Remind

P 3227 Choosing to live in the good.

/ DVH

“For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love motivates you to serve others, and how unrelenting is your hope-filled patience in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3 TPT.

Deliberately taking the time to remind ourselves to take to heart the good things, can help us to walk through  difficulties. Especially when the bad stuff just keeps on coming! Even if the bad seems to outweigh the good, when we turn our heads to see the blessings of God, our vision of His life in us expands. We start to see that what seems bad, can actually ‘work together for our good.’ That verse stops being theory and becomes real.

It is also useful to give the Lord permission to poke us in the heart when we are cranky with someone, and ask Him to remind us of the lovely things this person may have done for us. We also need to ask Him to show us what He sees as good. If He calls it good, it’s good, remember?? There are times when I get angry at someone and I can’t remember a good thing they ever did. But that’s because I’m angry with them! It’s about me not them! 

On the other hand, if we do love someone just because we are commanded to – sheer obedience – then we may miss out on the greater good. The greater good comes from loving others because we can see God’s goodness in them. That’s called spiritual sight! With people we don’t particularly like, that can take practice and spiritual eyes! Remember, we want to speak God’s language – He came here to learn ours. Even though in some people, this kind of goodness may be like the stuff that gets hidden way, wa-a-y back … at the back of the fridge, where it’s easily forgotten. My advice is to clean out the fridge regularly, you never know what you might find back there that’s good.

Let’s begin to see the Lord at work, for our own spiritual well-being. Pressing in helps! Critical, unhappy hearts misinterpret what they see. I’m talking about taking the time to notice, even if that good is infinitesimal in our eyes. It can still transform the way we look at the things that happen around us. It is easy to move on too quickly from appreciating someone’s else’s effort when they make it. It is a mistake to see kindness as something we deserve. We will always get kindness from the Lord, but other people don’t have to give it to us, no matter who the heck they are, or who WE are. Allowing cynicism to guide us is deadly. 

Christians expect so much from our leaders, without understanding that they are just human beings like us and they can make mistakes. The way we treat our companions when they have made a mistake or sinned, is an indication of our attitude toward redemption. It also shows us our level of kindness. Our job is to help people get rid of their earthly burdens, not find extra ones to tie on their backs just because they did something we don’t like! Here’s an interesting ‘heads up’ – the things we excuse in our own lives can really annoy us when someone else does it. Hmm, I think I’ve heard that before: “logs and specks’ wasn’t it??”

The subtext to this particular subject, kind of goes like this: “If I can make all this effort then why can’t you do it?”This kind of thinking is one of the best diagnosis of “running on works” I’ve seen. The next step from there is to make what you think a law in your own mind and then, bingo bongo, you suddenly have religion. That stuff is particularly poisonous to the things of the Spirit. One of the most useful things I have learnt, is that everyone else is not on the same learning curve I’m on. They serve God first, not me. Thank the Lord I am not in charge … imagine the mess!! 

Here’s a pretty obvious fact – we actually need to see and acknowledge the good, in order to remember it. There’s those spiritual eyes again. In my opinion we cannot afford to live this new life in Christ without them. Ask Him! But be prepared for your new eyes to work on you first when you look into the mirror of His Word! Meanwhile, let’s give the Lord permission to reveal ourselves to ourselves, otherwise we will just keep running around and around, with lots of hot angry air, but accomplishing nothing and going nowhere. 

The Lord has something that you can be, or do, that I can’t, and it will be memorable. You may have noticed when Jesus speaks to some people, He sees them through spiritual eyes, right into their character, even though He has never met them before. “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Here is an Israelite indeed [a true descendant of Jacob], in whom there is no guile nor deceit…” John 1:47. We all need this kind of sight! In this modern age, we have worked much too hard on reading the bad in people – it’s a form of self-protection. It almost goes without saying that ‘our God is our protection and with HIM we are safe.’

Remembering, and noticing the good in others becomes a skill. We all need it. Have you ever heard someone prophesy over someone else and say things like: ‘You are a mighty man/woman of God.’ Really?? I wonder what their family thinks? At that moment God is speaking to what’s good right and profitable, and our minds need to dwell on those things too for our own spiritual health! Bye.👋

P 3142 It’s the Lord’s nature.

/ DVH

“The Lord is close to all whose hearts are crushed by pain, and He is always ready to restore the repentant one.” Psalms 34:18 TPT.  I love the word always in this Psalm. When human beings say always, we often mean – most of the time. But when God says always that’s exactly what He means! He is not into hyperbole or exaggeration. What He says, He means. Whatever He says, you can stand on. Doubt has nothing to give us, but angst. Holding fast is hard, but when we do it, we will reap a great reward.

Oh I pray that everyone grasps this truth and holds on to it tightly. It will comfort you in times when the roof has fallen in. The Holy Spirit will take His Words and unfold them before your eyes, and suddenly the thing you can’t understand, is clear. Let Him expound God’s word to you. There is nothing like God Himself, explaining what He means when you study His scriptures!

It is His truth. Almighty God put His full stop on His truth when He sent us the Living Word, Jesus, so we could see His Word in action. Ask yourself, how did Jesus treat sinners? — With grace, mercy and revelation that leads to repentance. How did He interact with the sick? With compassion, kindness, and healing. How did He minister to the spiritually hungry? With fresh bread directly from heaven. When God says He is close, He means He is close!  PAIN should not be our reference point – He is! 

Choose to believe Him, and remember to thank Him. You can thank Him for being with you, and not leaving, you even if the difficult circumstances haven’t instantly resolved. Focus on how close He says He is. When bad stuff happens, He won’t ever leave us. He takes His Word seriously and He keeps it. When we gave our lives to Jesus we stepped away from the feeling/thought-based world attitude, into His light and that light won’t lie to us. It can’t! Goodness, mercy, love, kindness, gentleness and truthfulness are part of God’s very nature. He does not lie. 

Years ago, I read books about countries on the other side of the world. I heard about them on the radio, and then I saw blurry pictures of them in black and white on the TV! And then one day I got on a plane and went and stood in those places. That one action took many countries out of the realm of my imagination, and brought them into reality for me. 

If you mention places like Germany, or Greece or France, I have memories of golden sun on my face – and some pretty yummy food too! If you say Singapore, I remember the brilliant architecture, sounds and smells. The thing that transports what we know into our personal experience — is FAITH! I ran about like a headless chicken and got a pass-port, and visas, packed my bags, then I got on a plane, and those countries came out of my imagination into reality.. I acted on what I saw! Faith acts on what it has read in the bible.

Our Spirit-prompted, Word-based belief in whatever He says, can take His Word and bring it to life. For those who are interested, I am not talking about believing for a Lear jet or a house with a bowling alley in the basement! I’m talking about God’s true riches. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness etc. But if we choose to treat His book like an information source, we will miss out on tasting the substance of His love, which transforms human beings. Ask for His help, and deliberately practice being loving – leave your feelings out of it.

Faith comes first. That’s when we decide to take a risk regarding Jesus’ truthfulness and Personhood and you and I will begin to have our own personal history with God Himself. The bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing comes from exposing ourselves to His Word— when we feel like it and when we don’t. And if you are sick, sad, or lonely then you probably won’t feel like it. I listen to the bible read if I can’t read it. We need to daily let His Word wash over us and cleanse us from the unbelief and heartache of this world.

Personally, I have yet to say: “oh goodie” when a testing time comes upon me. Nevertheless, I am learning that in those faith-testing times it means that God is taking me deeper still. The deeper the foundation, the greater the stability of the building. Our gracious Father is making sure we won’t ‘shake’ and ‘quake’ like we used to … because what we are standing on now, is firm and secure, and we know it.It’s like David said to Goliath: ‘First I killed a lion, then a bear, so YOU are going down!” Each faith-prompted action and subsequent experience led David into a deeper understanding of God Himself, and more confidence in Him.

Some things have now gone from my head to my heart. That’s because He has written it there! Our hearts are the safest place for that knowledge to be. When things are dark and horrible, that’s when we need to exercise our faith in His never-ending goodness the most. I tell the Lord: “You said You are here, so You are here! You are truthful, and I believe You. Thank You for being here close to me.” Amen.

When we stop trying to use the Lord for our own ends, and we decide that all we want is HIM – then we can tell Him we want to stay close to Him no matter what. That’s when we will see Him in ways we cannot imagine. Sometimes we need to do what David did and remind ourselves of the times when His goodness has upheld us and He helped us push through to victory. No matter how things look — and for many many people today, I know things look terrible, but I exhort you to hold fast.

God has not left you, and HE WILL NOT! Jesus our Shepherd will walk with you in that deep dark valley and use His staff to protect you from everything that wants to harm you. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. If help doesn’t come immediately He’s telling you He knows you can do it! Remember that His loving kindness is the Lord’s nature — and this too, shall pass… 😢 Bye.

P 2969 Hope maintenance.

/ DVH

“Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for His miraculous power constantly energises you. Now we offer up to God all the glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation through Jesus Christ—and all that will yet be manifest through time and eternity. Amen!”Ephesians 3:20-21 TPT. Jesus is our steadfast anchor and hope, and the bible is hope’s back-up and proof that what we know is true. Finally, our praise and prayers mirror what we hope for! 

You and I need to take the time to protect our own hope. We can’t always just jump in and start out with faith, because our faith can be weakened by circumstances, emotions and trouble. Christ’s birth, life, and death have established HOPE on the earth, permanently.”To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.“ Colossians 1:27.This is not a transitory thing, it is an eternal thing. It is an established, firm, foundational fact. We cling to His incredible goodness. Faith will spring up in us, as we continually maintain our hope in Who He is and what He did for us.

We need to remind ourselves about what the Bible says, instead of focussing on what is going on around us or inside us. We ask the Holy Spirit to remind us of the incredible things the Lord has already done in our lives that are good, filled with hope, grace and truth. Verses like those two above, are so helpful, they remind us that God has dominion over everything else that is going on, and He doesn’t just want to answer our prayers — He wants to bless us while He is doing it! He has our best interests firmly established in His heart.

Here is another well known verse that show us ‘hope’s purpose.’“May Your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in You.” Psalm 33:22. Our hope is an investment in God’s greatness, not in our ability to believe! There are times when we hope for things that are bigger than our faith seems to be. However, God is always good, He will get us there, He will turn our hearts toward Him! Just be honest with Him and ask for His help. When we asked Jesus to save us He made our heart His home. We could be bad at living like that is a reality, or good at it, none of that makes any difference at all to HIS goodness.

Things happen all the time in this life, stuff like —- a loved one is desperately sick, or the job we want to be available isn’t. Maybe we need somewhere safe to live. Of course we pray about such desperate things, but our hope needs to be in WHO He is, not just the answer to our prayers. If our hope is in the answer to our prayers then our hopes can be shattered if things don’t turn out the way we think they should. We must start with the known, the reality, the substance of Who Jesus is — His character, and His attitude toward people like me, we are the people He loves. All of that is in the bible.

Sometimes we desperately hope for things that are beyond our immediate scope of belief. Pray and ask Him to walk you through your failing hope and faith, until you are again standing on His goodness. Things like these are a place for us to continue to stretch our faith IN HIM. Here is an example: it is one thing to believe God can get you to work on time when the trains are late — and totally another to believe He can heal someone who is severely depressed! He can! But we can drive ourselves batty struggling and striving to stretch our hope and make our faith into something it isn’t … yet. When you find a weak place, let Him be your strength.

You and I might have a mustard seed size of faith, and still grow a big tree that will shelter others. The important factor in that sentence is time. We never arrive, we are always in transit in this life – that’s part of the adventure. We need to invest our hope in His goodness, like we invest in breathing or having enough water — not in our ability, or inability to pray. Let His goodness be a fixed point. Then hope will not disappoint you. HE never changes. But our ability to hope in Him answering our prayers might easily be swayed or changed with adverse  circumstances. 

That’s why our hope must be in Who He is. Our thoughts aren’t about things like – did He answer my prayer this week, last month, last year? Our prayer needs to be fixed to the only true fixed point – is Jesus God or not? Can God do anything or not? Anything else leaves us open to being knee-capped by the other guy when we get overwhelmed by whatever is going on. God is good. He gives good answers. No matter how things look now, He’s got this. He’s with you in what is going on. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.” Hebrews 11:1. We hang onto our hope in Him, until we hit faith and we return to the certainty of Who He is … now we have substance … we aren’t trying to push faith out, we know that we know Who He is.

Silence from heaven is never final … it means it is faith-stretching time – during that time we need to dig into our hope chest and remind ourselves of Who He is and what He has done for us. Hope maintenance facilitates growing and strengthening OUR faith. We stop using other people’s experiences to push us along, and start developing our own history, our own stories of His grace in action. Then we can’t be stopped. Remember:  “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12 . I believe that hoping in God’s goodness is the key that breathes life into overwhelmed struggling, sad hearts. Bye. 👋

P 2953 Peace.

/ DVH

In some versions of the bible, Colossians 3 says: “let peace be your umpire…”  However, I like the translation in Colossians 3:15 Amplified bible: “Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].”

I’ve learnt a lot about peace in the past few years. I don’t honestly know why it has taken me so long to learn this truth, because it is one of those foundational factors that hold everything else in place! Maybe some things are harder to grasp than others, I guess. Today I want to share a bit about what I’ve learnt — bearing in mind that God’s word is multi-faceted and I only have one tiny view!

Peace can be a glorious feeling, but the idea of nice, juicy, happy and content feelings should not govern us – the Word of God does that. Sometimes, if I am upset, I read the Psalms until He speaks to me, and my busy mind and frantic feelings quiet down. That’s what listening to our Heavenly Umpire looks like. Getting this right is not the point … sinking into His peace is what is desired, so avoid pressure because doing that is the antithesis of what you want! Try not to second-guess yourself, instead give it to Jesus, and leave it with Him.

Peace is also not the absence of conflict. I think in our busy, sometimes frantic and frenetic lives we live today, true peace – His peace, has become scarce. We get glimpses of it, only to have it snatched away by some crises or other. Those things that regularly turn up, right outside of our ability to affect them. But in our day to day walk with Him, because of His purposes and plans for us, we need to know that we know, that certain basic facts that have been written down and are absolutely established. The minute I know I’ve lost my peace I know I can start restoring it by praying: “I want whatever You want Jesus, Your ways are much better than mine, I yield to Your better judgment, please help me I need Your peace.” Amen.

As we choose to love one another… in spite of the circumstances and obstacles that this life can put in our way — that will also help us to focus on the things that last forever. When we choose LOVE instead of our own justification, we pull focus into the things of God. Then we progressively lay aside all the worldly things we’ve used in the past to help us deal with the difficult times that come at us. Those external things that have previously helped us cope. And we deliberately remind ourselves of what He has already said. Our human resources need to be put down in order to lean on Him in faith, and grab hold of His peace. This new way to live is part of our God-given inheritance. 

As I said before, I like the idea that God’s peace is like an umpire, because an umpire is a pretty good illustration of how it works. We could say that sentence like this — God’s peace in our hearts, needs to be the deciding factor in how and when and why we move forward. So if we haven’t got His peace then we are not going anywhere until we have it!  Expedience is a poor motivator! We need to learn to wait for Him to show us any impediments to living in peace that we have picked up along the way. I ASK for it. It is covered by the “ask and keep on asking..” verse.

At the same time we can still have multiple problems to the right and left of us. Stop. Breathe. Tell yourself “God is bigger than this!” Even though disaster is thumping on the front door and chaos is trying to sneak in the back one. That noise is trying to distract you from your goal – glorifying Jesus with your obedience. We are standing on something that is far bigger than the intrusive things that demand our attention and try to thrust their way into our lives and hearts. 

We are standing on what Christ has already done and what He has promised us, in His Word. If we have no peace, then we should stop every bit of self effort, and ask the Lord to help us! Losing our peace means we have somehow lost track of the things in this life that are most important. So we stop, repent and wait. At the same time there is always a chance that we’ve actually given our peace away trying to figure things out with our own understanding. Whatever has happened a simple “help help, please Lord” will focus us again. He.Will.Help.Us. That’s in the book too!

Peace with God, has been given to us by what Jesus did. It’s ours! Just like salvation is ours – so is peace.  Let go and leave whatever it is with Him.  Walking with the Holy Spirit is part of our birthright, and it is not an insurmountable task. Jesus has already done all the work to make living with His peace ruling our hearts possible. We simply need to use our faith to believe what He said is truer than our day to day upsets, circumstances or feelings. Faith is the Way into Peace. 

Often, if we are busy we can end up settling for the absence of conflict … instead of seeking out His peace. I’ve found if I do that, then I need to repent and turn around and go back to what is “good, right and profitable”  and start  “letting my mind focus/dwell on Him.” This is how we become acquainted with HIS PEACE, because Jesus is the Prince of Peace!! So we live in an incredible kingdom! Then we begin to know what peace is, and what it isn’t! Plus you get to know what it looks like when you have it. Bye. 🕊️

P 2864 Don’t go anywhere without HIM!

/ DVH

Luke 5:1-10:“When He (Jesus) had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But *because YOU say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him.”

*”Because YOU say so” … let’s just let that thought sit there for a minute or two… and reflect upon the ordinary simple fisherman that Jesus spoke to – Peter. I have it on good authority  … Google! 🤣 Hah! How come I can believe Google but sometimes struggle to believe in what HE says. Well, that thought is for another day. Any-way, apparently fishing by night is far more successful. Even hobby fishermen go out really really early in the morning, or at dusk ’til about 1.00 am. Why? Not a clue – feel free to tell me if you know!! 

Here is what I noticed when I read that scripture today, there was something so powerful and appealing about Jesus … PS actually it was the Presence of SOMEONE… and because we have the book we are witnesses of what happened. The Holy Spirit, He came upon the Lord right after Jesus was baptised. Maybe we’ve all undervalued hosting the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives! He has promised to be with us, just like He was with Jesus. John 14:26: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” 

I do know that He helps me type this blog, daily! He reminds me: “There is this verse and that one!” Thoughts like that just pop into my head … like John 14:16-17b:“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” Let’s just pause again and think about this for a few moments. Do you think that Father God is going to listen to Jesus’ request when HE asks for us? Yeah, me too! 

So why don’t we feel like we have Him? Here’s my peanut gallery thought — because we can’t just look for the Holy Spirit with our feelings – we access His Presence using our faith and obedience, and by the way we choose to live. Faith values His Presence more than anything else. We understand that you and I can do NOTHING without Him.

And here’s Galatians 3:14:“He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” And there we have it. We receive the Promise God sent us, because the Lord Jesus died to make available to us — as we use our faith. You know, our faith gets severely tested when we’ve done something that we know He doesn’t like. Yet sincere repentance changes that in a heartbeat and we go back to walking with Him. Charge up your faith in His forgiveness and go, go, go again!

Let’s make a New Year’s resolution – no more walking in and out of the Holy Spirit’s Presence – let’s all just stay IN and do whatever we have to do to live that way! We can all live this way, so long as we are prepared to live our lives for His Ways. God does not exclude us, He never will! We exclude ourselves when we decide that we want what we want and we know better than He does. We get out of sync with Him.

Jesus chose to manifest His heart at the beginning of His ministry, to a bunch of fishermen who had worked hard all night for nothing and yet He cared enough to rectify their problem. Does this sound like SomeOne you can trust Who is on your side? Uhuh! The secret to living our lives for the Lord lies in walking around with HIM! Yielding – letting go of our own agendas. We pray, we ask, and we believe that He will not lie, because we have His promises – AND we let the Holy Spirit become our treasure.

My very best advice is don’t go anywhere without Him…  I should listen to my own advice more!! And value Him above all else. Jesus did. Bye! 👋

P 2735 Who are you angry with?

/ DVH

If someone asked me that question I would probably say: “no-one.” Actually I might think about it for a bit, and maybe I would come up with one or two people that kinda irk me every now and then but my response would be: ‘… I’m not angry! No way!’ Now here’s a laugh for you … or you could cry. I’ve done both. Ask the Lord who you are mad at, and sit and wait for His answer. ps Don’t believe that little voice inside your head that says you are OK. That voice will tell you that you are a perfectly splendid person who never gets mad, it’s someone else’s fault for provoking you. That’s that liar – it’s not Jesus. 

At the same time it could also be you, making excuses for yourself. Err on the side of caution and press into the Lord about it anyway … and take a pen … because you are going to need one. Yeah, I know, I seem so sure of myself about this subject … that’s because I’ve been doing stuff like this for quite a while now. One time recently when I asked the Lord that question He said: ‘the postman!’  I’m like … ‘the POSTMAN Lord??? Really??? What on earth did HE do that gave me an opportunity to be angry at him?’ Then the Lord spoke this magic sentence “… remember when you were waiting impatiently for that important parcel … and it didn’t come?” … …

Aha! The Lord and I were about to have a teaching moment. I am dumb, but I have learnt not to talk over the top of Him! I’ve also learnt to agree with Him and let Him explain to me the error in my thinking. Plus I get a freebie – a way to deal with it. He gave me this picture and I kind of liked it – I hope you find it helpful. Suppose getting mad at someone else was represented with something concrete:  every time you get miffed at another person or situation because it doesn’t suit you – someone gives you an orange. Would you like to guess how many oranges you will have at the end of the day? Mine was 3 bags and still counting!  No wonder I am always tired!! I’m carrying around 3 kgs of oranges, voluntarily!!🍊

Meanwhile calling anger by another name does not change a thing. It just makes ME feel better and more in control. You know what I mean, calling it lesser things like – miffed, ticked off, irritated, cross, displeased, provoked and irked – those are just a few synonyms for angry, and there are lots more …!! 🙄 Just having kids can throw you headfirst into plenty of opportunities to be angry. Meanwhile if you actually stumble into rage, please count me out. I have no brilliant ideas for dealing with that one! Maybe take a cold shower??… Like I said … not a clue!

My very, very elderly parent forgets what she just said. And she also forgets what you said three seconds ago when you answered her. So she asks “How are you?”…   every three minutes. It seems like time stands still just being around her and you are caught in this time warp! You try to change the subject but the minute there is silence – off she goes again! That’s on ME, BTW, not her. I can, however, with the Lord’s help have compassion on her, my brain cells are slowly dying off too.

Another fav irritating thing that happens with astonishing regularity is caused by our dog!  She loves to bark at anyone who comes within a half a mile of our house. I mean they could be 4 houses down and just walking along, on the other side of the road, minding their own business … But she goes off her rocker explaining to us that there’s  a person! I roar at the dog, because I’m embarrassed at the noise she makes – but let’s not talk about me shouting at her, that’s another thing altogether!

Now over to a few solutions. Well there aren’t any. Just get over yourself and repent. My dear parent is going to continue to ask “how are you” because she’s stuck, and she’s polite and wants to contribute, and praise God she is still here to do it! And the dog is going to continue to announce every stranger who walks past our house. However, personally, I am getting so sick of collecting oranges! What to do? Here’s what the bible says: “Be angry but don’t sin, don’t let the sun go down on your anger.”Ephesians 4:26. Now that’s good advice … I need to take it … I often remember that scripture the day after I fall in!

Sadly, there are some things that we can let the sun go down on, and come up again, etc. etc. over and over. Here’s the only thing I can suggest. Forgive whoever it is on purpose. Go in person if you can and ask them for forgiveness, then every single time it comes up in your mind, or that person does whatever it is AGAIN, remind yourself you already forgave them, and repent for digging up dirt on somebody else. Next, deliberately take the time to ask the Holy Spirit if that irritation etc. is standing on something. Do I remember this advice all the time? Of course not!

Some things remind us of the past or someone else, and then we react badly because we are standing on a mound of hurt. Repent, forgive whoever it was and ask for healing. Other people’s sins should fade out of our lives – yes, even if they do continue to do the same thing over and over again. It is OUR sin we are concerned about … of course I am an abject failure at that one too!  My advice, don’t let anger ruin your days… and if you do! Repent quickly. Bye 👋

P 2615 Fighting fear at 3.00am or thereabouts.

/ DVH

We all know this one in some form or another. As we start to get a handle on wrangling fear, fighting with the Lord’s strength during the day, the wretched thing pops up at 3.00am when you can’t sleep. I call it the ‘what ifs.’  

What if this bad thing happens. What if that even worse one does? … What if I can’t cope? … What if I let my family down? First of all – let’s remind ourselves that at 3.00am very few sleepless people cope! These thoughts and many others like them, are a direct attack on our faith. Cheer up! The other guy wouldn’t be attacking our faith if we weren’t actually going somewhere with it. It is time to remind ourselves that …

“… God will NEVER give us the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit Who gives us mighty power, love, and self-control.”

2 Timothy 1:7 TPT. Did ya get the word NEVER??! So that clears up any possible suggestion of just who is behind those worries that are nagging at us, no matter what time it is, because it will NEVER be the Lord Jesus. 

Yeah, I know that seems to go without saying … except in those moments when a lack of sleep robs you of your ability to think clearly. But we can learn to fight for our peace. However, this verse is more about Who we have to help us, than about what we are fighting. We have the Holy Spirit Who wants to give us His mighty power, His love for the Lord and others, plus a spiritual gift called self-control. Ya might want to think on that for a minute or ten. 🤔 But not at 3.00am, or there’s a chance that we will get even more awake!

At that hour I personally need all the mighty power I can get, thank you Jesus! My brain turns into a washing machine. Strangely, that reminds me of something … old person’s ramble alert … many years ago, there was this ad on TV with a cute kid in it who is probably now in his 60s … if not dead. This kid says: “Guess whose mum’s got a Whirlpool?” I dunno about a fancy washing machine, but sometimes it sure feels like a whirlpool in my head! How about you? PS they don’t make Whirlpools any more – they cost a fortune even back then. Let’s mo-ve right along from useless trivia that no-one cares about … 

… And just look again at that terrific verse. At all times, in all places, sometimes even despite our lack of obvious spirituality… God GIVES US the Holy Spirit. I’m going to say that again because maybe it didn’t quite sink in  … our GOD GIVES US THE HOLY SPIRIT!! Now here’s the Gift Who keeps on giving! And He is totally unearned or deserved. At 3.00am very few people feel spiritual, but we know that our God will always help us. Ask for help! ← I’m just going to let that sit there so we can both think about it.🤔 🧐 

Here’s another weapon suitable for the 3.00am screaming meemies …“because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. ”So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”Hebrews 13:5b-6. Whatever is trying to pinch your sleep is between you and our precious Helper, the Holy Spirit, He’s the Person God has given us to be our Friend forever. He is always there. Other people. and the spirit of stupid they are currently swimming in, don’t belong splashing about inside our heads! Remember, distraction from the real point is the enemy’s biggest tool. he tried that on Jesus … and it didn’t work on Him, either. 

Psalm 34:15-18: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”← Did ya get that word all? So you and I can’t actually be an exception because all means ALL!“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Which is why we repent about anyone we are angry with, even if it IS 3.00am. 

Despite the old fashioned bible version above, I urge you to fight against fear for your right to sleep and be at peace, be-ca-use … “…  to His beloved one He giveth sleep.” Psalm 127:2. You are His beloved one – sleep belongs to you. Hmmm. At 3.00am it seems that I speak King James English. Meanwhile there is no truth whatsoever to the rumour that I am that old!  Bye …👋

P 2548 Fight for your HOPE.

/ DVH

Psalm 42:1-11. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”  Have you ever thought to yourself? … “If I can just get to Jesus, I know I will be alright.” It seems this Psalmist guy had a similar thought … or … maybe he is just a realist? A lot of our time can be wasted on trying to work out stuff we can’t possibly fix – and/or things that are way outside our control! When all it takes is “help help” Lord! We cannot manage our new life without Him.

“These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God.”

Remembering the good things of the past sets us up to have renewed hope for the future. This guy has enough sense to know that his soul, his feelings, his imagination and his circumstances are never good things to be allowed to lead us. He asks himself questions! We cannot afford to spend our time and focus lamenting about the things that come at us. We must remind ourselves God is still on His throne and He always wants to help us!  BTW, unless we are continually renewing our minds, our minds can go into terrible places too.

“My soul is downcast within me;  therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.  Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;  all Your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.“

This Psalmist has a great grasp on reality. He doesn’t deny what is going on, instead he uses his memory to remind himself of better times, wherever he goes. Without the Lord Jesus continually guiding us, our lives can be smashed against the rocks of this life and they can immediately seem purposeless.

In the Western world we’ve been led astray, because we’ve been living lives of comparative ease. We don’t face the terrible things daily other people in this world are facing, daily. It is too easy to think that having whatever we want;  a good life without hardship, is our right. And then we can get our crank on when this life becomes difficult. Easy lives raise shallow people, just like shallow soil raises plants with shallow roots. God wants to grow oak trees, not radishes. You can harvest radishes in a week, oak trees take a little longer! 

“I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God? Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God.”

You know, if we absolutely have to complain, then let’s go and talk things over with the Lord. But remember, if all we ever do is complain then — He will eventually leave us to work things out for ourselves. Complaints need to turn back toward faith in Him and asking for His help. We must push past our feelings into the reality of His Presence. Our God is always with us, He wants to help us. He will even save us from our own stupid selves. Trouble is the best time to ask yourself questions. Why am I feeling so overwhelmed? Why isn’t my faith handling this Lord? 

The way through trials and tribulations is to continually push back against everything around us that wants to soothe us off to sleep, into oblivion. This world will be happy to tell us how unfair our life is. We have to learn to resist whatever is going on around us, and go back to lifting our eyes and hearts, up to the Lord. That’s where our help always comes from – He is the centre of focus – not the things that pass away. Plus our feelings, will lie to us!  Let’s press on into hope and resist our circumstances, because they can change in a heartbeat. And then we ask ourselves, ‘Who is in charge of my life, my responses, my well-being … my circumstances, or God?’ I will always have a choice to make. I can choose to give in to how I feel etc. or remember where my hope comes from.

Just because things don’t get better that does not mean God has deserted you – He has a plan. No matter how dark it seems – He has a plan to ‘give us a hope and a future.” Hold on! Don’t let your feelings push your faith aside. The man who wrote this Psalm knew he was able to get through things, because he knew that in God, he was bigger inside than outside. Whenever we let go of our hope we are letting go of OUR anchor! Hebrews 6:19, 20.”We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, …”

If you end up bobbing about in rough seas wondering why you are being pushed around by huge waves, currents and undercurrents of this life – it is time to remind yourself that you’ve forgotten to let down the anchor. Grab hold of Jesus and tell Him, “I will not let You go!.” Because of what Christ did, we can go into the Holy of holies and seize our hope. Hope is our forever anchor, and our Hope is always in the Lord and what He did for us, not in our circumstances. Jesus is our everlasting hope that God has a purpose in the midst of the chaos. 🙌

P 2210 Do this to remember Me.

/ DVH

We all know these verses and say them at communion. But there are times when I wonder if we understand what we are saying – maybe sometimes we say it without thought. I don’t think that eating and drinking communion regularly is the main thing in the Lord’s eyes – I think regularly and intentionally remembering Him and what He did for us, IS. 

Yeah, I know a whole lotta people dun got mad at me for what I just said. In some denominations communion is an extremely important sacrament. I am not trying to diminish the importance of obeying what Jesus said … far from it. But the accent should be on the Lord, not the bread, biscuit, grape juice or wine. It’s the remembering that counts – not the vehicle we use to do it. I think communion is a cue. Listen to this in Youversion:

“Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord’s Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master Himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of His betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, broken for you. Do this to remember Me. After supper, He did the same thing with the cup: This cup is My blood, My new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember Me. What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master.” 1 Corinthians 11:25,26. Communion is to remind us – it is not the most important thing – what Jesus DID is the most important thing!

If you would like a more familiar version here’s the KJV:“After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come.” I’m a big fan of reading more than one version – it opens our eyes to more than the words. I think it can help explain the meaning more clearly. Jesus is telling us that we are to remember Him and what He did, when we break the bread and drink the wine in communion. The sacrament of communion is not the holy thing – remembering Him and what He did, is.

The Lord Jesus never took His spiritual eyes off His Father – He only did what He saw His Father doing. Communion is a way to keep what Jesus DID for us in front of our eyes. When His Presence, His will, His Ways are more important than our own, we will begin to live the same way He did… mindful of our Father’s wishes, as well as other people.

Reading the bible is another way to remember Him. I went to sleep last night chewing on a verse, because it seemed to me that I had not seen what He wanted me to see … yet … and I’m still chewing!  It is a fatal error to think we already know stuff because we can parrot off what the bible says. We will never really know everything this side of heaven – and I strongly suspect we won’t know everything when we get there either! Our God is beyond our comprehension! Meanwhile, there is so much more in the bible than we currently understand. We can’t study it out, we need to live in the Lord’s Presence to give us eyes and ears – we need His revelation.

Remembering Jesus is not like sending your Grandma a card for her birthday! Maybe you’ve written the date of her birthday onto a calendar, or put it in event’s calendar on your cell phone and it merrily chimes to remind you. That’s not remembering … that’s being reminded! Put the word remember into the present tense – in these verses remember is a NOW word, not a special occasional one. It is not about doing something to remind us, it is about living daily that way. The Lord Jesus’ idea of remembering is more focussed. He threw away His own agenda and focussed on His Father’s agenda instead.

Like Paul said: “…for me TO LIVE is CHRIST!” That kind of remembering is current and powerful. When we cultivate an awareness of His Presence, His word, His loving kindness and goodness will be a gold thread running right through the very centre of our lives, all day, every day – not just when we take communion. And I know I ain’t there yet! Lemme put this another way – people who are promiscuous forget they are married. They left their awareness of their marriage vows behind, to do something else. Jesus needs to be in the forefront of our minds, He is never a PS!

In conclusion, it is good to realise that we don’t have to remember Him – we want to remember Him and what He did for us. That sort of focus will keep us humble and grateful. Let’s not let this life’s pressures take our focus away from why we are still here .. to serve Him and worship Him for all He did for us. Remembering is a key to opening our hearts wider than before. 👋🏻