P 3496 A little hopefully, helpful revision 🤠…

October 14, 2026October 14, 2026 / DVH

Here is a much repeated question down on the ranch… how can I hear God? My answer is simple. Read the bible, read the bible, read the bible. And when you get sick of that, deny yourself, pick up your cross, follow Jesus … a-n-d!!… read the bible some more! … No, I am not joking, and there aren’t any shortcuts on this trail pardner. Reading the bible is the best way I know to know, recognise, and check that you are hearing God’s voice. Doing that means we will become familiar with what He says, and what He sounds like.

Take notes if it helps you. But I don’t, unless you count this blog! However I’ve heard others say that taking notes is like telling the Lord you are going to take what He says seriously. That’s how we got the bible in the first place — people wrote stuff down. Those 66 books are proof that these men loved God so much, they chose to pay attention and take note about whatever He said and did. Even when it didn’t show them in good light!

Next clue, find something you have been ignoring, or simply hoping that it will go away, and fix it. Bite the bullet and just do it. Don’t consider it, or take a survey amongst your Christian friends, just do it. Yes, even if the other person was really wrong and you can prove it. Be prepared to suffer wrong. The people who choose to follow Jesus don’t have pride, dead people don’t — but they know they need humility, be-ca-use … that’s in the book! Humility means you are prepared to get it wrong, and look like a goose as you follow Him. We are all human and we don’t always get this stuff right.

However, I’ve learnt that when we start taking tiny steps of faith, Father God is so faithful! He takes our clumsy efforts and uses them anyway. It is amazing!! Remember, we can count on the fact that Jesus has already redeemed our mistakes and missteps, 2000+ years ago. Our God is out-of-this-world incredibly gracious to His kids. He’s a good, good Father, and this is how we learn how good He is for ourselves. He has not only saved us from our sins, He has also saved His kids from their own personal version of the spirit of stupid. Because sometimes we accidentally fall into the bad lands and can’t find our way out.

The Lord’s reputation for unprecedented goodness, is important to Him. If we do something dumb – and boy have I done some really really dumb things … we can be assured that He will redeem it, as we humble ourselves, admit the fault, fix it with others, and do what He says about it. That’s when I’ve personally seen the Father’s Grace in action all over my life. The minute I repent, things start to turn around. He sends the Holy Spirit to come and lead me back.

The Lord wants us to use our faith for so much more than earthly gain or fame. Fame is a trap – it puts a target on the person’s back. We can end up bumping into everyone else in our rampant enthusiasm, so we pray because we know that He told us to pray, and then we wait. We expect an answer: EG. yes, no, stop, go back. I urge you to read the Epistles. The Apostles expected God to answer their prayers, and they saw for themselves that the Name of Jesus is astonishingly powerful when it is used to glorify God.

At the same time, in everything we do, we must choose to do it with oversight. No Lone Rangers in this Western! That’s because Tonto is extremely dumb, and they beat him up every time he goes to town! So when hubby and I go on trips, we submit our plans to our pastor. We utterly trust this man with our lives. If he says, “don’t go,” then … we don’t go. End of story. Submission is not an outdated concept, it is a functioning biblical principle. Otherwise we can bump into other people like random atoms, and that can have dire consequences. Our Heavenly Father loves it when we defer to one another. So cowboys who enjoy wandering off the ranch into no man’s land need not apply.

Moving on … please don’t just read the bible. Instead, let the bible read you. And then let it challenge you and change the way you think and act. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to apply what you’ve just read into your own life – and take the time to listen for His answer. Newsflash — He is never in a hurry.

The things we say need to be monitored by the bible. Because our words count, Jesus taught us that. “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” Matthew 12:36. Yeah. I wish that one wasn’t in the book either – but ignoring it won’t help. I pass stuff like that verse over to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help me. Because I have loads of idle words, I am SO never going to manage that one by myself. So when He says: “shut up dear,” … I shut up dear!

Last tip; John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We all know that Jesus Christ Himself is the Living Word. He knew God’s Words so well — He WAS them! If we want to become acquainted with what He is telling us, then we need to read the bible like Jesus Himself is talking to us. That’s the way we become familiar with our Shepherd’s voice. When people say: “I can’t hear God,” then I give them this often revised and well-practiced advice. Read it – do it. Bye. 👋.

P 3464 This is what restoration looks like.

September 12, 2026September 12, 2026 / DVH

“I appeal to you for my [own spiritual] child, Onesimus [meaning profitable], whom I have begotten [in the faith] while a captive in these chains. Once he was unprofitable to you, but now he is indeed profitable to you as well as to me. I am sending him back to you in his own person, [and it is like sending] my very heart. I would have chosen to keep him with me, in order that he might minister to my needs in your stead during my imprisonment for the Gospel’s sake.]. Perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated [from you] for a while, that you might have him back as yours forever,

Not as a slave any longer but as [something] more than a slave, as a brother [Christian], especially dear to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh [as a servant] and in the Lord [as a fellow believer]. If then you consider me a partner and a comrade in fellowship, welcome and receive him as you would [welcome and receive] me. And if he has done you any wrong in any way or owes anything [to you], charge that to my account. I, Paul, write it with my own hand, I promise to repay it [in full]—and that is to say nothing [of the fact] that you owe me your very self!”

These verses come from Philemon V10-19. They make it clear that true reconciliation means real repentance and restoration. We don’t know exactly what happened here, but news of it must have reached Colossae because the people there knew what this young man had done. First of all — I just want to mention the bit kind of tacked on at the end: “if he has done you any wrong in any way or owes you anything, …charge that to my account…” here’s the punch line …’it’s me, Paul and I am writing this in person. I will repay you if it is necessary, …but you need to remember that you owe me everything!” Paul stood up for this young man and he put himself between Onesimus and judgment.

It has been suggested that this young man sinned against Paul perhaps stealing from him, but Paul grabbed hold of God’s grace and went back into ‘love.’ His actions show us what God’s grace, looks like. Undeserved, and unreserved. Now he esteems the culprit highly. Paul knows Jesus and he is acquainted with His Ways so well, that this is his first and only response! In His mind forgiveness means forgotten, and he wants to get on about the business of today – leaving yesterday behind. He is still teaching the church, but now he is leading by example.

Repentance acknowledges a fault, without harping on the point, and it quickly heads toward reconciliation, restoration and forgiveness. It seems to me that Paul may have wanted to go with Onesimus and act as a go between, to make sure this reconciliation was complete, hence the letter. But he was in jail so he could not do that. He is simply stating the truth, and giving the people at Colossae a chance to digest his words and enter into true reconciliation with this young man as well, and put aside their previous opinions of him.

Sometimes when someone deeply wounds us, we need to take a little while to digest what happened, and how we felt about it. It is interesting that Paul is not looking for a patch over this problem, he is far more interested in healing it. Paul wants this church to move on to a wider place. People are human, they make mistakes, and some terrible mistakes have extremely far reaching effects. It is wisdom to carefully take our time to clear up our own reactions, otherwise we can easily say yes … when our hearts are yelling NO-O-O! That can have terrible consequences.

But I have a word of caution, don’t let your feelings, or even mental or physical pain, keep you from forgiving others. Forgiveness is a spiritual transaction. It is a spiritual thing. I forgive that other person because God forgave me first. We don’t just do that in theory, we do it in practice. (Matthew 18:21) It’s not always easy — 70X7 is a whole lot of practice! When the Lord forgave us from the cross, He released His Grace into our lives in abundance. Now we have something tangible to give away to anybody who hurts us. We have His never-ending Grace constantly flowing toward us, and we can give it away freely, just by using our faith. We now have more than we will ever ever need … Grace is tangible, eternity is resting on it!

Whatever we concentrate on becomes bigger, and it can fill our vision the longer we think on it. So someone else’s sin can literally block out the SON in our own lives. What we need to do is to use the GRACE we’ve already been given, and remember we can’t afford to hide behind excuses. Revising someone’s sin and talking about it with others will just enlarge how we feel about it. We will get sucked deeper into a vortex of despair, anger, and the need for revenge. The reality is, outside of releasing His Grace into our situation, we can end up more stuck than we were before. And we will be ‘punished’ twice, once by the offence and the second time by our reaction to it.

I am not saying that other people’s sins can’t devastate our lives, prayer and support are often needed. But we must choose to change our focus, otherwise we will remain a prisoner of that other person/s sin. Here’s something that helps me – this person who deeply hurt us cannot go back and undo what they did. This is now your story. Like it or not. Now your story is affected by scars. Jesus has scars too. We need to focus on moving past the event — for the sake of our faith.

If that other person does not choose to change, then prayerfully continue to love and pray for them, from a distance — let your inner self be less available to them. However, at the same time, we need to remember that we can often distance people to make ourselves comfortable, without asking the Lord what His plan is! Forgiveness can be so difficult whether we have a real or perceived grievance. It tests our faith. But we have inherited, from Christ Himself, a ministry of reconciliation. True restoration shows our gratitude to God for what He gave us. Bye. 👋.

P 3463 Be really yourself…

September 11, 2026September 11, 2026 / DVH

…not the you, you wish you were! … Something has shifted in hubby and I as we’ve been travelling all over the country-side giving away bibles and stuff. We started out being traditional, and along the way, a whole lot of formal stuff fell off, and now we simply go to meet people, so we can love on them whenever and wherever we can. Before this adventure, it was like we had two ‘hats,’ one was for church and the other was out there…

The thing is, what happened the other day with my young friend showed me how easy it can be to miss the main point. Especially when we have a mindset that separates people into categories, saved and unsaved, I think this is part of a mistake I’ve been making. I’ve learnt that my first priority is to love God, then others. So I asked myself what if I took the saved and unsaved categories out of my thinking and just saw people? Perhaps, as Christians, we are more honest and open with the people who love Jesus, than we are with the man in the street. My thought for today is …WHY? Is Christianity meant to be some kind of secret society, where you can’t get in if you don’t know the handshake?

Actually the bible says that Jesus loved the world so much He died for all of us, which actually means we are all in the same boat! Some of us have recognised the One Who saved us, and others haven’t heard about Him, or met Him yet. The difference between committed Christians, and the people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet, is simply a matter of who has received this revelation and who hasn’t.

We are all loved equally by our Heavenly Father. But for years we’ve kind of hidden behind our church doors and played the ‘we-are-the-nice-people’ game. That game had a false finish line, and to join in people had to come to know Jesus in a pre-prescribed packaged fashion. But when I decided to see this world from His point of view, I realised there will always be room for one more … even in the last minutes of His life, Jesus made room for one more! Our lives need to be lived in such a way that we are an invitation, telling everyone Who Jesus is, what we know about Him, without any stress or strain.

The reason we are asked by the Lord to tell everyone, is because we don’t know who will say yes and who will say no … like that rich young man from yesterday. That means I will say the same kind of thing to a murderer, that I would to the little old lady down the road. The good news is, Jesus died to save all of us from everything bad we ever did, and the next step is to ask Him to do that for you. It is not just about memorising a prayer of commitment, it is about living the life. We give up the way we currently think and choose to learn how God thinks – by reading His book, listening to Him and walking with Him.

Until we choose to live by His Grace only, we can never completely understand exactly what Christ did for us. And the plainer and more normal we are when we speak to others, the better it is for those who know nothing. I think choosing to take the time to digest what God says, by obeying Him, is the first step. Then what He said will come out of me, the way I’d say it. It’s not another Gospel, it’s the same Gospel, as it is lived out, from day to day, in my life. My life becomes His witness. I can’t have the whole picture and neither will you – that’s because in the Body, I am an eyebrow and maybe you are an elbow – so our viewing platform is different.

Paul said “follow me as I follow Christ,” he didn’t say: ‘follow me the way I follow Peter or John.’ Christ was everything to Paul. Whether this man was in jail, out of jail, birthing churches, leading individuals to Jesus, or trying to remember who he had baptised and who he hadn’t! BTW, there is a really cute conversation about that in 1 Corinthians 1:14-16. He couldn’t really remember what he’d done, because for Paul, all that mattered was that he preached the gospel!

I have an important reason for rattling on about this yesterday, and today. I strongly feel it is urgent that we all stop playing the ‘my church is better than your church’ game. Just because someone has 3,000 people, that does not make them a better minister than the guy who has 20. I like the way Paul says it: ‘I’m following Jesus and you need to follow me the same way I follow Him!’ 1 Corinthians 11:1-15. Paul is talking about his devotion to Christ as well as asking us to take what he wrote seriously.

“Put into practice the example of all that you have heard from me or seen in my life and the God of peace will be with you in all things.” Philippians 4:9 TPT. When I read these two scriptures I realised what a mighty statement Paul was making. It is a great aim to have in our daily lives, and the very essence of what our new life should look like. Father God does not want another Paul, he totally fulfilled his mission in his lifetime. He wants you to be you … and do whatever you do as you simply follow Jesus.

If you follow Jesus where you are, and I do it where I am, then we have doubled our possibilities. Not everyone likes or wants to hear what I have to say, but the person who does not understand me, may understand everything, when you say it. I recommend telling others what Jesus has done in your life and then leave the Holy Spirit to do what He does best – convict and convince people. Tell them how you walk with Him, day by day. Be real! Be the you that loves Jesus and still makes mistakes. People love real. Bye. 👋

P 3413 Let’s not paint on windows of our mind.

July 23, 2026July 23, 2026 / DVH

Fear, and sin love to paint their tormenting little scenarios in our minds. I like to be positive on this blog, but the bible clearly says we need to ‘know our adversary.’ And one of his best tricks is to make me think that my adversary is … ME, MYSELF AND I!! I am sure you know what I mean – we often forget what the Lord has already done to set us free.

When something bad happens, we can instantly find reasons to blame ourselves. But what really happens is the other guy stands by whispering into our minds, reminding us of our mistakes and faults. Our poor motivation starts with a thought. Then he tempts us with something we think is good that distracts us from the real battle. God doesn’t tempt us. James 1:13: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God” [for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws]; for God cannot be tempted by [what is] evil, and He Himself tempts no one.” Find the ‘fatal flaw’ and deal with it.

The enemy uses doubt like a spray can of paint while he is trying to twist or cover up the truth. Plus he tries to disrupt our thoughts with temptations, threats or intimidation. It happened to Jesus and it will happen to us, we are not exempt. But, because we chose Jesus we have a way to escape, thank you Lord! Knowing the Word of God is our way to fight! Let’s be alert and aware of the devil’s schemes, and remember how easily we can be outwitted. 2 Corinthians 2:11. “…in order that satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

Our enemy will always challenge God’s word. (Genesis 3.) he has no tender-heartedness, or pity in him, so he delights in preying on our ignorance or innocence. And another way he sucks us into his vortex of lies, is to challenge our identity in Christ. (Luke 4:1-13; Mark 1:34.) He tells us those promises in God’s Word are for someone much nicer and more spiritual than we are. Many saints suffer from his whispers that their salvation is not firm.

Our salvation, our turning to Jesus to save us, may not look like Brother-I-got-baptised-in-the-river-Jordan’s grand event. Instead, we simply went up the front and didn’t feel a thing … but we knew we had to make that choice and we did. Our enemy picks at the parts of our faith that are weakened by our own sin, doubt, and sometimes other people’s rejection of us etc. Daily, he prods at us to focus on those things.

Let’s focus on Jesus, what He did FOR us, and what He is doing IN us, right now. He is our true north! My prayers may not be answered and sometimes yours aren’t either … but that’s not the point. The point is what is your focus today? If we are not clinging to Jesus like a limpet on a rock, we could be making ourselves a target. The devil creates emotional tornadoes everywhere, and we can be easily overwhelmed by those thoughts that hit us upside the head … unless we choose to make the main thing the main thing. JESUS IS ALWAYS THE MAIN THING. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. We cannot afford to face our adversary unprotected – we have armour! Let’s stand still ready to battle the accuser when he flings lies at us. We do things the way Jesus tells us to do them. He’s the One Who beat satan.

Under extreme circumstances, which we all face, it is good to SING! — “Be filled with the Spirit singing to yourselves, with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melodies in your heart to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:18,19. Preferably not out loud in a public place, because people will look at you funny and perhaps send for the men in those white coats. I sing in my head, and I recommend that. I find my best fighting scriptures there too. It can be distracting if you happen to be talking to someone else, but it works – stay in listening-to-Jesus-mode, don’t switch off.

The bible tells us to “put on the whole armour of God,” because we need it. Ephesians 6:10-18. The first thing we do after making sure we have our armour on —is to make a stand. Plant your feet. You are a tree planted by God Himself by the riverside, don’t be moved. We have been saved by Grace, now we belong to Jesus. Ask for scriptures to fight the circumstances and feelings … we can’t afford to let ourselves entertain any kind of lie. Don’t worry if the person in front of you is piling up lies like some people pile up the trash – don’t you lie. Your truth is God’s truth, and that’s the bat we use to bash away the lies that come at us. We don’t care about what Sister-I-always-know-the-Answer says. What is Jesus saying, right here, right now – in His book?

Let’s press the refresh button, and remind ourselves that God loves me! Then quickly get rid of any sin that might trip us up, so we can stay in love with everyone around us. Peace is our portion. We live within His peace, and we spread that heart peace around us everywhere we go. As we acknowledge Jesus’ Lordship in our lives, we will get better and better at raising up the shield of faith.

Lastly, let the Holy Spirit frame your prayers. Yield to His will His way, daily. And please don’t let satan paint lies on the windows of your mind. They will block out the marvellous things the Lord has given us to see and do. Bye.🔥.

P3405 We are God’s poems, in this world.

July 15, 2026July 15, 2026 / DVH

“We have become His poetry, a re-created people that will fulfil the destiny He has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfil it!” Ephesians 2:10.

And you thought you were not all that valuable! You and I are daily becoming a poem, a individual and collective Psalm to the glory, goodness, grace and long-suffering kindness of Almighty God. And if that doesn’t make you smile, then I’m concerned for you! Father God doesn’t make mistakes, so neither of us can be one… and neither can anyone else.

Say this to yourself – ‘God says I have a destiny, because He has given me one. I am not a mistake or a screw up. I’m here for my Father’s glory and honour.’ Amen. Father God is so present and engaged with all of us. Sometimes we don’t see Him because we aren’t looking. There is no task in our lives that is too small. You know, the lug nuts on our car tyres hold the wheels on – they don’t look important, but if they all come off, so does the wheel. Our wheels can start to come off if we believe what we do is irrelevant. We cannot afford to let our limited human thinking, limit Almighty God.

Because He IS limitless, humanity is still discovering those things that are old news to Him. Yet He has hidden treasures for us in this world, things that we are only just discovering now. We think we are clever when we find them. But just imagine how brilliant Father God is — HE HID IT! My advice is “don’t limit God” — and never think your problems are too big for Him, instead ask Him to help you with them. Remember, He is writing all this down because … your life is a poem.

People are so funny! They ask the Lord for a parking spot if they need one, but they don’t see world affairs the same way. Our lives are governed and planned out for us by Him, and we’ve found, because of Jesus, we’ve met people we would never ever have met. That’s how BIG His plans are for us. There is a surprise at every turn, so we’ve come to appreciate the small things He does. Years ago, we were driving around in the wilderness area of Tasmania. We were in a very remote area delivering bibles when we recognised someone in another car, who had pulled off the road.

This person is famous, they are on Australia-wide TV all the time. We turned around … because God said …”Turn around” and we went back and gave this guy a bible. We chatted briefly, and then left. To be honest I am not sure he appreciated what we gave him all that much, but he was very gracious about it. At the time, we were the only two cars on that road! For the next few years of his life, this particular man had more trouble than Job did. Did he use that bible? I dunno!! We sure prayed for him! I know we were part of a much larger plan from the Lord to get his attention, we became a part of the poem He is writing over that person’s life.

That’s the secret to recognising your destiny as the Holy Spirit writes your ‘poem.’ Please don’t ever think you have to be the whole ball-game … Eg … the batter, the pitcher, the short-stop, the umpire … instead, wait in the dug-out for your turn. God will call you when He needs you. When He wants me to say something, He says: “You’re on!” Most of the time I don’t even know what to say, but it isn’t ever about what I say — it’s about carrying the One Who I am walking with. Peter recognised the eternal quality that was in Christ, when he said to Jesus “… You alone have the Words of eternal life.” So whatever Jesus says, has LIFE in it.

Part of our daily focus is about paying attention to the process of being re-created. Poetry is about the little phrases just as much as the big ones, so let’s seize any seemingly minor opportunities and follow them through. Sometimes when the Lord does stuff, He doesn’t need a brass band! The Holy Spirit loves to speak in whispers, nudges, and thoughts. Be encouraged and follow the thread and do what He says. The Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus are with us to help us with our daily lives. Remember, Jesus is the Living Word, if anyone knows what to say – He does!

You and I are poems that are destined to glorify Him. One day we’ll be dead and gone, but the Holy Spirit will continue to write poems over people’s lives until Jesus comes back! It is in God’s incredible nature to appreciate beautiful things, but His idea of beauty is not the same as ours. We see beautiful things as an arrangement of features and physical attributes – the Trinity sees beauty as an inside job. Mother Teresa was stunning – a glorious loving poem written to God’s glory!

Finally, let’s remember that we are not our own, anymore. SomeBody bought and paid for us. “We were purchased with a preciousness…” 1 Corinthians 6:20. Verses like these are written right throughout our very own Psalms to remind us of Jesus’ grace and obedience toward us. It is our destiny to be a Love poem to Him. Bless you. 🙌

P3379 What have we learnt?

June 19, 2026June 19, 2026 / DVH

Let’s take a look at what happened at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:3-9:

“They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let Us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that We may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

This is a difficult passage of scripture to look at. It presents what I would call, an interesting situation. Almighty God interfered with man’s plans — by wrecking their communication with each other. Hmmm… Smart phone anyone? It is fascinating how in today’s world, satan has come up with a similar way to bring about the same result. If human beings are dangerous and clever enough to do all that stuff on our own … and history proves this to be true … then …

…let’s pause and imagine what a people who choose to be connected to each other, and worship and serve Almighty God can do!

The temptation in the Garden wasn’t just about being disobedient, that couple wanted to be like God. It’s just like the stuff that went down at Babel. Human beings think we can do anything! We’ve walked on the moon, see how clever we are! Almighty God made the moon … and He put it where it is with His fingers! Humanity needs to get over itself … We can’t even feed the poor that live in our neighbourhood, because making ourselves feel more important has taken precedence.

The knowledge of good and evil is a dangerous thing in the hands of unredeemed people. They can end up making plans to rule the world! Let’s not even mention that they think that they are so smart they don’t need God anymore. And, even today, we are still busy trying to make a name for ourselves.

Right now, it seems that we talk at each other, and use abbreviations and trite phrases to communicate our feelings — with likes and dislikes. Thumbs up, or thumbs down. What makes me sad, is that people are buying into this stuff – even our children! It seems we are doomed to continually make the same mistakes. Yet we still think we are smarter than God.

Right here and now in this world, human relationships have again been scattered and made null and void. If we don’t like someone else, we either kill them, blow them up, maim them, divorce them or avoid them. Co-operation has gone right out of the window, and we’ve traded in true human engagement for convenience … and loneliness. Pretty soon we will all be using AI to talk to each other. When will we learn we are not in charge here? What have we learnt from the Tower of Babel?

Even in our churches, holy things have been so twisted that we don’t feel free to actually be real with each other anymore. We can’t seem to tell others what is really going on in our hearts. We are afraid that a whole lot of judgment will rush toward us, roaring down the turnpike!

Just like it was at the Tower of Babel WE must decide – is there anything we can’t do? … YES! … We can’t save ourselves!! And despite our very best efforts to live forever, we can’t do that either. Many people are trying so hard to preserve their lives, yet they end up looking like the Crypt Keeper whose face has been carefully ironed instead! Yikes! Meanwhile, praise the Lord, eternal life is safely in the hands of our Heavenly Father, who cannot be corrupted or make mistakes.

My point is that we are not as smart as we like to think we are. Yes, we can build the tallest buildings on the earth, and search the deepest trenches in the ocean – but we cannot save ourselves. We will continue to be a hard-headed, hard hearted, wicked, pitiless, miserly, miserable people who torment and torture each other — without Christ Himself showing us another way to live. Humanity was made to live in God’s Presence! Father God visited Adam and Eve every single evening to talk with them. Look at what we have given up! Oh, thank God, His mercy endures forever …!!

Jesus took EVERYTHING to the cross with Him. Like the bible says: “It’s finished!” God has done something so extraordinary, because of what Jesus did for us. He has given us the opportunity to walk with Him again. Right here, right now, today. We can use our faith in what Christ did for us, to rise above our past and have a truthful, fruitful relationship with Him, and each other. Jesus Christ freely chose to represent us before God’s wrath. It was the greatest work of restoration of relationships this world has ever, or will ever, see. And Father God’s goodness sent Jesus after us.

“…When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26. There will always be lessons for human beings to learn. Humility is a great starting place. Bye 👋

P 3295 What becomes of the broken-hearted?

March 27, 2026March 29, 2026 / DVH

Now here’s a question we need to be asking ourselves daily! Many Christians, our very own brothers and sisters in the faith, have wandered off into the wilderness like Hagar did, and sat down under a bush, hoping death will come quickly. Very few have done this by personal choice. Sadly, they know a part of the truth, but not the whole truth. A lot of them gave up on God, because what we told them He wanted was too hard for them to do.

The Lord is re-grouping together the Body of Christ to comfort, support and uphold one another. He always goes after the lost sheep! We were never meant to be islands. Most of us, despite what we’ve been told, were not meant to be seen, either. I dunno about you but my body has loads of place that are better off unseen, but those unseen parts, do an incredible job helping my entire body to function.

What we aim at, and want to do as His kids, is difficult. This is why we can’t do anything without Him! But we can’t do anything without each other either. We need to learn from the Merciful One Himself the kind of mercy that will never judge, but instead, it will come alongside and lift up someone who is stumbling or falling. Here’s something from Job 6:14: “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So that he does not abandon (turn away from) the fear of the Almighty.”

We have so many broken-hearted people in our midst. People who were taught one thing, only to find out later that the scriptures they were taught didn’t mean what they thought they did! Disappointment grows in that kind of atmosphere. In God’s kingdom there are no failures, or screw-ups – we’ve all been made acceptable by the blood of Jesus! The strength of His blood’s efficacy is not measured by our sin …it is measured by what He did and Who He is!

Sometimes people get stuck and it is not their fault. They’ve suffered much at the hands of many! We have no excuse to remain in sin, but I can well understand that if there is a slight inclination toward judgment in a church, some people may not feel free to confess their faults, because it will label them. Minding one’s own business is a good thing, but not when we can see another person struggling to keep their head above water.

Jesus is a Man of compassion. He doesn’t throw people away because of their mistakes, the only person He lost, refused to repent. Judas trusted his own judgment, when he was given opportunities to turn around and stop doing what he intended. Listen to this in Matthew 26:25: “Then Judas, the one who would betray Him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

We need to get it firmly fixed in our heads that we are not the judge and jury of anyone. He is. Let’s move on past judgment to better things. Stuff happens in people’s lives and it shapes and warps their way of thinking. These precious people, after they become Christians, often go round and round, and never seem to be getting anywhere. Our part in their progress is to love them. And at times, kindly, and reverently point out any sin that could be holding them back from the freedom Christ came to give them. It says this in Isaiah 42:3:

“Take a good look at My Servant. I’m backing Him to the hilt. He’s the one I chose, and I couldn’t be more pleased with Him. I’ve bathed Him with My Spirit, My life. He’ll set everything right among the nations. He won’t call attention to what He does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and He won’t disregard the small and insignificant, but He’ll steadily and firmly set things right. He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped until He’s finished His work—to set things right on earth. Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for His teaching.”

The broken-hearted are the people Jesus came to save. Their hearts can be broken by what they’ve done, or what someone else has done to them. Loving one another means we have an agreement — ‘you put my sin against you under the blood of Jesus, and forgive me, and I will do the same for you.‘ It’s mutual. If we see a brother or sister struggling then we come alongside them and ask them quietly, and gently: “How can I help you bear that burden you are carrying?” We need to pray for them like they are US. There is no room for grudges or spite in God’s kingdom.

In Luke 9:55, Jesus once said to a couple of His disciples: “ You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to.” At that moment they weren’t walking in Grace, they were walking in judgment. Our Heavenly Father, doesn’t batter us into holiness or submission – He wants us to want what He wants because we love Him! We need to treat the broken, the wounded, the wandering, the bewildered, and the lost, all the same way .. with love, compassion and kindness. Because next time it could be our turn!

Compassion is limitless – Jesus Himself proved that. He prayed for the very people who were killing Him. His compassion leads us into choosing to help the broken-hearted, wherever we find them. We have the privilege of carrying God’s Love, and it is a love that brings out the best in the loved one without indulging their weaknesses. When my shoulder was broken, I didn’t throw it away, I did things to help it mend – because I need that arm! The broken-hearted need our kindness, and support and we need them. Bye. 👋

P 3198 His priorities need to be our priorities.

December 20, 2025December 20, 2025 / DVH

““Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and Pharisees—frauds and pretenders! For you are obsessed with peripheral issues, like insisting on paying meticulous tithes on the smallest herbs that grow in your gardens. These matters are fine, yet you ignore the most important duties of all: to walk in the love of God, to display mercy to others, and to live with integrity. Re-adjust your values and place first things first.” Matthew 23:23 TPT. The Lord makes it clear, our duties are not about nit-picking each other — instead we are to love one another from a sincere heart, extending mercy, and of course valuing integrity. Mercy itself is a wonderful, somewhat elusive thing in today’s climate.

It is so easy to think you are having mercy on somebody, simply because you don’t give them an entirely unwanted piece of your mind! Mercy is bigger than just keeping schtum when you want to give someone else a serve. Mercy is an attitude of Grace, a by-product! It restores, it doesn’t pretend nothing happened.. Jesus restored people, He didn’t just use words, the power of His purity of purpose before God restored them. He died to give us that same power.

When we read what Jesus said, mercy becomes clearer. Meanwhile, it isn’t just the lack of mercy or integrity that we are not showing towards each other —it is also the fact that we are filling up our time with stuff that doesn’t matter. That’s when the Lord’s priorities get pushed to the back of our thinking. Tithing is great, do it, but don’t get so preoccupied with meeting the letter of the law, you forget you are still made of dirt like the other guy! Walking in love requires mercy, because it is guaranteed that people are going to annoy us at some time or other!

In this scripture, the Lord also uses the words like frauds and pretenders, and living with integrity. Many people can barely spell that word, let alone identify that quality in themselves or others. Instead, ” … they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they lack wisdom and behave like fools.” (2 Corinthians 10:12) You know, we can make Jesus into SomeOne He isn’t, simply by watering down what He did and said. Jesus was as human as we are, but He did not sin. He chose obedience, and the suffering that obedience brings.Being obedient is painful. It will cost us to withhold our disapproval of someone else’s rotten attitude toward us, and forgive them from our hearts.

Here’s what the dictionary thinks about mercy: ‘compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.’ Did you know that withholding love from someone else is a distinct lack of mercy? Neither did I! Man, the games we play in our minds because we have chosen to live so far away from the One Who has the tenderest heart of us all.

Our proximity to Jesus matters … brothers and sisters, please stay close to Him, and do whatever it takes to keep His priorities as your priorities. Life keeps getting more and more difficult, and if we choose to ‘shelter under His wings’ like the little cygnets above are sheltering with their mother, we will hear His heartbeat. That’s the place where we get to be ‘only a spectator,’ because our inner selves are hidden in Him.

The bible says this in Amos 3:3TLB. “For how can we walk together with your sins between us?” I think we can continue to try to walk with Him, but that happens when we don’t see our sins the way He sees them. And that’s the problem! Some people call falling short of Jesus’ glorious ideal, things like mistakes, failures, or even poor judgment. But God Himself sees sin as not living up to Jesus Christ’s standard — Jesus standard was absolute and utter purity before God. He lived on this earth to glorify God, from the beginning of His life to the end. The Lord Jesus manifested great love, integrity and mercy, as He lived in this world.

If we are not careful we can exist in a sort of pale grey netherworld where we pay even less attention to our own attitudes than we do to someone else’s life. So when we’ve done something stupid or mean, we say “sorry”grudgingly. Then we act like things are OK now. But on the inside, we still have a list of what someone did, and when they did it, and we hold ourselves away from those people. First of all, there’s integrity gone out of the window, and mercy is chasing after it trying to escape judgment!

That’s not the way Jesus Christ forgave us. He withheld nothing from us. Our sin is gone. It was washed away by the blood of Jesus. All He is asking of us, is that we now forgive each other the same way He forgave us.And yes, we will definitely need wisdom with some people, but let’s remember, His wisdom is pure, peaceable and from above. We desperately need His priorities or we will be dragged under by this world’s undertow of grudges, cursing, and hatred.

We have the very same Helper He had. Oh how the Holy Spirit loves His job! Jesus’ method of forgiveness doesn’t just go back to where we were before we did what we did, His forgiveness wipes our slate utterly clean. Which means if you or I were to bring our past confessed sin up with the Lord Himself, He would look at us quizzically and say: “I don’t remember that at all.”

He has chosen to forget. That’s the most important bit. It is not enough to forgive, we must choose to forget and let that other person off the hook, so to speak. Otherwise we are telling the Lord we don’t trust Him to take care of us. His priorities need to become ours, or we can end up half-hearted and assuage our conscience by making sure we tithe and follow the rules. When it comes to priorities, you and I need His help to adjust ours to His. Bye. 👋

P 3168 Things nobody wants to talk about.

November 20, 2025November 20, 2025 / DVH

I can’t count the number of times somebody I loved so dearly has wandered off into the darkness clinging ever-so-tightly to the words: ‘the Lord said to me…’ After a while, those words can become a torment and a dark confusing prison. This person doesn’t dare move away from what they think He said, in case they miss out on the promise they hope He gave them. That false leading has caused so many wonderful brothers and sisters to fall. And some, as Paul says …have even wandered away from the faith!

Over the years I have realised that an independent spirit can wreak havoc in our midst. Churches have fallen apart because of it. Truly lovely, God-fearing people won’t talk to others because they consider them to be going the wrong way, and they don’t want to be tainted. Sin is not contagious …but disobedience is! And we need to understand that love is not about obedience, it is about valuing people!

I’ve also watched suffering souls cling ever-so tightly to the promise of healing – well, who wouldn’t? – only to see these precious people of God disappointed or crushed because the promised healing has not come. We all need the mature, tried and tested saints among us for the Lord’s council – and those brothers and sisters don’t always have grey hair either! I mean the ones who pray for you and watch over your soul, often on their knees. God corrected me once, when a kid at church accidentally said something that poked me in the heart!

I’ve agonised over how to say this so I wouldn’t hurt or mislead anyone who is currently stuck in ‘I’m standing on the promises of God-land!’ Because hearing from God personally is a blessing. But there are times when any of us can be sincerely, misled. If our enemy cannot get us passive and inactive, then his next ploy is to wind us up and send us off in the wrong direction. Here’s my point—Almighty God does not operate like that. We are in a Body because we need a Body around us, loving on us, knowing us, and speaking into our lives.

We cannot afford to let our opinions about someone else’s spirituality spoil our own faith walk. Especially as we’ve been designed to walk in relationship with each other. Anything less misses the mark of Christ’s all-encompassing love. Remember He had twelve very different opinions around Him! People tend to congregate around others who have are like-minded. I think that’s dangerous. A bunch of people with the same ideas or gifts can end up saying and doing all sorts of things. We need everyone — the servers, the mercy givers, the teachers, the healers etc. – not just people who think like we do.

That’s because we can’t see ourselves properly. Those things that we can easily dismiss as little errors, could be gaping holes that will swallow us up. Let’s stop judging where other people are coming from and love them instead. You can learn a lot about yourself when you choose to submit..I know that it is easy to slip into a POV that says: ‘But the people I know are wrong, they say this and that, and that stuff is not in the bible.’ The bible and our brothers and sisters are our protection. BTW, there is only one truth – God’s truth. And it will take all of us to uncover it.

The biggest error I have ever seen, is one that operates almost universally – personal opinion. The same God who gave you those thoughts, can confirm what He said – through a leader. Our bible says: “Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you.” Romans 12:3 NIV. Praise God He is always wa-ay bigger than our mistakes. He is bigger than anything and everything stupid we can fall into. We need to put our trust in the Lord, and embrace the Way of life Jesus spoke about in the gospels, like – ‘preferring one another.’

Ephesians 5:21: “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” Why? Because none of us are all that – that’s why! Romans 12:3 says: “For by the grace (unmerited favour of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.” All the nice words and the self-effacing attitudes in the world will not necessarily mean our hearts are right. Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: WHO CAN KNOW IT?” Well that kicks ‘trusting in my own understanding’ in the bin doesn’t it?

Pastors are often too intimidated to repeat verses like these, because they will be accused of being overbearing and controlling. When is the last time you read that particular scripture and … applied it to yourself? Our place of safety is in the Body, submitted to the leadership. And if you disagree with the leadership … now there’s a common theme (!!)… then get on your face and ask the Lord where you have gone off the rails! Don’t ever be so proud you can’t back up and turn around and go in the other direction.

In the past, I have been in a Body where the pastor was controlling, and you know what? After I spat the dummy and complained to the Lord about it, and then HE disciplined me – for my own good. That’s when I learnt a lot about ME!! Everything, everything, everything is an opportunity for growth. If you are still here on earth, then you are not done yet. Even mature Christians have blind spots. We need each other, and the kind of care that says: “I have your back’ … but it is not afraid to tell us the truth when it is necessary. Let’s stop avoiding those things we don’t like to talk about. Bye 👋

P 3097 How to live.

September 10, 2025September 10, 2025 / DVH

“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 MSG.

I just love that this verse says don’t take yourself too seriously. In my life as I follow His instructions and learn to live by them, I’ve discovered accidental times of sheer bliss. It is as if heaven comes down in a little bubble of joy and hubby and I and the Lord are right in the middle of it. He’s laughing and we’re laughing – and we have no clue why we are laughing … we just are! And it feels so good! Eventually you end up wondering why you were worried, harassed or upset in the first place. That’s the place to stop wondering why, and just enjoy the moment! You and I ain’t getting out of this life alive!

Here’s an interesting thought that might help with that. We cannot spend the life we now have, trying to punish any previous generations for the mistakes they made. This life is not meant to be lived retrospectively – it’s too short. I’ve also learnt that deliberately avoiding someone else’s mistakes means I’m just going to make different ones! And I did! Groan!! Judgment always leads to a worse place than we started at.

Hubby and I have just returned home after a little time away in a peaceful place. I’m always glad to get home again, but boy I will miss the view. (See above.) We met a new group of tiny friends here. A small flock of sparrows appeared on our balcony. The bible says that the Lord feeds birds! I distinctly remember that God once fed His little birds my homegrown, much anticipated raspberries. I was pretty ticked off about it too! I didn’t even get ONE! Yes, I repented!

Back to our sparrow visitors. These dear little birds kept arriving early in the morning, and peering hopefully through the big glass window. I’m a sucker for any bird that sits on the back of a chair and sings its heart out! Meanwhile, those little birds really know how to eat, they sure can sock it away. The way they ate you would think they were emus!

OK – it seems it is time to be spiritual! Did you get that instruction in the above scripture? Right at the end, it says: ‘don’t take yourself too seriously, take God seriously instead!’ That’s the whole point of course. That’s why we are all still here, we are here to learn to take the things of the Spirit, seriously. Here’s a question I don’t much like to ask myself, but it has been helpful because it diagnoses my own attitudes rather quickly. What if you were the only person left in circle of family and friends who knows Jesus? Is your life a witness? Yeah, I know. Bring that up!

Meanwhile, we don’t just witness by what we say – we also witness by WHO we are – especially when people are looking, and …even when they aren’t. However, somebody, it seems, is always looking – I’ve learnt that the hard way. Living this life, the only one we have, for His sake, is part of taking Almighty God seriously. The same God Who heals the sick and raises the dead, makes the deaf hear and the blind see – is living inside you. Our job is to let Him out for the world to see. That’s what Paul did.

Paul often ended up in nine kinds of trouble because nobody could shut him up! Everywhere he went he found a public place and started telling people about Jesus. He told governors, kings, religious people, important people, business people, ordinary people, and some listened and some didn’t. Some hauled him off to jail, and he took that in his stride and witnessed to the guards instead! Paul didn’t wait for revivals – he started them!

The thing that Paul’s life clearly shows me is that half-hearted won’t do. Whatever the Lord has in His plans for each one of us – we need to make sure we listen, stay humble, and simply go and do it. Paul was so brilliant, he could do more than one thing at a time. He witnessed, preached, founded churches, and wrote a huge chunk of the New Testament. But all of the Lord’s disciples, with the exception of Judas, gave up the rest of their lives serving God.

It seems to me that we can sit about waiting for the Holy Spirit to do what He has already done, many many times before in the church’s history – or we can take God Himself seriously and get on with His kingdom’s business. We still have the book and that’s plenty to go on with! I would hate to think that we will spend our whole lives knowing we are saved, yet ignoring the many who are not. What Micah is talking about here is our attitudes – our attitudes are meant to lead to actions.

We were saved to serve Him. Look! I’m truly sorry if nobody told you that you were actually giving your life away when you first said ‘yes’ to Jesus — but I just did that, right here, right now. So what are you going to do about it? That’s the real issue. How to live this life now, is all over His book. Bye. 🤪 !

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"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.." Philippians 3:13,14.

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