Singular

P 3360 Keep looking at Jesus.

/ DVH

“We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, He organises and holds it together, like a head does a body.                                                                                                      He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—He is supreme in the end. From beginning to end He’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of His death, His blood that poured down from the cross.”                                 You yourselves are a case study of what He does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of Him, giving Him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in His Presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.” Colossians 1:15-23 MSG.

When we look at Jesus Christ we see God’s original purpose for mankind … minus sin and its effects. Sin couldn’t make Christ do anything because His love and devotion for His Father was greater than anything else. Instead He set us a perfect example. Our sin has a habit of colouring in everything around it. So when we focus on our sin, or their sin, or the government’s sin, we cannot effectively keep our eyes on the Lord!

Personally I think that judgment is a terrible stumbling block for everyone, but the Lord Jesus died to remove that and all other stumbling blocks way… once and for all! We can find our place in this broken world when we drag our gaze away from other people’s sin and look steadily at the One Who gave us His place. Looking at sin skews our focus.

This is a great passage of scripture above, because it encapsulates the things that Jesus has willingly done for us. People rattle on and on about recycling, and saving the planet, but one day everything broken and dislocated will come together in Christ! His greatest achievement is the total restoration of mankind with its Creator— not just to where Adam and Eve were—we have been restored to be like Him in this world, and that starts right here, right now.

Boy if that doesn’t make anyone happy then I don’t know what will!! We don’t have to be qualified to live this way, we simply need to yield to Him no matter what is going on around us. The good, the bad and the … oh! my goodness! Our first step is total surrender – the next is to choose to live under His guidance, His Way. Don’t hold anything back, whatever we hold back can still be influenced by sin … that’s why we must give it all to Him. He is the Restorer, the Redeemer of everything. 

Jesus has already taken us out of the kingdom of darkness that surrounds us and we are now a part of the kingdom of His marvellous light. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9. I don’t care what you do for a living, this is our real job now. To live in, and reflect the light He died to give us into this world around us. The darker it gets, the brighter that light shines.

Our dedication to living in His light (described in the book) causes darkness to run away … This is the real Good News – not some other form of religion! Religion has rules and regulations, but our Saviour’s Good News just helps us to live this life, with all its positive and negative experiences, well. And the source of our happiness never changes, because Jesus never changes! 

As Christians we cannot afford to focus on what this world thinks, we need our focus to be singular, on what He said. Day by day we get to know Perfect Love in an ever increasing measure. Jesus demonstrated His perfect love by what He did. We demonstrate our love for Him and others by what we do and say. However, perfect love is hardly ever a feeling. Perfect Love is a series of ongoing chosen actions that will cost us something to participate in them. God hasn’t taken away our freedom to choose – instead He has given us something better, something worth choosing! 

We can’t afford to rely upon feelings, because they will slowly sink our little lives into the mire that surrounds us. Instead we need to make what happens to us less important than what Jesus Christ did for us. Our focus is not on some pie in the sky when we die theology – because Jesus already did everything for us. It’s done! He said it way better than I ever could: “IT. IS. FINISHED.” Done and dusted. The Lord Jesus Himself purchased our freedom,- He paid with His own blood. It cost Him His life. Now we have been given the freedom to choose to live His Way. Don’t misuse the freedom He gave you. Meanwhile, there is no need for us to work hard for something that is already paid for. 

We choose to live with His pure focus in this life – right here, right now. Let’s shift our focus off the immediate stuff around us and lift our focus up to the eternal. Then we will progressively exchange every bit of the darkness that assails us, for what He has already given us. This new life is a life of forgiveness and love. Right now… right here … we are learning to cherish His light. Every single day. I urge us all to keep looking at Jesus, He started our faith and He will finish it. Bye. 👋

P 3049 We are not Headless chickens.

/ DVH

Eons ago, I knew a little boy whose family had chickens. They had them for the free eggs, but they also occasionally ate them as well. The father despatched one of the birds from time to time and the mother prepared them for food. One day when the little fellow was accidentally outside in their yard, his father chopped off a chicken’s head. The chicken ran about minus its head splattering blood everywhere. The little fellow was extremely distressed, he kept shouting at his father: “Put its head back on Daddy, put its head back on.” Poor kid, I bet he didn’t forget that gory scene for a very long while!

Sometimes in the body of Christ we try to go it alone. We work so hard for Jesus we forget to consult with Him (our HEAD) about what He wants us to do. Or even talk to others because we’ve forgotten we are merely a part of His Body not the whole thing! We need to utilise the bible for our growth, not just to prove a point against someone else. If I am working toward doing something and I am not sure of the way ahead, I ask the Lord for at least 3 verses, and then I ask for outside confirmation, PLUS His peace. Remember, He’s GOD He can do anything! And the Holy Spirit does not mind caution.

It is unfortunate that any one of us can twist the bible to say many things that support our POV. Be aware, and be warned against running on ahead or off on a tangent, without your church family. Watch out for gossip or judgment. “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”James 3:6. 

The bible clearly says this about consulting with the Lord. He is the Head of His body. Colossians 1:18:“And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything HE might be preeminent.” And Ephesians 1:22-23 says: “And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.”

We desperately need His Mind guiding us, teaching us, and convicting us of fleshly attitudes. When we ignore the renewal of our mind, we are just like those chickens, running on instincts, behaving in a mindless fashion! The bible says this in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” In other words if He doesn’t strengthen me I can’t do it!

So if you find yourself running out of strength, or feeling lost, then have a quick spiritual check-up! We are always going to need to know what is on the Lord’s mind. If I don’t know how to proceed, then I stop until the way ahead becomes clear again and I dive into His word until He speaks to me through it. 

“For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But WE have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. 1 Corinthians 2:16. Because of what the Lord did, He is not only our Head. WE can have His mind between us – collectively – that means you AND me. I may have a thought, and you could too, but when we put those thoughts together, prayerfully, we begin to access His mind.  Unfortunately, people like to avoid this bit, because human beings enjoy thinking they alone are right and someone else is wrong. We truly need each other because otherwise, pride – which goes right before a fall – can tip us off His Way. 

There is no room for ambition in the Body of Christ. As a matter of fact, if you need a faith boost or help for something that the Lord has asked you to do for Him, and other members agree with it, I will give you my back to give you a leg up! I don’t care about my reputation, My Saviour made Himself of no reputation for my sake, so it is incredibly easy for me to allow you to flourish, because I am benefitting the Body. And at the same time I am obeying the Head.

I think this attitude is why many wonderful godly men and women have fallen on the rocks of discouragement, and deception. The mind of Christ is a collective noun. Not a singular one. We have the mind of Christ. Not just me, and not just you. And definitely not pastor-everybody-knows-their name! ALL of us together. Obviously taking that world-wide can present major problems! But in our local church setting, I often find it is good to ask somebody else to pray with me. There are times my theology needs challenging. I can be selfish, plus I am not the whole body! Our harmony is under threat when we run about majoring on our differences.

We are not headless chickens.We are His Body and corporately we have the Mind of Christ. He is our Head, loving us, guiding us, and teaching us, leading us.  Hallelujah! 🙌 Bye.

P 2938 The benefits of walking with God

/ DVH

“God will continually revitalise you, implanting within you the passion to do what pleases Him.”Philippians 2:13 TPT.

“Above all, constantly echo God’s intense love for one another, for love will be a canopy over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 TPT. “You were God’s expensive purchase, paid for with tears of blood …” 1 Corinthians 6:20a.

The bible itself urges us ‘to forget not all His benefits.’ in Psalm 103:2. Anyone can see what’s wrong with this world, but the people with real vision, His vision, can see the potential to do good in the midst of the chaos. What a benefit that is! We’ve personally discovered in our travels, that all this trouble and strife has opened up other people’s hearts to a point where they are happy to share their sorrows, suffering and disappointment with complete strangers. So we get to pray with them … what a benefit!

Our God is so precious, as we go along through this life choosing to walk with Him, living His Way instead of our own  — our wrong way of thinking, even our superficial thoughts, fall off. It is as if we switch focus, and we start to become singular in our devotion to Him. That does not mean we exclude others, like we are in some sort of exclusive club — it means our hearts are stretched and pummelled by the Word of God into a bigness we never even dreamt about! His servants don’t have to try to be better, kinder, nicer – they just are! Now we look for the good in others because it delights us to find it. That kind of observational skill benefits everyone!

People who live like this wouldn’t dream of wasting their time on pettiness, or hiding their faults from others to save face. Imagine the energy someone wastes trying impress others, when we all know full well, WE aren’t all that. Self realisation is a huge benefit! Yet another benefit of walking with Jesus every day, is humility. I stop being afraid to tell you I’ve failed, or I can’t do it, or I have no idea what to do next … instead I ask you to pray for me! Sometimes I pray:  “I can’t wait to see what You are going to do with this mess I’ve made Lord! Because I know You make all thing new.” Sadly, sometimes our level of pretence is preventing us from going deeper with Him. But we have the incredible benefit of His ongoing forgiveness covering us, because Love Himself adopted each one of us. The benefits abound!

Often human beings are the sum of their choices and history. But, we aren’t stuck there. Instead we daily benefit from walking with Jesus. And that means we become more and more honest – because we are living in proximity to honesty Himself, and His goodness rubs off on us. So if someone corrects us, or points out a fault, we have the inner freedom to be grateful because they have given us the opportunity to look at ourselves through their eyes. But what if what they say is not true? My advice is to let God fight for you. Our King cares about what we care about, let Him take care of you. Now there’s a great benefit to thank Him for!

Our feelings make a very poor, inaccurate guide – the benefit of reading His book is that it diagnoses our inaccurate world view every time we read it. He gives us His wisdom so we know how to avoid pitfalls. Wisdom is an incredible benefit. Over the years, I’ve met so many people who underestimate who they are IN God. Anyone who is prepared to live acknowledging their lack, can have wisdom. Just ask Him! Wisdom is a benefit with eternal ramifications. I don’t have to try to give God glory for what He does in my life, because I spend my time watching Him snatching me out of this trap and that stupidity! I am eternally grateful that He continually saves me from myself. 

Before I met Him I had nothing worthwhile to give to others. This is another benefit I’ve learnt – God gives us gifts to use to benefit other people. We are living beneath our heavenly calling when we verbally pull other people apart like wild dogs snarling over their breakfast. God’s gifts to men are to benefit others not to pull them down so we look equal to, or even taller than they do. We dare not use His gifts to benefit ourselves. What do we have that He didn’t give us? And when you have Him you have everything you will ever need. Maximum benefit right there!

God’s Word has also been given to us to diagnose what’s wrong in our hearts and lives, and His Word pulsates with the power to heal. It has not been given to us to accuse ourselves, or others. That’s how the other guy operates. We are to build one another up, and we exist now, to live this life for their benefit, like Jesus did. To do that we will have to see them through His eyes. Because our eyes and ears have been trained by trouble, strife and sorrow in this world – we can do so many unnecessary things to protect ourselves. However, when Jesus came and died, He threw His living body/blanket over each one of us, just like Boaz protected Ruth when she was vulnerable. I can’t afford to take my eyes off everything He has done for me. He sustains me in difficult times.

Our cup is full of His benefits, pressed down and running over.Psalm 103:1-2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:…”  Bye. 👋