Renewing of your mind

P 3162 This is true worship!

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 2779 Let the book change your mind.

/ DVH

The bible is filled with miraculous stories. And if you or I want to see miracles with our own eyes, then we need to believe the bible and be prepared to look out for them. I’ve noticed that miracles hardly ever happen in a rarified, solemn, silent atmosphere. Nor is there quiet background organ music, or angels in white nighties with huge flaming swords!

Jesus did all kinds of incredible miracles with big crowds all around Him. Some people missed them, and they were there! Most sick people didn’t stand quietly in a healing line! They pushed and shoved, and called out. Hungry people, sick people, smelly people, mentally unwell people, little kids shouting and screaming! It wasn’t quiet like church!!  Forget the postcard pictures of Jesus with a halo round His head … if the Lord had had a halo, everyone would have noticed!  Instead think about these things like this – what if someone famous from today’s world was trying to get through a crowd? That’s a more realistic picture. Wherever Jesus went, it was along dirty, dusty crowded streets with very little shade, or privacy. There was no pretty music!!

Yet our Lord loved it all – simply because He loved people. He never got angry or annoyed at all the people pushing and shoving and crying out. Speaking for myself I know I have seen quite a few miracles … but I wasn’t paying much attention at the time, and didn’t know they were miracles until much later when I thought about it. We aren’t half as smart as we think we are, trust me. I’ve seen some really brilliant things, and my first thoughts were: “Are they making that up?” “Is that real?” “Do you think it will last?”

The whole idea that the miraculous depends on us and our faith, is just plain silly. I know the skin I am in and it is not faith-filled. We need eyes to see what He is doing all around us. Our faith is in Him not in whatever is going on. My point is this: miracles occur all around us while this life keeps marching on – but do we stop to see them – have we let disappointment stop us? We need to let His book make miracles part of our thinking.

They often happen in messy situations – I had someone hand me a baby that was totally blue in the face and utterly lifeless and they begged me to fix it. It’s a long story… with a happy ending... I shook the kid and yelled at it: “Don’t you dare die on me.” Whereupon said baby opened it’s eyes and screamed its little head off. I gave it back to its mother and quickly went back inside my house. It was only afterward… when the mother insisted on thanking me over and over again… then I realised what God had done. We need Holy Spirit inspired eyes prompted by His book to see the miraculous.

Giving away bibles etc. means we’ve experienced all kinds of totally impossible things.. One of my favourite occurrences is when hubby says: “hello” and he smiles, and the person in front of him immediately bursts into tears and starts sharing their life story…   I dunno how that happens — maybe he’s got a crying anointing. Or maybe I’ve gotta stop him from wearing those Dracula fangs! (Only joking OK?) 🤣 … moving on … quickly.

Our pastor is ordinary, but heroic – what a champion! I saw this lovely man pray for a child who had broken a bone in his arm at church and after being checked by a doctor, by the end of the service the kid’s arm was fine. We need to look at this new life we have been given as a real thing. God’s loving passion is inside us, and it surrounds us, and then it flows over onto other people-who-have-not-met-Him-yet.

The secret to spiritual eyes, is to aim at love, and keep insisting that you need it. BE POOR IN SPIRIT. We give up on the kind of love that endures anything, far too quickly. I believe that loving others is the biggest key on our Kingdom keychain. We read His book to find all the ways He has loved us and to learn new ways to love others.

Our God is marvellous, He always wants to help us! Listen to this:“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing Himself to the worst by sending His own Son, is there anything else He wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—Who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.”

“Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate You. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” MSG bible.

I dare you to read the above scripture three times in a row. Now, let it change your mind and act accordingly. Let His love embolden you. Bye. 👋

P 2563 How do I change the way I think?

/ DVH

Romans 12:2 says: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Isaiah 43:18 states, “Do not call to mind the former things, or consider things of the past.” Ephesians 4:23 (AMPC) says: “Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude].”  Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

The word renewing means: to make new …to increase the life of or replace something old. There is now a  contrast between the way we thought before we decided to make Christ our Lord and Saviour – and now!  As part of our inheritance we have been given the supernatural ability to think differently – we simply voluntarily choose to believe what He says above what we think – and act on it. The Holy Spirit will empower us when we step out – and then we will see that what He says is tru-er than what we can see IN us and around us.

I would like to clear something up briefly, people give their lives to Christ every single day — but, sometimes, because they don’t feel anything  —(and they were told they should) — they think …. (wrongly!!) … “God didn’t want me! It didn’t take for me!” Rhubarb. Feelings come and go, but the Word of our God stands forever!  Believing in our heart means more than just saying I agree with that — we must go beyond agreeing into doing what the book says.

The Christian life has very little to do with feelings, and everything to do with our obedience. Jesus says that like this in John 14:15-31:“If you love Me, you will obey My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, Who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God.”  Loving God does not depend on how much you prophesy or if you sing loudly in worship … or even if you write a blog every day! (Teehee!) God has told us how to love Him …OBEY. Obedience to the Word of God is the only criteria, it is about our choices. The Holy Spirit is with us to help us leave all that selfish guff behind us. He will help us change and do the great exploits God has destined us to do. Ask Him to help, then obey the book. 

We are to honour His Word in our hearts above our own thoughts and comfort. That, my friend, can be painful. We’ve spent our whole lives trying to find a firm footing for ourselves on this planet. We suffered through school, parents, university, jobs with grouchy bosses, authority figures, the media, despots — all kinds of people who constantly tell us how to think.  And all of those things have been used to bludgeon our thoughts, AND… some of them may have even been used to build our thoughts. But most of our thought patterns have been built in the wrong directions. Human beings think survival – God thinks LOVE at any cost.

Let’s also not forget that we’ve were born thinking for ourselves. The third word most little ones say is “NO!” Probably because they’ve already heard that word about a billion times. As time goes on, when we are conversing with other people, we pretty quickly learn not to step on someone else’s opinions, unless you want a fist fight! They’ll sue you, say nasty things about you, and in some cases, sadly … blow you up! So many of our so-called opinions are formed by negative experiences, or to protect ourselves, or to feel a part of something else bigger than we are.

However, our God’s Word will still be standing when this world blows up, melts away, freezes to bits, or roasts like a duck in the oven. Who cares!? God’s Word will still be standing… BECAUSE GOD’S WORD IS A PERSON, NOT JUST WORDS ON A PAGE. Jesus Christ is the Living Word. So now I change the way I think by choosing to believe what the bible says above what I used to think before I met Him. When I do that I am stepping into another dimension, the kingdom of God, simply by obeying what the bible says, and living the way Jesus did. BTW that’s all Peter Paul and the rest of those guys did, they went out and lived like Jesus did! This means we love others, forgive our enemies, look after widows and orphans, and tell other people that God loves them too.

In this process I will learn to trade in my impatience for patience by exercising self-control …among other things! 1 Corinthians 13 will give anyone a good list to work on! That’s what changing the way we think looks like. We daily take back the land that we gave up to our enemy, when we didn’t know any better, and visibly bring His kingdom into our little lives. 👋