Category: Courage

Grateful

For you see, as I cannot, what lies ahead along each path.

Meditation Thought: “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;” (Psalm 95:2)

“Thank you” definition: You helped me. I appreciate your effort and your willingness to care about me and to acknowledge my needs, and to help me in fulfilling those needs. Our relationship is enhanced and intensified because of this involvement. This exchange has made a difference in some way in the direction we are going, and therefore is important to us and to those whom we influence.

Suggested prayer: Dear Lord, so far above and beyond me in scope – but so approachable and understanding as we meet: thank you, thank you, for all creation, for my creation, and for your provisions. Help me to yield to You in grace when I see that I am not following your path chosen for me. For you see, as I cannot, what lies ahead along each path. Intensify Your Word throughout every area in my life, making it permeate my mind, my will, my intentions, my emotions and my actions, that the beauty of Your love, mercy and power might be released in me and through me ever more effectively, in the realm of the spirit, in the realm of the world, in the realm of the Kingdom which contains these two realms. Help me to be not only a ‘good’ steward, but an enlightened, perceptive, effective steward who, through every thought, every word and every deed, reflects Your will and Your goodness and the Love with which You rule.

Guide me Father, that I may open my mind and my heart to receive Your truth and wisdom, and to reflect them in every possible way by obedience to Your will.

Amen.

Heavenly Physics

By this rope can I make a little movement in heaven, and swing you in great arcs to My work on earth. Only if you have firm hold of your end of the rope will this maneuver work!

Meditation Thought: “To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and joy.” (Ecclesiastes 2:26)

A message perceived from God the Father:
There is a connecting rope being woven between us that grows stronger with each strand that is added: each word of praise, each obedient act, each loving ministry, each trusting thought takes a strand from My storehouse of spiritual building materials and weaves it into the rope.

By this rope can I make a little movement in heaven, and swing you in great arcs to My work on earth. Only if you have firm hold of your end of the rope will this maneuver work! If you take your hands off, and are distracted into using your hands in pursuits Satan would tempt you to, the rope dangles uselessly. You must keep your mind occupied with My Word, your eyes occupied with My will, your hands occupied with My works. Your hands can cling to the rope that binds us and at the same time hand it to others to be used to rescue them from the snare of the enemy. Thus is My Will done on earth as it is in heaven.

Healing the Body

Though we can learn from others who have gone before us, we must play our role alone. We must make the effort to learn what we need to know, to do what must be done, to endure what must be endured.

Meditation Thought: “An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life. (Proverbs 31:10-12)

“Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh” (see Genesis 2:23), why do we not have perfect health? The grafts to not always “take” the first time – the moving of one part of the body to heal the injury of another part (i.e. the Body of Christ; see Romans 12) . We must, when sin diseases the Body, each do our particular job required to work together to repair the ravages of the sin.

At one time we are the patient and must patiently endure the operation;
At another time we are the doctor, actually moving and causing change in some area:
At another time we are the nurse, caring for the patient;
Again, we may be the friend who ministers with our support and love and encouragement;
Perhaps we are a relative, feeling the pain deeply, but unable to stop it from happening, for the pain is part of the cure.

And so the process goes on, age after age, and though we can learn from others who have gone before us, we must play our role alone. If we are to be competent in promoting healing, we must make the effort to learn what we need to know, to do what must be done, to endure what must be endured.

And the strength and courage to continue on lies in the faith that the healing is possible because there walked on earth One who was in perfect health, without the disease of sin, and He promised that if we believe in Him we shall do the works that He did (see John 14:12).

What He did in his physical manifestation on earth, He does today through the new Body which was transplanted as the old body was crucified on the cross. The new Body is not free from disease, but in the healing of the disease that invades it, the Father is glorified.

Rise

Do not attempt to burrow deeper within yourself to escape the cold rain or hot sun – but rise to the surface, that the water of the Spirit and the light of the Father and the tilling of the Son may enable you to grow.

Meditation Thought: “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-43)

The seed is tiny, vulnerable, subject to many dangers. But as it changes and grows, it becomes more resistant to what would destroy it, and eventually becomes very strong.

And so must you choose to allow the good of the Kingdom to nourish you after you die to self, which is the beginning of the seed changing into the form which was originally intended as a mature manifestation.

Do not attempt to burrow deeper within yourself to escape the cold rain or hot sun – but rise to the surface, that the water of the Spirit and the light of the Father and the tilling of the Son may enable you to grow, to thrive and to be the beautiful plant to be used for healing, for nourishing, and to be fulfilling not only the purpose for which you were crated, but fulfilling the purpose for which those whom you are healing and nourishing were created.

Love Is… and Is Not

Love is delight in giving, discipline, reaching out, accepting love from another, trusting God.

Meditation Thought: “Love is patient and kind… rejoices in right… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4,6,7 paraphrased)

Love is taking delight in giving, not receiving. Love is discipline to do as you know you aught to do – even when you don’t want to. Love is reaching out to offer help despite knowing that you may get your hand bitten instead of shaken. Love is acting according to God’s will, not self-will. The resulting clear conscience is a catalyst which makes it easier to express even more love, in more ways.

Love is accepting love from another – not ignoring it if it isn’t from someone you don’t really care about, not rejecting it because of a previous hurt, not questioning it if you are puzzled by it, and not being fearful of it because you have feelings of shame and guilt and these might have to be put out in the open.

Love is trusting God, who created us and who is Love, to overcome any problems (as we see the situation) that might result from our stepping out in faith to love.

Constantly & Enthusiastically

To be humble is to become teachable. If we are teachable, God will teach us gently, thoroughly, and swiftly.

Meditation Thought: “But if we indeed judge ourselves truly, we should not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:31)

“Judge truly”. This is possible only in light of God’s revelation of Truth to us, that we may compare ourselves to the Pure Eternal Truth: the image of the Father, as exhibited by the Son, taught by the Holy Spirit, and revealed through the Word.

If we are willing to risk comparing ourselves to this Truth, we become humble – and to be humble is to become teachable. If we are teachable, God will teach us gently, thoroughly, and swiftly, thus fulfilling His purposes for us more readily.

However, if we deceive ourselves, either by comparing ourselves to something other than Pure, Complete Truth, or by mis-evaluating our own selves as we compare ourselves to the Truth, this constitutes rebellion in the refusing to humble ourselves enough to seek a true evaluation. And rebellion against God is the – willingly or unwillingly – with knowledge or in ignorance – to join in Satan’s plans to make us allies and to alienate us from the Father.

Thus we must constantly, and enthusiastically ingest the Word, pray for the Father’s will and guidance, seek to know every facet of Jesus Christ, and prepare ourselves to be worthy containers for holding the Spirit if we are to be competent judges of ourselves.

Deserts Bloom

Not every life will be recorded in history as world-changing, but every life is recorded in My heart.

Meditation Thought: “ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God” (Romans 4:20)

“Take courage – and step out in faith. Though you do not see where your step will take you, I have prepared the path: it leads where the desires of your heart are fulfilled. But you cannot see this is so – you can only trust in Me. Do I not merit your trust? I created the universe. I did not remove Myself from My creations, but I nurture My creations, My beloved, and delight in an awakened response.

Not every life will be recorded in history as world-changing, but every life is recorded in My heart; I rejoice and commiserate with My loved ones, each is precious to Me. How I long for each spirit to respond to Me, to be an Abraham in faith and obedience, that I may rejoice in the blessing passed on from generation to generation, from parent to child by example that through faith in My grace, My love and My power, the enemy is overcome, and My responsive children shall inherit My Kingdom.

My Kingdom is the land of milk and honey – not the wilderness;
My Kingdom is beauty – not gloom and ugliness;
My Kingdom is love – not hate;
My Kingdom is nurturing – not repressing;
My Kingdom is light – not darkness;
My Kingdom is the sound of a great symphony – not the sound of discord nor the lack of any sound;
My Kingdom is the vast vista from a mountaintop – not the smallness of a cave.

Seek ye the Kingdom – it is within you – within the yielding of your will to My will;
the yielding of your tongue to words of love;
the yielding of your heart to compassion;
the yielding of your body to sacrifice for others;
the yielding of pain to trust in My purpose of the new life it will produce.

My Spirit shall bring the desert to bloom;
the storm to give way to the sun;
the winter to yield to spring;
and the world to be transformed into the Kingdom – wherever it is allowed to flow.”

Transform an Enemy to a Friend

In the battle where love is the weapon used to overcome the enemy, there are only victors, no losers.

Meditation Thought:  “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Romans 12:20)

“Love transforms, love redeems, love renews, love changes, love is My force moving in the world, rearranging it to become My Kingdom. Only love heaped upon an enemy will destroy him: for as the enemy is destroyed, a friend is born in his place. Judgment and hate and retribution do not destroy an enemy – they strengthen an enemy as he rises to meet these attacks. But love – love thrown at an enemy with the force of an attack, with the directness of an attack, with the single-mindedness of a plan of attack – that destroys the enemy. For what defense does he have against love? It confuses him, it disarms him, it melts his determination to destroy; it leaves him open, vulnerable, ready to lay down his arms and seek peace and understanding.

The battle may take time – as it would with any battle – but the results are sure victory for the warrior using love as a destroyer of enemies – for love is of God and God is power, total power that cannot be overcome. In the battle where love is the weapon used to overcome the enemy, there are only victors, no losers – the enemy has become a friend and gained a friend. Where the world once contained 2 enemies, the Kingdom has gained 2 friends and the world has exchanged 2 enemies for 2 friends: energy re-directed, changed from a force of destruction to a force of construction: the building of the Kingdom within and the remodeling of the world without.”

Freedom Revelation

You cannot know Me by just wanting to know Me – you must be willing to listen.

Meditation Thought:  “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

“I reveal myself to you through My words. Knowing Me is knowing Truth, and so to know Truth, you must know my words. You cannot know Me by just wanting to know Me – you must be willing to listen to Me reveal Myself to you. You must give of yourself in time, in using your mind to learn My words. And when the Truth is revealed to you, you must take action in accordance with your new knowledge.

Believe enough to act in courage in the face of ridicule, in the face of harm – to persist in spite of all obstacles to live according to My Spirit within you. Do not be overwhelmed by what you see confronting you: turn within to Me to move all obstacles aside that might prevent the movement of My personality where I would have it go. The larger the obstacle looms, the more exciting is the result of moving it aside, the more confidence gained that we can move wherever we wish to go together.”

Keep Power Flowing

Waste no energy on debating; simply choose love: giving joyfully and praising Me.

Meditation Thought: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory…” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

“Choose consciously.” Exercise your capacity to choose constantly and you will become stronger, better able to engage the flow of My power in you. I will not condemn your choices – but you know which choices release My power more forcefully, as a cause and effect reaction. You will become better at more forceful choices as you reinforce one forceful choice by choosing a second forceful choice – and this repetition will keep My power flowing forcefully. Act in love at each moment, recalling the definitions of love in My Word, and this automatically assures that your choice of the moment is the one which is the one to release My power is a forceful way. Waste no energy on debating; simply choose love: giving joyfully and praising Me – an efficient key to unlock the life of the Kingdom at each moment.