Sing in New Life

Only by giving up the life of the present can we move on to a new life.

Meditation thought: “Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare.” (Isaiah 42:10,9)

If we will allow Him, the Lord will constantly bring us into more knowledge of Himself. This is how the Father enables his child to mature, developing into a person able to do many things the Father does, thus fulfilling the Father’s dream for the child as well as fulfilling the child’s desires.

Only by giving up the life of the present can we move on to a new life. When God is our guide into the new ventures, we can move on in anticipation and hope – not fearing the future, but glad for what our loving Father has prepared for us.

We shall have trials, for all have not yet seen the glory of God and the joy of being His. But we can, if we will, be content in knowing what the sages of the ages have sought to know: the Truth, the Reality, the best way to live one’s life, for both the joy of the present and the joy in the future.

Actions of those living in sync with the Spirit make no sense to others. It’s the difference between living a new life compared to living a life stuck and mired in the past, ignoring or rejecting God’s revelation of “new things” through the life of Jesus.

To move on the “new things” is to experience the power, the grandeur, the joy and the anticipation of a life based on loving God with all our soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Crushing Evil: The Role of Peace and Wisdom in Our Lives

Evil can mask itself as good to an unsuspecting mind, and especially to unguarded emotions.

Meditation Thought: ” I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:19-20)

Only by the power of the indwelling Spirit can we know what is good – and what is evil. Evil can mask itself as good to an unsuspecting mind, and especially to unguarded emotions.

To be filled with the Spirit is to allow eternal wisdom to flow into the mind, peace and joy flow into the heart (the emotions), and energy to do good works course throughout the body. Given these conditions, evil is simply not known – it is ‘crushed under the feet’, never being allowed to affect the Spirit-protected body. It is the way Christ lived, and the way the Father would have all of His children live.

When the children realize it is the way we want to live as well, then the Spirit is able to rush into our being – cleansing, renewing, transforming, reforming – doing a complete remodeling job according to the specifications set down at the beginning of creation.

Visions of Delight

Meditation Thought: “Trust in the Lord and do good; so you will dwell in the land and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:3,4)

Lord, sometimes I’m tired, confused
and ready to give up.
Then, as sunshine after a dark night,
Or rest after weariness,
The whole scene changes.
I glimpse You,
And what You would do –
In me, through me, for me.
Excitement mounts,
Energy flows,
I glow within
And sing with joy.
You are my delight.
I have the desires of my heart.
Not the desires I had,
But the desires You give
Once I come to know you.
I am a new creature in Christ.
Being so, I am your delight.
To know this
Brings gladness beyond measure.
I have pleasure – without guilt.
I have creativity – without strain.
I have love – without fear.
I am in harmony with you,
And peace and joy
Reign in my heart.
Hallelujah!

Fruits of the Spirit: Cultivating Peace and Joy

Sighing shall flee away

Meditation Thought: “…a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way… the redeemed shall walk there… they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35: 8,9,10)

The Holy Way is the Father’s will. It is the way of the Son’s obedience and it is they way of the Spirit’s power. It is the natural way – the way which is best for God’s beloved children.

So long as we do not, out of rebellion brought on by stubborn self-will, refuse the walk the Holy Way, we travel with peace, joy, love and all the other fruits of the Spirit which we can gather along the way. This is true regardless of circumstances. Only as we believe this, and integrate it into every area of our lives, does the kingdom within become recognized. And as we realize that we are in the kingdom, through our knowledge that it is an internal place, we are able to bring changes in the external world which liken it to the kingdom.

We all seek approval – but we need to seek the approval of the Father more than the approval of our human companions if we are to be producers of the fruits of the kingdom. The world needs farmers to feed fruits of the spirit to a starving world!

Seeds of Opportunity May be Found in the Weeds

Which means we may have to get dirty.

Meditation Thought: “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.” (Acts 7:9-10)

“God rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharoah.” God raised Joseph from despair, from a low place, and put him in a place where he could be happy, fulfilled and honored while at the same time helping others. This was a process; it took time.

This is often the pattern. We may not choose to go where we must, to do what we must. Yet in those very circumstances are the seeds of the opportunity God perceived for us. If we are faithful, trustful and work to do our best no matter what the circumstances, then God’s provision for His faithful results in a joyful conclusion.

Embracing Challenges: Faith as Your Strength

Do not fret over what is past.

Meditation Thought: “I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:9-10)

“When you are too weak to stand and to walk alone, I stretch out my arm to support you. Lean on Me! Do not fret over what is past. Challenges will strengthen you and bring you into closer companionship with Me if you seek me in them and rely on my supporting strength.

Our working closely together will enable you to understand Me more clearly and emulate Me more perfectly. You very need of Me focuses your mind and spirit more fully – always this works good! Therefore, rejoice in your need.”

GPS to God’s Kingdom

There is no coercion, for love must be given freely to qualify as love.

Meditation Thought: “nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21)

The kingdom of God exists wherever it is recognized as existing. When we, who have the capacity to do so, respond to God’s Presence within us, we are transformed by the knowledge of the magnificence of the Whole of which we are a part.

When we recognize that we are a part of a Whole and that the Whole is good – good for us and for others – and that goodness is that Whole’s innate Character and Nature, we perceive ourselves in an entirely new way. We perceive that the kingdom which Jesus referred to is actually within us! – to be discovered there and to be explored there.

We are so accustomed to having outside forces be the influence of our perception and decisions that it is difficult for us to realize that the Force within our own being is available and more powerful than any other.

We look inward in the wrong place: we look to the way we feel, and to the selfish desires of our own heart. We need to look inward to the right place: to the Father, the One who can guide us surely through the maze of life, that the Whole is healthy, as the parts are healthy.

We can find the Father and His kingdom within. Jesus is the key. God constantly urges us, and gives clues to us as to His whereabouts – but He desires for us to seek Him that both He and we are aware that the choice is ours. There is no coercion, for love must be given freely to qualify as love.

Lost & Found: Joy, Peace, Fulfillment

…we gain joy, peace and fulfillment.

Meditation Thought: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25)

In any system, when the lower is subject willingly and enthusiastically, cooperatively, and harmoniously to the higher, the whole functions more perfectly. So it is when we yield our lives to Christ – in one sense we lose them because we no longer have control – even partial control, which was really all we had to begin with.

But when we lose that control, we gain everything else that is good for us, everything that will bring joy and peace and fulfillment. These are the very things for which we searched by our own control. We could not find them, for that was not the nature for which we were created.

Only when we realize that we are a part of the whole can we make decisions which are in harmony with the whole, and thus accomplish our goals of finding peace, joy and fulfillment. If we fight the whole, we cannot win! We are weaker, less informed, and incomplete.

Once we recognize that Jesus is our head, – and what a head that is! – we are content, grateful, even, to delegate the functions of the head to Him, and to function as the body ourselves. We become a great body when we have a great Head to instruct us properly!

This understanding can only be achieved by faith – believing in the possibility of the truth that we are not merely what we observe, think and feel, but that we are part of a fantastic whole – and can become far more important, effective, and content as a part of such a glorious whole that we can be alone.

Transforming Chaos into Harmony

Harmony out of chaos, health out of sickness, hope out of despair, joy out of grief, and love out of hate.

Meditation Thought: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10)

To realize that there is power beyond myself is to have confidence. And to have confidence gives courage. To have courage is to release action. Action causes change. When the power, the confidence, the courage and the action are all working out God’s will, then the change is for the better. The change is “all things working together for good”. (Romans 8:28)

The change is bringing harmony out of chaos, health out of sickness, hope out of despair, joy out of grief, and love out of hate. Grace abounds. Beauty evolves. All of life glows with the newness of the dawn, light penetrating into darkness and revealing Truth: Truth that removes fears which were manifested in the darkness. I can think and speak and move in the confidence of knowing “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”. (Psalm 23:6)

The Power of Humility

The whole is not whole if there is a missing part.

Meditation Thought: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

The way to be happy and content in being ‘humble and gentle’ is to realize that one is a part of a marvelous whole. The contrasts are then brought together and integrated in such a way as to bring peace: on one hand, the part is nothing compared to the whole. On the other hand, the whole is not whole if there is a missing part. To know this is to be joyful that one can be a part of an exciting whole, yet humble in realizing that one is only a part.

Though some may not realize the truth of being only a member of a whole (as in the body of Christ), life has a way of challenging that thinking. If circumstances are analyzed instead of merely tolerated, or fought against, then it is possible to perceive in greater clarity and depth in the nature of oneself and the nature of the whole.

With this perception, more appropriate thinking takes place and actions are taken which produce better results. One is able to “be patient, bearing one another in love and eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” And is so being, these qualities are drawn into one’s life from others, thus each part becomes a better part, causing betterment of the whole – more health for all – not a healing of one part at the expense of another part.