Kate Middleton woke up this morning as a commoner and came out of that church as "Her Royal Highness".  Why?  Because her groom is the future King of England and she it's future Queen.  And because of her love for him.. and his love for her.. she gets his future.

I watched the ceremony and was thrilled to hear the name of Jesus used throughout.  Thrilled to hear the Scripture.  Whether the hearts of the people in attendance were honoring Him or not.. His name was honored.

Hearing His name reminded me that one day in my future.. I will wake up a commoner and before the day is over I will be royalty.  My Groom will come for me.. and I will get HIS future and not my own.  I will reign and rule with Him.  I will no longer be a mere mortal but I will be Royalty In The Universe.. and I will be Royalty Forever.

Of course.. no one can see in to the heart of William and Kate.  It appears as though they love one another.  It's always nice to be married to someone you love. Love is not a requirement.  Being married was Williams' required task. 

On the other hand, my Eternal Groom's Father is God.  And He CAN see in to the hearts of humans.  And my Groom expects me to LOVE Him.  Requires that I LOVE Him. Requires me to keep that "first love" that white hot "first love".  So much so that in Revelation He speaks to a people who do not love Him that way any longer and tells them to REPENT.  

Evidently.....for the REALLY Royal Wedding... the Bride has to be in love with the Groom.  If you're not in love with The Groom, what makes you think you're The Bride?

I am looking forward to that Royal Day.  Could be today.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Last night, we went to sleep with the windows open.. and a delicious cool breeze blowing through the window.  A dear friend gave us some windchines as a gift.... and we love the sound it makes.  By 3 AM the wind chimes were sounding the alarm that a great storm was approaching.   The weather report told us that we would be facing storms.. we knew it.  But.. just fell asleep without thinking about it.

My husband, Phil, jumped out of bed and ran on to the back deck as the winds began howling.  He took the new lime green umbrellas and covered them.. he lovingly took our windchime down from the pergola where it hangs.. he turned the canoe upside down and placed it so it wouldn't fly away.  The rain began as he was doing this.  Cold, beating rain.....and wind.  And still.....he didn't finish until the job was done.

ME?  I was hardly awake by the time he was all finished. And as I watched Phil running around the back deck in the middle of the night.... I realized he wasn't really all that concerend about lawn chairs and wind chimes as he was about me. About us.. About our safety.  The wind can take something small and turn it in to a weapon.  Crash it through a window.. and harm the person looking out it.

And... in those moments... I SAW A PICTURE OF JESUS...My husband was acting just like Jesus does.   Jesus doesn't keep the storm from coming, but he keeps the storm from destroying my "house".  He makes sure through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.....that nothing gets inside my "house" that will destroy me.  I make it through the storm.. and not through any effort of my own. At times, it seems the storms will overwhelm my heart.....and yet.. the morning comes.. and I am still safe.

This morning... in the daylight.. the back deck is out of order.  BUT I AM SAFE.. AND SLEPT LIKE A BABY THROUGH THE REST OF THE NIGHT.  Sandals I forgot to take in are blown 40 feet away, lawn chairs are knocked over.....a citonella candle is five feet away from where it's supposed to be...and....I sit inside typing this blog and Phil is outside cleaning up the debris.  My husband reminds me of Jesus today.   All I have to do is rest.  Phil does what needs to be done to keep our family safe.  I don't have to ask him to do it.. he just does.  Sometimes I forget to thank him.. but he keeps protecting me anyway.

When I rest in Jesus faithfulness ........that's all I have to do.  I am His Bride.  He is my Groom.  He'll take care of me through the storm.

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

Our home sits on 2 and 1/2 acres....but it seems like more because our land is connected to a large, undeveloped wooded area.  So, although we actually only own 2 and 1/2 acres.....we are surrounded by literally hundreds of acres.  As a result, we see lots of wildlife close to home.   The thing that fascinates me the most is when there are deer in our backyard.  Phil put a salt lick just a few yards from our back deck.. and so .. many mornings we awaken to the sight of deer in our backyard.  

I am also fascinated by the fact that when they step in to the woods just a few feet.. you cannot see them.  They blend in SO well that if it wasn't for that little white puff of their tails....you would NOT BE ABLE to see them at all. 

I have to really focus on the wooded area to see them.  Focus - doesn't change my eyesight.  My eyesight doesn't CHANGE when I choose to FOCUS. 

FOCUS is what happens when I choose to NOT SEE other stuff in an effort to see something else better..

When I want to see if there are deer in the woods..when I focus on the woods... it isn't that I don't SEE anything else.  I just choose to NOT concentrate my mind on the wooden swing that hangs between two trees, or the flowers....or anything else.  I just purpose in my mind to focus on the woods and LOOK FOR deer.. and then.. I can see them. 

This is a concept I finally got in a spiritual sense also.  One of the verses that always baffled me is found in 2 Corinthians 4:18 which reads, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

In this verse, we are taught what to focus on and why.  We fix (or focus) our eyes on what is unseen.  Huh?  How can I fix my eyes on something I cannot see?  In the same way I look for deer.  It isn't that there isn't other stuff to look at.. it's that I am looking for the deer.

God knows that what I can see is what will naturally catch my eye.  But He's telling me.. as His much-loved child.. that what I can see is just temporary.  The things of this earth will not last.. even though I can see them and I cannot see eternal things.

He is telling me to focus my attention on unseen things..and the way I do that is to stop looking at things I can see.

Stop looking at stuff I have.. stuff I don't have.. stuff I can lose.. stuff I want to NOT lose.

IN addition.. unseen things can include more than HEAVEN... someday.  It can include things like what's inside my heart.  People look on the outward appearance. but.. God.. God.. looks at the heart.

Stop looking at what you can see... and start focusing on the promises of God even though you cannot see them.  His WORD is as real as anything you can touch or hold.  FOCUS on it.. It is the secret of a life of contentment.

I am looking at my back yard right now.  I cannot see any deer.  But I know they're there..

Today is Easter.  Some people don't use the term "Easter" anymore, but call today "Resurrection Day".  Let's face it, the basis of Christianity is pretty amazing - we believe that our Leader, Jesus rose from the dead... and is alive still... and seated at the right hand of God as you read this.  If,perhaps, you can get someone to believe this actually happened, many people.. even some Christians don't get the whole picture.  Their attitude can be, "Jesus rose form the dead.  How nice for Him."

Furthermore, we believe that His birth was a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit who created Jesus as the Second Adam. All the descendants (you and me and everyone) of the first Adam are doomed to die.  We have a terminal disease called "sin".  We are born with the idea that we can do what we want instead of what God says. We are born with the instinct of doing things our own way, without regard for others.  God gave the Ten Commandments to give us an idea of the basic rules for living life the way He requires.  We cannot keep them. We all have broken at least one.

So what is a race to do when nothing but death awaits them?  When death is the end of all their hard work? When nothing they work for is going to last?  When fear and anger and lsut and pride and murder and stealing is what comes naturally to them?  What is a race to do when nothing but death awaits them?

Die.

Except of course for those people in that race who understand that the whole story of Jesus is about them... That He saw our hopeless future.  That He has the kind of LOVE that a human brain and heart cannot comprehend.  That He LIVED the Holy Life we cannot live.  That He DIED the horrible death we were destined to die.  He OVERCAME Death and rose again..  He is living where all who believe this.. and put their trust in WHAT HE DID... also live.

JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD.  HOW NICE FOR HIM? 

NO... "JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD! How AMAZING for YOU."  This is THE DAY YOU CELEBRATE YOUR RESURRECTION... if you believe. 

"Because I live, you shall live also" - Jesus.

On Thursday night I was asked to lead worship at a Women's Event.  I was honored to do so. 

Of course, as usual, I was running late and putting my make-up on at traffic light stops along the way.  When I got to the event, I looked down at my pink top and saw that I had, evidently, brushed the shirt with the top of my lipstick tube.  There it was - a teensy, weensy lipstick stain.  No one would have noticed.  No one sitting in the audience would have seen it.  But..it bothered me that it was there.  I went to the ladies room to wash it out.. and I got the stain out...but in doing so.. I made a HUGE, WET mark on my shirt. 

NOW.. instead of the audience NOT SEEING a teensey, weensey lipstick stain... someone sitting in the last row could easily see the woman worship leader with her shirt half wet. It's not like it was WRONG to try and get the stain out.. it's just that it wasn't necessary AT THAT MOMENT.. I COULD HAVE WAITED.....and everything would have been fine. 

It was a Holy Spirit moment for me. It's like the Lord spoke to me about my need to make sure everything is always perfect.. and.. my need to fix anything that isn't.   My need to feel like I can control things.. when.. in reality only God can control situations, people and events. And... His timing is everything.  A word, spoken in the right season.. a deed, done at the right time... is what walking in the Spirit is all about.

He reminded me that the reason I was there - to lead worship - was not affected in ANY WAY by the teensey weensey lipstick stain on my blouse.  

He reminded me of so many things that are SMALL THINGS in my life.. and when I try to "FIX" them.. they become more apparent.. and cause more mess than the thing itself.I could name ten thousand things here.....relationships, the house, etc.  Things that can wait to be fixed are things that can wait to be discussed.  Let peace rule and reign in my heart, in my home and in my life. 

It is POSSIBLE TO OVERLOOK things.. to let things slide.. to settle for contentment instead of perfection.

I often tell younger women and recently reminded myself...that they need to choose their family battles wisely...   Because the damage that can be done to the atmosphere in the home over someone leaving their shoes in the living room is truly a bigger tragedy than leaving shoes in the living room.  Or making a point out of how much of a spiritual leader your husband is NOT can cause him to continue to NOT be one more than simply praying for the Holy Spirit to capture his heart. 

I tried to fix something that wasn't a big deal at all.. and made a bigger deal out of it than it needed to be. 

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." Prov. 14;1

I was 4 years old.  They told me Santa Claus brings you what you want if you're a good girl.  I was a good girl. I was an excellent, obedient little girl. I aked for a small plane.  A real one.  

I explained in detail to my parents that I wanted a small plane to fly IN and AROUND our back yard... which was located in the suburbs of New York City.  I knew my limitations, even as a 4 year old.  I knew I couldn't go flying in the sky.. or even around the neighborhood.  But in my mind I could visualize myself flying from the front of the yard, to the back, over the roof of the house. I can STILL see.. in my mind.. the plane I was expecting to get.  It was a little round puffy plane...like a cartoon plane.

On Christmas morning, I opened a box, and inside the box was a small TOY PLANE!  I can still remember exactly what it looked like.  A small, silver metal plane that I could hold in my chubby four-year-old hand.  "NOOOOOOOOOoooooo", I cried.. "Nooooooooooo I didn't want THIS.. I wanted a REAL plane. This is STUPID!! THIS IS STOOOOOO-PIT.  STOOOPIT!"

Although I had an almost perfect and idyllic childhood.. this  was my first disappointment in life... and.. I still remember it.  I don't remember what I DID get that I asked for.. I just remember what I DIDN'T get that I asked for.

It wasn't long before I understood that a 4 year old is simply showing her immaturity by expecting to be able to get in to a little puffy plane and fly it around the yard.  No one gives a plane to a 4 year old!

I think, sometimes, that my discontent in life....when I experience it.....comes from my continuing search for Santa.  I know that a mere human cannot be Santa...but.. sometimes i expect others to give me exatly what I want exactly when I want it.  I want them to love me, accept me, care about me, listen to me and be WHAT I ASK THEM TO BE.

Sometimes.. sometimes.. maybe..we kind of worship Santa Jesus...Someone we (I?) have created a Jesus who was sent to earth to give us what we want when we want it. We give our lives to Him with HIGH expectations... that He will give us every single thing we want and ask for. 

His superhuman existence is NOT a fairy tale but Truth itself. 

If He can do the things they say He did.. well then He can do anything.  He can give me anything I want.. and I want the glory but not the Cross.  I want the victory but not the battle.

Sometimes.. though... when I unwrap the gift He sends.. it isn't what I asked for.  I am tempted to say, "NOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo, this isn't what I asked for.  This is STOO-PIT."  But who tells Jesus, the Son of God, such things?  Who has an attitude toward God Almighty like that?? (Sometimes...me?)

Sometimes... when I ask for peace and calm waters.... He allows a storm so I will know He gives peace in the middle of it.

I ask for wisdom, expecting some kind of supernatural intervention and a voice from heaven.. but He sends a friend who speaks a Bible verse over chicken enchiladas in a restaurant and the words hit me in the dark spot of my heart - revealing His Light and Truth. 

Sometimees what I ask for reveals MY immaturity....not His unwillingness to give me the desires of my heart - if I delight myself in HIM.  He gives ONLY GOOD GIFTS. 

My search for Santa Jesus came to an end a while back.  Now I want to be a disciple of the One who gave up everything for me.  

And when I die......I'm gonna fly where ever I want to... through the Universe and the skies.. and I will do it FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER. 

And I won't need a stupid little plane to do it.

"Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” Isaiah 49:23

I write in the early morning hours.. With a cup of coffee next to me.. The morning cup of coffee is a delicious way to start the day..and yet.. that very coffee has almost brought disaster and distress...more often than I can say.

More than three times in the last ten years I have spilled the cup of coffee on my computer keyboard.  This.. as you know..is a death sentence to the computer. When I used a desktop computer.. I simply had to replace the keyboard..but for the past few years  I use a laptop. SO.. if I spill my coffee on my laptop keyboard.. I am buying a whole new laptop. Since I use a MAC.. these do not get replaced cheaply.

SO.. I remember to never put my coffee cup near the laptop.  I remember to do this every day.  I have remembered to do this every day for years.. That's like over a thousand days..

And this morning.. I forgot and I  put the cup of coffee on the desk, right next to the laptop and hit the cup of coffee.. and missed my laptop by a mere inch or less..  

It taught me a life lesson. It doesn't matter how many days in a row you do the right thing.. if you forget for just ONE DAY.. just ONE DAY...you can destroy BIG THINGS..AND DESTROY THEM FOREVER..  

If a husband or wife forgets for ONE DAY that he is a married man (and she  is a married woman) ....it can ruin decades of remembering every day.

If a child forgets for ONE DAY the things a parent taught him..he can ruin his life forever by making a bad decision. 

If a Christian forgets for ONE DAY to be a reflection of Jesus ....he can forever forfeit his wtiness to the person he forgot in front of. And God will have to send someone else to preach the Gospel.

If an addicted person forgets for ONE DAY that he cannot handle the drug, or the alcohol, or the gambling, or the porn.....it can undo years of rebulding a broken life.

Temptation comes...and we get close to the flame again...

Sometimes.....God takes the time to remind us that we need to be on guard EVERY DAY.  He allows us to see how close we have gotten to destroying ourselves.. to making that one mistake that would have unbearable consequences.  He wakes us up.  HOW LOVING to get a slap on the face from a caring Father.

Today.. because I forgot just for today...it was just a matter of an inch and I would be getting dressed now and driving to the Apple store at the Green Hills Mall.  I would be remprimanding myself for not backing up the files of the book I am writing... I would be so annoyed at the $2,990 mistake I just made..

Instead,  all I have to do is wipe coffee off my notes.....and move on.

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF GOD'S MERCY TO ME ON A DAILY BASIS.  He does not allow me to destroy myself.. even when I forget to do what I'm supposed to do. Jesus completes the work HE began in me.  That's something HE never forgets to do.. even for one day.

If you have not destroyed yourself yet....with your anger, or your unforgiveness, or your lust, or your disobedience......then consider it the mercy of God.  Because that's what it is.

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,  for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lam. 3:21-23

And so.. another day is ending.  And the storms might not be as bad as they had imagined. And...so we might not lose our roof this time.  This is a good thing.  I am happy. 

I am thankful for a day with hot sun and cool breezes.  

And I am thankful for cold water and an ice cube maker.  I have mounds and mounds of ice cubes all the time.. And all I have to do is grab a fistful from the freezer.. and put it in a glass.  Emperors....and Kings......and Empresses of old did not have ice cubes in their water.  Jesus didn't have ice cubes in His water.  Think of all the famous people in history.....Abraham, Moses, Peter, Michelangelo, Leonardo DaVinci, Abraham Lincoln......all drank hot water on a hot day.  Never saw an ice cube.  Never imagined the day people would have mounds of them in their kitchen...next to ice cold bottled water.

I am thankful for ice cubes.

You are not? 

You should be.

Just spent two hours talking to the new mommy.  She loves me. And WANTS to talk to me.  What a gift.  

AND....OUR FRIEND JUST CALLED TO SAY THAT THE SECOND M.R.I. SHOWED NO TUMOR... The first diagnosis was incorrect.

A GOOD DAY.. INDEED!!!!

YESTERDAY started out with great, great JOY.  A young friend.. a young woman I love like a daughter gave birth to a much wanted, much anticipated baby BOY.  She lives in another state.. and I was jumping out of my skin wanting to BE THERE.   It hurts to not be near people I love like that.  People I feel connected to.  I love her.  I love her family.  Many years ago, I had to hug them goodbye and walk away from them.  It broke my heart in two.  The steps away from them were and continue to be the hardest steps I have ever had to walk.

YESTERDAY ended with sad news.  Another dear friend,  called late last night to tell us he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor.  I cannot imagine saying good-bye to him forever. He has been a good and loving brother.. for decades.  

Not being close to someone you love.. having to say goodbye to someone you love.. is not an easy thing. 

Maybe you are living a JOY and SORROW kind of day.  Lots to be thankful for.. and lots to be sad about.  A song I wrote years ago.. sums up my feelings.  Someday.. we won't be dealing with the sorrow side of JOY and SORROW.

If you'd like to listen to the song... click on the tab that says "Someday" to your upper left.

If I were Moses...standing with the Red Sea in front of me... without a boat in sight... and Pharoah's army behind me with weapons of mass destruction ....I might have said to God, "THIS is deliverance?" 

If I were Moses... I might have had some "questions" for Jehovah.....like....."WHERE ARE YOU?"

If I were Moses... I would try to figure things out on my own.. but.. even if I wanted to build some boats.. there isn't much wood in the desert... and.. who has the time or the tools?

If I were Moses... I would have had some "resentment issues" toward the Almighty.

If I were Moses... I might have reminded God...  "Did I ask for a burning bush?  Was I looking to deliver anyone?"

If I were Moses..  I would have answered my own question.. "NO, I did not ask for a burning bush.. I did not want to go to Pharoah.. I was minding my own business, living my own life.. and YOU came to me with a Plan. A plan to deliver Your people.  THIS IS DELIVERANCE?"

I am not Moses. (you already knew that).  

Sometimes deliverance can be confusing to those of us who were comfortable just living out our lives on our own.  Sometimes it seems like I am wandering in a desert, just because I heard the call from the "burning bush".  God calls out to me (to every believer)  and changes the course of my life.  God calls out to me and says,  "Let me set you free and then I can use your life to set others free" and then..... just when I am all "Marie, Warrior of God" .... at that very moment...

I am standing at the Red Sea. Without a clue how to get across.. Without a prayer of defeating the the enemy lobbing weapons of mass destruction at my soul.  And I am tempted to look around me... and to see my circumstance.. the hopelessness of it.. the seeming pointlessness of it...  and whisper, "This is deliverance? This is setting prisoners free? Hello??? God??? Are you there???"   I believe He hears my prayers, but sometimes it seems like I'm getting His voice mail. He'll listen to my prayer when He has time.

But.....

Deliverance comes when God sends it and He always sends it at the right time..  And in ways that are too powerful for me to orchestrate.  A prayer is answered in ways I could never imagine.  And I see that I am loved by a Heavenly Father.. who can take the sea and split it. Wide open.  Jesus has completely and utterly disarmed my Enemy.  He has no weapons against me.  And even though he makes some noise... in the middle of The Night.....God sets up a wall of fire between  us.  They cannot touch me.

And... then... I am suddenly standing on the other side.   I have no explanation.  I did nothing to deserve it.  I am free - of habits, of fears, of lusts, of anger, of unforgivness.  I have peace - that passes understanding.   Without me figuring it out, without me doing anything but crying help... I am free.  And I tell others how God set me free.  And I cannot explain it. I must give Him all the glory. 

And then.. I finally understand that He wants me to know that I cannot know His ways completely.. but I can completely know that I can always trust His love for me.  I can rest in His faithfulness.   I would never have known He was this kind of Father if I had not been in the desert, standing in front of the Red Sea, watching Him split it, seeing Him defeat my enemy.  I can rest in Him.  And you can too.  When you can say,  "I see the Red Sea in front of me. I hear Pharoah's army behind me.  I have no way of saving myself. I have ONLY God. And He will be faithful to His promises to me.  No matter what I see around me."  And when you can say those words.. and believe them.....

......This is deliverance.

I don't often take the time to upload new articles I've written.. I will soon.. However, a blogger copied a short article I wrote in the April 2011 issue of HomeLife Magazine. (I also am not really good about inserting links.. so it you click on it and it doesn't take you there.. then... just cut and copy the address in to your web browswer's page.)

http://tndickersondiaries.blogspot.com/2011/04/know-what-i-like-about-you.html

There's a big story out there today about how much money was paid to the daughter of a political figure to make speeches about avoiding teen pregnancy.  

I don't care how much she was paid. Why does anyone else? 

The people criticizing her... I wonder what THEY would say if someone said, "Hey.. come and talk to this group of people about what you've learned from your mistakes in life and we'll pay you $20,000.00 to do it."  How many people would turn that down?  Or whatever they paid her for her speeches? As far as I can see the reason this is public knowledge is because she is claiming the money on her tax return. So she made a lot of money because her mother is famous.  So?  What? 

Jesus talks about criticizing others.  He says that before you - thinking you are sinless - try to talk to someone else about the 'speck' of something in their eye.. take the LOG OUT OF YOUR OWN EYE FIRST.

Jesus used an example that has to do with sight.  The person with the LOG in the eye is trying to help the other person "see" clearer.   How funny we all are.. sadly, tragically funny. How often do we just flippantly say something about another Christian as if that person's HEAVENLY FATHER DOESN'T CARE THAT WE ARE JUDGING HIS CHILD? Jesus whole point is not that the speck in that person's eye doesn't need to be removed.. He is simply challenging YOUR RIGHT to try and remove it.

Furthermore, Jesus seems to indicate that in the same way you judge others...that is the measure that God will use when judging you.

Don't go getting all theologically technical on me when I say the next sentence because I know that through Jesus, God deals with us in mercy and grace and remembers our sins no more.. but as a heavenly Father who disciplines those He loves.. I wonder....... It's an interesting thought to think that the possible reason some of face some heavenly discipline is that we have opened ourselves up to a tougher standard because of the way we have judged others. 

Before you talk about someone today, remember that whatever you "see" in that person.... is because you have so much more of it in YOUR LIFE than the person you are criticizing. Could be God's way of trying to deal with YOU and not the other person.  Tell the Holy Spirit to do His work in your own heart.

Take some time to take the log out of your own eye.  Even if it takes a lifetime.