Matthew 28:20

P 3368 The Sameness of Days.

/ DVH

Here’s a hypothetical scenario: you are strolling through the streets paved with gold — you gotta love God’s building materials, gold on the footpaths and precious stones in the walls and gates! WOW! … Any-wa-ay… here comes Jesus, and He is chatting with Abraham, and He looks at you with a twinkle in His eye, and you know you are going to get to spend some time talking with Him. Hmmm … So then would you say: “Sorry, Jesus, I‘m kind of busy. I promised I would get some fish for dinner. I’ll catch You later?”

One of the things I have noticed about this life is that because one day follows another, we can get caught up in the ordinary things we must do, and miss the beauty of being given yet another day to walk with Him. Yeah I know, we will be with Him in glory one day. But living out each day walking with Him in the little things we do that must be done, can be beautiful too. His Presence affects everything. Don’t wait for Sunday, be with Jesus now! Let Him IN everywhere, and watch how your world changes.

I know quite a few missionaries around the world. They are living each day for Him. Laying their lives down, simply because they love to serve Him. They have work to do too and it is not always glamorous. This idea is not just for ‘special’ people. We can live like that. Sadly, our lives here in the West are often about the same doo-doo, on a different day. So walking and following our Master can become yet another chore. Yet another thing we have to pack into the hundred and one things we need to get done.

Some of us wake up hoping today will be a better one than yesterday. Others have very little money for food, and they have to choose between paying the rent and eating properly. Some work for ‘the man’ in some mindless job, that is nothing like the things they  hoped for when they were young. Their dreams have kind of evaporated and one day follows another with alarming regularity, and we get stuck in what I call – the sameness of days.

The disciples spent three and a half glorious years following Jesus around, copying what He did, and seeing extraordinary things happen right in front of their eyes. They  heard about their Heavenly Father in ways they never even dreamt about. Maybe we hope that somehow we can become like those people who live for Jesus, and do those things too …. one day. This morning the Lord poked me awake and said this: “You can walk with Me the same way they walked with Me. Even after I left they lived their lives with a constant Companion who taught them My Ways all the time. You can live that way. I promised to be with you.” 

So, let’s live this life, the one that does the same things over and over again, with HIM as our focus, and not the next task. Often our ordinary lives distract us from our real purpose to love and serve Him, and others. If He calls you to pray for your family at 3.00am and it’s cold and you are still sleepy — you can either roll over and tell yourself that wasn’t Jesus! After all He knows you have a big day tomorrow and you need your sleep. OR!!!… You can climb out of bed put on something warm, make yourself a cup of something or other, and tell the Lord: “I’m here Lord. I’m listening.”

Obedience is like a plant, it needs to be cultivated. Initially it can seem like a tiny, little, scrawny half-dead thing that can never possibly grow and it won’t accomplish much. But the real secret to obedience is consistency. In the big things and the small things. Just because we already know how to do it, that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit can’t offer us a new perspective. Let’s learn faithfulness in the little things. 

So, what happens when you crawl out of bed at some ridiculous hour and go and sit on a chair, and maybe open your bible? You get to spend some one on one time with Your King. That’s what! Meanwhile, 3.00am is not some magical hour. What makes it wonderful is that the God of the Universe called you, and you came! In the West we are so results oriented, so seemingly time poor, that we miss out on incredible opportunities to just be with Him. If we want to carry His Presence we need to be with Him.

We sing:  ‘In Your Presence Lord, is fullness of joy” and then go out and live like He is not there with us. He promised to be with us!! And feeling like Jesus is with us, is not worth a hill of beans. As my daughter says: “Feelings ain’t in it.” We can live this life dragged about by our feelings, or simply choose to live it with our focus on His faithfulness. When we do that, we are living out what we pray for! 

Jesus Himself is talking here in Matthew 28:20.: “Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).” Hebrews 13:5: “Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”

Don’t let the sameness of each day rob you of the joy of fostering your relationship with Him. We have been given such a privilege. Bless you, and have a good one! Bye 👋.

P 2909 Into the storm.

/ DVH

I think I wrote about the following verses just the other day … but here we go again … and this time, we have an actual storm. On the horizon, locally, looming… Mark 4:37-39: “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” As I was thinking about that snippet from the bible  early this morning, some things jumped out at me. I’ve been reading this stuff for 50+ years and I’m still seeing stuff I didn’t see before!

Back to my storm story: Jesus is sound asleep but the disciples are not, they have been kept awake because they are furiously fighting with a storm, trying to obey Him. Now they are caught up in a panic, looking at the physical evidence of watery chaos all around them. They were trying to go to the other side, because that is what Jesus told them to do. But at this moment these men are going up and down, tossed about by big waves in a little boat, soaking wet and scared of drowning. The sky was filled with dark clouds, maybe even lightning and they are rowing like mad and getting nowhere. 

It ain’t peaceful! We all like peaceful. We all like life to go the way we want it to. So how come Jesus can sleep? Well, He said they were going to the other side and when the God of the Universe and beyond says we are going to the other side – then that ride is on Him! I just made an important point for someone out there … ‘You are on His dime – this ride is ON HIM – stop trying to organise Him and sit back and enjoy the ride.’ Moo-ving on …

Panic overtakes the disciples, and so they wake Him up with an accusation – ‘Don’t you care???’ Why should the Lord sleep when they are so-oo-oo scared. Isn’t it His job to protect them? After all, He put them in that boat! He’s in charge, and the people who are in charge need to fix things. Boy were they in for a surprise! I have no idea what they thought Jesus would do… um maybe if they woke Him up He could join them in their panic? 😳 Human beings can be so irrational when they throw their faith out of the window, just to see if it will survive the fall! 

Here’s my point for today: first Jesus rebuked the wind and waves, then He rebuked the disciples! There were two storms that night, one IN the boat and one OUTSIDE it. You know, we can get so carried away trying to control our external circumstances, that we forget that our internal state needs help too! We cannot afford to let the external rule the internal … we will start sinking.

After that, Jesus explained to these men that their faith was far bigger than that storm. Sometimes when we face difficulties and terrifying things, our real task isn’t to fix the problem – it is about learning to rest in the face of whatever is going on. We can rest in the fact that JESUS IS ALWAYS IN OUR BOAT.  

If you don’t believe me, then let’s have a look at what the book says. Jesus is speaking here: “And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world.“ Matthew 28:20. “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before Me.” Isaiah 49:15&16. “The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8. The last two verses are our Heavenly Father speaking. 

When we look at our circumstances, or our inner state of panic, we can easily feel deserted – left to fight whatever it is by ourselves. But this is our opportunity to believe what the bible says, above how we feel. Inclement circumstances are where we learn to REST in Him. Jesus Christ has paid for and given us HIS rest, nobody else can steal it away. We can only choose to lose it, by choosing fear, dismay and anger above rest.

As we descend into this storm, we are not alone – Jesus is in this boat with us. Bye and bless you. 🕊️