A Memo On Truth

So much speculation on truth these days. I hear and read people talking to other people about "their truth" or "my truth."

What does that mean anyway?  

Do I believe that one can have a separate truth from what God says is truth?

Do I believe that if God tells us not to do something, there are certain situations where it is okay to do it?

If I was born with a tendency to gossip, must I gossip or be unhappy for the rest of my life?  Or do I try my best not to gossip because He said it was sin?  

Do I rejoice in truth?

Questions I must ask myself and answer.

Are there truths other than God's?

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2023

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

I was reminded again today that our Jesus plus nothing equals everything. 

We are called to discipleship and to make disciples of other believers.

The main thing I want to leave with anyone who reads my words or comes to me for words of advice is this:

Yes, God has amazing things in store for us and yes, sometimes the amazing is happening right before our eyes but we don't have the wisdom or knowledge to see it.  

Sometimes what looks bad to us is what exactly needs to be happening to bring about the amazing.

Of course, there is the age old story of Joseph and his brothers.  Throw him in a pit, sell him into slavery, lie to his father and tell him Joseph was killed by a wild animal--these all appear to be very bad things BUT they were the exact things that brought Israel to the land of Egypt to escape famine.

If you haven't read the whole story, it is a must read from the book of Genesis.

Do we want to escape famine today?  Are we willing to suffer through "the bad" so that the amazing may show itself strong and fruitful?

All it takes is faith and trust--choosing to place our TRUST in God and His WORD--

I choose today to do this once again.  I choose to cling to the cross today.

I choose to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all of Israel and all of the Middle East.

 

A Godly Truthful Friend In a World Gone Mad

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the people who speak into my life. I have been reminded of how awesome it is to have friends who speak truth, the pure unadulterated truth of God's Word to us. 

 If we have even one friend like this, we are blessed. 

 My main friend who does this is God. I read His Word every day and count it as THE stabilizing force in my life. 

 He not only speaks Truth to me. He is Truth. 

 There is no truth apart from Him. 

 Even if you were to say that gravity is truth--there would be no gravity without Him. 

 All the laws of nature continue to operate because of the Truth He spoke into them from the beginning--when He spake and the planets were hurled into space--when He spake and billions and billions of stars were catapulted into the cosmos--all of them called by name! 

 Dead Man Walking?--I say Dead Man Talking!--Another friend who speaks to me every day is Oswald Chambersc long ago deceased. 

His revered devotionals--My Utmost for His Highest--is a book I read every day. 

And every day he speaks truth. 

 Some days are comforting and loving.

Some days are hard and confrontational especially when he refers to "spiritual prigs." 

 And somehow (Holy Spirit) I know when he is referring to me and when I need to repent and turn from my sin. 

 It doesn't help to have friends who commiserate with us in our sin--what we need is to "hear the truth spoken in love." 

 I pray that if you don't have one already that you will pray for a friend like this and that your prayer would be answered swiftly. 

Thanking God for the real live, here and now, Godly friends in my life, who do this for me.  

Thank you, Lord.  I am so grateful!                    

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2021

Willing To Believe

It certainly was a different Christmas for us this year. 

Some plans stayed the same.  Some got cancelled at the last minute.  Most of it having to do with COVID.

I have missed you.  So sorry that I got scooped up in the melee and did not communicate with you.

Today, I wanted to take just a couple of minutes to share this with you.

From Oswald Chambers, I believe it was on December 22.

"In preaching the gospel, always focus on the matter of the will.

 Belief must come from the will to believe. 

There must be a surrender of the will, not a surrender to a persuasive or powerful argument. 

I must deliberately step out, placing my faith in God and in His truth. 

And I must place no confidence in my own works, but only in God.

 Trusting in my own mental understanding becomes a hindrance to complete trust in God. 

I must be willing to ignore and leave my feelings behind. 

I must will to believe. 

But this can never be accomplished without my forceful, determined effort to separate myself from my old ways of looking at things. 

I must surrender myself completely to God."       Oswald Chambers

As a child I grew up in a denomination that placed great emphasis on "works," so it has been a struggle NOT to place confidence in my own works even though I KNOW my righteousness is as filthy rags.

I loved that particular denomination and believe most of what I was taught was pure truth.  Satan does love to twist even a tiny portion of what we are taught to get us headed down the wrong road or at least veering from God's path ever so slightly. 

The slightest distortion can end up being a major calamity somewhere down the road. 

When scientists and mathematicians were figuring out the exact degrees for landing on the moon.  The very slightest of miscalculations would have been disastrous.

So I want all of my beliefs to line up perfectly with God's truth.

These words of truth from Chambers give me great assurance and I hope they will for you also.

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2020

What I Wish For You This Christmas

First of all I wish that every one who reads this post today belongs to Jesus and has made Him the Lord and King of your life. 

 * I wish for you--PEACE--that no matter the upheaval in your life today that you might be able to be at rest in your mind, your soul, your spirt and ultimately your emotions and actions.  Peace that the world cannot understand.

 * I wish for you--FAMILY--Most of us won't have every member of our family present but I pray that you have at least one more person to spend Christmas with--it may be a friend who feels more like family than family--that is good. I don't want you to be alone at Christmastime and I pray you have fellowship that will keep hugging you all through January.

 * I wish for you--FOOD--Ours will be very simple this year and it won't be on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. It will be when we all can get together and that will be December 27 but it will be Christmas to me. I am going to fix a simple taco bar. Getting older is not for the faint of heart. I really miss having the strength and stamina to 'pull off' a massive Christmas dinner. But, I just can't do it anymore. So, I will make the most of what I can do.

 * I wish for you--JOY and HAPPINESS--something or someone to make you 'belly laugh.' Laughter does good like a medicine the Bible says and I truly believe that. I have one friend that we can just look at each other and die laughing. The simplest statements either one of us makes can send us into regales of laughter. The deep down JOY I wish for you can only come from God I believe. So I am asking God to give each of my readers true joy and happiness this Christmas.

 * I wish for you FREEDOM--freedom from oppression of any kind--whether governmental, political, familial, from the enemy's strongholds against us.  Freedom from drugs, alcohol, any kind of ungodly addictions--God is in the 'freeing' business.  Go out on a limb--ask Him for the impossible and then stand back in obedience to Him and watch Him work!

  * I wish for you PROTECTION--Praying that your guardian angel protects you and keeps you from all harm especially from COVID.  Be safe and protected.