The day with dianne Louise

“See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.” Isaiah‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This verse is so apt for today! My Nepali friend faced court yesterday and was charged with ‘religious conversion’. He was afforded bail and needs to return to the police station today. He has many people praying for him. Jesus s his victory! The Lord whispers to my spirit, “he will be ok!” What an awesome God we serve! He goes before us and follows us with love and mercy! Yesterday evening my flatmate and I went walking and we met a woman I have not seen for two years. She remembered me and invited us to her house for a cup of tea. This woman and her husband have both survived leprosy and the woman, particularly, lost her fingers, she has only stubs remaining. Her husband complained of diabetes and stomach problems. I laid hands on him and rebuked the sickness and commanded complete healing. These people are church folk. I sen...

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.” Proverbs‬ ‭13‬:‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Finding the wise is a challenge! There is so much noise out there! However, the Holy Spirit know who they are. Proverbs tells me who they are. “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.”  Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ These are few weeks of many verses found in the Book of Proverbs. The Lord is the source of wisdom, I am not! When I trust in myself and my own wisdom then I will fall. Today a dear Nepali friend faces court charged with proselytism. A good thing to be charged with. However, in Nepal an offence worth putting a man in jail for. He had also other charges made, which have since been dropped. May wisdom guide his defence!  This is something we hear from China and North Korea, Pakistan, India, Afganista...

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ For years growing up, I was taught I had to earn my salvation. I was raised in a Catholic home. As a young child, there was a period of time where, in the dead of winter, I would ask my mother to wake me so I could go to church, daily. The Catholic Church did not teach me that salvation came through believing that Jesus was Lord, and confessing the same I would be saved. I laboured under a load of doing. It was not until I was 19 that I encountered Jesus personally and made Him Lord.  Many years later I found one of the priests who had ministered to me and I preached the gospel to Him. He was a very old man and I wanted to be sure that he found the Jesus I knew. Today I look for those who do not know Him and share my faith with them. Jesus is the best news I ever had. He is the saviour and liberator of all mankind. He is the only way, th...

“And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬ What do we classify as ‘good news’? A clean medical report? A financial win? A successful bid on a house?  I think the best new I ever had was Jesus forgave me my sins and wanted me to walk with Him through life, in other words, He wanted a close relationship with me. I remember the night this happened like yesterday. I am still grateful! I woke the next morning and danced to work. I was sooo happy! Whoever asked why I was happy heard my ‘good news’.  Today I must carry the same joy with me so that whoever asks is told the story, ‘Jesus set me free!’ We want to tell others about our good news. Go armed and ready! Amen! Put on joy!

“The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalms‬ ‭32‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬  Those who know the Lord and saviour have been given the Holy Spirit as a guide. He steers us to the right path. Our lot is to keep a listening ear and not to have a stubborn and self-willed heart. In this Psalm David deals with the effects of unrepentant sin and the joy of finally confessing his sin. When his sin was unrepentant he suffered in his body but healing flowed in repentance. A guilty heart makes for a troubled mind, a heart clean before the Lord is a free mind. Knowing we are right before the Lord is peace and joy. A listening ear is good! Keep the soil of your heart fertile to the word of the Lord! A fertile heart receives God’s word with joy and much fruit comes from it. The psalm gives the outcome of the wicked: ‘many pains come to the wicked!’ but ‘the ones who trust in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding them.’ I know which...

“Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” John‬ ‭20‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬ How was Jesus sent? Jesus announced this when He read from the scroll of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,  Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ There was one sentence Jesus omitted, the very last: “and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.” He constantly told people He did not come to judge the world but to set it free from it’s sin. We read this in John 3:17: “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” John‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Jesus portrayed what being sent looked like: He taught, healed, delivered from demonic oppression and fed. He also pa...

“It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Paul, in this chapter, is dealing with factions developing within the Corinthian church. The enemy was dividing the people with their loyalties. One was devoted to Paul and another to a man called Apollos. I am grateful for this message because Paul reminds us that it is God who gives growth to the seed. We can, so easily, become distracted and make idols of people, only to have them torn down before our eyes. I listen to many preachers and they are all different, but all good. They each have a different flavour. However, I find my time, alone, in the word with the Lord the best, because He is the best! He brings me revelation...