Author Archives: Diana Symons

It’s Ok to Mourn

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Allow the Holy Spirit to comfort you.

To mourn is to care.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matt 5:4

How callous would you have to be to not feel loss at the death of someone close to you? Mourning in this verse means wailing – that gut-wrenching pain of knowing someone dear is gone. We are supposed to be so touched by the lives of others that when they die, we feel their loss as personal pain. Jesus wants us to be that connected. And when we do mourn, He promises that the Comforter will come. It’s a simple verse with a worldview. We’re not supposed to be islands, self-centered, self-controlled. We’re supposed to be family, and when one family member passes, we should be effected by their absence. We should have sensitive hearts of appreciation for each other. I want that sensitivity. Knowing that the Comforter will be with me is just icing on the cake.

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Begging To Be Poor

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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:3

According to Strongs, poor in this verse means destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour, reduced to begging. That’s humble. No one wants to live that as a lifestyle, but it should be something we strive for as an attitude. It’ something I want – a spirit of humility. I am all too quick to give my opinion, to put my best side forward because I know I’ll look better for it. I’d rather be poor in spirit and live in true humility. That would actually help me be successful and fulfilled in my destiny and for God to shine and not me. And having the kingdom of heaven is something I can have now. It’s a great tradeoff – my annoying pride for God’s presence and His kingdom. Please God, help me be poor in spirit.

Are We Robbing God In Our Worship?

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Worship should be about God not me.

Something has been bothering me about our worship songs for some time. When I look back at the old hymns, I see such a difference from the worship songs that we sing today, and I don’t mean just style. The hymns spoke of God’s holiness, His grace, and magnificence. The catchy songs we sing today are about our response to His love and what we want Him to do in us. They are “me” directed not God directed. That bothers me. I don’t want to sing about myself, I want to praise Him. If the song is about my feelings or what I want, I feel like I’m robbing God of real praise. I love the songs that give Him total focus – complete praise, total worship. It’s not about me, it’s about Him. And I don’t want to sing “it’s not about me”, because it’s still about me. I want to cut straight to it’s all about Him. I can get lost in that, then He can be what He wants to be in me without me having to ask.

What Is Your Whole Heart?

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Love the Lord your God with all your heart.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deut 6:5. This is not a suggestion, this is a command. He is serious about this. He says the same thing in the following scriptures:
Deut 4:29
Deut 10:12
Deut 11:13
Deut 13:3
Deut 30:6
Deut 30:10
Josh 22:5
1Sam 14:7
Prov 3:5
Jer  29:13
Joel 2:12
Matt 22:37
Mark 12:30
Luke 10:27

Over and over again, we are told to love the Lord with all our heart, our whole heart. He wants to be the center of our lives. I fear for the ones who give Him lip service or try to fit Him in where they can. They are likely to be the ones who will hear, “Depart from me. I never knew you.” That’s a terrifying thought.

The upside to loving Him totally and completely is blessing, grace, forgiveness, safety, life, and unstoppable love. If we throw ourselves into His arms, He will move heaven and earth to be what we need Him to be for us. But we are responsible to search ourselves and see, are we loving Him with our whole heart? What does that mean to you and are you doing it?

Discouragement Requiers Decision

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Whose truth will you believe?

Know what happens when you go through seasons of blessing? The enemy comes at you like a flood. He hates that God is working in your life. He overwhelms you with lies and discouragement. In an instant, you fall from joy to despair. For some reason, the lie feels more real than the truth. It takes a bit to realize what just happened, but then you have decision to make. Whose truth will you believe? In the middle of discouragement, it’s difficult to mentally make the decision to believe the right thing, but you have to do it. Will yourself to just believe what is true and the truth will flow back into your spirit. The clouds will part and you’ll be back. Resist the devil and he will flee. That resistance is the result of a decision. The longer you allow yourself to wallow in discouragement, the longer you believe the lie. Just say no.

What Are God’s Rules?

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God's rules are defined by His love for us.

Let’s get down to it. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 Easy stuff. But why? What’s it all about anyway? Pull back a bit and look at the Garden of Eden. Our whole reason for existence is to be in fellowship with God. He wants us to be with Him. When that scenario fell apart, He created a way to fix it. Jesus died so we don’t have to. It was a horrific sacrifice for Him and  the pivitol point of humanity. Ignoring it is brushing aside the most powerful act of love in the universe. Yes, there will be consequences. But receive the heart of love that cries out for you and you’ll never be alone again. God’s rules draw you to Him and keep you safe.

Good People Go To Heaven, Right?

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The Gutenberg Bible displayed by the United St...

Whoa, there’s a can of worms. Why would good people not go to heaven? How mean would God be if good people went to hell? It’s strange to me that so many people have an opinion about God, heaven, and hell without any real knowledge of where we get that information, the Bible. It’s God’s word. All you have to do is read it. Making up your own rules doesn’t make them real. And just because God does have rules doesn’t make Him bad. He’s very clear that playing inside His rules is life, and blessing, and heaven. Play outside His rules and you pay the consequences. Very simple. I feel sorry for people who don’t like rules at all because they’re missing everything, especially because they don’t realize how amazingly kind God is. His rules are there to protect us not punish us. What exactly are His rules? -Coming up.