Author: kdorway

Jeweled Crown

And so what appears to be death of self is actually the resurrection of self in new glory

Meditation Thought: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

When we place our delight in the Lord, we will have constant delight – for the Lord is always loving, caring, helpful, dependable, powerful – and willing to fulfill the desires of our heart. When we learn to be adept at taking our delight in the Lord, we will rejoice in the fulfillment of our desires as a natural consequence.

The ability to become adept at taking our delight in the Lord, however, is one which must be rigorously developed and practiced. There must be time to learn His Word, to listen to His Counsel. There must be courage to act upon His instructions – and His instructions may well bring the ridicule of the world, and most devastatingly, even our loved ones. We must learn to seek truth and not accept face values, we must “fight city hall”, we must be active and not passive, we must put duty above pleasure, we must sacrifice ego to become God’s weak vessel into which He pours His strength.

When we are able to submerge ourselves into what we thought was a swallowing up of our identity into God’s will, we learn that miraculously the very burying of ourself in Him crystallized us into all we were meant to be: we are fulfilled in an unsuspected joy as we emerge more totally individual than ever before – a new creature in Christ, a jewel set off more brilliantly because of our placement in His crown. And so what appears to be death of self is actually the resurrection of self in new glory, the clay reworked by God into a new and beautiful vessel to be used by Him, to be delighted in by Him, a completion of His creative process.

 

Atmospheric Conditions

…as we move into the atmosphere of God rather than the atmosphere of the world. 

Meditation Thought: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

The closer we are to the sun, the more we receive of its light and its warmth. It is always there, but if we have clouds between us, or our situation isn’t right (our side of the earth turned from the sun), or the season is one where there is more distance between us and the sun, then we receive less light and less warmth than we do under ideal conditions.

God wants us to be in the ideal conditions to receive the most of His light and His warmth – and unlike the sun, He influences conditions to provide improvement – if we are perceptive enough to see the truth of the conditions and to act in a way that will bring us His light and His warmth to the fullest extent.

We can think, we can act, and we can change our position relative to God. As we move more closely to God, we move more closely to the desires of our heart, for the desires of our heart originated from God. Sometimes we have some desires which are counterfeit and get between our God-given desires and us, but they do not thrive well in the atmosphere of the Spirit of God, and will die out and disappear as we move into the atmosphere of God rather than the atmosphere of the world.

 

Rays of Hope

Who is with us every second of our lives; who is constantly concerned for us; who seeks to help us? Our dear Lord –

Meditation Thought: “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice.” Philippians 4:4

Who is with us every second of our lives; who is constantly concerned for us; who seeks to help us? Our dear Lord – when we rejoice in Him, He is always there – no disappointment that the one we wish to rejoice with and in has disappeared.

The Lord is our source of rejoicing – pouring out “rays” of love, peace, help, guidance; rescuing us in times of trouble with His energy and wisdom. But unlike the sun, which sends out heat and light, but receives nothing in return; we send our “rays” back to the Lord – rays of hope, of trust, of love, of obedience. There is constant exciting movement from one to the other; an inter-changing of rays to make the other glow with love and gratitude, and a sense of fulfillment. All of the rays are needed to make the relationship whole, to make both God and His creation whole, totally as we were intended to be when He created us to complete the outpouring of the love which He needed to express.

 

The Blessing of Confession

As we lose ourselves in prayer for another, that is when we come closest to being made in the image of God, for we are serving, unselfish, loving, and giving at that moment.

Meditation Thought: “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” James 5:16

Confess. Confess is a pouring out of a thought – as you pour it out of yourself, it is no longer part of you; that thought is not inside of you, to cause festering, to be interfering with thoughts on which God wants us to concentrate: thoughts full of beauty, holiness, kindness.

As others hear of your sin, they can express the confirmation of God’s forgiveness and of their forgiveness – thereby also reinforcing their own need to confess their sins and be forgiven.

And pray – always pray for one another, for to pray is to express love and concern, and to call for power for the other. As we lose ourselves in prayer for another, that is when we come closest to being made in the image of God, for we are serving, and unselfish, and loving, and giving at that moment – a child imitating our parent. And in the imitating, becoming more like the parent, more God-like – more as He teaches by His example. Varied as His examples are, they are always consistent in their nature: they exemplify love.

The Habit of Prayer

Cultivate the habit of praying before you speak – just a quick, “Lead me, Father” will enable me to guide your thoughts and words to help those who hear you.

Meditation Thought: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)

“I have already given you the concept that people should be enriched as their lives touch yours, and not degraded. Cultivate the habit of praying before you speak – just a quick, “Lead me, Father” will enable me to guide your thoughts and words to help those who hear you. I love all of you – I want open channels to pour my loving guidance through, that we may have a communion of family – think in terms of “the more the merrier” as we expand acquaintances into our family – the more love is shared, the more it grows.”

Great Upheaval

My movements and promptings are gentle, for your free will must be honored – but, gentle as they are, they have great power…

Meditation Thought: “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him…” 1 John 3:21-22

As we learn of His commandments, and as we keep them, we come to know Him more intimately – as we learn to “live by His rules”, we also learn to think and to be more like Him. If we are like Him, then we ask in harmony with His will for us, which is the key to receiving what we ask.

” ‘Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only’ – that is the action that starts the chain reaction – as one person’s needs are met, the action is multiplied so that more needs are met, and a little movement can start a great upheaval – I do not ask you to go out to minister to hundreds of people – but I do ask you to minister to some, so that the little ministering can be multiplied into many large ministerings. My movements and promptings are gentle, for your free will must be honored – but, gentle as they are, they have great power which I am eager to release to bring my dear children into my loving care and protection.”

Blessed, Beloved, Pampered

So, too, we enjoy our early party here on earth, as our Father lavishes His care and gifts upon us, but it is only later that we will come to know what a truly great celebration He has for us with Him.

Meditation Thought: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2

We are God’s children now. This moment. I am His blessed, beloved, pampered daughter. And yet what He does for me now is only a preparation for even greater joys later.

I’m thinking of the excitement of a child’s birthday. The child is so excited and happy at breakfast when the family gives him special attention and also gifts. He knows there will be a party later, and he anticipates it eagerly, but it is only during the party, that he truly realizes the difference in the quiet celebration in the morning, and the more intense one in the later hour.

So, too, we enjoy our early party here on earth, as our Father lavishes His care and gifts upon us, but it is only later that we will come to know what a truly great celebration He has for us with Him. We are forming, growing, while we are here – but when we join Him we will be His matured believer, having changed from sinners to forgiven sinners to His own beloved children formed new in His image, grown to be like Him.

 

 

Reap in Season

No matter how tempting it is to pluck the fruit before it is completely right (ripe), it is best to have patience and wait for complete maturity. Only through My Word given in various forms can you know when the fruit is ripe.

Meditation Thought: “…in due season we will reap…” (Galations 6:9)

” ‘In due season’ – not in your season. Many things are made better through the passage of time – more mature, even changing completely sometimes. They can be properly used in the right situation only when they are allowed to come to their maturity before use. No matter how tempting it is to pluck the fruit before it is completely right (ripe), it is best to have patience and wait for complete maturity. Only through My Word given in various forms can you know when the fruit is ripe. You need to be observant, to have patience, and be willing to check time and time again as to the state of the fruit. It is there for you, but you must make your own effort to bring it to your benefit.”

Unlimited Possibilities

We have the Power of God within us – think of that, unlimited power within our own bodies, minds, spirits. We need only use the key He gave us…

Meditation Thought: “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” 1 John 3:23

“Commandment” – command is not a statement, it is not a request: it is an order. We believe in Jesus: believing implies we accept Him for what He says He is: we do not doubt that He is the Son of God, we do not doubt his statements are true. If we accept that they are true – then because of His obedience to the Father, we have claims to unlimited possibilities.

We have the Power of God within us – think of that, unlimited power within our own bodies, minds, spirits. We need only use the key He gave us to unlock all that Power: Believe, act on that belief and stand in awe at the results!

For God’s promises come true only when they are perceived and accepted with praise and thanksgiving. God’s promises: we get excited at some promises of men, think what we feel when we start to realize that we can have everything we want – it has been promised to us! Oh, no – we weren’t promised it would be in the form we picture – it will be in the form of our omnipotent God’s best as He responds to our actions. We have free will, so He cannot pre-package the wonderful gifts He has to offer; He must wait to hear from his believer to know what gift to send, then note the response to the gift, to know what other gifts to send. He wants us to have the desires He has created in us fulfilled but only as wonderful gifts for which we have asked, not as arbitrary imposition on us of whatever He decides to send. He wants the joy of two-way communication and a relationship of love and trust and interaction.

A New Name

So a vital relationship with Christ can transform anyone

Meditation Thought: “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,  so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

In these few words, Paul describes the interchange and the reliability upon one another that constitute the relationship of God with His faithful people.

God does call upon us to do His work – and when we respond by faith, resolve and our efforts, He releases His power to aid us. What is difficult is the initiating of our own movement once we recognize we should make it.

Prayer is a great help in this, as is the trust that God will work good for us when we serve Him faithfully. Despite the troubles that have come to Christians, and do come to Christians, the joy of the Lord penetrates and uplifts – and is encouragement to the participants and to those who observe.

Paul also makes a point that as we glorify Christ, He glorifies us: that must be the key factor that gives strength and courage beyond the ordinary. I hadn’t thought about my being glorified in Christ – but to know of the changes that took place in the people who knew Christ, and believed Him, and the ones who have come to know Him through faith after His death and resurrection, does verify this statement. To know Christ and to follow Him is to change the personality – to enhance the God-reflective qualities of each facet, and to eliminate, or at least subdue the qualities that are selfish, unloving, uncaring, and cruel.

Several men were so changed that even the names were changed: Simon became Peter and Saul became Paul. Certainly if one met Simon when he was denying Christ, and fearful for his life, it would be difficult to recognize him as Peter the Rock, the brave, enthusiastic supporter of Christ after Christ’s death. And to know Saul the determined persecutor of those who followed Christ’s teachings, would make it difficult to reconcile Paul, – who went through all kinds of trials to preach Christ as Savior and to teach His Way, with the former Saul.

So a vital relationship with Christ can transform anyone: this is Christ “glorifying” us. We are made more recognizable as God’s children – and more important to others, we are ministers of Christ – healers, helpers, encouragers, strengtheners. We do not do these works for our own glory. Yet the power is a satisfaction to us as we perceive the good changes taking place. And we do experience joy as the love of Christ penetrates our hearts; it is in this way that He glorifies us. As we serve Him, He serves us, Christ ministers to the world – through us. And Christ ministers to us through the world (by the power of the Holy Spirit working in circumstances), as well as through others in whom His love and power flow – and overflow.

To realize this fact is to serve as the basis for a Simon becoming a Peter and a Saul becoming a Paul: to the glory of Jesus, to the glory of Peter and Paul and to the betterment of the world.