All at once you stop in mid-step. Your engagement ring is not on your finger. Your engagement ring is precious to you. You panic! Your mind is racing. Where could it be? Your finger can still feel the ring.
Beloved, you have another engagement ring that is more precious than your physical engagement ring. But when you no longer feel it most do not panic! Most know why they can not feel this ring of promise but do nothing.
This ring of promise, your engagement ring is worn on your heart. It protects and moves your heart. When you no longer feel Him, it means you have pushed Him far down into your heart and chose not to listen to Him. By your choice, He may not fully protect you. You have grieved Him.
In Ephesians, chapter one, is a beautiful love story you can read. This chapter tells who you are engaged to and tells of God’s promise to you. When you accept God’s proposal, He seals you with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit is given to you as a pledge of your inheritance with Jesus Christ.
When you decided to accept Jesus as your Savior and to follow His teachings, you are given the Holy Spirit to live within you. He is to teach you, to guide and to give you a commission (Acts 13:4). He commands you (Acts 8:29), restrains evil and He intercedes (Romans 8:26) for us to Jesus and Jesus will talk to the Father God concerning us. It brings peace to us because Jesus talks to God about your situation. The Holy Spirit bears witness of God (John 15:26 and 2 Peter 1:21). We can cause the Holy Spirit to Grieve (Ephesians 4:30).
The Holy Spirit is our foundation. This Spirit of God will write things on your heart. He will help you to love more.
When we are living in heaven’s eternity, the Lord will bring our love story to each of us. Beloved, we will see and feel His glory that He shared with us to its fullest. We have this to look forward to and it will never be taken away. We will not find the words to say to Jesus. There will be tears of love that He will collect and put in His heart. Your tears, my tears, He collects for His heart. What words can be spoken that carries what we will feel in that moment. This moment and for eternity is why we were created. We will see and understand God’s grace and mercy that He shared with us. With eternity on His mind, God gave us our engagement ring. Then our hearts and knees will bow and we shall say, “Here are your Beloved for eternity. We love you.
Alan Ruck and my daughter on the set of “Three For The Road”.
Sometimes the trusting and obeying God comes at a very inconvenient time. After the trusting and obedience you say, “Lord, you sure had a lot of moving parts to accomplish what you wanted me to do.” Sometimes I cannot see all the moving parts., but I know God was working behind the scene.
One day my oldest living daughter came home and said someone was producing a movie in our state. She wanted to try out for an extra. I said we had too much to do, but we would see if we could.
Well, that was the last time I thought about it. That was until we got a phone call from the casting director. We had never done anything like this and wondered how they got our number. This was in the ’80s when there weren’t cellphones and computers were not as useful as they are now. I asked the lady about the morals of the movie. She assured me it was fine and I said okay.
The filming was not in our city but in two other cities. One was about an hour and a half away. I need to mention that I have no sense of direction. I would get turned around at our mall which is built almost in a straight line. We set out and I gave my daughter the directions and we made it there without getting lost. The next day we forgot the directions and neither of us could remember how to get there. We needed divine direction and prayed in silence.
Unknowingly we would turn here and there and made it to the location. We were provided with lunch. It was during this time we got to meet some of the stars. My daughter was not excited when she got to meet Charlie Sheen but was very excited when she met Alan Ruck. There were pictures taken. During this time I kept noticing the gentleman going here and there. I felt led by the Holy Spirit to talk to him. I was not comfortable talking to him, but I obeyed the Holy Spirit. During our conversation, he said, “I tried religion and it did not work out.” I tried to tell him this was about a relationship with Jesus. The next day was our last day. I went over to Charlie Sheen and made small talk. I did not feel led to talk to him about the Lord. I did talk more with the other gentleman. At the end of the day, I did not have the peace one receives after obeying God and I thought this was the last day.
After we got home, my mother called. She shared they were going to film in the city but did not know where. I felt led by the Holy Spirit to run off the cassette tapes. They were various sermons from our preacher. I obeyed and put the cassettes in a brown paper lunch bag. The next morning I got my children off to school. Then the Lord spoke to me. Give your dog a bath and take him with you. My response was, “You want me to do what?! I’m already dressed and you want me to give my dog a bath? I’m nervous enough.” I obeyed and gave Xanadu, our Yorkshire Terrier, a bath and put him in the van.
I reminded the Lord that I did not know where to go. We turned here and there. I did not know I was following a divine navigator. But then there we were. I saw the casting director in the distance. I decided I would go and chit chat with her. Maybe I could ease into the set and not get kicked out. Remember my daughters last day was the day before, so I had no excuse for being there. So Xanadu and I ventured toward her. She loved Xanadu and wanted to hold him and kiss him. I kept my eyes on that gentleman for an hour. I started walking at the other end of the parking lot. I was really nervous. Then I realized I would have to pass by the director to get to the trailer the gentleman was going in and out of. I walk toward to producer and he said to me, “My wife has a dog like that and she will be here shortly.” I wandered around and did not know where the gentleman went. Then the producer’s wife appeared with her Yorkie. I looked at her dog and then mine. This was most definitely a Lady and Tramp meeting. We engaged in conversation and walked our dogs in the parking lot before walking down a nearby alley. While in the alley a policeman walked by and asked if we were authorized to be on the set. The lady said yes and that her husband is the producer. I thanked her and we continued to walk our dogs. I saw the gentleman go into a trailer. I said good-bye to the lady and headed that way with my dog and the lunch sack.
I knocked on the door and someone I did not know answered the door. I asked if the gentleman was there. The gentleman came to the door. I handed him the lunch sack with the cassette tapes. I cannot remember what I said, but it was short. My dog and I were ready to go home and rest our weary legs.
I thought about what God pulled together for this divine opportunity to talk to a person and plant seeds. I still don’t know where the casting director got our name and number. I asked myself, “What would have happened if I did not take my dog?” What happened to the gentleman I gave the tapes to? Did it help the next person talking to him about Jesus? Did he ever accept the Lord?
All I am certain about is that I obeyed God. I thank the Lord Jesus for the divine opportunity. Also, I thanked him that He was my divine navigator.
Charlie Sheen and my daughter on the set of “Three Foer The Road.
I started, “Enter The Throne Room of God with these words:
In an instant, everything changes. You run to God and fall on your knees while a roaring thunder rolls with pain through out your whole being.
The emotional, mental and spiritual pain caused a physical pain. In my case, I do not believe it was a heart attack. Although I did ask God to take me home that night because I did not think I could handle this storm. I most definitively did not even want to try. When I woke the next morning and was still here with nothing being change, and I was angry at God. I was angry because He did not want to take me home.
I guess the only thing that I did right was I did not stop talking to God. It was a way of life before the storm. I could not let go of Jesus. I need His love. There were times that I felt so alone. The Holy Spirit helped me to hold on and remember His love.
At that time I was sitting under an excellent teacher/preacher and did in dept Bible studies with word studies. Plus the Lord had me doing Bible Study Fellowship (bsf.org) . I thought the knowledge I had gained found a resting place in my heart. Looking back, this probably is what gave me strength to go forward. Everything was tested and put through the fire and whatever else was in the mix. No one could see the dept of my pain that filled my soul. In the dept of my soul I knew Jesus must be there collecting my tears. I lost my oldest daughter to cancer when she was 14 and knew Jesus never left me then. I survived that pain. I thought this pain was deeper so maybe I just could not feel Jesus because of this pain.
Although knowing how He helped me and always there, I believed a lie. I thought God had favorites and I was not one of them. My faith became weak. My prayer life stopped. I am thankful that did not last a long time.
God is so patient with all of us, especially things concerning me. There are scars but Jesus has a healing hand on those scars. I survived and feel a deeper love from the Lord and He is helping me to love Him even more each day. Jersus heals and binds our hearts together. He keeps me on His mind. He is a caring God.
I remembered Him and His love when the doctors told me I had arthritis and thyroid problems. I stilled loved Him and praised His name. I remembered His goodness when the doctors said I have Parkinson?/ Positional tremors. I still loved Him when the doctors told me I have degenerative disk disease. God came to earth as Jesus to give me life for eternity. I remembered His great love when the doctors told me I had cancer. Yes, I ask God to heal me physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritualy.
Each new day brings rejoicing songs in my heart for the God who saved me for rejoicing Him for eternity. He has an everlasting love. A never ending love for me with my name, Diana, inscribed in His hand (Isaiah 49:16).
May the angels and demons know that God’s children will love Jesus without seeing Him and when bad things happen to us, we will still love Him.. Jesus died on a cross, so we would have the riches of heaven. Only Jesus forgives us and loves like no other. I am a witness of this love.
Beloved ones of God, the Lord Jesus is patient with us and helps us to get through difficult times. He is holding our hearts but we do not know it because we are consumed by whatever. (My lie was I was not God’s favorite. He does not have favorites.) He waits to share truth with us. It is because we did hold on to each other that God shares truth with us.
God does heal our spiritual blindness that one develops in the midst of things, to share truth. He waits for all of us with an open heart and wide open arms. The same heart and wide open arms that were on the cross. Run to Him and softly weep on His blood stained robe.
He takes the lies that we have believed and the pain we have suffered and replace them with His wonderful truth. Can you hear His love calling you.
If you are under a severe attack from Satan, find a safe resting place. You must find this place so you can begin to heal. God will use His other children to help you find this resting place. When you have been destroyed emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and maybe physically. Do not travel this road alone. Have a physical person that can hold you as you weep. They will help you.
You are a precious treasure to God. “Believe this my precious love, you are a jewel. A jewel inscribed in my hand. A jewel placed in my crown so you can share my kingdom. I chose you. You are far from home but I am coming to show you the power of my Love. Will you wait in your love for Me just a little longer. Hear my love calling out to you. Sing your praises. I love you with an everlasting love. Allow Me to pull you closer as you endure your journey. Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to help you and bring you into the place which I have prepared for you with many rewards.”
Jesus calmed the Storm.
Note: I have been married twice and it was a biblical separation.
