Plan

P 2382 Faith needs to shape how we look at things.

/ DVH

A renewed mind creates an environment for faith to be activated. But even so, we still need to go past renewing our minds — into acting on God-given revelations. Because our mind is not the source of faith – the bible alive within us and coming out of us, IRL, is!  We need a faith revolution. We need people who take every word that comes out of God’s mouth, seriously. Let’s start whatever we do, with the book!

Our God’s idea of faith needs to shape everything, even how we see any disasters in our lives.  Sometimes all we want is trouble fixed and everything AOK and sorted, so we can get on with what we really want to do! Did I say that out loud?? 😳 Most things we’ve believed in the past were validated by the way we read His book. We actively went looking for verses to prove our point, because we wanted life to be easy. So we found lots of verses that suited our theology, tied them all together and went with them.

Sadly we were reading the book to get stuff and be happy and stay happy! Instead of letting it teach us how to follow Jesus. For a number of years we rattled off ‘positive verses’ at each other and we went right round the ‘hard’ ones about dying to self. Unfortunately, so many Christians believers fell down this plug hole. We quoted things to and at each other, and waved those things at our Heavenly Father when we wanted something. That came under the heading — “God loves me and He wants me to be happy!” And off we sailed, into the sunset, waving these verses around, like some sort of good luck charm.

From now on, we need to look deeper into the book and digest what is in there! Jesus Christ’s life led Him to a Cross – but many of us think that we don’t have to follow Him there, because He already did all that for us. Really?? The bible is way bigger than our thoughts of gain. Meanwhile, did you know that in God’s way of thinking more than two things can be true all at once?? So here’s another different thought  — Jesus died to give us the power to live the same sort of life He lived. Sac-ri-fi-cial-ly. He died to give us the power to live for Him, doing whatever He did to tell others the good news. He lived with total dedication to God’s will, laying aside the charm and comfort of this life so that others could hear about God’s plan. That sure sounds like a cross to me!

Jesus consistently talked about the sort of faith that had difficult kinds of actions to go with it – stuff like forgiveness. Read the book! In the Beatitudes it says: ‘If your brother offends you … go to your brother.’ ‘Leave your gift at the altar and … go to your brother.’ You know as a younger Christian attending a lively church … I could never figure out why the road to church was not busy with people being reconciled. 

The same people who believed that God could do anything that they needed Him to do, didn’t seem to believe that reconciliation was important. Instead they simply avoided anyone who annoyed them. Or, as a last resort, they left that church. Here’s a fun fact – reconciliation is TOP of the Lord’s list. Christ started that list by what He did. He was an example for us. If we want to live a life of faith then FAITH needs to run the life we live. Not just agreement. The devil agrees with the bible! Check out James 2:19. 

If we take one or two, or even four verses that we like the sound of, and paste them over our lives, we are missing the biblical wider picture. That’s why we need to do more than read. We need to act on these things – practise them!. Let’s be careful of presenting one thing, or even a group of like-minded things as the only answer… when they are merely AN answer – one of many! Our God cannot be summed up in human words – He’s God. Our only response is to fall on our faces and obey Him. 

It is time to get rid of the selective weeds we’ve taken on board, the sort that can strangle true faith and total dedication to His will. Great verses taken out of context become a weed. If you don’t believe me then read Matthew 4:1-11, and watch with your own eyes … satan is trying to plant weeds in Christ’s heart, in the temptation in the wilderness!  

There is nothing like working with Jesus, doing things His way, to experience Him. Here’s a verse to pray over: “The people who love their God will be strong and do great exploits.”  Daniel 11:32. That verse is not just a suggestion – it’s a statement of fact! Daniel sure knew all about great exploits and his were very costly. Our faith shapes how we see things, so let’s look hard at what we think we believe and get rid of any weeds – and start reading and doing the hard bits to renew our minds. 👋🏻

“ …My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives His life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God Who loves me so much that He gave Himself for me, dispensing His life into mine!”Galatians 2:19-20 TPT

P 2363 Nothing can separate us ….

/ DVH

“So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are His lovers who have been called to fulfil His designed purpose.” Romans 8:28 TPT

While reading the above scripture it is worth our while to take into account the phrase “EVERY detail.” Jesus is so incredible, His redemptive work is so perfect and complete, that He can take all that rotten awful stuff we’ve done and work all that out for our good, and everyone else’s good as well! Well. What’s not to love about that? I am glad He took all that ghastly stuff I’ve done and bailed me out – He always has a wa-ay better plan!  

And as my mind is renewed I pray that I will see those things in you too!! This verse shows me that I cannot compare myself to you, because He is also working what is in YOUR life, together for YOUR good. So what’s happening to you may not remotely resemble what’s happening to me – even if it sometimes seems we share similar circumstances. 

Man, I’ve so learnt to hold on tightly to that phrase “continually woven together for good…!” That is so reassuring when it seems I’ve dug myself another dumb hole and can’t get out. What I can see when I read this scripture is that whatever shape I am being changed into, by His applied Grace, this means these things will fit exactly into whatever destiny and purpose He has in His heart for me. PLUS I will fit with whatever He is doing in you. 

At the same time this is where our fellowship will spring from – that weaving. Otherwise we simply talk to one another from our hopefully, renewed minds and emotions, and we are not building one another up in our most holy faith. Our shared passion for Him and His ways springboards us higher and higher and knits us together. Here’s a red hot tip for you  – a lack of real fellowship can easily mean one, or both of us are not truly walking in the light. The thing is, I can’t afford to think there is something wrong with you – it’s me that needs changing – what you do about your faults and weaknesses is not my business – you are here for Jesus – not my convenience. 

My hope is not necessarily in the removal of any of my difficulties, but rather it is about Him using my difficulties to shape me into His Kingdom plan for my life. Although in all honesty there are times I wish He’d tone that shaping down – a tad!! But it kind of changes the shape of everything that happens doesn’t it? It puts trials and tribulations in a different light. I need to practice looking at what is happening to me, and around me from that POV. Things like a grumpy in-law who has never really liked me. Or my boss who seems to actively seek out ways to make my life miserable. 

OR my teenager who WAS the most delightful child, so easy to manage and so compliant!!  But now, it seems like they have turned into devil spawn. 🙄 And now, this wonderful kid exists to pick holes in every area of my life. Now I can’t laugh right, or cook right, or drive right. Everything that happens between me and the kid is accompanied by grumbles, sighs and eye-rolling. Together with the kid’s dismissal of all the normal rules of well-mannered human conduct.  All the books say you are meant to love them with His love but you’re looking at them and … … 😱 !! Actually if it wasn’t your kid you might consider drowning it!

Be of good cheer, God will work all of this together for your good as well!  Just hit the “forgiveness” button and don’t take your finger off of it. Seriously.  We totally undervalue the value of forgiveness. We need to seek it when we are hurting someone, and give it when they hurt us. Forgiveness is powerful – IT SAVED THE WORLD. Billions of people were saved by one supreme act of forgiveness and unconditional love. Praise the Lord!

Our lives are His now. Now, other people cannot take away our ability to act like the Lord Himself did. It is always a choice. Choosing to live our lives His way is our demonstrated love toward Him. We live to love for Jesus’s sake and nothing we do, nothing others do, nothing that is thrown at us … can ever take His love away from us. 👋🏻

P 2350 Jesus, our perfect example.

/ DVH

John 15:26 “I will send you the Helper from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth Who comes from the Father. When He comes, He will tell about ME.”Whenever there is a problem, difficulty or hardship – God has an answer!  Let’s look more closely. The answer is always JESUS. 

Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit – His Helper! It is important to know that if the ‘voice’ you hear is not leading you to know Jesus better – then it is not the Holy Spirit. If that ‘voice’ tells you there is a short-cut or an easier way to go … guess what? That’s not the Holy Spirit. If that ‘voice’ tells you that you are going to be so-oo-oo important in God’s kingdom – that’s not the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t talk like that.

So Who IS important? JESUS is, that’s Who! Everything is all about Jesus. The Father has put everything we will need or we are going to need IN Him. That was the Father’s plan right from the beginning of this world. Jesus is the only way IN. He shows us the way forward, and we need to follow Him. Plus Jesus Christ is the way through whatever comes at you. Park on those promises.

Long before Christ was born Almighty God reached out to us through His prophets and leaders. Now in our time, God is telling us through the bible, that we can be strengthened against difficulties, instead of being bowled over by them. That’s what Jesus came here to give us – a God-sent way through hardship and difficulties. Christ knew that God does not leave us when things get hard and intense. Grabbing hold of that reality will stabilise and establish our hearts so we can hold steady in the middle of any storm.

In John 16:31-33 “Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning Me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with Me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting Me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” 

Now isn’t that fascinating? Jesus is giving His final instructions to His disciples and He says: ‘Guess what boys, it’s going to get HARD – but it is all good because I’M GOING TO WIN. You will all leave Me — BUT — He’s got this too!’ Faith is believing what Jesus Christ said, simply because He said it! The bible is not an opinion or a theory, it is a faithful recording of God’s interaction with other men and women who are just like us. Some things look disastrous but it is God working in our lives …He’s pruning!

Lastly, let’s quickly look at something Jesus said in – John15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” The Lord does not ‘prune’ us for nothing – He has a purpose. Pruning is God’s plan to develop more fruit, it is not punishment or desertion. We need to let Him prune away any stuff – even if it looks good to us. There are some things that will not add to our character and strength. This is when we need to use our faith in His goodness to hold fast to our beliefs. Pruning cuts away any extraneous junk that we’ve adopted to cope with this life. 

Who is going to be with us and hold us up while all this stuff is happening to us? The Holy Spirit will… He did it for Jesus and He will do it for us. He will bring what the bible says into our minds so we can hold on to Christ’s words when everything in our lives has gone utterly insane.  We can be at peace despite the chaos around us because Jesus knows the Way out … He IS the Way out. We must learn to recognise our Helper, He sounds just like Jesus did. Despite what is going on around us – or even TO us, our God doesn’t change.

This life is not meant to be an easy ride, because we are producing Godly fruit, and the people of this world have never seen or tasted that kind of heavenly fruit. So we need to live by faith that He is good no matter what kind of stuff flies about, in us and around us. This means that others can “taste and see that the Lord is good.”👋🏻

P 2344 Let go and LET GOD.

/ DVH

Just a few thoughts regarding ‘letting go‘ and learning to get out of His way. When the body of Christ fights, we don’t fight like this world does. We fight on our knees. Plus we fight by the way we choose to live and die.“For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energised with divine power to effectively dismantle the defences behind which people hide.”2 Corinthians 10:4.

We don’t need to fight like this world does – we have miraculous weapons. Those Godly weapons will tear through the enemy’s schemes and lies like they were made of tissue paper. Our overriding theme/weapon is LOVE that just won’t quit. It renders hate into sad oblivion. God’s LOVE won’t quit on us! It’s never-ending – eternal!

Today I want to talk about another interesting verse in 2 Chronicles 20:17 “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”There are times when our current battle belongs to the Lord. This kind of battle means we stand and wait to see what He will do. Oh, how I love to stand and wait and see what He will do next! It is so much fun! He never does anything the way I think He will, so that means I am able to glean more revelation about Who He is. I just love the surprise of it all! He loves to fight for us.

When I asked Him why this kind of battle is so important, He said: “It takes great faith in the face of overpowering adversity to DO NOTHING.” Well that made sense to me! I mean I‘m all for heavenly armies turning up and fighting on our behalf, but faith often touches the invisible and makes it visible. Faith is so much more powerful than what we can see. And faith that is motivated by love cannot be stopped. Even if you were to kill the person who is praying, love is eternal. So that kind of faith stays out there, waiting for the right opportunity to land. 

Did you know that one of Jesus’ prayers has not been answered? … SO FAR! Here it is – “I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are One—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You.’  First of all, can you see that the answer to this prayer is participating in a sacrificial relationship? We cannot keep our own pet way of doing things and participate in Oneness. Big clue about Unity right there! We need the fellowship of the Spirit. When we all walk with HIM oneness follows and HE is not divided. We need to let go of the things we keep declaring to be right and allow Him to fight for us on our behalf.

We have never seen the Lord’s prayer for total unity answered so far. It is out there waiting for the right time, the right people, and the right place. None of those things are fixed so we could easily be those people. The reason we are not those people is because we tolerate selfishness, our own opinions and desires, over other people and their ideas and needs. We keep straining out gnats unity-wise and letting through camels. 

Back to my original point. In some battles our job is to wait and wait, and wait, and … not take our faith back. Just like Jesus did. We do this in an undemanding way. We become steadfast because our eyes are fixed on the One Who cannot lie and He never changes. He’s faithful. If Jesus has had to wait 2000 + years to see one of His prayers answered, some of ours might take a while… He let the answer go, and He is waiting for His Father’s plan. No immediate answer to prayer does not mean we were not heard and He isn’t going to answer. HOLD ON!!

In the meantime, we get the opportunity to look carefully at our yet-to-be-answered prayer and with His help, discern whether it is for His kingdom or our comfort! Obviously things may need some adjustment, and sometimes – as it is in Jesus’ prayer for the Body of Christ’s unity – the answer doesn’t entirely rest on the pray-er. He doesn’t care who thinks what is right or wrong – He’s waiting for the fruit of the Spirit to show up. And for all of us to drop our prejudices and let them go.

There are times when Almighty God fights for us. He is not taking sides per se, it can simply mean one of us has stumbled into His purposes. AND … it can also mean that He is being just plain undeserved merciful. We need to start our prayers by letting go, and the Holy Spirit will show us what He wants us to do next. Remember when He fights for you, to watch … and be grateful. But get out of His way – OUR SOVEREIGN GOD IS COMING THROUGH. 👋🏻

P 2338 Live willing.

/ DVH

We’ve been isolated at home for 11 weeks so far … and the saddest part is that we love being on the road for Jesus. We like to go where He says to go, and talk to anyone we meet along the way. It is the most fun you can ever have, and we have been doing this over and over again for the past 18 years.

But the Lord has decided we need to be home, laid aside while we are waiting for this bone in my upper arm to heal. Hilariously, since then, hubby too has fallen UP the stupid stairs – TWICE. But fortunately he skipped the bouncing all the way to the bottom part. Our dog has also nearly had the same accident as well. Someone is coming to check out those stairs next week. Yay! Now our back stairs are against us!

What might be a holiday could easily feel like a prison. It’s Covid all over again. Now here’s some fun facts for you. We’ve interacted with so many people since we have been stuck in this Cul-de-sac of injury, even though we are, hypothetically, marooned. OT’s, administrators, PTs, doctors, radiologists, specialists, hospital clinics, government provided home assistance etc. These people, and the things we literally have to do as part of the healing process, have been thrust into our isolation. 

Of course there has been a whole lotta pain, no continuous sleep, and HEAPS of waiting waiting waiting in those very appropriately named waiting rooms! But let’s just skip over that part. With home help alone we have met a total of five different helpers, with three more government assist persons coming this week.These are all strangers that we’ve never met before, and each time we have had opportunities to talk to them about the Lord. 

Hubby asked one young man to open up his heart to Jesus last week, and invite the Lord in. He did. This particular young man talked non-stop all the time. The first time he came, I got so mad at him. He was completely non-compliant about the work he was supposed to do, and he argued with everything that normally happens. It was a total nightmare. I was so incensed by his lack of sensitivity in a hurting household. So … tada! JESUS SENT HIM BACK AGAIN! 😂 Goodie. Now we are praying for him and his life and having fellowship together. And only God can organise that …!

One young lady helper came from Burundi – which, BTW, is the poorest country in the world. Horrendous things happen there. We blessed her and her family with all sorts of stuff and had fellowship together. And another lady covered in tattoos is about to get married, so we had books and a bible for her. Everybody has been delighted to listen and take stuff, and our front door is like a revolving door. We’ve never seen so many people come into our house in such a short time before. 

I said all that stuff to paint a picture. First of all life never goes the way you plan it. Almighty God has His own ideas and He probably won’t consult you – or me either! It has been fascinating to see how something so painfully awful can be worked together for everyone’s good!  And I mean everyone. It seems to me that hubby and I are currently stuck in Jerusalem, and we haven’t been able to get to Judea, or Samaria, let alone the uttermost parts of this world! Anybody can live like this – we simply have to stop seeing other people as a service industry for our lives, and see them as people Christ died for. We need KINGDOM EYES.

All this has caused me to be more reflective, if our Christian lives remain undisturbed and we continue to live our life routinely, we can easily think that we are doing sort of, kind of, OK.  (See Luke 17:27) The same old same old is dangerous. When trouble comes and we are no longer ‘on top’ of anything, rather we struggle to be pleasant in unpleasant circumstances … and fail. That is when we start to understand just how deeply we’ve been lulled off to sleep. Business as usual is deadly for Christians.

Personally I found all sorts of bad stuff in me that I didn’t know was there – until somebody pushed the right button. I have also found I must constantly revisit my desire and intention to remain willing, in spite of my circumstances. Life is about moving – people who don’t move are often DEAD, and not the good kind of dead either! 👋🏻

Acts 1:8 “You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

2 Corinthians 11: 30 ‘If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am.’ 

P 2326 God always has a plan.

/ DVH

Exodus 36:3-7 “They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.” Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.”

When I read this my first thought was this – when is the last time we heard in church, on the tele, on Facebook, on some Go-fund-me page etc. ‘Don’t give anymore, we have enough?” Yeah, me neither. It proves my favourite theory… the line for ENOUGH always moves away from us. You know in the light of extra funds, Almighty God did not suddenly decide on an alternate plan, like maybe He needed to build a two storey tent/sanctuary just because those excess funds became available. He also didn’t decide to put gold-plated taps in the bathroom either! 

This shows us the Lord already had a plan, and that plan was to build a tabernacle that foreshadowed the one in heaven. (Hebrews 8:5) Remember? “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth,as it is in heaven?”

I think this story teaches us something about our Heavenly Father’s Character. Money, riches, excesses, are not an issue for our God. He is not greedy and He does not take advantage of people. Money is a very real issue for human beings however. We work hard for it so we think it is ours. In my opinion that is a big mistake – it says in Deuteronomy 8:18: “But you shall [earnestly] remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

This story in Exodus also shows us that Almighty God is extremely happy to re-distribute wealth as He sees fit! It is also interesting to ponder the thought that what the Israelites were actually giving to create that tabernacle … was not originally theirs. It seems to me that it is much easier to be generous with someone else’s loot! This stuff was the plunder they had taken from their Egyptian taskmasters when they left Egypt behind.

I love stories like this one. Mainly because it creates a whole lot of ‘why’ questions. Asking why is one of the best ways to get further revelation and go deeper. into Who He is. Why would God want Egyptian gold etc to be used to build a tabernacle to Him? Yeah. I dunno. My only thought is that God provided that wealth so He’s entitled to use it however He wants to. 

On a side note, sad to say, down the road it appears that the left-overs, the bit the Lord allowed them to keep, was involved in the golden calf debacle. (Exodus 32.) Aaron called for earrings, rings, whatever … to be given to him, because the Israelites wanted a God they could see, of their own design, and control! Meanwhile, I dunno how anybody could have possibly missed the reality of the Presence of  Almighty God, when there was a thick black cloud, with lightning and thunder on top of the mountain they were camped right next to … 🙄 …

Later on, they complain that: ‘God scares us too much – you go Moses.…!!’😶  Like, would you, could you, please make up your minds??! A-n-y-w-a-y!!! … Aaron then claims he threw all that left-over gold into the fire and a golden calf ‘jumped out.’ Sounds like a Pinocchio moment to me. And then the Israelites had a very decadent nasty time worshipping that thing. However it made pretty awful snack food later when Moses ground the calf up and made them eat it. Exodus 32:20.

It seems to me that the Israelites did not know how to manage what they were given. None of that gold was theirs and the portion God gave back to them was mismanaged into sin. He had a plan, a purpose, to build a place for Him and His chosen people to meet. But they valued immediate gratification and their own ways over His. They virtually said:  “We want a god we can see and we can manage all that by ourselves thanks.” 

Boy I was convicted by that particular thought alrighty! I have had it myself, when the road ahead of me seemed dark, filled with lightning, extremely thunderous and scary. And at the same time, I was so-o-o over whatever situation I am stuck in. This is the time when we need to cling to the sanctuary we have already made in our hearts, with the gold and precious stones He has given us along the way. In those moments we need to remember HE’S GOT A PLAN. 👋🏻

P 2314 It’s a Redemption story.

/ DVH

In the bible we have the clearest picture of our God and His desires for mankind. I can see redemption spelled out so clearly – over and over again. Destruction can and will overwhelm us, without our constant awareness of His glorious redemption. To women like Ruth and Naomi His redemption looked like Boaz. To the 2nd thief on the cross next to Christ, it looked like paradise was knocking on his door.  

In Exodus 35:4-9 there is another redemption story: “Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded:  From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze;  blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair;  ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood;  olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;  and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breast-piece.”

So what are these verses in Exodus about? Are they about the local desert and wilderness ‘Stitches and Craft Show??’ 😳 These guys were formerly slaves – they were beaten, starved, and owned by somebody. So where did they get such incredibly rich and costly items? They were given to them by their captors the Egyptians, before they left Egypt. God gave the Israelites favour, so they were able to collect all these riches. 

The point is not the riches, it is what the Lord did with them! Let’s just think about this, those precious materials were used to build a temporary house for God and man to meet… now that’s redemption! They were booty. The spoils of their captivity. God took the fruit of their captivity and turned it into a place of worship. 🧐 Think about it. He will do that for you and I. He will take the places of our greatest pain and loss, and make something so incredibly beautiful out of them – we will fall on our faces in worship.

I have two more illustrations. When Abraham went up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac, at that place of potential sacrifice, there was already provision. God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his precious son. On yet another occasion God provided a whale to preserve Jonah’s life – even though it was Jonah’s sin and disobedience that put him in that position in the first place! 

My point today is this – do not let past failures, or circumstances, or even captivities, rob you of TODAY’S DELIVERANCE. Our God ALWAYS has a bigger plan. And don’t be surprised when the Lord takes whatever you give Him, no matter how decadent, destroyed or even wrecked it seems, and makes something glorious out of it! Just like the tent of meeting the Jewish people crafted, under the Holy Spirit’s tutelage and guidance. God had a purpose for it all – a place where He and mankind could meet.

He will take our failures, or exhibits of our captivity and destruction etc. and use those things we are ashamed of … TO BRING GLORY TO HIMSELF. Just follow the Holy Spirit’s prompts. JESUS IS A ‘BEAUTY FOR ASHES’ SAVIOUR! Those seemingly disastrous things become the places where our faith leads us on into further, deeper trust.

“For Yahweh is always good and ready to receive you. He’s so loving that it will amaze you— so kind that it will astound you! And He is famous for His faithfulness toward all. Everyone knows our God can be trusted, for He keeps His promises to every generation!” Psalms 100:5 TPT

Those scars that are still on Jesus’ body are not marks of shame —they are marks of redemption. Our whole bible is a redemption story. The whale in Jonah, and the ram provided for Abraham, show us He will do whatever it takes to bring about His purposes. Naomi and Ruth show us nothing is irredeemable. That tent of meeting shows us He will give us favour, but He has a kingdom purpose for that favour. 

All these things reveal His character to us. Our job in the face of defeat, despair and suffering is to not faint but to use any and all opportunities to learn TRUST. Love the bible – in its pages are incredible redemption stories. 👋🏻

P 2305 HE is our hope. Not our circumstances.

/ DVH

Exodus 33:12b,13a.”You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favour with me.’ If You are pleased with me, teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favour with You.”

This is a fantastic prayer. We simply must put to one side any self-serving, ‘placing our order’ prayers like: “I’m praying for this,” or “You need to do this Lord,” or “could You please do this Lord?”  In favour of prayers like this one Moses prayed. Moses’ prayer puts Almighty God back in His rightful place – IN CHARGE. Remember …”Seek the kingdom first … then the stuff we need gets added.”

Human beings can struggle with biblical concepts. We love the idea, those concepts are exciting … it’s the practical everyday, minute by minute outworking of it that gets on top of us! Having our faith run our lives seems so extreme. Actually that very thought shows us how far we’ve drifted away from His plan. The kingdom life is a totally committed life. Think about your faith life like this … how would you cope if God changed your plans?

You see the reality of our new life is that “the Lord will have His way…” He wants to be with us and be a part of our lives. I cannot comprehend why people leave Him out. Why leave out the One Who made penguins, dragonflies, and platypuses?? People say things like, ‘why did God give me a brain if He didn’t want me to use it?’ He gave us a brain to use it in His service, and in our service for others. Not to swell up our own sense of self-importance.

We constantly need to refresh and remind ourselves as well as reinforce our personal desire to: “…proclaim the Name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! “The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He.”  Deuteronomy 32:34. He is perfect and … we ain’t!! 

We cannot be trusted by ourselves to ‘do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.’ Sooner or later we will all start blaming and shouting at each other and that is followed by all sorts of division, plus a whole lot of … wandering vaguely off into la-la land. And I don’t mean Los Angeles! We need the Holy Spirit’s input in our everyday lives – HE IS OUR STABILISING FORCE.

Moses understood the fact that sooner or later, without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, people stumble off into a wilderness and then they will turn around and blame GOD – and their leaders – even though they consensually walked off! I know we’ve all been transformed, washed by Jesus’ blood, but …at the same time we still are, present tense, being transformed and daily being washed! 

Without the Holy Spirit’s input, human beings can easily get arrogant and lose the desire to change. People enjoy being comfortable and feeling safe. We only like the kind of ‘adventures’ we plan. Being a Christian takes enormous courage, personal motivation, loads of action, and the sort of flexibility that is always prepared and willing to make personal sacrifices and life-style changes. You know, very few people just walk away from Christ – they slide away – one seemingly innocent bad choice at a time.

The thief’s greatest ploy is to steal away our confidence in our Father’s trustworthiness, love for us, and His goodness. It is incredibly important that we stop majoring on the loss or gain of material things, and start to realise the incomparably true value of our faith. Our personal faith and our corporate faith mean so much to Christ – He gave His life to buy it back from the enemy. Jesus has given us an opportunity to develop HIS kind of faith – the stuff that brings heaven to earth. And MOSES knew all about that! That man had a wife, a job, a home, relatives that respected him, as well as kids – and God asked Moses to give all that normal stuff up and go and save a nation!

Our circumstances can change in a heartbeat when God is our hope. Following Jesus is not meant to be boring! He turned fishermen into Apostles. 👋🏻

P 2161 God is devoted to mankind.

/ DVH

Isaiah 54:11-12: “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.”

There are so many times when we personally need to read and hear statements from the Lord like the one above. When this world and its troubles and sorrows overcome us, we need this kind of reassurance of His steadfastness from the bible. We are His city. This whole chapter of Isaiah 54 is so encouraging, it literally drips with His intentions and affections for us. 

Years ago, I studied a little on the subject of gemstones. Gemstones are amongst the hardest substances on earth, as well as being the most beautiful. Father God is telling us, in a pictorial language, that we may be broken down, and feel totally destroyed –  but He already has a plan to rebuild each one of us with the strongest and loveliest of materials. These verses are not just about decorating us with pretty things – He is expressing how valuable all of mankind is to Him.

God’s covenant of peace is a Person. Once, long before these verses were written down in the book of Isaiah, Almighty God carved His covenant into tablets of stone and gave them to Moses.  Now, He has inscribed His New Covenant onto a PERSON – Jesus Christ. “Though she … ( a mother, may forget her child) … I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands;” (Isaiah 49:15&16) Father God’s amazing love for us has been carved into Christ’s flesh, His very Being. Our God will never forget us, no matter how this life looks, or how difficult it gets. Because when He looks at us, He sees His beloved SON, Jesus Christ – A MAN! He sees the most beautiful thing this world has ever seen – His agreement with us carved into human flesh.

Father God does not look at things like we do – that’s why we have to change and transform our minds! Christ’s death and resurrection are a physical and spiritual reminder of the power and depth of Father God’s love. Human beings who feel passionately about someone, sometimes have that name tattooed onto their bodies. The mystery/miracle of Easter is that our God did this to Christ – to remind us both of the New Covenant. Christ’s Body is a legal contract between God and MAN. He carved the first contract into stone – He carved the second one into His SON. Jesus Christ is the document of Covenant.

Through Jesus Christ, Almighty God decreed His intention to have peace and reconciliation with all mankind, forever. These carvings will remain visible – forever. You and I made those dreadful wounds on Christ’s Body just as surely as if we had crucified Him ourselves. What we might see as an ugly abhorrent thing, God sees as a beautiful reminder of how much His Son loves Him, and how much They love US. That’s how serious God is about us, and the power of His word! 

Finally, I also love that these verses in Isaiah 54 talk about God’s compassion. Jesus Christ explained what compassionate love looks like when He told the story of the good Samaritan. Compassion is not a feeling, it is the practicality of helping someone in need. This parable is not just about someone being kind to someone else – Samaritans and Jews hated each other. In this parable Jesus is illustrating that while we were His enemies His love came after us to restore and heal us. God is incredibly dedicated to our restoration.

This life is full of things that batter and bruise us, however, those things are not sent by God – sin did those awful deeds – our sin or someone else’s sin. Father God has clearly revealed His passionate, committed love toward mankind. All He asks of His Son’s intended Bride is that She be equally committed to Christ. Each one of us is so important to God, He has promised to rebuild each one of us – with a beauty that goes way beyond mere words. 👋🏻