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...