The day with dianne Louise

Acts 1:10-11 (MSG) They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes!  They said, "You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left." Something very good had ended and was replaced by emptiness. Death had this effect and for some so has divorce. I am sure the disciples would grieve their loss as grieving is essential to moving on. Yet two angels appeared to tell them that what was lost is returning sometime in the future. Moving into the next phase of our lives are so important. With God's grace we recover from all the pain and grief and then are ready for the next step. The next step was, for the disciples an exciting time, fraught with difficulties, learning and for some death. Yet they had someone that had never had before. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is just what Jesus said He is. He is couns...

Acts 1:6-8 (MSG)  When they were together for the last time they asked, "Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?" He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."   Timing is something we love to control but as we strive to control we are missing something, it is the Father's business and we are given the Holy Spirit.   Have you ever missed the point? Someone is trying to explain something to you and you don't get it because you are on a different track, then suddenly you have a revelation hit you like an oncoming train 'wham! you saw and felt silly.   Well this is one of those. we can be so consumed with planning and plotting who goes where and what the result is and completely miss somet...

Acts 1:4 (MSG)  As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but "must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. I am facing a finality in most of my life and struggle to see beyond the end of the present. I am constrained to draw aside, fast and pray for the new that is to come. Last night I met with my DivorceCare team. We have been asked by our incoming pastor for our vision. As we met and talked it felt like dribble coming from our mouths. We had all been convicted to press into more of God and we doing so but there is more. If I don't touch my community and see salvation I don't want to go anywhere. God give me the lost! I am praying for my team and those who are close to us, pour out your spirit Lord, ignite us for Your Kingdom, fill us with Your passion for the lost. Amen! Today I have put out the invitation to join me in a retreat, time to wait, pray, worship, seek Him. Time is short....

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (MSG) Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead.  As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse,  dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical,  treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God.  They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people. On Sunday I was on the welcome team at church and felt inspired to invite two women home for lunch. I  had spent the night before and morning with my family and was free for lunch. My question to them was 'are you spending time with family today?' to which they replied 'no'. We had a lovely lunch of cooked chicken and salad and bread rolls followed by chocolate given to me by my family. I was inquisitive as to why these ladies were alone on this, a family day. One woman, still grieving ...

Malachi 4:1-2 (MSG) "Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire. All the arrogant people who do evil things will be burned up like stove wood, burned to a crisp, nothing left but scorched earth and ash—a black day. But for you, sunrise! The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings. You will be bursting with energy, like colts frisky and frolicking.   The above scripture comes from the very last book in the Old Testament. The New was about to begin.   Everything we do creates a consequence, and fatihfulness reaps a harvest, as does sin.   Rather than beat ourselves up with the sin, we need to repent and ask for grace to move past the sin.   Some sins cling so tightly but scripture promises that God gives us a way of escape, if we choose it.   Knowing truth and wilfully walking in sin creates a destructive harvest not only for ourselves but also for those who come behind. Today, at this minut...

Revelation 22:17 (MSG)  "Come!" say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, "Come!" Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, Drink freely of the Water of Life! Revelation 22:20 (MSG)  He who testifies to all these things says it again: "I'm on my way! I'll be there soon!" Yes! Come, Master Jesus! We are bid come. I do not have the waters of living water without I come. My own waters stagnate if not flowing freely and they only flow when receiving the living waters from the spirit. Again and again we are tested with many things. A popular one is the rock of offense. We do not receive what we expect and we are challenged with choosing offense or life. People let us down again and again we are tempted with offense. Offense is a rock that blocks the flow. Each time I am challenged with offense I recognise it as a polluter of my water, it turns it bitter. Do  want this, do I want to live out of this? If I live out of this what ...

Revelation 21:5-7 (AMP) And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I make all things new. Also He said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful  and true.  And He [further] said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I [Myself] will give water without price from the fountain (springs) of the water of Life. 7 He who is victorious shall inherit all these things, and I will be God to him and he shall be My son.   He is not only saviour but He is Lord. He is coming again, He makes all things new. Amen!   He gives to the thirsty and to those who are victorious they shall inhert all things, not just in the heareafter but right here on earth.   This morning I hear an old 2nd Chapter of Acts song 'hear the Bells ringing'. In the spirit the message is loud and clear He has won, He has done it, He has risen from the dead. Greater than all the chocolate in the world is the event we celebrate.   More im...

Zechariah 9:11 (MSG)  "And you, because of my blood covenant with you, I'll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells. He has done it all, nothing is too great for Him. His sacrifice broke the chains of hell, broke the authority of our enemy. We are free by the blood of the lamb, free from sin, sickness and defeat. Nothing that our enemy concocts has any power anymore, we must know the power of the one who has saved us. Lord I give you that place in my life, authority over all the works of the enemy. No weapon formed against me shall prosper, I trust You to be my GOD! I will not give my enemy authority with my mouth. I am blessed and highly favoured of the Lord, He has done it all. Amen!

Zechariah 6:13 (AMP)  Yes, [you are building a temple of the Lord, but] it is He Who shall build the [true] temple of the Lord, and He shall bear the honor and glory [as of the only begotten of the Father] and shall sit and rule upon His throne. And He shall be a Priest upon His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between the two [offices—Priest and King]. Man of peace Right and true Straight and pure are you One way lives in You One path, servant of all One life cleanses all. Today You died For men who lied Forgiveness lives in You. Thank You saviour Thank You Lord In You I am free, forever free. Amen! My Jesus came and established the Kingdom of God, it is higher than the kingdom of men. Men are base and forever plotting and scheming but my Lord is light itself, His intention open and honest, that all might be saved. Today I remember His focus, His dedication, His love for the Father, for all who ever were, and who ever will be. Today I am grateful for His dying to all H...

Zechariah 3:1 (MSG)  Next the Messenger-Angel showed me the high priest Joshua. He was standing before God's Angel where the Accuser showed up to accuse him. Ah! we all know this guy! He shows up at the wrong places determined to pull us down but we have good news. Revelation 19:11-13 (MSG)  Then I saw Heaven open wide—and oh! a white horse and its Rider. The Rider, named Faithful and True, judges and makes war in pure righteousness. His eyes are a blaze of fire, on his head many crowns. He has a Name inscribed that's known only to himself.  He is dressed in a robe soaked with blood, and he is addressed as "Word of God." We know what the end of the book has to say. Jesus went to hell and stripped satan of all authority, we as believers, can tell him he is defeated. We have won by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. What will you say? Will you confess your victory in Christ? Or will you dribble the lies of your enemy giving him power over you? Re...

Zechariah 2:13 (MSG)  Quiet, everyone! Shh! Silence before God. Something's afoot in his holy house. He's on the move! The thought that God is ever planning for our good amazes. He is not silent on our behalf. For those who trust Him and love Him He has an answer, a plan. Many who do not know God think He is cold and removed from them. In fact they would start to wonder where he is with all the earthquakes, tornado's, tsunamis etc What sort of God would allow....... is often heard. In Divorcecare I often hear God blamed for the dissolution of marriages. Yet the people involved barely gave Him time or a thought but when it was convenient they blamed Him for their woes. God is there to be found by you, if you dare seek Him with all your heart. The key is 'all your heart'. In other words you are serious. When we have ears to hear and eyes to see what is happening in the spirit we hear God's heartbeat, His breath, we see His smile. Just because stuff happens to...

Revelation 18:4 (MSG)  Just then I heard another shout out of Heaven: Get out, my people, as fast as you can, so you don't get mixed up in her sins, so you don't get caught in her doom. Some believe the above scripture refers to the Roman Catholic Church, yet Babylon is often a symbol of  the worldly financial systems. Whatever it is referring to it does not matter for my purposes. I am very much aware that if I become so much a part of an institution, a way of life that it over rules what is good and clean and lovely then I need to get out. I see many so caught in the making of money, the buying of stuff that they no longer hear the whisper. I know people who so love their church and way of knowing God that they have become religious bigots. Both of these are wrong. I know Christians who look down their noses at the lost and the way they behave. What does God say? There are times when we get caught up in a way of serving that is bondage and we need to get out. Alway...

Zephaniah 2:3 (MSG)  Seek God, all you quietly disciplined people who live by God's justice. Seek God's right ways. Seek a quiet and disciplined life...  Again and again I must come back to the rock, to be cleansed, made whole. I cannot assume that because I sought the Lord yesterday that today I am right, salvation is continual, ongoing. Because I stand in Christ I am made right, washed by the blood of Christ, He has done it. It that understanding I am right. What I am aware of is the need to stay close to Him, continually live in Him. Silly little things can smudge my experience, like finally being invited to dinner and feeling the need to show why I am good enough to be there. Like I said silly. I do not need to prove goodness, in myself I am not good, in Him I am very good. Needing to feel important or well though of is wrong and I need to grown up and move on past it and I can accept that. My God's plans and purposes are greater. Amen! 

Habakkuk 2:2-3 (MSG)  And then God answered: "Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn't lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It's on its way. It will come right on time. Like Habakkuk we can look at what is happening all around us. We could assume that God is judging us but as we wait, as Habakkuk did we discover the truth. God has a plan. Evil is constantly swirling around, destroying what is good and clean and lovely. There is only one Hope for us and that is being hidden in Christ. He is our ever present Hope, He is our refuge if we allow it. He is the capsule in which we travel through all the powerful forces being unleashed on our world. As I am a sci-fi buff I imagine myself travelling through an asteroid belt, in Him, He is my capsule, I am safe, I bear His tattoo, none other. Thro...

Nahum 2:11 (AMP)  Where is the den of the lions which was the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid? The above is a picture of authority, the lion rules unafraid. However God was bringing a message against Nineveh. I could say 'where is the enemy who raged so violently against me? Where is the loud boisterous one who dares to try and take what the Lord has given? In the New Testament we are told that satan roams like a raging lion looking for someone to devour and that is right. (1Peter 5:8) In the book of revelation there is a picture of the woman in childbirth who is being stalked by the dragon. The dragon wants to devour her child. I am pregnant with what the Lord has given me and the dragon is raging, he is throwing everything he can against me but I stand knowing 'if my God be for me, who is this who comes against me?' The closer I get to birth the more the dragon flails around and...

Micah 6:5 (MSG)  Remember ....... Remember all those stories ........ Keep all God's salvation stories fresh and present." Stories are important. They help us remember. A good story bring life. Memories have been created, good memories need rehearsing so that the goodness of God is set free in our experience continually. Children love stories and if we be honest we do as well, especially if we experienced stories being read to us as a child. I remember them, I also remember the radio stories but best of all I remember the night I met my Lord. My God came to me with a gift that set me free, the gift of salvation. After 19 years of searching I found the love of my life, my saviour, how happy it made me. As I remember I experience that happiness. Scripture also tells me to speak out what God has done, even if I have not experienced it yet. 'let the weak say I am strong, the poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us.' As I speak what I don't yet ...

Micah 4:7 (MSG) I will transform the battered into a company of the elite. I will make a strong nation out of the long lost, A showcase exhibit of God's rule in action, as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity. No one transforms like He can. He takes what is considered foolish and makes it wise, He takes what is deemed unclean and washes it and uses it for His glory. There are so many lost but He has a plan. It is not mans plan, He will do it and He alone will receive the glory. In the preceding verses the Lord is admonishing the so called priests and prophets. Their way of leading is pushing and shoving, bleed the sheep for all they can get. His way is drawing the sheep to Himself and showing them who they are and what they can do. His temple that He will build will not destroy lives or become an icon or something to be worshiped. His temple is living and a giver of life. Amen!

Micah 2:13 (MSG)  Then I, God, will burst all confinements and lead them out into the open. They'll follow their King. I will be out in front leading them." Lord I put my trust in You, I say You are my God. When all my enemies come in like a flood I call to You and You come You are my valiant King You are my defense You are my reward You come on the clouds of heaven You hear my cry To You alone do I run To You do I lift my head No other God will hear from me No other man will hear my cry, it is well! You are my provider You are the One who goes before I will praise you and lift a shout My God will be the answer BUT God is my reply I release You to shine in the face of fear I uncover Your Glory within me My God and My King. Amen!

Jonah 4:1-2 (MSG) Jonah was furious. He lost his temper.  He yelled at God, "God! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness! If God was so disposed towards the city of Nineveh is He not the same God today? He is more so. He sent His Son to buy back all who were under the curse of sin. Today He sees the world through Christ. His Spirit is reaching out to the lost, convicting them of sin and the right way to live. I have to be careful not to judge but release grace. Lord today I ask for your ears, Your eyes, Your heart, Your words of life. Amen!

Revelation 12:11 (MSG)  They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They weren't in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ. I did not realise that the second part of this famous scripture was 'they weren't in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.' We hear quoted often the first part and encourage ourselves with overcoming. It is sobering to realise that the reason we overcome is that we have His perspective and love Him more than our lives. The western world will probably not have to die for Christ as much as have to die to self. Self struts like a proud peacock. Also in chapter 12 we read about our enemy satan who makes war on us. His weapons are deception, condemnation, fear, offense, self-righteousness to name a few. If he can't steal our inheritance by intimidation he will delude us with self-grandeur and keep us chasing our tail so that we fail to die to self. The goal is to d...

Revelation 11:10 (MSG)  Those people will cheer at the spectacle, shouting 'Good riddance!' and calling for a celebration, for these two prophets pricked the conscience of all the people on earth, made it impossible for them to enjoy their sins. The above scripture refers to the two powerful preachers that are yet to come in the book of Revelation and we are not them. However it does highlight that the prophets had pricked the consciences of those who heard them. We are the light of the world! Jesus talks about the need for a light to be put on a stand and not hidden under a bushel. We have a voice, His voice if we use it. We are the salt of the earth! How do we retain our saltiness? By spending time with Him, being cleansed, refreshed, rebuked, challenged to live as He wants. If you are a fisherman, you are a fisherman who catches fish. The fish are the souls. We are what we are called to be and must go and be that thing. Go Fish! Amen!

Amos 5:8 (MSG)  Do you realize where you are? You're in a cosmos star-flung with constellations by God, A world God wakes up each morning and puts to bed each night. God dips water from the ocean and gives the land a drink. God, God-revealed, does all this. Perspective is something lacking at times. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords made all we see and more that we do not see. When we discover where our solar system sits in all that we do know it is so insignificant, yet, the creator of all this says 'I have made you a little lower than the angels', this creator sent His Son to visit, to live, to die for us. When my children were young they had pet mice. Mice are busy little creatures they can wear you out watching them. They are caught in their own little world, we can watch from our bigger world but our presence does not change their perspective.   We can be like the mice, ever running to some agenda, our own of course, but not our makers. Stop, turn, look, ask, ...

Revelation 10:1 (MSG)  I saw another powerful Angel coming down out of Heaven wrapped in a cloud. There was a rainbow over his head, his face was sun-radiant, his legs pillars of fire. Revelation 10:5-6 (MSG)  Then the Angel I saw astride sea and land lifted his right hand to Heaven  and swore by the One Living Forever and Ever, who created Heaven and everything in it, earth and everything in it, sea and everything in it, that time was up—   God's angels are not wimpy creatures that lust after our lives or our bodies. They are strong, faithful and true to the one who sends them.   I hear much about angels from emotional people who have created a strange religion out of angels but their view is not realistic because angels come to do His bidding not ours.   Angels are messengers and servants who understand the Kingdom of God. There are angels over church denominations. There are angels who deliver messages to individuals and although we may not recognise t...

Revelation 9:20(MSG)  The remaining men and women who weren't killed by these weapons went on their merry way—didn't change their way of life, didn't quit worshiping demons, didn't quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn't see or hear or move. We see this now. amidst all the devastation that has happened in the last year, people stop and watch, some go to help, the rest watch and talk and then move on. Our society has hard hearts and only God can change them. As I, a christian, go into the world I have to take Christ with me and release Him to seek and save the lost. I look for open hearts, I look for an opportunity to speak. This life is not just about where I am going or what I am doing, it is about Him, what does He want me to do in this day? Who will He send to me? It takes a revelation from God that something is wrong, He alone can give that revelation and I am His hands and feet. As I read...

Hosea 14:9 (MSG)  If you want to live well, make sure you understand all of this. If you know what's good for you, you'll learn this inside and out. God's paths get you where you want to go. Right-living people walk them easily; wrong-living people are always tripping and stumbling. There is only One Way! If my government builds a road between Melbourne and Sydney and says this is the way, who in their right mind would say 'no I think I know a better way, I don't like this new road, it is too simple, too straight, to uneventful I'll go off on side roads where there are potholes, twists and turns and all sorts of dangerous people.' The sad thing is that there are many who do just this, so full of our own wisdom we choose, continually, ways that lead us up a dirt track. Why? We resist authority, we want to do things our way, we act ignorantly, we don't stop long enough to touch God and discover Him, His presence, His face. Just because someone else sa...

Hosea 12:3-4 (MSG)  In the womb, that heel, Jacob, got the best of his brother. When he grew up, he tried to get the best of God. But God would not be bested. God bested him. Brought to his knees, Jacob wept and prayed. God found him at Bethel. That's where he spoke with him God is able to break out against the hardest heart, to shape and mould. History shows us many who we would find unsaveable (new word), God delighted in bring to their knees with a revelation of who He is. Before Jacob was born God had a plan. He let him grow and go his own way, in his own thinking but then there came a day where Jacob met the immovable God. I must trust my God to move the hearts of those I love, to meet them when they least expect Him and change them forever. Salvation belong to our God, it is His commodity, not ours. He delights in pursuing lost people. I love to watch Him.  At DivorceCare last night our lost soul came from working two hours away in Shepherton just to ...

Revelation 7:15-17 (MSG) ..The One on the Throne will pitch his tent there for them:  no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat.  The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes." As I read the book of revelation I am aware that we are so not ready for the holiness and glory of our God. Yet the above scripture refers to the group of people who had come through the great tribulation and He was there for them. He will pitch His tent there for them, this shows a God who wants to relate and love, who cares. He is not distant or remote. How we handle tribulation is important as to whether we find Him there. Great tribulation can either push us into God or harden our hearts and walk away from God. If we walk away what does eternity hold for us? Forever and ever without Him is not something I will contemplate yet offense causes souls to leave in droves. I cannot let offense be a pa...

Hosea 6:6 (MSG)  I'm after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings.  Faithfully attending services and prayer meetings out of duty does not cut it with God. He is interested in alive relationship, a relationship that is as vital today as when it first began. I see men and women tearing their marriages and children apart because they have forgotten to stay vital, passionate, alive. Our land is full of churches where people turn up in body but their heart is far away and their spirit is a weak, tiny ember of life. Keeping relationship alive takes some doing. It takes priority, effort, sacrifice and a slower pace. If we speed through each day and each year and then our lives we forget the importance of relationship. The Lord wants us to draw aside and spend time with Him, that is why conferences are a good way of re-orientating us. I know Ps Phil Pringle from MyC3 church has his annual Presence conference coming up...

Hosea 4:10 (MSG) They'll eat and be as hungry as ever, have sex and get no satisfaction. They walked out on me, their God, for a life of rutting with whores. Hosea is being used by God to bring an indictment against the priests of Judah. Hosea had been commanded by God to marry a whore. Their marriage was a symbol of how God loved the unlovely. Yet God could see that His people were led astray by priests who were no longer priests, they were as bad as the people they ministered to. Last night I went with a friend to see a play that she believed would be good. It was base, carnal and full of sex, so I left. I think of myself as a priest, being a christian. I have to show that there is a difference between the church and the lost. It is getting really bad out there. Sodom and Gomorrah stuff. I came home with the resolution that I will settle for a quieter life with less and less of life out there. Yesterday I had lunch with my son at a local club and I saw a man in his 70's...

Revelation 5:11-12 (MSG)  I looked again. I heard a company of Angels around the Throne, the Animals, and the Elders—ten thousand times ten thousand their number, thousand after thousand after thousand  in full song: The slain Lamb is worthy! Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength! Take the honor, the glory, the blessing! The King is coming! There is a place where Jesus is mighty, honoured and adored. This place is foreign to earth but it is real nonetheless. We earthling may struggle with this concept. In Australia we have a queen, sort of, she is far removed from us. We have a democratic government which we vote for and we harass if they don't do what we say. The Kingdom of God is not a democracy it is a theocracy. He is King, He is in charge, we don't tell Him what to do and we can't vote Him out. He is! I remember a few days ago reading about the 24 elders around the throne constantly bowing and I said to the Lord 'there must be more than this...