Paul

P 3164 Take up the wrap God has given us.

/ DVH

We need to daily wrap ourselves up in His LOVE, reminding ourselves that love is the best language of all. That means we deliberately remember that He loves us, that our sin can’t separate us from Him. And unlike everything else in this life – His love is not only totally unconditional – it’s free! Love is the heading under which every other grace and gift blossoms. I have put my version of 1 Corinthians 13 down below because it is essential that we remember that this kind of love is not just given away – GOD GIVES IT TO US EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Here’s a thought about outgoing love that is familiar. 1 Corinthians 12:31b – “And yet I will show you the most excellent way.”  I often ask myself when I get stuck: “what would love do?” I’ve hardly ever come up with the kind of answer that says: ‘punch that guy in the face!’ Jesus didn’t, and He had every kind of provocation to do so! Our Lord is love Himself personified and He gives us that kind of sacrificial, personal love – the kind of love that consists of undivided attention. I have put my version of 1 Corinthians 13 down below because it is essential that we also remember that this kind of love is not just to be given away – God Himself freely gives those things to each one of US and it is always unconditional.  HE is patient, kind, faithful, enduring etc. toward us.

In my mind’s eye, I can see the Lord when He squatted down on the ground, talking to a woman no-one else would bother to speak to. Or the desolated father who needed His help because the man’s little girl was sick. Jesus did everything for us, with us in His heart. He walked up that awful hill carrying a cross that was too heavy to bear. God’s love inside Him attracted people. Jesus went to His death carrying everything that separated us from God, staggering under the weight of this world upon Him. 

I enjoy old-fashioned words. I think “consider” is a very interesting word —  this is what it means: ‘look attentively.’ Let’s consider the facts given to us in the bible, never let the cross fall out of our attention. Christ’s death and resurrection totally encompasses and exhibits God’s incredible love for us. On that day, in that dark hour, Jesus Christ personally became man’s proof that our Heavenly Father God dearly loves us. Paul explains this to us so carefully. He tells us that we have a better way to live, and that means we are to live in love.

Let’s live every single day knowing we are loved by SomeOne so glorious, that we can’t even look at Him without being utterly transfixed and transformed! The very best gift in the list of spiritual gifts is LOVE. Any other gift mentioned will totally flourish in the warmth of that one gift. We need to consider the fact that it is easy to ignore what God Himself calls – THE BEST GIFT.  Love. God’s love won’t leave, it won’t betray us, He knows and cares about what is happening in our lives. The bible tells us: ‘He takes all our broken, shattered pieces, and works them together for our good!’

You know, just because we think that we can’t have that kind of love in us, that doesn’t mean we should ignore it! Instead let’s chase after Love Himself, not gifts. Let other people identify your gifts —just allow your life to continually release the sweet fragrance of His love into your family and the world around you. And if you want to know what it looks like — right after 1 Corinthians chapter 12, comes chapter 13 with a brilliant summation of what love is. I think Paul gave us this so we can’t be misled by the kind of love this world engages in. 

The bible clearly tells us love is patient, it has the kind of endurance that does not end;  it is always kind, so you don’t have to be afraid of it. It’s not envious, it could care less what you have, or how clever you are;  instead love is enthralled and captured only by Jesus Himself, and His love for you. Love won’t boast, because it knows it has nothing to boast about!  Nor is is proud, because this kind of love wants Jesus to get all the glory. It wouldn’t dream of dishonouring others because it values other people more;  it chooses not to protect itself; and it won’t get angry easily either. It doesn’t have a record of your past, or my past, or anyone else’s past! It is not happy when an enemy suffers, because it loves the truth more than revenge. It will go out of its way to protect others, and trust God with them. Love always hopes for a good outcome. It has a never-ending source of hope in Christ, and what He did for us. And it quite simply refuses to give up on anyone.

Then we read in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, how Paul goes on to say that grown ups think one way, and children think another. He cautions us to stop thinking like children and move on into maturity. Living in Love is seen as maturity in Christ. It is the most excellent way. Everything else pales into insignificance in comparison. Who cares if we can prophesy about glories unknown, or that we should beware because danger is coming? Love is always in the NOW, it sees the best in others, and calls the best out. Living in love covers everything. 

All the other stuff will disappear, but love will always remain. Unconditional love is the quality that introduces other people to the Character of God more quickly than any of the other gifts. Let’s take off our old coats of inadequacy, obligation, and ‘ought to,’ and wrap ourselves in the wrap of God’s love instead. It is like Joseph’s coat of many colours: dazzling, varied, unique and different. Even though each piece can sometimes include suffering, solitude, and rejection, we know we are following our Saviour WHO LOVES US.. 

That coat of many colours symbolises all the favour of God, all His divine grace, power and love, plus all the gifts and fruits of the Spirit. Learn to live in His Love then give it away. Bye. 👋 

P 3163 Mercy

/ DVH

Mercy seems to me to be the least appreciated spiritual gift! “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us… …if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. “ Romans 12:6a&8b. It seems to me that everybody wants to be the resident prophet or a leader! And encouragement, giving or serving, come a bit further down that list of desired gifts. In spite of those attitudes – mercy seems to be the last one.  Um when is the last time you heard or read a sermon preached about mercy? This world would be so much better off if we learnt to embrace God’s mercy for ourselves and others! Mercy has been given to the body of Christ for everyone’s benefit just like leadership or generosity.

All those gifts that are mentioned in Romans 12 depend on the measure of faith we’ve have been given by God, but it seems, strangely (!), some things seem to stand out more. I wish I could say I have found a reason why mercy seems to be an overlooked body ministry … but I can’t.  It seems that many Christians want to aim at  leadership or prophetic gifts. Meanwhile I’m pretty sure encouragement flew out of the window years ago. I know about 3 people who flourish in this gift, and one of them is my husband! Encouragement is a transformative gift, the person who encourages others sounds like our wonderful heavenly Coach – the Holy Spirit. And He is always right here, cheering us on.

Has anybody else noticed that each of these gifts are traits of Almighty God’s Character? I mean, how exciting is that? Operating in all or any of them means we will be daily walking in His shoes. So we get to do what He does for US and others. We simply pass on what He gives us, to other people. Meanwhile, maybe mercy seems to be an old-fashioned concept? So let’s look closely at it, because I have this funny feeling we cannot afford to miss out on this gift — bearing in mind what Paul himself said about gifts. He said some body parts don’t seem to beall that special! I think that mercy is incredibly important – it is not just a whole lot of sweet loving old ladies up the back at church knitting socks for the poor!

Here’s a couple of verses to think on: Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” In the Message bible it says: “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.” Then there is: Luke 6:36: “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” See! Here’s a huge bonus! We get to be like Him when we walk in mercy! Last one – Lamentations  3:22-24. MSG: “God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, His merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great Your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.” 

Hah! MERCY IS A GOD-QUALITY! It’s revealed in His enormous daily generosity toward us. He makes sure we have new mercy every morning. I like that. I need new mercy!! I can run out of His qualities even quicker than I run out of toilet paper and toothpaste! I have found that our Heavenly Father hides important truths in quite ordinary places – you have to look to find them. This is why we ask questions, and why “we study hard to show ourselves workmen that are approved by Him.’ It’s not for a pass or fail mark. It’s so we can know Who He is and the riches of His glory that He has already given to us – in the church.

The Lord Jesus’ life was anchored into His Father’s Will and Character. We are to be like that too, simply because we are daily given the opportunity to get to know the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. All three of Them anchor us into the Kingdom of God and His kingdom  is realer than anything else. Because of Their ministry to me, I am learning to think in  ‘scripture’ instead of regurgitating rubbish from TV or man-made concepts.

Meanwhile, like I said before – our God loves to hide things! Half the fun of reading the bible is chasing around going after ‘what He wants to teach me today.’ Our spiritual eyes pop open and we go:”Aha! Now, I get it!” One of God’s Ways is to ‘Sneaky Pete’ things in His book. Translation —- He hides the good stuff in plain sight – but when you ask Him He will give it to you. So this means we are going to need to be diligent to find out what He wants from us – after all we are exhorted to: ‘not grow weary and never give up because eventually we will reap the reward.’

In the Gospels there was a widow lady who badgered a judge into submission, and at another time some guy got bread outside of shopping hours – all that happened because they wouldn’t quit. I’ve learnt to insist. I have found the Lord rarely puts a sign on the stuff that He says or does, He expects us to notice it, to be alert and present with Him. A whole lotta people miss a whole lotta blessings because they aren’t paying attention … just saying is all!

Let’s be clear, mercy is a Way God uses to reveal Himself. He doesn’t have to scrounge around to try to find a good attitude. Every single morning He simply hits the refresh button and mercy is there for each one of us. Feel free to cheer! It’s always the same consistent mercy, on a different day. Mercy is something we can’t earn or deserve, just like our salvation. We have His mercy every day, because it is backed up by His faithfulness. Plus it’s demonstrated wonderfully by Jesus Himself in the bible!

This is stuff we stand on. If I need mercy I know I am going to get it, because it isn’t like a new house, which benefits ME, mercy is something of HIM that will benefit everybody!  People don’t have to get what they deserve anymore – we can give them His Grace instead. FYI you can’t have mercy and live in judgment – one cancels the other out. We have a brand new page every single day, and at the top it says: “God’s mercy toward ME is waiting for me to wake up, it was released and manifested through what Jesus Christ did for me.” 

I want to encourage anyone who feels like they might have the gift of Mercy – PLEASE USE IT. We all need it! What we really lack from day to day, are the heavenly qualities only God Himself provides through other people and their ministries. ‘Lord, please help us all to receive and sow Your mercy wherever we go. And please bring Your appointed ministers of mercy out of hiding so they can minister to and help the Body of Christ .. plus everybody else around them.’ Amen. Bye.👋.

P 3160 Let your mind focus on these things.

/ DVH

“To truly know Him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace Him as Lord in all of His greatness. My passion is to be consumed with Him and not cling to my own “righteousness” based in keeping the written Law. My only “righteousness” will be His, based on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—the very righteousness that comes from God. And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus and to experience the overflowing power of His resurrection working in me. “Philippians 3:8-10 TPT. 

When I read this today the first thing I did, was to go back and read it all over again! Sometimes another version of the bible makes it sing. This one is like a symphony to our Lord’s incredible Grace, and it clearly shows us Paul’s personal thoughts. I urge you to read it one more time, and take notice of this man’s choices. 

What we choose matters – not what we say, or what we preach, or what we sing – what we choose! Our spiritual lives depend on choosing Him, first. Then we follow up our choices with scripturally based actions.The Holy Spirit does the rest. He can do so much with a heart that chooses Christ and His Ways over everything else. The Holy Spirit made this world out of nothing – think about what He can do with your choices. The harder the choice, the greater the power will be released to overcome. We can’t afford to let our feelings influence our choices.

One of the amazing things about Almighty God, is that He made so many billions of things out of nothing! He made man out of dirt and He made that dirt out of nothing. It is much easier to see that we are NOT ALL THAT when you look at us that way! I could sit in my backyard and add water to my own dirt, and make a muddy resemblance of a person. But God made a living breathing functioning human being out of dirt. Then He made a woman out of a rib. I don’t care how impossible your situation is — and boy we can all get into terrible situations that are not of our own choosing — this is your take home for today — God is so much bigger than that situation. 

We need to learn to trust in His Ways, His timing is perfect. He knows more about ramifications than we know about how to spell it! Here’s Ecclesiastes 3:1:“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:…” Galatians 4:4,5 says: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” For the Lord, timing is everything. He knows the end from the beginning and all the bits in the middle as well.

We can survive whatever is happening if we just hold on to Him tightly and wait for His timing. But, sometimes, in the middle of any kind of difficulty or trouble, help seems far away. We so often “…Have need of patience…” And we can easily lack the ability to “…let it have it’s perfect work in us.” (apologies to James 1:4). Patience is so much more than just standing around, waiting and hoping things will change. It’s a fruit of the Spirit. Fruits take time to grow, they don’t just turn up when we need them — unless God’s grace billows over us and we find we have something we haven’t cultivated. Now there’s a great time to thank Him!

Patience doesn’t normally arrive gift-wrapped and hermetically sealed. It must be cultivated, by surrendering what you want to do and say — at the very moment you want to do and say it (!!) – and then go on to deliberately ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. Next we step out in faith and exercise our teeny tiny, kind-of-soft muscle of self-control, and either stay quiet, or give a sweet answer. There are times when it seems that the other person has not appreciated what was just given to them— but this is where patience comes into its own. The more you stretch that muscle the more it stops hurting as much when you do it again. It takes a whole lotta of perseverance to grow patience. Some things grow by deliberate repetition, not by will power.

In the process of growing patience we will find our spiritual eyes opened in a way they were not open before. We will notice things that we have never seen about ourselves and others. That’s because we have chosen to look at this life from a kingdom POV. Once you get a glimpse of what He sees – well, you are hooked! Now I run to Him yelling “help, help’ all the time! I can’t wait to see what He can do with the mess I have somehow gotten into. We cannot afford to live in this world reliant upon our feelings – our feelings are not our friends, they lie to us – they want to be petted and soothed. 

Our feelings come under the heading of SELF-preservation. Even blind Freddy can see that self-preservation has little or nothing to do with God’s kingdom coming, right here, right now! And whether we can physically see Jesus or not, we have what He said written down in every language in this world. Written instructions can work even better than spoken ones – because you can keep on going over them. When the Lord tells us to let our minds dwell/focus on these things, Jesus is not trying to control us, He is giving us advice on how to survive what’s going on right outside our doors. Bye. 👋

P 3116 Let’s quit labelling people.

/ DVH

“Now, even though I am free from obligations to others, I joyfully make myself a servant to all in order to win as many converts as possible. I became Jewish to the Jewish people in order to win them to the Messiah. I became like one under the law to gain the people who were stuck under the law, even though I myself am not under the law. And to those who are without the Jewish laws, I became like them, as one without the Jewish laws, in order to win them, although I’m not outside the law of God but under the law of Christ. I became “weak” to the weak to win the weak. I have adapted to the culture of every place I’ve gone so that I could more easily win people to Christ. I’ve done all this so that I would become God’s partner for the sake of the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23TPT.

Hubby and I have discovered that ‘sorting’ people in our minds into groups, is detrimental to sharing our faith, so we’ve stopped doing it. We decided what Paul says is extremely valuable in everyday life. What I mean by this is, we can inwardly categorise other people as ‘Christian’ or ‘non-Christian.’ And that the result of that is we speak differently to those-who don’t-know-Him-yet. Here’s some free advice — treat everybody the same!

We were convicted by the Holy Spirit that living like that, is His Way. Believers, non-believers, people of another faith … these are all people Jesus died for and His chosen sacrifice for them makes them worthy of our love, attention and respect. The church seems to have delegated the power of God to just few brothers and sisters, who we thought were more holy than us because when they prayed for people we saw results. Now everybody else is just supposed to muddle along – making sure the flowers are done for Sunday, and leaving spiritual things to the more spiritual people! Rhubarb. I can’t think of a single part of my body I don’t need. What army sends only its generals off to war and leaves the troops behind?

Most people are content to go to church and be nice to everyone around them, in the hope that the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet would want to come to church with us and be like us. And … … how-zat-workin’-out-for-ya?? We seem to be unaware that the reality of God Himself is present among us at church, because He promised to be there. And I don’t care if you sit in a pew or on a deck chair in the park!“Wherever two or more are gathered in My Name!!…” Let’s put our Saviour back where He belongs – in the centre – not doctrines or sermons. And let’s do it simply because He belongs there. We cannot afford to major on rules instead of love. We are clearly instructed “…to owe no man anything but love..”and God is not just talking about MONEY. 

The thing is, Love doesn’t play favourites. It treats everyone it meets with Grace, and kindness, simply because everybody is made in His image. One of the most important things that can fall off when we skip over our devotion to Him, is that we quickly revert to religious form, without any power!

Jesus is not partisan. He treated everyone around Him as His Father’s children. That included Roman soldiers, His disciples, Jarius, Pontius Pilate, Samaritans, etc., the Lord responded to everyone and anyone who spoke to Him and He didn’t bother to check their credentials. Jesus answered people’s questions and prayed for them for healing and deliverance with no prejudice or restriction at all. They were not required to get baptised or to follow Him – in order to be healed.

Instead LOVE motivated everything He did.“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.” Revelation 22:17. Jesus says: ‘come” and … so does HIS BRIDE! The only prerequisite for preaching to people seems to me to be that they want to hear, and they are thirsty!

If we feel like we need to force what we say out, the other person will notice. Instead we need to reverence His Presence in every part of our daily lives, so we when talk about Jesus that’s what will show. Let’s bring Him into our everyday conversation and say things like: “When I talked to the Lord this morning He said this!”“God’s been teaching me about Himself.”  Let’s outwardly make Him a part of our everyday lives and not be sour, like a pickle, toward  other people if they swear. 

Let’s talk about Him to everybody, not just brothers and sisters in the Lord. When hubby and I do this we have only experienced astonishment from others. Wherever they are and whatever they believe. And then they cry! Because they never thought God cared about them enough to want to speak to them! They all know they don’t belong to our club! Our exclusiveness is excluding ordinary people who might want to know.

What I’ve learnt from Jesus’ example is GOD LOVES ALL HIS KIDS. Whatever colour, race, creed, religion they have – He regards each one  as His own.They don’t have to join a church, to be told HE LOVES THEM. Hubby and I refuse to own any denomination when we are talking to others. The Lord wants to touch their hearts not their heads!

The only difference between the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet, and you or me – is His GRACE. I never talk about doctrine, because that stuff can divide people, I just say whatever He tells me to say. Mentally sorting people into categories is odious, so let’s repent, and quit doing it, and treat everyone we meet as our Father’s kid instead. Inclusion is powerful. Bye. 👋

P 3109 Is failure fatal?

/ DVH

Our Heavenly Father will make the wrong way, or even a some kind of upside-down way—into the right way– when our only desire is to please and obey Him! Just remember to turn around whenever, and wherever, necessary and own your own sinful attitudes and repent. That means doing more than saying sorry. OK? Reparation, there’s a word. Back to the point: we can get so scared by the thought that we will get whatever He asks us to do wrong, that we are paralysed into doing nothing.This attitude makes Almighty God too small. Our faith needs to be firmly fixed on what Christ did for us, as well as His goodness, not on our own ability. 

Lately I have been rereading Acts again and I have been so impacted by the way Paul behaved as he went from place to place.There was no sign of the kind of paralysis that comes with fear in Paul. Not only that, but in one of the many shipwrecks he endured, his behaviour and faith in God influenced the unsaved sailors and soldiers around him. Paul wasn’t preaching BTW, he was just living out his life before the Lord, and the other people on that sinking ship! He simply shared with his fellow travellers what God told Him. 

Acts 27. 33-38, 44: “Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Altogether there were 276 of us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea… … But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.”

Did you get that? I had to read it twice. Paul suggested they stop to eat as the boat was breaking up and sinking!  Does that make sense to you? Hey! I thought long and hard about this, and I think I would have thrown the grain overboard first, to lighten the load. Right?? Or maybe grabbed the nearest plank and hung on to it! Everyone had prayed for land, in the midst of a terrible storm, and they found land and then …the entire ship stops to EAT?Why? Because God said so, that’s why. And He knows what we need more than we do. He told Paul through an angel that nobody would be lost if they just followed His instructions.

Now let’s do a quick recap of the oddball things I remember from the bible. I know I rabbit on regularly about Gideon, but honestly … !! That outcome could never have been predicted. God Himself threw confusion into the multitude of Midianites’ camp and they killed each other? Weird right? I mean who’d’ve thunk it? Almighty God did, that’s Who. Who would think you could find honey inside a lion’s carcass? Our Wonderful God — He’s the boss of bees. What about Paul, who heard,“Go to the Gentiles!” Boy was that not politically correct!

Let’s take Peter who was innocently praying by himself, when God interrupted his prayers with a vision. Peter’s thought bubble: “Hey that’s not kosher, I’m not allowed to eat a camel sandwich!”  Then this man of God took note of what God said and acted on it. Popular is not a kingdom word … influence is.

Here’s another one. Imagine this – a local prophet is told to sleep for one year on one side and then the next year on the other side. Why? Jeremiah was an illustration of what was to come. That’s just one of the many many highly unusual things God asked this man to do. What about Hosea? Go marry a prostitute?? That guy would have rushed off to have had his ears cleaned out. How about Noah? Build an ARK? What’s an ark??There were no BIG boats. yet this man built that ark with seven other people helping him. It took 120 years and he did a whole lot of waiting on God, while he was being obedient. Weird can be normal in His kingdom! We can be so afraid of getting it wrong, we don’t do anything.

We think we can’t possibly go and see Mrs Kerfoops next door who is dying from cancer. Hey – here’s a good thought to bear in mind — when the ride is over most people look for the exit!! Our God is so wonderful, He does not care if people are saved for 5 seconds or 50 years! He loves them all and He wants them to be with Him. So, just pull up your grown-up pants, go to see Mrs Kerfoops and tell her Jesus loves her. If she tells you that she doesn’t believe in all that stuff, blah blah blah, and you feel like a goose for all that effort and angst …remember, even if you get it wrong – when our motivation is to please Him and be obedient, He can use that faith for His glory.

Failure is not fatal – Jesus is a Redeemer by nature. However! failure is not fun, or a great story you can tell everyone afterward. Just remember … doing something beats doing nothing.The results are always up to Him. Maybe Mrs Kerfoops’ last thoughts are about what you said to her, or … maybe not. Step into the Favour of God – not for personal gain, but for service. Somewhere, somehow, the church has lost a lot of boldness. WE WANT IT BACK, please Lord. Amen. Bye. 👋

P 3108 HE is our strength.

/ DVH

“The extraordinary level of the revelations I’ve received is no reason for anyone to exalt me. For this is why a thorn in my flesh was given to me, the Adversary’s messenger sent to harass me, keeping me from becoming arrogant. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to relieve me of this. But He answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. So I’m not defeated by my weakness, but delighted! For when I feel my weakness and endure mistreatment—when I’m surrounded with troubles on every side and face persecution because of my love for Christ—I am made yet stronger. For my weakness becomes a portal to God’s power.”

Sooner or later everyone’s faith comes under pressure. But the knowledge is not revealed to us to torment us, as Paul explains here in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Paul is telling us pain has a purpose! God reveals things to us even through pain, so we can work with Him on the gaps in our knowledge of Him and errors in our faith –  together. He will not leave us even when the ceiling falls in. The Lord allows things to help us to learn about our multifaceted blessings. And He wants us to learn to wait for Him. We are not waiting for the solution, we are waiting to hear from Him. Jesus knew how to wait!

There’s nothing like trouble to send desperate people to their knees. Or sobbing on the bed in despair when we can’t find the way out – and we want it to stop, NOW. In those times, ask yourself, can I go one more step? I don’t project the misery I feel into the future, because the thought of endless suffering is devastating. The more we press into what we already know about Him personally — the more about Him and ourselves, we can learn in difficult times. Our God does not cause suffering! He’s a faithful, good, good Father Who wants us to grow up into the fullness of Christ Himself. He is leading us, step by step, into a new, bigger place – just as surely as He led Abraham and Moses into the Promised land.

Whatever we are experiencing can give us a fresh revelation of what Christ voluntarily did. He too, suffered despair, loneliness, loss of love, loss of understanding, depression, anguish, grief and sorrow. He was all alone in Gethsemane, as well as on that cross. And He suffered in ways we cannot imagine. We have a Saviour Who was“… was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.” Isaiah 53:3.

Jesus suffered everything He suffered, for us – He can show us the way through it. This is what Paul is talking about. He had grown strong enough in His faith to receive correction, and adjustment to his own faith, as well as renewing his thinking. He thought he needed to get out of the thing that was tormenting him, but God graciously granted Paul the understanding that this too was yet another place he could learn to lean on what Jesus did!

Obedience is everything …but we’ve made UNDERSTANDING into everything instead. 

Paul saw purpose. He realised all that knowledge God had downloaded into him, could cause him to be arrogant – and arrogance short circuits Grace! So he chose to endure the harassment of pain and suffering because God showed him there was a benefit – immediately – as well as on the other side! You and I have limitations. We can only stretch so far, some can stretch further than others, but we all have limits. When we reach the end of ourselves – God is still there! His power to overcome is still there! Take a deep breath, tell Him you love Him and you know He won’t let you down. Faith acts, it speaks!

It is a good thing to know that you can’t do … whatever it is … because GOD IS RIGHT THERE WITH YOU IN THAT WEAKNESS. Instead of trying to wiggle out of it, ask Him to help you stay the course, and learn how to trust Him more. Most of the time, I have discovered this sort of ‘adjustment’ is hardly ever about some other person’s actions against me. It’s about me. Maybe I have been blindsided by a wrong belief, or I have not comprehended the fullness of what Jesus died to give me. Let’s remember we all need endurance, we are in a race! By all means tell the enemy to GO! But remember, to ask the Lord: “What’s this about Lord?”

If I can’t endure what is happening to me, that means I am not complete in my faith in that area. Think about Jesus being there, right now, holding your hand. He is praying for you, so is the Holy Spirit. He wants to remind you to learn to rely upon His strength, instead of your own. Maybe you can’t do this – but He can! Don’t look for a plan all laid out and downloaded from heaven – instead take one small faith step at a time.

We won’t perceive His blessings when we are constantly asking God to bail us out of whatever it is we are stuck in. Trust me, I’ve tried that. It will take as long as it takes, and then finish so suddenly you will have your mouth drop open like a goldfish! But don’t just lay down like Father God is an ogre and you have no power to escape from His dealings. Talk to Him about what He wants you to learn about yourself, the situation, His Grace, and loving others more freely. God understands how vulnerable FLESH is – He put it on and came here! 

Bye.👋

P 3098 Be yourself …

/ DVH

… and don’t climb on the feelings train! That stuff will transport you from one nightmare scenario to another. I actually think there are little demonic ‘scribes’ that follow us around chucking pieces of worrying, fearful, nasty, ghastly info into our brains to distract us from the Lord and His purposes. Please remember that one of His purposes is deliverance from nasty little demon scribes!! It is a lie that “you” are a worry-wart. Jesus wouldn’t have told us not to do it if it didn’t matter.

We can spend ages majoring on minor things, worrying if this or that will work out the way we want it to. RELAX! God’s got us – ps it probably won’t work out the way you want it anyway … it will be better!  Let’s remember Who He is! The immortal invisible only wise God! Yeah! HIM!! He only made the world and everything in it. That thing you are worried about probably won’t happen, and if it does then you and the Holy Spirit will tackle it together. “If God be for us who can be against us?” Romans 8:31. Think on that instead. Jesus summed worry up beautifully when He asked this question:“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:27. Let’s hope nobody gets stuck on that answer!

You know it seems to me that lately we have all turned into billy goats … “butt,  butt … my life is a mess.” Like God Himself doesn’t know what’s going on. If the answer is hidden from you it is hidden for a reason. He’s got you, you are always on His heart, and He doesn’t take time off for high days and holidays!! Worry etc always seems like it is doing something, but that stuff will give you wrinkles on your face, indigestion, constipation, or the opposite, and mess with your well-being and brain. Treat it like someone is handing you a worm and say: “No, thank you.”

Just recently I gave someone a birthday card and realised the envelope I had for it wasn’t what I thought it was. I had to give the card without any envelope because the one I had was covered in one of those “Where’s Wally” pictures. But it was ultimately a clever piece of marketing that was advertising some plumber or other. I wasted an hour trying to find WALLY! And another one worrying about the lack of an envelope!  How dumb can you get and still breathe? When we worry we are making Father God too small to help us.

Our time is not just valuable because we are some clever business person making business deals, or someone who cares for the sick, elderly and infirm. Or maybe you drive a school bus, or you are home caring for little ones. Your time is valuable because this very second will not come back again. One of satan’s favourite ploys is to get us tied up in knots about the things we cannot change anyway. Pray, then give it all up to the Lord. Walk away. Not from the people, but from the temptation to think you just might come up with a solution. The Lord can interrupt people’s thoughts. He once threw Paul off a donkey – well, it was probably an angel, but you get my point!

This life is like trying to untangle a fine silver or gold chain, the more you tug on it, and wiggle this bit, and slide that one through this hole over here—  the tighter the knot gets. Put it down. Your time is worth far more than losing sleep or feeling mentally weary … God left you here on this earth for a purpose. Sometimes I think our  purpose is to not be worried no matter what is going on around us – what a witness that would be!! 

I know awful things happen to people, they happen to me too. I have to drag myself around feeling beaten up and broken, and I crawl or stagger into His Presence. There are days that I simply have to insist that Jesus is bigger than the problem. That torment means the thief is on the premises – fight the thief. Don’t let him take your peace. Over the last few years Christians seem to have accidentally made experiences with God the criteria for relating to the Lord. No experience means God did not show up. That’s actually in direct contradiction of His Word. 

We all know that verse in Hebrews 13:5: ”Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!” When God says NEVER He means NEVER! As in not ever. He’s there, right there, with you, right now, whether you feel Him or not! 

Right now in OUR world, people are living in places where there is no water, no house, no food, and bombs are falling out of the sky. Families have been shattered. Grief has become a way of life. The thing is – trouble bashes on everyone’s door. But in the Western world we can get persnickety if we break a nail or we need to call the plumber. I am ill most days, hubby has all kinds of nasty pain in his joints, so ordinary things are extremely difficult to do. But we’ve found if we obey God when He asks us to do this or that the pain matters less than the joy we feel when we see God reach into someone’s life. 

When we were away we went to a market. There were lots of people. However, I dislike markets because …lots of people go there!! In a wheelchair you get handbags in the face, and people walk so incredibly irrationally you have to swerve or stop, and the footpaths are uneven and … and … most people talk to hubby not me. Apparently your brain falls out when you get into a wheelchair. Hey ho! A-ny-w-ay!! We stopped at a jewellery stall, and we talked to the stall-holders. 

The short story is this — that beautiful young Turkish woman owner rushed across the stall and gave me the biggest hug like ever! Boy that will put icing on your bun trust me! People are hungry for real – BE YOU! Bye.👋

P 3097 How to live.

/ DVH

“But He’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously.” Micah 6:8 MSG. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3094 Let’s smell good!

/ DVH

“God always makes His grace visible in Christ, Who includes us as partners of His endless triumph. Through our yielded lives He spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go.” 2 Corinthians 2:14 TPT. I mean … WOW!! How about that! Jesus made US, you and I, a part of His endless triumph! Then Paul goes on to say: ‘We will smell like Him to other people, just because we live for Him, know Him, and talk with Him.’ Devotion to Jesus has many forms. Mary released the smell of her devotion to the Lord, it was sweet nard in an alabaster box, she poured it all over His feet. The disciples left everything and followed Him everywhere. 

Here are some other versions of the same verse. “But thanks be to God, Who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him.” NIV. “In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, He brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life.” MSG V14-16.

Our Lord Jesus has been captivated by us, by our total surrender to His will, even when sometimes that was done through copious tears and clenched teeth! Yielding our will to His can be hard but our perfume of yieldedness contains myrrh – it is a bittersweet smell – and He knows and loves it.

Because of everything our Lord did for us, now we in turn, reveal and release Jesus’ sweet fragrance to Father God Himself – it benefits everyone around us wherever we go. We don’t set out to do it, it simply happens because of our proximity to Him. His life flows from Him into us, and from us to others. Now that is a really good reason to deal with enmity. All those things that drive schisms between the members of His body. If we are careless or rebellious we will begin to lose our sweet Saviour smell! 

His fragrance thrives on, and exponentially expands with true UNITY. And our unity bursts with His life! It is His beautiful oil of true harmony flowing between us. Oneness is essential to being able to move into all the things the Lord has for us. “How can two walk together unless they be in agreement?” Amos 3:3. Oneness is the vehicle that allows Jesus’ fragrance to be released. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are one, and Jesus made it clear, that our priority is to protect and keep unity alive between us.

If we wanted to make any perfume, we’d need a distilled fragrance taken from flowers, carefully mixed and layered together to make a pleasing smell. Then those flowers are crushed, and that fragrance is introduced to an emollient. This is either an alcohol base, or an oil one. The Holy Spirit is the Glorious OIL that carries the fragrance of Jesus out into the community. He wants to be the only perfume that we release, so we can enrich the lives of those who are around us. Not to mention anyone else who crosses our path. We have all probably experienced the sensation of walking down the street and following someone who is wearing perfume.

You know, each of one of us could wear exactly the same perfume but it will have a slightly different result. It all depends on who is wearing it, because our individual body chemistry affects perfume. In the same way – you and I will spread abroad the sweet smell of our depth of interaction with the Holy Spirit. Each one of us will be a bit different to someone else, but the underlying glorious smell is always Jesus!  He makes us smell so good to others because we have chosen to make Him our treasure. 

BTW, please let us remember that the Holy Spirit knows how to handle His own oil – He does not need us to pray it up or down! That’s treating Him like a commodity, rather than a Person. He is also our Treasure. It is His joy to see us delighting in our Heavenly Father’s loving approval. We, however, need to be vigilant and aware of our own shortcomings, because sin interrupts the flow of whatever He is doing. However, it is truly a tragedy when we make God’s gracious gifts into rules. Of course we need to be pure vessels of beaten gold to contain the glory that belongs to the Lord! BUT! Rules stop the flow of His oil, because rules lead to striving. So when things get tough, just remember, we are His chosen vessels, and yieldedness comes at a cost.

Some of us have been stinky selfish nitwits for a very long time! That’s ME not YOU, of course. Selfishness stinks and it ain’t pretty. It doesn’t matter how we feel, or even if we want to yield or not, we need to yield to His will His way, simply for obedience’ sake. Feelings can be overrated and we end up chasing them, instead of running after Him. The purity of doing whatever we do, with all our hearts – as though we were doing it for Him – cannot be underestimated. Obedience ushers in fresh revelation. Jesus did not want to go to the cross, but He obeyed His Father because He utterly trusted Him. I have found my attitude changes after I obey. 

In order to be His sweet fragrance in the world around us, we will need to meditate on everything He did for us. We are free because He paid the cost to give us freedom. Now we need to daily cling tightly to Who He is, and what we know about Him. The Holy Spirit wants to help us with that, so we can smell good! Bye. 👋

P 3082 I AM your oasis.

/ DVH

“Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to Me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis.” Matthew 11:28 TPT.

When I read this verse today the thing that hit me right between the eyes was that Jesus said: ‘I AM your oasis.’He didn’t suggest going on a 4 week cruise, or going to some spa, or theme park or even a Christian conference of some sort – the Lord says HE(!!) is our oasis. We have been misled by our feelings to think that Jesus only goes to conferences or turns up for revivals – He’s IN US – we take Him with us wherever we go! Ya might want to sit and think about that for like a millennium – I know I did – OK so it was 60 seconds … you caught me. 

You know I think we can be really bad at comprehending what the Lord is saying, most of the time. We either overstate it to the point of fanaticism and make it into rules, or we ignore it and hope He won’t mind. We can be so lax with our obedience that we only participate in extending our faith for minor things – like finding a car spot when we need one – or asking God to help us with our day. He wants to BE our day!!

He’s not an add-on. Faith steps are about things we can’t easily do by ourselves — and maybe we kind of step really quickly around things like submission, which is also a faith step. It’s like we think these things are beyond us … so we hope the minimum participation will do …”After all, Jesus knows I am weak!” That’s why He wants you to call on Him to be your strength. We go through this life trying to avoid problems or pray them away, He wants us to confront them with Him!  He longs to be our oasis.

It seems we have yet to work out that His motivation is not just to bring relief, but to usher in permanent change. Transformation of our hearts. Maybe we are hoping the Lord won’t notice because we are embarrassed with our lack of engagement with the things that matter … well guess what?? He knows, because the same Heart that tenderly watches over you, pays attention to everything else. Some problems can be solved by simply changing the way we live. Please do not misunderstand me, He is not watching over us to catch us out in our sins or errors. Instead He patiently waits and watches for us to turn our heads, even just a little bit in His direction – because He knows a better way. 

There is an easier way to live this life we have inherited from Him. But we will have to humble ourselves and submit to Him in order to fully participate in it. Everything in our world’s current view of modern reality suggests submission is not a good thing. Children don’t have to submit to their parents, wives don’t have to submit to their husbands, and nobody has to submit to anybody else’s agendas — unless they pay them well! Submission seems to be a bad word — but that word actually means we have a primary mission which takes priority over other things. Seeking His kingdom is primary – then other things get added on!

It is no wonder that we have left God’s Kingdom behind, it’s because His kingdom is a theocracy, not a democracy. Let’s daily remind ourselves that Jesus Himself submitted to His Father’s will. Sadly it seems that unless human beings can see that it BENEFITS them, they don’t give those ‘other things’ He wants to add into our lives very much attention. So many Christians have cleverly found and featured all the me-first benefits … because the bible tells us“to forget not all His benefits…” I am not sure this response is all He had in mind! 

Off-loading our burdens onto Jesus seems to be a gigantic benefit to me – but we will have to relinquish our anxiety, worry and fear at the same time. Personally, I can’t think of anything better than handing my awful pile of nasty impossible stuff to Him. However, what does He mean by – I am your oasis? An oasis is a place of water in a desert, or a place of refuge in a crisis — or even a place of refreshing. When you view that word this way it begins to make sense. The Lord is not talking about using His Presence like we would drop off our dry-cleaning and return to find everything neatly pressed and clean …He means in this life His Presence is our dwelling place.That’s an AIM – not a suggestion.

I like Ephesians 3:16-19. These 3 verses are great to meditate on because they show us what we are aiming at. 

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Being filled to all the fullness of God is another AIM. We need to remember ..these verses are a prayer … the Apostle Paul prayed it for the church at Ephesus. But the Holy Spirit Himself not only inspired it – He preserved that prayer in the bible for our benefit. Paul is praying for US too – every time you read it say Amen! And please –  read it a lot. Now we need to use our faith to believe that Christ actively dwells in our hearts, and we need His power to understand what we have been given! It is not enough to say ‘yes’ — we have to DO yes!

Then our roots go down, so deeply into His love we cannot be moved. This is how and why the saints of old gave up their lives and were martyred. They didn’t do it for an ideology, they did it because they had been internally changed, forever!! His Presence in our lives is our OASIS. Bye. 🥳