With Love To My Dear Family

This is my first letter to my family. I had sent it by email. I could not find this one in my saved draft emails, but did have a paper copy. To get it in the computer, I had to scan it into Windows Photo Gallery and then attach it to this blog. You will need to double click on the letter to enlarge to read. They can be deep, but well worth your time. With God's Divine Love Diane http://diane-j-m-beloved-family.blogspot.com/

With Love To My Family

WITH LOVE TO MY FAMILY
#2 - 09/06/04



Dear Beloved,
I'm so sorry it has taken almost a year to get this 2nd family letter written. My only excuse is that this year has been so busy, and I've been trying to get back on the right path, so I will not waste the precious time I have been given. Life is a gift entrusted to us. We only have so much time to do what needs to be done. In that time , we need to figure out what our purpose is ,and get it accomplished. Sounds so easy, but not when we have so many distractions and have not read the instruction book on how to finish the task.
But before I go any farther , I want to say I enjoyed our family trip & Traci and T.J's Wedding Day , tremendously ! Traci , you were a beautiful bride and Falon looked so precious ( as she is ) in her pretty purple dress and fancy shoe's . T. J. you were handsome in your tux's and the setting with the falls behind you was beautiful. I will hold that memory of time and week , dear to my heart forever. I just wish time wouldn't vanish as quickly as it does. The gift of time is precious ! But someday , time will have no meaning . Because of what Jesus did for us , someday we will have eternity . LIFE WITH NO TIME ! Then we will be able to enjoy all the good things of God! But until that time , we were given life with time. Life here on earth was give ( entrusted ) ,for a reason ( purpose ) . We get mixed up some times , and forget why we are here . We forget it is not about us . We want to do it our way . We want to enjoy our life now! We know what is best for us. Nobody can know how we feel . So who else , but us , can do a better job at making choice for all the decision life throws at us . We don't need a instruction book to lead us through life . We will create our own life and destiny . Well , I say good luck, you'll need it. This month I'll turn 50, and all my life , I did just that . I did it my way . Even thought I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior at twelve years old , which meant I had given my life to God and Jesus , I still did it my way . Whatever suited me and myself and I . Well now that I have lived maybe over half of my life , I can look back and see where I made mistakes and if I had been following the instruction book of life, my life might have been easier, better or happier . Maybe my children would have happier lives and so own . But the bible tell us God knows what we are going to do before we do it . Before we are born , he knows how our life is going to be played out and the choices we will make . He knows our life stories from beginning to end . Isaiah 46:10 " I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say : My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." So God knew before I did, that I was going to make all those mistakes . Romans 8:28 states, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." So he also knew before I knew , I'd be doing these family letters for you. What a GREAT & AWESOME GOD we have!!!!! He took my mistakes to help others hear the word of God. When I started this letter I had a totally different message to send. My bible was all marked with different scriptures I planned to use. But before I started to type this letter , I ask God to please help me , and for me to write what he wanted to be said . I also ask that I not write anything that he didn't want said. And this is what I ended with. I guess , I'll save my message for next time . Unless God has something else on his agenda. So I guess what God is trying to say is Please come to me and I will help you. Jeremiah 29: 11 says " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Psalm 139:16 King David says , "your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be ." Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:27 says " God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. " Well I defiantly made foolish choices and was always weak and never standing tall with confidence . Always following the crowd even when I knew better because I wanted to fit in or be accepted . So now you are saying ," Why do I need the instruction book , if my life is already played out and known by God . Well , because you don't know how it is going to be played out . We are not puppets on strings , God gave us choice's to make with our free will . God is all knowing , not a puppeteer . I believe God made you because he knew you and how you would grow and react to life's decisions and you would change the would for his purpose . Psalm 139 : 1 ," O lord, you have search me and you know me. You know me when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar . You discern my goings out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord . " And Psalm 139:13 says , " For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. " So although God created you and knows you threw and threw and knows how your life plays out , he still gave you the choice to make your life the way you want ! So now we get back to the instruction book . In Hosea 4:6 it reads , " My people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge ." Last year Cedar Christain Church , the church I attend , with mom and my family , pushed the congregation to read the new testament , and this year the old testament . I remember years a go, I read the bible from front to back ,and because it was so difficult to understand and boring in some places , I found myself just reading the words with no understanding . I just wanted to finish it , to say I read the whole Bible. So this time , I've been taking my time , and really trying to understand the word and what God wants us to know . It has help me also , that I listen to Kenneth Copeland Ministries and Creflo Dollar's Changing Your World , daily before going to work . I hope you keep an open mind and at least read these letters . I'm not saying you have to believe a word I say , it is just my opinion and believing Gods leading me to write this for who ever will contemplate it . Lastly 1 John 2: 17 states , "The world and it's desires pass away , but the man who does the will of God lives forever ." I feel this is God will , for me to help those who I love so dearly , because he loves me so dearly . The more I grow in the word and truth of our Lord , the freer of worries I become and the more at peace I am . I just want to share this great love that is available to us all . In closing , I'll read something , I read . " Only in seeing his maker does man truly become a man . For in seeing his creator , man can catch a glimpse of what he was intended to be ." The only way you can know our maker , is to spend some time reading his words and thoughts in the instruction book , the Bible . I hope these letters will help you get to know our maker just little bit better and realize he only wants whats best for you .




With sincere Love Diane
LaFontaine

Dear Beloved Family - Body, Soul, & Spirit

Dear Beloved Family - Body, Soul, & Spirit -# 3 02/15/05


Dear Beloved Family,
I hope all is well with you! Well it won’t be long now till spring. About a month and a half and we should be enjoying nice weather again. Time goes so fast, so I know it will be here in no time at all. I try to use the winter to get done inside; those things that never get done, during spring, summer, or fall. So that means fall and spring-cleaning in the winter. You’d think I’d have plenty of time for it, but with Christmas and Hayleah’s birthday, and then, Alisha, Joe, and Tiffany’s birthdays coming one after another, the winter just slips by! So the other day I decided, I better get this letter done, because when spring gets here, Joe and I are out in the yard doing our gardening. I still am not going to write on the subject I had planned on writing about in my last letter (letter #2). God put it on my heart to write, what I wrote to you last time, and what I’m writing on today (letter #3). I’m hopping to be able to write on it, in the next letter (letter #4). You see, I needed to get you to understand what I talked about last time and in this letter, so I can make a foundation, for my next subject. I believe, GOD, INTERRUPTED, my last letter (#2,) for this very reason. He knew I needed to build a case for what I’ve been wanting to write on, for a long time now!
I am a spirit, and you all, are a spirit! I have a soul, and you all, have a soul! I live in a body, and you all, live in a body! Who rules? Your spirit, your soul, or your body? In most case’s, your body rules YOU! God wants your spirit to rule. Let me explain your three parts, so you can understand how to start to change and reverse this problem. God is a spirit. John 4:24 states “ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.” Also in 2 Corinthians 3:17 it says, “Now the LORD is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” So God, who is in heaven and who created you and I, is a Spirit. Under the old covenant, in the Old Testament, the only way people could come to God was to go to the high priest, who would burn sacrifices for worship and forgiveness of sins. In the temple there were three parts. The 1st part was the outer court. The 2nd part, or inner court, where the altar for sacrifice was, was also called the Holy Place. Inside the Holy Place, were the 3rd part, the Most Holy Place, where God’s presence was, as well as the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments’. There was a curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Only once a year, would the High Priest go into the Most Holy Place. No one, except the High Priest, could go into the Most Holy Place. The reason I went into detail about the temple, is because when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain, that separated the two rooms, split from the top to the bottom, signifying, God was no longer separated from us, by a priest. We could go directly to him, through our new High Priest Jesus Christ. This is why it says in John 14: 6, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Then in John 16:7-8, Jesus says to his disciples, “ But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement:” Also John 15:26 says, “ When the counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” So Jesus sends the Counselor, or the Holy Spirit to us, who comes from God our Father, the Spirit. Now in John 3:3-5 it says, Jesus declares, “ I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “ How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a 2nd time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, I tell you the truth; no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to the spirit.” When we are born again or saved, which means we have accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior through confession with our mouth and believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, we receive the Holy Spirit or Counselor. Stated in Matthew 3:11, by John the Baptist, “ I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Your spirit is your connection that communicates to God through the Holy Spirit. Your spirit is also your intuition. John 16: 13, says “ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
Your soul is your self or your identity. Your soul is made up of your mind (intellect), will, and your emotions. Your body or flesh on the other hand, is made up of your five senses, sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Now at the rebirth a war begins between the body and Spirit for your soul. Before the rebirth, this war did not exist, because the body was dead to sin. At death, our body dies and returns to dust, but our spirit and soul remains. This war exists, because you have a purpose or job to complete, just as Jesus had a job to complete. At the cross before he died, Jesus said, “It is finished.” He knew he had completed what God had intended him to do. Paul states in Philippians 2:12 to the Philippians Christians, “Therefore, my dear friend, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose.” Your body lives in the world and the world has dominion over your flesh. Your senses are distracting you from what God has intended for you to do and complete, while you are here on the earth. Galatians 5:16, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” Now you understand why you seem to do want you don’t want to do and can’t do what you want to do. How do we overcome and win this war? You’ve got it! Through our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, GOD ALMIGHTY, and the HOLY SPIRIT. The more time you spend in the word of God, your spirit is strengthen, and you can hear and understand what the Holy Spirit wants you to know and do! If you do not spend any time in God’s Word, your spirit becomes very weak. So, let’s say, you go to church on Sunday, and that’s it for the week. The rest of the week, you do what you do-eat, sleep, watch TV, work, listen to music and etc. Who is getting feed! - YOUR BODY! Who is getting stronger? -YOUR BODY! Your body is much stronger than your spirit, so it controls your soul –(your mind, will, and emotions). The more time you spend developing your connection and communication with the Holy Spirit, you will gain strength to fight your battle to rule your body. Lastly in Hebrews 5:11-14, “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant is not acquainted with the teachings about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” When we are born again, the battle for our soul begins. Unfortunately, many of our churches don’t teach us all we need to know and understand, for us to defend and strengthen our souls for Gods purpose. That is why I’m writing these letters! I want you to know what I’ve learned, by being constant in God’s Word. Most of us are still infants. We need to start feeding on solid food to mature as God intended.
Divine Love
Diane


P.S. Today’s date: 5/1/05-As you can see it took me a long time to write this –remember – I’m a hen pecker.
P.S.S. In Isaiah 55:11 God says, “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I send it.”-So I believe, that even though this is a lot of solid food to digest at one sitting, God’s words will not return empty, but will have an impact on you for his purpose!

Dear Beloved Family - The Enemy Is Real!

Dear Beloved Family - The Enemy Is Real! # 4 -09/04/05


Dear Beloved Family,
I hope life is treating you good. I am very grateful to GOD for my health, home and family! Just last week Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf and many fellow Americans can not say this! Their homes are destroyed, family member are missing or gone and many peoples health have been affected or will be affected due to all the stress and disease from this tragedy. Two weeks ago, Mom, Hayleah and I went to the Green Bay Believer’s Convention also called this year, the Overflow Prosperity Convention. The last two years it was held in Green Bay Wisconsin, which I attended both. The first year Barb, my friend, and I went. The second year, Barb, Mom, Hayleah, and I attended. They have a great kids program, called Super Kids Academy. This year there were over 700 kids registered and over 7000 adults from all over America and 23 nations in the world. This year it was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with 8 great preacher, which I’ve seen all on TV These are the names of the ministers, so if you ever get a chance to listen to them on T. V., you will learn a lot from them! Kenneth and Gloria Copeland (Texas), Creflo Dollar (Georgia), Jesse Duplantis (New Orleans), Jerry Savelle (Texas), Keith Butler (Detroit), Bill Winston (Chicago), Keith Moore (Branson MO). IT WAS A GREAT TIME EMERCING OUR SPIRIT IN GOD’S WORD FOR 6 DAY! My spirit is getting stronger and stronger each day, from hearing the word.Diane Page 1 3/3/2009
Well I’m finally going to write about, what I wanted to write about, 3 letters ago! All during my growing up years, attending First Christian Church in Ottumwa and Cedar Christian Church in Cedar Rapids (both Disciples of Christ Churches) I NEVER HEARD A SERMON ON THE ENEMY, OR SATAN OR THE DEVIL. And because I never read the Bible, I thought he was just make believe for Halloween time. When I started to listen to Joyce Meyers, Ken Copeland, Creflo Dollar, they all talked about Satan and how he was always attacking us and tempting us to do his will, instead of God’s will. This was all new to me, so I listen intently. Then I started to read the Bible and found he, (the enemy, Satan, the devil, the dragon, serpent) was through out the Bible. I started to question, why I was never taught more about this evil spirit and his existence? I will give you the answer to this question, but first I want to establish his true existence. We learn who Satan is, in the last book of the Bible in Revelation12: 7, “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” So Satan was an angel in heaven. In Isaiah 14:12-15, it says,
“12 O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
15 But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.”
This verse tells us why Satan was thrown to the earth! He was rebellious to God. Satan wanted to raise himself up above God. In the 1st book of the Bible, Genesis 3:1-5, it tells how the devil deceived Eve. This was the fall of man.

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So now I’ve established, Satan in the 1st, middle, and last book of the Bible. But he is also weaved through out the whole bible, new and old. In John 10:10 Jesus says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The Bible goes on to tell us why Jesus came to us in 1 John 3:8, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.” In John 17:15, Jesus prays for his disciples protection from Satan, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” Lastly in 1 Peter 5:8, it says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Satan is a Spirit, just as God is a Spirit. His dominion is here in the world. He knows is time is running short and he is mad! He’s trying to figure out how he can win, and he does not care who he hurt or destroys in the process as stated in Revelation 12:12 “Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."
I believe many churches do not preach about Satan, our enemy, because of fear. The Churches don’t want to dwell on the negative, but want to concentrate on the positive, or Love. And I believe we do need to concentrate on the positive also. I have always preached, and tried to reflect on the good things in my life, no matter what is going on. But I believe; that if you bury your head in the sand and don’t know the truth, because of fear, you can’t defend yourself against something that does not exist! (in your mind) The enemy -Satan is more real than any thing you can see. The unseen is more real than the seen. Think about it, God IS UNSEEN. GOD is more real than you or I. He created us!!!!!!!!!!! Hosea 4:6, says,” my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” What you don’t know, can hurt you. I also believe main stream churches want to be just that- main stream- not to radical. They want to go down the middle of the road- to please the masses- to be politically correct. They don’t want to ruffle any feathers, or stir up any more controversy. In continuing letters, I will expound more on this subject. But before I go, I must give you one more scripture, so you will not fear Satan. Luke 10 :17-20, “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." In Jesus name, you have authority over Satan. But if you don’t read the Bible, you don’t know that. That’s exactly what your enemy doesn’t want you to know. He doesn’t want you to know he exist or that you have authority over him. What I am going to reveal to you will set you free from the bondage and infirmities he has placed on you, without you knowing it! God bless you!




Divine Love
Diane

Who Is Satan & What he Does!

Dear Beloved Family-Who is Satan & what he does! Letter # 5 –06/22/06




Dear Beloved Family,
I feel the nudge, by the Holy Spirit, to get this letter written to you, even though I have many other things on my mind and many things to do! I left off in letter # 4 exposing Satan and giving you every reason to believe he does exist, even though he’d rather you not know that. As you know, anything bad, wrong, or evil, likes to be hidden. It likes to stay in the darkness- it doesn’t want to be known or found out. Just as a thief sneaks around so he won’t be seen in the act of stealing, or a liar keeps lying so his first lie won’t be found out. Satan also likes to be hidden, and his influence unknown. If the world really knew Satan was alive and behind all the evil in the world, more people would change what they said, did, and expose themselves too. Most people think they are serving themselves and not Satan! But they are wrong! They are serving themselves indirectly, with the devil being their master. In Matthew 6:24, it saysNo man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.Who does the Bible say Satan is? In John 14:30 Jesus says, “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,” Then in John 8: 44, Jesus says, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” And in Revelation 12:10, it says,
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
The devil can put you in hard times as stated in Revelations 2:10, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” In the book of Job, God was bragging about Job, saying he was a great servant of God. Then Satan accused Job of loving God, because God had blessed him with so much. Satan told God that if God would allow him to take away all his blessings, Job would curse God as stated in Job 1:6-12,
“One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
"Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD”. At that Satan went out and destroyed Job’s blessings to try to prove God wrong. If you read Job, you will see, even though Satan took away all of Job’s blessings, Job still would not curse God. Job did not understand what he had done to deserve all these bad things. In the end God restored him and blessed his latter life more than the first! Lastly Satan is a tempter, as seen in Mathew 4:1, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.”Also in 1 Thessalonians 3:5, Paul says to the Thessalonica church members and all believer’s, “I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.” If we are tempted by Satan and give into sin, Satan then gets a foothold into our lives as shown in John 13:27, “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.”
To review what the bible tells us, who is Satan ---- Satan is the ruler or Prince of this world. He is a liar, who accuses us to God and puts us through tests to tempt us, gaining access into our life. If we fail the tests, he proves our unworthiness to God. When we are deceived and sin, WE PUSH God and his goodness out of our life. I do not want to put fear in you, but do want to inform you, so you have a chance to resist Satan’s attacks. You really have nothing to fear of Satan. He is the ruler of this world, but he has no body! That is why he tries so hard to deceive you, to get you to do his dirty evil work. Satan wanted to be the ruler of the universe, but GOD cast him to the earth for his rebellion! So then he deceived Adam and Eve, who were given dominion over the earth. Genesis 1:26, Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." And when Adam and Eve listened to the lies of the devil, they gave up their authority of the earth to Satan. So Satan then became the prince of this world. After giving up their kingdom, they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, to work and labor until they died and returned to the dust. Genesis 3:22-23
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.” As you can see, Adam and Eve were like God, they had eternal life until they disobeyed God’s commands and listened to Satan’s lies. They also had been like God in spirit, with no flesh- Genesis 3:21- “For the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” This was done only after they had been deceived and just before they were kicked out of heaven on earth. Boy do we need to open our hearts and realize how much we are giving away, every time Satan lies and deceives us to go against what God has commanded us to follow. Because we all are growing and learning and live in this world of deception, we are always sinning. To prevent Satan’s access into your life, when you realize you have sinned, quickly ask God for forgiveness and repent (turn away from-do not continue down that path). In doing so Satan can not continue to deceive you. Because no one taught me these things, I grew up, living my life trying to be a good Christian. Instead, I was deceived. I believed the lies and thought I was serving God, but instead served the devil! When the devil said, “ You can’t follow God and still have fun!” I agreed and chose not to follow God’s commands. Thinking I was just listening to my own thoughts, I conformed to the world and Satan’s lies and plans for me. He deceived me for so long! Satan doesn’t know who he has been messing with, when he tried to destroy my life! For all his evil, I will expose him so he can not hide in the darkness anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



My sincere Love

When Satan Comes, He Steals, Kills, And Destroys

Dear Beloved Family- When Satan comes, He Steals, Kills, and Destroys # 6 02/26/07


Dear Beloved Family,
Well it’s been awhile since my last family letter and a lot has happened. At times I wish God would just show me my future and his plans for me, so I could know what choices I should make. This would help me to avoid mistakes. So I thought! At times I feel he shows me a glimpse and revelation of my future, but they are in pieces. I believe these are our hopes and dreams. God puts dreams in our heads, because he knows us better than we know ourselves. Our dreams are God’s revelation of his perfect plan for our lives! “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall known fully, even as I am fully known,” (1 Corinthians 13:12). I heard a statement from a pastor on television the other day, and I really understand it to the fullest now! He said, “If God told you your future and laid out your path to receive it, it wouldn’t take any faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6) and it would scare you so much that you would say, That’s Ok God, forget it, I can’t do that!” If you have forgotten what my last statement was in my last family letter, let me refresh your memory. “ Satan doesn’t know who he has been messing with, when he tried to destroy my life! For all his evil, I will expose him so he can not hide in the darkness anymore!” Let me tell you, I didn’t know what kind of battle I was facing when I said that. If I had known what was around the bend, I wouldn’t have started this whole family letter! And that is exactly why GOD REVEALS IN PIECE’S. Fifteen years ago, was when I really started this journey. I decided that I was going to put God first in my life, and try my best to follow his commands. When we put God first, He can use us for his glory. Six years ago I really got into the word. I consumed it daily. I ate, drank and slept the word. The only television I watch was evangelism. The only books that I read were the Bible or Christian books. I only listened to Christian music or tapes coming or going in the car. And I spoke words of faith as I went to work everyday for at least 4 to 5 years. This is exactly what I said every other day as I drove to work. In the name and blood and body of Jesus, through grace, faith, hope, and love, I am a God fearing, God loving, God obedient, God speaking, drug free, alcohol free, smoke free, debt free, anxiety free, fearless, young, thin, healthy, beautiful, bold, confident, emotionally, financially, famous, successful powerball winner entrepreneur with at least three successful business, including Divine Dental International located at 42nd and Edgewood, serving Jesus Christ my Lord.” God and I think BIG! Then I would go on to say statement of faith about each and every one of you. Trust me, I did this three times a week for years (I worked three days a week). My mentor Joyce Meyer had said speak what you want in your life, and speak it daily, and so I did (I tried to say it daily but most the time I only remembered going to work). Realize, after years of doing this and not seeing things changing how discouraging it gets. Some times I’d get so tired of saying this, but I’d say it anyway, because, “We live by faith, not by sight,” (2 Corinthians 5:7). So I continued to speak words of faith, even when I didn’t want to any more and felt it was of no use. Even thought I didn’t have certain problems anymore like anxiety, alcohol, smoking, and drug abuse, I made these faith statements because Satan had deceived me before in the past with these bondages. Even though I had overcome these problems, desires, and addictions and was no longer a slave to his schemes, I knew he is always looking for ways to entangle us once again. This is described in (1 Peter 5:8) it says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” And also in (2 Peter 2:19-20) it says, “for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end then they were at the beginning.” These verse’s tell us Satan is always trying to trap us even in things we’ve defeated, and if we fall in the trap it’s worse the 2nd time around. I was fighting the good fight of faith, (1 Timothy 6:12), so nothing was going to stop me and life was so good! Then it happened Satan attacked me and my world ended, so it seemed. John 10:10, says, “ the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy” I had heard Joyce Meyer say many times that when you do God’s work, plan on being attacked by Satan. He doesn’t bother those who don’t serve God because they are not a threat to him. Usually they are playing into his hands, and already serving him. I knew this, but I felt I could handle anything he threw at me and never expected what was coming. If I had known what was coming, I probably would have said, “not me God, I’m not strong enough for that. Find someone else who’s stronger than me. To be continued………………

Dear Beloved Family - You Don't Have A Testimony

Dear Beloved Family- You Don’t Have A Testimony
# 7 –04/01/07


Dear Beloved Family,

Life was good. Everything was going as I had planned. A few more years of working, and I would cut back to two days a week. Then down to one day a week. The house and cars were paid for, and I had a nice nest egg in my saving account. I had almost enough money saved to trade my car in and buy a new car outright for the first time! I was in the word and it says in Job 36:11, “If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.” And then in Job 22:21, “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.” I had been trying to obey, submit, and serve God, so I thought life was going to continue to increase in contentment and prosperity. Satan’s attacks started slowly, so I didn’t noticed them at first. I started to have small health issues. Then two years ago I started having major problems with my neck, arms, and shoulders hurting while working. Being proactive, I stepped up nutritional and chiropractic care. The last nine months of work were excruciating. All I could think of, was I can’t do this anymore. I consulted holistic medical care wanting to stay away from synthetic drugs and their many side effects. But all the steps that I took didn’t help, and I ended up with the final blow of a panic attack at work. When this happened, I knew, if I walk away without trying again the fear would paralyze me. So I took some anti- anxiety pills and continued to work that day. I made it through the day, so the next day, I went again. This time I needed to take the pills before work and got though the day. The third day I needed to take the anti-anxiety medicine before work and at lunch to get through the day. On the fourth day, I took the pills before work and by the time I was at work, I was so anxious, I realized I was going to have to go home. I tried, but it was time to call it quits. Now the depression started to overtake me. I started to complain, by saying, “ God, how could you let this happen to me. This isn’t fair. I’ve obeyed and submitted to you and this is what I get!” Joe and I had recently change churches, because, I felt our present church wasn’t helping us grow, as we needed. As much as I liked the teachings at our new church, I missed being at church with mom, Alisha, and Hayleah. But Matthew 19: 29, says, “And everyone who has left house, or brother, or sister, or father, or mother, or children, or field for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. We had left our family and comfort of our old church, for his sake and to get to know Him better and all hell breaks lose. This was not the way I expected things to go. One day I was so discouraged, my health hadn’t got better, I had almost used up all my savings, trying to find answers for my health, and my panic attacks were getting worse. I thought, “ What good has all this been for.” I wanted to just quit our new church and stop learning and living the word. I wanted to just go back to the days when, I didn’t know the word, and live like the rest of the world lives----for myself. But deep inside, I knew I couldn’t, because I knew the truth. I knew, I would be unhappy trying to live a lie. My new friend at church, Ann, was trying to comfort me and I was complaining, about how defeated I felt. I told her I had been writing this family letter, and I didn’t think all this was going to be a good testimony. Who would want to follow the word if this is what you have to go through? Ann said, “ Diane, you can not have a testimony, without a test! I didn’t know I had to have a test for a testimony. I just wanted to testify to you what I had learned through studying the word. I didn’t know I would be tested to see how much I had learned. 1 Peter 4: 12 says, “ Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” I was finding out, living the word was much harder than knowing the word. The first week of not working, God woke me up and said, “Be still, and know that I am God.” I didn’t know if that was a verse or not. I checked Bible Gateway on the Internet, but it didn’t come up as a verse. I felt God was telling me I needed to learn to trust Him. Let me tell you, it is much easier to trust Him when life is going good. But when you are in a test, you whole spirit, soul, and body is screaming, “This isn’t fair. I don’t deserve this. Why do people who don’t serve you seem to have better lives! I was failing the test and I knew it. My body was winning the battle for my soul. My spirit was defeated and crushed. I had a lot to learn on living the word, not just knowing the word. I needed to learn to trust Him when all seems bleak. In James 1:12 it says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.


With sincere Love Diane

P.S. A few weeks ago I received a Christian store flyer. One of the books they were selling was called “ Be still and know that I’m God". Below the title was Psalms 46:10