Rich

P3445 Hold fast, dear saint of God.

/ DVH

“I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him to the place of highest honour and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!” Ephesians 1:19-20 Amen.

Paul was given the ability by God, to understand what we have been given when Jesus died for all of us. In this verse he talks about this power being available to each one of us, as well as being released through us. But we have been given even greater opportunities than Paul had. Christians are so blessed, we have the revelations Father God gave to Luke, Matthew, Mark, John, James, Peter and Jude. Thank you Lord!

Paul was given incredible revelations about what Christ’s life, death and resurrection did. He teaches us that one act brought about the possibility of transformation for every human being. He shows us what living this life “In Christ Jesus” means. No exceptions. The problem is we can see these things as theology, (information), but they are not, they are a powerful way to live. We’ve grown used to thinking of God’s power as the power to do miracles, but the greatest use of God’s power is allowing it to transform each one of us, day by day. We are no longer held captive by a yoke of slavery — we’ve been set free to live the way our Saviour lived. Please notice the present tense!

Like Paul says, we can choose to live for Jesus and as we do so, we glorify HIM. That does not mean we are part of some clever marketing campaign, as we try hard to appeal to other people. Instead it means we are to be a showcase of Who He is, and what He has done … for everyone else to see. BTW, the gifts of the Spirit are a separate thing to being transformed. Now it is our choice to reflect Him into this world around us. We don’t set the standard, Jesus Himself does that! Human standards without the Holy Spirit’s input, create chaos.

The Lord Jesus’ action on mankind’s behalf, took every single human being out of the realm of sin and death, and broke it’s power over us. Then He firmly established mankind as the Father’s favoured children. Yes … even the people we don’t like!  Now sin is not compulsory – it is an optional extra – we are not powerless against it anymore! The Lord Jesus and what He did, transformed everything, and we have the Holy Spirit as  our Helper. It doesn’t matter what you think, or what I think – it only matters what He thinks and it is in the book!

We’ve been translated “out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His marvellous light.” And the view is mind-boggling … which is why our minds and hearts need to catch up with what Jesus Christ has already done for us. That’s why we read the bible, we are playing catch-up! What you and I knew before we met Him has been wiped away with His own blood, so now it is natural for us to have His point of view. His point of view is LOVE.

Our relationship has been destined by God Himself to be totally intimate and functional, so we can go back to the place before mankind sinned. Where Father God and human beings were friends who deeply loved each other. He is willing to share His thoughts with us, just like He did when He walked and talked with Adam and Eve. 

I choose to read the bible to find out exactly how His point of view works itself out in my life… by taking what the Lord has said and then I ask Him to show me how, when and where I need to apply it. Then I act on it. I am not a powerless person, a victim of my former circumstances any longer. What Jesus did for me restored me, and my whole life. With my permission, He takes every one of those hard, difficult, and sometimes terrible things in my life — the good, the bad … plus those ones I sadly think of as — “boy I wish I hadn’t done that!” …and He redeems it in ways I cannot possibly imagine. Those ways are so perfect, as I recognise them, they take my breath away. 

Giving my life to Him is not a sacrifice, it is a joy. I can have God’s opinion for free, at any time. If it happens that the Lord is silent, then I don’t have to panic because His Word clearly tells me He will NOT leave me, nor forsake me. The Lord cannot be unfaithful to His Word and that is what I now stand upon. That and the blood that Jesus willingly shed on my behalf that washed me clean. Everything my Heavenly Father does is good. If it looks bad then that means I can’t see the end yet – it isn’t over, I am just observing His processes.

I refuse to reduce my Saviour to mere actions, or answers to prayer. Instead I rely upon what God Himself says in His book, and what Jesus has taught me. God does not have to prove Himself to me, He already did. Once and for all. This life has seasons, seasons of the soul. Some of our seasons are rich and bright like summer, or spring, and others seem destined for death like winter and autumn. But the life of God for us and in us, remains steadfast. Jesus taught us that.

Let’s hold fast to Him. In season and out. “Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, He remains faithful to us and will help us, for He cannot disown us who are part of Himself, and He will always carry out His promises to us.” 2 Timothy 2:13. Bye. 👋

P 3433 Entitlement.  

/ DVH

Entitlement. Now there’s a buzz word in today’s world. A  lot has been said about the younger generations who are responding to this life differently than we did. Many older people think these young people live entitled lives. Here is my idea of balance:  they are facing a different world to the one we grew up in. I can’t afford to assess their responses by my own experiences or standards, they don’t apply. 

I didn’t have an Xbox, or TV the size of a wall, or Co-Vid, bird flu, or trolls on social media facing me. It was quite safe for me to leave my house after dark, and I could leave my front door open and people would still knock. Life whizzes by, and many many things are changing at an incredible rate — the impact of those changes cannot be judged by yesterday’s standards — and yet they can affect the way we view this world and the people in it, today.

Actually, they shouldn’t be judged at all, that’s not our role – it’s HIS. But let’s move past that obvious fact, onto today’s  point. Entitlement isn’t just a problem for our youth. People my age have unrealistic expectations too. The thing is we simply cannot afford to look at this life through our own eyes. We need a filter – the bible is that ever-present active filter. I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is for Christians to know the bible. This book needs to be written inside us. We are simply fooling ourselves if we are not coming from the Lord’s perspective.

It is much too easy to become selective about what parts of His book, we choose to read, or even believe. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5&7 there is a prophetic prediction, that seems to be becoming more and more accurate in our world today:  “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people … … always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 

It is important to realise when we read verses like these, we must not excuse ourselves, by explaining away our own behaviour. Instead we need to ask ourselves: ‘Am I always learning but I haven’t arrived at practising my knowledge of the truth? Am I satisfied with theories, not spiritual life-skills?’ Unfortunately that one attitude can be quite easy to hold onto. So can an entitled attitude: “Jesus wants to make my life happy.” He will, but not necessarily in the way we imagined!

“But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” 2 Corinthians 10:12b. Jesus is always the only standard, not us. He will judge this world, not us. We aren’t qualified to do it. Only the One Who paid the ultimate price on our behalf can judge mankind. The sad truth is we are often way too busy excusing ourselves, to be in a fit state to judge anything. The way to read verses like these, is line by line, asking the Holy Spirit to show us where we have missed His mark. Dismissing or overlooking stuff arbitrarily, is a huge mistake.  

So let’s take a really quick look at Timothy.: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.”  Sadly, it is not too hard to put a tick on that one, I just need to look around me at the way people treat each other. “Lovers of themselves” … every time I choose me, my ideas, my feelings above His or yours, I am not choosing to do things His way. “Lovers of money …” There is this crazy theory that if you don’t have money this doesn’t affect you. Rhubarb. It’s when you don’t have it that you desperately chase after it. The people who love money don’t have to be rich! On we go: “…boastful, proud, abusive …”  

… Let’s look at Matthew 5:22: “You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.” FYI, Jesus said that. The bible will assist us to read itself, let’s just be open to its correction. He makes these things impossible without the Holy Spirit’s help… that’s the point!

I haven’t got room to talk about all 6 verses, but I would like to end on this note and highlight one more verse. Verse 5: “…having a form of godliness but denying its power…” That’s self-explanatory and it dismisses the whole: “I can’t live like that. I’m too hurt, sad, mad, bad, indifferent to do it.” We can’t afford to excuse ourselves from obedience. Like I said, these may not be not our favourite verses… but they are necessary, for godliness, life and healing. The power of God has been given to us, at great cost — it is here to help us with our inner thoughts and attitudes.

What Paul says to Timothy brings us quickly back down to earth again. We stop judging and feeling entitled – pity wells up inside us, and suddenly we find that we have compassion for other people who aren’t perfect either. Our sense of entitlement, that me first, last, and always attitude—bites the dust and what comes out is: “Please forgive me Lord.” Bye.🙏.

P3382 Ours is an Eternal Love story. 

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P3376 He takes us seriously- let’s take Him seriously too!  

/ DVH

Colossians 3:1-4:“So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, ACT LIKE IT. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from His perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

I love it when the bible gives us such clear instructions – don’t you? Do this, don’t do that … be this, don’t be that. The best response is: Let Jesus preside over every little thing! When I decided to choose what I should bother the Lord about, I ended up not being able to figure out what was important and what was not – so, in the end, I just gave everything to Him! I recommend dragging your eyes, ears and heart away from the demands, the yammering and hammering that invades everything, day after day. The enemy wants to use those things: the problems, the trials, the time wasting stuff, to exhaust us. he wants to make us too tired to give Jesus our all. 

I decided today was a good day to take a few minutes to notice and remember the things that Jesus Himself found important. Strangely enough — buying things we don’t need, focussing on the things we can’t change, even stuff like being entertained — isn’t on that list. Yet, in the middle of what we might call “ministry” the Lord Jesus still managed to enjoy other people’s company, plus He was not against people enjoying themselves either. I think He loves to be around US. 

From around the time when I was born, mankind seems to have gone rapidly downhill … I do hope that wasn’t me! 😂 Nah! I’m not that important or powerful – I can barely put my shoes on! Sadly, mankind seems to be treasuring transitory things, or situations, far above other people. Let’s face it, even money – no matter how much you have or don’t have – comes and goes very quickly! And other things like applause or acclaim can change on a whim. Almighty God put Himself into an obscure little Jewish family, in a tiny little town. He was  known by His parent’s names, and where He currently lived or where He was born. 

The bible tells us the Lord knew He had been sent here by His Heavenly Father — but that fact was never used to create notoriety or generate success. Especially the kind of stuff this world thinks of as success. Jesus always had the ability to do the things we call miraculous, but He valued His Father’s opinion and timing far above His own. For the last 40 months of His life, our Lord was far too busy demonstrating God’s love to others, to be at all concerned about what this world thought of Him. He knew what was really in mankind’s heart was unstable.

God’s book gives us the very things we need to hold onto and take seriously. However, this world will continue to bombard us with all kinds of motivation to be distracted from the very reason we are all still here. To serve Him!! Philippians 4:8 tells us: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

To live like that we may have to drag ourselves away from the 91st episode of some soapie, series, or some fabulous sport or other. Meanwhile – the church is chasing rainbows and trying to remain politically correct – and too many human beings are falling off the edge into hell! Jesus wasn’t rich. The only things Jesus left behind Him were the clothes He was wearing. And people still managed to fight over His tunic! Here’s something to chew on from Luke 12:27-31:

“Consider the lilies and wildflowers, how they grow [in the open field]. They neither labor nor spin [wool to make clothing]; yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory and splendour dressed himself like one of these.  But if this is how God clothes the grass which is in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You of little faith! So as for you, do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink; nor have an anxious and unsettled mind. For all the [pagan] nations of the world greedily seek these things; and your [heavenly] Father [already] knows that you need them. But [strive for and actively] seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Yeah, I know! Bring that up! However, it’s great advice, and it can be necessary for calming an unsettled, distracted mind, as the world around us descends into ME first. It is time to ask yourself: “What am I chasing after today?” Sometimes we fume and fret, and waste our God-given time running after the very things we cannot change. The bible instructs us about how we can fight this trend, we need to chase His kingdom … Let’s think about how incredibly expensive our lives are to God and spend them chasing Him instead. Let’s take His Way of life seriously. Bye.👋

P 3278 Who owns what?

/ DVH

You may recall this scripture, it is in: Matthew 19:21-23: “Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Boy, Jesus really loves to speak plainly! No wonder angry, greedy, power-loving people plotted to kill Him, He spoke into the very heart of the things that most people embrace. Money is a big thing to all of us. If you haven’t got any, then you need it. Yet at the same time it seems like you can never have enough of it! Sometimes others have more than enough, and they like to give, but they carefully dole out what they can afford to give and not care about. Giving involves a cheerful open heart. We give because He gave us everything, and everything we have belongs to Him.

We have learnt through the bible, that the Lord doesn’t want us to have a grudging attitude. He is teaching us about His kind of priorities. Meanwhile, money is a difficult subject for most of us. Let’s be clear, the Lord neither wants or needs OUR MONEY. He has gates made out of pearls, and walls made out of precious stones, and HIS streets are paved with heavenly gold. Add to all that the fact that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills – the conclusion is – our God is not poor! That’s a good thing to remember!! 

Talking about money is actually never about money or who needs it or who deserves it. That’s works. It is about the state of our faith. This young man could not follow Jesus, because the things he owned, owned him!  When we let the Lord dictate what we do with our money, we are putting Him in charge of our wellbeing. We know that without money and assets, our societies today cannot function. Unfortunately, that line for ‘enough money’ moves away from us. One of the best places I know to test how your personal faith is doing is … money. For fifty years God has shown me His faithfulness regarding finances.

Many years ago, I was convicted about tithing. My ex was not. In the end, after some wrestling with my own conscience, I decided the only money I had that I controlled was my housekeeping money. Co-incidently, our tithe was the same amount of money as the sum I had! So I did a deal with the Lord. I told Him I would tithe the housekeeping money to make up the shortfall. That meant no food was going to be bought that week, plus a grumpy husband. (There is always a risk involved!) In the car, on the way to church… (I keep telling you God is never in a hurry) … my ex suddenly said – without ANY discussion at all: “I think we need to tithe.”  You could have heard my sigh of relief in Pakistan.

Almighty God says this in Malachi 3:10: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”  He invites us to test Him about this matter, by making sure whatever and whenever we give, we are generous. Generosity is not a legalistic thing, it quite simply bubbles over. If we hesitate about how much money can we afford to give, we will lose the spirit of what the Lord is saying here. The barn is meant to be full. That’s excess, not need. Because it’s not about the money! It is never about the money, or the goods and things we own. It’s about whether that stuff owns us!

When we get things sorted out, faith-wise regarding money, we are standing in a place where God can teach us in a concrete, seeable fashion about faith. It is always about our faith. Diagnostically we can tell what state our faith is in, if we look carefully at how we prioritise our finances. I want to leave you with one last scripture — it’s in two places in the Gospels –  Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4.  Let’s look at Luke: “As Jesus looked up, He saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

The point the Lord is making here is that He loves sacrificial giving. Giving out of excess is still giving, but Jesus Himself commented on the sacrifice this woman made. The amount is irrelevant, it was the fact that this widow gave all. Don’t concentrate on the money, look at her heart! This is what faith requires – ALL. We simply can’t afford to live this life using part-time faith. To start with, it will become more and more difficult to try to figure out which bit is His and which bit is ours! We need to give up everything to follow Him, or the devil has a place to stand on in our hearts, and he will torment us. It’s the same with sin, whatever we tolerate gives our enemy room to plague us with doubt, unbelief and indifference. 

Many people make scriptures like these about money. Money is simply a byproduct of an attitude we can secretly have about the Lord. That attitude is often steeped in fear. If we look at our need, we will end up with greed. We have chosen to follow SomeOne Who did not care about material goods. What makes us think we can follow Him well, if we are obsessed with them? The big question today is: Who owns what?  Bye. 👋

P 3260 Always our choice.

/ DVH

“Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything —every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 TPT. Amazing isn’t it? Here it talks about the clear reality that God has given us so much Grace that now we have more than enough to give away. It’s in writing, in Jesus Christ’s WILL and WE benefit. 

Everybody likes abundance. I do too! But I wonder how often we are tested on that particular concept … ?? It feels to me like I’m tested daily to be honest! If you are tired, ill, young, old, especially or you don’t have what everybody else appears to have… all that stuff we think we need. Those things we seem to be missing out onwill come and sit on us and camp there. Removing our God-given view of the eternal. The problem is, for years we have thought that Almighty God is here to indulge US! 

Look, I’m very happy for the Lord to ‘supply all my needs according to His riches in glory‘ … Whoo-pp-eee!! Yes, please! But IS THAT what this verse is actually about? Hmmm. Please note it says… ‘according to HIS riches in glory.’  Our Heavenly Father’s idea of riches is totally different than ours! Jesus is rich in all of the Graces that this life needs… and… I am not … a-n-d … neither are you. Not unless we start to use our faith. 

He has infinitely more Grace than I can ever imagine, and He won’t run OUT… e-v-e-r.  So, because I am now in Christ Jesus — I don’t have to run out either! That’s what Calvary did for all of us. When we choose to follow the Lord and obey Him, we are potentially rich in the things that last. The thing we need to ask ourselves is this, are we appropriating what we have been given? Or do we bleat ‘it’s too hard ‘ like a lost sheep waiting for the Shepherd to come and rescue us all the time.

Have we become so busy with earthly riches we’ve forgotten all of His benefits for us? “Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [ONE OF] all His benefits” – Psalm 103:2 AMPC. It’s all a done deal! He has already given us His Grace, now we can’t afford to let our hearts forget what He did! The Lord could care less about worldly wealth. He knows it can disappear in a heartbeat. Let’s list some of His real benefits. 

1. He forgives our sins. (Matthew 6:12)

2. He heals our diseases. (Exodus 15:26)

3. He redeems our life from destruction. (Psalm 34:22)

4. He crowns us with loving kindness and tender mercies (Luke 15:11-24)

5. He satisfies us with good things (James 1:17)

6. He renews our youth like the eagles. (Isaiah 40:31)

7. He executes righteousness and judgment for all the oppressed. (Matthew 11:38-30).

8. He makes His ways and His acts known to us.

Stop for a minute and just breathe. You and I, right here, right now, have access to Jesus’ own unlimited supply of His Father’s Love, the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, salvation, redemption, a brand new heart, plus a new way to live. And… AND!! … HEAVEN IS OURS!  Are these benefits or what? Let’s not ever forget that we have Grace, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control … These things now belong to us. Why on earth should we worry about money, etc. when heaven belongs to us? Jesus died so we can have all this heavenly stuff that changes our lives, here and now. 

So how do I get it? Glad you asked me that!  “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. ASK for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?” Matthew 7:7-11.

A.S.K… Ask, and then A.C.T. — it’s a piece of cake. We’ve all been given faith – now we need to use it to enter into the riches Jesus won on our behalf at Calvary. Does anybody out there think that they will need love, joy, peace, patience, etc. IN HEAVEN?? Me neither. We need it down here! What the heck are we waiting for? We cannot afford to have His heavenly riches as an add-on to earthly ones. The earthly riches will distract us, and cause us to forget the heavenly ones. And, before you know it, how we feel becomes more important than loving others. 

We need to use our faith not our feelings. We can lose our peace because we are struggling with, and for, the things that do not last. Bad move. I’m with Joshua — smart guy Joshua! … He stayed behind in the tent of meeting and learnt stuff from God Himself, personally. He received wisdom and heavenly priorities in that tent! “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:25. Joshua made a personal CHOICE. He chose to do things God’s Way. It was permanent and irrevocable – he didn’t forget God’s benefits. 

We can continue to scramble around in the dust like a chicken looking for worms, and forget to use our God-given blood-bought ability to fly high — OR we can fly like eagles and renew our strength. It’s always our choice. Bye. 👋

P 3241 God’s Inexhaustible riches.

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“To me, [though I am] the very least of all the saints (God’s people), this grace [which is undeserved] was graciously given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the incomprehensible riches of Christ [that spiritual wealth which no one can fully understand],…”  Ephesians 3:8. My topic today is spiritual wealth. Jesus died to make us so rich spiritually, and now we need to give those riches away.  

Meanwhile, watch out for lukewarmness – that misses the blessing of spiritual riches because it cannot see spiritually. This trait, mentioned in Revelation 3:8, has nothing to do with feelings, it has to do with inaction.Anyone who does what the Lord says ends up crazy about Him, because they see His Personhood. How rich He is in the things that last. We can’t afford to ignore what we’ve been given, at great personal cost to Himself. 

These things that flourish in His kingdom – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These spiritual traits are a part of His incredible wealth. But let’s not forget that we must not gloss over the cost of the cross, ever. The cross is the reason we can belong to Him.

BTW, being ‘lukewarm’ means I choose to look after ME. It thinks what Jesus said is nice, but unattainable, so it reverts to a default position of doing nothing. I want to ask you to think about this question for a few moments – is it in Jesus’ Character to ask us to do something we can’t do? Sometimes, He does ask us to do things we can’t do without His help… but as He has promised to always be with us, we can be totally assured that He will give us His input! 

Obedience isn’t an option – it’s a KEY. What is stopping us from being obedient? How did we get to be lukewarm? These kind of questions help us clarify our motivations. Deep down, when we truly love the Lord, we all know if we are fudging our answers. Are we hoping that if we say something enough that will make it true? The thing is — you might fool me —- but there’s no chance on God’s green earth that anyone is going to fool Him. Why not? 

Hang on to your hat Henry … JESUS IS TRUTH! He is not ‘a truth’- He is the One and only form of truth we can trust! In the book of John, we are told Jesus was here from the beginning, and He is called the Word of God. So here’s our first treasure – Christ Himself. The One Who lived and died for us is our Greatest Treasure. Jesus was equal with God but He did not use that equality to exult Himself, instead… He humbled Himself and became one of us. 

However, none of this could have happened without the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit. He, together with Christ, is our Primary Treasure. The Holy Spirit intimately knows the heart of the Father toward us. He longs to help us to daily bless our Father’s heart. In the past we have tried to use the Holy Spirit, but He is not a commodity – He is our treasure! 

The second treasure is: the bible.If you read it asking God to reveal Himself to you, you will find Him within its pages, unexpectedly. It has treasure troves in it stored up for us. Those things that we need to pay close attention to, and dig out. Any other book I have read, may have insight, but the bible contains and reveals God’s truth. We cannot say we love the bible without being obedient to what it says. Our calling is to be God’s obedient children. 

The bible is a word picture of the heart of God and His dealings with mankind. Our Father’s “unsearchable riches,” refer to His limitless, and inexhaustible spiritual blessings of grace, love, faith and hope. They include forgiveness, eternal life, our adoption as His children, and total salvation. He is daily offering us treasures too vast to fully measure or ever exhaust.. His love for us is so passionate it is inexhaustible! 

But as Revelation 3:8 says: the day will come for His judgment. Right now we are in the time of His Mercy. His mercy is another Inexhaustible treasure. It is essential that we understand this fact, His mercy is not just toward US! It is incredibly patient and long suffering toward everybody else on this earth. He is so rich in Mercy!

Next I want to talk about Grace, which is another incredible treasure of God. Grace is the vehicle we get into when we deal with other people and speak to the Lord Himself. Grace is the oil of God, given freely to us so we can distribute it toward other people. The body of Christ has been anointed with GRACE! It smooths the pathway that we travel on when we interact with people who have none. However, Grace is never permission to do whatever I want!

Lastly, we are told in 1 Corinthians 14 to chase love, to pursue it. WE are the object of HIS love and He constantly pursues us. God’s love is another  treasure we have been undeservedly given. Let’s give it away to those people around us who don’t deserve it either! When we choose to live in, and value these treasures … and there are lots more so check it out for yourself — then they become the tools we use. On ourselves, and everyone else. Our God is inexhaustibly rich in the things this world does not value. This means we can be rich in these things too. Bye. 👋 

P 3204 The Star Chasers!

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Three very powerful, rich intellectual guys set out once, in their day’s version of a BMW, to investigate a brand new star. These astrologers had noticed that star in the evening sky. Nowadays we would probably just turn the James West Space Telescope onto it. Sigh… I know the Hubble was old, and the JWST can see much further, but I really wish that they had found a much more fun name for itI I liked the name Hubble better than that mouthful! Any-way … these guys had come a very long way because they knew enough to know that the star meant something incredible was about to happen. 

The thing is, this journey for the Wise men took much longer than it takes for us to find a local McDonalds! They had to travel through other countries to get to the great King the star foretold. A lot of time had passed between the star appearing and the Magi travelling to get to Bethlehem. Imagine only being able to travel at night, because you are following a star! I mean, you can’t see stars until it is night! Not to mention those normal obstructive atmospheric things like – snow, rain, fog or cloud-cover!!  This is what I call a long-term devotion to the task ahead of them. These are patient men. 

Do you know what I like about this nativity story? The poor people got to the stable on the night. They were the first to be invited to worship Jesus. However, God did not leave the rich and powerful intellectuals out – He led them there too. They just had to make a bigger effort. Let’s look at something Jesus said when He was teaching His disciples, in Matthew 19:22-24. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 

It is ‘not easy’ Jesus tells us, for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God – it seems their view is blocked by dollar signs. EG: money and comfort. The shepherds were used to sitting on the ground, the wise men were used to a swisho ride!  I sometimes wonder why the Western world is breaking its neck to get more and more money and things, and why they put all their security in that stuff! Um… money is just bits of printed paper and metal, we are the ones who put a value on it. Meanwhile, there is no U-haul on the back of a hearse. What matters, and will last, is what HE DID FOR US.

Back to the Magi! By the time they arrived, months or years later. They had to do a search for Jesus, and they didn’t have Google Maps or whatever either! So they went to the most logical place to find a new King – Herod’s palace.  And here is what is fascinating … King Herod didn’t have clue what was going on until these men rocked up. He’s the duly appointed King and he doesn’t know what is going on in his own kingdom – he’s out of touch with the people He is ruling. 

The shepherds knew and they probably told everyone what they had seen and heard, but Herod didn’t travel in those circles. He was above that. Securely closeted in his palace with armed guards around him. Herod responds the way many rich people would respond to the news that another big man in town is on the scene. He wants to protect what he has. So he plots to get rid of the opposition and then carries it out with appallingly murderous consequences.  Anybody want to be Herod – when Jesus asks him to ‘please explain,’ in front of the big white throne?

Herod shows me that we think we know about someone, is not all there is. The more you have, the more you have to lose. What we read in the newspapers, or podcasts, or news broadcasts isn’t always truth. It is often doctored, and distorted because the people producing these things have an agenda. There may be elements of truth in what is said, but it is mainly coloured by what I call the rich powerful man’s doctrine.

A rich powerful person always wants more money than yesterday, and they perceive things through the kind of filter that says – what was enough last year, won’t be enough this year. I think that the line for ‘having enough’ always moves away from us. What we sometimes hear on the news is the hyped-up panicky report of people who are scared to lose their income. Moving on …

We all know the conclusion of this story about the Wise men, Jesus is eventually located in a house in Bethleham, and He is given expensive prophetic gifts. Those gifts may well have funded all the moving this little family had to do to get away from a jealous King who didn’t bother to understand what was actually going on! Jesus didn’t ever threaten Rome, He didn’t come to threaten anyone! He came to explain there is a far bigger reality than anyone understands. Our God is not a God Who is far away – He is THE GOD who came near, and lived like we do.

Jesus came to give, not take. He came to include everyone, rich, poor. Whoever they are, wherever they were born – God is not partisan! He loves us all. That baby born in a cowshed was His Way of communicating with the world mankind lives in. This time He didn’t send a messenger – He came Himself, to tell everyone there are no barriers anymore. Just like those shepherds came from the fields and those foreign astronomers came from afar — we too can come to Him just as we are. 

There is room for everyone in the stable. It’s like the proverbial Tardis, it has lots more room inside, than it looks like on the outside. Bye. 👋

P 3060 Times of refreshing …

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“For I will refresh the weary soul and satisfy all those who have given up on life.” Jeremiah 31:25 TPT. The thing with verses like these is that it is easy to look at it, and then look at your own personal experience and think … maybe I keep missing out on that.

Here’s what changed the way I read things like this — I stopped seeing my own experiences as the plumb-line and I chose to take His Word literally instead. Now I look up to heaven and say: “Dear Lord, Thank You for refreshing me. Thank You that You are so faithful, You always keep Your promises.”Amen.

Life today is hard. It is so easy to want to give up on it. The people all around us choose to surrender to the rapidly increasingly, flooding disaster of foul media water, which sweeps away everything else in its path. So we have people who doubt their sex, or people that think that killing a bad person is justified, or that  lying is OK so long as it doesn’t hurt anybody. Apparently stealing is not stealing when it is only on paper and nobody knows. And sleeping around is just normal.  

This filthy stuff can daily wash over us and constantly demand our opinions, our participation and our judgment. Big mistake – huge! We must choose to yield to His greater wisdom. There are times when those awful things push themselves right into our own homes. Right here, right now, there is only one body of water that is safe to jump into and that’s the river of life. It’s in the book! We cannot afford to agree with the people who are being swept along by a torrent of filth, and go on to join them by jumping into the miasma. His life in us has something life-giving to say in every single circumstance. Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding:  in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Amen.

Here is another verse of scripture that helps me with life. It goes like this: “We do not have the audacity to put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with some who [supply testimonials to] commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they lack wisdom and behave like fools.” 2 Corinthians 10:12. Jesus is always our yardstick.

I have learnt that who YOU are, and what you do, cannot be my standard. I cannot afford to take my standard from the rest of mankind, because the bible tells me that all have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glorious ideal, and Jesus is God’s glorious ideal. He met every single standard and requirement that was necessary, when He overpaid our debt. The best measuring stick is Christ, in every single situation. We no longer have to see each other through that yoke of slavery, when I see you, in Christ, I am blessed.

When I am reminded of verses like this one in Jeremiah 31:25, I stop using my feelings, or peering at the circumstances, or even the manifold activities around me, to try to satisfy my own need for validation. I don’t have to blame YOU, Jesus validated me with His love. I would not go to the barbers to buy JAM, I need to go to the distributor of jam, the supermarket.

When someone is annoyed with me, my bible says:“My God shall supply my needs according to His riches in glory.”So I go to God to supply patience, long-suffering, joy etc. I have access to this blessing because of what Jesus has already done on my behalf! He has plenty of the stuff we need, and He loves us. We can just ask Him for it!

Our God is out-of-this-world rich in all those things we desperately need daily. He can’t run out – heaven rests on Who He is …

Plus, I have been promised my needs in writing. Who needs a Lear Jet or a mountain of gold, when you can have Grace whenever you need it? And boy do we need it when somebody gets all-up-in-your-face and you know that it’s their problem not yours. God promises us times of refreshing whenever we need it, and personally, I need His refreshing daily. Sucking it up buttercup does not work well when you are mad. You are likely to get indigestion instead of refreshed. 

There is nothing more life-changing than asking Him for patience, or long-suffering, or joy, or hope, when you need it. You will find you can go further than you ever thought you could, when your motivation changes from: “Please make me happy and comfortable” to “I want what you want Lord.” ←That BTW is a great prayer – but do gird up your girdle Gertie, because this ride can get bumpy before it becomes FUN. When we think of this life as the only life we have, we can make very poor decisions. Yet the glory of God, and all of heaven awaits us. 

Stephen, was a church deacon in the book of Acts. He was given such a clear look at Jesus standing beside our Heavenly Father in heaven, that I doubt he felt the rocks whacking into the side of his dear head, breaking his poor body. He was refreshed when He was dying!! When you are struggling, when you are fed up, when you feel like giving up – ask for times of refreshing from the Lord. Bye. 👋

P 3034 Reparation.

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“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”Romans 12:17-21. This means we are doing something – I think of that as releasing Grace..

Jesus Himself warned us that: “A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” Matthew 10:36. I pray that isn’t so for anyone reading this! However, making reparation or fixing things, has kind of fallen out of fashion within the church. I believe in it. It is not just about the other person, it is about what happens to you when you dismiss someone else’s pain, lightly. It is incredibly valuable to acknowledge our sin. Just because Jesus paid for our sins that does not mean we have nothing more to contribute. 

Because we value love, we need to take action, and He will help us to do it. However, the verse above makes it clear we can only do this when the other party is willing. But in order to know if they are willing, we will actually need to ask the person/s if there is something we can do to restore things! We need to tell them we want restoration. We have become – officially: ” …repairer(s) of broken walls, Restorer(s) of streets to live in.” Isaiah 58:12.

Here’s an example of how that works: “He (Jesus) entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. … … And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today…” So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly.  All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”” …”Luke 19:1-10. 

That’s reparation. It flows out of a genuinely repentant heart. That’s why Jesus said what He said about Zacchaeus. This man clearly shows the turning around and going the other way, that repentance contains. For far too long we have contented ourselves with saying: “I’m sorry”… when perhaps a better response is: “Oh! I can see I hurt you. How can I fix this? How can I help us to re-establish our relationship in a better place?” 

Jesus’ visible love toward this funny little man changed his life. Being included by the Lord opened a door for him to change. This man was practically an outcast because of the way he conducted his business. Yet the Lord accepted him in front of everyone else, and Zacchaeus’ immediate response to the Lord’s undeserved loving acceptance, was to repent and repair. I believe those accusers’ comments against Jesus, on that day, cut Zacchaeus to the heart. Plus at the same time, the Lord’s reputation as a good Man was cast into doubt, simply  because of Zacchaeus’ sin.

This response is not just noteworthy, but essential to true reparation. We didn’t just sin against a human being – when we hurt someone else – we’ve sinned against Him! And now we need to: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” Matthew 3:8. Things need to turn around and change with His help. Now we pray and follow the Lord through His processes for restoration. Our sin is gone – but we dare not leave our neighbour bleeding on the street, and wander away, comforting ourselves with the fact that Jesus has already forgiven us. That’s called presumption, and it is mean-spirited.

We must treat God’s great goodness toward all of us with humility and reverence. Our Father’s heart is right in the centre of His generosity toward mankind – Christ’s death cost Him everything. He turned His back on His beloved Son for our sake. Like I’ve said, many MANY times, Almighty God does not do things the way we do them – He loves unconditionally and that it is eternal.He is not a ‘sometimes’ God- only available on demand to people who know the password! We are privileged, whenever we knock on His door, it is always open to us. 

From the moment of our new birth, the Holy Spirit is watching over our hearts looking for Jesus’ likeness.  We need to whole-heartedly choose to become a people who seek to repair the schisms that occur in this life. It is part of our ministry to allow His love to enter into situations where anger, jealousy, spite etc. have prevailed. This means we go to people who have hurt us, or the ones we have hurt and say: “please forgive me,” and then we ask those people: “how can I help you to move on from what happened?” 

That’s what humbling yourself looks like. We aren’t obliged to do it — it comes right down to His selfless love inhabiting what we do, and inspiring us to be better! God promises to repay that other person for whatever they did to us, so let that be enough. Let the knowledge of His love for us, cover their sin. Reparation is costly —but Jesus did that for us, and we simply pass what we were given on to others. Bye.👋