Love

P 3485 Living like a living sacrifice.

/ DVH

We all realise that the verse that says: “You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honour God and bring glory to Him in your body.” in 1 Corinthians 6:20, is not a suggestion! We need to choose daily to remember the cost that Jesus our Lord and Saviour … the One we love best … paid. This is what the Body and blood of Jesus Christ did for us.

Many times we have watered down what the bible says, acting like it is not for this age. We have assumed that the bible is mere written illustrations that have been exaggerated to add weight to come sort of cosmic set up. The bible is not ‘out of step’ with mankind — we are ‘out of step’ with it! It is filled to the top with the manufacturer’s instructions and warnings. 

I want to show how wildly ridiculous it is to ignore His instructions and follow our own ideas. So let’s insert some lighter thoughts here, because I really do have a point! On occasion, hubby and I have bought things from overseas countries. The accompanying instructions have sent us both into peals of laughter. These man-made odd instructions have been translated into English and attached to the items purchased.

Pet Shampoo: “Eliminate all escape routes well in advance. A wet pet becomes smarter and faster than you are.”

Washing machine: “Do not put any person in this washer.”

Oven: “Do not dry pet in the oven.”  (DUH!!)

Iron: ”Press red  button for hot fume for smoothing of creases from tossed around clothes in washing machine. Do not touching surface of iron because of very hot!”

Lucky last: “Do not iron clothes on body!”

Most man-made instructions have a limit, and the meaning can get lost in translation! Living as a living sacrifice can’t be taught as instructions – it has to be continuously applied. That is because it is an individual choice, and each of us have different situations and opportunities to choose to die to what we want. There is no blanket rule. If I tell you that we need to love one another, that sounds good – but it can be generalised, without any thought about the specifics. EG: Do I have to love the person who beats me up regularly? ANSWER: Yes … and no! The Lord’s love is not like ours, His ways are not a blanket rule. Father God deals with things individually. We need to pray, and ask Him, first.

Love is always an action. And in this case the Holy Spirit could lead you to pray for this violent person, and give you an alternative way to do that, from a distance. We need to remember, that the Word of the Lord is designed to flow into and out of each life, but it also includes His wisdom, as well as His mercy and grace. At the same time, the Holy Spirit Himself knows how to reveal the things that we do, that we don’t realise are against love. Our job is to pay attention to them and ask for Him for His help, instead of explaining them away by our personal circumstances. We have a live-in Helper Who knows the way we should go.

He will make whatever we read personal, as we read it. That’s why we need to pray before we read the bible. Not just for clarity, although we all need that, but we also need His help to cut through the protective walls we have built up around ourselves, so we can see ourselves as we really are. For instance … if you annoy me then you are a pest — however if I annoy you then you just don’t understand me properly! Let’s be clear, we can all stand unashamed in God’s Presence because Jesus took our sins on Himself and He was punished in our place —-but then things need to get personal and specific to our own situations and inner attitudes.

Only we know what rolls around inside our heads, and why. And some of those things we can easily explain away, because of our personal circumstances. The Lord is not interested in our excuses — they will hold us in bondage to the past. So will other people’s sins against us. He bought us freedom — and the only way to live in that freedom is to progressively and deliberately reject this world’s premises of right and wrong, and learn to live in harmony with the Holy Spirit. He needs to guide us. Jesus demonstrated what mercy, goodness and grace looks like, from God’s point of view. Meanwhile, He didn’t just die for the people who said yes to Him. He died for everybody.

Now it is up to any one individual to apply what Jesus did into their own lives. And saying: ‘yes’ is only the beginning … not the whole ballgame. Our Lord gave His all and our only response is to give our all to Him, and live this life the way He did. We are now the only hands and feet Jesus has, so we must choose to put aside all the weights that will drag us down into the mire of self-pity, revenge, rage, and hatred. This world thinks those things are OK and sensible to adopt. It is into self-protection. and it collects proof, opinions, and illustrations to prove it’s actions are valid.

But we have chosen to rely upon what God says, simply because He said it. That’s what living this life as a living sacrifice looks like. We give up our opinions, our actions, our lives, in favour of His ways. End of story. Bye, and may His peace be with you and in you, as you follow Him. 👋 🕊️.

P 3483 Cling to Him. 

/ DVH

“ … God doesn’t miss anything. He knows perfectly well all the love you’ve shown Him by helping needy Christians, and that you keep at it. And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. Don’t drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them.”  Hebrews 6:10.

“We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up His permanent post as high priest for us, …” Verses 18-20.

Sometimes I find the scriptures are so extraordinarily clear, it’s almost like following a recipe! We are told to hang onto our hope with the same passion we show for the needy. Now there’s another great motivation to help others, it will give us a clear picture of what kind of effort we will need to hang onto our hope.. Meanwhile, truthfully speaking, I have found that when stuff happens, hope can be the first thing to go out of the window.

I get a bit like a headless chicken, aimlessly running on the autonomic nervous system instead of His word, which is hidden in my heart. This is when I know I need someone else praying for me, because I seem to have dropped the ball in some sort of overwhelming panic. At the same time, I don’t want to miss what God has for me in this new situation, so I cling to Him. I remind myself to hang on tightly to hope, because I know that hoping in Jesus, will not disappoint me! (Romans 5:5.)

My point being that hope and other spiritual things are absolutely, definitely, OURS – but they do not always come naturally to us. When we are in panic mode, we are more likely to remember the times things didn’t go the way we needed them to, especially when the ceiling has fallen in again and we are under pressure. Our faith muscles stretches when we deliberately choose to believe Him instead of our circumstances. Will it get better? Won’t it get better? Who cares! Jesus has got this and He always has a plan.

Let’s remember that without hope in His loving faithfulness we’ve accidentally thrown away the anchor, and it’s no wonder we are being tossed about like a tiny ship in a typhoon.  We need a solid anchor in a storm, and Jesus Christ is our anchor. Throwing hope away means you are a couple of steps away from going under. He will save you but your emotional well-being will take a beating. Speak to your soul! I have to yell at mine sometimes … “Soul! Hope thou in God.” My soul understands King James English, even when my head doesn’t!

Verses 18-20 explain why we must hang on to our hope. Our hope goes right into the Throne room. It is our lifeline between us and Almighty God Himself. We trusted Jesus to save us, now we trust Him to keep us … no matter what kind of stuff is going on everywhere else … even in our own households! He made the world, He knows what to do about whatever is going on.

Bad times are never convenient … I know that seems obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said. It’s usually when your pay is short that God will ask you to help out someone else, and suddenly your gas bill turns up and it is overinflated … (pun intended) … the rent suddenly super-sizes in front of your eyes … and then your car starts making those weird noises that you have heard before, but now it is making them in earnest! 

The thing is, our difficult circumstances can distract us from the reality of His hope. Unfortunately, these circumstances are what caused us to go under in the first place! This means we will have to deliberately look away from them back to Jesus, because He is our hope. He can’t fail because He already won. I often ask Him to help me to see what’s at the root of my over-the-top emotional reactions.

I had to do that earlier today. And the answer came like an explosion in my heart. “Despair,” He said. “You are in despair.” Then I ask for a verse to fight with, and if I can’t find one, I type in a word or phrase that currently fits the situation and I go looking. Mostly I hold on tight to WHO HE IS! Jesus doesn’t break bruised reeds and He knows we are all glorified dust.

Psalm 34:18 says: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Well that’s gotta be good! Jesus is close, He saves … those are great words! Skip over the crushed bit, or you will find yourself circling the drain, trying to figure out why you are feeling crushed or whatever …Just take those words ‘Jesus is close’ and ‘He saves’ and deliberately wrap them into your thinking. Cling to Him. Pull your thoughts away from the trouble, back to that phrase … ‘He will save you from this!’

I love this next one! Psalm 43:5: “Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? HOPE IN GOD, because I will praise Him once again, since His Presence saves me and He is my God.” Let’s remember, we are not relying upon our own faithfulness —our faithfulness can vary, depending on the circumstances. We are relying upon HIS, and His faithfulness reaches to the sky!! Which neatly takes care of flying on an aeroplane, if you don’t happen to like them. Bonus buy.

Last one – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” If we hit despair, like I did, then we’ve gone too far. Back up and turn around. The Lord can redeem any situation for good. Just watch Him do it! Jesus made a way for you to get through those things that seem impenetrable.

Now continue to look at Him, not the problems. Do what He says and keep your eyes on Him, not the storm. Earthly things fade away in His Presence as we cling to Him. Remember the cross. Have confidence in Him – speak it out loud, talk to your soul and start thanking Him for helping you through whatever is going on. Sometimes I pray blessings over every single person I can remember, including my enemies. Talking to Him reminds us that He is our hope, our ever-present help in time of need. Bye for today 👋.

P 3481 Our greatest treasure.

/ DVH

Today I want to talk about love – Our Father’s love, and ours. First of all, we are not qualified to decide what love looks like. Almighty God already did that … with the Ten commandments and the subsequent birth of Christ Himself, His example, plus some truly awesome scriptures in 1 Corinthians 13 and Colossians 3!

However, living in, and for His Love, does not always mean we will end up feeling fantastic. Living a life of love sometimes means we will have to back down when we don’t want to, and shut up when we want to defend ourselves. Aren’t you glad I said that?… Me neither! … God’s Love is not like that feeling of floating-around well-being that we get when we think about someone special to us. It is a decision made and carried out using our faith. In other words, even if the other person drives us nuts, the bible tells us in Romans 13:8, that we owe them love. That’s the response, there is no other.

God’s Way of love requires us to live aware of the fruit of self-control, despite our circumstances. Plus we are told to give away grace, mercy and kindness. Let’s remember that self-control won’t just fall on us! It has to be worked in us as we learn to co-operate with the Holy Spirit. Living in God’s kind of love is costly, and I strongly suspect that is why some of us do not want to do it! Let’s look at someone who loved Jesus beautifully and well – this is described in Luke 7: 37&38. Just pause please and notice who is loving Him commendably.

“A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” 

It would be a huge mistake to simply read the above scriptures as a lovely story about one woman’s attitude to Christ. Because it is in the book, then it is in there to show US something about ourselves. The first thing I can ‘see’ is that this woman took the lowest place in the room. Nobody needed to explain to her that she had been living her life badly …she already knew that … but she did something extraordinary about it. Instead of hiding from the Lord’s pure gaze, she overcame her fear of exposure and sought to minister to Him, out of her love for Him. She had no other motivation in her dear little head other than blessing Jesus!

We need to look closely at any people we know who have a heart like hers, because we can learn so much from them. People like this woman do not think much about themselves, their aim is to bless and minister love and honour to others. They are just grateful to be included! Unfortunately, like the other guests at this party, we can easily be distracted by this woman’s sin, and forget about our own. If you or I were in that room where would WE be? Sitting at the table talking to Jesus? Asking questions? Discussing this scripture or that? Or crawling along the floor trying not to be seen at all, because you want to wash Jesus’ dirt-laden feet and honour Him?

Let’s move down to verse 37, where Jesus says: “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Um! That’s one heck of a sentence! Jesus is using this woman as an illustration of what great love looks like. It is so easy to quote: “Love is patient and kind etc.” or “Clothe yourselves in love.” The theory is easy – however, practicing this kind of humility and Grace, shows up all the dents and dings in our character. Those things we hope nobody else knows. This woman had nothing to lose, nobody respected her anyway – but she did stand to lose big time if Jesus reviled or rejected her.  And that thought would probably keep many of us from crawling along the floor to wash and kiss His feet.

Instead we prefer to say: “I’m this and that – the bible says so. I don’t have to crawl along the floor, Jesus died for me and I’m a new person” …Sigh.  Sadly, for a new person, we can still have a very old, unpleasant attitude! Great love is expressed at great cost. For people with a fear of rejection, it is almost a death threat. Loving others when they hurt you, could leave you battered and beaten down by their treatment of you. But Jesus sees this kind of love and He kindly and gently elevated this woman’s heart attitude by what He said. He recognised her actions, because her actions spoke louder than any words. It brought her forgiveness and a brand new start.

I’ve heard many sermons on how much the perfume she used cost, how precious it was to her, etc. etc. But I prefer to see how much the Lord Himself valued what she did as she humbled herself before Him, and the surrounding company. It’s time we began to realistically contemplate our own hearts – instead of excusing stuff. This woman clearly gives us hope that sinful or not – we will be received! When we humble ourselves, we will not get rejection, but Love Himself will see us in our clumsy efforts to bless Him.

His love for us and through us is now our greatest treasure. Jesus is the prize, all we will ever need. In the Presence of His glory, none of us qualify to stand with Him. Whatever we have, has been given to us, gratitude is our only response. Bye. 👋

P 3480 More attainable than we think.

/ DVH

It can be hard to adapt to new ways of thinking, doing and being. But when we choose to live this life totally sold out to Jesus, living out His Will, His way, that choice is far more easily attainable than we’ve ever realised. It is worth anything, but it will cost us, comfort-wise. Nowadays, bad stuff happens all the time.

As usual, I have what I hope will be an illustrative story. A couple of years ago, my dear hubby began to develop osteoarthritis in his hands, feet, fingers, toes, back, shoulder etc. and he not only experienced awful pain, he had to have injections for that pain regularly. His ability to do ordinary things easily, just disappeared. It was very traumatic, as you know, we travel a lot. Hubby had just begun to enjoy watercolour painting and he loves to give his paintings away. He paints whatever God tells him to paint and it speaks to the other person.

Because of his lack of dexterity and the awful pain, losing the freedom to paint was very hard. Then the Lord gave me a word of knowledge – the skill to paint does not come from our hands and fingers or their co-ordination.. that skill comes from God and it can’t be taken away. It is a gift. A visual word of knowledge. I passed that on to hubby and suggested he try to paint with his other, non-dominant hand. At first he thought I had gone a bit loopy, but he trusts the LORD, so he began to paint with his other non-dominant hand, which wasn’t as painful. He had never ever done this before.

Lo and behold the pictures he painted with his left hand, were fantastic! Even more full of life than the original ones. The original paintings were beautifully done, but his left hand produced things that were much free-er. Now here’s what I think … hubby could always paint, with his left, or right hand, it didn’t really matter – but using his left hand to paint meant he really had to extend his faith. What we do in faith reaches into God’s kingdom and it creates miracles. Read John 21:6.

Over to my point today. For years the church at large has wandered in the wilderness, trying so hard to please Jesus, and follow Him. But we did not know what to do with the “stuff’ that continued to happen to us, every single day. Everybody wants to cope and remain victorious, but we don’t seem to have the skills to help us to stay away from the very things that were sent by the enemy to drag us down. So we often have no personal victory over sin. We promise God over and over again that we will not gossip, or drink too much, judge others, or watch risqué films  etc. but it seems we have no power to change.

However, because of what Jesus did, now we have inside us the very gift and power we longed for, it just isn’t going to manifest itself according to our knowledge and our rules. God Himself has a WAY to do things. The bible is full of illustrations of what His Way looks like. His way looks like total surrender and confidence in everything Jesus achieved on that cross. It operates in faith and splashes love freely all around it. It knows when to say yes, and when to say no. Now we need to lay aside our coping mechanisms and learn to live this life dead to what we want and think we need, and alive to what Jesus wants for us, every day.

It is easy to say that we want to do everything the Lord asks us to do … until we don’t — because suddenly it seems too hard. Sometimes what Jesus asks us to do, doesn’t suit our plans, or make sense to our natural minds. Acting in faith is not automatic, it is learnt by practising it. Living this way. I know I need to take what the Holy Spirit said in the bible seriously, and continually choose to act on it at every opportunity, even when my flesh is desperately screaming its head off. I do that by returning love for meanness, faith for doubt, exercise real joy because of what Jesus did, no matter what else is going on. As we are following Jesus we continually need to make faith adjustments. We pray – do whatever He tells us to do – and then we follow Him. Human beings  want to escape trials, but the Lord has promised to take us through them.

Humility is one of our greatest strengths, and we get it by humbling ourselves and admitting we need His help to die to what we want, and live for what He wants. When some awful trial or other seems to be much bigger than we are, we have an opportunity to lean on everything Jesus did for us, and learn to trust Him, no matter how it looks. Let’s use our faith to respond to trials differently. This is not a passive thing. We must grab hold of Jesus, just like Peter did when he thought he would drown. 

Jesus once said this to Peter when he began to berate the Lord for talking about His death. “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Matthew 16:23. But this man had been following the Lord for over two years! Then Jesus explained what God wants: “…“Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.” Verses 24&25.

In other words we have to be prepared to put down our own ideas, and agendas, and pick up the things of God, that are eternal. Returning love for hate. Faith for passive resignation. When we were born again eternity entered our hearts. Let’s begin to rely upon His ability to know what we can and can’t do and trust the Lord to get us through it. We can get through things we have never ever dreamt about because we have God’s Spirit in us, with us, to guide us. Just like my little illustration, we can paint with our left hand even though we can barely write with it! This new way of living is more attainable because of His Grace, than we realise. Bye. 👋.

P 3479 Fix your eyes.

/ DVH

““Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t even remember these former things. I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19. This is one of those keys we need to pay attention to, because the past should not affect our future. When Jesus made a way when there seemed to be no way, He died to give us His power to overcome those things that can trip us up or weigh us down.

I have been caught up in eddies from the past — those  things that go round and round and get nowhere. We can’t afford to define ourselves by stuff like that. It will grab hold of here and now, and destructively head toward the future! We need to remember that God does new things all the time. Just because something was fruitful last time, that doesn’t mean it will always be that way. Relationships are moving things, to last they need to grow, change, continue to become new and fresh.

The Lord wants a relationship, not a system. He gave us a system. That system, the Ten Commandments, only failed because we weren’t up to our end. Thank GOD our God is a God of generosity, grace and mercy! There is nothing wrong with the Ten Commandments, they are all about Loving God and loving others! That’s why Jesus said what He said in Matthew 22:38&39. “Jesus replies, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Jesus adds, “And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.” It’s a synopsis, not just a new commandment!

Transformation flourishes when we read what He says and live it out, day by day. God made it easy to obey Him, because He took punishment and fear out of the way. Now we do not need to wade through desperate times alone, the Lord has already provided the most wonderful Person we will ever need — the Holy Spirit. He is our Helper. Living this life, with His help ushers in the kingdom of God, right here where we are. And remember Jesus died to change our past – even if it was only yesterday, ten years ago, or ten seconds ago! 

The past will hold us down if we keep clinging to its ways. We must lay aside those things that go after our peace and freedom so we can love others from a pure heart — and keep walking on. Some of us might end up limping. That’s not a bad thing! Jacob encountered God’s Kingdom and he limped after it happened. That limp reminded him of his encounter with heaven. It’s our chosen participation in the kingdom of God among us that will transform this world around us. Thousands of wonderful people have made all sorts of incredible efforts, and sacrificed everything, to change whatever is going on where they live – they left the past behind, and followed Jesus.

However, if the Spirit of God Himself is not doing it, whatever we do cannot last or produce fruit. Only God Himself does the things that last. In the Western World we like to think that God is on our side. But the reality is … the Lord wants to know …. ‘Who is on the Lord’s side?’  ‘Unless the Lord builds the house we are labouring in vain.’ (Psalm 127) Father God cares about what is in our hearts. He wants our hearts perfect toward Him and each other. (2 Chronicles 16:9; John 13:35.) That means we keep short accounts with Him and other people.

We simply can’t afford to let our past, affect our future, no matter how awful that past may be. My advice about former sorrows, is this — prop open the door to the past, clean out everything in that cupboard of guilt, pain, shame, revenge and hate, and deal with it bit by bit, including exercising reconciliation, forgiveness and repentance, then close the door! Write: do not enter! … on it. And give the key to the Holy Spirit. Walk away. Go out from that place and live your new life in Jesus. Do not be tormented by the things you can’t fix, give them to God and leave them there.

I urge all of us to start seeing faith as a commodity stored in heaven and when we prayerfully use it to live, we are bringing that faith into this life. There is a portion we have each been given, and as we give it to Him and start using it, I believe our faith grows, incrementally. “… faith comes from listening to this Good News ….” Faith comes from reading the book and doing what it says, because doing what it says takes FAITH. 

So today, I want to urge you to put the past behind you. Getting rid of any past sins we have done, as well as the ones against us … lines us up with heaven. We are so blessed, the Kingdom of God is a storehouse of every Grace we will ever need on this earth. We simply access it, using our faith, and we must discontinue using it to greedily grab the things we know that can’t last.

Let’s study the bible to find out what He says about this day – today. As we comfort ourselves with the fact that we can rely upon the Lord to hand us the right tool at the right time. The sad thing is, the past is our enemy’s favourite tool of distraction – he drags our eyes off the Lord and distracts them with the things that have hurt us. Instead, let’s fix our eyes on Jesus and ask ourselves, what is the Lord doing today? Bye. 👋.

P 3478 Participation and dedication.

/ DVH

“Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on Him to guide you, and He will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with Him in whatever you do, and He will lead you wherever you go.” Proverbs 3:5-6 TPT.

Living like this scripture says needs dedication. However, to be honest with you, when the Lord first brought this subject up with me, I kind of avoided it. I thought living like Jesus did was for the special people – the ones who had spiritual gifts and titles. I was just a bod. A nobody. Someone’s wife, someone’s mother, someone’s daughter. Jesus didn’t buy that little story when I kept trotting it out, BTW.

Due to circumstances totally beyond my control – prior to meeting the Lord, I had never had a life of my own that came from my own choices. I literally went from parental oversight to my ex-husband’s plans, and my own preferences didn’t come into it. My personal choices were framed by a threat of rejection, and that influenced me regarding total surrender. I did not want to give up my choices to SomeOne Else.

Inner rebellion grabbed me – plus I didn’t know how to change. I’d go up the front when the pastor called for the congregation to make a deeper commitment to Christ, and I’d cry my eyes out, then go home and  … wait for God to do His bit.  I had no thought that I would have to change my responses, and attitudes with His help. Or that I had to see my old life through His eyes, and TOGETHER we were going to walk away from the things I did, thought and said before.

I asked Him to help me, because at that time, I thought transformation relied upon what He did. Eventually I came to the erroneous conclusion that because He hadn’t changed this or that in my behaviour, then the things I did must not bother Him. I had blinded my eyes to the scripture and by doing so, I lost my hearing as well — mainly because I kept choosing to excuse myself from any participation! God is so kind, I reasoned – I knew He would understand that my life had not prepared me for this. Well, He is kind and He did forgive me  – but the reality was that I stayed in the same place because of those choices. I was not growing, or maturing – instead it was hard work not to go backwards!

Despite my squirrelled up thinking, Father God never rejected me. Not even once. At one stage I walked away thinking He could not possibly want me now, and I hid. I stopped going to church. Well we all know how hiding from God turns out … thank you Gideon and Jonah! However, the Lord, in His incredible Grace came after me. Father God is so much more faithful than we understand — He does not give up on us. He did not give up on me, and He won’t give up on you either!  

I had no comprehension of how faith works, so when the pastor preached that we were to ‘love others’ I automatically thought of someone I didn’t get along with at all, and I tried my best to love them. I did it using my own strength. Of course the Holy Spirit wanted to help me do what God asked of me, but without His help I failed. All that other person had to do was snarl at me, or be mean, and I would immediately run away like a scared rabbit – and then I went back to complaining about them behind their back. I felt imprisoned by other people’s attitudes which did not change – I had no sense of freedom.

The truth is, I didn’t know what was in my own heart – and I wasn’t sure I wanted to either! It takes pressure to show us what is really in our hearts. Our reaction to pressure is not a whoopsie, or a little error, it is a diagnostic tool. It shows us what’s really in there … hiding away amongst the pleasant smiles and happy little testimonies. Things like judgment can hover away in the background influencing the way we think. Plus, when bad things happen it can be far too easy to complain. Complaining seems normal, because we are human. I had no idea, at all, about how faith works and I took no responsibility for my responses to difficulties. Instead I made excuses for myself. James talks about the real issue, our lack of ability to change ourselves: chapter 3, verses 7-16. 

“This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women He made in His image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you? Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.” 

When we choose to merely tackle the outcome of the things we do, we are not tackling the root of these issues in our lives. The truth is, we don’t have to be afraid or ashamed of owning our faults because Jesus took all of that to the cross. Everything. Not some of it … all of it. Now we need to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness and learn to rely upon Him, and use our faith. Jesus forgave us unreservedly … so we have more than enough Grace to give away, which will flow on, to others.

The only claim to fame you and I have ever had is that we know Jesus Christ personally. The thing is — we aren’t  just meant to ‘know’ Him or say that we ‘follow’ Him. Jesus learned obedience through suffering … and SO DO WE. The same Spirit Who was in the Lord Jesus, is now in us, He wants to  teach us personally, how to follow the Lord, step by step. But that will require participation and dedication. Bye. 👋

P3477 Moving house.

/ DVH

“We cross the threshold of true knowledge when we live in obedient devotion to God. Stubborn know-it-alls will never stop to do this, for they scorn true wisdom and knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7 TPT. The bible says all kinds of incredible things that we can barely take in, let alone remember day by day. That’s cause for a pause, right there! Many people like to focus on the negative – sadly the daily news proves that point. Even the words used by the people writing these articles are evocative and negative, all at the same time. However, God’s kingdom is always GOOD NEWS.

The thing is, we were born again to WALK with God – not just sit down comfortably inside the door! The bible was not written as a list of the things we are no longer allowed to do or participate in – it is about how dear we are to Him, and how important it is to Him that we choose to live like His kids. Father God does not have subtexts like we do – His aim is LOVE. When He asks us to obey Him, it is so that we can live in that love and freely give it away. That place is the safest place on this earth. 

Stuff will still happen, but we need to remember, a yielded soul is a catalyst. That soul changes everything around it.  When I choose to cling to what God Himself says, I am not denying reality — I am yielding to SomeOne, greater than I am. He is a far far greater reality. Almighty God made this world, so He knows our place in it. Let’s trust what He says over what I think, or you think, or even what Brother-I-know-everything thinks. We need to forgive him … and move on.

In years gone by, we used to sing a song called “Come and go with me to my Father’s house.” I loved the idea of living in my Father’s house … but sadly, after I went home, it seemed to me that I was leaving behind the loving fellowship, and prayers, plus power of the Word preached. It seemed like I was leaving that behind until next week. Then one day, it dawned on me that I could go to my Father’s house and STAY. What’s more I could choose to live FROM that Kingdom, not the one all around  me. Jesus came here to usher in the Father’s kingdom. Now I follow Him along the narrow way, and I live by faith, in His kingdom, here and now.  

When God told us to seek His kingdom first, it’s because the things we do are meant to come from our place in His kingdom. We live there now – we never have to leave. What’s more, we take His kingdom with US wherever we go! It all depends on the way we look at what was said, and our personal decisions to obey Him. And the Holy Spirit helps us with that too! I think we’ve been looking at many scriptures from a negative reinforcement point of view – instead of seeing these things as a glorious statement of our new position. 

120 people were transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit came upon them, then they went on to live IN and FROM, God’s Kingdom. Their lives were now framed by it, and it occupied their thoughts, their actions. Everything they did was with God’s kingdom in mind. “Silver and gold have I none but such as I HAVE give I Thee.” (Acts 3:6) Peter was already living in that kingdom – so he could give the things of God’s kingdom away! All disciples now had it, and they took His kingdom wherever they went. Jesus Himself said: ‘…the Kingdom of God is among you.’ His kingdom is motivated and supervised by the Holy Spirit. 

What I want to say today is that we need to move away from the kind of thinking that God’s Kingdom is unavailable to us, unless we meet certain requirements. Jesus did that for us. So now we use our faith to live in the reality that God’s Kingdom is already here. It’s already IN you, and me. When we were born again, we left the kingdoms of this world behind, now we are in His kingdom seeking more and more of it. We’ve been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred  into the Kingdom of His marvellous light. 

However a negative bias on any number of verses can change the way we apply them. What I’m talking about means we choose to walk away from vague possibilities into reality – we need to do whatever we can to use our faith. This is why using our power in His kingdom to try to get what WE want is a travesty! Aim at living in His kingdom where love prevails.

Most of us already have so much information about His kingdom, but just like the sensational headlines in the news, we are limited by another agenda. That agenda says, “I can’t change.” The question I want to ask today is: ‘Then why do we have the Epistles in our bible, if we can’t be changed, here and now. Why did Jesus preach change if it was unavailable until we die?’ Like Paul I want to say, “Not that I have l already attained this, but I press on toward the mark..” (Philippians 3:12) Our aims matter. When we surrender them to despair, or destruction we will be the losers.

Some things may seem to be difficult to us, but they are definitely not unattainable. “…Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) Let’s learn to live from God’s kingdom. What does He say? What does He want from you and I right here, right now? We need to choose to move house and live our lives, from His kingdom, and see for ourselves what that looks like in real life. It’s all in the book. Bye. 👋

P 3475 Pause, remember … and reset.

/ DVH

“God, You’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need You. So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in You. Pause in His Presence” Psalms 46:1-3 TPT.

When I read this today I realised that the last 4 words are the key to the first 79 ones! “Pause in His Presence.” What does that mean to you? To me it means when ‘the stuff’ is flying about so rapidly I can hardly breathe, my very best first response is to stop … and stand in His Presence. Why? Because those first 79 words remind me of Who He is and how much He loves and cares about us all – every single minute of every single day!  Those last four words show us how blessed we are. We can be in His Presence anywhere. Doing this will remind our spirits to defer to His ways.

Wherever you are reading this blog today, now is a good time to stop … and just stand or sit, in His Presence. Remember, it says pause, it doesn’t say ‘you must spend three hours.’  Anyone of us can pause for a few minutes, just long enough to slow your breathing and look into Jesus’ dear face. This is one of the best habits we can cultivate. We will momentarily block out the immediate, and focus on the eternal.

Our world may be groaning and griping all around us, but Jesus is not fazed by it. He knows what comes next. “He knows the plans He has for us – the ones that give us a hope and a future.” What we focus on gets bigger. When we focus on Him, He gets bigger than the problems, especially when we take a moment to renew our trust in Him.

Everything seems to be spinning around so fast sometimes, it is hard to keep up with what is going on. However, when we go and stand with Jesus and look up at Him, the noise, the fear, the challenges and the heartache come into perspective. These things come, and they go … Jesus always stays the same. His loving face toward us will not change.

The Lord Jesus’ love does not change, that’s why we can trust it. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases …” Our ineptitude in spiritual matters will not change His response. His love continually comes toward us. You are taking a moment to be with SomeOne Who truly understands humanity. And as you pause, please remember, despite what is going on around you, He’s the same Jesus Who loved you so much He died for you. Just let that soak in … then go back to your day. 

He is praying for you right now, right where you are. He prays perfect prayers. Pause and remember… ‘His goodness in the land of the living.’ ‘He is with us to give us His abundant life.” Those promises are not only about earthly things, they are about forever things. Like love, joy, peace. We can have peace with God because Jesus came here and made peace for us in His own Body, with His own blood. He will not take it back … “He demonstrated His love while we were still sinners….”

Troubles come and go, but our God’s Word remains the same. Your version of the bible may be a little different than mine, but it is still His Word to you today, right where you are. Pause, remember how much you are loved. He loves us when we first wake up and we haven’t even done anything yet! This love is not the kind of love that keeps score, because Jesus is not interested in Himself, He came here for mankind. We are His joy. The Lord looked through the pain He suffered and saw US. It is His greatest joy to facilitate our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Let go of all those bad, unhappy feelings, because they will cause you to stumble. Just cling to His truth and remember … the God Who made the Universe loves you. As we take a moment to pause in His Presence, we will begin to realise that these afflictions we are going through are momentary. They simply seem endless while we are in the middle of them. Remember, disappointment and despair do not come from our Heavenly Father, God. That’s the other guy. Resist him and bring all those busy thoughts captive, and just take the time to breathe. 

These moments belong to you and the Lord, whether you are on the train, in your car, on a bus. Wherever YOU are HE is there. You and I both know that the Lord has asked us to keep no record of wrongs, because Jesus Himself doesn’t remember our wrongs! In your pausing, remember to let go of any hurtful or bad things — just like you would let go of a balloon and watch it float away. Those things can’t hurt anybody when we let them go! Jesus understands … let that be enough.

We pause, remember, and reset, even if it is just for a few moments on our way to somewhere else. Stand in His Presence and watch the worries, cares, and seismic shifts jostling you, simply melt away. God’s got you, your family, and this world. Like Jesus said to the wind and the waves: “Peace, be still.” So let’s take any opportunity to quiet our hearts in the middle of life’s bustle and strife… and pause in His Presence, remember and reset. Bye. 👋. Thank you Jesus!

“So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 TPT. 

P 3471 God’s welcome sign is always OUT.

/ DVH

“You can pass through His open gates with the password of praise. Come right into His Presence with thanksgiving. Come bring your thank offering to Him and affectionately bless His beautiful Name! For YAHWEH is always good and ready to receive you. He’s so loving that it will amaze you— so kind that it will astound you! And He is famous for His faithfulness toward all. Everyone knows our God can be trusted, for He keeps His promises to every generation!” Psalm 100:4-5 TPT.

Version 2: “Shout with joy before the Lord, O earth! Obey Him gladly; come before Him, singing with joy. Try to realize what this means—the Lord is God! He made us—we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Go through His open gates with great thanksgiving; enter His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His Name. For the Lord is always good. He is always loving and kind, and His faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation.” Psalm 100: 4-5 TLB.

I’ve put two versions of this Psalm up today because it is  helpful to read verses in different versions. It helps clarify the Lord’s meaning. Meanwhile, I think the language in the Passion Translation is so welcoming and positive, who wouldn’t want to be that person? Our biggest mistake when we read the bible is to be swamped by the words the writer used. That can lead to skimming over any old-fashioned terminology that we don’t quite understand. In both versions of this Psalm, the theme is the same – as we praise and give thanks, the Lord’s gates open wide!

However, let’s not also deify the words, I think that would be a mistake. The point of the words is the Subject — Almighty God Himself! Words are simply the vehicles that open our eyes to Who He is and how much He loves us. The Holy Spirit is the One Who takes those words and makes them pertinent to each one of us, day by day. He gives us the Lord’s Grace to act on them, and uses them to challenge, and encourage us. We have access to the glory of God Himself as we meditate on and chew over what He says to us from day by day.

The encouragement and confidence we get in return for our spontaneously joyful attitudes, can become the very thing that sustains us during our mostly ordinary days. Especially as we pause in His Presence, and allow His words to sink in. This is what is meant to happen every single time we pick up the bible. Reading His Word is like going to our Father’s house to thank, praise and worship Him for all He has done for us. Studying the bible is not a chore when you see it from the point of view of messages from the Lord’s heart to ours. “God wants to see ME, His doors fly open when He hears MY praise.” Forget the worship leader with the great voice and skills – He loves your singing, gratitude and love toward Him. He is, when all is said and done — a loving FATHER, proud of His kids.

As I read this Psalm today, the thing that blessed my heart was the realisation that when I spend time with Him, I am never an interruption, or an afterthought or even unknown. He won’t ever say to the Holy Spirit … what’s-her-name again? 😊 The thing about any kind of praise and thanksgiving is that it aligns my heart with what is already going on in heaven. I am joining in with something far bigger than myself! These words may have been written by a man, but it is the Holy Spirit speaking, that’s why this person chose to remain anonymous. The Speaker wants us to see Almighty God, not just their words. 

All of us can tune into our Father’s heartbeat immediately, especially when we make those two things – thanksgiving and praise – our starting place. No matter what else is going on in our lives or how affected by circumstances we may be, those gates and our own personal love and reverence for the Lord, opens our heart when we praise and thank Him for loving us. We know that we are always welcome at His house because the bible tells us so, over and over again. He loves to see us! It is easy to praise and thank the Lord as we discover how He feels about His children. Here’s a word of advice, don’t just read to find information or instruction, ask the Holy Spirit to help you find His heart!

Heaven is the most important place in this world or any other, and when you and I remember His goodness to us and enter His courts to enjoy His Grace, Mercy and love – we are transformed by what we receive there. Praise and thanksgiving are incredibly easy when you get rid of entitlement. Suddenly everything the Lord does for us, becomes an undeserved gift. A heart of gratitude can sustain us through so many difficult circumstances. Like the Psalmist says: “We need to be prepared to be amazed by His responses.” 

Our God is not removed from humanity, that’s why Jesus came here, to illustrate by His life and death the lengths our Heavenly Father went to, so He could have all of mankind for His own people. This is yet another place to pause and give praise and thanks. The good news today is:  “YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME AT MY HOUSE. You can give your praise and thanksgiving to Me, in person, in My Presence! You will find I am always so happy to see you.” Amen. Bye.👋.

P 3469 What a Saviour!    

/ DVH

“In many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the Truth] and in different ways God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets, [But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order]. He (Jesus) is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high, …” Hebrews 1:1-3. Amplified Bible.  “For the rule and authority over all things has been given to Christ by His Father; except, of course, Christ does not rule over the Father Himself, Who gave Him this power to rule.” 1 Corinthians 15:27. 

Like I’ve said many times before, God’s ways are not our ways. The Lord has been revealing Himself constantly for over 2,000 years, through His various servants, but now, on our side of Jesus’ history … He has chosen to reveal Himself through His own dear Son, Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus came here and showed us what was in our Father’s heart toward mankind. So when we see Christ being kind to sinners, that’s God Himself doing it through His Son. That’s Almighty God healing the sick, delivering people from evil … He’s doing it, in Person.

The bible says something so extraordinary in these verses. Jesus Christ Himself ‘is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power.’ Here’s my translation of all those words, if we want to know what Almighty God is like then look at His Son … Jesus came here to show us what our Father is like. The Holy Spirit’s power guided Him, sustained Him, held Him up, and Jesus is now our example.

God’s Word is so powerful it makes sure the earth doesn’t bump into anything, as we rotate our way through the days, years and seasons. Almighty God loves this planet, and the people in it – He called all of it good. You know, if God had fingerprints, they would be the same as Jesus’ fingerprints, They are so close to each other. We don’t understand Oneness, we think it’s just about agreeing. Actually, it is hearts blended and beating together so completely they have exactly the same purpose. That purpose is for our benefit. We need to get some of this kind of thinking out of our heads, and into our hearts. We are so loved – all that He did for us shows us that.

If we really understood the things we say we believe, inside, where it counts, we would ACT differently. Nobody would have to tell us what is good and bad, because the same Spirit that was in Jesus, would be guiding us from the inside. We definitely don’t want the Holy Spirit to quietly leave … if He leaves us it will be devastating. We will be left to our own devices … and that is not good! Let’s stop pretending to be what we’ve already been given and live this life differently because of what Jesus did. He did these things before we were born!

The same God Who sent Jesus here to help us, is now IN us. We give Him our lives and He is now the occupying Owner. We have been freely given the power to choose  —  so let’s choose to do whatever He asks us to do, simply because our relationship with Him is so valuable we can’t bear to walk away from, or without Him. That’s passion. Our constant prayer now, is for the Lord to stay with us and help us to walk in total fellowship with Him. I pray I will never be too busy to care about what Jesus thinks, because He is all I want to think about!

Jesus didn’t forget one thing that was necessary to reconcile us with God. He did it ALL – and all means all! His eyes are on you and I even in these times, wherever we are, despite all the ruckus going on around us. He is loyal to mankind. But the question is … are we loyal to Him? Father God is not distant, or far away from us. He deliberately came here, as a man, and lived the same kind of life we are living, so we can have SomeOne we can see, and follow.

People follow Marvel/DC comics and their movies with far less incentive! They also follow pop groups, sporting heroes, and music stars — and some of those people have such filth coming out of their mouths their momma should have washed their mouths out with soap … many, MANY times! Jesus told us: “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” Don’t be surprised if you choose to eat bad fruit and end up with a tummy ache! These people are blind guides …trying to sell us something. We can end up in ditch.

“But we are certainly not those who are held back by fear and perish; we are among those who have faith and experience true life!” (Right here, right now!) Hebrews 10:39 TPT. How can that be? He did the work for us, purely for LOVE.  Love Himself will lead us into the Ways of Love! There is no room for fear anymore, even if we step out of love – we can repent and go right back in again – because His sacrifice has made our new life possible. What a Saviour! Bye. 👋.