Normal

P 3209 When your ceiling turns into a waterfall.

/ DVH

“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.’ Hebrews 10:36.Sometimes it is the things that we’ve accidentally learnt to rely upon that make us soft! But those things do not teach us to stand and fight when flesh and blood people aren’t around to help us. Instead it can make us sad and wimpy and longing for an exit in the heat of a battle. Like I was recently! BTW the ceiling above is not ours, it is like ours.

Around midnight, on this particular day, I had thoughts like this one: ’Why isn’t God bailing me out? This is too hard.’ However, this kind of thinking does not help me persevere. It encourages me to think of myself as a victim. This war we fight daily will not be won by the fainthearted! HOWEVER, it IS won by those who turn up and hang on to Him. As this New Year rushes at us and we make decisions to watch our weight, exercise more, pray more, or read the bible every day — the only good fight we simply must choose to participate in, is for our faith not to fail. Instead we want it to grow and produce fruit.

What we really believe can hold us steady in the middle of an inner or outer storm. This year hubby and I have had to move out of our bedroom twice. The first time happened when Cyclone Alfred decided to come inside our house and wreck the floor. And the second time a giant hailstorm dinged up the roof right over our bed. I decided to share a bit about our responses, because that’s the best way to uncover our enemy’s highly unoriginal attacks and our responses.

My hubby has a number of disabilities that I won’t go into today, but these problems means he is not in the furniture moving business …at all. Yet he has had to move our furniture three times in this past year, up and down the stairs, so we can have somewhere dry to sleep. Right now we are still waiting for this bedroom to be fixed. Praise God each time our family has helped us. We are blessed with a wonderful family, and great friends – some of them have been through far worse than we have. Hallelujah, this time we found another place where we need endurance! Waiting!! We’ve also had to choose to quieten down the heart-pounding, ghastly thoughts that rush at you in times of crisis. As you know cost is one of them!

The bible tells us: “WHEN we have done the will of God we will receive what is promised.” That’s my paraphrase BTW. To me that means, if I yell ‘uncle’ and want to give in, that does not mean I will instantly escape from my situation. The reality is this, I can probably manage all kinds of things and walk much further than I think I can. At the same time, I can see that I am there, in that hard place, and He has allowed it. While that remark is scary – it is also incredibly reassuring, all-at-the-same-time;  because it means the Lord Himself thinks I can do this. That’s when reality hit me very hard. Maybe I’ve learnt over the years, to quit before I’ve developed my maximum faith potential? 

Now there’s an icky thought maybe…‘I DO have need of endurance!’ The way to stretch my faith is not to just tough-it-out, and pretend I’m OK when I am not. Instead I need to realise He knows my capacity and when trouble arrives, these are times when I need to walk through it holding onto Him. Instead of trying frantically to pray the bad bits away, or figure out an answer all-by-myself. I can remember some people in the bible who simply rushed at Jesus in their times of crisis – yet I don’t remember even ONE of them saying: “Excuse me please Lord, do you have a minute to spare?”  My reactions are normal, it’s my ongoing attitude that needs help!

That thought led me to this question. (I gotta tell you I didn’t much like the question!) Is Jesus my automatic refuge, my ever-present help in time of need? … OR … is prayer the last place I go after I have exhausted everything else I can do? Suddenly my dinged up about-to-be-roofless bedroom panic has dwindled in size. Perspective has hit me. After all the bible says that: “I can do nothing without Him!” Yet, here I am trying to figure out an answer, without even consulting the Lord! Now I am tempted to feel bad about my response!

Immediately the Holy Spirit put this scripture into my head so I don’t have to feel condemned by my mistakes. (Sometimes we need more than just one verse of scripture, we need a chunk!)  Romans 8:35,37-39.  

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? … 

…No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, Who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Do I hear an Amen?! Bye. 👋

HAVE A TWICE BLESSED CHRISTMAS! Once because he saved us, twice because He loves us.

/ DVH

P 3203 Let the Lord be the flavour of your life.

We can easily get caught up in this idea, or that new invention, and forget that Almighty God has a purpose for our lives. We can even take those current, incredibly ingenious ideas, and bam them into a shape that we think will accomplish what God likes or wants. We’ve done that in so many of our churches, the majority of the people ended up spectating, instead of participating!

At the same time if you do choose to take that ‘let’s be popular’ road, please be careful …you can get really giddy going round and round … trying to maintain something God isn’t doing. Jesus taught us what we need to do and how to do it. He said: “I only do what I see the Father doing .,.. I only say what I see the Father saying…” We can quite easily get distracted from our purpose and caught up in one of this life’s out-of-the-mainstream eddies.

Meanwhile today, I want to talk about what flavours you and I! I happen to enjoy a cup of tea. So a few times in the day, my hubby takes boiling water, and he puts my fav teabag in it. He leaves it there to steep… to soak in the flavour. I’m a bit of a fuss-budget, because I like strong tea. So if someone else makes the tea for me, I ask them to leave the teabag in because I want more of the flavour than most people like. What do you like to steep in? Coffee, the movies, work, games, sports – what do you enjoy enough to just sit and relax into it?

Here is what I think the Spirit of God wants for us – He wants us to steep in the Lord’s Presence so that when our little cup gets bumped, all that comes out is a concentrated form of His Love inside! Life bumps us all the time. Ask yourself, what comes out of your little life? Obviously my illustration gets a bit overworked if I take it any further, but you get the idea. Remaining in the Lord’s presence, can and should include “Walking and leaping and praising God.”  No, I haven’t lost my marbles, you don’t have to sit still to steep!! You even can dance in the shower … just don’t slip over OK?

There is a youngish man on Youtube, who quite obviously loves hip-hop. He makes brief video clips .  I can tell the Lord has steeped him in JOY, because he walks up to perfect strangers in Walmart, while he is dancing. Then he grabs their hand and they start dancing and laughing and enjoying themselves. It’s the Lord’s gift over his life, but because the young man has taken the time to allow God’s gift to stretch and challenge him – I’ve actually seen this gift grow. 

He is fearless. He walks up to grumpy people, and before they know it they are bopping away to the music, and they have obviously forgotten whatever it was that made them grouchy! The busy grind of shopping just melts away in the light of God’s joy as it is let loose in a supermarket. Boy there should be more of that! 

Why do we keep His JOY in our churches, when so many people don’t want to go to church anymore?How will they know Jesus is loving, real, and happy…if we don’t share what He has given us outside the church doors? In the past we’ve thought sharing meant preaching at them, but I think it is sharing whatever God-gift we have steeped ourselves in!

Listen to Romans 12:6-8: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Why should all this good stuff God gave us to give away to other people, be locked up inside our churches?!

Hubby and I prophesy outside the church all the time. Mu husband gives people prophetic words, and I give a word of knowledge or whatever God tells me to give. The people-all-around-us-who-don’t-know-Him-yet need to know He is real, and that He cares about their lives. When the Lord uses you to release His flavour to everyone around you, they know it’s Him. He made them inside their mother’s womb … we’ve all heard His voice before!! 

If you have a serving gift, then go find somewhere you can bless people outside your fellowship, with your serving! Serving people as Jesus leads you, helps them see that He cares about them, because He will send you. It’s the same with encouragement, it isn’t only the people in church who need to be encouraged. We have been given His Words of eternal life, that means they are powerful! Instead of criticising or correction, try prophesying what the other person needs over them. I do that a lot!  And let’s stop thinking that generosity is restricted to tithing! Tithing is the norm. You have to ask yourself, do you want to be normal, or do you want your giving to be extraordinary like Jesus’ gifts to us are? 

I’ve had the Lord correct me about only blessing people when I am happy with what I received from them… He asked me … ‘Who needs more love? The person other people like, or the one who is a grump?’ Isn’t it amazing how speechless you can get when He says stuff like that? It is like you no longer have a leg to stand on, and repenting is the best option. 

Meanwhile, trying dancing, singing or humming your way to the toilet, or your car. Who cares what other people think? He deserves the glory! We should be the happiest people on earth! Let the Lord be the flavour of your life … … and Merry Christmas!! 🔔  Bye. 👋

P 3088 On being human.

/ DVH

Never forget you are a human being – Almighty God doesn’t!! “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in Your unfailing love;  my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for He has been good to me.” Psalm 13.

We can all have days, or weeks, or sometimes even months like these! Times when it seems like we are all alone, and we appear to have been forgotten by God. Faith is our in-built God-detector. As we use that faith despite the mess we are in, we will begin to see signs of His loving kindness all over our lives. It wouldn’t be called FAITH if we could be certain about it all the time. There are times when even though we know He is not absent, our feelings become bigger than what we know to be true.

I know what it is like to wrestle with my thoughts and struggle to break through to a more peaceful, victorious place. When we feel like God has deserted us, it is way too easy to turn our focus back onto whatever is going on inside us. Sadly, that way we can eventually sink into despair. You can hear those thoughts from Asaph in the above Psalm. This life can be hard and cruel, many things happen to us that are outside our control. 

Even though our primary desire is to be a joyful, song singing, obedient and prayerful, worshipping person of God, we will always need to learn more about how to use our faith to get through stuff. Those times can be both enriching and hard – all at once. They seem to pull us toward despair, especially if we think that we are supposed   to have everything together, and remain cheerful all the time! That’s a lie that will lead you and I into striving, because we can never reach that goal without Him. No matter how we feel, our God will never desert us.

Day after day when I read what these men wrote, I am greatly comforted by the truth that is exposed by what is in the Psalms. They took the time to write down their blessed happy feelings – as well as their  “I’m not coping, let’s brain the bad guys” ones. There are times when my own thoughts betray me, and I can’t figure out why! Let’s not to mention other people, whose feelings, and interpretation of what is going on in life often leave me spinning. The blessing in reading the Psalms is that I will come away from them feeling more normal, if not a bit reassured that my humanity has value to God Himself! He left this stuff in His book!

How can I ever manage to learn anything, almost in spite of myself? Glad you asked that. The Holy Spirit, the-greatest-of-all-time-Leader and Editor, left these grumpy, sad Psalms IN. That whole vibe of – “couldn’t we just kill those people and tell God they died?” – is not what you expect from the bible! It’s astonishing. Many other books in the Word are about mankind’s interactions with God. But here is a whole collection about the human heart, and feelings – warts and all! When the Holy Spirit did that, He left room for us to be real and learn.

At the same time, we can all be kept so busy with this life, that we forget our sin is paid for, so we don’t have to let it master us any more. The problem is that we have well-established old pathways, and they fool us into thinking they still have power over us. However there is no greater force in this world than love: “it hopes all things, believes all things, bears all things.”And our God loves us LIKE THAT. Meanwhile, we don’t only need help, although we do! … We need personal SUPERVISION. And the Holy Spirit is brilliant at it,  His vigilance is without peer, His promptings gentle but firm.

Human beings can become insecure, especially if our proposed ways of thinking and being are unrealistic to the very real level of our faith. Some stuff we want to walk in may be currently a great theory, but we can’t quite put it into practice — especially if we don’t get answers immediately! BTW, don’t take your faith back, hang on to Him and don’t let go  Our help is in the Name of the Lord – God will sort stuff for you. Father God allows us to be stretched to help us grow and rely more completely upon Him. God Himself is our safe place.

Our part is to daily absorb His Ways, and, with the Holy Spirit’s help, then we consistently apply the things He shows us. In the end we need to remember, we are day by day, rewiring our brains! “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. This is no small task, thank God the Word of God is powerful!  

It is important to know the path to take in times of ease, or when difficulties arise, and the Psalms show us other people struggled too. God’s path means that over time, we will learn to use our faith as a full time way to live – because it is not just meant to be emergency relief in times of strife. Feeling helpless in the face of trouble and difficulties happens to all of us. These Psalmists help us remember that it is not a sin to be human. Our God is always with us no matter how much we’ve wandered off!  Bless you 👋

P 3054 Opting out.

/ DVH

Do you ever want to go back to bed, and hide under the covers? I get like that occasionally too. When I was working, eons ago, back in the ark, there were no ‘doona days.’  You were sick or you were there! Mental health did not rate a mention.

Recently I discovered that I have a previously unknown default position when it comes to pain, heartache, stress and strain. I’ve learnt that what seems to be normal day after day—may not actually BE normal! And what seems to be a part of who you think you are – may not be the real you after all! Sometimes we simply adapt our behaviour to fit in and cope with life’s difficulties. 

My mother died a week ago. She was 97, almost 98 years old. At the end she had cancer and awful pain. However, other people’s expectations of my response to this sad situation showed me that I apparently wasn’t grieving enough. Everybody I spoke to seemed to think I should be distraught and practically paralytic. They were, of course, being very sympathetic and kind at the same time, but I constantly felt like I was giving the wrong response to their sad, empathetic faces.

So I got stuck between their expectations, and my own reactions. In those moments I was incredibly grateful for all the intercessory prayer that came my way  … but, to be honest, I simply wanted everything about it all to just go away! Yesterday, the Lord Himself helped me, and I want to share here what I’ve learned from Him — in case somebody else finds my little story resonates with them.

I’ve learnt no matter how hard we try, we can all get stuck. Maybe you may have been stuck in something that put a ceiling on your growth because you’ve labelled some things as too hard. I know I’ve done that! My ‘ceiling’ kept telling me how much I could manage … then my own judgement of myself kicked in, and pointed out that anything over and above that, was just “too much and too hard.“

I’ve been in the land of ‘too much ’ for a week or so, since she died. But then a very sweet palliative care lady took the time to explain to me that there is no right way to grieve. We are all individuals and what seems right to me may not be right for you. Everybody’s got a story… What this lady said was such a relief!! Sometimes my own ideas of right and wrong, seem to overpower whatever the Lord is saying to me, and the result is I zone out and become deaf spiritually. However, the Holy Spirit has been incredibly gracious, He persevered with me.

The Lord gave mum and I two very sweet years at the end of her life, when I was able to tell her sincerely that I dearly loved her, and she returned that affection very vocally toward hubby and I. What a blessing that was! The more I talked to the Holy Spirit, the more I realised that He had helped me complete everything He wanted me to do for her.

It can be hard to cope when your sole parent is the most difficult person in your life, simply because you are very different people. During these last days, we forgave each other, and we also had fun and laughed together. So the reason I wasn’t weeping all the time, was that I had nothing to cry about, our situation had been turned around, and … praise God, I know where she is now! 

Hubby and I spent a lot of time talking to her about the Lord and how much He loves her. Although she is no longer here with us, something I had longed to see for 52 years, had finally happened. I’d been praying and hoping that my mother and I would both get to a new place at the same time! The Holy Spirit wonderfully answered me, and He did it all without any help from me! 

I know a happy ending may not occur for everyone, but today I wanted to share that there are also times that it can. I want to pass on the hope that even seemingly impossible situations can be turned around. Our God has a plan. We don’t always understand what He is doing, because our eyes have been dimmed by the sorrow and suffering of this world.

Opting out of dealing with difficult things means we are left with unanswered questions, and He is much too kind and loving, to want us to live with the terrible pain of loss, and things being unsaid, and unresolved. The land of regret is a terrible place. He knows the right moment for you and your loved one to reconcile. Bye. 🙌

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:..” Ecclesiastes 3:1a.

P 3053 Look after your joints.

/ DVH

Connection is vital in this new life we have embraced. We dare not try to function in our gifts or personal relationships without the Holy Spirit putting us together, so we can support one another. Hubby was talking to me yesterday about how painful his physical joints have been lately. He has osteoarthritis in a number of joints in his body, and those joints that are now not connecting properly, plus they cause him severe pain. 

The medical profession seems to have two answers for this malady – they either remove the offending joints and replace them with titanium, or throw years and years of pain killers at it. I pray they find a better solution soon, because neither of those ideas work!

The point hubby made yesterday was so pertinent spiritually, that I thought I would write about it here. At the beginning of any arthritic problem it can be easier to ignore the pain and keep on going – but that is extremely damaging to the joint! 

I think this is true when it comes to what the bible says too. Let’s look at it: “For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:16.

Because we are joined to Jesus and what He did, you and I are also joined together. What is true in the natural is also relevant and illustrative for the spiritual. So when Sister Susie and Auntie Maud decide to play “no speakies” then the whole body will feel it! Or if Brother John and Deacon Bob aren’t getting along, everybody knows about that. The Body of Christ is quickly reduced to a puppet state, with others trying to pull the strings to make that puppet look normal and appealing to the outside world. We can have all the best motivation in the world, but until everybody owns up to their own sin and asks for forgiveness – Pinocchio will never be a real boy!

Hubby can tell you how painful his disabilities are, on bad days it almost stops him in his tracks. It shows me that’s how important connectedness is!  It is not a pretty idea, or a nice way to live – it is essential to the health of the rest of the Body. Pain takes over your brain!  And it quickly becomes all you can think about. Unless our spiritual joints start connecting and acting in a relationally sound fashion, we will lack co-ordination.

The bible tells us how much Jesus values His Body – He totally identifies with US to the point that persecution of Christians is persecution of HIM. Acts 9:4-5 “And he (Saul) fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]? And Saul said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting.”  A body out of joint is no minor thing!

When we make Jesus our main topic of conversation, and remove judgment and criticism, we can create a safe space for everyone to grow. We need intimacy with Him and each other. We cannot afford to live our spiritual lives constantly being distracted by those joints which are out of place. Removing the offending joint is not the answer – all that happens is that the problem goes somewhere else and causes chaos there!  Even in my hubby’s physical body, removing the offending joint did not completely solve the pain problem. Metal rubbing against bone also has an abrasive effect. 

Our stated aim, as the Body of Christ, is to live in love — and that is costly. It cost Jesus everything He had. He paid that price so that His Body can live in a continuous FLOW OF LOVE to each other, and the rest of the world. When I stand in my place and you stand in yours, and we live a joined together life of love, we are witnessing to other people without saying a word. I think that the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet are looking for something real. However, if this course was easy everyone would already be doing it!

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”John 13:34. This way of life is not easy, it means death to self! We are to love one another the same WAY He loved us — deliberately, obediently, sacrificially, and completely, without any thought about the cost. We demonstrate we are His disciples when we grow up into going beyond good manners, or outwardly caring … into His idea of love. We need bodily joints that are healthy, so that each one of them helps the other one move without pain! And we must provide a shelter for those who are in pain, not lay them aside until they get better. 

Jesus is speaking here: “This is My command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are My friends when you do the things I command you.” John 15:13,14. I believe the way to live like this, is to live in love – no matter what or who has caused the problem. We need to value each other purely because He has first valued us. 

First of all, let’s pray for our brothers and sisters, wherever they are. “We pray for their well-being and their faith to be strong and obedient in the face of death and danger.” Amen. Let’s look after each other, by caring for each joint, because those joints hold the Body of Christ together, so it can function. Bye. 👋 

P 2749 Don’t settle for less than on fire!

/ DVH

I’ve been listening to a number of different things lately, all made possible by YouTube. I discovered Project of Love this morning. It consists of verses from the bible in spontaneous song. Featuring books like Isaiah, Psalms, Habakkuk, Mark, and many more – about 22 so far, and these Scriptures set to music are accompanied by the really powerful images. It was a breath of fresh air.  Xander, the guitar playing singer, heard the Lord tell Him to pick up his guitar and sing what He was reading from Isaiah.

At that time, Xander did not know God, and he had been deeply depressed, he was on suicide watch. He was saved on the spot! After watching this man’s joy in action it really convicted me that it is easy to get stuck in the ways of the past. In the days to come I think that the Lord will bring out some extraordinary gifts from ordinary people, in whatever He is going to do next. Meanwhile, maybe we’ve made worship or teaching about having musically experienced leaders, and competent musicians. In other words we look for the people with the best voices or those who have been trained. But we sing to help US focus and to bless His heart. Ephesians 5:19 – “Speaking to yourselves, in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” 

This thought meant that I asked myself some questions …  why should worship be about the sound, and not our hearts? The danger for all of us who know exactly what to say and do, is that worship can become a routine, and everything is left to the leader out the front. Yet I think we could see a day when the Lord might take members of society that the church would reject, or maybe pass over, because they don’t meet some sort of ‘ministry’ standard. He wants them contribute.

Personally, I believe God is going to gift some people in extraordinary ways, like our friend Xander! But because the people outside our churches are ‘unchurched’ they will not have the inbuilt agendas most of us cheerfully adhere to. 

Sometimes it seems that the church at large has accepted fear as a subtext, accidentally. It seems that we are afraid of wandering off into error. However, that’s when we can unfortunately trample on the very gifts God wants to raise up! It is much too easy for us to get stuck in the way that things have always worked in the past.

Here’s a thought: … muscles are developed when they are gently but regularly stretched. Maybe the Body of Christ needs to do some heavenly stretching! Is our collective faith big enough for what He wants to do next? Our trust in His ability to care for us in any circumstance, seems to have given way to the fear of making mistakes or being misled by enthusiasm. Are we settling for the known and the comfortable, the routine and predictable, because those things are regarded as being normal and controllable. Our God is bigger than that. When Jesus came into this world, He challenged the norm by His very Presence!

Does our preaching and teaching rely more on expertise and knowledge than passion? I heard someone preach the other day and they were all over the place like jam, and yet they still managed to challenge me! Is strict adherence to conformity the very reason the church has settled into separate denominations? In many churches we go along with the same old same old, because somebody more senior and knowledgeable in God sets the rules and now we just blindly follow them. Maybe this is why some people continually hop about changing churches like the pop-up moles in Whack-a-Mole? Perhaps we are shopping around for churches that make us comfortable? Who are we here for again?? HIM or us?

We all know that I’m not the biggest fan of jumping around between churches –  yet in my denomination that seems to be almost expected, as well as accepted. But it is extremely important to remember that the Lord will choose the setting He wants to place us in. A new church is not like choosing a new shirt – for us to reach our full potential we need to rub up against people who are going to annoy the living daylights out of us! If we choose our comfort over His opportunities for our growth – we will stay babies and toddlers. 

Growth occurs as we discover our own hearts have deceived us and we are convicted by our sinfulness. So, do we  avoid change because it is inconvenient or we don’t like it, or we don’t think it is necessary? Maybe we even know we are stuck but we keep waiting for the Lord to turn up and fix the mess we’ve made?  Our job is to repent, and work with the Holy Spirit — to challenge ourselves and face up to the things we don’t like. Then we need to prayerfully revise our attitudes. Change is not just agreeing with the bible, change is when we look like Jesus and act like He would.

As Christians we cannot afford to settle for anything less than being on fire! Let’s reject the comfortable same-old same-old status quo, and press in to make sure we please His heart as well as continually press in to expand our love for Him. Bye.👋

“Don’t you realize that together you have become God’s inner sanctuary and that the Spirit of God makes His permanent home in you?” 1Corinthians 3:16 TPT

P 2726 When I get tired …

/ DVH

I have learnt to take a lack of Grace as a signpost that I am walking in the flesh again. It means I’ve been trying, all by myself – to access something that Jesus died to GIVE me. I am bound to fail, without His Grace. To start with I can get very tired of being kind to people who continually hurt me. At the same time, in my own enthusiasm, I can spend ages trying to figure out what to do … when God already has an answer.

My problem becomes something Jeremiah spoke about in Chapter 2, v 13.“Stand in shock, heavens, at what you see! Throw up your hands in disbelief—this can’t be!” God’s Decree. “My people have committed a compound sin: they’ve walked out on Me, the fountain Of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns— cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves.” I can exhaust myself trying to find answers using my own systems. At the same time, I am ignoring His powerful ever-present fountain-provision of Grace, by honouring and using my own strength instead. 

Self-effort leads to frustration with Him, myself and others. It’s incredibly easy to get angry, because I’m making all this effort and it looks like God is not helping me, and neither are you! Changing myself has limitations – my patience and human wisdom will wear out – v-e-r-y quickly! The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:9-10 “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am,and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

This man understood that the way through everything that happened to him was to stay in the Grace of God. God’s Grace is our dwelling place. It is “the fountain of fresh flowing waters.”  We need to put aside our own human rationale toward others, as well as the excuses we often make for abhorrent behaviour, and instead …call SIN, sin … Then choose to forgive it or repent from doing it. This choice means that we are determined to partake of His freely flowing Grace, so we can walk through whatever is going on, without rancour or disappointment. Then we are eligible to give His Grace away to others from a position of fullness and humility – because we know WE also sin.  

Grace is Eternal. Self-effort, trying harder, making excuses, etc. wears out, quickly. Actually, I do not think we should sugar-coat any kind of sin. Sin killed Jesus. IT’S REAL. Our sin had consequences, and HE paid for them! The answer to sin is redemption, not avoidance, or working harder, or even excuses. These things are not just a difference in some sort of personal perception – this means we dare not pretend they don’t exist! Our job is to pray for Grace, Grace, and more Grace, and use our faith to walk in it. We all need to reach a saturation point when it comes to Grace. Grace needs to become normal in our lives.

We pray for the perpetrator, and also pray that we will be able to bear whatever is going on, by remaining in His Grace. Even if that other person simply will not quit behaving badly and they continue to deliberately hurt us or others. We all need His Grace to get through anything – we dare not use the try harder/make excuses for others system. So how do I get this Grace? I ask Him for it, and then I do whatever He says to me – either personally, or from His Word. God’s answers are not like our answers – because His Ways are higher than ours.

Our society today has currently adopted an ‘I can’t help it I had a hard life’ view of abhorrent behaviour. Instead of paying attention to accountability. Are we all three years old and everything is someone else’s fault? If we are old enough to sin, then we are old enough to own it. Unfortunately, we seem to have become a “now” society. Electricity on now! TV on now! And if it causes me pain, then it has to stop – NOW – because you are infringing on my rights, now! We have not learnt to suffer wrong. Jesus Himself chose that way, and Christians are meant to follow Him. Not our own personal code, or some self-help psycho-babble methodology. 

Every single human being needs His GRACE. Otherwise, blame becomes a way of life. Then my personally perceived poor activities, or heartache are the government’s fault – or my parents’ fault, or teachers, friends, or the pastor! When we think like that we are shrugging off our own responsibility. Our responsibility is to take everything to the cross and prayerfully access the Grace of God, as well as leave our sinful attitudes there. Sometimes the only way ahead is to go through our problems, to an answer. And that route may go through a desert or wilderness – where there is no water. This means we go back to the Source and ask for His Grace to bear things so we can keep on walking and following Him. 

Like the saints of old, we may suffer as we lay down the right to figure out man-made solutions – but that is nothing compared to the glory that lies ahead. We simply cannot afford to step out of GRACE. We don’t visit it occasionally, on a good day – WE LIVE THERE. Bye. 👋

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1.

P 2493 Are we fruitful?

/ DVH

The Lord God told Adam and Eve in Genesis to be fruitful and multiply, and I do not believe that  He has taken that directive back. We have sometimes translated that phrase into meaning we should have children. Here’s what I want to talk about today, what if that was also a spiritual directive as well as a physical one? Ya might want to think about that! 🧐 BTW, fruit-ful means full of fruit!

Jesus once cursed a fig-tree for not being fruitful. What that shows me is that fruit is extremely important to Him! The Lord also talked at length about remaining in the Vine, so WE can produce fruit. His fruit in our lives is an exhibition of His life in us, it shows us, and others, that we are abiding – we are living in Him; His ways; His life-giving light – by choice.

The Lord Jesus has a different way for you and I to live, but I think sometimes we would rather fit that new life in and around all the things we like to do, or maybe even feel we have to do. We sing and say that ‘He is our comfort, and joy,’ but do we take away that comfort and joy from being with Him, when we have a quiet time? Being close to, and attached to Him, produces fruit – stuff we have for ourselves and stuff that prompts us to think of others.

It cost Father God everything He cherished to buy us back. Our response is to live this life by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. A sacrifice actually involves loss – of time, control, people, or things. We own NOTHING. Owning stuff is an illusion. Sadly I think we are often missing our true mandate — the opportunity to use our time to be fruitful for His kingdom, by sharing material things with others.

Jesus didn’t play racquet ball or golf, or have a boat, and I’m pretty sure the only book He studied was the bible. He liked to spend His downtime with people. He knew how to live this life here on earth and be fruitful while He was doing it. Meanwhile, if He was in a boat then somebody else owned it and He was using it to reach out to … other people! 

Pursuing the growth of real fruit in our lives, by learning His Ways, and living the way He would – transforms us. We need to remember the King of all glory, is lowly and gentle in His heart. He demonstrated those traits by caring for those who were suffering for any reason. Many times at the bottom of our pitiful, less-than generous response to the poor all over this world, is entitlement, greed, and laziness. If we are not careful we will end up constantly exhibiting a distinct lack of love for our fellow man. No demonstrated love = no fruit! The sap of the Lord’s vine is LOVE.

FYI, nobody likes suffering or pain – no matter where we were born! It seems as if we Christians have laid aside our responsibility to care for our fellow man. Jesus warns us about that stuff in the book of Revelation 3:17.“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” People who do not give freely lack love! That’s why the Lord said we need to be cheerful givers. That cheer is the sap!

Those of us who can work, need to find ways to provide for those who can’t work, or have nothing. It’s simple. Help people who need help. Deciding whether people deserve it or not is a sign of entitlement. We simply must stop thinking that the privilege of wealth is a right and if we earn stuff then it is ours.  We have been blessed with material things to be a blessing. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,”Matthew 6:21. In my opinion, the line indicating that we have enough, which means maybe now we can share,  is always moving away from us. We need to be chasing His fruit – it lasts!

Paul said in Acts 20:32-35 “You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”The Apostle Paul worked hard to supply his own needs, as well as for the needs of those who went with Him. That sharing is a sign of living this life being fruitful!  He was showing all of us that it is NORMAL to think about, and supply the needs of others. It is not an optional extra, sharing and giving are signs of the life of the Kingdom within. 👋🏻

P 2420 A living faith!

/ DVH

Safety and Comfort can be weapons used by the enemy to prevent Christians from moving into their God-given destiny. This is not a thought any of us want to have… but … these two things may well be the biggest deterrent to Christians being totally sold-out to Jesus. Hey, I like having a house to sleep in, and a doctor I can go to when I am sick. I also like knowing my kids live right around the corner and the supermarket is five kms away.

But .. these things that look ‘normal’ are actually a trap. The truth is the best thing for our relationship with the Lord isn’t safety and comfort, because that’s when we kick off our shoes and coast along – and become careless about His plans. Have you noticed that ‘there ain’t nothin’ like trouble’ to improve your prayer life?!  And yes, I am speaking from personal experience. The problem in the Western World is that distraction and busyness are a way of life.

Whenever we read the Old Testament we can see that peace and ease sent the Israelites down the plug-hole very quickly. That is a warning to us! We are told in the bible that our lives are not our own, yet most times, for the past 50+ years or so, Christians in the Western World live happily settled lives in their own communities and very few take the Lord’s command to “Go and preach the gospel to all creatures …” seriously.  Actually, I’d like to paraphrase the way modern Christianity, it seems to me, has responded to the Lord’s command …. “Let’s send somebody else out into the world to preach the gospel …not me …I already have a life!” 

Yeah! I know, that statement is not going to make me popular. But the truth is — we are all missionaries … sent ones. I can’t find an exemption clause in anything Jesus said. Yet it seems — apparently — you don’t have to go if you have a family. Peter had a family. BUT … you don’t have to go if you have a job. Paul had a job. BUT… you don’t have to go if you are rich, giving is OK instead. And why don’t we want to go? Safety and comfort! That’s why. Hey, I have no rocks in my hands, I’ve just slept in 15 different hard and uncomfortable beds recently, I’m totally delighted to kick off my shoes and sleep in my own bed again!! 

Speaking personally, I wouldn’t care if I didn’t go outside the door at all, this world is pretty rough on the elderly and disabled. But then I remember… I have courageous brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. They are in places that are not safe or comfortable … Places where people point machine guns or send missiles, or they wave nasty cleavers and machetes at you with the intention of removing body parts. Those people definitely don’t appear to be gospel friendly! Yes, we can send money  to help others go… and we should. But “GO” still applies to me, uncomfortable and unsafe, or not.

Here’s a question for you … is Australia an atheist country? “According to NORC … 20.6% of Australians don’t believe in God and never have, while 9.7% are “strong atheists”. Of those aged under 28, 26.8% have never believed in God and just 14.7% are certain God exists.”  39% of people in this country have no religion at all!  Well, those figures don’t bode well do they? Even more disturbingly …48,000 people call themselves Jedi and worship the Force!  😱 The very least we could do is to tell these dear souls that ‘the force’ has a NAME and He’s the Holy Spirit Who is a gift from Jesus! Paul once used a god with no name on it, to preach Jesus.

The truth is, we all actually like our comfortable lives. We don’t want to be out in the middle of nowhere, where crows or magpies have to bring us food! Or maybe travel miles to talk to strangers. It doesn’t feel safe or comfortable. But, here’s a thought:  those people-who-don’t -know-Jesus-yet are walking about in our local supermarket. They are at the school gate, they work in the next cubicle at our office. 

And the good news is – we don’t have to convert them. We just need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us LOVE them. We  act like the good Samaritan, and make everyone our neighbour. Reaching out to others, is and will always be, paramount to maintaining a living faith. 👋🏻

P 2339 Christians have a different normal, it is not ‘of’ this world.

/ DVH

My intention is to put an exclamation mark on what I wrote yesterday. Luke 17:26-33:“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.  Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. “

Yesterday, I spoke about this scripture briefly and I felt the Lord tell me to go back, and look at it further. What He said to me was this: “Did you see that?” Of course I hadn’t. I can’t see this kind of stuff until He helps me by opening my eye to what He’s thinking. 

He said this: “THEIR LIVES were going on from day to day NORMALLY, when the sky literally fell for Noah and his family, and Lot and Co!” Then the Holy Spirit asked me this question – “What do people do when their lives are violently interrupted?” 

My answer for myself was I probably hit despair and then panic! So, I asked for His help and I began think about what human beings see as ‘normal.’ Those things we sometimes valiantly seek after, are actually poor preparation for the extraordinary situations that really do occur in this life. Yet I can see that most people strive, and pay a great deal of their attention to the status quo, trying hard to fit in – or find it – and live in it. Fitting into what this world calls normal. 

It is almost as if superstitiously, we are scared of and avoid thinking about bad things and contemplating their existence.  But they actually happen anyway … without our permission. It seems to me that as difficulties occur regularly, it is careless not to prepare our hearts, with practice, by meditating on what HE says and renewing our minds. We need a substantial spiritual root system to give us severe storm strength. We get that from our confidence in HIM, using our faith, and applying His Word. He is always ready to help us.

We buy insurance for our cars, houses, lives, and the future etc. and yet we remain vastly ignorant or experienced with, those things that are eternal. Those things that cannot be moved or shaken, because their roots are in our Almighty Immovable, ever-present God, Maker of heaven and earth. We need a deep confidence and experience with His involvement in our lives. We need to know personally, first-hand what He thinks.

Otherwise we end up gauging His care for us, by answered, or seemingly not-answered prayer!  Normal is never our aim – ushering His kingdom into our current situation and surroundings is! To do that we need to be very personally well acquainted with what our King did, or will do, no matter what else is going on.  And when we are hard pressed we need to learn to lean on Him. Always remembering that – His kingdom gives out of poverty, it loves from lack, it tenderly engages others despite personal feelings and proclivities.

Secondly we need to stop aligning ourselves with who this world says we are meant to be, and allow Him, and trust Him to take us step by step into our eternal destiny.  He knows the way through … anything! As it says in Psalm 23 we will be led by the Shepherd through the valley of the shadow of death. In order to be properly led, we need to know and trust the leader.

Noah and Lot were confronted with horrendously difficult circumstances, BUT their societies were not unlike ours. Yet they each had a relationship with God to fall back on. What we need to fall back on to sustain us through trials is our personal irrefutable knowledge of Him. Otherwise we will let this world’s scenarios be painted on our hearts, and default into fear.  We must see difficult things as opportunities to deepen our faith. Psalm 34:19 says: “Disciples so often get into trouble;  still, God is there every time.” 👋🏻