The day with dianne Louise

“Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭7‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This was a part of Moses’ last message to the children of Israel before they went, under Joshua’s leadership, into the promised land. He was reminding the people they had a holy and righteous God. He would not tolerate sin but shower blessing on the faithful. Although the people said, “we will obey”, they did not obey. By their own will they were incapable of faithfulness. That is why, centuries later, at the right time, He sent Jesus. Jesus is and was God’s compassion. Without a new heart we will continue to follow after sin. We will create our own God’s and do what is right in our own eyes. However, as renewed people we can follow Him and faithfully acknowledge Jesus as our saviour and source of life. The moment we become proud we fall. Today Inmu...

“I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.”  Psalms‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This Psalm was supposed to be sung with the tune to a song: ‘for the death of a son’. It is a alphabetic acrostic, that is it is written with each line staring with a letter of the alphabet. Whilst we know David lost a son, his first child with Bathsheba it is reckoned that the tune used was a popular one in the day he wrote the psalm. It so more a praise psalm to the Lord. My constant challenge is to keep my mind on praising the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind. I find my mind wandering when I sing songs in my daily devotion. Perhaps David’s habit of writing new Psalms kept him focused and kept him from wandering. I am thinking of find a new worship song. I have sung favourites for about a year now. When you sing words that no longer hold you in awe it is time t...

“I thank my God every time I remember you.” In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Paul was saying he remembered the Philippians with fondness. This church partnered with him in his missionary work. For us who are on the mission field finding these people is a challenge but they are there. Last visit home I discovered who mine were. They were people I had sowed my life into in regular Bible study week after week, and then there was a couple who stepped up as well. I now pray for them daily. They were not the obvious, the rich or well connected. Yet they were the faithful, the committed and the loving. Daily I pray for friends who are also on the mission field with me and have been in the past. Their committment to the gospel blesses me. As I...

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We will have many ideas and discover many useful tools to form those ideas but the true wisdom and strength comes from the Lord. I recently used AI to put together a business idea. I found AI very informative but was warned to check everything by an IT friend of mine. On checking facts I discovered AI had left out inportant information which was a deciding factor in which model to take. I have noticed, recently, that UTube has changed and so has Facebook. They have an uncomfortable feel about them. It is as if it no longer is people sharing their ideas but all about a master knowledge source. Yesterday I listened to a young man tell of a dream he had...

“So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ We have a choice as Christians, when we become Born Again we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Do we want our minds controlled by what is good and clean and lovely or by the selfish flesh? Allowing our minds to be controlled by the things of God brings life and peace. Allowing it to be controlled by the things of the world and flesh brings rottenness and death. Each day we will be greeted with an opportunity to choose to praise God and worship Him for His goodness or choose the lusts of this world, the critical attitudes of the is world, the selfish attitudes of this world, or life. God said the following to Israel after bringing them out of Egypt: I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live,...

“For I hold you by your right hand— I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.” Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The whole chapter is a promise to Israel, God would be with them against lands who make their own idols and will fail. I am living in a land of a people who have many idols which they themselves have carved. The idol is formed in an image that has been  accepted from of old. This word speaks against these idols as Jehovah God is the One true God. Idols are motivated by demons. Demons have no power to create, they only destroy. Our Jehovah God is the creator, the all powerful One. In this scripture He says: “I hold your right hand”. This is personal an Fatherly. I see Israel today being protected by God’s presence. Many are standing against her but with God on their side they are a majority. We see Iran continue to attempt to destroy Israel and fail. As a Christian, I place my trust in the Lord Jesus and Father God alone! He is my God! I clai...

“The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.” ‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Lamentations was written by Jeremiah. Jeremiah had prophesied to the people of Jerusalem without fail and had been imprisoned, thrown in a well and treated shamefully by all including the king. Yet, in this chapter he identifies with those being judged, just as he had prophesied. He is often called ‘the weeping prophet’. However, his words ring true to us so many years past where God’s people were being judged for their sins. God is near to us when we search for Him. His ears are open to our cries. It is always good to turn to the Lord. He is always open to speak to our hearts. He is goodness itself, patiently...

“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ These were words spoken by Moses to Joshua. Moses was passing on the mantle of leadership to Joshua. God had shown Moses he would not go into the promised land but that Joshua would lead the people there. Now, given the role of leading the huge crowd of Israelites across a swollen, flooded river, Joshua may have been tempted to be anxious. However, Moses was encouraging him with these words. Joshua saw Moses handle the beligerent crowd for some forty years. He knew they were not particularly obedient or faithful. Yet, Joshua had spent time at the tent of the Lord and had developed his own relationship with His God. When he does make it into the Promises Land God meets Him and encourages him also. God’s word is eternal and full of life. We can also take courage from these words. Today we move one step closer to the p...

“Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Do we grasp the beauty of these verses? They show our beautiful God speak light into our world. The power that acted when He spoke. The previous verse says:  “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The Holy Spirit was hovering over our former emptiness, waiting for the word. John 1 tells us who that word was. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines i...

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The burdens we carry vary: emotional, physical, financial, relational. Jesus is offering Himself as a solution to all of them, yes all! We do not need to carry the burdens, we just need to pray about them and give them to Him. Yesterday I met with a visiting pastor from Australia and my young colleague who was doing the talks in schools about human trafficking. They were going down a path of Bible teaching and I am going down a different path. My young friend wants to again be involved in my latest thrust into business. I cannot see a way, but God can. He knows exactly where He wants us all in His picture. God is in the future and the mystery. I do not have a handle on all He is doing, but He does. I can trust Him for the big picture. He has it together, I have only a part. Today is Saturday, I will rest from my labours and allow God to work, for He...

“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.”  Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Ooh! So we don’t shoot them? We don’t shoot the wounded?? The Christian church can be guilty of wiping off those who sin, instead of praying for them and ‘gently and humbly’ restoring them.  Yes I know there are other scriptures where Paul instructs to cast out a member, however, that is usually after they have failed to repent and turn back to truth, and even then it was only for a time so that the person was not destroyed. Yes, there are those who fail to repent and even cause grief to their leaders. But, are they a majority or minority? In our microw...

“I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’” Hosea‬ ‭10‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The book of Hosea was primarily written against Israel. Israel was in a time of prosperity but in it forsook the Lord for foreign gods. This verse is a call to repentance, but it was not heeded. Prosperity tends to allow pride and falsehood. The west has prospered but turned away from their God. People elevate their own opinions, own desires and are hardened to God’s heart and His desires. We do well to open our ears to what God is saying to us in this verse. If we diligently read the Bible we hear calls back to our first love, Jesus. He died so that we might have new life. He blesses us with His goodness and presence in our hearts. Do we allow Him to reign or is the throne of our hearts usurped by king I? Are our lives consumed with comfort and en...

“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. When I was prosperous, I said, “Nothing can stop me now!” Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭30‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ If there is one thing the Lord hates, it is pride. Satan’s fall was pride in self. We read in the book of Daniel how Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a great tree in which the birds enjoyed living but is was cut down and a metal band was places around it and for seven years it could not grow. The dream spoke of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride in self and God’s judgement. Daniel warned him not to be proud and he held it in check for 12 months but then he let it loose. In the book of Ezekiel God’s prophet is required to prophesy against Egypt and Assyria. They became tall tress but were cut down by the Lord, because of their pride. Our Bible is full of such stories. Pride d...

“In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.”  1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ What causes us to be proud? Personal success does this. We fail to give glory to our God who enables us this success. We easily think we have done it when our God has made a way. Pride causes us to mismanage our relationships with others. We treat them as less than ourselves. We use them as pawns in a game, and this is wrong. We are called to love and honour. How is our God wanting us to treat these people? Yesterday, I had a call from my music teacher to ask me to attend my class a day earlier as today is a holiday in rememberance of the lives lost last year in the youth uprising. I was out of home but happily obliged. My teacher was coveri...

“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...