Spirit of God

P 2560 We are in a war and we must learn to fight.

/ DVH

2 Samuel 2: 1-7, 8-9. 12-17 plus 3:1. “So “David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. … … …

Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us. “All right, let them do it,” Joab said… …

So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together…The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David’s men. … …

3:1 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.”

Saul and David had a ‘history’ which consisted of King Saul trying at every opportunity to kill David. At one stage this king even took David’s wife, Michal, Saul’s own daughter! … and gave her to someone else to marry! satan does not fight fair either! I personally see these battles between Saul and David as a parallel to the battle we fight every single day, between the flesh and the spirit. David only ever did this jealous King good, because His ultimate loyalty was to the Ways of God and Saul was the anointed king..That’s also the way the Spirit of God works for us – He only does us good. No matter how things look – He wants to bless us.

In this life, thanks to everything Jesus did for us — just like David, we’ve already won. Our Hero, our mighty Warrior Jesus Christ, fought for us and won. And one day He will fight the last battle and dispose of that enemy forever. But even though we know that Jesus has already won on mankind’s behalf, yet we are still destined to have to fight for what is ours while we are here, because our enemy refuses to let go of this battle. Just like Saul – he will cheat and fight ’til the end.

However we can daily defeat our enemy by the way we choose to live!  We are the peace bringers and peace-keepers. We are called to rout out the enemy’s damage in people’s lives and usher in God’s kingdom – by the way we treat others. Our weapons aren’t ordinary – they operate in the Holy Spirit’s power. They are the Word of God plus our humility, yieldedness to the Lord, and Love is our greatest weapon of all! Even when our enemy tries to take us out – the key to winning is being prepared to die for Jesus’ sake. However, if or when we do not choose to enter the battlefield, we will still be battered and bashed by this life’s sorrows and suffering, and our flesh will lose every battle by default!

Sometimes the enemy’s strongholds are inside us – which means we must choose to fight our natural inclinations to be snarky and nasty and grab at things by force or manipulation. We do this by asking the Holy Spirit to help us. The devil will also twist our perceptions and our emotions to trick us into fighting over the things that don’t matter eternally. That means we will waste our energy and get weary in the battle. Our flesh will always be at war with the Spirit, because the Spirit has a much higher aim … to glorify God … Dying daily is the only way to learn to fight and WIN.

It is interesting to note that David had been selected as King, by God Himself – but not everyone in the kingdom accepted God’s edict. A whole lot of people still followed Saul! Which is why popularity is never our aim! This story shows me that there are many people who are not discerning. Spiritual discernment is one of the treasures I talked about yesterday, it keeps us from falling into sin’s snares. However, at the same time, any difficulties in our day-to-day lives need to be used as opportunities to be transformed in our POV, attitudes and actions with the Lord’s guidance and help. We should never ever forget that we are in a war, and let the stuff that rushes at us, take us by surprise, and change our aims. Our aim is not comfort – it is Christ proclaimed – we are to bring His kingdom here, now.

Sometimes I think that the Body of Christ is like a bunch of small children at a Bazaar. They run from this shiny new thing, to another tasty thing …without any thought at all. They chase after easy answers that will give them what they think they want. Immediate gratification. We are in a war, we MUST learn to fight. Even our own flesh only wants what it can see. However, the Spirit wants what only God can see, so we can see it too! Now that’s a good place to praise God! 🙌 

P 2296 It’s not just Arts and Crafts.

/ DVH

Exodus 31:1-5 “Now the Lord said to Moses,  “See, I have called by name Bezalel, son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.  I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and skill, in understanding and intelligence, in knowledge,and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,  and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.”

If we are not careful we can be quite dismissive about the decorative and creative arts. Just because our enemy has perverted this medium that does not mean these gifts and talents cannot be used by the Lord. This man Bezalel was anointed by God, and his incredibly diverse skills were given to him for the Holy Spirit’s purposes.

This man was gifted by the Holy Spirit in a wide range of things. Things that many Christians treat as quite unimportant. Oholiab was gifted as well, and these two men planned and supervised the construction of the tent of meeting and the most Holy place. They created the place that God ordained for Him and men to meet. I find it fascinating that these craftsmen, and women, were skilled in hobby-type things like wood carving, embroidery, and precious stones. The things we see as a diversionary past-time …not a real job. 

Art, music, literature, theatre, all of these things can be used by the Holy Spirit powerfully to go around our minds and target hearts. We desperately need these talents, please do not dismiss them lightly. They can be used to fling the closed doors of anyone’s hardened heart open. And suddenly we become aware that whatever is going on is GOD, not just some tickle of our fancy or something we find emotionally appealing. There are also times, in this world full of all kinds of words – words that have been abbreviated, reconstructed, or corrupted into parodies of their originals —  that we can become so hardened by superficial things, that even beautiful, meaningful, deep words can bounce off us. Familiarity can breed contempt. 

But a Holy Spirit painting or similar work of art can go right around our minds and logic, and breathe His life and light into the viewer. I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes. I’ve watched someone receive one of my hubby’s watercolour paintings and they went from well-held together human beings to a puddle of water … in a heartbeat. It defied logic. 

We must not, we dare not, despise the day of seemingly little things. It is time for us to use everything that is in us to bless and praise His holy Name. Our God is a creative God, and creativity truly does unlock hearts. 

I believe that many the problems of mankind can be solved by our creative Father and His obedient listening servants. He decorated this world. He didn’t put Adam and Eve in a lovely house or even a beautiful boat, instead He placed them in a garden, a garden HE designed … with animals and birds and all sorts of incredible creatures. And they all came out of His enormous, boundless creativity. Our God sees creativity and design in a far deeper more profound way than we currently understand.

So don’t give up your hobbies, or occasional past time, or dismiss these things as ‘not spiritual.’ Instead give those supposedly ordinary talents to the Lord.  Ask Him why you have them. Then wait on Him for guidance. We are currently living limited, tiny lives, when our lives are linked, right here, right now, by Christ’s completed work to the limitless One. Submit your abilities to God and to the body of Christ, and hold onto your hat, you never know where they might take you. Finally – infuse everything you do with Love, and He will infuse it with Himself. 👋🏻