Submitted

P 3168 Things nobody wants to talk about.

/ DVH

I can’t count the number of times somebody I loved so dearly has wandered off into the darkness clinging ever-so-tightly to the words: ‘the Lord said to me…’  After a while, those words can become a torment and a dark confusing prison. This person doesn’t dare move away from what they think He said, in case they miss out on the promise they hope He gave them. That false leading has caused so many wonderful brothers and sisters to fall. And some, as Paul says …have even wandered away from the faith!

Over the years I have realised that an independent spirit can wreak havoc in our midst. Churches have fallen apart because of it. Truly lovely, God-fearing people won’t talk to others because they consider them to be going the wrong way, and they don’t want to be tainted. Sin is not contagious …but disobedience is! And we need to understand that love is not about obedience, it is about valuing people!

I’ve also watched suffering souls cling ever-so tightly to the promise of healing – well, who wouldn’t? – only to see these precious people of God disappointed or crushed because the promised healing has not come. We all need the mature, tried and tested saints among us for the Lord’s council – and those brothers and sisters don’t always have grey hair either! I mean the ones who pray for you and watch over your soul, often on their knees. God corrected me once, when a kid at church accidentally said something that poked me in the heart! 

I’ve agonised over how to say this so I wouldn’t hurt or mislead anyone who is currently stuck in ‘I’m standing on the promises of God-land!’  Because hearing from God personally is a blessing. But there are times when any of us can be sincerely, misled. If our enemy cannot get us passive and inactive, then his next ploy is to wind us up and send us off in the wrong direction. Here’s my point—Almighty God does not operate like that. We are in a Body because we need a Body around us, loving on us, knowing us, and speaking into our lives. 

We cannot afford to let our opinions about someone else’s spirituality spoil our own faith walk. Especially as  we’ve been designed to walk in relationship with each other. Anything less misses the mark of Christ’s all-encompassing love. Remember He had twelve very different opinions around Him!  People tend to congregate around others who have are like-minded. I think that’s dangerous. A bunch of people with the same ideas or gifts can end up saying and doing all sorts of things. We need everyone — the servers, the mercy givers, the teachers, the healers etc. – not just people who think like we do.

That’s because we can’t see ourselves properly. Those things that we can easily dismiss as little errors, could be gaping holes that will swallow us up. Let’s stop judging where other people are coming from and love them instead. You can learn a lot about yourself when you choose to submit..I know that it is easy to slip into a POV that says: ‘But the people I know are wrong, they say this and that, and that stuff is not in the bible.’  The bible and our brothers and sisters are our protection. BTW, there is only one truth – God’s truth. And it will take all of us to uncover it.

The biggest error I have ever seen, is one that operates almost universally – personal opinion. The same God who gave you those thoughts, can confirm what He said – through a leader. Our bible says: “Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you.” Romans 12:3 NIV. Praise God He is always wa-ay bigger than our mistakes. He is bigger than anything and everything stupid we can fall into. We need to put our trust in the Lord, and embrace the Way of life Jesus spoke about in the gospels, like – ‘preferring one another.’ 

Ephesians 5:21: “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” Why? Because none of us are all that – that’s why! Romans 12:3 says: “For by the grace (unmerited favour of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.” All the nice words and the self-effacing attitudes in the world will not necessarily mean our hearts are right. Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: WHO CAN KNOW IT?” Well that kicks ‘trusting in my own understanding’ in the bin doesn’t it?

Pastors are often too intimidated to repeat verses like these, because they will be accused of being overbearing and controlling. When is the last time you read that particular scripture and … applied it to yourself? Our place of safety is in the Body, submitted to the leadership. And if you disagree with the leadership … now there’s a common theme (!!)… then get on your face and ask the Lord where you have gone off the rails! Don’t ever be so proud you can’t back up and turn around and go in the other direction. 

In the past, I have been in a Body where the pastor was controlling, and you know what? After I spat the dummy and complained to the Lord about it, and then HE disciplined me – for my own good. That’s when I learnt a lot about ME!! Everything, everything, everything is an opportunity for growth. If you are still here on earth, then you are not done yet. Even mature Christians have blind spots. We need each other, and the kind of care that says: “I have your back’ … but it is not afraid to tell us the truth when it is necessary. Let’s stop avoiding those things we don’t like to talk about. Bye 👋

P 2971 You can find Jesus anywhere and everywhere!

/ DVH

“My heart and soul explode with joy—full of glory! Even My body will rest confident and secure. For You will not abandon Me to the realm of death, nor will You allow Your Faithful One to experience corruption.” The Lord Jesus is all over the bible! Right here, for instance in Psalm 16:9-10, hundreds of years before the Lord arrived – there is a wonderful statement where we can clearly see His hope in God’s faithfulness. Obedience, hope and faith took our Lord to the cross. And faith in His Father’s Word kept Him there, until God’s plan was completed. Imagine that!

Our Lord has not ever asked us to do anything He has not already done Himself, and He did everything fully co-operating with the Holy Spirit, in obedience to His Father’s wishes… Jesus cultivated and lived in Love, and He didn’t move away from there…He had the Grace of total obedience. I pray for that a lot!. Some of the things that the Lord Jesus did are beyond words. Like this one:

John 13:3-5“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God;  so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.”

This scripture sets a precedent for each one of us — Jesus showed us two ways to cultivate humility. The first is this …we can deliberately choose the lowest place. I don’t think there is a more beautiful action than this one. The God of the Universe sent His Son to serve mankind and redeem us all, and yet right before his crucifixion occurred, Jesus humbled Himself even further, by washing His disciples’ feet. Astonishing!

The King of all Kings, and Lord of all Lords was kneeling on the floor washing those grubby, travel-worn feet. (22 of them!) I prayed about this brief episode, and it occurred to me that in the bible it says that the ones who take the gospel of good news everywhere —have beautiful feet. The disciples went on to take the gospel everywhere. I think this was a prophetic action – a statement of things to come. He is everywhere, in the lowest position – except for the last book, then watch out!

Another example I want to mention is at the cross, He submitted to His tormentors without a word.  Speaking for myself I’ve always got plenty of words … sigh! Jesus suffered the incredible pain of utter separation from both of His constant companions, the Holy Spirit, and the beyond words loss of His Father’s Presence for us too. “He Who knew no sin, was made sin for us…”

During His time on earth, the Lord Jesus walked in complete intimacy with both The Holy Spirit and His Father … minute by minute, day by day. I believe this means we can walk with Them like that too. We simply need to put the Holy Spirit’s needs, and ways, above our own. As each one of us eventually approaches death, we can do so with great confidence, because we remember that Jesus has already walked through death’s door on our behalf. He’s waiting for us and we will not die alone, our Saviour went there for us too.

He flung that door open for every human being that has ever lived on this planet. Death cannot hold any of us captive.. I used to explain it to my kids like this – death is simply somewhere else where we can’t see people for a while — like another room. People are not gone. Some will sleep and some are already dancing through the streets of heaven.

The enemy has no right to hold any of us captive to the fear of death because of what Jesus did for us. It goes without saying that we should be spreading this info around to anyone who will listen while we still have the chance! Death is a door not a destination. Even if we have spiritual unhealthy thoughts about hell, let’s remember that Jesus also went there too, and He held a parade when He came OUT!  

And my last example is this:  Jesus’ glory knocked Saul His persecutor to the ground.“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.He fell to the ground and heard a voice say tohim,“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. …” Acts 9:3-8. There is no place we can go that He will not be there with us… He’s the Good Good Shepherd, remember?  Bye 👋

P 2696 “This is the Way.”

/ DVH

“But the love of God will be perfected within the one who obeys God’s Word. We can be sure that we’ve truly come to live in intimacy with God, not just by saying, “I am intimate with God,” but by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.” 1 John 2:5-6.

I may surprise some people when I say I have enjoyed the series – ‘The Mandalorian.’ I’ve watched it several times, and the theme behind this fictional story, is that this man lives by a strict code of honour. His tribe adopts and looks after orphans – James calls that pure religion. Man I love it!! PS I hate all the creepy, ginormous creatures in that series – the ones that startle, pounce and munch. Back to my real point, I think there is so little honour in our society today. People criticise their spouses, friends, children, parents, teachers, workplace companions, bosses, our country’s leaders, church leaders … judgment seems to flow through most people’s lives like a river. That’s a polluted river! … Bad plan.

Because God Himself honoured us with His Presence and came here as a baby – plus He chose to obey man-made rules, He set the standard for us, His kids. Jesus Christ voluntarily submitted to His parents as well as the authorities of that time. And … He didn’t judge. His desire was to please God, and benefit others – and if He had to correct people, He did it with love and grace. Then He left here and went back to heaven, but before He left He released the power for us to live like He did.

In our current society I think we have completely overlooked the very real benefits of not judging others. Judgment is like garlic, you barely have to wave that stuff over the top of food to get it to flavour whatever it is. Our society chops judgment up and throws it into everything! We simply cannot benefit from soaking in a marinade of judgment – we’ll just STINK!  Personally, I think the lack of the flavour of the Living God, in and through our lives, can easily make us distasteful to others. Let’s always remember, religion tastes terrible, but the sweetness of His Presence enriches us as well as others. Unfortunately in our world, we have learnt to call what we say an opinion, and we think it is something we are entitled to. Sadly, God Himself still calls it judgment.

The Way into living a life of honour is to make informed choices, followed up by actions – based on the Word of God. We need to act on what we read. EG: Feed the poor. If we leave caring for the poor to established institutions, we will have totally missed out on the blessing that is promised for us when we bless others! Likewise if we judge our pastors,  … for things that we do ourselves, then they may become discouraged and leave the ministry. Plus if we deliberately harbour grudges, spite, unforgiveness, hatred, anger, sarcasm and criticism then we will spread those destructive flavours around us, and they will spoil whatever we do. But when we spread love it saturates and covers all things … including SIN. Yours, mine and ours.

Please don’t waste your time waiting for the moment to be right. The best time to do good is while it’s still daylight! I find if I wait to do good to others, I can end up talking myself out of it. So I try to do what He has told me to do – right away. Here’s the very best most fun thing to do – like EVER!  Do good to the people who are deliberately maliciously mean to you. Wow! What a buzz. When I do that my feet barely touch the ground for a week. Meanwhile saturating people in His goodness, is sometimes the only thing that impacts those people who have been hardened by this life. I’m crazy about the saying: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, IT DRIVES THEM NUTS! However, I don’t recommend actually …doing it TO drive them nuts!  ‘See through you we do.’ 

When we are intimately involved with someone we dearly love we can’t wait to see the world through their eyes. We want to spend hours together just sharing thoughts back and forth. You and I dearly love Jesus – so we need to esteem the Holy Spirit directed skill of seeing the world through His eyes. There is no judgment in the Father’s Eyes. Judgment and all our sins fell on Christ on that cross. IT’S GONE. So let’s not drag it up again. Strangely other people don’t like being reminded of their sins about as much as you and I don’t like it! Speak life instead.

We cannot successfully walk with Him if we do not walk LIKE HIM. God’s power does its best work through the humble wisdom that comes down from above. The Way to walk with God and know Him intimately and bless others, has already been provided for us. “This is the Way.” That fiction character understood the power of loyalty, and choices. Bye. 👋