Obedience

P 2435 You don’t have to be clever to serve Jesus.

/ DVH

1 Corinthians 2:4&5, 9&10TPT “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power… … However, as it is written:“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— these are things God has prepared for those who love Him—these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit.”

Some people say that the Apostle Paul had a really big brain — they say that about Einstein too. Apparently Einstein’s brain was 15% bigger in some areas than ours is. But in these scriptures above, Paul carefully explains that it is NOT his brain that comes up with the stuff he wrote! Those words came from the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and wisdom. And then Paul said something truly amazing – his words were a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. The Holy Spirit’s words are extraordinarily powerful. They heal, release, and open spiritually blind eyes, instantly.

The bible is not just there to comfort our soul when we are sad, mad or under the weather – the bible is a spiritual thermometer and diagnostician. The next time you read it, highlight the bits that really annoy you or puzzle you … The comforting stuff is great, but if we read just to gain comfort we will not grow.

There are often times when the way to get past something awful that you feel stuck in, is to persevere, and keep on reading the bible. Then go find something you don’t like, and you don’t want to do, and then go and do what it says. If you want a breakthrough this will give you one. This book can teach us about our real selves … if we let it. Human beings don’t just hide from others, we hide from God — and ourselves. Sometimes, WE don’t want to know what we don’t know!

The bible shows us our errors and missteps, as well as comforting us with God’s everlasting eternal unshakeable love – not just NICE thoughts that tickle our ears. Our God’s love is passionately fierce – He will not turn a blind eye to something that damages or is destroying His children … … even if they choose it.

We must be careful about what we let our faith REST ON. Seriously, keep that thought in the forefront of your mind as you read His book. We cannot rest our faith on what someone else said. We need to rest it on what the Lord says to us, personally. This is why it is good to read until the Lord speaks to your heart. Anybody can take 3 different scriptures and make them say 200 different things. Just read this blog every day, I take a stab at that with what I write all the time! 😂 

You and I need the Holy Spirit’s personal attention in our own personal lives, hearts and minds, so He can apply what we read into our own situations. Principles are great, but principles are an overriding umbrella, an impersonal thought, that can and will shelter you and I. But we need our own little Holy Spirit-given raincoat and wellies when we are struggling along against the wind and rain. We need to hear from Him, for ourselves. 

Remember what Jesus said: “Man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” The bible is our daily bread – our daily bread is not toast, coffee or weeties! It’s His word. Every single day we need a personal glimpse into His glory, to keep our faith alive and vibrant. We cannot do that without the Holy Spirit’s input. What we read when we read what Paul, or Peter, or John wrote, is the insight and wisdom they got from day to day as they too studied and thought about the bible as they knew it. 

We can only read the Epistles etc. with the Holy Spirit’s help – otherwise some concepts seem old-fashioned and irrelevant. The Holy Spirit knows what will settle our hearts when we are disturbed or afraid. We cannot possibly imagine what God will say … yet, when He speaks, that changes everything. He even speaks to little children who are not apparently, fully developed yet! But little children can come up with the most profound things. I think that’s because their childish faith doesn’t put what they know up against what He said!

Our wonderful heavenly Father has so much more He wants to give us. We must never leave His table, the one He has prepared for us in the presence of our enemies, feeling hungry or in despair. Stay there until you are full! Those times are the exact time to put aside what this world has said about our own ability to study or think, and go on to pick up the love, advice, comfort and wisdom of the One Who was here before this world began. It takes listening obedience to serve Jesus, not just a clever mind. Bye. 👋🏻

P 2432 In order to understand some things …

/ DVH

… we will need to look at them, standing on our head!!!.… Most Christians go to church to receive, and there’s nothing wrong with that! They go to worship God, receive fresh revelation, get prayers for help and transformation, and maybe a special experience. When we are all together, we have a collective faith. I know this is probably a new thought to some … BUT … despite the fact that I dearly love going to church – I don’t particularly want to borrow YOUR faith all the time, I want my own fully-functional faith!

Almighty God gave us all a portion of faith, and I want to use mine for His glory, under His direction. Along the way, I’ve learnt that using my own faith helps me grow, spiritually. Your faith is great and it holds me up — but YOU live far away, or you have a habit of going on holidays when I might need you! I love it when my Church family pray for me, and I have seen wonderful things happen because others have used their faith to believe for a change in my life. I will not ever stop doing that because we are all designed to be a part of each other. I have also seen incredible things in terrible situations when just one person has added their faith to mine. 

However… I will stay a baby in my faith if I never learn to use that God-given faith for myself. I realized a number of years ago, that I need to stop being a passenger, and begin to use my own faith under the help and supervision of the Holy Spirit. It’s my job to develop what I’ve been given. ““Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave His charge: “God authorised and commanded Me to commission YOU: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then  instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 MSG.

Well, that’s pretty clear! I’ve been saved to serve Him. And His special love is people, so if I want to live out this life as a Christian, I’m going to have to change. Obedience to His Word is not an optional extra that depends on the day of the week, and how I am feeling. satan can throw enough icky situations and feelings at all of us to keep us busy until the Lord comes back! While I am in this world MY time is HIS. My own faith needs to be used, because I will go places you will never go. Everybody who has been born again was given this command by the Lord. This means that we are going to have to stretch, and do things we don’t much want to do, because our new life has new responsibilities.

Many years ago. I had to have some major surgery. Directly across from me in another hospital bed, was a young girl who was sobbing, clearly terrified. I had already been given my pre-meds for this op, so my task was to lie still and let the meds do their work. But this girl is over there, crying her eyes out. So … I hopped out of bed and trundled over to ask her if she is OK? She is clearly NOT OK! She had stepped on a needle and it went right through her toe and she was there to have it taken out.

I had a choice. I could go back to my own bed, shut my eyes and go into sleepy-time or … pray for her. I opted to pray for her. As a result when the doctors came for me for my op, I was bright eyed and bushy-tailed and …awake. The doctors had to over-medicate me to anaesthetise me, and under that anaesthetic I had a terrible hallucination. Let’s skip that part. That young girl, however went home unafraid, with her toe fixed. My point? Obeying Christ is costly. We don’t always end up with sunshine and roses and somebody singing “nearer my God to thee” sweetly in the background!

We must stop thinking this life is a party that culminates in heaven. We are living in enemy territory. Stuff happens. Phillip had to strap on his Nikes and run after a chariot! Peter and John were off to a prayer meeting when they met someone who needed their help … and the authorities were not thrilled with them. Paul and Silas were severely beaten up and thrown in the clink. But that meant that they got to talk to a Philippian jailer. Now let’s put this in a full context for these men – Jesus had already died and He was resurrected … plus the Holy Spirit had come … BUT … they suffered anyway. We’ve been erroneously taught that if we have trouble, we are doing it wrong – what if trouble means … we are doing it right!

It is our job to tell others what we know. Not speaking is like walking past a house on fire and not trying to help the inhabitants to get out of danger!  Even a brand new Christian can give away what they know of God through their experience of Him – whether they know exegesis or not! We have as a group of people, spent so much time getting ready to do evangelism, or practising praying for healing, or giving prophetic words, or going to conferences etc. that we’ve become INSULAR. Christianity is not an insular faith – we simply give away what we have — and what we have didn’t happen 50 years ago. God and I did stuff yesterday.

Christians aren’t designed to fit in, they are meant to stand out!  And sometimes you quite literally have to stand on your head to understand what happened and why it happened like that… but you can’t always explain the eternal! 👋🏻

P 2431 He will change you.

/ DVH

Do you want to be ready to witness at any time? … As usual, the bible has the best teaching — like ever! “Let every word you speak be drenched with grace and tempered with truth and clarity. For then you will be prepared to give a respectful answer to anyone who asks about your faith.” Colossians 4:6 TPT

The Apostle Paul liked prepared hearts above everything else – he wrote heaps on transformation and the power to live differently. Speaking for myself having everything I say drenched with grace, and tempered with truth and clarity is plenty of incentive for me to go on with!  But I can definitely see that then there will be power in anything I say because of those three God-given things working in me and acting on me. This scripture is another way to to tell us how to walk with the Holy Spirit. I call it the ‘watch your mouth’ scripture. God’s truth must be truth in me.

My hubby said something brilliant this morning – it helped me define the above words, truth and clarity. “My own particular quirks, attitudes, or even some conditions I may have, that need to be treated or attended to, should not define ME. Those things are not part of who God made me to be. WHO I AM.  EG: If I have a broken leg, it is not part of who I am, it is a condition to be treated. If I am fearful, or anxious it is something I need help with. It is not all of me. That bad temper is not who I am, it is who I have become in response to the world around me. I can change – Jesus Christ’s death empowered me to change.”

I call that fantastic clarity about a subject that is often very muddied in today’s world. In today’s world we define most people by their traits. “She’s so pretty. He’s flabby. That family is stupid. That person is brilliant.” Facebook etc etc.. seems to be quite good at reducing very complex ordinary human beings, into simplistic one dimensional ones. People are never just ONE thing.

Part of our preparation for sharing with others is to define ourselves by who God says we are. We cannot afford to let who we are be defined by anything else. So things like: “that person had a difficult childhood, and I had a great one” – will not disqualify either one of us from obedience. We trot this stuff out as excuses to God — reasons why we can’t obey Him — because we think of ourselves as wounded and broken. He died to heal us! We need to let every word we say about each other and ourselves, be drenched in Grace. We are His new creations now.

Clarity says things like this: “My beloved is MINE and I am HIS and His banner over me is love!” “I can do all things through Christ Who gives me His strength…” Nothing can ever separate me from His love…” BTW, that word nothing means no thing — it includes how I feel about myself, or what other people may say about me. There is great healing in agreeing and acting in faith on what God says about us. His Grace is the great equaliser.

In the Christian world, Grace is our AIR. We receive His grace, minute by minute as a normal part of our lives. Grace is a language of the Holy Spirit and Jesus released that eternal quality at Calvary. Now it is a part of human history. We don’t have to feel gracious to know we have grace – no matter what we’ve done. You don’t have to take my word, I don’t have to take yours — we believe in it because Grace is explained thoroughly in the bible. The bible is our road map to a bigger world. One that lasts forever. The problem occurs in our faith … not in what He did. If our faith is in our sinful failure then we will act like everyone else around us and make excuses for our appalling behaviour!

Praise God, we do not have to hold ourselves ransom to the past – even if the past was 5 minutes ago! However, we dare not mis-use His grace either. Repentance is a fruit of Grace. This means we look at whatever we did, through His eyes, not ours. We must stop making a god after our own image – the god we make up for ourselves is weak. That god can’t change us! It allows us to stay the same old pitiable, wishy-washy, nasty grump we always were! Jesus Christ conquered all sin forever. Our failures cannot negate that reality… Ignore what you think you know and start believing His book. 

When I give away Grace to others I am releasing His power into their lives. I received that power when I asked Him to save me. For every word we speak to be drenched in these things we will have to go beyond pretending to be nice, and actually become like Him. We must go past saying we are sorry, into change. Transformation. Grace is a transformative power – it cannot bear fruit without actions. Jesus had to actually DIE to give it to us. Now the Holy Spirit is here to help us with applying what Jesus did, and the bible says.

Like hubby said to me today, believing that … “we are who we are, and we are stuck that way,” … is error. It is denying the power of Grace. Our aim is to walk with the HOLY Spirit.  HE’S NOT SINFUL or SPITEFUL. HE DOESN’T LIE, or HOLD GRUDGES. HE ISN’T POWERLESS EITHER!! Almighty God’s words bear fruit. No fruit means GOD IS NOT IN IT. We need to let His Grace have its way in us, and then when we speak to others, it’s with truth and clarity. Bye 👋🏻.

P 2428 Jesus Christ – Grace and mercy personified.

/ DVH

“So now we draw near freely and boldly to where grace is enthroned, to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness.” Hebrews 4:16 TPT Jesus Christ is grace and mercy personified. And every single thing He did and said was God’s incredible mercy toward mankind. But what does all that mean? Right here, right now, to us … where you and I live? Jesus Christ did not just provide us with a new copy-cat way to live – He has real life IN Him — and He paid for and gave that life to us. We gain strength when we are weak because of what He did.

Grace and mercy can often just be words to mankind, but to Father God they are a PERSON. “When the extraordinary compassion of God our Saviour and His overpowering love suddenly appeared in Person, as the brightness of a dawning day, He came to save us. Not because of any virtuous deed that we have done but only because of His extravagant mercy.” Titus 3:4-5 TPT.

If we are not careful, we can rush on by the words, and what we’ve been GIVEN. We were given a PERSON. Jesus didn’t simply have grace and mercy, like we might have kids or a house or a car – He IS grace and mercy!  And when mankind tortured and killed Him – grace and mercy came out… His life-giving blood flowed out and covered us all! Grace and mercy are the essence of Jesus Christ.

He is the perfect love of the Father expressed in a Person. Father God deliberately planned for that kind of love to come to earth and walk among us, so we could know, see and experience His love through Christ for ourselves. So now we know that these things are real and they belongs to us! We will not chase after what we do not know we OWN. Grace and mercy belong to us.

Sadly, our-not-so-grateful response to this precious gift was… … we, and people just like us, killed Him! It seems we liked the things we made up for ourselves, better! Jesus’ glorious truth about Who He is, and why He came, threatened our lies, our traditions, our very frame-work of what we chose to think about God Himself. This shows us a great deal about what human beings are really like!! We will make up a god that suits us rather than embrace the reality of Who He is. Does that sound familiar?

We cannot have grace and mercy in our lives, and sustain those things without the Author of those qualities IN us, helping us. They are simply not human qualities. When our long-ago forbearers, Adam and Eve, were caught in their sin, their immediate response was to blame someone or something else. Adam blamed God! He did the whole pathetic: “It’s-not-my-fault-God-You-gave-her-to-me thing.’ One of the hardest opponents we must fight in this life is our own overwhelming arrogance and pride. Sadly, we often think we know better than He does. That’s why we all need a brain transplant … via the bible renewing our minds! 

Lamentations 3:22&23.“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” Our God’s Character is saturated in incredible qualities that are not greatly esteemed by mankind. He gave these qualities to us for free, although His gift cost Him everything! His mercy is the reason we are still here and not roasting in hell. His compassion is so rock-solid we can stand on it. We need to learn to esteem what He esteems, first … then any other stuff will get added unto us along the way – if we actually need it.

The thing is, we can learn from the Holy Spirit how to live this life the way Jesus lived His. He was there with Christ. Jesus Christ was totally and humbly devoted to His Father’s will. Our devotion to God and others matters! God’s Mercy gives us access into the kind of real obedience we need, and His Grace empowers us to make the same choices Jesus would. BTW, FYI, in His Name means Jesus would do whatever it is if He were here. It isn’t just an add-on tag to legalise the prayer! Mercy and grace are not qualities to be used to our own advantage or even glossed over – they are the very essence of His new life IN us. Bye.👋🏻

“Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with Him! For God has re-created you all over again in His perfect righteousness, and you now belong to Him in the realm of true holiness.” Ephesians 4:23-24 TPT

P 2424 This is His way.

/ DVH

“So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth. And I pray that He would unveil within you the unlimited riches of His glory and favour until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with His divine might and explosive power.Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of His love will become the very source and root of your life. 

Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is His love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!” Ephesians 3:14-19 TPT.

We don’t do the things that Jesus did or the things He asks us to do simply because He needs our hands and feet. We are not His robots, or even His portable advertising!  Christians do what they do to be obedient and their obedience expresses their loving devotion to Him. But at the same time the more we walk with Him in that obedience, the more we will see and experience His incredible Love for us. This is the very heart of these wonderful verses in Ephesians 3.

His love for us, as well as in us, these things are the riches we’ve been promised. Forget gold, silver and precious stones, His love is beyond price! And His Loving heart is toward us. He is like that King, Ahasuerus, who adored his wife, so he held out his sceptre toward Esther even when she  disobeyed the rules of his kingdom. God’s heart reaches toward us, to relieve us of our burdens and to help us with life’s difficulties. There are days when others do not like me or my company, but those days, those feelings, don’t reflect Him. Nothing will alter His love toward me. That is a huge gift. In those moments, I simply must believe what He says, not how I feel.

Years ago on ancient TV in the 1950s, we had an ad in this country for a man’s hair product, called Brylcreem. Its motto was “a little dab’ll do ya.” Father God’s love is NOT like Brylcreem! It is not mingy, or space-saving or economical! Christ’s sacrificial love sustains this universe and beyond. Despite what the scientists say, if God withdrew His loving favour from mankind the stars would fall out of the sky. Read the book of Revelation! You will see written there what happens when His boundless Love is withdrawn from the earth. His love is the incredibly powerful force that holds this world, including us, together.

The more we use our faith by being obedient, the more His love expands within us, until it becomes the very centre of our lives. Slowly His love transforms and replaces any imperfect human love we have that may have done damage to our hearts. Some of our responses are not sin – pain causes reactions too. However, the knowledge of His love is expanded in our hearts as we watch Him touch other people’s lives through us. 

While we were away this time, because of a series of God-ordained events, we managed to give an older cleaning lady a keychain. Her face seemed hardened by age and life, she was tiny but she looked tough. Scary even! But the Lord said to bless her, so we did. And the most amazing thing happened. Her face cracked open, and she looked just like a happy little child. Transformation happened right in front of our eyes. She danced up and down on the spot. This keychain was the most delicate one I have ever made. I probably would not have given her that particular one – my own judgment of how she looked would have gotten in the way! 

None of us know how hardened anyone else can become inside and out, because this life can deal each one of us terrible blows. In order to go on, human beings put on protective armour. That armour often changes our outward appearance, and at the same time it can alter what comes out of our mouths! Just like a barking dog that is scared of a stranger – we can become vicious and mean. But Father God’s love goes right around our disguises and touches hearts. Then we have the privilege of seeing someone else the way He designed them, that utterly transforms both parties, and opens their eyes to new possibilities. 

The bible says:  “perfect love casts out all fear…” The reality is, if we are afraid, it is not enough to just know this verse, that’s simply words. We need to know the heart of the One Who is speaking love over us. Watching Him work in the lives of the people around us opens our eyes to how incredible His love is. It seems upside down to think that in order to get love, we will have to give away Love. But that is His Way. It’s the way of faith. His way forward is for us to learn LOVE. 👋🏻

P 2414 Our own private Tutor.

/ DVH

“But when the Father sends the Spirit of Holiness, the One like Me Who sets you free, He will teach you all things in My name. And He will inspire you to remember every word that I’ve told you.” John 14:26 TPT

Just look at Who is always waiting for you and I when we read His book! I have a really bad short term memory, that appears to have turned up with age. It has required a lot of adjustment, for me as well as my family. It effects my family because I can be in the middle of a sentence and forget where I was going with my thoughts… 😂 … hilarious and humbling … all at the same time. Bonus buy! 

Moving on … I love the above verse because it directly deals with that malady in my life. The Holy Spirit is so faithful, He stands by me patiently and hands me verses when I type this blog daily. And sometimes He says: “look that up” Plus He says  … “read around it.”  Context always matters! So I can personally testify that He is an excellent Teacher. I can be reading away in the bible and He says: “Go back, you missed it.”  OR… “pause and think about this!” 

People make a really big deal out of encounters with the Holy Spirit or prophecies they have been given. It’s like they memorialise them or something. They build a statue, put a label on it and they live the rest of their lives camped at the bottom — hoping for more. 😳 To be strictly honest, perhaps I don’t value encounters that much because I have had hardly any! We must stop camping around a word, and start camping around the Teacher.

The one thing I do value mightily is this — I have this incredible Tutor Who shows up, day after day, time after time after time, and He guides me through the Word of God. He corrects me when I am ‘off-line’  and patiently repeats Himself when I am in thick-as-a-brick mode. He’s my Friend Who knows what I need, and He hands it to me. The bible is like a jigsaw puzzle to me – there are bits that make no sense until I have put together a part of the puzzle. And at other times I start with one piece and all the other pieces fall into place. And I do all that with Him guiding me, so patiently!

At exactly the same time, He shows me how what I am reading is relevant to me. He says things like: “you need to pay attention now!”  I often feel like I am watching a Master at work, creating something incredibly beautiful … because the Holy Spirit can’t help Himself! He’s always doing beautiful things. It is like His nature is always on display, particularly when I read the Word, or when I step out in obedience. I love this book! 

Today I was reading in Joshua, and the Holy Spirit pointed out that He told Joshua four times in the first chapter “to be strong and courageous.”  That repetition kind of got at me, so I wondered what it was about… four times is a lot of times! Then I saw that Joshua was the new leader and Moses had been a truly great leader, so Joshua was stepping into very big shoes … leading very disobedient people!  

God was instructing this young man about how to step into that role and how to apply whatever he was told to do. It takes courage to step out in faith and send a whole lot of Israelites marching around a walled city with no weapons, just musical instruments! Plus they did that seven days in a row!  It also took great courage for that young man to tell that army that’s what God said to do. Those men in the Jewish army were reliant upon Joshua’s ability to hear the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes when the Holy Spirit tells me to do something, it is easy to obey. But sometimes He tells me to tell my husband this or that for the person he’s going to speak to – and that takes faith! Because of my lack of physicality hubby often interacts with the people on the road more than I do, and he is more experienced than I am with dealing with strangers. 

There are times I feel to give a specific bookmark, or say this or that, and hubby goes and does it and the results are miraculous and extraordinary. We have over fifty instances of that on this last mission trip alone. This verse spoke to me today, because we both need to be strong and courageous, plus I need to speak up, otherwise I could simply take a backseat and let hubby do all the work and say nothing. We need each other just like that army needed Joshua’s leadership, plus their commitment.

My dear husband listens to me, and follows the Lord’s leading through me, and most of the time it makes very little sense to either of us – until the person in front of us starts crying their eyes out! That’s when we simply stand back and watch Him work. The best thing Christians can learn to do in this life is to learn to trust our precious Tutor. He knows stuff we do not know — about people we’ve never met. It’s AWESOME! 🕊 🙌

P 2413 Some thoughts about fatherhood.

/ DVH

“…This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who You are. Set the world right; Do what’s best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with You and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything You want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.” Matthew 6 MSG.

Today I want to talk about a place some people may have a lack. Those of us who have not had a present, engaged earthly father, may find the entire concept of a father is hard to grasp. Personally, I don’t remember my birth-father at all, I met him much later in life, and to be perfectly honest with you – I had no idea what to do with him! At that time he gave me a big bag of jelly-beans, because I loved them when I was 7, which was the last time he saw me … However I was 27 when I saw him again … and not much fussed about jelly beans! He died not long after that meeting, and he had another family by then, so we didn’t get a chance to mend bridges. 

I totally fell head over heels in love with Jesus when I met Him. His willingness to accept me and save me from myself plus His unrelenting kindness and goodness blew me away. But, a Heavenly Father … that was a whole other ballgame. Father God was more of a written concept than an actual father to me. I said all that to say this … my early lack meant that I have had a limited idea emotionally, about a father’s generosity. How a good man cares or watches out for his children’s well being. His strength and solidarity in a time of crisis. I virtually grew up fatherless in the real sense of the word.

But I had two stepfathers. One of them taught me how to forgive people who sin against you, because his form of government was extremely physical. Unfortunately, at the same time, he taught me to be afraid of men. This meant that a loving, engaged, and a totally-committed-to-my-welfare-father, like our Heavenly Father is to all of us … was right outside my childhood experience. A good father helps his kids with their identity. These wonderful men provide abiding security, so that their kids do not major on minor things like they are the end of the world..

This is why the above prayer from the Message bible blesses me. It says so clearly: “reveal Who You are….” I know that I need that kind of revelation from Him. Obedience comes easily to me – fear of consequences is a terrible motivator – but it also means I have a fear of God that isn’t biblical or healthy. This verse explains that our God loves to help us in the places we have a lack. My advice is to simply ask Him to supply that particular need. He isn’t just talking about somewhere to live, or a nice car!

BTW, we are not being disloyal to our earthly parents just because Father God can meet our needs and they didn’t – or can’t – or won’t. Even a good earthly father can mess up! And trust can be fragile at best when someone ill-equipped to be a godly father, turns out to be your parent. All told I had 3 fathers and none of them taught me anything about what a loving Father was like – they did however teach me to be scared of loud voices and angry men.

Enter my dear husband. In the past 35 years. He has patiently taught me more about what men and fathers are like, than I ever learnt in all the years before we were married. He is still teaching me about man-speak — because the way that men think, is a total enigma to me. Until he came along there were no men in my life to contribute any insight into the male psyche;  so whenever they got loud, I wanted to run! 

However, I also expected men to ignore me, because that’s what happened regularly too. To avoid the grumpy disinterested men in my life, I learnt to hide my personal self away. I came from a female dominated family line, and that means I don’t understand spontaneously, or naturally, how men think. Why they do and say what they do and say – puzzles me and I have very little insight. Sadly, some of the things that we do, even as adults, we do defensively, sometimes automatically.

The bible tells us that our God is a “Father to the fatherless.”  I want to encourage anyone with the same problem that I have had, to ask for this heavenly revelation. We were not just born again into God’s family, we have also been ADOPTED by Him. Adoption means choice! Father God can definitely supply this kind of need for validation and security etc. because He is everyone’s Father and He knows all our names. People like me need to pray over every verse that talks about the Fatherhood of Almighty God, and deliberately renew our minds – this is how we will change our thinking.  👋🏻 

P 2411 We are all seed sowers.

/ DVH

Today I just want to share one small story from our current trip – and I have a point for sharing it. We’ve been to a whole lot of places in the last 17 days and we’ve been travelling about like this for 18 years. We’ve literally been almost everywhere! Some places twice or three times. We regularly give away one of the more modern versions of the Gospels. Last night we stayed in a little seaside town. Now, on with my story… 

We’ve previously stayed here before, and on a past trip we went to a much smaller caravan park. Back then it was run by an older man. About 10 years ago, hubby went into this park clutching a bundle of bibles. The older man in reception was delighted to take bibles and they chatted about the Lord for a while. Hubby promised we would come back, in the future, when we could with more bibles. People pinch them – ya-ay! Yay Jesus – You get them anyway!

In the middle of the night, yesterday, the Lord spoke to hubby and told him that he was going to meet someone that day who needed one of his paintings. He gave him a message for that person. We ended up at that same caravan park we’d visited so many years before, again. This time there were only 5 caravans, but hubby faithfully went off with bibles under his arm. There was a different older man behind the reception desk. He told this man that we had been there before, and that, at that time there was another much older man in reception. 

The man behind the desk indicated that the older man was his father, and sadly he had died 5 years ago. He pointed to a photo of his Dad and hubby indicated he was the man he had met years ago. The current caravan park guy said his father had owned and run this little park, all of his life, and he inherited it after his father’s death. At that point, hubby brought out his painting, and said he felt it was for the owner. The older man teared up immediately when he saw it and hubby explained that it is called: “Take the plunge.”  Then he delivered the message God gave him the night before.

It transpired that the current owner badly wanted to retire, but he was hesitant because of filial obligation. The sad thing was, running this park was not something that he wanted to do. He was simply trying to honour his father and his inheritance. He felt trapped there. However after receiving the painting and the word from God hubby gave him, he strongly felt he could sell the business and retire. Father God wanted to set him free to live his own life. This man doesn’t go to church, and has no Christian affiliations. The Lord’s timing is amazing… I don’t want to comment any further on this story, because I wrote about it for another purpose, entirely. 

This is what hubby and I do. We take what God says, and what He tells us to do, out there to ordinary everyday people who have no idea God speaks to ANYONE personally. Most of them have never even been in a church. We say what He says to say, and give things away freely. We don’t push church at anyone. Sometimes we pray for them, then we walk away and leave the results up to the Holy Spirit. These gifts that the Holy Spirit has given you and I are for everyone’s benefit, to encourage, to heal, to guide, to bless. It seems to me things like this are the Lord waving at people saying: “Yoo-hoo I’m real!”  He touches them in ways that have nothing whatsoever to do with us. Our spiritual gifts are not just available to the people who go to church … after all … Jesus healed everyone! He didn’t check out their church credentials. 

Anybody can do this – you just take the gift He has given you and use it wherever He says to do it. We bless these strangers however the Holy Spirit tells us to bless them, and then we are done. We have faith that the Lord will send people after us. They have their job and we have ours. However, we are all, collectively, seed sowers, or witnesses. To have a harvest, the Body of Christ needs to sow seeds in obedience to the Lord’s leading. Actually to even have a testimony, we will all have to face our fears and move way outside our comfort zones!! Jesus moved wa-ay outside His comfort zone for us – it is the least we can do for Him. Bye. 👋🏻

P 2404 Really loving others is costly.

/ DVH

“It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?” Galatians 5:13-15 MSG.

God’s idea of freedom verses ours is another one of those things that seem to be in opposition. In reality it is available to the tough, those who will persevere, and the utterly committed. I believe the Lord wants us all to live a life free of the oppressions that drive and devastate people, and spoil relationships, and break- up homes. That sort of life is truly our witness, not just our words. There is an incredible freedom in living out the truth, and His Word is the only truth. When we willingly exchange our ideas of truth and freedom for His TRUTH, from the bible, everything looks different. 

And we’ve actually exchanged human glasses for heavenly vision. This is what renewing our minds looks like. It is more than being able to quote the bible. It is allowing ourselves to become a living bible. We are no different to the thousands of men and women of God who lived this way right after Christ died. They gave everything for the gospel. And they had the same Holy Spirit we have!  Reading the bible and simply agreeing that what is in it is a good principle, or a nice thought, or a good way to live —will not set us free. In God’s kingdom there is no compromise. He gave everything and He asks us to do the same. That includes exchanging what we esteem as truth, for real truth, HIS TRUTH. 

This means mental agreement is not enough, practicing what it says is. We might think – but I will not be ME anymore if I follow what the Holy Spirit says. GOOD!! The idea is to die to who we think we are, and all the stuff we’ve grabbed at in this life to achieve that image in our head – and trust in what Christ did for us instead. The Holy Spirit is not an add-on. He is essential to our new life in Christ. He knows what Jesus would do! If we lean toward making excuses for our own behaviour, or attacking other people to defend ourselves, we are immediately walking into satan’s territory. I believe obedient hearts attract the Holy Spirit’s Presence.

satan is the prince of the power of the air. he loves to distort words, meanings, looks, attitudes into negative things. We need to see other people from God’s perspective. He can use our prayers, our kindness, self-control, and love to bring out the best in others. We have a choice … we can live on the fringes of what the Lord says, or we can change the way we view people to His way, and practice obedience. I have people in my life that are not always supportive, but the Holy Spirit has asked me to see those people through His eyes. I owe Him my obedience.

Our God is fantastic at multi-tasking. Boy is He terrific at it!! He can take my desire to be obedient and transform me, as I act on it. And at the same time He will use my obedience to break into other people’s lives and bring about change there too. The thing we need to hold onto is that it will take as long as it takes. There is no magic formula. Ask for help, do what He says, keep your ears open and your heart humble … and be obedient … and remember flattery will not do. We are not buttering other people up – we are in process with God learning to live in the truth. The best words we can ever learn in this process are: “I’m sorry please forgive me.” Whether we did something to warrant those words or not. Read the book!

Sometimes we are like little kids who are planting seeds. We plant the seed, and a day later we are disappointed because we can’t see any growth! Changing adults who are set in their ways, and used to defending themselves, can take time. In our eyes, it is often the other person who is wrong, or maybe wrong-er than us. It is that view we must change.

We are committing ourselves to learn LOVE. It will take time, compassion, and loads of humility as well as repentance. It’s a process … not a magic formula. Truly loving others is always costly – it cost Christ His life. 👋🏻

P 2399 Forgiveness and obedience are our best weapons of choice.

/ DVH

Forgiving others and obeying the Lord’s wishes has become our life’s work. Those two things go together. So much so, that when He shows us something as we read the bible we need to immediately ask Him: “What would You like me to do about that Lord?” And then we go and do it – using our choice not our feelings.

Initially, when the Holy Spirit checked me about stuff I was doing that wasn’t good, I didn’t like it very much. He said things like: “You have resented this person’s influence in your life, you need to start appreciating them.” That meant I had to practice taking my stray thoughts captive, and at the same time I had to stick my hand over my mouth instead of bad-mouthing someone I was mad at. Sadly, I am still not always successful at that… 

But the first thing I learnt about myself because of His instruction – was this: I had been using my thoughts and my words as a pressure valve! Anger and resentment built up inward pressure that I needed to deal with. After all your mouth is right there and it works and everything (!) and so I often used my words to cope with bad things that happened, or perceived slights and injuries caused by someone else. After a while I realised I had a really big lists of stuff (aughts) against other people (any). Bad plan BTW, keep your forgiveness lists short. “And when ye stand praying, forgive if ye have aught against any, that your Father also who is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Mark 11:25 ASV.

This is how it plays out:  let’s say you can’t stand your Uncle B. Maybe Uncle B was kind of not nice to be around. Every time you saw him as a kid you wanted to run away, or you hoped your parents would rescue you, but they were too busy socialising instead. Now, because you are an adult, when you see Uncle B. you can run for the hills, or you can even avoid family gatherings, because he is going to be there. Maybe you want to protect your kids. You don’t want them to feel like you did around him.

Here is what I have learnt. Forgiveness is harder to find for old wounds – you are going to need lots of God’s GRACE to do it. Perhaps you are also angry with your parents for not protecting you, a-n-d … you probably wouldn’t pass Uncle B. a fire extinguisher if he was on fire 🔥 … so that would be something else you need to work on. You are stuck with not only your need to forgive others, but your own past childish judgment. 

Unless you make a start by forgiving your parents for their neglect, you can easily slip into assessing what they did. It is unfortunately easy to judge our parents retrospectively and vow that we will never do that stuff to our kids! It’s a no-brainer that you will also need to forgive Uncle Bob, BTW. And you are definitely going to need help with that!! Here’s my first point. We cannot do lasting spiritual transactions, without the Holy Spirit – He knows every single detail and how to get us free. We have to start with God’s Grace and guidance to navigate past any mine-fields. (Mind-fields.)

I can’t tell you exactly what to do because every situation needing forgiveness is different … but I urge you not to postpone or avoid forgiving someone as a way to defend yourself. Neither should you avoid repentance just because it seems the other person won’t change. We cannot hinge our transformation on someone else’s behaviour! That supposed knowledge of their sin is a snare sent to trip you up. Ask for His Grace, and keep right on asking while you continue to follow Jesus. Keep praying: “I want to do what You said Lord, and I need help.” 

Unconfessed sin and a lack of repentance is a place for satan to stand in our lives. satan is a legalist, and he will use it against us – he will distract us with things that are of no consequence – while we are ignoring the thing that is tripping us up! Instead we need the Lord’s Grace and His way through. We cannot live the Christian life and experience victory if we don’t make the practice of obeying the bible a living breathing part of our lives – instead of just a using it as reference book.  

Forgiving someone does not mean we are giving them permission to continue to abuse us. Rather forgiveness is a statement, an intentional declaration, that we know that God has a bigger plan. Romans 8:28 says: “And we know [with great confidence] that God [Who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”

His plan and His purpose is to lovingly transform us. Sometimes He will rescue us, and sometimes He wants us to act in faith, like Jesus did. I have observed as I have followed Him and embraced His purposes, that His plans for my good blow my mind. I would never have understood those plans, if I hadn’t decided to die to the way I think, obey what He said, and let Him be Lord.  

Here is my last thought for today – our God does not speak to us contrary to His word – His word is immutable – it will not change over time. Choosing to forgive, plus knowing the Word of God and choosing to obey it, is our best defence weapon. 👋🏻