Routine

P 2749 Don’t settle for less than on fire!

/ DVH

I’ve been listening to a number of different things lately, all made possible by YouTube. I discovered Project of Love this morning. It consists of verses from the bible in spontaneous song. Featuring books like Isaiah, Psalms, Habakkuk, Mark, and many more – about 22 so far, and these Scriptures set to music are accompanied by the really powerful images. It was a breath of fresh air.  Xander, the guitar playing singer, heard the Lord tell Him to pick up his guitar and sing what He was reading from Isaiah.

At that time, Xander did not know God, and he had been deeply depressed, he was on suicide watch. He was saved on the spot! After watching this man’s joy in action it really convicted me that it is easy to get stuck in the ways of the past. In the days to come I think that the Lord will bring out some extraordinary gifts from ordinary people, in whatever He is going to do next. Meanwhile, maybe we’ve made worship or teaching about having musically experienced leaders, and competent musicians. In other words we look for the people with the best voices or those who have been trained. But we sing to help US focus and to bless His heart. Ephesians 5:19 – “Speaking to yourselves, in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” 

This thought meant that I asked myself some questions …  why should worship be about the sound, and not our hearts? The danger for all of us who know exactly what to say and do, is that worship can become a routine, and everything is left to the leader out the front. Yet I think we could see a day when the Lord might take members of society that the church would reject, or maybe pass over, because they don’t meet some sort of ‘ministry’ standard. He wants them contribute.

Personally, I believe God is going to gift some people in extraordinary ways, like our friend Xander! But because the people outside our churches are ‘unchurched’ they will not have the inbuilt agendas most of us cheerfully adhere to. 

Sometimes it seems that the church at large has accepted fear as a subtext, accidentally. It seems that we are afraid of wandering off into error. However, that’s when we can unfortunately trample on the very gifts God wants to raise up! It is much too easy for us to get stuck in the way that things have always worked in the past.

Here’s a thought: … muscles are developed when they are gently but regularly stretched. Maybe the Body of Christ needs to do some heavenly stretching! Is our collective faith big enough for what He wants to do next? Our trust in His ability to care for us in any circumstance, seems to have given way to the fear of making mistakes or being misled by enthusiasm. Are we settling for the known and the comfortable, the routine and predictable, because those things are regarded as being normal and controllable. Our God is bigger than that. When Jesus came into this world, He challenged the norm by His very Presence!

Does our preaching and teaching rely more on expertise and knowledge than passion? I heard someone preach the other day and they were all over the place like jam, and yet they still managed to challenge me! Is strict adherence to conformity the very reason the church has settled into separate denominations? In many churches we go along with the same old same old, because somebody more senior and knowledgeable in God sets the rules and now we just blindly follow them. Maybe this is why some people continually hop about changing churches like the pop-up moles in Whack-a-Mole? Perhaps we are shopping around for churches that make us comfortable? Who are we here for again?? HIM or us?

We all know that I’m not the biggest fan of jumping around between churches –  yet in my denomination that seems to be almost expected, as well as accepted. But it is extremely important to remember that the Lord will choose the setting He wants to place us in. A new church is not like choosing a new shirt – for us to reach our full potential we need to rub up against people who are going to annoy the living daylights out of us! If we choose our comfort over His opportunities for our growth – we will stay babies and toddlers. 

Growth occurs as we discover our own hearts have deceived us and we are convicted by our sinfulness. So, do we  avoid change because it is inconvenient or we don’t like it, or we don’t think it is necessary? Maybe we even know we are stuck but we keep waiting for the Lord to turn up and fix the mess we’ve made?  Our job is to repent, and work with the Holy Spirit — to challenge ourselves and face up to the things we don’t like. Then we need to prayerfully revise our attitudes. Change is not just agreeing with the bible, change is when we look like Jesus and act like He would.

As Christians we cannot afford to settle for anything less than being on fire! Let’s reject the comfortable same-old same-old status quo, and press in to make sure we please His heart as well as continually press in to expand our love for Him. Bye.👋

“Don’t you realize that together you have become God’s inner sanctuary and that the Spirit of God makes His permanent home in you?” 1Corinthians 3:16 TPT

P 2626 What are we investing in?

/ DVH

If we actually happen to have any spare money today, what do we do with it? Some people like to invest it in stuff like blue chip bonds or some such. Me? Not-so-much! I do, however believe in banking, but that’s because I was in the ark!! (I was one of those two donkeys, in case you were wondering.) 

Seriously, 65 years ago I had a Comm Bank tin kid’s bank, (It was an ugly thing!) which they eventually replaced with an ever-so-slightly more aesthetic yellow plastic piggy bank. This meant that we learnt about banking at school. Some of us took money to school, and the Comm bank representative came around to collect it and mark it in our little passbooks. That was useful stuff to learn. Mo-ving on …

Matthew 13:44,45,46 says: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

Just to make sure we are all on the same page, I would like to start out by saying that, yes, we did talk about this scripture a couple of days ago. But then I read it again… and saw something else! So here we go again … hang in there with me please? 😊

What I noticed first of all was that this man was observant. He wasn’t just wandering about not paying attention to what went on around him. He saw something nobody else saw, and he went after it.  After he saw an item he truly wanted, he invested physically in it. He actually went and dug up the treasure … which was no small feat. That means, he assessed the treasure’s value and decided it was worth all that effort. You know, sometimes this life turns on a pin! For this guy it turned on how observant he was, and whether he was prepared to do more than look. 

After he discovered what he had, he physically covered it up again, and then he deliberately went bought the field. Ya might want to think on that… 🤔  And finally, he went back and dug the treasure up again. The last thing this guy did was he invested in what he found, financially … The bible says ‘he sold everything he had.’ That’s a big deal! Imagine selling everything you have for just ONE THING. This guy did! He invested emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually — and the bible said it gave the man JOY to do it!

We both know, that Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God, so this parable is not just about an exciting treasure- hunting story. The important part was that this man invested everything in what he found, not just his money. Obviously he thought it was worth it all. That concept made me think too. I came up with a few questions for all of us, to think about today.

Has the kingdom of God cost you and I everything? Yeah, bring that up!! 🙄 Seriously, what has changed in, and about our lives because we have invested in His kingdom? That man’s life radically changed. He made a commitment to what he found. So much so, if that treasure wasn’t what he thought it was, then he had just ruined his entire life. That thought should stop all of us in our tracks. How have our lives changed since we entered the kingdom of God?

How have I responded to it? What kind of investment have I made in it? Was there a big fuss initially, but then that subsided into a routine? Things like bible study Tuesday, prayer group Wednesday, Church on Sunday, joining the choir, fellowship suppers… etc. You know, that doesn’t sound much like what this man did. This does not sound like a hobby, or club to me. This man knew treasure when he found it and he did not hesitate, instead he gave it everything he had! How much is the kingdom of God worth to me? Do I go out of my way to participate in it? Do I give to it, so it can prosper? Is it my first thought in the morning and my last one at night?

Am I so devoted to it that my thoughts go to it during the day?  What are we actually investing our day to day lives IN?  We can easily think of investments as being about money, financial deals etc. But our investment into the Pearl of Great Price, is not meant to be a passing fad or a funding exercise… Or maybe a free ticket to heaven…. or even a promise of better days to come!  Jesus is telling us through this parable that our investment in God’s kingdom will cost us everything. That’s the way His kingdom works. Sooner or later we need to realise, it is a mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual investment and commitment. 

“… 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.”Matthew 19:22. SEE… it’s costly! Bye 👋

P 2565 Jesus teaches about prayer.

/ DVH

“Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, ‘Go jump in the lake’—no shuffling or hemming and hawing—and it’s as good as done. That’s why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you’ll get God’s everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it’s not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins.””Mark 11:22-25 MSG.

Mark 11 is a terrific chapter, there is a lot in it. To start with, Jesus enters into Jerusalem and He is cheered on by absolutely everybody. These people are spiritually responding to the King of all Kings! However, their responses in those moments, also teach me that what other people say or do, even when they have the best of intentions can be hollow. Good intentions go out of the window unless God is at work in our hearts transforming our minds and actions. In this instance those same people called out “Crucify Him!” … just a few days later. No fruit on that tree either!

Anyway, the next day, Jesus is looking for breakfast and He finds a fig tree, but that tree has no fruit on it, so He curses it without any explanation. He moves on from there, and He goes into the temple and then … He clears out the temple – throwing out the buyers and sellers.After that, the disciples notice that the fig tree the Lord cursed has withered up from the roots, and, boy, are they are impressed? BTW, isn’t it interesting that they comment on the fig tree but not His clearing out the temple?? Nobody asked Him why He did that!! The above verses from Mark are about the conversation that followed when Jesus talked with His disciples about tree-cursing and what the power of God can do — when we position ourselves to live this life, HIS way!

I think that these two, very extremely different events, are linked. Jesus was looking for fruit, for nourishment from that fig tree, and there was none. But then He went on into a supposedly spiritual place and it too was not fruitful, it was lifeless, and barren. So He dealt with that situation as well! That temple that the Lord entered, was designed to be a place where the Jewish people found life, and spiritual fruit they could eat, that would nourish their relationship with God. But what the temple presented had been reduced to making money, and a whole heap of rituals. It definitely was not fruitful for them.

Did you notice that the Lord’s focus on the cursed fig tree is about prayer? He is using that tree to teach them about prayer. I believe He is telling us that we need to pray all the time about everything, whether it is big, like a mountain – or small like a fig tree. And He makes it clear that prayer is not just about asking. Prayer is an avenue of forgiveness, where we can sort out our sins with the Lord and then go and fix them with other people. He is showing people how to deal with their sins. They can talk to God about them, personally … not just by participating in a religious system that does not help them know God better!

He is encouraging the disciples to have a bigger faith than sacrificing an animal once a year, to take care of their spiritual needs. Our God is never meant to be a thoughtless routine! He is everyone’s Father and He dearly loves people plus He clearly wants us to love one another. The old system let the people down, it allowed them to treat God dispassionately, as a routine thing. Then the participants would go back to their ordinary lives feeling that they had paid their debt with a dove, sheep or a heifer … but there was so much more available to them. PEACE OF MIND – the sort of peace that passes human understanding.

Jesus goes on to interact with the high priests, and religious scholars etc. again, because they want to know who gave Him the right to upset their money-making systems?! And in response He asks them a question they can’t answer — because John the Baptist was totally outside their rule books. The guy with spiritual life in him, is never at a disadvantage when he is confronting religion. Religion is hollow – it has no substance, like that fig tree! It temporarily mollifies our feelings but it can not cleanse our spiritual debts. Jesus taught His disciples to pray in many more ways not just the Lord’s prayer. We simply have to look for them. ‘Those who seek, will find!’ 👋

P 2507 The time has come to pay attention.

/ DVH

You know, sometimes I wonder if we have been so busy building, or maybe even re-building, our own little kingdoms … not to mention trying hard to look like good Christians … that maybe we have run out of OIL and we didn’t notice. Now satan has boxed us into inactivity. Lemme tell you a thing or nine … that box we think we can see, is a fake. Nothing can hold any of one of us captive without our permission.

Yes, I know it’s been hard at your house, it’s been hard at mine. But the reason it has become so hard is because we’ve kind of let ourselves get soft and flabby spiritually speaking. There have been difficulties flying at us like snow in a snow storm and they have been coming so thick and fast, perhaps we have not been able to stay in overcoming mode. Life got hard when Covid smacked us in the head, praise God – and now we need to wake up, or go under.

BTW, I said ‘praise God’ because we have been in a time of shaking. Christianity is not designed to be an established routine:  with Church on Sunday, bible study on Monday, prayer group on Thursday etc. Christianity is about an Army. An army can accomplish very little half-asleep on its feet! Our job is to defeat the enemy and our side already won – because the King of glory is in us.

I am greatly cheered by the story of Gideon. It starts with a guy whose faith is about a quarter of an inch high, yet he became the God-delegated leader of 32,000 men. Then the Lord Himself whittled those men down to 300. 😱 Almighty God carefully walked that man into such an incredible place. He did that to show Himself strong to His children. Meanwhile, if anyone had told Gideon that’s where he was going, I think he might have freaked out!! However this man draggled along, willingly and sometimes unwillingly, following God’s instructions, step by step – despite his own fears and misgivings.  

In my heart I know that right now, we are in a time like it was back then for Gideon. Almighty God has a way through our apathy and inactivity – He hasn’t caused it, but He will definitely use it! However, we will always need the Holy Spirit’s leadership. Father God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us with difficult times, as well as our own weakness. “And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.” Romans 8:26 TPT. 

Praise God, right at this moment, the Holy Spirit is praying for all of us, and boy does HE know how to pray! Hallelujah! The bible tells us that when we are weak, then He is strong. Nevertheless, our obedience is essential. Gideon had to obey God and send men home, some of them for the most ridiculous reasons. Father God also called Gideon a mighty warrior, and that was something he would never call himself. Our God sees us differently than we see ourselves. He has no problem with faith! He knew what Gideon could do when he was empowered by the Holy Spirit.

You and I may feel that we have little to offer the Lord … we can’t preach, or teach, or prophesy, or heal the sick, or raise the dead… or so we think! But Gideon shows us that an obedient, weak person in God’s hands has far more power than they can imagine, because God is on their side. You and I are never alone. We walk with the One Who made the moon, stars and universe. We know His Name and He knows ours. 

Our problem also has never been about power, He gave us power. Our problem is about per-cep-tion. Just like Gideon. He had no idea Who he was dealing with, but as he was led along by the Holy Spirit, that man saw miracle after miracle. The God of miracles is waiting for you and I to rise and be strong in the Lord, and in the power of HIS MIGHT.  If Christians started to live their lives the Way Jesus lived His, purely for our Father’s will … we’d see what Jesus saw …transformation, souls saved, and miracles. 

It isn’t who we are – it is WHO WE KNOW. The time has come to pay attention and begin to practice taking faith steps. His power is let loose through our obedience to Him. Bye 👋

““Ask, and the gift is yours. Seek, and you’ll discover. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Matthew 7:7 TPT

P 2338 Live willing.

/ DVH

We’ve been isolated at home for 11 weeks so far … and the saddest part is that we love being on the road for Jesus. We like to go where He says to go, and talk to anyone we meet along the way. It is the most fun you can ever have, and we have been doing this over and over again for the past 18 years.

But the Lord has decided we need to be home, laid aside while we are waiting for this bone in my upper arm to heal. Hilariously, since then, hubby too has fallen UP the stupid stairs – TWICE. But fortunately he skipped the bouncing all the way to the bottom part. Our dog has also nearly had the same accident as well. Someone is coming to check out those stairs next week. Yay! Now our back stairs are against us!

What might be a holiday could easily feel like a prison. It’s Covid all over again. Now here’s some fun facts for you. We’ve interacted with so many people since we have been stuck in this Cul-de-sac of injury, even though we are, hypothetically, marooned. OT’s, administrators, PTs, doctors, radiologists, specialists, hospital clinics, government provided home assistance etc. These people, and the things we literally have to do as part of the healing process, have been thrust into our isolation. 

Of course there has been a whole lotta pain, no continuous sleep, and HEAPS of waiting waiting waiting in those very appropriately named waiting rooms! But let’s just skip over that part. With home help alone we have met a total of five different helpers, with three more government assist persons coming this week.These are all strangers that we’ve never met before, and each time we have had opportunities to talk to them about the Lord. 

Hubby asked one young man to open up his heart to Jesus last week, and invite the Lord in. He did. This particular young man talked non-stop all the time. The first time he came, I got so mad at him. He was completely non-compliant about the work he was supposed to do, and he argued with everything that normally happens. It was a total nightmare. I was so incensed by his lack of sensitivity in a hurting household. So … tada! JESUS SENT HIM BACK AGAIN! 😂 Goodie. Now we are praying for him and his life and having fellowship together. And only God can organise that …!

One young lady helper came from Burundi – which, BTW, is the poorest country in the world. Horrendous things happen there. We blessed her and her family with all sorts of stuff and had fellowship together. And another lady covered in tattoos is about to get married, so we had books and a bible for her. Everybody has been delighted to listen and take stuff, and our front door is like a revolving door. We’ve never seen so many people come into our house in such a short time before. 

I said all that stuff to paint a picture. First of all life never goes the way you plan it. Almighty God has His own ideas and He probably won’t consult you – or me either! It has been fascinating to see how something so painfully awful can be worked together for everyone’s good!  And I mean everyone. It seems to me that hubby and I are currently stuck in Jerusalem, and we haven’t been able to get to Judea, or Samaria, let alone the uttermost parts of this world! Anybody can live like this – we simply have to stop seeing other people as a service industry for our lives, and see them as people Christ died for. We need KINGDOM EYES.

All this has caused me to be more reflective, if our Christian lives remain undisturbed and we continue to live our life routinely, we can easily think that we are doing sort of, kind of, OK.  (See Luke 17:27) The same old same old is dangerous. When trouble comes and we are no longer ‘on top’ of anything, rather we struggle to be pleasant in unpleasant circumstances … and fail. That is when we start to understand just how deeply we’ve been lulled off to sleep. Business as usual is deadly for Christians.

Personally I found all sorts of bad stuff in me that I didn’t know was there – until somebody pushed the right button. I have also found I must constantly revisit my desire and intention to remain willing, in spite of my circumstances. Life is about moving – people who don’t move are often DEAD, and not the good kind of dead either! 👋🏻

Acts 1:8 “You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

2 Corinthians 11: 30 ‘If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am.’