Realities

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 3022 God’s faithful family.

/ DVH

God’s faithful servants are always up for change, because they choose to trust Him. They relish the opportunity to see the our world afresh through God-given revelations, and renewed spiritual eyes. These people don’t back away from a fight, instead they know WHO WON and that is enough for them. They know how to stand still until the Lord is the victor.

All these faithful people care about, is glorifying Him, not just escaping from hardship or difficulties, because the Lord promises to be with us in trouble. They don’t go looking for hard things, but they won’t back off if that stuff bangs on their door. These people pray for transformation, as well as patience —believing God will answer them. Their prayers are full of praise. They don’t expect their life to be a perfect because they know it has a purpose, and those two things are not always compatible. 

After praying prayers of commitment or holding fast to a promise  —they know there will be a test. They are alert to anything that could blindside them because they know that they are not perfected, but their trust is in Him. They respond to every situation with gratitude. Even the Lord’s discipline in their lives shows these people He loves them: “…because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.” Hebrews 12:6. 

The Lord needs His family to cultivate a very strong intimate connection to the Vine Himself, because we can’t do anything without Him. His faithful people realise His power is made perfect in weak people. So weakness does not surprise or intimidate us – instead we rely upon Him to get us through whatever happens.

God’s people know the battle they are fighting to win is in their OWN heart and mind —it has nothing to do with the other person in front of them. That is the true stance of an overcomer. Of course there will be times when other people will jump on any, or every nerve, especially when life is already difficult… that’s because  satan has no mercy…  Mercy is a love gift from our Father!

The reality is, those people who annoy us, are not attacking us. They are attracted to, and need the light that is IN each one of us. Even though it seems personal, it isn’t. Difficult people are tools in the hands of an angry enemy who knows he cannot win because he has already lost! satan will keep right on throwing hate at us, trying to cement rage, hatred, despair, disappointment, frustration etc. in all of us. We need to live this life AWAKE, rejoicing in the light of everything that Jesus has done for us. Sleepy, half-hearted people can make bad choices. 

God’s people don’t forgive their enemies because it is a nice idea —- we forgive them because we have been given the power to retain their sins. All that means is that everyone can get stuck if we choose to hold on to whatever someone did to us. Prayer for an enemy is powerful prayer. Forget praying for the sun to stand still! We pray for the guy who lords it over us and treats us badly. We pray blessings over the people in our lives who despitefully use us. This kind of prayer opens our eyes to new, deeper realities.

The bible says:“Owe no man anything but love.” Romans 13:8. God’s faithful family choose to live a life of LOVE despite the cost – because they know Love can never fail. Bye 🥰

P 2349 Faith is to be generational..

/ DVH

“If your faith remains strong, even while surrounded by life’s difficulties, you will continue to experience the untold blessings of God! True happiness comes as you pass the test with faith, and receive the victorious crown of life promised to every lover of God!”

James 1:12 TPT.

Today, sadly, our society has become people of the immediate. We are addicted to instant answers, instant gratification, instant provision and instant success. When things don’t happen immediately it seems as if we are in danger of losing our faith. The bible doesn’t talk about stuff like that …it talks about eternity, eternal consequences.

Our list of priorities are askew because God isn’t first or last or even in the middle of our list. HE OFTEN ISN’T ON THAT LIST AT ALL. The truth is we all get the same amount of time in a day – it’s the one thing we have in common. And no matter how young or old we are, we will all run out of time eventually! We’ve forgotten that TIME is a gift, to be cherished and used wisely.

But those pesky day to day things press in on us, so we can easily get caught up in the immediate. So this kid has to go to football practice, and that one is off to gymnastics, and the other one is off doing heaven knows what with their mates. We, however, are breaking our necks to the point of exhaustion, because we also have to make sure we work, so we can pay the mortgage or the rent, plus the fees for the football and gymnastics, as well as provide the little darlings with the right clothes to go schlepping about with their mates! 

I think that we have passively taught our kids how to keep themselves busy and distracted, so successfully, it has become hard to get their attention for something really important. Like God’s will, and what He wants.  Instead they have been hardwired into indifference about other people’s pain, by their exposure to various types of media. 

Some times I want to ask people – what the heck did you want to have children for? … The experience?? If you did that then boy did you get gypped!! As I see it, our children are the seeds we sow into a future we may not see. Let’s hope we produce a crop of decent human beings that care about more than the ozone layer! Part of raising kids is to teach them how to manage their own thoughts, attitudes and emotions, while they are wading through this life’s share of difficulties. Instead our generation has chosen to protect them from reality. We’ve taught them that owning your own home and having a great holiday is all there is.

Sadly, most young people today probably won’t see their parents go to homeless shelters, to distribute food and clothing. We’ve protected them from the sad and difficult realities of this life. They don’t see us fast and pray either, or press into God to see what He wants us to do. They may see us plant trees, so we can all continue to breathe, or take stuff to the recycling depot – but have we taught them how to cope with this life’s everyday hardships? Have they seen us turn to God first? Do they watch us pray over things?

You can teach your family about faith and how it works, or you can SHOW THEM how your faith works, in front of their own eyes, when you help and care for others who are struggling. Today, real active, fruitful faith seems to come into the same category as sex – we’ve abrogated our own responsibility and left the work to someone else or handed them a book! Why should children’s church have the sole responsibility to teach your kids to give? We’ve learnt to ‘outsource’ everything – including learning about God. Does your family see you with a bible or facsimile in your hand? When is the last time you prayed with, or for your kid when they hit some snag or other at school?

Future generations must learn that troubles and hardship are normal in this imperfect world of ours. This life is always going to be difficult – it is full of people who all want to do their own thing – but because we all inhabit the same planet,  we are all doing our own thing in a limited space. Kids need to learn about faith more than they need to know how to get tickets to some pop concert or have a well-known brand of sneakers! We must remember that our character reflects our faith levels.

Life is not only difficult, people can be downright impossible, but they can also be instrumental in challenging and growing our faith – and all our kids need faith that is real.. “Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed.” 1 Peter 1:7. What we believe must be shared with the generations that are coming after us – it looks to me like they are going to need it! 👋🏻