Just For Today

Reading Jonathan Cahn's devotional book, The Book of Mysteries, has truly been one of the highlights of my life.

Every day I look so forward to it and it always includes THE MISSION for the day which is a great biblical challenge.

Yesterday's devo was entitled The Apostasia and was about "the great falling away" before the end of the age.

Ephesians 6:13, Philippians 2:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and 2 Timothy 3:1-4 address this prophecy.

The devotional includes this paragraph--"In the age of departure from the Word, you must hold all the stronger..   You must commit to hold all the more strongly to the Word, the faith, and the stand.  And the more you hold the Word, the more you will find your stasis, the person you were created to be....And you will stand."

The Mission:  Take a command from the New Testament and fully carry it out today.  Commit to live your life all the more by the Word of God.

So, just for today, I will hold on tight to God's Word and commit to live my life all the more by it.  I chose a specific command from the New Testament to live by for the day.  Was I totally successful?  No, but every time I "blew it," I was immediately convicted and asked God to forgive me.

I think this is a great way to grow in His Word and that is what I truly desire.

I hope this is an encouraging word for you and that you truly grow to discover the person you were created to be.  God knows YOU and has a wonderful plan for YOUR life--Live it to the fullest.  God bless you all.

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2017.

The painting above was done about a month ago and is in my entry hall.  It is 3 ft by 3 ft.

The Weathered Old Barn

Astranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking.

He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway.

I told him right off he was crazy.

He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car, his hands, and the way he talked.

He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale.

I told him he had a funny idea of beauty. Sure, it was a handsome building in its day.

But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind. The summer sun's beat down on that old barn till all the paint's gone, and the wood has turned silver gray.

Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired. Yet, that fellow called it beautiful.

That set me to thinking. I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn.

The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den in a new country home he's building down the road.

He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful. Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun, only that can produce beautiful barn wood.

It came to me then. We're a lot like that, you and I.

Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us. Sure we turn silver gray too... and lean a bit more than we did when we were young and full of sap.

But the Good Lord knows what He's doing.

And as the years pass, He's busy using the hard wealth of our lives, the dry spells and the stormy seasons, to do a job of beautifying our souls that nothing else can produce.

And to think how often folks holler because they want life easy!

They took the old barn down today and hauled it away to beautify a rich man's house. And I reckon someday you and I'll be hauled off to Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good Lord has for us.

And I suspect we'll be more beautiful then for the seasons we've been through here... and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father's house.

 -- The Weathered Old Barn poem, author unknown

Happy Wednesday, Folks--

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2017

As a Christian How Should I Handle Persecution?

Ibelieve from study of the scripture that as Christians we can expect persecution at times.

 I don't have time or room enough for background study on this today but you can do your own, if you like--run some references and see if you agree. 

In John 16:33, Jesus tells his disciples--"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart for I have overcome the world."

And in 1 Peter 4:12-13 we read--"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that, when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy."

Scripture makes it clear that he is referring to sufferings for the cause of Christ, not things we have brought upon ourselves through unwise choices or ungodly living.

First of all, we are to take heart. 

To me that means to be encouraged, to lift up my head in His name.

Many hours could be spent on researching "take heart"--I think--if not days! 

Then we are to rejoice--oh me, oh my, really??

How do I rejoice?

How do I rejoice if my children or grandchildren succeed in their endeavors?

How do I rejoice when my favorite sports team wins?

How did I rejoice when I first realized that my sins had been washed away--as far as the east is from the west?

I usually let out some kind of shout--

I usually tell someone and brag a little on them--

I usually go about singing, making melody in my heart.

This is a huge subject with huge ramifications and I don't want to make it a long, lengthy sermon.

I do, however, want to encourage you to do the right thing.

We are to fan the flame inside of us and encourage ourselves--sometimes my flame dwindles down to a very small ember and I am not proud of the way I handle things as a Christian.

Other times, I see the growth in me when I handle things as Jesus would and am amazed at the work the Holy Spirit has done in me.

That is the person I want to be--the one who lets the Holy Spirit have complete control.

Lord, show me Your ways--teach me to trust and to walk daily, hourly, minute by minute with your precious Holy Spirit.

Hoping your day is truly blessed, Dianne

In this piece of art, the subject has surrendered her whole heart to the Lord for her whole life and will give Him praise through dance.

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2017

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

On Wednesdays, I would like for our focus to be on praying for the peace of Jerusalem. Wondering how to pray? Psalm 122 is a good help.

Yesterday, I wrote about how important reading the Psalms all the way through each month is to me.

I read five Psalms each day--

the pattern is

August 2 I will read

Psalm 2, Psalm 32, Psalm 62, Psalm 92, and Psalm 122--It is truly amazing how the Psalms tie in together when read in that fashion.

Today I wanted to leave you with just a little taste of what I received--now granted my journal is full and it took me an hour or more to write down all the promises and things that really jumped out at me today.  Each month different scriptures will seem to stand out on the page.

Psalm 2--Blessed are those who take refuge in Him--that makes me want to immediately take refuge in Him.

Psalm 32--Blessed are you when your sins are forgiven and whose spirit is no deceit--This makes me want to seek forgiveness for my sin and to live a deceit free life.

Psalm 62--My soul finds rest in the Lord and my salvation and my honor come from Him--This verse makes me realize how helpless I am apart from Him.

Psalm 92--The righteous (our righteousness comes from Jesus) will flourish like a palm tree--like a cedar of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord--They will still bear fruit in their old age--This makes me know that God is not through with me yet.

Psalm 122--May those who love Jerusalem be secure--Makes me desire to pray more faithfully for Jerusalem.

I pray your day is lovely and blessed and that we all choose to do things God's way especially during the rough, rough seasons of life.

All my love,
Dianne

I love the scripture about how sweet it is when we are in harmony with one another--that is what I wanted the ballerina photo to represent--

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2017

Can't Touch This!

My keyword for this year is "Proclaim."  I haven't done a very good job of doing that but hopefully can rectify that in the next five months.

One thing I have written about in the past are my Bible reading disciplines.  It has been years, I believe, since I wrote about them so I would like to share them again.

Every day I read five Psalms--no matter what--whether I am in another deep Bible study--no matter what--I read five Psalms everyday.

Let me tell you my rationale on that but first let me tell you how I do it.  This was not my idea--I read it somewhere--but it has paid tremendous dividends for me so I want to share.

If it is August 1 like today, I read

Psalm 1, Psalm 31, Psalm 61, Psalm 91 and Psalm 121.  See the pattern--whatever day of the month it is, I start there and add 30 to it until I get to the end of the book of Psalms.

I used to just read them and that was all.  Now I not only read them and meditate on them but many days copy much of them into my daily journal.

I am retired and have the luxury of time to do this BUT most of us spend as much time as it would take to do this watching TV or reading secular material etc.  So let's face it and be realistic, most of us do have the time even if we have to set our alarm clocks to get up an hour early.

I have read that many of the great saints of God arose at unheard of times to spend quality time with the Lord.

Previously on my blog (when I was younger), I have tried so hard to not hurt people's feelings and to say things ever so gently, but people I don't have time for that anymore.  I am almost 73 years old and I need to talk straight.

I am not being self-righteous or holier than thou.  In fact, those people who would accuse someone else of those things are no doubt guilty of the same thing.  What we see in others is usually what we are guilty of--I think you will find that validated in scripture in Romans 2:1.

What I am saying is this--most of us who say we don't have time to linger in God's Word--that is just not true--it is our priorities.

Now let me try to explain my rationale for reading five Psalms each day.

We never have the excuse--"I just don't know where to start or what to read today."  There is nothing Satan hates worse than to see a child of God become immersed in the Word of God.

Each day when I read the Psalms, I try to choose an exact word, phrase or scripture that pounds some meaning into my spirit for the day.  Tomorrow I will share the scriptures that God writes on the tablet of my heart for Wednesday, August 2.  I always, always, always look forward to what God has to say to me.  I don't know what I would do without His Word.

For ours is not a battle of flesh and blood but of powers and principalities--

Ephesians 6:12

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Dear Ones, when we immerse ourselves in God's Word daily we become equipped to fight these battles in the way that God intends--in the way that will be victorious.

So be encouraged dear brother, dear sister in Christ.  If God is for us, who can be against us.

About the art--Long story that I will try to shorten--This is a prototype for a larger canvas I will do soon--Some friends of ours lost their home in the Tennessee mountain fires last fall--the stories are harrowing of how people got off that mountain that was ablaze.

So the angel has his/her face to the fire and you can see the reflections of the flames--I added the black for some definition and then later realized that it resembles a sword--symbolizing to me the sword of the Spirit--it appears to be melting in one place but praise God continued to do its job of fighting against the enemy and rescuing that precious family.

Our friends felt as if an angel led them through the fire to safety and this is what I tried to create.

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2017

The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Cahn

The devotional book I chose to use this year is The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Cahn.  I can't EVEN begin to tell you just what it has meant to me or the knowledge I have gained from it.

A good friend of mine recommended it and I'm so glad I took her advice.  She is a "flipper-through-er."  In other words, she doesn't go in order, she just flips each day until she finds the devotional that seems to be meant for her that day.

I respect that way of doing things and with other normal everyday things, I am inclined more that way.  However, I usually go in order in a devotional book and that is what I have done with this one.

These devotionals are so good and so enlightening that I never miss one--and the ones for Sunday I read even if it is on Monday.  So most Mondays, I read two which is quite a treat.

I just have to tell you a little bit about today's.  It compares the trials, struggles, troubles, griefs, heartaches, heartbreaks to a weight lifter--a resistance trainer.  These weights make the lifter stronger.  The more he/she lifts, the stronger he/she gets.

I won't give away all the good stuff Cahn says, but suffice it to say I need to embrace the resistance.  I need to seek out that which will stretch me, grow me and strengthen me in the Lord.

Sometimes, I just want to throw the barbells down and quit trying--that is when I need to embrace the resistance the most, love the most, to rejoice, to choose joy anyway and yes, always to praise and give thanks in all things.

The barn doesn't have anything to do with anything.  I am an artist and it is one of my latest paintings for sale on Etsy.  I will add my Etsy website address in the next day or so but this site is not for selling paintings.  It is for glorifying God.  I just love to have some kind of colorful picture at the top of the post so that is why I added it.

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2015





I love hearing from you. Email address can be accessed at top left of this page.

To Try This Blog Thing Again or Not--That is the Question!

To try or not to try this one more time--that is the question. I know many who have given up their blogs and I was one of them for about a year.

 So,the pages of my life, huh? The pages of my life have been battered, torn, cried upon, tattered, ripped to pieces for the last almost six months.

 So am I down for the count--I don't think so--amidst the greatest griefs of my lifetime have come so many special blessings and it is those that I will choose to dwell on in my blog.

 Since I am retired I have the luxury of spending ample time with God and in His Word--I have filled a journal and half of another one in these last months.

 If it hadn't been for God, there is no way I could have survived this trial. What do people do without Him?

 I know there are those of you who have prayed for me and my family and for that I am so so grateful.

To others who have no clue what is going on in my life--we lost our 17 year old granddaughter January 1 of this year--to a disease that ravaged her precious body--its name--UC or ulcerative colitis.

We have also experienced some other heartbreak that I never in a million years could have foreseen but God is good and He has given us the will and determination to fight these spiritual battles.

Satan thought he had us down and would go ahead and finish us off--BUT GOD.......................

If you are going through the trial of a lifetime, I pray that you will hang in there and be blessed.

Hopefully as God sees fit I will be sharing some of my journey with you in the days to cone--the nuggets and down right boulders of truth He has shown me through His Word. 

I covet your prayers. Thank you for reading.

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2017 The painting above was done earlier this year and now has a new home in Clearwater Beach, FL.  It is symbolic to me of the quiet peace God has brought to my soul, spirit and heart over and over and over this year.

The Important Thing About Me

Not long after Kennedy passed, someone sent this writing to her parents. The mother of one of Kennedy's classmates had found a booklet the class had made quite a few years ago.

It blessed me so much and I was hoping it would bless you also.

Here she is with her sisters, Katelyn on the left and Caroline on the right.

We will always miss you, sweet girl.

And I am so glad that you KNEW what the most important thing was.

Thank you, Jesus, for her life.

Oh, the Glory That Will Be Revealed!

H

 ere's what I would like for you to know about Kennedy today -- shortly after she passed, someone went to her Instagram account and found under her profile that she had posted Romans 8:18.
The last year has been a great struggle for Kennedy but she was definitely a fighter and not a complainer.
Here is a quick version of the verse that I wrote last week.  I hope this verse ministers to you.  
It was so comforting to know that she compared her earthly pain to the glories that await.  How mature for a seventeen year old.  It blessed my old grandmother's heart so much.

This picture was taken several years ago in my back yard.

Have a wonderful day my friends.  I love you with all my heart.

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2015





I love hearing from you. Email address can be accessed at top left of this page.

Writings From A Broken Heart

On January 1 of this year, 2017, we lost our 17 year old granddaughter, Kennedy, to a disease that ravaged her sweet body--its name--ulcerative colitis.

 I don't know what the future is as far as blogging is concerned but I felt that those blogging friendships I've made through the years would want to know what our family has been experiencing.

 I will write what I can for now hoping that you hold us close in thoughts and prayers. First of all I want to make it abundantly clear that I trust God and His timing--I have no questions of Why us, God?

But it hurts--it hurts so bad.

I will be back.  I can only write a little bit at a time at the present.

I have some sweet stories to share in the near future.

The last time I saw her, hugged her tight, sat beside her at dinner on Christmas Eve was one month ago tonight.

I love you my precious friends.  Good night.

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2015

I love hearing from you. Email address can be accessed at top left of this page.