Truth

P3446 Let’s talk about Psalm 23.

/ DVH

“Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need! He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honours Him the most. Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way. You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as Your guest; blessings overflow! Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with You forever in Your home.”

This Psalm was written by David, who was a shepherd – so he knew what he was talking about! I sometimes wonder how a plumber or a taxi driver would write it? Moo-ving on … I enjoy watching a Scottish shepherd and his dogs at work on Youtube. The thing that hits me every single time I watch it, is that those dogs never take their eyes off their Master, and he never takes his eyes off the sheep, or the dogs.

David knew all about sheep, that was his job. His part in his large family was pretty minor compared to his big deal brothers who were allowed to join the army and help their Dad run the family property. The blessing of doing unnoticed things well, is a huge asset. It helps form character in us, when we are prepared to leave acknowledgement from others, behind us. It teaches me regularly how needy I am regarding praise!

David did what he did well. He knew how to care for his sheep, protecting them from harm, and when they needed a rest, he took them to a green, well-watered safe place. Jesus makes sure we are rested and ready for hard parts of our journey. Some tasks may look very small and insignificant but they teach us to rest. The Lord knows what comes next, and He will provide us with a safe place, right near Him. Jesus Himself taught us about faithfulness – it matters! “He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much.” Luke 16:10.

Psalm 23 tells us we can learn about fear, whether real or imagined, WHILE we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death! Our Heavenly Father often ‘trains our hands for war and our fingers to fight,’ in difficult, dark places, where we want to curl up into a ball and hope we die. Why would He do that? Theory in the Body of Christ doesn’t benefit anyone … but using our faith changes our view of things. The bigger the resistance, the stronger the muscles. Faith is a spiritual muscle – it needs to be resilient, because bad things happen unexpectedly.

We can theorise all we want, but the truth is – when the stuff is going down, and all hell breaks loose, that is THE very best time to practice what we believe. When we feel paralysed by our circumstances, then we can choose to lean on Him. HE becomes our  hope – not our changed circumstances. Our God is training warriors, not Tinkerbell! Later on, David himself became a mighty warrior, but when he was a youth caring for sheep, he had already learnt to fight with God on his side. That’s why he ran at Goliath.

The Holy Spirit, daily walks with us, guiding us, teaching us … He does not leave us. Instead He says: ‘put your foot here, put your hand there … stand on this scripture … do that other thing now.’ Our Shepherd doesn’t only lead us, the goodness of God in Jesus and His Word, glows right in front of us, lighting up the way ahead of us. Today’s Word, from the bible is our light for this day. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105.

The Lord releases His word to show us HIS pathway through our trials. When this happens, He is not punishing us, nor has He forgotten us. He took our punishment, once and for all. We can’t ever be forgotten because He carved us on the palms of His hands! This Psalm also tells us that the Lord prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.

So let’s look at 1 Corinthians 11:24,25 it says: “… and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”” This is the Lord’s table! His broken body and His blood willingly poured out for our sake, made a way for us to survive everything that comes at us. In Jesus’ mind what we need is already done, and we have been given His mind. 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf made a way for us to be certain that no matter how things look – God will not fail us. And then the Holy Spirit assures us that God’s goodness and mercy runs after us. He follows up our times of difficulties, to the point where we are so blessed we run out of words to thank Him! We won’t always feel it, instead we choose to believe what Jesus said, and live our lives depending on it. We are His people, and He knows when we need to lie down. Plus He knows the way through anything that comes against us to make us afraid and He will lead us through it.

Psalm 23 is an example of the Lord’s purposes in our lives, it is not just for funerals. It teaches us that He leads, guides, and travels with us every step of the way, every single day. He feeds us with Himself, and blesses us. His all-consuming desire is to walk with us, forever. Bye 👋.

P 3438 Yoo-hoo! I’m home!

/ DVH

“Guard and keep [with the greatest care] the precious and excellently adapted [Truth] which has been entrusted [to you], by the [help of the] Holy Spirit Who makes His home in us.” 2 Timothy:1:14.

This our aim, making a home for the Holy Spirit inside us. Anyone of us can smile and look pleased outwardly, when inside we are unhappy. We all know what polite looks like! However, the Holy Spirit doesn’t do polite. When you read the Old Testament He is often quite blunt, even though He is always very kind. We can have a funny opinion of what we think He should say, or do, it’s almost like we’ve made Him into SomeOne He isn’t.

He likes humility more than appearances. It is a fantastic thing to be able to quote the word, and I have known people who could quote whole chapters. Plus a couple of really clever people I’ve known could quote a whole book – word for word! That was mind-blowing and impressive. But one quiet word from the Holy Spirit can transform my heart.

Personally, I always have to rely upon the Lord bringing what I need into my mind! He loves to help us through the problems of this life. He won’t always make them go away, Instead, He leads us through. Today, let’s remember we want our hearts to be HIS HOME  whatever that might look like. 

Maybe you have a room at your house, that you keep for visitors or long term guests? If it is like our spare room it rapidly fills up with stuff that doesn’t fit in other rooms! But when we have a visitor or a guest, we clean everything out, and get rid of the dust-bunnies, and make the room welcoming for that prospective guest. This is what we need to learn to do for the Holy Spirit. Make room for Him. We do that by focussing on Jesus and what He has already done for us. Our bit is to step into our faith and follow the Leader.

Making room for the Lord can seem to be costly — spiritually, mentally and emotionally. It hurts when we suddenly see the need to give up something that seemed OK – until the Holy Spirit put His finger on it! Learning to love Him and treasure what He does, makes that transformation easier. There are times when decisions must be made about what we say and what we don’t. I sometimes hear Him say: “Don’t say that, you will be misunderstood.”

This too, is part of clearing out our hearts to make room for Him. I think I have a big under construction sign over my heart permanently!  Life is full of surprises, not all of them are good ones. The people you love and value go away — pain and grief are things the Holy Spirit understands. He can be grieved so He knows what grief is like and Jesus is well acquainted with pain and suffering. They know the Way through the hard bits.

The fact is, we can quite easily turn to other people and rely on their faith, and not cultivate our own. The Person we need to learn to lean on is Jesus. He won’t go anywhere. Talking to other people may help in stressful times, but only the Lord knows what is happening in your heart.

Trusting Him grows our faith. Our God is so gracious to us, but accepting that He knows what is best for us, can cause us to get out of sorts. It’s that out of sorts feeling that can shift our focus off Him and onto what we think we need right now. In my experience that means my brain is working overtime and rebellion and frustration are knocking on my door. And then my faith is pushed into the back seat and my brain whizzes around and around, trying to solve things that are too hard for me.

We need His help to identify the times when we are acting out of fear instead of faith. The bible tells us that Jesus Himself is the Author and Finisher of our faith — He is utterly committed to helping our faith grow!  When the distance between the Holy Spirit and us becomes obvious, it can take a while for us to work out what is at the bottom of that pile of stuff we’ve become used to walking around! … Instead of straining to clean up the mess, I just turn my heart back to Him and then I follow His prompts.

He points out what is motivating me, blocking me from seeing Him clearly, and I follow His quiet advice. The Holy Spirit is our live-in helper, counsellor, teacher, guide, coach, advocate, our Father’s truth Speaker, and Witness to what is good right and profitable. That’s why we need to make room for Him. This isn’t about prayer or bible study, or other great things, we simply need His Presence in our lives.

He is the One Who will guard all the truths we long to keep in our hearts as He takes His stylus and writes each one on our hearts. Here’s one of my weird questions for you — when was the prodigal son rescued? When he realised his foolishness, or when he repented in front of his father? Selah!  

Hanging around with the Holy Spirit transforms us, day by day. Once we start to clear out those piles of irrelevant stuff we’ve kept, for one reason or another — we can see more clearly how to make room for Him. You know, once I decided to make my heart His home, things that had been hanging around for years, just disappeared. I simply did what He said and He did all the work. Then I heard His familiar cry: “You-hoo! I am home.” Bye. 👋.

P 3437 He wrote it down. 

/ DVH

As I mentioned yesterday, I believe God calls us, and then we respond. Even when it seems like it is the other way around, we will eventually discover that the Lord has been working behind the scenes in our lives and we have not noticed Him working. The bible tells us His Word not only feeds us, it washes us clean, but we have to let it do what it has been sent to do.

I think the way to get to know our heavenly Father, His Son and Holy Spirit is to watch the way They work in other people’s lives, to see Their compassion and kindness toward ordinary people. It is not enough to read the bible stories, we must let those stories read us, and that means we will probably be convicted along the way. Here are someone’s thoughts as they talked to Him and read His book.

“I wrote it down  I stretched out the heavens, I numbered the sand I gave you the breath that you hold in your hand.  The world cries for answers, but you look away.  Yet My Word has spoken of this very day.  

I wrote it down.  Every line, every page for the humble and the wise, for the young and the aged.  The truth is alive. It will help you to stand. I left you My Word. It’s all in your hands. The nations are trembling, the earth shakes in pain. But still you chase idols and call on My name.  I warned you of kingdoms that rise and then fall. I gave you the prophets to speak. Through it all, 

I wrote it down.  Every line, every page. For the humble and the wise, for the young and the aged. The truth is alive. It will help you to stand. I left you My Word. It’s all in your hands.  You say I don’t see it. You say I can’t know. But My Spirit will teach you if you let it show. Heaven and earth will both pass away, but My Word remains unshaken today. 

I wrote it down, for the darkness, the fight, so you’d walk in the day, not stumble at night. The truth is before you. Don’t let it be banned. I left you My Word. It’s all in your hands… … I gave you the scriptures don’t say I was silent. (The artists are “In God’s World.” It’s a collective. This song is on YouTube if you wish to listen to it..)

This is one of my favourite songs to listen to at the moment. I love the haunting beauty of the words, melody and music, and the fact that what it says is relevant today. Especially the exhortation that the bible is not just any old book that can be read and forgotten. Almighty God wrote His love down on every single page, through ordinary people who didn’t live fancy-schmancy fabulous lives. They simply worshipped and followed our spectacular God. The thing is, I can hear the intense cry of the Lord’s heart in this song.

Our Shepherd wants to lead us… however, it is easy to think that everything He does is going to be spectacular. That does not resemble the Person we see in the Gospels! He didn’t chase opportunities, like we would. He simply moved about with His disciples and helped the people who asked Him, taught the ones that were interested, and healed everyone who came to Him. The bible clearly says in Isaiah  53:2: “He (Jesus) grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” 

This means that the Lord Jesus’ beauty came from within! The Holy Spirit was beautiful IN Him and through Him, expressing the love and life of our Heavenly Father. (PS we can choose to look like that, when we daily choose to follow Him.) Jesus looked just like any other Middle Eastern man, so if you weren’t searching for God Himself, you’d pass Him on the street! This obsession with outward beauty is a reflection of the age we are living in, where we think things have to be gorgeous and stunning, to be significant. 

There is nothing more gut-wrenchingly, devastatingly beautiful than that cross! This one event is so beautiful it reaches through time and space to touch us here and now.

Father God tells us that He did not leave us alone. He is with us … every time we read His book … we have the Holy Spirit with us – and His book! The key ingredient is to believe He is talking to YOU when you read. God is far more incredibly wise and creative than we can understand, He can take the pages of an old book and make it food for anyone.

People can get so extraordinarily tied up within the thoughts  that this word means this, and that word means that – which is useful and helpful —- but it is not what the bible’s for! The bible is spiritual MANNA. You EAT it. You treat it like a steak or a piece of broccoli … you simply cut off a chunk and chew on it.

And because digestion begins in the mouth, then you talk about it, question it, research it … that’s what chewing looks like! You ask the CHEF, the Holy Spirit, to explain to you why He chose to make the broccoli into a cream sauce on the top of the steak. Then you wait and listen. Let’s remember to ask QUESTIONS and press in for ANSWERS. “How do I do that?” is a great question. 

Our Father’s reply to us is always about His love for us. Even correction is LOVE. If you truly want to know your Heavenly Father, and His Son, read the book. The Holy Spirit waits for us to open His Word. It is amazing. This book appears to be a pure bright white light – but inside it, there is a rainbow – a depth and diversity of colour, transformation and thoughts. Bye. 👋

P 3413 Let’s not paint on windows of our mind.

/ DVH

Fear, and sin love to paint their tormenting little scenarios in our minds. I like to be positive on this blog, but the bible clearly says we need to ‘know our adversary.’  And one of his best tricks is to make me think that my adversary is … ME, MYSELF AND I!! I am sure you know what I mean – we often forget what the Lord has already done to set us free.

When something bad happens, we can instantly find reasons to blame ourselves. But what really happens is the other guy stands by whispering into our minds, reminding us of our mistakes and faults. Our poor motivation starts with a thought. Then he tempts us with something we think is good that distracts us from the real battle. God doesn’t tempt us. James 1:13: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God” [for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws]; for God cannot be tempted by [what is] evil, and He Himself tempts no one.” Find the ‘fatal flaw’ and deal with it.

The enemy uses doubt like a spray can of paint while he is trying to twist or cover up the truth. Plus he tries to disrupt our thoughts with temptations, threats or intimidation. It happened to Jesus and it will happen to us, we are not exempt. But, because we chose Jesus we have a way to escape, thank you Lord! Knowing the Word of God is our way to fight! Let’s be alert and aware of the devil’s schemes, and remember how easily we can be outwitted. 2 Corinthians 2:11. “…in order that satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

Our enemy will always challenge God’s word. (Genesis 3.) he has no tender-heartedness, or pity in him, so he delights in preying on our ignorance or innocence. And another way he sucks us into his vortex of lies, is to challenge our identity in Christ. (Luke 4:1-13; Mark 1:34.) He tells us those promises in God’s Word are for someone much nicer and more spiritual than we are. Many saints suffer from his whispers that their salvation is not firm.

Our salvation, our turning to Jesus to save us, may not look like Brother-I-got-baptised-in-the-river-Jordan’s grand event. Instead, we simply went up the front and didn’t feel a thing … but we knew we had to make that choice and we did. Our enemy picks at the parts of our faith that are weakened by our own sin, doubt, and sometimes other people’s rejection of us etc. Daily, he prods at us to focus on those things. 

Let’s focus on Jesus, what He did FOR us, and what He is doing IN us, right now. He is our true north! My prayers may not be answered and sometimes yours aren’t either … but that’s not the point. The point is what is your focus today? If we are not clinging to Jesus like a limpet on a rock, we could be making ourselves a target. The devil creates emotional tornadoes everywhere, and we can be easily overwhelmed by those thoughts that hit us upside the head … unless we choose to make the main thing the main thing. JESUS IS ALWAYS THE MAIN THING. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. We cannot afford to face our adversary unprotected – we have armour! Let’s stand still ready to battle the accuser when he flings lies at us. We do things the way Jesus tells us to do them. He’s the One Who beat satan.

Under extreme circumstances, which we all face, it is good to SING! — “Be filled with the Spirit singing to yourselves, with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melodies in your heart to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:18,19. Preferably not out loud in a public place, because people will look at you funny and perhaps send for the men in those white coats. I sing in my head, and I recommend that. I find my best fighting scriptures there too. It can be distracting if you happen to be talking to someone else, but it works – stay in listening-to-Jesus-mode, don’t switch off.

The bible tells us to “put on the whole armour of God,” because we need it. Ephesians 6:10-18. The first thing we do after making sure we have our armour on —is to make a stand. Plant your feet. You are a tree planted by God Himself by the riverside, don’t be moved. We have been saved by Grace, now we belong to Jesus. Ask for scriptures to fight the circumstances and feelings … we can’t afford to let ourselves entertain any kind of lie. Don’t worry if the person in front of you is piling up lies like some people pile up the trash – don’t you lie. Your truth is God’s truth, and that’s the bat we use to bash away the lies that come at us. We don’t care about what Sister-I-always-know-the-Answer says. What is Jesus saying, right here, right now – in His book?

Let’s press the refresh button, and remind ourselves that God loves me! Then quickly get rid of any sin that might trip us up, so we can stay in love with everyone around us. Peace is our portion. We live within His peace, and we spread that heart peace around us everywhere we go. As we acknowledge Jesus’ Lordship in our lives, we will get better and better at raising up the shield of faith.

Lastly, let the Holy Spirit frame your prayers. Yield to His will His way, daily. And please don’t let satan paint lies on the windows of your mind. They will block out the marvellous things the Lord has given us to see and do.  Bye.🔥.

P 3411 Our hearts are so important…

/ DVH

… they show us what’s inside us. Our lives today seem to be all about experiences, good and bad ones. We are raising an instant gratification kind of generation. The result is many people have become cautious about using their faith — yet we are told very clearly that we cannot please God without using it. The glory of Jesus Christ is that He has already walked this earth with the same kinds of stubborn, decadent and hard hearted people that are alive right now.

The Lord deliberately walked through His life, with Love, Grace and Truth all over Him, and the men who walked with Him, wrote it all down. At any given moment you and I can read about what Almighty God wants from His kids, because now we have a physical illustration, of God’s will for mankind, Christ Himself. As well as a signed document — the bible. 

This book is a serious eternal document.The Lord Jesus signed the New Covenant in His own blood! “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28. The proof of what Jesus did is not only written down. It is signed. When we come to Jesus to save us, we sign our part of that document with our faith, that’s why we are baptised. We are choosing to give Him our lives so that we can live for Him.

“For this reason He (Jesus) is the Mediator and Negotiator of a new covenant [that is, an entirely new agreement uniting God and man], so that those who have been called [by God] may receive [the fulfilment of] the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has taken place [as the payment] which redeems them from the sins committed under the obsolete first covenant.” Hebrews 9:15-18. Like I said, this new covenant is a serious thing not lightly entered into.

Our faith when it is in action looks like this: I do what the bible says, based upon the fact that I believe the bible is God Himself speaking to me. This means I choose to add my life (substance), to those words … those things that were only words before I acted on them. I started my new life by being baptised, (an action), and I continue to live in it by obeying His Word. I can’t trust my feelings, they will tell me it’s too hard and I can’t do this or that. So I need to use my faith to obey. He has promised to help me. I give time from my life to do whatever He asks me to do, and when I do that I am putting His new life in me, into whatever I am doing. 

My actions prove my faith is real whether I get to see the results I want or not. When I choose to live using my faith, I am investing my own here-and-now life into what I’ve read, and Almighty God promises I will see results. If not here, then I will in heaven. What I do daily, shows the world that what Jesus asks me to do, is worthy of everyone’s attention, because my faith in Who said it, has motivated me into acting on it. There can be no faith without accompanying actions. We don’t pick and choose what we will obey — the Holy Spirit chooses those things for us. 

Many people feel around trying to find faith, when their faith  actually becomes evident by the way we respond to God and each other. Faith is not a feeling, it is a way to live. Just like being a business person or a doctor is a way to live. Jesus Christ lived by using His faith, and then His disciples chose to live and die for it, and so have many others.

Like you, I’ve set my heart on being obedient with the Holy Spirit helping me. That’s what faith looks like, it is always on standby, ready to do whatever He tells me to do. I am prepared to look like a goose and to have other people question everything I say or do. I know that every time I obey, I will get another glimpse into the One I have chosen to follow. Jesus walked this way when He walked the earth. “This is because I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders [concerning] what to say and what to tell.” John 12:49.

People often say to me that they do not hear God’s voice. Today, I don’t want to go into impressions etc. or thoughts that stand out in our mind. My point today is that we have a BOOK FULL of things God told us to do. I tell people to begin with the Beatitudes, but the gospels have loads of instructions. Find something you don’t do and do that! Ask the Lord to help you and then just go and do it. Let God Himself tackle how the other person responds. Obedience to His word releases heaven. We are literally becoming a part of “… on earth, as it is in heaven.” 

Many hurt people don’t want to forgive, because it seems like they are giving someone else a licence to do whatever they did in the first place, all over again! That bit is not ours, we are forgetting God inhabits GRACE. Proverbs 4:23 tells us that He’s interested in our hearts not our feelings. “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” Our part is to guard our hearts. Faith is not just about results, it is far more about a freely given life of sacrificial obedience to Jesus. 

When we pray and want to be like Jesus, we will end up walking the same roads He walked. We will have to forgive people who are not sorry. Sometimes it seems like they will never ever acknowledge what they’ve done, and most of the time they think they are right and you are wrong! But that bit is out of our control. This life is about the state of our own heart. The Lord cares about that, because our responses show what is inside us. Just keep presenting your “paid in full” cheque, signed by Jesus Himself.  The Lord paid for them. He paid for you. Guard your heart and walk on. Bye. 👋

P3404 What dominates you?

/ DVH

“May my only boast be found in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him I have been crucified to this natural realm; and the natural realm is dead to me and no longer dominates my life.” Galatians 6:14 TPT. 

Scriptures like this one come up, and if we are being real with each other, our response can easily be: “I don’t know, I sort of hope so.” But this whole thought sounds lovely doesn’t it? Especially the thought that this world no longer has that kind of hold over us. First of all, I want to encourage anyone reading this to resist the temptation to feel guilty if your answer happens to be: “I don’t live that way.” Guilt, shame, blame, etc. will cloud, and eventually overwhelm, our sense of God’s love, peace and acceptance toward us.

Yes, maybe you lost your temper last week and shouted at someone. Or perhaps lately you have been plagued by fear, but that won’t change the reality that SomeOne already paid, in real time, for whatever we’ve done. The point isn’t that we did whatever it was, the point is what are we going to do about it NOW? Are we going to allow ourselves to go round and round about something that no longer exists, or are we going to go to Love Himself – repent, and start thanking and praising Him for dying in our place. Jesus is praying for us, right now. He is not up there with a pen and paper and list of dumb things we have done. You asked Him to wash you with His blood and He already did!

It says this in Romans 8:31-34. “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one—for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honour at God’s right hand, pleading for us.” Hallelujah!

Instead of walloping yourself over the head with a handy umbrella, why not ask yourself why do I think I can’t live the same way Paul did? Nine times out of ten we feel bad because we are judging ourselves, and we are not happy about the answer. But in this statement Paul is pointing out that God is already for us. So let’s concentrate on the fact that Jesus voluntarily already reached that mark for us. How we feel about scriptures like these two, have absolutely no bearing on their reality and truth. The work is already done. Our thoughts and feelings must never rob us of His overriding truth. 

It’s like praying for more faith. There’s nothing wrong with that — but it helps if we are using the faith we already have, to praise and thank Him for what we’ve already been given.  We need to hone our focus, so we choose to  switch our thoughts off who we are … and intensely focus on Who He is and what He did. Is He trustworthy? Does He love us? Does He speak truth? I love that last one… Jesus is Truth. Game over… we win! This life is just a shadow, it’s a pale imitation of the reality ahead of us, those thoughts should dominate us.

Jesus leads us, He never shoves, bullies or coerces us. He doesn’t have to, He’s the real deal. His peace inside our hearts is our reassurance. God’s grace is bottomless. Here is something wonderful to chew on today, His mercy is brand new every single morning. Imagine that! There is no such thing as left-over, partly used up, mercy — God’s mercy is brand new and fresh every single day. Focus on that.. Don’t wait to be better, or do better, or be in a better place – do it now. Start thanking Him for it, and then give away the very things you have been given to everyone around you. Instead of keeping score, let things go. This is how we remain aware of what we’ve been given, we choose to live in utter gratitude and unrestricted generosity. 

The natural realm is temporary. People in war torn countries can tell us all about temporary things. One minute they have what they need, the next everything they had carefully collected and treasured is gone — including the people who dearly matter to them. Praise God…Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever! I love that it says yesterday, first. Let’s get rid of yesterday’s junk that can trip us up — and live in His light, His love, His truth, today. We need to leave the past behind us when we choose to forgive, repair, repent and then move on toward tomorrow.

Jump in the river of His love for you. Even when everything inside you screams at you to defend yourself and explain, or tell the other person your side of the story. The power to overcome those things that easily grind us down, is in the river of His loving forgiveness and acceptance. We need to leave our sins under the blood and jump on in. We cannot afford to let the devil and his lying ways dominate us. We will get discouraged if we do. Instead we submit to our Lord Jesus, because He loved us first. Let’s flow in love instead of being dominated by fear. Bye. 👋. 

P 3388 Just include Jesus in everything.

/ DVH

I want to start today’s blog with something that the Lord has said: “WE CAN demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. WE CAPTURE, like prisoners of war, EVERY THOUGHT and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 TPT. Now we know what God says, let’s move on into real life and how that works for us. We want to remove any seeds of opposition and doubt that will stop the tree of His life from growing in our lives.

Here’s an imaginary scenario — the roads are busy, and your kids are squabbling in the backseat of the car on the way home from school. On that same day, the electricity bill turned up and you know you can’t pay it, because all your financial reserves have been exhausted by other important things. Maybe you are a single mother, and your ex has suddenly decided to disappear without paying the alimony you and your kids need. Someone cuts you off in traffic and nearly causes an accident.

These sorts of situations are where temptation grabs us. I think we fall prey to this stuff, because we think that temptation is about deliberately doing something really terrible – like robbing a bank, murdering someone or sleeping around etc. —but it seems to me that this life tests us far more regarding ordinary, everyday things. All those places where anger and frustration seem to be just the normal response. However, if we deliberately choose to trust what we know about God Himself over, and above all our circumstances, then we will learn to manage our thoughts with His help.

Jesus wants to be IN every part of every single thing that affects our lives. But if we only ask Him to help us for the big things – the little things will have a collective negative result. It’s those little foxes, that spoil the vine and wreak havoc with the fruit! It seems normal to think what has happened to you, like this: “It’s not fair.” That’s the place to put the stop sign! Taking thoughts captive is about dealing with ourselves asap, because after we have succumbed to temptation it is harder to walk ourselves back. Physical responses become engaged once our thoughts are racing.

Not every thought that enters our head is ours. That random thought that flits through my mind is not necessarily ME talking to myself. Did you know that the enemy can even use our own ‘thinking voice’ to trick us into assuming that we came up with some hair-brained scheme or other? he loves to target us when we are under pressure. Here’s what happened as a result of that fiasco in the Garden of Eden. Mankind actually gave satan access to influence and put thoughts onto the screen of our minds, simply because WE LISTENED TO him. 

Now he and his minions take advantage of any hard situation that crops up. Maybe we have a random icky thought, and then we feel bad. Right then satan turns around and bashes us with self-condemnation. “You are supposed to be spiritual,” he hisses at us. he gave us that thought and now he is going to use it to beat us up. The bible tells us what to do with stray icky thoughts. We prayerfully take them captive, because we want our knowledge of Jesus to be more important, and prevalent in our minds, than those other thoughts are.

What to do? Let’s start with the lie. Start by hitting that sucker with the truth. Take note of your thoughts and bang them on the head with scripture. Even if it is muddled it is still His word! It’s about you using your faith, not just accuracy. It’s not a magic formula, it’s Jesus, He loves you and He reads your heart. “There is no condemnation for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS.” Romans 8:1. We are In Christ Jesus because of what the Lord Jesus did for us. These tempting situations are far more about our faith working for us, than they are about getting stuff right, through our own efforts.

There are times we can be tempted to try harder because we are very busy. The phone keeps going, the boss wants something done, like yesterday. The kids are whining and nagging at you, so you pick yourself up off the floor and make yourself do that thing that you don’t want to do. You are tired, so it is easier to just get on with it.

Your rationale goes like this: ”I prayed at the beginning of the day that the Lord would be with me and help me, and I took care of business with Him. So now all day, I will just do the next thing.” That’s not the optimum way to approach this subject. Jesus wants to be with us to help us with every-little-thing that happens in our day. He wants us to win the battle against unproductive works, because those things rarely give God glory. Right about now you could be thinking: “Okay, but I’m a very busy person, I don’t have time to stop and pray, and these things keep flying at me.”  Yup! That’s what the other guy is hoping for —- he wants you to go back to trying harder, because it seems easier. Here is my suggestion just quietly, say “HELP!”

The Holy Spirit is here to help us. Once you’ve asked for His help, then tackle what needs to be tackled with His help, from His point of view.  Following Jesus means we include Him in everything. The good, the bad, and the ‘OH! my goodness what have I done now?’  Walk with Jesus, He will work with you and help you. Bye 👋.

P3385 Don’t let fear knock you out of the ring.

/ DVH

“So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6. That’s one of those rhetorical questions nobody likes. That’s probably because most of us could give quite a list of stuff man can do to us. But I wonder if we know, just as thoroughly, how much God has done for us, right here, right now? Time for revision. 

This verse tells us, He didn’t just save us, He also enables us. “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8. Notice the predominant word “all.” Now let’s look at 1 John 4:18 it says: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.” 

Begin by revising how much God’s perfect love has given you, personally. Yes, He saved you, and yes, He has helped you – thank you Lord! But there’s more … read the bible. Go through your journals. A journal can help you revise what He has already done for you spiritually, physically, and mentally. After all that revision – go and find someone who needs His love and love on them. The action of loving others uses faith, which releases more faith. Faith fights fear, so use yours. Go and spread the love He has already given you around. Start SINGING!! “Sing for joy to God our strength …“

Moving on to Psalm 55:22 MSG bible: “Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders, He’ll carry your load, He’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. But you, God, will throw the others into a muddy bog, Cut the lifespan of assassins and traitors in half.” And we think video games are blood thirsty! The point is, God’s always with us even though we may not feel it. The bible says it, we believe it, and that settles it.

Actually, it is far more accurate to say: We’re with Him!  Don’t look at the size of the things coming against you, look at the  power of our God to get you through. Read and reread the book! Sometimes we are viewing this life through the wrong lenses. Let’s not borrow someone else’s glasses, let’s ask the Lord for HIS. His eyes see the things we don’t. (Ephesians 1:18)

2 Timothy 1:7 “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” What a way to identify the Holy Spirit!! Anything short of this verse means we are messing about in the wrong spirit. Never forget we are all in a battle, we live in enemy territory, and we don’t belong here.

Now let’s recap what our truth is: God is with us, and He will help us. We do not need to be afraid of someone else’s face. When I was little, and I did something my parent didn’t like, I would see ‘the unhappy face!’ However, our Father’s face always says: “I love you so much, and I am here for you. Let’s do this thing together.” He’s not just sending you out – He’s going with you!  The same God Who helped Abraham and the Lord Jesus is going with us.

We were not designed to carry burdens in this new life Jesus gave us. Part of that new life is freedom. Freedom means I can refuse to accept the weight of whatever is going on. I still get to fix whatever He tells me to do, but I am obedient, under His instructions, and the weight of what the Lord says I need to do, will not drown me.  I can stand still and see God Himself work on my behalf – I just have to learn to leave my clock behind. Our God doesn’t do timetables, and He does not fit in with ours. Instead, He does PERFECT TIMING. There’s a difference. 

If Father God did not give me a spirit of fear then what the heck am I doing with it? Why am I entertaining these thoughts? Jesus was teaching His disciples God’s Ways, in Luke 11:10, 11.“If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask Him?” 

Jesus is using these illustrations to demonstrate the fact that God is wa-a-y more loving than we are. Because our Father is like that, we can, and should, always expect loving help from Him, not trickery. Good outcomes. Trickery comes from the other guy. We will have to fight our feelings; they can come at you roaring, or even in insidious whispers, telling you God has left you and He doesn’t care.  Fear is a shadow on the wall of the reality of Christ IN us.

Let’s fight for what matters – it’s OUR peace, and Jesus paid dearly for us to have it. It’s called ‘renewing your mind.’ We have the Word of God to remind ourselves our side already won! We may live in a war zone – but Jesus already won this war. Don’t let the enemy knock you out of the ring. Bye 👋.                                                                             ”Dear Lord, I thank you that I can come to You always for any reason. I’m grateful that when I pray to You, You answer me. Help me to come to You at the beginning of my fears and anxieties instead of waiting until I can’t stand them anymore. The quicker I come to You the better. You want to free me from ALL my fears. Help me look to You for help all the time so that I can be radiant with Your joy. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

P 3384 Not done yet.  

/ DVH

Apparently, I am not done with yesterday’s theme. Here are some verses to chew on, and Jesus Himself is speaking – actually, He’s praying, for us!  “I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:14-20.

Did you notice that our Saviour did not pray for us to be taken out of the world, but rather that we would be protected from the evil one while we are in it. A lot of lovely Christians kind of clump together, forming a sub-group in society. I’m not sure that’s a faith step – actually I think it’s more like opting out! It means we hardly ever interact with the people-who-don’t-know-the-Lord-yet. Jesus loves us so much, He prayed this prayer for His family, (us!), long before we ever arrived here. That prayer is still out there, protecting us. Instead of clumping, maybe we could listen to Him and learn to use our faith daily.

When we were born again, we entered a new kingdom – HIS!  We left behind all the temptations and irritations of this world around us and started out on a journey to learn how to live in His kingdom. This is why we are IN this world but not OF this world. We no longer need what the world has to offer, it has no appeal to us, because we have something far better! That’s why we don’t have to hide together all the time – what the world has we don’t want! We quit hiding when the Holy Spirit came! We live here, but we don’t belong here. Our ‘true home’ is with the Lord, wherever He is and whatever He is doing. 

Just like Ruth with Naomi – wherever Jesus IS, that’s now our home. When our Lord came here, He lived the way He did sacrificially, for our sanctification, but He did not live like a monk. He had no fear regarding this world and what it could do to Him – He believed that the “… steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…” This world could not even kill Him, He prayed about it with our Father and then He went out and laid His life down. The Lord is with you while you are reading this, and He’s with me while I’m typing it!

The Spirit of God is with us, to be IN us. He gives us the power, minute by minute, to live this life, from day to day, differently. We can’t, and should not do a thing without Him. The Holy Spirit speaks faith, fluently. Now we are learning from Him how to speak faith too. We learn His kind of faith from being obedient. Heavenly languages are things like faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Why? There is no law against those things in heaven or on earth. Father God speaks them, that’s why we can hear Him – if we can’t hear Him, then we aren’t speaking His languages. Let’s go out and BE what we say we believe.

Our new life is not just about going to heaven when we die, our lives now are about bringing heaven down here, to one person at a time, challenging their perspectives. Just the same way His Presence in our lives is changing ours! Despite our often outward appearances – Christianity is not a secret society – nor is it a bunch of do-gooders who love to ruin other people’s fun. 

I’m just going to leave that remark there, laying around staring at all of us. 👀 … We are a people on a mission. It’s not just the pastor who participates, it’s all of US. So, let’s make a plan to obey what the Lord has already told us to do in His book. We need to follow our Leader and do what He would do. In the bible I cannot find once where Jesus shot, stabbed, maimed, punched or blew up someone else in the Name of God. I don’t care what David did to His enemies, I’m following Jesus. He forgave His.

In the following scripture we have a fabulous example of someone who had no idea where he was going, and no clue how to find what he went to find. It seemed an impossible task — but He obeyed His master (Abraham) and went! “And said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, Who has not left my master bereft and destitute of His loving-kindness and steadfastness. As for me, going on the way [of obedience and faith] the Lord led me to the house of my master’s kinsmen.” Genesis 24:27. 

The God of Abraham is still guiding people to this day. He didn’t quit talking to us after He sent His only Son to spell stuff out — instead, He turned up the volume, exponentially. He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us, a book full of instructions, plus the things Jesus taught. Take a risk: find someone to help. Give to someone in need. Tell someone Jesus loves them. Do something different. because we aren’t done yet. Bye 🙏.

P3381 The Needy ones!   

/ DVH

“Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on: The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side. “Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!” Matthew 11:4-6. In the Good News version the last verse reads like this: ‘How happy are those who have no doubts about Me!”

I found this verse yesterday, when I was reading in Matthew. Jesus is reassuring John, who is nearly at the end of his ministry, that GOD HIMSELF IS NOW IN THE HOUSE!! Wow! You gotta love the sweetness of that. John can now go on into glory because his job is done. SomeOne else has come to totally fulfil and complete the foundation of repentance and transformation John laid. This man John had lived a solitary, straightened life and at the end of it, he pointed out and spoke about Jesus. Our Saviour has appeared, and He is preaching healing, deliverance, freedom and salvation for all. Even the most miserable among us. 

Jesus shows great compassion when He talks about the healing and restoration work that has already begun. Then He adds this wonderful sentence: “The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.”  That means so much to me. I love that the sick are healed, that is fantastic. Me too, please! But I’ve felt wretched, cast away, talked about behind my back, passed over, despised and ignored … even by members of my own family. It took me years to realise that I didn’t have to live with shame anymore. This verse reminds me that God is on the side of those people that the rest of the world would like to pretend don’t exist. 

I imagine that there are a lot of people reading this that have experienced incredibly difficult things, and for many of you it has been far worse than I can bear thinking about. But right now, let’s stop to look at John, who had been so brave, so heroic, so dedicated to God’s purpose that it affected the way he lived his life. Now, at the end of his time, he needed reassurance. It illustrates this man’s humanity, and God’s Grace toward him.

It is an interesting fact that no matter how spiritual someone looks, life can savagely kick them, and they don’t always deserve what they get. Some people have been severely persecuted for speaking truth, just like John! Some have called out sin where and when they saw it. What a blessing this little conversation is for all of us! Our Loving Heavenly Father overlooks no-one, even at the end of our earthly lives.

Meanwhile, for your information: wretched means … deeply afflicted, dejected, or distressed in body or mind: extremely or deplorably bad or distressing; in exile, a despised person. That sounds a bit like John’s life. Today, that’s what I briefly want to talk about. There are precious people all around us that this world wants to throw away. Plus the ones who have fallen so far down a hole they can no longer look up and see the light — they are too bowed down, and full of rejection and despair. Jesus dearly loves them, and God is on their side.

We are blessed to live on this side of Calvary and know that our sins were all thrashed into and onto Jesus’ body, soul and spirit, as He died a despised sinner’s death for us. He was our totally pure and innocent Saviour, Who practiced love wherever He went. Jesus didn’t deserve that punishment that was meted out on Him. But let’s never forget that Calvary was also a heavenly transaction. Everything Jesus did had an effect upon this world, and the next.

He didn’t just come to die for our sins … … thank God that He did that! He came to show us, in Person, what God’s Kingdom is supposed to look like. What it looks like right now where He is. We are His people. The people who re-present Him. A representative generally refers to something, or someone that acts on behalf of others, or serves as a typical example of a larger group. We are His people and we know our Saviour – we are here to do great exploits for His sake. That means we will see miracles, but it can also mean loving those who don’t, won’t, or can’t love us back!

You and I have been appointed by Jesus to be His hands and feet, and we have the honour of bringing our Father’s incredible love to one person at a time, as He leads us. We carry that love with us to the desperate, the lonely, the forsaken, the wretched ones of this world. Personally, I think we could find these people in the most peculiar places! In palaces, governments, offices, digging ditches, in prison, begging for food and water, stealing from others … many are in our schools. The people who have no hope. Some are quite obviously wretched, others have their pain and suffering well-hidden by bright fake smiles. Many people hide because otherwise their shame, or even their heartache can be seen.

Yet, like John, they are not only loved by our God, they are to be commended for surviving things we can’t even bear to think about. This world thinks it is terrible to be called wretched — but today I realised it is a beautiful thing. God dearly loves the wretched, the sick, the sinners, the lost, the unlovely, the silently suffering ones, THE NEEDY ONES … and He is on everyone’s side. Man is that a great sentence! Bye. 👋