Revelation

P 2320 What illuminates our thinking?

/ DVH

There are many people in this world that regard the bible as a musty, dusty old book that has nothing much to say to them. They don’t see it as a series of stadium lights,  brighter than the sun, opening up new doors and possibilities. I think this is because Christians have inadvertently presented this book as a guide that God has given to them …kind of like ‘their own personal torch.’  We’ve become almost a secret society, with our own buzz words, and language. 

But, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalms 119:105 NIV. However His book is totally personal, based on the fact that it is not only filled with info that explains the Way into relationship with God, but it is also available to anyone who is looking for Him. “… he who comes to God, must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6b

The bible was given to everyone, not just Christians. It is a book filled with revelations and light for everyone. Because most religions have a ‘book’ – a manifesto if you will –  the bible itself has been casually thrown upon a pile of those kind of, ancient tomes into a corner. It has been filed under the heading of ‘books about stuff I don’t want to know about.’ 

In today’s world we have books and books – podcasts, media, social media, magazines, etc… plus the news! We all know that we can’t trust the news to tell us what we need to know that will benefit us spiritually. Because they have an agenda. That agenda is motivated by sales, money, power and popularity. Even social media, is simply old fashioned gossiping on steroids. It lies, it postulates and it is manufactured in order to make someone else money, or  to give others power. But how will people ever understand the power of those lies if they have never seen the real thing!

If we don’t tell others the bible is a different kind of book, because you read it with the Author – how will they know? Sad to say, shallow thinking produces shallow greedy people. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Romans 15:4 NIV. That hope is not just for us – we are meant to share that hope with everyone!

These other modern things are often too filled with man’s worst nature to do good. But the bible is different, it has the breath and heartbeat of God in it. Meanwhile this wonderful book it does not explain anything – it actually poses more questions than it gives answers! It is not ashamed of its story, or its characters, or WHO GOD IS.

I believe this is why Jesus Christ came here to earth. Books can be misread and misinterpreted – but Jesus Christ came TO SHOW US what life looks like when God’s ways are followed. HIS STORY, HIS PERSONHOOD, HIS ATTITUDES TOWARD MANKIND ARE ALL IN THIS BOOK.

God’s great love for us all in the Person of Jesus Christ is the overriding redemptive theme in the bible. Colossians 1:19 “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,…”Colossians 2:9 “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,…” Revelation 19:12-13: “His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. [And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.”

Jesus Christ is our human visual aid. Our example. He shows us that it is possible for any one of us to live our lives obeying God. He made the things that seemed impossible – possible when He cancelled the power sin forever… By becoming our sin – Jesus totally identified with us. The best response to such a sacrifice is gratitude not permissiveness. We need to live this life questioning ourselves – what is illuminating our thinking?  👋🏻

P 2310 Mi casa, su casa …

/ DVH

… my house is your house. I love the inclusiveness of that beautiful Spanish statement. When we give our lives to Jesus this is what we are literally saying. “My heart, Lord, is now Your home…”  my house is now your house. 

The beauty of this type of commitment toward Him is this … He will remain faithful to us, even if – or when, we are unfaithful to Him. He cannot be any other way. Check it out for yourself, and don’t take my word for it.  It’s in the book. Our God is so faithful! FYI the word “faith” is mentioned 243 times in the bible, “faithful” 82 times, “faithfully” 8 times, “faithfulness” 19 times. Our only response to His incredible faithfulness is: MI CASA SU CASA.

Faithfulness is part of Who Almighty God is! Whatever He says, we can stand on it, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance- we can utterly trust Him. The Holy Spirit always knows what to say … and where to look for instructions too! He initiates, and we follow. We need to be oh, so very careful about how we treat the Precious Spirit of God, because He is the Father’s heart speaking to us, leading us into our destiny.

People make walking with Him far too difficult. The secret is to love what HE loves. He loves the Father and the Son … and… … He loves people. He also adores a heart that loves to obey. Obedience to His Ways and directions show our commitment. We must learn to do whatever He asks us to do. – we need to make His priorities our priorities that is how you walk with Him. If He says don’t do it – then don’t do it! 

It only gets hard any time His will conflicts with ours. Here’s another clue regarding how to recognise Him from day to day— He is not a TA-DA kind of Person. He likes to work in secret.  The Holy Spirit reveals Himself to us as we deliberately choose to learn His ways.… so, in the face of this world’s ideas we will end up seeking out what He wants. That’s normal!

His very favourite thing is this:  He loves to help us carry out our daily life. Let Him IN! The Holy Spirit just loves to help. He teaches us, counsels us, leads us and guides us, as we go about our daily lives.  Ask Him. Ask and keep ON asking…  Plus He loves to help us to worship and praise God. Spontaneously, not just at church on Sunday. If you relegate His input to Sundays you will miss the biggest blessing. He gives us insight, revelation and wisdom in our day-to-day settings. Expect His input. 

Plus He facilitates all of God’s kids to live a life of loving joyful obedience and service to our King. Sometimes we may not even notice what the Holy Spirit is actually doing, unless we make His priorities our priorities. But at the same time He does not ever like to call attention to Himself. He adores to point out the things our Heavenly Father does on our behalf. The Holy Spirit’s gentle nature will help us take the lowest place, with Grace, if we let Him. 

We become His helpers as we learn to yield to His personality and plans. Friendship with the Holy Spirit is our greatest asset in this world – it is up to us to diligently discover what He wants done, and how He wants things done and then do it. He will take everything that is broken, false and ugly in our lives and work it all together for good for everyone – including US. And He does it so quietly we may not even notice what He is doing until it is done. He is simply that subtle. Our task to flow with Him, and when that is all boiled down, it means we die to our choices, often and joyfully.

Our house is His house, our bodies are His temple. That is for every day of the week not just Sundays. Our bodies are His home, please don’t leave Him homeless. 👋🏻

P 2306 Authenticity verses His plans.

/ DVH

Our society insists on authenticity, even when that particular state of mind bumps into someone else’s life. Somehow then my authenticity can and often seems to override or negate yours. OR it wants to!  People can always build a great case for themselves and I can definitely build a better case for me! 

I believe with all my heart that the Lord wants us all to be authentic. BUT, He wants the real us, not just the person we think we are – or even what we want or hope to be … The person we try so desperately to hide – who is actually sinful, careless, self-centred one. Or maybe even a demanding twerp who is stuck somewhere between two and five years of age … and never wants to grow and change – they just want power!  

Growing up, or maturing, is a part of authentic Christian development. It’s the moment I stop blaming you for my own short-comings and responses, and begin to understand that not only am I not perfected yet – I ain’t ever gunna get there unless I start acting like God is real and He can do exactly what He says He can! 

Meanwhile, I am responsible for any ugliness inside me, and you can’t make me do anything. You might just give me appealing opportunities and choices, but Jesus actually died to give me a free choice. I have a Saviour Who is daily constantly imparting and infilling me with His new life. To get that new life – I will have to give up my own perceived right to live MY life MY way, and stop trying to manipulate your life to make ME comfortable. Wouldn’t all that be loverly? 😳 

I have a great diagnostic tool that will clarify these issues. When you read the bible or Christian books or articles etc. and they talk about people’s faults – do you know people who fit these descriptions given, and they instantly flood your mind? Or – do you fall on your face crying out to God that you know what you just read fits you and you need His help to repent? Maybe then another sort of list pops into your mind … a list of people you have sinned against. None of that will kill us!

Do you listen carefully to your pastor’s sermons, mentally wishing your mother, brother, cousin, neighbour was here today to hear this … ? Ah-huh! Oh yeah, you gotta a case of extreme religious-itus. The only cure, is genuine I-gotta-fix-this-now repentance. 

That kind of revelation always opens the door to real transformation. Unfortunately, I can choose to put my own shoulder against this revolutionary door to try to shut it again! Or even try to board it up, a little, just to keep it ajar, to let in a little light… and no more. People stuck in these thoughts can also get fixated on ‘its not fair’ …PLUS …we can all drift off into …’what’s blatantly obviously wrong with YOU.’

It is just so much easier to see how someone else can and should change, instead of me personally choosing change with His guidance and help! To gain real God-given authenticity I will have to lay down my plans for me and my life… and pick up the plans clearly laid out in the bible. However it is way too easy to use God’s book, selectively, to prove our own POV. What takes actual courage is to let His book read us, feed us, and correct us. The Lord is so tired of the ‘where is that thing You promised in Your book’ prayers. He is looking for saints who will lay down everything – simply because they want to see His kingdom come, and His will be done – so HE might be glorified. 

Here’s a really big thought – if I choose to change, then the way I see you will begin to change too. Instead, I will get His POV – and Jesus doesn’t see you negatively. Lastly, if being authentically ME means I am stomping on you then I missed the part where I need change and prayer more than you do. 

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” 👋🏻

P 2288 HIS righteousness.

/ DVH

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33. Going after, and relying upon our own righteousness is a waste of our time, plus this life we have been given – which is why works will never get us anywhere. Our works need to come from faith, from the Holy Spirit’s leading, not from our own hopes, dreams, or clever ideas. GOD IS LOOKING FOR OUR FAITH IN HIS ABILITY TO LEAD US through this life – minute by minute. Just like He led Abraham a-n-d … everyone else in His book!

Jesus Christ suffered and died to give us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, His position before His Father. This blessing freely belongs to all of us but we can too easily ignore this incredible sacrificial gift by living what I call a divided life. A divided life views this life we have now, as our time – it only looks at what the Lord wants for us, for our own gain, not HIS. A person living this way has not fully comprehended the value and cost of what we’ve been given.  

Our Heavenly Father now views us the same way He viewed His Precious Son. But we can eliminate ourselves from this faith walk by using our own understanding, and not taking the time we’ve been given to treasure and go after what He has told us we are here to do. Our God dearly wants to protect us from many, many difficulties – but … not all of the blows this life throws at us. Some things are permitted, they prune things from our lives that are irrelevant, to shape us into His Son’s likeness. 

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  John 15:2. We must get it fixed firmly in our minds and hearts ‘that His Ways are not our ways.’ Expecting God’s ways to make sense to our finite minds is simply unrealistic. Without the Holy Spirit’s revelation and enlightenment, human beings can fall prey to disobedience, pride and gathering knowledge. Human beings like systems. ‘If I do this, then that happens…’ 

If we think about those words carefully, we can see that ‘I’ am still in charge. HE wants to be in charge of every single thing in our lives because He has a plan for our good, for each one of us. But when we go through this life with our preconceived ideas – plus the things we have embraced because we have been taught them – and leave out relationship, we can’t step into the place Jesus Christ died to give us. 

Righteousness is a position we can readily occupy with God. It’s ours. Christ gave it to us with all that He did on mankind’s behalf.  When we occupy this position, striving goes out the window and true relationship comes in! Jesus modelled this way to live for us in His life and ministry. All He cared about was doing His Father’s will.  There was no room for any other earthly agenda. Every single time something came up to drag Him away from His God-appointed purpose He rebuked it!  You can check it out for yourself. 

His purity of purpose within His relationship with His Father was essential – BUT! all of this happened under a huge banner of love … not works, or even destiny. Jesus Christ loved His Father, and us, so much, He did what He did in joyous anticipation of our restoration to our Heavenly Father and our total redemption.  IT WAS HIS SOLE PASSION! When we read the bible with that in mind, it ceases to be a book of mere instructions and becomes a living thing. Deftly shaping us all into a bride worthy of our Saviour King. The Word of God cuts away anything that spoils our growth and fruit production. 

We have been tricked too many times by our own appetites. and needs. into living this new life that we were giv-en – in a half-hearted fashion. I believe our greatest mistake is to put ambition for God’s ways and ushering in His kingdom, ahead of our own passionate response to our beloved bridegroom.  Nothing substitutes for that. We must not put aside our eternal destiny for immediate gratification! Christ gave us HIS robes of righteousness for us to wear here and now. We wear them by faith, in purity, embracing our earthly lives as a gift to be sown into His purposes.

Isaiah 61:10ESV “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks Himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” 🙌

P 2286 Love that grows.

/ DVH

“I continue to pray for your love to grow and increase beyond measure, bringing you into the rich revelation of spiritual insight in all things. This will enable you to choose the most excellent way of all —becoming pure and without offence until the unveiling of Christ.” Philippians 1:9-10 TPT

Love is not just about having nice feelings toward other people – it is not even about being glad to see them! Paul prays for US in these two verses that our love will increase beyond our ability to measure it. Now there’s a mighty fine ambition! However, Love has a purpose over and above human beings simply feeling good. Love opens spiritual doors that will remain shut fast without it. Love opens the door to insight and revelation into the secrets and ways of God Himself. 

His love is not even remotely like our human experiences with love here on earth. ALMIGHTY GOD LOVES THE UNLOVEABLE, freely. Human love can be fickle because it depends on feelings and perceptions, and our feelings often depend on circumstances. God’s love dictates holy circumstances, it is not influenced by them. 

The wonderful thing about God’s love, is that when we choose it in the face of difficulties and hardship, THEN we begin to use our faith. We simply make a God-given choice, then ask for His help, and then we step out in faith and do whatever He says to do. Just the same as Moses had to, or Peter or Timothy.  At the same time we are giving out His love in faith we are personally receiving it. Insight and revelation are God’s love in action. 

Actually all of the gifts of the Spirit are God’s love in action. It is not enough to say kind, or sweet things, those kind of things need to ride upon the wings of the Spirit. His Love changes everything. I hope it is obvious that I’m not talking about man-made flattery. When we partake of His love, using our faith, and then we give it away, we are personally touched by Him, and changed, and the person we give it to is also touched by Him. The only thing you will touch with theories or flattery, is the mind. 

If we pick up the sword of the Spirit under the instructions of the Holy Spirit then it becomes a powerful weapon that can clarify, divide and open up circumstances so we can see what is actually going on in a situation. A lot of the time we are boxing with or fighting shadows when we are unhappy with people. Shadows have no substance so you feel like any discussion is pointless and not worth the effort. 

This means you have not fully connected with the Holy Spirit, because He will not frustrate you, or anyone else. When He is present, it is as if a veil has been lifted off our eyes and we can see the real issues clearly. My advice is this, always be prepared to be the one who is in the wrong, the one who has judged the subject amiss. Even our own hearts can deceive us – live prepared to repent and repair things.

God’s word exposes the reality of the condition of our hearts. There’s nothing like discovering that the person you are mad at is being sinful, and suddenly realising YOU are sinful too, because clarity and wisdom removed the logs and specks! Initially we can see the person we are mad at with seemingly righteous indignation, but then insight comes and we see that person’s heart as well as our own, and we realise that we are all sinful.

‘Sin is common to man!’  When the love of God illuminates our hearts we find we all have sin in common. Now we can identify with the other person’s weakness, and mercy starts to flow because in them we can see ourselves. Difficulties occur when love is not present and we use man-made judgment to try to rectify problems. We need wisdom from above, not earthly judgment – that judgment always prefers itself. 

Every single time we call on the Lord for His love and insight and revelation in a difficult situation we are building a bank inside us of knowing Him and His ways. Those revelations change us. His Love expands situations. It gives meaning, it does not obsess about problems – it looks for the pain behind the problem in both parties and addresses that. Love grows as it is experienced through ordinary circumstances and then it is applied as the Lord Himself sees fit. Living a life of love is challenging but oh so rewarding. 👋🏻

P 2233 There is no light like His light.

/ DVH

The world we live in today does not like the light, so it has hidden and distracted itself away from it. Maybe they like to think it is more fun in the dark … but the real truth is, they don’t know any better. I am of the opinion that the church needs to stop throwing rocks and abuse at the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet, and begin to realise that we are also guilty of ignoring the light of God! What’s our excuse? We know the truth, and the-people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet don’t even know exactly WHO they are rejecting!

John 1:9-12 “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.”

Just because we’ve been blessed by the Holy Spirit with spiritual insight that Jesus Christ IS Who He says He is – that does not mean we can skate merrily on by waiting for our turn to go to heaven one day. We act like salvation is the Lord’s final goal. His goal is transformation – which is a very b-i-g step beyond salvation. It’s called total surrender and it’s not just for the pastor or the evangelist.  Every single Christian has a purpose, a role in His plan. Let us recognise what we are here for and go and do it.

The power of recognition relies upon sight, and sight relies upon LIGHT. Sadly, the people of this world cannot see Christ, because the church is not being the LIGHT. Yet, the bible tells us clearly that we are to be the light of this world … Jesus said so: in Matthew 5:14:“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”  However, being the light doesn’t mean we just run about constantly pointing out the dark – it means we shine with the reality of Christ IN us. We glow with His light and love, and that ushers in illumination and revelation. The people around us will see the darkness when we shine.. “But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Luke 5:8. Take the time to learn how to shine.

So, how does the Lord’s church in 2023 manage to remain hidden? By our personal, and denominational choices. We’ve said ‘yes’ over time to so many things that the Lord does not agree with, that this world hardly knows what we actually stand for. Sadly, when we do stand up and say: ‘Well, you can’t do that, that’s against our religion” … This world turns around and says – “Good gracious, are YOU still here?? I thought you’d all died off years ago.”

The world around us does not know Who Christ is because we’ve failed Him. Time to repent. We reduced the Living Word of Almighty God to images. A baby in a manger, a cross on a chain, a big black book. We are here to be His Word in this world, alive and visible to everyone around us. That’s what light does. It shows up what’s in the darkness by illuminating stuff.

In this current age, Christians would much rather tell this world where it is WRONG – than love them – we say: “it’s too hard to love them, they are impossible.” Instead of blaming them – it is time to examine ourselves! We need to live this life shining with His love for others. “They will know we are Christians by our love …”  For us that means ‘show’ as well as ‘tell.’  You know if we want to truly follow Jesus, like the disciples did, then we will have to walk down the same roads He walked on. Transformation into light happens on that journey. 

Christianity is not meant to be a walk in the park, or a trip to a fun fair – with lots of groovy rides. We are on a death march. Our reward is not in this life. We have watered down the gospel to make it somehow more palatable, and doing that has diminished what Christ died to do. We need to repent before it is too late, or we will never reach our full potential in this life. Sadly humanity habitually thinks that we all have more time.

Our times are always in His hands … however, let’s remember that it is always time to be about our Master’s business. Even when we are very busy walking down some dusty road and we see someone bruised and bleeding in the dirt. We are never too busy to serve humanity. Christ wasn’t ever too busy – and being His light means we don’t have that option either.  👋🏻

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. 👋🏻 

P 2207 Let our words be with demonstration of His power!

/ DVH

Oh! The danger of defining the Lord by our own particular theology! Pray for wisdom, and the mind and heart of Christ in your life, because we have all become stuck in powerlessness, and we often lack His wisdom. The Pharisees in the parable below lived their lives esteemed as the resident experts. The problem with being a resident expert is you can eventually start to believe your own publicity. Moving on…

…to Matthew 12:24-30.“But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If satan drives out satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”

We are sometimes very happy to use our minds and logic to define what God means or what He wants. That is a waste of our time! Jesus didn’t just talk, He demonstrated God’s power. But if we go inside many of our churches you’d be forgiven for thinking that all He did was talk! I urge everyone reading this to get real revelation, for yourself, from the book, and start participating in the power of God. Personally, I think that logic will eventually kick faith out of the window because it is a poor substitute for living, loving, kingdom-minded saints who demonstrate the power of God and don’t just talk about it.

Did you notice in this scripture that Jesus knew their thoughts?! That’s what supernatural living looks like – inexplicable miraculous things happen! At this time, Jesus is announcing the truth, and refuting the Pharisee’s logic and lies with a demonstration. There is always a danger that we will cling to our belief and traditions and miss what God is doing NOW – unless we remain humble and teachable.

Most people hate absolutes. Jesus said in those verses above in Matthew: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.” There you go … now there’s an absolute! Someone in my family believes in Jesus, but not enough to follow Him. They are not ‘with Him, so everything they do, scatters.’ There is no lasting legacy from their lives because they are sowing into the wind. Permanence, together with a lasting legacy, takes a total commitment, not just a mental agreement with what Jesus said. Even the devil believes in God! James 2:19.

In the Gospels, Jesus shows us the way to make the kingdom of God available to others is by living it out in front of them. He was criticised and critiqued by the Pharisees for delivering some poor sod who was held captive by the devil. But this how you make God’s power see-able! “And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.” Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 2:4. 

Talking about Jesus, or even arguing with other people, no matter how cleverly we do it, will not help the-people-who-do-not-know-Him-yet to embrace His kingdom. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit…” (John 3:6). Our minds find security in what we think we know – unless Jesus is allowed to cut away the stuff that is hindering us, with the sword of His Spirit. Like the bible says in Hebrews:“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”The Holy Spirit doesn’t just want to win an argument – He wants to win the person!

In these brief moments in Matthew, Jesus is giving the Pharisees an opportunity to re-examine their idea of truth … be-ca-use … the Truth was standing right in front of them demonstrating LOVE with power.  Ask yourself some hard questions today. Is my life fruitful? Can other people see the kingdom of God being manifested through me? Am I living a life of laid-down love for the people I love, plus the people I don’t know? Or do I just give others a good argument to prove my POV? Do I pray for the sick to be healed and the captives to be set free? That mind stuff is a dead-end street. However His Love through us divides the rubbish away, and cuts straight to the truth. 

Jesus demonstrated the truth in front of their eyes, while the Pharisees left the poor demonised man captive! Just because it makes no sense to me or my personal theology – that doesn’t mean it is wrong – perhaps it is what Christ is saying – today. To me! 👋🏻

P 2206 Use the sword to set yourself free.

/ DVH

People sometimes ask me – ‘what’s wrong with trying hard to do the right thing?’ …They almost never like my answer. God’s REST is not about striving, trying, or working at it. If we are working at it, or trying harder, then we have left His rest far, far behind. He is our glorious God, and He knows the way through all of our difficulties, dangers, and personal snares. He does not want any of us to have secondhand faith – He wants us to have the sort of faith that stands when everything around appears to be falling and failing … including us! Please don’t ever second guess yourself, or rehash what has happened because you think you got it wrong. Every story in the bible proves our God can get mankind out of anything.

Does rest mean that we do nothing? No, now we begin to rejoice in our inadequacies, prejudices, and infirmities, and tell Him – “I feel like I am getting nowhere BUT: – “nevertheless it is not I who lives – it is YOU living in me.” …And YOU can do anything! Now suddenly here we are, in the heat of our own personal battle with a sword in our hand, and a purpose. Now we get to use our faith that He will never leave us alone because His Word, the bible – says so.

I start by telling the Lord that I want and need Him to be much bigger in my life – bigger than my failures and supposed inability to change. Sometimes we make God small by default. We ignore Who He is and what He can do. When we start to feel that this or that is impossible, that is the time to get happy. Jesus did not let any storm overwhelm HIM! He knew where His help came from. Jesus never put His sword down – He lived by it. We have a God of wonder – He is not small! He is bigger than we can ever imagine – and He loves us!

If handing stuff to Him, and leaving it there so we can rest in what He has already done, is too hard for us then we need to pray and ask Him to reveal more of Himself to us. Start with honesty, read the bible, and use that opportunity to take the lid off what we think, or how we feel about Him … or even ourselves. “Faith comes by hearing … (and hearing – personal fresh revelation) – comes by the Word of God.” This verse is our sword – we need to pick it up and use it against our feelings. He will reveal Himself to us in a new way from His book. He knows we are frail and sometimes faithless, but it is essential that we do not stop stretching our view of the Lord Jesus and what His did. Our spirit of stupid is not bigger than His GRACE. The disciples walked around with Jesus in full time ministry, they knew Him —- and yet one day the Lord took three of them up a mountain, and blew their minds! 

After we have acknowledged and prayed about the problem (difficulty or fault) – and repented … and stopped punishing ourselves with self-abuse …then we move on. This is when we build ourselves up in our faith, by reminding ourselves that our precious Father God is working on our behalf. He is stretching us, as well as doing things we can’t see yet. He is transforming the things we can’t do for ourselves. 

The Lord allows difficult scenarios to come into our lives, to give us an opportunity to turn them, and our responses to them, over to Him. Now we actively wait and watch to see what He is doing. Over the years, in the past, you and I might have chosen to panic, rather than rest – to react rather than extending love. But now we recognise trouble for what it is: it is not the end of our world … trouble is a chance to stretch our faith in His goodness and make it bigger. 

We need to deliberately choose His way of love, which may mean we say nothing rather than respond roughly to an angry person, or resort to self-abuse for not getting it right. Or allow ourselves to drown in our feelings of anxiety and fear, or beat ourselves up, and start trying harder. Give up! Let HIM take you through. At this point, remember: ‘He knows my frame and He’s turning my faith into gold.’ Job 23:10. This does not mean that we stop asking Him to send us help and deliver us, but this type of prayer is filled with faith in His character not resignation or frustration with ourselves or the situation. “God has got me and He has got this.” We remind ourselves that we are learning to “walk by faith not by sight.” 

The Lord is not satisfied with us merely agreeing with Him – He is aiming at increasing our actual trust in Him. Self doubt, or difficult problems are God-allowed opportunities for change. Do things differently. In those times I am learning to refuse to accept my own assessment or worry. I haven’t dropped it or pushed it aside – I gave whatever it is to Him and I am leaving it there. People are often tossed about by their emotions but God’s Warriors stand still and wait to see what their Commander says and does next. Maturing in our faith is a process, not an instant solution. The Lord does turn things around in a heartbeat sometimes, but often He wants us to stretch our faith and follow Him through the hard bits.

At this moment in time we are living among still-to-be-redeemed humanity. They are stuck within mankind’s limitations. But we are the people: “who can do all things through Christ because He strengthens us.” Transformation and healing are processes, they take time, but our God is always on time, He is never late. However, the time to lean on Him is always now. “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.” We acknowledge Him and He makes things straight. Even if the road ahead of you appears to be filled with pot-holes and you seem ill-equipped to deal with it – put your confidence in WHO HE IS instead. Remember we are in a war – true peace is not a cessation of hostilities – it is the Presence of Jesus. God be with you. 👋🏻

P 2202 The safest place in the world…

/ DVH

…is NOT under the bed or an island all by yourself! So please don’t give up on yourself, or other people … too soon. We all have learning curves. However, there is good news. “In Christ Jesus” is the only incredible place of safety and shelter for those who are learning to live in love! “Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 TPT.

But to get to that safe place we will have to give up many things we have become attached to.: like doing what we want when we want, or the power of arbitrarily telling other people what to do. Or always being right and never admitting you are wrong. Or making my world a safe place for me so I don’t have to care about what that does to you! Safety is a strange issue, but the real point is without Jesus a safe world doesn’t actually exist. He is our only safe place, and living in safety in this world is left behind, because the people who live for Him:  “… love(d) not their lives unto death …”  Revelation 12:11

The only way in is the only way out and it’s YOU.

“Came a time in my life I had to be free

From all of the lies that used to be me

And the only way out is the only way in and it’s YOU.

I’ve been waisting my time but not anymore

I’ve been through the maze and it led to Your door

And the only way out is the only way in and it’s YOU.

I spent a lot of time at the crossroads

Getting that lonely feeling inside

Suddenly You stopped the rain, You changed the view

Now every way’s leading to You

Let’s get this thing going, let’s move it along

Let me do all the things I’ve been missing so long

’cause the only way out is the only way in and it’s YOU.”

Ray Martinez.

Jesus is our only hope – He’s the only way out of the trials, sin and suffering of this world, and He is the only way into a new life. We can’t afford to waste our time anymore. It says that verse in Revelation like this, in the Message bible: “They defeated him  (satan) through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They weren’t in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.” I think that we have fallen far far away from that place of being prepared to die for Him. Unless we live somewhere where they love to kill and torture Christians. The people who live under life or death threats have to make incredibly hard choices – every single day. However where I live, we get to choose to die to self – daily, minute by minute.

But nothing in this world we are living in today, is actually truly safe. Talk to the people in countries where war has broken out. One day they were at the supermarket shopping, and now the supermarket is gone and so is their house! Now, it no longer matters if the man of the house keeps putting the tomato sauce bottle, or his dirty socks in the wrong place – there isn’t anywhere to put anything, anymore! 😢 Sigh. When did we become such petty people? This life has serious issues – and safety is an illusion. 

Sadly I feel, humanly speaking, we often make it through the trials in this life, breathing a sigh of relief that whatever was happening to us is now over. And then we go on to waiting and willing our lives to be easy again. I know I do! I hate being stretched. There is a saying from a movie: The Princess Bride – “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”  Amen! Preach it brother. Expecting this life to be easy is a childish view of this world. “The rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Everybody has hard times. 

I have been prayerfully reading Psalm 73 for days, and it is the best example of self-centred humanity… like ever! The Psalmist has his crank on because bad people are winning everywhere. When I read it I realised that he is grumpy because other people can do what they like, it seems – and get away with it. He’s mad because these people do not have to face the consequences of their actions. Eventually, he realises that even wicked people die in the end, and they face eternity unprepared. It is one thing to trick a human judge and jury, and plead innocent, and totally another to plead innocence in the face of true purity and truth.

The biggest problems we face today, are the seemingly insignificant everyday decisions we make about the way we act and react toward others. The decision to tell somebody where to go and how to get there, drags us away from our main focus. These are the days of deliverance from evil. Giving yourself permission to have a bad day can be deadly. The only safe place is living in Christ, living a life of laid-down love, for His sake … and dying to self.👋🏻