The day with dianne Louise

“Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”  John‬ ‭8‬:‭31‬-‭32‬, ‭36‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We often hear the verse, “ and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”. But, do we give knowledge to the rest? We are truely His disciples if we remain in Him and are faithful to His teachings? We cannot give the nod to Jesus’ teachings and not practise them. He is the source of life, if we remain in Him. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He alone is truth, there is no other truth. He is the word made flesh. In other words the embodiment of God’s eternal word. John tells us in Chapter 1:  “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God.”  John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We associate ‘word’ with black letters on a page. They...

“The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭121‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I am awake at midnight and have been praying for those still alive and caught in the recent flood here in Nepal. People are still being found. Yesterday a 60yo lady was found, a young boy was found and several hydro workers have been rescued. I think of thise still alive in mud and rubble. I imagine what it must be like to be trapped and unable to save yourself. A small baby was also found in rubble. How can life sustain for so long without food or water?  What would be going through the minds of the people. Whilst these people were found. What about those who may not have been found and lay trapped knowing they were probably going to die buried alive. I pray they encountered Jesus.  Lord have mercy! You are our life, our strength and our song.

“Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Respect for who God is the beginning of knowledge. Treating Him like a genie does not work. Treating Him like a doting parent also fails. He is the God who created all things. The vastness of the universe is His. Yes He has called us to be sons and daughters along with His Son, but remember what His Son was willing to do in obedience to Him. This morning I am confronted with the bigness of what God has called me to do. He reminds me of Moses. Whilst I am 72, Moses was 80. He had a cushy, well, comfortable job tending sheep in the backside of the desert. He had all day out of the house and alone with the sheep. He did not want the job of confronting Pharaoh or shepherding 1,000,000+ recalcitrant Israelis. Scripture show us how he dragged his heels. I can relate! God has an unusual sense of humour but He knows His plans and He knows us well. Like Moses I do not want...

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Is fruit something we just talk about or are really engaged in producing. Are they relevant to the Christian life? If the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in our lives is absent, then what are we? walking lies? Jesus told His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him. A cross crucifies. We must crucify our flesh. Paul goes on the say: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”  Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬ So that we know what to crucify, let’s look at the works of the flesh: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of a...

“I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.”  Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Yesterday we saw a small 5 year old girl rescued from underneath mud and rubble here in Nepal. Her home was one that was destroyed in the initial flood from the glacier. Her parents were able to escape as they were out from the house. Today rescuers work to save those trapped underground in a hydropower station. According to the PM 324 have been rescued so far. The rescuers battle bad weather, mud and...

““So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”  Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭34‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Each day does have its own worries. That is plenty for today. Allowing our minds to be captured with what ifs is crazy and a tool of the enemy. Jesus had been teaching about trusting God for the days needs. He finished with this verse. He taught the people what we call The Lord’s Prayer, however, it is our daily prayer. One verse states: ‘give us this day our daily bread’. This reinforces the concept of ‘today’s needs are enough to be concerned with. Jesus also said “seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you”. Our priority is upwards, our God is our provider. This can also be applicable to allowing each days activities to be enough. For example, I am working on a business model. Anxiety comes along and says, ‘shouldn’t you be doing more, be more proactive, do this, do that!’ As I allow my God to be my timing and lead...