The day with dianne Louise

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬ This is a constant challenger as fear causes us to adopt distractions. Lately, I have experienced bowel problems and had resorted to laxatives and anti-dairrhear tablets. However, I gradually, came to know that my meddling was exacerbating the problem and turned to the Lord in faith. The result was much better. My medical training had caused me to run to the pharmacy as my first port of call in all medical issues. When I diagnosed the why I discovered fear. I had to control! Now, I have a God who created me. He designed my inward parts and knows how best to fix me. I am learning to love Him enough to ask Him first. I can yield to Him and love Him and trust Him with my body. Amen! https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CLJr1PU_UGk&si=nssIeEgaCFq80cE1

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”  John‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬ John the apostle wrote this. He loved Jesus and Jesus loved him. It was the closest example of what us loving Jesus would be like. Because of his love and recognition of Jesus being the Son of God John understood Jesus with a depth that others did not reach. There have been many others who have loved like this. Jesus told us that if we abide in Him He would abide in us and make His home in us. This is close and personal. We must overcome all the noise and accusations of our enemy and choose to worship Jesus as He is, irregardless of feelings or circumstances. Today is a good time to start. I choose to worship, I choose to praise! https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=lCurAnLiwiY&si=_52PJUdql_D5fPSb

““Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.” Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬ When we set up the flat in Jalkeni for use when we are here to do school presentations about trafficking I asked a local carpenter to make us some furniture, thus it was all new. When we arrived back in Jalkeni after an absenteeism of, for me, some months i saw deterioration.  The furniture was marked and affected by water damage. The carpet we put down had rust and water stains from roof leakage and from a drunk vomiting all over the entrance carpet. I was not happy. However, after being here a few days and mingling with the people who live in huts with dirt floor it mattered little. The people are why I come, they are lovely. I went on a bus trip with one of the relatives of my colleague yesterday. The amount of buses we took was not funny. It was hot and humid, the buses noisy with music and loud horns, there was various items blo...

“Everywhere—from east to west— praise the name of the Lord.”  Psalms‬ ‭113‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ An ungrateful and selfish heart would question why we should praise the Lord. I recommend reading the whole psalm, however, the following verses give a good reason: “He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people! He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the Lord!” Psalms‬ ‭113‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Yesterday ai meet some such people. While waiting for a bus I stood beside a young mother holding her precious baby. I commented on her new baby. She lit up. She was waiting for her young husband to return. When he did they departed. I arrived in Jalkeni around 11am desperate for a bathroom. I was grateful I found one soon enough. Later in the day I went down to the tea shop below. A little lady was there, along with the proprietors daughter who was splendidly dressed in her outfit she wears ...

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I just awoke from a dream in which I was going camping with church friends. I had made a last minute decision and asked the two men if I might travel with them and share their accomodation. This had caused another friend to be bumped from the same arrangement. That friend was visibly upset, but I was going to do what I planned because I needed it.  Selfishness and compromise won out in my heart. Awareness that I was not considering her or my parents lingered in the background. Obviously this dream is not about me, I am 72 and my parents are long dead. However, the girl in the dream I recognise. She has a lot of this sort of behaviour thrown on her plate. On Sunday she had been rejected from the worship team. She was very upset because she was told she sang flat. She did not believe that was the case. However, in any church we have a mix that ‘get...

“Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ What Paul is describing here is the truth about the Christian life. When we come to Jesus we are set free from the bondage of sin. Baptism is the symbol of us putting to death the flesh. Now we can live, by faith, in the work Jesus wrought for us, in resurrected, new life. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, so are we. There is power in the blood of Jesus. His death was not an empty act, the power that raised Him from the dead is ours. The same Holy Spirit raises us up to new life. We can walk in that power.  The daily challenge is to walk in that power, stay in the zone (as Pastor Phil...