the Way

P 2622 Though none go with me …

/ DVH

Here’s a fun(?) fact no-one will like. Even in good relationships or bad ones – eventually, we all die alone. That’s a spiritual truth, as well as a natural one. When someone else we dearly love is not interested in walking in the Way with us, it is very disappointing. We can start to feel like changing stuff is too difficult, because of those other people who are deeply involved in our lives. For example, living this new life of ours exhibiting a spirit of generosity, could threaten someone else’s security levels.

First of all, I want to say that God’s expectations of each one of us is always good. He has the last word, we don’t. We must remember at all times, that HE DELIGHTS IN DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE. He can change anyone’s focus in a split second. Hallelujah!! But what He seems to prefer is that we work together with the Holy Spirit in order to change. (Read the book!) We choose to change the way we live today, because we want to please the Lord Jesus, not necessarily anybody else. We want to live differently because of our own convictions, for His sake, not theirs.

This new way to live becomes firmly established outside of our own normal ‘personal comfort zone.’ That comfort zone is the place where we live every day, and react almost without thinking … because we are not used to being governed by holiness. In every day life we can have good or bad attitudes, so we either expect praise, or we expect to be excused, using our ‘humanity’ as an excuse. But in reality, that’s the way to become lukewarm, and spiritually ineffective. 

It is easy in this life with its many pressures to formulate an image of who we think we are, and think walking with the Holy Spirit is ‘not really for me.’  But as I tackle being changed by Grace, there needs to be a conscious turning away from my old way to live, together with active repentance. I will need to seek the Holy Spirit’s prompting to help me remember that now my priority is walking with Him … not just getting along with you. After all I can easily get along with you if I know you well, and I choose not to bother you! We can all grow very used to letting sleeping dogs lie.

For some people walking that extra mile with a headstrong loved one, can turn out to be a difficult thing, fraught with angst and missteps at ever single turn. However, this is a lifelong way to live and die daily, and we can’t do it hoping the people we care about will get His point quickly. The reality is in order to achieve our new aim of living for Jesus, no matter what happens, one of the biggest costs will definitely be our comfort. Read the book. Comfort was always the first thing to go!!

Sadly, some people we care about may never get the point of transformation because they aren’t even looking at these areas. Why not? I dunno. Not a clue. They just don’t seem to think they are doing anything wrong. Walking in the Spirit seems to be for other, more spiritual people, not them! I have noticed that by the time people reach some age, or milestone, or other life circumstance, they start to think that they cannot change – this is now who they really are. Their perceived personhood has become established. That’s not what the bible says, BTW! Moses started his new life at eighty!

In some other instances, I know that people pray sincerely and constantly about change, but then they just leave it at prayer — and when nothing happens, they assume that God does not have a problem with them about such things and so they just settle back into … being comfortable. We simply must move past agreeing with God’s Word into actively living it out! This is where choosing to deliberately live a life of love facilitates transformation. 

Actually I’d say changing our way of life, from trying harder, to following the Holy Spirit while living a life dedicated to loving others — no matter how they behave — go hand in hand! One thing does not work without the other. When His love starts to flow out through us it is attractive to other people. One of the best things we can do when we decide to live a love-filled transformed life is to ask for His help and fix every single bad relationship we can, and then leave our past behind. If stuff comes up, then we repent, repair and … move on. “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”Romans 12:18.

Even if I were on a desert island, all by myself, my walk with Jesus would still be my own responsibility. I don’t have to be tripped up by what you do or don’t do, or what you say or don’t say. My aim is to please Him, and decide to live a life worthy of my own calling. That’s what following Him looks like. Bye. 👋

P 2611 The way forward.

/ DVH

The first thing I want to say today, is this: without the Holy Spirit’s help – and He is available to each and every one of us – we cannot overcome sin and inadequacy by ourselves. Self-talk is not the answer, that’s this world’s answer! Confession, repentance, and humbling ourselves is the only way to thrive and survive in the Christian life. 

Jesus Christ LET Himself be humbled in the most extraordinary ways. Purity, blamelessness, grace and love hung dying on Calvary and He did nothing to deserve the appalling treatment He faced. We all know He only ever did humanity good. So if we meet ugliness from other people, we should not be surprised or offended. Jesus said that in John 13:15-17: ”I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

So let us not be arrogant and imagine ourselves as somehow superior to the world around us, just because we happen to know something they don’t.“What do we have that was not given to us?”1 Corinthians 4:7. Here’s a useful thing I’ve learnt … When I stopped trying to outtalk others, or even organise people into suiting me, and I accepted that only God Himself can change people … I began to see other people in a totally different light.

Before that, my judgmental attitude blocked my view of them, even though I had God-given spiritual eyes, my own judgment clouded them. At the same time, I became more and more blind to my own sins. Plus I couldn’t see other people’s needs or understand them. Instead I saw myself as far more needy and unable to change than they were, because of my difficult background. That’s called pride … … think about it!  

I felt entitled to be angry with the other people because they were not helping me. It was their fault I kept falling over, their meanness made me stumble. Yeah, I know wunnerful attitude eh?  I’m not writing this stuff because I am proud of it! Spoiler alert!… I still fall over. Especially when I am tired, sick, or out of sorts!  Like Paul, I’m not there yet, but I continue to aim at transformation. Sadly, if you poke me hard enough, I probably will snarl at you. Sigh.

What that means, is this, in those moments I have totally forgotten that MY debt has been paid in full.  I’m living like an unsaved person instead of a redeemed one! If I am wrangling with guilt and shame over the way I spoke to someone, I need to remember that Jesus paid for my sin. (He paid for yours too!)  Now, my problem is no longer about my sin, it is … what am I going to do about it? Will I shrug my shoulders, and walk on and hope my awful attitude will disappear— or humble myself, repent and let the Lord discipline me?

When I fight for myself to prove myself ‘not guilty,’ or to justify any other nasty thing, or attitude, I am voluntarily walking out of the new covenant. That covenant is my agreement with God that the blood of Jesus will save, cleanse and change me. Unfortunately, at the same time, I am also choosing to put myself into harm’s way, into enemy territory, because I am stepping out from under the umbrella of Christ’s atonement, and now I am trying to shelter from the enemy’s onslaught with my own reasons, anger, excuses and inadequacies! 

The bible tells me to follow my Saviour down the same road He took. I suffer wrong because I am following Jesus. He suffered wrong and said nothing! Even if I truly think I am right, and I can prove it, I must make a choice to let go, and let God vindicate me! Reconciliation is my priority, not vindication. Vindication is the Lord’s work. My advice in a conflict is this —let LOVE be your default button. Not the kind of love that is portrayed on TV, but the kind that is in 1 Corinthians 13, and Colossians 3!

Jesus died to reconcile us to Almighty God, however, we still have choices. We can choose to step away from His Ways when we make our feelings, our needs, more important than His following Him! This means we can avoid being changed, and we will lose the ever-present ongoing war toward total transformation! Eventually guilt will drag us down and away from the light of God’s transforming love. And then shame makes us hide from the only One Who can help us – the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the Person Who helped Christ through His life on earth and the crucifixion, He is totally well equipped to help us through our bad days.

The way forward is described in Micah 6:8“But He’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.”  Bye👋

P 2504 NEVER underestimate the power in forgiveness.

/ DVH

When we forgive others, especially if and when they don’t deserve it …  this means we are His disciples, we are following Jesus. Plus we are living in obedience to the Lord’s commandment to “…love one another ...”  The idea that we cannot forgive people is a lie, it’s from the pit. However, forgiveness is not lip-service. It is a promise that I won’t hold whatever has happened against you again. That’s the WAY Christ forgave us!

Jesus Christ released all the power we will ever need to overcome sin, sickness and the devil from the cross. However, we cannot successfully walk in that power without cultivating a relationship with the Holy Spirit. We receive the power to be transformed, when we receive and welcome Him into our lives. Unforgiveness is not an option to us! This process will kill off the old man in us.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power in heaven and on earth is given to Me…” Matthew 28:18 “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to MEN.” Matthew 9:6-8. “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Luke 10:19. “But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.” Acts:1:8. The very foundation stone of God’s kingdom is forgiveness!

Forgiving people means you are releasing His power, and His Grace into that situation. It is no different than healing a headache or raising the dead. These things take choices, together with His Grace, particularly if the other person/s have deliberately and consistently hurt you. But Jesus died to give us that power. Now the power of His incredible forgiveness has been released all over this earth – it cannot be stopped! “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven; whose sins you shall retain, are retained.” John 20:23. 

Unfortunately we also have power from Him to continue to hold people right where they are. If we don’t forgive them, then they will be stuck. Because sin separates humanity from God – the only way to remedy that is to release His Grace into someone else’s life. Maybe they will change, maybe they will not – they have a free will. However we will be changed by doing it –  we will no longer be held captive by other people’s sins. We have been given the power to speak GRACE and LIFE into others. We cannot walk in the power of the risen Christ unless we live in the land of constant forgiveness -.His  kingdom!

Unforgiveness is the Christian’s Kryptonite. It renders us weak, powerless, helpless and hopeless — those things are the exact opposite of everything Jesus died to give us. It literally is like this — unforgiveness nails one foot to the floor and the person goes round and round and round – getting nowhere. If you have noticed you are going nowhere spiritually – ask the Lord:  “Who do I need to forgive?”

I am not talking about chasing rabbit trails, I am talking about anybody in your life that makes you grit your teeth, or want to go hide in a cupboard. Anybody you see as hurting you, or being stronger than you are, is oppressing you. We cannot be oppressed when we are choosing His Ways – our choice to live differently frees us. Now, today, we’ve already been taken out of this world’s kingdom, and translated into the kingdom of His marvellous light. Other people can only hold us captive with our permission.

This is why we need to choose between anger and revenge – and peace and grace. People have been free inside in the worst prisons, because “… those whom the Son has set free shall be free indeed.” The first port of call we have in any given situation is forgiveness. Park there. Don’t move from that spot. I have been forgiving some people who can’t see me at all, yet they think they know me. Unfortunately they have kept right on hurting me for 70+ years – it is possible to forgive in the presence of persecution. The people who practice forgiveness are kingdom people.

Meanwhile, FYI, hating, hurting, manipulating or controlling others is not Godly. When a Christian lives like that, it is a sign that they have not yet had a revelation about the freedom they have been given to choose to live in His kingdom! They are valuing the enemy’s usurped pitiful power, over the real power Jesus gave us freely. Real power CREATES, it does not destroy! It is far more powerful to forgive. Those ugly things in anyone’s life will suck every single bit of joy, peace, and holiness out of our lives like a straw drains a milkshake! Those things destroy families.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16. Never underestimate the POWER of forgiveness. 👋🏻.

P 2350 Jesus, our perfect example.

/ DVH

John 15:26 “I will send you the Helper from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth Who comes from the Father. When He comes, He will tell about ME.”Whenever there is a problem, difficulty or hardship – God has an answer!  Let’s look more closely. The answer is always JESUS. 

Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit – His Helper! It is important to know that if the ‘voice’ you hear is not leading you to know Jesus better – then it is not the Holy Spirit. If that ‘voice’ tells you there is a short-cut or an easier way to go … guess what? That’s not the Holy Spirit. If that ‘voice’ tells you that you are going to be so-oo-oo important in God’s kingdom – that’s not the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t talk like that.

So Who IS important? JESUS is, that’s Who! Everything is all about Jesus. The Father has put everything we will need or we are going to need IN Him. That was the Father’s plan right from the beginning of this world. Jesus is the only way IN. He shows us the way forward, and we need to follow Him. Plus Jesus Christ is the way through whatever comes at you. Park on those promises.

Long before Christ was born Almighty God reached out to us through His prophets and leaders. Now in our time, God is telling us through the bible, that we can be strengthened against difficulties, instead of being bowled over by them. That’s what Jesus came here to give us – a God-sent way through hardship and difficulties. Christ knew that God does not leave us when things get hard and intense. Grabbing hold of that reality will stabilise and establish our hearts so we can hold steady in the middle of any storm.

In John 16:31-33 “Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning Me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with Me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting Me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” 

Now isn’t that fascinating? Jesus is giving His final instructions to His disciples and He says: ‘Guess what boys, it’s going to get HARD – but it is all good because I’M GOING TO WIN. You will all leave Me — BUT — He’s got this too!’ Faith is believing what Jesus Christ said, simply because He said it! The bible is not an opinion or a theory, it is a faithful recording of God’s interaction with other men and women who are just like us. Some things look disastrous but it is God working in our lives …He’s pruning!

Lastly, let’s quickly look at something Jesus said in – John15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” The Lord does not ‘prune’ us for nothing – He has a purpose. Pruning is God’s plan to develop more fruit, it is not punishment or desertion. We need to let Him prune away any stuff – even if it looks good to us. There are some things that will not add to our character and strength. This is when we need to use our faith in His goodness to hold fast to our beliefs. Pruning cuts away any extraneous junk that we’ve adopted to cope with this life. 

Who is going to be with us and hold us up while all this stuff is happening to us? The Holy Spirit will… He did it for Jesus and He will do it for us. He will bring what the bible says into our minds so we can hold on to Christ’s words when everything in our lives has gone utterly insane.  We can be at peace despite the chaos around us because Jesus knows the Way out … He IS the Way out. We must learn to recognise our Helper, He sounds just like Jesus did. Despite what is going on around us – or even TO us, our God doesn’t change.

This life is not meant to be an easy ride, because we are producing Godly fruit, and the people of this world have never seen or tasted that kind of heavenly fruit. So we need to live by faith that He is good no matter what kind of stuff flies about, in us and around us. This means that others can “taste and see that the Lord is good.”👋🏻

P 2140 I will show you THE most excellent way….

/ DVH

I Corinthians 12:31”Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.” 1 Corinthians 13:1 “And yet I will show you the most excellent way.”

The most incredible thing about those two separate verses is that Paul previously described some of the most important gifts God ever gave the body of Christ, in them. I mean apostles, pastors, teachers, prophets etc. etc. These roles are a show case for the Love of God through His people! They are gifts from God Himself. And Paul says we should eagerly desire them. There is no shame if we want to bless God’s people with the gifts He gave us. Unfortunately sometimes we’ve elevated those gifts to rock star status, and we’ve forgotten Love is our catch-cry!

Absolutely everything hangs on the phrase ..  without love those gifts are rendered useless. And worse still … unfortunately the vehicles God designed to showcase His Love, have sometimes become instruments of control. That ought not to be so. Sometimes I think we are like children in a toy shop, we want the bright shiny brand new ‘IN’ thing, not the thing that will last, and truly bring heaven to earth. LOVE LASTS. Everything else will fade away. Only Love will remain when this world is rolled up like a scroll.

Love is described as the most excellent way, and it is not a feeling, because Paul goes on to tell us what it looks like when it is present and none of those things are feelings. Instead they are bodily actions and attitudes in our hearts. A number of years ago the Lord taught me to turn the coin over whenever I read the scriptures. That process looks like this to me – if it fails then it wasn’t love. We all might want to take a seat and think on that. 🤔 The thing I have learnt about HIS kind of love is that it knows the way through any and every problem – and everybody will get blessed … except for the devil. Sometimes when His love comes, because we don’t understand it, we don’t see it.

I just want to pause for a moment to be clear, sometimes things in our lives LOOK terrible, but afterward .. suddenly we get a glimpse of what was happening. God was working everything together for everyone’s good. The cross is an incredible example of that. Christ warned His disciples, over and over again that He was going to die, and they definitely didn’t like that teaching!  They were shattered, so much so that when they were told Jesus was alive after they had seen Him dead – they didn’t believe what they heard. Like I said, feelings aren’t the whole story. Sometimes feelings don’t even enter into our FAITH stories … 

Jesus taught many hard things, and even His own disciples didn’t understand what He said, and they didn’t like it either, until afterward… After He had left them … then they thought about everything He said. That’s because God’s Ways are not our ways. No wonder Jesus stood up at that great feast and said: “I AM THE WAY.” But since the dawn of time, human beings have kept right on looking for alternatives  … even when God Himself handed us HIS way to relate to Him, we ignored Him. It seems all we care about is our own pleasure. You know, Eve thought that fruit looked and smelled pretty good!

Over the years, we have mistakenly thought that whenever God is speaking to us – we are going to love it.  So we dismissed any of the things we didn’t like, as things that didn’t come from Him. He had to invade our space to change our minds. The bible clearly shows us the way God loves: “the Lord disciplines those Whom He loves..” (Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:4-11) EVEN HIS SON! So God’s idea of love is absolutely different from ours. Especially in this permissive, anybody-can-do-whatever-makes-them-feel-good, age! However, right now we have an opportunity to learn His ways.  Maybe we need to revise how we see Him, as more light comes to us – instead of steadfastly maintaining our man-made traditions.

It is unfortunate that the church has decided that something that is GRACE, is only meant to be an outward appearance. The Lord could care less about appearances – He wants the things we do to come from faith expressed with love. And we can’t pretend His kind of love, no matter how hard we try. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us to help us. Thank you Lord!  I practically wake up saying “Help Help!” I know I’m going to need His help at any given moment! The Lord Jesus is the embodiment of this passage, check it out for yourself. He had infinite patience with His disciples who didn’t listen to Him,  He was kind to everyone and met their needs. He never boasted about Who He is or where He came from, and He never even spoke badly about His enemies.

As a human being He felt the pain of betrayal and rejection, as well as the whip of jealousy and hatred, like we all do. At any given moment in all that suffering, Jesus could have left us to our own devices. Instead, He took ALL our records of wrong with Him, and nailed them to that cross through His own body – never to be seen again. Evil broke His dear pure heart, because Christ loved truth. He IS truth personified. And Love is an action – we can see it over and over again in the book. Talk is cheap and it fades. Love remains forever. 👋🏻

P 2138 God deliberately chose mankind – despite our obvious flaws.

/ DVH

“But now thus says the LORD, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.” Isaiah 43:1–3. These verses remind us of God’s promised Presence always. (More on the one-of-a-kind-Ferrari later!)

“God’s people will face trials, but we have the promises of God’s presence and salvation. So I … want you to just let these words fall on your heart, to hear God saying to you, fear not, I have redeemed you. I have saved you from your sin. I have made you my son or daughter.” (David Platt)

When I read these words today, they were like cool water pouring over me after a long, dry, thirsty day/week/month/year/lifetime! I just love the way the Lord Jesus changed our lives for us, forever. To quote a colloquial saying: Jesus Christ was a total game changer! God’s plan in sending His only Son to die for our sins, meant everything changed – forever. These words in Isaiah were actually written for the Jewish nation, the Israelites. Yet despite who we are – most of us are Gentiles – Father God included us by saving everyone – and He always planned to do it. Read the book. 

In the bible we have the strong and enduring promise of a Saviour who died for all our sins! And we have it in writing! … 🤔 …That is one very handy book! Yet, the wonder of our God is this … He has never given up on His beloved Israel! She is His first love All throughout the Old Testament I marvel at His incredible loyalty and forbearance with these people who were, and still are … just like me …  wilful, afraid, rebellious and selfish! 

We have a saying in our family, that we got from reading C.S. Lewis’ book about Narnia, called ‘The Last Battle.’ It goes like this: “The dwarfs are for the dwarfs!” Quite simply it means most people are for themselves … a-n-d … bad luck about everybody else. 😶 No wonder we must read the bible all the time to change the way we think. 

The Lord Jesus arrived here on earth as a vulnerable Jewish infant, and He lived His life here, physically illustrating and teaching everyone He met about His Father’s will. Plus He did everything He did, His Father’s Way, which means any kind of selfish ambition went right out of the window!  And then Jesus went on to die in our place so He could completely save mankind, like … forever. THEN, after His death, He went back to heaven, and left us with our own free will – our own dumb choices! He did all that for us. You might want to Selah those thoughts for a few minutes – our choices are very important to God.

Now we must choose to live like Jesus did. Here’s the kicker … Jesus knew we couldn’t change our own minds and hearts by ourselves, so He sent back the precious Holy Spirit to help us. The Holy Spirit helped the Lord Jesus while He was here, and now He is here for us – to help us. But, absolutely everything depends on our choices. In other words, He didn’t only choose us – He gives us the freedom to choose Him … or not. That teaches me that Almighty God wants us to love Him without any fear at all, voluntarily. 

Generosity like this astonishes me.  Why? Well, I know where I’ve been and what I’ve done, and He has never ever closed the door on me. Other people have been so angry at me that they can hardly bear to speak to me anymore … but Jesus is always there for me. Waiting. Waiting for me to turn around and see that there is nothing to be afraid of because His face is full of love. Christ Jesus is God’s love personified. Read the book! And you can take all that to the bank – and put it in your heart … and please take it there often!! 😊

There is a scripture that says:“Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! …” 1 John 3:1a. What John is saying here is this: ‘Look at the WAY God loves you. Can you believe the kind of love that Almighty God has for us ?? How astonishing that He loves us like this? He not only saves us, but He has made us His very own sons and daughters.’ That’s you and me. In a world when people disown each other all the time, because of this bad thing and that – God says: “These guys chose Me and they are MINE.” And it doesn’t matter what colour I am, or you are, or where we were born. What matters is our choices. He made us His choice and we choose Him back – DAILY. In this world’s eyes we are nobody, but to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords we mean everything. We need to reflect on this scripture in 1 John, because it is not even remotely about us being entitled, instead it is all about Father God’s generosity. 

If someone gave me a beat-up, rusty – but mostly still working – old car, I suppose I would appreciate it. But God Himself gave us ALL, the equivalent of a personally designed by Him, custom built Ferrari – free and clear of obligation. He has designed a new life for each one of us. (I told you I’d go back to that fantastic car!) God gave us so much, so over abundantly, so we could be and feel safe – here and now – before we ever get into eternity. That is generosity without equal and worthy of worship. Not because we have to, but because it blesses Him.

I often ask people – why on earth would you follow SomeOne else? Is there a catch to all this wonderfulness? Yes. His life for ours. He chose me and I choose Him. And with the Holy Spirit’s help – I live the WAY Jesus did. Dying to self daily, and I live loving others – whether they like or love me  – or not. 👋🏻