Love

P 2211 The cross!

/ DVH

The cross is the place where humanity stands totally alone. It is the place where God’s will impacts and challenges ours. That place where Jesus defeated all our stinky self-serving attitudes once and for all – and gave us new soft pliable hearts. We own this new heart bit by bit, as we say no to our own way, and yes, to His.

The cross is the place where sin is simply SIN. At that hallowed place, there are no big or small sins. It is the greatest equaliser ever seen. We were given the power to live in obedience to the One Who died to give us the right to stand in Almighty God’s Presence – unashamed. The cross is the place where our Saviour deliberately submitted Himself to humiliation, punishment, torment and death on our behalf and He left us, clean, forever!  

Now we have the utter freedom to choose to obey Him. Before the cross we had no choice. That is a fact that always astonishes me, no matter how many times I read it in His book. All of us know we were not worthy of everything He did for us during that terrible day.

If you and I look carefully at that wooden cross you will see our names carved there into those precious hands that blessed people and healed them. Our names are somewhat obscured by all the blood running down from His face, His side, as well as His hands and feet. There was so much blood that day, His sacrifice spilled all over  mankind – everyone who has ever been born. That cross was dripping with His blood. That’s where Jesus Christ cleansed us and made us brand new people. 

Christ’s blood was incredibly rare and costly, because the One Who had never ever sinned, became our sin. At that cross Jesus’ goodness, grace, love, joy, peace, patience, mercy, kindness and long-suffering, together with absolute and total purity, was drowned in our sins. And hell was let loose on Him – until Christ died from the sheer agony of it.

After truly seeing and understanding that cross, how could we ever refuse to do whatever Jesus wants us to do for His kingdom’s sake? He will not refuse us. He will not turn us away, even though He knew, like Peter, we would all betray Him. He knew before we ever gave Him our lives that we would walk through some of our days acting like His cross was nothing to us – just an historical record. You and I are blessed because we live after Calvary. Calvary is His-story to all of us. 

Whenever I look at Christ on that cross I marvel that Almighty God would so submit Himself to mankind that He became an infant, and grew up here on earth, in a dusty little town. He walked, talked, lived and breathed around among ordinary people like you and I. He allowed others to treat Him like they treated the rest of humanity, with indifference, disdain and cruelty. Jesus Christ let the Jews and the Romans punish Him like a criminal. Yet He died for them too. 

On this day, I want to pause, and celebrate the cross. Someone … God bless them!!!… told me what Christ did for me. Today, I stand there, in my mind’s eye, and look up at Him … I remember what my life was like without Him in it. I remember all the things He has given back to me, those things that I lost with my own careless, sinful, selfish ways. Jesus Christ freely gave us eternal things, the kind of unearthly qualities and attitudes that humanity never dreamt we could have. 

Standing there, I take the time to remind myself that I will never ever be totally alone again. I will never lack love again. The purest love this world will ever know is hanging right there in front of my eyes. The cross shows all of us that it was always Father God’s plan to be One with mankind, and save all of us from ourselves as well as our enemy. Christ’s love heals every wound, every heartache, every painful moment and His hope calls us into a brand new future. The cross is the day our possibilities became endless. 

This was the day Almighty God made the beginning of His dreams for mankind known. Let’s rejoice! We were born on the other side of that terrible wonderful day and we know the end of this story … it’s in the book. He came and rescued each one of us from ourselves and our humdrum little lives, and nothing can snatch us out of His hands. Our lives can no longer be out of control, because now He is in control. 

Jesus and you and I swapped destinies, our destination was hell and His was heaven. So He died that day in an unrelenting, dreadful, painful fashion – then He went to hell and beat up the devil, and purchased our freedom and gave mankind the promise of heaven, instead. Happy Easter! ✝️

P 2207 Let our words be with demonstration of His power!

/ DVH

Oh! The danger of defining the Lord by our own particular theology! Pray for wisdom, and the mind and heart of Christ in your life, because we have all become stuck in powerlessness, and we often lack His wisdom. The Pharisees in the parable below lived their lives esteemed as the resident experts. The problem with being a resident expert is you can eventually start to believe your own publicity. Moving on…

…to Matthew 12:24-30.“But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If satan drives out satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”

We are sometimes very happy to use our minds and logic to define what God means or what He wants. That is a waste of our time! Jesus didn’t just talk, He demonstrated God’s power. But if we go inside many of our churches you’d be forgiven for thinking that all He did was talk! I urge everyone reading this to get real revelation, for yourself, from the book, and start participating in the power of God. Personally, I think that logic will eventually kick faith out of the window because it is a poor substitute for living, loving, kingdom-minded saints who demonstrate the power of God and don’t just talk about it.

Did you notice in this scripture that Jesus knew their thoughts?! That’s what supernatural living looks like – inexplicable miraculous things happen! At this time, Jesus is announcing the truth, and refuting the Pharisee’s logic and lies with a demonstration. There is always a danger that we will cling to our belief and traditions and miss what God is doing NOW – unless we remain humble and teachable.

Most people hate absolutes. Jesus said in those verses above in Matthew: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.” There you go … now there’s an absolute! Someone in my family believes in Jesus, but not enough to follow Him. They are not ‘with Him, so everything they do, scatters.’ There is no lasting legacy from their lives because they are sowing into the wind. Permanence, together with a lasting legacy, takes a total commitment, not just a mental agreement with what Jesus said. Even the devil believes in God! James 2:19.

In the Gospels, Jesus shows us the way to make the kingdom of God available to others is by living it out in front of them. He was criticised and critiqued by the Pharisees for delivering some poor sod who was held captive by the devil. But this how you make God’s power see-able! “And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.” Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 2:4. 

Talking about Jesus, or even arguing with other people, no matter how cleverly we do it, will not help the-people-who-do-not-know-Him-yet to embrace His kingdom. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit…” (John 3:6). Our minds find security in what we think we know – unless Jesus is allowed to cut away the stuff that is hindering us, with the sword of His Spirit. Like the bible says in Hebrews:“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”The Holy Spirit doesn’t just want to win an argument – He wants to win the person!

In these brief moments in Matthew, Jesus is giving the Pharisees an opportunity to re-examine their idea of truth … be-ca-use … the Truth was standing right in front of them demonstrating LOVE with power.  Ask yourself some hard questions today. Is my life fruitful? Can other people see the kingdom of God being manifested through me? Am I living a life of laid-down love for the people I love, plus the people I don’t know? Or do I just give others a good argument to prove my POV? Do I pray for the sick to be healed and the captives to be set free? That mind stuff is a dead-end street. However His Love through us divides the rubbish away, and cuts straight to the truth. 

Jesus demonstrated the truth in front of their eyes, while the Pharisees left the poor demonised man captive! Just because it makes no sense to me or my personal theology – that doesn’t mean it is wrong – perhaps it is what Christ is saying – today. To me! 👋🏻

P 2206 Use the sword to set yourself free.

/ DVH

People sometimes ask me – ‘what’s wrong with trying hard to do the right thing?’ …They almost never like my answer. God’s REST is not about striving, trying, or working at it. If we are working at it, or trying harder, then we have left His rest far, far behind. He is our glorious God, and He knows the way through all of our difficulties, dangers, and personal snares. He does not want any of us to have secondhand faith – He wants us to have the sort of faith that stands when everything around appears to be falling and failing … including us! Please don’t ever second guess yourself, or rehash what has happened because you think you got it wrong. Every story in the bible proves our God can get mankind out of anything.

Does rest mean that we do nothing? No, now we begin to rejoice in our inadequacies, prejudices, and infirmities, and tell Him – “I feel like I am getting nowhere BUT: – “nevertheless it is not I who lives – it is YOU living in me.” …And YOU can do anything! Now suddenly here we are, in the heat of our own personal battle with a sword in our hand, and a purpose. Now we get to use our faith that He will never leave us alone because His Word, the bible – says so.

I start by telling the Lord that I want and need Him to be much bigger in my life – bigger than my failures and supposed inability to change. Sometimes we make God small by default. We ignore Who He is and what He can do. When we start to feel that this or that is impossible, that is the time to get happy. Jesus did not let any storm overwhelm HIM! He knew where His help came from. Jesus never put His sword down – He lived by it. We have a God of wonder – He is not small! He is bigger than we can ever imagine – and He loves us!

If handing stuff to Him, and leaving it there so we can rest in what He has already done, is too hard for us then we need to pray and ask Him to reveal more of Himself to us. Start with honesty, read the bible, and use that opportunity to take the lid off what we think, or how we feel about Him … or even ourselves. “Faith comes by hearing … (and hearing – personal fresh revelation) – comes by the Word of God.” This verse is our sword – we need to pick it up and use it against our feelings. He will reveal Himself to us in a new way from His book. He knows we are frail and sometimes faithless, but it is essential that we do not stop stretching our view of the Lord Jesus and what His did. Our spirit of stupid is not bigger than His GRACE. The disciples walked around with Jesus in full time ministry, they knew Him —- and yet one day the Lord took three of them up a mountain, and blew their minds! 

After we have acknowledged and prayed about the problem (difficulty or fault) – and repented … and stopped punishing ourselves with self-abuse …then we move on. This is when we build ourselves up in our faith, by reminding ourselves that our precious Father God is working on our behalf. He is stretching us, as well as doing things we can’t see yet. He is transforming the things we can’t do for ourselves. 

The Lord allows difficult scenarios to come into our lives, to give us an opportunity to turn them, and our responses to them, over to Him. Now we actively wait and watch to see what He is doing. Over the years, in the past, you and I might have chosen to panic, rather than rest – to react rather than extending love. But now we recognise trouble for what it is: it is not the end of our world … trouble is a chance to stretch our faith in His goodness and make it bigger. 

We need to deliberately choose His way of love, which may mean we say nothing rather than respond roughly to an angry person, or resort to self-abuse for not getting it right. Or allow ourselves to drown in our feelings of anxiety and fear, or beat ourselves up, and start trying harder. Give up! Let HIM take you through. At this point, remember: ‘He knows my frame and He’s turning my faith into gold.’ Job 23:10. This does not mean that we stop asking Him to send us help and deliver us, but this type of prayer is filled with faith in His character not resignation or frustration with ourselves or the situation. “God has got me and He has got this.” We remind ourselves that we are learning to “walk by faith not by sight.” 

The Lord is not satisfied with us merely agreeing with Him – He is aiming at increasing our actual trust in Him. Self doubt, or difficult problems are God-allowed opportunities for change. Do things differently. In those times I am learning to refuse to accept my own assessment or worry. I haven’t dropped it or pushed it aside – I gave whatever it is to Him and I am leaving it there. People are often tossed about by their emotions but God’s Warriors stand still and wait to see what their Commander says and does next. Maturing in our faith is a process, not an instant solution. The Lord does turn things around in a heartbeat sometimes, but often He wants us to stretch our faith and follow Him through the hard bits.

At this moment in time we are living among still-to-be-redeemed humanity. They are stuck within mankind’s limitations. But we are the people: “who can do all things through Christ because He strengthens us.” Transformation and healing are processes, they take time, but our God is always on time, He is never late. However, the time to lean on Him is always now. “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.” We acknowledge Him and He makes things straight. Even if the road ahead of you appears to be filled with pot-holes and you seem ill-equipped to deal with it – put your confidence in WHO HE IS instead. Remember we are in a war – true peace is not a cessation of hostilities – it is the Presence of Jesus. God be with you. 👋🏻

P 2205 A different way to regard ministry.

/ DVH

“So if you know of an opportunity to do the right thing today, yet you refrain from doing it, you’re guilty of sin.” James (Jacob) 4:17 TPT. Well that seems pretty clear to me, if I can see it, then it is my job to do something about it! However, it is not my job to force things to happen, or even make them come to a satisfactory conclusion. I must do what I see in front of me, however the Lord says to do it, even for someone else – and then the results are up to Him. 

After that I give everything back to the the Lord – including the results – and leave it there. “Come to me all of you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Rest is not snoozing on the job, rest is trusting Him to finish what HE started and we go on to have faith that He will help us through the processes. BTW that’s where the miracles are! We are spectators of His Grace in action, in us and through us.

The problem, with noticing opportunities, as I see it, is some people like to ‘fix’ everything, and others regard themselves as being busy – and they hope somebody else – ‘with more time than me,’ will do something about any of the stuff that happens around us. However, there may not be anyone else looking. I hesitate to say that most people rarely see what is going on around them, at all. In my opinion, it is way better if we all end up bumping into one another doing good.

Because if no-one does anything, then that means that everyone is leaving whatever it is, to someone else! And poor old no-one is not helped – plus things will not change. James is also talking about taking the opportunity to do the right thing. At our house we want to live this way every day. That’s our aim, but we don’t always get there! However, we look for opportunities to do other people good –  plus we make sure we repent if we have a hissy-fit on someone else. We’ve discovered that this means that we regard another person’s well-being as important. 

The great news is, when you do what He wants simply because He asked you to do it – either personally, or from the book –  you are stepping into His will. And that’s the place we all need to be … in His will. People often freak out trying to find out what the Lord’s will is – here’s a not-so-secret secret… HIS WILL IS IN THE BOOK. So whenever we help the poor, or widow or orphans, we know we are in His will. Whenever we do good to somebody who despitefully uses us – we know we are in His will!  Whenever we walk the extra mile … we know we are in His will. Whenever we ask for forgiveness no matter who did what – we know we are in His will!

If we read the Beatitudes bearing this attitude in mind – they will blow your mind. Our attitudes need to be like Jesus’ attitudes were – nothing was an interruption to the Lord! Not the disciples talking away about nonsense, or the people who accosted Him in the street as He walked about. Please take note – Jesus was approachable so we need to be approachable. Some people can make others feel invisible and they didn’t say anything yet! When Jesus wanted to pray by Himself, He went somewhere … by Himself. He even gave up His own sleep so He could be with His Father. BUT, when He was awake, He was there for the people around Him.

I think the Lord lived that way because He wanted to reveal His Father’s heart to as many people as He could while He was with us. He saw everything He did, and said, as His ministry. Ministry is not just on Sundays – ministry is the way we all live. Our lives become a ministry just like His life did. Even unto death. We don’t need a label, or a title, to minister to other people. And Sunday is the day when we take the time to minister to the Lord. But on every other day we are looking for opportunities to love on other people … and sometimes on Sundays as well! It’s a LIFESTYLE.

Our problem comes when we try to fit the Lord’s instructions IN around our own already existing lives. But the bible says: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you…”  That’s the order, God’s kingdom first – then the other stuff follows along afterwards. Let’s say that another way … before we jump in to say something, or do something, or speak to someone, or go somewhere, seek His kingdom first! 

BTW I don’t mean pray about this stuff first thing in the morning, and then forget-about-it for the rest of the day! Living this way doesn’t have to be hard – we just ask Him into whatever it is we are doing. Remind Him that we want to do what He wants us to do as we go along. I ask Him to help me not to miss any opportunities to do others good. It isn’t what we are doing that counts, we could be cleaning the downstairs loo! 

But: “Whatever you do, do your work with all your heart, as if you are doing it for the Lord and not for people…” based on Colossians 3:23. It is our daily intention, our full-time ministry, to be in service to Him, for others. So that means that people can’t interrupt us, rather they are giving us an opportunity to show love.👋🏻

P 2204 We all need our brains scrubbed sometimes.

/ DVH

Sometimes reading another version of the bible just kind of blows your mind. Here’s something fantastic that will, hopefully, make your day – from verse 4 of the 23rd Psalm TPT. “Even when Your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conquer me, for You already have! Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of Your love takes away my fear. I’ll never be lonely, for You are near.”

Oh! The clarity of what this translation says. It makes me fall in love with Jesus all over again! It’s like all my Christian life I’ve seen Him through this gorgeous multicoloured rainbow, and suddenly another new colour flashes into view. Wow! 🤯 Sometimes I just wanna sit down and make camp around a new concept like: 

“…fear will never conquer me, for YOU already have…” When I read that verse I realise how much more I need to be conquered by His love. Please do it Lord! Amen.

That’s what I mean when I go on and on about asking Him to help us read the bible. Otherwise we can easily go into the whole – ‘yeah yeah, I got that part – what’s next?’ … and miss the blessing and the food from our daily bread. Praise the Lord for people who have taken the time to unwrap the Word for us in so many great bible versions. Because some days unwrapping what He is saying to me, personally, can be hard work!

For a little while, just imagine living in a place where fear does not grab you by the throat. The awful fear of losing loved-ones. Fear of illness. Fear of losing our home, job, or even our own lives. Man, I SO want and need to live in the place where Christ has conquered me with His love, so perfectly, that fear can’t touch me. Knowing Christ, is our invitation into places we’ve never even dreamed about – so let’s not just settle for the promises – let’s go after HIM. 

The fact that Jesus Christ came to earth to save us, is a fantastic thing to think about, every single day. And of course, as we approach Easter, our thoughts turn to Calvary and that incredible sacrifice that was made there. Plus the Lord personally proved – Himself – once and for all, that death is never to be feared. What Christ did then opened the flood-gates of heaven. It would be an incredible shame if we rushed in to just grab the diamonds, gold and pearls … and missed Him!  I’ve met so many people whose focus is on gaining this world’s riches – health, happiness, praying troubles away, the sort of fairy-tale stuff that kids read when they were little. Happy. Ever. After.

There are also some well meaning, loving folks, who can’t wait to tell you you shouldn’t be sick, and so obviously your faith is too small! And they want to pray for you. If you stay sick, then it seems that you have some sin or other in your life and that’s not their fault. I call that kind of thinking shallow theology. My faith is big enough to make room for the stuff that makes no sense to me …yet. I totally believe in healing. I’ve laid these liver-spotted hands on other people and they got well. But I also know that the Lord Jesus said … “In this world you will have trouble…” And sometimes the greatest gift we can give Christ in return for all He did for us, is to love Him passionately, no matter what is going on in our lives.

Jesus Christ came to earth to conquer mankind with His love. Now there’s a headline! Just stop and think on that for a moment. 🧐 He came here and lived like us, to conquer you and I with the kind of love that we have only ever dreamt about. And it’s free. He lived His life as a human being to show us we can live this life we have here and now, and win. He was tired, cold, sad, had nowhere to sleep, skipped meals, and was reviled and rejected by the very people He came to reach. Maybe we need to remember that, the next time we try to tell Old Aunt Minnie the story of the greatest love of all … and she keeps interrupting you to talk about what she did when she was a girl! Please don’t give up on Aunt Minnie!!

This verse from the 23rd Psalm reminds me that I need to concentrate even more on being conquered by His love – daily. It’s a priority. “I will always need a fresh revelation of your love Lord.” Amen.  👋🏻

P 2202 The safest place in the world…

/ DVH

…is NOT under the bed or an island all by yourself! So please don’t give up on yourself, or other people … too soon. We all have learning curves. However, there is good news. “In Christ Jesus” is the only incredible place of safety and shelter for those who are learning to live in love! “Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 TPT.

But to get to that safe place we will have to give up many things we have become attached to.: like doing what we want when we want, or the power of arbitrarily telling other people what to do. Or always being right and never admitting you are wrong. Or making my world a safe place for me so I don’t have to care about what that does to you! Safety is a strange issue, but the real point is without Jesus a safe world doesn’t actually exist. He is our only safe place, and living in safety in this world is left behind, because the people who live for Him:  “… love(d) not their lives unto death …”  Revelation 12:11

The only way in is the only way out and it’s YOU.

“Came a time in my life I had to be free

From all of the lies that used to be me

And the only way out is the only way in and it’s YOU.

I’ve been waisting my time but not anymore

I’ve been through the maze and it led to Your door

And the only way out is the only way in and it’s YOU.

I spent a lot of time at the crossroads

Getting that lonely feeling inside

Suddenly You stopped the rain, You changed the view

Now every way’s leading to You

Let’s get this thing going, let’s move it along

Let me do all the things I’ve been missing so long

’cause the only way out is the only way in and it’s YOU.”

Ray Martinez.

Jesus is our only hope – He’s the only way out of the trials, sin and suffering of this world, and He is the only way into a new life. We can’t afford to waste our time anymore. It says that verse in Revelation like this, in the Message bible: “They defeated him  (satan) through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They weren’t in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.” I think that we have fallen far far away from that place of being prepared to die for Him. Unless we live somewhere where they love to kill and torture Christians. The people who live under life or death threats have to make incredibly hard choices – every single day. However where I live, we get to choose to die to self – daily, minute by minute.

But nothing in this world we are living in today, is actually truly safe. Talk to the people in countries where war has broken out. One day they were at the supermarket shopping, and now the supermarket is gone and so is their house! Now, it no longer matters if the man of the house keeps putting the tomato sauce bottle, or his dirty socks in the wrong place – there isn’t anywhere to put anything, anymore! 😢 Sigh. When did we become such petty people? This life has serious issues – and safety is an illusion. 

Sadly I feel, humanly speaking, we often make it through the trials in this life, breathing a sigh of relief that whatever was happening to us is now over. And then we go on to waiting and willing our lives to be easy again. I know I do! I hate being stretched. There is a saying from a movie: The Princess Bride – “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”  Amen! Preach it brother. Expecting this life to be easy is a childish view of this world. “The rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Everybody has hard times. 

I have been prayerfully reading Psalm 73 for days, and it is the best example of self-centred humanity… like ever! The Psalmist has his crank on because bad people are winning everywhere. When I read it I realised that he is grumpy because other people can do what they like, it seems – and get away with it. He’s mad because these people do not have to face the consequences of their actions. Eventually, he realises that even wicked people die in the end, and they face eternity unprepared. It is one thing to trick a human judge and jury, and plead innocent, and totally another to plead innocence in the face of true purity and truth.

The biggest problems we face today, are the seemingly insignificant everyday decisions we make about the way we act and react toward others. The decision to tell somebody where to go and how to get there, drags us away from our main focus. These are the days of deliverance from evil. Giving yourself permission to have a bad day can be deadly. The only safe place is living in Christ, living a life of laid-down love, for His sake … and dying to self.👋🏻

P 2201 Don’t leave the fun stuff to the so-called experts!

/ DVH

Instead, ask yourself – what am I here on this planet to do? And here is your answer!! Matthew 5:14-16. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” You and I are here to shine.

So what do I mean – don’t leave all the fun stuff to the so-called experts? I mean doing stuff with the Holy Spirit is FUN, AN ADVENTURE. Take my advice and get over the idea that you can’t possibly talk about your faith to a total stranger. A total stranger is like the easiest person E-V-E-R. You are never gunna see those folks again! Win, win! It’s the easiest way to talk to people. I exhort you to take Jesus with you on holidays. On purpose!

Seriously, buy some bibles/New Testaments/or tracts/ pass-it-on cards and stick them in the car with the kids’ ball games, stuffed toys, and the blow-up floaties for the pool at the caravan park. Yes I know you also have everybody’s clothes, and your food, and a first aid kit … BUT, those book type things really don’t take up all that much room if you think about it. When you do this you are telling the Lord you want Him to come with you …. and you never know what HE will do! … But IT IS guaranteed to blow your mind! 

OK, right – you are busy – you wanna rest. And when you go on holidays you already have a parent in the way-back seat who is deaf, but they won’t admit it. Plus they have a cane, and they grumble a lot.  And they probably want to do sudoko in the car, but the blamed pen won’t work! You also have 2-4 kids and a dopey dog and they all think that your car is a boxing ring. So they repeatedly say: “Are we there yet?” “How much longer is this going to take?” “I want an icecream! You promised!” “He’s sitting on my side of the seat, tell him to move Dad!” Blah blah blah. You know the drill – you’ve bin there already a thousand times. Plus the road is busy, and you and your spouse are wishing you had stayed home … and here I am saying: “take Jesus with you … in your car?? Lady, HE WON’T FIT!” 😱

Aha! I hear ya. But the Lord Jesus is fantastic, He brings peace with Him. “Great! Fabulous, you say! Now, according to YOU, I have to do all this stuff and you want me to be spiritual as well? Have you lost your mind?” Nope. You are right. I don’t have 2+ kids, a dog, and a grandma with a broken pen up the back. But … I have a husband with one hand, cos the other one was operated on, and I can’t drive. And we both suffer from chronic fatigue. And we have to take our own food because we can’t eat out.

Plus hubby has to get out of the car, talk to strangers, then get back in the car again, drive some more, then talk to more people, give away stuff, and still find the caravan park. Me?? I’m praying. Meanwhile I can’t travel 10kms without getting exhausted – let alone 400 kms per day. Then, when we get there, hubby has to cook our dinner – we don’t eat the same food – as well as unpack the car, and strip and remake the bed with bed-stuff so I can sleep. Then he goes off to talk to our hosts and give them whatever God says, to bless them too! Would you believe this still is his most fav thing to do? Mine too!

I soooo get that you are busy and this is the only holiday you are going to have this year… BUT you have never ever lived until you’ve told a perfect stranger that Jesus loves them so much He sent you to their caravan park to tell them that He loves them and cares about THEIR lives. You see, they also have kids, grandkids, daily visitors, beds to make, rooms to clean, a park to look after, plus the expectation that you and everyone else has that they will make your holiday a happy one. Their lives are busy too. And when we tell them the Lord Jesus loves them and smile at them, we may be the first person in a week who didn’t have a complaint about this, that or the other!  

These people don’t know the Lord. When they are desperate, overwrought, tired and fed-up they go down to the back of the park and sit under a tree. Maybe they have a beer (or ten!) and smoke a pack of cigarettes instead. They do not know that IF they pray, God will listen to them, because their prayers for help do not seem to be answered. But HE did listen … HE.SENT.YOU!

Look, people are not going to grab you by the front of your shirt and demand that you tell them about Jesus. They have no idea where their help is! And we get to tell them that the God Who made heaven and earth sent us to tell them that He has not forgotten them – He loves them. You probably won’t even need the 12 spiritual laws. LOVE WILL DO THE JOB BEAUTIFULLY. Send the kids off to buy that icecream, and park grandma or grandpa under a tree and go and introduce yourself to the people who run the park. 

Nothing is more refreshing or fun than refreshing someone else. Why should our pastors have all the fun?  Most people-who-don’t-know-Jesus think pastors have to talk like that – but YOU … you will surprise them! 👋🏻

P 2199 We give too much importance to agreement.

/ DVH

But we do not give enough importance to our faith-filled actions! In this life it is what we DO that counts. Here’s an example: Parable of The Two Sons – Matthew21:28-32. 

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’“‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”“The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”

Let’s look at the disciples. They personally walked around with the Lord for three years, and still managed to come up with loads of stupid remarks and mistakes. Christianity is not about learning so we can quote things and be right, it is about our hearts. Sometimes, so-called enlightened people can be so pompous and big headed. 🙄 A big following does not make anyone right. I don’t care how many ‘likes’ you have … that can also mean you are simply tickling people’s ears. Saying what they want to hear.

BUT “The Lord looks at our hearts.” Whose opinion do we value? HIS or theirs?? And that scripture ought to put the fear of God into us!  Jesus Himself said: “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14. The above scripture is an example of what that small gate looks like … popularity is not always a sign of the Presence of God. People love to feel stuff, but changing their ways … not so much! Obedience matters to God not just agreement! The above parable highlights that.

Christianity is not about being right, it is about learning to obey simply because we love Him. Jesus taught people about the Father and His Ways using parables. It is way too simplistic to think that a parable is just an interesting story with a nice point and fourteen sub-points. Ask yourself, what is this parable teaching me about the WAY God thinks? A parable is a revelation of the heart of God. It is the Holy Spirit jumping up and down. He’s whistling at us – “I’m over here!! Wrong way – go back!” God is explaining Himself to us and we’d better take the time to listen to more than just the stories. What are we? 3??? 😳

The Lord does not care how we feel about it, He is saying that the one who does whatever He asked in spite of how they feel is the one who is OBEDIENT – loves ME –  in some versions. That is not a line we want to miss. Our faith must be active. He said that tax collectors and prostitutes got it right! Why? They were humble, teachable … they knew they were sinners. When John preached “repent,” they were cut to the heart. They stopped sinning and turned to God for His forgiveness. 

Seriously, it is time we stopped making excuses for attitudes that we absolutely know the Lord does not support at all … and started working on our hearts with His help. Here’s a verse that will change your life: Psalm 139:23-24 KJV “Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” 

Otherwise God could do what He has already done before – He might go right around US, and go on to a new generation. He is looking for obedience, not spiritual highs and theories. It is indicative of this age that we literally throw away the thing we do not like – in favour of a theology that supports the “give me give me” theme. How terrifying. It is well past time to be serious about our faith. The bible clearly tells us what that kind of faith will look like – and if we try to pretend we have it, we are doomed to fail. Because when the pressure comes on, we will have nothing but hot air to stand on.

The biblical standard is always too high. That’s why Jesus came. To meet it for us. Only the ones living by the kind of faith that says, “He can transform even ME” –  will survive those things that are yet to impact our lives. Please don’t just say yes, and do no! Tell Him you can’t, and follow the Holy Spirit – read the book. 👋🏻

P 2197 Sometimes my biggest enemy is ME!

/ DVH

It’s really easy to blame satan for this and that thing that happened to us, he makes a great scapegoat when I’m too lazy to do stuff for myself or I want to make excuses. I’m not talking about feeling sorry for the devil – forget that! What a waste of time. So what do I mean by what I said? There is an old saying; ‘the devil made me do it’ – well that excuse is wearing a bit thin when it comes to Christianity. 

The reality is that human beings make poor choices – read the book. What the bible teaches us is the reality! You and I are who we are in our worst moments … so let’s thank God for Calvary. The devil can’t MAKE US DO anything anymore – now we have a choice. SomeOne died to give us the victorious power to make those choices. Because of Jesus Christ and what He did, we have another option, we can live in another kingdom now. So, LET’S LIVE THERE.

The problem seems to me to be that we wanna live in that kingdom AFTER we die – but for here and now, we just wanna paddle about in the mud and play in the stuff that the enemy has spread around here on earth. Pigs play in mud, not people – especially not our King’s Kids! And compromise is a deadly enemy of the truth. Compromise takes our eyes away from what we can do here and now – and renders us useless in this world spiritually speaking. satan is overjoyed to distract us from our real purpose until we are dead. And getting DEAD is something human beings have very little control over.

It is also incredibly useful to remember that participating in sin makes us deaf, and it takes our God-given sight away. So-o-o-o … when we can’t hear or see … then our personal obedience guidance system is broken, and we did it to ourselves. It means we need a spiritual check-up. My advice is to pick up the bible and start reading – God Himself will speak to us as we read – we need our faith-bank in Him built up to full. Personally I think if we do not esteem and decide to participate in what we have been given by Him, we will end up living in the shadows of this life. Always striving for something we can’t find, and never being satisfied and content with what we actually have. We’ll eventually become pale replicas of the person-we-could-have-been. Imagine how much bigger we can be, when we simply walk with Him, minute by minute, day by day. 

Let’s look at something that I think illustrates my point. There are over 2.13 million species on this planet. Now how do you think they got their names? They didn’t come with name tags! The bible says Adam did it … ‘so God created all the animals and the birds and He brought them to Adam to see what he will call them and “whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.”’(Gen. 2.19) I’ll bet that was a long, day, week, month, year! Maybe Adam actually had the use of 100% of his brain … instead of our mingy little 11%. We’ve been restored to a place higher than Adam’s place. We live in total fellowship with the God of the universe. He doesn’t have to visit us, anymore. We are now His temple!

However, that happened to Adam before he and Eve chose control and a snack, over God’s will. Humanity lost more than living in a fabulous garden! We lost the beginnings of a relationship that was normal, natural and part of Adam’s daily life. However, mankind’s total restoration from sin was incredibly expensive. Because of Christ and what He did for us, now, we have the privilege of spreading love, life and joy around everywhere we go instead of doing the everyday humdrum stuff that drives us all crazy. Hey! Your shadow just might heal the sick!! 

Human beings can contribute to this world in ways we have never even thought about. Forget going into space. We know the Maker of heaven and earth – the One Who made those stars.  And we’ve been chosen to carry His Presence into a world that has no purpose … except for a self-aggrandising one. We can introduce others to the meaning of life. What an honour. Count me in Lord!

My bones creak some days, and my ankles swell up from time to time, plus I lack energy, and I don’t always sleep well at night … BUT – I know that I carry Jesus’ Presence with me everywhere I go! So do you. It’s a choice. Unlike the old Testament, we don’t have to ‘blow smoke’ to hide ourselves so we can talk to God, and hopefully He will talk to us. Those days are gone! He wants to be in every part of our daily lives.

Sin is no longer a problem because now, we have an Advocate … a King’s Counsel, for the plaintiff, standing right beside the throne. Jesus Christ speaks PEOPLE. All He has to do is to point to His scars and we are completely restored. Ask yourself today, are you your own worst enemy? Nothing can keep us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus … nothing but our own choices. 👋🏻

P 2195 No time for a Nanna-nap!

/ DVH

“But you, beloved brothers and sisters, are not living in the dark, allowing that day to creep up on you like a thief coming to steal.For you are all children of the light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night nor to darkness. This is why we must not fall asleep, as the rest do, but keep wide awake and clearheaded.But since we belong to the day, we must stay alert and clearheaded by placing the breastplate of faith and love over our hearts, and a helmet of the hope of salvation over our thoughts. He gave His life for us so that we may share in resurrection life in union with Him—whether we’re awake or asleep.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6, 8, 10 TPT.

The bible says His word is ‘a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path.’ And the Message bible says this: “By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.” Christians do not lack light – we actually can’t! Jesus is the light of this world and we are in Christ – it’s not EVER dark where He is. You will always have plenty of light when you hang around with Jesus.

Sadly, sometimes what we do lack is the will to go and sit in the light and learn from Him! We need the Holy Spirit’s help to stay awake and alert in these overwhelming times. Ignoring why we are here is sleeping. Unfortunately human beings are not inherently good, despite popular opinion  – they are often uncaring, self-centred, independent creatures who want what they want when they want it. And if you don’t believe me read a newspaper or look at social media. Those things will quickly convince you that without Christ we are all helpless and at the mercy of our own appetites!

But because we live in the light – living there means His light will convince us that darkness cannot oppose us. Turn a light switch on when it is pitch black – darkness doesn’t leave grumbling and complaining – it is simply gone. Part of the way we shine His light out there into the darkness is to actively engage in learning His ways from the Holy Spirit. How to love others – our family, the people at work or school, our neighbours, so it is incredibly important that we see other people through His eyes. We get our Father’s eyes through living in obedience. His eyes are full of compassion. Otherwise our eyes are full of our own needs and our problems. Living in the light means we are learning to unconditionally accept the person in front of us. We can’t ever do that without the Lord’s help.

As we go about in this world, it is easy to see that many people have become so used to the darkness – that the light in us, and coming from us, hurts their eyes or they are afraid of it so they hide from it. But there are others who are drawn toward the light because it resonates deep within them. In today’s careless self-centred world, we cannot afford to be asleep on the job because who we are is always on display. People watch us  simply because we are standing in His light. 

Alert people keep their faith going even when it is opposed on all sides. If they have to hang on by their fingernails, they hang on! They tell themselves, “God has got this. These circumstances did not surprise Him. He has a plan, His plans are for my good and my future. I cannot afford to see my circumstances through the white noise this world produces, even though it is all around me – I must look at this life through the Lord’s eyes not my own.” These people stop holding onto what they think they must have or need, and let everything go – other people’s sin, the absence of real love everywhere etc. simply because walking with Him is more important than anything else.

Our personal faith is far more incredibly valuable than we realise, and we access and use our faith when we choose to love others, no matter what is going on in us and around us. Faith is a belief that our God can and will only do all of us good whether we know it or not – because He is good. We need the kind of strong faith that protects our hearts. The kind of faith that covers our heart with the belief that He loves and cares for every single person individually – no matter how things look, or how we feel.

Our faith hides in, and depends upon His goodness. It hides us from the deadly attacks of the enemy. It creates an atmosphere that is alert and notices whatever the Lord is doing. Our faith looks for good even within the bad. Our faith believes in Him, His Character, His never-ending kindness, goodness and love. And it shields our hearts by reminding us of everything He said in the bible. Our faith is not in circumstances or people, it understands other people fall victim to their own lack of faith in His reliability.

Lastly, His hope comes directly from our belief system –  it understands that HOPE is a Person. Christ. Our hope relies upon what He did. We cannot afford to gain hope from works, or even experiences – our hope is in Him. Sleeping in the light is wasting the time God gave us all. Just because things have become darker outside, that does not mean we can afford Nanna naps! The light shines brighter in the darkness. 👋🏻