Malachi

P 2887 What ARE we thinking?

/ DVH

“Perfect, absolute peace surrounds those whose imaginations are consumed with You; they confidently trust in You.” Isaiah 26:3 TPT. What we think about matters. You might ask me can anyone change their own thinking? God says we can! What I mean is this, because our minds are often easily distracted, we need His help. Here’s another scripture to chew over from Proverbs 23:7 it says: “As a man thinks in his heart so is he…”Proverbs 14:12 says: “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”

What we think about will eventually come out of our mouth. Let’s just stop and selah that thought for a hundred years or so! One day, the bible tells me, what I am thinking is going to be broadcast from the rooftops. Luke 12:3. Man have I thought some dumb stuff! Stuff that I sincerely want to take back. Today’s world wants us to be consumed by what we think we want, or what we think we need. There is a general assumption that people know what is best for themselves. My point is, what occupies our thoughts even when we are ‘resting?’ Even in His Rest, God is thinking about us! He’s always thinking about us. We are so blessed.

If God is a PS or an after thought in our lives then it will be much harder to occupy our thoughts with Him, we will be distracted and established on other things that can colour our point of view – the things of this world. Thinking about what the Lord has already told us in His book, needs to be cultivated. When someone we love gets sick – they are never far from our thoughts. At the same time, we are often bombarded by negative thoughts of death, devastation and destruction. That’s the other guy – he is very adept at throwing thoughts at us and then blaming us for having them!

Eve tangled with him and look what happened there – mankind lost their intimacy with God! Our thoughts need to be regularly transformed through dedicated application of His Word. We must change the ungodly patterns in our minds if we want to transform our hearts. When the Lord made Adam and Eve, He put them into the garden of Eden to enjoy it – then He came every evening to walk and talk with them. You know, in the absence of God, sin flourishes. The responsibility to cultivate and correct our thinking rests on us.

The sin Adam and Eve made was one we often make, we use our own understanding. Big mistake – HUGE! Let’s look at Genesis 2:6:“When the Woman SAW that the tree LOOKED LIKE good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.” Eve’s weakness was that she wanted to be “in the know,” then she influenced Adam to join her. 

Human beings are already way too power hungry and revenge-seeking for that kind of power! The enemy ambushed Eve with ambition. She wanted to be like God and know everything. That’s what the fruit of satan’s work does. It puffs up. Humility and obedience go sailing out of the window, and people throw away our position of protection that God gave us. Sometimes, we don’t even bother to find out why He said no! Instead we start assuming He is keeping something from us, like Eve did!  

Our loving Father had already had a plan for what Eve went after – He planned it HIS WAY. Christ death is the God-given link to God’s power in us and for us. When we start feeling cheated, or robbed, that means we’ve fallen into our own understanding and we are ignoring His. It isn’t that we not allowed to think our own thoughts — it is about staying safe under the shadow of His wings. It’s about having peace in our hearts and minds, instead of the chaos of manipulation, fear and domination that comes with our enemy’s whispering! Our thoughts are often influenced by our circumstances and the immediate. This is why we read His book. The bible is food, it helps us grow spiritually, and digesting it creates a spiritual outlook, not a fleshly one. It feeds our minds and hearts with what God thinks … and why.

We must learn to cultivate that fixed reference point, because our own understanding is far more interested in our gain than obedience. We need obedience with trust. There is such incredible substance in God’s goodness, faithfulness, and His Ways. There is enough glorious reality in Him to keep us all busy for zillions of years. Our God is not boring. He is complex. Instead of talking with Him and negotiating with Him – like Moses, or Abraham, or Elijah, or Malachi, or Peter did — many people want to be wise and run their own lives, without any oversight. That kind of independent spirit can lead us away from everything that lasts. Human beings were made to inhabit eternity. 

Father God was not withholding anything from Adam and Eve, He simply wanted to protect them from the responsibility that comes when humanity has the knowledge of good and evil. Our judgment is faulty! It is influenced by our own passions. Peace went right out of the window the moment we gained that knowledge, and chaos ensued. Knowing evil also means that evil can tempt us.  Peace is our portion, but we must learn to think like the Lord does to live in that peace. Bye. 👋

P 2438 Please don’t give in to despair …

/ DVH

… just like the tide, money is designed by God, to flow in… and out. Many people in these difficult days are struggling with providing their family with ordinary things …they are trying to make sure that they have food, shelter, and they can pay their bills. Money has become a huge scary monster, gobbling everything in its path. But our God is God, IN season and OUT. We are in a difficult ‘out’ season right now, and so this means we are all in a testing time. Father God is watching over us to see how we prioritise our funds.

Today I want to talk about how easy it is to pull back away from giving when times are tough.  However, all kinds of giving is actually our mandate. Our God gave – so we, His followers give! Because we are continually and evidentially being transformed by Christ, we are free of material obsessions, so now we can freely give away all kinds of things, including money! Freedom doesn’t come from feeling free … freedom comes from acting in faith. The feelings come later!

Every single day we have a limitless supply of incredible things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control because there is no law against those things. What does that mean? It means giving goods, money, love, mercy and grace are never out of season. We are always available to do good to others. Personally, I think that our own hearts are revealed to us by the way we give. 

Of course, every parent wants to provide for their own family – that’s normal. But we can sometimes forget about the poorer families in our society who struggle, through no fault of their own, to provide for themselves. The bible exhorts us to look after “widows and orphans.” So much so, James calls these actions pure religion. James 1:27.“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  

So while we are carefully watching out for inappropriate intake from all kinds of sources;  at the same time, we need to make sure we help those people who cannot help themselves. God calls that pure religion – religion that is untarnished by this world’s agendas. I can tell you from personal experience, we cannot out-give God.

At the same time we are also encouraged in the bible to make sure our pastors and their families are cared for. The bible tells us that we should make sure those people who work hard in leading us and feeding us, are highly respected and well-paid. 1 Timothy 5:17-18: “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” 

Whatever you decide to do about your own financial matters is none of my business, but I would exhort everyone to take what the Lord says about finances, seriously. I am writing this today out of my own experiences in this area. Our Heavenly Father cares deeply about our leaders, as well as the helpless and the tormented. Remember Jesus Himself  said in Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Sometimes our inability to get free in some areas can be directly related to our ongoing generosity and attitude of gratitude. We can put a ceiling over our own heads by the way we bless, regard and treat others. Hubby and I have found that the more we give, love, kindness, money, things …the more we will live pressed down and running over!  We see our lives together as a channel, and just like the tide, stuff comes in, and it goes out again. We have also purposed that if we don’t got it then we don’t need it because:“my God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory..” Philippians 4:19. 

We live with our eyes on the benefits of His tide flowing over us, and we are totally aware that it sometimes goes out … but we know it will come in again.  I love giving of all kinds. Including loving people, giving gifts, money, help, you name it, this giving thing is my all time favourite thing to do! As Malachi 3:10-12 says, this man challenges that giving is a place we can prove God for ourselves. He tells us that we will see the results with our own eyes. 

The marvellous side-effect of all this giving, from my own POV, is that the more I do it, the more cheerful I get about doing it…“and the Lord loves a cheerful giver.”  Win, win!  Father God loves it when we share with each other. People can call that charity, but in my mind and heart it is simply sharing, caring for others. Please don’t despair about your own current financial situation – just keep looking for ways to give, no matter what is going on. The Holy Spirit will show you how. 👋🏻