Word of God

P 2728 God’s surgery.

/ DVH

Unlike an ordinary doctor’s surgery – in the Lord’s surgery there is no pile of dusty, over-used magazines and books, reporting on useless supercilious things from ages ago. There is just one book and if it happens to be dusty… then we are all in big trouble. 

Christians can become quite used to thinking that our lives are separate – and that each life is only joined together on church occasions, like worship or a sermon! Maybe we’ve temporarily forgotten our destiny. The Lord describes us as a Body. That may seem just like a metaphor, but it is actually a reality! The Lord Jesus is not going to marry a metaphor! The Bride of Christ is described quite thoroughly across the scriptures. ps – it’s US! …you and me – we are His Bride. Pause and think on that one! 

When I was thinking and praying over today’s blog, a phrase from yesterday’s effort kept floating through my heart. ‘One of …our tasks is to personally prove that scripture is active and effective!’ So how do we do that? We let it surgically cut away and remove any stuff we are convicted and convinced isn’t a part of His plan for our lives. Heaps of that kind of surgical stuff is written down in His book. It’s not just the ‘don’t do this bits,’ BTW, it is also the ‘please do that’ ones! The Lord Jesus Himself, gives us lists of the ways we are to live. (Check out Matthew 5) 

So let’s look at some other scriptures. The first is from 2 Timothy 3:16. “All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honourably with personal integrity and moral courage]; …”And Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

The thing I want to make absolutely clear is that the bible is formulated to do more than just inform us. The bible is a book of instructions. Each instruction has a purpose. EG: it says don’t carry cares, so we must not carry cares! It says give all those cares to Jesus – so we give our cares to Jesus and we don’t take them back!

This book is our boot camp. Boot camp, BTW, is the place we send soldiers to, to learn how to discipline themselves and protect themselves, as well as fight! The bible we read daily, is for that purpose. Soldiers also go to boot camp to learn how to look after their equipment and find their place in the army. It’s a very physical place, it’s not cerebral. It is not just a library, although the armed forces have libraries – it’s a place where knowledge is learnt, and applied.

Hold onto your hat – it just might blow off… We dare not pick and choose which bible verses we like, and eliminate the ones we don’t. We have just come through a time in the history of the church where we were cherry-picking verses to suit the current theology. Not a good plan. All of God’s word is good for building up, instructing, tearing down, cutting off and getting rid of stuff. If we cherry-pick things we are in great danger of mishandling our sword. You can cut yourself really badly if you mishandle a sword!

Ya might want to pause and think on that as well! My best advice is to tell the Lord you are not confident you can carry out what He says and then ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. He’s our Helper, and He wrote the book- so He knows how to get us where He wants us. The Word of God comes from the Breath of God ...and … so do WE! Read Genesis. The bible is a fitting vehicle to build up, give us courage, challenge, change and correct us. It displays God’s Love perfectly, in every single book and chapter. Rightly used, it will remove stuff from our lives that can make us fall away, stumble, or be led off into lah lah land. It is not just a book with pretty sayings, it is a living book that lays out the way we need to live. 

It is used to give us confidence, and to build up Jesus’ Bride so she is worthy of His Love. He voluntarily gave His life for us, so it seems fitting to me that we will also voluntarily give up this world’s idea of what our lives will look like, for HIM! Because the bible is about far more than just information, we cannot afford to treat it like we would the dusty magazines in a doctor’s office. We must pay attention and allow it to work on us by applying it into our lives. It is designed to refresh and renew our minds so we will think like Jesus does.

We need to let the sword of God strengthen our arm and cut away any excess stuff that will hinder us from walking with Him. The bible is not given to us for us to agree with it – it is given to us so we will DO WHAT IT SAYS. God’s book leads us into His kind of surgery, so my advice is to read it like He is talking to YOU, because HE IS! 👋

P 2676 Judgment makes us blind and deaf –

/ DVH

… to God and to each other! In the beginning Adam and Eve chose to do what seemed right in their own eyes. What entered into them when they ate from that tree, was the knowledge of good and evil. That meant that they left the wisdom of God behind. Sadly, this was also when humanity lost the privilege of His Presence and suspicion arrived on the scene. After that, influenced by satan, we opted for our own thinking and rationale. The miracle was Almighty God did not utterly reject all of us, because He is never caught unaware – He always had a bigger plan. Over time, human beings walked further and further away from Him. And the further away we walked, the more we left HIS wisdom, His dear Presence, behind. In that garden, living in the Spirit came naturally. Our disobedience changed that.

I think the ongoing result of this action is that we have all lost the ability to see Him, clearly. We’ve become deaf and blind toward His Ways, and we can’t see each other, either! However the clearer we can see Him, the clearer and closer we will get to each other. In our current world we have chosen to live by our own judgment and this means most of us have rejected Him. This attitude is devastating in its overall consequences. Look at it like this – broken people come to their own conclusions. Often because of our own battered sinful past, we unconsciously analyse others, then we reject, avoid or persecute them. Eventually we make those conclusions into life actions and give those actions some sort of great sounding purpose that makes sense to us!

If someone in my life was cruel to me, inside my heart I may have carefully laid some early warning signals that mean if anybody even remotely sounds or looks like that person who hurt me — I will avoid or punish them. In effect, I am passing judgment on that other person without even thinking about it. It is as if I see others through a screening system that filters out the people I consider to be my enemies. I do not look for GOOD in others, instead now I am looking for DANGER. We can end up judging our brother by a standard that came from fear and the ever-present need for revenge.

Because I am human, and my human wisdom is faulty, in order to protect myself, I can easily learn to apply judgment to oversee whatever I think. Sadly when I do that, I am allowing the people who hurt me, or caused me to be afraid, or misled me, to continue have power over me – whether they are present or not! At the same time I have been blinded to my own sinful attitudes by fear and judgment. I can no longer see others the way God sees them, because my own judgment is exalting itself over His wisdom. Over time I will use my logic, and incidental observations to prove to myself that my judgments are right, and that those other people really are dangerous to my own well-being and they should be avoided. 

Hebrews 4:12 says: “For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Only God Himself knows our intentions –only He can rightly divide them using His Word.  I think the answer to this particular interpersonal difficulty is to ask the Lord to help us see other people the way HE sees them. Otherwise we are in constant danger of living in judgment, and that judgment will cloud our view over everything else. And at the same time it neutralises our understanding of His wisdom. That other person may have no clue that the way they behave is ‘pushing your buttons.’ Their own brokenness and faulty judgment causes them to act this way without them being aware of it.

Sometimes we can attribute motivation to other people’s behaviour, but it isn’t true discernment or a clear view of their actions, it’s a fear response. And at other times people may even employ demonic strategies because they feel a lack of personal control in their lives will be catastrophic. It goes without saying that demonic strategies are not only unnecessary, they are definitely likely to lead us into all sorts of temptations! Like …  Adam and Eve … or Cain and Abel. After all the Lord warned Cain he was in danger of crossing a line. Instead, we need to remember that we have a Redeemer, Who runs to our aid. He cherishes us all and He will always impart the wisdom from above. In order to see and hear His Ways – now we must put away personal judgment, and let the word of God change us. 

1 Corinthians 2:6-9: “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.”  👋

P 2674 Yeast.

/ DVH

“Then He (Jesus) taught them another parable: “Heaven’s kingdom can be compared to yeast that a woman takes and blends into three measures of flour and then waits until all the dough rises.””Matthew 13:33 TPT.

“Later, as Jesus and His disciples crossed over to the other side of Lake Galilee, the disciples realised they had forgotten to bring any loaves of bread. Jesus spoke up and said, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” Thinking Jesus was scolding them over not bringing bread, they began to discuss it among themselves. 

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “You have such little faith! Why are you arguing with one another about having no bread? Are you so slow to understand? Have you forgotten the miracle of feeding the five thousand families and how each of you ended up with a basket full of fragments? And how seven loaves of bread fed four thousand families with baskets left over? Don’t you understand? I’m not talking about bread, but I’m warning you to avoid the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” Then finally they realized He wasn’t talking about yeast found in bread, but the error of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” Matthew 16:5-12 TPT.

Years and years ago, when I was in my late twenties, I decided to make my own bread. In those days bread making was not popular, nor was it an easy task! No bread making machines back then …the baker was the bread making machine!!  Like most mothers of three young kids, I was looking to save money anyway I could, and so I had the brilliant idea that if I made my own bread it would be healthier and save money – all at the same time. Win, win!

Boy was that a growing edge! Back then dried yeast was not what it has since become … it had only just arrived on the market. So I spent a whole lot of time writing back and forth to the manufacturers and distributors, explaining my struggle with their recipes, because their product was not all that good or even greatly effective. 

Bread making occupied an extremely tiny niche back then, but I am convinced my perseverance in complaining about that yeast product, made all the difference … eventually! Thank the Lord. My poor kids daily ate all sorts of not wonderful bread – which they privately called “lead bread.” (The little darlings!) And they longed to return to the days of eating unhealthy white bread like everyone else! After a day of struggling to make said bread — one of my kids – I forget which one … it might even have been my ex … remarked that yesterday’s bread would have made a particularly great door-stop! I was not enchanted. 

Bread making involved a whole of of kneading and proving and it took absolutely ages. Eventually, I got better at making it … OR …maybe the manufacturer finally improved the product!! But I know how hard I worked to give that manufacturer feedback! I ground up Vitamin C to improve the rising, plus I purchased bread improvers and generally worked like a navvy … all to save a few pennies. Eventually I even graduated to making fancy bread like croissants and bagels. Meanwhile my mind was consumed with bread making for years. Over time I decided fresh yeast was best … it worked a treat.

After reading these two scriptures the other day, I must confess that I totally understand why the disciples were side-tracked when Jesus began to talk about yeast. It’s easy to get side-tracked when you know a lot about the subject, especially if it is food! Food is so ordinary – you don’t expect spiritual illustrations about it. If I had been there when the Lord was talking about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees I would definitely have been a dumb bunny like they were, thinking totally irrelevant material thoughts about that subject, as well as utterly missing His point!

Human beings often look for immediate results, and gratification … but Jesus Christ spent His entire life glorifying God. He had spent His time on earth allowing the ‘good yeast of God’s Word’ to infiltrate every corner of His Being. I think this is the essence of our faith, so I was motivated enough to ask myself: “Are my prayers about my own comfort – something immediate, like food!  Or am I looking to see what God will do for His kingdom with what is actually going on?” Unless the yeast of His word transforms me, I have nothing to offer others. Reflectively, I wonder  if the “yeast” In our daily lives could be the digested Word of God? As we add it into our days, it will permeate every single bit of our lives, causing us to become palatable to others.

Then it hit me — Jesus always saw God in ordinary things, those things we confront day by day. We need to see Him that way too! We must allow the yeast of His Word to rise within us so that other people can “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Bye for now, 🍞😊.

P 2672 We either believe what the bible says and act on it …

/ DVH

… or we don’t!And we are deceiving ourselves that agreeing with it is enough!

“God has transmitted His very substance into every Scripture, for it is God-breathed. It will empower you by its instruction and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness. Then you will be God’s servant, fully mature and perfectly prepared to fulfil any assignment God gives you.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

We are told in the bible, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. His book explains that living like that is our ‘good acceptable and reasonable service.’ Every single time we yield our right to do things the way we think we should, over to Him, and obey what He says in the bible instead – we step into living this life, His Way. The way Jesus lived when He was on earth. THAT’S when we are ‘truly presenting our bodies to Him.’ At that moment, because of that choice –  we die.

Praying: ‘I present my body to You Lord, as a living sacrifice,’  first thing every morning, is not worth a hill of beans if I don’t follow that prayer up with reliance upon Him, during normal, ordinary days when other people annoy us! If we keep silent, or we choose to give the other person a soft answer, then we step into the resident power of the Word of God, simply because we are acting on it.

When we choose to obey, the bible stops being a book about lovely theories, and it becomes a part of our inner life – ‘IT HAS SUBSTANCE.’ And that’s how we ‘taste and see that the Lord is good,’ for ourselves. The word of God will work within us, just as surely as it does to save us! Our spirit-man gets bigger and stronger and more devoted to Jesus. Plus the fruit of self-control … and other Graces …  grow. We cannot grow His fruit with our own will-power because to grow His fruit we need the power of His Grace. 

We have nothing in our own mortal bodies that can produce supernatural results – BUT – we always have the Holy Spirit, our Resident Helper, Who wants to show us the way to go. He talks to us when we read the bible. Even when our enemy targets us with distraction, hurt, or a desire for revenge, the bible teaches us to go beyond our own understanding and ask the Holy Spirit what He thinks about what is going on. He knows the Way through everything!

When I finally grasped that doing what the book says is a key, my spiritual life exploded in ways I never expected. But at the same time, I’m still the same old me. I can still use the power of choice to give a sharp retort when someone annoys me! If I struggle with someone else without praying and asking for His help – I know I will eventually react, and run out of patience. But if I follow Him through His processes, step by step, and I ask for a scripture to stand on, that’s when I start to grow fruit. That fruit is incredibly powerful, it will feed others. Now, I am learning to abide in the Vine, doing what Jesus would do. 

A number of years ago, something happened that challenged me to the very core. It shook me. Rejection came at me from a family member in a very painful way, and I was at a loss to know how to deal with it. Eventually I simply had to choose to listen to the Holy Spirit, because I was going round and round spiritually, like one foot was nailed to the floor. When I chose to believe the bible enough to act on it, even though I was afraid – I found that being obedient opened my heart up to Him in unexpected ways. His book came alive… I already knew what was in there simply because of constant revision… but when I acted on it appropriately, as the Holy Spirit quietly coached me, I began to access the power we ALL have to overcome.

Just recently I was blessed to be able to comfort that same person in their time of extreme distress. I found I already had the comfort He had been continually giving me, when I interacted with them. Suddenly I had a supernatural storehouse to draw from, instead of trying to psyche and drag myself along, trying hard to do the right thing. Obedience had led me into the wondrous supply that Jesus Himself had, when He was dealing with mankind. It is a remarkable thing to choose to die to self, because ‘laying your life down for your brother‘ is the greatest love. Jesus said so.

The crux of any matter, difficult or not, is this – we either believe what the bible says and act on it … or we don’t. 🙌

P 2660 Our everyday bread …

/ DVH

Romans 10: 8-11 MSG:”The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what He did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting Him to do it for you. That’s salvation.”

We are all currently engaged in our God’s eternal processes. That means God is working in us, just like He did when He raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Salvation is not a one stop shop – it is a process … which started when He saved us and continues to this day! The Holy Spirit is working in each one of us, day by day, to deliver us from the things that made us dead in the first place! Now we have to the power to turn away! He transforms our minds so we don’t think dead thoughts. He gives life to our mortal bodies so we can worship and serve Him in Spirit and in truth.

He also releases us to do eternal things, so we can carry His kingdom all over this world. V14: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Look at your feet. In God’s eyes they are beautiful – He gave those feet an assignment … to go everywhere and tell everyone we meet that He is not mad at people any more. SomeBody Else, a perfect human being who did not deserve punishment, stepped up to the plate and took our place of punishment. You and I should have been nailed to that cross – NOT HIM.

Now, because of the power that was released when He was raised from the dead – we can come out of the dead patterns and thoughts that have haunted us all our lives, and really live. Jesus Christ loved people. He saw restoration happening everywhere He went. People’s lives were restored, hearts blossomed. Their hearts were withering and dying under the very strict laws that were enforced upon them. However, those laws were designed to bring the Jews back to God. Sometimes we are more interested in Jesus Christ the Healer, than we are in Jesus Christ the Author of our ongoing salvation. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.

The Lord is also God’s living Word – He’s more than just a human illustration – He is God’s Word per-son-ified. That’s our destiny too. To be daily transformed so that our lives are saturated in the Word of God. We obey it, soak it in and give it out to anyone … the good, the bad, the ugly. And as we press in to learn this kind of obedience, we will kill off the very things we’ve adopted and adapted as protective garments. So now we stand before the Lord and others, just like Jesus was on the cross. Naked. We must be naked to be fully clothed! We are unashamed of this nakedness, because He died to clothe us in HIS righteousness, peace, grace, love, faithfulness …

To enter into this new life we must choose to come out of the grave of our old life, just like Lazarus came out of the grave he was in. Now we let God Himself, and others … strip off the grave clothes that are still binding us into death. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is now alive and working in all of us. That dead life we led before cannot be in charge now – we’ve MOVED. We don’t live there anymore. We moved out of that darkness and now we stand blameless in His marvellous light because of what He did. 

However, it is totally unrealistic to expect our new life to look just like that old one! It can’t, because light and dark cannot co-exist together. One excludes the other, so you can’t have both. This is where the outworking of our faith lies. Not in raising the dead, or healing the sick, or saying Godly stuff – it lies in choosing to live in the place we’ve been given. That’s why our minute by minute choices matter. 

Our old enemies have convinced us that we are still bound to that old life, because those old choices can still appeal to us. But, the Truth IS, those things no longer have any power or control  – they are shadows, not reality. We left that stuff behind us, and now … we are living to follow Jesus day by day. Daily reclaiming the land that was ours from the moment we were born again. We have our own promised land. Christ IN us – our hope of glory. This new land He died to give us flows with milk and honey because HE LIVES HERE.

Today, and tomorrow, and all our tomorrows! … We must realise that we need to choose to fight the giants that we have let occupy that old land – our old life. The things we have allowed that have no place in this new life. We don’t choose which things have to go, the Word of God every single day divides between our thoughts and emotions and releases His truth so we can see it. We simply practice obedience and submit to what He says, every single day. That’s why we read the bible – to get our every day bread and marching orders. 👋

P 2651 The Western world is believing a lie.

/ DVH

I believe the lie is this: we think we are entitled to have a happy, prosperous care-free life. Who told us that? Where did that lie come from? And where does that leave the billions of poor people, those who are oppressed and tortured? Those people who constantly live in fear of their lives. They think they are lucky to have one meal a day, and their only shelter is a cardboard box or they sleep out in the open… victims of the elements. These people have no access to clean water, or facilities — all those things we take for granted in the Western World. Our thoughts of entitlement are terrifying … and unscriptural. (Read the book!) We are miserable because we are self-obsessed! Learn to be other centred.

Yet we can get irritated and out of sorts when our bus or train is late. Even our kids have learnt to live entitled lives – they feel deprived if they don’t have the latest iPhone!  Our society acts like the world we live in, is there to serve us. We lack GRATITUDE, big time. We need a much bigger attitude of gratitude and generosity. There are plenty of people in our own country who are doing it tough … who says we have to own a home at 25 years of age? The way to live this life as an overcomer is to not complain, or be jealous, angry or fretful – those things are a waste of the precious time we have been given. The way to overcome is to live like He did – Jesus used His faith all day every day – and He was thankful!

We must deliberately look for things we can be thankful for. Some days my attitude of gratitude is that I woke up!  There are millions of people across this planet who live on $2.15 a DAY. Let’s look at this life sensibly – ya can’t buy too many big Macs or chips and a coke for $2!  We don’t have to feel grateful to BE grateful, we simply need to be obedient.“In everything give thanks for this is the WILL of Christ Jesus concerning you!” I Thessalonians 5:18. Let’s use the time we have been given to be observant and interested in what is going on around us and help others. The feelings of gratitude often come later. Here are some scriptures that have impacted me:

“What do you have that was not given you?”  John 3:27, Romans 12:3. (That’s in the book twice!) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21. Here’s another great diagnostic tool – people who are living in the flesh, are constantly reviewing and revising their current situation, looking for improvement, and feeling deprived if they think there is none. People of the Spirit know that: “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory.”  Philippians 4:19. Father God is rich in ways we can’t count!  So if we don’t got it – then we don’t need it! If we lack something, ask the Lord for it, and if it doesn’t happen – then praise and thank Him that we can live without it.

Here’s something that Paul said that has always grabbed my attention: Philippians 4:11-13: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”Paul rejoiced in his lack because his lack gave him an opportunity to rely upon God even more! That’s a sentence that’ll blow our minds! It is the WAY we look at this life that helps or hinders our day to day living.

At the same time, other people can’t hurt us by their nasty attitudes … unless we let them. So we need to make a quality decision that the peace we get from the Lord Himself is worth something. It is a waste of time to make up excuses for others, sin is sin – forgive them instead. It is not our place to judge, so let’s pray and then give it all to God and let go. We need to put our everyday effort into remaining attached to Him and His ways – and let the world do whatever it must. Lately I’ve had to stop watching the news because I want to yell at the people on the TV for their appalling behaviour toward each other. 😳

Lastly, listen to this exhortation – it’s IN the book:“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8. I’m the boss of my mind. If it keeps thinking things that are out of line with what the bible says, then I need to deliberately renew my mind. Let’s begin to weed out the lies we’ve embraced and give His truth priority! The Word of God is our reference point, it is the Manufacturer’s handbook. It tells us how to proceed in this life we lead.

As we learn what it says, then we become responsible to apply what it says into our lives. It is not enough to memorise it – we must become it, by changing the way we think, and act. Using our faith. Many people are living a lie. We’ve become obsessed with wanting more, things that are bigger, brighter and more expensive. I know someone who has a clapped out old car – that car somehow runs on God’s goodness, forgedabout petrol! Personally, I know I’m blessed. I have food and shelter and medicine for what ails me, praise God! Amen. 👋

P 2631 Beware of roadblocks.

/ DVH

There is a possibility in our lives that we can have hidden, (even from ourselves), agendas – things that will inadvertently get in the way of true growth. Sometimes we can get caught up in our minds or emotions with ideas, people or things that we fiercely defend, but we are totally unaware that is what we are doing. Over a longer period of time, we can also learn to carefully avoid some situations because we are subconsciously aware that we don’t cope with them. Likewise, we can steer away from, or even get angry about, some things, purely because there is concealed pain behind them.

Ask yourself this question – apart from Jesus Himself – Who is THE most important person in your life – is there anyone or anything that you strongly feel that you cannot live without? Maybe a person who you value so much, that even the smallest thought of loss can send you into fear or anxiety? If you are a parent, maybe it’s a child …whether it is an adult child or not …  or perhaps a spouse;  or a close friend. Even the thought of any loss connected with these things can send you into an overwhelming downward spiral. If even the very thought of letting go of something or someone sends us into a panic – that is a clear indication something has grabbed hold of us!

You know, the thing we are most afraid of, can sometimes be the greatest spiritual strength in our lives, when we overcome that fear with His help. Always remembering that His help leads us TO DO SOMETHING. Perhaps there is a job we don’t want to lose, or we’ve fixated on finding somewhere safe to live – but this thing, whatever it is, influences every other decision we make. And it may not even consciously register in our minds. In this scenario that person or thing, no matter how normal or insignificant they seem to be, can become a roadblock to spiritual growth. 

When things get tough, and hardship strikes — this predisposition to protect ourselves and hide from suffering, will get in the way of any of the Holy Spirit’s solutions. Simply put, we won’t ask Him to help us with someone or something we don’t want to lose … just in case He takes that thing or person away! Plus we can easily go on from there to make decisions based on fear and pain instead of what the Lord wants. 

It is incredibly easy to think we know what is best for us – but that decision can be formed within the framework of hidden fear NOT FAITH. The assumption that our feelings, or even familiar thought patterns are a good guide, is a lie! The Word of God is our primary, solitary guide. I have seen godly parents put up with abuse, because they feel they cannot live without their fully grown child and the sneaky wrong spirit in that adult child ends up ruling the roost.

Or maybe the parent is afraid of what will become of their progeny and sadly, co-dependency has taken hold. We can sometimes desperately pray and hope: “that Jesus won’t mind, because He understands I can’t help it, I need it to be like this.” Read the gospels … the Lord told one man to leave his recently deceased father behind!

I have also seen sweet Godly Christians hurt others because they refuse to let go of something that should have been left behind them years ago. That has been caused by fear which has been carried forward from childhood pain. It can colour our adult thinking. The thing to do in such situations is to get to the root of the tree by asking WHY?

Why do I feel so strongly that I cannot let go of my child, or spouse etc. and give them to Jesus unreservedly, without any agenda in my heart? What pattern of ungodly thinking is preventing my growth? What fear is ruling my life? How did it start, and what am I still doing now, today, to keep that fear alive? We need to prayerfully identify and deal with these issues under the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance.

Our God is not mean. He is a loving caring Father, who is deeply involved, and intimately engaged in our everyday lives. BTW, this issue is not about disobedience, it is a deep lack of trust. We are not trusting the Lord to take care of those things that are extremely important to us. Sadly we could even be letting fear rule. But our precious loving Father knows us, and He knows the way we need to go to get through things like this. We must follow Him, step by step into relinquishment. It is not good to hold on to other people so tightly that you lose your own God-given freedom!

Matthew 16:19:“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” The Lord Jesus Christ gave His power to the disciples when they were too dumb to know what they were given. That’s how generous to mankind He has been! We can personally prevent any change in difficult situations or even dangerous ones by misusing the power we already have — instead of yielding people or material things to Him and progressively learning to live a life of faith. We need to let go of those things that weigh us down. At the same time by holding on too tightly to someone/something else we have the power to prevent growth and change in that other person or situation.

It is part of our job description to voluntarily choose to live this new life Jesus died to give us, embracing the power to overcome, instead of hiding away from it because it might pinch something from us! Plus always watching and aware of any roadblocks or ‘keep-out signs’ we have inadvertently put up or embraced… because we know those things will steal His new life away from us. Bye. 👋

P 2614 What are we asking for … ???

/ DVH

“For every persistent one will get what he asks for. Every persistent seeker will discover what he longs for. And everyone who knocks persistently will one day find an open door.” Matthew 7:8 TPT. And here’s the more generally known version: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” NIV.

I am pretty sure that these verses have not been taught, or expanded as widely as they can be –  I think they include many things other than material things. Meanwhile, I don’t think they are about fish, stones, bread or snakes either! I urge you to read around today’s text to explore what I am talking about – the bible says that a wise word is like “an apple of gold in a setting of silver.” Proverbs 25:11. Perhaps we are putting a bit too much focus on the APPLE, and not enough on the SETTING. We have translated what Jesus said into physical, tangible items, when I believe they have a much much wider application. 

Immediately above these verses about ‘asking, seeking and knocking,’ the Lord Jesus is talking about not judging others. He uses the illustration of logs and specks to show us how important it is to assess our personal attitudes and situations truthfully and clearly. Immediately after the ‘ask’ verses, He goes on to mention that we need to be careful not to give important, precious things to undeserving recipients. 

Speaking for myself, I love the wider application. I know I need His help when it comes to judging or trusting, or even changing my mind. I’m opinionated … like you didn’t guess that! 😶 So I need to be aware that my thought processes and words can lead me into judging others. Nowadays, I use that ask and keep on asking verse as my go-to ‘help help’ prayer for the many, many things that trip me up. There are moments in my life when I feel I am standing right at the edge of somewhere that I have absolutely no right to be — and I need to fling myself into reverse very quickly — otherwise I will end up going the wrong way – fast.

Today, again, 😊 I want to talk about reading the bible, because I think context is extremely important. It seems to me that Jesus through these verses, wants to stress that Father God longs to be active on our behalf – in all our lack and inadequacies. The Lord wants to help us. He knows we can bumble into the wrong attitudes and lose our God-given right to be a blessing to others. So right here I think the Lord is saying “Ask for the Grace you need. Maybe you need long-suffering, or patience, self-control, or some other fruit of the spirit. ASK!” We need to show the Lord we are serious about transformation by persisting.

My point is — I don’t think this verse is a grab-all handle to claim everything material we think we want or need, and use the Word of God as a battering ram to do it! Jesus goes on from this “asking verse” to talk about the fact that there is a narrow gate and a wide gate. He exhorts us to squeeze through the narrow gate so we will become one of the few that find it. None of that sounds like a lear jet, a yacht, or someone dripping in diamonds, or a 500 sq metre house to me! I’m not saying we can’t ask for those things, however, I am saying that these verses in this chapter are ALSO about attitudes, not just acquisitions. So we know that we can ask for His help when we are tempted to give in to our baser emotions. 

And what’s more the verses talk about being persistent when we ask for these spiritual graces. In other words, instead of dismissing our faults, or hiding them — we need to ask Him to help us with them. Imagine asking for deliverance from judgment, or help with our mingy attitudes. What a bonus that would be! Instead of throwing up our hands in despair, and letting fly with stuff nobody wants to hear… Why not take Jesus’ advice and persistently ask?

And one of those questions includes, where do we actually have the most need? Now if you have nowhere to live then pray away! I’m not saying these verses don’t mean what we think or hope they do, I just want to point out that they have a much wider application than we have managed to grasp so far! Instead of focussing on material things we need to focus on all the things we desperately need – perhaps we lack love toward someone?

Instead of living quiet lives of despair, because of our own nasty little ability to fly off the handle and yell at someone else, why not use this particular sword to get free? Like I’ve said before, the Holy Spirit has a million translations we have yet to find. Let’s not stop at the gimme one. Instead let’s move onto the transform me one, as well. “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” That, BTW, is also three different ways to be spiritually blessed. Bye. 👋

P 2584 Hang onto your hat. 🎩

/ DVH

Here’s some stuff to think on today …Have we inadvertently reduced the Living Word of God to a series of unwritten, but strongly supported rules about who is acceptable and who is not? I believe the church at large reacts badly to people who are not living inside our pre-set rules. Unlike Jesus Himself, Who treated everyone the same … including drunks, lepers and promiscuous women! Unfortunately, we are not responding with love or compassion – instead we react with abhorrence, fear, accusation, and condemnation. We just don’t know what to do with some people in this world. Here’s a big thought:loving anyone with His love isn’t giving them permission to continue with a sinful lifestyle.

It is as if we believe people must be changed BEFORE they can come to Jesus. That’s not in my bible! We look at others with terribly unbiblical ways of life, and tell them if they really want to be saved they have to stop doing what they are doing. We are looking for self-control from those who don’t even know anything about His power. I dunno about you, but I am like a snake still shedding old skins as I go along, I’m not yet perfected in Godly things. Personally, I think you clean fish after you catch them!

Our denominations have put unspoken rules in place to make life easier, nicer and safer for us. So what about a person who is unsure about their gender identity for a number of reasons? Hmmm. If that turned out to be your precious relative or immediate family, what would you do then?? The hard lines that we have drawn against this type of person and that way of life, could end up dividing families. I know people who have chosen terribly destructive lifestyles, and now they cannot go home anymore. Their parents won’t even talk to them and they are doing that in Jesus’ Name! What a price some outcasts have paid. Imagine the kind of passion those people could have for Christ, if and when He delivers them!

Personally I cannot bear it when the church looks at others as if they are filthy. We are all fallen people. All have sinned.  I HAVE A SAVIOUR … and others need an opportunity!  Do I like how some people choose to live? Of course not! Like I said, it is abhorrent. Yet in our own churches we often turn a blind eye and allow gossip and spite to thrive… and eliminate others before they’ve even had a chance to respond to Christ’s teachings. “…straining out gnats and letting through camels!” 

We often choose to tell people who are not living a lifestyle described in the bible, you can’t come in here and be THAT!  And that’s them – ELIMINATED FROM GRACE. Personally, I can’t exist without grace … without Him I can do nothing!  Yes, I am aware that certain behaviour is described as an abomination to the Lord, but Jesus died for all. Here’s a think spot: I’ve told lies, how about you? Check out Revelation sometime: liars go into the lake of fire and random judgment diagnoses the person judging, it doesn’t end well for them either!… Just saying is all.

At the same time, I understand that Christianity is meant to be an all or nothing kind of faith. Jesus said this: “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth.” Revelation 3:16. Lukewarm people don’t do well in His book either! When we water down salvation to simply saying a prayer, instead of it being a process, we are misleading those who-do-not-know-Him-yet, regarding true salvation. Meanwhile, are we behaving with repulsion because we have lost the power of God to deliver, anyone, anywhere, any time? I am not talking about forced conversions either. You can’t grow an apple tree from a weed’s seed, and you can’t usher in His kingdom with FEAR – instead of His love.

Some people are magnificently changed instantly. But that is not everyone’s experience. We must not ignore those souls who are trapped by appetites cultivated over time, or even circumstances beyond their control. There are people have been forced to live in all kinds of unimaginable decadence, that they didn’t deliberately choose. Or they have been exposed to horrors by care-givers. How dare we lock them out of knowing the One Who bore every single horror and atrocity for their sake?! Deception is rampant in our society … and most of our western governments support it. What’s the answer to that? Murder the government?! Heaven forbid. Change comes one soul at a time.

I really don’t have to approve of your lifestyle or way of thinking to tell you that God loves you dearly and He always will. My criteria for transformation is simple: ‘do you need a Saviour or not? Will you give Him your whole life and leave your old life behind?’ Whatever anyone does about His love is then up to them! It is my passionate belief that we have missed, and will continue to miss, some of the greatest miracles we will ever see because we are denying others the opportunity to know Him because of the way they look, or live. And that thought might blow a few hats off.

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you WERE. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) It seems even in Paul’s time, people with all kinds of ungodly lifestyles were changed by Christ’s life-giving death! Bye. 👋

P 2562 Living this life aware of the Dove.

/ DVH

“Loving Me empowers you to obey My commands. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Saviour, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a Friend just like Me—and He will never leave you. The world won’t receive Him because they can’t see Him or know Him. But you know Him intimately because He remains with you and will live inside you.” John 14:15-17 TPT.

What does LOVE mean to God? Here’s what Jesus, our resident Expert, explained about that in John 15:13: “No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends.” I liked that verse so much here is another version! 😊…”For the greatest love of all is a love that sacrifices all. And this great love is demonstrated when a person sacrifices his life for his friends.” (TPT).

To our God, love involves sacrifice – and He set the example. If we want to learn His love language we are going to need to learn how to love the way He loves…. and He loved us, so He sacrificially gave us everything He treasures. And the Lord Jesus loved US so much that He sent us His dearest Friend and Guide ever – the Holy Spirit, His constant beloved Companion …to help us! Think about it. Jesus’ Best Friend can be our best Friend too! Not just SomeOne Who comes alongside … SomeOne Who lives INSIDE. Ya can’t get closer than that!! We have SomeOne Whose very Presence imparts God’s POV, living inside us. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us, so He can reveal Jesus through us!

Can I be honest with you? It seems to me that the Precious Holy Spirit deserves a glorious palace, or a spectacular house, yet my heart can seem more like a barely inhabitable tenement, some days! Mainly because I know He is incredibly pure and holy, and I comfort myself that He wants me to learn so we can be together. With His help, I am learning to make sure He feels welcome and my heart is continually being transformed into His home. One thing I have noticed about the Holy Spirit, He never elevates Himself. He ALWAYS points to Jesus, He is the Word of God, as well as to our Father’s great love for us. He’s so selfless.

How do you keep SomeOne this loving, powerful, pure and kind as a friend? TREASURE HIM above everything else. He is our most glorious treasure! He is the pearl God has hidden inside the ordinary field of our hearts … and we need to give up all we have in order to have the privilege of having this incredible treasure with us always. Because the Holy Spirit’s Presence is definitely more precious than all the things of this world! He is also worth our every effort to love the people who may actively hate and oppose us. We are to live this life, OUR NEW LIFE, aware of Him. All it takes is the power of choice, and making sure we know what He likes. That’s in the book!

Over the years I have learnt that He will never bully me, or disapprove of my careless, selfish actions – instead it is His very Presence within me that convicts and convinces me of my sin. And if I do something incredibly dumb … He just quietly leaves, and He waits for me to realise His absence. At the same time He will help me with whatever I did so that I can restore the relationship again. 

You know human beings can be pushy, but He is not. People can be mean, but He is not. He simply speaks His truth to me, and that truth exposes things I never knew were inside my heart! He speaks to me through the bible, as well as personally. We are blessed to know SomeOne Who utterly loves us and only wants the best for us – as well as the people that we care about. He will do this for everyone every single minute of every single day.

The bible says that we show no greater love than if we lay down our lives for our friends, and we have the most glorious example of what that looks like. Jesus Christ willingly made that choice for all of us! BUT, then the Lord exploded our finite ideas of what love looks like by saying this in Matthew 5:43-45:“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”   Meanwhile, we cannot possibly fulfil the harder criteria Jesus gave us, without the Holy Spirit’s help, guidance, and counsel!! Which is why, first of all, we are to lay down our lives for our Heavenly Friend, the Holy Spirit.

We need Him! We cannot live the Christian life without Him. He is not rules, He is not disapproval – He’s a Person Who dearly loves us, FOREVER. Let us continually purpose to become acquainted with what His Love, looks likes. Human beings when they are crossed, hold grudges, get bitter, and happily cultivate resentment. This means we desperately need our Helper to guide us through the minefield of our emotions, and errant thoughts. He will set us up back on our feet so we can continue with our spiritual journey. Praise God! There is a step that is above learning to be obedient – and we do need to be obedient! And that deeper step is about … falling in Love – people do anything for Love.

Loving Jesus will give us the power to obey Him. That’s why He sent us the Helper Who is an Expert in Love. Without the Grace and power of God we will fall into sin, and oh so many snares. Praise God for our Friend Who is closer than a brother – the Holy Spirit. Amen. 🙌 Learn to live this life aware of the Dove. 🕊️

“Those who cling to their lives will give up true life. But those who let go of their lives for My sake and surrender it all to Me will discover true life!” Matthew 10:39 TPT. 👋