Voice

P 2408 Knowing Him is our greatest quest.

/ DVH

Our own private opinion of God’s goodness can make or break our faith. I think that we need to pay more attention to the word forever, in the bible. We can get so caught up in our now, that forever can be overlooked. Almighty God always holds forever in His heart. I said that to accent my next point… He doesn’t see things the way we do, which means whatever He does, He does it with forever in mind.

Our opinion of His goodness matters. When Moses asked to see His face, God answered that prayer by letting His goodness pass by. THE FACE OF GOD IS GOODNESS – no matter how things around us look. His goodness is His incredible passionate generosity toward us.

I love these statements Father God makes, look at what He is saying about Himself – take it in …”I know the plans I have for you plans to give you a hope and a future”…(Jeremiah 29:19) … “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” (Exodus 34:6-7a) “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good.”(Numbers 23:19)

Here is a great study to do— look up what Almighty God says about Himself — I highly recommend it. We must stop concentrating on the verses that promise this and that, and begin to understand … as best our peanut little brains can(! )… what the God we love and serve is like. What His priorities are! We will have a lot less disappointment and despair in our lives if we set our hearts to understand what He is doing long-term, rather than critique what He has done, from our POV. Let’s decide that He knows better than we do what we need. He doesn’t need our help to work it out! That’s called faith.

Naturally, Jesus Christ is the most wonderful example of God’s goodness in action in mankind’s lives. We must regularly watch Him in God’s book, interact with people just like US, and we will see His tenderness, compassion and concern. Christ has made it so much easier to understand the nature of God – plus His expectations toward, and for humanity. But we desperately need to stretch ourselves beyond the limitations of me and mine and start applying ourselves toward understanding His incredible forever qualities for us and this world around us.

I find that I need the Holy Spirit’s clear as glass view, the view the Lord God Himself has from heaven. To that end, I’ve learnt to apply myself, concentrate and carefully watch what Jesus says and does, in all circumstances and situations. His response is, and always was, God’s will first. You simply do not see Christ acting for His own benefit. He was always kingdom minded. His own needs were incidental. Jesus listened for the Holy Spirit’s input, His guidance and wisdom and then acted on it. He is our example.

I personally don’t want anymore airy-fairy stuff. The stuff we’ve focussed on for ages, like the grab at this promise and wave that ‘why not me’ banner. Our God is not within us to fulfil our childish fantasies – He offers so much more. Knowing Him well eclipses anything this world can offer. We need to begin by loving what He loves. People. There is nothing like loving difficult people to bring out the ‘God-factor’ instantly — or the lack of it! 

Every single person on this planet has a divine spark, and each one has something of the nature of God to reveal to us – if we look for it. Some people bury that spark under a load of religious or scientific or fantasy-type rubble – but the spark is there.  We’ve personally seen how gentle He is with the ‘bruised reeds’ of this world. There is no greater honour when He asks us to GO in His Name. Um …just FYI… His Name is on the line when He sends each of US! That shows me how much the Lord believes in His kids.  

Hubby and I have watched Him touch people out here on the road over and over again on this trip. People who don’t even think about Him, respond instantly… when they hear His deep loving voice calling to them. I pray for myself all the time out here: “Lord please let the people You want us to talk to, hear Your voice more than my voice.”

Our God’s incredible goodness has restored and retrieved each human being from darkness, danger and devastation. He is quite simply trustworthy and good. However, at this time in man’s history, He is far more than we are letting Him be. We must not reduce Almighty God down to Jehovah Jireh … when there are so many other facets to Who He is. We need to personally look beyond our pain, to Jesus our Elder Brother and our example – He started our faith and He will finish it! Knowing Almighty God is our greatest quest. 👋🏻

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 2322 Grace opens our hearts, as well as new doors.

/ DVH

John 1:17 “For the Law was given through Moses, but grace [the unearned, undeserved favour of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ.”  Unless the Holy SPIRIT is in charge of our actions and thoughts I believe we will accidentally  automatically revert to upholding the law and judging others. We won’t end up doing that on purpose, rather it may be a life-long default button.  

Our relationship with the Holy Spirit needs tending to and caring for … He needs our private and specific attention. Otherwise what we already know, or our previous experiences will take preference over what He wants. He’s so quiet and non-intrusive, we actually need to make room for Him. Here’s what I’ve learnt that helps me to make room for Him.

The Holy Spirit likes God’s LOVE to be in charge. Not the gooey stuff we all think of as love but the kind of love clearly defined in 1 Corinthians 13. So if I am selfish, or defensive or angry etc. I will not be able to hear His quiet voice in my heart. I am learning to do my best to fix things immediately with HIM so I can get His perspective – no matter how right I think I am!  😂 I’ve found that when I make His comfort, His wishes, my priority, it opens my inner spiritual ears. And it also helps keep me humble. 

Galatians 5:22-23 says this: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” If we cling to the fact that He is cultivating and protecting His fruit in our lives, then we are positioning ourselves to walk with Him. It is an inner attitude rather than a law. It means we want what He wants – first. Unfortunately when the above qualities are absent, that means He is not around – no matter how much scripture or intention to do right is present, without His breath on things we will simply end up in law again.

Psalms 40:8 TPT. “I delight to fulfil your will, my God, for your living words are written upon the pages of my heart.”The Holy Spirit is not flighty or huffy. But He can be grieved easily, by the hardness of our hearts toward our Heavenly Father, and others — but, at the same time, let us remember that He wants to be with us.

Human beings have limited ideas of what love looks like because we all have a natural predilection to put ourselves first, and then we look after the people we love, or the people who benefit us. But when the Holy Spirit is in charge … a different kind of love prevails – a love that seeks the best for everyone. 

The Lord’s kind of love is not afraid or reticent to prune the one it loves. In this permissive world, any idea of correction or cutting away stuff for benefit, is totally foreign. But the passionate love of God does not hesitate about wanting to do whatever it takes, and whatever will bring out the best in the one He loves. 

Actually, when you look at what He did to save us … it becomes totally clear He will do whatever is necessary to deliver us from any of the crutches we frantically employ to cope with, sin, pain and suffering in this life. His love is passionate and relentless …all at the same time… and we would be wise to remember that. There are times when we may not even know, notice, or understand when we’ve slipped out of Grace into law. However, as we let go of our desire to get things right, or even the desire to please Him, we will begin to understand that we are no longer living under this world’s system.  SOMEBODY ELSE DID THAT PERFECTLY FOR US. 

So if the Holy Spirit leaves us, then we are doing it wrong, and it is time to stop and reassess where our spiritual train jumped the tracks. His Presence in our lives is our guide. New doors will open when we follow Him and start living in, and by His Grace. 👋🏻 

P 2284 The undiscovered Person.

/ DVH

Our greatest quest in this new life of learning love is to know the Author of Love intimately. Sometimes, we can focus too much on what we can gain from Him and not enough on Who He is. He is the elusive, but always present, playful Father that some of us always wish we had had IRL. 

We can read the bible with a serious tone of mind or we can read it looking for the God Who has a twinkle in His eye and loves to walk and talk with the man and the woman He made, in the cool of the evening. I think that if we think God is no fun, we are seriously mistaken. 

Right now I’m thinking about Jesus and all the times that His pure theology bumped into the disciples’ squirrelled up theology. He sends them out two by two tells, them to take nothing with them – imagine doing that that with a missionary (!) – tells them to heal the sick and raise the dead, and on the strength of His word, they did it. And oh happy day, it worked!

They came back with a great report  only to fall in the hole of exclusivity, comparison and revenge shortly thereafter. I believe these events were fuelled by His power, because these men were obedient to what Jesus told them to do. And I think obedience carries a lot of weight with God. BUT …the time was coming when these men were to be filled with the very power and life of the precious Holy Spirit, the One Who raises us all from the dead. And they had a heart transplant … on the spot! Hard heart out – soft heart in!

That doesn’t mean they still didn’t make mistakes, they were still human, but the Holy Spirit’s presence became so vital, so important to these men that they knew that without Him they were nothing, but with Him, anything was possible. 

I love the playfulness of God, in His encounters with mankind. In Acts, Eutychus is so bored by Paul’s sermon … pause and think on that … that he fell out of the window, bored into sleep, stone dead, and Paul had to go downstairs to raise him up again! Hopefully, the brief trip to heaven changed him so he wasn’t bored anymore! There would be a whole lot of dead bored people in our churches if we applied that particular scripture today. 😂

What about Peter, who was so passionately outspoken, he was beaten and thrown in jail. And this mighty man of God, full of paste and flour, could not believe that the angel standing in front of him was setting him free! He thought he was dreaming. And back where everyone was fervently praying for his release, when he banged on the door – those guys were so filled with faith they thought he was a ghost!

These people who followed the Lord and His instructions all of the days of their lives were so changed by their walk with the Person of the Holy Spirit, that they didn’t only meet the Him, they chose every opportunity to know His ways. I believe the Holy Spirit is hidden from us for a reason. His insight, wisdom and love offer us a doorway into a different way to see this life.

When Paul met Him, He knocked him to the ground, blind. Suddenly this man’s outward condition mirrored his inward one. Paul was full of religious zeal and fervour. Ripe and ready to kill more Christians, when an encounter with the Ever-Living One bashed the wind out of his sails. Suddenly, this man who knew the law so brilliantly, is following a Voice. That happy encounter instantly showed him the difference between theory and REALITY. He saw everything he had been zealously following, in a totally different light. 

That’s my prayer for anyone who reads this blog, that God would blow away all our neatly constructed boxes and introduce us to His wider, ever-expanding, always delightful kingdom, and blow our puny minds, so that we are forever changed. I think my voice on this blog is one of so many all over the world. There are thousands of men, women and children that the Lord has working for Him. They push on the edges of our boxes, and He stands playfully right there – at the very edge of where that box used to be, and says, “Come and follow Me, I will make you fishers of men.”

Abram followed God’s leading to a Promised Land. That journey totally changed his life, his family, his name, and his future – I pray that the Holy Spirit will so impact every single person who reads here that they will also begin a journey to discover Who He is and what He has in store for each one of us. This undiscovered Person IS OUR PROMISED LAND! 🤗 Amen.

P 2274 How’s your hearing?

/ DVH

Have you ever had wax in your ears? Many people wage a war against ear wax. They are often forced to deny that they are going deaf.😂 The trouble with wax is it builds up slow-ly. However there are times at our house when I suggest that hubby should put his finger in his other ear so important information does not blow through. And this subject is kind of my point today. Making ‘allowances’ for any disobedience is like allowing wax to build up in our spiritual ears. It is far better to obey quickly – we can always ask Him to help us.

“Why do you call me Lord and you don’t do the things that I say.” Luke 6:46. I just love the way God hides important truths in plain sight. We can’t get anything plainer than Luke 6:46! In the parable of the sower, Jesus goes on to explain that some people don’t have spiritual ears yet. But when we give our lives to Christ we get a brand new heart, eyes to see the unseen, and a wonderful two-way radio thing going on with Holy Spirit. The Lord explains to the disciples that the reason He’s revealing the truth of the parable to them is because they now have spiritual ears. ”The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me.”John 10:27 AMP’

A lot of people feel they can’t hear Him, but I want to say here and now IF Jesus Christ is the boss of your life, whether you are good at that or not, you DO have spiritual ears. If you have a problem then it could be you need to read scriptures about having ‘ears to hear’ so you can renew your mind. I talk to myself a lot inside my head. If I say to you, 2+2=…?  the place inside your head that immediately comes up with four, is where you will hear His voice.

In that place where you talk to yourself, not out loud, is where the Lord speaks to you. And here are some things I have learnt over the years about that. The Holy Spirit often sounds like that inner voice. Unfortunately, so does the other guy.  And that is where most of us fall off the twig because every thought that comes into our dear little heads is not necessarily ours. So the Lord and I have this fabulous system. 

When I think what I’ve heard was from Him, I go and check in the bible and make sure what I heard is in there. I often ask Him to remind me of more than one scripture that backs up what I thought heard. Hearing the Lord is an always an ongoing developing skill. Sometimes what we hear is very appealing to us – but it’s really only our own ambition or wish-thinking. Whatever! 

Sometimes the fruit of our thoughts makes it obvious who is really talking to us. But there are times when we like a thought so much, we attribute it to Him and paint it on a banner and wave that in the face of anybody who dares disagree with us. That action should immediately show us that what we thought we heard was not God … duh.🙄

Personally I hear the Lord the most clearly through His book. I’m reading away carefully and something that strikes a chord in me and I go: “Hello, what was that…” Then I do what Moses did, I pause and turn aside so I can further examine, pray over and understand whatever that captured my attention.

The amazing thing about God’s word is it’s different every time you read it. I’ve been reading it for a whole lot of years now and I always find something new I didn’t see before. I check my circumstances. If I felt God was sending me to mainland China I would want a lot more than what I thought I heard to make me go! And there would be a lot of prayer over it, and I’d get people I dearly trust to pray for me and give me their insight too. 

Often, because I believe in submission, I also trust what my husband says – I do not fight for my own way. That word fight is a big clue for me about my attitude. I am exercising my faith when I trust what my husband hears, and my God LOVES faith … and submission. Here’s something for free: I do not understand how people can say they are submitted to God and they won’t submit to anybody else – I call that rebellion.

Disobedience for our own comfort’s sake has way too high a cost. It costs the Israelites 40 years in the Promised land, and some of them died. It didn’t occur to them to stop asking the Lord for an instant  answer, and start wondering if they were being disobedient. Ask the Lord ‘what haven’t I done that I was supposed to do’ – if you suddenly lose your connection with Him. Don’t be amazed if He says you haven’t forgiven … someone or other. Disobedience makes us deaf.  Better do it. Bye 👋🏻.

P 2137 Obedience is always the best option.

/ DVH

So today, I want to talk about obedience. Jesus taught us very carefully throughout the gospels how to line up with God’s will and live our lives His way. Obedience is not an optional extra – it is essential. WHY? Because all by ourselves, leaning on our own understanding, we will wander off and do something ridiculous, that’s why. Before we know it, then we are rendered deaf, dumb, and blind spiritually and our faith in God seems to drift further and further away. We become like sheep wandering along on the edge of a cliff … with no fence and no sense. Obedience to what the Lord says, and has already said, is the fence that keeps us away from the danger of falling off that cliff. How often did the Lord say to the Israelites? – “If you would only heed My voice.” ?(170 times FYI.)

Everything in the New Testament points to us obeying what He tells us to do, as well! Jesus taught over and over again, how to avoid the very deep pits the enemy digs for people and obedience is the key. To be honest, many people would rather worship for hours on end, than obey what the Lord has already asked them to do. (Like love our enemies?) satan means to destroy us, and obedience is the way to avoid drifting along mindlessly in our faith. We need to remember, that the other guy is a total snake – he starts in on us when we are too little to defend ourselves and tries to whittle away at our confidence that Jesus could ever love us. Eventually, when we reach maturity we think that the person we see in the mirror, with all those hopes and dreams is actually who we are. Mainly because we are used to the way we think. I exhort each one of us to learn to be flexible in all our opinions, even about who we are. There is a brand new YOU waiting for all of us! And it starts by renewing our minds, by listening and obeying.

The thing is, the way the Lord Jesus wants us to think is described in detail in the New Testament. That’s our guidance system. Not how we feel, or the odd thoughts that float about in our heads, or what other people say, or they have said, about us. God took murderers and made them part of His history with man – it seems to me that we have very little idea about the Way He thinks! We must also be aware of what we’ve been taught to think by those who were in authority over us. I am still constantly learning who HE says I am. However, there has never been a better time for us to change our minds, because each one of us has been bought with a price and sent here to fulfil His purposes. We are living in times of change and this is what the Lord is doing right now – He is changing our perception of who we are and WHO HE IS.

Now we have to learn to agree with Him. Otherwise we start thinking that maybe we are the exception to what He said and His instructions and blessings aren’t really for people like us – they are for more spiritual people, who do mighty things! When we think that our personal spiritual experiences aren’t lining up with what He said – we immediately diminish the power of God through us – and we allow our experiences to take charge instead. It is inherent in human beings to go by their own understanding and it is often greatly encouraged by others. We’ve been taught to do what feels right to us. Personally I hardly EVER feel like doing what He asks me to do – I get too scared!  It takes effort to change the status quo in our own lives, as well as the way we think. 

When I say it takes effort, I want to make sure that I am being clear about that – there are many times that denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following Him will go against everything that seems reasonable, comfortable, and popular. Humanly speaking, we all seem to like the easy road best. But our Saviour taught us about obedience through His own example, and He obeyed His Father to His death. Obedience positions us for what is happening now, and what lies ahead of us. When Jesus tells us to obey, it is for our own good not for His convenience.

Obedience takes humility. We have to admit to ourselves and others, that we can’t, or don’t even want to do whatever it is. Personally I think that that is a great starting place! The bible clearly says: “Blessed are the poor in Spirit …” When we acknowledge our spiritual poverty, we are positioning ourselves to be rich in His Grace, because “His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.” Instead of hiding or giving up, that’s the very place the Lord chooses for us to step out in faith. Sometimes we don’t even see the results of our actions and prayers, but obedience is about us drawing close to Him, voluntarily. It is about Him being more important than what we feel or think, or our fears and hurts. Obedience is about putting Him first.

Maybe you learnt human obedience the hard way – I did. In the past I let how I felt about discipline lead me around, because I had learned to obey out of fear. Any disobedience in those days was more about me needing to be accepted and made comfortable. Even when I became a Christian, I still had a deep need for people to accept me etc. We must press on, beyond blaming imperfect human beings as the source of our anguish, because at the bottom of these things is the enemy. It is never the Lord.But sadly many people are easily influenced by worldly things, as well.

In God’s wisdom, the confirmation of what He asks us to do for Him, often comes after our obedience. I can’t count how many times hubby and I have been driving away from something the Lord asked us to do, jumping up and down in our seats, because we could not believe what He did with the little bit of effort we gave Him. He multiplies EFFORT, as well as loaves and fishes!! This is my last thought, if we are willing to obey Him even before He speaks, we will attract His voice. Why would the Lord speak to someone who is going to ignore Him? We might want to think on that. 👋🏻