Luke 2:10-11

P 2859 The ‘back’ story.

/ DVH

Hubby and I have been delivering bibles, and personal words from the Lord, to strangers-who-don’t-know-Him-yet for 20 years, and we’ve travelled nearly a quarter of a million kilometres. We’ve given away thousands of bibles, and a whole lot of personal stuff, together with our own testimonies  about the Love of God for all His kids. We learnt – often in the trenches –  that God is so faithful and He can and will use anyone!

I am sharing this info today so other people know how to start, so they can go and do whatever it is that God has called them to do! It is unfortunately a bit too easy to serve quietly in our churches, but never reach out into our communities. Yet Jesus Himself told us all to “Go!”  Even after the Holy Spirit came on everyone in the upper room, the first thing that happened was Peter preached a brilliant sermon about how and why to get saved!

So hubby and I started praying about doing something/anything for His kingdom. But at the time, it seemed impossible, because hubby had been badly injured at work, he had a ruptured disc at L4-5, plus he was in excruciating pain. Eventually he had surgery and they discovered that one vertebra was rubbing on the other – the vertebral disc itself had collapsed. In the middle of that awful time, we were asked by a dear friend, if we would like to come away with him for a little rest/holiday. Our friend wanted to take us to Uluru and we said: “Yes please!” Hubby couldn’t even sit down on the plane, so he walked the whole way to there, up and down the aisles  for nearly four hours. They had to get a special lift to get him down off the plane, because he could not walk down the stairs.

My point being that neither of us were fit and healthy and up to doing much of anything! The Lord called us to do what we are doing now, just before we were due to come home from that holiday. We’d accidentally locked the keys to our little rental car inside it, and we were at a look-out in the middle of nowhere! Suddenly four big burly men, who looked like rugby players, helped us get the keys out. As we drove away, the Holy Spirit said this to my husband: ”These are your people, I want you to go and tell them I love them.” 

Our pastor was incredibly supportive, and we trust him implicitly. So we submitted what we had heard and asked him for his input. We still do that every single time we go away, because we both believe in the importance of  submission. I don’t think we would have gone anywhere without his personal prayer for us and his oversight. After all of us praying, the pastor came back to us and … … he asked us to wait six months before we went out!  Of course we didn’t want to wait – we were all jazzed up with enthusiasm!! But during that time we learnt that there is wisdom when you wait, because you can’t actually keep running on enthusiasm, it runs out! 

The Pastor and the Body of Christ have supported us in a thousand ways ever since. People we didn’t even know believed in what God was doing, prayed for our safety, and sent us money. We have never had to ask for monetary help, by His Grace, it simply comes. God constantly surprises us.  Along the way, we’ve made many, many mistakes, but I want to say here and now, that He looks after His kids, even the dumb ones, and He has transformed our inadequacies into His opportunities, over and over again. Father God has used our mistakes to give us even more opportunities to talk to people about Him! 

We are seed sowers. Can I just say? … Any fool can sow a seed! We are not evangelists. Many times people have prophesied over us about thousands coming to know Jesus – well who knows? Only God!  We’ve seen two, so far … but we refuse to let numbers be our guide. Our job is to love on people, help those we can, and testify to the power of His Grace in our lives. Through all these travels we’ve been put into positions where faith was the only way out … our faith has grown because of that. If you want to experience God’s love in your life – give it away! If you want Him to touch you – do what He says.

At this moment we are planning yet another trip, and the Lord has already changed our original plan – living by faith means you see His hand in everything that happens. We often tell each other, even if there is only one who wants to listen, let’s keep going out to find that one person that He loves. Numbers are just scribbles on a page – watching Him touch other people’s lives is our goal. Jesus told a number of stories about the importance of the ONE!

Lastly I will leave you with these thoughts — our God can use anything. He can take a whale and make it transport;  a burning bush and make it a place to meet;  300 men to defeat without number; 11 people from all walks of life and make happy-to-die-for-Him disciples out of them;  not to mention a kid’s lunch to feed multitudes! And that stuff has not stopped just because time has passed. We are proof that He will use ordinary people, whether battered and bruised or not, to reach out to others who need to learn about Him and His everlasting love. Our “back story” has changed both of our lives.  🙌

God loves His Son and He adores it when we glorify Jesus.“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10,11.

P 2820 Christmas is coming …

/ DVH

and the older I get, the quicker it comes! I like to think about Christmas as a time when I can love on my family, friends and neighbours etc. You know, if you can’t eat the yummy food, then there ought to be something you can enjoy! I love giving gifts … it’s my happy place.

My dear hubby is like the star of Bethlehem – he points the way to Jesus all over the place. Literally! Well, he doesn’t shine like he’s swallowed a light bulb, but we have plenty of those shining away on our front lawn. We have lights that look like bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, deer, mushrooms, flowers etc. … we go for the ‘nature’ look. And in our windows there are three exhortations for the world around us: “Peace” “Hope” and “Joy.” Christmas is not just a holiday at our house – it’s an annual event. 

Our family comes around to our house, year by year, and helps him … I’m the cheer squad, OK? They weed this, and string lights around that. We can’t be seen from the stratosphere or anything … But I have a feeling hubby wouldn’t mind that much. I just go along for the wild ride and enjoy every minute. I also commiserate with him, over every dead string of solar lights from last year – thank you Jesus for cheap shops!

Honestly, I think hubby would put strings of lights on every blade of grass if he could! At the same time he has written  out a Christmas card for all of our immediate neighbours and invited them to pop in and bring their kids to look at … … even more lights inside! I think my husband’s new name from the Lord might be: “sparkle happy little star.” At this moment I am looking at a giant Christmas tree, and every bit of furniture in the room has something that lights up, or plays a tune, or looks like a glitter bomb. 

You know there’s an old song that goes like this: “Jesus bids us shine like a pure clear light, like a little candle burning in the night, in this world of darkness,so we must shine … you in your small corner, and I in mine.” Ya gotta love those old hymns. Those guys way back when knew how to exhort people. Right now, hubby is shining away, loving every minute of it, even though it hurts his bad back. In 2020 he was sick but he still put up the lights on that Christmas when Co-vid sent everyone inside. There is something so neighbourly about Christmas lights.

And my hubby knows how to celebrate. That’s my message for today. Do you know how to celebrate? Or has life ground you down to a shadow of your former self and your happy little star brightness has dimmed? (Talk about mixing my metaphors … hooley dooley! Sor-ry!!) Meh! Meanwhile, I want to ask you to think about who or what turned your lights off? … Sad and annoying things happen to all of us. Somebody dies, somebody gets ill, someone else loses a job, or a house – bad things happen to good people all the time.

Bad things happening to you does not make you a bad person, and it does not mean the Lord has given up on you either. Stuff happens, it’s life. I knew someone whose favourite saying was: “Stuff happens and then you die.”  It’s a great summation but a very bad premise. We need to deliberately focus on what’s good, what’s right, what’s profitable  and let our minds park on those things. Otherwise those bad things can blow up like a balloon and eclipse everything else around us. I feel like this year has been full of those lousy balloons for many people. Let Christmas remind you that He’s still, and always, the perfect Saviour.

Now here’s something that cheered everyone up who was present back in that day. “To the paralytic man lying helpless on a bed, Jesus proclaimed,“Be of good cheer”Matthew 9:2. To the frightened Apostles battling the tempestuous sea, Jesus appeared on the water, declaring, “Be of good cheer”Matthew 14:27. (C. Fronke.) Either Jesus is heartless – and that’s not possible – OR He knows something we don’t know … yet. Jesus was not exhorting these people because they weren’t coping – He’s the Answer! The Answer came on the scene. Today our Knight in shining armour isn’t miles away – Jesus walks with us and talks with us and He will help us saddle up and ride on. 

You and I must choose to cheer up, no matter what is currently going on, because right now, we are in such great company – the Lord Himself is WITH us!  Many of the people who have gone on before us lost their cheerfulness temporarily too … let’s not let the bad things eclipse the good ones. Let’s think on things like this: “And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you;  He is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11. Bye 🌟