POV

P 3222 Consider …

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2627 He is always with us.

/ DVH

“When you pass through the deep, stormy sea, you can count on Me to be there with you. When you pass through raging rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through persecution like fiery flames, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you,…” Isaiah 43:2.

The bible says – Lord will be ‘with’ us. It does not, however, say that He will always keep us away from dangerous, difficult stuff. I think the reason the Lord does not say: ‘I will make it so you never suffer’ – is because “I will be WITH you…” is SO much better! The very best thing we can do when we are in dire straights, is to look for Him. Why? Because He said He would be there, that’s why! The body of Christ has become spiritually unfit – we stopped doing our spiritual exercises and started demanding God do this and that. That’s what sent the Israelites down the plug-hole!

We can see in the bible, that the fire of persecution could not touch Christ. He stood silently and faced accusation even on the way to the cross. satan couldn’t drown the Lord Jesus either. Even before He was resurrected, He walked on water. He knew Who was in charge of what He did and where He went  He was with those disciples on the water talking to them when they thought they might drown. He stood on the water outside the boat!

Almighty God respects our free will, instead of turning it over to our enemy – we need to remind ourselves Who we belong to. The best thing we can do when things go upside down and inside out, is to ask Jesus to be with us. In His Presence nothing on this earth can bother us – we simply must learn to live in His Presence. Jesus DID it! Kingdom things like grace, mercy, love, and peace etc. are bigger than trouble, they instantly exclude it. Stuff won’t go away – we will WALK RIGHT THROUGH IT.

God’s peace does not sort of kind of shoo trouble out of the door, anymore than turning on the light pushes away the darkness! When His peace is present HE is present. (God’s peace is a Person, BTW – the precious Holy Spirit.) If you and I switch a light on, the darkness instantly disappears. There is no contest between light and dark. One thing simply excludes the other. That statement is our point of faith. Despite how we feel – truth is always truth. Our faith is an ever increasing revelation of Who we know God to be.

The real secret to overcoming in difficult circumstances is to make Him welcome. Tell Him: “Holy Spirit You are welcome in this place” – then point to your heart. It is one thing to do that in church and completely another to do it when stuff starts happening. It’s a faith statement. We aren’t talking about a theory – one that works sometimes and doesn’t others. Jesus didn’t try to walk on water. He simply did it, as casually as you or I would walk up the street. The wind and waves didn’t bother Him one bit. Why not? Because ...“He was going to the other side.” That’s what He said and that’s what He did.

Even on this earth Jesus lived in another kingdom! That kingdom has a different POV than this world does. God’s Kingdom has His POV.“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], IN Whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].” James 1:17. Knowing God can’t deceive you despite the circumstances, is the place to stand. There is no “maybe” or “I hope so” in God’s kingdom. Everything is YES and AMEN. 

The Lord Jesus quite simply didn’t live in a place that included other possibilities. He took the time to know His Father and relate to Him. Just like you and I take a breath without even thinking about it, the Lord Jesus lived to do God’s will. As imperfect human beings we like to entertain other possibilities — mainly to explain why we are shrieking our heads off in a sinking boat, as it goes up and down in rough seas!

In heaven there is no place for doubt. Faith and Love rule. Our job is to bring those things down here – no matter what is going on around us. That cannot work if we don’t practise the skill of trusting God in all things – big and small. We need to immediately get rid of those thoughts that say: “God won’t help me”… “This thing doesn’t matter it is too small to bother Him about” … “I can’t.” I can’t but HE CAN. Dependance upon Him means we lean back into Him and trust He is Who He says He is.

A lack of peace begins in our soul. In our emotions, our thoughts. Fear grabs at us and we start to sink in our emotions and thoughts first. The reason we have to wrangle this or that all the time, is that we are living in the wrong kingdom –OR maybe we are trying to live in both! That means we end up doing the hokey pokey with our faith! When we live by His kingdom’s rules then His life flows. Remember, nobody can kill us without His permission. And Almighty God will not give permission until it is the right time. Why? “Because there is a TIME to be born and a time to die ..” (Ecclesiastes 3) 

Sometimes I want to say to people, take your earthly glasses off and put on the kingdom ones and just leave them there, and please, don’t forget to read the book!! His book reminds us of Who He is, and how much He loves us. He is always with us. We are not of this world … we are His Kingdom people. We talk about it, carry it, live in it, breath it, and do it – and if necessary – we die for it. Bye.👋

P 2193 Stand with Him. The view is different where the Lord is.

/ DVH

In today’s politically adverse climates, we dare not think that God is on my side, or, maybe He is on that other person’s side. I just want to state here and now, that the Lord God, Maker of Heaven and Earth is on HIS OWN SIDE (Joshua 5:14) … And the best thing we can do when things get difficult, is to take the time to step away from what’s happening to us, or even what we think we need, and ask Him to help us to stand with Him … ON.HIS.SIDE! Almighty God’s view of this world is different from ours – there is another reality – His. This is a key to coping when things are tough.

Some of you reading this blog today are suffering. It can be extremely hard to maintain your faith when everything around you seems to be so anti-God, or even anti-you and your personal POV! But these turbulent times are precisely the moments that we need to remember that we believe in God because of WHO HE IS – not just for what He might or might not do for us. “But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6. 

Christians have sometimes interpreted this verse from Hebrews from our own needs. We think that the word ‘reward’ means that we will get what we want, and when that doesn’t happen then we get extremely disappointed instead! I don’t believe that this is the only way to interpret this verse.  I think our Father’s idea of a reward is His increased Presence in our lives. He wants us to ask Him, when things are tough, for His POV.

Sadly we have strayed so far away from looking at this life through His eyes … His plans for us – which are “to give us a hope and a future” – that we can’t quite remember what being in His Presence does for us! His Presence clarifies things. More of HIM and His kingdom in our lives, is the reward we need more than anything else. He doesn’t see this life the way we do. Human beings often want pain to go away, but maybe that pain is doing something somewhere that we simply can’t see.

Here is a verse that impacted me in Psalm 46. “Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God.” TPT Psalm 46:9. Here is the Message version:“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at Me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” 

That line ‘step out of the traffic’ is brilliant!  I love it. When we are stuck in traffic we can’t think about anything else except how to escape from the stress and noise!  The Holy Spirit is saying here that we need to step away from those things that are putting pressure on us. In the Passion translation it tells us to “be still.” Stand still, breathe, and wait for whatever He will say or do next. Don’t be tempted to rush on to solve the problem by yourself. God is in charge of our time here on earth, let Him order your life.

At first glance, it can seem that if the Lord would only make the problem go away, then that’s the best answer! However, when this life overwhelms us, finding the Lord in the middle of our problems reassures us that we can make it through. Simply because there can be no worry in His Presence!  We need to see our lives through His eyes, that’s the key to standing on His side. When we let go of our agendas and let the Holy Spirit open our eyes to what is really going on, that’s when we are standing with Him. The right key in the right place can reveal His will. 

In the bible, Elisha prayed for his servant when they were totally surrounded by their enemies in 2 Kings 6. He prayed for this man to see the kingdom reality around them, because the other man’s fear had blinded him. Then Elisha did an amazing thing – he also prayed for their enemies to be BLIND – so the only people who could see that huge angel army were Elisha and His servant! Ya might want to think on that for a month or two – I know I will! 🧐 We have the power to see what is going on from the Lord’s view – He doesn’t hide Himself from us.

There is another reality around us that is often hidden from our sight. But the more we live in His Presence, the more this world has no hold over us and our eyes become attuned to what is actually going on in the Kingdom of God – instead of simply staring helplessly at the works of satan.  When we live like this, we see this life through faith’s eyes. Our job is to pray His Kingdom down here into this earth. Not for revenge, or justification, but for His will to be done. Step out of the noisy traffic of this life and be still. There is another reality. Bless you. 🤗