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P 3510 Don’t just read the ‘happy verses.’

/ DVH

“Isn’t it obvious that all runners on the racetrack keep on running to win, but only one receives the victor’s prize? Yet each one of you must run the race to be victorious. A true athlete will be disciplined in every respect, practicing constant self-control in order to win a laurel wreath that quickly withers. But we run our race to win a victor’s crown that will last forever. For that reason, I don’t run just for exercise or box like one throwing aimless punches, but I train like a champion athlete. I subdue my body and get it under my control, so that after preaching the good news to others I myself won’t be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 TPT.

Paul is talking about the fact that we are in a personal race against ourselves, and against the clock. We are running the race of our lives. Preaching the gospel is part of running this race, and we can’t afford to slack off now. His Truth is the thing that keeps us going. That means our will needs to be continually submitted to His Ways. Now what matters is the way we choose to run.

We will have to discipline ourselves to be fit enough to finish well, as we participate in a different kind of training. It means that we keep turning the other cheek even when we it seems like we have run out of cheeks! I discovered the thing that will help me, personally to win, is self-control. Quite honestly, sometimes I think I need to spend the rest of my life with my hand firmly clapped over my mouth!  I really can’t afford to be careless or thoughtless when I speak, instead I must learn to be ‘renewed in the spirit of my mind.’ And running well one day, and slacking off the next, will not help me to accomplish that aim.

When people read these verses in Corinthians, it is too easy to just see it as kind of specialised suggestions, that apply to really serious, deeply spiritual people, and dismiss what Paul is saying to you and I. But one day everything we’ve done or said, will go through the fire of His love. That point needs to be noted! Our love for others will face a reckoning. Everything we have worked on and for, will go through that fire. Paul says this 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

I call those verses serious! Personally, I could easily be swamped by them, if it weren’t for the fact that I know that Jesus has promised to help us every step of the way. That’s why He sent back the Holy Spirit — to help us. The Holy Spirit knows the way through anything. Many Christians have given a great deal of time trying to get well enough to do whatever Jesus told us to do, and not enough time has been spent teaching and helping ourselves to simply do it anyway.

Let’s be real for a second, do we actually think that athletes want to train every single day?? Me neither. The Spirit of our living loving God is so kind. He points out the things we need to fix while we still have time to fix them. The fact that He points stuff out means He not only knows, He is more than willing to help us to achieve whatever it takes for us to be fit enough to keep on racing.

He’s our Coach. Runners who don’t listen to their coach don’t do very well. They are expending valuable energy fighting against the very Person Who has sent to help them achieve their aim. Let’s yield to Jesus’ wisdom and do things His way. That means we need to be well acquainted with His way in the first place. I’ve learnt that His way and my way rarely look the same!

It’s great to be positive and optimistic, and rejoice that God loved us all so much that Jesus voluntarily came and died for us. That attitude is the kind of ‘juice’ this race runs on. BUT!! We cannot afford to be blasé about the way we run, or even the reason we are in this race. We aren’t in this race just to get to heaven one day — we are in this race to learn discipline, self-control, and purposeful running. Every runner in a race has a single purpose – they wanna win. You and I  are running toward Kingdom transformation. That means, any other thing that gets in the way of us running toward that prize, has to go.

We must throw it off because it is a weight that will slow us down. Human beings have a limited time span … an expiry date. Nobody wants to think about the expiry date, because most of us have found ways to enjoy this life. But the truth is, we don’t belong to ourselves anymore, we are His – we are now on His timetable not ours. We were bought for a purpose … to glorify God. Anything else is simply succumbing to this world’s advertising and we will be drawn into a side eddy and just go round and round and round – achieving nothing, going nowhere. That is not our God-defined destiny.

So, I urge you — don’t just read the happy, gimme verses, read the ones you wish weren’t there, and ask Him for His help to obey those too. You are all in my prayers – please pray for me! Bye 👋.

P3507 Surprise!! It’s Jesus in YOU!

/ DVH

“There is a divine mystery—a secret surprise that has been concealed from the world for generations, but now it’s being revealed, unfolded and manifested for every holy believer to experience. Living within you is the Christ Who floods you with the expectation of glory! This mystery of Christ, embedded within us, becomes a heavenly treasure chest of hope filled with the riches of glory for His people, and God wants everyone to know it!” Colossians 1:26-27 TPT. Just stop for a moment and think about it.

The way to be closer to Jesus, know more about Him, is to participate in His Ways. Read the book, and do what you already know, using your faith.. Life presents us all with so many opportunities to utilise our faith. Ordinary everyday things happen, you are running late, and you need a carpark – hands up those who ask the Lord to help them park? ✋ I’m disabled, I always need one!

We pray before we go to the shops. We ask Him to help us only buy the things He wants us to have. Many times we buy nothing but we still have fun! Perhaps some driver does something stupid on the road in front of you, do you ask the Lord for help? I am learning to bless that person with better driving skills and an encounter with Jesus, and I thank God that we were all kept safe… including the other driver.

That’s the secret BTW, remember to thank Him. Don’t just treat the Lord like the drive-through at MacDonalds … acknowledge whatever He does. Ask Him for eyes to see Him at work in your life. “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:6. The more we acknowledge Him the more He becomes part of our lives — and that’s how we end up with more of Jesus in our lives. We simply refuse to leave Him out!  We are living-for-Jesus spiritual beings. We live this life with heaven on our minds. All of us can have as much of Jesus as we want – just don’t leave Him out! Live a life of love, daily. (1 Corinthians 13, clearly tells us what that looks like!)

He promised to be with us always — always means always! Duh! As we live this new life Jesus bought and paid for, we seek the things of His kingdom first. Acknowledge your King in everything you do. Don’t walk away from your new life In Christ by acting like everyone else around you, but we gave up those options. Now we ask the Lord to come with us, and He will go anywhere — He went to HELL, so nothing surprises Him! If you do go to play in the devil’s backyard, and you know exactly what I mean … then the Lord’s voice inside will warn you, but then He will quietly fade away. It is as if He says: “Have at it!” Repent!

We have all been given faith — the book says so. (Romans 12:3) However, I rarely feel like I have faith … I have to use my faith to find it; but that verse from Colossians above is not just a happy thought! You have Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God inside you! Let Him out!! Faith cannot develop in a vacuum, so we must actively participate in the Lord’s work – whether we feel like we can, or not. Just take one step, then take another … and pretty soon it will become a lifestyle, not a place you visit when the ceiling falls in.

Here’s some more good news about having Jesus IN us! “But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience His marvellous light, and now He claims you as His very own. He did this so that you would broadcast His glorious wonders throughout the world.” 1 Peter 2:9 TPT.

So if people ask the Lord: ‘who is that old lady?’ The Lord smiles and says: “She’s with Me.” What an honour, to live a life in service to the King! He picked us. Did you realise that we can ruin HIS reputation by the way we act when we think no-one is looking? Meanwhile someone is always looking, it’s inevitable in this world’s obsessive atmosphere. But as we fall in love with Jesus, the Jesus portrayed in the bible, we begin to see that correction, and discipline, are not bad things – they are His love in action in our lives.

Christ lives in us and our job is to let Him out by acting like He would. My advice is to get to know your bible, read it, then do it. All the time. The Lord quotes the bible to me often! Half the time I don’t even remember where the verses are, I have to go away and look them up. That’s all good! Having our noses inside what Jesus says and does, has to be good for us! Surprise! It’s Jesus! And He wants to walk with YOU. “Christ IN us, the hope of glory!” (Colossians 1:27). Bye. 🥳.

👋 C.C.

P3504 Look for the possibilities.

/ DVH

As we live our lives giving away that life for Jesus’ sake, we also need to watch and listen for His way through difficulties. There are times where there doesn’t seem to be a way, and that’s when I stand still and look out for possibilities. I know, He’s not done yet.

Our Saviour is a Redeemer, the Lord didn’t just make our sins go away, He let loose a brand new way for all of us to live. He exchanged death for life. We are participants who participate even while we are spectating! WE DO EVERYTHING FROM REST. Psalm 91:7-10 says: “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. … … as we say – “The Lord is my refuge,” and we (you) make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you,…”

…. This is what being IN Christ Jesus looks like. He becomes the place we hide in, in good times or bad. Even when those huge house rattling storms of life come. When I am hidden in Him, He will reveal the possibility of something else He wants to do, while all that chaos is exploding around me. I can learn something about Him, or myself — and about how both of us can work together. He gives me insight about what is really going on, so now I know what to forgive, and what I need to give to Him. He has promised to show me how to love the unlovely, this means I shift my focus off the problem and onto that. And maybe this is an opportunity to develop further trust?

2 Timothy 1:12 says: “…for I know Whom I have believed and I am CONVINCED that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” We cannot move forward without trusting and knowing our Leader. He’s the One we are following. Knowing His Ways gives us discernment, and our trust in Him takes us beyond the places we think we can go, or the things we think we can’t bear – into a new spiritually stronger place. “But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9.

The Lord Jesus is like a Field Marshal, and He is a Master Strategist. He knows how to fight and He has a plan. However, He may keep His strategies quiet until the last moment – after all, someone else is listening! You and I may experience a false start if we rush on, trying to get ahead of the race. If you have ever run in a running race you will know that you position yourself to start, and then you wait for the gun to go off. This life is a race. Paul called it that in the above scripture from Philippians, sometimes we are on the sidelines waiting for our turn, and at other times we are on the track. We live ready to run that race. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

The society around us is actively dissuading us from our primary purpose, serving Him. Instead it brings up all kinds of postponement, “I’ll wait to serve Jesus until my kids are older” OR  excuses, “I need to pay off my mortgage before I tithe or give offerings.” Things that seem valid, but they are a distraction from our primary purpose — which is to serve Jesus first. We can still raise kids and wholeheartedly serve Jesus – He’s a fantastic money-manager!!

Otherwise, we will live our lives distracted into being like these guys who ignored a free feast: “The first one said to him, ‘I have bought some land. I must go and look at it. Please excuse me.’ “Another one said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’’ Another one said, ‘I have just got married and I am sure you will understand I cannot come.’ ” Luke 14:19ff. We cannot afford to have a divided heart.

It is not good to become an expert in making up excuses so we don’t have to engage in His processes. Then change becomes a ‘some day’ thing, but ‘some day’ never comes. And our faith starts sliding down into pedantic and predictable. We can even begin to despise those who are actually engaging with Him, because their devotion prods our conscience. This means we never get to the place where we can see this world through His eyes of love. Let’s remember that LOVE is a verb, not a noun!

The second we step into our blood-bought inheritance, the enemy will target us with all kinds of temptation and lies. he won’t hesitate to drag up the past, and colour in the future. We need to remind ourselves of what Father God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit look like! “Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, … … keeps going to the end.”

The Trinity look like this! They are where these glorious qualities come from! Read the above passage like this just once, it will blow your mind. “Jesus never gives up, He cares more for all of us than Himself…etc…” These verses are a perfect example of the Lord’s character, and this is the real war we face daily. We are daily tempted to doubt His goodness. We will need to battle every single day, to put aside our own selfish aims and pick up His plan for the ever-present, ongoing WAR against love. The possibilities are endless, but we can find them in the beautiful character and personhood of Jesus Christ. Bye. 👋.

P 3436 There is a time to jump up and down.   

/ DVH

“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you people. For great is His love toward us and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.” NIV Version Psalm 117, V1&2. This is the shortest Psalm in the bible, it has just two verses. Sometimes brevity can be incredibly important. This Psalmist knew what to focus ON! It’s anonymous. Plus it is an exhortation for all of us to praise the Lord, no matter what nation we belong to or what is going on around us. By the way …

…to extol means: “to praise someone or something with a lot of energy and high emotion. It is a formal verb used when normal praise is not strong enough, often translated as glorifying, celebrating or speaking very well of a person or idea.”  Praise is not a just starting place for worship, it has an entity all of its own, just like thanksgiving does. 

Praise isn’t only about singing. The Lord can be celebrated with words, like this Psalmist does. It’s what I call … pulling focus. We stop wandering about talking to each other and focus on Him. We choose to praise Him because He is worthy of praise, our focus, our energy. Praising God doesn’t mean we sit about like stunned mullets half-heartedly mumbling the words and hoping no-one will notice our lack of participation. Nor is the sermon the only point at that moment either! When we focus on Him with praise, it opens our ears and eyes to His possibilities in our impossible situations.

A lack of praise is like going to a birthday party, where the guests, the cake, the balloons, the bunting, the trimmings… the celebratory things – are the point! We go to a birthday party to wish the person who is having a birthday a happy day. In the same way, praise takes our eyes off us, and our circumstances, and puts the Lord where He always belongs … foremost in our minds. It is a way of tuning into Him, and tuning UP to each other. One voice, one heart, one song — all for Him.

We don’t sing, dance, clap etc. to amuse Him, we do these things because every single part of us needs to stop our normal busy everyday lives and completely focus and recognise “we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” Doing something physical helps us focus. It is not about how rhythmic we are, or how polished our choir is … church is all about HIM. Then, because He is so incredibly generous, our spirits come alive gazing at life Himself! 

Coming to church is not about singing songs and learning, it is about corporately giving the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit honour. All of us come together to bow down before the One Who has given our lives salvation, purpose, direction and meaning. That’s why we get in our cars, etc. and drive across town and deliberately come to a time and a place that has been set aside for Him. We come to be with Him — together.

We are mistaken if we think praise and worship is for us. Church is not FOR us! We do what we do because He deserves it. When we don’t participate in praise, or worship, we’ve missed the reason we came to church. These things are not flattery, or meant to be lip-service, instead we are calling out to the Lord …with a deep desire to give HIM something that will please His heart. Our unity will blossom in these circumstances. Because we don’t want anything back, instead we choose to leave our own agendas at the door. What He has done for us makes us a grateful people.

We can’t praise and worship without the Holy Spirit guiding us … this means we come to church having prepared our hearts to go and be with the Lord, and His body. For just a short while, we stop focussing on our busy lives, and enter His Rest. When we sing, we are singing to Him. Just like the people at my mythical birthday party sing – “Happy birthday to you.” A birthday party is not for the other people, it is for the birthday person. Praise and worship are for our King and Saviour, Jesus, and our Heavenly Father. Let’s prioritise that!

It is good to ask the Holy Spirit as our conductor and choir master, to come and help us, because human beings can be caught up in themselves and their own lives, becoming selfish and self centred. His holiness will prompt us from the inside and remind us that God Himself is the reason for our lives. There may be times we come to bring a sacrifice of praise and worship, because our life has chucked a wobbly and it took all we had to come to get there. There is no right way to approach these things- we do them the way the Holy Spirit tells us to do them. 

In church, Father God has His own purposes, and His will supersedes what we think we want or need. Part of that is letting the people who are leading us, lead. If someone happens to need ministry, God will arrange it. So we choose to trust the Holy Spirit, the One Jesus gave us to help us, because He knows what is in our Father’s Heart at any given moment. We go to participate. 

We don’t have to see Him to be able to give Him glory –  we have His book! More on that tomorrow. “Rejoice in the Lord, always, and again I say … rejoice…”  Like I said, jump up and down! Almighty God loves us, now, and always. Bye. 👋

P 3372 His Kingdom matters.

/ DVH

“We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making Him proud of you as you work hard in His orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father Who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that He has for us.” Colossians 1:11,12.

I’m a container, you are a container … all of God’s children are containers! Jesus is our example, our illustration, of the way the these ‘containers’ of ours are meant to work. We are here to distribute His kingdom wherever we go. And the Holy Spirit is God’s Personal Envoy sent into our lives to reveal to us what He wants from us. The bible is a book about God, written by God, for people. It’s both a treasure, and an adventure. Let’s take the time to discover what’s inside it! Otherwise we will waste a whole lot of time and effort doing the things that won’t last. 

Our God lives in eternity and He understands eternal things … and … we don’t. Our imagination in these areas is incredibly limited, it can get in our way. Some people imagine heaven, or the kingdom of God, as a place where everyone walks around in long nighties, smiling and laughing  – with pretty flowers, all kinds of tame animals, and everyone is happy and has lots of peace – all the time. That may all be true, I haven’t checked it out yet! I’m still here! However, Jesus took the time to teach us over and over again about the way the kingdom of God looks, and … He didn’t once talk about nighties, animals that talk, or rainbows everywhere. That sounds more like “My little Pony” or “Care Bears” to me! 

In reality, I believe the kingdom of God is explosive 💣! It can bring about the best in mankind – or the worst. When we meet it we can’t ignore it. God’s kingdom challenges our ideas and it transforms difficult serious matters with just one shard of His wisdom. His kingdom is so vast, yet also unexpectedly available, that you and I can usher it in down here on earth, by simply praying:  (“Your kingdom come …”!!)

The bible says God’s kingdom is like a number of things:  a mustard seed, yeast in dough, hidden treasure, a pearl of great price. It grows, and you discover it and give up everything for it. Yet nobody knows how this happens. Personally I think it is our God’s rule and reign everywhere, and if the Holy Spirit is given His freedom, God’s kingdom will manifest itself. It can be within us now, here today … where you are … But it is also still to come. 

Life in God’s kingdom seems to be the opposite of what we know. It is the right side up version of everything we do on earth. We can introduce others to it, and its way of life, and those people will be transformed as they learn to live their lives FROM that kingdom! People grow and become who God destined them to be.

Let’s look at Mark 1:14–15 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” God’s kingdom comes near when someone’s heart softens and they are repentant. Then that person turns their back on sin and turns toward the God Who made them. His kingdom is furthered by our obedience, and it produces – by itself — heaven-sent qualities. The word ‘Love’ means something in this world today, that it does not mean in our Heavenly Father’s kingdom! In His kingdom, love means sacrifice. 

The book of Revelation gives us clues as to what is of primary importance in God’s kingdom. Our Almighty, Eternal, Omnipotent, Omnipresent Father IS! Ordinary men and women can’t even stand up because of His glory. Meanwhile, how blessed we are to know a God Who is so incredible, and yet He wants to know and love us personally? We were made for His Kingdom to flourish and prosper inside us, because His kingdom flows from our inside – OUT. We can’t pretend that kind of stuff, other people will be able to easily sink our own self-efforts. His kingdom is other-centred, with Jesus as our reason for all we do.

We show our Beloved Saviour how much we love Him as we worship with our whole being, not just by singing or praising Him. When we willingly obey Him, we choose to live grateful lives that are laid at His feet, for His kingdom to come in the lives of many others. Everything that happens to us here on earth, is linked to His kingdom coming in our lives. That grumpy mother-in-law is … preparation. That job you hate is … preparation. Your kids’ ingratitude – preparation. The people who actively hate you – are even more preparation!

We need to do more than learn about His kingdom, we need to actively participate in it because that’s when we will carry His kingdom with us. When we host the King, we host His kingdom! So, in this life, we deliberately choose to ‘go and seek His kingdom out.’ This world is our testing ground. Will we trust what Jesus said or not? It is foolish to act like we have other options, or that we have more time tomorrow. We have no control over time. I urge you to chase His kingdom, and seek it first. Bye. 👋

P 3360 Keep looking at Jesus.

/ DVH

“We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, He organises and holds it together, like a head does a body.                                                                                                      He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—He is supreme in the end. From beginning to end He’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of His death, His blood that poured down from the cross.”                                 You yourselves are a case study of what He does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of Him, giving Him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in His Presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.” Colossians 1:15-23 MSG.

When we look at Jesus Christ we see God’s original purpose for mankind … minus sin and its effects. Sin couldn’t make Christ do anything because His love and devotion for His Father was greater than anything else. Instead He set us a perfect example. Our sin has a habit of colouring in everything around it. So when we focus on our sin, or their sin, or the government’s sin, we cannot effectively keep our eyes on the Lord!

Personally I think that judgment is a terrible stumbling block for everyone, but the Lord Jesus died to remove that and all other stumbling blocks way… once and for all! We can find our place in this broken world when we drag our gaze away from other people’s sin and look steadily at the One Who gave us His place. Looking at sin skews our focus.

This is a great passage of scripture above, because it encapsulates the things that Jesus has willingly done for us. People rattle on and on about recycling, and saving the planet, but one day everything broken and dislocated will come together in Christ! His greatest achievement is the total restoration of mankind with its Creator— not just to where Adam and Eve were—we have been restored to be like Him in this world, and that starts right here, right now.

Boy if that doesn’t make anyone happy then I don’t know what will!! We don’t have to be qualified to live this way, we simply need to yield to Him no matter what is going on around us. The good, the bad and the … oh! my goodness! Our first step is total surrender – the next is to choose to live under His guidance, His Way. Don’t hold anything back, whatever we hold back can still be influenced by sin … that’s why we must give it all to Him. He is the Restorer, the Redeemer of everything. 

Jesus has already taken us out of the kingdom of darkness that surrounds us and we are now a part of the kingdom of His marvellous light. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9. I don’t care what you do for a living, this is our real job now. To live in, and reflect the light He died to give us into this world around us. The darker it gets, the brighter that light shines.

Our dedication to living in His light (described in the book) causes darkness to run away … This is the real Good News – not some other form of religion! Religion has rules and regulations, but our Saviour’s Good News just helps us to live this life, with all its positive and negative experiences, well. And the source of our happiness never changes, because Jesus never changes! 

As Christians we cannot afford to focus on what this world thinks, we need our focus to be singular, on what He said. Day by day we get to know Perfect Love in an ever increasing measure. Jesus demonstrated His perfect love by what He did. We demonstrate our love for Him and others by what we do and say. However, perfect love is hardly ever a feeling. Perfect Love is a series of ongoing chosen actions that will cost us something to participate in them. God hasn’t taken away our freedom to choose – instead He has given us something better, something worth choosing! 

We can’t afford to rely upon feelings, because they will slowly sink our little lives into the mire that surrounds us. Instead we need to make what happens to us less important than what Jesus Christ did for us. Our focus is not on some pie in the sky when we die theology – because Jesus already did everything for us. It’s done! He said it way better than I ever could: “IT. IS. FINISHED.” Done and dusted. The Lord Jesus Himself purchased our freedom,- He paid with His own blood. It cost Him His life. Now we have been given the freedom to choose to live His Way. Don’t misuse the freedom He gave you. Meanwhile, there is no need for us to work hard for something that is already paid for. 

We choose to live with His pure focus in this life – right here, right now. Let’s shift our focus off the immediate stuff around us and lift our focus up to the eternal. Then we will progressively exchange every bit of the darkness that assails us, for what He has already given us. This new life is a life of forgiveness and love. Right now… right here … we are learning to cherish His light. Every single day. I urge us all to keep looking at Jesus, He started our faith and He will finish it. Bye. 👋

P 3340 Learn to fight …

/ DVH

…for what is yours by birthright! And remember, we don’t fight against flesh and blood. It’s not your spouse, or your parents, or your uncles and aunties – it’s the devil! 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 :“The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.”

And Ephesians 6: 1-18 says: “And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and He wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angels.                                                                           Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare.” 

We are in a battle, day by day, whether we like it or not, and even earthly soldiers get battle fatigue. However, we have the power of God within us to make the difference, and we need to use His power to help ourselves thrive in His Ways, and for the benefit of others. We don’t just fight under adverse conditions – we learn to thrive. Many times in our lives together, hubby and I have commented it seems like it is one thing after another, and another.

You can get very weary from fighting things. Like battling to maintain a Godly-attitude with His help; or not reacting to the same thing happening for the 479th time! Let’s face it satan doesn’t fight fair. he will kick you and beat you when you are down. One of the best weapons against despair and disappointment is the realisation that Almighty God will not ever give up on us. There are things float through our minds: “Does God care about what is happening to me?” Those are the battles we must fight in our emotions, and minds — they can be overwhelming, and potentially, destructive.

Remind yourself that Jesus took every single sin and mistake we’ve made to the cross with Him. And our God is not a fair weather Friend! Now you and I are blameless in His sight – that’s what His Grace is all about. The truth is a weapon we can use when our minds are full of doubt, unbelief, and anger or disappointment with ourselves or others. We must stop! — and remember Who we belong to now. It’s a supernatural task, so it needs supernatural tactics, not just mind games. 

We can’t continue to quote the scripture without knowing the reality behind it. The reality comes from living this life eating His bread, daily, and reminding ourselves of His blood over our lives, daily. I am reminded of someone else who tried head knowledge in Acts 9:11-17: “Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you… ?” Being known by our enemy means we are bothering him. Good! Someone famous once said this, I have no idea who it was – “Be the kind of Christian that the devil says every day – oh no! He/she is up again!!”

People can sometimes be defeated because they are not pointing their will toward what the Lord wants. Obedience is essential. If you feel you can’t obey, then point your will toward His will and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. When God talks about truth, He means His truth, not just something that sounds like truth, but it is indulging me in self-pity – or making me feel justified in my sad sack attitude. I cannot BE justified outside of the blood of Jesus. He gave that to me, I didn’t earn it… I’m so grateful for His goodness!

When God says “renew your mind” He is not talking about parroting off some scripture or other, as a weapon against satanic attacks. Our own personal knowledge of His goodness, is a mighty weapon. I stand and face my fears, or other people’s accusations and misunderstandings  by saying: “This one thing I know — MY GOD IS GOOD.” Ergo, if it is not good, then it is not God! … BUT!! Please remember to check your heart first, and  make sure you are not blaming someone else simply because you don’t want to deal with yourself! Our beliefs are not second hand they are up close and personal. I dun fell down that hole many times! Sigh.

When it comes to battles I am like a three year old. I run to hide in my Father’s robes. I want to be that spectator in Psalm 91… I don’t even try to peek out to see what is going on. I let what He has already done do the work for me. Shape your life around the Lord, make Him the centre. Then we can’t be dragged about by the winds of change and impulses of whimsy. If you are under attack drag your heart back to thinking about how good He has been to you. Read the bible aloud!

Let’s choose to live this life, by finding out stuff from the bible for ourselves. I am no longer a child, if I need to know something, then I ask the Holy Spirit to help me find the answer. Then I go and dig around in His book. Learn to fight for what is your birthright by the way you live. I need to participate and feed myself daily, digesting what He said with actions. We can’t win with hot air, we need real weapons forged in our lives with the fire of His life in us. Bye. 👋

P 3285 Practical stuff.

/ DVH

I want to be practical today because I have spent a number of days talking about living in the new life that Christ died to give us. So today I want to talk about how I am learning to live that way. First of all, I refuse to allow things I’ve done, or things other people have done, to remain hidden and unacknowledged. I treasure my relationship with the precious Holy Spirit above everything, so whatever He wants, I do. Pretence shoots honesty in the foot.

Theories cannot change our lives unless we actively decide to participate in them. Most people want to practice the things we are taught, so they nod and smile and go home … and try harder to meet the impossible standard Jesus set for all of us. Over the years I’ve learnt I am not capable of anything but the appearance of good. However, Christianity is not just practical, it is possible. Here’s the good news. Jesus died to give us His power to overcome our enemy, our own faults, as well as this world! And here is the bad …truth, humility and honesty are the highways we need to travel on.

We cannot expect to serve Jesus and maintain the life we already have. The whole point is for US to be changed. This point is the place where so many Christians part company with the Holy Spirit’s Ways. However, we simply cannot live with a foot in each camp, eventually we will slide back into the camp that looks after “me, mine, myself and I!’ “Mankind heads for sin and misery as predictably as flames shoot upwards from a fire.” Job 5:7.

Over to an illustration … I have been at odds with someone in my immediate family, all of my life. We both just saw things differently – we simply didn’t get each other. I tried to avoid dealing with this person by staying in their presence for the shortest time possible. Then the Lord began to challenge me about how I was treating them. The truth was, I treated them like a bad smell! I was polite … and distant. The Holy Spirit can lead us into distancing ourselves from someone for a purpose and a time, but in this case, I just plain disliked everything that person said and did, so I stayed away. I didn’t like being around them – they uncovered who I really was! 

Then He began to challenge me and I saw that underneath my hurt and pain, was resentment, hatred and bitterness. I wanted THEM to change who they were to make ME more comfortable! Anyhoo, they weren’t changing, and as time went on, things got worse. OH, how I hate the land of worse!! So I gathered up my courage and asked Him how HE wanted me to treat them, and His perfect answer sent me into self-pity, tears, and petulance. After all, everybody I knew agreed that I was much safer far away from this person. But HE didn’t. I just need to say, that if you have a problem like this one, then you need to ask the Holy Spirit what He wants YOU to do, and do it – but be guided by what the Bible says!

At that time, Jesus told me to treat that person like I would treat HIM. Sigh. I would have rather swum through shark-infested giant seas to South America, than do that. It seemed to me like I was giving them permission to continue to treat me badly. Then the Lord said this from Psalm 91:15&16 “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. …I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress…” So I crawled up into that Psalm, and clung on to it like a Rhesus monkey and prayed ‘help help!’ At the same time, I banged on my hat of salvation, picked up my breast-plate of righteousness and the sword of truth, and off I went. FYI the sword of the Spirit is not for slicing and dicing the other person – the Holy Spirit guides and teaches us how to use this sword His way.

I recommend tackling this kind of relationship difficulty, with at least 3 Holy Spirit inspired scriptures, that you’ve prayed over – as well as asking Him for His wisdom. After a while of loving on this person the way I love Him, I noticed that they hadn’t changed at all … … but I had! That sore place inside me had become inaccessible because I had stepped into FAITH. Then I realised that so much of what happened when I was with them, I had taken personally – but those things were the result of this person’s mal-formed personality. What I thought was personal viciousness, was their way of getting what they thought they needed. Their humanity was on display, and they didn’t know Jesus so it was the only course of action they had.

As I stuck with the Holy Spirit’s plan, I gradually saw a brand new person I had never met before. I still didn’t much like the way that they did things, but that stuff is not actually my business. I found we could laugh together, and genuinely express love for each other. At this point I want to stress that only someone very close to you can hurt you so badly.  Other people can come along and poke you in the scars you bear from your previous injuries. Don’t maltreat them for jumping on your hurt places.

We call it protecting ourselves, and God says “He is our protection and with Him we will be safe!” I found practicing loving my enemy – in this case a family member – worked best, when I started with the person who hurt me the most! That person could be a spouse, or a parent or a sibling, but the transformation that we personally experience, gives us the impetus to continue living this way. We get to see His power at work in our lives.

Here is a final question: “Have you ever noticed when you are with someone who hurts you, it never occurs to you that you might be hurting them at the same time, because you are way too busy firing arrows at them?” Yeah, I know… bring that up! We can become so entrenched in our own attitudes we can’t see anything, or anyone else. Let’s remember that God’s word is practical, you can stand on it.  Fixing relationships is essential! Bye. 👋

P 3261 What are we walking toward?

/ DVH

If you and I want to see other people, (Christian or not), the way Jesus sees them, then we will need heavenly eyes that can see beauty in the midst of a pile of ashes. And even if we are in mourning, we are still able to find His JOY. We will sincerely praise Him, even when we feel lower than a snake’s belly and people are after us! What we need is the kind of Love that does not falter ... please don’t settle for less!  And the way to get these heavenly things, the things that money cannot buy, is to be obedient to the things Jesus taught us to do.

“This love means living in obedience to whatever God commands us. For to walk in love toward one another is the unifying commandment we’ve heard from the beginning.” 2 John 1:6 TPT. The reason we are so separated as a Body is thatwe are not walking in Love toward each other! Do you have anyone in your life that you want to run away from them? Me too. Some people scare me. But John tells us that God’s Love causes us to walk toward one another. That isn’t a suggestion, it’s an instruction – we need to use our faith. 

Sadly, we think if we can’t do that, then that’s OK, God will understand it’s a bit too hard, especially when we promise to try harder next time. John, BTW, doesn’t say TRY, he just says do it. Because doing it is what obedience looks like and Jesus has provided us with the power to participate. Many earthly relationships are shattered because we believe a lie. The lie is that other person is too hard for God to change. Here’s a thought, maybe we need to change, and when they meet with a transformed ‘me’ then perhaps the other people will change their responses! There is nothing like mixing things up a bit!!

Jeremiah says in 32:17:’Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—“  When we read the above scripture we can see that our reality is not what Jeremiah said! Our belief system is faulty. We cheerfully sing … ‘Nothing is too difficult for thee’ … and then go out and act like what we just sang isn’t true. Um,,, that’s called hypocrisy.  FYI, saying one thing and doing another is called … hypocrisy. We are much better off to be honest with the Lord and talk about it with Him with an open bible in front of us. Just be honest and tell Him ‘I don’t want to.” Then repent for disobedience. The Holy Spirit wants to show us the way forward, and if we wait for Him – He will help us.

Any negative responses in us can be triggered by fear, or anger, or thinking we are not strong enough, as well as …just plain old rebellion! This can include: “Why should they get away with hurting me?” Because our sin hurt Him! He paid, in full so now we CAN be obedient if we use our faith instead of our faulty imagination. The reality is: “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. That means I can love you even though outwardly you are pricklier than the ‘jumping chola cactus’ pictured above. That’s a cactus that apparently grabs you if you even remotely brush by it. Looks nasty doesn’t it?? OW!! I know quite a few chola cacti people – boy, are they a challenge! 

The point is this: If Almighty God Who made the heavens and the earth says I can do it, then I can do it. Not because I am clever, and not even because I can be obedient … although that helps! But because He said so!  We can’t afford to pick and choose what we decide we will believe. We need to go back to: ‘HE SAID SO,”Let’s repent and go at it again… and again… and again. Always remembering that God looks at our hearts and He helps us when we act in faith. The Lord knows when we don’t want to do stuff, but He is happy when we value what He values. 

Jesus didn’t shirk away from doing the hard things, just  because human beings can be hard to love. He continued to lovingly walk toward those who were going to destroy His life. Because we want to be like Him, we need to participate in the things He did. The difference for us is this— SomeBody else went down those roads to give us His power to overcome those very things that seem to be impossible. Now, we have His strength available to us to help us to do the very things we don’t want to do. Jesus didn’t run away from the cross – however, He was honest about how He felt about it. 

Hey! Personally I get up tight when I have to go to the dentist, eye doctor or the hospital etc. I ask people to pray for me or I can’t  go in the right spirit. I want to approach the staff wherever I go with love, not fear. Hope not despair. I can’t afford to let some nasty imagined outcome, spoil my day. We need our peace it keeps us going.This is what happens when we learn to value what the Lord valued – we keep our peace!

Walking toward each other is always going to be hard. Human beings have a way of pecking at each other’s faults like grumpy chickens. And the further we are away from some people, the better everyone looks!  Walking toward each other seems dangerous, but it means we are prepared to take a risk. Let’s start walking with Grace Himself guiding us, and trust the Holy Spirit to get us through what happens next. The love bit comes later. Bye. 👋

P 3246 Watch the Holy Spirit at work.

/ DVH

For years now, three of my precious granddaughters have taken it in turns to go with their Dad to work for one whole day, every year. It was kind of a “bring your kid to work’ day – supported by his boss. The result was they knew why their Dad was late sometimes, and they understood what traffic did, and what working hard all day really means! Observation is a great way to learn.

I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit working in us, because I think we are missing the things that He does for us, unseen, every single day. He is so good at working in secret – you have to want to see Him! But our current circumstances can distract or overwhelm us and we shut down, and stop being spiritually aware. That response will rob us of something so valuable. Look for the good! … that’s my catch cry. Find the good and focus on that. He’s IN THAT! We will always see Him at work when we look for the good. 

Unfortunately we can give credit to man, or circumstances, instead of seeing His hands in everything good that happens to us. Let’s stop crediting good things to ‘luck’ (a pagan god) and start looking in our own lives, for the Holy Spirit’s loving touch. This is part of the way we train ourselves in holy things. Sadly, most of the time, any one of us can get through a whole day without even acknowledging His Presence, except for daily bible reading and prayer. He is our heavenly air – we need to take Him with us. It’s good for us to know what He does, and see and appreciate it, so we can participate in it.

The Holy Spirit never takes credit for Himself. He is the silent One—the One Who is most easily overlooked. Maybe that is because a/ we are selfish and self involved and b/ we don’t know what He looks like when He is doing stuff! He looks just like Jesus would if He were here. Can you imagine being among the people who saw the Lord Jesus heal the lepers, feed thousands, and teach – yet they walked away thinking, or even saying: “Well, yeah, I dunno. I liked what that Man said but I can’t live like that. I think I believe what the synagogue teacher does. My Dad did, so did his Dad and they are nice people…“ Logic kills seeing Him stone dead.

Look, I don’t really know how to say this ‘nicely’ so I am just going to spit it out. The devil gets more air-play than the Holy Spirit does! That ought not to be so!! It’s an abomination. The Holy Spirit is the most Creative, Loving Being we will ever know this side of heaven. He is not secondary to our Heavenly Father or the Lord Jesus – He is part of the Trinity. Jesus sent Him back to us to help us, and told us that it was BEST for us that He went away. He’s God-with-us today and every single day we are here. Listening to Him is our new normal!

The problem seems to be that the enemy has snuck into our camp and made praying in tongues, or this or that spiritual gift, more important than HE is!  Big mistake! Huge!! He is a Person, not an activity! (I told you I didn’t know how to say it!) Pray for eyes to continually see Him at work. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if it is Godly, and good, it’s HIM!… Always look for His fruit in any kind of situation… If what happens helps you believe God, or it lovingly challenges your existing belief system… It’s HIM! 

But if it indulges your sense of self-importance, and implies you don’t need to pray, or read the word or repent and repair things … guess what? IT’S NOT HIM! Easy peasy. And if the bible doesn’t say it … it’s not Him. The bible is His reference book, and we have His personally signed copy of that book when we decide to choose to do what it says. The Spirit of God wants to get our attention! This is how we fall in love with our Heavenly Father – we watch and see Him work! Just like my granddaughters watched their earthly Dad. He wants to spend our lifetime with us, opening up new horizons, and new ways to praise God – plus a whole new ME. Bonus buy = transformation from within.

Take a few minutes to reflect, not on the bad things, but on the good ones.  Ask for His help to focus on the things that will last. Otherwise distraction will take away whatever time we have and waste it. Our God first sent the Holy Spirit to each one of us, in the form of a Saviour – His Name is Jesus. Then Jesus Himself sent us the Holy Spirit to be with us, every moment of every day, in any situation, to be our helper, comforter, guide, counsellor, advocate … live and in Person! He can be at your house inspiring you, while He is at my house comforting me. What’s not to love about that? Teach yourself to look at even bad things and find something good in them.

Here are some verses for all of us to chew on: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  Romans 15:13. He’s the HOPE bringer. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is IN you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own;…” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. We are His house! Take the time to put out the welcome mat! “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”Acts. 1:8. Most of us have no power because we are not co-operating with Him. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 4:26. 

We have an on-the-spot, resident Teacher. Let’s open our spiritual eyes and watch for Him quietly working in our lives – working all things together for our good. If it’s good – it’s Him! Bye. 🕊️