Ocean

P 3425 THINK Bigger!   

/ DVH

At 4.00am I was instantly awake and stuff started downloading into my heart. Then the Holy Spirit said to me: “Tell My people they need to LET ME be bigger.” Then He gave me some examples from His Word to stir our courage.

When Jesus said in Mark 4:39 : “Peace be still” to the ocean, as it tried to drown the disciples … that ocean heard the same VOICE that said: “ Let there be light! “ … so it obeyed. Everything that lived inside the sea came from the Lord speaking, including the sea itself. This world knows His voice. I think there’s a lesson for us in there … if even the SEA is obedient to Almighty God, then what excuse do we have?

We need to think bigger than getting a car park when we need one! This world is in turmoil. The people around us need the peace that passes all understanding and we have it … it is ours. The Lord gave it to us. Give it away! You can always take it back if people don’t appreciate it. That’s in the book too!

When Moses held up his staff at the Red Sea — the same staff that God had transformed from a lump of wood into a snake before his eyes — the bible says: the sea SAW it. “The sea saw it, and fled! “ Then a mighty east wind blew, and the ocean parted. Moses’ staff was nothing, just a bit of hard wood. A shepherd’s staff, used to whack wolves and bears on the head. It was ordinary. Please listen carefully to this bit .. Almighty God took what Moses already had and made it powerful. Ya might want to selah that for a minute or ten. 

After Moses told the sea to part, and all the Israelites were safe, Moses held that staff up again and two walls of water came crashing down on Pharaoh and his army. They drowned. But don’t feel sorry for them, God gave the Egyptians ten plagues to warn them about what was coming. It wasn’t the staff that controlled the sea, and it wasn’t Moses’ power that did it either. When the man of God obeyed what God told him to do, that staff in his hand became a symbol of God’s authority. Now we have His authority too.

When we act upon His Word, day by day as He leads us, it is as if God Himself is standing there with us, backing up our obedience with His power. Let’s look at another scripture in Luke 10:20: “But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” Jesus was explaining to the disciples their true priorities. Our priority is not power – but power comes from our relationship and the Lord’s recognition of an individual. The people who do things with God, STAND UP!

When His disciples went out and raised the dead, healed the sick, and delivered people from demons … they got very excited. “Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.… “ Do you see that? JESUS gave them HIS authority. This is why He says: ‘Don’t rejoice about that stuff, rejoice that your names are in My book of life.’  Jesus knows your Name and He has written it down in His book. it doesn’t matter two hoop-de-doos what that other guy knows. 

However, when the Holy Spirit arrived at Pentecost the disciples were supernaturally given their own authority, by God’s Spirit. Holy Fire hit them! That’s purifying fire. I don’t care if you like tongues, or you don’t … we should just get over ourselves. Tongues is a way to refresh our weary souls when we get overwhelmed. But don’t chase that, or any other thing — chase after being filled, and staying filled with the Holy Spirit. He will tell us where to go and what to do.

Another time some dumb-bunnies ran about using the Name of Jesus, and they threw Paul’s name around too. But the demon said in Acts 19:15: “Jesus I know and Paul I know … BUT WHO ARE YOU?’ Demons recognise the real voice of authority because that Voice threw them out of heaven! Those seven sons of Sceva had no authority at all to throw out the devil. BUT WE DO, because we are His kids and our names are in His book.

Seek His kingdom, first. Chase after loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength! Ask yourself, are you happy with what you have, spiritually? If not, then remember Jesus promised to give us His idea of an abundant life. That doesn’t mean fancy houses, planes, jewellery, cars, or mountains of money — remember how He lived — that’s the yardstick. An abundant life is filled to the top with the love of God. It  has more than enough to give away, because He is a more than enough God!

One day, long ago, Almighty God humbled Himself and came here and became a man. He made Himself just like us. Then He humbled Himself even further and became a helpless infant! He understands what human beings face. When Jesus delivered that demonic man, stuck in the cemetary of Gederah, the demons in the pigs heard the same Voice that cast them out of heaven. Boy, did they leave! As we live our lives in His Presence, we will begin to understand what we’ve been given. We have the same authority Christ did. 

No wonder Jesus said ‘speak to the mountain and it will be moved’ …He made that mountain – of course it will obey Him. Now, the Lord lives in us. So, unless we work for a mining firm and we intend to whimsically move the local mountains around like pieces on a chessboard — we can ask for whatever we need. Otherwise we don’t have the authority of a banana!

Please don’t settle for an encounter with God – capture His heart and walk with Him! Think bigger. Start thinking about what your life will be like with Jesus showing you daily what to do next … Bye 👋. “… but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and shall stand firm and do exploits [for God].” Daniel 11:32b.

P 3222 Consider …

/ DVH

Over the years God has taught me that focussing on what I don’t have —or what I can’t do, or even who I am not— isn’t helpful. We can be tricked into thinking that we have good reasons for believing bad things, including the times when life came and sat on us and we were too tired to get up. In those moments it is imperative that we keep our eyes fixed on Him. Not just because He can change our situations, but because as we choose to focus on Him, we are lifting our eyes out of the immediate, into the eternal. 

Maybe one of your kids seems to have gone off the rails;  or your marriage isn’t all you would like it to be;  or you live your life alone. Or perhaps your job makes you dread getting out of bed every single morning. If we concentrate on our problems, that can make them seem bigger than everything else, and the difficulties can quickly become the centre of our focus. Particularly if whatever it is, is not resolved right away. The Lord told us to ‘Come to Him’ …because He wants us to live in His rest, and peace is part of our birthright.

When life turns into a dystopian fair ground ride, and it whirls and lurches from one bad thing to another – my personal answer goes like this. Go outside and look around you, or go and watch the ocean. Just SIT. Leave your worry beads behind, and let this world and its beauty minister to your heart. All that other junk will probably still be there, after you give yourself a time out, but doing that will help you see things differently. After a while I begin to notice everything else is still going on. The world is still turning, the bees are doing their thing, the ants theirs. This world hasn’t stopped just because something has stopped me in my tracks. Acceptance is a gift available to anyone – it just takes practice.

Father God and the Lord Jesus Himself said this many times in different ways: ‘consider the lilies…consider the great things the Lord has done for you … consider what He says … consider how short this life is … consider the generations that have gone before you.’ Father God spoke to Abraham and asked this man to consider the stars, because Abraham’s view was too small. Almighty God needed a man who would look beyond his own lifetime and believe in His goodness even in the future. Abraham became that man … God taught him, experientially, that His plans are perfect.

This kind of expanded viewpoint is our birthright. At Pentecost this kind of vision was planted in the heart of the disciples by the Holy Spirit Himself. Their expanded view of God’s plans drove those men out into the streets … and beyond. Yet, here and now, we seem to be living our lives looking down all the time, concentrating on our own little patch of this life. We must stop, and consider the world around us. Particularly in times of trouble. And then we need to look up. You and I are part of a greater thing than any religion – we are part of His heart and He is ALL of ours. 

The kingdom of God is the main thing. And if we allow ourselves to be distracted and dejected by the stuff that comes at us daily, we will lose our vision. We are not here to build our own little kingdoms, complete with house, car, happy kids and extended families. That’s called advertising. It’s a dream manufacturers sell us so we will spend our money… so they can have even bigger houses, fabulous holidays, cars and boats and fulfil their own dreams! They are selling us empty, useless dreams prompted by greed. I urge everyone reading this to step out of that filthy hedonistic self-absorbed stream, and head straight for the river of God and jump in.

There is peace, joy, love, and … yes …answers, solutions, resolution in His purposes. Consider what Jesus said in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Our God loves us, He does not want us to live unhappy lives, or miserable existences, He knows that true joy in this life is IN JESUS … not people, situations or things. Somewhere, somehow, somebody(!?) looked at verses like this one and saw what the Lord said as gaining “ things“. It is not about things, it is about a new way to live. There is a different kind of life to be lived where Jesus is everything and this world is just the scenery.

Our abundant life begins when we stop considering this world from our POV, and start looking at it from HIS. Jesus had no material possessions, they divided up the few clothes He had at the foot of the cross. But Paul said this about our faith, and how it is designed to function: “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2. 

Jesus looked through His cross and saw you and I, and billions like us, perishing in our sin. We were all going to hell because of the way we were living. But He said: ‘Not on My watch you aren’t,’ and headed straight for the cross. Stop. Think about it. You and I are that JOY that was before Him. Imagine that! The Co-Creator of this world has that much love for us. This life is a blink, it’s nothing. It comes and goes in the daily drudgery of making it work. But we can live in His Kingdom, right here, right now. Consider that. Bye. 👋

P 2973 My Strength and Song.

/ DVH

Isaiah 12:1-6: “And you will say in that day, “I thank You, God. You were angry but Your anger wasn’t forever. You withdrew Your anger and moved in and comforted me. “Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won’t be afraid. God—yes God!—is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!” Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation. And as you do it, you’ll say, “Give thanks to God. Call out His Name. Ask Him anything! Shout to the nations, tell them what He’s done, spread the news of His great reputation! “Sing praise-songs to God. He’s done it all! Let the whole earth know what He’s done! Raise the roof! Sing your hearts out, O Zion! The Greatest lives among you: The Holy of Israel.”

This scripture is a wonderful example of someone enjoying Almighty God and all He has done for each one of us. This is our true destiny – to enjoy God Himself. And that’s not just worshipping Him with songs etc. Sunday by Sunday either. Daily being grateful, and noticing whatever He does lifts our hearts like nothing else. I love that Isaiah is realistic, he does not pretend he is perfect. Instead, he features what God does about his imperfections.This guy’s whole perspective has changed, he is so soaked in joy for all God has done for us, he’s dripping all over the carpet!

I love it in the Old Testament when people say stuff they cannot know, purely because they are under the influence of the precious Holy Spirit! Jesus Christ is all over these verses. He’s the reason we, the Gentiles, can stand and sing our hearts out – because He came and changed the whole game-plan. Just stop reading for a minute and ask the Lord to help you to pull up a couple of buckets full of the joy of your salvation. That will help you more than reading what I am waffling on about. You know, sometimes I think we don’t have a song because we have our lives so organised there is nothing to be delivered from!

These verses in Isaiah remind me of Moses’ and Miriam’s song. I can’t put it here in full because it was a huge spontaneous song that just flowed out of everyone, as they gave thanks for Who He is and what He did … in front of their very eyes!  Exodus 15. They broke out the tambourines and just let it rip! After all they had seen the sea standing still and they walked on the bottom of the ocean! Water standing still is in the bible a few times, its in Exodus 14;  Joshua 3:16;  Psalm 89:9 … the thing is: God had already pushed aside the water away from the land underneath, all the way back in Genesis 1:6-7. And people wonder where fossils found on land come from. Duh! Read the book!

I think I’m going to be stuck all day singing Miriam’s song in my head… there’s so much joy in it. (Pity I haven’t got a tambourine at hand!) I don’t think we know anything about rejoicing in the Western world and I’m not sure we’ve met JOY yet either…We need joy! He’s always doing things for us. That’s the kind of wonderful God we serve!! Always caring, ever-present. Isaiah understands the idea that God’s plans are long-range and he acts accordingly, expectantly. His faith level is off the charts as the man says: … “ask Him anything.”!!

Isaiah has been to heaven, before the Throne, and his perspective is now clear, it is not clouded by this world’s troubles. But, because of what Christ did for us, the bible makes these things clear to US in Ephesians 2:6 MSG:“It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose His temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on His own, with no help from us! Then He picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.”

Right about now we should all be searching for a tambourine! Father God has done so much for all of us it blows my mind, over and over again. I can’t believe His intentional devotion to someone like me. I know I deserved hell, yet in His great mercy He provided — A WAY.  A way for me to know Him and live with my heart already in heaven, even if my feet can sometimes be still stuck in the mud and muck of this life. When pain haunts me – and it does sometimes – I can look toward Him and be radiant.

This is what being seated in heavenly places is all about. Isaiah experienced it and he was not the same afterward. You and I may not have his experience, but we know the same God he knows and …  ‘our God never changes.’ He’s not mad at you and he’s not mad at me, even though we fall over and fail Him. This is why Paul said: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”Philippians 1:21. This man was in prison in Rome when he wrote those lines. But he knew the Beautiful One in Isaiah 12:1-6, and this is why I think he said: “… nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:31.

🎼“I will sing unto the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously the horse and rider thrown into the sea. The Lord my God, my strength my song, has now become my victory!…”🎶 Bye. 👋

P 2898 Wot’s in YOUR way?

/ DVH

As you know, we go away regularly on the road, to give away bibles and other Christian materials. This time, as we’ve been preparing, it seemed that my health was going to be more of a problem than it has been in the past. Yet hubby strongly felt that God wanted us to go to Robe SA, plus a few places along the way. That town is over 2067 kms one way, 4,134 kms there and back! That’s a whole  lot of driving and traveling.  

In the end our only option seemed to be to travel down the inland road, which would take us 10 days –  nearly 20, there and back.  We can only do about 300 kms each day because we both have health issues, plus we always want to allow time to go to talk to people along the way. We had already eliminated flying because neither of us were sure if either of us could manage the long flight. However, we weren’t very concerned about any of it until the time got a lot closer, and by then, it became apparent that physically neither of us would be able to cope with such a large journey. 

Plus, our middle daughter, Kylee, and her son Jed, suddenly had to move house. The house they’d lived in for 11 years is going to be sold in June/July. She is a single mother of a 14 year old teenager, and she is homeschooling him, plus working 3 jobs. Fortunately recently she cut those jobs down to 2 – otherwise we might have to clone her!! Like a lot of other people today, she has to work very hard just to pay the rent, and put food on the table. And right at the time she had to move, and one part of her back-up team was about to trot off and leave her! She also can’t afford time off, she will still have to work as well. That’s the trouble with money trees, you over-pick them or they die!

Parents like to fix things. To be completely honest I personally probably jump in and ‘fix things’ without always praying first! Ho-hum. Because we want to help our daughter, it seemed that we couldn’t go on this journey at all, unless we went at some other time. Fortunately hubby hadn’t booked anything yet, so we prayed and the Lord confirmed our choice – March. Meanwhile, while we weren’t looking God had already taken care of ‘what concerns us’, as He promised He would in the bible! Our daughter and grandson have found somewhere to live, praise Him! I think, that when we make arrangements in our own strength, driven by worry and concern, God laughs. 

However, it seemed to us like we were between a rock and a hard place at the time! Over to my point: After this complication I gave it all up – my plans, plus all the bits and consequences to the Lord, and shut the door between me and the whole thing, very quickly. Then I left it alone. The next morning I continued to read the bible in my normal place, Mark – about the Lord’s death:

Mark 16:1-3“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” …

Did you get that? It is easy to miss. These dear women had not planned ahead, they were already on their way to do what they set out to do. It was their final act of Love for the Lord. And it suddenly occurred to them they were not going to be able to GET IN. Now let’s read verse 3.

“… But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away!”  The pressure on these precious women had immediately come off. God removed the impediment, right out of the way, and they didn’t even pray or ask for it … because they didn’t even think about it until they were nearly there! How good is God?!

Boy, that scripture hit me so hard … right between the eyes…. I realised that I had to use my faith and step out, despite the impediments. Yeah, can you believe it? After all I’ve written here! Then He spoke to me in my heart: “You can go on the plane, I have removed that stone.” That stone was unbelief I’m thinking!! The Lord patiently explained to me that travelling by plane actually meant only 2 hours of discomfort, against 10 days of tiring, uncomfortable car travel.

When you look at it like that — it’s an easy peasy choice! The minute we heard from the Lord: “Go by plane” — every single thing fell into place. We had favour everywhere we booked – especially with the plane bookings! People bent over backwards to help us, because God Himself was working on our behalf.  

I want to finish today by saying this — there will always be a stone, a rock, a canyon, a river, an ocean, a boulder the size of Uluru in our way, when we decide to choose to obey Him! Whether we remember to ask for His help or not, God is still faithful. Stuff happens …all of the time. We can choose to do things with Him, or without Him – but with Him is so much better! And sometimes, because Jesus is GRACE personified, as we make a decision, He takes the impediments out of our way.

He is waiting for our ‘yes’ … …so wot’s in your way? Bye. 👋

P 2692 “But God!”

/ DVH

There are days when I look at a blank page and think — ‘really?’ Time to write another blog? Didn’t I just do that yesterday? And the day before that!… And the day before that …! 🤣 Meanwhile nobody makes me do this stuff but me. Right now, I’m sitting on a sofa in the lounge of a 6th floor apartment. Some terribly clever, far sighted person built this building right next to the ocean. Praise God we are in the Penthouse – would you believe? We were given an upgrade. Wow! The things the Lord does when we aren’t looking. 

It feels like I can step into the scenic picture that is right outside the huge wall of glass windows. Hubby took a photo so you can see how lovely it is. I’ve been sitting here mesmerised, watching the huge waves roll on and on hypnotically. Check out the tiny man in the left hand corner. Those are BIG WAVES! But even waves calm down and find their way quietly to the sand. After a while you realise you’ve been sitting staring out of the window for a half an hour with a goofy blank look on your face! 🤪 For me there is something about watching the ocean that zones me out. 

A-ny-wa-y, hubby sent me the verse I’ve put down below —and it totally inspired me. When I read it today, I realised Father God is at work in all of us with the same ferocity I can see in those waves. The bible has so many verses like these, verses that show us His heart and passion toward us. The praise we raise to Him is simply our grateful response, as we see glimpses of His glory and purpose for our lives.

“Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for His miraculous power constantly energises you. Now we offer up to God all the glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation through Jesus Christ—and all that will yet be manifest through time and eternity. Amen!” Ephesians 3:20-21 TPT.

Now there is something to sink our teeth into. And just for fun, here’s another one! “…for it is God Who is working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13. How reassuring is that! Sometimes it can seem life is banging us about like a loose door in a fierce wind. You can barely get your breath. Instead of striding here and there as an overcomer, you feel more like a potato listlessly waiting to be made into chips and be done with it! Bin there, dun that!

Remember those two words I mentioned a couple of days ago, verses that I really love? “But GOD …” Our wonderful Father God has a plan – He always has a plan! It’s a good plan to help us through all the difficult things this life chucks at us while we are not looking! His plan is for here and now – not one day in the future, pie in the sky when we die. Take a good look at your day today, maybe right now, you can’t see anything good about it – I have days like that too. All I can see some days are the four walls hemming me in. But today, I have a view, and the ocean is just doing its little thing!

There are days when I specifically pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help me to see with His eyes. Enlightened eyes. Spirit-filled eyes. Eyes that can see the things around me. Sometimes I open the Word and go looking for things He said, just for fun. And at other times I play music on Youtube. You can go anywhere in the world on Youtube. If only I could afford to scrap the ads! Youtube ads are like SatNav in the car, always interrupting something you are enjoying!!

So some days I ask Holy Spirit to help me to find something beautiful to look at. Things don’t have to be expensive to be fun, actually simple stuff can often give us the most fun. Our daughter and our grandson went outside yesterday, with three different sorts of bubble makers, from Kmart, and had a bubble duel. Hilarious!! There’s nothing like bubbles in the sunlight to inspire you with the transitory nature of happiness. I exhort you to let yourself be silly now and then – let the child inside you come out to play. It’s a great stress reliever.

Life, all by itself, can give us plenty to be sad about … stopping to smell the flowers will lift anyone’s spirits. And… YouTube kittens…well, they make anyone smile. You would have to be a zombie with one foot on a banana peel to not laugh at the antics of baby animals. I know there are days when you have no words – and that’s OK – your mum probably told you there would be days like that…  “BUT GOD!!….” Bye for now  … 👋

P 2570 Easter down-under. ⛺️

/ DVH

In our part of the world Easter heralds the end of summer time. Enjoying the Easter holidays in this country rivals our enjoyment and obsession with eating Easter Eggs! It is a last flash of summer brightness to be savoured at all cost. In days gone by, Aussies used to try to do an obligatory drop-in to say “Hi” to God. Today, most don’t go to church anymore … because they are just plain too busy, and probably gave up church-going for Lent.

Let’s peek into one family home cos they are about to leave soon for the beach. Everybody helps to pack the car – some less willingly than others – and then we join in the rush …  … So we can go sit in a traffic jam – which happens in both directions – coming and going! At the same time, we indulge in our fav pastime – complaining about the Main Roads department and their distinct lack of competence regarding our road system. 

The people in the back seat also like to complain, loudly, about the people in the front seat’s choice of music, and a good time is not had by all. Fights can eventually break out in the back seat, because it’s hot in the car sitting in the sun, not actually going anywhere. Some people anticipate this angst and have a few cold ones while they are waiting for the traffic to move. One guy this Easter fished out his electric guitar and cheered up the cars at a stand still. Dunno how he plugged that in!

Eventually, tired and weary, this family arrive at their chosen destination and put up the tent — which is no mean feat. Tent construction is advertised as great fun by Dad – possibly because he isn’t keen to do all the work alone! The kids meanwhile, are hopping from one foot to another longing to be told they can go and stick their toes in the ocean. Our ocean is still warm at this time of the year … 

… That’s when their holiday really starts. It’s sun, sea, salt, surf and sand … Sand in your togs, sand on your towel, sand in your eyes, sand on the tent floor, sand in your sleeping bag, and in your sandwich. Who cares? This is our last chance to enjoy summer for four days, and we are going to do it!! If it kills us.

Meanwhile mum works hard to make sure everybody is fed. As well trying to keep the mayonnaise for the prawns COLD so that nobody ends up with a case of salmonella … and that’s not easy with no fridge! Most of the time her job is to sit on a towel on the sand, watching the kids, and counting their heads bobbing about in the ocean. At the same time she is expected to stay there on duty in the sun, while her spouse enjoys chucking back a cold one with the other liberated spouses in the camping ground. It is always time for a beer in Australia!

It was not ever meant to be so at our house – light years ago. My mum used to say: “If I can’t plug in my electric frypan then I’m not going.” Later on she married a truckie, an ex-soldier, whose idea of camping comfort was a tarpaulin over some trees and a ground sheet for sleeping … Like …on the ground! Grass was a bonus that was not even remotely equal to today’s memory foam mattresses. But you were allowed to have a hip hole dug in the ground for your hip, and supposed comfort. True story.

My step-father’s idea of a toilet was another tarpaulin wound around some gum trees and hole called the long drop! If you weren’t careful, or you went to the loo in the dark, that’s exactly what could happen to you!! He loved camping in the bush. I still shudder when sand gets in my shoes. But I’ve had prayer for healing lots of times!! OK I’m joking – again. Traumatised … there’s a word!! The idea of intentionally sitting by the ocean and getting sandy and salty and calling that fun …Nah! Not happening Jan.

Easter in Oz is not thought of as a Holy time. Or even a time for reflection. The smells and bells have faded into the background, replaced by the smell of the ocean, fresh fish, and boozy, sweaty bods. And yet everybody who is in that camp ground will probably turn up again when the sun begins to get warm. Why? There is a great camaraderie that all us Aussies really enjoy when we get together. They want to go back to that place and see those people they have come to know over the years. 

The need for fellowship is deeply engrained in the heart of mankind. It’s the ‘where it happens’ that is killing us, in the church.  Many people honestly think that Jesus is great but they don’t want to sit in a church staring at stained glass windows, wondering when the service will be over! THEY DON’T KNOW HIM – WHY WOULD THEY COME? Church is monumentally boring in their eyes. So Australians are now officially, His lost sheep. Here’s a news flash, Jesus wants those precious lost sheep back – what are you going to do about it? 👋

P 2421 The saga of the queue.

/ DVH

“For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served by everyone, but to serve everyone, and to give His life as the ransom price for the salvation of many.”” Mark 10:45 TPT. BTW, we would be wise to remember that just because lightning doesn’t strike us from heaven – that does not mean that the Lord approves of what we are doing!! It’s not called MERCY for nothing.

It’s verses like this one that convict my heart. You see, I was caught in our car recently, waiting for a half an hour, in 33 degree heat. It happened twice. There were very complicated road works and we were waiting to be given a green light so we could move on. Sadly my response was best not repeated here! I got my crank on. I was hot, hungry and not feeling well … I totally forgot I was not my own, and it was Jesus’ time that was being wasted not mine. 🙄

Let’s just think about the above verse for a minute as it applies to me in that situation. In reflection I realised I was expecting to be treated differently by a bunch of hard-working roadwork guys  … just because I wasn’t well etc. Yeah, I totally lost any kind of realism in those thoughts eh?!? Like they would know what was happening to me while they were digging ditches! 

The thing is – if I want to follow Jesus I’m probably going to go down a whole lot of difficult uncomfortable roads … that may have endless troubles — plus road-works!  However, instead of getting cranky I actually had plenty of time to pray for the poor boiling hot road workers digging away in 33 degree heat!  Rats! I definitely missed that opportunity. 😶 So today I wanted to include something in my blog that cut me to the heart – because it needed to. I urge you to read this like Jesus is speaking to you personally, I did!

I Hear His Whisper … hold nothing back from Me…

“I want to be Lord over every part of your life—over your joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, goals and disappointments. I don’t want you to hold anything back. Beloved, come face-to-face with Me. Stand in My Presence and ask for my Spirit to reveal the areas that you haven’t fully surrendered to Me. It’s time for you to release control of those parts of your life that you’ve held on to.

Let the searching gaze of My Spirit into the secret caverns of your heart. There are situations and people that I will gently bring to your remembrance. It’s important that you don’t push such a thought back down but acknowledge it and bring it to me. 

Any pain, fear, trust issues, bad habits, wrong attitudes, or areas that you’re still holding tightly to must be given to Me. They are not yours to control. I love you, and I will lovingly correct you and draw you into the place of safety, where you can lay these things at My feet, once and for all. It’s time for you to rise to a new level of freedom.” Written by Brian Simmons and Gretchen Rodreguiz

Sometimes stuff simply ‘gets’ at us. And before we know it, we are reacting – without asking for any help, or Grace. And then we end up wondering where our peace went! That’s a good time to remember Jesus’ OCEAN OF GRACE and His MERCY FOUNTAIN.  We get there by way of repentance but we don’t have to go either place via the road of shame! I can’t apologise to those particular road workers, who had no clue I was cranky at them. But I can repent and ask for the Lord’s help to change. After praying I found a whole lot of stuff inside that I had no idea existed. Including pride and resentment, plus entitlement … because I’m often ill… poor me! I was reminded again, that my time is His time and He can spend it how He likes. 

Secondly my comfort – or not, is now in His hands. I repented and spoke a blessing over the men working so hard to make the roads safer for everyone, and revised my attitudes. Being ill and tired is no excuse. Actually I’m doing my best to give up excusing myself, it’s a waste of time. I want to go straight to: “What’s the problem here Lord please?” 

The thing I’ve noticed is that if I am being truly honest, I also must leave behind that sickly sweet little voice – that comes from inside ME. It’s definitely not the Lord! That voice is soooo sympathetic and it says things like: “That’s OK, you can’t help it, you have a lot to deal with.” You know, not every voice we hear is the devil. Sometimes it’s just OUR FLESH! Yikes! 

Like I’ve said before, deception comes from careless choices, and there is no other place for that junk but the cross! I want to close by saying it is worth reflecting on the fact that Jesus came to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many and He always had time for everybody – even when He was dying! So it’s no big deal if I’m asked to give a half an hour of my time, for a few hardworking road makers. 👋🏻

P 2418 His Grace is an Ocean.

/ DVH

When I think about the ocean I think about its vastness, wave upon wave, large and small, finding its way to the shore. Consistent. Inevitable. Endless and constant. Plus great POWER!! God’s Grace is like that ocean. Today I want to look at the parallels between an ocean and what freedom from our sin means. In my illustration WE are the shore. We are the recipients of this incredible ocean of Grace that just won’t quit  … it just keeps flowing and flowing toward us.

Wave after wave, after wave. Endlessly flowing toward, and into, and through … our little insignificant lives. It does not pause, falter or cease. Sometimes His Grace even pounds upon our lives like the ocean on a stormy night, and sometimes it is barely the tiniest ripple. In and out, in and out. God’s Grace is like that. Have you ever sat and watched the little waves creeping their way to their tide-appointed spot? Mesmerising isn’t it? Maybe you’ve watched the land take a thorough thumping from bigger waves. They can be so powerful and seem so tall. Grace is like that too. Powerful and always there. Big or small – always available. 

Those waves we’ve both watched, take the most minute pause as they reach their zenith, then they start to drain away through the soft sand. For us, in those vulnerable moments before we decide to let our deceitful desires overcome us – Grace is available to us, so we can resist whatever it is that is trying to distract us from our purpose. OUR PURPOSE IS TO LOVE AND BLESS OTHERS WITH HIS LOVE. In and out, like the waves hitting the sand.

Everything we need is there for us in Him, as we use our faith, step out and change our destiny. One shaky step at a time. The Holy Spirit says to you or I: ”Look at Me. I’m here for you. Don’t say that mean thing you want to say right now. Take a breath, wait.” And just like that, His little Grace-wave kisses us. The Holy Spirit waits for us to accept it, like the sand receives the sea water, and suddenly we taste freedom from the sin that can so easily catch us. 

We can pray “help help” if we are overcome with intense emotions, or we can plant our feet and say to ourselves: “I have nothing to prove, God loves me.”  And then we say no to temptation, whatever it is. Just like the waves that relentlessly wash up on the shore, His Grace knocks at the door of our hearts and says: “Let Me help you.” Then the choice becomes ours. Suddenly we are confronted with what we really want – we need and want Him! I want to exhort everyone to treat God’s Grace, respectfully, not carelessly or dismissively. It is the power of God that brought Jesus Christ out of the GRAVE. It ain’t feeble and it ain’t nothin’! And you and I can never be too hard for it to deliver us.

Jesus Christ did not intend for us to live this life alone, because He knows, first-hand, how hard it is to be human. He overcame the enemy by placing His faith on the Rock of God’s Word in His time of trial. Let’s not kid ourselves, resisting some temptations is difficult. Some of the dumb stuff we fight daily we have been actively cultivating, or inwardly ignoring for years. But instead of focussing on the sin – which can easily overcome us – focus on that ocean of Grace. Every wave of Grace coming toward us is Jesus shouting: “I love you! I won!” 

What did He win? OUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE. The power to choose was loosed by God’s Grace, when it was released toward us, at Calvary. And it is so wide, so deep, so vast that our enemy can only win if we let him. Our choices matter. The enemy can make things seem trivial and petty, but the truth is, our battles to stay with Jesus, in His Presence, are won in the everyday skirmishes we face. However, even if we fail, there is redemption in His ocean of Grace.

The secret to living an overcoming life is to focus on the One Who overcame everything … not the problem. Jesus said in ‘2 Corinthians 12:9–10. … “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” We need to admit our weakness to Him, and ask for His strength. Then we take that faith step, whether we feel like it or not. Pause, and remind yourself about the amount of power there is in the ocean – that is what is coming toward you and I, to help us.

If we want to, we can swim and live out our lives in His ocean, where there is no right or wrong there is only GRACE. Grace doesn’t hold a grudge .. it pays no attention to a suffered wrong. You can’t easily live this way AND I can’t do either. But the power to overcome whatever it is that shoves in on you and grabs your attention away from Him – is in that endless ocean of Grace. Give up. Give in, and give it all to Him and let it float away on that ocean. Don’t let anything take your gaze away from the Saviour. Bye. 👋🏻