Category: Encourage

Turning From, Turning Towards

Your task is to learn of My methods, of My attitudes, of My will in general and My will in particular – and then in prayer, in yielding to the Spirit, speak and act. 

Meditation Thought: “For it is God’s will that by doing right, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” (1 Peter 2:15)

“Take your cue from Me – I only invite, suggest, touch lightly, lovingly. The response is left to the one touched. But it is when you are behaving in imitation of My ways that the response is likely to be positive – a response which will turn one from selfishness, from foolishness, from sin – toward love, consideration, wisdom, respect, righteousness.

Your task is to learn of My methods, of My attitudes, of My will in general and My will in particular – and then in prayer, in yielding to the Spirit, speak and act.

When you are in this state, you are doing My work, and when you are doing My works, it will not be in vain.”

Contemplative Rest

Look for my guidance, and you will find it.

Meditation Thought: “O Lord… chart the path ahead of me, and tell me where to stop and rest.” (Psalm 139: 1,3 The Living Bible translation)

“Sometimes you have the impression that because you are aware of many needs to be met, that I want you to constantly be working at them. This is not so, I designed you for rest – not only physically, but you need the contemplative time, the relaxation time to understand the who, how, why, where of new activities.

‘Look’ for my guidance, and you will find it. The proper balance of activity and contemplation will allow my Spirit to work more effectively in prompting your spirit to be so attractive to others that they will seek me through seeing the balance which makes your attitude attractive to them. When you are so completely aware of my Spirit working that you are unaware of your own spirit or thoughts or activities, then you are doing My will for you at that moment. Practice makes perfect, and as you exercise listening to me and obeying me, then your spirit will become more accustomed to yielding to My Spirit, and harmony will result.”

 

A Father’s Love and Motives

…apparent defeat is changed into victory…

Meditation Thought: “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:13)

“I am your Father – fathers do not harm their children. If they allow the children to face stressful situations, it is only to strengthen and teach them. But always the father is there to help, to console, when the situation is difficult and the child fails. The father does not send the child to do his assigned task and then forget him. He is interested in it going well for the child – he helps prepare the child for the task before he sends him to accomplish it.

I have created families so that you can know something of a Father’s love and motives – so that you can have some hint of what I am like -what unselfish love can be, what a close relationship can be. Trust me, I created you to love, not to abuse. Relax in my arms, feel my love, then go to your task reassured that the loving arms are always there to return to, for rejoicing together in victory, for consolation in defeat – and apparent defeat is changed into victory as you learn how to understand and obey My instructions more maturely, more completely.”

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.

 

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.”

Burden Transformed

Our energies can be concentrated on the present not the past, on God’s will for us, and not our will for another, and upon the full, true significance of life, not a superficial misconception.

Meditation Thought: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

This does not refer to physical labor so much as the labor we force upon ourselves due to our misunderstanding of what the Father desires from us. We “load ourselves down” with guilt – Jesus will remove the burden, if we believe He came to do so.

We fret under doubt about our decisions and worthiness. Jesus lifts these from us as we perceive ourselves as He perceives us – as children of a loving Father.

God has provided a world of beauty, of order – yet of unfolding mystery – for us to discover and enjoy.

Through Christ we learn to appreciate all that is good, to forgive what is bad, when forgiveness is sought, and thus relieve much of the strain of living. Our energies can be concentrated on the present not the past, on God’s will for us, and not our will for another, and upon the full, true significance of life, not a superficial misconception.

Key to Change

We must recognize the importance of our reaching to Him – it is the key to completing the circuit. That’s a lot of responsibility – but it is also the means to change the world, let alone change ourselves!

Just as there is no flow of electricity (no power) unless there is a “return” flow, our relationship with God must be one of a reaching out by Him and a reaching back by us or there is not a true “relationship”, at least one with true power, or complete power. Therefore, we must recognize the importance of our reaching to Him – it is the key to completing the circuit. That’s a lot of responsibility – but it is also the means to change the world, let alone change ourselves!

 

Abundant Fruit

Each stitch is the moment you are living in now. If you make that moment effective by doing My will for that moment, all the moment-stitches will blend together in a pattern pleasing to me and to you.

Meditation Thought: Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24: 6, 11)

“Remember the concept I gave you of the needle-point, and just work on each stitch as it is due, not worrying about any other stitches. Each stitch is the moment you are living in now. If you make that moment effective by doing My will for that moment, all the moment-stitches will blend together in a pattern pleasing to me and to you. Try to cultivate a state of ‘relaxed awareness’, so that you will be open to My Spirit and able to move in any direction quickly. Cultivate a state of good humor, for that will oil the machinery of your gears meshing with the gears of others’ lives, making the relationships work at their best. It is easier for me to get through to you when you are relaxed and content and happy rather than when you are tense. I want you to truly have the fruits of the Spirit in abundance not just little samples.”

The Presence of Jesus

When we realize that our thought today shapes our circumstances tomorrow, and our act today will come back to us in kind, we are far more careful about what we think and what we do.

Meditation Thought: “And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:62-64)

Though relatively few would see Jesus in the flesh after this trial and His crucifixion, many would perceive His place as being in authority by His proximity to God the Father, and would perceive Jesus’ coming by the means of the Holy Spirit – not a visible body manifestation of Jesus, but an inner knowledge of His Presence.

And it would transform them, for the truth of Jesus’ teachings concerning eternal life would be demonstrated. To perceive that what we are – and what we do – is not limited to our physical existence, but, both here in the time span of our physical manifestation, and later, in another manifestation, is to accept a new standard of thinking and behavior.

When we realize that our thought today shapes our circumstances tomorrow, and our act today will come back to us in kind, we are far more careful about what we think and what we do. This can be a great burden – if we resent this truth. Or it can be a great joy – if we “see” Jesus with our “mind’s eye” coming int our lives “on clouds of glory” – bringing the atmosphere of heaven into the physical realm, while bringing us His Presence to abide with us – and His Presence makes all the difference for us as we cope with life in the flesh, learning how to better cope with life in other realms.

We have all we need to go undefeated by any circumstance; we are protected from ultimate harm; we have an awareness of beauty, harmony and order; we have strength and joy and appreciation of all of life: external, internal and eternal.

The Presence of Jesus gives us courage, hope, and confidence far beyond that which we have without His Presence. Others may not see Him as our constant companion – nevertheless, they will see the results of His companionship. They will respond to the results. In this manner, do we have a transformed life: we are “new creatures” in Christ.

The Father’s Kingdom Revealed

It would seem that upon His act of proving life beyond the flesh, He also revealed the “place” of His Father’s kingdom…

Meditation Thought: “I shall not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)

The “next time” Jesus ate (and presumably drank) with His disciples was after His death and resurrection. This would indicate that He considered His “Father’s kingdom” where He and the disciples were eating together – which was in Galilee, which was in the world, where the disciples were – where Jesus had requested they meet Him.

It would seem that upon His act of proving life beyond the flesh, He also revealed the “place” of His Father’s kingdom: the place being wherever the resurrected Christ meets a believer. Or perhaps, more accurately, the place where a believer meets the resurrected Christ, as he proceeds according to directions given to him by Christ.

The directions for us are “spelled out” in His direction to His original disciples. His teachings concerning God and God’s kingdom were intended for all: this was His very purpose of birth and death and resurrection in the flesh.

As was true of the disciples, we can be with Him only by joining Him – and He is in the Father’s kingdom. This is where we shall find Him: not in a church building, nor in another’s faith – but in our own inner spirit and mind, with a contrite and searching heart. Only when we begin to grasp the awesomeness – and the power – of the resurrection can we have the courage and fortitude to find the kingdom where we can meet our Lord, and allow Him to teach us about our Father and our Father’s kingdom.

This kingdom is so unlike our physical environment that it takes adjustments in many areas to even begin to comprehend it. It is more like traveling to a new planet than a new country. Not only is there a difference of language (consider how many ways Jesus attempted to describe what the kingdom is like – there seemed to be no adequate words in our language to reveal it accurately) – but a difference of cultural values, of perception of priorities, and a totally new environment, requiring a different style of living in every area.

No wonder it takes us a long time to have even a remote conception of what we are encountering in this kingdom where we meet Him!

It is made even more difficult to stay with Him as the world attempts to get us to remain focused upon it, and remain concerned only with the physical and with the self-interest aspects of life. Only by conscious, consistent effort are we able to stay focused on Christ and thus remain in His Presence in the kingdom.

We simply do not have the stamina to do this alone: we must admit we do not have that much power within ourselves, and ask Him to hold us close, and lend us His strength to do all that we need to do as the Father’s children – obedient and reflective of Him in character and in deeds. This is the only way that it is possible to be with Jesus in the Father’s kingdom.

In one respect, it costs us dearly – our pride must be paid as ransom – but in another respect it is free – Jesus has paid the ransom for our sin of rebellion against the Father.

When we are able to be willing to pay the pride and to accept the gift, we have found the key to unlock the gate to the Father’s kingdom. April 26, 1983

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