Provision

P 3294 First things first …

/ DVH

Not all that long ago, when we read the following verse in Philippians, all we could think about was what we gain.“I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through Jesus Christ!”  Philippians 4:19 TPT. We can sometimes even cheerfully quote the verse “and forget not all His benefits…” thinking, hoping those thoughts from Psalm 103:2, mean God will do whatever we want. And this particular verse in Philippians sounds just like a benefit! But the problem is this – our aims and His, need to line up!

A problem occurs when what we think we need, is different from what the Lord knows we do! The most important thing to seek is explained in Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  There is a way to read this verse in Matthew that clarifies it. Our mistake is that we take one bit of the verse over another, without consulting the Author. Father God will satisfy our needs but that is conditional on us seeking His kingdom first. Hubby and I have learnt to live this way – not because of any particular skill either – we’ve learnt out of necessity.

We were expecting little packets of soap and shampoo today through the post, so we could make up care packages to give to battered women and their kids. Time-wise, it was expected sometime this week or the next. Some family members have kindly offered to help us pack the kits — now there’s a lovely provision that helps hubby’s back! So we asked the Lord to please fix the timing and left it with Him. We are going on the road to seek His kingdom so we felt free to ask for those things to be supplied. They turned up on our verandah four hours before the helpers arrived!

We know someone who asked the Lord for a motor-boat to go and evangelise people who had never heard the gospel before, because there were no roads in to where these dear unsaved souls lived. The boat arrived and our friends went on it to this hidden away place, and the whole village came to know Jesus. Praise God! On the way home that boat they were given blew up! No more boat. They had to get a ride home in native canoes. Why? I dunno!  I think the point of verses like these is not about getting something – they are simply a catalyst for us to learn to trust God, whether those things come to fruition or not.

It is good to practise watching out for the Holy Spirit Who loves to ‘kiss’ things. However, just because we want it that doesn’t mean He does. Do we actually know what He wants? Are we seeking that? What are we going to do with what we are given? Is it for His kingdom or our comfort? Are we prepared to wait? Moving on … the next criteria that has to take precedence is “Love.” The bible tells us we are to pursue it. There is no greater pursuit. So my next question after praying, is this: does what we want revolve around LOVE?

Meanwhile, Father God does not have to prove He loves us by giving us things — He gave us His precious Son! If He never gives us another thing in our life-time, the gift of His Son’s life, together with Jesus’ grace and righteousness etc. outweighs everything else. Our Heavenly Father loves to bless us, but I think He wants us to learn to live using the measure of faith He has given us. Our faith is destined to grow, because there is nothing in God’s kingdom that we can plant that won’t grow! However, when Paul says he has seen the abundance of riches of the glory of God, I don’t believe he is talking about earthly things. 

Let’s remember everywhere this man went, Paul asked people to give. He prayed first, then he reminded those  churches that giving is meant to be part of their new way of life. If all Paul needed to do was pray because there was a legitimate need, then why did he bother to ask the churches he founded for money?  I think that Paul knew what grace, mercy, peace, joy, etc. could do inside the giver, when those things were allowed to flow outward and bless other people. Generosity in the flesh leads to generosity in the Spirit. Paul had discovered how rich we all truly are, but that discovery had nothing to do with money, position or possessions.

Our human focus is limited, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see how much provision we already  have, simply because we love and serve Jesus. Praise God, in heaven people are cheering their heads off for YOU and I. All these people can see are the good things we have been doing for the kingdom. There is no judgment in heaven! This is part of kingdom thinking. It exists up there so we need to pray and start bringing it down here through our own lives. 

It is incredibly sad that we focus so much on our own comfort here on earth. Our job is to bring what’s up there, in heaven down here, using our faith. We probably don’t need more earthly goods, instead our real need is more of His love. More repentance. More concern for those who are perishing without ever meeting Jesus here on earth like we did. We dare not spend our time running after physical and emotional needs, instead of running after Him. 

I went looking for pictures for today’s blog, the majority of pictures I found illustrated these two verse with earthly illustrations. Things like food, clothes, sunrise, flowers, piles of stuff… this world is obsessed with gaining things! But seeking His kingdom first, means seeking Him first. Bye. 👋

P 3162 This is true worship!

/ DVH

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2. True and proper worship starts and ends with ME, voluntarily laying myself down on His altar, daily. All day, every single day. The secret to walking with the Holy Spirit is to deliberately surrender your life, even when things are good as well as when they are bad. Then I pray: “Your will, Your way Lord.”  I’ve found it is best to have no other agenda but His.

When we follow Jesus it means our lives change. It is our obedience to God’s Word that causes that transformation. As we read it, we begin to realise that worship from His POV, requires more from us than just happily singing songs of praise and worship … it is about giving Him the gift of YOU. Your time, your energy, your obedience, your love, your family, your sometimes-present difficulties. Our families are so much better off in His hands, no matter what is going on around us. We put them in His care – and we leave them there. Obviously I am not talking about whether the kids need a bath, or not, and Jesus won’t be cooking the dinner! Everything  we do we do in service to Him. “Whatsoever you do, do it with all your heart, as though you were doing it for Jesus!”

Realistically speaking, in today’s climate, we know that very few people have spare time! So the reality is like this — to honour Father God with our whole self, we will have to put something else aside. Those things we need to put aside are often important to us. And at the same time, we can have interruptions that need attention. Like, if your toddler falls on its head, that’s an important thing! But, the phone can wait. Leave that somewhere else, turned off. You can tell your pre-school child: “I’m reading the bible, I will be with you soon.” Showing little ones that we also need to pray and read the bible, is just as important, as doing it with them. 

We simply have to make reading the bible and praying, a priority, just like we make family times a priority. My hubby’s dear mother used to sit in the middle of chaos, people coming and going, the phone ringing off the hook, squabbling everywhere etc – and there she was, in the middle of it, bible in her lap, with her eyes closed because she was praying. Her alone time with God is sacrosanct. The things that dear lady has taught me without saying one word!!

We all know that God’s Word requires our obedience. We simply need to read it to find things to do, not just to tick off a daily quota. That translates into – read it, then do it! Or read until you find something to do. Actually I read until something stands out to me. This is part of putting our bodies on His altar. Don’t  dismiss these things because you haven’t got time to pay attention to them, instead make it a priority to act on them. It is a delusion to think: “I will get around to doing that.” Trust me, you won’t. We have an enemy who loves to distract and interrupt us. Make a plan to obey while you are with the Lord. Ask Him: “How do I do this Lord?” However, when it comes to repentance, do that right away, including fixing and repairing it with the other person if necessary. Never postpone repentance. Repentance blows away the cobwebs over our hearts. 

If we want to know God’s will, then we must align ourselves with Him. It’s simple. Most things about the Lord look like this… stay out of the stuff that is going to drag you down, and cling to what He has said instead – and don’t move from that place. We need to recognise some things are a distraction or temptation, and avoid them. Just because something is demanding, that does not mean we must give it our attention. Paul said: “…I die daily…”  That’s what laying our lives on the altar looks like. God’s great love and provision for mankind, has been clearly demonstrated to us, through watching how Jesus lived His life.

Jesus laid Himself on that altar by everything He did. We don’t even get a recording of the Lord’s private  thoughts or opinions in the Gospels! He didn’t even go on Israel’s got Talent! 🤣🤣 Instead, He validated God’s Words for our benefit by the Way He lived. He knew the Father so well, He could see what His Father was doing, and then He went and did it too. Ten lepers were healed once – Jesus saw His Father healing them before it happened! BTW, the Lord didn’t want the lepers to thank Him, Jesus wanted the lepers to thank Father God for what happened to them!“Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:18.

If we want to see what Jesus saw, and do what He did, then we need to live like He did, and do whatever our Father tells us to do. Obedience is one of the growth factors for flourishing faith. Our true worship is to lay our lives down for His sake, even as we sing and praise Him in our hearts. We are to be continually filled with the Spirit. And! We should take care of widows and orphans … James chapter one. All those good things are set into motion when we choose to lay our lives down, daily, for His sake, Galatians 2:20. Bye 👋

P 3074 Use your faith to make withdrawals.

/ DVH

“Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by His divine power. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing Him Who has called us by name and invited us to come to Him through a glorious manifestation of His goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 TPT.

Our Heavenly Father’s goodness and generosity is glorious! It has forever changed the whole of human history. Humanity went from an exclusive club, to an everything-included open-door policy that flourishes and grows as we all get to know Jesus! Knowing Him continually opens new spiritual doors. Whether you are at the beginning of your walk with Him, or you’ve been walking with the Lord for years —there is no greater joy than to know Him and follow Him, by serving Him and others. 

The Apostle Paul says this in Philippians 3:10.“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;…” Knowing Him includes suffering. We are bound to suffer when we don’t get what we want, because to serve Him, we must die to self! However, there is a huge plus — now we enter into true fellowship with Him. We have a shared experience! He is our chosen Leader in and through every situation.

Whatever we need to gain transformation, and greater intimacy with Him we already have. He already gave it to us.1 Peter says that in verse 3 Chapter 1! We didn’t even have to earn this honour. Feel free to raise a ruckus and jump about, because if that thought doesn’t want to make you cheer, maybe you’ve fallen a bit behind as you are following Him. May the Lord fix that! I’ve found astonishing things happen when we start yielding to Him. The more we lean our head on His chest, and listen to His words, the more we understand that this world has nothing lasting to offer us. 

If you were to give me a hundred million dollars and show me that you deposited that large sum in my name, in writing, all I would need to do to participate in what I have been given, is to turn up at that bank and start making withdrawals. And that’s the problem for many Christians — they don’t make withdrawals. That’s what our faith is for – to make withdrawals. We have been given everything we need for this life, but we need to use our faith to access it. 

We are going to have to put our whole selves into this new life we’ve been given, in order to experience transformation, because these holy, heavenly things won’t fall on us. So there is a pathway we tread, as we follow Him. That pathway leads down, and it will take care of pride. We learn to practice repentance and reparation, even when we think the other person should apologise. Now we are choosing to value peace above being right. The by-product is that we stop judging others by one standard, and myself by another. There is a far greater blessing when we walk through difficult things with Him.

Back to my thought above:  If I want to access that deposit Jesus died to give me, I will have to exercise my faith. Belief means I will act on what He has told me, whether it seems too amazing to be true or not, simply because Jesus Himself has told me. He tells me I can live life proactively instead of reactively now. I don’t have to wait for proof! It’s all in the book. I have chosen to live this life differently and I stick with it. I don’t try to weasel out of what He says, or excuse myself because of some reason or other — instead I ask Him to show me how to obey Him and then I do it. I don’t do it for YOU, I do it for Jesus, because that’s what a life laid down for His sake looks like!

When He says I don’t have to conform to this world, because I am no longer captive to its demands and threats, I step into what He said, rather than check with my feelings or previous experiences. When He tells me I can love the unlovely, I don’t wait to feel like it – I start loving them. I follow His instructions from His book daily, and I know He will teach me:  ‘this is how I want you to love that person.’ 

I might wait for you to bring that mythical 100 million dollars to my house, but I could have a mighty long wait. The way for me to access this blessing is to go to where the provision is – the provision is in activating our faith, and JESUS IS OUR PROVIDER. I go to Jesus and learn from Him how to repent about sin, and fix things with others, and then I obey what He says in His book.

The Lord has already told me that every other yoke I can pick up, apart from His, will be too heavy for me to bear.“Come to ME, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

Ask a bible-believing Jesus follower if they have experienced transformation, so they can live like He did – without His input. I’ve tried. I got fed up, then I gave up. My desires and needs were too great for me to manage. But when I asked Him to help me, I began to make withdrawals on the deposit He has already put into my name.“…Everything we could ever need for life and godliness HAS ALREADY BEEN DEPOSITED IN US by His divine power.” Amen. Use your faith to make withdrawals. Bye. 👋

P 3063 The best kind of wrap!

/ DVH

““You are my place of quiet retreat, and Your wrap around Presence becomes my shield as I wrap myself in your Word!” Psalms 119:114 TPT. One of the things my mother left behind when she died recently, was a pretty wrap. I won’t ever forget who it belonged to, because it is now a part of our shared history. Hubby and I chose it and gave it to her a long time ago. Any time I wear it now, I will be wrapping myself in memories of all of us together.

This is true of God’s Gracious Presence, He keeps us surrounded by love, as well as sheltered within Him. He does not take away our trouble and difficulties, instead He promises us a place of safety within it. We are wrapped all around with Him. His kindness, love, and Who He is. His Presence becomes a barrier between us and everything else. However, this is not just a place of safety, it is also a place of enlightenment, full of personal strategic battle plans and solidity, in the middle of whatever is going on around us. It is a place where we are aware of His abiding love. His nearness comforts us. All that and much much more, is available as we wrap ourselves up in Him.

I can remember years ago, someone I dearly loved, who did not yet comprehend the hugeness of God for themselves –  got mad at me because I was so wrapped up in the Lord, that I virtually always had a bible in my hand. I was so preoccupied with what He had done for me, I wanted to be with Him all the time. We need to learn to value Him above everything else, including our own comfort.

Back then, I was taught that the Holy Spirit was like some sort of a glorious phenomenon – Who was given to only a select few people to empower them to do special things. The rest of us were doomed to plod on – making the best of what life chucked at us. And if you didn’t have a label, (a spiritual gift) you were given a practical job to help the rest of the church function. I had no idea that when the Holy Spirit fell on the church in Acts – He fell on EVERYONE in that Upper room! You and I are meant to be continually guided by, and led by SomeOne Else greater and wiser than we are.  

Psalm 91 has rapidly become my favourite Psalm, because it is all about safety and protection, the things I couldn’t always find in my own life, or even Christian circles. This Psalm became my God-given shawl. Despite the horror of this world today, we are to live within this secret place. We do not visit it and come out again to go on with other parts of our lives. It is our home-base — everything happens from there.

Verses 1-11. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day, 

Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent. For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].”

Psalm 91 is God’s delightful “shawl” or “wrap” for each of us — it shows us, within the text, how it works! This Psalm hinges on a couple of little phrases like: “I will say of the Lord…” plus “he who dwells.” These phrases are clues for us …Where do you find your refuge? In distraction? Or maybe your refuge is within your family, group of friends, job, or your church. God Himself wants to be our chosen refuge, our shawl, our place of safety and comfort. He wants to be the place we run into when we are in trouble — all our memories are in Him.

This is why I am often so emphatic about total surrender — giving our lives completely over to Him. Because that is the place of provision and protection. In the secret place we get to watch whatever is going on, without it destroying us. We are not laying aside our responsibilities when we do this, rather we are giving them to, and deferring to – the Greater One within us. We expect that He will take care of things for us. 

Back at the beginning of my walk with the Lord, I had a terrible time with a sort of split-definition of the ways my spiritual life was supposed to work. I could never figure out which bit of my life was mine to go on with, and which bit was His! So I lived as I pleased, trying hard to do the things I read in the book, and I took the difficult, or impossible things to Him. The thing is, it is so, so much easier, less frenetic, time-consuming, and stressful to just give everything to Him. Little things and big ones.

This Psalm is the very best kind of shawl or wrap. We can see what is going on, but we are no longer in the line of fire. We can stand behind Him and become spectators of His love in action, toward us…and others. Bye.👋

P 3055 Don’t wait – move!

/ DVH

“This is why the Scriptures say: Things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine — these are the many things God has in store for all His lovers. But God now unveils these profound realities to us by the Spirit. Yes, He has revealed to us His inmost heart and deepest mysteries through the Holy Spirit, who constantly explores all things. For we did not receive the spirit of this world system but the Spirit of God, so that we might come to understand and experience all that grace has lavished upon us. 

And we articulate these realities with the words imparted to us by the Spirit and not with the words taught by human wisdom. We join together Spirit-revealed truths with Spirit-revealed words. Someone living on an entirely human level rejects the revelations of God’s Spirit, for they make no sense to Him. He can’t understand the revelations of the Spirit because they are only discovered by the illumination of the Spirit. For Who has ever intimately known the mind of the Lord Yahweh well enough to become His counsellor? Christ has, and we possess Christ’s perceptions.”1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 12-14, 16 TPT.

I wish I had understood some of these wonderful truths sooner – so I could have jumped joyfully into the ever on-going journey of full and total surrender – earlier! Instead of merely standing on the edge of it, dipping my toe in and out, hoping that would do. The only thing I got from dipping my toe in, was a truck load of reasons why total surrender was not for me. I became too engaged with the things of this world. My bad!

Sometimes I think the Body of Christ has been so disillusioned by the previous whole blab it and grab it theological movement, our disappointment has led to us standing afar off from the Lord. We are a bit like the Israelites. When Almighty God appeared to be unmanageable and scary, that’s when they told Moses: “You go up the mountain, we’ll stay down here.” Yet, we know darn well it is still our choice to stand so far away. Every now and then, some brave soul makes a bold stand to trust God for this and that, … and when, or if what they pray over doesn’t happen, disillusionment sets in … again!

We’ve seem to have forgotten it’s the thief who comes to steal kill and destroy. And even worse! —- We have forgotten that God is good ALL THE TIME. Let’s learn to look for the good no matter how bad things seem. Instead of wagging the Spirit’s school of learning about God Himself, we all need to sit up front and learn. Just because you or I feel let down or deserted by Him, that does not make what we feel the truth. Let’s stop, read and reread what He has said, and reinforce the wonderful things we know about Him and His Ways. I’m praying for brave souls to step up, and step out, and go on to live in and love on unsaved countries. Our country is an unsaved country! Here I am God send me!

Today I want to lay down a challenge to everyone reading this. There are glorious things about our God that we know nothing about. Those things exist now, and they are there for us, if we just ask. Instead of feathering our own nests, let’s be about His kingdom! Those strategies and secret things are needed right here, right now. I’m not talking about the kind of prayers that will make me more comfortable, because something bad has happened. I’m talking about the kind of lay-your-life down praying that turns the world on its head. These things are not only glorious, they are there to be taken – merely for the price we are prepared to pay to go and get them!

(Isaiah 55:1-6) 

Oh, where are our heroes of the faith? I have known some precious people of God in the past 52 years, and over those years I have seen some of these people persevere and press in, despite their circumstances. Praise God for their faith! But I’m so tired of the same old, same old, slog we participate in daily, week by week, paddling our broken canoes up the fantastic, enormous wild river of God’s love and provision. We need to step up, stand up, and ACT, by participating in what He is doing — instead of hiding away in our little hidey holes of supposed safety and security. 

I also know many dear saints who have been broken by their circumstances, and yet they bravely limp on. But there is a much harder step forward than even maintaining what we have, and it comes from the men and women who know His heart and pray and act on it. No matter what the consequences are.The best things, the most glorious things, are still in front of us, but we will have to put down our ideas of a normal life, and step into the unknown. He’s there, waiting for us. Let’s remember that 11 other men remained in that boat when Peter stepped out of safety into the impossible!

Many generations today chase youth in their attitudes and activities – everybody wants to keep fit. What about spiritual fitness? His ways are so much better than the ways of this world. It’s time to stop hoping somebody else will answer His call, and go ourselves! We need to move. Whether we take our faith to the office, our schools, or some foreign country – if we do not use that faith for more than our own personal gain – we will lose it. Bye 👋

“Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.”  Ecclesiastes 12:6.

P 3009 Escorting God’s will to Earth.

/ DVH

“Great God, I want to partner with You in bringing the will of heaven to earth, I stand with You, God, and I want what You want. As I discover Your heart through drawing near to You, I can’t help but be changed by the power of Your love.  As I catch glimpses of Your desires, I get to join in with You, calling down Your desires in my life and beyond.

Have Your way, Lord, in me.  Transform me from the inside out so that I can reflect the glory of Your mercy in my daily life.  As my faith grows with the boldness of my prayers, I know that I will see You answer in the provision of Your power. There is nothing that You cannot do! 

May I have kingdom perspective and never settle for the world’s accounts of reality. You are the Creator, and You can do all things. I want to see Your miracle power doing the impossible in the earth in response to the cry of Your children. Thank You for partnership.  What a privilege it is! … AMEN! From Prayers from the Throne Room, by Brian Simmons.

I wanted to include this excerpt from Brian Simmons in my blog today, because what he has said is so challenging …this is our aim. Our great quest. But we don’t have to wait for it to overtake us, or fall on us — instead we quite simply surrender into it, every single day, and let our everyday lives teach us how to live the way Jesus did. 

Personally, I have found plenty to go on with! There are heaps of applications in Matthew 5! I especially like living this life “poor in spirit” (v3) – Jesus calls being poor in spirit a blessing! Boy that’s upside down to the way the world around us thinks. But when we are poor in spirit and we cannot manufacture or push ourselves to do whatever He asks, we are rich. Why is that so? Because we have a Helper and He knows all the answers! He helped Jesus live the life God chose for His Son, and He knows exactly how to cultivate God’s Grace in our lives so we can live for Him too! 

That rude person in the shops who snarls at you is not there to annoy you – they are most probably in pain. Even a dog will snap at you if it is in pain. We need to leave behind the idea that everything in this life is about us, or meant to go our way, and GET REAL INSTEAD. Human beings can be so self-centred these days, it is terrifying to watch. The thought that everything and everyone is here to make my little life happy, is not Godly … or practical!! I have to remind myself often, that I gave my life away!

If we want to be the people who escort God’s will into this world, then something or someone will have to change and it won’t be HIM! Gird up your girdle Gertie, it’s gunna be a bumpy ride!! The bible says:“I am God I change NOT!” Malachi 3:6. Hmm. Not much room for an argument there eh?  Here’s another scripture to broaden our outlook — “Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?” Amos 3:3. Um, the point is, we need to agree with HIM, HE is not obligated to agree with US. To find out what we all agree about we will need to know the book! How do you think His law gets written on our hearts? When it costs us to obey it – that will carve it on the inside..

He loves to answer our prayers. That’s called Grace, and Mercy, and compassion. He loves each one of us so much, He longs to draw us closer to Himself … Matthew 23:37. But we are making the same mistake the Israelite people made, when we see Father God as merely a benefit to my life. Instead of understanding that the One Who made the stars and everything else, loves me so personally He wants to walk with me.

All the time, every single day. Most of us spend our lives looking for one other person who just might want to be that close to us… And our Magnificent God stands silently and patiently by, waiting, longing to comfort, teach and transform us all into a fit Bride for His Son… HIS precious one-of-a-kind SON! What an honour we have. 

If we want to escort His Presence into every single situation and place we go, we will need to learn to live our lives in agreement with the things He loves. I have to be honest, we do not have the capacity to make ourselves into that kind of person – most of us start out way too narcissistic for that! But He freely gives Grace to those who know they need it. He extends mercy toward us when we fall short of the example that Jesus set for us. And He is compassionate, because He already knows we are glorified dust.

Our God has to be true to His nature. The more I see Him at work in my life, the more I fall in love with Him, and the more I love Him, the clearer my heart mirror reveals His goodness to other people. I am a reflection to other people of the love of God, whether I know it or not. Whether I act like it or not. Looking deeply into His eyes of love – as well as looking through them – will capture anyone’s heart. I have seen total goodness, the purest love of all … in the way He loves people. 

Our aim is to reflect His goodness into this life —so others can see Him too. No biggie eh?!!  Because of what Jesus did, sin is conquered, and permanently out of the way. Now we focus on the real work, living this life so close to Him we can hear and identify His heartbeat.  Bye for today! 👋

Heavenly Father, “Manifest Your kingdom realm, and cause Your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven.” Amen. Matthew 6:10 TPT.

P 2986 Nothing can stop us.

/ DVH

The Lord made a way to love every single one of us:  nice or not nice, loveable or evil, ignorant or wise, and His love is not wishy washy mush. It is triumphant in its power! God’s love goes beyond our comprehension. Love is not what I say or agree with, it is the way I choose to live. It is not a tap, that can be turned on or off, it is a flow of His love through me to you. I’m the conduit not the producer.

Having only known human, limited love as a child, the idea of perfect love can seem glorious, but elusive. So when I hear someone express doubt about God’s love for them or someone else, I begin to understand from my own personal experience, how they got there. They saw love as a feeling, as comfort when they needed it, as provision when they lacked something. So for these people, no good feelings, or experiencing bad feelings = no love. Love is what Paul is talking about in Romans 8:38-39 TPT.

“So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that His love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken His love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!”

Paul had total confidence in the Love of God toward him. He went through all kinds of terrible trials and testings, but His assurance of God’s never-ending love did not change — despite the circumstances in his life. I have to remind myself all through the day that love is a choice I need to make over and over again and I cannot get there alone. I desperately need the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance. It is way beyond a human being’s comprehension to understand the magnitude of God’s love toward each one of us because most of us have been raised to believe that love is conditional. 

Jesus came here, on purpose to make that kind of love available to you and I, and the Holy Spirit was sent back to us, after He left to pour and spread God’s love all over us, around us and in us. The baptism in the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, is not just a baptism of fire —even though the disciples saw fire;  love IS fire, it burns away anything that does not let it in or out. Perfect love came and expelled all their fear. Love ignites a passion in the recipient that lasts a lifetime.

Pentecost was a fiery baptism of LOVE. His love burnt away every trace of fear in them. Those men and women left the place where they been had hidden away in fear from their fellow citizens, and they burst out into the public market place proclaiming Christ and all He had done. God’s love for the people pushed them out of their hiding place. It compelled them.

“For the love of Christ controls and compels us, because we have concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that all those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for their sake. So from now on we regard no one from a human point of view [according to worldly standards and values].”2 Corinthians 5:14-16a.

As we begin to discern how much we are loved by Him, we will automatically overflow with His love toward the people all around us who have not earned it, nor do they deserve it. The well of His love inside us bubbles up and overflows, but we have a part to play in this kind of outward looking love. It begins with obedience to our Saviour’s Words, and culminates daily in sacrificial ACTIONS toward other people. Things that can be seen and experienced by others. That kind of Love cannot be stopped, because its focus is on the One it loves, not on the effort that needs to be made to love other people.  

This kind of transformation will only be seen through us when we decide to make love a CHOICE and take deliberate action. From my own point of view, when I decided to make love a choice, I finally found out just how unloving I was!  Most human beings live this life in a series of trade-offs …I’ll be nice to you if you will be nice to me. then one day, all that ‘nice’ begins to wear off and we start keeping score of the bad things people do to us. We forget that every human being that has lived, or is living now, or ever will live — is dearly loved by God Himself. When we choose to misuse love or withhold it – we are fighting against the very nature of God.

His love simply will not wear out – it is holding the entire universe together. Read Colossians 3:14. Right now His love bonds this universe together. It is the perfect glue. And when we read 1 Corinthians 13 we discover its unique characteristics, it is not materialistic or self-serving. Jesus is God’s perfect love personified and personalised. He didn’t only come here as an expression of God’s love. He came to earth to demonstrate to each one of us the extent God was willing to go to, so we can be His children. Nothing can stop us from living a life filled with love, but our ill-informed belief system. Bye 👋.

P 2883 Don’t stop pressing in.

/ DVH

This scripture appears right after the Lord’s prayer. It is so important to read things in context – it really does matter. These verses aren’t taken from the next day, it is the same day and the Lord is continuing to expound His thoughts about prayer to the disciples. He goes straight from the Lord’s prayer into this little story. 

Luke 11:5-13 “Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.“

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

The Lord is teaching us that perseverance in prayer matters. It would be a mistake to think what we have heard is all there is! I’ve heard a lot of sermons about this passage, so, today I got down to business and started asking the Holy Spirit questions about it. I can see, on the surface of what is said, that Jesus is telling us our Heavenly Father is not against audacity – He actually commends it. Lemme put that another way – we can be pushy and we won’t send Him away. We won’t offend Him, He might even surprise us. 

Fortunately, with His help, I began to see something about this passage I hadn’t seen before. This is not about me, or you, or even the guy who needs bread! It is an example Jesus gave us to illustrate God’s goodness, His loving kindness, His provision… and an acceptable response is unashamed perseverance. The Lord is explaining to us that His Father’s Ways are impartial. He will help anyone. Including annoying people … now there’s a BIG thought.

In the previous verses, Jesus has been talking about Father God giving us our daily bread … and these verses continue the theme of bread. Whether it’s spiritual bread or not, it doesn’t seem to matter.  He is saying we need to be like this man, and keep on banging on God’s door insisting that we want to know what He has to say to us. We must not take NO! for an answer because a bigger prize awaits us.

We would all agree that we desperately want and need the Holy Spirit, more than we need anything or anyone else. Walking with Him means we must be motivated by this kind of FAITH and perseverance. We are to go after Him – and not give up! I wonder how many people have prayed to receive His precious Presence and they thought they did not get an answer because they didn’t end up speaking in tongues!  

Jesus is telling us His Father is a good God Who wants to answer this kind of prayer. We have simply made speaking in tongues our point of faith instead of His reliability. Every single day, I urge us all to ask and keep on asking to be filled. Ask for that every single day. Then we need to go on to walk with the Holy Spirit, obediently.  God will give Him to us simply because He is a good, good Father, who doesn’t want to frustrate anybody. .

Jesus is teaching us that His Father will definitely answer this kind of prayer. Tongues are purely a sign, not the answer. His Presence is the Answer. Pressing into God will always leave US with a benefit. I pray you will take the time to press in for yourself. Bye for now. 👋

P 2866 Priorities.

/ DVH

In the Beatitudes, Jesus may as well have said this: When your life is less than this world’s idea of successful, and filled up with the sort of things other people avoid — (don’t panic) — blessings from our Heavenly Father will still be coming toward you. He indicated that there are much bigger, more important things to look at – God’s kingdom.

Luke 6:20-23 “Looking at His disciples, He said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man, “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.”

The Lord is teaching us that some of the things we try desperately to avoid can spiritually be a good place;  because poverty or difficulties of any sort makes us aware of and desperate for His riches, the things that last.  His provisions, His Way of life. Now in the natural, we all avoid poverty. Maybe some of us actually think we are poor, but we have so much more than we have realised. Here’s that question thing I like to do. Do you have a bed to sleep on? Have you  food to eat? When it rains do you have a place you can shelter?Jesus is explaining that LACK is not the worst thing that can happen to us because it can open the door to His provisions, His kind of blessings.

For years and years my thoughts were more about what I didn’t have – and that definitely included the concept of being a “good Christian.” I was focussed on the negative. I didn’t think I was a very good parent. I fretted about whether I was making attractive, tasty nutritious meals for my family. Or making sure my washing, and my home, were clean because someone was bound to notice. I totally missed the main point! I had a home, I had washing, I had food, I had a bed etc. I had a family! I was already rich and I didn’t see it. I let the enemy steal away my blessings by letting him inflate the importance of other things.

It is obvious that many people all over this world don’t have the things we have — but let’s not stop there, because if we stop there we will be giving into guilt… Let’s move on and see that not having stuff is the very best place to be. Jesus just said that! He said LACK makes us eligible for greater things. No, I am not talking about a bigger better bed, or fancier food, or a fantastic car etc. I’m talking about every day lack as an opportunity to prioritise what is really important – spiritual fullness.

The quest for more can overwhelm what we already have. Knowing God personally, intimately, is the most important thing any of us will ever do in this life. It is what we are here for. I’m just going to let those remarks sit there so we can all think about them! 

God’s kingdom is ours when we are poor in spirit: EG. when we are hungry for the things that last, or reduced to tears about how pathetic our lives are, or saddened by our many attempts to somehow please God and gain His favour. It’s definitely sad – but we’ve missed the real reason – because in those moments we have forgotten we are rich! We already have His favour. We are kingdom dwellers, even we lack material things or when other people hate us – we are rich in the things that last.

Here’s my end thought today, Jesus repeated this theme again in Luke 10:41,42.: “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”The most important thing we will ever have, or participate in is His kingdom. We cannot be poor when we have Jesus in our lives. Our God is with us, and we are forever rich. Let’s check our priorities – Him first, last and always! Bye. 👋