The day with dianne Louise

“God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Are you persecuted for making a stand? Do you family and friends reject you for following Christ? Is the government of your country against you? Then the kingdom of heaven is yours. There are levels of persecution: many are martyred for their faith; many are imprisoned for their faith; many have to leave their lands for their faith; then there is the rest of us who just have a rough time being ostracised, rejected and cast out. Being maligned and misunderstood is all a part of the enemy’s tactics. Jesus told His disciples this would happen.  “And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Just as Jesus was hated for His stance on righteousness, so will we be hated. If we are not persecuted something is wrong. Amen!

“God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Jesus said: “peace I give you, not as the world gives, so don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 We hear a lot about President Trump working for peace in the world, however, true peace comes through following Jesus not man- made rules and regulations.  Man-made peace helps for a time, but there is always an underlying fermentation of evil, boiling, ready to explode. How can I work for peace? First, I must have it inside, onky then can I go into the fray and work for peace among men. In Luke 2:14 we read:  “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The angels announced the birth of Christ and funnily enough proclaimed peace. We know there was not worldly peace in Israel, it was inhabited by Roman rule and corrupt Herod. Not long after this proclamation and angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt with Mary ...

“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Purity is aligned with singleness of focus and refusal to be gossip oriented, selfish in attitude, or riddled with worldly attitudes. Rather, the Lord is supremely important and the maintainer of focus. What does He think? What does He say? With a god-focus it is harder to be offended, tempted by lusty thoughts, tempted by gluttony, tempted with self-pity. With an attitude which asks, ‘what is God up to today?’ An inquisitive attitudes leads an investigative heart and mind to seek God. When you seek Him you find Him and His goodness, His love, His mercy, His ways, His peace. I returned to Nepal to singleness of focus. I am here to serve my God. His ways are best. In His house is an abundance for every good work. Amen!

“God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Jesus told a parable about this: ““Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn...

“God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.” Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Is what ai long for true justice or ny version of justice? Is it all about me or others? Is it kingdom justice I seek? When I consider justice according to the Bible, I am mindful about of the lack of justice that my saviour received at the hands of religious leaders. They, of all people, should have unheld godly justice, however, their justice was full of selfish ambition and jealousy. This is the measure I must use. Is what I am wanting for the poor, godly justice or emotive justice? If I onky see the surface plight then I am not seeing the full picture. What is most important is what my God sees. What would He have me do? My sense of justice cannot be tainted by selfish ambition of myself or those I represent. I am currently watching Christian refugees fight for the right to leave Nepal. Nepal insists that they pay for all the time they overstay a visa, yet they give them no ou...

“God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The message Bible puts this verse as: ““You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.” Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ ‭MSG‬‬  The Jewish Bible states: “Ashrey are the ANAVIM (humble), for YIRESHU ARETZ (they will inherit the land).” ‭‭Mattityahu‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ ‭TOJB2011‬‬ What do I inherit as I humble myself? Something that would otherwise be blocked to me. The Lord has treasures untold but many people do not experience because of their proud hearts. Pride and humility do not co-exist. Most of these treasures are found in Him. He holds all things together. My goal then should be to humble myself in His sight and at the right time He will exalt me. Amen!

“God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Mourning is tied to grief. When we lose someone close our emotions need to express our sorrow.  I still remember the Greek mommas giving birth back in the seventies. They would cry and scream. I imagine that in sorrow they would do similar. Westerners do not do it so well. They internalise their grief and it causes themselves great pain. I don’t know how it came to pass but now that I am living in Nepal I make a lot of noise when I am hurt physically. The first time I fell cracking a bone I screamed, but what I screamed was: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, healing, healing, healing!” The local Nepali mummas came running. What beautiful people! They tended to me and cared for me whilst I had preparations made to go to hospital. Twice more after this has a similar thing happened and twice more I have screamed the same. However, now I get up in faith and say, “You are God Lord and I trust you to make me well.” An...

““God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ When I know I cannot help myself out of a mess, and know I need God, I am blessed. When it is no longer about be, I am blessed. When I am laughed at and put down, I am blessed. When I am ignored, I am blessed. When people say all manner of things about me, I am blessed. I know I need the goodness of God. That goodness I sit in, much like in a tent. God’s goodness is perfect, sweet and complete. I cannot reach into my arsenal as it is full of self. Self-interest, self-pity and selfishness stink. I treasure His goodness! It is full of Him! Amen!

“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ How do I humble myself? By refusing to take the high road with another person; by refusing to judge another person; by taking the lowest position and not insisting on rights to higher positions; by seeking God as a lord and not insisting I am Lord myself. Moses was reputed to being the most humble man who ever lived. Why was this? He had been raised in the house of Pharoah, but also knew he was a Hebrew and identified with his Hebrew  brethren. When God called him to be the deliverer of Israel he begged off knowing he was nothing. Yet, God uses the nothings to confuse the wise. Jesus was humble and lowly but God used Him to be the deliverer from sin. He confronted those who thought they were wise with God’s wisdom. The Lord can use the humble! Amen!

“But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.” Psalms‬ ‭77‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Remembering good is harder in bad times, all the previous bad hop on board to amplify the experience. However, just like King David did, I must recall the good times. I must encourage my faith. Last week I was told by my doctor that I had haemochromocytosis (high iron in my blood). Left untreated it can cause damage to internal organs. My father had this disease and he died from cancer. Whilst cancel is not a given organ damage is. Fortunately the treatment is easy: low iron diet and giving blood several times a year. This came as a surprise. It was not expected. It came on top of bad financial news and was followed by bad family relationship news. I find myself smashed and needing, like David, to encourage myself in the Lord. The result of David seeking God after all was lost was Go...

“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭20‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We all know what assigned tasks look like in the world, it may start at home with chores to do. School gives us assignments and so does uni if we go that route. The army will give assigned tasks. If we are not used to obeying or hearing the tasks then we are in trouble. If we are permitted to avoid tasks from childhood then we are in bigger trouble as we proceed through life looking to continue this behaviour. How do we know what our tasks are? The above verse tells us: winning souls to Christ. You might argue but that was Paul’s assignment he was an evangelist. Jesus told His disciples the same:  “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Now if you are particularly obtuse you might argue ‘that was t...

“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭57‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I am still grateful some 50 years later to the Lord for setting me free from sin and the penalty of it, eternal desth. Whilst my earthly body will die my spirit and soul will live for an eternity. The original plan was eternal life, however, Adam and Eve messed up that plan and sin came into a perfect world where God walked with His creation in the cool of the evening. Those of us who have come to Christ, humbled ourselves and confessed our sin, He has restore to Himslef and given us eternal life to look forward to. Life is so good with Him! Amen!

“While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ God heard Jesus’ prayers but there was one He did not answer, ‘deliver Me from this cup’. When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane He prayed this prayer three times but ended with: ‘but not my will but Yours be done!’ Right now there are many praying for deliverance from enemies, from sickness, from financial ruin or family breakdown. Gon alone knows which He can answer and which will be needed for people to walk through. As it was for Iesus it is for us: ‘not my will but Yours be done oh Lord!’ Amen!

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ To comfort means to ease or reliever someone’s difficulty or stress. The Lord takes us to Himself and holds us. I find the best thing He does for me is even in difficult times His presence shows up and I am at peace. He is worthy of praise for this! He is good! When people pray for me I sense this. It is sooo good! The best thing I can do for God is love Him and respond to His love; the best thing I can do for others is pray for God’s presence and peace to be with them. Jesus said:  ““I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Our response should be gratitude! ht...

“We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer. Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭1‬, ‭3‬, ‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We make plans thinking they are right, but the Lord weighs them and values them, those that are His are established and those that are not His are frustrated. Back in March/April a good friend of mine and I had determined to travel to Tibet in China. I was free to enter but my friend, being American was not. The trouble was: we had to book all our journey and present it all to immigration at the Chinese Embassy. To our dismay they rejected my friend’s application and I had to cancel all the travel plans. In April we went to the Tribhuvan University to seek support to undertake a a research project in North-West Nepal, it was rejected because of my American friend’s visa. I soon realised I was not to attempt projects with my friend as the Lord had a different path for ...

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬ When things go wrong we ask, “what did I do to cause this?” Sometimes it is the result of bad behaviour, other times not. We want things to go well, we like comfort. However, we do not mature spiritually in comfort as much as we do in handling pain well. I follow Jodi Erikson Tada on Facebook. She speaks often of pain and hardships. However, she ministers to millions. She was crippled from the neck down after diving into shallow water. She has to depend on others. She paints beautiful pictures with a brush held by her teeth. She preaches regularly on dependence in God alone. We cannot dictate our circumstances, but we can determine our behaviour, and as a result the effect we have on other. Today choose wisely how you will live. Amen!

“Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.” Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I was thinking about this yesterday. I have a desire to reach members of my family who do not know Jesus personally, and I find myself silent when I wish to be vocal. Am I walking in fear? I find it easy to love them and go out of my way for them, yet we do not discuss the hard things. Why? I cannot explain. I am seeking wisdom and insight. I have a strategy for one but not for others. Lord show me your way! Amen!

“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬ During any flooding disaster the news will report that many were rescued from on top of their houses, whilst raging waters surged around them; foolish people were caught in cars driving into flooded roadways and needing rescue.  We are all grateful for those who rescue us. Much ado is given to rescue organisations and even the army who have been engaged in the effort. We seldom realise that eternity is fast approaching. There are two roads: the wide road leads to eternal destruction and the narrow road to eternal life. I know God rescued me from eternal destruction. I am grateful for His hand on my life. He made Himself know to me when I was a small child and I looked for Him continually until I was 19. There He found me and opened my eyes to Him fully. I repented of my sins and asked Him to come...

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalms‬ ‭30‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This verse barely represents this beautiful psalm, the whole psalm is worthy of reading and meditating upon. “I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health.” Psalms‬ ‭30‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Are you in trouble? Do you have enemies? Are you sick? Ponder these verses! Always, a dark period is followed by a morning! Trust the Lord, speak His promises over your life! Amen!

“We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The verses before this is applicable:  “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ How does this apply to our relationships? We need to recognise the spirit that controls them and bind it. Then we can minister to them.  Ministering to people can be tricky. They can be so self-absorbed that it offends our sensibilities. They can be so hard that they cannot hear. Not being offended personally is a challenge. We must recognise their need for Christ and find the chains that bind them, then break them. Praying for people is more powerful than speaking at times. There are times to confront but times to be quiet and listen. Being prayed up is im...

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Trh book of revelation is a book of judgement. It tells about the unfolding of events in the end times. The Christian church looks forward to being raptured from the earth before the judgement begins, however there will be many come to Christ in these end times, there will be many who were lukewarm, or toying with the truth about Jesus but not having made a decision to make him their Lord. Unfortunately they will suffer the judgement of the world. The suffering of this last period will be tremendous, especially for those who continue to blaspheme Christ. The faithful saints will face death at the hands of the antichrist. 144,000 Jews will come to Christ in this period. This verse comes from Chapter 21, near the end of the book. It tells us what heaven is like. No more suffering, no more persecution, no more pain. It will ...

“I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke‬ ‭18‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Jesus told a story bout two men: one a Pharisee and one a tax collector. The Pharisee prayed. Self-righteous prayer to God, telling Gim how good he had been and that he was greater than the tax collector he saw nearby. The tax collector prayed a humble prayer. He begged forgiveness for he knew he was a sinner. Jesus said, “the tax collector went away forgiven, by the Pharisee was not”. The reason He gave was that the Pharisee exalted himself whereas the tax collector humbled himself. I had. A conversation with a friend who has frosted coming to Jesus. I told her that being good enough was not going to get her into heaven. She could not understand that her version of goodnes was not good enough for God. In fact she judged Him as unfair. What right have we to dictate to God what His standar...

“After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭4‬:‭31‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Yesterday, I shared with a friend that I have many family members who do not know Jesus. I awoke in the night knowing that this friend was praying for me. I began to see how God wanted me to share Jesus with them. The disciples, prior to the outpouring of the Spirit, were afraid and in hiding. When the Holy Spirit came, they had no idea what it would be like, it was a powerful demonstration of God. A mighty wind came, the place shook and tongues of fire appeared on their heads. They spoke in unknown tongues. The disciples received boldness and went forth preaching the gospel. Many were saved. It is time for the gospel to be preached! Amen!

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭16‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ ‘En garde’ is a statement, or warning used in fencing. It is a French phrase to indicate to the opponent and referee that you are ready to joust. It indicates the beginning of a battle. We battle against powers of the enemy. For over a week I knew I was in the enemies camp seeking to save a soul. It came to a point where I had to say ‘fin’(another a French word meaning finished). I had rescued the woman from illness and set her on a part of wellness, however her heart remained cold and hard and it was not the Hoky Spirit’s turn. I knew it was a spiritual battle, however, there was a human I had to deal with. I fought with her to wake up and see. We also battle with ourselves. We cannot afford to be offended and selfish. To me that is the biggest challenge, managing my own heart. I became angry at the woman’s hard heart and challenged her. I pray I was not destructive in what was said. Now ...

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭35‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We’re called to lay down all we expect from life and the attitude of getting and hoarding. I see so many here. It is amazing how justified we can feeling about buying one more thing. Yet we are deceived by greed. As some one who has chosen to walk away from the trappings of comfort, they stil call out to me. I have to remind myself of what my life is about. I am here to win souls, not the lottery. I am here to bring the Kingdom of God to earth. The Kingdom of God is pure, holy, lacking deceit and selfishness. It is in love with the King. Jesus is Lord, I am not. His ways and ourposes must be mine. Today I leave an old friend who wants to remain in the world of greed and selfishness. I fear for her salvation but have done all I can, except continue in prayer for her. Lord have mercy!

“Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.” 1 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The word search is very familiar to us. When a child is lost from home, a son of daughter goes missing a search is conducted. There are parents still searching for their children. However, we are encouraged to search for the Lord. What do we have to search for Him when He is everywhere? Because we get ourselves in places where the things of the world overwhelm us. It is not that He has moved, we have. David wrote these words as part of a song he gave to Asaph and the singer after he had returned the Ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. The ark had been captured by the Philistines in a war against Saul, the previous king, and caused no end of havoc in the lands where they tried to keep it. Eventually is was returned, but once in Israel the people had failed to treat it as it was intended and as a result a man died for touching it. Once David worked out how to treat the Ark it was returned on the sh...

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We are invited to a table, we may be disinclined because of the neighbourhood, however, the One who invites us has a plan. We must trust that we will be safe at that table and that the food is delectable. Fear can cause us to shy away from the invite. Faith says, “why not?” If you are used to answering in faith and responding to the One who invites, then all will be well. If not, the sight of your enemies may scare you off. Why are they there? To watch you enjoy a beauful feast with your Lord, and know they were not invited. They had their chance eons ago and rose up in pride against Him, now they grovel around in the dirt seeking to dissuade His new family from joining Him. They once lived in gl...

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This is a promise! We need to believe that God does care and that He wants to hear from us. Yesterday I had a hearing test. On the way to the test I asked the Lord that the person testing me would have wisdom and know how best to treat me, I asked for the Lord’s blessing. The woman was brilliant and I walked out with a borrowed hearing aid and the promise of two such aids worth $8,000 without needing to pay a cent. What a blessing!  We must believe that God has the best plans for us, that He will indeed work for us. Believing that God loves us can be a challenge especially if we have not know a loving relationship with a parent. However, God the Father is indeed a good father. Jesus told a parable about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). That son wanted his inheritance and ran off to a foreign land where he blew the lot on wild living. Finding himself destitute and hungry he came to his senses ...

“Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.” Matthew‬ ‭18‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ What sins was Jesus referring to? The disciples had just asked Jesus: “who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God?” For me this is a given- Jesus! We know from other scriptures that the disciples were always striving to be great in the Kingsom of God, they wanted position and power. Therefore, in light of this we could pride, vanity, self-promotion, etc.  Yesterday I attend my home church in Tamworth, my pastor made a fuss of me and had people pray over me, whilst it was nice It was not why I went. I wanted to know what God was doing. What was He saying today? He was talking about forgiveness. After church I wanted to catch up with a p...

“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Jesus was brutalised for us, for me! Yet, these words I read hardly pierce the hardness I sense around me. I am visiting an old friend in Australia who lives in front of the TV. There was a time when she was open to the Lord but now she seems closed, it is the hardness she surrounds herself with. How many others are like her? Many! The darkness here is different to that in Nepal, here is indifference, there is millions of demons vying for attention but an openness for friendship. Friendship here is what can you do for me? Friendship there is sitting outside on the kerb chatting whilst we watch the children play. Today I will visit my old church. In Nepal the Nepali Christians sing with gusto, they pray together like there is no tomorrow. Their hunger for God is palpable. What will I find today? The TV controls here! Nepalis, mos...