Love

P 3468 Check out of lukewarm!

/ DVH

“No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the One who enlisted him.” 2 Timothy 2:4. 

“Sow seeds of righteousness for yourselves, and you will reap a harvest of God’s unending love. Break up the hard, fallow ground of your heart. For it is time to seek YAHWEH’s favour until He comes to pour out righteousness on you like falling rain.” Hosea 10:12 TPT.

We remain in His teaching when we live the way Jesus would. The bible tells us there is no room for lukewarmness, yet that very state is almost normal today. We have excuses for the way we live that are like the Tower of Babel … they reach up to the sky. But the only thing that is meant to reach that high is our praises! It seems we’ve chosen to forget that we died the day we came to Christ. Dead people have no reasonable excuses, they can’t defend themselves, or criticise others. They can’t do anything!

We can’t afford to wait for this kind of passion to overtake us – our new life in Christ relies upon us choosing to mature and taking every bit of what He said seriously. Nobody else can make us do that – we must do it voluntarily. The thing is, let’s be aware that we can maintain a perfectly even, cheerful outside attitude, while inside we are seething with anger and keeping count of other people’s supposed trespasses against us! Actors count on their ability to deceive their audience with their performance, but we are not actors.

It is up to us as individuals to find and break up the hard fallow ground inside us. Those things are — ‘areas that have become cold, unyielding, and closed off due to old habits, pride, emotional walls, or unresolved pain.’ (Google.) The Holy Spirit loves to help us identify areas where our hearts lack true Godly compassion and mercy. Let’s choose to remember that if the eye suffers, the whole body does. 1 Corinthians 12:26. We no longer have any claim to any kind of judgment, dead people don’t.

Here is a quick test to see if you have anyone in your life that you really can’t stand, and you want to avoid them like the plague. Check out your state of generosity and love levels toward that person. Generosity takes our ‘temperature,’ and we can often ignore it. We are told to ‘do good to those who despitefully use us …’ sadly, most of the time we can settle for appearances, or avoidance, or living our lives removed from others with token, spoken care. Many people have moved from one church to another because they felt lonely in the crowd. Husbands and wives end up treating each other like opposing forces, yet they appear fine on the outside.  

Because of what the bible says, I know that Jesus has redeemed the old me, and the new me would not dream of flinging bad stuff at you! A mature person knows that any differences  are present because that other person is unique … so they don’t withhold love, or doing good to whoever crosses their path. They don’t live with a level of deception that pretends all is well when it is not, and they don’t blame others for their own shortcomings. Instead they find places of agreement, and ‘lose’ the bad memories under the blood of Jesus, and deliberately choose to remember instances where love prevailed.

Breaking up hard ground starts with acknowledgement, repentance, plus reparation … We are even prepared to take the whole blame when it is obvious to you that you have done nothing. Humility thrives. These people care more about winning their brother than winning some squabble! They don’t justify their own behaviour, and blame someone else for what they have chosen to say or do. Humility hates separation and will do everything in its power to repair things. Here’s a great incentive – Jesus lives in each one of us, when we are unkind to each other we are being unkind to Him. Let’s not care about who did or said what to whom, and choose to care about unity instead.

“Your people (that’s God’s own people) will rebuild what has long been in ruins, building again on the old foundations. You will be known as the people who rebuilt the walls, who restored the ruined houses.” Isaiah 58:12. Did you get that? Rebuilding ruins … those things that have been broken for years. But then you, together with the Holy Spirit, choose to rebuild on the foundation of what Christ said and did. We’ve made the mistake of thinking that we must agree with others for relationships to be restored. Instead we agree that other people, whoever they are, are worth the effort because Jesus died for them too. 

We are now “in the service of our King.” That doesn’t ‘turn off’ when we are tired, fed up, or even ill. Let’s not forget what Jesus did for us, and GAVE to us. Otherwise we might forget the reason the Holy Spirit is here with us. He gives us the power to overcome in spite of our difficulties. He isn’t just with us so we can feel good, blessed or comfortable – His sole task is to make us, with our co-operation … like Christ. His goal is transformation, not petting us and patting us so we feel happy, vindicated and okay. 

Like soldiers who obey orders, now we live our lives in obedience to the Lord’s will, His way. There is no room for lukewarm when we daily choose to live like that. Bye. 👋. 

P 3466 Our new life is an adventure.

/ DVH

Spending time with the Lord can quite easily become just a habit. It is a good habit … BUT… the reality is, I don’t choose to spend time with my husband out of habit. I love him, and I enjoy his company, plus I also totally appreciate the way he looks at this life. We need to see our Heavenly Father and think of Him that way too, because Jesus Himself instructed us to call Him “our Father” in Matthew 6:9-13, and Luke 11:2-4. You can’t do better than that! He dearly loves each one of us. What more can we ask for?

In Genesis it accentuates that ‘God Himself is our shield and great reward.’ So let’s think about a shield and what it does. First of all it means the Lord is between us and trouble. Nobody should hold a shield at arm’s length, away from their body, and expect it to protect them! A shield is meant to cover your whole body, all the vital parts, Father God wants and needs to be that close to us. Over in Ephesians 6:16 it explains what the shield it is for. “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” We put out all kinds of fires in our lives as we choose to hold up our faith-shield of His love for us.

Our faith in His Word and His goodness will always be our shield. We can’t manage this new life of ours without it, so trying  to live any other way is folly. I’m a literalist … When God tells me I am safe behind the shield He gave me … I believe Him. What He says, in His book, is my point of faith. That is based on the fact that I know our God does not lie. The things that are sent by the enemy to maim or kill us, need to crash into this shield, before they ever get near to us.

Behind us and around us stand our brothers and sisters. When we are together we are a tightly knit army. We all have a God-given shield, along with other defensive and protective things, also listed in Ephesians 6, these things are designed to keep us safe and active. I’m not big on this thing means that … blah blah blah. I like to take the Lord God at His Word. I believe the bible was written for dumb people – and I know I ARE one.

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Genesis 15:1 NKJV. “My God is my protection and with Him I am safe.” Psalm 18:2. It seems to me that we have a quorum – here are a whole lot of verses which say that Father God’s desire is to protect me, the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus agree with Him, and I join in with “YES!” Done deal.

“Lord, in my place of weakness and need, I ask again: Will You come and help me? I know I’m always in Your thoughts. You are my true Saviour and hero, so don’t delay to deliver me now, for You are my God.” Psalms 40:17 TPT. Amen. Often our basest desire is to protect ourselves from other people’s barbs, and perhaps that kind of response has been cultivated from our own personal experiences. You know, other people don’t always mean to poke you in the ribs with a dagger, maybe you stumbled and fell on it by mistake, and you have misunderstood their motivation. Good place to stop and think.

Let’s err on the side of caution, and give our brothers and sisters in Christ the benefit of the doubt. If we don’t learn to do that, or practise forgiving even the deliberate jabs we can snidely aim at each other — then we will become an army of ONE. Father God will still be my protection –  but when we act like cranky numpties and get mad at the brethren – we lose the protection on each side of us, in the front and at the rear. An arrow can kill you just as dead from the side or behind. Ya might want to think on that too for a bit. It could be a good time to mend some bridges.

Just like knowing my husband has been a huge reward in my life, so knowing Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, climbs way off the charts. Knowing our Heavenly Father gives me access to all kinds of things I can never ever know on my own, but now I have His book, revealing Who He is to me. This book features a different perspective that changes depending on my viewing angle and circumstances.

The bible is like a prism, one way we see red, another blue, the colours are inexhaustible and so are the possibilities. He is our precious Helper, He knows exactly what I need to see when I am reading it. And He will teach us and help us translate what we read into comfort, instructions, deeper meanings and application for ME – just because I asked Him to help me. I read my bible believing He wants to speak to me!

Father God Himself will always be our greatest reward, so now we have daily access to an abundant love that does not depend on our actions. SomeBody Else freely and gladly paid for us to have this freedom, plus our ongoing knowledge of His kind of love, depends on our willingness to interact with Him. Because my sin before Him is forgiven and forgotten, I can relate freely, honestly without fear of rejection – in His eyes that is a done deal. Father God is my shield, shelter, my great reward, my ability to see further than I can with my own eyes. 

He is the supplier of everything I will ever need. This life is an adventure with Almighty God, you never ever know what He will do next. Take the time to read the Old Testament, if you happen to need proof. Bye.👋.

P 3463 Be really yourself…

/ DVH

…not the you, you wish you were! … Something has shifted in hubby and I as we’ve been travelling all over the country-side giving away bibles and stuff. We started out being traditional, and along the way, a whole lot of formal stuff fell off, and now we simply go to meet people, so we can love on them whenever and wherever we can. Before this adventure, it was like we had two ‘hats,’ one was for church and the other was out there… 

The thing is, what happened the other day with my young friend showed me how easy it can be to miss the main point. Especially when we have a mindset that separates people into categories, saved and unsaved, I think this is part of a mistake I’ve been making. I’ve learnt that my first priority is to love God, then others. So I asked myself what if I took the saved and unsaved categories out of my thinking and just saw people? Perhaps, as Christians, we are more honest and open with the people who love Jesus, than we are with the man in the street. My thought for today is …WHY? Is Christianity meant to be some kind of secret society, where you can’t get in if you don’t know the handshake?

Actually the bible says that Jesus loved the world so much He died for all of us, which actually means we are all in the same boat! Some of us have recognised the One Who saved us, and others haven’t heard about Him, or met Him yet. The difference between committed Christians, and the people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet, is simply a matter of who has received this revelation and who hasn’t.

We are all loved equally by our Heavenly Father. But for years we’ve kind of hidden behind our church doors and played the ‘we-are-the-nice-people’ game. That game had a false finish line, and to join in people had to come to know Jesus in a pre-prescribed packaged fashion. But when I decided to see this world from His point of view, I realised there will always be room for one more … even in the last minutes of His life, Jesus made room for one more! Our lives need to be lived in such a way that we are an invitation, telling everyone Who Jesus is, what we know about Him, without any stress or strain.

The reason we are asked by the Lord to tell everyone, is because we don’t know who will say yes and who will say no … like that rich young man from yesterday. That means I will say the same kind of thing to a murderer, that I would to the little old lady down the road. The good news is, Jesus died to save all of us from everything bad we ever did, and the next step is to ask Him to do that for you. It is not just about memorising a prayer of commitment, it is about living the life. We give up the way we currently think and choose to learn how God thinks – by reading His book, listening to Him and walking with Him.

Until we choose to live by His Grace only, we can never completely understand exactly what Christ did for us. And the plainer and more normal we are when we speak to others, the better it is for those who know nothing. I think choosing to take the time to digest what God says, by obeying Him, is the first step. Then what He said will come out of me, the way I’d say it. It’s not another Gospel, it’s the same Gospel, as it is lived out, from day to day, in my life. My life becomes His witness. I can’t have the whole picture and neither will you – that’s because in the Body, I am an eyebrow and maybe you are an elbow –  so our viewing platform is different.

Paul said “follow me as I follow Christ,” he didn’t say: ‘follow me the way I follow Peter or John.’  Christ was everything to Paul. Whether this man was in jail, out of jail, birthing churches, leading individuals to Jesus, or trying to remember who he had baptised and who he hadn’t! BTW, there is a really cute conversation about that in 1 Corinthians 1:14-16. He couldn’t really remember what he’d done, because for Paul, all that mattered was that he preached the gospel! 

I have an important reason for rattling on about this yesterday, and today. I strongly feel it is urgent that we all stop playing the ‘my church is better than your church’ game. Just because someone has 3,000 people, that does not make them a better minister than the guy who has 20. I like the way Paul says it: ‘I’m following Jesus and you need to follow me the same way I follow Him!’ 1 Corinthians 11:1-15. Paul is talking about his devotion to Christ as well as asking us to take what he wrote seriously.

“Put into practice the example of all that you have heard from me or seen in my life and the God of peace will be with you in all things.” Philippians 4:9 TPT. When I read these two scriptures I realised what a mighty statement Paul was making. It is a great aim to have in our daily lives, and the very essence of what our new life should look like. Father God does not want another Paul, he totally fulfilled his mission in his lifetime. He wants you to be you … and do whatever you do as you simply follow Jesus.

If you follow Jesus where you are, and I do it where I am, then we have doubled our possibilities. Not everyone likes or wants to hear what I have to say, but the person who does not understand me, may understand everything, when you say it. I recommend telling others what Jesus has done in your life and then leave the Holy Spirit to do what He does best – convict and convince people. Tell them how you walk with Him, day by day. Be real! Be the you that loves Jesus and still makes mistakes. People love real. Bye. 👋

P 3462 Wouldn’t that blow your mind?

/ DVH

The other day we had someone in their early twenties come to visit us. We were talking about something terrible that happened to this person last week. Their situation was both frightening and dangerous. so they were overwhelmed and afraid. Then the Lord said something to me that totally blew my mind — He told me to tell this young lady to hand those things that were too hard for her over to Him. He said: “Tell her to do it like this.”…

“She needs to treat her burdens like a footballer would treat a football, (she’s a mad football supporter). She can handpass any balls of trouble and heartache that come at her over to Me, right after it comes at her.” 🤯 I said: “Um.” (I say UM a lot!) “Would now be a good time to mention she definitely doesn’t know You yet?”  Boy there are definitely times when the Lord really rocks my Casbah. I’m older, I can easily get set in one way of thinking instead being open to new possibilities. Because right after that interchange the Holy Spirit simply said: “Why not?”

I didn’t have an answer. The more I thought about it, the more I realised I had an odd mindset, that said you can only have all of His benefits after you’ve signed on the dotted line and given your life to Jesus. I had relegated the Lord’s benefits and help to Christians in prayer lines etc. That’s when I thought about the Lord Jesus, and what He did when He was ministering and teaching.

Of course then I immediately saw how wrong I have been! He told all kinds of people all kinds of things and they didn’t all follow Him. The Lord once told a rich young man that he should sell everything he had and come and follow Him. You know that was an enormous step of faith for someone who simply asked a question?! This particular true story is in the bible in 3 different places.

Here’s what it says in Matthew 19:17-22 “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honour your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

Hmmm…. it seems like there is a big tendency in the Body of Christ to tell stories like this one without looking hard at their implications! That was a very big ask for a small conversation, but Jesus honed right in upon the real issue for this young man. Once He told a young woman about her past and a whole village was saved! Another time as He was going to raise a little girl from the dead, He accidentally healed a women who was crawling along behind Him, trying to reach His coat.

Then I had another big thought: maybe in a very well-intentioned way we kind of try to market Jesus into a package deal, because we want other people to make a commitment to Him. Our motivation is splendid, but  … where’s that in the book?? It says help people and TELL the world, not market Him. The whole idea of making Jesus Christ appealing, is appalling! Yeah. That’s when I realised I was nurturing a wrong mindset and repented. 

Back to my guest. I simply explained to her that she should pick up that negative experience and throw it like a football at Jesus because He wants to carry it for her instead. “I can do that!” she said smiling. After that the Lord dropped this other verse into my heart, from Hebrews 11:6. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” If and when she does what the Lord said to her to do, she will meet that criteria in Hebrews 11. Think about it. 

We spend a whole lot of time trying to fit Jesus into other people’s lives instead of using our faith, and talking about Him normally, wherever we go. The thing is, clubs have secret passwords and rules, but, praise God – the Body of Christ has a far broader canvas to paint on. Jesus never didn’t do same thing with a different person, twice. I think we need to meet the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet where they are, and show them Jesus’ love however HE wants to do it. 

The Lord Jesus talked to different people in all kinds of unusual and different ways, and situations. He caught their attention because He knew what was going on in their lives! I believe we cannot afford to overlook these seemingly ordinary, but varied supernatural events, as we follow Him. Our part in other people’s lives is to be a vessel that allows others to ‘… taste and see that the Lord is good.’ Especially because the Lord Himself did it first. He simply responded to whatever situation the person in front of Him was facing. 

Yet again, I have become convinced that the use of a Word of knowledge or a Word of Wisdom is powerful in its effects toward others. Forget marketing — that depends on your budget — listen to Him! He can tell you what He wants that other person to know about Him, and how to do it. That will blow everyone’s mind. Good! Our minds are all together too stodgy in the first place. Bye 👋

P3460 Trying is out, doing is in.

/ DVH

Following Christ is not about trying hard to find the will to do what He said … it is about doing it. I hear so many sincere people telling me that they are trying to please the Lord but it’s too hard. Trying means you are simply attempting to do something — in other words — trying includes the possibility of failure. To DO something means you launch yourself out into the action hoping God Himself will catch you. Don’t try — DO.  Don’t try for instance, not to gossip, or criticise others, close your mouth! Let’s not let any immediate feelings of impossibility or failure discount your ability to do what He said.

So we don’t try not to watch movies that create anger, or access sensuality in us – turn them off.  It’s dumb to allow the wrong kind of thoughts to sit in your head. Those things are leading you down an inevitable pathway, to all kinds of stuff that will steal your peace and make you hate yourself for failing. We can’t fail – Jesus did all the work for us! He conquered sin and death. That’s love. Let’s remind ourselves daily, how much the Lord loves us. Did you wake up today? 🤪 That means God believes in you. You have another opportunity to choose to change – some people didn’t wake up. Make the time to sit with Him and let His endless unconditional love minister to you, then go out and do what He tells you to do.

Let’s look at Matthew 14, and what happened to Peter, as he learnt that God can and will make a way! Verses 18-30:  “As soon as the meal was finished, He insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while He dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, He climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night. Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared to death. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror. But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s Me. Don’t be afraid.” Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really You, call me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come ahead.” 

Peter didn’t just ASK for help … you and I can’t just stand there waiting for Jesus to come and fix things – there’s no active faith in that! Faith has substance, in other words you can see it. Instead, Peter acted on what the Lord said! Jesus said, “Come,” and Peter actually had to climb over the edge of a perfectly good boat, and start walking on the water. That’s faith! That’s what it looks like. Faith is obedience in action. Peter kept his eyes on Jesus and kept right on walking. He only failed when he took his eyes off the Lord. Keep your eyes on Jesus! … BTW, failure is not the end of the world because Jesus took that to Calvary too.

Here’s my advice: find out what the Lord says about that thing that you are struggling with, and act on it! Do something. We are only failing in some areas because we are leaving the things we need to do ourselves, to Him. We are not puppets, He will not make us. He will show us the way and help us, but we will have to decide to act differently, and then do something about it, using our faith. If you have trouble with swearing, stop. Seriously. Don’t believe that voice in your head that tells you, you can’t. YOU … “can do all things through Christ Who strengthens YOU.” So when you feel weak, ask Him for strength, and … whack your hand over your mouth!

I’ve learnt to do stuff like that all the time. If the Holy Spirit tells me to do something, then I start moving – despite the fact that I know I can’t do most things easily – it has now become an automatic response. Especially when I get grumpy. We all get angry sometimes, but the thing is … don’t stay there, ask the Lord to help you. Our faith is meant to be operating all the time. It is not just an emergency stop button on a runaway train. It’s the way we live now. ”For in Him we live and move and have our being.’  As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’” Acts 17:28. 

We are wrestling with our own will when we feel like we can’t do this or that. Jesus died so we don’t have to do anything anymore. Now we have the freedom to choose. Just because we don’t like some choice or other, that does not invalidate the fact that we actually have one! Let’s turn that around, when we want to do something we know is bad for us, other people can’t stop us. That’s what our will looks like in operation. We simply can’t live a life of faith, and indulge ourselves at the same time. Nor can we say to the Lord: “Thy will be done …” in our prayers, when we know full well that we only do what He wants, when and if, we feel like it! … Did you notice that word ‘feel?’ 

The real struggle is against our own flesh. Our will has survived thus far because we gratify it through the stuff we’ve done that we ought not to have done – so stopping it is bound to be a wrestling match. Let me put that another way — neither of us will probably want to participate in this wrestling match. It is so-oo much easier to just give in to our feelings. Plus this sort of scenario is usually accompanied by loads of angst and temptation. After all, we don’t live in a blameless holy society! Someone else will have done something to set us off. The point is … Jesus is bigger than anything we face, so we put Him in charge, and step out onto the water of change even though it seems like it will not be pleasant and we don’t feel like it.

BTW, this does not mean we are not supposed to have any feelings, it just means our feelings are not supposed to be in charge of us anymore — Jesus is now. How do you think the Lord endured the cross? “Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.” Luke 22:42. Faith is not faith if we only believe things in our heads. Faith is faith when we let it change our behaviour. That will mean some wrestling matches. The upside is we will stop blaming other people for what we do, and start to take responsibility for our own choices. We don’t want to be the bad people, we want other people to be in that role. The truth is we are ALL bad, and … “It’s by Grace we have been saved, not because of works lest any man should boast.” 

The glory of Jesus and what He did for us, is that He gave us the Holy Spirit Who wants to help us to obey. Obedience is a wonderful smell to God, it is better than a sacrifice. Along with the Holy Spirit – Who gave us the power to obey our Father – we also have in writing, what the Lord likes and what He doesn’t. Feelings don’t come into it. I never feel like saying sorry when I am angry and I know I am wrong – how about you? Let’s ignore how we feel, and obey what He said. Nobody is making you or I choose to indulge ourselves — those feelings of helplessness and powerlessness are simply not true. The bars on the jail you have painted yourself into are not there anymore. Take a step of faith – you will walk right through them.

What I think I know about myself is not all there is to know, there’s more. Father God made me, and He knows me, and what I can do, I can choose to trust Him over my feelings. We will fail to use our faith when we don’t believe what He said, instead of what we think about ourselves. Trying is out, doing is in. Bye. 👋.

P3459 Popularity with man.

/ DVH

This is a current theme in our society, everyone has to be PC, or you will be told! I am all for being sensitive and careful, because wisdom itself demands the kind of thoughtfulness that allows it to speak clearly to someone without the distraction of offence! However, our priority should always be whatever the Lord says to us. And I think we need to practice tolerance and forbearance toward other people not political correctness. I want to look at a brief few verses from Jeremiah today, bearing in mind that this man was a salmon swimming upstream for most of his life!

“Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”“He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.” So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.” Jeremiah 38:4-6.

Jeremiah was doing what God asked him to do, yet he was being persecuted for what he said. That’s because other people interpreted his actions for their own agenda. Lately, I have had to become so much better at forgiving people, simply because they have thoughtfully given me so many opportunities to do it! Meanwhile the Lord helps me, every single time, or I would succumb to self-pity. Sigh. But that’s an observation, not my point. My point is things have not changed all that much since Jeremiah’s time. We still think we can judge other people and put pressure on them to be just like us.

Pressure comes from all sorts of directions – but many of them are internal. We fall into political correctness by saying we don’t want to offend others – but actually we are scared of what others will do to us! The point of this passage in Jeremiah is that all kinds of pressure will be unfairly applied on us. It is to be expected. We may not end up in a cistern, but ‘the fear of man (still) brings a snare’ if it affects our ability to be truthful.

Proverbs 29:25. Here’s the Message version – “The fear of human opinion disables;  trusting in God protects you from that.”  Yeah. That’s the rub, moving away from what others might say, into …’what do YOU want from me Lord?’ Then we need to take the time to find that out for ourselves. Christians have hidden behind denominational creeds for too long. We need to hate any sin, but love the sinner just like Jesus did. The point is, the gospel is for everyone and we can’t possibly know who the Lord is going to turn around.

I think that Jeremiah was a victim of the downside of popular opinion. I like this verse from Proverbs 18:13: “Answering before listening is both stupid and rude.” It is so easy to decide that we already know what other people need, and miss the Lord’s wisdom altogether, because we have prejudged our own way to be the right one. We can also fall into the trap of being ‘nice’ and insincere, all at the same time. For times like ours, we need the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, not just a creed, or what we think.

If we are serious about extending love to other people who are not like us, then we cannot be motivated by political correctness. We must be motivated by God Himself. Here’s a verse to chew on: “Make love your aim.” Folks! The elephant is now actually in the room! We cannot avoid it any longer. Our real problem is, we have avoided some subjects for so long, we no longer know how to address them! It is time for the kind of prayer that leads to action. Choosing to loving others is never easy. God’s love can turn all kinds of people around, I think we would be better occupied remaining full of His love ourselves, than finding reasons to exclude people.

I don’t have to love what you do, to love you! The church has an opportunity right now to choose how she will behave toward people, especially those She has decided are already illegitimate because of their choices. The bible says: ‘Love is patient, kind, it is not jealous, it doesn’t brag, it is not selfish or rude, angry or resentful. It hates injustice, it loves the truth, it bears all things, hopes all things – it is long-suffering.’ Love is an ETERNAL quality. We can’t afford to draw up our ‘holy robes’ around us anymore – our holy robes have holes in them that you can drive a truck through. If we are hiding any kind of sin from others, the Lord in His Grace will allow those things hidden in the darkness to come into the light. He is not punishing us – He is cleaning up His house. 

I believe we simply don’t know how to love anybody who lives their life in ways we find unacceptable. We think love is approval. We need to pray for real revelation about His idea of love – He loved us long before we arrived here! Jesus Christ had no qualms about touching the unclean … the religious people did! His power, glory and strength are released by loving others.

Maybe it is time to admit we were wrong and ask forgiveness for the way we have treated others. Humbling ourselves won’t kill us. Sin still remains sin – one is not worse than another. We also need to remember, many times it is the people in our own churches who have hurt others. The Body of Christ has misplaced our discernment and used religious rules to compensate. Then we boarded up, and sealed our hearts of compassion against the very people the Lord wants to speak to … and fear of contamination made us do it. We’ve thrown people into a pit of despair simply because we are not walking with Him – we need the Lord’s input, we need His heart! Gifts are not a sign of holiness – loving others in what we do and say is.

Jeremiah was thrown into a pit because what he said was unpopular, and the King didn’t want to enter that arena. We can’t afford to approve of sin because we are swayed by popularity, anymore than we can afford to label people and walk away from them. We need the Lord Himself “to extend the boundaries of our tents” and “pull up the stakes” we have driven into the ground, to define who we are, and what we believe. Popularity with man is not just political correctness – it’s also religion that can bind us. Look after widows and orphans instead – that’s true religion.

We are His people and we are so blessed, each one of us has been given a chance to change. Walking with the Spirit of the living God means that whoever we meet, will meet with the Lord Himself through us… then we leave the results to Him. Let’s extend His love to everybody, in the hope that we may see some saved, and refuse to judge because that leads to even more judgment. Our part is to extend Grace and Mercy to everyone, and focus on being a carrier of the Presence of God Himself. He has straightened US out, and we know He has the power to do that in other people’s lives.

Lastly, let’s value intimacy with Him above all else. We need to read the bible and do what it says, and love others, because love is our priority. Forget political correctness, and religion — we love people because He loved us first. Loving them does not mean we agree with them. Popularity, or unpopularity with mankind is over-rated. Bye. 👋.

P3458 Limitless.

/ DVH

“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” Galatians 5:22-23 TPT.

Ages ago, I watched a TV show called “Limitless,” it was about an ordinary guy who took some new drug or other, and suddenly he was using all of his brain instead of 10% of it. My thought was: ‘I hope this never happens! Sadly most of us are already driven around day after day, by performance!” However, that show proved to me that people long to be bigger and more useful than they are, but self-effort provides us with a relentless boss. Performance is a sterile tree, it produces nothing sweet, tasty or lasting, except a whole lot of angst, and indignation. It is so easy to think to ourselves: ‘I’ve worked hard on that, where’s the fruit from it?”

The Holy Spirit on the other hand, is a brilliant gardener, He cuts off unproductive attitudes and actions. Plus He helps us when we allow Him to lead, and He produces all that spiritual stuff listed above, in us. Sometimes I think we miss the meaning of what the Lord is saying because the language is so foreign to us in today’s world. I think we can easily get stuck on ‘near enough is good enough’ – and that won’t last! 

The Holy Spirit produces this fruit within us. Who does it? HE does. The things most of us produce in a lifetime, aren’t worth all the effort to keep it, realistically speaking. Where I live, even our house isn’t much of an inheritance after the government sends it’s locusts in. As you get older you start to think about leaving behind a lasting inheritance, not money, or things, but a spiritual inheritance. 

That’s what that long list of people who were in Jesus’ lineage in Matthew and Luke is all about. I call them the “begat” people. They had kids who had kids, who had kids etc… you get it. There were generations of them and their forbears were important to them. Genealogy was a big deal, stuff was passed on down through the family, because recording stuff the way we do was not available, and not as useful as Great Grandma Mary’s antique dining room table!

This is where bearing fruit comes in – a solid strong tree will produce good fruit. Actually, if there is no fruit, the tree it is called a barren tree. Jesus talks about that in Luke 13:6-9. “And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

A tree’s purpose is to bear fruit. Plain and simple. However I love the way the gardener pleads on behalf of a mere tree to give it another chance. This man will have invested time and energy in that fig tree, with fertilising, watering it, and giving it a whole lot of care when it was just a sapling. This parable reminds me of the tender care the Holy Spirit gives each one of us. Nurturing, correcting, leading us, pruning us and guiding us – all that with the promise of His good fruit appearing and coming into fruition in our lives.  

My point is this:  do we have any fruit on the ‘tree’ of our lives? Have we matured enough in the things of the kingdom of heaven to grow any fruit? Fruit benefits other people not the tree. So if we have fruit, is that fruit better tasting, longer lasting and more evident than it has been in previous years?That’s a good question to ask the Lord – “are YOU happy with the production of the fruit of Your Spirit in my life?” We can’t afford to forget that the gardener has been giving our tree His own attention, watching over it. He knows us well enough to ask for a further chance and a bit of time and help so we can grow up into what we were planted for. 

Let’s not be fooled, we will do many things for Jesus’ sake in our spiritual lifetime, but the fruit of the Spirit is proof of His work in us. Our work for the Lord’s kingdom won’t produce anything edible if all we do is work for Him in this natural world. We need His spiritual fruit in our lives. It’s the fruit that other people need to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” All the talk in the world cannot produce God’s fruit. All talk does is put more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere! We need to submit to His ways so the Lord Himself can produce the kind of fruit in our lives that people only dream about. 

Let’s remember that “…divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit …” is what that fruit looks like. That kind of fruit is limitless, a healthy fruit-laden tree is a wonderful legacy for anyone. Bye. 👋

P3455 Help! I’ve misplaced my hope!

/ DVH

It was here a minute ago, now where did I put it? … I seem to have lost my hope. Has that ever happened to you? You are walking along, minding your own business, enjoying the day so far, and suddenly your thoughts plummet to the ground and you can’t see anything good, anywhere. Guess what? You didn’t do anything, that’s a big sign the enemy just threw a destructive distraction bomb at you. he doesn’t need a person to do it, he scrolls his ill-informed rubbish across the screen of our minds.

If the devil cannot get us to stop talking about Jesus with other people then his back-up plan seems to be … ‘let’s mess with their minds.’ That’s when you start remembering perfectly, every mean thing someone else has ever done to you. It is like you have a bucket of cold water thrown in your face. The day started out OK, but now you can’t see one good thing about it. We need to be wise when we deal with our enemy — he hates us. If he can’t throw us off our game, then he will put someone else who can be provocative, across our path to irritate us.

Perhaps you have to meet with Sister ‘boy-do-I-get-up-people’s-noses,’ that day. She’s a dear old duck but she drones on forever about her grandkids, and how Jesus healed her from this and that, and she never ever asks how you are doing! You were looking forward to meeting her, a minute ago, because she is a sweet old saint — then grumpy thoughts hit you from behind. If you like reading detective stories, that is a clue as to what is really going on. 

One of the best things I’ve ever learnt is that not every thought in my dear little head belongs to me. satan loves to throw random thoughts into our minds…  he can even make them sound sympathetic. he says junk like: “I thought this was going to be a good day. But I just conveniently remembered the time this Sister was mean about blah blah blah.” satan loves to use personal pronouns. That is, he speaks as if those thoughts are yours. And we are off down the wrong road before we’ve even seen her, and we don’t need that nasty little demon of comparison whispering to us anymore because it seems we can fill in the blanks all by ourselves. We’ve lost our hope and he’s turned our head.

First things first. Resist the devil. Why? Because he will keep on at you, that’s why. If he can’t get you going round in circles about that particular Sister, then he will remind you of someone who looked at you funny, or someone who walked away as you were speaking to them. And rejection, suspicion, and insult just entered the contended area – the contended area is our brain OK?  It’s called the battlefield of the mind.

Our response appears in 2 Corinthians 2:11, we always need to know what God says: “To keep satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions.” Don’t be ignorant, nothing happens to us by accident. We are in a war, LOVE MUST BE OUR AIM or we are sunk.

After the enemy goes after our hope of sweet fellowship, then he tries to steal our peace. and we start having imaginary conversations in our head. With us playing both parties involved. “She’ll say this, and I’ll say that, and that will fix them!” That’s not good, because it borders on witchcraft. We can’t know how the other person will respond or react to us. We don’t even know half the time what will come out of our own mouth, until we are in the middle of it! 

Sometimes, when my dear hubby and I have the occasional argument – shock horror! I have found my previous negative experiences with other people can influence my current situation with him. It is like we have these key words and someone shouts “bingo!” He sounds like someone else I knew, that was not loving, patient or kind to me. (Meanwhile, it’s worth noting how many times the word I came up in those thoughts.) So now I am no longer disagreeing with my husband, I am still trying to win that battle I lost years ago.

Secondly, find your sense of humour. Be prepared to see the funny side of all this posturing. I try to remind myself that this is a person I love, and yet I’m currently working very hard to hurt them! Half the time, I lose track of what we are saying to each other in the middle of ‘the discussion’ – which is funny all by itself.

The third one is to apologise. Yes, even if they are wrong! I have quoted this scripture so many times to myself they ought to write it on my tombstone — “a soft answer turns away wrath.” (Proverbs 15:1.) It works! Tell the other person you love them more than you need to make your point. Here’s my translation of that. Be sweet to the other person who is currently shouting back at you, think of something good about them and say it out loud instead! Jesus gave us His hope, and He can help us find it again.

Here’s the last one: “Agree with your adversary quickly …”  (Matthew 5:25.) Nothing shoots an argument down more quickly than when we start saying things like: “You are right. I was wrong, I am so sorry for causing all this angst.” Here is the reason why … we are looking to win our brother, NOT the war. If we win the argument we will lose something – our hope for a different outcome. Hardening our hearts against others is hardening our hearts against Him!

We are not at war with our brother or sister, instead we are both fighting a common enemy. We need to humble ourselves, and take the lower seat. Jesus is well acquainted with humility. He didn’t do what others accused Him of doing. Plus, He said not a word. Man, I gotta get me some of that!! When we misplace our hope, we need to stop and go looking for the Lord. He is our anchor. He will teach us how to overflow with hope, instead of foundering in the depths of despair and angst. Bye for today. 👋.

P3453 Impossible … right??

/ DVH

“For the perfect Light of Truth was coming into the world and shine upon everyone. He entered into the world He created, yet the world was unaware. He came to the people He created — to those who should have received Him, but they did not recognize Him. But those who embraced Him and took hold of His Name He gave authority to become the children of God!” John 1:9-12. 

I’m pretty sure most people think that they would recognise Jesus if He turned up at their church, but the fact is – He came to His very OWN people, and THEY did not recognise Him. My question is this: why not? Here’s a theory …  they weren’t expecting Him to look like that! He came as an infant. Boy, that sure fooled them. The Israelites expected a King. Battle ready, with soldiers and appropriate equipment … but Jesus went right around what man expected and came as a helpless infant. 

The next surprise was this… He didn’t come to kill off our earthly enemies, He came save them too! He came to represent us, by buying us back from the things that will drag us away from our Heavenly Father. Our Lord wants to woo us with His eternal love. Father God understands that is not good for man to be alone, so He is gathering together a Bride that will one day be worthy of His Son. The Holy Spirit’s doing this, one person at a time.

Jesus’ Bride’s beauty comes from her love for the Saviour. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to go through our lives and wash and iron away every single spot and wrinkle in them with the blood of Jesus, and the iron of adversity. It’s time to take what the Lord said seriously. There is no ‘magic solution’ to this world’s problems, there is only our hearty “yes” to what He asks of us. What if the stuff that is going on today is not about the Lord’s immediate return, but instead it is about this world groaning, waiting for the Sons of God to be made manifest?!

Jesus’ life story is the glorious fulfilment of God’s redemptive story, and He has gazumped satan at every turn. The devil did not suspect one thing, as God’s plan unfolded. Right now, in these times, we spend way much too much time looking at the obstacles and not enough time gazing on our Precious Bridegroom’s loving provision for us. God’s plans are always perfect. Just as Abraham sent His servant out to find and BUY Isaac a wife, the Lord has now sent His Precious Spirit to find the Bride He prepared before time began, for His Precious, dearly- loved Son. Jesus bought us with His own blood. And that includes you, and me. Impossible, right??

His kindness and love, are so far beyond what we can imagine, hope or dream. It seems millions of human beings have totally missed out what He did. And now it is up to us, to spread around what we’ve learned about God’s incredible love. The Holy Spirit does not want to leave one soul behind, so don’t be fooled and leave your part to others – this plan includes YOU! Faith fades away unless it is used.

When you live for a while, you start to realise how many times you’ve heard the same whispers in your head, about how hopeless you are, and why “talking to others” doesn’t mean you are to do it. The enemy rabbits on about how God won’t help you, because you aren’t worth it, and … that other guy’s repetitive junk gives the game away.  But our God does not do that. He has not ever played games with us. His plan is now clear and we are part of it.

Fan the love in your heart into a flame and actively remember everything Jesus has already done for us. Focus on that. The devil hates people using their faith. Just like He hates us giving thanks – he disappears pretty quickly when we do. Recognising Jesus in our times of difficulty makes us stronger, it irons out our inability to be self-controlled and patient. Just like the blood of Jesus washes away sin when it is allowed to penetrate even deeper than our minds, and manifest itself in our actions.

The Holy Spirit is hovering over us, waiting for our ‘yes’ so He can continually bathe us in the light of Christ’s never-ending love for His Bride. Sometimes the Lord’s greatest miracles happen in the middle of a raging storm. But at that moment, the Body of Christ often turns into Peter who said: “… Is that You Lord?”  It seems an impossible dream that God Himself should deeply care for each one of us, and need us to participate in His plan, even though we are broken. 🙌.

“But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in Him. 

For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity He put us in right standing with Himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ.

God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in Him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins He had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in His rightness.” Romans 3.

It’s impossible! But true… Bye. 👋.

P3451 Are you running on empty?

/ DVH

“For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and holds us tightly, because we are convinced that He has given His life for ALL of us. This means ALL died with Him, so that those who live should no longer live self-absorbed lives but lives that are poured out for Him—the One who died for us and now lives again. So, from now on, we refuse to evaluate people merely by their outward appearances. For that’s how we once viewed the Anointed One, but no longer do we see Him with limited human insight.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-16 TPT.

Our human insight will always be limited. Let’s always remember that the Lord is so much wiser than we are, that’s why we know we can trust Him. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” And in 1 Corinthians 13:12: “In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at His reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see Him in His completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.”

We live in a place where we think we understand, and then … we don’t. Where stuff happens and it makes no sense. Where God is suddenly hidden from us – but in the next moment, we can be given a flash of insight and we think we know everything … but we don’t. Why not? We can’t. Our teeny tiny human minds, and self-preservation get in the way. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,”declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9.

We simply cannot always understand the way the Lord thinks! That’s why we have His book! There are times where it seems like He is fighting us at every turn … but then we discover that this ‘fight’ was part of our growth process! At the end of the verse in 1 Corinthians 13:12 it says: “But then I will see everything clearly …just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.” Did you get that? Here it is in another form from Hebrews 4:13. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the One to whom we are accountable.”  He is telling us to reassure us, that HE ALWAYS SEES US … always.

At the top of the page I asked, ‘are you running on empty?’ This can happen when we get ahead of His plans. Or maybe we decide we don’t like His plans, and we like our plans a whole lot better, so we go off-roading. We can end up looking a lot like a modern car’s GPS system. Here’s an illustration: our car’s GPS system needs frequent updating. The-powers-that-be are continually making new roads, and they are eventually registered on the original computer guidance maps. But if we use one of these new roads we can appear to be flying over blank terrain. The road is not registered, so the guidance system goes whacko, and then it gives up! 

Hold on… I’m getting to my point and it has nothing to do with car navigation, and everything to do with our own life navigation. The thing that will short-circuit His processes in our lives, is our lack of trust in the fact that the road of our life may not be known to US, but IT IS known to HIM! Unless we are continually fuelled by our love for Jesus, and filled up daily on His Word, we can easily run out of love-to-give-away, and then the road ahead starts to become unclear!

Let yourself off the hook, none of us are ever going to fully understand His ways, by ourselves. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?” But WE have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16. There’s the answer! You and I have the same help Jesus had, the Holy Spirit and the bible and collectively – WE, together, the church, Christ’s body, has the Lord’s mind. Which is why our enemy continually tries to break churches up! People get cranky and they leave instead of working things out. That action has fragmented our collective knowledge of His goodness. And this is why we need to meet together, because – all by ourselves, we can be misled.

We need to relax into what He tells us in His written Word,  trust in His wisdom in our midst – and stop dividing other Christians into categories! Otherwise we will very quickly run out of fuel. We can be refuelled by His love for us, through others. This is why going to church is important, other people can input their insight into our lives. They can pray for us, and give us a word from Him.

We cannot afford to stop reading the Word of God to get to know Him and His ways. The bible is our heaven-sent manna to feed us spiritually every single day. It too, helps fuel our passion for Him. At the same time, the Holy Spirit gives us His GPS guidance to help us through the day ahead, even when the road in front of us is unclear, He knows the Way. Let’s remember that although the Lord can  give us, personally, insight, we still need each other. For encouraging prophetic words, kindness in an unkind world, and unconditional love when this world beats us up.

We can’t afford to run on empty. Our passion needs to be continually ignited by the bible, the Holy Spirit and each other.  Bye. 👋.