Wait

P 2953 Peace.

/ DVH

In some versions of the bible, Colossians 3 says: “let peace be your umpire…”  However, I like the translation in Colossians 3:15 Amplified bible: “Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].”

I’ve learnt a lot about peace in the past few years. I don’t honestly know why it has taken me so long to learn this truth, because it is one of those foundational factors that hold everything else in place! Maybe some things are harder to grasp than others, I guess. Today I want to share a bit about what I’ve learnt — bearing in mind that God’s word is multi-faceted and I only have one tiny view!

Peace can be a glorious feeling, but the idea of nice, juicy, happy and content feelings should not govern us – the Word of God does that. Sometimes, if I am upset, I read the Psalms until He speaks to me, and my busy mind and frantic feelings quiet down. That’s what listening to our Heavenly Umpire looks like. Getting this right is not the point … sinking into His peace is what is desired, so avoid pressure because doing that is the antithesis of what you want! Try not to second-guess yourself, instead give it to Jesus, and leave it with Him.

Peace is also not the absence of conflict. I think in our busy, sometimes frantic and frenetic lives we live today, true peace – His peace, has become scarce. We get glimpses of it, only to have it snatched away by some crises or other. Those things that regularly turn up, right outside of our ability to affect them. But in our day to day walk with Him, because of His purposes and plans for us, we need to know that we know, that certain basic facts that have been written down and are absolutely established. The minute I know I’ve lost my peace I know I can start restoring it by praying: “I want whatever You want Jesus, Your ways are much better than mine, I yield to Your better judgment, please help me I need Your peace.” Amen.

As we choose to love one another… in spite of the circumstances and obstacles that this life can put in our way — that will also help us to focus on the things that last forever. When we choose LOVE instead of our own justification, we pull focus into the things of God. Then we progressively lay aside all the worldly things we’ve used in the past to help us deal with the difficult times that come at us. Those external things that have previously helped us cope. And we deliberately remind ourselves of what He has already said. Our human resources need to be put down in order to lean on Him in faith, and grab hold of His peace. This new way to live is part of our God-given inheritance. 

As I said before, I like the idea that God’s peace is like an umpire, because an umpire is a pretty good illustration of how it works. We could say that sentence like this — God’s peace in our hearts, needs to be the deciding factor in how and when and why we move forward. So if we haven’t got His peace then we are not going anywhere until we have it!  Expedience is a poor motivator! We need to learn to wait for Him to show us any impediments to living in peace that we have picked up along the way. I ASK for it. It is covered by the “ask and keep on asking..” verse.

At the same time we can still have multiple problems to the right and left of us. Stop. Breathe. Tell yourself “God is bigger than this!” Even though disaster is thumping on the front door and chaos is trying to sneak in the back one. That noise is trying to distract you from your goal – glorifying Jesus with your obedience. We are standing on something that is far bigger than the intrusive things that demand our attention and try to thrust their way into our lives and hearts. 

We are standing on what Christ has already done and what He has promised us, in His Word. If we have no peace, then we should stop every bit of self effort, and ask the Lord to help us! Losing our peace means we have somehow lost track of the things in this life that are most important. So we stop, repent and wait. At the same time there is always a chance that we’ve actually given our peace away trying to figure things out with our own understanding. Whatever has happened a simple “help help, please Lord” will focus us again. He.Will.Help.Us. That’s in the book too!

Peace with God, has been given to us by what Jesus did. It’s ours! Just like salvation is ours – so is peace.  Let go and leave whatever it is with Him.  Walking with the Holy Spirit is part of our birthright, and it is not an insurmountable task. Jesus has already done all the work to make living with His peace ruling our hearts possible. We simply need to use our faith to believe what He said is truer than our day to day upsets, circumstances or feelings. Faith is the Way into Peace. 

Often, if we are busy we can end up settling for the absence of conflict … instead of seeking out His peace. I’ve found if I do that, then I need to repent and turn around and go back to what is “good, right and profitable”  and start  “letting my mind focus/dwell on Him.” This is how we become acquainted with HIS PEACE, because Jesus is the Prince of Peace!! So we live in an incredible kingdom! Then we begin to know what peace is, and what it isn’t! Plus you get to know what it looks like when you have it. Bye. 🕊️

P 2929 Maturity.

/ DVH

We live within a society that often judges maturity by age, plus the level of responsibility a person exercises. So we feel we are ‘grown up’ and mature when we hold down a job, and raise children – by providing clothing, shelter and food for them. But God sees maturity differently. Today I want to look at Moses, who saw incredible miracles – yet he was still human. However, Jesus attitude toward submission and obedience is our perfect example of how we need to live, NOW. Today. 

It seems as if Almighty God was unfair in His dealings with Moses, until we look more closely. This man missed out on the main reason he and the Israelites ended up on the road in the first place — he did not get to go INTO the Promised Land. He led more than a million Jews round and round for 40 years, saw huge miracles of provision and protection — all of this in a desert that the Israelites could have crossed in just a few days! It was not his leadership that was at fault, what brought about his faulty finale, was he stumbled over the immaturity of his followers.

We might have called Moses – who was 80 years old  when he started out  – mature. After all he was 120 years old when he died! But age is never the issue. It seems that this man of God still had unresolved anger issues toward the people he was leading, and that led to disobedience to the Lord’s specific instructions. His ignominious end didn’t come about because God didn’t dearly love this man, or care deeply about him. We know that because Almighty God arranged Moses’ burial. Personally I think he missed out because His character was not complete and leaders are meant to be examples of how the rest of us need to live.

The Lord’s greatest wish for each one of His children is that we become mature in Christ – not just that we are saved! Father God wants salvation for the whole world — but He desires MATURITY for Jesus’ disciples. The Lord Jesus’ maturity was complete in every way, in every detail. Read the book and count how many times Jesus’ said –“… it has to be so, for now.” Here is my point for today — maturity to God, is not the same as age.

Let’s read Ephesians 4:13 AMP: “[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.”

If we are not careful we can sometimes mistake wisdom for maturity. Wisdom is a gift – we can ask for it and go after it. The book of Proverbs exhorts us to ask for it, over and over again. Do it!! Wisdom, by the way, is a Person, not just intellectual prowess. Proverbs tells us that. But true maturity is about allowing God to work in and on US – our character, our responses, our lives – until what He wants for us is more appealing in our eyes, than what we think we want or need. 

Maturity flourishes in the joyful expectation of God’s goodness in the middle of utter chaos. A mature Christian knows their God, and deals with themselves accordingly. Maturity is the ability to accept God’s will, God’s way. Just to be clear – this Grace is not about resignation, or even careless indifference — instead it’s the joyful anticipation that God will do something wonderful with whatever is going on in my life, no matter how it currently looks. 

Jesus knew exactly what was in front of Him when He faced the cross, and He did not flinch or falter. In the Garden of Gethsemane He wrestled with His flesh to bring it into submission to His Father’s will. Maturity has nothing to do with feelings, it has to do with developing and allowing our faith to be stretched. That faith is in God’s ability to take a total disaster and make it into something so spectacular it blows your mind. 

Maturity has learnt to wait, always alert for the next instruction. It waits submissively, quieting its heart until the work is done: “But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content…”  Psalm 131:2. Please note “I” do this! I am the boss of my soul. So I make a choice to obey God, and trust Him, above and beyond my immediate circumstances.

Almighty God will not do this for me. I can pray and yell and carry on, and even blame Him – when the truth is, I still have the same ugly attitude I’ve had for years …It is my responsibility to tell my soul ‘this is what we are doing.’ The Holy Spirit will always help me – but I must personally make those hard choices and follow them through to the end. And the end comes when the job is done, not when I think I have had enough. It’s about submission. People want to rule and reign in this life – but Jesus Himself the One we follow, took on the role of a servant.

We waste a lot of time asking the Lord to give us stuff that can only be gained by eating, breathing, and growing the fruit of the Spirit. In this case, for Moses, it was self-control, faithfulness to obey, patience with a disobedient people and the peace that comes from a deliberate attention to detail. “To whom much is given, much will be required.”(Luke 12:48). Fruit grows over time, that means that these things will not just fall on us! Because fruit comes from within the tree.

And maturity develops within us as we trust Him more than our own understanding, practise devoted obedience to His will, His Way, and acknowledge Him in everything we do. Bye for now, 👋.

P 2928 Sometimes the Lord plays peek-a-boo!

/ DVH

Isaiah 8:16-22 “Gather up the testimony, preserve the teaching for my followers. While I wait for God as long as He remains in hiding, while I wait and hope for Him. I stand my ground and hope, I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel, Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Who makes His home in Mount Zion.

When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers. Consult the spiritualists. Why not tap into the spirit-world, get in touch with the dead?” Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.” People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end! Frustrated and famished, they try one thing after another. When nothing works out they get angry, cursing first this god and then that one, Looking this way and that, up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing, A blank wall, an empty hole. They end up in the dark with nothing.”

Isaiah is making a profound point in this scripture. It is so easy to want an instant solution to prayer! But the Lord has His own timing. See Ecclesiastes 3! And we’d better get used to this, cos that’s just the way it is. He is God and we are not. Trying to be in charge got the Israelites into a whole heap of trouble  – maybe that’s why Isaiah wrote these six verses. BTW, in one version it says the spiritualists etc. chirp and mutter. Somehow I find that thought hilarious.

But my real point today is that the Lord appears to be hidden sometimes, and it seems to occur at a time when we need Him the most. The bible tells us a few ways that we may have contributed to this situation. Again, many thanks to Isaiah, who seemed to have no problem with the fact that any mistakes that may have occurred came from his side of the relationship! Isaiah 59:2 explains that our sins can get in the way. So it is good to not let them pile up around us like leaves on the lawn!  

Job mentions this phenomenon too. In chapter 13 verse 24: “Why do You hide Your face and consider me Your enemy?” Hands up anyone who has had that thought!  This man was described by God Himself, as a righteous man, but his initial understanding of the Lord appears to be founded upon fear and superstition, not love.

Moving on from that scripture to Psalm 88 – this Psalm expresses the depth of despair that any human being feels when they cannot find God in the midst of their terrible suffering. It is also a prime example of how feelings can escalate into anguish and then we often let go of what is good, right and profitable and focus on all the things that have interrupted our idea of a happy life.

All I want to say about that is, I’ve bin there and dun that. My feet got stuck in the sticky, unyielding toffee-like morass of expecting God to explain Himself to me! Not.Happening.Jan! In Matthew 11:25-26 the Lord Jesus says this:“At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what You were pleased to do.” 

Father God sometimes hides things from people who think they are eminently qualified because they already know everything there is to know. Instead He reveals things to those who are prepared to embrace humility. These people are open to learn. However, having a child-like heart is not the same as being childish and pouting when we don’t get our own way. Father God cares about our attitudes – the moment we think we have arrived spiritually, we better get ready to throw a pillow out in front of us, because we are getting ready to fall on our head! 

It seems to me that now is a good time to remember that Almighty God turned His face away from His only-begotten Precious Son, Jesus. That’s how much and how perfectly Jesus identified with us in our humanity. He suffered all that dreadful pain for us, so we don’t have to. In our current daily lives, this kind of rejection is an emissary from the pit, and it needs to be rebuked. The best defence against satan’s lies is the truth in the bible. 

Hebrews 13:5&6 says: “…for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!” So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently say,“The Lord is my Helper [in time of need], I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”

We can often allow human beings to loom larger in our lives than God Himself – because our theology is faulty.

I have learnt that I only doubt the power in this verse when I look to my feelings to validate whatever is happening instead of His Word. However, I freely admit that this response is hard when the world falls on top of you!

There is another kind of hiding, I want to mention today, that the Lord does, and it is for you and I to protect us.  in Psalm 91 there is a marvellous explanation of how to enter into God’s protection and rest. We choose to make Him our very own hiding place! In that place we are hidden from the difficulties and torments of this life – waiting, watching to see what He will do next. Always remembering and relying upon the fact that He has deliberately chosen to love us. 

Lastly, I hope the above ‘keys’ help to identify what is really going on so we can make and have an appropriate response. Sometimes the Lord simply says ‘peek-a-boo,’ and He is being playful. Our wonderful Father has an amazing sense of humour, and fun, which we can easily overlook. But you will have to learn that for yourself, if you haven’t already found it. Bye. 👋

P 2888 Obedience matters.

/ DVH

Ecclesiastes 8:2-6: “Do what your King commands; you gave a sacred oath of obedience. Don’t worryingly second-guess your orders or try to back out when the task is unpleasant. You’re serving His pleasure, not yours. The King has the last word. Who dares say to Him, “What are you doing?” Carrying out orders won’t hurt you a bit; the wise person obeys promptly and accurately.”

Obviously the ‘king’ referred to in this passage is Solomon, but I have taken the liberty today of extending its jurisdiction — I think it is also about obeying Jesus – our King. Especially as obeying Solomon kind of died-out when he did! I’ve found Ecclesiastes can be a bit of a down-a-later. Boy did King Solomon sound depressed a lot! 

I had to keep returning to the fact that I know that God Himself gave this man wisdom. That meant I had to go and find my trusty spiritual shovel and keep on digging! I won’t pretend it was easy either, I almost needed a blasting cap to get rid of some of those huge humanity-driven rocks that my mind kept putting in the way of what this entire book says. That King took a dim view of life!

The bible is like food. Some verses seem to be more like gravy and mashed potatoes and I think that there are definitely some verses we all ‘like’ more than others! As I thought about it I was not cheered up much by the thought that gravy and mashed potatoes are merely one step away from baby food! So … I went back to the steak and kept on chewing. The more I went over this particular verse, the more I realised that this is the very essence of what we need as Christ’s disciples. OBEDIENCE.

Jesus sent out twelve guys in Matthew 10:1 –“Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” So what happened in Matthew 10:1? The disciples began to use HIS authority. That’s a bit like me writing a letter to the bank telling them that you can operate on my account. You are accessing my account because I authorised you, but you can’t do that by yourself, the bank will call a policeman!

These disciples were deputised by the Lord to be like Him in matters of healing and deliverance, wherever they went. So they obeyed Him, and they saw results that caused them to exclaim and marvel at what they had seen!  But they were still subject to the spirit of stupidity, as well as disobedience. Their characters remained unchanged – remember … Judas was in that group! Jesus corrected their misplaced enthusiasm by reminding them that the greatest thing that had ever happened to them was that their names were now written in the Book of Life. Like I’ve said a kajillion times — God doesn’t think like we do!

However, when Jesus was leaving them for the final time to go back to His Father, He breathed on them: And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.”John 20:22. Perhaps they received perseverance and the courage to wait, at that moment. The Lord told them clearly to: “WAIT for the power.”  Then Jesus left them all alone in an astonishing manner. They went back to the upper room and hid themselves away again. But they obeyed Him, as they waited … prayerfully.

They were waiting to receive the same power the Lord Jesus Himself walked in, although they did not know it. They felt like orphans, but Jesus had clearly told them He was sending SomeOne Else, SomeOne Who would always be with them.  This time it was not just the power to wait, etc., now the Holy Spirit came amongst them and He became the new LEADER. He has never left. Every day He gives US the power to live laid-down lives for Jesus’ sake.  

Those disciples became instant over-comers when the Holy Spirit exploded upon them in that locked upper room. They went in afraid, and came out bold. And it was their obedience to Jesus’ instructions that facilitated what happened. Obedience is not just about participating in a single event – our deliberate choices to obey leads us step by step into facilitating change. We change direction. We line ourselves up with His will and His will positions us for MORE… Always.

At the same time some of us have not yet gotten out of the ‘starting gate’ so to speak, because we feel afraid and so we excuse ourselves from participating in the greatest adventure mankind has ever known – uncovering the Will of God for ME! You and I have been reborn to follow JESUS. He has a plan for our lives and there is no point in asking me to tell you what you should be doing – because I don’t know!!

We walk in our God-given destiny by following the Lord, one step at a time. And every single one of those steps will include being tested to see if we have purposed to obey Him, no matter what happens. What is He telling you? Maybe He wants you to stop picking a fight with somebody or other so you can hear what He wants to say to you! Sin and unbelief cloud our hearing. Obedience matters. Our own faith can be weak, but obedience strengthens our ability to live our lives HIS WAY.

The character of Christ is not an optional extra, given to those who are dedicated to His purposes. We’ve been dedicated to His purposes the minute we were saved. We die, so He might live in us and through us. Step by step, as we learn to obey the Holy Spirit, we will develop the skills we will need to walk in whatever comes next! Bye 👋

P 2859 The ‘back’ story.

/ DVH

Hubby and I have been delivering bibles, and personal words from the Lord, to strangers-who-don’t-know-Him-yet for 20 years, and we’ve travelled nearly a quarter of a million kilometres. We’ve given away thousands of bibles, and a whole lot of personal stuff, together with our own testimonies  about the Love of God for all His kids. We learnt – often in the trenches –  that God is so faithful and He can and will use anyone!

I am sharing this info today so other people know how to start, so they can go and do whatever it is that God has called them to do! It is unfortunately a bit too easy to serve quietly in our churches, but never reach out into our communities. Yet Jesus Himself told us all to “Go!”  Even after the Holy Spirit came on everyone in the upper room, the first thing that happened was Peter preached a brilliant sermon about how and why to get saved!

So hubby and I started praying about doing something/anything for His kingdom. But at the time, it seemed impossible, because hubby had been badly injured at work, he had a ruptured disc at L4-5, plus he was in excruciating pain. Eventually he had surgery and they discovered that one vertebra was rubbing on the other – the vertebral disc itself had collapsed. In the middle of that awful time, we were asked by a dear friend, if we would like to come away with him for a little rest/holiday. Our friend wanted to take us to Uluru and we said: “Yes please!” Hubby couldn’t even sit down on the plane, so he walked the whole way to there, up and down the aisles  for nearly four hours. They had to get a special lift to get him down off the plane, because he could not walk down the stairs.

My point being that neither of us were fit and healthy and up to doing much of anything! The Lord called us to do what we are doing now, just before we were due to come home from that holiday. We’d accidentally locked the keys to our little rental car inside it, and we were at a look-out in the middle of nowhere! Suddenly four big burly men, who looked like rugby players, helped us get the keys out. As we drove away, the Holy Spirit said this to my husband: ”These are your people, I want you to go and tell them I love them.” 

Our pastor was incredibly supportive, and we trust him implicitly. So we submitted what we had heard and asked him for his input. We still do that every single time we go away, because we both believe in the importance of  submission. I don’t think we would have gone anywhere without his personal prayer for us and his oversight. After all of us praying, the pastor came back to us and … … he asked us to wait six months before we went out!  Of course we didn’t want to wait – we were all jazzed up with enthusiasm!! But during that time we learnt that there is wisdom when you wait, because you can’t actually keep running on enthusiasm, it runs out! 

The Pastor and the Body of Christ have supported us in a thousand ways ever since. People we didn’t even know believed in what God was doing, prayed for our safety, and sent us money. We have never had to ask for monetary help, by His Grace, it simply comes. God constantly surprises us.  Along the way, we’ve made many, many mistakes, but I want to say here and now, that He looks after His kids, even the dumb ones, and He has transformed our inadequacies into His opportunities, over and over again. Father God has used our mistakes to give us even more opportunities to talk to people about Him! 

We are seed sowers. Can I just say? … Any fool can sow a seed! We are not evangelists. Many times people have prophesied over us about thousands coming to know Jesus – well who knows? Only God!  We’ve seen two, so far … but we refuse to let numbers be our guide. Our job is to love on people, help those we can, and testify to the power of His Grace in our lives. Through all these travels we’ve been put into positions where faith was the only way out … our faith has grown because of that. If you want to experience God’s love in your life – give it away! If you want Him to touch you – do what He says.

At this moment we are planning yet another trip, and the Lord has already changed our original plan – living by faith means you see His hand in everything that happens. We often tell each other, even if there is only one who wants to listen, let’s keep going out to find that one person that He loves. Numbers are just scribbles on a page – watching Him touch other people’s lives is our goal. Jesus told a number of stories about the importance of the ONE!

Lastly I will leave you with these thoughts — our God can use anything. He can take a whale and make it transport;  a burning bush and make it a place to meet;  300 men to defeat without number; 11 people from all walks of life and make happy-to-die-for-Him disciples out of them;  not to mention a kid’s lunch to feed multitudes! And that stuff has not stopped just because time has passed. We are proof that He will use ordinary people, whether battered and bruised or not, to reach out to others who need to learn about Him and His everlasting love. Our “back story” has changed both of our lives.  🙌

God loves His Son and He adores it when we glorify Jesus.“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10,11.

P 2858 No strength. No problem!

/ DVH

2 Corinthians 12:8-10: “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

My first thought is that we all need to read these verses at least a couple of times to absorb what Paul is saying. Then I want to ask all of us a question … ‘why do we try so hard to get everything right, when His strength is made perfect in weak people?’ Yeah I know… it seems dumb when you put it like that! Here’s a thought that has greatly benefitted me and I will pass it on to you — go straight into being a weak people! Yes, seriously. Don’t waste your time and energy trying hard to be a ‘good Christian.’ Give up and rely upon His strength. Learn to say: “I can’t do that.” And then step out and act on His word when He speaks to you, and watch and see what He will do.

I know it’s kind of a terrifying thought. Imagine what other people will say if you tell them you really can’t … do the flowers, or bring morning tea, or read the bible out loud from the pulpit, or do the work of 4 people! But when we make ourselves do something without waiting on the Lord and talking to Him about it, we are forming a religious habit that can last a lifetime. We know that whenever He asks us to do this or that, we will need to grab our courage in both hands and do it… but, in those moments we can have the confidence that He spoke to us, to back us up. We know He will complete what He said! 

Listen to what this man said about Jesus: “For I also am a man subject to authority [of a higher rank], with soldiers subject to me; and I say to one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Matthew 8:9. This man understood delegated authority. When we wander off quoting this or that, or something that someone else said, without first interacting with the Lord Himself, we have nothing to stand on. We are trying to borrow someone else’s authority. Each of us has been given His authority but we need to personally get something from the King Himself to stand on..

I am blessed, I know I am not strong at all. And according to Paul that’s a fantastic place to be!!  I have had to learn to rely upon His Grace and strength. All I do is turn up and do whatever He told me to do. At the same time, I am no longer scared to say ‘no!’ Because outside of what Jesus has told me to do, I definitely know I will fail. My strength physically, mentally, and spiritually can falter – but He does not. My faith is aways in Him. He will come to rescue me, even when I’ve done something dumb. I confess my error, and turn it back over to Him – then I stand still and wait for further instructions. I know I have a part in what He wants to do, but understanding authority and how it works helps me apply myself.

It is far better to appear to be weak, than it is to save face. ‘God hasn’t talked to me about that stuff, I’ll ask Him,’ is a valid reason. At the same time, it isn’t a cop-out either! In reality: ‘I don’t want to do whatever it is,’ is not a valid answer. I think that many of our church institutions need to revise what they keep on doing, over and over again, but unfortunately the people within them keep on doggedly filling roles, so all will appear to be well. The Lord is not interested in the appearance of good, He wants His good to prevail — only God is good! Mark 10:18. 

The best thing we can do is to start from, and finish with, whatever He has asked us to do, using our faith. I get so happy when I know can’t do something He asks me to do, because I know I’m about to see His supernatural strength in my life. Many people get burnt out and exhausted because God didn’t tell them to do what they are doing in the first place! It is the Lord Who will build His house. Our job is to ask Him how He wants us involved. I cannot begin to say how many times I have heard Him say: “Not yet. Wait.”

Actually, I think we often rush ahead of His timing. We want or need the Lord to do a quick work, so we try to sort-of hurry Him up with our own activities. The Holy Spirit will leave! And sadly, He leaves so quietly we won’t even know He is gone for a long time! One of the Lord’s favourite things is when He can see that people want to embrace His timing. His will His Way. Having no strength to do what He asks us to do is not a problem. It is actually an asset. His strength is made PERFECT in our weaknesses. So, the thing is – do we want ‘kind of good enough’, or perfect Answer? No strength is never a problem…👋

P 2834 Clear out the cupboards.

/ DVH

In order for our lives to be transformed, God has given each one of us so much help. We have His book. Full of the Lord’s dealings with others. Plus the ongoing Presence of the Holy Spirit. Who is always active to remind us of what our Father has said.

However, when I want to follow the Holy Spirit, that means I am going to have to learn how to WAIT for His answers, and learn to trust that the Lord knows what’s going on.  At the same time I will need to believe that Almighty God is bigger than any of my immediate problems. I need to choose to change my behaviour, as well as my reactions, to facilitate and undergird my new belief. I cannot enforce that decision I’ve made upon you — because you need to learn for yourself! This means I will be stretched even further because I’m not living in a vacuum. 

Living this way is part of God’s ongoing process for us. It isn’t always easy, but it will teach me patience and perseverance, and draw me closer to Him and the Way He thinks. As I digest how He thinks, by doing what His book says, I will need His help – right from the minute I open my eyes every single day. Meanwhile, Father God doesn’t want me to learn  how to wait just because He likes to take His time … actually the bible says that ‘He is quick to answer us…’Father God wants me to learn how to wait, because I will renew my spiritual strength and because of that, I can resist any temptation to give up easily. We have His book full of His Ways to use as a prayerful reference point.

Today, I want to look specifically at something difficult that Jesus said. Matthew 18:21-22 gives us a tough illustration.“At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.”  When I read this I chose to do the Math – that means every 2.9387755102 minutes in a day, if someone were to sin against you or I, over and over again, the Lord is saying to us – we still need to forgive them. Let’s round that number up to someone sinning against us every 3 minutes, all day. It is easy to see His point when we do the Math! Nobody would want to forgive someone if they sinned against them that often and consistently. I’m pretty sure that the person sinning against us might even run out of the energy to sin with those numbers!!

Jesus went on to tell us a parable that we all wish we hadn’t read – the unforgiving servant. Personally I don’t think that the Lord’s point is even remotely about how many sins and how often – Jesus was telling Peter if he wanted to be forgiven then he needed to have his reference point changed. It’s not about numbers … because of His Presence in our lives, we are changed. It was all free to us but it was incredibly costly to our Lord.

Through these verses I believe the Lord wanted to show Peter that human beings cannot forgive others without God’s help, and oodles of His GRACE.  Jesus was exaggerating to illustrate His point. He became sin — so we can become the righteousness of God. We were given forgiveness for free from the Lord, but it was incredibly costly to Him. Now we give it away to others for free, but will cost us, just like it cost Him. Our gratitude expresses itself in showing mercy to others, when they don’t deserve it either.

One of the things that can definitely hobble us spiritually from acting like His kids, is our unwillingness to forgive the way we’ve been forgiven. People sometimes say that they can forgive easily, but they can’t forget. Personally I think if we can still remember what happened, that will probably have the worst effect on our forgiveness factor! Those two things can’t go in the same equation, because one shoots the other one in the foot. So why am I writing about this today? Because some of us are going to have families descend upon us as we move toward Christmas. Family can, and often does more damage than anybody else. 

Our families don’t always consist of beautiful Godly people who always get it right. After all, WE belong there, and that fact alone just plain ruins that idea! Jesus is saying to us we need to live a lifestyle of forgiveness… and let past hurts and injuries go. Why? Because the greatest power on earth is released when we forgive, it’s GRACE. Some of Christ last words spoken from the cross were: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do…” When He said that … God’s Grace started raining down upon the earth out of all proportion to whatever would be needed for all time.

Grace moves mountains. It heals the sick, it restores our souls, it changes our circumstances. It opens up things that have been shut down and left to fester, so they can heal. Grace is the AIR of His kingdom. We can’t afford to count how many times that dumb person we know did whatever they did – because when we do that we step out of Grace, and literally stop breathing in the Spirit. God takes no pleasure in our grudges. So we need to clean out our spiritual cupboards asap. Then we will be amazed at how differently we can view the people who are around us. We all need to: “learn the unforced rhythms of Grace…” Bye. 👋

P 2806 Healing.

/ DVH

“…you will lay your hands on the sick and they will get well…”I’ve checked out these verses in Matthew, personally, in my own life and here’s my point for today —  sometimes when I prayed for people who were sick, and sometimes they got well, and sometimes … they died. To be fair, the ones who died were terribly sick, and they definitely died happier than they were before they were prayed for — but that was not the result ANYONE was hoping for in the first place.

Praying for sick people involves us taking a risk. When we love them dearly, that risk for them, and for those who love them and us, is HUGE. Sometimes we could think that the answer relies on us – or maybe we think that we won’t pray correctly? Loving compassion and obedience are our part, because prayer for the sick relies upon the Word of God. Meanwhile nobody likes ‘no’ for an answer.  

Plus, at the same time, we may have to … “wait.” Sometimes, there is a space between our prayer and His answer. We need to always pray and not give up and that is a painful place to have to live! In the meantime, the bible says: waiting upon the Lord renews our strength. That waiting is ghastly for the sick person, who is trying trying trying to believe and get well – and horrible for their loved ones at the same time – but keep right on praying. Jesus dismissed people telling Him that a child had died and a bigger miracle occurred.

I am comforted by the fact that the Lord’s disciples walked with Jesus, they themselves saw all kinds of miracles when they prayed for others, and they watched Him bless people with astonishing miracles. BUT at other times they prayed for people and nothing happened. His disciples were unable to minister to an epileptic person, or deliver a demonised child. These men were blessed to have Jesus walking with them, in Person, and He stepped in and healed the sick one. The Lord pointed out to the disciples that their faith was too small. We must point our faith at God Himself, His nature, His loving kindness – not just at an illness or even healing. 

I’ve learnt some stuff along the way. I am not God and I’m not perfect! In my passion for others I can easily promise things I can’t deliver. Meanwhile, I don’t know everything either! I am His representative, not the answer. My part in this process is to keep praying and not give up, because somebody’s well-being is at stake, even if my own faith is being shaken. The reality is:  failure can lead very quickly to disappointment for everyone. Particularly if the person concerned is someone special, and you love them. This is the place where our faith can atrophy and grow weary. Even when we don’t feel like fighting we must continue to fight. 

If you have ever prayed for someone for healing and they got sicker or they died, you may have noticed that shortly afterward … disappointment rushes at you like a freight train, coupled with incredible grief. Jesus said this to Peter in Luke 22:32:“… but I have prayed [especially] for you [Peter], that your faith [and confidence in Me] may not fail; and you, once you have turned back again [to Me], strengthen and support your brothers [in the faith].”   Jesus prayed for Peter before his testing time ever happened. He is praying for us, right now, too.

We are so programmed for positive results, that when the answer to our prayers is negative, logic takes over. Well why wouldn’t anyone grieve after a terrible loss? The thing is… the bible exhorts us not to grieve without hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13b “…so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”  There’s a reason for that exhortation – our faith can falter when it appears to be unfulfilled.

Even in times of deep despair and sorrow we must ask the Holy Spirit to help us. We need His help to watch over our hope — because HOPE is our anchor. Our hope is IN Christ – His goodness, His mercy, His loving-kindness. It is not in the answers to our prayers – no matter how important they seem, or how fervent they are. Prayer changes US – it does not necessarily always change our circumstances. Talking with God and getting His perspective is essential, otherwise disappointment can crush us. I’ve noticed when this has happened to me, the next time someone needed prayer for healing, it was easier to step back, instead of forward.

We are commanded to pray for the sick etc. in Jesus’ Name. At the same time it is good to remember that the sick person’s life is ultimately in the Lord’s Hands. Like the disciples, we pray as He leads us and the opportunity presents itself. Acts 3:1-8 … bits of it: “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried … …at the gate of the temple … …to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.  And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; BUT SUCH AS I HAVE GIVE I THEE: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”

Part of our problem concerning healing is that we don’t know what we have. Peter knew what he had. Do we understand that Christ lives in us, and He was, and still IS, always delighted to heal the sick? His compassion for mankind is huge. That thought should be the centre of our thoughts, not: “will it work – or not? We are commanded to pray for the sick to be healed. it is not an optional extra. I believe the biggest sin in the Body of Christ is inactivity. Bye. 👋

P 2658 The possibilities are endless.

/ DVH

Our ever-present, ongoing motivation, needs to come from an active desire to please God. The body of Christ simply must understand this truth, because that means we will be moved beyond comprehension into action. Acting on what we believe helps our experiences change. We get a HIS-story with Almighty God! And that transforms the way we think. Untested theories will just continue to rattle about in our brain box! Talking about stuff is not the same as doing it. At the same time the Lord can do trillions, if not gazillions of things, all at the same time. Think about that! What happens to us most of the time is this … we let our immediate need overtake His input – and miss opportunities.. 

As we all know, many people ran to the shops during Covid because they didn’t want to run out of toilet paper! Hubby confided in me that it took all his effort to simply buy only what we needed during that time. He was stretching his faith that God would provide for us. It’s the little things that raise our awareness of His Presence in our lives. Even now, a lot of the medicines I take have disappeared from most pharmacies in our area, and we have had to go all over our city to find them. Hilariously, this means we have met a whole lot of people we never would have met, simply because of that shortage! God can do more than one thing at a time. He can open doors I’ve never even thought about!

We need to stop viewing inconveniences as a nuisance sent to put us off our game, and start to see them as possibilities! The Lord may be giving us an opportunity to speak to someone new, someone we wouldn’t have met any other way. This year we’ve had all sorts of important appliances in our house suddenly fall over dead on us. We really needed them, so at the time it was a huge inconvenience. Sometimes it even cost us a lot of money we didn’t have – but at the same time, in ways that continue to amaze us – He supplied our needs. Plus He gave us opportunities to talk with people that we would never have met. If He knows that you will ‘STOP for the one in front of you’ – you will be amazed at where that leads you!

At the same time, because of our disabilities, lately our activities have been greatly restricted, so God brought people to us instead! Many Christians pray to see miracles, when there are opportunities for the miraculous all around us. If something happens to your washing machine, it’s normal to pray that God will fix it, we have done that many, MANY times, but please understand … if that stupid thing stays broken … He’s doing something else.  He can do more than one thing at a time. There is no such thing as the secular bit of our lives, as well as the Holy … we gave our lives to Him, IT’S ALL HOLY NOW.

Remember Philip? Philip was doing something else, and God said, “Go and stand on that road”, and along came a chariot with a spiritually hungry man inside. We know this important man was hungry, because he was trying to read the book of Isaiah all by himself! So here comes Philip minding his own business and God says: “Go and stand beside this road and WAIT.”

We can stand on the side of any road we choose, but what happened to Philip won’t happen to us, unless we are listening to the Lord and He sends us! Acts 8:26-29: “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”  So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

What if nothing happens when we obey? You’ll feel like an idiot, but you’ll live through it – I have!  I think the Lord is tapping His big microphone – He is saying: “Testing testing 1,2,3…”  Does it really matter if nothing happens? Right now we are daily learning to obey by stretching our faith. Our God can do more than one thing at a time. We need to learn to live our every day lives prepared to be interrupted from our train of thought. Some things are much more important than what often preoccupies us.. 

Here is another biblical example of an interruption with a purpose: Jesus was going with a desperate father to pray for a little girl who was very ill. But an equally desperate woman who had also been ill for many years pressed through the crowd and touched His robe. (Read Mark 5:21-43.) There was a really good excuse not to stop, as that little girl was so sick she eventually died! However, the Lord was arrested by the lady’s faith reaching out. He saw her….I mean He REALLY saw her. We need to learn that interruptions can be possibilities.

In your neighbourhood, that old lady in the next flat, who always wants you to stop and talk, may need His comfort through you. Yes, she’s boring and repetitive, yes she takes up your time – but doesn’t she deserve her chance to know Christ loves her? Hubby and I have seen Him reorder our time for us, over and over again. Our God can change and teach us, plus bless someone else, plus transform our hearts and theirs – all at the same time. The possibilities are endless. 👋 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lays down his life…” John 15:13 KJV

P 2646 “Hope thou IN CHRIST!”

/ DVH

Hope is a sign our faith is healthy. If we are feeling hope-less then our situation has overcome our awareness of how Mighty God is! That’s bad. It’s bad, like not breathing is bad!! It means there is something we need to fix, first with the Lord, and then with others. Other people can be stumbling blocks – especially the ones who see no need to change, or they think they can’t, because they were just born this way! Christ knows how to walk with difficult, dumb people – He did it for three and a half years!

Here’s a revelation – everything God made is good, so if it is NOT good – then it’s NOT God. To clear that up we need to start with ME not the other guy. But sometimes the difference between not good and good is simply time! Just saying is all …

… The truth is clear, we can hang on to resentment, bitterness, anger, lying, hatred as much as we want to, but those things’ll drown ya! You end up snarling and snapping at others. It’s dumb to be lying in the muck and mire when SomeBody paid for you to live an overcoming life!

You know, I think that Covid did more than make a whole lotta people very very sick. It stole some people’s hope! We gotta watch out for that. Hope is our anchor. Hope holds us steady when the waves of this life get too big for us to cope. Actually, when a boat slips it’s moorings or loses its anchor, it floats away! Hebrews 6:19 says: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, …””  Hope anchors us into God!! Remember, we hope in what Christ is doing, not in our circumstances changing.

Jesus Christ is our hope anchor. What He did for us, and what His death gave us, anchors us into Almighty God’s kingdom. Jesus took us into the Holy place by what He did. Now we have Him as our priest praying on our behalf, before the throne, and that never ends. The Lord God Himself provided the ultimate Answer – Christ! And He is ever-mindful of our humanity. We are so blessed to have a Saviour Who is God and also a human being – He understands how tough this life is.

Sadly we sometimes forget what we’ve been given and we wander off into the wilderness, wondering where God went. Bleating: “Why is He not looking after me – He promised He would look after me?!”  In those moments we have become imitators of the Israelites in the wilderness… remember, the Good Shepherd always goes after a lost sheep! The Lord always looks after His own, He just has a different timetable than ours. That difference is meant to help us with patience and perseverance, not introduce doubt.

“There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!” Romans 8:8 MSG.

When we lose sight of our anchor, our hope – Jesus Christ the HOPE of all mankind – we are forgetting who we are now. We do not have to grab, grasp, scheme, scream and connive to make life work. Now we trust God and let go of our own ideas, and pay close attention to His Word. His word is our strong fortress, our hiding place, our comfort, and our defensive position. Otherwise, we are running the risk of forgetting Who we belong to! Our strong hope is in what Christ has already done.

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God My Saviour; MY GOD WILL HEAR ME.”Micah 7:7. We remain confident that if the answer we were hoping for does not happen, then we remind ourselves that our God has heard us and HE HAS A PLAN. That’s our anchor. Hopelessness takes over when we concentrate more on the problem, than on our ever-present, always loving, constantly praying for us, Saviour. Our problem being solved is a temporary relief –instead we need to refocus on Christ Himself,  He is the Answer. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”BUT!!! …“We can do all things through Christ because He strengthens us.”

As we learn to cultivate patience, and wait on the Lord, we will renew our strength. We are given the energy to rise above our problems and keep running the race. We are enabled to keep on walking without fainting. Holding onto hope stretches our faith so the next time we use it, we become aware that our faith has grown. We must keep a watch over our hope, it is the warning light on the overcoming dashboard of our lives. We do not have to live downcast lives …”SOUL, HOPE THOU IN CHRIST!”👋