Pray

P 2509 What if Jesus lived next door?

/ DVH

“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” John 1:14 MSG

I started to think about this verse this morning and chew over it. Meanwhile, I also like the Passion Translation as well – I put a picture of that one at the bottom of the page. The way John 1:14 reads inspires me. However, in reality, Jesus didn’t actually just move into our neighbourhood – He came even closer … He moved into our physical house! Think about it.

“Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in you and Who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God;…”1 Corinthians 6:19. Imagine what life would, or could look like, if we took this verse seriously? The thing is … this verse is actually our new reality. Just because we can’t feel His Presence that doesn’t mean the verse isn’t true – it just means whatever He does is easy to ignore because we can’t see Him. We have to be determined to pay attention to Him, because we want to be dedicated lovers of Jesus.  

Here’s another big thought … your physical home is now His house too! Yeah. This is true whether we are renting or we’ve paid off the mortgage. The reality is, we work and slave and make a life for ourselves by owning things but, we actually own nothing. We can all go ahead and make grand plans for our stuff — that’s called making a will — but most inheritors can’t wait to sell Mum or Dad’s house for the money. Which is, after all, only a piece of paper that mankind has given value to! 

For me those things all come under a heading of “things human beings do that make no sense at all” — spiritually speaking. God says that in His book, like this: “… It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know He enjoys giving rest to those He loves?”  Psalm 127:2b MSG. You know, I can almost hear some people saying, “Well, it may seem useless to Him but I will get the sack if I don’t put in the time.” I hear ya! But what it actually means is this – Who are you relying upon? That’s the real point! Now we belong to Jesus, whatever we do, we are now working for Him. He gave us His life and we give Him ours.

Our financial circumstances can change in a heartbeat or overnight – Covid showed us that. This Psalmist is saying it makes no sense to slave your heart out, and sit up night by night worrying over how you will pay the rent or the mortgage. He’s NOT talking about being careless with your responsibilities, or wandering off to bed saying: “Whatever!” … and hoping that will do. He is talking about relinquishment and entering into God’s kind of rest. 

Almighty God’s rest doesn’t take effort. First we pray, and then we just hand stuff over and ask Him to help us do these things under His guidance. Then we carry out whatever He told us to do. It’s in the book, as well as in our hearts. Human beings like to think we are powerful, but the reality is that this life can change in a heartbeat … or the lack of one!

It is important that whatever we have, does not own us. When we are worried about our stuff, then those things own our time, as well as our mental, and physical effort. Maybe someone reading this is renting. You should thank God, that you don’t have to make sure the roof doesn’t leak, and the walls stay upright. That’s the landlord’s responsibility. Owning stuff can push our spirituality aside unless we are really prayerful and careful. My advice is this — hold whatever you have in an open hand. People, house, car, job … remember, we bring nothing here and we take nothing away. God has another way for us to live. He wants us to live trusting Him, not in what we can do. HE has no limitations.

Let’s briefly look at the ordinary people who are on earth right now, who are in the middle of a war or a famine. Everything they thought they owned is gone. All their clothes, mementos, personal stuff is gone in a heartbeat. And they come out of that awful situation grateful if their families survive. There are NO insurance policies in war torn countries. They have to rely upon the goodwill of those in other countries for help with food, medicine, safety. Now these people have to begin this life again … and their sense of safety within their own space etc. is gone. There is nothing like losing everything to remind us we own nothing!

Sacrificial giving is our new way to live, it is part of being His kid. Giving out of excess is a rumour, it won’t happen while we live in a an excessive, greedy society. The sun comes up every day for free! Those of us who seem to be living in some sort of safety, need to live gratefully, and prayerfully, and share with others who do not! You know if Jesus lived next door to us, we would actively see Him helping others. We can easily see Him living that way – it’s in the book! Bye. 👋

P 2507 The time has come to pay attention.

/ DVH

You know, sometimes I wonder if we have been so busy building, or maybe even re-building, our own little kingdoms … not to mention trying hard to look like good Christians … that maybe we have run out of OIL and we didn’t notice. Now satan has boxed us into inactivity. Lemme tell you a thing or nine … that box we think we can see, is a fake. Nothing can hold any of one of us captive without our permission.

Yes, I know it’s been hard at your house, it’s been hard at mine. But the reason it has become so hard is because we’ve kind of let ourselves get soft and flabby spiritually speaking. There have been difficulties flying at us like snow in a snow storm and they have been coming so thick and fast, perhaps we have not been able to stay in overcoming mode. Life got hard when Covid smacked us in the head, praise God – and now we need to wake up, or go under.

BTW, I said ‘praise God’ because we have been in a time of shaking. Christianity is not designed to be an established routine:  with Church on Sunday, bible study on Monday, prayer group on Thursday etc. Christianity is about an Army. An army can accomplish very little half-asleep on its feet! Our job is to defeat the enemy and our side already won – because the King of glory is in us.

I am greatly cheered by the story of Gideon. It starts with a guy whose faith is about a quarter of an inch high, yet he became the God-delegated leader of 32,000 men. Then the Lord Himself whittled those men down to 300. 😱 Almighty God carefully walked that man into such an incredible place. He did that to show Himself strong to His children. Meanwhile, if anyone had told Gideon that’s where he was going, I think he might have freaked out!! However this man draggled along, willingly and sometimes unwillingly, following God’s instructions, step by step – despite his own fears and misgivings.  

In my heart I know that right now, we are in a time like it was back then for Gideon. Almighty God has a way through our apathy and inactivity – He hasn’t caused it, but He will definitely use it! However, we will always need the Holy Spirit’s leadership. Father God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us with difficult times, as well as our own weakness. “And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.” Romans 8:26 TPT. 

Praise God, right at this moment, the Holy Spirit is praying for all of us, and boy does HE know how to pray! Hallelujah! The bible tells us that when we are weak, then He is strong. Nevertheless, our obedience is essential. Gideon had to obey God and send men home, some of them for the most ridiculous reasons. Father God also called Gideon a mighty warrior, and that was something he would never call himself. Our God sees us differently than we see ourselves. He has no problem with faith! He knew what Gideon could do when he was empowered by the Holy Spirit.

You and I may feel that we have little to offer the Lord … we can’t preach, or teach, or prophesy, or heal the sick, or raise the dead… or so we think! But Gideon shows us that an obedient, weak person in God’s hands has far more power than they can imagine, because God is on their side. You and I are never alone. We walk with the One Who made the moon, stars and universe. We know His Name and He knows ours. 

Our problem also has never been about power, He gave us power. Our problem is about per-cep-tion. Just like Gideon. He had no idea Who he was dealing with, but as he was led along by the Holy Spirit, that man saw miracle after miracle. The God of miracles is waiting for you and I to rise and be strong in the Lord, and in the power of HIS MIGHT.  If Christians started to live their lives the Way Jesus lived His, purely for our Father’s will … we’d see what Jesus saw …transformation, souls saved, and miracles. 

It isn’t who we are – it is WHO WE KNOW. The time has come to pay attention and begin to practice taking faith steps. His power is let loose through our obedience to Him. Bye 👋

““Ask, and the gift is yours. Seek, and you’ll discover. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Matthew 7:7 TPT

P 2503 What to do when the roof falls in …

/ DVH

First of all, let’s be totally clear … I’ve had way-too-many-roof-fallen-in adventures. The following are a series of helpful hints I have found that are useful. They have helped me, and sometimes they have even stopped me from laying on the floor sobbing. However, there are definitely times to lay on the floor and sob;  so give yourself room to weep over any catastrophe, loss, or injury of any sort! Don’t be so spiritually stoic you bury your feelings.  “There’s a time for every purpose under heaven … … a time to weep.”Ecclesiastes 3:4a.

Pray. Yeah I know, most of the time we start out by trying to minimise whatever the damage is – but we actually need the King of all Glory running disasters – not us. Plus we should call someone else asap, and rally the troops …the praying people we trust. The bible says:“From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee – when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2. Amen.

Basically that verse is saying, no matter where I am, no matter what has happened to me, He is my ever-present help. Call on His Name. Yell, ‘help help Jesus!’  There is a place, right beside our precious Saviour, that is so much higher than whatever it is that has just happened to you. Do take a blanket, you may need to intentionally live there a while! We want to stand right next to Him, right next to His heart, so close we can hear Him breathe. There is peace in the middle of a storm next to Him. This is a good time to not pray once, and then quit – “…pray without ceasing!!”Amen.

And let people pray for you. This means saying yes to anybody who asks you, ‘can I pray for you?’ When we are overwhelmed with trouble, we need all the prayer we can get. This is not the time to avoid Sister Susie who prays two hour-long prayers! Let SS have at it. Also, when the problem is way to big for you to handle, and that includes fielding all the caring, multiple phone calls, I suggest you appoint a ‘point person.’ Someone you trust, who can organise food, help, rides, baby-sitting, give-out limited updates, and whatever else you need. 

Keep saying to yourself, “God loves me. He’s got this, it hasn’t surprised Him…”“For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’”2 Corinthians 4:17. “Please fix my eyes on you Lord!” Amen.

Next I recommend reading the Psalms. Seriously, reading the Psalms and listening to spiritual songs, is like sweet clear water in a desert place. It’s a place where somebody else had words that were spoken out of great pain – as well as worship. In times of trouble we may run out!  At the same time, we need His Word to inspire, revive and refresh us … not instruct us. That’s a big tip for anyone who is trying to help someone else when that person’s life has just imploded. The idea is this: the wounded person is almost drowning, they need someone else to offer them a life-preserver, not a life lesson! And I really don’t care whose fault it is that their ceiling fell in! 

Let’s just get them to the hospital … to Jesus, first! Pray in tongues if you don’t know how to pray, and you are able to do it. The overwhelmed parties are also going to need people to help them, practically. I have seen mighty gifts of the Holy Spirit manifest themselves in my own terrible times. Some of us have no idea that practical help is also spiritual. Stephen and Co in the book of Acts chapter 6, show us that practical help is spiritually beneficial. 

Now to things that don’t help at all. If the wounded saint doesn’t want to talk, then don’t push them. Privacy can become very important when you already feel incredibly vulnerable, because your life just fell on its head. As their friend we need to simply pray as the Lord leads us, and if we get any insight – don’t share it, write it down instead. If they do want to share, just listen. Don’t problem solve unless the person asks you to. 

Sometimes a difficult matter can become much clearer after the event. But blame, or supposed fault, will not help at the point of impact. Love looks like support, not a lecture. If you don’t know what to say, then say nothing, or …“Weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15. Someone’s life, or family disaster is not an appropriate place to be wise … it is a place to be supportive. 

Please note:  these things work inside the church and outside it. I pray the Body of Christ realises our greatest gift to the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet is to treat them like we would like to be treated. Pray for anyone who needs it, love on them, help them! Father God does not see two categories — those who are saved and those who are not. He sees His kids! Some of them are lost, and some have come home, but they are all HIS. Bye. 👋 

P 2445 Have you got the wrong driver?

/ DVH

“Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection.” 1 John 4:18 TPT. Now that’s what I am talking about … having the right driver! Pause and think on: ‘love never brings fear!’ 🧐 

Today I want to talk about allowing the Holy Spirit to drive the ‘car’ of our lives. It is good to stop and prayerfully assess what is behind some of our thought processes regularly, because all kinds of sneaky Pete things can hide in places that we cannot see. Unfortunately, sometimes we can take our thoughts very casually. The answer of course, is to run our thoughts by Him.

After we have given our situation to Him – the secret to overcoming those things, is to LEAVE THEM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. Refuse to pick stuff up again – unless He gives you specific instructions. Then you should carry them out! Tell yourself: “That’s that thing I gave to God and He is acting on my behalf.” Once you have handed stuff over, don’t start trying to figure it out. Leave it with Him. That’s what trust looks like. Make room for time with the Holy Spirit when you are reading the bible, that’s how we renew our minds. Simply reading the bible does not do that. Pray, wait for answers, and then act on what He says. If He says do nothing – then do nothing. 

You know, most of us learnt our thinking patterns before we met Jesus — little babies do not have filters that can keep out fear. Fear can also be handed down from one generation to the next. Things like over protective parents, absent parents, disinterested parents — all these things can create situations where fear will take advantage of us. Obviously parents try very hard to avoid those kinds of scenarios – I know I did! But kids pick up on the darndest things and what frightens one will make another one laugh. Fear is sneaky, it takes advantage of innocence and trust and our minds go spinning off into mental situations that actually don’t apply. 

Like the above scripture says: the antidote to fear is His LOVE. I cannot stress enough how important it is for His love to go from being a theory, or even a pretty thought, into being something we can cling to when the whole world is madly swinging and swaying and nothing seems to be where you want it to be. His love needs to undergird everything we know and do… because God’s love is always constant and He loves us consistently. The river of His love flowing toward us never ever alters. We must get rid of the idea that answers to prayer prove His love toward us. His love is established by what He did when He sent His Son Jesus to die. It is clearly documented for all to see in the bible.

Fear can be a paralysing emotion. For years, certain bodily symptoms would send me into fear. Fear of pain, fear that I would not be able to escape from it.  Even fear of being trundled off into hospital!  Sometimes fear can even be ruling our lives;  yet we can be totally unaware of it. Someone might say: “I am not afraid of heights” … But they don’t go anywhere near the edge when they are in high places, or look down. Another person might have more than enough money to manage their lives comfortably, but they live in severe restricted conditions and refuse to spend a penny unless they absolutely have to. That’s FEAR!

If we are afraid, and we know it, the antidote for that malady is to ask, and keep on asking, for a real revelation of the love of God. Make this subject for study, every time you read the words “God loves you” …highlight them. MAKE A LIST. Read it often. Keep deliberately adding to those revealed truths you have. We can never have enough insight into how powerful and all encompassing God’s love is.

Obey what He tells you to do. We can do nothing without Him, and fear will restrict us from stepping into this new life He died to give us. That includes fear of punishment, fear of loss, fear of error, fear of missing out , fear of being cheated or mistreated, fear of losing self… all of these things can rob us of the certainty that God loves us so dearly and nothing can separate us from His kind of love. 

We must not beat ourselves up when we are afraid – that’s called compounding the felony!! It is a huge mistake to tolerate fear, and hide from what it does to us internally. The verse above gives us the diagnosis of where we are with fear: “Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection.” Keep walking toward His love, and choose the right driver for your daily walk with Him. Bye. 👋🏻

p 2429 Bless others and be generous.

/ DVH

“Those who live to bless others will have blessings heaped upon them, and the one who pours out his life to pour out blessings will be saturated with favour.” Proverbs 11:25 TPT. Boy that verse paints a great picture, especially at a time like this, when things everywhere are so difficult. You know, when things are tough we can tend to look the other way, and hope any other people who are suffering, will look after themselves. There’s another way to look at tough times. “If it is this hard for US, what must it be like for THEM?” 

I want to be clear right at the very beginning of this blog – generosity is not just about money, or goods etc. or service. Being generous and blessing others, these are heart things. Things we voluntarily do to enrich someone else’s life. This life will never be about who has the most – it is about who loves the most. Jesus told us when we do this stuff we are doing it for HIM. This means anything we do for others is not related to their relationship to us. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance we care deeply about what happens to strangers. It happens because His love wells up inside us, and we start praying He will show us how to help.

Sometimes living like this means we will text or phone someone just to see how they are doing. It means becoming involved in the day to day issues that many people face, but doing that…without taking over. Blessing others means offering support, and letting the other person know that they are not alone. It also means not storing up our wealth down here on earth, but instead we share it with those who are less fortunate – and Jesus says that is storing it up in heaven!

It also means spending time on our knees, as we hold up someone else’s plight before the throne of God like it is our own issue. God’s love in us does not stand back and wait to see what will happen next. Nor does it wait to see if it is going to be needed. That’s because His love is not afraid of rejection. Jesus was always incredibly generous with His time. He sought to bless others, simply because it is a part of His nature. As we follow Him our goal is to become a people whose generosity increases.  

We need to continually ask Him for His help so we can make practical and caring suggestions. We do that because in times of trouble people have enough to cope with, and thinking up something for you to do to help me, when I’m drowning, is too much work! Plus that isn’t actually helping!! The only thing that kind of action helps is our own conscience. “Well I tried to help them, but there didn’t seem to be anything I could do.”  Suddenly it is their fault if they are going down for the third time, because they couldn’t think straight under pressure!

Suffering people need somebody to lift the rubble of this life off them, and stop their proverbial bleeding. Somebody who cares enough to take them into their hearts until that injured party can stand up again. Love looks like something. In things like this it looks like commitment! Generosity, and blessing others looks like something concrete.“Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds.” 1 John 3:18 TPT.

Blessing people is not just restricted to helping those who cannot help themselves or even people who have little or no resources. All kinds of people can be spiritually and emotionally poor. We can open doors for the spiritually hungry by loving them in spirit and action. In prayer, words, and also practical ways. Being generous toward other people is also about the way we view what we actually have. Is it ours … or is it HIS? Do we bless the people we know and like, or will we help anyone? A life poured out for others is a life well-lived. Jesus modelled that.

Sometimes our time given to someone else includes weeping with them. Then we pray. One by one we hand all the things that are concerning that person back to the Lord, without preaching at them, or imparting condemnation. Always remembering that we are there specifically to bless, and we want to bring forth “An apple of gold in a setting of silver” — not a baseball bat and a lump of coal! 

A generous person who blesses others is selfless. Their aim is to leave the other person better off than they found them – closer to God and each other. Our generosity with our time, and care, as well as our finances can utterly transform someone else’s life under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It opens inner doors. 🤗

P 2421 The saga of the queue.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

I Hear His Whisper … hold nothing back from Me…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2398 To really live, we must die.

/ DVH

Absolutely everything depends on how seriously you and I take what Jesus said! “For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].” Mark 8:35 AMP.

Salvation is not just a one time event, where you make a decision to become a Christian and that’s that. At the time of that commitment, we might cry a little … or a lot, depending on our response … but this moment is the beginning of our understanding of what Christ did for us all. After this moment then we need to begin to fix the broken relationships we have. Plus we start to pray about tithing, and regularly attending church. Maybe we also go to prayer groups or bible studies. These are difficult but still attainable life-changing things. Sadly many Christians stop right there. 

However, salvation is a PROCESS – not just an event. That process involves the transformation of our lives and it takes a lifetime to bring it about. As we enter into it and God teaches us His ways — we will be changed. We won’t pray, walk, talk, think, or speak the way we did before. Not because of rules or traditions, but because the bible itself changes us. This is when we start to understand that our old nature was taken to the cross when Christ went there – we deliberately choose His ways. Now we want to live the way He did, for God’s glory. Jesus Christ came to earth to die for humanity’s sins, and He also left us an incredible legacy.  A new way to live.

Hubby and I have been married for 35 years. Knowing him has changed me heaps. I laugh more than I used to, despite the difficulties we face daily. It is not that he is hilariously funny … sometimes he tells the worst jokes(!!!) … but in spite of that, his humour evokes a happy response from me. Knowing him and how he thinks, has changed the way I view this life. You could say his life has influenced mine.

Some things that I used to panic over, I have learnt to dismiss or leave alone. Hubby has taught me something no-one else ever taught me … it is possible to stay in love with one person for the rest of your life. However, always liking them … meh! Some days that’s a whole other story. 🙄 But ongoing, fully-committed love is actually possible from a human POV, if each person is prepared to die-to-self in the process. Forget the whole “Oh that’s just me, I’m just like that” rubbish – marriage is about two people becoming ONE. Adjustment will be required.

Now, if another person who is like us can teach us such important stuff – then imagine what the Lord God Maker of heaven and earth can teach us as we get to know HIM. This is the real point of salvation – it is about getting to know SomeOne … and as a result we can progressively learn to rely upon Jesus in all kinds of circumstances. This is how He has taught me, personally and authentically, how wonderful He is. I experience Him, His thoughts, His ways, as I interact with Him in my prayer time, and by reading the bible, and when we obey Him. 

However, if I limit my interactions with Him, and live my Christian life spasmodically, in and out of what His Word says … I will end up with a limited view. He won’t quit on me, but I am distancing myself from Him. That’s when our relationship will become stunted and stiff and lack spiritual life. By engaging in this growth process, I have become aware that this relationship can be costly. I have had to give up my ideas and attitudes about this world and the people in it. Here’s a couple of examples:  before I met the Lord, I saw some people as enemies – but Jesus sees potential for a loving relationship. At other times when I am afraid, and try to hide or run away, He stands with me as I face whatever it is. He helps me conquer my fears. 

Father God’s view of love can seem upside down to what human beings think. Eve thought – “its just a bit of fruit and it looks OK – here you try it  Adam!” She thought her own wisdom was enough. King Saul thought looks and presence would put him over, as a king. But God wanted a man who trusted in Him, not appearances. Solomon thought that many wives meant He was a very important king. He ended up going the wrong way after those wives influenced him. Goliath thought being bigger, stronger and overbearing would give him victory. So God sent a kid to kill him with a round stone.

When we shrink God’s ways into a shape that suits US, we are making a god after our own image. Jesus Christ came to show us that He could live life as a human being like us and still have and maintain a God-obedient love-filled life. We simply need to continually study and obey God’s Word under His guidance, and let it change our minds and reactions. Then He will make that word alive inside us. This means to really live – we will have to choose to die. 👋🏻

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 NIV

P 2397 There is a WAY to walk.

/ DVH

“In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.” Ephesians 4:1-3 MSG

Don’t these few verses in Ephesians really nail the issues facing us all? Firstly we need to find our road, then we walk … and then, well, I’m sorry Apostle Paul, but some of us aren’t UP to running … so we take the car! … But … good thought! 🚕 Meanwhile, if we happen to think what OUR pastor says is tough… reading the bible is revolutionary.

Hubby and I have to carry 8 chair raisers when we go on the road, because modern chairs seem to be made for three year olds to use as a climbing frame… Or for people with much younger knees. Not for older people whose knees are mostly ageing nicely. Older people have knees that go “Snap Crackle and Pop” like Rice bubbles. We carry these chair raisers because getting me out of low set modern furniture is like watching Captain Ahab try to drag Moby Dick out of the water. 🐋 It’s. Not. Pretty. 

We also carry heaps of pillows with us, because most places don’t have that many, and I currently need to sleep almost sitting up. I used to sleep on my right side until …  …🤕💥!!! In our travels over these 17 years, we have found all sorts of amazing, hard-as-a-rock beds! Piously, I sometimes remind myself that Jesus Himself slept by the road …then my evil twin self reminds me that He was 40 years younger than me at the time!  

We carry more water in our car than the local dam, because I can’t drink tap water without getting some bug or other. Yes, I use my faith, and yes I’ve tried drinking the tap water 🙄… a-n-d … previously I’ve gotten Giardia, as a bonus buy! So now we use avoidance, because Flagyl antibiotics ain’t fun, they create other worse things. Immune-compromised people have to learn to compromise, and God didn’t make no stupid people!

The first thing we do when we get to our destination, is pray and ask the Lord what He wants us to do for Him where we are. Amazingly, time and time again He tells us separately, what He wants us to do, and then when we share … it’s the same! That gets me every single time. 🙌

The manager of this establishment, a young lady, was delighted with the butterfly keychain we gave her. And hubby gave her two of his pictures – she also took bibles. We had a lovely conversation about her finding a guy like the one in hubby’s painting … the picture is above. Apparently this surfer appears to be her type. And as she said … you never know…?? Meanwhile, a surfer in a red T shirt? Good luck with that —-that’s like sticking a sign on saying ‘free shark bait.’

After that we settled in, and later, as we were having a shower … the toilet exploded. Well… it didn’t really explode … but it did a good job of trying! It started spraying and belching its contents all over the room, all over the floor and up the walls. I was in the shower at the time and for some reason … it must have been the Lord .. we both found this sight hilarious, as we took shelter and watched… Until we had a brain-wave and put down the toilet lid! The splatter hit the mirror four feet away!

The plumbers on the bobcat digger outside, had done something dumb to the plumbing. And our unit, and the one next to us, were affected. The poor manager was so upset because she had distinctly told them not to DO anything to the pipes. Fortunately… neither of them were surfers with long hair in a red T shirt. It seems there are slim pickings for cute intelligent guys in this town! 😱 Meanwhile that smell definitely lingers …

The way to walk with the Holy Spirit, is to take faith steps. And yes, sometimes things will test your faith.  These steps come one at a time. You say yes to going when He asks you – that’s step one. You pray and make plans, and wait for His input, that’s step two. You go prepared to bless people however He says – step three. And then stuff happens and you face some test or other – that’s step four. And, step five, you tell fear and grumpiness to go take a hike! And the last and final step is give thanks you weren’t sprayed with toilet water! There’s a WAY to walk.👋🏻

P 2394 Releasing His Grace.

/ DVH

Forgiving someone is simply the starting place for the process of releasing Grace into a sinful atmosphere. We ask the Lord for His Grace, and then we release that God-given Grace toward the person who has sinned against us or offended us. This is a deliberate act, using our faith. Most of the time we probably won’t feel like doing it immediately – but immediately is definitely the best time! 

However, I’ve found that the memory of whatever happened to me, can come up again and again. So I need to release His Grace again. I don’t have to forgive again, I just need to release more Grace toward that person. We step into the flow of the Holy Spirit and, living with His Grace toward us, we don’t step out again. Grace is like air, it comes in and goes out.

When we go to the cross and confess our sin of judgment or whatever, and repent, we are reminding ourselves that the cross of Christ is our source of endless eternal Grace. No matter how hard I try, I cannot forgive someone who sins against me, in my mind, or even my feelings. I need to use faith to do it. I ask the Lord for His help and then I deliberately pray and release that person from my judgment. I know I personally have a tendency to steer clear of people who hurt me. That’s not GRACE … it’s avoidance. BTW, the more you hold resentments against others the more skilled you will become at finding fault in them.

Now if I think about a bad thing that has happened, EG …’they did this, but I didn’t deserve it’…and ruminate over what happened, then I can easily rehearse myself back into the same state that I started in – or even worse. Instead I must go back to the cross, and Him ask for His Grace, and repent for digging up someone else’s sin. This needs to be a daily habit, because some bad attitudes sneak up on all of us, and we end up 200 kms down the wrong road without even noticing it! We need to acknowledge other people’s sins, then forgive them, and start releasing Grace every time we think of them.

We have been saved to be His GRACE dispensers. That’s what healing is – God’s Grace toward the sick. It’s what wisdom is, it’s what the power of God IS. We embrace the companionship of the Holy Spirit and cherish Him by our obedience. Grace is God’s unmerited favour over our lives, and His people can release that power toward others by forgiving someone else who doesn’t deserve it. Jesus set that example. But we cannot manufacture this stuff without humbling ourselves and admitting our need of it, first. Grace is heaven’s currency.

Transformation occurs when we walk in, and value His Grace for us, and through us. Instead of making our own needs our priority. If we choose not to participate in the flow of His Grace we are actually holding other people captive, because God gave us the power to release them into His hands. (John 20:23)… That power is designed to flow through us. We become acquainted with the power of the Holy Spirit when we live this way – we can’t, or won’t live this way of ourselves, but when He is in charge, we can.

Personally, I can’t live the life I currently have, without utterly relying upon the Holy Spirit and His Grace. Most people I know don’t think about stuff the same way I do. We simply do not gather information the same way. God’s way of Grace is the great undergirding that brings us all together. Outside of His Grace I know that I am probably going to get clunked upside the head by someone, or something or other, and spend a week trying to simply stand up again so I can keep on walking with Jesus. I’ll probably tread on someone else as well! And, if I am not paying attention to what matters, I will fall right out of Grace into judgment. Then judgment picks up resentment and that leads to bitterness.

The good news is Christ overpaid our debt so we have a limitless supply of Grace. What do I mean by that? Let’s start with the obvious. I don’t mean that we can do whatever we like, and live however we want to, ignoring God’s wishes and His instructions in the bible! That is treating God’s costly Grace, disrespectfully and irreverently. We have more than enough Grace to give away, not to horde or misuse for our own agendas, pettiness or deliberate sin.

His Grace received into my life is the beginning of a production line. It produces the kingdom of God in me, and releases His kingdom toward you.  It facilitates a better relationship between me and God, and me and you! Grace washes us both clean, so we can live God-conscious lives instead of sin-conscious ones. Part of the function of this Grace production line is that it becomes the new way we live, as we practise it. We automatically release it to others, and that Grace flowing into and out of our lives, continually washes us. It is much harder to be proud when you know that without His Grace you are sunk! 

Finally, Grace produces gratefulness. It is an equaliser. Everybody needs it. It will produce the kingdom of God in our lives, if we choose to live and walk in it and work with it. Here’s a huge clue that might help you, so you can step into the flow of God’s Grace – if you roll your eyes, or grind your teeth when you see someone – you need His Grace to help you. Releasing undeserved Grace to others gives us balance, we know full well, at any minute we will need it too! 👋🏻

Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

P 2387 God calls us His riches.

/ DVH

“I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know Him through your deepening intimacy with Him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of His calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that He finds IN US,His holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him to the place of highest honour and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!” Ephesians 1:17-20.

Did you know that because the Lord has all of us in His family, He considers Himself wealthy? He doesn’t care if you and I are fat, skinny, short, tall, good looking, extremely spiritual, or not. The bible says He counts US as His wealth. Now that’s something worth thinking on isn’t it? It shows us His heart toward us. I’ve prayed that God would illuminate the eyes of my heart for myself for years, because I know how easy it is to be distracted by this world and become as thick as a plank to the deep things of God. But everything we have ever needed or wanted we will find in Him.

We human beings concentrate on what we will gain from Him loving us, but we need to pause and look hard at what He says HE has gained, because that information is a sliver of insight into His Ways – Who He is. His incredible generosity. Before we were ever His adopted children, He looked at us with love and saw every single bit of our true potential in Him and He claimed US as His inheritance. Father God sees Himself as rich simply because we are His family. I find that astonishing! Especially because I know many people have been rejected and reviled by their earthly family. 

Today, the things we think make us as human beings rich, are mostly material things. In the Western world we accumulate ‘stuff’ a lot – it makes us look quite wealthy. Perhaps we are monetarily rich, but spiritually poor because our worth is measured by accumulation and achievements. But our God has chosen to love us simply because we are His family. If you and I are looking for acceptance, incredible acceptance flows freely from His throne.🙌

Paul is praying here in Ephesians for all of us, that we would understand what we have that was freely given to us. Sad to say, human beings can get so stuck in the things we are not – that we forget the most important thing of all. We are His and, it is only by His Grace that we know it. He chose us. Our worth is not in money, but in the fact that SomeOne so incredible – dearly and tenderly loves us. We have His love, and grace upon us … that very fact will take us into eternity. We’re loved and cherished by the One Who made the world, then He went further than that and saved us … then He went even further than that and He owned us … He claims us as His relatives. His kids. How amazing is that?

I think that realising and appreciating what we have already been given helps keep us content in a discontented world. Discontent rumbles around this world daily … my team won, your team lost. That guy got a promotion, I didn’t. That kid got great marks, I didn’t. Maybe this is why so many people have gotten into huge debt. Discontentment with the norm grabbed them and they want to escape it and prove to themselves they are special.

We are special because we are special in His eyes and that doesn’t change. Father God hates sin, not the man He made. We are made valuable by the fact that the God of all the Universe loves us. The value of the price He paid, is an indication of the depth of the love He has for us. When Jesus Christ died as a MAN, He gave us all worth.  

My point is this: fancy all of us working so hard to get something we already have! All of mankind is made in His image. You and I were His idea! I believe this is why the eyes of our hearts need to be DAILY enlightened. When we get saved, we are incredibly grateful for it … but then, for some reason, we do not park there. We move on. All I want to say today is – go back to the place where you first understood His salvation and stay there. We must have an appreciation for His sacrifice, not with our heads but with our hearts.

There is a part of us that needs to continually gaze at God’s love hanging on that cross for the world to see – and not stop doing it. It is a good thing to relive our gratitude for what He has given us, every single day, and enjoy our new found love in Him as it grows. It is in the light of the cross, where our real place in this world and the next is made clear. We don’t have to be special to this world’s eyes, we are God’s riches because we are the saved ones. “Oh, what manner of love the Father gives that we may be called the sons of God!”  We are His chosen riches and I pray we all know how very rich we are because of all He did for us.. Bye 👋🏻.