Sailing

'The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore." Vincent van Gogh

While visiting with a ninety-year old friend this past weekend, my husband asked her how she was feeling. She laughingly responded, "Well, I'm feeling like an old lady." To which he responded, "Yea, I've heard old age is not for sissies."

And to which I respond in thought, "Yea, life in general, even with all its beautiful moments, is really not for the faint of heart. If we live long enough, we will encounter tests, trials, adversities, and storms that will make us wonder if we truly are going to make it to shore.

I love the picture of the boat above, its sails emblazoned with one of my favorite scriptures. That is what we must cling to and believe with all of our hearts--God's plan for us includes a hope and a future and success. He doesn't promise smooth sailing, no rocks, no icebergs, no winds. In fact, Jesus tells us in John 16:33:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

So what is my 'open sea' today? What is yours? Mine is attempting to paint a portrait on a canvas designated for auction for the Arkansas Heart Ball, a gala created to raise money for research in the fight against heart disease. For some reason, I let this assignment petrify me. I am afraid to sail this open sea. There are too many risks to take--failure could be so imminent. I don't like to fail. I like to succeed.

While studying with Randall Hasson this past June, I made the statement, "I don't paint for fear of failure." Without missing a beat he said, "I paint because of fear of failure."

See the difference in our thinking. He let what could scare him to death, spur him on to success and I let it paralyze me, at least at times.

If you are wanting to set off into a new and different and open sea today, have at it--knowing the God of the Universe, the God who created the rolling seas, the winds-- from the soft whispers that flow gently through the pines to the forces that can boil waves of water into massive billows--wants to be in control of your life.

He wants to set your sails so that you get the most favorable winds possible. He wants to chart your course and take you to places only imagined in the minds of the most daring of fishermen. Give Him permission to take the helm, watch with anticipation and expectation, work as though everything depends on you and pray knowing everything truly depends on God. Be ready to haul in a loaded net!

And I pray that I am right behind you, or maybe I will even have the courage to set sail first.

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Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging.

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted


a repost from past pages

Give Us This Day

I am convinced that this phrase from The Lord's Prayer is a perfect example of Kingdom praying.

 "Give us this day, our daily bread."

 There are several meanings this could have and most of them are probably right because Jesus had a way of covering a multitude of topics with very few words.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a dream but today is the day of salvation.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  2 Corinthians 6:2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.  I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."

We should be busy about God's business today because this is the only time we KNOW we have to tell others about Jesus and His redeeming love.

So we ask God for the day and for our daily needs.

But far greater than our daily needs of food, clothing, shelter, water, we need the True Daily Bread.

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35

As many times as I have heard or read this scripture, my heart jumped in my chest a few minutes ago when I read it.

He is what we truly need.  When we have Him, we know that our days are not numbered--they cannot be numbered--they are without end--

John 5:24
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned;  he has crossed over from death to life.

So suddenly this seemingly simple line from The Lord's Prayer takes on an immense meaning.

Well, the mean has always been there--I just need to stop and think about the kingdom aspects of it.

Praying that this line of The Lord's Prayer takes on new meaning for you today--that your day is meaningful because of His involvement in it--

Love,
Dianne

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I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. 

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Thy Kingdom Come

What does this line from The Lord's Prayer mean?

 thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?

There is a lot of speculation on this particular phrase in the prayer and several different takes on it.  My take is this:

If we are to pray in the here and now for God's kingdom to come to the here and now, I believe Jesus was telling us to pray that God's rule and authority would start to take control now in each individual life.

We should be on the lookout for where God is at work, where He is indicating that He wants to be at work and then focus our attention, our desires on joining up with Him to make these things come to fruition.

I love the phrase "Break my heart for what breaks Yours."  I want to be so passionate about what Christ is passionate about that my heart will break over the situations that cause His to break.

So what would that look like in your world today--if God's kingdom were to come into your life today?

The first thing that came to mind for my world is this--instant obedience--in fact, I've heard it said that anything apart from instant obedience is not really obedience.

If and when God makes His will, His desires for my life apparent to me, I will take some kind of action.

I will either head in the direction that He is going or I will head another direction.  If I am only one degree off of His compass direction, my destination will be way off His course for my life.

So my prayer today for you, for me, for my family, for friends and for everyone around the world is this:

May Your Kingdom come in our lives, Lord.  May Your will be done in our lives. May we be willing for Your Kingdom to come in our lives, Lord.

Can you imagine what would transpire if each Christian prayed this prayer from a sincere heart, ready to drop any and everything and follow God wherever He is leading?

Am I really sincere in praying this prayer?  Am I ready to share in the fellowship of His sufferings?  Am I ready to leave all as the disciples did and follow Him no matter what the sacrifice?

I pray that I will sincerely embrace this prayer with my whole being.

Have a blessed day,
Dianne

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Please feel free to email me. 


I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. 

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

The Lord's Prayer--A Kingdom Prayer

Did I get it right in the last post when I said the definition of a kingdom prayer is this?

Kingdom prayers are prayers that do not dwell on the "here and now" and praying for someone's life to be easy and free of any kind of pain or stress, but focuses on prayers that will bring forth God's eternal Kingdom.

It seems that I said more what kingdom prayers are not than what they really are.

One thing about a blog I like is discovering day by day and being able to voice when we were not quite accurate (or totally inaccurate) in our quest for knowledge.  


I would like to restate what I believe kingdom prayers are.  

Kingdom prayers are prayers that focus on actions or attitudes today that will help promote and bring God's kingdom into our lives today so that people may be touched for eternity.  (I'm sure they are much more than this and I think God will keep revealing to us what kingdom prayers really are.)

While praying this morning and asking God to show me what a kingdom prayer really is, my mind went to The Lord's Prayer.  As I said it over in my mind a couple of times, I realized that it really is a kingdom prayer.

Let's explore it just a little bit.

Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name--

First of all we are stating who God is and all that He ever has been or ever will be in the acknowledging of His Name--in fact, we cannot even talk about Him in terms of "has been" or "will be" because 'He Is."  He is the GREAT I AM.  He says that about himself.  So let's take a moment and hallow His Name.

Personally I think we hallow His Name by calling Him Who He is-- so let's do that.

While you read these, I hope you will feel free to whisper (or shout) or say to God the names that come to your mind that describe Him.  Try to think of all the attributes or ramifications that are indicative of each name.

Architect--

Quickener

Victorious Warrior

Father to the fatherless

Spirit of Truth


So that is our kingdom prayer for today and what an awesome one it is:  Our Father Who art in heaven; hallowed be thy Name.

That will be my focused prayer today--just repeating that over and over to the Father as I go about my daily activities.

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My granddaughter is marrying one of the guys (Josh--doesn't he look great in pink?!) who graduated from the Ranch.  Their wedding vows will take place in September.  

Yesterday we drove a couple of hours to the place where they will make their home.  He will be farming, in fact has started already.  

I got to drive the big tractor while I was there.  And it was so exciting to get to do something new at my age.  And my "new knee" did great climbing up to get in it--it was a long way up.  

Here are a couple of pictures.

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© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Praying Kingdom Prayers

I attended a prayer seminar last night and all day today and wow was it ever good.

 I don't know that I learned anything that I did not already know but things were said in new ways, things I believed about prayer were definitely reinforced, and my lack of fervency and intensity in my prayer life were highlighted by the Holy Spirit and I was given new hope and zeal to continue in my role as intercessor.

Aren't we all called to be intercessors?

I believe we are.

Just for today we will focus on those we love so dearly--family and close friends.

Are you tempted to pray "fix-it" prayers (as they were called today at the conference) or are you led to pray kingdom prayers.

Kingdom prayers are prayers that do not dwell on the "here and now" and praying for someone's life to be easy and free of any kind of pain or stress, but focuses on prayers that will bring forth God's eternal Kingdom.

For the record, I am not saying we shouldn't pray those "fix-it" prayers for those we love.  Actually we should seek God about how we should pray unless scripture makes it perfectly clear what is His good, pleasing and perfect will.

As with Paul, sometimes there is a "thorn in the flesh" that is there for a reason--maybe an eternal reason--maybe God in His wisdom knows something we don't know.  Imagine that!  Smile--

That is why it is good to pray scripture.  When we pray God's scripture, we KNOW we are praying God's will.

What prayers should be prayed for our children, our grandchildren, extended family and close friends?

So one of my quests when I read the Bible each day is to explore and discover powerful scripture to pray over those I love.

Some years ago, I bought and read an extensive workbook by Sylvia Gunter entitled Prayer Portions.

That workbook, a book entitled Prayers that Avail Much and the book Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Jeanne Guyon transformed my prayer life from selfish, fix-it now prayers to praying scripture for family and friends and ultimately the nation and our world.

I learned how to pray but my zeal fizzled as time went by.

It didn't have to.  I was drawn away by my own lusts.

Loving "sleeping in" a little bit longer after I retired, loving check Facebook and Email and Pinterest before I read and studied God's Word.  It hurts to discover how lax we've been and to admit it.

Oh yes, I still pray but not with the fervency and zeal I once did.  So, for me that was the highlight of the conference and I am excited about getting my prayer life back where it should be.

Those of you who've read my blog for any length of time know that I have been lamenting my time alone with God, knowing it was not the quality or quantity that I have experienced in the past.

I want my blog to become more prayer focused so there will be many days when you may only read a prayer.  Come visit and pray with me if the Lord is leading you in that direction.

Corporate prayer was huge in the Bible so I invite you to pray kingdom prayers with me--prayers taken from scripture--God responds to His Word because His Word is His will for us.

I think I will open comments one day a week for you to share a prayer taken from scripture.  Then we can all pray it over our loved ones.  I am still thinking about that.  If that would interest you, would you please email me?  If it wouldn't and I don't get any emails, then I will just give it a rest.

So dear readers this is my prayer for you today:

 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,  because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—  the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.  from Col 1 

 
I pray that all of you will have a genuine love for all of God's people--I pray for your faith and love --that more and more hope will be stored up for you in heaven.  I pray that you will bear much fruit and that you will have a supernatural understanding of God's grace.

I have no doubt that I have prayed God's perfect will for you.  Isn't that awesome--yes even fun.

Have a wonderful Sabbath dear friends.

Love,
Dianne

Would you like to share your thoughts or your heart with me?
My contact information is listed in the upper right of the sidebar.
Please feel free to email me.
I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging.

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Your Prayers Were Answered

Remember when I wrote about trying to raise $1000 for Renewal Ranch?

As of this morning, the amount God has raised for Renewal Ranch through this endeavor is $1195.

Just wanted all of you to know.

Some of you have prayed many prayers for Renewal Ranch and for me trying to raise this money.

You will never know just how much I appreciate your prayers.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Praise be to Jesus!

My contact information is listed in the upper right of the sidebar. Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging.
© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

My First Published Book

Well, kinda! I published it myself.

Well, kinda! I used my Mac and Apple.

They did an awesome job--the quality of the book is top notch.

Actually makes my pictures look better than they really are I think.

And the cost is really reasonable.

I basically used a post I recently published on this blog (here it is) and turned it into a coffee table book or everybody book as some people call them.

If you would like to make a book but don't have a Mac or don't want to use Apple, check out books from Blurb and Shutterfly.  I have seen one that Shutterfly did and it was on the same order as mine.  Have fun designing!

A

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Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. 

 © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Armor of Light

This post is taken from my journal dated January 24, 2003.

 I am going to copy it word for word.

 {my words to God}

"I turn to You by faith, Lord--I turn deliberately from my mind's wanderings unto You, O Lord my God-- I am here to experience You,

O Lord-- Bring me into a vivid, personal, overmastering relationship to Jesus Christ to make me a minister and a witness.

Lord, I want to be devoted to You not a Cause--I want to be absolutely Yours--

As Paul said, 'For I am determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.'

{God's Words to me in my spirit}

"Tell them I will exchange garments with them--in exchange for their rags and filthy clothing I will give them linens of purest white unsoiled by the world and the world's way of thinking which we know is 'calling evil good and good evil.' 

Rejoice, my daughter, and all you who hear My voice that you are clothed now in armor of light--The enemy cannot come near as long as you remain in me--I am your Source, your provider of Light, I am He Who is and was and is to come--"

{my words to anyone who feels called to listen}

"He is our armor of light--

'Lord, confuse the enemy around us--'

When people come out into the bright daylight after being in darkness, they don't know which way to go--such is our enemy--when we walk in the light as He is in the light--

we can be free, we can be free--

a seed, a mustard seed of faith, a mustard seed of faith, a mustard see of faith,

{God's Word to my spirit}

"Tell them about the speed of light" (I didn't know who them was then--I added these words in parentheses today) 

Light travels faster than anything else-- 

My light will go ahead of you--will penetrate the deepest darkness, will excise the most malignant tumors, will illuminate the darkest of nights-- 

My light reveals, heals, seasons, brings forth victory-- 

My light will guide you when all about you is darkness and deep miry clay-- 

You will step one way and be safe, you will step another way and be safe-- 

Your steps will be ordered by Me because you walk in My righteousness and My light--thus saith the Lord Your God."  

Amen and amen--

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Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. 

 © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Faith Kept Alive!

I
was reading through an old journal from 2002 and wanted to share what I was meditating on at that point in time.

I labeled this as a "crucial teaching"--  When Jesus was looking toward Peter's denial of Him and cautioning him against it, He said,  "Simon, Simon, behold satan hath desired to have you, to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee, that they faith fail not." Peter's faith certainly faltered but it did not fail.  What I took from this is:  Faith is kept alive by prayer.  Faith is obedient--faith acts-  Faith goes to wash in the pool of Siloam when told to, it casts the net where Jesus commands, instantly without question or doubt or hesitation--faith takes the stone away from the grave of Lazarus. Do you know someone today who is in jeopardy of their faith failing?  I certainly do.    Let's take a lesson from Jesus and be an intercessor for them.  My friend, if you are reading this and you feel as though your faith may fail, please remember that I am praying for you, but more importantly, Jesus is praying for you.    Yes, He tells us that He is always interceding on our behalf.  What a glorious thought!  Be lifted up and encouraged today I pray.  Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.   Romans 8:34

Would you like to share your thoughts or your heart with me? My contact information is listed in the upper right of the sidebar. Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. 

 © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

A Tutorial On Sparkly Eyes (and other things)

Good morning,

Would you like your soul revived this morning?

Would you like to make wise decisions today?

Would you like to have a heart full of joy? 

How about radiant, light-filled eyes? Everybody loves sparkly eyes, right?

I memorized Psalm 19 a couple of years ago and am revisiting it because it was becoming a little fuzzy in the ole memory box.

It seems to me that this scripture indicates, if not flat out says, that if we study God's Word and put it into practice, we will have the benefits stated.


THESE ARE AWESOME!

 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

 9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.

 The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.

 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. The scriptures before and after this portion are great.

Sure hope you will give Psalm 19 a visit and some time today.

The last verse speaks about the "mediations of my heart."

I think the word "meditation" may be the key to this whole chapter.

God bless you all.  Hope your day is wonderful serving our risen Lord!

Would you like to share your thoughts or your heart with me? My contact information is listed in the upper right of the sidebar. Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging.

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

I Am Praying For You Today

I am focusing on Psalm 25 today. I am planning to read it at least a few times, studying and absorbing it as I go.

I am also focusing on Andrew Murray's book, Waiting On God and his "go to" scripture for the chapter I am reading is Psalm 25:2-3, thus my extreme interest in that chapter.

O my God, I trust in you;  let me not be ashamed; let not my enemies triumph over me.  Indeed, let no one who waits on you be ashamed;  let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

Murray states, "In our meditation for today, let each one of us forget himself and think of the great number of God's people throughout the world who are waiting on Him right now. And let us all join in this fervent prayer for each other:  'Let no one who waits on You be ashamed'."

This is my prayer for you today.  Wherever you are in the world, I am praying for you--I wish every one of you had a copy of Andrew Murray's book in front of you right now so you could read of his encouragement to you.

I do not want to be guilty of stealing his words but my friends--whether missionaries serving in lonely foreign lands who are feeling like their life's work is in vain or whether you live in a country that does not experience religious freedom to worship of your choice openly (wherever you are, whatever your situation), please know that there of myriads of saints all over the world praying for you at this very moment.

God wants us to share each other's burdens and in praying for one another, we do so.  My friend, it is an awesome privilege to share your burden today.

Blessings of love and hope to you,
Dianne

Would you like to share your thoughts or your heart with me? My contact information is listed in the upper right of the sidebar. Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. 

 © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Mud Pies!

i can't believe i ate the whole thing!

Did you ever make a mud pie when you were little?

Looking back I wonder what was so intriging about them.

True, we got to play in water;

true, we got to play in some dirt;

true, they did look amazingly like my grandmother's pies except mine were little individual pies.

Sadly we couldn't partake of their delectable goodness.

Speaking of my grandmother's pies brings to mind this little incident that has been told on my Aunt Frances.

I think she was about 7 or 8 years old when this happened.

It seems that my grandmother had just baked two of her out of this world, creamy, flaky-crusted, heavenly (I hope you are getting the picture here) chocolate pies and set them in the window sill to cool AFTER reminding everybody to stay out of them and not touch them until suppertime. (Well, that's what it was called back then.)

My aunt, being overcome with the temptation of it all, proceeded to consume a piece of one of the pies.

Knowing that she would get in big trouble if her mom noticed that a piece was gone from one of them, she continued in her folly and ate the whole pie, thinking all the while that my grandmother might not notice--if the whole pie wasn't there and a tell-tale piece missing.

Remember reading this verse? Prov 17:12
Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.

When my grandmother discovered that missing pie, whooeee, I bet she was every bit as ferocious as that bear mentioned above and I bet my aunt wished she had never given in to such folly.

Well, that is a humorous little story looking back but the verse is good for today.

Every time I read that verse, it really makes me stop and take inventory of my life and my priorities and what I am "going after" today.

If I am "bent" on something that is "folly," the people I come in contact with today might as well be in a remote section of Yellowstone meeting up with that she-bear.

Lord, help them.

And help me and save me from myself.

Oh, by the way, I was reading this morning where Jesus made mud pies.

11 He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." John 9:11

I've heard it said that His mud pies were simply divine.

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Would you like to share your thoughts or your heart with me? My contact information is listed in the upper right of the sidebar. Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. 


© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted


a repost from 2009 pages

Were You There?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there?



Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed Him to a tree? Were you there?

Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?

Read more about the resurrection of Jesus here.

Blessings for a wonderful Easter,
Dianne

Photos are of an original acrylics on canvas painting I did several years ago--
A

Would you like to share your thoughts or your heart with me? My contact information is listed in the upper right of the sidebar. Please feel free to email me. I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. 


 © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted


a repost from past pages

Before the Cock Crows

When did I fall so badly--
Did it start when my trust failed?

When He told me to come to him 

on ripples of liquid glass,

Glass that shattered and broke 
beneath my feet as I glanced down?

When did I fall so badly

Was it when He found us sleeping--

Not keeping watch as He asked?

I thought I would go to the grave with Him,

And then, just as He said, I denied Him thrice

Before the rooster crowed even once.

A lonelier, more haunting sound I've never heard

than that of the cock crowing--

Announcing the dawn of a new day.

As it brought good news to some,

Dread invaded my anguished thoughts--

How could I face the day filled with this dark knowledge?
Knowledge that I had denied, had lied, 

had cursed the One I loved so much--

The one for whom I left home, family and my life's work. 

It had come to this--

When faced with the question of knowing Jesus,

I crumpled in fear and self-love.

And I wonder..............

When Jesus, burdened with the sin of the world,

went to the garden to pray,

And returned not once, not twice,

but three times and found us sleeping . . . . 

If I had been praying

Would I have denied Him a trio of times?

While looking down at shadowy mirrored depths 
my faith had faltered,

While looking up at a heart broken 
from carrying the weight of my darkness,

My faith was quickened and I knew....

Knew that there would be another day with Him,

A day when all He had taught us 

would come true,

A day He would ask me, 
not once, not twice, but three times--

"Peter, do you love me?"

A day I would have the chance to say 
not once, not twice, but three times--

"Yes, Master, You know I do."


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©Dianne Hogue-2008-2012, all text and photos unless otherwise noted


Would you like to share your thoughts or your heart with me?   My contact information is listed in the upper right of the sidebar.  Please feel free to email me.   I love hearing from you and cherish the friendships I have made through blogging.