Yielding

I could not help but question when the word permission was used in relationship with the Holy Spirit. What would I rather give permission or yield to? Something in me wanted to say yield but I did not know why. To check it out I went the dictionary to understand the difference between the two word. This is what I found.

Yielding:

• to give up, as to superior power or authority
• to give up or surrender (oneself)
• to give up or over; relinquish or resign
• to give as due or required: to yield obedience
• opposite of yielding is to resist

Permission:

• to consent to expressly or formally
• to give leave or authorize
• to make possible
• intransitive verb to give an opportunity or allow
• opposite of Permission is to forbid

As you can see there is a subtle difference. Then I began to ask the Holy Spirit's advice and this is what we came up with. When I give another permission it us usually in some sort of formal environment where I am the leader or such-mother, supervisor, etc. I am the one in the know--the person in charge. Therefore I may give someone permission or allow them the opportunity in such and such. How nice of me! Ha!

Now if a person asks permission I may also forbid their right away in that area.

My brain tells me that no way am I the superior in any relationship with the Lord! I am not in charge. He has it all over me! How about you? In that context I cannot see myself giving the Lord permission. Furthermore, as I pondered this I realized permission gives me the inkling that I can take this privilege away from the Holy One. Woe is me!

Now let us reason together to yield to the Holy Spirit. That is to give way to our superior who has all good intentions for us. God is in charge of all the earth and heavens alike and all that dwell therein. How splendid it is to serve this mighty God. Surrender today and yield to His ways in us and for us. Yield by relinquishing all our own will over to Him. I don't know about you, but I really feel yielding to the Lord is much better than allowing Him permission. Lord help us not to resist a life of a yielded body, mind, and spirit.

"Lord, I pray, Allow me to yield to You in all my thoughts, deeds, and my needs. Allow me to serve with the flexibility that will allow me to be driven by Your Spirit! May I resist the temptations that come my way so that Your righteousness reigns within me until that day I come into the fullness of You! Amen."

Take Care of Your Feet!

I have had very dry cracked callused skin on my feet for years. Some relatives say my feet are like my dad's. He had callused feet and so did I. Notice the past tense. But I do own up to my own neglect. Very seldom do I dry my feet after showering. And hardly ever do I get a pedicure or apply cream to my feet. How are your feet?

For the last several weeks now I have been paying attending and caring for and bringing nourishment to my feet. It has become a ritual now. After I shower I take a few minutes to pamper my feet by messaging them with extra hydrating facial cream.

This morning I could not help but think how we should take care and give attention to our relationship with the Lord. For I know He longs for our precious times together. I give Him thanks-He gives massages to my heart. I give Him the glory-He performs mighty wonders through my hands. I express my gratitude-He gives me His peace! Just being still with Him on my mind alone places me in the position of His grace.

1 Timothy 6:17-19
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

This brings me to another thought: How long will I maintain this ritual of pampering my feet? How long will I continue to take time to be with the Lord? Good questions, right? Yea, I am so human. I get lazy and get involved with things and might want to hurry along my shower routine! And I just might skip over my quiet time with the Lord!

Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship.

Oh, Holy Spirit, help us not to neglect You. Prod us along so that we will become so longing for Your touch that we set aside worldly concerns and deeds to fellowship with you. We need to love on you the way Jesus had loved and still loves on us! May this be our living prayer! Amen.

Power Washer

You are probably thinking, "What in the world is Dianne going to talk about?" Have you ever used a power washer? And I am not talking about one of those wimpy ones either. I am talking about waving that wand and seeing dirt, mildew, and mold slim of all sorts just melt away.

As I was power-washing our driveway I had a few thoughts. One of which was reminiscing about the last time I had done the driveway. It was just after Charlie (hurricane in 2004) when the driveway was covered with all sorts of debris including mold and green fuzzy stuff. It was horrendous looking. After that wash it looked white as snow.

It seems to me that this is what the Lord does to our spirit man when we call upon Jesus' name to save us. He cleans us as white as snow. WOW, what a power-wash we receive. Pure and innocent we become; so much so our heavenly Father does not see our old selves. He see's us through the blood of Jesus.

Today I had another thought as I was power-washing. The driveway was not as bad as it was back then, but as I was waving that wand dirt, mold, and debris peeled off running with the water down the driveway. Now if you have a spouse like mine, he might respond to all your efforts like this: "Yup, it's the driveway. Good job." You see he really would not notice the difference. He just would not see that the driveway is once again light grey with nice colored shells in it. He would not even notice the new found cracks. He would say good job because I spent the major part of the afternoon out playing with the power-washer.

Sometimes that is how it is when we come to Christ. Some people won't even notice the difference with us either. Maybe we are keeping Jesus a secret and in that case we should reconsider who the Lord is to us and what He has done in our lives. Or it could be we have been living with the Lord for several years now and we need a new blast (a power-wash) refreshing and reviving of our spirits to carry us through the next leg of our journey.

So today when I went to prayer, I asked for a power-wash. I asked for His grace to blast over my life, my soul, and my spirit and to fill those new found cracks with His Love and mercy.

Let us pray "Revive me O Lord. Refresh me Anew. Use the Power-Washer of Your Spirit to create in me a clean heart towards You and others. In Jesus Name. Amen"

The next time you decide to do some power-washing ask God to do Great things within you. Washing you, cleansing you, and making you into a New Person not only in His sight but to change your character into His so others who gaze upon you see Jesus' character!

Blessings, dianne

Ruby

Who would have thunk that going to listen to Jazz would lead me to hear the harmony of the saints. As the musicians played drum, harmonica, piano, and all sorts of horns each playing their own part as if they were listening to the beat of their own inner melody, yet together harmonizing into a beautiful love musical.

If it had not been for Dick's high school friends inviting us that day, I would have missed the insight the Holy Spirit had planned all the time. As we find ourselves growing in Christ we realize we are all individuals listening, as it might seem to our own inner beings. However, if you look closely we will see each following with Holy Spirit's prodding. Together the body of Christ has many parts, many functions yet the SAME Holy Spirit who brings us into our divine purpose here on earth.

Romans 12:4-5
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.

1 Corinthians 12:4
Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all

It was as if the lead harmonica player was Christ and the rest chimed in as believers playing their part in divine destiny here on earth. I wish I could have saved that music so that you too could hear the beauty of it. Next time we are with the body of Christ, look and listen to the different facets, talents, and gifting the Holy Spirit has given to each and how each make up the whole body of Christ.