Category: Encourage

Hand-in-Hand

Rejoice in the security of My hand enclosing yours; let me lead you gently.

Meditation Thought: “For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:15)

“Come, My children – take My hand in yours, and with your other hand reach out to clasp another: I will pass on the warmth of My love and grace and power through you. Be not afraid of the hand you hold – even if it feels cold, clammy, dirty, rough: your other hand which clasps mine will be all the comfort you need. And as the ministering of My ways passes from Me to you to another, their hand is cleansed, relaxed, healed, made strong and sure – sure enough one day to let go of your hand and reach directly for My hand, which became visible to them through your hand which they could see with their eyes before they could see My hand in faith. And so the pattern repeats: My Word is spread, My grace is spread, My Kingdom is spread throughout the earth.

Do not go seeking far and wide for hands to hold: only hold My hand, look to Me, and you will realize that a hand has taken hold of your other hand. Do not strain to serve Me: only rejoice in the security of My hand enclosing yours; let me lead you gently but firmly. The more you trust Me, the more relaxed you can be in our walk together – turn over the cares of your life to Me, for I wish to dissolve them, sometimes they will disappear one by one, sometimes they are so entwined that the release of one will release many. But always the care comes as a potential for My blessing, if you will but trust My leading in it and through it and out of it. Learn how to reinforce your trust in Me, and you will learn how to cast your burdens away, quickly becoming stronger in faith and trust and releasing more of yourself to Christ within you with each cast.”

Scenic Overlooks

The beauty is in the revelation of My Word, the face of a friend, the love of your family, the help of a stranger.

Meditation Thought: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

“Gaze upon the beauty which I show to you, allow it to penetrate into your mind and your heart and your spirit – in this manner is the beauty absorbed into you, and emanates from you – a reflection of the beauty of the Spirit beamed into the world, that others may see in you what they have not yet found directly with their own eyes and mind and spirit. The reflection they see in you will affect them, creating a desire to see the original for themselves: just as you might see a photograph of an original work and long to see the original for yourself.

You know where to find the beauty of My Spirit – take time, take effort, to search it out: every day, every hour, every minute, as the opportunity is presented to you. The beauty is in the revelation of My Word, the face of a friend, the love of your family, the help of a stranger. If you do not see the beauty of My Spirit, it is because you are not focusing correctly: adjust your mind, your eyes, your heart, that you may see the situation from the viewpoint of the Kingdom instead of the viewpoint of the world. Let me lead you into new adventures, new lands, new knowledge of the depths of My Spirit, bathing you in the cleansing, healing, beautifying aura of My Spirit of righteousness and goodness and mercy and love: be transformed from one degree of glory to another.”

Eradicate Pollution

Christ is the hand of the Father touching you – protecting, guiding, lovingly caressing you, reassuring you, bringing the peace of rightness with your Father into your life.

Meditation Thought: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” (2 Corinthians 2:14)

The flowers shall bloom and their perfume fill the air: and the sense of smell shall affect the other senses through the emotion evoked. The beauty of heaven shall be revealed in this tiny, subtle way. The fragrance of the knowledge of God as revealed in Christ as head and believers as body shall envelop and evoke response.

But you must take the necessary actions to keep Christ active within you that the fragrance may be released through you: Strengthen your will by obeying in trust – turn to the weapons available to fight off wrong desires, inertia, selfish pursuits – turn to the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit (see Ephesians 6:13-18).

Remember to prepare to meet the challenge of those who would stifle the fragrance, would pollute it, would mask it so that they could deceive and divide and alienate God’s people from Himself. Make way – make way for the Lord – this is your duty and your joy, your task and your peace; nothing, nothing, shall separate you from the love of God as Christ is the hand of the Father touching you – protecting, guiding, lovingly caressing you, reassuring you, bringing the peace of rightness with your Father into your life.

Broken Parts; New Parts

God has sealed us together.

Meditation Thought: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

God has sealed us together – separate individuals, perhaps touching before His seal, but not bound together. Once sealed together, the destiny of one part affects the destiny of the part sealed to it. And so we become changed – we must now consider our new part: we must treat it with love and consideration, with respect – we must help it – for its movement also moves us. Where it goes, we go too.

Or another way to see it: God created a beautiful vase – which our sin shattered into many pieces – but by His mercy and His grace, He seals us once more together to serve Him.

New Delights

Only by the yielding to the Spirit will God’s gifts be the instruments of change.

Meditation Thought: “ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)

As each member of the body performs its special function, so each person in the Body performs their function – to perform at maximum perfection, the Holy Spirit must be allowed to permeate the member, activating God’s gifts sent by grace, chosen by Him, perfected for each incident, each instant.

Only by the yielding to the Spirit will God’s gifts be the instruments of change:
Healing the sick,
Encouraging the downhearted,
Bringing sinners to knowledge and repentance, forgiveness and health,
Releasing imprisoned minds and imprisoned bodies,
Converting love of self to love of God and fellow creatures,
Energizing the sluggish and immoveable,
Teaching new concepts, new methods, new delights –
Revealing more clearly the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory.

Choose Your Cornerstone

Turn your fears over to Me to be transformed into works of faith.

Meditation Thought: “When we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” (1 Corinthians 11:32)


“Take heart and be glad that you are disciplined, for the discipline will save you from the perils of deep dangers. As you learn from discipline the wisdom and knowledge of My Kingdom, so the peace and joy of even discipline shall be miraculously yours. Though the cure be painful, the knowledge that beyond the pain is the health will give you acceptance, a willing cooperative heart, a mind determined to overcome, and the releasing of My power into and through you. Welcome every event, welcome every word, welcome every person into your life – for each has a purpose, each is a part of My plan for you and for the world.

Turn your fears over to Me to be transformed into works of faith: let your feelings not have dominion over you! The Word acted upon in faith despite feelings is the seed of the miracle I will work in your life, the miracle that will enhance My body and its works on earth. Live the Word, live the Word – and glory shall be Mine.”

Sand Art of Time

I desire to love you and care for you – allow Me this pleasure.

Meditation Thought: “whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

“Picture yourself choosing various objects laid out before you to drop into a transparent cylinder of time: the overall pattern is determined by the objects you choose. If you listen to Me, I will enable you to choose objects which will produce a pattern of glowing loveliness and beauty, a column of time giving pleasure to the world and to the Kingdom.

If you choose to ignore My wisdom and knowledge of the whole in selecting the objects, the column of time will be clouded and dark and jumbled, making no pattern of loveliness. Do not become so preoccupied with the necessity of selecting that you forget to consult Me. Walk in the Way, the Word, the Spirit to discover My selections for your ideal pattern. Trust Me – knowing that as the infant, you cannot function properly without the care of your Father. I desire to love you and care for you – allow Me this pleasure.”

Life-Style Upgrade

But as money must be spent to change a life-style, so the Spirit must be active to change the style of life.

Meditation Thought: These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10)

The gift of the Spirit as the means of affecting every area of a life can be compared to the gift of money in the world: the money can be applied to purchase goods which can be completely life-changing as to the style of living. And so the Spirit changes the style of life, not just a minute area. But as money must be spent to change a life-style, so the Spirit must be active to change the style of life. The knowledge to activate the Spirit is easy to find: the difficulty lies in our willingness to deny our human willfulness to dictate what we will think and say and do, and instead to yield to God’s will, and especially to accept the manner of His teaching.

We would choose to learn with little effort having our lessons all laid out before us, without our research any commitment on our part. But this is not the way we learn in depth, in a depth that takes the lesson learned beyond the ‘head knowledge’ and extends it to ‘heart knowledge’, making it a part of our actions as well as our mind.

It is the Spirit that keeps us researching, who leads us to new discoveries and resources. We must ask His help – and accept it and heed His instructions in order to learn the lesson, and having learned it, to make it a life-changing element in our lives.

Guaranteed Supplement Strength

Grow into a tree that stands firm in the storms; one that shelters.

Meditation Thought: “The desert and the parched land will be glad;
    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; (Isaiah 35:1-2)

Life – life – life- the dormant seed of your life comes into true Life when Jesus is injected by the invitation of the seed to let Him in.

Grow – grow into a glorious testimony of the ways of the Lord: into a fruitful tree; a tree that shelters, that stands firm in the storms. Take your nourishment that you may grow: the Word, the obedience, the works, the heart-attitude – these are the supplements that make you stronger than you are without your Lord being within you – for these are the ways He constantly fills you with His Presence.

Do not look for supplements where the simple look: to the world. Those supplements will harm you, render you weak and ineffective, fruitless and sparsely leaved, as a blight.

Send your roots down, searching deeply for the foundation of the Truth to uphold you that you might fulfill the potential that was contained in the seed of your birth.

Rehearse, Practice, Perform

The wisdom on the ages is set before you; will you partake?

Meditation Thought: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

The wisdom on the ages is set before you; will you partake? It is the background for the action taking place in your life – its presence affects your performance. Your performance affects your audience.

Come, the time is ripe to be directed into a great performance of the Father’s will – you have been rehearsing, practicing, now come the years in your life of the performance of what you have been learning. Each performance brings its own peculiarities, its own joys and hazards – but always the Director is in charge – if you will listen to Him, that the performance of the moment is the only performance to be considered for it it be as effective as possible to you and to your audience.

You know not the effects of your performance, you must believe with all your heart that the instructions of your Director are bringing your performance to exquisite perfection that it may bring enlightenment and appreciation into all who see it, that they might rise up to give glory to the Author, and recognition to the Director, how by His own direct example demonstrates to you how you are to perform. Will you obey the Director, trusting His judgment is better than yours?