Pride - It's a Bug!

Pride’s a lethal virus that affects each living man,

and we don’t often know the range of evil that is spans.

We don’t know that awful pride is there within our hearts

unless we look beyond ourselves,

and take our thoughts apart.

Or possibly we’ll find it tucked within our halo’d hair,

preparing to reveal itself, when we least expect it there.

Pride masquerades as many things. Its costumes are so fine,

that you sometimes even think it is humility divine.

Pride’s a lethal virus that affects our walk as well.

We stumble on our “I” and “me”

in the stories that we tell.

In tales of glory, we’re the ones that win the big grand prize

for deeds we’ve done and races run; our works are supersized.

Pride enters through a mirror that reflects a wish to shine,

and hear the words that puff us up; those words we underline.

You see –

When pride builds me and lessens you, I need to ask what I should do.

Whether searching for the spotlight or looking in the glass

If I am first, that pushes you to second or to last.

The Bible tells us just the way to act our parts and what to say

“Put others first – on the front row.”

That’s really all we have to know to keep ourselves from falling prey

to the virus that we fight each day.

Diane



Look Beyond the Pane

I’m looking out the window – the snow is settling on the branches of the pines, there’s a little hint of sunshine on the trees across the drive. It’s a beautiful winter wonderland. But what if, when I looked out that window, my eyes caught the smear on the inside and the dirty spots that are definitely there. What if I couldn’t get past that window pane? I would never be able to see the beauty that lies just beyond the glass.

What if a moving song was sung by a less than splendid singer? If her voice cracked a bit on the high notes and there were a few fumbles for words, what if I couldn’t look past the delivery to be moved by the message? I would never know what was in the heart of the song writer. I might miss something that could be of great comfort or inspiration to me.

What if I met a person of great wisdom, but would not listen to his sage advice because he appeared to be somehow very different from me, or if he was a bit intimidating? I would never hear or learn what God had in mind for me to heed.

If we look out the window and think – “that’s a dirty window pane,” we’ll never really consider what’s on the outside. If we look at a rose and worry about the prickly thorns, we’ll never be able to smell the beautiful fragrance.

Looking beyond the glass, looking beyond the messenger, looking beyond the comfortable, all of these things make life an adventure.

Let’s start this new year by looking beyond the window panes, and see what exciting things God has planned for us.

Look beyond the window glass.

Yes, look beyond the pane.

Look beyond perfection’s loss, you’ll see what’s there to gain.

Look beyond the prickly thorn and smell the crimson rose.

Look beyond the differences.

Watch as excitement grows.

Love, Diane

What Will You Do With Jesus Now?

Christmas is over and we've begun a new year.  There are so many things to think about, so many things to do and to plan for.  We have memories of 2011, both good and not so good, and we have memories of Christmas past.  Was God in the forefront of your celebrations.  I hope so.  But now what?  Sometimes it's much easier to put things into words if I rhyme them, so would you take a look at the last chapter of my little Christmas book.

Another Christmas has come and gone, let us talk of what we’ve seen.

The angels sang of Jesus birth

announcing peace to all the earth. 

The shepherd bowed then at the sight.

They found the Child that wondrous night. 

He came to earth as Mary’s Son, the promised, long awaited One. 

We heard of Jesus wondrous birth, and sang of glorious peace on earth.

We praised the Baby in the hay and paused to celebrate the day

and now we pack it all away. 

With trees and lights and treasures fair,

we put the crèche with Jesus there. 

For one more year we put away the trappings of that special day.

But, if we take God from his manger bed, and see the holy life He led,

and watch the Son of God and see Him die upon that cursed tree.

Christmas might be just the start

of Jesus living in your heart.

Ask yourself this question; has this Christmas changed my life? Has this Christmas changed me? Has this season of concentrating on the birth of my Savior made a difference? 

Tomorrow, when I start to “undecorate” my house, I will not be putting Jesus away for another year. This year, as I looked at Christ’s birth in a different way, I found so much more about God to worship and to love. He will not be living in a box in the attic; he will be living in my heart.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20)

God bless you dear friends.

Diane

Room in Your Life for Jesus

Have you ever wondered as Christmas time draws near

about the place where Christ was born,

and about the people there?

Have you ever had a dream or pictured in your mind,

imagining the town, the night, and stable -- would you find

a blissful place of gladness where Bethlehem’s creatures fed,

with people standing awed and quiet around the baby’s bed --

a place where love and tenderness fell gently on the air,

with shepherds bowing down in love with halos in their hair?

I put myself in dreams and thoughts of Bethlehem last night,

and tried to think just how I’d feel at such a wondrous sight.

As I watch from hidden places --

as I strive to be aware --

I see a woman, tired and worn,

her face a mask of care.

I hear her prayers of pleading

that God would see her plight.

I see her husband stop and ask

for shelter in the night.

No room -- the words familiar, how terrible they seem

because I looked at Mary’s face in this my Christmas dream.

No room, I wonder as I wake, are those the words I say

when I fill my life with toys and things and push my God away?

May your Christmas time be blessed with the joy of Jesus birth 

of knowing that He loved so much that He would come to earth.

Remember too the words  “no room.” and never let it be

that you’ve no room for Christ to live

in you eternally.

May you be blessed this Christmas by Christ living in your heart.

Taken from "These My Christmas Dreams"

It's December - so what?

December - the month that children wait anxiously for, that pocketbooks dread, but the month that can mean more for a person's relationship with God than almost any other time of the year, but only if we stop to spend time with Him. 

Do you have love/hate feelings about this month, about Christmas time?  Let's work on getting "love" to be the primary feeling for all of us.  Maybe we should start out by thinking about why we celebrate December 25.

This month I'll be including little pieces of my book, "These My Christmas Dreams" from time to time.  I hope you enjoy them.

Music is such a beautiful part of preparing for the Christmas season.  God made us so that we would love music.  God made us so that we would sing (some of us, a little off key) but still we sing.  God's song is all about forgiveness and love.  Sing today.  Sing of the Baby in the manger.  Sing of the God who loves and forgives.  His song and His heart are full of forgiveness. 

Floating on the breeze I hear, touching, poignant, crystal clear,

a song of heavenly majesty,

a message sent from God to me.

The song was born when God’s heart broke at His creation’s sin.

He named the song forgiveness.

It would bring us back to Him.

Beating in the heart of God the Holy song began. 

Forgiveness, oneness, purity, is coming back to man. 

Sing and celebrate God's forgiveness.  That's why He came.  That's why we celebrate.

His Presence

God is with you today, even when you don't feel Him there.  I wrote this many years ago, but it came to mind when I had a talk with a friend the other day about God's presence.

How often do I wonder if You hear me when I cry.
How often do I fear that You won't want me when I die.
How often do I feel that You're just sitting there on high
not caring if my heart is sad, or if in tears I lie.

How often do I wonder if You hold me in Your hand.
How often do I feel that I'm just sinking in the sand.
How often does my heart cry – “Are You really in command?"
How often, it's so often, that I feel, alone I stand.

Oh my father God in heaven, my mind knows when I cry
that You are ever near me, and You'll be there when I die,
that You are not ignoring me , just sitting there on high -
without a thought or care for me, when I question -- Jesus why?

My mind knows, but my heart sometimes forgets when I am low
of Your presence and the love for me, and miracles You show.
My mind knows, but my heart forgets when anxious feelings grow.
Please help my heart remember
Your presence is the blessing
that I can always know.

My friend gave me this little bit of advice that I'd like to share it with you.

One secret to developing a heart of gratitude is that we shouldn't wait for something

to be happy about. We need to stretch ourselves and claim the blessing of God’s

presence in every situation.

Isn’t that profound? How many times have you been down in the dumps and thought that there was nothing to be happy about. “The blues” come into everyone’s lives – some of us more than others.

I’ve been blessed with a personality that seems be positive most of the time. But there are certainly days that you wouldn’t want to be around me because I’m a real grump. Depression doesn’t settle on me often, but when it does, I realize just how unpleasant it can be.

About three mornings a week I stumble into the living room, strap the weights on my ankles and do my exercises. I stretch and I lift and I grunt and I sweat, and then I stretch again. The knees need the workout, as well as the tummy and back of course. But in spending those 40 – 45 minutes on the floor, I’m developing stronger muscles and a body that will be able to handle the things I expect it to do.

Of course I could just sit around and wait for the muscles to get strong on their own, I could moan about not being strong enough to climb our driveway, or walk in the woods. Or I could sit and wonder why God doesn’t fix my old knees, but I really don’t think that would do a lot of good. It’s the same way with developing any good thing. We have to work at it. We have to stretch ourselves.

So when we get to feeling a little blue and don’t think there’s anything to smile about, we need to open ourselves to the idea that God’s presence is the greatest gift of all. That’s something to be grateful and happy about even in the hard times.

You know that song, count your many blessings, name them one by one? Well if there was only one, what better blessing to sing about than God’s presence! The Bible calls Him Immanuel, which means God with us. He is!

Thanksgiving

November is the month of Thanksgiving, I’ll bet that when you were a little child your mom taught you to say “please and thank you.” I remember so many times when someone gave me a piece of candy or a gift, my mom saying, “And Diane, what do you say?”

Do you think that’s what God wants from us – a polite “Thank You?” I really don’t think so. Oh, I believe He wants to hear us say the words, but only if they come from deep within our hearts. A heart overflowing with gratitude is what God expects from His children.

Colossians 2:6-7 tells us, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

God wants our hearts to be filled to the brim and overflowing with thankfulness to HIM. I get a little upset at Thanksgiving time, because it’s lost much of the meaning it held when our nation began to celebrate that holiday. The early settlers were Christian people who, with overflowing hearts thanked God for His care, His provisions, and His help.

It wasn't until 1941 Congress permanently established the fourth Thursday of each November as a national holiday. That may have been a good thing, and maybe not, considering what the holiday has become. People think of it as a day of watching football and eating Turkey. In fact many of the cards you see in the stores refer only to “Turkey Day.” If you see a card that speaks of giving thanks, it seems more often than not the emphasis is on thanking other people – not God. That wasn’t the way the observance began, and if we think about where everything ultimately comes from – it’s probably not the way it should be celebrated now.

Hebrews 12:28 tells us, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe."

Worshipping God with thankfulness, with reverence and awe, means seeing Him as He is - The Ultimate, The Creator, The Life Giver, The Gift Giver, and our Savior.

So what should we be thankful to God for?  The scripture tells us some of the things.

People  - 1 Timothy 2:1 says, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—“

Think about the people that have filled your life over the years, family, friends, and acquaintances, teachers and preachers. They are all people who have helped you grow and taught you life lessons. Some of the lessons were hard and others were taught in a gentle manner. I think about one man who served as the preacher for our church in Texas for a short time. He taught us all to laugh and he taught us to hug and he taught us generosity. This man had a huge influence in my life and the lives of my husband and children – because he lived exactly that way – laughing, hugging and giving.  I also think about my parents who brought me up in a home that was dedicated to God.

Every gift - In 1 Timothy 4:4 we read, “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”

Everything that God created is good. Wow! When He made the world, the grass, the trees, the fish and the birds and the sky and the sea, He said “It is good.” But as we look around us, and as we receive the blessings that God has given us, do we receive them with thanksgiving? Do we actually thank HIM for warmth, for sunlight, for rain, for a place to lay our tired heads at night? Or do we think that we did something to earn all of that?

James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Every situation -  The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Every situation may not be pleasant. I’m sure that many of you know that with a deeper intensity than I do, and there are times that all we can do is cry. God says not to be anxious, but how can we do that?   The scripture says, by prayer and petition – by talking to God, but always with a grateful heart. and “with thanksgiving.” I don’t believe we need to be pleased with adversity, but we can always be thankful to God that He is in the adversity with us.

He walks with me
In sunshine or in rain
He’s by my side
Oh may I ne’re complain
He aches with me
As I try to stand in vain
He breathes for me
when my body’s racked with pain.

God loves me so
May I with heart and voice
Give thanks to Him
And in His love rejoice.

Remember with me that Thanksgiving is a decision not a date on the calendar.

May God bless each one of you  - I thank God that He put you into my life..