Transformation

P 2406 True kindness – not the mushy kind.

/ DVH

The Lord wants us to be kind the way He is kind – He is kind to the sinner, as well as the saint – He shows no partiality. Kindness can open up a heart far better and faster than any probing, or carefully crafted questions. Whenever we think about approaching other people … kindness needs to be our motivation. We need this fruit of the Holy Spirit activated and operating through us. Active in us – means we understand that when God or a brother or sister points out a fault in us, they are being kind. Christians are always ready and unafraid to be corrected, because we own and rectify our untoward actions and attitudes. We have a secret – WE HAVE A SAVIOUR. 

One of the best things to put far from our minds when we are talking to strangers, or friends, is whether they are Christians or not. We need get rid of this isolationist idea that we have one face in church and another outside it. I urge you to simply be the same person at all times. To start with, there will be huge untold benefits —- you will do what you do with sincerity and true kindness, and other people will be impacted.  

Hiding our sins from others gives the enemy an opportunity to shoot us at the worst possible moment. Our sin is gone, not disguised. Many Christians hide their sins because they hate to be seen to be wrong —I dunno why?!?! We have been permanently set free and we are now open to be led by Him. Honesty means humility. Win win! However wearing a nice veneer leaves no room for acts of faith. The Holy Spirit loves all things to be open. Hiding our sin from ourselves and each other, is a sign of pride. But a humble heart gladly repents and makes reparation. If we are not careful we can treat being changed like it is our enemy – transformation into His likeness is always a JOY. 

Meanwhile pride is the stuff that will make anyone fall over quicker than a runner who trips on a shoelace. The bible says:“It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.”Here that verse is in the MSG version:“You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because He’s such a nice God, He’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but He’s not soft. In kindness He takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.”Romans 2:4.

Isn’t that version a hoot? Because if we are truthful, sometimes this is exactly the way we think. We think He will be kind to us because … because… “I can’t help it. I had a hard life and my parents were mean to me … blah  blah blah… I hate my job and it’s not my fault… blah blah blah. Because my spouse is mean to me and my kids don’t listen to a word I say… I know God understands that when I shout I don’t mean it….” … This sort of attitude denies the power of the cross. Be real! Admit your faults – then you can get on with living life His Way instead. Being fake excludes the power of the Spirit.

God’s idea of kindness includes discipline. “The Lord disciplines those He loves.” God loves us but He won’t put up with our stuff. The stuff has to go! It is stopping us from being all we can be. His huge, very real love, challenges anything and everything that will stop us from growing up into the fullness of Christ. Any parent will tell you that it knows their kid’s potential, and when the little darlings go on and on about ‘it’s not my fault, the teacher is so mean to me!’ An engaged parent will see through that. And so does the Lord. Everything is an opportunity for us to know HIM better … this side of heaven.

Here’s what I’ve learnt – we can only avoid change for so long, and then the Lord kind of squishes us into a corner where we have to look at whatever it is … and despite our pretty pictures of a God Who is more like Santa Claus – He won’t let us out! This is when He is being incredibly kind to us. He never demands that we succeed – instead He wants our participation, our willingness to engage with Him in His processes. And that has nothing whatsoever to do with simply agreeing that what we are doing is not Godly! We need to learn to apply God-given answers and deal with ourselves. Real faith grows with application and demonstration.

Godly kindness will open doors that have been slammed shut by pain, betrayal, anguish, grief, and hopelessness. Human kindness will eventually get fed up, and give up! God’s kind of love perseveres. Its only requirement is that it is genuine. And there is nothing like staying real, to release the sort of kindness that heals and impacts someone else’s life. Kindness means forgiveness is always ready to make an appearance – it doesn’t demand a penalty because it knows the penalty has been paid.

In the kindness of our God, our faith and beliefs are open to anyone… so we need to be open, generous, truthful and considerate with other people, no matter how they treat us. That’s how we spread what He did for mankind around, and it is what true kindness looks like. 👋🏻

P 2400 We are not powerless – we can choose.

/ DVH

We need to accept the reality that as God’s family, we have power. JESUS GAVE IT TO US. Luke 10:19: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” 

We have the power to choose to obey and work together with the Holy Spirit. That cannot be taken away from us, but it can be voluntarily surrendered if it is unknown, or under-appreciated.  satan can’t make US do anything – but he can tempt us in any area where we are weak … areas in our hearts and minds that are still unredeemed. 

This is why we need to deliberately pay attention to our spiritual lives. Our physical, emotional and mental lives will take over otherwise. Most of the time we do not fully comprehend that the power we have, means we can actually say NO to the devil, or even to the Lord Himself. I don’t recommend the latter but we can! Our God will not force us, but ,,, He may allow circumstances to persuade us to revise our decision. Remember Jonah??  

When we add the power of God, to the power of choice – human beings become unstoppable. I want to be clear about that. You or I might have prayed a prayer for someone to be saved, and so far that hasn’t happened. Even if we die – that prayer is still out there. Almighty God values our prayers. Jesus showed us that, when He prayed for Christians to be One. That particular prayer is awaiting its tipping point — it hasn’t happened yet, but that does not mean it won’t! “There is a TIME for every purpose under heaven …”  Ecclesiastes 3:1. 

I personally don’t think that our prayers have an expiry date, but sometimes the content needs to be checked with the Lord, first. Our problem is that it is unfortunately too easy to think that when something goes unanswered after a longish period of time, it won’t be answered at all. In the bible, we see people negotiating with the Lord. Maybe some things need negotiation!  When we pray something in agreement with the Holy Spirit, together with God’s Word, it cannot fail – because our voice is joined to His. 

Sadly, for years we’ve applied this scripture or that scripture as leverage to get what we want —for things that were about gain, to make our lives better. I honestly don’t think that things, no matter how important they seem at the time, matter. Because things don’t last. Human beings, however, last forever! We are eternal beings.  Even when I give to benefit others, I am entering into His eternal principles. But if I only want to gain things for my own comfort in this life, then my prayer is simply to satisfying my desire for temporal things. 

The enemy of our souls has hooked us into caring more about temporal things than we do about eternal things. The result has been great disappointment and disillusionment for many. However the transformation of a human heart from selfishness, strife, anger, lying, cheating, and disloyalty etc. IS, in itself, a miracle. What we allow God to change in us, in our lifetime – is a glimpse of eternity to come, here and now. That is how we become carriers of His glory and partakers of His nature. Rom. 6:11-14; Gal. 5:16,25.

We are not powerless in the Lord’s process of redemption in our lives. But change does not come by osmosis either. It happens as a co-operative. We obey His will, His way, and as we do that, He transforms us. We can still wilfully choose to be bad tempered, and sometimes it has nothing whatsoever to do with anyone else!  Although there are some people who delight in creating what I call opportunities for us to fall into! 

The way to be strong in the Lord, is to learn to resist temptation. The bible calls it ‘overcoming’ and it tells us to “…flee from temptation…”  Unfortunately if we walk too slowly away, then we can also sort of kind of stroll back again! And in those moments we start assessing how bad could those things really be? And then at other times we dive in where angels fear to tread. These temptations are things that we already know will bring only a temporary thrill or satisfaction. Our aim is to walk with Him – so that’s where our focus needs to be.

We are not powerless – we can choose, because we are a powerful people.“(God’s) divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 NIV. 👋🏻 

P 2399 Forgiveness and obedience are our best weapons of choice.

/ DVH

Forgiving others and obeying the Lord’s wishes has become our life’s work. Those two things go together. So much so, that when He shows us something as we read the bible we need to immediately ask Him: “What would You like me to do about that Lord?” And then we go and do it – using our choice not our feelings.

Initially, when the Holy Spirit checked me about stuff I was doing that wasn’t good, I didn’t like it very much. He said things like: “You have resented this person’s influence in your life, you need to start appreciating them.” That meant I had to practice taking my stray thoughts captive, and at the same time I had to stick my hand over my mouth instead of bad-mouthing someone I was mad at. Sadly, I am still not always successful at that… 

But the first thing I learnt about myself because of His instruction – was this: I had been using my thoughts and my words as a pressure valve! Anger and resentment built up inward pressure that I needed to deal with. After all your mouth is right there and it works and everything (!) and so I often used my words to cope with bad things that happened, or perceived slights and injuries caused by someone else. After a while I realised I had a really big lists of stuff (aughts) against other people (any). Bad plan BTW, keep your forgiveness lists short. “And when ye stand praying, forgive if ye have aught against any, that your Father also who is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Mark 11:25 ASV.

This is how it plays out:  let’s say you can’t stand your Uncle B. Maybe Uncle B was kind of not nice to be around. Every time you saw him as a kid you wanted to run away, or you hoped your parents would rescue you, but they were too busy socialising instead. Now, because you are an adult, when you see Uncle B. you can run for the hills, or you can even avoid family gatherings, because he is going to be there. Maybe you want to protect your kids. You don’t want them to feel like you did around him.

Here is what I have learnt. Forgiveness is harder to find for old wounds – you are going to need lots of God’s GRACE to do it. Perhaps you are also angry with your parents for not protecting you, a-n-d … you probably wouldn’t pass Uncle B. a fire extinguisher if he was on fire 🔥 … so that would be something else you need to work on. You are stuck with not only your need to forgive others, but your own past childish judgment. 

Unless you make a start by forgiving your parents for their neglect, you can easily slip into assessing what they did. It is unfortunately easy to judge our parents retrospectively and vow that we will never do that stuff to our kids! It’s a no-brainer that you will also need to forgive Uncle Bob, BTW. And you are definitely going to need help with that!! Here’s my first point. We cannot do lasting spiritual transactions, without the Holy Spirit – He knows every single detail and how to get us free. We have to start with God’s Grace and guidance to navigate past any mine-fields. (Mind-fields.)

I can’t tell you exactly what to do because every situation needing forgiveness is different … but I urge you not to postpone or avoid forgiving someone as a way to defend yourself. Neither should you avoid repentance just because it seems the other person won’t change. We cannot hinge our transformation on someone else’s behaviour! That supposed knowledge of their sin is a snare sent to trip you up. Ask for His Grace, and keep right on asking while you continue to follow Jesus. Keep praying: “I want to do what You said Lord, and I need help.” 

Unconfessed sin and a lack of repentance is a place for satan to stand in our lives. satan is a legalist, and he will use it against us – he will distract us with things that are of no consequence – while we are ignoring the thing that is tripping us up! Instead we need the Lord’s Grace and His way through. We cannot live the Christian life and experience victory if we don’t make the practice of obeying the bible a living breathing part of our lives – instead of just a using it as reference book.  

Forgiving someone does not mean we are giving them permission to continue to abuse us. Rather forgiveness is a statement, an intentional declaration, that we know that God has a bigger plan. Romans 8:28 says: “And we know [with great confidence] that God [Who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”

His plan and His purpose is to lovingly transform us. Sometimes He will rescue us, and sometimes He wants us to act in faith, like Jesus did. I have observed as I have followed Him and embraced His purposes, that His plans for my good blow my mind. I would never have understood those plans, if I hadn’t decided to die to the way I think, obey what He said, and let Him be Lord.  

Here is my last thought for today – our God does not speak to us contrary to His word – His word is immutable – it will not change over time. Choosing to forgive, plus knowing the Word of God and choosing to obey it, is our best defence weapon. 👋🏻

P 2398 To really live, we must die.

/ DVH

Absolutely everything depends on how seriously you and I take what Jesus said! “For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].” Mark 8:35 AMP.

Salvation is not just a one time event, where you make a decision to become a Christian and that’s that. At the time of that commitment, we might cry a little … or a lot, depending on our response … but this moment is the beginning of our understanding of what Christ did for us all. After this moment then we need to begin to fix the broken relationships we have. Plus we start to pray about tithing, and regularly attending church. Maybe we also go to prayer groups or bible studies. These are difficult but still attainable life-changing things. Sadly many Christians stop right there. 

However, salvation is a PROCESS – not just an event. That process involves the transformation of our lives and it takes a lifetime to bring it about. As we enter into it and God teaches us His ways — we will be changed. We won’t pray, walk, talk, think, or speak the way we did before. Not because of rules or traditions, but because the bible itself changes us. This is when we start to understand that our old nature was taken to the cross when Christ went there – we deliberately choose His ways. Now we want to live the way He did, for God’s glory. Jesus Christ came to earth to die for humanity’s sins, and He also left us an incredible legacy.  A new way to live.

Hubby and I have been married for 35 years. Knowing him has changed me heaps. I laugh more than I used to, despite the difficulties we face daily. It is not that he is hilariously funny … sometimes he tells the worst jokes(!!!) … but in spite of that, his humour evokes a happy response from me. Knowing him and how he thinks, has changed the way I view this life. You could say his life has influenced mine.

Some things that I used to panic over, I have learnt to dismiss or leave alone. Hubby has taught me something no-one else ever taught me … it is possible to stay in love with one person for the rest of your life. However, always liking them … meh! Some days that’s a whole other story. 🙄 But ongoing, fully-committed love is actually possible from a human POV, if each person is prepared to die-to-self in the process. Forget the whole “Oh that’s just me, I’m just like that” rubbish – marriage is about two people becoming ONE. Adjustment will be required.

Now, if another person who is like us can teach us such important stuff – then imagine what the Lord God Maker of heaven and earth can teach us as we get to know HIM. This is the real point of salvation – it is about getting to know SomeOne … and as a result we can progressively learn to rely upon Jesus in all kinds of circumstances. This is how He has taught me, personally and authentically, how wonderful He is. I experience Him, His thoughts, His ways, as I interact with Him in my prayer time, and by reading the bible, and when we obey Him. 

However, if I limit my interactions with Him, and live my Christian life spasmodically, in and out of what His Word says … I will end up with a limited view. He won’t quit on me, but I am distancing myself from Him. That’s when our relationship will become stunted and stiff and lack spiritual life. By engaging in this growth process, I have become aware that this relationship can be costly. I have had to give up my ideas and attitudes about this world and the people in it. Here’s a couple of examples:  before I met the Lord, I saw some people as enemies – but Jesus sees potential for a loving relationship. At other times when I am afraid, and try to hide or run away, He stands with me as I face whatever it is. He helps me conquer my fears. 

Father God’s view of love can seem upside down to what human beings think. Eve thought – “its just a bit of fruit and it looks OK – here you try it  Adam!” She thought her own wisdom was enough. King Saul thought looks and presence would put him over, as a king. But God wanted a man who trusted in Him, not appearances. Solomon thought that many wives meant He was a very important king. He ended up going the wrong way after those wives influenced him. Goliath thought being bigger, stronger and overbearing would give him victory. So God sent a kid to kill him with a round stone.

When we shrink God’s ways into a shape that suits US, we are making a god after our own image. Jesus Christ came to show us that He could live life as a human being like us and still have and maintain a God-obedient love-filled life. We simply need to continually study and obey God’s Word under His guidance, and let it change our minds and reactions. Then He will make that word alive inside us. This means to really live – we will have to choose to die. 👋🏻

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 NIV

P 2396 The best support systems for faith.

/ DVH

Here’s a thought:  let’s all walk this earth, every single day, like we belong to Him. Not like undercover agents, madly hoping that no-one will notice that we are Christians, sliding under the radar. I wonder, do we hide what we believe because we are afraid we are not representing Him well? Or do we have some behaviour that we know isn’t great … and we kinda wanna keep it?? Maybe hiding what we believe gives us some kind of ‘cover’ and ‘plausible deniability?’😱 The church, our primary source of support for our faith, has kind of taken a real bashing. People are leaving it in droves.

Churches in the past, were seen. They were active and present in their communities. They used to be the glue that tied communities together. And caring fellowship was an important part of that togetherness. A church is not a club, meeting around a topic – a church is a community of believers getting together to worship Jesus and love others. I know there are some people who come and join our churches and I’m pretty sure they were sent by God to annoy the living daylights out of us. I think that’s because most Christians are stuck in the mud of self-complacency! However, a true body of believers is a witness to everyone around them, they are not just a bunch of people who sorta kinda believe the same thing.

Years ago, the church made itself responsible to bring about social justice, by caring for the poor and widows and orphans. Let’s keep doing that!! But I don’t believe caring for the poor should outweigh my devotion to Christ.  Right now, I’m hoping that the people who love Jesus are on the cusp of realising we are dodging the reality of what we believe, because we have no accompanying actions. The bible says we were saved to serve others – we are not here to have a happy life and then go home to God! Christianity began with a death and that’s the way it continues – with all of us deciding to die to self and live for Him … and others.

However, most of the time, instead of dealing with our internal attitudes, it has become much too easy to wander about, sometimes from one church to another, ‘shopping’ for someone in charge who believes my particular brand of theology. The real truth is, Christians actually hate change more than whatever it is that we are doing that isn’t in the book… and we want to keep right on doing it!

Postponing transformation in our lives of faith is deadly. Lemme tell you how I know that. One thing leads to another, and another, and before you know it – you aren’t going to ANY church anymore because you don’t like it, it’s boring, it goes for too long etc. etc.… you found better things to do!  Besides: ‘our pastor is dumb;  he preaches badly; he doesn’t really care about me and that’s supposed to be his job.’ That list goes on and on and ON.

Here’s a revelation: … we don’t go to church to be amused, we go there to meet with God as well as each other. To be challenged and comforted, as well as being led or shoved, out of our comfort zones. Having a church of ONE that meets in your garage is definitely not the same thing. BTW, our pastors have a duty of care to lead us into the Ways of God, they are not there to scratch our itchy backs, or pat us when we feel bad. They are not there to tell us things to help us feel good. That’s because the Christian life is one of progression – not stagnation. Pastors are part of the God-given support system sent to help us hone our faith into purity and devotion. 

A truly Godly pastor assumes you love the Lord enough to follow Him for yourself! He thinks you are coming to church because you want to know God better… Hmmm … maybe he’s deluded? Our leaders have stepped up into these roles to lead us into a greater maturity, so God can have what He wants. Whether you like your pastor’s style or not! We’ve become very used to critiquing how some poor guy does a job we don’t want to do, mainly because we like the freedom inactivity gives us!

Think on this: “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.” 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 NIV.

Most pastors are overworked and undervalued.They too are a part of the support system the Lord has put in place to grow our faith in Him. Along with fellowshipping together, praying for each other, studying the bible and doing good to everyone around us! Going to church is not a chore – it is the centre of our devotion and activity for Jesus. It is a support system for faith. 👋🏻

P 2394 Releasing His Grace.

/ DVH

Forgiving someone is simply the starting place for the process of releasing Grace into a sinful atmosphere. We ask the Lord for His Grace, and then we release that God-given Grace toward the person who has sinned against us or offended us. This is a deliberate act, using our faith. Most of the time we probably won’t feel like doing it immediately – but immediately is definitely the best time! 

However, I’ve found that the memory of whatever happened to me, can come up again and again. So I need to release His Grace again. I don’t have to forgive again, I just need to release more Grace toward that person. We step into the flow of the Holy Spirit and, living with His Grace toward us, we don’t step out again. Grace is like air, it comes in and goes out.

When we go to the cross and confess our sin of judgment or whatever, and repent, we are reminding ourselves that the cross of Christ is our source of endless eternal Grace. No matter how hard I try, I cannot forgive someone who sins against me, in my mind, or even my feelings. I need to use faith to do it. I ask the Lord for His help and then I deliberately pray and release that person from my judgment. I know I personally have a tendency to steer clear of people who hurt me. That’s not GRACE … it’s avoidance. BTW, the more you hold resentments against others the more skilled you will become at finding fault in them.

Now if I think about a bad thing that has happened, EG …’they did this, but I didn’t deserve it’…and ruminate over what happened, then I can easily rehearse myself back into the same state that I started in – or even worse. Instead I must go back to the cross, and Him ask for His Grace, and repent for digging up someone else’s sin. This needs to be a daily habit, because some bad attitudes sneak up on all of us, and we end up 200 kms down the wrong road without even noticing it! We need to acknowledge other people’s sins, then forgive them, and start releasing Grace every time we think of them.

We have been saved to be His GRACE dispensers. That’s what healing is – God’s Grace toward the sick. It’s what wisdom is, it’s what the power of God IS. We embrace the companionship of the Holy Spirit and cherish Him by our obedience. Grace is God’s unmerited favour over our lives, and His people can release that power toward others by forgiving someone else who doesn’t deserve it. Jesus set that example. But we cannot manufacture this stuff without humbling ourselves and admitting our need of it, first. Grace is heaven’s currency.

Transformation occurs when we walk in, and value His Grace for us, and through us. Instead of making our own needs our priority. If we choose not to participate in the flow of His Grace we are actually holding other people captive, because God gave us the power to release them into His hands. (John 20:23)… That power is designed to flow through us. We become acquainted with the power of the Holy Spirit when we live this way – we can’t, or won’t live this way of ourselves, but when He is in charge, we can.

Personally, I can’t live the life I currently have, without utterly relying upon the Holy Spirit and His Grace. Most people I know don’t think about stuff the same way I do. We simply do not gather information the same way. God’s way of Grace is the great undergirding that brings us all together. Outside of His Grace I know that I am probably going to get clunked upside the head by someone, or something or other, and spend a week trying to simply stand up again so I can keep on walking with Jesus. I’ll probably tread on someone else as well! And, if I am not paying attention to what matters, I will fall right out of Grace into judgment. Then judgment picks up resentment and that leads to bitterness.

The good news is Christ overpaid our debt so we have a limitless supply of Grace. What do I mean by that? Let’s start with the obvious. I don’t mean that we can do whatever we like, and live however we want to, ignoring God’s wishes and His instructions in the bible! That is treating God’s costly Grace, disrespectfully and irreverently. We have more than enough Grace to give away, not to horde or misuse for our own agendas, pettiness or deliberate sin.

His Grace received into my life is the beginning of a production line. It produces the kingdom of God in me, and releases His kingdom toward you.  It facilitates a better relationship between me and God, and me and you! Grace washes us both clean, so we can live God-conscious lives instead of sin-conscious ones. Part of the function of this Grace production line is that it becomes the new way we live, as we practise it. We automatically release it to others, and that Grace flowing into and out of our lives, continually washes us. It is much harder to be proud when you know that without His Grace you are sunk! 

Finally, Grace produces gratefulness. It is an equaliser. Everybody needs it. It will produce the kingdom of God in our lives, if we choose to live and walk in it and work with it. Here’s a huge clue that might help you, so you can step into the flow of God’s Grace – if you roll your eyes, or grind your teeth when you see someone – you need His Grace to help you. Releasing undeserved Grace to others gives us balance, we know full well, at any minute we will need it too! 👋🏻

Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

P 2391 Peace thieves.

/ DVH

It’s the little foxes that spoil the vines. (S of Songs 2:16.) And it is the little things that niggle and nag at us, that steal our peace. Today I want to talk about somethings I’ve noticed that steals MY peace. I hope this helps you as well. 

Unforgiveness is a thief – it steals peace, and it is destructive to relationships. It colours the way we see things – it maximises bad things and makes good things totally disappear. It is very easy for our faith in mankind to be battered, but in my observation that happens because I have let my focus on the Lord fade, and now all I can see is the mess in front of me. That blocks my view of other things … especially good things! And when somebody else is involved it becomes wa-ay too easy to dump the blame on them.

It is amazing how quickly I can forget my own missteps, and excuse them as whoopsies, whereas if someone else does something dumb toward me, I immediately suspect a dire plot to overthrow my spiritual life and ruin my day. And guess what? I am right!! There is a plot … but I am mis-identifying the source. It isn’t you! It’s the other guy. Nobody can make anybody else be snarky, that’s a choice – but the enemy of our souls is a master of setting all of us up for a fall. As well as pointing out other people’s failures and stupidity.

Then we start to think of the other person as our enemy and begin collating evidence to prove this is so – so that we can stay where we are and remain unchanged. IF WE ARE NOT CHANGING WE ARE NOT LIVING A SPIRITUALLY CHALLENGING LIFE. Here’s a red hot tip – people hate to change! Which is kind of sad because transformation involves change.

First things first, chuck out any evidence-against-others-files that you might holding onto! That stuff will shoot anyone in the foot faster than Wild Bill Hickok can draw his rifle. It is one of satan’s ploys … and it can only be defeated by reminding ourselves the temptation to SIN IS COMMON TO MAN. (1 Corinthians 10:13) I am a part of mankind so that remark applies to me as well as you. 

At times like this it is way too easy to think …‘That’s because they are not in tune with the Lord like I am … they have a wrong attitude.’ 😱 Hello pride – time for you to leave now! When I start to hear myself think like that …that’s when I realise I am circling the drain. My focus has come off the Lord and onto me and my feelings and whatever dumb thing you did accidentally, or even on purpose. I need to throw my car into reverse …pronto. I find humbling myself does that pretty quickly.

Now I have to start praying right away, instead of checking out my hurt feelings, and then I remind myself that I don’t forgive others because they deserve it, I forgive them because He forgave me first and I definitely don’t deserve that. I need to remember that this life is not perfect – instead it is about perfecting me … and to tell the truth … some days I just plain don’t like that idea!  So some things ARE my fault, not yours.

Here’s another little fox under the X-ray! What comes out of my mouth. Look, I know people have gone on and on about that, and to be perfectly honest with you I hated what they said because I am an external processor. I don’t often know what I think until it comes out of my mouth. It took me 50 years to pay attention, but I nowadays I agree that what comes out of our mouths does matter. To start with we can easily end up agreeing with those destructive thoughts about someone else’s behaviour. 

…That’s like getting ready to pour concrete. First you dig a hole, then you put in formwork, then you pour in the concrete and wait for it to set. Concrete is a permanent thing. I want to suggest that we don’t need to permanently think badly about other people. It makes it too hard to change your mind. Suddenly the other person has to prove themselves to us, to get back our good opinion of them.  In my observation, satan is delighted to get all of us saying the dumbest stuff to each other and about each other – he hates harmony. Let’s not help him!

Here’s what I have learnt … if I speak kindly and thoughtfully about someone else it encourages the Holy Spirit to hang around with me because He likes it. That’s a HUGE plus. The Holy Spirit knows good stuff about that other person that I haven’t even noticed and He’s really happy to share. I don’t have to make things up, with His help, I will get new eyes. I have personally proven in my life – this can be a learned skill.

We need to identify and deal with the peace thieves that invade our lives and our homes …a good place to start is to blame the enemy, not the person, and deal with satan, first. 👋🏻

P 2385 Read this at your own peril.

/ DVH

This is apparently what you need to do when a patient seems to be unconscious – you shake and shout!  This world needs YOU. Your family needs you, your neighbour needs you, the people at your work need you. This world needs His Love walking all over it to meet with them. THEY ARE LOST.

Now to my point. There is a god we’ve sort of kind of … made up. This god supports both good and bad – it’s a god in our own image. That’s because we hope that some bad isn’t really that bad! 😳 This god, the one we made up, is kind of a bit ambivalent about sin, and that’s because He understands we are only human and we can’t help it. 😱 After all we know He loves us the bible says so, over and over again.

However, we seem to have created, in some of our popular theology, a kind of heavenly, extremely tolerant Daddy Who is everything our earthly Dad wasn’t … A consequence of a fatherless generation perhaps? But we’ve totally forgotten about the very REAL God of Heaven and Earth Who is featured page after page in His book. He clearly told us the way forward, but sadly, today, we don’t seem to have time for things like that! So what we do have, will have to do. If you grab us round the neck and demand to know who Jesus is – we’ll probably tell you … but … we kind of … hope …you won’t. 😶

Let’s be clear, Jesus Christ did not tolerate sin. Instead He forgave it …and He paid an incredible price to redeem us from it … and that is definitely not the same thing. Jesus didn’t throw the law away – He completed it for our sake. God Himself put that law in place. We can’t just jump over it because it is tough – we need to be transformed from the inside out. Because of Christ’s sacrifice our mission has changed. Sub-mission is a term that means that other missions come secondary to the primary mission. 

Christianity is not about getting stuff right – it is about acknowledging we are wrong, and living HIS Way instead of our way. It isn’t about rules. It’s about WHO WE SERVE and how we serve Him. And tragically, today, for most people, it means that they ‘serve the man,’ they work hard so they can enjoy doing what they like on the weekends. And God comes in around about third.

Jesus actively taught the people around Him to obey what His Heavenly Father said. To be honest with you, I think Christ made what God said, much harder. Check some of it out for yourself. Matthew 5: 21-22 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” 

Now if that doesn’t rattle us nothing will! (Yeah, I’m tempted to skip those verses too, especially if I just yelled at somebody and I’m not sorry – yet.)  God IS good, but He ain’t gunna put up with our stuff just because we think we can’t change, or it’s too hard, or maybe even … I’m too old to change now! Especially when Christ died and was resurrected to give us, for free, the POWER to change. Transformation is the only way, and the people around us who drive us all nuts are His treasures sent to reveal who we really are, in the light of His Word. Hold onto your socks … God calls THAT love. Are you still breathing?

In my opinion we need to spend a great deal more time thanking Jesus over and over again for fulfilling those laws on our behalf. He deliberately came to save us from ourselves. However, we also need to ask Him to keep on saving us! Salvation is not just a one stop shop – it is an ongoing transformation process – with deliberate, conscious, engaged yielding, and increasing passionate devotion. Almighty God deserves nothing less.

Christ saved us from ourselves, to bring us to Himself – not to create an elite people who can have and DO whatever they want in this life but to live for HIM now. My time is not my own now – He bought and paid for it. We need to desperately seek after the kind of Godly love Jesus displayed. It was selfless, and it motivated every single one of His choices and redeeming actions. He paid so much attention to His Father’s wishes –  He simply lived to represent them. I think we got lost along the way because we really don’t understand that kInd of selfless love. 

Yes, God loves us so much He sent His Son to die for us … but the value we have to our Heavenly Father, is shown by the price He paid. Our Heavenly Father reveals HIMSELF when He shows us what He was willing to pay. It has never been about US, it is all about Him! His actions show us His incredible passion and loving kindness.  Let’s just step back and look at it. Only a passionate Father Who has a bigger plan – would have done what He did.

We need to give Him nothing less than the same kind of devotion back. The Lord’s absolutes are not some sort of request to be ignored at will or convenience. Repentance is a normal way of life … it is not an optional extra that we can ignore, because we feel embarrassed and we can’t express ourselves! We can’t live His Way WITHOUT the Holy Spirit – we need Him to help us! Transformation comes by submitting to the process.

This life is temporary.  Great men and women have gone before us, giving all for His sake. People whose names are recorded in His book, but nobody wrote about them, or featured them on TV. They just lived their little lives for His sake, and many died dreadful deaths, also for His sake – simply because He was worth so much to them. I don’t want a god after my own image, I want the only wise God our Heavenly Father – whatever the cost. He provided all of us with a Saviour, because His loving heart is that big. Let’s live for Him.👋🏻

P 2371 Transformation.

/ DVH

Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes.” Romans 12:2 TPT

Jesus Christ did not just provide our redemption on that cross – His death provided us with TOTAL lifestyle TRANSFORMATION. Now we have the POWER and ability to grab opportunities to figuratively and literally change our minds. To change our thinking, change our reactions, change and transform the way we were taught by family, life and the people we’ve associated with – into something life giving and redemptive. 

You and I don’t have to be the same old cranky easily provoked grump we always were. Now, we have the power and the Person inside us Who will help us to get that soft word that turns away anger! (Proverbs.) We can be transformed by believing what it says in the book – and acting on it, using our faith. If you wait to feel like it, you will never feel like it – trust me!  The power to change is in the Holy Spirit’s Presence in our lives. We have to put away the idea that this life is about the Holy Spirit AND …EG: the Holy Spirit and what I want. We can’t have both options. Dead people don’t have options or opinions.

I have learnt that if I find myself resistant to transformation, that is an indication of how rebellious I have allowed myself to become. I love this illustration of how inner transformation works: “There is a legend of a grandfather or elder using a metaphor of two wolves fighting within him to explain personal inner conflicts to his grandson. When the young person asks which wolf will win, the grandfather answers “whichever one you feed.” Whichever one you feed!? So, what are we feeding our thought life on?

People freak out and say that you should or shouldn’t watch this or that, or you shouldn’t go here or there if you are a ‘good’ Christian. But the truth is obedience is about Who you are actively following. The real question is this – what will help me to obey the Lord and what will lead me away or distract me from thinking about Him?! Christians love Jesus but they do not necessarily foster that love as the most important thing in their life. The everyday humdrum things-that-need-to-be-done stuff swamps them, and they forget about Him and start living this life like everyone else.

The secret to total transformation is in the book:“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23&24.  We are not working for a man anymore – we are working for Jesus in our school, home or job. That other person is HIM to you and I. That’s how deeply the Lord Jesus identified with mankind. So if you are yelling at someone else – you are yelling at HIM! “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’ There is no accidental or incidental happenings in His kingdom! Everyone we bump into is sent.

It doesn’t matter if you are doing the washing-up or teaching your kid how to tie their shoe laces. That other person is Jesus standing there. We have so much power in our choices. Unfortunately, in this generation, our wills have become weak because we give in to them all the time! Instead we need to stand on the Word and refuse to go the wrong way. Ask for His help to resist the temptation to act like you rule the world, and yield to the ONE WHO ACTUALLY RULES THE WORLD. This world will not explode if you acknowledge that you do not know how to do everything – remember His strength is made perfect in weak people!

We have His book. The bible tells us His thoughts about behaviour and life. We do not have to remain ignorant. We now have the power to overcome the things we have probably deliberately cultivated along the way in our lives. Before we met Him we did stuff to protect ourselves and make us feel good about who we are. Ask yourself, do I see myself as a victim or a servant? The answer will diagnose your position before the Lord. 

We have mistakenly tied Christ’s Presence in our lives, entirely to our behaviour, not to what He has already done. His Grace propels us into obedience, it empowers us to make right choices. Our behaviour actually changes because we want to live and remain in His Presence, rather than roll along day after day, doing what we want. We are His servants. We’ve been left here to serve Him and serve Him by serving others. And transformation comes from obedience to His word as He leads us – – and BTW if you read it then you are responsible for your response.. 👋🏻

P 2354 CULTIVATION matters …

/ DVH

We need to pray, then ACT as well, that’s the cultivation. And that is the hard bit. The power to overcome comes after using your faith. However we often do it like this: “Dear Lord please help me with my quick temper,” Amen. Sadly, we’ve learnt to walk away, literally not looking back, because, after all, we’ve asked Him for His help;  and it says in the bible to ‘ask and keep on asking’ — so if He hasn’t answered that prayer then maybe we need to just keep on asking! Tell yourself over and over again – He is looking for us to ACT in faith. In this instance by shutting up and dealing with our own emotions and asking for His help! God is looking for ongoing, involved, relationship. 

Of course we also understand that the Word says we are to be slow to anger – and every time we read stuff like that in the bible we probably feel bad, but if we pray another quick prayer then that should sort of cover our end of it! After all, we know for sure that we are praying His will and now it is up to Him. And if He doesn’t fix it then maybe He understands that we just can’t help it!

Yeah. HOWZAT working for ya? It does not work for me at all. All I know is that many of us use our inability to humanly change stuff, as an excuse to dismiss anything we don’t like or we can’t face about ourselves. We avoid the issue. BUT!! NOW WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. And He’s here to help us do wa-ay more than participate in miracles, speak in tongues, and multiply fish and bread! HE’S HERE TO PREPARE THE BRIDE!! Working in co-operation with Him is the best way to facilitate our total transformation – not just feeling good after being prayed for when we fell on the floor!  

Lying to ourselves, or pretending stuff is not a problem for US with regard to our faults – (we all have them) – cements those things further into our lives. Meanwhile, bad luck about anyone else who happens to live with that stuff and US doing it!!  Plus we will totally miss out on working with the Lord personally, in ways we can see for ourselves. We can see what He can and will do in our hearts when we stop pretending we don’t have any faults! There is nothing like suddenly finding you have strength in an area where you know had none – as in … bupkis, nyet, nil, denayda! 

I find this kind of stuff that I can’t personally change, even with super hero effort – often … like ten times a day … and that’s on a good day! That’s when I remember that I am up for cultivation. In the story about the vinedresser and the vine (John 15:1-5) we get some clues about how God cultivates us. He prunes some things and gets rid of others completely. (Matthew 7:19-23); (Luke 13:6–9). 

John shows us in his parable about the vine that the Lord prunes for more growth, and eventually for fruit production. We can all totally rejoice about that – because this world needs more GOD-fruit. We must remember that our God is always so careful and mindful of our potential – so He will not remove stuff that has within it the potential to bear fruit. This means if a branch etc. disappears — then we didn’t need it. Bear in mind the fruit that eventually comes from the pruned bits is the Holy Spirit’s fruit and His fruit lasts.

Fun fact to remember, if something gets chopped off then it was going nowhere. There is no point in mourning it, we are better off rejoicing because these scriptures show us that He has a purpose in all things and we need to trust in His purposes! Conversely, if something quite weak and wobbly still remains, then He intends for the sap of His Spirit to strengthen us, because ‘His strength is made perfect in our weakness.’  So we now have an opportunity to experience His provision and power personally, for ourselves. But first we need to recognise what is actually happening – and let HIM help us.

Finally, fruit production needs fertilisation, water, sunshine and clearing away any weeds that spring up around the tree. Obviously we are fed and watered daily by His living Word. Simply reading the book without applying what it says into our lives does not water or fertilise our fruit tree. We also need to take the time to bask in the sunshine of Who He is, and what He has done for us – not because we want or need something, but because we need to be near Him – just like our ‘tree’ needs sunshine. 

The weeds around our tree are our responsibility and they can come from a lot of places. Weeding is part of cultivation, and ignoring weeds means our little tree will be malnourished. We can get some weeds by authenticating behaviour Jesus would not authenticate. And if someone is unhappy with you about this or that fault, remember – whatever that thing is – it is holding up fruit production. Time to ‘confess our faults’ and aim for humility – I tell myself ‘everybody else has to do this stuff so why not me?’  Plus it is totally worth it to walk around with Him.  👋🏻