Love

P 2515 Exhortation and encouragement.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2513 Jesus is the very best Prince – EVER.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2510 Striving to enter His rest.

/ DVH

I think about rest like this … I do whatever He tells me to do, and He will do the rest. Meanwhile, resting in God is not about doing nothing. Resting in Him means we are trusting Him to help us, and get us through whatever is happening to us, and around us. We need to remind ourselves constantly that He’s in charge, no matter how this life looks, and that will give us confidence.

At the same time, we will have to fight the devil to maintain our peace and our assurance that God is always good – in spite of the circumstances we can see around us. Every time I am tempted to pick up and worry over whatever it is that I am obsessing about, I remind myself that He is now in charge of my life. My life is no longer my own. SomeBody bought me! And for HIM, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, you and I weren’t cheap! We were definitely not on sale, nor last year’s reduced price model!

This world is so obsessed with surviving … it is pushing us to strive to make sure that we become rich, beautiful, skinny, empty … corpses. We are supposed to work incredibly hard to market ourselves, YET, the King of all glory loves us simply because we are His. Why would anyone do that stuff to themselves? Yet we take untold questionable pills, exercise until we drop, and pinch, punch and pummel our bodies to somehow make them last forever. That’s just nuts! We already have forever, HE gave it to us. Why would you work for a gift? You accept a gift, that’s part of rest! This life is temporary.

Dying to self is the only way to live like Jesus did on this planet. It helps us see this life from His perspective, and it gives us, freedom. We simply give up our right to say what we will do, or where we will go, or who we will love, or where we will live … and then live the way He tells us to live … plus … love all the people He sends our way. Meanwhile, if you can’t do that …neither can I! That’s why we need to strive to enter His rest. We have to fight against sin, this world, our flesh and our enemy. Almighty God’s love is the reason we are all still here, because His Grace has kept us here. Rest is about Who we trust. Who we want to be in charge of our lives.

It has become much too easy to forget how to really live this life we have been given. Busyness and business take over! But we are here to be other-centred. We’ve been born again and now we’ve become a part of ushering in God’s kingdom, here and now, into this world. The self-centred things of this life lose their charm, because when you walk with Christ, you can’t wait to see what He is going to do next! The bible says:“Taste and see that the Lord is good”You and I are meant to be this world’s Godly taste test. 

It is extremely sad when fear is allowed to rule His people. The fear of failing Him, the fear of loss, the fear of not being good enough, even the fear of dying! But NOW, right here, right NOW, today — we are to live this life, the only one we have from another kingdom. Jesus Christ’s death took mankind OUT of the kingdom of darkness and INTO the kingdom of His marvellous light. And our lives are now the light switch for so many people!

Like Esther said in His book, once long ago: “If I die I die!” That’s what His rest really looks like. The bible doesn’t say how Esther felt about it. She just fell back into the arms of the ‘God Who saves!’  She knew how to rest – she left it up to God to see if she was going to survive – because other people’s lives were at stake. In Christ, we are a dangerous people. That’s why our enemy throws stuff at us all the time. That ‘stuff’ is batting practice. We pick up the bat of His Word, plus our faith in our Coach, and do things the way He says to do them. Just like Esther did. It takes effort to walk in faith, that’s what striving is. When I feel like I can’t do this anymore, I ask Him to help me with my effort! 

Our belief system is not just nice and comforting — IT IS POWERFUL. That power written about in His book does not just apply to an anointed few … it is here for all of us. Access to that power comes alive when we choose to love others, exercise forgiveness, exhibit generosity, and treasure to-geth-er-ness. There is NO LAW against those things because they are so far above the things of this world. We will not learn to raise the dead, if we do not learn how to raise our hopes! Rest is not just about knowing we are going to heaven when we die. It is about us fighting the good fight, bringing His kingdom down to earth, right here, right now in our own lives.

God’s kingdom has a higher aim. A greater calling. It desires to impart His reality not just a theory. Our God is real and we carry Him with us, every single place we go. The point is, we need to let Him out!  Striving to rest is about allowing Him to do what He wants with our lives. Instead of us choosing what we feel like, or want to do. We get out of His way and let Him do what He does best… love and save people through us. Bye 👋

P 2505 We will live a glorious life – when we live for His glory.

/ DVH

“Pray like this: ‘Our Beloved Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of Your Name be the centre on which our lives turn. Manifest Your kingdom realm, and cause Your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven. We acknowledge You as our Provider of all we need each day. Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil. For You are the King Who rules with power and glory forever, Amen.”Matthew 6:9-13 TPT.

‘May the glory of Your Name be the centre on which our life turns…” Now that’s a big prayer! It is also a really really really big thought. Sometimes I wonder if we are not seeing the kind of revival this world needs, because we’ve forgotten WHO we are here for! Please don’t misunderstand me… I love praying for the salvation of souls, and the cessation of hostilities in this world etc. – but if we are not living this life, the only one we have – for His glory – then I believe we are living our lives too small.

If we look at the Lord’s prayer carefully we will see that inadvertently, over the years, we have made that prayer about us. About us living right, doing right, having enough food to eat etc. Even yesterday I wrote about the importance of forgiveness… which is still about us. Sometimes we get so focussed on getting our daily bread, we forget what that bread has cost Almighty God. Plus the lives that have been sacrificed so we can read His words in person.

When I read the above phrase … about His Name being the centre of our lives … and I really looked at it, it hit me that most of our prayers are stuck in the give me, help me, save me mode. I wonder how many times we pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven …” as kind of a nice hand-off. A tiny acknowledgement, a tipping of our hypothetical hats, or even a passing recognition, that the only reason Jesus came to earth was to save and bless us!

Reality rush. Christ came to earth to fulfil HIS FATHER’S WILL. It may seem like a moot point but God initiated this whole thing in our behalf. We would not be in this world without His Divine choice and intervention – and that’s the actual real reality – it is definitely not an add-on!  So today, my first question is: are you and I actively living for His glory? Or are we putting one foot in front of the other, making the wheels go around, to actually build our own hopefully Godly, kingdoms?? Because there is a difference. Just Who are we living for? What would change in my life if I decided to live purely for His glory until I leave here? What about yours?

I think living for His glory is the key to His kingdom coming here on earth as it is in heaven! I do not believe the Lord will ever begrudge us our daily bread, and all kinds of joy in this life – the scriptures make that clear. But I do think that we could see so much more change, in us and around us, if we lived this life so that He will be glorified in us and through us! I want to point out that Jesus is our example and that is exactly how HE lived. Everything He did was for His Father’s glory. And He saved us so we can now go on to fulfil the Father’s purposes.

I remember listening to someone singing an old song, a while ago, and they misrepresented it on purpose, for an illustration. They proposed that the song “it’s all about You Jesus” would be more accurately portrayed if we actually sang “it’s all about ME Jesus.” See, we don’t actually say any of this stuff out loud, but ask yourself – is this the way I live from day to day?

How many times do I ask myself:  “what is it that YOU want Lord?” And then sadly we go off from our time with Him and drift away from the real answer, because life is too hard  … and after all Jesus knows what this life is really like, and … we are only human! Every single time we make a decision like that one, we are reducing the Kingdom of God into a one-stop supply shop!

He deserves better. Our service for His kingdom needs to be a joy. Laying down our lives is our privilege not a tough task we can barely manage. Think about this, Almighty God has waited over two thousand years for a people who will love Him enough to follow His ways no matter what the cost is personally. A people who will see His incredible love for them, and go on to live inspired lives, and return that kind of love back to Him. I think the Apostles … Paul, Peter, James and John etc. deeply understood that. They stopped living their lives for themselves and they went on to live and die to bring Him glory... and they considered that a privilege.

And this seems like a good place to leave this blog today … Bye … 👋🏻

P 2501 Keep in step with the Holy Spirit.

/ DVH

There is one sort-of-kind-of good thing about making mistakes – it is a great leveller. I can’t look down on you, you can’t look down on me, be-cau-se … we are actually in the same boat!  “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to ALL who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and ALL are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”Romans 3:22-24. I am utterly crazy about that word ‘ALL.’ 🥳 I don’t have to compare myself with you, I simply need to pour my love and energies into walking with the One Who saved me. What we have now, praise you Jesus … is the fellowship – the friendship of the Holy Spirit to help us. Don’t leave home without HIM!

Every single human being is included by that little word “all.” The idea is not to waste your energy over what you have done wrong – repent, and then repair – and then go on to focus on walking with Him, by staying in the light. When you wake up, ask Him to walk with you today. Ask Him to check you if you wander out of His light. Our God loves our obedience. Personally, I have observed He is so sweet and kind, He loves it even when we try – failure is not the issue – continuity is. Even when you are falling asleep at the end of the day – repent and repair, and then embrace Him.

I think the Christian life is hardest for perfectionists. When you give these dear people a list of stuff they could or should do or be, or even not be, they drive themselves batty trying to hit the mark every single time. And they beat themselves up when they don’t. I wanna grab them by the shoulders, and say: “Mate, where’s your faith? Just stay in the light. Confess your sin, let Him wash you and stay in the light of the Holy Spirit. He’s perfect – YOU ain’t …”  Striving produces either defeat or pride.

There are works that James mentions in chapter 2 of his book. These kinds of works begin and end in faith – not our own effort. So we ask ourselves, what we are focussing on right now? If the only thing we are focussing on is getting things right, then we’ve missed the point. Our focus is to be on following the Holy Spirit everywhere, prayerfully discerning what Jesus wants. Living this life with an unreachably high standard cannot eliminate us from God’s love – it will just make our lives appallingly hard – and then we will give up on ourselves, and walking with Him, too soon.

Surrendering to Him is the key. When I live this life surrendered to His will, I give up my will and place it under the direction of SomeOne else – Jesus Christ! He proved how much He loved me when He died in my place. At the same time I am believing, despite my circumstances, that the Person I have surrendered everything to – is trustworthy. That’s the daily battle we fight. DO WE TRUST HIM to do what He said He will do?“Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him …” we need to stop hoping faith will fall on us, or God will give us a sign, and simply act on our faith. Faith will give what we do substance.

Because Jesus has already been punished for my sins I do not have to be afraid of being wrong. Our Lord is a Redeemer – He works miracles with very little!  He can take 5 fish and 2 little loaves of bread and feed thousands.   Instead I want the Holy Spirit to make His word personal to me, while I am reading it. That’s why I talk so much about reading the bible. We need to have the Word of God flowing in and out of our lives. To do that, it needs to be present in our minds and hearts. The Holy Spirit will use His word to check us when we move away from what He wants.

Finally, I want to remind you that this is what Father God says in the book about any flaws in us. ““You are altogether beautiful, my love;there is no flaw in you.“- Song of Solomon 4:7. That’s what we look like now, because of the blood of Jesus over our lives. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8–9. Well there’s a hallelujah!

OH, if we would only let go of our preconceived, or even badly taught notions, that our God is limited by who we are and what we do, and use our energy to learn to walk with the Holy Spirit instead!  The bible says: “Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and outstretched arm; and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” Did you get that? Nothing!!  You and I are not too hard for God – He has already dealt with our sin. 

Meanwhile comparing ourselves with ourselves, and others, is a waste of time.  Let the Word of God live in you, by acting on it. And remember our destiny is to keep in step with the Holy Spirit! 👋🏻

P 2500 Whatever occupies your thoughts will rule you.

/ DVH

“An elder, talking to a child, says, “I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is fearful, vengeful, envious, resentful and deceitful. The other wolf is compassionate, loving, generous, truthful and peaceful.” The child asks, “Which wolf will win the fight?” The elder responds, “The one I feed.”’ A Cherokee Indian proverb.

It’s kind of a no-brainer really, whatever we invest our time, money, and energy in, rules us. Oh, the futility of allowing ourselves to be pushed about by our anger or appetites. The worst thing ev-er is when someone you trust does something dumb … they are, after all, human beings (!)  … and so you feel betrayed. That’s when what happened starts rolling around in your mind – maybe it even stops you from sleeping. “How could they do such a thing? Didn’t they know that would hurt me? Maybe they even meant too …!!!???”

It seems that perhaps we are starting to build a case against someone else. Meanwhile satan stands at our elbow happily chucking those kind of thoughts, plus reminding us of other ones about that person – even the things we forgot …into our memory bank.. A-n-d, we are grumpy so we refuse to shut the gate to those thoughts because …we’re feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve been deeply wounded and wronged. It isn’t a misinterpretation, an accident, or a whoopsie – someone actually wounded us. What are we going to do about it?

Unfortunately, then it becomes easy to start what I call – the opinion poll. The opinion poll is when we begin to tell others about what happened to us. We probably start that process out in kind of a sweet-ish, sad way, after all we don’t want others to think that we are bad people! But pretty soon, the sweetness goes out of the window and we are pulling the other person apart like they are a loaf of bread and we’re hungry. Now we really have a case against them because … OTHER PEOPLE AGREE WITH US that they treated us badly!  Maybe you get my drift – you’ve bin there and dun that yourself. No? Lucky you! For those of us who have acted that way … in these moments we are feeding the wrong wolf and doing that will devour US and gobble up our faith.

Here are some scriptures that have helped me escape from that sticky web.. “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:2.“Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”Philippians 4:8. Right here we have the diagnosis and the cure.

Now is the time to give up rehearsing someone else’s sins and start looking for the good in what happened – before you go down the plug hole and lose several days, weeks, months …?years? … to something not worthy of even 10 seconds of your time. No, I am not nuts … at least I hope not! 😶 But the person who wounded us has exposed a chink in our spiritual, mental and physical armour. They found that chink for us. It was probably accidental, BUT, whatever … it is still useful! Some attitudes are sneaky, they stay hidden. It is absolutely brilliant when somebody else exposes those things for us, whether they found that attitude on purpose or not. It gives us a chance to see what is going on in our own hearts. 

At this point it is tempting to simply repent, and forgive the other person, as well as actively remembering not to ruminate over the incident. BUT! In my experience ignoring revelation about who we really are is dumb. We all have our weaknesses, and if we can stand back with the Holy Spirit (LOVE HIMSELF), by our side, and let Him show us if there was truth in what was said or done … we will gain something to be thankful for!  At the same time, we can ask the Lord to heal that actual wound He helped us uncover, so we can feed the ‘good wolf,’ some good food. Somewhere in the past, we probably believed a lie and we needed the Lord to expose that lie and … heal the wound. 

My point today is, whatever occupies your thoughts rules you. Hubby said that like this to me yesterday: ‘Let’s pretend someone hates the colour brown. They won’t wear it, can’t stand it, avoid it, and actively dislike others who like that colour… Those people do not realise that BROWN is now ruling their lives, it has become their god.’  I laughed heaps, and because it was such an accurate scenario I was inspired to pass it on. Yeah. Now there’s more food for thought! 👋🏻

P 2499 Our yes works in every circumstance.

/ DVH

Fear is one of those ghastly things that tries to batter many of us daily into submission. It starts out for me, by painting pictures of disaster in my mind, and hammers at me from every corner that God does not care. Then it tells me that He is not going to help me because I don’t deserve His help. All of that is a lie! 

God is love! We all need to have complete confidence, no matter how things look, that our GOD IS also GOOD. Plus – it also goes without saying that He is not the author of fear. However, any one of us would be foolish if we underestimated our enemy. satan knows our weaknesses and he plays on them. The safest place to fight that battle is to live this life yielded to Jesus … no matter what else is going on. When we yield to Him we are saying ‘yes.’

The Lord wants to turn those weaknesses of ours into strengths, so this is how we fight our battles … we refuse to entertain the things our enemy insists will be an outcome of some situation or other, and start to concentrate on what the Lord Himself says about Who He is, and what He says about us – IN THE BOOK. The bible is the most fantastic sword ever, it has His wisdom in it, and on it, and this book adapts and becomes appropriate in any kind of situation. 

The thing is – at the same time the Holy Spirit will also use that sword to change our mindset. Using His sword and holding fast to Him to deliver us, actually transforms our minds. It is like this: something happens and we are tempted by those circumstances to think that God does not care about us. So we ask the Holy Spirit for scripture/s, then we aim that scripture at satan – just like Jesus did in Matthew. Lastly, we insist that His word is truer than how we feel, or the things that are coming against us. 

Our King will put a sword in our hands and then that word comforts us, and it tears UP/down the enemy’s lies! We will gain trust as individuals as we see our glorious King acting on our behalf. Our minds need to be infused with the reality that nothing beats King Jesus. Our aim is not about getting some specific outcome – the real answer is no matter what happens – He’s got this. We know that He will WIN whatever happens!! He already won 2,000+ years ago! The wisest course is to surrender every bit of the trouble, and hold onto WHO HE IS.

At the same time, the Holy Spirit is using that sword to separate us away from the thinking patterns we’ve formed in our lives – the things that have convinced us that things are never ever going to change. Our Father is always waiting for our cry of help, no matter how feeble that cry might seem to us. He is always with us to deliver us. If we are not delivered on the spot, then that means one of two things. The first is He knows that by stretching your faith, it will grow.

“Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.” James 1:3-4. This stretching of our faith produces the kind of endurance that will stand in any circumstances. No athlete can run a successful race if he does not build up his stamina. We need to learn from the Holy Spirit to use the difficult things as opportunities to build up our spiritual stamina. Meanwhile, inner peace is not too shabby, thank you Lord!

To get a test-i-mony sometimes you have to go through a test! None of us can avoid growing! That is why we need to seize every single opportunity to push through how we feel, then finish off the fight with the circumstances, and our feelings, by quietly waiting to see what He will do in our behalf.  Waiting is part of the Lord’s process. It renews our strength and helps us get a different view of what is going on. 

The second thing is that these places are where we get to be like David who knew, from experience, that God was going to back Him up. We must ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ – for ourselves! … and stop just taking someone else’s word for it. Our biggest problem right now is this – in the past, this life has loomed larger than our experiences with our God’s Grace and Mercy. We’ve been babies expecting someone to pick us up and soothe us … but right here, right now we are learning to reverse this error. NOTHING IS BIGGER THAN GOD and as we yield to Him, we leave Him room to move. We want His will His way!

Sometimes we pray for deliverance from evil, but Father God is giving us an opportunity to grow, to go deeper. We need to be able to discern the times, even in our own lives. Even if we feel weak and helpless, you and I are on our way to victory!! God promises to renew our strength and … I am sooooo never going to get sick of saying this … “His strength is made PERFECT in our weakness.” WIN-WIN! 

As Christians if we stand still – we stop to fight the good fight in our head… We don’t have to run away… because our side already won. The greatest gift we can give the Lord is our availability, and satan wants to scare us out of standing in our God-given place. Let your yes to Him be continuous. 👋🏻

P 2498 Transformation is an ongoing process.

/ DVH

1 Samuel 10:6&7 “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.”

We can choose to walk away from our birthright. King Saul did. These two verses from 1 Samuel are a great example of how someone who was anointed by God and totally transformed, could still go on to be corrupted by the very power he was given. King Saul shows us that sin is a choice – and this man made very bad ones. Almighty God gave this king many chances to repent. But eventually, the Lord withdrew His hand on the man’s life and the demonic took over. You can read the whole story in the bible. King Saul is the perfect example of a man who was transformed and continued on with his life – in the flesh.

Today, I just want to highlight the fact that our God does not give up on people, but His patience with man’s careless sinfulness does have a limit. Saul illustrates that. He was made King by God’s grace only. Meanwhile, presumption is not faith, surrender to the Lord’s will is faith. See Genesis 6:3. It is up to us to choose how we live after we are saved – but God’s greatest desire is to walk with us. I know I rattle on about this, but our ongoing transformation is essential for whatever comes next! King Saul valued the power he was given, over the opportunity to be continually transformed.

Yes, I know – we are blessed to be alive on the other side of the cross, because Jesus paid our debt for us. But Christ did not go through that tremendous ordeal simply to allow us to remain the same. He came and died for our sins, and we now have the power to overcome them. We need to live in love, and for love, not for ourselves. Transformation is now our aim. Voluntary transformation provides immediate humility. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36. King Saul is an example of someone who did not take the opportunity to be continually transformed – instead he used the power he was given for his own purposes.

We have been given the power to choose to turn away from this careless attitude that says we can do whatever we want, because He will forgive us. Nor are we supposed to assess how we are doing with the Lord by His answers to our prayers! We have been born again to inherit an attitude of humility, love and service. We inherit this from Christ our big Brother. Almighty God didn’t save us to allow us to go our own way with a handy get-out-of-jail-free button. Let’s not get puffed up by our own self-importance. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20.

King Saul forgot that he was chosen by God, to be king, it was not his birthright! His lack of humility, together with his jealousy, arrogance and rage, pulled him away from the very One Who could have helped him with his new role. Our God wants us to trust Him, daily. We use our faith, every single day, to allow Him to remove those things that will destroy us. We already have evidence He is incredibly trustworthy, by the written fact that when we didn’t deserve it, He came and saved us. We must not betray the Lord’s trust by mis-using His good nature and grace to fulfil our own agendas. This was Saul’s mistake. 

Our God is not a back-up to our imaginings or ambitions – He is the main event. His will, will always be the main event! He saved each one of us so we can voluntarily walk with Him into a totally new life. This means that transformation is meant to be part of our focus. The new birth is an invitation into knowing Almighty God, here and now in our daily lives. He will help each one of us leave the past behind, so we can step into a future where we are a loving blessing, from Him, to everyone around us.  

Overcoming our own old sinful nature, is part of the great adventure we have in front of us. We daily move forward with the Holy Spirit’s help. Transformation is an ongoing process, it is the outworking of the new birth in all our lives. 👋🏻

“May my only boast be found in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him I have been crucified to this natural realm; and the natural realm is dead to me and no longer dominates my life. Whether a man is circumcised or uncircumcised is meaningless to me. What really matters is the transforming power of this new creation life.” Galatians 6:14-15 TPT

P 2497 Even our motives need to be purified.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2496 Choose the Faith Highway …

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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