Witness

P 3474 We follow the thread.

/ DVH

This is something hubby and I have learnt to do over the last 20+ years. Personally, and together, we walk with the Holy Spirit, daily. He tells us “Go here” and we do, then we follow the thread. We feel so blessed when we do it. This is how He stretches  and strengthens our faith. It is the way we live. There is nothing like working with the Spirit of God!

The first thing I want to say is that — the Lord loves it outside our comfort zone, because that means we are using our faith. Just tell Him:  “I am going for You, and You are utterly in charge. Please help me to pay attention to everything You say!” No matter how unusual stuff seems, as He brings it up, hubby and I simply go and do what He tells us. This has led to growth in the area of our own faith — and bucket loads of Grace for others, plus something I call automatic praise. 

That’s not like the loving cheerful songs we sing to enter His courts. Automatic praise is startling in it’s power and accuracy. It happens when we get so overwhelmed by His goodness, and we are so happy – praise just pops out, unbidden. When you get to see the Lord at work, it’s not hard! The Holy Spirit loves it when God’s people do what He asked them to do – and one of the things He has asked us to do is: “GO!” As far as I know the Lord Jesus has never taken back that directive. Simply tell Him you are available and then you obey.

When I read the Epistles I can see a whole lot of very different people who spent their lives “going!” Even those people who didn’t travel. The ones that stayed home reached out to their neighbours, and the church functioned together as a unit to bless anyone and everyone around them. You don’t read much about them buying this and that, or going on holidays – their plan was to follow HIS PLAN. 

There are times when the people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet can be difficult … but just when we want to quit, we pray: “help help” and He helps us. If He says: “Go down that road and talk to someone at the other end,” we do it. There is always somebody who needs to hear what we have to say, at the other end of that road! It never ceases to amaze me. Someone needs to know that God loves them so much that He sent His Son to bring them into a relationship with Him. We have driven miles out of our way to go and talk to just one person. 

Let’s be real, there have also been times when we were both exhausted from driving for hours, and the Holy Spirit said: “Turn off here” … and … we didn’t. That is hilarious. Have you ever watched something that isn’t aligned properly as it tries to continue with the task it performs? It kind of clicks, and clunks and stops, and slowly clicks and clunks some more. That’s what it is like when we don’t turn around. We both look at each other, and then turn the car around and go down the road we tried to avoid. That quiet feeling of being ‘out of step’ just gets to you. 

Nobody taught us to do this kind of reaching out, it simply happened as we obeyed Him and followed His thread. It has never been our intention to make a big deal about it. I’ve only written about it here, in case someone wants to know how you reach out to complete strangers. It’s actually easier than reaching out to the people you know! The Lord gave me this helpful thought on one of our trips — “You are never going to see these people again. Do you care about what they think of you?” After I finished laughing …because boy is that true … I realised I actually was scared of other people’s faces and dealt with that. 

The Lord is so gracious about helping us when we are trying to obey Him. Do we get it right all the time? I dunno ask Him! That part actually doesn’t really matter. We’ve personally seen that God cherishes anyone’s baby steps into His much larger world. At the same time, we’ve learnt so much about humanity in the past 20+ years. The people we think won’t respond, usually bawl their eyes out.

Please understand that we are not evangelists. We simply take the command of Jesus to be witnesses seriously, that is all. “But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.” Acts 1:8. It is not hard to be a witness. They simply tell others what they know, and what they’ve seen, and invite those people to come and meet Him too.

Here’s what I’ve noticed … when you make yourself available to Jesus, He will take you up on it, because He is looking for witnesses. Ordinary people who will probably never stand out in a crowd, but they know that they have a story about Who He is and what He has done in their lives. My advice is, just tell your little story. We call things like that a testimony, but to be honest … it really is just you, telling your story! People have said to us: “Why don’t you write a book?” I said… “Because we are too busy doing it!“

The Holy Spirit will have people lined up for you to talk to. Half the time we don’t look for them, now they talk to us first!  We’ve seen miracles. We didn’t set out to see them, they just happened along the way. I encourage you reader to follow the Lord’s thread, His leading. The Holy Spirit has been sent to lead you and He will lay what He wants out in front of you. Then you follow it as far as it goes. He lives inside you, please, let Him out! Bye. 👋. 

“But we are certainly not those who are held back by fear and perish; we are among those who have faith and experience true life!” Hebrews 10:39.

P 3463 Be really yourself…

/ DVH

…not the you, you wish you were! … Something has shifted in hubby and I as we’ve been travelling all over the country-side giving away bibles and stuff. We started out being traditional, and along the way, a whole lot of formal stuff fell off, and now we simply go to meet people, so we can love on them whenever and wherever we can. Before this adventure, it was like we had two ‘hats,’ one was for church and the other was out there… 

The thing is, what happened the other day with my young friend showed me how easy it can be to miss the main point. Especially when we have a mindset that separates people into categories, saved and unsaved, I think this is part of a mistake I’ve been making. I’ve learnt that my first priority is to love God, then others. So I asked myself what if I took the saved and unsaved categories out of my thinking and just saw people? Perhaps, as Christians, we are more honest and open with the people who love Jesus, than we are with the man in the street. My thought for today is …WHY? Is Christianity meant to be some kind of secret society, where you can’t get in if you don’t know the handshake?

Actually the bible says that Jesus loved the world so much He died for all of us, which actually means we are all in the same boat! Some of us have recognised the One Who saved us, and others haven’t heard about Him, or met Him yet. The difference between committed Christians, and the people-who-don’t-know-Him-yet, is simply a matter of who has received this revelation and who hasn’t.

We are all loved equally by our Heavenly Father. But for years we’ve kind of hidden behind our church doors and played the ‘we-are-the-nice-people’ game. That game had a false finish line, and to join in people had to come to know Jesus in a pre-prescribed packaged fashion. But when I decided to see this world from His point of view, I realised there will always be room for one more … even in the last minutes of His life, Jesus made room for one more! Our lives need to be lived in such a way that we are an invitation, telling everyone Who Jesus is, what we know about Him, without any stress or strain.

The reason we are asked by the Lord to tell everyone, is because we don’t know who will say yes and who will say no … like that rich young man from yesterday. That means I will say the same kind of thing to a murderer, that I would to the little old lady down the road. The good news is, Jesus died to save all of us from everything bad we ever did, and the next step is to ask Him to do that for you. It is not just about memorising a prayer of commitment, it is about living the life. We give up the way we currently think and choose to learn how God thinks – by reading His book, listening to Him and walking with Him.

Until we choose to live by His Grace only, we can never completely understand exactly what Christ did for us. And the plainer and more normal we are when we speak to others, the better it is for those who know nothing. I think choosing to take the time to digest what God says, by obeying Him, is the first step. Then what He said will come out of me, the way I’d say it. It’s not another Gospel, it’s the same Gospel, as it is lived out, from day to day, in my life. My life becomes His witness. I can’t have the whole picture and neither will you – that’s because in the Body, I am an eyebrow and maybe you are an elbow –  so our viewing platform is different.

Paul said “follow me as I follow Christ,” he didn’t say: ‘follow me the way I follow Peter or John.’  Christ was everything to Paul. Whether this man was in jail, out of jail, birthing churches, leading individuals to Jesus, or trying to remember who he had baptised and who he hadn’t! BTW, there is a really cute conversation about that in 1 Corinthians 1:14-16. He couldn’t really remember what he’d done, because for Paul, all that mattered was that he preached the gospel! 

I have an important reason for rattling on about this yesterday, and today. I strongly feel it is urgent that we all stop playing the ‘my church is better than your church’ game. Just because someone has 3,000 people, that does not make them a better minister than the guy who has 20. I like the way Paul says it: ‘I’m following Jesus and you need to follow me the same way I follow Him!’ 1 Corinthians 11:1-15. Paul is talking about his devotion to Christ as well as asking us to take what he wrote seriously.

“Put into practice the example of all that you have heard from me or seen in my life and the God of peace will be with you in all things.” Philippians 4:9 TPT. When I read these two scriptures I realised what a mighty statement Paul was making. It is a great aim to have in our daily lives, and the very essence of what our new life should look like. Father God does not want another Paul, he totally fulfilled his mission in his lifetime. He wants you to be you … and do whatever you do as you simply follow Jesus.

If you follow Jesus where you are, and I do it where I am, then we have doubled our possibilities. Not everyone likes or wants to hear what I have to say, but the person who does not understand me, may understand everything, when you say it. I recommend telling others what Jesus has done in your life and then leave the Holy Spirit to do what He does best – convict and convince people. Tell them how you walk with Him, day by day. Be real! Be the you that loves Jesus and still makes mistakes. People love real. Bye. 👋

P3449 A life laid down.

/ DVH

“If we wait to feel like doing something for God, we will do nothing at all.” “Let your life be proof that Christ is real.” Mary SLESSOR. (1848-1915.) Born in Glasgow, and a missionary to Nigeria, she began her first mission at 27 years of age. She died of Malaria on the mission field. 

In Nigeria, back then, it was a common practice to kill twins, because they were regarded as a curse. Mary took those discarded twins and raised them as her own children, and eventually the native people realised their way of thinking was an error. She did not waiver in her devotion to what she knew the truth was. Mary put what she believed into practice. BTW, she was also the first female magistrate in the area, plus she advocated women’s rights, and she settled tribal disputes. But few people would know her name, today. 

I found Mary by reading the quote I’ve put at the top of this blog and I was so interested in her life, I did a bit of research. I wanted to use her as an example of what living for Jesus’ sake looks like. Here’s another quote about the cost of living this way from Wikipedia:.. “During this third mission to Calabar, Slessor received news that her mother and sister (her only living relatives) had died. She was overcome with loneliness, writing, “There is no one to write and tell my stories and nonsense to.” She had also found a sense of independence, writing, “Heaven is now nearer to me than Britain, and no one will worry about me if I go up country.” (No-one will miss me now.)

She seemed to me to be an excellent example of an ordinary Christian person who gave up her life to follow the Lord. She had had a pretty ghastly life before she became a missionary, yet she chose to obey Jesus’ call to be a witness. Obviously we won’t all end up on the mission field in a foreign land – but her singleness of purpose really challenged me. Mary became sick from Malaria early in her life in Nigeria, and had to go back to Scotland to recover, then she returned to the mission field again. This wrestling match happened many times in her forty years on the mission field. 

You know, I found what Mary did so powerful, especially in the light of this world’s penchant for self-indulgence. She is probably rarely mentioned except in Presbyterian literature. She didn’t go to Africa for fame – she went to be obedient. The little blurbs I read did not say she was a passionate person, actually she comes across as quite an ordinary, quiet heroine, who simply did what the Lord asked her to do. She bloomed where she was planted. … Boy did she!!

She wrote this in her diary: “I am trembling for the meetings,” she once wrote. “But surely God will help me. It is His own cause. I am suffering tortures of fear, and yet why is it that I cannot rest in Him? If He sends me work, surely He will help me deliver His message and do it for His glory. He never failed me before. If He be glorified that is all, whether I be considered able or not.” This piece was not written in Nigeria where she confronted drunken tribesmen with spears and shield, time and time again — this was written right before she went to speak at a meeting in her homeland, Scotland!

She said this about her calling: “God has been good to me, letting me serve Him in this humble way,” … ”I cannot thank Him enough for the honour He conferred upon me when He sent me to the Dark Continent.” By now I was crying as I am reading, because her devotion to Jesus and His sacrifice was so precious. She gave up everything to serve our King. Some of my info came from an article MARY AND THE BEAN STALK c.2005 by John W. Cowart. From the book,  People Whose Faith Got Them Into Trouble (IVP, 1990). I love that title!!  If you have time to read, she makes great reading. “One lone woman and Christ against an army” of angry natives, whose lives were changed by Jesus.

Mary helped me remember that obedience is better than sacrifice. So many great men and women have served Jesus in far off places, and history has forgotten all about them. But they gave all they had, so that others might live forever with Him. That kind of makes our reluctance to talk to strangers about Jesus seem pretty pitiful eh? Especially the sad things we hide behind – I’m too old, too young, too fat, too thin, too scared, too noisy, too quiet, too poor, too rich, too something-or-other … So I can’t do it!

I distinctly remember Moses saying something like this …  ”Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Exodus 4:10. Thank God, after a bit of wrangling, Moses did it anyway! And Jonah saying: “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”  Jonah 4:2. Jonah knew that God is good, and it annoyed him because people he didn’t like were saved. Human beings are weird!

Who said witnessing is an optional extra? I think a life laid down is a beautiful thing. Bye. 👋. “But we are certainly not those who are held back by fear and perish; we are among those who have faith and experience true life!” Hebrews 10:39 TPT.

P 3438 Yoo-hoo! I’m home!

/ DVH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P 3399 For parents of kids of any age. 

/ DVH

Back when I was actively involved in mothering my kids, I noticed that doing bible studies, taking time to pray with them, plus other Christian activities, were all great – but the most powerful impact by far – came from displaying my OWN FAITH. They needed my faith to be worked out daily in front of them. I was their witness to Jesus, in good times and bad. It was not just what I said, or taught that mattered — my actions and reactions did. They were learning about Jesus as they watched me trust Him.

Our living faith needs to be visible to our children – otherwise it becomes yet another theory. If that is difficult and you are constantly wrestling with your faith, then let them see that. Let them see you turn to Him for His help. I learnt, that you can’t just teach your kids and expect that they will somehow ‘catch’ Christianity like a cold, or farm out your responsibility to a Christian group. You get to sow the seeds in their hearts.

If you want to raise them to believe in Christ and all He did for us, you will need to make a quality choice to demonstrate your faith in front of them – in good times and bad. Meanwhile being positive all the time, creates pressure on a child. They feel things very keenly, it is far better to be real. Saying: “I’m not coping with God’s answers right now,” sets the stage for them to still go to God when they are not coping too!

Today I want to share a testimony – I hope it illustrates my point about visible faith adequately.  When my three children were very young, they wanted a swimming pool, but we couldn’t afford it, and so the kids were greatly disappointed. They were just little kids, so they wanted one anyway. On one very hot summer’s day they came to me and presented their reasons for wanting a pool …their Dad was at work at that time … and I knew darn well it was going to be an uphill battle.

So that day, I tried to pass the buck off onto the Lord, and suggested that we all pray together and ask Jesus for a pool instead. Anybody can see I had a wonderful attitude about this. Not. It wasn’t a very long prayer, and then I sent them off to have fun under the sprinkler. Later … that very same afternoon … my sister-in-law rang me. “We have something we want to pass on to your family,” she said – “It’s a pool!” We have just built an in-ground pool at our house, and we no longer need our above-ground pool anymore.” I nearly fell over. I mean, I couldn’t believe it! That instant answer to prayer floored me.

Then she uttered the magic words; … “Of course the kids’ uncle will come and install it properly, no charge at all.” My brother-in-law installed pools professionally!! Wow!  I told her, I would call back after I had talked to her brother. He said; “OK. ” All we needed to do was buy some sand and chlorinate it. My brother-in-law worked so carefully to install that pool, the guy was a master at what he did. The kids kept running in and out watching him, they were so excited. A week later they were swimming in it, and it had been  installed professionally! 

Jesus cares about childish faith. All the teaching in the world can’t give your child your faith. But you can help them to grow their own, by inviting them to pray with you, and then leaving the results with Him. The Lord is so kind, He lives way above our human limitations and restrictions, He simply doesn’t see them. Meanwhile my kids all knew that pool came from God Himself!

I exhort you, please don’t let your own fears, spiritual struggles or concerns stop you from visibly using your faith to encourage your children. Teach them there are times God says no – but because He is God, and He knows everything — He will have a reason for it. Many times since then my kids and I have had to pray for something they desperately needed, and the Lord kindly provided for them. I want to testify that those things stick with them.. 

Let’s quickly look at the prodigal son in Luke 11. This young man remembered what he had already seen in his own home years ago …. “When he came to his senses, …” He remembered what he had seen his earthly father do, and it prompted him to take a chance and go home!

My adult kids have their own living faith now. It is expressed differently than mine, but they have fought through their own disappointments and troubles to a better place, and  strengthened their own faith as they learnt to walk with Him themselves. Faith can create memories, just like it did for the prodigal son. David did that too – when he ran at Goliath, he had the memory of God helping him to kill a lion and a bear.

The Holy Spirit will help our families remember what they have seen Him do, right at the moment when they need it, and that’s for kids of any age. Bye.👋

P 3396 Don’t be scared of their faces!

/ DVH

Well, here we are again, at 4.00am, in the middle of a tiny town in New South Wales. It’s freezing – but some of you out there know a lot more about freezing than we do! Hmmm… I married the most wonderful man nearly 39 years ago, as I am typing this he is getting me a cup of tea. Most men would be thinking about justifiable homicide, and mumbling about strange women with even stranger habits, and yet he’s helping me! He has just set me up with my computer and about 200 pillows, so I can type. 

Inspiration sometimes hits me around 3-4am — when anybody with a lick of sense would be sleeping… Except this bed is harder than a rock, plus the fan that I need to have – rain, hail, heat wave or snow – it keeps my face temperature down … but the rest of me feels like an icicle. The strangest bits of you wear out when you get older! One side of my face gets hotter than a furnace and bright red, the other side is normal. Go figure …

Today I wanted to write about a common problem anyone can have when it comes to talking to strangers about Jesus. First of all, it can be very daunting , especially if you have an agenda. That means instead of being relaxed and smiling, every bit of you is tensed, even your hair follicles, because you are waiting… waiting … for an opportunity to somehow insert your faith into the conversation. It becomes a huge strain that shows on your face and in your attitude… you just gotta witness. Cue the gritted teeth. DON’T DO IT. Seriously! Love people and see what comes next. That’s what we do. 

There was one place we stayed in where everything about that place said: “How dare you two come here! Go home immediately.” Grumpy people kept popping up like burrs in the lawn. And then we saw these two fierce looking cleaners, who were about 18 years old, and they were totally covered in tattoos and spikes. Even their hair was spiked – as well as bright pink! They seemed madder than a starving Rottweiler.

And here comes hubby, limping along, because he has a sore foot, and he’s carrying two blocks of chocolate. He simply told them they were doing a great job and he wanted to thank them. They melted like snow in the tropics. Suddenly, despite their outward appearance, they were two ordinary young women who were highly delighted to have someone notice their efforts. And all it took to tell them about Jesus was two blocks of chocolate! 

Yesterday when we arrived where we stayed overnight, everything was upside down. The hosts weren’t quite ready, we were tired, which set everyone’s teeth on edge – so we prayed for His Grace and then behaved like we already had it. (That’s called faith.) And the mood began to change. Hubby gave away three bookmarks. And a grown women, a teenager, and a five year old were our new best friends. The littlest one was even more delighted when hubby gave her two books about Jesus. This morning at around 3.00am I suddenly realised how privileged we are. That little one heard about Jesus for the first time in her life, and He was there to hear and see her happy pleasure.

We go to quite a few places, and we sometimes find a certain version of the King James Bible has been lovingly donated. What a ministry that is! Praise God for their faithfulness … I do, however, have a few problems with it. The language. Most people do not speak King James English anymore. Plus it is a big fat thick book, and wherever it turns up, it looks like nobody else has ever even opened it, let alone read it! Wherever we go, if I see a KJB I always put a pass-it-on card inside. Sometimes desperate people will read that bible, because they need someone to care about their life… “Does God care about me?” Like Paul … I’d rather speak two words that can be understood, than a whole book full of ??? what on earth does that mean??

I remember when I first came to know the Lord, I was astonished to find out that Christianity had its own music. I had only ever listened to the radio and I had never heard anything even remotely like it. I’ve been in love with Christian music ever since. Now I send people clips from Youtube. I once played my mother a DVD I had made of beautiful scenery from a trip we had just taken. She didn’t even look at the pictures – she was totally entranced by the music! Of course, I immediately got miffed about that and had to repent on the spot. We sometimes blame the devil for our own inadequacies. Ho-hum.

Not so long ago, we gave one of our coffee table books of Psalms to a young woman of another faith. She didn’t even see the pictures, she was captivated by the words. Let me tell you anybody can be a seed sower. You just gather seed and chuck it everywhere. When you do that, led by Love Himself, all kinds of sweet things happen. Here’s what Jesus thinks about it: “He (Jesus) turned to His disciples and said, The harvest is huge and ripe. But there are not enough harvesters to bring it all in. As you go plead with the Owner of the harvest to thrust out many more reapers to harvest His grain.” Matthew 9:37-38.

Dear Lord we need more feet on the ground, thank You! Amen! Did you notice that I am not worried about seed? I’ve been praying for artists, and song writers, and wordsmiths, to paint, sing and say stuff, in plain English, that can be freely given away. One lady we know makes beautiful handbags for abused women. Ask Him for inspiration. Share what you love to do – do it and include others. I used to share my roller skating time when I was younger. Last of all don’t be afraid of their faces, there are real needs behind those grumpy looks. Bye. 👋.

P3375 Indiscriminate seed sowing!  

/ DVH

When hubby and I are on the road, we release the Lord’s seeds, everywhere! Things like bibles, books, prophetic paintings, prophetic words, Gospels and kids DVDs, bookmarks – with bible verses on the back, blankets, baby wraps, toiletries with a pass-it-on card inside … (We make our own). Compasses (we all get lost!), keychains, even a pair binoculars! We also pray for people.

The best thing is that we give away the good news, in person, one on one. The Lord knows what, where and how to get these things to give away. Meanwhile Father God is into bargains! He always knows the best place to buy stuff. He blows my mind – often! … Speaking of blowing, think of living like this as blowing on a dandelion clock – the seeds go everywhere.

Here’s why we choose to do it: “A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And others fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when He had said these things, He cried, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:5-8.

This sower sowed his seed anywhere, without any thought of the topography, the situation or location. If that seed ended up feeding the birds, so be it! If it ended up growing in a ditch, or on a rock, or amongst thorns … that man did not care. HIS AIM WAS TO GET THE SEED OUT THERE! That’s what we do, when we go on bible trips. I’ve never once seen anyone put whatever we give them into a bin, and very, very few have refused to take the bible. Funnily enough, whenever they’ve said no to the bible, they will often still take a bookmark. I think the Holy Spirit definitely has a cool stealth mode. There is a scripture on the back of all those bookmarks! 

We totally believe our Heavenly Father loves every single human being with the same undeserved generosity. He gives His love away for free, and He expects us to do the same. Look at the world we live in. It has been gloriously decorated with His love and creativity, and it is here for all of us to enjoy. Our world has all sorts of people in it. Some of them notice His handiwork, some don’t – but He is undaunted! He has left all this beauty out everywhere around us, as a sign that SomeOne bigger than we are, loves us. “If I go up to the heavens YOU are there, … If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, You are there.” Psalm 139. 

Anyone who has snorkelled, or swum in the ocean, or watched a National Geographic documentary, or seen any of the wonders of the deep, has been awestruck by what they’ve found, hidden in that water. Some people study the stars, others have become aware of the complexity of the world around us and study that. These things are God Himself waving at the world. He’s everywhere. In the gentle movement of a butterfly or the swaying of tall grasses. He even notices and counts all those little birds when they drop out of the sky. He can see YOU, because He sees everything!

The Lord once told hubby and I that whenever we meet someone, if they have a friend with them, then we are to give them both something. We are not to leave anyone out – that’s what God is like! Nobody gets left out. We give away stuff so that when we leave, that person has a love gift, a seed, from Jesus Christ Himself in their hands. That gift  is living proof that He knows them individually and cares about their lives. Jesus is still doing what He has always done, loving the person in front of Him.

Meanwhile, you would be amazed at how many people no longer read the bible. We’ve had people ask us: “What’s a bible?”  Boy do we love those questions!! Anybody can do what we do. It’s scary, but so worthwhile. Instead of leaving this stuff to the evangelist, go out and witness! Focus on the fact that our precious Lord Jesus wants to touch somebody and He wants to use you to do it. He’s like that. He loves interacting with people. Jesus often went off alone to pray and talk with His Father, but most of the time He lovingly shared Himself with everyone around Him.

Because we chuck seeds out everywhere, we often do not know anything about where they land and what happens next. It’s like we’ve chucked them in the air and left the landing bit with the Lord. We are just ordinary people. Some days things go well for us, and on others they don’t! My point today is don’t be stingy with the seed of His Word, spread it about. Love everyone around you. Please don’t pick and choose who to love, love everyone. It’s easier on your memory, trust me. 

It is a huge blessing to us to indiscriminately love others. It means we have made a choice to treat the person in front of us like they are the only person in the world, and we do and say whatever the Lord says to do and say. Leave behind any fake smiles, go outside, look around you, or read something in God’s Word that makes you happy and share that! That’s what we do. We spread around seeds from God’s kingdom, indiscriminately. After a while, it becomes who you are. Bye. 💕

P 3275 On being an arrow …

/ DVH

“These heroes all died still clinging to their faith, not even receiving all that had been promised them. But they saw beyond the horizon the fulfilment of their promises and gladly embraced it from afar. They all lived their lives on earth as those who belonged to another realm. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:13.

The people who are spoken about here in Hebrews … are our illustrations. That is a long list – which could definitely surprise you, if you take the time to read the whole chapter! Those people lived this life, their only life– looking forward to forever … instead of living for here and now! They did not have fun, fun, happy, happy lives. Instead they chose to live using their faith in the God Who said He would save them. They took Him at His Word. Plus these people in Hebrews kept themselves open to correction and they just kept pressing on. Their faith in Him filled their vision. These people saw this life as something they would pass through to something better. 

They were often isolated from their family, or friends because of their beliefs – and they suffered all sorts of hardships along the way. They were misunderstood, some of them almost daily! All of them were Jewish, except for Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute — her obedience and faith saved her and her family. These men and women were identified as God’s own Chosen people. Simply because of their witness.

We should not be surprised when life gets difficult and we think we can’t cope. It can be deadly to our faith if we forget to keep our eyes on eternity. We can become so used to maintaining the here and now, that forever seems like a dream, and today’s worries entangle our feet and root us into the immediate! But that is not the way these folks lived. Eternity was realer to them than this daily grind.

Actually, forever is a part of what we believe. We will have the joy of being with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit endlessly. None of this floating in and out business, like the good and bad times we stagger through  sometimes is in this life – in heaven we will be living totally aware of the Trinity, and the saints who have gone on before us. We will be changed. Oh I feel such gratitude for the fact that we will ALL be changed to be like Jesus I know I need changing. 

At the same time we have not been asked to simply put up with this life, while we wait for the end of it. Father God has asked us to spend the time we have, using our minds and hearts to become a highly interactive and well defined arrow. Day by day, the way we live, and the way we interact with others, needs to point to Jesus. Arrows point to other things! 

We are not undercover brothers and sisters, we are His family. Love is now our primary language. We are purpose-built to enjoy living for Jesus right here. Heaven is not just available for a select few …. anymore than hell was made for people!  It is God’s desire is for ALL to be saved. And we are His chosen arrows pointing the way to salvation. It’s impossible for me to ever choose one of my children, or grandchildren, that I don’t want to see, or be a part of their lives. And Almighty God’s a much better parent than I am!

Meanwhile, do remember to spare a thought for mothers. Children can be difficult, trust me!! Daily there are more and more criticisms of parenting that seem to pile up. And many adults don’t seem to remember that somebody fed us, sheltered us, rocked us to sleep, and made sure we didn’t fall off a cliff! There is so much criticism about, it is far too easy to focus on what parents did wrong. If you are still here then someone did something right! 

Arrows choose to point to the good in things around them, or in the best thoughts about bad situations.They don’t point out other people’s faults, or sins – these ‘arrow’ people know they are here to help others become more acquainted with the Love of God. They have made it their mission to be a source of that Love, while they are still in this world. When you fire an arrow the idea is to hit what you are aiming at! Those long-forgotten saints in Hebrews 10 made it their business to aim at following God and honouring Him with their substance and their lives. 

Those people did not miss the mark. Their faith was firmly fixed on God and what He said, not on this life going on around them and their part in it. Here’s something I have found useful. If I am focussed on what is going around me, then I am probably not giving my faith in His love and kindness toward me, the attention it deserves. The “arrow” of our lives gets turned away from our destiny a little bit at a time, as we allow the imposing confounding things of this world to turn our eyes away from Jesus. We simply can’t look at those two things at the same time, we will end up cross-eyed! 

Which is another word for not seeing anything clearly. When your vision becomes cloudy, stop and ask the Lord to show you what has inserted itself between you and Himself. Following, by its very nature, means we are looking at the Leader. And arrows have a purpose. They give us direction and show us where we move onto next. Bye👋

P 3266 It’s the way we live!

/ DVH

‘So then faith that doesn’t involve action is phoney. But someone might object and say, “One person has faith and another person has works.” Go ahead then and prove to me that you have faith without works and I will show you faith by my works as proof that I believe… …Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham found righteous before God because of His works when He offered His son Isaac on the altar? Can’t you see how His action cooperated with His faith and by His action faith found its full expression?” James 2:17-18, 21-22.

If people cannot see our faith in action then perhaps we need to revise the way we live. We are His witnesses. When witnesses don’t speak up, the truth is left to lie dormant and undiscovered. We have not been designed to live undercover! What we know about Jesus is meant to be ‘published abroad,’ by what we say and do. Our willingness to witness for good, is a sign of our spiritual health. Faith is more than buttering buns for morning tea – it’s the way we live.

I really hesitated about writing about this true story from my own life. But after prayer, the Lord gave me clearance to do it. Years ago, our family lived in a tiny cottage that had a rental property next to us. They often had pretty wild parties, which wasn’t much fun because our houses were a couple of metres apart. One night some noise or other woke me up and I could clearly hear someone crying, pleading with some male voices. I could hear a female sobbing: ’Stop, stop! Please let me go!’ 

My poor hubby was regularly on night shift back then so it was hard to wake Him. The terrible sound of fear, pain and anguish and sobbing continued next door. Eventually hubby woke up, but the terrible sobbing etc was gone, and so we phoned the police to report it and get help. The woman, by this time was a long distance away,  walking away from the house and a man came out and yelled at her: “I can do whatever I want to you, whenever I want.” 

The police eventually turned up, much later, but by then next door was quiet – they knocked on the door and spoke to someone, but there wasn’t much else they could do. They took note of what we said and left. So we continued to pray for the people involved and left it alone. 

It was more than a year before we heard any more about it. A female police officer knocked on our door following the incident up, and she was canvassing the area asking people in the neighbourhood if they knew anything about it. She nearly fell over when I answered: “yes I had,” and we let her in. We told her we had rung the police and then we gave her the same details we had given before. 

Then she asked me if I was prepared to testify in court, to what I had heard. I said: “yes,” so did hubby, and again she seemed very surprised. Nobody else had come forward, apparently people are not willing to get involved in such things. She took our details and told us she would be in touch when the matter went before the court. My extended family didn’t want me to testify, because their fear for our safety took over… the man next door might try to get revenge etc… whatever! 

Eventually we fronted up to court, which involved its own difficulties, and I stood up in the dock and I told the court what I had heard, and hubby gave testimony about what he heard the man yell out in the street. I guess what we said must have helped, because this man was sentenced to a whole lot of years in prison for rape. After that we heard no more.

A couple of months later, I was outside in the garden hanging out the washing, when the side gate flew open and this little bit of a girl raced in, carrying the biggest bunch of flowers I’ve ever seen. She was weeping copiously, and she shoved the flowers at me, with tears pouring down her little face, and said: “thank-you thank-you, thank-you,” she hugged me really tightly, and then ran out of the gate again. It was all over in seconds. My best guess was that she was the victim from what had happened next door. 

We didn’t get a chance to talk about Jesus  … we just did what He told us to do. My point is this: we weren’t witnessing, we were simply living for Him. When I saw that young woman that day, she looked like a 12 year old she was so tiny. I was so incredibly glad we had followed the whole thing through to help give her some sort of closure. Personally I could care less if someone sees what we do or not. 

Many brave souls have gone on before us unseen and unacknowledged and they’ve done far greater things for others, and for the Lord, than I can possibly imagine! This way of life we have all entered into needs to become a lifestyle. You don’t have to debate this and that, plus the dangers of whatever … you just do what is good, right and profitable! Jesus knows when we lay down our lives for someone else.

Faith without works is dead and so are works without faith. Those two things go together. There are things for each one of us to do that won’t happen if we don’t do them. Our actions, whether they are seen or not, are the expression of our faith. It is the tangible expression of what lies within. If there is no expression then faith goes unnoticed. Faith is the way we choose to live.  Bye. 👋

P 3184 I Wonder?

/ DVH

I must say I am not sure how this new system of being a specific age before you use social media, is going to work out overall. I think it is a great idea. But good luck reinforcing something when your teenage kids are expert at using your logic against you. What is wrong with a parent saying: “No?” Or, “It’s dinner time put your phone down please!?” Or… “We are having a no-phone day today and that includes parents!” It seems to me that parents are now scared of their kids and there is something seriously wrong with that! (Read 2 Timothy 3:2)

In my opinion, children need to learn to self-regulate, and parents don’t always have the time to be nice about it. One of mine ran on the road when they were little, I did not make a suggestion or give an alternative response!I screamed: “Danger!” And ran after them. We are not raising totally autonomous little beings – our children live in a world with other people – and they need to learn to act accordingly. This world is not there to contribute to them, they are here to contribute to it!  One of mine bit someone else’s kid when they were little…but they only did it once! 

I did some homework in this subject and found that “no’ is a bad word to use when you are parenting. Blimey… ! I’m glad I’m not parenting a child now! I told mine when they were angry with me for disciplining them: “I’m your parent, not your friend, now go and do what I say.” I can understand the fear of being reported – going to jail for smacking your kid will do that to you. Crazy stuff! It seems Big Brother is watching, and Big Brother ain’t all that wise!!

However, I subscribe to what the bible says — back in the Ark it worked for me!  Proverbs has lots of useful teaching kids info in it. “Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” Proverbs 13:24. Now there’s a shocker, and here’s another one! “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.” Proverbs 22:15. 

I wonder what today’s world would make out of Abraham tying up Isaac and plopping him on an altar, all ready to kill him? Abe’s only lame-o excuse was: “God told me to do it!?” Or what about Hannah dropping off her little boy at the local synagogue at the age of three or four and leaving him there? Now there’s a new kind of all day-every day daycare!

There are loads of scriptures like the three I put above – but I’m pretty sure in today’s world we choose to ignore them. Because …we know better than God nowadays … He’s old fashioned…apparently! How does that go again?? How well is this tolerant attitude working on those teenagers pinching other people’s cars, beating up elderly people, and running around carrying machetes? Let’s think this idea through for a bit. If our children learn “no”when they are little, they will eventually learn how to discipline themselves. Or perhaps they will end up in grown up jail, because we’d rather look good!

I know that there are some kids who will disobey just to test the boundaries. I had some of those. Have we forgotten that boundaries represent security? Kids need security! We must always pray about stuff, but we need to teach our kids Godly boundaries too. The bible is an action book – not a book full of theories. God’s book has loads of practical daily applications. But one of the ways you can teach your kids is to set a good example. 

It’s no use talking about not stealing if you continue to cheat on your income tax. Or maybe you don’t take back money that is not yours when the check-out chick gives you the wrong change! Telling them not to squabble will have a short shelf-life if you and your spouse regularly have word fights as a love language! What you watch on TV is another way to witness to them. I used to tell mine: “Jesus wouldn’t watch that, its demonstrating how to do stuff we don’t do, because we follow Him.” The Lord disciplines us for our own good – love doesn’t always say ‘yes.’

On the positive side: my hubby, (grandpa), takes any or all of our grandkids out with him, when he is visiting the neighbours to bless them with a gift, or helping them out. Our grandson, who is 15, asks a bazillion questions afterward. It has opened up all kinds of conversations. Faith is not just a Sunday event, it’s a lifestyle. And yes, I have had more than one of my own kids reject that lifestyle … but praise Him that the Word of God eventually prevailed and now they have their own faith – without any pressure from me. Now my kids teach ME stuff. Boy, that was a hard nut to swallow initially, but I’m the better for it. They help to keep me honest about what I believe. 

My last thought on this subject is this:  our world today is totally happy to accept the premise that we don’t have to respect other people. ‘I will only respect you if you have earned it.”  Hooey! The people who say that guff don’t respect or acknowledge Almighty God  – so why are we following them? That’s backwards! I know I’m old-fashioned, but respecting other human beings is essential. It facilitates relationships. A lack of interpersonal respect promotes anarchy. The whole idea that I’m the only person who can decide whether things are good or bad is terrifying.

I wonder — how are you parenting your kids as you follow Him? Bye. 👋