Sorrows

P 2550 A fantastic exchange rate.

/ DVH

“We have become His poetry, a re-created people that will fulfil the destiny He has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfil it!” Ephesians 2:10 TPT.

First of all, isn’t that verse above a beautiful thing? I may feel like last week’s washing on a bad day… BUT … I’m not!! I am His poetry … and … so are you! Re-created to fulfil the destiny He planned for our lives. And it’s all because of Jesus Christ and what He did for us. Our redemption story is not some sort of quick adjustment on our Heavenly Father’s part to our sin. NO – He planned this stuff before we were even born. Before my father met my mother. Before my grandmother met my grandfather etc. He planned us all. And His plan was always to give us a hope and a future.

Great place to stop and praise the Lord! 🙌 It is good to remind ourselves that our God is creatively brilliant beyond everything we can hope, dream or imagine, He can use anything — even awful stuff and transform it into wonderful. If’n ya don’t believe me … listen to this …”To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion—to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit—that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3. 

Did you get that? Our God already has a plan in place to exchange our sorrows etc.  Even when all we have is ashes, mourning, a heavy burden, and a failing spirit. That’s a heck of a trade-in! His plan is for us to glorify Him in the middle of the awfulness that this life rains down on us. He doesn’t have to demand praise either — praise will bubble up when we look at Him and what He does! And that trade-in mentioned in Isaiah will help us to radiate love joy peace etc. to the people around us. We aren’t going to stay sorrowful for long with that kind of exchange rate! I remember this gorgeous old song we used to sing years ago: ‘I’m so happy and here’s the reason why, Jesus took my burdens all away. Now I’m singing as the days go by, Jesus took my burdens all away.”

Some of those old geysers were really switched on to the way God works. (Whoops. I are one!)😂 … Moving on … everything, everything God does is GOOD. We may not always initially be able to see the good — particularly if we switch off our faith and throw our hands in the air and panic. Did you know if you do that often enough it becomes an automatic response? Neither did I until He pointed it out. Since then, my first response is always “help” — and my second one is – “how are you going to get me out of this mess please Lord?” The Holy Spirit lives to run toward us when we need Him. Then I repent, because I know I did something!! … I’m definitely not perfected yet! And then I ask for His help to start looking for what’s good about it.

Sometimes what’s good is that I am in the middle of surviving whatever it is, no matter how I feel. The bad can drown out even His hope, His love and His truth …if I let it. That’s when my emotions will let me down and drag me under. Those bad things that happen in our lives are REAL, but we don’t have to stay there. I have learned to fight the good fight, sometimes second by second. I tell myself I won’t give in to my feelings just in this minute, and I choose to praise Him. (Did you know there is such a thing as a sacrifice of praise? Hebrews 13:15.) After that I avoid going back and looking again at the thing that dragged me under in the first place.  

I am talking about switching focus from what is going on … to whatever He told me to do next. Sometimes that might be “have a cuppa”  or “that lady needs help.”  We are always on assignment. Cry when you have to, but keep on walking. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9. Don’t faint, just keep going – this is how you develop perseverance. Do you remember that guy who talked to Jesus and said he wanted to follow the Lord but he had to go home and bury his father first? I love what happened, next … Jesus talked to this man about making the main thing, the main thing. (Read Matthew 8:21-23)

How can we live this life reassured, if we don’t talk to Him about everything – even our pain? Our DAD never sleeps and His thoughts are always towards us. I mean … really, does it get any better than that? We need to continually remind ourselves His destiny for us is to be saved, healed, transformed and delivered. Not necessarily always in that order! If we mess up then we repent, repair and move on. Getting stuck in sin and guilt is not part of our destiny. 

We have been pre-destined to look like Jesus. “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:29. Right here, right now, let’s concentrate on becoming His re-created people who are writing poems about Him with our lives, to His glory and grace. Amen! And let’s leave the details to the One Who created hummingbirds, jellyfish and daisies! He’s fantastic at it. Our God has the greatest exchange rate, every single day BTW. Bye ✋

P 2421 The saga of the queue.

/ DVH

“For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served by everyone, but to serve everyone, and to give His life as the ransom price for the salvation of many.”” Mark 10:45 TPT. BTW, we would be wise to remember that just because lightning doesn’t strike us from heaven – that does not mean that the Lord approves of what we are doing!! It’s not called MERCY for nothing.

It’s verses like this one that convict my heart. You see, I was caught in our car recently, waiting for a half an hour, in 33 degree heat. It happened twice. There were very complicated road works and we were waiting to be given a green light so we could move on. Sadly my response was best not repeated here! I got my crank on. I was hot, hungry and not feeling well … I totally forgot I was not my own, and it was Jesus’ time that was being wasted not mine. 🙄

Let’s just think about the above verse for a minute as it applies to me in that situation. In reflection I realised I was expecting to be treated differently by a bunch of hard-working roadwork guys  … just because I wasn’t well etc. Yeah, I totally lost any kind of realism in those thoughts eh?!? Like they would know what was happening to me while they were digging ditches! 

The thing is – if I want to follow Jesus I’m probably going to go down a whole lot of difficult uncomfortable roads … that may have endless troubles — plus road-works!  However, instead of getting cranky I actually had plenty of time to pray for the poor boiling hot road workers digging away in 33 degree heat!  Rats! I definitely missed that opportunity. 😶 So today I wanted to include something in my blog that cut me to the heart – because it needed to. I urge you to read this like Jesus is speaking to you personally, I did!

I Hear His Whisper … hold nothing back from Me…

“I want to be Lord over every part of your life—over your joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, goals and disappointments. I don’t want you to hold anything back. Beloved, come face-to-face with Me. Stand in My Presence and ask for my Spirit to reveal the areas that you haven’t fully surrendered to Me. It’s time for you to release control of those parts of your life that you’ve held on to.

Let the searching gaze of My Spirit into the secret caverns of your heart. There are situations and people that I will gently bring to your remembrance. It’s important that you don’t push such a thought back down but acknowledge it and bring it to me. 

Any pain, fear, trust issues, bad habits, wrong attitudes, or areas that you’re still holding tightly to must be given to Me. They are not yours to control. I love you, and I will lovingly correct you and draw you into the place of safety, where you can lay these things at My feet, once and for all. It’s time for you to rise to a new level of freedom.” Written by Brian Simmons and Gretchen Rodreguiz

Sometimes stuff simply ‘gets’ at us. And before we know it, we are reacting – without asking for any help, or Grace. And then we end up wondering where our peace went! That’s a good time to remember Jesus’ OCEAN OF GRACE and His MERCY FOUNTAIN.  We get there by way of repentance but we don’t have to go either place via the road of shame! I can’t apologise to those particular road workers, who had no clue I was cranky at them. But I can repent and ask for the Lord’s help to change. After praying I found a whole lot of stuff inside that I had no idea existed. Including pride and resentment, plus entitlement … because I’m often ill… poor me! I was reminded again, that my time is His time and He can spend it how He likes. 

Secondly my comfort – or not, is now in His hands. I repented and spoke a blessing over the men working so hard to make the roads safer for everyone, and revised my attitudes. Being ill and tired is no excuse. Actually I’m doing my best to give up excusing myself, it’s a waste of time. I want to go straight to: “What’s the problem here Lord please?” 

The thing I’ve noticed is that if I am being truly honest, I also must leave behind that sickly sweet little voice – that comes from inside ME. It’s definitely not the Lord! That voice is soooo sympathetic and it says things like: “That’s OK, you can’t help it, you have a lot to deal with.” You know, not every voice we hear is the devil. Sometimes it’s just OUR FLESH! Yikes! 

Like I’ve said before, deception comes from careless choices, and there is no other place for that junk but the cross! I want to close by saying it is worth reflecting on the fact that Jesus came to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many and He always had time for everybody – even when He was dying! So it’s no big deal if I’m asked to give a half an hour of my time, for a few hardworking road makers. 👋🏻

P 2229 ‘Help help’ is a great prayer!

/ DVH

I read this today in Psalm 91:1”Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Today I just want to mention God’s provision of rest for His kids is the only way human beings can manage this life and all its pressures. The Lord is wonderful, when we live this life for Him – He blesses everything.

We are not alone. We need to learn to progressively and intentionally “rest in the shadow of the Almighty…whose power no-one can withstand!” Our enemy has no power over us in that place of peace-rest. The Lord Jesus Himself said the same thing in Matthew 11: “Then Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Jesus Christ understands humanity – He understands how hard this life is. We can LEARN THIS, He will teach us.

The best place of shelter, EVER, is IN God Himself. We hide in what Christ already did for our sake. We can try to hide away from trouble by staying busy, or actively choosing to forget stuff, but hiding in God is the only place we will find the kind of real safety, and solutions that last. Everything else is temporary. So, how do we do that? Learn to run to Jesus immediately when things go upside down – and tell Him He is your refuge. 

I do that out loud! Even before I lift the phone to get others to pray – I start running toward Him inside – yelling help help all the way. I understand that we’ve all developed independent … not-so-great habits … of relying upon ourselves – but I have found personally, that when I try to figure things out … the line of admitting defeat moves away from me, and so does inner peace and sleep. And my brain starts to feel like messy mush. 😂 I get exhausted. That’s why I’ve learnt it’s easier to give up and ask for help immediately. When I see God acting on my behalf, that miraculously reminds me that GOD LOVES HIS KIDS. Real peace and safety in this life is an illusion. Our Father wants to help us. 

The older hubby and I get, the less enchanted we are with our own brain power and memory bank.  We seem to have developed a super-power of forgetting most things ten seconds later! This Psalmist knew how to stay safe until disaster had passed by Him. Because of what Christ did, WE can live in that place permanently. Jesus gave us that when He died for us, that’s why He mentioned it. Praise God we all live on the other side of the cross!  We have a safe place to run where we will always be welcome, and that is God’s ever-active MERCY toward us.

We all get beaten down by this life and some of the people in it. That’s the time to pick up those burdens and give it ALL to Jesus. Then we do whatever He says, in the book – and then…we  leave everything with Him. Tell yourself ‘God is looking after that!’  If we accidentally revert to worrying and problem solving, then repent, and give it back to Him again. Learn to live relying upon the finished work of Christ’s death on the cross. The more you live like this, the more it becomes the way you think. The technical term is called renewing your mind. Even if you accidentally go back into worry etc.- then give it back to Him, just one more time. Human beings are much too frail to walk around with heavy burdens on their backs.

Listen to this: “Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down.” Isaiah said that 700 years before Christ was born. One day he was praying and he ended up in the throne room and God’s incredible holiness gave this prophet a revelation about who he really was. Isaiah saw his sin. Thank God, he also prophetically saw Jesus coming into this world 700 years later! Isaiah saw God’s provision for his sins and everything else, long before Jesus was ever born. Seeing that changed that man’s POV forever.

This is what Jesus Christ came to earth to do for humanity, to show us another way to live. The bible gives us so many witnesses. Today I have put one from a Psalmist, plus Isaiah, plus Jesus Christ Himself. They all tell us we can come to God, and offload our burdens, troubles and sorrows, because SomeOne has spiritually taken them for us – JESUS Christ took all those things to the cross, 2000+ years ago. Those weighty things in our lives are as gone as our sins!  Let’s ask for His help to continually lay our burdens down, and live in His rest, instead of this world’s turmoil. 👋🏻 

P 2161 God is devoted to mankind.

/ DVH

Isaiah 54:11-12: “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.”

There are so many times when we personally need to read and hear statements from the Lord like the one above. When this world and its troubles and sorrows overcome us, we need this kind of reassurance of His steadfastness from the bible. We are His city. This whole chapter of Isaiah 54 is so encouraging, it literally drips with His intentions and affections for us. 

Years ago, I studied a little on the subject of gemstones. Gemstones are amongst the hardest substances on earth, as well as being the most beautiful. Father God is telling us, in a pictorial language, that we may be broken down, and feel totally destroyed –  but He already has a plan to rebuild each one of us with the strongest and loveliest of materials. These verses are not just about decorating us with pretty things – He is expressing how valuable all of mankind is to Him.

God’s covenant of peace is a Person. Once, long before these verses were written down in the book of Isaiah, Almighty God carved His covenant into tablets of stone and gave them to Moses.  Now, He has inscribed His New Covenant onto a PERSON – Jesus Christ. “Though she … ( a mother, may forget her child) … I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands;” (Isaiah 49:15&16) Father God’s amazing love for us has been carved into Christ’s flesh, His very Being. Our God will never forget us, no matter how this life looks, or how difficult it gets. Because when He looks at us, He sees His beloved SON, Jesus Christ – A MAN! He sees the most beautiful thing this world has ever seen – His agreement with us carved into human flesh.

Father God does not look at things like we do – that’s why we have to change and transform our minds! Christ’s death and resurrection are a physical and spiritual reminder of the power and depth of Father God’s love. Human beings who feel passionately about someone, sometimes have that name tattooed onto their bodies. The mystery/miracle of Easter is that our God did this to Christ – to remind us both of the New Covenant. Christ’s Body is a legal contract between God and MAN. He carved the first contract into stone – He carved the second one into His SON. Jesus Christ is the document of Covenant.

Through Jesus Christ, Almighty God decreed His intention to have peace and reconciliation with all mankind, forever. These carvings will remain visible – forever. You and I made those dreadful wounds on Christ’s Body just as surely as if we had crucified Him ourselves. What we might see as an ugly abhorrent thing, God sees as a beautiful reminder of how much His Son loves Him, and how much They love US. That’s how serious God is about us, and the power of His word! 

Finally, I also love that these verses in Isaiah 54 talk about God’s compassion. Jesus Christ explained what compassionate love looks like when He told the story of the good Samaritan. Compassion is not a feeling, it is the practicality of helping someone in need. This parable is not just about someone being kind to someone else – Samaritans and Jews hated each other. In this parable Jesus is illustrating that while we were His enemies His love came after us to restore and heal us. God is incredibly dedicated to our restoration.

This life is full of things that batter and bruise us, however, those things are not sent by God – sin did those awful deeds – our sin or someone else’s sin. Father God has clearly revealed His passionate, committed love toward mankind. All He asks of His Son’s intended Bride is that She be equally committed to Christ. Each one of us is so important to God, He has promised to rebuild each one of us – with a beauty that goes way beyond mere words. 👋🏻