Author: kdorway

Chosen Companion

The intricacies of life are too much for you to bear alone; it was not intended for you to carry such a load alone.

Meditation Thought: “And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” … And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken [the Lord going with His people so they are distinct] I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” (Exodus 33: 14,17)

Perceived answer:

“In my presence is rest for you, for your cares shall be removed from you and then can you rest. The intricacies of life are too much for you to bear alone; it was not intended for you to carry such a load alone.

When you are weighted down, feeling compelled to move on with your burden, but also feeling unable to do so – turn to Me, seek My help; for I am glad to lift your burden from you and carry it as we go together.

I will not pry your burden from you, however – you must willingly give it to me. That is fundamental to our relationship of Father and daughter rather than a tyrant over the weak.

Until you can see Me as loving Father, ever-caring, ever present when you desire Me to be present, patient and kind, and delighting in fellowship with you – not approving or disapproving of you being a condition of that fellowship, but only our mutual love and our relationship being a condition of fellowship, then I cannot do My fullest works in you and through you.

Give Me your burden of guilt for past errors and misjudgments and behavior.
Give Me your present concerns.
Give me your Family.
Give Me your willing heart, and your loyalty to Me along with your burdens, for it is your surrender of your burden and your own self-will that will make you distinct from all other people that are upon the face of the earth.

You shall be as sun dispersing the gloom of a gray sky, as water upon a parched desert, as the bud upon the bare limb, if you will seek Me to be your chosen companion, guide, and bearer-of-your-burden.

You need not stay where you are if it is not the place where you are content: choose to move in new directions which will satisfy your soul; I created you not for ill, but for good, not to harass, but to love, not to stagnate, but to bloom.

Believe this, sense this, commit yourself to this truth. Your life shall be enriched and sweet, and you shall bring joy and peace wherever you go when I am in your presence.”

Everlasting Light

Only when we seek through a lessening of our diligence to wander into the night are we subject to the fears and terrors of the night.

Meditation Thought: “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.  So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6)

Being children of the day, it is easy for us to be awake, alert. Only when we seek through a lessening of our diligence to wander into the night are we subject to the fears and terrors of the night.

When we keep the light of the Word firmly in our mind, the joy of the Spirit firmly caught within our heart, the ministerings to the world a habit of our body, then we are free from fear – at least we are free from paralyzing fear. We are confident because we can see through the Spirit the truth, and call upon the power of the Spirit to deal with that truth for us.

We need one thing: faith that the Spirit dwells within and is desirous of keeping us in the light.

Abundant Farming

The faithful sow with the Word, till with Truth, water with the Spirit and feed with love.

Meditation Thought: “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 3:6-8)

Trees are planted for the purpose of bearing fruit. It is natural for them to do so – nevertheless, the knowledge that their bearing fruit is not automatic (drought, pests, floods can interfere), makes the successful harvesting of a good crop a cause for rejoicing.

The pattern exists throughout all of nature: the planting, the growing – safely, or in peril – and either a successful harvest or disappointment at the appointed time.

The farmer, however, has options – he can choose to put himself out, giving of time and energy, to promote a better crop.

And so it is with the Kingdom. The faithful sow – and then till, water, feed: yes, sow with the Word, till with Truth, water with the Spirit and feed with love, into the soil which is each person’s spirit.

And so the soil determines the fruit. But the original condition of the soil is changed in character by the tilling, the watering, the feeding. Thus the farmer must never give up in the cultivating if he wishes to have the best possible harvest of fruit.

The harvest of any fruit in rocky soil is cause for joy, as the harvest of a bountiful crop in rich soil is the cause for joy. All farmers are confronted with various conditions of soil and of weather at different times: the joy lies in having enough trust and hope to do the best job possible given the particular circumstances, knowing that without our efforts the crop will be far less or non-existent.

Positive Purpose

Others are enriched while we ourselves find peace and joy and the purposes of our lives.

Meditation Thought: “ but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

We who acknowledge God the Father as the top authority over us must act to please Him first, others afterward.

As we are faithful and fruitful in a little, so God entrusts us with more. To the extent we are constantly moving toward successful completion of our tasks for Him, to that extent are we pleased and rewarded by “positive feedback” from our Father. This in turn spurs us on to greater efforts, and all benefit – God’s will is done and His love and Word expanded in the world, and others are enriched, while we ourselves find peace and joy and the purposes of our lives.

Wise and Gracious: a Guide

Through my penetrating Spirit you shall bring delight, joy, hope, strength, determination of purpose.

Meditation Thought: “ Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5-6)

Conduct yourself according to My Word and you shall conduct yourself wisely. Speak My Word and you shall speak graciously. You cannot use My Word as your guide if you do not know My Word so thoroughly that you are able to understand it and to use it.

Saturate your mind and your heart with My Word, for as the Word penetrates into your very being, it transforms you through the power of the indwelling Spirit.

The truth of My Spirit – the power of My Spirit – the grace of My Spirit – the forgiving nature of My Spirit: the Love of My Spirit – shall be as the most delicate, enhancing flavoring to be savored by both you and those who know you.

Through my penetrating Spirit you shall bring delight, joy, hope, strength, determination of purpose.

Today’s Value

The world will not last; the Kingdom will. Your body will not last; your Spirit will.

Meditation Thought: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23)

Serve the Lord with joy! For in joy did the Lord create you – and serves you: through teaching you the precepts of life in the Spirit.

Each moment has meaning, has value, has influence on every other moment of your life. For each moment serves to move you into greater, more willing service to the Kingdom, or into more estrangement from it and greater conformity to the world. The world will not last; the Kingdom will. Your body will not last; your Spirit will.

Take heed that this moment, which is always now – present, not past, not future – is dedicated to the service of your Lord, for in serving your Lord, you serve yourself – you serve all of humankind.

Do not fear to be bold in the expression of your faith: if you will cling with all of your might to the wisdom of the Word and the truth of the Spirit, you shall serve your Lord and serve man as the natural consequences of serving your Lord: thus is the gospel spread and the Kingdom expanded and joy increased.

Freedom from Fear; Joy Released

You are free of that you feared.

Meditation Thought: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” (Colossians 1:21-23)

Little child, do you tremble because you have done wrong and you fear the consequences? You would undo what you did – but you cannot… you shrink from the future, knowing the past makes it unattractive.

And then, One comes before you, taking the consequences, intervening on your behalf, deflecting the pain you were sure would come. You are free of that you feared.

The relief! A chance to start anew! Will you thank the One who rescued you? Will you share the good news that there is an Intermediary who will arrange pardon for your sentence?

Will you have faith, believe that your Friend is true to you, and desires above all else to help you discover life’s purpose and joy?

Will you come into intimate fellowship with this Person who reveals to you your Father and His love, who brings light to remove the fears and the stumbling that exist in darkness?

If you choose, by faith in His Word, by pleasing to do His will – He who is the Image of the Father, for He is One with the Father – to conform yourself to His personality and teachings, then are you the expression of the Father on earth, with the dross of self-will and evil removed from you by the sacrifice of your Friend’s pain substituted for your pain: your appreciation of His stepping in to take the consequences of your unwise choices is the healing of His pain, the releasing of joy in His heart!

Trough and Crest

This moment is yours – and this moment is Mine: weld our moments together.

Meditation Thought: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

Ebb and flow. You have a fascination for moving water. It is a symbol of life itself. Be content when you are in the trough or on the crest, for both places are necessary for life: for your life.

In the trough you learn to trust without proof: this is faith, you learn to be obedient – this is discipline to make you sturdy and steady to withstand the low places, and to keep you thankful and not prideful in the high places. On the crest you feel grace and blessings which open your heart to the fullness of joy of My love; it is easy for your expression of love to overflow onto those in the trough near to your crest.

This moment is yours – and this moment is Mine: weld our moments together that they may be expressions of both spirit and flesh which expand love, reconcile that which is separated, heal that which is hurt, bring order to chaos, bring relief to the suffering, bring peace to the broken-hearted, bring hope where there is despair, bring forth fruit where there was no sign of life in the branch.

The way is not easy – but the rewards are great, for joy, peace and hope along this way depend not upon circumstances, or others’ treatment of you – but upon our moments welded together as one moment spanning heaven and earth: the Holy Spirit reaching from Mind to mind, Love to love, Spirit to spirit.

You know the way – the way of the cross: obedient, humble, selfless, loving, grateful for all blessings and guidance wherever it leads, knowing who has the world beyond death, into resurrection.

With eyes of faith
And tongue of love
Hands to comfort
And feet to move
Where’re I bid you go
Not one place
Shall you abide
Away from Love and Hope.
This moment, be it trough or crest,
Is triumph over all.

No Anxiety

…the key to releasing faith that works, converting it from passive faith of possibility into active faith of moving mountains. 

Meditation Thought: “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

If you already have everything you desire, how can you need to seek? To ask? To question? To move on? Life is movement; death is still.

It is good to need to request, for in the process the relationship is strengthened. Always – in heaven and on earth – appreciation is heart-warming, and creates an atmosphere of acceptance on both sides.

When we can turn in prayer for everything in our lives, confident that our prayers are heard and answered, then we are not anxious, but thankful. We are able to be thankful before our petition is granted.

The appreciation for what we already have, and the confidence that our Father desires good to continue and increase in our lives by His power and grace, is the key to releasing faith that works, converting it from passive faith of possibility into active faith of moving mountains.

Delightful Freedom

Oh, the excitement of knowing we are loved and cherished.

Meditation Thought: “Rejoice in the Lord.” (Philippians 3:1)

To rejoice in the Lord is to think about the Lord, thank the Lord for blessings, trust the Lord to protect, guide and be with us. The concentration of our joy on the relationship with our Lord is to release joy in every other area: for ourselves, for all whose lives we touch, for the Lord also.

Oh, the excitement of knowing we are loved, we are cherished, not for our position or what we do, but because we are spirit of God’s Spirit.

We must move from the position under the law of forcing ourselves to do right out of fear, to the position under grace of accepting our freely-given love and forgiveness and then in delightful freedom from sin’s burden and recognition of love’s beauty, rush in eager anticipation to do right. Thus doing right moves from a resented, “poor me but I’d better do it anyway” attitude to “I’m so lucky to have the privilege of doing right because it’s such fun and the results are fantastic – for me, and for others too!”