Category: Courage

Focus for Triumph

Why do you spend useless energy in fretting about what is undone, worrying about what might happen, annoyed at what has happened?

Meditation Thought: ” ‘We don’t know what to do, but we are looking to you.’ The Lord says, ‘Don’t be afraid! Don’t be paralyzed by this mighty army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s!  But you will not need to fight! Take your places; stand quietly and see the incredible rescue operation God will perform for you. Don’t be afraid or discouraged! Go out there tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!’ ‘ Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.'” (2 Chronicles 20: 12,15,17,21)

“Why do you spend useless energy in fretting about what is undone, worrying about what might happen, annoyed at what has happened?

Take your position, stand still and focus your eyes upon Me. The battle is Mine; the victory is Mine but the results are of benefit to you. It is ever the same, through the ages: those who focus their eyes (and therefore their thoughts, words and actions) upon Me, shall have the power of My help in the battle of life.

Victory is ever assured whenever the free will choice is to yield ego to My will in the trust that My love is greater than all else in life. It matters not that you may misunderstand where I desire you to take your position, how I desire you to stand, and when the battle takes place – if you are looking at Me, and are not busily running off to do your own battle, then I can easily correct any misunderstanding upon your part.

I am your loving parent who prepares the way for your life – trust Me, obey Me, – for your good is My goal. When you know this to the point of focusing your eyes upon Me – despite all distractions – then do you have the victory through My fighting the battle on your behalf.

There are infinite methods of expression, but only one Creator, and when the Creator is allowed to move freely, not being hampered by distrust or rebellion or ignorance of those who are His channels of expression, good triumphs over evil; love triumphs over hate; and order triumphs over disorder: the world is conquered by the Kingdom.

Do not Yield to Panic

If you, in panic, look to what you see instead of to Me, you will be kept to the natural consequences of the circumstances instead of moving on into supernatural consequences.

Meditation Thought: “Do not fear, only believe.” (Mark 5:36)

“Through Me, change from human fear to divine faith. I dwell in your heart by your gracious welcome, and My blood enriches your blood, giving you wisdom, vitality, and assurance that whatever the circumstances, they shall be overcome by Word and Spirit: circumstances shall yield to the Good Power, to the Creative Power, to the Power of Grace and Love. But only if you yield the circumstances from human fear to Me to work on them, in faith that I will change them for your good, can I do the necessary manipulations. If you, in panic, look to what you see instead of to Me, you will be kept to the natural consequences of the circumstances instead of moving on into supernatural consequences through My power to change. Believe, and act upon your belief, that the situations in your life will yield to My pressure to make them for your growth into a purer form of Christian.

Think of My molding them as a cast to straighten crooked limbs that the limbs might be stronger and truer than ever. Do not yield to panic as to what has happened, but work to aid Me in getting the proper treatment to heal and strengthen: the more closely we work in harmony, the more rapidly is the healing, strengthening process accomplished.

Think of every day being an opportunity to further the reality of your growing into a ‘new creature in Christ’.

May your spirit glow with love
And your eyes shine in joy
As we go together,
Entwined as one,
Completing the missing part of each other.”

Constantly Renewed

You are operating on D.C. (Direct Current from Me).

Meditation Thought: “…for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” (Daniel 3:29)

“Trust, believe, act in the God who is able to deliver you in the midst of the fiery furnace of the Evil One who would destroy you for your refusal to yield to his pressures and threats. You are committed – but how much more is your God committed. Reach out in faith, and the harvest will astound you. Be brave, seek according to the Word – ignoring the advice and jeers of the world.

You are operating on D.C. (Direct Current from Me) – the world operates on A.C. (Alternating Current – sometimes power from Me and sometimes power from Satan). Keep your “distribution station” in proper order so that it will carry My power fully into the people to whom I would have you minister. “Fine tune” every part according to My Operations Manual. Replace weak parts with new conviction of the Truth through the strength of the revelation of the Word renewed constantly; reviewed constantly. The Word expanded in your mind is the Spirit expanded in your heart. The Spirit expanded in your heart is your God delivering as no other god is able.”

Kingdom Language

You speak the language of the Kingdom as you utter sounds of praise, of comfort, of love, of peace.

Meditation Thought: ““Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

“Babel, babel, babel – that is all that the words mean which are used against you because you speak My wisdom. The meaningless babel of babes, who do not understand the meaning of the words they utter, nor the meaning of the words they hear. Hearing a noise and producing a sound is not understanding or speaking a language.

You learn the meaning of the language of the Kingdom as you tune your ear to hear it as having particular meaning which is to be manifested in your life. You speak the language of the Kingdom as you utter sounds of praise, of comfort, of love, of peace.”

Fortify the Breached Wall

Seek and proclaim in love, in humble service, in empathetic understanding, with a discerning ear.

Meditation Thought: “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30)

“I desire my people to turn to my face, listen to Me speak, and to heed My words. They cannot hear Me when they are tuned to their own interests. I seek their attention: I do not move unannounced. Time and time again I seek My own – century after century will some rebel, and some will heed. Seek to reconcile My people to Me: You know of My love. You know of My power; you experience My grace. Stand strong and firm in the strength of My might – fill the breach, and fill the place where My wrath would destroy, for I am righteous, and cannot allow sin to come to Me through the breach in the wall which divides sin and righteousness.

If I am to move among My people, I must have righteousness: Seek righteousness, proclaim righteousness – but seek and proclaim in love, in humble service, in empathetic understanding, with a discerning ear to both Me and Mine, with your tongue bound in the grace of My Spirit, and moved by loving concern. Let your mind be suffused with My Word (My promises and My plans) and your arms and hands open to receive all who seek shelter there.

Prepare your spirit, your mind, your emotions, your body, to be whoever or whatever I need of you at any given time. Walk in My Spirit, and you walk with Me. Walk with Me, and you walk in the joys and the glories of My Kingdom, superimposed over the physical realm. Be not afraid of the condition where you walk, as long as you walk in My Spirit, for then My protection, and My love, My grace, and My works are all released: changing ugly to lovely, sin to righteousness, shame to forgiven, hate to love.

Preparation is the Key

If distressing circumstances drive destroying forces against the one who would produce fruit, then we can protect ourselves from them by specific means.

Meditation Thought: “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.” (John 7:17)

When the knowledge of the Father is great enough to prompt courage to yield our will to the will of the Father, there is transformation. The earth is transformed by the effect of heaven upon it – the invisible effects of what occur in the sky affecting the earth below is merely symbolic of a nature which permeates all of creation. The spirit is the determining factor of the physical.

To one who looks only at the earth, there is no connection with the events there having been prompted by the activities in the sky. But to those who look outside of their own narrow confines of earth – to those who look upward – is revealed the signs of what will take place, and thus they are able to prepare their property on earth to be the most enhanced by what will happen.

If there is sunshine, then the preparation is removing weeds so that the good plants grow unhampered by strength being sapped by weeds. If rain is forthcoming, the soil should be loosened beforehand that the water may soak in and not run off. If the winds are coming, and driving rain or snow or ice, then the plants should be protected.

To translate to a parable: the sunshine is the Word, and the removal of thoughts incompatible with the word is to absorb the sunshine into the mind, benefiting the mind greatly because all of its energy is concentrated on Godly thoughts, and not used to combat weeds of unGodly thoughts. The Godly thoughts thrive unhampered by unGodly thoughts.

The soil of the will should be loosened to receive the water of the Spirit. A hardened will cannot absorb the rains of the Spirit.

If distressing circumstances drive destroying forces against the one who would produce fruit, then we can protect ourselves from them by specific means:
– The Word in us
– Prayer
– Loving deeds
– Kind words
– Trust in God
And having thus done all we can to be protected, give thanks to God for the storm, knowing that it shall pass, and that some benefit to us shall be left in its wake.

All creatures on earth are subject to the activities of the sky – but we do have the choice of learning how the activities can effect us and thus we can affect our thriving or our destruction. God seeks to cause us to look away from our downcast view of our own little place on earth – to look upward and outward, discovering a whole new world of vastness and beauty, of others like ourselves, and never again are we the same. We are not isolated in our ignorance, but we are joyous in knowledge and good company. We have the benefit of cooperating with both the elements of the sky and the other elements of the earth to be the best that we can be – and to help others be the best that they can be.

(Note from Karen (see About this Blog) I couldn’t help but think of Lauren Daigle’s song Look Up Child when thinking about this post.)

Fearless!

Who is this One who is so imaginative, creative, powerful, intelligent, loving, forgiving?

Meditation Thought: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4)

He answered me – because He loves me. He removed my fears – because He loves me! And He allows stress to come into my life – because He loves me. It is through stress that I seek Him. When I seek Him, then He answers – giving me guidance, stretching my perceptions, opening up new vistas and possibilities. And He proves His power – and grace.

His wisdom confounds both the faithful and the skeptical. His love overwhelms the expectant – and those who have never sought Him. Finding love, they seek to learn of whence it comes; how to keep it real and plentiful – who is this One who is so imaginative, creative, powerful, intelligent, loving, forgiving? He is our Source – yet we are part of Him as soon as we know we are His. We are inseparable. The Father lives in the child and the child lives in the Father. Joy! When we know the character of our Father, we know we have the hope of becoming more similar in character as we become willing for Him to teach us!… Teach me Lord!

Fear Banished

You cannot fully concentrate on two opposites at the same time: therefore, if you focus clearly on God and His revelations you cannot at the same time focus on fear.

Meditation Thought: ““Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” (Luke 8:50)

“Do not fear” – do not look to anything but God – then you shall observe nothing to fear! Believe in God, seek to know God and make Him intimately involved in your life.

You cannot fully concentrate on two opposites at the same time: therefore, if you focus clearly on God and His revelations you cannot at the same time focus on fear.

Your choice of focusing determines your present appraisal of your situation as well as determining future situations. For “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

The Paradox of Life & Joy

It is encased in the solid, protected container of love that we find courage to move into places we once feared.

Meditation Thought: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

The fullness of time brings the fullness of God: His Word fulfilled, His Will fulfilled, His Purposes fulfilled. The Creator must wait for the maturity of the created to fulfill the purposes of the creation – reflecting the meaning of life to both the creator and that created.

And so came the Word, the law, the grace, the truth all manifested in the flesh, that the meaning of life might be revealed fully to those who by choice and by faith, seek the light, seek the inner core as well as the outer surface, seek the unseen as well as the seen, seek the subtle as well as the obvious, seek to know with the heart as well as the mind, who seek God rather than be limited to being self-seeking.

For the paradox is true and to be understood: He who seeks to be last shall be first, he who gives of his life shall find his LIFE, and he whose purpose is to create happiness in the hearts of his fellow creatures, has happiness thrust into his own heart while his concentration is away from his heart.

JOY shall be his as he realizes the magnificence, the depth, the glory, the sweetness, the extent of the Father’s love for him – the lengths to which the Father will go to express that love with the show of the tiniest response to that love. The realization is awesome, fulfills the longing of the heart, bringing the ecstasy of long-awaited hopes and dreams being brought into reality; a confirmation of knowing what had only been sought.

It is encased in the solid, protected container of love that we find courage to move into places we once feared, where we once had no place, where we can now move effectively because we have the secret knowledge in our heart that whatever befalls us we are protected by love, insulated by it from undue hurt – we are equipped to do our task, and therefore confident as we move to do it: and this is the key to the task being brought to a successful conclusion (pleasing to the Father and the Son and the Spirit and the created).

Faith, hope and love responding to Love are the working of the Father’s will into all eternity; how can we refuse to be a part of that?!

Poisonous or Delicious: You Choose

Therefore, your weighing is not a matter of whether to believe the message, but of determining if the message originates from the Word and the Spirit, or if the deceiver is manipulating your perceptions to think that the message he presents is coming from the Word and the Spirit.

Meditation Thought: “Instead, seek his kingdom and these thing shall be yours as well.” (Luke 12:31)

The fruits of the kingdom are sweet! If you concentrate your time and energy in cultivating the Words which are the seeds of the fruits of the kingdom, you will always be satisfied – more than satisfied: delighted in both the taste and the nourishment of the fruits of which you partake.

“Try it you’ll like it” pertains to the urging of the Word and the Spirit as aptly as the phrase does to materialistic motives of those who use them in the world. Just as you weigh the urging of the words against your experience and knowledge to determine whether you heed the advertising, so weigh the “advertising” of the Word and the Spirit against your experience and knowledge to determine whether their prompting “rings true” for you.

Not one time in your experience has the Word or Spirit disappointed you or failed you when you have waited till all of the evidence has been presented before judging the results. Therefore, your weighing is not a matter of whether to believe the message, but of determining if the message originates from the Word and the Spirit, or if the deceiver is manipulating your perceptions to think that the message he presents is coming from the Word and the Spirit.

  • Test the message against the scripture in the Bible, and not the remembrance of it in your mind
  • Test the “still small voice” manner of the Spirit and the blatant manner of the deceiver
  • Test the circumstances as to confirmation of other previous circumstances which are true to the Word and right in your experience
  • Test the thoughts and feelings of trusted Christian friends and advisors.

Do not be afraid of trying anything that passes your judgment tests – if it be the work of God, it will be His wonderful fruit which you taste – if you have been misled after proper testing on your part, God will render the deceiver’s fruit harmless to you, though he would have poisoned you with it had you eaten it in an attitude of greed for selfish gluttonous satisfaction, not caring for those who might be starving if you gobbled the fruit yourself.

Just as both good and poisonous mushrooms grow, and your own knowledge and choosing determines if what you eat nourishes you or poisons you, so it is with learning which things are of the kingdom, and which things are poisonous to you. Many things appear to be nourishing, and are poisonous, and many things which look unappetizing are actually the fruits of the kingdom which will nourish and delight you if you have the courage to try them.

Thus the paradox of “he who would be first must be last.”