Love

P 3023 The testing times.

/ DVH

John 19:11: ”When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free You or to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

The fear of God is real! Here is an illustration of that reality from the Gospels. Pilate did what we all do from time to time — we question God, and then we chase about looking for a loop-hole because we don’t really want to know His answer.. We are not sure we will like it, and we definitely don’t like the cost! This man was looking for a way to let Jesus go free that wouldn’t throw blame on him … be-cau-se … his wife had told him to be careful….

Pilate’s wife told him to ‘have nothing to do with this good Man’. Pilate was not a complete numb-knuckle, he was  trying to negotiate a way to do both things at once. After all he was the procurator/prefect of Judea – this man had power! He really wanted to release Jesus, listen to his wife, plus try to please the Jews. Fat chance of that! Sadly the Jews had already made up their collective mind. But God had a bigger plan!

This portion of John shows us a wonderful truth about Father God’s dealings with His precious Son — and us. Jesus clearly tells us that nobody can have power over any one of us unless we give it away, or God allows it. Now before you get alienated by that statement, we need to look at Job. Job is greatly underestimated!

“And the LORD said to satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.”So satan went out from the presence of the LORD.” Job 1:7-12. Job loved God, but he feared for his family. and those fears put him squarely within satan’s reach. God did not hurt this man satan did. 

However, it is clear that Father God believed in this man’s ability to endure, or He would not have allowed him to be tested in the first place..so satan went all snarky about God’s blessings on this man’s life. Because our Father is a good, good God and Father, He knew that testing would bring out things in Job that were not there before. He and Job would grow closer – and one of the things that Job grew into was a greater intimacy with Him. Job himself says: “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen You with my own eyes.” Chapter 42, verse 5.

Once we have given our lives and hearts to Jesus, Almighty God is constantly transforming our circumstances, our joys and sorrows, our likes and dislikes to shape us into the image of His Son. He’s God! He can do lots of things at once!! Remember, our destiny is to be Jesus’ bride … it’s far bigger than just going to heaven. The Lord Jesus deserves a bride worthy of His sacrifice for her. That is why our character – our heart toward Him – day by day by day, becomes more and more important. 

This is also why the bible says:  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28. My translation of this verse is this:  nothing can happen to me in my situation – or to you in your situation – that is beyond our Father’s redemptive loving care and transformation. All He requires from His Son’s bride-to-be is that she would yield to His greater wisdom as it is revealed in the bible, plus we have the precious Holy Spirit’s guidance always with us.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3. We can count on the fact that God knows the end from the beginning, and there is nothing that can prevent Him from taking all things—every single thing, and weaving and working them together for our good. This is the way the Apostles lived and worked and spread the Gospel. They believed In their Heavenly Father’s power to redeem bad situations into good. 

Doubt is our enemy. So is carelessness and a lack of love for others, and we dare not doubt His goodness and His faithfulness.  We are transformed from day to day by believing what He has said about WHO we are now, because of Christ’s sacrifice. Let’s not miss the mark and get picky and choosy about being obedient. Meanwhile, the Lord is all wisdom, so we would have to be mighty dumb, or pretty disobedient not to pay attention to the things that are written in His book. If He has allowed a testing time, then He knows you can get through this – the Holy Spirit will walk you through it – ask Him to help you..

We will get stuck if we believe the enemy’s lies that we can’t do, or endure whatever God told us to do. We quite simply cannot afford to believe our feelings over Christ’s life and His testimony. If we mess up and go the wrong way then we repent, turn around and go back and do whatever He asked you to do, the way the Holy Spirit said to do it. 

We are His, and He is ours, and nothing can separate us from His incredible love. Jesus Christ Himself died to release all of us from satan’s power and JESUS LOVES HIS BRIDE!  Keep believing God is good, and turn your eyes away from any and all of the circumstances that drag you under. Ask others to pray for you. When God stretches our faith, our faith will be even bigger on the other side of those testing times. Bye. 👋

P 3022 God’s faithful family.

/ DVH

God’s faithful servants are always up for change, because they choose to trust Him. They relish the opportunity to see the our world afresh through God-given revelations, and renewed spiritual eyes. These people don’t back away from a fight, instead they know WHO WON and that is enough for them. They know how to stand still until the Lord is the victor.

All these faithful people care about, is glorifying Him, not just escaping from hardship or difficulties, because the Lord promises to be with us in trouble. They don’t go looking for hard things, but they won’t back off if that stuff bangs on their door. These people pray for transformation, as well as patience —believing God will answer them. Their prayers are full of praise. They don’t expect their life to be a perfect because they know it has a purpose, and those two things are not always compatible. 

After praying prayers of commitment or holding fast to a promise  —they know there will be a test. They are alert to anything that could blindside them because they know that they are not perfected, but their trust is in Him. They respond to every situation with gratitude. Even the Lord’s discipline in their lives shows these people He loves them: “…because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.” Hebrews 12:6. 

The Lord needs His family to cultivate a very strong intimate connection to the Vine Himself, because we can’t do anything without Him. His faithful people realise His power is made perfect in weak people. So weakness does not surprise or intimidate us – instead we rely upon Him to get us through whatever happens.

God’s people know the battle they are fighting to win is in their OWN heart and mind —it has nothing to do with the other person in front of them. That is the true stance of an overcomer. Of course there will be times when other people will jump on any, or every nerve, especially when life is already difficult… that’s because  satan has no mercy…  Mercy is a love gift from our Father!

The reality is, those people who annoy us, are not attacking us. They are attracted to, and need the light that is IN each one of us. Even though it seems personal, it isn’t. Difficult people are tools in the hands of an angry enemy who knows he cannot win because he has already lost! satan will keep right on throwing hate at us, trying to cement rage, hatred, despair, disappointment, frustration etc. in all of us. We need to live this life AWAKE, rejoicing in the light of everything that Jesus has done for us. Sleepy, half-hearted people can make bad choices. 

God’s people don’t forgive their enemies because it is a nice idea —- we forgive them because we have been given the power to retain their sins. All that means is that everyone can get stuck if we choose to hold on to whatever someone did to us. Prayer for an enemy is powerful prayer. Forget praying for the sun to stand still! We pray for the guy who lords it over us and treats us badly. We pray blessings over the people in our lives who despitefully use us. This kind of prayer opens our eyes to new, deeper realities.

The bible says:“Owe no man anything but love.” Romans 13:8. God’s faithful family choose to live a life of LOVE despite the cost – because they know Love can never fail. Bye 🥰

P 3021 “There is more than one way to skin a cat.”

/ DVH

OK. Don’t freak out. I have not lost my mind, that’s an expression. I don’t secretly engaged in cat-skinning!  EW! That saying simply means: There is more than one way for something to be done. Hopefully the title got your attention. Gird up your girdle Gertie, its gunna be a bumpy ride. 

This world is currently extremely “me-centred” and hedonistic. Today, our society has been forced to make room for all kinds of weird, ugly, and downright disgusting ideas, and it has gone on to legalise them. Some self- expressions are from the pit. However … ”You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”1 John 4:4.Here’s my point for today:  do we believe that or not? 

Without the Lord Jesus in our lives, none of us could ever know who we truly are, or why we are here. Without Him, all we can produce is dissatisfaction, rage and despair. People everywhere are so busy chasing happiness like a lepidopterist chases rare butterflies – it seems like they think that is what this life is about …grabbing happiness where they can.

We know, from the bible, that what these ?alternate? groups think about this life is chock full of sin — but unfortunately the church has taken a bad stance when it comes to God’s POV. We’ve eliminated many people before they’ve had a chance to change their minds. And at the same time the Father of all light is losing HIS beloved children, while we are erroneously operating on the idea that their sin is worse than ours!  Um…even liars end up in the lake of fire! And yes, fibs count – even well intentioned ones.

Everybody’s sin has been paid for.…including Hitler’s and sexual deviants, and let us remember that Jesus Christ overpaid! Read the book. We are concentrating on the wrong bit – other people’s sins, not the people themselves. I know that some churches welcome all sorts of nasty things from the pit, yet others would never let that sort of person darken their doors. And they wear that attitude with misguided pride.

We cling to bits of the scripture like they are our entire life-raft, when God has given us a whole book! And then we thump it over other people’s heads, because …”we know the truth and it has set us free …”  (Let’s please remember that we were not set free to be judgmental and unloving!) …God Himself is the truth that rules everything. The bible is not a private, or public opinion poll. It’s a book about God, and what He wants from His people.

There is room for ALL at the foot of the cross. Let’s at least give any outcasts an opportunity to find out!  God loves them as much as He loves us. We don’t have to become them to love them! In His eyes, there is no grading system to love. He loves us because HE IS LOVE. Who knows what an encounter with Jesus will do in someone else’s life? Pray for that!

But the lost cannot decide if we won’t allow them to find out there is another way to live. We are keeping our own faith supposedly safe at someone else’s cost. And pretty soon, those other people might be our own sons and daughters! Lot lived among people with deviant lifestyles and still maintained love.

We need to aim higher. Almighty God is bigger than I think He is! And He is bigger than my denomination thinks He is. And much much bigger than this world thinks He is!  Here’s the right attitude from Jude V 23: ” Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” Hate the sin, not the sinner … there’s more than one way to skin a cat! Bye.🐈.

P 3020 The heartbeat of faith is love.

/ DVH

You could say that another way – if your faith is alive, it will have a pulse. The bible talks about this subject in an interesting fashion in James 2:14-17, (which you can read for yourself) but I particularly like verse 18: “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith BY my works.” Faith makes itself visible by the way it reacts and the things it does. Love never has a bad day.

Galatians 5:6 states: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love,…”So what we gather from this verse is this:  no expression = no love. Boy, that seems to me to really hit at the heart of what is wrong with our society today! We have become superficial, and we are teaching our kids to be content with superficial things. It is no wonder they are lost! Faith’s heartbeat does not paste on a smile and pretend that something terrible is OK. That’s called deception.

In my country we have a saying: …’some people are all talk and no action.’ And here’s another one…“show us what you’ve got.” If you are rude … and, sadly, Aussies can often seem rude, as well as blunt… the clearest version of that expression is: “put up or shut up.” Sadly, none of the previous statements are all that positive! They mean the person who is speaking to you is looking for substance not just lots of hot, nicely-phrased AIR. Instead of getting insulted, or hurt – start thanking the Lord for exposing places where you are weak. Weak places are a set-up for God’s strength to be perfected.

We Aussies like the sort of people who are the real deal … we can smell a set-up, or hypocrisy a mile off. The thing we’ve learnt after 20+ years on the road is that Australians know Jesus when they see Him, and most of them love Him at first sight. And therein lies the problem with what we call Christianity. We want to be sincere – we mean to be sincere – we try oh so hard to be sincere! But we are trotting about spouting things that make no sense to people who live in the real world. Half the time, I strongly suspect they do not make sense to us either! We nod, and smile at church, and go home as puzzled as we came. A lot of Christian people are so scared of the world around them, that they’ve “pulled their heads in!”  

Many of the saints of God in Australia are in hiding, keeping company with other people who are like them – people who understand the churchified language.They hide in bible studies, prayer meetings, conferences and weekly church. They have a permanent disguise out in the actual world around us. I dunno what the heck we think we are disguised AS … but, in my opinion, all that pretending means we are one step away from not having a pulse at all!  And that is definitely not good.

This next bit sounds like a digression but it isn’t. I’m older, so every now and then we locate the blood pressure machine, and check my blood pressure to make sure it is OK. Meanwhile, because I’m me, then if I’m still talking you can be sure I’m still alive! 

But my point is this: as His Body we need to regularly take note of our spiritual pulse and blood pressure, and check up how long it has been since the last time we shared what we know about Jesus with someone else! Or the last time we  deliberately loved someone – a difficult person, someone we don’t like – using our faith, and spreading His loving kindness all over them? Praying for people is great! Do it. But don’t forget to pray for you!  Ask the Lord what He wants you to do, to show them love – the answer may amaze you!  

Our faith must have a pulse — a heartbeat. No pulse means dead… or nearly dead. The bible clearly teaches us that our faith needs to be continually expressing itself, either through our actions or our words — but most of the time, through both. We don’t have to shove the 12 point plan of salvation at people, all we need to do to keep our faith active, is to stop censoring ourselves, get real – practise repentance — and treat loving the Lord Jesus as part of our everyday life. He’s God! He is not an afterthought! And if you start to think bad thoughts about others – stop! Repent. Ask for His help and keep reminding Him you need it. Be prepared to enter battle over it.

Like I said, it is not just about being all talk, and no action… faith and works go together. So faith goes to help somebody in need, and, at the same time, it tells them that you came because God loves them. Jesus needs to be so much a part of our lives when we are squeezed by bad or scary stuff, only LOVE comes out. We don’t have to have any enemies. Right here, right now – we have the power to genuinely love everyone. Jesus did it! He loved the guy who betrayed Him, and the people who nailed Him to the cross. He didn’t help them do what they did … but He accepted that God was in what was happening and it had a bigger purpose!

Our enemies are our blessing. They show us the holes in our faith and they clearly show us where we lack love. The bible says: “…a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” Matthew 10:36. Now isn’t that a fun thought? The people we love have the most power to hurt us. This is why the love we receive from Him and give away to others has to be supernatural. The heartbeat of our faith is love. No love means our hearts need to be truthfully examined by His word. The Holy Spirit will always help us! Bye, 👋

P 3017 Priorities.

/ DVH

““But whether I live or die is not important, for I don’t esteem my life as indispensable. It’s more important for me to fulfil my destiny and to finish the ministry my Lord Jesus has assigned to me, which is to faithfully preach the wonderful news of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24 TPT.“And yet I will show you the most excellent way.” 1 Corinthians 12:28-31… That way is LOVE! Don’t let how you feel about someone else’s behaviour steal away the joy of serving Him.

There is no point trotting about advertising fabulous spiritual gifts if we do not have love. Love for the Lord, love for our brothers and sisters, and love for the lost. Love is a VERB not a noun. It is an action, not a perception or a feeling. For example … “God so loved the WORLD that He GAVE…”  If we want to be like Jesus then there’s the starting point. Love is not enthusiasm, which runs out at the first sign of pressure. Or even charisma – which falls on its head if someone peeks behind your bullet-proof curtain and finds the real OZ. 

Love is not a feeling, it is the way we deliberately regard and treat others. Many people in the body of Christ do not develop their ministry gift because they get stuck in the enemy’s sticky mire of: “I can’t ever love this or that person. I hate them. I hate what they say, I hate what they do. I even hate what they stand for! If you wait a minute, then I will tell you why I hate them, and then you will hate them too!” That boggy mess is worse than quicksand. It is endlessly self-suffocating.

What if someone looked at YOUR life under the kind of microscope you are applying to others – how would you do? “But but but … you don’t get it, they really are evil and they keep on hurting me.” Actually, I DO get it! I have hard-to- love people in my life too! But I gave up keeping score up of other people’s nasty ways. I gave it up because I decided that I love Jesus far more than I hate them! You can always tell when someone else is stuck in their feelings, reasonability goes right out of the window. They simply must vomit all their yuk over you – because it is so poisonous, even THEY can’t keep it down! 

That stuff will drown you quicker than an anvil tied to your ankle when you have fallen into deep water. It will keep you so busy focussing on the other person’s faults, you cannot even begin to see your own. You’ll hear every sermon wishing they were there because …‘they need to hear this!’ Regularly rehearsing other people’s faults in your head – and even out loud – can easily lead to telling them about what you think you can see. It creates anger, and it’s called … judgment. Nobody needs to go down that nasty little rabbit hole trust me!

The only Person who had a total right to judge each one of us — let us go free. Is this a good time to mention He expects us to do the same for other people? Otherwise we will end up their captives!  Who do we want to serve? The person we hate, who probably hates us, or they are too dumb to know differently – or the Lord Jesus?  It takes a great deal of energy to maintain that kind of hatred and anger. The worst bit about this kind of scenario is that good people get hog-tied into hate, bitterness, resentment, and anger etc. and they can’t even conceive of an exit, because their beloved granddaddy hated those guys too! Now we have a new kind of inheritance – hate and revenge! 

As long as we keep score of the bad things that person does, it will disturb our peace, and we become the other person’s prisoner. Keeping lists is hard work! Chuck that junk in the sea of forgetfulness, where your sins are, and let’s look at what Jesus came to do for us, and in us, and through us instead. He came to set captives free, and give us all life in abundance. That means when we put our dear little head on our pillow we will have a clear conscience. 

Now we are destined to leave behind the sweet smell of Christ – healing, forgiveness and acceptance. We were given that for free from Jesus’ sacrifice, and now we have so much of it, we can give it away. I’ve looked at some people that I quite literally used to run away from, and thought: “You poor schmuck, you can’t help it can you?” I recognised the trap they were stuck in. They think that nasty, ugly person is who they really are! Finding our best selves with His help is a joy-filled way to use our time. Loving someone does not mean you approve of their behaviour. It simply means you are His obedient kid!

I enjoyed the original cartoon movie ‘Mulan,’ where Mulan is fighting the bad guy on the roof and has set him up to get a rocket in his underpants and she says this to herself as she runs away…”get off the roof, get off the roof, get off the roof!”  

My friend. My very dear, dear friend, brother or sister:  “GET OFF THE ROOF!” Any minute now there will be a giant explosion and you will be caught up in it. God is telling you today, you have better priorities. You have places to go, people to meet, things only you can do for His kingdom. And glories to tell about His love and forgiveness … don’t get bogged down in the mud of intolerance and hate. We need your gifts.  Bye. 👋

P 3016 The Kingdom of God is like …

/ DVH

Yesterday, I had the above phrase in my mind. I felt the Lord tell me to look up the scriptures that say … the kingdom of God is LIKE …  … The first thought I had about this subject is that wherever God’s kingdom is present it means He is in charge. So …who rules my life? When we accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord, that means His processes begin, we begin to learn His Ways.

The seed of the life of God within us germinates and inside that seed is the potential for a fully mature tree of righteousness  ‘… that He might be glorified.’  However the growth or unveiling of that seed is a progressive thing. Something we should always seek – first. Maybe we could pray like this: Dear Holy Spirit, Reveal God’s kingdom to me, and for me, as well as through me, today please Lord, Amen.

I noticed that Jesus often described or illustrated His Father’s kingdom by telling His listeners parables, stories. I mentioned one yesterday from Matthew 20. It seems to me that prayerful, meditative reading is one key to unlock the revelation of how His kingdom can rule and reign in each of our lives. Mainly because “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” So “God’s kingdom is not a physical place – but a spiritual reality and a way of living.” (Thank you Google!)

Here’s a brief synopsis of what the kingdom of God is like in the stories Jesus told. The kingdom is like a farmer sowing a seed;  a man hunting treasure;  a woman kneading dough;  a fisherman casting a net;  a man forgiven a debt;  a wedding guest evicted from a wedding because he forgot his jacket. Or unmarried, pure young women waiting to greet the bridegroom;  or a landowner being generous.

Each one of those individual parables provides us with a story and within that story is a revelation – an unveiling – of a much bigger truth. We can let our pastor do all the work, or we can pursue God and His Ways for ourselves. The word ‘find,’ is sometimes used, as well as ‘hidden.’ We see His kingdom through our spiritual eyes using our faith, and we go on reading to find something to obey. The kingdom of God gives us a new way of thinking which leads us into a new way of living.

“Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows—he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain.”Mark 4:26-33.

I think the Lord used the illustration of something hidden and ordinary because that intimates there will be a revealing of something unexpected, so a revelation is necessary. When God gives us a revelation those new thoughts rise up from our hearts, into our heads and we begin to think and act differently. What He says becomes our reference point, taking preference over what we think, or whatever we think we already know. One day we are reading away, and suddenly the thing we’ve stared at for ages, not only makes sense – it jumps off the page at us. 

Because this is His Grace in action we have nothing to contribute to this process of growth, just our willing obedience, and love for Jesus Himself. Often this stuff happens when we are not even looking! In His kingdom a single seed produces more seeds. So the kingdom of God is like the potential to change, digested and applied. Bye. 👋.

P 3013 Our God is incredibly generous.

/ DVH

When the Lord comforts us, He is also giving us something we can pass on to someone else who is in need. Almighty God is so incredibly, over-the-top generous, He doesn’t only give us what we need, He gives us more than enough, so we have plenty to give way!!

“All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 TPT. I’m a conduit, a channel. You are one too – all of God’s children are conduits of what He has given us.The secret to thriving in His Ways is not to own anything! I don’t just mean that literally, I mean whatever we have is always available to help someone else. Time, love, compassion, faith etc… as well as practical things.

We give away what we have already been given, because sharing is now part of our new nature. We don’t have to squirrel stuff away for another day, because we already know that:“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.“ 2 Peter 1:3. As the bible says what we have is: “…pressed down and running over…” This means we will always have more than enough! We simply have to be flexible and divide between our needs and wants. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1. God loves His kids. Each one of us is precious to Him – He covers, guides and protects us.

We get comfort from Him, through other people, and through His Word, plus other people’s prayers for us – and then we give it away. I have found that right along with comfort we also get “hope” when ours has started to wobble and get wonky under duress. The next time something dastardly happens to you, instead of hunting about trying to find Him, just remind yourself that He is right next to you. The bible says that like this: “He ALWAYS comes alongside us …” That means we can bank on it. Don’t feel around to see if it is true, remember Peter — he got out of the boat and stepped onto the water, and LET GO, and then he did the impossible. 

Believe God is with you because He is. If your difficult situation has not gone away, then He knows that together you and He can get through it. Ask Him to show you the way through. Some things are meant to be endured with patience because that’s how you get the fruit of long-suffering love. We cannot afford to consult our feelings when the ceiling of our life just fell in. Our feelings will react. It’s normal.  Read the book – Jesus had feelings! But … they were not in charge of His responses. 

The society we live in makes feelings way more important than they ought to be. In years gone by people elevated the brain. It seemed that knowing stuff was going to help us through any crisis. Information proved to be a dud, because our knowledge kept changing along the way! If we elevate our feelings over our faith we are missing out on His generous flow of wisdom and comfort that constantly comes our way. God wants us to win. Everything He has done is to help us win in this battle called ‘life.’

We are the people of His Spirit, so feelings and knowledge take a secondary place in our lives. They are still there – after all we are not stoics, beating our feelings into submission! We simply relinquish how we feel and whatever has happened, to the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us to pick up and wear the yoke He wore. His yoke was obedience to His Father in every circumstance. He saw the “Yes” of God and He saw the “No” and the result was the same – He continued to glorify God. We simply can’t afford to let our feelings stay in control of our lives or reactions. Cry if you have to, yell if you have to, but yell out to God for His help to walk through whatever has happened. 

We have been exhorted, with His help, to grow suitable, sustainable fruit… the fruit of the Spirit called “self-control.” That fruit grows in good times and in bad, as we ask for His help to watch over our inner lives.. As we yield our will to Him, and follow His instructions from the book, we prepare the ground for good fruit. Fruit takes time, so we need to be ready to persevere. That allows His fruit in us to ‘set.’ The very first year our mango tree appeared to have fruit, it got all these happy little nubs on it and we got so excited … fruit at last … then they all fell to the ground! The fruit had not set – it had not been successfully pollinated. God will pollinate our feeble attempts at faith, with more faith, because He is generous!

Our knowledge of Who He is, and the Way He does things, needs to be established in an ongoing fashion in our hearts, otherwise we will continue to flounder about like a fish out of water. We were born for this life. He chose us to be His, before the foundation of the world. Did you get that? He picked us to be His children before there were trees, stars, oceans, dry land, good food to eat! And Father God is incredibly generous, He will give us everything we need for a Godly life. So we can complete the works He sent us to do. If you don’t got what you think you need, then you don’t need it! Believe in your Father’s generosity – He believes in you. Bye. 👋

P 3012 Here’s a good aim.

/ DVH

And a great scripture for today: “Don’t stop! Keep on singing! Make His Name famous! Tell everyone every day how wonderful He is. Give them the good news of our great Saviour. Take the message of His glory and miracles to every nation. Tell them about all the amazing things He has done.” Psalms 96:2-3 TPT. 

So here is our friend David again, prophetically declaring the praise and person of Christ and His divine message of salvation. That man blows my mind! I love the way David operates, he comes from a place of active devotion.  Wherever we go, hubby and I want to tell the people we meet that God Himself sent us, and then we tell them how much Jesus loves them!

However, in today’s crazy society talking about our precious Saviour can be difficult to do. Always remember when the truth turns up, and the truth is IN YOU so the darkness wants to flee! Praise is more than singing on Sunday – it is a way of life. That’s why we need to come from the place of living in His love – nobody ran away from Jesus – not even once! He didn’t have to chase anyone, they ran after Him!

Today more than ever, with the Holy Spirit’s help and prompting, it is up to us as believers to make His Name great. To me that means He is as much a part of my thoughts and conversations as my husband, kids, grandkids. friends and church family! The bible clearly says: “Taste and see that the Lord is good…” — I’ve always thought that means if someone takes a bite out of me, all they should get is a mouthful of Jesus! Not that I have achieved that goal yet … but I press ON! Why? Because we all have a high calling and that calling is more than just words, it is a way to live. We live to illustrate the life that is in us, daily.

We may look like everyone else, but now we are executors reading out Christ’s will. That’s why the bible is called the NEW and the OLD testament.  A testament is a will, a legal document. Now here’s a good time to give thanks that we were born on this side of Calvary!! Jesus’ Will includes healing, restoration to God, restoration of human relationships, grace, mercy, goodness, kindness …etc. That means we get to tell every human being we meet that God is not mad at them, Jesus Christ died in their place and God can’t wait to meet them, in person!! 

The thing we have found is that this life continually presses in on everyone – misdirecting and distracting us with sorrow, suffering, misunderstandings and adverse events and grumpy other people. We can waste our time waiting for someone else to apologise to us, or to understand us — but the reality is – if YOU AND I can simply introduce His Grace into any conflict. His grace will transform everyone and everything. Like the clouds in the sky which can seem to hide the ever-present, ongoing presence of the sun. It is part of our new life to show and tell others, that the Son of all righteousness died in their place too. He’s not gone from this world, now He is inside His kids.

I think the awful things we daily face can be covered by “Love suffers long …”  The reality is, I stop focussing on what you said, or I said, or whatever happened, or even defending myself. If you misunderstand me, and I deliberately focus on talking to the Holy Spirit and ask Him what to do next. He knows the way through everything. But that does not always mean He will vindicate me. It simply means He knows the way through whatever unhappy incident I have been trapped in. In any situation, the Lord Himself needs to win—NOT us!

We can fight so hard to be understood, instead of fighting the huge amount of temptations we are assaulted by that bring out human selfishness. So as we go, we live listening for our next instruction from Him. Here’s something that works for me – I stop assuming that other grumpy guy wants to destroy me and throw myself upon Jesus and His Grace. When I do that I am letting Him fight for me. Who wants to make a guess about that outcome? Everybody wins. Even if the other guy continues to be mean, they are fighting Jesus now, not me. I’m safe, hidden in Him, spectating!

I just keep handing everything back to the Lord, then having done all … I stand. I wait to see the goodness of God take over and when it does, I let Him keep building it through me and my words. Here is a tip that helps me to make His Name famous in my little corner of this world …start speaking kindly about, and toward, other people – no matter how they act toward you. Find something good about them and say that. Make it the way you think about them. Live your life so other people will end up praising Him!

In Psalm 96 David’s exuberance toward God Himself is almost explosive. This man had honed his focus so his whole POV came from a place of praising God and continually focussing on what the Lord had done and was going to do. Like us, David had not met Jesus in the flesh. He simply lived the life he had to make God famous. Praising God is how we live, not just what we sing on Sunday. Now there’s a good aim. Bye. 👋 

P 3011 He is a Merciful Father.

/ DVH

“Lord, You’re so kind and tenderhearted and so patient with people who fail You! Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness. You don’t look at us only to find our faults, just so that You can hold a grudge against us.” Psalms 103:8-9 TPT. This Psalm was written 1100 years before Jesus was born. Imagine that! Just spend a minute drinking in the knowledge of Grace that exists in David’s words. He had such a clear, wonderful picture of Who God is. Almighty God was this man’s singular focus. Not sin. Not what he did, or what I did, or even what some Philistine did! His focus was on God Himself. David knew God and His mercy so clearly.

It would be an utter tragedy if we became so obsessed with our failures, that we cannot see, or imagine the Niagara Falls of our Father’s Grace falling, falling, falling into our lives, day after day after day. Let’s always remember to thank Him for it! He’s such a good good merciful Father! We must continually chase after Him, longing to know more about His goodness and mercy toward us, until it fills our thoughts and eyes. If we look at our failures, we will end up obsessing over them and letting those things rule us. That is that kind of stuff that makes people hide from God.

What we need is balance. The ability to see His mercy-in-action in our own lives and yet not presume on it.  To do that we rely upon what the bible says and the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance. His singularity and purity of mind and heart is like our compass, pointing us to true north. So we press on hoping to be more like David, he treasured our God with so much passion. Let’s leave our sinful attitudes and actions at the foot of the cross and praise God He didn’t given up on us!

The letters in the Epistles were written so we can understand the comprehensive everydayness of God’s divine intervention into our lives. Like the people who followed Him then, we lay aside the weights that try to attach themselves, and keep thanking Him for His goodness. Always remembering we are never ever going to deserve anything He has done for us. The pressure to perform is a weight. These saints knew, firsthand, that they could not have done what was done without our Father’s Divine Love, plus His incredible intervention. They marvelled at what they were allowed to see and take part in – their joy, suffering, miracles and troubles. 

That’s the starting point for each one of us, giving thanks that He loves us. We cannot move past that. Then we will begin to understand our role in His plan and receive power from Him to do the works He has prepared for us to do before we ever arrived into this world. I like to cultivate, fertilise and weed the seed beds of my life with His totally engaged oversight. When God puts His finger on something, then it is important and it needs to become a priority … not a postponement. He does this with loving mercy, not accusation.

I often think about all those other people-today-who-don’t-know-Him-yet. The people who worship so-called gods that have no power to help their followers to change the very things that have driven them to find someone, or something, greater than themselves in the first place! And, how I love the Lord Jesus so much for coming here and illustrating what LOVE looks like in a Person. 

Mercy is a greatly underrated virtue, today. Many people think it means we go soft on someone who has terrible attitudes and actions. Actually, mercy means we don’t kill them for what they’ve done, we forgive them instead. But mercy is not about standing against a wall for someone else’s target practice – that’s giving that person the opportunity to abuse Grace. It is not just bad for you – it is bad for them! Grace was expensive. We need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to help us live in it and administer it. Jesus persevered with those who persecuted Him, but He did not excuse their behaviour. Mercy is no-one’s free ticket to punish someone else.

Our God is full of mercy:  “… that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favour with God].”2 Corinthians 5:19. If you want to know more about what His mercy looks like in action – read the book. Bye for today, 👋.

ps For those who have asked about our trip: on this trip we gave away— nearly a hundred blankets. Plus donated tinned food, toothpaste, deodorants, baby clothes, baby bottles, nappies, toys, handmade bags, children’s books, bookmarks, pens, paintings, thank you cards, blocks of chocolate for the maids, prophetic words, plus nearly 300 bibles. That’s approx. 678 things in 8 days. We could have given away so much more, but our car was stuffed full, and we tied more to the roof! We had countless conversations talking about what we believe – many of the people we spoke to, wept. 

There are governmental agencies doing their best, but the funds are incredibly low for the sheer volume of misplaced, abused and over-looked people out here in the country. We met a worker in Nanango who had been a police officer for years. She had to give it up because of post-traumatic stress disorder. She looked at us with eyes filled with tears and said:“I couldn’t take the dead and abused children anymore. It nearly finished me. I couldn’t even talk to my husband about it for a year.”  Please pray for her, now she helps the homeless – you cannot stop a mercy gift and she has one!

The church needs the kind of mercy that stops seeing broken people as just someone we are meant to harvest for God’s kingdom and purposes, and simply see suffering human beings instead. 🙏

P 3009 Escorting God’s will to Earth.

/ DVH

“Great God, I want to partner with You in bringing the will of heaven to earth, I stand with You, God, and I want what You want. As I discover Your heart through drawing near to You, I can’t help but be changed by the power of Your love.  As I catch glimpses of Your desires, I get to join in with You, calling down Your desires in my life and beyond.

Have Your way, Lord, in me.  Transform me from the inside out so that I can reflect the glory of Your mercy in my daily life.  As my faith grows with the boldness of my prayers, I know that I will see You answer in the provision of Your power. There is nothing that You cannot do! 

May I have kingdom perspective and never settle for the world’s accounts of reality. You are the Creator, and You can do all things. I want to see Your miracle power doing the impossible in the earth in response to the cry of Your children. Thank You for partnership.  What a privilege it is! … AMEN! From Prayers from the Throne Room, by Brian Simmons.

I wanted to include this excerpt from Brian Simmons in my blog today, because what he has said is so challenging …this is our aim. Our great quest. But we don’t have to wait for it to overtake us, or fall on us — instead we quite simply surrender into it, every single day, and let our everyday lives teach us how to live the way Jesus did. 

Personally, I have found plenty to go on with! There are heaps of applications in Matthew 5! I especially like living this life “poor in spirit” (v3) – Jesus calls being poor in spirit a blessing! Boy that’s upside down to the way the world around us thinks. But when we are poor in spirit and we cannot manufacture or push ourselves to do whatever He asks, we are rich. Why is that so? Because we have a Helper and He knows all the answers! He helped Jesus live the life God chose for His Son, and He knows exactly how to cultivate God’s Grace in our lives so we can live for Him too! 

That rude person in the shops who snarls at you is not there to annoy you – they are most probably in pain. Even a dog will snap at you if it is in pain. We need to leave behind the idea that everything in this life is about us, or meant to go our way, and GET REAL INSTEAD. Human beings can be so self-centred these days, it is terrifying to watch. The thought that everything and everyone is here to make my little life happy, is not Godly … or practical!! I have to remind myself often, that I gave my life away!

If we want to be the people who escort God’s will into this world, then something or someone will have to change and it won’t be HIM! Gird up your girdle Gertie, it’s gunna be a bumpy ride!! The bible says:“I am God I change NOT!” Malachi 3:6. Hmm. Not much room for an argument there eh?  Here’s another scripture to broaden our outlook — “Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?” Amos 3:3. Um, the point is, we need to agree with HIM, HE is not obligated to agree with US. To find out what we all agree about we will need to know the book! How do you think His law gets written on our hearts? When it costs us to obey it – that will carve it on the inside..

He loves to answer our prayers. That’s called Grace, and Mercy, and compassion. He loves each one of us so much, He longs to draw us closer to Himself … Matthew 23:37. But we are making the same mistake the Israelite people made, when we see Father God as merely a benefit to my life. Instead of understanding that the One Who made the stars and everything else, loves me so personally He wants to walk with me.

All the time, every single day. Most of us spend our lives looking for one other person who just might want to be that close to us… And our Magnificent God stands silently and patiently by, waiting, longing to comfort, teach and transform us all into a fit Bride for His Son… HIS precious one-of-a-kind SON! What an honour we have. 

If we want to escort His Presence into every single situation and place we go, we will need to learn to live our lives in agreement with the things He loves. I have to be honest, we do not have the capacity to make ourselves into that kind of person – most of us start out way too narcissistic for that! But He freely gives Grace to those who know they need it. He extends mercy toward us when we fall short of the example that Jesus set for us. And He is compassionate, because He already knows we are glorified dust.

Our God has to be true to His nature. The more I see Him at work in my life, the more I fall in love with Him, and the more I love Him, the clearer my heart mirror reveals His goodness to other people. I am a reflection to other people of the love of God, whether I know it or not. Whether I act like it or not. Looking deeply into His eyes of love – as well as looking through them – will capture anyone’s heart. I have seen total goodness, the purest love of all … in the way He loves people. 

Our aim is to reflect His goodness into this life —so others can see Him too. No biggie eh?!!  Because of what Jesus did, sin is conquered, and permanently out of the way. Now we focus on the real work, living this life so close to Him we can hear and identify His heartbeat.  Bye for today! 👋

Heavenly Father, “Manifest Your kingdom realm, and cause Your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven.” Amen. Matthew 6:10 TPT.