The day with dianne Louise

Isaiah 35:8 (MSG) There will be a highway called the Holy Road— impossible to get lost on this road. Isaiah 35:10 (MSG) The people God has ransomed will come back on this road. The Lord has a plan, there is a road to Him, there are people destined to walk on this road. Our God does not sleep, He is constantly working in hearts and minds drawing them to Him. The road is a place of life and fulfillment, it is a place of answers, the river flows through that road bringing refreshment. The enemy comes against the road but he cannot breach the borders. The road is God's way. Keep your eyes straight ahead, follow the One who creates the path and all will be well. As we focus, take our emotions in hand and whisper 'trust Him' we will see 'all things work together for our good'. Mighty God reveal Your ways to us, show us Your glory! Amen!

Isaiah 33:6 (MSG) God keeps your days stable and secure— salvation, wisdom, and knowledge in surplus. When you let someone be a benefactor, without strings, they give generously. When we release the hold of control, totally, our days are stable and secure even if they don't appear to be on the surface. The trick is not to be waylaid by noise, bells and whistles, even good things can distract and stir up the emotions which can then cause us to act out. When bad stuff happens it is a great opportunity for the Lord to show His hand. He has a plan, a great plan, a plan for good. Proverbs tells us that even evil men are used by God for His purpose. He is in control. Give Him room today! Amen!

Isaiah 30:18 (MSG) But God's not finished. He's waiting around to be gracious to you. He's gathering strength to show mercy to you. God takes the time to do everything right—everything. Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones. Waiting brings strength. There is power in the wait, there are answers in the wait, there is wisdom in the wait, there is growth in the wait, there is grace in the wait. Waiting all alone is uncluttered, free from the need to speak, free to find the one who has the strength, the answers, the life, the grace. The Lord is the master of 'the wait'. He waited patiently for time to send Christ, He waits for us to get the revelation of how much He wants to spend time with us. I have two little white Maltese dogs and to me they represent 'the wait'. They wait patiently, looking intently at me when it is time for a walk, time for food and even if there is no reason I will turn around and here are two pair of eyes watching, waitin...

Isaiah 28:12 (MSG) He said before, "This is the time and place to rest, to give rest to the weary. This is the place to lay down your burden." But they won't listen. Ever had a situation where your body is screaming out for rest but you keep pushing it and it is unhappy? For me there is a delicate balance between knowing when my body needs the discipline and knowing when it genuinely needs the rest. When it needs the rest and I push it becomes ill. We have to know how to rest our spirits and sit and wait for refreshing. As the manna in the desert only lasted for a day so does each days supply of grace. I must fill up each day with the fresh, new life as the old is fraying at the edges, death is waiting to consume me. My soul needs me to care for my spirit. As I sit and wait and am refreshed I hear the birdsong, I sense the freshness of morning, the stillness speaks to me. My God is new every morning. It is like believing that yesterdays newspaper is sufficient for the wee...

Isaiah 26:19 (MSG) But friends, your dead will live, your corpses will get to their feet. All you dead and buried, wake up! Sing! Your dew is morning dew catching the first rays of sun, The earth bursting with life, giving birth to the dead. Before I entered into a relationship with the Lord I was a walking dead, my spirit was dead. At the right time He came to me and made me aware of my sin, led me to the answer and as I received the answer I came alive. Oh what life He gave! I had found what I had searched for my whole life, a living God. He was not a fable, a fairy story He became real to me. He washed me of my sin, I knew that I knew I was free. Yesterday I met with some who yet do not know Him like I do. Their eyes were blank, just as mine were, yet life is coming. My prayer is that as the morning dew is now on the land that the spirit of God will be with them bringing a revelation of truth, set them free Lord. Amen! Today I have been invited to speak at a Rotary group about Div...

2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP) For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. Oh well, the Amplified says it a whole lot better than the Message today. Fear is the root of many behavioural problems and fear in our lives says 'I don't know love yet.' John tells is in 1John 4:18 'perfect love casts out fear'. If we can be aware of our motives then we will discover fear lurking. When we find this critter it is a good thing to throw him out. We can be afraid of what others may think, afraid of others knowing us and therefore not liking us, we may be afraid of rejection. Being perfected in love requires us to stop, wait, court the one who does love us and let Him love. Only His love sets us free, only His loves satisfies deeply. As I am set free by His love I am not afraid of what others think because hey...

Psalms 100:4 ( GW ) Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving. Come into his courtyards with a song of praise. Give thanks to him; praise his name. You are my salvation your gates are praise, my deliverer, my deliverer, my deliverer is the Lord. (song chris tomlin ) There is only One who gave save, heal and set free. He is the only source of life, the only answer, the only One. Jesus in the gospels says that He is the doorway to the Father, 'no one comes to the Father but by me'. He is the entrance way and there is no other way. Praise helps us find the door way. Praise catches the attention of the Lord, it is a sweet fragrance to His nostrils. Praise chases away the darkness, darkness does not like the light and praise lives in the light because it confesses all the goodness of God. Praise takes an effort, yet it starts the motor, primes the pump, releases the waters of salvation that flow from our spirit. Praise is something we do in all circumstances, good and bad....

1 Timothy 6:20 (MSG) And oh, my dear friend, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. Sometimes we do not recognise what we were given. what causes the blindness? stuff in our lives that binds us into believing we are less than. When Jesus dies for us He paid the price for our total freedom, body, soul, spirit. He paid the full price. He didn't quit after the flogging saying ' okay that's enough to set some of you free from some of your stuff.' He paid the full price, death outside the city, totally rejected by all. We were not only set free but He invites us to sit with Him, this indicates 'okay lets relax now, I've done it all, you do not have to do a thing but accept My work.' We are invited to sit in heavenly places not just here in the stuff, but far removed from the stuff, far removed from the critics, the judges, the destroyer. A place of sweet rest, friendship, love, relief. This is Grace at it's best! I am totally love...

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (MSG) 11 I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. We don't know the mind of the Lord and sometimes we might dare to believe 'Hey He really likes me', but most of the time we will struggle with our own perceptions. The times of struggle come when we have found ourselves in sin, 'why did I do that", why did I say that?' etc 'I can't be worthy, God can't love me'. The good news is we are not worthy, good news you say, hold on we don't have to be, we have to be humble enough to say sorry and mean it. He, Christ, has to be good, good enough to raise Himself high above our faults and failings and say 'I'll pay the price. Ah this is Grace again. Yes! That is what grace is, unmerited favour. I cannot earn it, I can never be good enough for grace. The reason being is that He wants to have been the price because He loves me....

Isaiah 12:2 (MSG) "Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won't be afraid. God—yes God!—is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!" When trouble comes it is a good time to test the faithfulness of the Lord instead of turning to fear and doubt and allowing our mouths to vomit forth complaints. In our own selves we are not very nice and when we draw from ourselves we are whining , grasping, nasty, quick to judge and condemn. Yet, when we learn to live in the strength of God we begin to exhibit self-control. Amazing that, His wisdom is far better, His strength outlasts (the copper top battery), His attitude is more gracious and understanding, in fact we become much more attractive to be around. Turning on the switch of Grace in our lives brings rest to our souls, peace to our bodies and fragrance to our speech and behaviour. Whether we believe it or not we carry a fragrance that all can smell, our fragrance does not deceive. That is why people are attrac...

1 Timothy 4:7-8 (MSG) Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. Silly stories abound and just when I think I have heard them all there are more. Where do they come from? The Pit! They are taken up by individuals who don't really want truth touching their lives. Hebrews says 'Gods word is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing through bone and marrow' (getting to the heart of a thing). It easier to make ourselves feel good by accepting a lie that is dressed as truth, smells good, tastes okay but has a rotten core and makes a person terminally ill. There is only One Way, Jesus himself said that, and He was bold enough to say 'It is Me guys!' There is the rub. You cannot muddy the water with a little deception because it will poison the whole lo...

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of intense darkness and shadow of death, upon them has the light shined. Is 9:2 In our own wisdom and cleverness we are unable to save ourselves, we can turn inside out, visit all the so called holy sites in the world but we cannot cleanses our innermost parts. There is a very good reason why we cannot do this, we do not have the power, we are not God. If our children, when they are first born, do not require us and are born self-sufficient, we are made redundant. Yet this is not how it is. They require us in their lives always, to some point. My son turned 28 yesterday and although he is married and has three children there is always a time when he needs mum, usually for a hug of encouragement, He needs to know he is loved, unconditionally. Our Father made us to be in relationship with Him, He is so full of love that He wants to share it with us. We can have a harsh view of God, much like an Old...

1 Timothy 2:4-7 (MSG) 4 He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: 5 that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, 6 who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Well there you have it! He, my God, wants everyone saved from their own way of doing things. There is only one way, the way of surrender and rest. Yielding is a problem to the mind of the un -yielded, yet when surrender comes so does peace. There is no salvation from 'the universe' why He created it. How silly! If I make a cup to drink out of and then people around me begin to worship the cup I would laugh. The beauty of the One who created it is far greater than that which He created. What beauty awaits the surrendered heart! What power and glory awaits the surrendered. What a life of miracle encounters is yet to be experienced. 'I give up' can be the hardes...

Shall I bring to the moment of birth and not cause to bring forth? says the Lord. Shall I who causes to bring forth shut the womb? Is 66:9 As I read the old testament and the frustration the Lord had with His people I am so grateful for Jesus. Without His grace and the beautiful presence of the Holy Spirit I could not be a christian, well I suppose if He hadn't come we would all be called something else anyway. As Christians we can so warp the simplicity of the gospel with errors we have appropriated or been taught. When the fruit of our lives show lying, cheating, underhanded behaviour, all in the name of 'what I have been called to do' ( ie business) then we are deceived. If we believe we are called to minister but are constantly manipulating and controlling where is Christ? Where is the truth of the gospel? There is a better way. The way of the cross. We we try to 'succeed' at the expense of truth, others, our own soul, then we have been cheated of the be...

Song of Songs 8:6 (MSG) Passion laughs at the terrors of hell. The fire of love stops at nothing— it sweeps everything before it. 1 Timothy 1:5 (MSG) The whole point of what we're urging is simply love—love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. Passion drives me, consumes me. I am on fire for what God has for me. I cannot slack off and indulge my appetites for long as they are empty for me. I cannot enjoy anything but the path my God has for me. Sometimes, for a fleeting moment, I wish I could so I would have more friends. I think I am smitten with Tommy Tenny's disease, 'a God chaser'. This my passion, this is my consuming desire. Where He is I want to be, what He is doing I want to do, what He likes I want, what He dislikes I don't want. 'my beloved is mine and I am His'. Passion constrains me, empowers me, lifts me up, gives me vision. I can laugh at hell because I know the One who created it. The fire of love...

2 Thessalonians 3:1 (MSG) One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master's Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you. Oh how I am looking for the Lord's goodness in the land. I long to see souls come by the hundreds and be restored. The Lord is inspiring me to extend my team by another today and two more this year. The two more I believe I can see. I can only imagine what the plan is. He wants all the team whole functioning and strong. He wants them to learn to harvest the lost and to care for the lost. Not only do I hunger for the harvest I hunger for whole individuals. I am excited about the Lord's plans for lives. I love to watch Him love and see where He wants to take people. God is good. My God loves, His love is unfathomable, He is constant, He is faithful. He is not fickle, He is true. Amen!

Joshua 1:8 (MSG) And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed. Success consumes much of the mind of the modern man and the modern church. Why? What do we perceive success to be? If we ask anyone I am sure they will say it means making lots of money. Why do we want lots of money? To spend on ourselves? Live indulgently, having a nice car, house with all the trappings? Deep down is fear the motivator? Is the lack of plenty driving us to get? Fear of being old and living in housing commission homes? Fear of what? When I was in Art College at CCC Oxford Falls in Sydney NSW in 2004, I was required to paint during student worship services, which were conducted every morning at 8am. The painting I did one day now still haunts me. Through an open door I could see an abundance of gold and jewels on the...

My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him. He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved. With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God! Ps 62:5-7 Lover of my soul, You alone are my refreshing, my healing, my life, my self-control, my beauty, my purpose, my future, my hope. Without You I am a noisy gong and clanging cymbal. Today You are my portion, You are my breath, my strength. I must be saturated in You, I must live out of saturation not dryness of soul. I lay myself in You so that I can become totally pickled by Your flavour and then live out of that. I want to smell Your smell, taste Your taste so that when the world comes near me they find You. Amen!

Ecclesiastes 10:20 (MSG) Don't bad-mouth your leaders, not even under your breath, And don't abuse your betters, even in the privacy of your home. Loose talk has a way of getting picked up and spread around. Little birds drop the crumbs of your gossip far and wide. Oh how we love to talk and oh how loose our lips can be at times. As James says 'our tongue is a restless evil set on fire by hell itself, with it we bless our creator and condemn our neighbour.' In Romans Paul asks 'Who will deliver us from this body of sin' and then answers,' I praise God Jesus Christ.' Praise God for His grace. I think He backs off at times and allows us a reality check. We don't really appreciate His saving grace. Grace on our lives sure makes us a nicer person to be around. Grace off our lives sees us smelling pretty bad, in need of a good shower, when He backs off we realise we are only good because He is good. I see gossip all around yet it is not very tasty to...

1 Thessalonians 5:13-14 (MSG) Overwhelm them with appreciation and love! Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. I love the language of the Message Bible, I think I am in transition from the Amplified. I was there for 20 years now I have been 'born again'. Perhaps it is the lost that I relate to. The modern man likes it straight down the middle, no waffle. The modern mind does not think too hard and the Amplified is a challenge. I love it that the word warns 'the freeloaders to get a move on'. This tickles my fancy. I want nothing more than to warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Through DivorceCare I can be gentle with stragglers , patient and attentive, especially with the lost and those who have been wounded. It is as if I can see...

Ecclesiastes 3:1,2b (MSG) There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: ..., A right time to plant and another to reap. There are things I would like to do and in the natural the time seems opportune, yet in the spirit I sense a door. Experience tells me I can push and shove, set dynamite even but all I do is expend vital energy in the wrong direction and create a mess. Timing is so important in the Kingdom because the the King has decreed it so. If the King says 'yes' then nothing can stop me. Although all men may say yes, if the King's 'yes' is missing then it is not so. Who do I work for after all? I do not like to make things about me because when I do they are empty. Yet if I make the focus the Kingdom then they succeed. If I know I am walking in obedience then I will succeed and no one will suffer. Timing alone is ok but timing in relationship is best. Having a reason to restrain in beneficial. Love is the best re...

Proverbs 29:18 (MSG) 18 If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed. Walking in revelation sure beats the opposite, yet sometimes, ofttimes we have to start the walk before we see. I suppose this is called trust. We may how the overarching vision but lack the detail. This is where we step out in faith that the inkling in our spirit is God and to be trusted. In some area of my life this is stronger and easier to follow, in ministry, for example. I had a request from another church in our area for information about DivorceCare . I made a suggestion to my pastor that perhaps there are other churches under his jurisdiction that also wanted the same. Suddenly an article I had written last year and did not use is ready to be sent with an invitation going from my pastor. This coincides with a training day I had planned for my new team, funny thing that. In my business life my resolve is being ...

Proverbs 28:25 (MSG) a grasping person stirs up trouble, but trust in God brings a sense of well-being. Every time I contrive to control or manipulate it stirs up trouble, I hurt, I offend, I maim. I am not in charge of the personhood of another individual, I must allow them to be who they are. As I trust in God for the outcome then my relationship with Him grows and the better result comes to pass. God's ways are pure and undefiled, He is the best filter there is. When the word says 'commit you ways to the Lord and He will direct your paths', there is a very good reason for it. With all that is coming this year I can make my plans but as I commit them to the Lord, He will bring the best result, He is good and He alone is God. I love watching Him move, He has the best moves. Show me Your glory Lord. Amen!

1 Thessalonians 2:3 (MSG) 3 God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message. I am so glad that God tests us to show us approved. This gives me confidence to proceed. In the ministry of DivorceCare I have a passion to see captives set free and salvation to come. My team has now grown to 7. Another dear man is joining the team and I will see God pull Him through the mire. I also have two new women, possibly three. We are now able to offer DC4Kids. Praise God! Yes! Yes! Yes! I have a lady who has completed DC and is a pre -school teacher filled with a passion to see freedom in the little ones and their parents. Since reading Boundaries I have been convicted that we need to study this programme. I will be taking my leaders through the Boundaries course first then one of them will lead it on the same night as I lead DC. DC will feed into Boundaries so as to continue the work of freedom. Amen! I pray for my leaders that purity of heart will drive them...

1 Thessalonians 1:5 (MSG) 5 When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions. You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, This I love to see, mettle mixed with faith. when we truly embrace the gospel and let it set us free and free and free and we stand strong. Reading Boundaries I am receiving fresh insight into the gospel. Having truth on the inward parts is important because then we walk free. When we are free to allow God, family, friends to establish boundaries with us, if they are healthy boundaries, then we become established. Suddenly we see where our paddock begins and ends, we know where our gates are; we know what is inside our boundary and what we are responsible for and what is outside. I am hearing my 'no' a lot clearer and that is good. I am discovering what I am no longer willing to accept and what I want to embrace. Praise God! The other day the Lord chall...

6 Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, and not cut them out. Colossians 4:6 When I am excited because of a vision I have from the Lord and I am full of it’s potency I am bold. Yet, I have to be careful of my words as I can steam-roll over people and this is not what the Lord wants. Gracious speech comes from the Lord. He is the initiator of grace. I know if I lack anything I just need to ask and the Lord will fill me up. As a leader I see how the Lord wants to draw out the best, the gifts He has placed in others. They may not see these gifts but he does and I as a leader do. Often the gifts are covered and fettered by much but if there is a willing, yielded heart then anything is possible. This excites me when I see the raw material God wants to work with. God often shows me how He wants to set that person free and allows me to be involved. I love watching them mature, blossom and step out to be all He has planne...

Proverbs 17:16 (MSG) 16 What's this? Fools out shopping for wisdom! They wouldn't recognize it if they saw it! Proverbs 17:24 (MSG) 24 The perceptive find wisdom in their own front yard; fools look for it everywhere but right here. Proverbs 18:6 (MSG) 6 The words of a fool start fights; do him a favor and gag him. Today I am feeling playful. I love the writer’s humour in the above scriptures. Yes they are full of truth and warning but aren ’t they funny. Wisdom is found only in truly seeking after God. It is right before our eyes, in our front yard so to speak. I have been reading the book Boundaries again, what fun I am having. It is giving me valuable tools. ‘fences breathe, walls don’t’. I love the practical wisdom I am finding in the pages. Wisdom was right in my bookshelf. I had noticed myself saying ‘no more’ to certain things and wondering at my reaction, I am now understanding that I am re-defining my boundaries. I am cherishing what is ‘mine’ more, that inside my own f...

Colossians 3:4-5 (MSG) 4 Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. 5 And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. Being in Pentecost can push us, as individuals to step out and claim things we want, yet as the above scripture indicates we need circumspect humility (being content with obscurity) as a balance. I have a huge vision and my faith propels me, yet, my God constrains me. ‘mine’, that which I am believing for, cannot hurt God’s people. ‘doing whatever I feel lie whenever I feel like it’, is not Christ-like. ‘grabbing whatever attracts my fancy’ is not on either. My vision and desires must be tempered by Christ, must be submitted to Him, He must be God, in ALL things. Sexual promiscuity, impurity and lust is prevalent and I have to guard my t...

For from of old no one heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has eye seen a God beside You, who works and shows Himself active on behalf pf him who earnestly waits for Him. Is 64:4 No one is like our God! He calls us to trust Him and as we do He goes before us turning our path into watered springs, even if our way is through the Valley of Bacca . We can see with our natural eyes and judge the Lord to be slack or we can see with our spiritual eyes and patiently wait and behold He is there, His basket full. He constantly challenges me to trust even though my natural eyes see nothing, but then how can our natural eyes see that which is spiritually discerned. It is like needing special glasses to see that which is hidden. I must hold the vision in my heart, nurture it and look to the Lord for His unfolding. He is lovely and as I allow Him to be so a fragrance escapes and fills my nostrils with heaven. Lovely Lord I release You to be You this year, let me see Your glory. Amen!