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.

Refiners Fire

Have you ever asked God to bring you closer to Him? Have you ever said "Send me, Lord"? Recently I asked the Lord to help me to become a drink offering! Did I really mean it? Well, yes I did, but the flesh is real tough.

I asked God to turn me into a drink that is sweeter than wine and as fresh as the honey from its cone! I asked that it be a drink refreshing to others and that brings Joy to His heart and glory to His throne! I have asked the Lord to make that a priority in my life.

I have found that it does not come without His refining fire! Do you recognize it when it comes? Heck no, I did not. But if you bring your challenges to a trustworthy friend in Jesus, you will soon see how our heavenly Father uses others to bring about that drink offering in you. In order to bring substance to all this flowery talk, a challenge will come your way as it has in my life. Who would have thought-I am still dealing with myself centered flesh! Yep, I am. Are you?

Love those who are unloving to you, says the Lord. Love those who persecute you. Shower them with love and praises. Jesus says "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me". Ouch! That stung. I must reevaluate my heart motivation. I must seek His grace. In my own right I cannot do those things. But, with Jesus all things are possible. Uh-huh, is this what Paul means when he says he knows what to do and yet doesn't; his flesh is weak?

I want you to know I am preaching to myself. Just chime in at any time. Lord you are so strong and I am so weak. Can I do to another as I would do unto you? Can I trust you will follow through if I dare to step out it faith? There is so much more I need of You-Your will, Your desire for my life, and Your love to flow through me. I need You more than ever before Lord. In a deeper, wider, higher way I need to be grounded in You!

Is this possible, I ask of myself? The Bible tells us "Everything is possible for one who believes". Do I dare and do you dare to believe?

Make the journey with me, come singing praises to our King as the Refiners Fire turns us all into pure liquid GOLD!

Are We That Far From the Truth?

Exodus 34:24
I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the LORD your God.

The Lord's promises to you are yes and Amen! In this scripture He promises to drive out nations before you and to enlarge your territory! What nations are they? Are they like the legion of spirits Jesus cast out of the young man. Those spirits found themselves driving pigs crazy and they drowned themselves in the water! Are those the nations? Are they those things that do not resemble His character, those things that resemble our human nature which is filled with pride, self-righteousness, and judgmental spirits towards people, places, and things?

Well if you are like me, you are probably dealing with some of that! I like enlarge territory, don't you? But there is work associated with that enlargement. For me the work is submitting myself to God, leaning on Him and not my understanding. For me it means less of my self-worth and more of His being put into me. Well the work is not in the doing. At most, it is about letting Him do for you and for me. By His grace we will be set free and by His grace we will resist the devil and who will flee from us!

You might be saying "Been there, done that." Yeah, me too! However the more I seek Jesus in all His ways the more I realize He has for me to change. The scripture goes on to say that no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God! Whoopee. That means no one can steal from you and I the things the Lord has given us.

So what is the catch? What does the "if" clause mean for you? What does going up three times a year to appear before the Lord mean for you? For me it is important to set some time apart from the activity of life so I can be face to face with the lover of my soul.

Exodus 34:25
Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.


Verse 25 goes on to say not to offer your life as a sacrifice with pride involved. "Yeast" is sin and so is pride. Can you replace "yeast" with another word that fits for you?

I pray that for the rest of our lives we serve the Lord. 65 may be the age of worldly retirement, but there is no retirement from God's purposes in your life or mine. The sacrifice of the Passover feast does not remain until morning. The sacrifice of our "lives" will continue to serve until we take our last breath.

Practice silence by separating yourself from others. It will bring you to an audience of ONE with the Lord. I have tried it during part of the retreat I was recently on. It is true. He awaits your audience! And I know He is beckoning for me to come to Him again!

Thoughts of Revival!

Psalm 85:6
Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Revive us again O'Lord.

Steve Camp and Graham Kendrick sing out "Revive us O Lord, Revive us Again!" Yes, we are born again, but are we walking with Jesus? Have we lost our luster, our glow, our zeal for the Lord? Answer these questions for yourself and consider if you need another touch of His fire!

What was going on in your life when you allowed Jesus access to your heart? Were you desperate, empty, lethargic, or down and out in some way or fashion?

For us to be revived we should seek His face and turn from our sin and humble ourselves before the Lord. Ok, you might say that you are no longer in the sin or lifestyle Jesus found you! But are you growing more like Him or are you satisfied where you are at?

Our glow, zeal, luster comes from our seeking, searching, and submitting ourselves to the Lord's will for our lives. The peace that passes all understanding continues to sweep over us bring us refreshment and renewal and releases us to share with the dying world around us.

I would like to compare ourselves to a beautiful delicate flower that is parched and in need of nourishment-water. Have you ever seen such a plant? I have. My own. When I neglect my African violets, their leaves become droopy and their blooms wilt before they have an opportunity to show forth their beauty. Then I finally notice and bring them water. The plants comes back to life, leaves spring upward, and the flower opens up with full color and beauty.

The plant must be watered with just the right amount or it could drown with too much water. For the believer, there is no limit to the nourishment we can receive from the Spirit of God. If your walk has been dulled by the earth's pleasures and you have been distracted by business, allow a visitation of the Holy Spirit to water you. Are you thirsty and hungry for a fresh touch?

Today I pray that the Lord will dig a deeper well within you, so that you will spring forth with a fresh revelation of His love and desire for your life-reviving you once again.