The day with dianne Louise

Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin. Proverbs 13:6 NLT Godliness is safety from deception.  Placing our focus on the Lord enables us to keep His ways, His words,  and His standards as our own. Another scripture says: godliness, with contentment, is great gain (1 Tim 6:6). The apostle Paul wrote this. He knew what he was speaking about, as he had more than his share of troubles. He also said: " I have learned in whatever state I am to be content" (Philippians 4:11-13). He went on to say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (vs 13) You can see Paul displayed a life dependent on the Lord, a content life. Amen!

Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin. Proverbs 13:6 NLT What is godliness? The dictionary describes it as devout religious piety. This definition is a bit remote. It also defines piety as religiously reverent. I wonder if the people writing the dictionary actually knew God? It all is so abstract, not relatable.  So, what does it mean to us, the Christian? If we unpack what Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I will abide in you," we might understand. Abide is a soft word for live. So as we live in Him, He lives in us. How can we live in Jesus? He is not a house. We live in His ways, His thoughts, His teachings, His truths, His presence, being aware of Him and how He would like us to live and act. We invite Him to live in us, we are His house. He is a good tenant, we need to be a honourable landlord. Speaking of landlords: I have taken mine to the tribunal for a fair hearing, as he is wanting excessive rent. I pray God will give him ears to hear...

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 NLT Wartime sees this happen, and I am sure it is happening right now. However, there is an unseen war being conducted against the Christians as I write this, but we fail to recognise it as war. Our enemy, the devil, is prowling around seeking to devour someone. He doesn't actually eat our flesh, but he does consume our souls, and if we do not resist him, our flesh will also be his, forever. We must be on the lookout for his tactics: offence, offence, offence. His biggest tool is offense. How do we defeat him? By laying down our 'rights' to be offended, and instead walk in grace and forgiveness. Choose forgiveness today! Amen!

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 NLT Jesus taught His disciples about forgiveness, and loving beyond reason. When asked how many times should I forgive a person, assuming they were being generous and saying,  perhaps 7 times? He said, "No! 70 times 7!" (Matt 18: 21-22).Jesus then followed this up with a story about the topic. Stories always bring an impact to the morale of the lesson. Jesus told about a ruler who had decided to bring his financial accounts up to date with those who owed him money. One of his servants owed a lot and was about to be sold, along with his family, into slavery. Be begged for forgiveness and was forgiven his debt. However, he went out and found another servant who owned him a small amount, and repeated the accounting, but he refused to give grace. The master heard about it and was furious and sent the man to prison where he was tortured until he paid what was due. (I often wonder how someone can pay...

Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. Psalms 20:7 NLT We see Russia boast it has taken Mariupol, and we wonder how they dare see it as just and righteous, which Putin does. It makes us wonder at the mindset. Yet deranged leaders are always with us, defying logic. There is only one who is good, and that is God alone. There are no hidden or wicked agendas with Him. We can completely trust Him. Many will fail us, even those we thought were righteous.  It is important that we do not lose hope when mankind fails, but rather put our hope in the Lord. Amen!

Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. Psalms 20:7 NLT Many nations can boast about the greatness of their armaments,  however one thing is needed, the Lord. The bible history tells of God's mighty feats in battle when His people praised Him. I love the song: This is how I fight my battle, because all it has is worship. I'm surrounded by You! I awoke at around 1am hearing this song and when I logged on to Arise Life to hear the Ukrainian report it was not good, again I heard the song. All we have is God!  My world is empty of all natural boasts, but I have the Lord, I am surrounded by Him. Why would He bother with me? Because He loves to love. I am loved by Him! Amen!

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Matthew 5:3 NLT I have had experience of the very poor in Nepal. Many who know English also know how to milk the white cow(westerners). It is amazing what a mobile phone and connections can do. Even church leaders followed this pattern, unfortunately they knew nothing else. When you are poor the temptation is to manipulate others by making them sorry for you.  However, this robs you of a meeting with God and His miraculous provision. If you are generous with what you have you will be generously provided with more. God is good! I have been in a place of plenty and poverty.  In both I had to allow the Lord to direct the funds. I became better at this as I grew older. In my younger years selfishness was more in control. The Lord wants us to yield to His master touch. He is our provider and director.  He performs both tasks brilliantly. Trust Him! Amen!