Dialoging With God

Dialoging With God

My Prayer

Lord, I take this opportunity to praise you
Even though I feel very dry within myself--
A desert that is cracked and barren, where plants
that once thrived have now become parched and shriveled--
that is how my soul feels--
Do I know beyond a shadow of any doubt that someday
that same barren, cracked, parched land will
flow with rivers of milk and honey? Yes, I know that--
My faith knows that from years of experience,
but my heart cries out to be released from all its sin,
its ugliness, its resentments and hatreds, bitterness, and jealousy--
My heart cries out to praise from a pure heart once again,
To praise my God from a heart of pure devotion,
from total and complete commitment to Him,
My heart longs to be a heart of flesh and
not a heart of stone--
A heart that has been circumcised to all the vile
and filthy things of the world we live in--
A heart where no area examined will expose anything
except cleanliness, no impure thoughts,
only righteousness, justice, and mercy.

God's Response

The Lord Himself will come to those
who are experiencing the desert of grief.
He Himself will shower the parched land.
He will rain on every inch until it is soaked--
Until the runoff of the Holy Spirit's balm
fills every nook, crack, and crevice
of your heart and soul.
Then you shall minister to others
who are experiencing this same grief. You will teach
them to rejoice, to clap their hands, to give way to
the rhythm in their feet--You will teach them to
praise God at all times--to cherish His promises,
to seek out the "hidden manna" of
Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior.
And then I Myself will come to you and wrap
you in fine linens--linens of purest white--
linens of righteousness, justice, and peace.
And when I look at you, I will see Jesus,
for He has taken all sin, all shame, all degradation
upon himself.
He has exchanged garments with you and
now you are clothed as in LIGHT--when others
look upon you, they will see Jesus and His brilliance.
They will see His love waiting to save them
from the same sin and destruction from which

He saved you.

God's blessings and benedictions to you,
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 24-25

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

More Than Watchmen

I prepare for the night ahead. 

The darkness here in the desert can be quite cold--

I cocoon myself in future warmth, 

layer after layer of protective covering 

anticipating the deepest, the most penetrating bone-cold winds 

sweeping across the vast spaces of my soul. 

The night will be long, 

 I've served this shift before

 and the moments, the minutes, the hours 

 pass as winter sap from the tree-- 

 I look ever so often to the eastern horizon 

 Waiting for the faintest sparkle of the tourmaline sky, 

I pace from one end of my post to the other, 

 Ever on the lookout for trouble, 

for any sign of the enemy. 

 At times my heart beats like the flap of the eagles wings 

 Once it's spotted prey-- 

 The night brings not so familiar sounds-- 

 Sounds I don't want to be familiar-- 

 The core of my being raps hard 

and I look to The eastern realm again. 

 And then the quiet, 

 The orchestral din of reverberated nothingness, 

The clashing cymbal of thought upon anxious thought-- 

 One more quick look-- 

 Can it be the fringe of amber sun spilling 

 Over the horizon onto saffron sands? 

 It has come--Hope rises once more. 

It has come--Hope rises once more. 

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning,  more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6

 This has always been one of my favorite scriptures. I think it so interesting how the last line is repeated. In literature repetition is used for a purpose--to make a statement, to get a point across--The writer is voicing his soul's quest in terms the people of his day can understand. 

If you were this sentry how soon do you think you would want the morning to come?

How hard would you look towards the eastern horizon?

That is how I want my soul to wait for the Lord.

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

Sealing the Meeting With A Kiss

When we consider what happened on the cross after 4000 years, it's no wonder that the veil was RIPPED from top to bottom, the earth shook, rocks split, and some tombs of holy men and women of God emptied forth their dead and these people went walking about.

For in the words of Dutch Sheets in Intercessory Prayer, this is where

 "Mercy met judgment

Righteousness met sin

Light met darkness

Humility met pride

Love met hate

Life met death

A Cursed One on a tree met the curse that originated from a tree

The sting of death met the antidote of resurrection."

 and these meetings were head-on meetings--no mealy little clash of one against the other.

Sheets refers to the scripture in Proverbs

It is better to meet a she bear robbed of her cubs  than a fool in his folly.

The Hebrew word paga is used here for the word "meet."  It is the same Hebrew word that is used many times for the word "intercession."

When we intercede for others or things, there is a meeting--a heavenly clash if you will such as a mother bear and the one who comes between her and her cubs.

Try to imagine just for a moment what that "meeting" would be like.

We've all read stories of hikers in Yosemite or Yellowstone who got in the way of just such a mother--I won't go into details but the outcomes usually are very grim--life changing for sure if not life taking.  The "meeting" produced an outcome.

As Sheets says, "When Jesus cried, 'It is finished,' don't think for one minute that he was talking about death when he spoke that word. The Greek word tetelestai, interpreted 'It is finished' was stamped on invoices in that day meaning 'Paid in Full!.'  Jesus was shouting 'The debt is paid in full.'"

Jesus has paid the price.  All that's needed to be done has been done for us to be more than conquerors.

Now it is up to us to pray the prayers that let these victories be loosed.

We are God's hands and feet.  He wants to use us.

Pay very close attention to this scripture--it seems as though I usually dwell on verse 17 the most but look at what it says in verse 18--

2 Corinthians 5:17,18  17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

God reconciled himself to us through Jesus

He has given US the ministry of reconciliation

When we intercede for people we pray for a "meeting" between God and this person--this meeting provides the opportunity for them to be reconciled.

Once again, Jesus did all the work--we pray to release His works.

You've heard of prayer meetings--think of the "she bear" again and that meeting--

Prayer meetings were aptly named.

Every time I pray and ask God to "meet" with me,

I will imagine his righteousness meeting my sin head on,

His mercy meeting what judgment I deserve,

His light meeting satan's darkness that tries to overtake me,

His humility meeting my pride,

His love meeting my hate,

His life meeting my certain death without him.

I speak of spiritual death here.

I will never be able to pray "meet with me" again

without expecting a collision of the highest sorts,

A collision that will release the victory 

that has already been won for us.

I know sometimes God's answers come right away

and sometimes they take years.

I don't care how long it takes,

I will pray and not give up for the certain victories

that I know have already been appropriated in heaven.

I will not give up on any situation in my family.

I will not give up on the salvation or victorious living of any one 

of the precious ones for whom I pray.

I will pray.

I will intercede.

And there will be a meeting.

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Psalm 85:10

Thank you Lord for sealing the greatest meeting of all with a kiss.

Through Jesus Christ's sacrifice for our righteousness, we have peace with Him.

Now His righteousness and my peace can kiss--

And it is so sweet--

This sealing of our meeting with a kiss.

I am adding this little note at 12:43PM on September 21, 2023.

If you are the first one to private message me through Facebook/Messenger with comments about this post, you will also receive a sunflower painting--I'm not sure of the size just yet.  It is yet to be painted.  No one has messaged me yet as of September 23, 2023.  

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

On September 24, 2023 someone did contact me about the above offer of a sunflower painting.

The winner is from Hendersonville, N.C.

CONGRATULATIONS and I will be contacting you about the painting soon.

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

Where We've Been Is Truth

"W here we're heading is all about plans and hopes; where we've been is truth."

I took this short quote from a description of Hyatt Moore's (American artist) autobiography, memoir 1 of 3.  I am supposing he wrote the description.

Here is a link to his website.

I had never thought about it in exactly those terms BUT one cannot argue with truth.

All of where I have been is truth.  Some of it good truth.  Some of it bad truth.  I am so sorry for the bad but am determined not to have it define my life.

I am determined to have God's truth define me.  I am determined to live a life full of resolve to do things His way.

Oh yes, I make many mistakes and will continue to do so at times but I know with God's help and my resolve to obey Him each day, I can have my latter days of life reflect more good truth-- not for my sake but for the sake of the Father--to bring glory to Him.  That is my desire!

I will know truth, God's truth, when I seek Him with my whole heart.

And thank God, ALL of His truth is good!!!

Hoping your day is filled with awesome truth!

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

Preparing For Fall

Do you love Fall? I do. Summer is my least favorite season so I always look forward to Fall. I love the colors, football, the crispness in the air.

 I also love changing the colors in our home to reflect more of the autumnal hues. 

 This year I am trying out something new for me--mixing magentas, burgundys, rust and deep golds as well as some yellow. I am really liking it. 

Oh yes, and white pumpkins!  I am not too much of an orange lover so I will decorate downstairs in the entry way and outside with orange--.

I'm not through yet so as it progresses, I will keep you updated.

And by the way, my favorite season is Winter--yes, Winter.  I love football and basketball, Christmas, blustery, cloudy, cold days when I can curl up by the fire with a good book and not feel guilty. LOL

If it is a beautiful, sunny day, I always feel like I should be producing--making hay while the sun shines.

See how lazy I really am!

Guess I will go try to cross a few things off my "to do" list.

I hope your day is blessed!

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