The day with dianne Louise

“Keep in mind that we who belong to Jesus Christ have already experienced crucifixion. For everything connected with our self-life was put to death on the cross and crucified with Messiah.” Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭24‬ ‭TPT‬‬ Do you not know crucifixion? Daily we must take up our cross and follow Jesus. What is our cross? For most westerners is dying to the rights we have believed to be ours: ‘right to an opinion’, ‘right to be treated fairly’, ‘right to decide what happens with our money’, right to go where and when we please’. Our biggest enemy is our flesh, not Satan. Our flesh lusts after sinful things. Our flesh behaves like a baby wanting all the attention. Paul lists fleshly behaviours, they are not pretty: “The behavior of the self-life is obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, chasing after things instead of God, manipulating others, hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only th...

“Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, he will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you!” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬ ‭TPT‬‬ If we are raised to life why do we life as if dead? If we live in fear of darkness what is the difference between us and the world? In the past three days we here in Nepal have experienced constant rain and storms. Many areas of Nepal are flooded. Houses have been filled to the rooves. It took me seeing photos of such devastation to act in prayer. As I am high on a hill I was not impacted. I had the thought to write to the refugee families I am responsible for to see if they were impacted and it turns out they were. They had not cried out for help. I turned to the Lord and remembered Jesus rebuking the storm and His later words: ‘all authority has been given to me, go in my name!’ I rebuked the storm and told the waters to stay in their river courses and they did. I went to sleep and had ...

“Now, because of you, Lord, I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once, for no matter what happens, I will live unafraid!” Psalms‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ This verse comes from a Psalm of David in which he pours out his grief. His enemies are opressing him. He laments that God has not helped him and then he turns in the second half and begins to praise God. For the last two days it has rained steadily here in Kathmandu and the waters were rising flooding low lying housing areas. We went to prayer. Only God would help. Instead of focussing on the problem and lamenting how it was like last year we took the matter to God. He answered. The storms abated. The thunder and lightening ceased. Praise Him! I was reminded of the disciples in the storm tossed boat. Jesus rebuked them and reminds them of the miracles they had been involved in. I was reminded of Jesus’ words: ‘all authority has been given to me, go in my name..’ I took this and prayed. There had been landslides, airports closed, street...

“For every persistent one will get what he asks for. Every persistent seeker will discover what he longs for. And everyone who knocks persistently will one day find an open door.” Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ Open doors are what we want. How do we find them? Ask and keep on asking. Just as a little child knows how to never give up, don’t give up.  Why does it take so long? God takes the time to fashion us as a vessel fit for the answer. He removes all the garbage and grit, digs out the pride and arrogance, smooths the rough edges. When the answer comes we are ready. All is for His glory, not ours! This is not about me, but He! Others need to look and say, ‘wow God was good to her!’ Meantimes He is good, fashioning me for His purposes. Amen!

“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” 1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬ What does giving up our lives for our brothers and sisters look like? Realistically, it can look like us dying to retaliation when confronted with a hard truth. The next verse gives us another clue: “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?” 1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Yesterday I was confronted by the first and the day before the second. At times it is hard to give up what we thought was a right of our own. Giving up rights is the biggest challenge. However, we are called to lay down our rights for others. A friend confronted me with my attitude and reactions which I do not remember. However, as I had asked the Lord to help me with pride, I recognised His hand on this. I had to, literally, swallow my pride and confess my sin. It was go...

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭34‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This verse came from a psalm king David had written and given to Asap and the singers before the ark of the Lord. It ai filled with beautiful language. It is a psalm of thanksgiving. Verses 34-36 is the fourth and final exhortation is a reminder of God’s glory and the need to rely on Him for salvation (Holman’s study Bible). Jesus is my source of life, my salvation from sin, He is my all. This psalm is a reminder of the goodness of God. It is an exhortation to praise. We need to praise Him. Last night we had Bible study, beforehand we sang a few choruses. It seemed as though we raced through a set of songs so that we could move on the the study. I love to sing and worship and take time to praise. I want to make room for the Holy Spirit. We seldom give Him room to move in our agendas. The songs were beautiful songs of worship to Jesus. They needed time to tell Him in words how gr...

“He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.” Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Chapter 40 talks about our God, it refers to the imminent exile of God’s people to Babylon, briefly, and the future return from exile and the bulk of the chapter speaks about their saviour. It asks the question “who will you compare Me to, or who is My equal?”(vs 25). The chapter asks many questions of the hearers: ‘do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not considered the foundation of the earth? (Vs 21). However, the verse in focus talks about Jesus. Jesus told His hearers that He was the ‘good shepherd’, that many who had been before Him were hirelings. Those hirelings left the sheep when trouble came. (John 10:11-18) Thank You Jesus for coming and being the shepherd we long for. Thank You for carrying us when we are young in faith and ...