Mercy

P 3371 Cultivate Fruit. 

/ DVH

I love summer time when all kinds of fruit are in the shops and it seems like we are overloaded with choices. Any kind of fruit looks great to me. You know in the bible I can’t find one instance of anyone talking about dieting! Fasting – yes! Dieting – no! Father God has provided us with a tremendous variety of foods. He is the source of it all, including the fruity yumminess, because He caused every pleasant and fruit-producing tree to grow in the Garden of Eden. It was a fruit-bearing tree that seduced Adam and Eve! 

And today, I have a little theory I want to write about that. Here we go… inside any fruit there are seeds – most fruits have at least one seed. According to my little bit of research, most of the fruit we have today that are seedless, have been specially cultivated by horticulturalists to remove those seeds for our convenience sake. If you’ve eaten an orange with a great many seeds in it, you will understand why! 

If we look at the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I think we will find that when Adam and Eve ate whatever kind of fruit it was, its seed was in there too. It also became part of them, not just the fruit. Inside any seed is the potential for many other trees to grow. When Almighty God banished this couple from His garden, they lost all access to the tree of life, because they’d disobeyed when they ingested the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, together with it’s seeds.

Now this couple had the potential to decide what was good and what was evil … because the seeds of knowledge, and the quest for power were growing inside them. They decided disobeying God was evil, that’s why they hid. They already had the potential to be like Him … without His WISDOM, MERCY and GRACE and DISCERNMENT etc.

Their disobedience robbed them of their holiness, and the access to Holy fellowship that God Himself gave them. That fruit of disobedience, that they chose to eat, was passed on to their offspring. Then God planted Himself into the earth in the form of His seed in a virgin’s womb. Jesus was planted and He lived here, He died and was buried here. A seed has to die to bear fruit.

Cain became jealous and killed his brother Abel. The seed of ‘whatever I don’t regard as evil’ is not evil, has become my new idea of truth. This was fostered the minute Cain entertained the thought: “Why didn’t God like my sacrifice?” Independent thinking is a very popular theme nowadays. It seems to me that truth is no longer fixed, because we have thrown away our access to the Tree of Life, the bible.  People are planted in the wilderness, instead of being planted by streams of living water. The bible points us firmly to our need of a totally New kind of Life – in Jesus! 

Humanity has been sowing trees ever since. Conversely if I think it’s good then it’s good!  EG. You can’t tell me what to do, because seeds of disobedience and rebellion have already been sown and cultivated in my life from birth! We can’t blame Adam and Eve, because we are personally responsible for what we choose to cultivate in our lives. Every interaction, every chosen course, every single choice … feeds and waters His seed in us … or the wrong seeds.

Jesus Christ hung on a fruitless ‘tree’ and HE became the Seed that died to foster our new life in Him. When we ask Him to live within us, we received the potential to cultivate the Tree of Life in us. I think that’s the abundant life Jesus spoke about. Not spectacular houses, piles of money or fancy cars. We can spread heavenly seeds wherever we go.. When we were born again, Jesus Christ gave us His life and put His seed, inside us, WE DON’T HAVE TO SIN ANYMORE. We have a choice. 1 John 3:9 – “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” 

And Colossians 3:12-14 tells us what that seed looks like: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

This new life we have today is about cultivating His seed, His new life within us — together with all its graces. Jesus died for us, to produce IN us, a new way to live. That way to live isn’t just about us having comfortable lives, it is about our enemy meeting an army of people sold out to spreading God’s love, everywhere. They are being trained in righteousness by the Spirit of the Living God. God’s love is not a theory, it is His grace, let loose so mankind can lay claim to their birthright – the tree of life and the different kinds of fruit that freely grow on that tree.

We’ve been misled by religion. You and I can’t cultivate His seed in someone else – it is their choice. But they still need to know they have a choice. We are His witnesses to everything He did, and is still doing in our lives every single day. His seeds of obedience, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, love, and joy and peace are now in us. We simply co-operate with the Holy Spirit and follow His lead, using the opportunities life brings across our path. 

The seed of eternal life has been sown into us when we said YES to Him. So we choose LIFE, the way our Saviour lived it. Now is the time to cultivate His fruit… and that’s my little theory. Bye. 👋

P 3367 The Bride Jesus deserves.

/ DVH

One day, we are going to the greatest wedding of all eternity.. We will marry Jesus and be His Beloved Bride forever. This time here on earth is our preparation time for that wedding. Everything has already been prepared in heaven, on the Groom’s side. The Groom is waiting. However, it is up to His Bride to accept all the provisions and alterations that have been provided for her. The Holy Spirit is the One Who is in charge of Jesus’ Bride’s preparations. 

Just recently I’ve noticed that there is an ongoing trend everywhere in our world. There is an attitude that minimises people’s obligations to carry out what they say they will do. We’ve stopped being a people of our word. Excuses are made. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we entered into a relationship, an engagement with the Lord our King, and Bridegroom. It is part of the marriage covenant to allow ourselves to be made ready for this incredible honour.

In today’s current climate I have been puzzled about what seems to be someone’s intentions, and what they— in real time, in real life —actually carried out. There seems to be no difference between INTENTIONS and ACTIONS in some people’s minds. In my opinion, those kinds of attitudes lead to confusion and sometimes even self-deceit. Self-deception occurs when we think saying something sincerely, and doing it, are the same thing. Because we owe Jesus everything – everything is what He should get!

Actions are about someone following through on the choices they’ve made, until the things that have been accepted by both parties are finished, and concluded. But intentions are  based on a person’s communicated desires and thoughts – however they don’t necessarily have to be translated into actions.The general feeling about this concept today, is that intending to do something is the same as carrying it out. IT’S NOT!

Almighty God has always held mankind to our word. He gave us His word and He carried it out. His gracious treatment of humanity is our example of promises given and fulfilled. Jesus’ Bride has a responsibility to be the kind of people who follow through on their promises. What we say at the altar needs to be followed up!  When we don’t, then we need to take the time to confess those things as sin, repent, (which means turn around and go the other way), and allow the Holy Spirit to help us keep our word. 

Father God understands, first hand, (His Son came here!) that because we are human, we can have oppressing circumstances. But the best response if we truly want to be transformed, is to go back to Him and talk to Him about it, not just excuse ourselves. Looking for permission to avoid responsibility, or to cover up things and pretend that they don’t exist, will compromise the very essence of our privileged relationship with the Trinity. 

Jesus paid for our sins, it was a gift, freely given. That means any presumption is offensive in the face of that gift. Gratitude and obedience are the right responses. Jesus won’t hold our sins against us, He has already provided a way for us to deal with our sins and missteps. But that way is not avoidance. Many people have indicated to me about obedience: “I can’t do that.” I cannot agree with that premise. The Lord Himself has provided a way to help us obey, at great personal cost to Himself. The Holy Spirit is here! Obviously we can change – we are simply using our feelings and habits to hide from reality.

The bible is the only way we can actively learn about what our Bridegroom expects from us. Yet we cannot do HIS WILL, His way… without HIS help. We need to learn how to behave like a royal, loyal Bride would. We must determine in our hearts to be steadfast toward our Husband-to-be and grateful for His goodness toward us, above our own negative feelings or fears. I am aware that living like that cuts across our desire for self preservation, and the appearance of looking good to others. Our Groom knows about that! He was innocent and He allowed mankind to punish Him …  yet He said not a word.

My scripture today is not one that is spoken about a lot, so I will leave you to draw your own conclusions about your  responses – just as I need to assess my own. As I have intimated before: I believe the Bride needs to stop cherry-picking scriptures that suit her and read the bible seriously, reflectively, with humility, and then go on to discontinue any course that says””I intend to… one day, when I’m ready.” Instead she must be committed to carry out anything and everything that will facilitate her new role as His Beloved Bride. Humility is our bridal shawl, now we wrap ourselves in everything He did for us.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:10-14.

After all Jesus has done for us, don’t you think He deserves a Bride Who will humbly submit to the Holy Spirit’s ministry and preparations with great joy? Let’s be a Bride Who embraces everything the Lord Jesus Himself deserves from us. Bye. 👋

P 3346 Persistence.

/ DVH

Hubby is my full-time carer, but recently he has been battling daily with arthritis in his hands, feet and back. Do we pray about it? Of course we do! We’ve been praying for ill-health in our lives for years, and we will continue to do so. However, we refuse to let those things stop us, because this life is not all there is — around 3 billion people haven’t heard about Jesus, even once.

Which brings me to today’s theme from Luke 18:1-8. V1:“Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up…” I’ll let you read the rest of these verses for yourself. Suffice to say, this lady was a real pest. She drove the resident judge crazy — yet Jesus chose this illustration as an example of how important it is to keep on persisting. It is His desire to bring justice for ALL. The fact that we are coming up against unfeeling, sometimes hardened people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet shouldn’t stop us. All of us need to put down the bat, and use our words, based on 1 Corinthians 13. Perseverance pushes through because it wants LOVE to win. 

We are assured that we’ll be heard when we cry out to God — and we can have faith He will make a way. This lady didn’t just sit home and sulk, or badmouth the judge, she banged on his door until he answered, and he answered because she wouldn’t go away. Jesus called that faith. I’d probably call her a pest – but Jesus did not! I am not suggesting we bail up people physically, or harass them – but  I am suggesting that we must engage with our problems. First of all, we speak to the Person who is ultimately in charge – God! Then we speak to the authorities or the people who can help us.

Many times in my life I have met real injustice. Each time I stood up and said ‘that’s wrong.’ Because I did so, rules were changed in favour of someone less fortunate than me. I’m not a lobbyist, or a politician – I’m a blogger, a mother, and a grandmother. I left school at 14… was married at 20. But because of the scriptures, when I met injustice, I knew God was with me, so I stuck with it. I prayed and kept banging on the door demanding for truth to prevail. Sometimes we need to prayerfully, politely, and firmly demand to be heard.

Second thought in Luke 11:5-13. Let’s look at verse 8. “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” Again we have the Lord using the same word – persistence. For the second time He is saying:“Pray like this!” He follows on from this parable about stretching friendship, into two verses that are often quoted …Luke 11:9-10. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” 

Persistence is invaluable with faith. We can’t afford to pray, give up and walk away. We need to put our feet into our prayers, like the pesky lady who went to the judge, and the friend with a visitor who went to his mate’s house at midnight. We don’t have to be violent to be heard. That’s why we pray first. We pray until we are filled with Holy love, then we engage our feet. Over the years we’ve allowed Christianity to become  passive not active. So when you want to care for the poor find something to do. If you think a thing is unjust, speak up. Have a prayer meeting, get the Lord’s heart on it, and then go.

Let’s not just assume the Lord is on our side, instead, let’s remember that we are on HIS SIDE and find out what that is! When hubby and I go out to share the gospel and give away bibles etc., we meet all kinds of people, with all kinds of faith. We don’t talk at them – we demonstrate the love of God toward them. If we are not sure what that looks like then we listen and then act on James 3:17:“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”

We don’t give up, instead we go after wisdom. We all need to show other people God’s love on purpose. Make a plan to demonstrate His love in action. When you can, pray for people in person. Keep your life clean, make sure you actively forgive those who despitefully use you. And find a way to feed the poor, heal the sick, raise the dead. If our faith is inactive it can easily seem like our faith isn’t big enough for this kind of stuff. We have to persist. It’s great to pray and give, but going grows your faith.

Bang on the Lord’s door, Jesus our Friend, He’ll open the door because He loves us. He sticks closer than a brother. We are always going to need fresh bread from the bible, for everyone we are going to meet today. Chew on the Word, for a bit and then go and live out what it says.“But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed [in Whom they have no faith, on Whom they have no reliance]? And how are they to believe in Him [adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him] of Whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14. 

You and I are the Lord’s hands and feet, so wherever we are we need to:  “preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words.” His Love will fill us as we physically reach out to others, because we are doing what Jesus loves to do. Bye 🙏.

Our daily bible readings are our fresh bread.

P 3301 Our love of God = love of others.

/ DVH

“This is how we can be sure that we love the children of God: by having a passionate love for God and by obedience to His commands. True love for God means obeying His commands, and His commands don’t weigh us down as heavy burdens. You see, every child of God overcomes the world, for our faith is the victorious power that triumphs over the world. So who are the world conquerors, defeating its power? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:2-5 TPT.

Do you see that? We don’t obey because we must — we obey because we want His goodness, mercy and love to win! I love the bit that says we can overcome the world simply because we believe the gospel. Our belief in Jesus, as God’s Son, is our victory. Plus our chosen obedience is another outward illustration of how much we love our brothers and sisters. We are not just a clump of disconnected people who happen to worship together Sunday by Sunday. We are the living breathing Bride of Christ Himself. 

We are interconnected, as well as dependent upon each other – what happens to one, happens to all. Just try hitting your finger with a hammer and wait for the rest of your body to explain to you how it doesn’t like that very much!  Plus, this thought is also a good thing to remember, the next time the lady next to you is a bit pitchy in her singing, and her kid has the fidgets. 

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”  Colossians 2:18,19. “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” Ephesians 4:16. 

To be healthy as a Christian we need to be connected to Him and that leads to interconnection. When there are disruptions or difficulties – we need to realise that in the body of Christ, I could be an eyelash and you could be a toe, or even maybe something internal. So we will see this world from a very different POV! When I discovered this verse … I understood that JESUS makes the body fit together and my job is to support and help the other parts to do what they are here to do, with His help. 

I don’t have to make sense of other people’s rationale, I simply need to pray for them, and love them. I read another verse that says: “Above all, have fervent and unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins [it overlooks unkindness and unselfishly seeks the best for others].” 1 Peter 4:8. Simply put, that verse means the kind of love that is ‘a deep, and fervent love. Together with the kind of forgiveness that will overlook faults, reduce conflict, and promote healing in our relationships — rather than amplifying mistakes.’

What we lack most of the time, isn’t about exercising patience, restraint or perseverance, it is God’s love flourishing in us, expressed through us. That kind of unconditional, always patient and kind love, has the power to change someone else’s life, without even speaking a word. And if we do speak, because of His love whatever we say, will be one of those “apples of gold in settings of silver” I am always rattling on about. (Proverbs 25:11) Instead of out and out correction, let’s focus on what the other person does that is praiseworthy, full of grace, and positive and uplifting. And tackle the sin, not the person. Focussing on what’s wrong pulls anybody down into a defensive position. But God’s Word enables, it lifts up! People are happy to stand up in the light of His love, because His love won’t ever lead to despair. 

We can miss out on His wisdom and benefits, when we use the word of God like a hammer instead of a sword. A sword can cut people free of restraints. A hammer does damage. This is why our meetings together are always incredibly important, because then we have a chance to build up each other’s faith. We can exhort each other into the greatness of Who He is – rather than stare at ‘what a failure I think I am.’ Our commonality is in Jesus. If I love Him and you love Him, then we have that in common. But our primary goal is to love Him first. 

When we love each other, we are loving Him. Each person in front of us has been made in His image  “… Let us make man in Our image…” Genesis 1:26. I may need to pray and look carefully at the other person, yet even though His image is there, sin may cloud it. But when we choose to live our lives belonging to Him, His image is there. Living in Love is not just a theme, it becomes everything we do, simply because we want to stay close to Him and each other. I try to focus first on the Lord, on what He says, not just on the other person. When He is in the place that belongs to Him, everything else falls in behind that. 

We can sadly, quite easily forgo loving each other, staying with ‘like’ instead of ‘choice.’ But when we find the Lord in that other person, and focus on Him, then we can love them. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, …” Matthew 6:33. These other things will follow. Bye 👋

P 3294 First things first …

/ DVH

Not all that long ago, when we read the following verse in Philippians, all we could think about was what we gain.“I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through Jesus Christ!”  Philippians 4:19 TPT. We can sometimes even cheerfully quote the verse “and forget not all His benefits…” thinking, hoping those thoughts from Psalm 103:2, mean God will do whatever we want. And this particular verse in Philippians sounds just like a benefit! But the problem is this – our aims and His, need to line up!

A problem occurs when what we think we need, is different from what the Lord knows we do! The most important thing to seek is explained in Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  There is a way to read this verse in Matthew that clarifies it. Our mistake is that we take one bit of the verse over another, without consulting the Author. Father God will satisfy our needs but that is conditional on us seeking His kingdom first. Hubby and I have learnt to live this way – not because of any particular skill either – we’ve learnt out of necessity.

We were expecting little packets of soap and shampoo today through the post, so we could make up care packages to give to battered women and their kids. Time-wise, it was expected sometime this week or the next. Some family members have kindly offered to help us pack the kits — now there’s a lovely provision that helps hubby’s back! So we asked the Lord to please fix the timing and left it with Him. We are going on the road to seek His kingdom so we felt free to ask for those things to be supplied. They turned up on our verandah four hours before the helpers arrived!

We know someone who asked the Lord for a motor-boat to go and evangelise people who had never heard the gospel before, because there were no roads in to where these dear unsaved souls lived. The boat arrived and our friends went on it to this hidden away place, and the whole village came to know Jesus. Praise God! On the way home that boat they were given blew up! No more boat. They had to get a ride home in native canoes. Why? I dunno!  I think the point of verses like these is not about getting something – they are simply a catalyst for us to learn to trust God, whether those things come to fruition or not.

It is good to practise watching out for the Holy Spirit Who loves to ‘kiss’ things. However, just because we want it that doesn’t mean He does. Do we actually know what He wants? Are we seeking that? What are we going to do with what we are given? Is it for His kingdom or our comfort? Are we prepared to wait? Moving on … the next criteria that has to take precedence is “Love.” The bible tells us we are to pursue it. There is no greater pursuit. So my next question after praying, is this: does what we want revolve around LOVE?

Meanwhile, Father God does not have to prove He loves us by giving us things — He gave us His precious Son! If He never gives us another thing in our life-time, the gift of His Son’s life, together with Jesus’ grace and righteousness etc. outweighs everything else. Our Heavenly Father loves to bless us, but I think He wants us to learn to live using the measure of faith He has given us. Our faith is destined to grow, because there is nothing in God’s kingdom that we can plant that won’t grow! However, when Paul says he has seen the abundance of riches of the glory of God, I don’t believe he is talking about earthly things. 

Let’s remember everywhere this man went, Paul asked people to give. He prayed first, then he reminded those  churches that giving is meant to be part of their new way of life. If all Paul needed to do was pray because there was a legitimate need, then why did he bother to ask the churches he founded for money?  I think that Paul knew what grace, mercy, peace, joy, etc. could do inside the giver, when those things were allowed to flow outward and bless other people. Generosity in the flesh leads to generosity in the Spirit. Paul had discovered how rich we all truly are, but that discovery had nothing to do with money, position or possessions.

Our human focus is limited, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see how much provision we already  have, simply because we love and serve Jesus. Praise God, in heaven people are cheering their heads off for YOU and I. All these people can see are the good things we have been doing for the kingdom. There is no judgment in heaven! This is part of kingdom thinking. It exists up there so we need to pray and start bringing it down here through our own lives. 

It is incredibly sad that we focus so much on our own comfort here on earth. Our job is to bring what’s up there, in heaven down here, using our faith. We probably don’t need more earthly goods, instead our real need is more of His love. More repentance. More concern for those who are perishing without ever meeting Jesus here on earth like we did. We dare not spend our time running after physical and emotional needs, instead of running after Him. 

I went looking for pictures for today’s blog, the majority of pictures I found illustrated these two verse with earthly illustrations. Things like food, clothes, sunrise, flowers, piles of stuff… this world is obsessed with gaining things! But seeking His kingdom first, means seeking Him first. Bye. 👋

P 3289 Be yourself. You are here for a purpose.

/ DVH

Yesterday, I was inspired again by Reavo, who produce the dearest little 3-4 minute clips on YouTube. Can anything good come out of Youtube? You bet – you just have to be discerning. Here are some of their titles; ‘Your love is stronger than my faith.’ ‘ His mercy reaches far ahead.’  ‘I thought my hands were holding on, but You were holding me instead.’ These people have made a sweet and beautiful little felted world, delicate and unthreatening, and they sweetly illustrate the love of God toward others.

I love the way these precious brothers and sisters think. It isn’t good to be someone who looks at stuff and says …”Oh those guys are from such and such a church, and we don’t agree with their theology.” Let’s look at that carefully, shall we? Luke 5:5-7: “Master,” replied Simon, “we were working hard all night and caught nothing at all. But if You say so, I’ll let down the nets.” When they did so, they caught such a huge number of fish that their nets began to break. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.” Those men in the other boat weren’t following Jesus, they were simply other fishermen – Peter shared the blessing with others. Jesus Himself said He had other sheep we don’t know about! 

Here’s a thought: let’s give judging others a big rest, and stop looking at our differences and spend more time looking at HIM! Now there’s a worthwhile project .I have no clue about Reavo’s theology, but the Holy Spirit on the inside of me loves them. And I believe gentleness is vastly under-rated! These little snippets of love don’t preach at viewers, they visually illustrate what God’s love looks like in the nicest way. A whole lot of work goes into each one, and I especially love the producers for finding their own way to preach!

There’s also a fantastic young man on YouTube. He has the gift of joy. He travels about to various shopping centres and dances. (Mostly hip-hop)This dear fellow walks up to perfect strangers with all kinds of bright, catchy, recorded music playing. Meanwhile, let’s not get our knickers knotted about who is playing and singing what – instead look at what he is doing! He is using his own enthusiasm and the rhythm of dance. He is not dancing to show off – although he is great! He reaches out to perfect strangers, takes their hand and gets them to do their thing to the music. I don’t know what denomination this man belongs to, but I can see the Lord in him.

Before his audience even know it, they are dancing, in public … some of them quite badly! But they are laughing and having so much fun they don’t care how they look. It’s just so precious to watch. Kids join in, and so do elderly people, who probably haven’t danced in years! This young man doesn’t preach, he doesn’t hand out leaflets, he doesn’t take money … he has simply made the joy of the Lord his strength, and you can see it.  He walks, lives and dances WITH JOY. He also talks about Jesus freely and naturally in interviews. Most people do not know the Lord Jesus is FUN. More’s the pity.

Our churches can get so busy instructing people, we can easily forget that the Lord saved them to BE with them. Jesus is a people-person. There is always a sparkle of life in His eyes. There are many ways to read the things the Lord said in the Gospels, but it is very good to look at what is written, and see hope all over it, and not just instruction. When Almighty God entered into the Garden of Eden, every evening to walk and talk with Adam and Eve, He didn’t go to lecture them. He went to BE with them! If we read the Old Testament carefully looking for what each person said in their conversations with the Lord … we will find that Father God related to each person in His book, differently. 

Our differences are a poem to His creativity. The Lord doesn’t want clones – He loves uniqueness simply because HE is unique. Please stop focussing on looking like everyone else and just be yourself. Not the self maybe your care-givers wanted you to be, or the unrealistic person that you wanted everybody to love. The real you, warts and all! We are all human and vulnerable, and liable to make mistakes, but we have the best gift of freedom this world has ever seen. Jesus deliberately came to give us the freedom to be better than we are, so now we are free to stop being self-obsessed, and we can choose to become other centred! Life is far more fun that way. 

Here’s an odd thought. Why didn’t God just make man and take him and her straight to heaven? Why did He put them in the garden? I honestly think the Lord wanted this couple to enjoy what He made. We need to be the happiest, fun-nest people on earth, despite our circumstances. Start to use who you are to love other people! Don’t try to be someone else. You woke up today. 150,000-170,000 other people didn’t. “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Be redeemed, transformed, a-n-d …yourself. Sin is no longer a part of you, you are here for a purpose, and that purpose is not to drive other people crazy!  Bye. 🤪

P 3286 Cling to Him

/ DVH

Jeremiah 9:23: “This is what the Lord says:“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.” V25-26: “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

This is the Lord’s pronouncement over Israel, He is throughly sick and tired of these people who say ‘yes’ but do ‘no.’  He makes it perfectly clear that being rich, popular, strong, and wise in this world’s ways, is not for His kids. What He is looking for is a people who know Him, and know His ways, and love Him so much they will follow Him wherever He goes.  And because of those deliberate choices then His ways will show up in every attitude and action they take. First of all let’s look at what delights God and what is His benchmark, because the Holy Spirit very kindly gave us a list!

He loves kindness, righteousness and justice. He operates from those things. It will never be enough to read the words and nod and smile, or even wipe away a tear. Crying is easy, changing is not! However, whenever  God speaks, He is telling us about Himself and we need to listen to Him. The Jewish people were not wrong in their desire to please Him but pleasing quickly turned into placating. They carefully implemented 613 laws to make sure everyone did what He wanted – and woe betide any Wally that tried to do anything else! They were punished by the religious. These dear people put Almighty God into a box of His own design. The glorious box He called Mercy and Grace, they misused the Mercy Seat and then they walked away from personally knowing Him. The Mercy Seat is a place of meeting, not just dropping off your sins like a dry cleaner! The thing that is heartbreaking is, He is so easy to know. He told us what He likes and doesn’t like. 

 
Where His chosen people missed what He was saying, was that they legislated something that was meant to flow out of willing obedience, compassion and a desire to honour Him. He wanted the Jewish people to love His Ways —not just salute the flag and run back into their old habits. Only to front up at Yom Kippur and pay the set price for their disobedience, lack of loyalty etc… once a year!  He is saying that lovingly, and willingly honouring His ways is the way we love Him. “But He’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously.” Micah 6:8.  

You might want to pause and think on that.  Almighty God isn’t just looking for a transitory relationship— a sometimes on, sometimes off again, depending on their mood — a girlfriend. He wants a pure and holy wife for His Son! Father God is a parent. He wants someone worthy of His Son Jesus, and all Jesus has done for us — to be His Son’s precious Bride. Someone who is willing to have the Lord cut away everything that has taken up residence in our hearts that can defile us. Sadly, sometimes those things also define us – yet we are proud of them. His people back then were circumcised to show to the world around them that they were His children, but their hearts remained unaltered. The question I want to ask today is this: has our heart, life and attitude been altered by following the Lord Jesus? Or do we settle for the outward appearance of being ‘church people’ without any inner conviction and subsequent changes to our lives.

 
Do you want to truly delight God? Then let Him circumcise your heart. Not just fill you up with more information, more rules, or sadly, even more failure. Instead, surrender your whole life to Him, like Jesus surrendered His whole life for you – willingly, joyfully, devotedly. Falling in love cannot ever be a set of rules, it is a process of choosing to get to know each other, enjoying the other person’s ways. The Lord Jesus is totally acquainted with each one of us, who we really are. He already knows every single thing there is to know about us — and yet He picked us anyway! Amazing. Next time you sing: “Amazing Love, how can it be?” Please remember that. Gratitude is our only response. 

When we meditate and act on His words, HE becomes our focus. This is a lovely side-effect of loving the Lord that will improve our view of His kingdom, this world, and other people. We will lose all of our judgment and gain compassion in this process. But at the same time we cannot circumcise ourselves. That’s why we have the New Testament, to explain to us that He has, in fact, already done that. Praise God that He knows exactly the right time and place to put His loving finger on something that is holding us captive to our old way of thinking. The Holy Spirit longs to help us as we cling to Him and get to know His Ways. Bye. 👋

P 3284 We have His deposit in us.

/ DVH

“Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by His divine power. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing Him who has called us by name and invited us to come to Him through a glorious manifestation of His goodness. As a result of this, He has given you magnificent promises that are beyond all price, so that through the power of these tremendous promises we can experience partnership with the divine nature, by which you have escaped the corrupt desires that are of the world. 

So devote yourselves to lavishly supplementing your faith with goodness, and to goodness add understanding, and to understanding add the strength of self-control, and to self-control add patient endurance, and to patient endurance add godliness, and to godliness add mercy toward your brothers and sisters, and to mercy toward others add unending love. Since these virtues are already planted deep within, and you possess them in abundant supply, they will keep you from being inactive or fruitless in your pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ more intimately.” 2 Peter 1:3-8 TPT.

When it comes to spiritual matters, like transformation through obeying the things Jesus said, or praying for the sick etc., we can no longer say we can’t do these things. Why not? Because the moment we gave our lives and hearts to Jesus, the Holy Spirit has already deposited the potential for a new life and totally different responses in us. They just need to be exercised. In other words we simply have to cultivate them by saying ‘no’ to the stuff we used to do before. The seed for a Godly life is already in us, we water it with the Word of God and prayer, and throw in the fertiliser of self-sacrifice. Mature people know we can’t always have everything we want and they face their responsibilities realistically, and with God-given determination. (See 2 Corinthians 1:8.)

The same power that enabled Christ Jesus to do what He did, is already in us. Let’s choose to obey Him and let it flow out of us, using our faith. Despite the lies we sometimes tell ourselves, we are no longer under a yoke of slavery. If you think about that sentence it will suddenly hit you how true it is – the more we think about what we do, the more we will realise we choo-oo-oose to do stuff! One of the best things the Lord gave us, apart from the Holy Spirit, and His OWN righteousness, salvation and redemption in our lives, is the power of choice. We can now choose. However, we will face the cost as we lay aside those things that are trying to drag us down. 

What the Lord did at Calvary was tremendous, He did more than die for our sins, He imparted His character, His love for His Father, into us. The potential for transformation is already inside us! Obedience now becomes a matter of using our faith and putting our feelings aside. Who are we going to believe? The Lord Jesus, or that other guy, who loves to throw doubt around. Listen to this: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “DID GOD REALLY SAY (??) ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1. There you go! Doubt!! Here’s Matthew 4:3: “The tempter came to Him and said, “IF you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  He uses “if” like this, 3 times.

We simply cannot afford to let satan steal our God-given faith. It is just as real as our eternal salvation. When we let him do that we are not reaching our full potential in Christ – yet! In Christ means standing in a God-given position. We’ve been united with Christ – He chose to do it. This represents a new God-given identity. Jesus took my old ‘self’ to the cross with Him and gave me a new identity, like His. When Father God looks at us now, He sees the blood of Jesus covering all our lives. Just like a foetus is in the mother, we are now in the Son under the blood. The safest place for us to stand is in Him, using our faith to believe that sin is no longer our Master. 

Before we met Jesus sin dragged us around like the tail on a kite. But now, we have the power to ignore its diversions, deception and lies, and live this life, here and now, like Jesus Himself would. We don’t have to give in to the urges and feelings we cultivated before we were saved. The power of God now resides within us. The Holy Spirit came here and He never left! He also gave us gifts to bless other people. Now we don’t have to give in to the temptation to live like we did before. We don’t even have to manipulate others to get what we want, Jesus will supplies those needs now.

We can be loving, patient, kind, long-suffering with others. He promised He would not leave us alone and He didn’t! Let’s believe what the bible says, above our experiences or feelings or the PAST. We have the Holy Spirit, God’s deposit within us. We are attached to the Vine, now we let the sap (the power of God) do its work! It can be hard initially, because we have a lifetime of experiences to the contrary, but keep on keeping on and you will breakthrough into a new place. You are His own child. You share His DNA. Bless you. 👋

P 3282 Live dead!

/ DVH

“Since Christ, though innocent, suffered in His flesh for you, now you also must be a prepared soldier, having the same mind-set, for whoever has died in his body is done with sin. So live the rest of your earthly life no longer concerned with human desires but consumed with what brings pleasure to God.” 1 Peter 4:1-2.

It is good to ask ourselves questions about our own reactions. The thing I have learnt is that you can think you have utterly surrendered to the Lord, and you only want to live for His will — then suddenly something unexpected happens and things that you didn’t know were inside, pop up like daisies! My advice is this, don’t excuse your behaviour, pay prayerful attention to it. Making excuses gives us a back door out of personal growth. It stops us discovering the real issues. These issues are far more likely to be about us, than others. We can make other people’s lives a living hell by refusing to confront our own inner attitudes.

When life stays on a pretty even keel, we begin to understand the normal day by day pressures, and we learn to manage them, by yielding to the Lord, and watching Him do the miraculous on our behalf. But it becomes easy to dismiss some not-so-great attitudes we have as …”that’s just who I am. It’s normal for me.” Ignoring the fact that we have a new normal now, and it isn’t based on our individuality, it is whether we look like Jesus, inside and out.

What comes out under pressure? Love, or temper, and impatience, or a distinct lack of mercy etc. What happens if it is your kid suddenly being bullied at school? satan knows that we will lean on the Holy Spirit to manage stuff coming at us, but what if trouble hits your kids, or your parents, or your friends? Maybe your spouse has to take a pay-cut, or even lose their job. Who are we then? I learnt many years ago, the yardstick we use to measure things must be based on the Word, not on our feelings, or our personal coping skills. The place of equality for all is in Christ Jesus, it is not in our ability to make nice noises under pressure.

For a number of years, Christians clung to what we believed about a group of wonderful verses that tickled our ears and made us feel good about ourselves. Sadly, I believe that has led to a distinct lack of adulthood in the Body of Christ. Pastors are often so busy trying to wipe adult noses, and soothe adult bumps and scrapes, plus sort out their life issues, that they have very little time to do what the Lord wants them to do! The way to maturity is through selflessness.

Years ago, I was a latch-key kid I got into all kinds of mischief because there was no parental eye on me. I was reduced to what I could get away with, rather than what was required of me. Not a good place to be. I realised I could out-think the person in charge and go around the rules! That is not obedience, it is evasion, half-truths and deception. Who are we when nobody is looking over our shoulder? 

Our new life is a new way to live not just a theme. The other day I spoke a little bit about money. I think most people don’t like it very much when money comes into the picture — however, the truth is dead people don’t own their money anymore. When we give everything we have to the Lord, He takes it and that includes the things WE think WE own.

Let’s be clear. This life we are living flows directly against our old one. And we are more familiar with the old way of thinking than the new. Some dear people don’t last, because they give up too soon. The cares, worries and struggles of this world overtake them.The best news ever is that we are NEVER alone! The Holy Spirit is a brilliant strategist and leader, we simply follow His Ways by reading the bible and applying what we’ve read, with His help, into our own lives. Plus we obey His inward checks and prompts. 

Initially that can be scary. But this also is how we find out, for ourselves, that we don’t like apologising, or looking like a daft goose. Human beings don’t like making mistakes or even having them pointed out – the old life rises up within us. We are always going need the Holy Spirit’s help – we can’t do this alone. But He’s not a tap we can turn off or on. He’s a Person! Let’s learn to live in such a way, that we are not distancing ourselves from Him. 

As we let go of the reins and allow Him to guide us through the potholes and bumps, He becomes the driver in my life, and I get to sit in the car as a passenger. But some days I really do think I belong in the boot! Soldiers are trained to obey orders, and as we learn to be obedient and cherish the Lord’s will, we are dethroning the whole me, mine, myself and I, mindset. Most people don’t drift away from faith because they hate the Lord — instead they drift away on a sea of careless indifference, aimlessly floating along unaware they are being  influenced by the changing tides of this world around us.  

Living dead’ means we have chosen to exchange our old way of life for His Ways instead, our faith is in Jesus and it is progressive,  Bye. 👋

P 3279 If you want to see a miracle … … you are going to have to take a RISK!

/ DVH

I think many Christians are currently living their lives avoiding risks. Maybe they feel they don’t have to take a risk because: “God doesn’t want me to be uncomfortable.”  Hmmm… It’s just you, me and the Lord here. Tell me, have you ever wished someone would move far, far away – ‘cos they bug the daylights out of you? Here’s an interesting thought … you just might need His help with that, it seems like it needs some attention.

Instead of yielding to the Lord, it certainly seems like we are more likely to give in to our thoughts, emotions and passions. Plus…we have given away the power of personal choice, and we tell ourselves: ‘we can’t help it, life is just like this now, it is the 21st century.’ The thing with yielding ground to the enemy is this, …he’s greedy, he wants it all, and he will not stop coming at you. he doesn’t know the meaning of the word – mercy. The more ground he has in your life, the more he can torment you. Take back what he stole from you and give it to the Lord Jesus! The safest place for everything to be in our lives, — is “in Christ Jesus.” Store your family, money, job, etc. up in heaven and give them to Him. Ain’t no rust or moths up there!

Fear is one of satan’s biggest weapons, and he sows it into people’s lives and uses it to create chaos. Here’s a different thought — chaos needs to be fed, and worry does a bang-up job doing it! But if we take the worry and fear fuel away, chaos cannot support itself. Jesus stood in the middle of chaos a number of times and He was not distracted by it. His focus was always on what His Father wanted. He is the perfect example of how we need to live! The Lord Jesus blows me away every single time I read the book. 

Especially when I look at His circumstances. I love the way He responded to other people, including their accusations, as well as their applause. The bible says He was able to do that because: “He knew what was in the heart of men.” (John 2:23-25.) Living like this is risky. It’s like standing in an open field with lots of people firing arrows at you all at once. It seems like one of them is bound to hit you somewhere!  I think we don’t like feeling vulnerable, so we hide from people instead with polite smiles and platitudes. It’s mighty hard to love somebody you are hiding from!  

And choosing to love people that you know will hurt you is a huge risk. It may not be that person’s intention, but it’s like you’ve been in a losing boxing match from the moment you are together. I found an answer that worked in my life when I’ve met people with manipulative, controlling actions  …I decided to do whatever HE told me to do, for HIM — instead of doing it for them. I simply took out the middleman. This gives the Lord the opportunity to take over. Pretty soon I saw this person who threatened my sense of wellbeing, from a distinctly different POV.

Then I found this scripture…“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23,24. That took a lot of risk out of meeting with scary people for me. I simply treated them the way I would treat the Lord Himself. You and I are now royalty, and this is the ultimate way we can serve others — just like our Saviour-King did, we give them what they don’t deserve. Jesus gave US Grace. And His Grace changed the whole ball-game. 

Initially, being nice to nasty people seemed counter-productive, it seemed like I was supporting something that was not good? Actually I was letting God’s Word loose in a practical way and, as a result, He did everybody good. The Lord can’t help Himself – He’s just that generous. Risk averted! Living this way is witnessing without saying one word. Eventually the other person will ask you questions, and then you get to tell them! Win, win! People think witnessing is just about talking, Jesus didn’t think so:

“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:35. Loving one another is one of the best witnesses we can exhibit to this world, and it comes under the heading of ‘hard to do!’ The bond we have with Him is a no brainer, the bond I have with you, can be RISKY. We could end up disagreeing over stuff like doctrine. That’s why treating everyone the same way is the best answer. Love simply never fails! ps love gets easier when you practice it.

Risky living is worth it … even if, or when, it seems to fall on its head. I found the secret in those moment is this, don’t take your faith in God’s goodness back. You and I are in no position to judge exactly what is going on. I have had people tell me that doing this or that for them was a waste of time … only to have them tell me much later that it really touched their hearts, they were just embarrassed! 

We are all too dumb to know what’s good for us. Seeing miracles is a daily event for those who are prepared to take a risk. Some days the miracle is that you don’t feel angry when you would normally want to yell at the other person. At other times, there is lasting reconciliation, yet that relationship looked like it had no hope whatsoever. I’ve learnt to put down my pride and do it His way, using the book. Bye. 👋