers have yet to be sent? That’s why the Scriptures say: How welcome is the arrival of those proclaiming the joyful news of peace and of good things to come!” Romans 10:13-15 TPT. I know I say these things a lot, but obedience is essential to a life of faith!

The verse above talks about our new normal life. We need to include the Lord Jesus in our conversations. The reality is, we won’t find out if we are truly welcome in some places – until we speak! If you are afraid – and who isn’t? – then go to your pastor, or elder, ask him to pray for you that the Holy Spirit will help you to be a witness for Jesus. This shows you have an intention to be obedient – it makes you accountable.

From my perspective, this isn’t a big deal moment, so if you are expecting a voice from heaven etc., that won’t happen. I experience these moments as a quiet nudge. The secret to obeying those nudges is to pray “Help,” and then jump on in. Don’t put on your big hobnailed boots – Jesus is gentle with people. When we read the gospels, we can see that He was only firm with people who thought they knew!

As we begin to love and treasure everyone around us, they will experience it – but if we treat them as a project then they will know that too. There is no other option. We must begin to speak. Otherwise all the people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet will hear is bad news about Christians who have gone the wrong way! Our faith is an unknown quantity to the people in this world. They have no idea why we live the way that we do – we look like a big club, and sadly, we know the ‘in’ words and they don’t. If we don’t tell them what we know about the Lord, plus what we have personally experienced etc. who will?

I met Jesus because a dear little Anglican lady came to my door every week for a year, and handed me her church’s pew leaflet. One day, in a different conversation, someone else told me that Jesus Christ was a good man, but He was a dead man. I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t have any further knowledge to discount what that other person had said. I was shattered by it. So I called the lady with the pew leaflets. She came immediately, and I heard the gospel for the first time in my life. I gave Jesus my life on the spot!

The truth is people don’t know about Him. He is a concept to them, not SomeOne Who is very much alive! If we don’t tell them what we know, then they will remain ignorant. The Lord is trusting US to do it! How will others know the Name of Jesus is powerful if we don’t tell them? How will WE  know the Name of Jesus is powerful – if we don’t use it?  Ya might want to pause and think a lot about that one! Until the nice lady from the Anglican church came to my door, I had never ever even met a Christian before.

Hubby once led a salesperson to the Lord, and she had been very rude to him! Her shop was full and everyone was CoVid grumpy. She was alone behind the counter, harassed, trying to cope, plus serve customers. She was busy! He came back out to our car quite disappointed with his interaction with her. Now get this … the Lord said to me as I was waiting and praying for him … “When he comes back, tell him to give her a bookmark.” It was hilarious. I told hubby what Jesus said, and he was a bit cross! He didn’t want to go back and give her anything, she’d been so rude to him.

What a hoot! I am safe in the car, while he’s facing the lion’s den! However hubby has always taken to heart that scripture In Matthew 10:4 that says: “Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.” So he went back inside the shop again, simply because of the word God gave me. BTW, this is what trust looks like.

He waited his turn to come to the counter, and told her he wanted to bless her with a bookmark. She burst into tears. Really long story shorter, hubby asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her life, and she said ‘yes.’ The entire crowded shop was listening in. Then the next lady who was about to step up to the counter after my husband, announced she was a bible-believing local Christian, and she said she would follow the now happy, smiling lady up! God’s timing is magnificent!

How will they hear if we do not speak? Pray about it, then take the next step, make yourself available and take a risk. Someone did it for you. Bye 👋.

P3506 Which do we want to be?

/ DVH

Do you like Christmas trees, or fruit trees … or maybe you like both? Let’s not ever become so enamoured by God-given gifts that we omit to continually yield to Him so He can develop each one of us into a fruit-bearing tree. I think this could be why many men and women of God have fallen away from the faith, people see the gift not the person. We need to learn to care for those God-blessed men and women, who have miraculous gifts from Him. If we are not prayerful, they can become spiritual superstars. However, these gifts are God-given in the first place to be used for His purposes and glory. They are not necessarily a sign of complete maturity, with a force-field protecting the receiver from temptation.

At the same time, elevating one ministry over another puts instant pressure on the person who is ministering, no matter what other supporting gifts may surround them. Someone may have many gifts, but because of what they have been given, they are often used as a resource – instead of the Body of Christ developing and finding the gifts they have also been given. We’re to be an army first and foremost, not just a hospital.

I have said this before, but I want to repeat myself, a small congregation is no reflection on the minister. Sometimes Jesus gives His choicest sheep and lambs into special care, where they go from being one of many, to being intimately known and cared for. ““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 TPT. Jesus Himself had twelve men around Him whom He trusted with His life. But one of them was not worthy of that trust.

Sometimes big congregation numbers, can consist of people who hide within the larger structure. They are never really being challenged to grow themselves, and they continue to remain spiritually immature. People come for the miracles and/or brilliant preaching, not for transformation in their own lives. They are what I call musical-chair Christians. They can be devoted to a doctrine that they agree with, plus a ministry that benefits them, but they will move on the minute the music starts up again elsewhere. Their aim is to gain, not contribute.

Personally I think none of us should leave any church without making sure we love the people in the church we want to leave, wholeheartedly. Then if we must leave, we will leave love, not pain, behind us. Our churches can be a bit like ships. Some of us return to the shore and watch others move on into their destinies knowing that we will not be a part of what they are doing, but blessing them in their travels. Romans 13:8 says:“Owe nothing to anyone except to love and seek the best for one another; for he who [unselfishly] loves his neighbour has fulfilled the [essence of the] law [relating to one’s fellowman].”

Likewise we cannot learn to love others who are different to us, or difficult, or even those who don’t agree with what we think — if we don’t prayerfully and carefully, wait on the Lord, and discuss any proposed departure with our pastor. The Lord is never in a hurry to uproot people, unless they are physically moving house. If we take a good strong tree and plant it in the garden, but then uproot it regularly for one reason or another, we will eventually kill the tree. Let’s learn to bloom where we are planted. This life is not about our needs being met, children need that. Adults learn to care for others – for no reward at all, just to give glory to Him.

Likewise, I don’t believe we are to be like margarine, spread all over the place, going off to this church for this, and that church for that, doing whatever suits us! I have heard others say: “This church doesn’t meet my needs, so I’m going to move on.” The point is we don’t just go to church to get our needs met, rather we go to meet with Him, plus Jesus told us not to forsake meeting together! Perhaps we’ve been planted there to be a blessing to someone else!

The difference between a Christmas tree and a fruit tree is obvious, one is productive the other is not. Our own Christmas tree is soon to make an appearance again this year. Hubby will drag it out and carefully decorate it for the umpteenth time! Then after Christmas it will be packed away into its boxes until we need it again. But our mango tree is a huge blessing, it produces fruit from within it. A fruit tree will nourish your body, soul and spirit, a Christmas tree will nourish your soul and emotions, briefly. Fruit is far more important than decorations in the long run.

Let’s choose to go to church, because otherwise we will remain hidden and stagnant, and stay immature in our faith. Being in a fellowship means we will bump into and annoy each other, and that point reminds us of our shared humanity and our personal need for transformation. If we choose to follow someone else because of their gifts then we can easily become disillusioned and disappointed, and fail to develop our own. So let’s prayerfully ask the Lord where He wants us to be, and make a quality decision to learn to love others – warts and all!

A body cannot fully function when it has been dis-membered or dis-located. Your home church needs you, and you need it.  Be a fruit tree. Bye. 👋. Read … Psalm 1.

👋 c.c.

P3504 Look for the possibilities.

/ DVH

As we live our lives giving away that life for Jesus’ sake, we also need to watch and listen for His way through difficulties. There are times where there doesn’t seem to be a way, and that’s when I stand still and look out for possibilities. I know, He’s not done yet.

Our Saviour is a Redeemer, the Lord didn’t just make our sins go away, He let loose a brand new way for all of us to live. He exchanged death for life. We are participants who participate even while we are spectating! WE DO EVERYTHING FROM REST. Psalm 91:7-10 says: “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. … … as we say – “The Lord is my refuge,” and we (you) make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you,…”

…. This is what being IN Christ Jesus looks like. He becomes the place we hide in, in good times or bad. Even when those huge house rattling storms of life come. When I am hidden in Him, He will reveal the possibility of something else He wants to do, while all that chaos is exploding around me. I can learn something about Him, or myself — and about how both of us can work together. He gives me insight about what is really going on, so now I know what to forgive, and what I need to give to Him. He has promised to show me how to love the unlovely, this means I shift my focus off the problem and onto that. And maybe this is an opportunity to develop further trust?

2 Timothy 1:12 says: “…for I know Whom I have believed and I am CONVINCED that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” We cannot move forward without trusting and knowing our Leader. He’s the One we are following. Knowing His Ways gives us discernment, and our trust in Him takes us beyond the places we think we can go, or the things we think we can’t bear – into a new spiritually stronger place. “But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9.

The Lord Jesus is like a Field Marshal, and He is a Master Strategist. He knows how to fight and He has a plan. However, He may keep His strategies quiet until the last moment – after all, someone else is listening! You and I may experience a false start if we rush on, trying to get ahead of the race. If you have ever run in a running race you will know that you position yourself to start, and then you wait for the gun to go off. This life is a race. Paul called it that in the above scripture from Philippians, sometimes we are on the sidelines waiting for our turn, and at other times we are on the track. We live ready to run that race. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

The society around us is actively dissuading us from our primary purpose, serving Him. Instead it brings up all kinds of postponement, “I’ll wait to serve Jesus until my kids are older” OR  excuses, “I need to pay off my mortgage before I tithe or give offerings.” Things that seem valid, but they are a distraction from our primary purpose — which is to serve Jesus first. We can still raise kids and wholeheartedly serve Jesus – He’s a fantastic money-manager!!

Otherwise, we will live our lives distracted into being like these guys who ignored a free feast: “The first one said to him, ‘I have bought some land. I must go and look at it. Please excuse me.’ “Another one said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’’ Another one said, ‘I have just got married and I am sure you will understand I cannot come.’ ” Luke 14:19ff. We cannot afford to have a divided heart.

It is not good to become an expert in making up excuses so we don’t have to engage in His processes. Then change becomes a ‘some day’ thing, but ‘some day’ never comes. And our faith starts sliding down into pedantic and predictable. We can even begin to despise those who are actually engaging with Him, because their devotion prods our conscience. This means we never get to the place where we can see this world through His eyes of love. Let’s remember that LOVE is a verb, not a noun!

The second we step into our blood-bought inheritance, the enemy will target us with all kinds of temptation and lies. he won’t hesitate to drag up the past, and colour in the future. We need to remind ourselves of what Father God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit look like! “Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, … … keeps going to the end.”

The Trinity look like this! They are where these glorious qualities come from! Read the above passage like this just once, it will blow your mind. “Jesus never gives up, He cares more for all of us than Himself…etc…” These verses are a perfect example of the Lord’s character, and this is the real war we face daily. We are daily tempted to doubt His goodness. We will need to battle every single day, to put aside our own selfish aims and pick up His plan for the ever-present, ongoing WAR against love. The possibilities are endless, but we can find them in the beautiful character and personhood of Jesus Christ. Bye. 👋.

P3503 Live in this minute.

/ DVH

“Anxious fear brings depression, but a life-giving word of encouragement can do wonders to restore joy to the heart.” Proverbs 12:25 TPT. Anxiety can seem quite normal under very difficult circumstances. When I read this, and other challenging bits of the bible, my first temptation is to check out what it says against my own experiences. This means I can easily get stuck on the bit up to the comma! If we check out what the Word says against our own experiences, we will find that a whole bunch of negative thoughts can assail our minds and emotions. Plus the other guy is delighted to pile on more!

It is absolutely essential that I understand that not every thought in my head comes from me. I am in a war, and the devil knows how to throw up all kinds of future situations and past defeats onto the screen of my mind. If he can affect my emotions, then he has me on his hook. The good news is – a fisherman will tell you that many a fish has jumped about so much it got itself off the hook, and went merrily on its way. My advice is — don’t give in. Fight the temptation to try to deal with the enemy’s wiles on your own – instead remind yourself that Jesus died for all the things we’ve done, past, present and future. Then cry out for “HELP!”

We all know that we can still choose to sin, and miss the mark, and let the Lord, other people, and ourselves down. Paul gives us the Lord’s answer in Romans 7:24,25: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, Who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…” It’s past and present tense – the work has already been done. We’ve been delivered and it is still going on. Now we put our faith in what Christ has done for us. It’s there in our bank. Rescue has come, just climb into Christ’s boat, and make a faith withdrawal!

My best advice is to drop whatever it is that has captured and hooked you, and jump into the river of His unchanging, never-ending love — repenting all the way!! Throw off the things that seek to hold you down and remind satan that Jesus WON. Done deal. If you need back-up then phone a prayerful friend. The battle for victory lies in what God Himself has already done and said. Not in what’s going on around you, and in your feelings. Forget what might happen, or what happened before. Glory to God, our past is gone, dead and buried with Christ, and we need to leave it there! Now we are here to proclaim His kingdom, which is full of His life.

I want to address something that can shoot anyone of us in the foot before we start. It is this – we need to learn to watch our speech. If we want to overcome the temptation to mull over bad news, here is a good rule of thumb. If it is bad, pray about it, then give it to Jesus, and ask the Holy Spirit: “Set a watch over my mouth please Lord.” Let’s not let our emotions lead us, the Holy Spirit loves to do that.

“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. The Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation. So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted His holy influence in your life. Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity, and insults. But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love.” Ephesians 4:29-32 TPT.

By the way, if we focus onto what is going wrong, we can easily miss the blessing that is available, now. The secret to deliverance, is to live in what we have been given, NOW! We’ve all messed up somewhere, somehow, so after we have repented and repaired stuff, and done what He has asked us to do, let’s deliberately decide to choose to stand still, and live our lives for Him now. We don’t have tomorrow, we have to seize this day. Hand it over to Him.

Then I deal with my attitudes or any incoming problems. Those things are a bit like a parcel. I hand them over the same way I would treat posting stuff at the Post Office. When I post stuff I give it to the person behind the counter, and I trust them to take care of it. Hand it over, and then trust God to lead you and get you out. Every time I am tempted to help the Lord out — I stop, repent and hand it back again.

This is what the bible means when it says: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:6. In all times and all places we go to Him. So now, I am actively: “…casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].” 1 Peter 5:7.

Did you see that? We do what He says and give it to Him. Cast means throw. Throw the difficulties onto our Saviour. He has already dealt with them. Our God is not careless with our hearts, He is protective. The knowledge that we can give Him our cares and concerns holds us secure. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of conviction, not condemnation. Stop and pray. Let’s deal with stuff immediately, and keep on trusting the Lord – He’s the One Who never sleeps!

If we project our problems into the future we can lose heart and give up. If we concentrate on our past, we’ll drown in it! Let’s choose to live in what Jesus has already done, just for this minute, and then take each minute one at a time. Bye.👋.

P3500 The Bible is Words of life!

/ DVH

“Cause my heart to bow before Your words of wisdom and not to the wealth of this world. Help me turn my eyes away from illusions so that I pursue only that which is true; drench my soul with life as I walk in your paths.” Psalms 119:36-37 TPT.

Let’s daily give the Lord permission to change our hearts, our minds, plus the way we choose to walk, and what we look at. This life is filled with a whole lot of time-wasting illusions – I’ve found that very little turns out to be exactly what I thought it would be  … how about you? Illusions seem to be occupying our children’s minds and hearts, so this Psalm could be a good one to pray over your kids. However, we read the bible, choose to bow our hearts, and wait and watch to see what He has to say, and then treat it like medicine by following what it says under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. That’s what obedience looks like.

The bible is not a irrelevant old book, it is the wisdom of the ages. It has been tested and retested over time, in other people’s lives and their experiences. We have witnesses everywhere in that book! Let’s remind ourselves that we cannot afford to focus on the fact that once we were yoked to a yoke of slavery, but now the past is gone. It died when we chose to die, and it happened when we asked Him to save us. Total commitment is not an optional extra. After all, there were no part-time disciples! The ones who followed Jesus walked away from their old lives.

The minute we choose to live for Him, and put to death the deeds of the flesh that hinder us, we go on a death-to-self march. You will notice I refuse to sugar-coat what it costs! That”s because it’s a choice, and it’s a tough one! But, the more we say yes to His way, and follow through on our ‘yes’, the easier it gets. Many of us have spent much of our lifetime struggling and striving to be heard and seen, and now, because of Who He is, we’ve chosen to let all that go. Instead of proving our point, we choose to prove He is Lord. In these dark days we need to say ‘yes’ to dying to self, with the full understanding that the life we once lived for ourselves, is gone.

Our part is to live this life, the only one we now have, the Way God Himself prescribes in the bible. Father God is constantly speaking to our hearts on every page of His book, regarding all sorts of difficulties, situations, and unhappy people. His words are now our life blood, they are so firm we can stand on them: “Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God. I am God above all the nations, and I am exalted throughout the whole earth.” Psalms 46:10 TPT. This is true clarity.

So, obeying this means, we choose to give up our anxiety in favour of knowing He is God. BTW if we feel anxious, that does not mean we have failed – it means we are under enemy attack. Everything that  happens to us, is Father-filtered, even if it seems earth-shattering. I’ve had some of that stuff lately …  panic has grabbed me by the throat. But I know I will find His peace when I prayerfully give up the right to defend myself, and walk away from conflicts. I may often feel rejected, but the God of the Universe has not, and will not ever reject me. “… He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].” Job 23:10. We’re going for the gold folks!

This world around us loves to live in grey areas, but personally, I think grey areas produce grey people. We are designed to be like our Saviour, full of love, life and colour! We don’t just talk positively, we are positively convinced that: “ … I know Him [and I am personally acquainted with Him] whom I have believed [with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in the truth of His deity], and I am persuaded [beyond any doubt] that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him until that day [when I stand before Him].“ 2 Timothy 1:12. I urge you to pick verses like this one up like a sword and use them to fight with whatever is going on. For me that comes out like this: “I know my God and He’s got this!”

Choosing to deny ourselves is not the end of anything. It means we now have the opportunity to come alive to His POV – those things that are a theory can become a reality. When love reigns, we are to be occupied with spreading His love wherever we go. We no longer have to live in this world’s grey, grabby, me first attitudes and actions any more. We can add colour and beauty everywhere we go because we choose to carry His love. What a sacred duty!  Living like this is a by-product of our relationship with Him. Those people around us can be refreshed, revived, and have their lives utterly touched and transformed because they’ve met the love of God through us.

We don’t have to be the source, Jesus Himself is our source. But we’ve chosen to make room for Him to reach out to others through our lives, and as we do that, He will change our life at the same time. We don’t have to be fabulous, famous or clever to drip the love of God onto others – we can do it  because we know Him personally. Death to self is not an optional extra it is the point. Our bible is merely a book, but when the Holy Spirit kisses something in it, that book becomes the Words of life. Bye. 👋.