Relationship

P 3398 Faith has one primary purpose.

/ DVH

“If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace! But we have the true hope that comes from being made right with God, and by the Spirit we wait eagerly for this hope. When you’re joined to the Anointed One, circumcision and religious obligations can benefit you nothing. All that matters now is living in the faith that works and expresses itself through love!” Galatians 5:4-6 TPT.

You know I’ve done enough stupid stuff in my life to know that positive talk won’t help me to use my faith and love others. Mainly because whatever you talk yourself into, you can talk yourself OUT OF! Plus satan would be de-light-ed to help me to go the wrong way. Even other people’s reassurances won’t help when my focus goes off – ‘whatever the Lord is doing,’ and lands on ‘what’s in it for me?’

Yesterday I looked at David and his faith-filled interactions with the Lord. No matter what happened in his life, David’s heart stayed right with God – even when he was corrected. You and I are blessed to be able to live that way too, because of Jesus and what He did. So this morning, hubby and I were talking about how much we need to be reminded that God doesn’t love us for what we do or don’t do – He loves us because Love is Who He is. Now we always have a choice in the arena of faith. Do we believe Him or not? Will we let Him make ‘love’ who we are?

If we don’t make that choice to deliberately keep aware of His Grace, we can become so focussed on serving the Lord, and making sure we do everything right – that we forget to enjoy every single day what we have been given. When we live with rules and judgment over ourselves, we are much more likely to give that junk away to someone else: Peter made that clear when he said: “…such as I have give I thee!” Acts 3:6.

His focus in the above scripture, was spot on. He honed in on being a benefit to those around him, not the law. So giving away what he had, meant that he lived aware that he had fresh clean water bubbling up inside him. His faith was always active. I want that, and I’m pretty sure you do too – that’s why we are all taking this journey together. When our focus is on right and wrong, eventually, we will start focussing on, and judging ourselves, and others.

This wrong kind of perspective can distract anyone from the revelation we’ve been given about God’s Grace and what He has done for us. Jesus did not only come to save us from our big or little sins – He came to save and restore our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Sin is the lesser thing, the Lord Jesus’ primary focus is always on redemption and restoration and His love being shed abroad in our hearts – by FAITH. We receive love by faith, and we give it away … using our faith.

When we read the gospels, it is clear Jesus wants us to know what His Father likes and wants from us. And self-recrimination and condemnation of others is not on that list. Micah 6:8 tells us that God has shown us what is good. “He has shown you, O man, what is good;  And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” 

Adam and Eve lost their fellowship with God; but Jesus, the second Adam, is the Founder of a whole new spiritually-aware kind of people. He came to restore us and exponentially increase our faith, love and fellowship with our Heavenly Father, so that we could begin to know the kind of Oneness that the Trinity enjoys. We cannot have that when we have enmity with one another. Our focus will go off faith and fellowship and love, over onto finding fault with others.

That’s when we decide to protect ME at someone else’s cost. Maybe we don’t like these people because they do this and that, or we don’t like this member of our family because they did so and so. You know, loving people doesn’t have to mean we give them permission to mistreat us, or that we approve of the way they treat others. Loving them means that we use our faith, put them into God’s hands, and live the way He says. 

We can’t afford to embrace the idea that everyone thinking the same way is the criteria for restoration. It isn’t! It can’t be! We don’t all think the same way! Almighty God Himself has to be the One Who unites us.  However, His love is a universal language, and expressing that love, using our faith, as He leads us, can take away barriers. That’s what God’s love given freely to all of us undeserving sinners did! It took away all barriers. We can now enjoy Who He is, and He can expand our viewpoints over and above our prejudices – so that our prejudices… fade … away.

If someone is in error, then we need to remind them from God’s Word what His way looks like. If necessary then we will engage the church leadership in this process. Withdrawing love cannot be the way forward. As we co-operate with the Holy Spirit, and let Him love people through us, we will learn to release our faith as we choose to live in love. Meanwhile Galatians 5:6 says: “And we to whom Christ has given eternal life don’t need to worry about whether we have been circumcised or not, or whether we are obeying the Jewish ceremonies or not; for all we need is faith working through love.” 

The law can’t produce what faith does, in our own lives or in the lives of others. Faith has one primary purpose – to activate our lives with love. Bless you 👋.

P 3397 God is our place of safety and shelter.

/ DVH

“Keep me safe, O mighty God. I run to You, my safe place. I said to Yahweh, “You are my Maker and my Master. Any good thing You find in me has come from You.” And He said to me, “My holy lovers in the land are My glorious ones, who fulfil all My desires.” … …The way You counsel me makes me praise You more, for Your whispers in the night give me wisdom, showing me what to do next. Because I set You, Yahweh, always close to me, my confidence will never be weakened, for I experience Your wraparound Presence every moment.” Psalms 16:1-3, 7-8 TPT.

Isn’t this fantastic? I must have read it about ten times. I think because of the pressures we all face daily, it can get very hard to hold onto how loving, generous, good and gracious the Lord is. These verses, by the way, come from David talking to God, after he became an adult. This is not that teenager on the side of the hill watching sheep — this is the man who faced many struggles. I often need to read and reread in the bible the history of other people and their interactions with God. There are people in there who have faced all kinds of terrible trials – yet they chose to have a heart of worship and praise.

Let’s look at the beginning of David’s relationship with the Lord: “And when He had removed him (Saul), he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also He gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, which shall fulfil all My will.” This is reported in Acts 13:21,22, by Paul.  The Psalm and this testimony are referring to a time in David’s life when he was already king. I don’t know if you ever have these thoughts but when I read those two passages, they blew my mind. Almighty God is telling us — this man, this king … this fallible human being who stole another man’s wife, got her pregnant, and then had her husband killed! … is a man after God’s own heart? It makes me ask: “what was it about David, that brought out that response from God Himself?”

I prayed about why the Lord said this to David, and then I went back to the bible for an answer because I didn’t have one! My revelation for today, was that our Heavenly Father’s heart must be very different from the kind of heart I often see displayed in our churches. We don’t seem to have the same way of looking at things – at all. Father God told David he would pay for his sin, and the baby died. He also had a terrible time with his other sons, who died too. But what I came to understand is that those things did not change David’s heart of praise and worship. I think  he had such confidence in His Heavenly Father’s Love, goodness and faithfulness as well as the Lord’s forgiving nature.

We know from the scriptures that David praised God purely because He is worthy, not because life always worked out well for him. He had the absolute assurance that when God forgives – no matter what it is, you will be forgiven. And that is that. Done and dusted. This king accepted the punishment that God thought was necessary, and at the same time, the Lord kept His good opinion of this man, as we read in Acts 13. His choice to believe in God’s goodness is such a witness. Sad to say, I’m not so sure Christians feel that way about someone who has sinned badly. We are more likely to judge the behaviour, and not the man’s heart. We need to pray over and over again for eyes to see what our Father sees.

The following verse tells us clearly that God chose David because of his heart:  “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” This statement occurs before David ever sinned, when he was still a young man. My conclusion is this, our hearts deeply matter to the Lord. Without His influence, we can mistakenly accentuate our sins and shortcomings, and ignore the fact that the Lord says clearly that He loved David’s heart. Let’s ask for protection over our hearts to keep them from being broken by satan’s lies. 

I think David is in the bible to teach us what a yielded heart looks like. Because of him, we can see that hearts make mistakes and have to undergo correction, but God’s opinion of this man did not change, because His behaviour was never going to be the criteria! A Saviour was coming … The One Who was sent here to take away the sins of the whole world — and that included David’s sins too. Sin is our enemy, but unconfessed, cultivated and a lack of repentance from sins can slowly drag us away from the only One Who is the Answer. So will fear of recrimination from God Himself.

My conclusion is this: Our heavenly Father uses flawed instruments to bring about His will and good pleasure, because His criteria is not what we often think it is. “Let Him who boasts, boast in the Lord!” His ways are very different from ours. We think pleasing God is simply about behaviour, but Father God is more concerned with the state of our hearts. I’ve added this today because it is such a good prayer:

“Lord, you’re so kind and tenderhearted and so patient with people who fail You! Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness. You don’t look at us only to find our faults, just so that You can hold a grudge against us.” Psalms 103:8-9 TPT. Thank you Lord and Amen! Bye. 👋. PS Good thing to remember, God doesn’t just extend mercy to us, He extends mercy to our enemies too.

P 3394 Do you react or respond?

/ DVH

This subject has been a difficulty for many of us. If you have lived with a reactionary parent, you may find yourself reacting to antagonistic stimuli almost automatically. The people who illustrated this trait toward us, could also be our biggest source of distress, irritation and pain. Often the person who is led by this trait is impulsive, and they regularly need some sort of diversion. They live almost on the edge of their nerves and they have no peace in them permanently.

I think doing things on impulse can be great fun, I have done it myself … but doing it continually makes for an unstable, unsettled lifestyle. What I have written here is not aiming at criticism, it is simply my best illustration of what over-reaction can do. It can quickly destabilise situations and usher in instability for others. Someone with a temper might say: “That’s just me. I flare up, but I cool down again.” I’ve found when this situation happens to me, I’m often reacting to a perceived slight, or word out of place, rather than responding to whatever is really going on. Human beings need stability, that’s why the Lord Jesus is so incredible – “He’s the same, yesterday, today and forever.”  Hebrews 13:8. He’s stable.

The insecurity created by a reactionary response can foster a deep sense of fear of things being out of control. (PS It is much better if we leave Jesus in control – fighting for control leads us to a much darker path!) Because of my own upbringing, I had a huge need to study everyone, including those close to me, carefully. Purely because I was afraid of what might come next! So I learnt to read faces, and body language to help me deflect aggression before it started. That BTW, is still a reaction!

Reacting to a situation actually means something else, or someone else is controlling us. Something unforeseen has happened and we act defensively so we can cope but then we can easily be provoked further. I don’t want to get into a debate about whether this or that is right or wrong. Instead I think we give away our ability to rationally work our way through things when we react. It took me years to realise my reaction to someone else’s instability meant I was also reacting! But I did that stuff inside my head. I was simply managing and manipulating any potential ugly circumstances beforehand, so I could pacify or placate the difficult person or circumstances.

Father God has gently peeled back the layers of anger, despair and heartache, and He showed me that I wasn’t actually escaping, instead I was becoming just like the person who was treating ME like that! He began to teach me to respond instead of reacting. Reacting means we let someone else’s actions define or create a deficit in us. However, responding is about making a quality decision about our own situation or someone’s actions toward us. Reacting is much easier than responding – our feelings jump in and they are trying to control things we feel we can’t control any other way. We need to turn to Jesus, not a default system. Control in any form, and Christianity do not mix. 

Responding means you take a second to think about what is in front of you, and ask the Lord to give you His plan. Sometimes He says to me: “Just wait…”  One thing I’ve learnt is that some reactionary people don’t like waiting, they want the difficulty escalated or resolved, NOW! But responders assess, pause, and then they act. If we are having problems with a reactionary person, waiting can prompt the other person to get even madder. This type of person doesn’t like that potential silent space, it doesn’t fit their “accelerate into war,” or “fix it now” agenda. However, somebody else’s anger is not our problem. Instead we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us say something soft to turn away that wrath that’s coming for us. 

I’m learning to say: “You really matter to me. Let’s not damage our relationship, instead let’s turn down the heat and talk about it quietly.” Responding means you have taken control of yourself, and your own feelings. This is one of the ways we can cultivate the fruit of self-control. Our feelings aren’t useless, they just don’t have good leadership skills, because they don’t make good decisions under pressure. I have learnt when I wait, that the Lord will give me a scripture to hold onto. It helps me to bolster my faith, and it gives me something concrete to stand on. It helps me with my own response. Confronting a reactionary person is not necessarily the best time to use that word as a sword. That might only escalate things. 

However responding treats the other person like they have rights too. Controlling others so we can feel OK about ourselves, and get what we want, is not a good Godly plan. The bible says we get our worth in Christ. Our value comes from what He has done for us. When we choose to pause, then we have some time to choose to how to respond under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. If we read the entire story about Christ’s torture, punishment and death, we can see that He chose to be silent in the face of blatant untruths. His response was to say nothing. Responders understand they have the power to make things better. 

Like the scripture says in my blog heading: “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I PRESS ON …” Philippians 3:13,14a. Bye. 👋

P3382 Ours is an Eternal Love story. 

/ DVH

Romans 8:15: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”                          Psalm 103:13:“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.”                                                                                                                                    1 John 3:1:“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.”

Our God’s love is eternal, and redemption was always part of His plan. This means His love for us will never change. Most people often have no concept of what real love, the kind of love the Father has for us, looks like. Our ideas of love can easily be limited by our earthly experiences of it. 1 John 3:1 throws some light on that. It says ‘behold what manner of love the Father gives’ … behold means look at that love thoroughly and carefully. When we look carefully at God’s love, we can begin to understand His manner/His kind of love. God’s kind of love holds something special for us all inside it. It is a Love that never goes away, despite the unworthiness of the recipient.

Almighty God’s kind of love has no ending or beginning, it is complete in itself, and it is utterly altruistic. “Altruistic means someone is acting out of pure, unselfish concern for the well-being of others. It describes behaviour driven by empathy and a desire to help, without expecting any reward, recognition, or personal gain.” That’s what our Heavenly Father’s Love is like. The bad things that happen to us aren’t sent by Him, they come from our enemy. This is why we cannot afford to live our lives in the soulish, emotional and reactive realm. This world doesn’t produce that kind of love – it is heavenly, straight from the throne.

However, every single time we go into FEAR we will go back into slavery. This what Romans 8:15 is telling us. If we have fear, we are misunderstanding His love. Eventually, under duress, we can begin to be captivated by, and start serving the feelings of fear, instead of serving Him. Fear paralyses us. Fear likes to be protected and kept hidden. It demands to be fed lies and half-truths to keep all of us captive in it. Praise God, that our experiential knowledge of the love of God, personally, and through His word, chucks fear out of the window!

The fear of God which is mentioned in Psalm 103:13 is not the same as this world’s fear, which only bears the fruit of destruction. The fear of the Lord opens the door to further wisdom. Fearing God is not about being afraid, it is about being respectful and compliant in the things He has told us to do, because we acknowledge His Wisdom, His Ways and authority over our lives.  

God has provided for us to live in, and from, wisdom. The Lord’s wisdom is available to us at any time. Because of His incredible loving generosity, He will give us His wisdom whenever we ask for it. The Bible talks about wisdom like this: “For the reverence and fear of God are basic to all wisdom…” This is why our living, breathing, thriving relationship with the Lord matters … as we walk with Him we become aware of Who He is, and how much we need Him. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5.

When I read scriptures like the ones above, I am reminded of how generous the Lord is toward us – how remarkably rich He is in love. Being rich in love is almost incomprehensible to us – we are used to all kinds of poverty in this life, including spiritually – even though it has never been God’s will for us to be poor. Understanding the Lord’s love means we will develop a quiet confidence in HIM, not our circumstances.

He is reliable, faithful, good – so if I don’t see what I am asking Him for – I remember that James told me that I can ask amiss. Then I ask the Lord where I’ve missed it.  Romans 3:4 “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar;…” Making His Word our plumb line changes our perspectives, because we begin to understand real truth from His perspective.

Before we were even brought into this world, Father God’s Love was complete in itself. The Trinity worked in perfect harmony, They had such a precious bond of love and unity we can’t even begin imagine it. They did not need mankind … the love They have for each Other is already perfect and complete. Instead, They chose to create us from that love. The bible says: “Let us make man in Our image.” Genesis 1:26. We’ve been created to look like Them – we were born out of Their love.

The Father has given us the freedom to choose to love and obey Him … or not. Sadly, those “no”  choices have released death, destruction and decay, loose in a world that had never even seen an electron or proton out of place. You and I are designed to be like God, like His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in this life to others. We have the opportunity to know His kind of love, and give it away to others while we are still in this life. Our disobedience, ignorance, and disrespect can short-circuit this process.

The Holy Spirit chooses to reside within us, when we give our lives to Jesus. Now we have the capacity to share the same kind of complete and powerful love that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share. Let’s thank God for His salvation plan incredibly implemented by Jesus Christ His beloved Son. Because of Jesus we are now part of His wonderful Eternal love story. Bye. 👋

P3373 Getting to know Jesus more.  

/ DVH

Colossians 2:2-4:“I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown the mystery! I’m telling you this because I don’t want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or “the Secret.” 6-7: “My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live Him. You’re deeply rooted in Him. You’re well constructed upon Him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.”

Being woven into a tapestry of love kind of seems like a soft, dreamy, gentle thing to do, does it? Well, I’ve done some weaving myself — and a whole lot of clanking, banging and thumping went on. What I was making needed lots of ‘adjustment.’  The thing is as we choose to be woven together, our minds will be renewed simply by the way He chooses to weave us. Just like the shuttle collides with the material, we will bump into each other. It’s what we do about it that makes all the difference.

You know, the material on a loom doesn’t get to say anything about where it goes and how it looks. It is up to the Master Weaver to decide the best relationship between the colours, and which thread should go in which direction. He drafts the pattern and then He guides each piece into place. There’s a lesson in there somewhere! It reminds me a lot of the bible, written by 66 authors under the oversight of the greatest Writer of all time, the Holy Spirit.

I love to read the bible with others who are looking for new ways to discover things about Jesus, stuff that I don’t know yet. We need fresh insight every day. One of the things I’ve learnt when I study His book, is that I have to stop periodically and turn the sentences I am reading, around. I pray and then I look at them hard. What does it actually say? What doesn’t it say? How does that verse fit into the framework around it … the other verses near it? Just like weaving, it’s the way the verses go together matter.

In the same vein, the secret to true healthy digestion is that it begins in the mouth. What we say about what we read matters. Let’s read it… s-l-o-w-l-y. When we read the bible paying attention to what we read, no words are wasted, all of them will point us toward knowing Him. I want to treat the bible like the best chocolate, and let it slowly dissolve in my mouth … that’s where our tastebuds are, BTW. Rushing through the bible reading to compete our daily quota won’t give anyone much insight. If we are going to find any treasures and mysteries within, we will need to take our time. Try reading it like a letter from someone you dearly love – because that is what it is.

The Holy Spirit is so magnificent He can take a single bible verse,  and it will mean one thing to you, and another to me, and yet we will both be right! That’s because the bible is personal, hand-delivered, mail. Knowing overall what the bible says is our best back-up.  Our God does not contradict Himself. This means the best Person to help you interpret the bible is the One Who wrote it. You and I have the Author sitting right next to us so we can ask Him: ‘what does that mean?”

In my case, I almost immediately remember another verse from somewhere else, or something from His Word that I read earlier and that throws light on what I am reading now. I do my best to let the bible interpret itself. Why? Because as well meaning as we all are, we can misinterpret the meaning according to our own needs, and preferences, or even our church affiliations. Even brilliant scholars have already established opinions.

Also, I always ask questions. If I don’t get an immediate answer, I won’t just forget about it. Instead I repeatedly go back and ask Him again and again. I’ve learnt to insist and persevere – the Holy Spirit loves it when you chase Him! Our God is a God of revelation, but we won’t find pearls on the ground, we will have to dig for them. Because we are part of a weaving, other people may have insights that open up some of the puzzles for us.

Meanwhile, it’s good to want the Holy Spirit to know that you are serious. We all want to know Jesus, even when what we find out doesn’t actually suit us. The next step is to deliberately look for ways to apply what we’ve read in our daily life. We want to live it, see it, taste it, touch it, experience it – live and in person at our house! His kingdom is inside us. Remember to pray the scriptures over yourself, because that is yet another way to get to know Him. Remember, His disciples knew Jesus for a while, yet He surprised them over and over again. 

The Trinity will always be a mystery to us. But together, we can examine that mystery through reading what has been written, and learn more than we would learn by ourselves. We can easily fall into a hole when we do not value His Word enough.  Especially if we are embarrassed about who we are and we want to hide our faults away with a pleasant face and pretence. Pretence invites deception.

Getting to know Jesus means more than gathering information about Him, or what He does etc. When we know Him personally,  it is to our own benefit to allow His life in us to flourish, by living out the gospel in our day-to-day lives. Then we will discover that He wants to come everywhere and anywhere with us.  Bye. 👋

P 3368 The Sameness of Days.

/ DVH

Here’s a hypothetical scenario: you are strolling through the streets paved with gold — you gotta love God’s building materials, gold on the footpaths and precious stones in the walls and gates! WOW! … Any-wa-ay… here comes Jesus, and He is chatting with Abraham, and He looks at you with a twinkle in His eye, and you know you are going to get to spend some time talking with Him. Hmmm … So then would you say: “Sorry, Jesus, I‘m kind of busy. I promised I would get some fish for dinner. I’ll catch You later?”

One of the things I have noticed about this life is that because one day follows another, we can get caught up in the ordinary things we must do, and miss the beauty of being given yet another day to walk with Him. Yeah I know, we will be with Him in glory one day. But living out each day walking with Him in the little things we do that must be done, can be beautiful too. His Presence affects everything. Don’t wait for Sunday, be with Jesus now! Let Him IN everywhere, and watch how your world changes.

I know quite a few missionaries around the world. They are living each day for Him. Laying their lives down, simply because they love to serve Him. They have work to do too and it is not always glamorous. This idea is not just for ‘special’ people. We can live like that. Sadly, our lives here in the West are often about the same doo-doo, on a different day. So walking and following our Master can become yet another chore. Yet another thing we have to pack into the hundred and one things we need to get done.

Some of us wake up hoping today will be a better one than yesterday. Others have very little money for food, and they have to choose between paying the rent and eating properly. Some work for ‘the man’ in some mindless job, that is nothing like the things they  hoped for when they were young. Their dreams have kind of evaporated and one day follows another with alarming regularity, and we get stuck in what I call – the sameness of days.

The disciples spent three and a half glorious years following Jesus around, copying what He did, and seeing extraordinary things happen right in front of their eyes. They  heard about their Heavenly Father in ways they never even dreamt about. Maybe we hope that somehow we can become like those people who live for Jesus, and do those things too …. one day. This morning the Lord poked me awake and said this: “You can walk with Me the same way they walked with Me. Even after I left they lived their lives with a constant Companion who taught them My Ways all the time. You can live that way. I promised to be with you.” 

So, let’s live this life, the one that does the same things over and over again, with HIM as our focus, and not the next task. Often our ordinary lives distract us from our real purpose to love and serve Him, and others. If He calls you to pray for your family at 3.00am and it’s cold and you are still sleepy — you can either roll over and tell yourself that wasn’t Jesus! After all He knows you have a big day tomorrow and you need your sleep. OR!!!… You can climb out of bed put on something warm, make yourself a cup of something or other, and tell the Lord: “I’m here Lord. I’m listening.”

Obedience is like a plant, it needs to be cultivated. Initially it can seem like a tiny, little, scrawny half-dead thing that can never possibly grow and it won’t accomplish much. But the real secret to obedience is consistency. In the big things and the small things. Just because we already know how to do it, that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit can’t offer us a new perspective. Let’s learn faithfulness in the little things. 

So, what happens when you crawl out of bed at some ridiculous hour and go and sit on a chair, and maybe open your bible? You get to spend some one on one time with Your King. That’s what! Meanwhile, 3.00am is not some magical hour. What makes it wonderful is that the God of the Universe called you, and you came! In the West we are so results oriented, so seemingly time poor, that we miss out on incredible opportunities to just be with Him. If we want to carry His Presence we need to be with Him.

We sing:  ‘In Your Presence Lord, is fullness of joy” and then go out and live like He is not there with us. He promised to be with us!! And feeling like Jesus is with us, is not worth a hill of beans. As my daughter says: “Feelings ain’t in it.” We can live this life dragged about by our feelings, or simply choose to live it with our focus on His faithfulness. When we do that, we are living out what we pray for! 

Jesus Himself is talking here in Matthew 28:20.: “Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).” Hebrews 13:5: “Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”

Don’t let the sameness of each day rob you of the joy of fostering your relationship with Him. We have been given such a privilege. Bless you, and have a good one! Bye 👋.

P 3367 The Bride Jesus deserves.

/ DVH

One day, we are going to the greatest wedding of all eternity.. We will marry Jesus and be His Beloved Bride forever. This time here on earth is our preparation time for that wedding. Everything has already been prepared in heaven, on the Groom’s side. The Groom is waiting. However, it is up to His Bride to accept all the provisions and alterations that have been provided for her. The Holy Spirit is the One Who is in charge of Jesus’ Bride’s preparations. 

Just recently I’ve noticed that there is an ongoing trend everywhere in our world. There is an attitude that minimises people’s obligations to carry out what they say they will do. We’ve stopped being a people of our word. Excuses are made. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we entered into a relationship, an engagement with the Lord our King, and Bridegroom. It is part of the marriage covenant to allow ourselves to be made ready for this incredible honour.

In today’s current climate I have been puzzled about what seems to be someone’s intentions, and what they— in real time, in real life —actually carried out. There seems to be no difference between INTENTIONS and ACTIONS in some people’s minds. In my opinion, those kinds of attitudes lead to confusion and sometimes even self-deceit. Self-deception occurs when we think saying something sincerely, and doing it, are the same thing. Because we owe Jesus everything – everything is what He should get!

Actions are about someone following through on the choices they’ve made, until the things that have been accepted by both parties are finished, and concluded. But intentions are  based on a person’s communicated desires and thoughts – however they don’t necessarily have to be translated into actions.The general feeling about this concept today, is that intending to do something is the same as carrying it out. IT’S NOT!

Almighty God has always held mankind to our word. He gave us His word and He carried it out. His gracious treatment of humanity is our example of promises given and fulfilled. Jesus’ Bride has a responsibility to be the kind of people who follow through on their promises. What we say at the altar needs to be followed up!  When we don’t, then we need to take the time to confess those things as sin, repent, (which means turn around and go the other way), and allow the Holy Spirit to help us keep our word. 

Father God understands, first hand, (His Son came here!) that because we are human, we can have oppressing circumstances. But the best response if we truly want to be transformed, is to go back to Him and talk to Him about it, not just excuse ourselves. Looking for permission to avoid responsibility, or to cover up things and pretend that they don’t exist, will compromise the very essence of our privileged relationship with the Trinity. 

Jesus paid for our sins, it was a gift, freely given. That means any presumption is offensive in the face of that gift. Gratitude and obedience are the right responses. Jesus won’t hold our sins against us, He has already provided a way for us to deal with our sins and missteps. But that way is not avoidance. Many people have indicated to me about obedience: “I can’t do that.” I cannot agree with that premise. The Lord Himself has provided a way to help us obey, at great personal cost to Himself. The Holy Spirit is here! Obviously we can change – we are simply using our feelings and habits to hide from reality.

The bible is the only way we can actively learn about what our Bridegroom expects from us. Yet we cannot do HIS WILL, His way… without HIS help. We need to learn how to behave like a royal, loyal Bride would. We must determine in our hearts to be steadfast toward our Husband-to-be and grateful for His goodness toward us, above our own negative feelings or fears. I am aware that living like that cuts across our desire for self preservation, and the appearance of looking good to others. Our Groom knows about that! He was innocent and He allowed mankind to punish Him …  yet He said not a word.

My scripture today is not one that is spoken about a lot, so I will leave you to draw your own conclusions about your  responses – just as I need to assess my own. As I have intimated before: I believe the Bride needs to stop cherry-picking scriptures that suit her and read the bible seriously, reflectively, with humility, and then go on to discontinue any course that says””I intend to… one day, when I’m ready.” Instead she must be committed to carry out anything and everything that will facilitate her new role as His Beloved Bride. Humility is our bridal shawl, now we wrap ourselves in everything He did for us.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:10-14.

After all Jesus has done for us, don’t you think He deserves a Bride Who will humbly submit to the Holy Spirit’s ministry and preparations with great joy? Let’s be a Bride Who embraces everything the Lord Jesus Himself deserves from us. Bye. 👋

P 3363 Forget material blessings.

/ DVH

Colossians 2:2,3,6,7,9. AMP. “[For my concern is] that their hearts may be] braced (comforted, cheered, and encouraged) as they are knit together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, [which is] Christ (the Anointed One). In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden. …   … As you have therefore received Christ, [even] Jesus the Lord, [so] walk (regulate your lives and conduct yourselves) in union with and conformity to Him…. … Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving…  …  For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].”

Paul is carefully explaining that there are much better things to aim at than a ‘happy life with everything I want in it.’ That’s what this world is busy doing right now, scrabbling around trying to save money for the future, or simply make what they have go around. I’ve discovered that sometimes when we pray, we won’t always see the answer right away. Jesus is ‘drawing us after Himself so we can run together.’ He loves us! We are His joy... who you are gives our Heavenly Father great joy. He doesn’t see a failure, He just sees His family.

When our lives are rooted and grounded in what Jesus did, then material things become irrelevant. Personally, I’m grateful to have somewhere to live, a bed to sleep in, a chair to sit on, and a car to take bibles to far away places — but I wouldn’t give you tuppence for the extras that seem to occupy most of this world’s time. Those things get old or disappear or become obsolete. My greatest joy is to see God’s children prosper in their relationship with Him. And I love seeing my immediate family put the Lord first despite the difficulties they face. Who could possibly be richer than that?

Paul calls this kind of life, full of wealth and blessings. It can be our daily choice. We’ve been taught previously that once you choose to follow Jesus we will have a better life down here. Rhubarb. This isn’t heaven, we are living in enemy territory! The blessings Paul talks about are hidden inside his relationship with Christ. I’m not there yet, but I’m not giving up either! We need to choose to walk with Him, and let Him help us live our lives according to His Ways. God’s blessings are definite realities, but they will seem inconsequential to the people around us … until they need them.

Paul makes it clear that once we are saved, we need to pay even more attention to Jesus than we have ever done before. Why? God’s deep mysteries are hidden in Christ. Hidden means we gotta go look for them, it doesn’t mean they will automatically fall upon us. Investing in Christ is investing in eternity, and that’s way better than superannuation! Our inheritance comes from Him. We need to stop waiting for the pastor to give us a word and go and look for one in the bible for ourselves, plus find one for someone else! The Lord Jesus cares for each one of us, and He will provide whatever we need. But what if He doesn’t? Well, we really don’t need it then! God’s kingdom is about faith, not the stuff this world admires.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”  We can get daily caught up in wanting things, blessings — the so-called ‘good bits,’ but we can’t afford to skip over the prerequisite conditions. First we must seek His kingdom! Everything we will ever need is hidden in Christ – spiritual knowledge, life, healing, our daily bread, and we become His companions. Jesus is visible to us in the book and He walked the earth like we do! He didn’t have to pray down healing — He was healing. He didn’t have to pray down deliverance—demons couldn’t wait to get away from Him. If we aim at walking with Him day by day, then when we need it, wisdom will come. Why? Because we are walking with the Wisdom of God personified, that’s why.

We can’t afford to allow ourselves to be shallow-rooted plants, who are affected by our outward circumstances. Abiding means He is now our reference point, our life, our hope, our future, our everything. If He isn’t Who He says He is then we are sunk! That’s the kind of abiding that doesn’t have emergency contingencies. Of course we will make mistakes, but we have chosen to be honest about them. We own them, we repent and repair and move on again. The lumps and bumps are normal! This life is a journey, if you aren’t DEAD, you haven’t arrived at the destination yet. 

Our faith is designed to grow – it’s like a tree – it is meant to get bigger. Jesus’ kind of faith is more than the emergency exit button, that we try to press when thing get hard. While we are learning to walk with the Lord, our faith will expand. But it isn’t knowledge that expands it, it is living it out day by day, and making choices to trust Him. If we forget and wander off … well, you get the idea. Don’t let fruitlessness, or seeming  lack of wisdom scare you off. We can learn to depend upon Him, not our circumstances. Jesus is FOR each one of us and because He is FOR us who can be against us? He told us things would get difficult sometimes, it’s normal.

Our reactions can be changed by His Grace and His point of view. Forget material, physical blessings, our real riches are in Christ, go after them. He will blow your mind and enrich your life in ways you never even thought about. BTW, seeking doesn’t mean a mild curiosity – it took those three kings years to reach that stable! Bye. 👋

P 3343 It’s always a choice.

/ DVH

Philippians 1:27-30: “Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for Him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.”

I want to emphasise that we need to make sure that if we are suffering, it is not because we are unaware that we are being tormented by satan in a fake hat. If the Lord is allowing something for a greater purpose, then that is different, but a lot of what Christians put up with is sheer satanic attack — and the tragedy is they think they are suffering because it is about His kingdom, or their transformation, or they are just bad Christians and God is allowing this stuff to teach them something. 

Jesus suffered and died for our sins, but torment can quite often knock on our door especially if we’ve done something that we think can’t be forgiven. But the truth is our view of what Christ did, and what He allowed others to do to Him, is too small. We’ve made our sin bigger than Calvary. Our faith in God’s bigness, His love and His generosity toward mankind needs to grow by reading what the Lord Himself has said over and over. This will help to expand our faith levels and it goes from our heads to our hearts. It is literally, “life and health to our bones…”

Here are some scriptures to stew on: “For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit,…” 1 Peter 3:18. AND … Romans 6:9-10: “For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.” Hebrews 2:9: “But we do see Jesus, Who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

Jesus suffered for us, so now we need to make sure that we are not deceived. That part is clear. But His suffering had a purpose and it was humanity’s total redemption. Sin separates us from our relationship with God Himself – He’s the Life giver! Sin renders us a pale shadow of who we can be. Because of it, we can become deaf, dumb and unable to see, receive, or accept His goodness. Meanwhile we can’t kill ourselves, we have to let others do it for us – our part is to yield. We resist the devil and yield to God. We fight what satan says, and take what the Lord says to heart and stand on it.

Sin puts us squarely into satan’s territory, a place where he rules, and please remember, he hates people! Human beings can easily be deceived and dragged away from our primary purpose, which is to present Christ to the rest of this world, by who we choose to be now, today. The power of choice is enormous! And thinking that living a neutral, quiet life will hide us from satan’s games is unrealistic. Now we all have the potential to be like Jesus, and so we need our Resident Helper’s help – He is Jesus’ gift to us in this new life!   

It was not just the Lord’s death that impacted our faith – it was also the way He lived while He was on earth! Those two things go together. Jesus has given us the same power to overcome that He had when He walked the earth with the Person of the Holy Spirit. However, you can’t have a new life without dying — you can only get a resurrected life if you are dead in the first place!  Sadly, most of the time we aren’t prepared to die to self to get it. Both things are needed — death to self and a brand new life in Christ. The power to walk in our new life comes from the choice to die. Not just a little bit dead, but all dead. Dead dead. That old life cannot walk with Jesus, it will fail so it has to go. 

Now we surrender our hopes and dreams to His purposes. After we have chosen to lay down the life that we have now, then we choose to live a life of love. We put aside what we need, and let go of all those daily things that can act as abrasions in this life. Our responses to other people, help us to diagnose the places we are still clinging to the old life. That minute by minute struggle against voluntarily choosing His way over our Way, can show us where we are not yielded to Him. Father God will not do this for us – because that would rob us of our freedom. It has to be our choice. 

Jesus Christ chose the cross – He prayed, and then He followed it through by His actions. This is the pattern WE follow. We pray and then we deliberately choose to submit to Him. At Calvary the Lord submitted to every dastardly plot of the enemy – the stuff that was sent to destroy Him. But He chose to stay in Grace toward others. He is our example. It’s always a choice.  However, let’s remember: “God (Himself) is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Our Helper lives to help us. Psalm 46:1 Bye. 👋

P 3322  What’s so important about obedience? 

/ DVH

“For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey Me, and I will be your God and you will be My people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.” Jeremiah 7:21-23.

“Why are you so polite with Me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.” (Jesus is speaking.) Luke 6:46.

Without obedience, our foundation in the Lord can be a bit wonky. He will never let go of us, but if we ignore Him and don’t obey Him, we are letting go of our relationship with Jesus. It really does matter if the Lord tells you to go and fix things with this or that person. Obedience is not just witnessing about Him, it is the every day practical submission we carry out as we deliberately obey His Words. The Lord Jesus loves us so much — He doesn’t want us to carry those things around inside us. That’s a burden that needs to be thrown down at the foot of the cross. He carried it for us, so we don’t have to.

When it comes to forgiveness there are no exceptions.  God tells us these things for our own good, not because He is a control freak. Why would we choose to walk around in satan’s backyard when God has already picked out His pathway for us to walk on? Unforgiveness nails one foot to the floor, and then we go round and round talking about it – trying to figure out what to do next about that person. Ruminating over imaginary conversations that never work out IRL. Instead, go and ask for the Lord and your abuser’s forgiveness for ‘not loving your enemy and not doing them good.’ It’s probably best not to use those exact words BTW. Remember – healing often needs time – and forgiveness sets me free. 

God’s plan for us is a plan for our good, it includes righteousness, peace, love and JOY, as we walk with the Holy Spirit. He has plans to give us a hope and a future. We can short-circuit His processes when we choose not to obey Him, and our foundations will rock and creak. That’s because they are not fixed on what Christ already did. Jesus did what He did so we can have the freedom and grace to forgive others and live free from all kinds of angst and fear.

Forgiveness is not about giving permission for someone to keep tormenting you. Instead it teaches us to speak one of Almighty God’s languages. Some things work so much better when they are a fixed part of our lives, and obedience and forgiveness are two of them. Jesus forgave us. He didn’t just forgive the men who killed Him – those words from the cross have echoed down the centuries and provided access for us here and now. Forgiveness is a lifestyle choice not an optional extra. 

When we live in unforgiveness, we are rebelling against the very thing that the Lord came here to do for US. Living like that will expose us to self-deception. His blood is our permanent refuge, so put the past under His blood. I don’t care what the person who is still hurting you did. You need to be free of it.  Freedom doesn’t always come when the other person acknowledges their sin – it comes when we choose to put our focus on Him. If you don’t put those carelessly repeated actions down and walk away it will strangle your own faith.

You don’t have to like people to forgive them. And the bible doesn’t say “feel like it” – it just says do it! Remember love is a choice not a feeling. We put our hearts into compromising positions when we harbour unforgiveness. Please remember there are often a lot of things we don’t know about that other person that could be causing them to behave the way they do. Plus I have noticed that when two people collide, one of the best ways of finding resolution is for one of them to change the way they respond to any oppositional stimulus. Be that person – the peace-maker.

I have forgiven a number of people a great deal of manipulation, hurt and vicious behaviour, some of which was deliberately malicious and some of it was unwitting. Some have even insisted that I vindicate their behaviour … but I declined, because their behaviour is not my responsibility. I refuse to take somebody else’s response into account, or let it influence my own actions, as I continue to move forward toward Him. 

If I need protection from an aggressor then the Lord will tell me to avoid them. He has told me to “leave now,” when I was in danger of being hurt again. At the same time, I’ve learnt some things can’t be easily resolved. They need REST, not instant RESOLUTION. Forgive, and then let Jesus do what only He can do. At the same time resist the temptation to hold a grudge. If it comes up again then I forgive again, and give it to back to Him again. We forgive others because God says so. We do it because He told us to do it. It becomes so much easier to do the things He asks of us, when we choose to obey Him. That’s why forgiveness is foundational in its importance. Bye👋