The day with dianne Louise

“Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion!” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ We do not grasp the immensity of what Jesus did when He chose to become a man child, the God of glory lay aside His power and chose to become a vulnerable, dependant human baby. Satan tried to kill Him through inciting jealousy in Herod. Herod ordered all baby boys two years of age and under in the Bethlehem area to be slaughtered. He failed, as the Lord warned Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt until told to return. Before Jesus began His ministry, Satan again tried to destroy Jesus through tempting His with power and glory, again he failed. Next Satan incited the religious leaders to hate Jesus for challenging them and their ways. He thought he’d won when Jesus...

“Jesus answered him, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’ This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is like it in importance: ‘You must love your friend in the same way you love yourself.’” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭37‬-‭39‬ ‭TPT‬‬ We associate passion with lust, but it does not mean that, even though the Oxford dictionary describes it as ‘strong and barely controllable emotion’. Yet the Latin definition of passion relates to suffering. Thus Jesus was called the man of passion. This past day was a day of Thanksgiving in America, and for it to be successful the Christ-type of passion would be required where laying down of selfishness for the good of others existed. Unfortunately, we have many selfish ideals around celebration times such as Thanksgiving amd Christmas. We want what we want and are upset when we don’t receive. This is a childish attitude that exists in children and ...

“The wealthy in their conceit presume to be wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them.” Proverbs‬ ‭28‬:‭11‬ ‭TPT‬‬ Serving in Nepal I have discovered many other foreigners serving here also. Unfortunately, because we are usually supported to be here, we are seen as a potential source of financial support for the Nepali people. It can create an ‘us’ and ‘them’ divide and resentment and complaining can result. Yes there are differences, differences we do not understand because we have never walked in the shoes of the poor. We may think we have, but we have not to the same degree. Conceit is a nasty haughty spirit of deception. Us westerners are used to living at a standard way beyond the poor here in Nepal. By Australian standards I am a poor pensioner, however, here in Nepal I am rich. Yesterday, I had another visit to hospital as I have had a long running cold and started to experience chest pain. I had a gamut of tests carried out and discovered I had a chest...

“Above all, constantly echo God’s intense love for one another, for love will be a canopy over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭TPT‬‬ For an example of love I look at Jesus. He trained and taught His disciples, He confronted only that which needed confronting. He forgave their sins. When Peter denied Him He made a special effort to cleanse their relationship after His resurrection. He was never offended by their behaviour. Offense is our problem. Judas was offended and this caused him to hand Jesus over to the religious leaders. Offense causes us to do and say things that are wrong for others and us. Whereas, this scripture lifts forgiveness and love over the sins of others. In practicality how do we do that? It takes a lot of dying to self. It is not a matter of what we thought was agreed, but what the other party heard. When we force what we believe we crush others and cause an offense. Our God is wanting a different standard, not a carnal one! Amen!

“And God has made all things new, and reconciled us to himself, and given us the ministry of reconciling others to God.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭TPT‬‬ We may not have realised we needed reconciliation, but we did. No matter how hard we tried to live up to a good moral code the emptiness inside remained. God leads us to a place where we are ready to be reconciled.  We have all manner of relationships and some of them are in failure mode. Sometimes need need a friend or counsellor to bridge the gap and reconcile us to each other. This week Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving and many will struggle because the process of reconciliation has failed, has yet to occur or may never occur.  Our relationship with God is the main thing. As we reconcile to Him and establish Him in the place of prominence in our lives He goes to work on the broken pieces. We now have the ministry of reconciliation to others. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No man or woman comes to God but thro...

“May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.” Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Why does harmony not always exist? Selfishness has a big part to play in this. Selfish ambition causes us to reach for ourselves at the expense of others; to tear down the character of others to build up our own frail self-image. The fear of missing out, losing what I have, making myself important so as to gain support all weigh in why I may abuse others. However, what does Jesus say?  “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”  John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Loving others like He loves me is laying down my selfish life for others. It does not give me room to self-promote or destroy others. Fear causes me to destroy others; love promotes others. Perfect love perf...

“And so the Living Expression became a man and lived among us! We gazed upon his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father overflowing with tender mercy and truth!” John‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭TPT‬‬ The Passion Translation translates Logos as Living expression. In the footnotes it explains this: ‘Logos is more accurately understood as a self-revealing form of a message. Jesus Christ is the eternal message, the creative word, and the living expression of God made visible. He is the divine self-expression of all God is, reveals, contains and reveals in incarnate flesh.’ John wrote, ‘we gazed upon His glory’. John fully appreciated that He has Jesus, the Son of God as a friend. When he says he ‘gazed upon His glory’, he looked at God living among men and was totally awed by the experience. He saw the overflow of tender mercy and truth. To live with this would have blown away all he ever knew about God. He had only known the God of the Old Testament, the judge and dispenser of just...