Relate

P 3207 He goes where you go.

/ DVH

Here are a few scriptures that Jesus Himself said regarding His role in this life. John 5:19: “For I have never spoken on My own initiative or authority, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment regarding what to say and what to speak.”  We have been given a new mandate. We are to do what He did. And in John 5:19: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” We walk with Him every day, just like He walked with the Holy Spirit. Where He goes, we go. Where we go, He goes.

In these verses the Lord Jesus is teaching His disciples Who they should always rely upon. Our personal intimate connection with our Heavenly Father is essential. Jesus died to give it to us, in other words, it was worth His life to give us this privilege. We all need to think about that carefully. Everything the Lord said and did was said and done for a reason, and we are part of that reason. He also did what He did to glorify His Father, but that is for another day.

Over the years Christians have sincerely tried to make Christianity a bit easier, more manageable, even simpler – because most people today are busy people. But that just eventually means our faith has to fit in around everything else we have to do. The result of that kind of thinking is that we end up grappling with things we should simply give to Him. We get bothered about all sorts of things that He will gladly bear for us. Busyness, worry, sadness etc. bothers our sleep. Those heavy things change our moods and twist our emotions. It is better to choose to die self… than try to fit our faith in God into our already busy lives. My advice is to put Him first.

I often remind myself, when I am caught between a rock and a hard place, that I can do something or other for just one day. Sometimes just for the next minute! Relating to the Lord needs to be our priority. I am not talking about fasting all day and all night for 40 days and 40 nights — and/or praying all day and all night for 40 days and 40 nights! I am talking about a minute by minute intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father, His precious Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. 

They have done absolutely everything to facilitate our ability to relate to Them. It’s finished. That work is done! Now it is over to us. We are not an afterthought to Them. So let’s not let the Trinity be an afterthought to us. At the same time, it is not wise to pick up guilt, shame etc. simply because we are busy. Treat them like a red hot poker  – put them down. We need the same approach to our Father that Jesus had. His purpose, no matter what He did, or what came at Him, was to serve His Father’s will. Our purpose changes our priorities.

Let’s go quickly to the Old Testament to look at Jonah. The scriptures are full of so many stories of individuals that God Himself interacted with to impact their lives. You might say Jonah is a ‘one off,’ but the truth is — he’s also a great example of God dealing with an individual. Boy did Jonah have adventures! He was thrown overboard in a ferocious storm, and then God sent an uber-whale to pick him up! Then God grew a vine to shelter him and to teach him about what was going on through a physical illustration. He speaks to each one of us in many different ways.

These stories about others, are in His book as an illustration. Some people lived successful Godly lives and some did not. Let’s look at Israel. In 1 Corinthians 10:6-11. “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.”  Every decision to sin, takes the Lord out of our focus, and eventually, out of our thoughts.

The Lord utterly loves and values you – there is no-one else like you in this world. I don’t care if  ‘nobody knows your name,’ or if you’ve got 2 million followers on social media! You can give Him something nobody else can give Him… your love and affection, your way of looking at this life, your heart reaching out to Him every time you think of Him — even if it’s just for a brief moment  Just turn your head and smile, the Lord knows what you are doing … and He loves it.  

The greatest person in His kingdom is the least – so nobody is unimportant! Jesus did not look, or talk down to anybody. And whenever we look at Him, walking, talking, healing and interacting with people — we are seeing our Heavenly Father in action. The Lord Jesus came here so He could look each one of us in the eye, and we could see God’s love in His eyes. Now we show that love to others, because He lives inside US. 

Your thoughts;  your heart;  your life; your family — all these things matter to Him. Maybe in your life it seems like nobody ever really listens to your heart. Yet in the Lord’s eyes, you are valued and valid, simply because you are His. It is His love for each one of us that validates us. Not what we’ve done – or what we wish we hadn’t done. The fact that He, the God of all the Universe and beyond, Who made heaven and earth, loves us…That’s what validates us. Remember, He walks with us now, He goes where you go. Bye 👋.

P 2789 Our willingness to obey helps us with digestion …

/ DVH

… and that leads to spiritual health. I think it also means that whatever we do repeatedly – we will become. 

Have you ever been looking for something and found it years later, hidden away at the bottom of your junk drawer?  Life is sometimes like that. Sometimes we don’t even know those things they are there. You end up saying to yourself: ”Oh, I’ve been looking for that for ages.”  Hold onto your hat. Today, I found some stuff hidden inside me that I had conveniently forgotten about. I took those things as past hurts and I didn’t consider the consequences to my faith.

Things get hidden in everyone’s lives. And some of the time it’s not deliberate sin, it’s carelessness. And this condition can be true for many kinds of attitudes. Some attitudes in our hearts are sneaky – they hide away under pious talk, and seemingly righteous indignation. But those things are not from the Lord, instead they are devices of our own choosing to hide ourselves from who we really are. I found a bunch of that stuff in my own life recently. 😱 Like this morning.

One way, over the years that I have learnt what is going on in my heart, is to carefully listen to what comes out of my mouth. Boy, that will scare the stuffing out of you! When I began to pray over the things I found in my thinking, I learnt that— lo and behold — my thinking in some areas was definitely not good. It nearly gave me indigestion! Hey, it’s great to watch your mouth, do it — but renewing our minds takes work and application, so we are going to need the Holy Spirit’s help with our thought lives too.  And that nicely leads into my thought for today.

I won’t digest whatever the Holy Spirit wants to teach me about myself, and the way I relate to Him and others, if I continually excuse myself. Even a flippant attitude can be a hiding place. The Lord is very thorough and kind with me. He often quotes me, to me. I hate it and love it … all at the same time. Sigh. Sometimes I wish the things I write every day will just kind of seep into my pores, rather than me having to work at it!  But obedience helps me with digestion, and I want His Word to be a part of me. … so-oo-….!!! On we go…

The thing is, none of us can afford to simply agree with what the Holy Spirit says without doing something about it. Now there’s the rub! I debated about whether to write about this subject today, and then hubby sent me an excellent, completely spot-on and appropriate scripture. I didn’t know whether to brain him, or thank him!! Of course I thanked him, and then I gave him one of those beautifully pious smiles, I’ve been talking about. 🙄 Meanwhile, eventually it turned out that I was measuring God and His actions, by the way I was raised> Now there’s a really dumb thing to do.

I know I cannot be gracefully transformed if I will not change my mind. And reading the bible is meant to be a heart searching event – not just a daily chore. So I started off with repentance, and in this whole process, I discovered something wonderful! The Lord is not legalistic. He is incredibly kind and generous!  I realised that I had yet another idea squirrelled away inside my heart, and it was a bad one. It needed to be changed because I don’t need to hold onto wrong concepts any longer. Father God is not like the ordinary sometimes sinful people that raised me, He’s perfect. Therefore I cannot put Him in the same category as my parental figures, because that will spoil our relationship.  

Praise God for a Saviour, because I find I need saving from myself all the time! I asked Him to forgive me for totally misjudging Him, and using my own human experiences as a reference for His actions. This sin had been hidden away deep inside, under pain, misunderstanding, despair, hopelessness, and just plain misery … that awful pile of stuff we all have that we hope no-one knows about … because we tell ourselves we ‘gotta be strong and courageous.’  Well I’m not. I’m weak and sometimes terrified and I definitely need His help all the time! 

This means that my active and interactive obedience has to come from owning my own questionable and inaccurate feelings. So I asked Him to replace them with how HE feels about me. And then I asked for a personal revelation of the kind of parent He is. I need one. I forgave all the people from the past who wrote all over my soul, “this is what love looks like.” Whether they did that on purpose or accidentally! And now I will take the time to meditate on every verse I read that tells me what He is like – and soak in it. 

“Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch His breath. And He knows everything, inside and out. He energises those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.” Isaiah 40:27-3.

Our willingness to obey and be taught by Him – as well being open to discover what’s really going on inside us – will help us digest the Word. The Holy Spirit doesn’t want to hurt us, He has been sent to help us. Bye. 👋

P 2627 He is always with us.

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2558 “You’re the goodness in my life.”

/ DVH

So click on the arrow and enjoy!! Those of you who are Toby Mac fans will recognise my title immediately. This a great track he made with Blessing Offor. ps If you have not met TobyMac, I highly recommend his music. This man is not singing lyrics that are theoretical, rather his music is drawn from his own personal walk with God – he has had his tough times like all of us. Blessing himself is well-named!

It’s Christian hip hop BTW. I’ve been introduced to the joy of hip hop by my three darling granddaughters – I love it! Well, the good stuff – there are icky ones and I give them a swerve. I think that music that is written from real life – using real words – is a big plus. In my head those rhythms and words kind of bop away in the background of my thoughts. Music is a great tool to help us pull focus as well as comfort us when we are struggling. And I love the cheery, chatty aspect of hip-hop. 

On to today’s blog … the other day hubby and I were chatting away and he made a comment that got stuck in my head and eventually my heart. He said: “Why is it that the church focusses so hard on what we shouldn’t say instead of focussing on and teaching us about how we should talk to other people?”  My answer is the same as usual … I always stick with my trusty “I dunno!” That phrase is very helpful, it takes all the pressure off me having to be brilliant instantly, and answer knotty questions. Particularly the ones that I have no clue about. But I thought about what he said quite a lot, afterward.

In the dim dark ages when I was a child, there was a professor on TV who talked about science. His manner and natural curiosity created a fascination with that subject that still continues in my life today. His catch cry was “why is it so?” — that got so stuck in my psyche somewhere and now I ask myself that question a lot. It seems to me that it is far more important to teach people how to SPEAK LIFE to each other, than it is to teach them not to be rude, gossip or swear. Abstinence creates a vacuum and things can fall into it!

In my experience, speaking life to others can actually become a way to relate to others – kind of a way of life – a good habit. I’ve watched hubby do it over and over again when we go on the road and he is talking to people-who-don’t-know-Jesus-yet. I’m not talking about flattery, or what my dear mum would call ‘palaver,” which is hollow and sounds wrong even when it comes out of your mouth. 

I’m talking about noticing a positive quality in another person and lovingly appreciating it, out loud. You operate with the purpose of building others up. It really doesn’t take that much more effort to find something good about someone else. Sadly, the bad things usually slap you right in the face, and you are left scrambling to escape. But if you can find a good thing to say to someone who clearly got out of the wrong side of the bed, sometimes that soft answer will totally turn away wrath.

Meanwhile the great point about speaking life, is this —when it is properly executed, it opens spiritual doors – and then you can shove love through the crack!!  It is all about paying attention to the person in front of you and noticing them enough to say something truthful that will build them up. When I am stuck I ask the Lord to show me what He sees.That’s a brilliant method BTW. The Holy Spirit is always so switched on to everyone’s hearts. I once asked the Lord what was wrong with a woman working at the check-out in a chain store, because if she was happy her face didn’t know about it! 

He said: “Her feet hurt.” So we did the usual, how-are-you-today-I’m-fine-how-are-you? And then I said: “This job must be so hard on your feet!” She looked at me with relief and she said: “They really are so sore today.” Like Aladdin said in his movie – it opened up “a whole new world” and we were able to pray for her sore feet! The conversation was over in minutes and she was smiling when we left.

The whole thing was a win-win situation, because I got to exercise my faith, take a risk and open my mouth. At the same time she felt seen, cared for, and momentarily understood! I mean nobody much sees the check-out person in a store, right? We can all just do the obligatory ‘how-are-you-today’ without even looking at them …but people don’t usually want an answer! My dear hubby always leaves people with a smile from ear to ear. Living like this changes the colour of everyone’s day. It’s great to speak life to everyone you meet. Bless you! 😇

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29.