Warnings

P 3485 Living like a living sacrifice.

/ DVH

We all realise that the verse that says: “You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honour God and bring glory to Him in your body.” in 1 Corinthians 6:20, is not a suggestion! We need to choose daily to remember the cost that Jesus our Lord and Saviour … the One we love best … paid. This is what the Body and blood of Jesus Christ did for us.

Many times we have watered down what the bible says, acting like it is not for this age. We have assumed that the bible is mere written illustrations that have been exaggerated to add weight to come sort of cosmic set up. The bible is not ‘out of step’ with mankind — we are ‘out of step’ with it! It is filled to the top with the manufacturer’s instructions and warnings. 

I want to show how wildly ridiculous it is to ignore His instructions and follow our own ideas. So let’s insert some lighter thoughts here, because I really do have a point! On occasion, hubby and I have bought things from overseas countries. The accompanying instructions have sent us both into peals of laughter. These man-made odd instructions have been translated into English and attached to the items purchased.

Pet Shampoo: “Eliminate all escape routes well in advance. A wet pet becomes smarter and faster than you are.”

Washing machine: “Do not put any person in this washer.”

Oven: “Do not dry pet in the oven.”  (DUH!!)

Iron: ”Press red  button for hot fume for smoothing of creases from tossed around clothes in washing machine. Do not touching surface of iron because of very hot!”

Lucky last: “Do not iron clothes on body!”

Most man-made instructions have a limit, and the meaning can get lost in translation! Living as a living sacrifice can’t be taught as instructions – it has to be continuously applied. That is because it is an individual choice, and each of us have different situations and opportunities to choose to die to what we want. There is no blanket rule. If I tell you that we need to love one another, that sounds good – but it can be generalised, without any thought about the specifics. EG: Do I have to love the person who beats me up regularly? ANSWER: Yes … and no! The Lord’s love is not like ours, His ways are not a blanket rule. Father God deals with things individually. We need to pray, and ask Him, first.

Love is always an action. And in this case the Holy Spirit could lead you to pray for this violent person, and give you an alternative way to do that, from a distance. We need to remember, that the Word of the Lord is designed to flow into and out of each life, but it also includes His wisdom, as well as His mercy and grace. At the same time, the Holy Spirit Himself knows how to reveal the things that we do, that we don’t realise are against love. Our job is to pay attention to them and ask for Him for His help, instead of explaining them away by our personal circumstances. We have a live-in Helper Who knows the way we should go.

He will make whatever we read personal, as we read it. That’s why we need to pray before we read the bible. Not just for clarity, although we all need that, but we also need His help to cut through the protective walls we have built up around ourselves, so we can see ourselves as we really are. For instance … if you annoy me then you are a pest — however if I annoy you then you just don’t understand me properly! Let’s be clear, we can all stand unashamed in God’s Presence because Jesus took our sins on Himself and He was punished in our place —-but then things need to get personal and specific to our own situations and inner attitudes.

Only we know what rolls around inside our heads, and why. And some of those things we can easily explain away, because of our personal circumstances. The Lord is not interested in our excuses — they will hold us in bondage to the past. So will other people’s sins against us. He bought us freedom — and the only way to live in that freedom is to progressively and deliberately reject this world’s premises of right and wrong, and learn to live in harmony with the Holy Spirit. He needs to guide us. Jesus demonstrated what mercy, goodness and grace looks like, from God’s point of view. Meanwhile, He didn’t just die for the people who said yes to Him. He died for everybody.

Now it is up to any one individual to apply what Jesus did into their own lives. And saying: ‘yes’ is only the beginning … not the whole ballgame. Our Lord gave His all and our only response is to give our all to Him, and live this life the way He did. We are now the only hands and feet Jesus has, so we must choose to put aside all the weights that will drag us down into the mire of self-pity, revenge, rage, and hatred. This world thinks those things are OK and sensible to adopt. It is into self-protection. and it collects proof, opinions, and illustrations to prove it’s actions are valid.

But we have chosen to rely upon what God says, simply because He said it. That’s what living this life as a living sacrifice looks like. We give up our opinions, our actions, our lives, in favour of His ways. End of story. Bye, and may His peace be with you and in you, as you follow Him. 👋 🕊️.

P 2528 Nothing is permanent – even you!

/ DVH

I saw the above photo on a missionary friend’s site recently and it resounded in my heart immediately.  It seems to me that there really is a whole lotta shaking goin’ on — in the Body of Christ — as well as in this world around us.  

The bible says this in Hebrews 12:27: “So don’t turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—He’s told us this quite plainly—He’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.” The phrase “one last shaking” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.”

I need to make it clear that I am not here to discuss ‘the end times.’ The Lord has told me that is none of my business and when He tells me “None of your business!”… I listen. I don’t want to waste whatever time I have chasing stuff that has nothing whatsoever to do with me. But I do want to say this, we ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ about wars, earthquakes, volcanos, and tsunamis but what we really ought to pay attention to … is what happens … when Almighty God speaks!

I mean, did you get what that scripture in Hebrews? It says His voice at one time shook the earth to its foundations … but the next time … !!! … He is also going to rock the heavenlies! The God of heaven and earth is going to shake this world out of its complacency and chaos, and … we don’t know when!  While we are here, we still have a promise to keep: “Your new life for my old one Lord.” …’The life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God Who died for me.”(Galatians 2:20)

Lately, the thing I have noticed is this, the current earthly disastrous events are often somewhere else. So most of us  are viewing that kind of upheaval and chaos from a distance. But there will come a day when nobody can stand off and wonder what that is like, because it will be our house that is shaking! Now that will really touch us where we are at! It is one thing to have the world shake 10,000 kms away and entirely another to have it shake at your house.

All I feel about the difficult times ahead is that the Lord is deeply grieved about every single one of the people who have already perished, and the ones who will perish, without any knowledge of Him, in the future. Most of them have never ever been told that Jesus loves them and died for their sins. And, this is happening on OUR watch. Now there’s a sobering thought. How can we continue on in our comfortable lives without caring for those among us who have no idea about what could be just around the corner? 

I know we’ve kind of relegated this stuff into “some-day land” … but for the people who have died recently – in the past week, month, or year;  without anyone caring about their eternal destiny — it mattered! We can be so busy making sure we are “safe” and our families are “safe” – we forget our main directive is to GO and tell others! We are all called to be witnesses of what God has done in and through our lives. 

Instead we collect verses that comfort us, like some people collect postage stamps, and we vaguely wonder why we are not growing. Maybe it is because we’ve missed the fact that our primary mission is not about being healed or trained … it’s about going!! Our primary aim is to love the Lord with all of us, plus love and care for the well-being of others, whether they are friends or enemies. It is way too easy to see the current road statistics and think: “Whew! Not my family.”

Jesus Christ spent His entire ministry ministering to the sorrowing, sick, suffering and ignorant – how can we dare to do any less than He did? Let’s remember, that despite our personal inadequacies …WE are the cavalry! Just like that remnant army that Gideon led, I believe the day is coming when the Holy Spirit will lead a remnant army who are empowered by Him, to usher in the greatest revival this world has ever seen.

Right now, we need to start telling the people around us what the Lord has done in our own lives … and remember, the results are always up to Him. The poor and the downtrodden are currently living in this world without God’s demonstrated love, mercy or grace … because His love inside us has not moved our butts to take a risk, and go and visit them!  Jesus took the greatest risk of all – HE TRUSTED US.

There is no point waiting until our kids are raised and our house is paid off to OBEY. None of us have a guaranteed hold over tomorrow, because nothing is permanent. Our enemy is running rampant, killing people off one way or another. Saints, we are looking inward instead of outward. Jesus Christ is WITH US … LET’S GO!👋

Mark 16:15: “He (Jesus) said to them, “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Matthew 28:19&20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”