Proud

P 2976 The difference.

/ DVH

There is a difference between who we really are, and who we think we are, and it is extremely useful to know the difference. Our self-perception is often based on self-deception. That is, we can’t bear to think badly about ourselves, so under pressure we hold ourselves away from the Lord and other people and frantically make excuses. We even revert to childish answers. Whenever you notice that – don’t excuse yourself, ask the Lord to show you what is actually happening. Go on to read the bible, wherever you are normally reading it and expect answers. Then act on what you read.

Let’s look at Peter, he very kindly shows us what a human being looks like! Jesus said in John 13:34 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” Simon Peter asked Him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.”Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for Me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

The Lord knows the true blueprint of who each one of us is in reality, and He has freedom for each one of us. As I see it, we get into enormous trouble the minute we decide that WE are old enough to know who we are. There is no transformation in that stance, only roadblocks. After that we stop praying about things, or won’t consider change. We are selling ourselves short of our Glorious Ideal.

Unless we are prepared to choose God‘s kingdom as our yard stick, and not our own opinion, we will become stuck. And every subsequent return of our childishness is like cement. When opportunities come up for change and we refuse them, or excuse ourselves, we are hardening our hearts against the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Change is scary but it means I choose to actively hold up everything in my life to the light and say: “is this what Jesus wants for me?” I stop excusing myself and I no longer tell myself that this is just who I am. 

I treat my personal preferences like I would treat sin — carefully and thoughtfully, specifically, without beating myself up about it. Repentance is not beating yourself UP – it is agreeing with the Holy Spirit’s diagnosis of our hearts and doing something about it. If my attitude involves other people then I go to them and confess my fault. The bible tells us we are to confess our faults to one another, and I have found that one question helps me do this. I ask myself ‘is this love’ the way it is explained in the bible.

My own idea of love will not do, because I will probably excuse myself and blame YOU!  So I don’t stop there, then I ask myself: ‘would Jesus think it’s love?’ In other words would He do it or say it? If the answer is no … then it is time to repent, like I said above. I think we excuse a great deal of aberrant behaviour because we think it’s a personality trait.

Somethings have been adopted as protective mechanisms from when we were too young to understand what we were doing. I call those things Button A —  sadly, our world explodes if some dumb schmuck presses Button A! If you try to tell the exploding person about this phenomenon, they will deny it exists. For them it has always existed. Only the Lord knows how and when to deal with stuff like that and we are always on His learning curve and timing. We also can’t stop participating in His processes simply because changing some traits about ourselves seems to be uncomfortable or impossible! This is the place where we must actively learn to press in – the plus side is we learn faith in the process. 

It is not good to make excuses for our behaviour and continually use the past and the way we’ve been treated, as an excuse. Everybody has a story – and our story isn’t going to be graded by helplessness and sincerity! Sadly, when we live like this, we are limiting God‘s capacity to be ALL He is in our lives. He won’t just barge in and take over — that’s what free will is all about!  Instead He will give us more and more opportunities to choose differently. I have found that if I get the same sort of situation occurring over and over again, in my life… God wants me to pay attention to it.

Jesus is the Limitless One, so He is our benchmark. Just because we are afraid of the unknown, or anxious or proud, that does not give us a reason to stay where we are. Our yielded life is our contribution to our heavenly calling. Our God is kind, loving, merciful, generous, He is not looking to punish us, instead He wants to teach us His Ways. So when things get hideously sticky and ugly, and I can’t stand it, I remember that Isaiah taught me that: “He will not break a bruised reed,’ (Isaiah 42:3). Then I reassure myself that things may seem hard but He will not break me — so I put my faith in that verse, by choice, and hang on. I know from experience it may get bumpy for a bit. 

Sin is not terminal for us, someone else paid for it, and it is part of our faith walk to believe He did. There is no longer punishment for our shortcomings – there are, however, limited opportunities for change. We need to put aside childish reactions even if I reacted that way yesterday! And put on the new self, and we live our lives always willing and ever ready to change. Because the difference between who we think we are, and who we really are… can only be truly resolved by the One Who knows us intimately, and chose to pay for our sins. Bye. 👋

P 2959 Thank God for the brethren!

/ DVH

Our God is always amazing, and so are His kids. However this week has been just plain terrible at our house! My 97 year old Mum was diagnosed with cancer out of the blue. She has been merrily making plans to reach 100, when she had a hiccup and was bundled off to hospital. The tests they did showed that she is actually very ill.

When someone is 97 you really don’t expect they will live forever, down here, but the finality of that diagnosis was completely confronting for me. She’s as cheerful as ever, if not slightly confused, but able to communicate quite well. On the other hand, I’m not at all cheerful about it. Yet at the same time I have been thanking the Lord over and over again for helping us to restore our relationship into something that is much better than it has ever been before. Fortunately, thanks to modern medicine, so far she is not suffering.

This is one of those situations that you don’t know how you will feel until you get there. Yet I keep giving the whole thing to the Lord, over and over again. The result has been that everything seems OK — and then it isn’t — and I never know when “it isn’t” is going to turn up!  I’ve been struggling with the seriousness of the situation, and how to help her and do whatever is necessary. So I take it back, worry over it, try to figure it out — then I give it back to the Lord again. Only to take it back ten minutes later. Double mindedness is appalling, it has a high cost in mental health!

I really do credit any semblance of sanity I have right now to my family’s prayers, and I include my brothers and sisters in Christ in that statement – they are definitely my family too. We cannot ever underestimate the power of intercessory prayer on our behalf. Yesterday, I saw it powerfully in action, again, regarding ongoing damage to our home. Cyclone Alfred messed up a lot of people’s homes, there was flooding and major damage all over the place. If that happens to be you, you have my prayers and deep sympathy. At our house that extremely unfriendly weather system caused a floor in one room a whole lot of damage. The problem is not the damage, which will be fixed … eventually… 

…the problem is getting it fixed! Plus the 4,000 proposed ways to do it. Then comes paying for it! Our insurance company trotted out the whole ‘existing problem’ clause, so that was that. Picking one of the many ways to go ahead seems to have overloaded my brain, which keeps skiving off into grief. Fortunately my dearest hubby is brilliant and steadfast, and he has prayed extensively about this situation. Under any circumstances, two really are better than one! I don’t usually write much about stuff like this, but I fell headfirst down a figurative mine-hole and I have quite simply needed other people’s prayers to deal with my mental and emotional responses, because I just can’t manage this stuff without Jesus.

I decided to share these things here, because this is the kind of scenario that can derail us. Simply because it is unexpected. And to be perfectly honest with you, I’m so sick of the whole “I’m fine” Christian-ese stuff we all feel obligated to cough up. So I decided to drop the positive attitude facade, and just be honest with you. I’m NOT fine … but I know He will get me through this. One of the things I wanted to say today was, when bad stuff happens – don’t be too proud to ask for help.

Today I have a bit more clarity, and I’ve been able to surrender everything that is going on to the Lord … and leave it there. Hubby has come up with a great plan, and he has been just marvellous with my mother. You know, sometimes it is not what has happened that gets you, its the overwhelming varied endless advice, and never-ending meetings and discussions. 

I can’t imagine what I would do if my mother had not made her own wishes clear. Nobody wants to hear “not to be resuscitated’ over their parent, no matter how long they’ve been alive. My brain gets it, but my emotions have been screaming: “You’ve got to save her.”  Plus even though a flooded floor is minor in comparison, it seems major right now because of the endless conjecture on how it can be fixed. I have been reduced to taking one minute at a time, because my thoughts and emotions have decided they do not have to consult me about anything!

Two days ago I was crying in the dentist chair. It hurt, but it wasn’t that bad! When you are already physically depleted by ongoing health issues, these kinds of battles batter at your faith, and planning a funeral was not on my agenda! So here I am, with His strength as the ONLY source in my weakness. Plus I am very grateful to the people who are currently holding my arms up.

Lastly I would like to ask for forgiveness if I have hurt anyone while they were going through something that overwhelmed them to the point of despair. I honestly didn’t completely understand how quickly the ground can go from under your feet. “Even when bad things happen to the good and Godly ones, the Lord will save them and not let them be defeated by what they face.” Psalm 34:19. Bless you guys, you know who you are! 🙏

P 2844 Into these times!

/ DVH

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. …”2 Timothy 3:1-17.

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful— for He cannot deny Himself.”2 Timothy 2:13. WE SERVE A FAITHFUL GOD. That fact never changes. He is looking for people who will believe in His faithfulness. Sadly, the verse above in Chapter 3, reads like today’s news! How scary is that? And then Paul says to Timothy “… avoid such people!” I mean really? HOW? Join a nunnery?? That’s the thing about the bible, it has contradictions in it, and we desperately need our Helper to sit with us and explain His book. He’s the Author and He knows what He wants to tell US as individuals. Don’t just read what others think … ask Him yourself … then insist.

Our bible is a unique book – it’s not just full of instructions, it is chock full of God’s words, there on the page for you and I, every single day. What I hear Paul saying is this: “don’t pick up this world’s ways of thinking, doing and being.” And my thought bubble goes like this: “I will definitely need to hang around with the Holy Spirit, more than I hang around with this world’s ideas of what life is meant to be like.” Speaking for myself, that’s a tall order! I am stuck inside all day – and I’ve exhausted all the Big Bird meets Bambi movies. Sigh. One thing is for sure, I can’t do anything He wants without His help.

I permanently need His assistance for my mind to dwell on things that are good right and profitable. However, at the same time I have also discovered that a lot of supposed ‘Christian stuff’ makes me cringe. It’s like eating a terribly sweet icy pole … total brain freeze! Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that Christians can’t make Spirit-friendly movies unless they are being led, step by step by Him. And I don’t just mean that He inspired the movie maker – I’m talking about Him inhabiting what is said and done right throughout the movie! Otherwise our clever ideas make the church look weird, and a le-etle bit soft, and wimpy …! We need His power present, everywhere. In every industry, place of employment, schools, hospitals, trains, planes and automobiles! And love is the vehicle we travel in. 

At the same time, when Jesus shows up people are instantly affected by His Presence. I’ve seen that happen with my own eyes. Our job is to invite Him to come with us. Then we listen, then we obey!  People start crying their eyes out. They say: “I don’t know why I am crying.” And we tell them: “That’s Jesus, He’s here, He wants to talk to you because He loves you.” Neither of us are clever, or insightful enough to touch and reach the lives of the people we meet everyday. That’s the very thing Paul is talking to Timothy about – we must see, for ourselves, that this world is in a desperate way, but not condemn it. We must reach out. We need His guidance, direction and help – because our God cares about everyone.

I think Jesus is saying to all of us today: “Don’t go anywhere without ME.” The Holy Spirit is our filtering system, so we need to learn to run everything by Him. I believe that through these verses the Lord has given us a glimpse into this world’s future, to help us understand the times we are in. These times have not taken Him by surprise, Paul wrote about them nearly 2000 years ago! Are we in the end times? I dunno! I’m not that smart. I just know that my life will end one day, and I want it to count for His kingdom. 

I may never meet some of you guys this side of heaven, but I write this stuff in the hope that you can hear His voice through mine, and that will make you thirsty and hungry for more of Him. Living this life from day to day, going nowhere – except for making money – is the total pits. I exhort everyone I meet to yield to Him because that’s the way forward. In my heart I know that the coming generations are going to go so much farther than my generation will ever go, and do things I have never even dreamed about. Remember, the darker the darkness, the more HIS light shines. 

Just don’t be afraid to share what you know about Him with someone else. Who knows what that person will remember if their ceiling falls in and this life betrays them? Our trembling little faith-steps give the Holy Spirit something to work with! Maybe they will remember someone telling them that God loves them so much, in moments of quiet desperation. We’ve been born here, into these times, to be blood-bought containers of His love, visible illustrations, of His love in action. We show other people, what Love looks like, what Love sounds like, what Love acts like.

These are the days we can give glory to Him… wherever we are, whatever we are doing. Christ was GRACE under pressure – He died for us so we can be grace to others, no matter what is going on around us.

Bye …👋

P 2826 Anybody can choose to come.

/ DVH

Luke 2:8-20 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Matthew 2:9-12: ”After the Wise Men had listened to the king, they went on their way. The star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them. It finally stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the Child with His mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures. They gave Him gold, frankincense and myrrh. But God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different road.”

Matthew 2:3-5a “When King Herod heard about it, he was very upset. Everyone in Jerusalem was troubled too. So Herod called together all the chief priests of the people. He also called the teachers of the law. He asked them where the Messiah was going to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied.“

I wanted to give three different examples from the bible today of 3 different types of people that sought out the Christ child shortly after His birth. Let’s look at them one at a time… 

First – the local shepherds going about their normal routine. They were doing what they had always done, day after day. I call this group … the smelly people. Not many bathrooms out in those hills, and no shower stalls either! These men lived their lives outside the camp, providing for those who lived inside the cities. 

“What was life like for shepherds in Jesus’ time? They were in daily contact with dirty, smelly sheep, their manure, their blood from cuts and scrapes, and the insects that buzzed around them. All of this meant that shepherds were almost never clean enough to worship with God’s people in God’s presence. So they were generally treated as outsiders.” (Google) The very first people outside of Mary and Joseph, that were chosen by God to worship His Son were unacceptable by their society’s standards. That makes me think! How about you?

Group number two: the kings! Or astrologers, depending on which interpretation you look up. Personally I think a king can also be an astrologer. These three very rich, brilliant men were most probably Gentiles and unbelievers, they were the intellectuals of their day –  they may have been Persian. Matthew 2:1-2.“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.”

These Magi are powerful, but little-known strangers. They were so important, and so unusual, that King Herod himself heard that they were in his area and he sent for them. Their gifts for the Baby were not just prophetic, but extravagant. And yet these important, learned men were prepared to lower themselves, and go to a little house on an ordinary little street to find Jesus, the newborn King, and worship Him. They came to worship an infant.

“The Magi recognized God’s special presence in the baby Jesus. Astrologers like the Magi believed that a special or unique star (like a comet or meteor shower) in the sky was a sign that a Special Person with special significance in history was being born.”. (Google… again!) These men didn’t smell bad, their clothes were refined and beautiful, instead they smelled of spices and perfumes, and they rode everywhere. Most people in those days had to walk. 

Last of all came King Herod. He obviously believed the prophecies the Magi gave him, he knew what he was doing , otherwise why would he have ordered the death of so many tiny male children? Matthew 2:16: “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” 

This man was powerful, but he was threatened byan infant, yet he already had everything that most people would have dreamt about! He was chosen to be in that powerful position by Rome, and that meant he had whatever he wanted, when he wanted it. A palace with servants, fine clothes, perfumes, baths, great food and wine … Plus he had a powerful place in the community. But his response to Jesus, was to kill Him, because he saw the little baby as a challenger to his authority under Rome. Herod could have chosen to protect this child, instead he chose to try to destroy Him. I think that this was his opportunity to bend his knee, and he chose to oppose God. 

Three different groups of people, three different responses.  Right from the beginning, at the birth of Jesus – anybody could come to worship Him. Some travelled a few miles, others travelled for days, and one never left his throne but he was told too! Here we have three different responses to the King of heaven and we see what Jesus Himself taught us:  the poor are welcome, the rich must bow their knee … and the proud are doomed … unless they repent.

God has room for everyone at the cross – the choice is always ours. Everybody deserves to hear, no matter how they choose to respond.“The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, believers) say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take and drink the water of life without cost.” Revelation 22:17. 👋

P 2785 “To each one of us …”

/ DVH

In the bible it says that the Lord Himself gave gifts to the church … read these scriptures along with me: “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He took many captives and gave gifts to His people… …” 11-13 “So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7-8,11-13. We don’t have to wait for our birthday, or Christmas! Jesus has given us all gifts to help us grow and know Him…NOW!

“There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people. The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all.”1 Corinthians 12:4-7.

“If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other. 

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable.” Romans 12:7-17.

Today, I want to say, loudly – that, despite how you might feel, you have a gift. Actually you could easily have more than one of them!! But don’t ask me what they are, it took me a while to figure out what I am here to do! This Grace the Lord has given me to help others, has also helped me to feel that I have a place within the Body of Christ.

Many Christians have excused themselves from being activated for His kingdom, on the grounds that they are not worthy, or clever enough, or gifted enough, or they don’t know what they are supposed to do, or they don’t have time and they hope that the Lord understands! However, we all need your contribution. You don’t have to be an evangelist standing on the back of a flat-bed truck, you simply need to live a life of Love everywhere you go, towards everyone you meet, and be prepared to give an account of the hope within you.  That will stretch everyone’s faith and your gift will rise up as a result.

The thing is, this New Covenant we share is an agreement between us and the Lord – it’s a promise that we enter into between Him and us, and it is binding. (Read the book!) Jesus covered our sins with His blood, so we can be free to live the life God planned for us to live … and it is never too late to start. Jesus deliberately provided us with SomeOne Who will always help us and never leave us. SomeOne Who will teach us His ways, and help us with the process of transformation. It’s the Holy Spirit.

One day, not long ago, I woke up and realised that my complete spiritual poverty,  is my strength.🤔 So today, the Lord asked me to remind you of your place in His Body by using His Word. The Holy Spirit wants you to know that there is a place in His plans for you. Sometimes, for a small group of people, that is a place that is seen, and for many, many, many others, they will remain unseen. But He has promised to touch us all in extraordinary ways, with supernatural gifts.. I look forward to the day when the vast, unseen multitudes of ordinary Christians step into what He has for them.

So today, I just want to encourage everybody reading this, He wants you to participate in His plan in the lives of those people you know and influence. He needs you to be you. Who you are, because of His Presence in your life, will reach others. Last of all, I want to use my favourite vehicle, the bible, to pray for you. I am totally convinced He will answer these prayers because they rely upon His faithfulness, not on anyone’s ability.  

“I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!” Philippians 1:6 TPT. “And I pray that He would unveil within you the unlimited riches of His glory and favour until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with His divine might and explosive power.” Ephesians 3:16 TPT.“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24. Amen. God gives gifts to each one of us. Bye. 👋

P 2764 Don’t be afraid to fail.

/ DVH

“A person may have many ideas concerning God’s plan for his life, but only the designs of God’s purpose will succeed in the end.”Proverbs 19:21 TPT. In other words, we don’t have to plan our lives – we can simply let the Lord do it for us! Our society is really big on personal success stories – but when we live a life of faith, it can be easy to become afraid that we might have missed God. So we wander off, despondent, out into the wilderness. Feeling ashamed of our fear. Maybe, we even feel protective over the Lord and His good Name, because if we make a big mistake we could bring dishonour to Him, and His Ways.  

First of all, God is not scared of the wilderness – Jesus went there on purpose! Secondly, He can protect His Own Name. Our job is to use His Name with reverence. The Lord has sent many a great person into a wilderness to test them. My advice? Stop! Climb under the shadow that is cast by the Cross and …breathe. Quiet your soul.  Make yourself a cup of something you like, and just sit. The busyness of your mind won’t help you. The third thing is this, remind yourself that He can look after His own Name, and remember to repent for being faithless. Then ask the Holy Spirit to stretch your faith in Who He is, and how big He is,  and go and do whatever He told you to do. Feelings are the antithesis of faith.

Now if what we want to do is sheer, wilful disobedience – then we need to humble ourselves immediately, repent and remember to resist the devil. Our Heavenly Father is the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things ON the earth and in the sky – He can get us out of any dumb place we walk into. Keep your focus on Him and use your energy to block your ears to satan’s lies. Then start bringing into your mind the many people in the bible who got it wrong — just don’t use that info to continue on into further disobedience! Loads of people missed God’s will and it is recorded in His book. The Lord rescued them simply because He is a good God and He loves His kids. We need to believe in His goodness! 

Meanwhile anybody who doesn’t want God anymore, will not give a flying fig whether He wants them, or not. Simply bear in mind that we are exhorted not to test Him. That’s called honouring and reverencing Who He is! Remain humble, and let Him work those disobedient things you chose to do, together for your good. And do what you can to make things right with the people you’ve hurt. Get down on your carpet, and stay there until you completely comprehend the mistake you’ve made. Some times disobedience comes from FEAR, we feel we must control things. Repentance is always good, but we need to be delivered from fear.

Here are some names of other wayward people, to help you with your search … try Gideon, David, Samson, Jonah, and Peter. Human beings make mistakes, we are famous for them! Sometimes they are huge, life changing ones. God is ALWAYS bigger than OUR mistakes. Listen:“For I am the Lord, I change not; …” Malachi 3:6a. His attitude of redemption will not change until Jesus finally rolls up the world. Our loving obedience is the sweetest gift we can bring to the Lord, but let’s remember that we are not perfect, we can be sincerely wrong – often! 

And … sometimes … even wilfully wrong! I’ve gone on both of those roads, and the Lord is so faithful, He still stayed with me, He does not give up on His kids. Otherwise, why do we pray so hard for our loved ones who have wandered off? We inherently already know that He is good! Remember the story of the lost lamb? The Shepherd valued that lamb so highly he left his other valuable sheep and went looking for the little lost one. He’s a good shepherd!

The Apostle Paul was a murderer – God used that man’s crimes against His kids, the Jewish nation, to show Paul how big GRACE is, and how comprehensive Christ’s death was! God’s Goodness can do amazing things. We underestimate its value at our own peril. It is nothing to do with us or whether we are appealing or not – it’s HIS Grace. It’s the goodness of God that put an angel with a flaming sword, at the entrance to the Garden of Eden. I believe that angel was put there so Adam and Eve could not get back in again, and eat from the tree of eternal life. Mankind would have been eternally lost if we had eaten from that tree.  

Sometimes our confidence can be in our own ability to perform whatever God has asked us to do. Forget that idea. Remember, our God knows what is coming next! Jesus reminded His terrified disciples in the boat in the middle of a storm, that He had already told them they were going over to the other side. And … they did go to the other side – eventually! He didn’t tell them there would be a storm in the middle, because His purpose was to go to the other side. Besides, a bunch of them were fishermen they knew how dodgy that lake was. That’s the time faith grows.

We must put our confidence in GOD ALONE. Anything else we can come up with, is just wood, hay and stubble. One day that stuff will be gone. Our ability to perform – or not! Simply doesn’t come into it. God has used a donkey on other occasions. It is not good to be so proud of who you are, and what you can do spiritually, that you stop seeking His wisdom, His Ways. Let’s continually live to seek to know Him better. We cannot even afford to rest on our spiritual gifts …  instead we rest on WHO He is.

We are in the process of learning to live this life, the only one we have, to learn His ways and follow our leader, Jesus. The Holy Spirit is using everything to get us ready for heaven. so don’t be afraid of failing… some of the very best humans fail … failing can make you a kinder, nicer, more compassionate, tolerant human being. Bye. 👋

“Before you do anything, put your trust totally in God and not in yourself. Then every plan you make will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 TPT

P 2689 We gotta get in the flow and go, go, GO.

/ DVH

Today I thought it could be useful to follow up yesterday’s blog and revise what unending love looks like: It is clearly explained in I Corinthians 13:1-8. We can’t know if we have it, or even if we are pursing the right thing, if we can’t recognise it!!  First of all, unending love is a love that just won’t quit!  Look we can analyse the word love, by saying this means this type of love, and this one means that …until the cows come home … but His love is experienced as we further His kingdom.

The point is for us to operate in the flow of His Love, and until we start stepping out in faith and practicing that, we will only know Him with limitations. When we act on our faith we step into the flow. Our God is a God of action. Read the book! To serve Jesus and others, we must take risks – on purpose. Every risk we take won’t always produce fruit, or a happy experience. But when we walk with the Holy Spirit, walking the way Jesus Himself walked – we are totally relying upon the Holy Spirit to take us through. As we do that we will get to know Almighty God in a unique way. Intimately. We literally walk a mile in Christ’s shoes!

Now let’s look at what His unending love IS NOT. It is not a tool to showcase our spiritual abilities. As our precious sister Heidi Baker often says: “the way UP is DOWN.” I pray ‘lower still Lord’ as often as I remember to do it. I realise that I must willingly humble myself, and understand that any enemy attack is an opportunity to take me to a lower place. A place where if He doesn’t help me I’m sunk. We all need to be stretched to become bigger.

Meanwhile, it goes without saying that I tell satan to take a hike, but in front of our Holy God I humble myself. Like Paul said: “not that I have already accomplished that but I press ON!”  In my mind this means that maybe I’m not good at it but I’m not going to stop my pursuit of Him. I want to know Him. Not just in the “gee I feel blessed today” moments, but to know Him so well that I will always rely upon Him.

Over to the verses above:“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship THAT I MAY BOAST, but do not have love, I gain nothing…”

We need to know His love to practically combat the temptation to become important in this world’s eyes – that temptation comes because we want to feel good about ourselves. But the above Graces are His gifts, they are given freely to us, for us to freely bless others. Without His active Love these wonderful gifts can be corrupted by our own needs to be seen and appreciated. Next the Apostle Paul tells us exactly what God’s love looks like:

“…Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails …”

If we want His kind of love we are going to have to put away this world’s self-centred idea of love.The sad truth is, the world’s way of thinking means I need everything working out for my own benefit, to prove to myself that He loves me. Instead the Lord and I get to share an experience of His love in action upon someone else’s life. We are the designated pipeline that delivers the Holy Spirit’s grace, and grace and love flow as we draw on those things to further His kingdom. Love takes risks, grace facilitates it. The more you go the more it flows.

That stuff we call love down here on earth, doesn’t have the substance or the stickability to survive this world’s despicable onslaughts. But His love is unstoppable! Unfortunately my human love falls in a heap most of the time when someone hurts me or life gets hard. That’s how I know I need to keep pressing toward the mark. I will have to pursue this kind of love, and repent when I miss it!

Colossians 3 also has a fantastic love description of His love in verses12-14 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

This scripture shows me that I must PUT these things ON by choosing to actively use my faith. Just like Peter did when he stepped out of the boat, onto the water! Faith is an action word. It exhibits God’s glorious qualities in places that have never experienced them. Living like Jesus did means taking risks for other people’s sake, using my faith to rely upon the Holy Spirit to help me. We gotta get in the flow and go, go, GO! Bye 🥰

P 2632 Will you yield?

/ DVH

When I hear that sentence I am transported back to the days of knights and quests etc. I can see some big guy in an overgrown sardine tin suit pointing a lance at some poor peasant’s chest, and the victor is giving the man a chance to continue living.  As I went looking for a picture to use in today’s blog, I discovered that there seems to be an exciting video game – ‘Aerial Knight.’ And the theme of the game is – WE WILL NEVER YIELD. 

Yeah, well that explains a lot! No wonder there is so much suspicion, rebellion and anger floating about in this world. Many people are stuck in an angry stage – they’ve never made it into reconciliation. The whole point of Christianity is yielding! The thing is, now all that ugly internal stuff is outside where we can see it. It seems we took off all the pretty bows, plus the sparkly paper we’ve used to hide a whole lot of garbage, and there is no hiding now from how truly selfish and wilful we really are. 

Jesus Christ has set us an incredible example. He voluntarily gave up His life on mankind’s behalf! Nobody pointed a sword or even an uzi at Him to get Him to do it either. That’s been a huge problem in the church, over the years – in the past, and it still happens today … The church at large has used blackmail, guilt, oppression and misrepresentation to push and manoeuvre people into compliance. Meanwhile, if you don’t happen to like what your group says, then it’s OK to vote with your feet and …go over there. Those people think like I do, so I will be much happier with people like you. 😳 

Christians move churches like other people change their undies, because they can’t agree with what the previous church’s pastor said!  Lunacy!! Where’s that in the bible? Where does it tell us to shop around until we find somewhere we will want to go to church, because it will make US comfortable? Jesus isn’t remotely concerned about our comfort! He will always comfort us, and He helps us to comfort others – but making us happy by saying things we will like and approve of is not on. 

Read the book! The Lord Jesus made everyone around Him uncomfortable by what He said and what He did. It was almost His life-theme – right after redemption that is. He loved upending wrong concepts. I think He is saying:  WILL YOU YIELD? Today. Will you and I voluntarily lay down our lives, the only ones we have? I mean that life that we’ve so  carefully and neatly planned, and put aside our agendas and plans, to live this life HIS way? 

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, Lord my God, are the wonders You have done, the things You planned for us. None can compare with You;  were I to speak and tell of Your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:4&5&V8:“I desire to do Your will, my God; Your law is within my heart.”

You know, if we think this life is all about our comfort then we definitely aren’t spending enough time with Him! God doesn’t want us to be happy MORE than HE WANTS US TO BE… HIS! The God Who made you and I, is looking for volunteers, but He’s not above giving us a bit of a shove to get us there. He will even push us from behind if necessary! Think about Jonah, or Moses, or Jeremiah.  Pick someone in this book that doesn’t get their life turned on its head by following and listening to Almighty God. You can’t can you?? However, we can limit an omnipresent, omnipotent, almighty God simply by thinking about Him, and His Word, from our human POV. 

Jesus came here to show us what God is like. He chose to become one of us to reveal the Father’s heart to us and then He chose to die to make it possible for us to belong.. He followed His Father’s plan! If He can do it then so can we. In that time He exhibited love like we could not imagine. The Lord talked to and healed people that nobody else would touch. He dealt with demons like they were dandelions. And at the same time, He was totally devoted and dedicated to His Father’s will. Jesus did everything He did, His Father’s way to show us we can too.

When I look at churches today, we are falling short of our glorious ideal … CHRIST.  We’ve underestimated everything about Him and His purposes. The Person Who made eyeballs, whales and platypuses isn’t limited like we are! So when we are interacting with the LIMITLESS ONE — WE, that is YOU AND I — may need to adjust our ideas and attitudes. Jesus did not die to give us everything we will ever want or need in this life. It’s time to think again … 

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”(Revelation 17:14) Jesus is the Almighty Everliving One, the First and the Last, The Beginning and the End. Learn to YIELD. Bye 👋

P 2598 No fake smiles please!

/ DVH

My dear hubby loves the Emoji movie, especially that over-the-top female smiley face that blinds people with its toothy grin. He thinks she is hilarious. You know, that face is actually pasted on – it’s stuck. In other words that emoji has been carefully drawn to pretend to be something it isn’t.  So when bad things happen, that smiley emoji isn’t being REAL — which is just like a whole lot of Christians. Bad things happen and they paste on a smile but inside they feel God, and everyone else, has let them down. 

Most people in this world know FAKE attitudes a mile off. It is so much better to be your real self and repent for stinky attitudes, than it is to hide who you are. Now if you happen to be a grump … then the answer is to be transformed. 😂 The bible covers that! Please note: transformation is not instant. It’s repetitive… it’s re-pet-it- ive … it’s actually quite repetitive! So now we spend our days learning to lean. Getting stuff right is no longer our goal, leaning on Him is! 

If we are not careful we can make living for Jesus … into a future goal. We can live this life hoping that if we fake it we will eventually make it. Yielding, surrender, dying to self – these are all key words.  Otherwise transformation becomes something we work hard towards achieving, but we never seem to arrive!  The bible says we need to be living for Him every single day. 

Almighty God wants us to draw on His strength all the time, using our faith. Faith grows when you use it! So we exchange His beauty for our ashes. His joy for our mourning etc. We are human and we run out quite quickly — but Jesus is rich in these things ! He will give us what we need as we live a life of total dependence. The Lord is not fooled by our positive, Sunday morning smiley faces.

We could see miracles every single day if we stop trying to be what God already made us and learn to yield to and trust in Him! Listening to yourself being kind to someone, when you wanted to smite them mightily a minute ago is a miracle! Success is no longer our goal – because we know can’t do anything without Him and we don’t want to be without Him.“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

We need to be changed inside, and honesty matters.  We can’t! … But He already did it for us. Some of our nice attitudes are barely skin deep — so when they are provoked they end up coming out. The Lord is not looking for perfection … Jesus already nailed that, and then He generously gave it to us – for free. Ask yourself this: why would Almighty God – Who loves us – want us to live our lives pretending to be something we are not? But oh! How He LOVES a truly transformed heart and life. Then when someone else hurts us, we feel worse for them than we do for ourselves.

I know some transformed people. They know they can’t do anything without Him, but they yield in obedience to what the bible says daily, so they can change the way that they live. They are not perfected. Not at all! But they enjoy being close to Him, and they don’t want to give that up for living a shallow life that has no substance. Things stay shallow when we stop living by our faith.  We must learn that we are not called to exhaust our OWN patience/love/joy/peace,  first — only to find that we have run out! Here’s a hot tip, let go of your pride and GIVE UP RIGHT AWAY and fall into His everlasting arms. He will supply that need.

My point is, learn to pray “Help help” early! We cannot afford to wait until we are overwrought and exhausted because we’ve been wrangling a problem in the natural. I pray a surrender prayer all the time now. I remind the Lord that I won’t be able to  manage anything at all without Him. I do that at the beginning of the day and I repeat it when I find myself pasting on a fake smile. I could care less about looking incompetent, or inefficient. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy seeing Him active in my life. I feel Him help me to go further than I ever could in my own strength. I know I can’t meet Christ’s standard, what He did was perfect. So I start with surrender and I don’t move from there. 

We have all developed coping mechanisms over the course of our lives and when we get saved, we carry those coping mechanisms over into our faith. Then when we read in the bible and see what we are supposed to look like, who we are meant to be, we increase the pressure on ourselves to be like that. Unfortunately, when we fail in our own efforts – we feel we are letting Jesus down. And if we do happen to succeed, then WE GET PROUD.

All that leads to a level of inadvertent deception, and a lack of transparency that prevents intimacy. It stops Christians from becoming all we can be in Christ. It also leads to a form of religion with no power in it. We need to learn to live our lives dependent upon Him, using our God-given faith instead of striving to reach an unattainable goal. We cannot make ourselves perfect. He has already accepted us.  No more fakey fake smiles. Learn to lean on Him. 👋

P 2527 It can be hard to change …

/ DVH

“And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to help them.”Ephesians 4:29 TPT.

I think I was almost born talking – a born communicator. Evidently I could sing every song on the radio at 12 months old, and I said the usual stuff long before that!. But after I started talking, it was apparently quite difficult to shut me up.  I was labelled a chatterbox, and it seems to me, that I also arrived here somewhat opinionated! 

An-y-way … words are very important to me. I’ve always loved to read and I enjoy writing as well, so my vocabulary is regularly stretched. However, when words are used badly – it irritates the living daylights out of me!  In my generation, good handwriting, spelling and grammar were … everything. I am sure you can imagine how well I have taken to this age of texting and abbreviations! 😳 I have had to make myself to adapt, but there are still days that I don’t like it much…

This penchant for accuracy has been a thorn in my side for years. Back in the ark I can remember saying to my kids: “You can do such and such …but you may not!” It seems that I may have been a bit of a pestilential mother. But the world kept turning, and then everything I knew, or I thought I knew, turned upside down. We entered the Year 2000 and some things that used to matter in our society didn’t matter any more. Colour me somewhat unimpressed!

Some days I think the Lord might be falling off His chair laughing at me, because now words are the very things I can easily forget from day to day! I can forget what I was going to say right in the middle of a sentence. Boy is that humbling for the grammar queen!  Have you ever noticed how the Lord loves to take the things we think we know, and use His Word to puncture that fat little balloon we have inflated inside us — permanently?  Well, some of us probably deserve that shiny little pin-popping exercise, because we were being snobbish fatheads in the first place. 

One of the biggest problems was that I could, most of the time, out-talk my enemies. Now that sounds good … but it is totally unscriptural!  Unfortunately, in those days I kind of knew how to go for the jugular too. Then the Lord began dealing with me on how I was avoiding facing my own mess, but blabbing away about other people’s sins. Matthew 5:29: “Let’s not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here’s what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly…”  I have learnt one thing through this life-time adventure – there IS no out-talking Almighty God! He is the Living Word and He has the last word, and there is no doubt He is always right. 

It has been a huge challenge for me to only let beautiful words come out of my mouth. BUT … here’s the kicker folks … Father God sometimes very graciously lets His power come through my words when I am talking to others. All those years of tormenting myself because I knew I talked too much, and I was way too sharp with other people in some situations … and the Holy Spirit took the very thing I thought I could never change and … CHANGED IT… and now He is using it. 🙌 Please do not misunderstand me, I really did try to keep my mouth shut, because I knew I could do a lot of mischief with it … but most of the time, until He helped me — I failed miserably. 

Eventually I chose to surrender, and I learnt to yield. At the same time, I confessed my faults, even to my enemies, and I went to the altar, where I cried buckets …But the solution was dead simple. I just had to learn to stick my hand over my mouth, repent, and at the same time cry out to the Holy Spirit to help me. I also had to learn to say the words “I was wrong to say that, I am so sorry…” … repeatedly! Of course, I choked on that lot as it was coming out. It was  humbling! You know how it says in the bible that “God gives Grace to the humble and He resists the proud?”  Hmmm. Almighty God knows exactly HOW to humble each of us! He’s great at it!  My advice is take your faults seriously –early!

So today, I want to encourage others to pray over the very thing that they have anguished over, and spent their life feeling like it can’t possibly change … and, instead, give it to God and ask for a practical solution. It can be hard to do, but it could be as easy as taking the your hand and putting it over your mouth. It was for me! 👋🏻