Category: Encourage

The Desert Blooms

I am a loving Father, wise and perceptive – I know you better than you know yourself. I know how to teach you, encourage you, protect you, nourish you. You need not fear.

Meditation Thought: “Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
    and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
    and my blessing on your descendants. (Isaiah 44:2-3)

Do not fear _____ (insert your name here), whom I have chosen. I will renew your strength; I will make the desert bloom, and bless you and your family forever more.

I am a loving Father, wise and perceptive – I know you better than you know yourself. I know how to teach you, encourage you, protect you, nourish you. You need not fear – even your own feelings. I will give you all you need to be my servant – no, my child who serves. The serving is not to enhance Me, but you. It is in serving Me that you come close to Me, and being close to Me is the way your spirit is nurtured. It is the way you obtain the attributes listed throughout the Word as those which are becoming to the children of the Living Lord.

Remember that seeds do not produce a harvest immediately. You must patiently wait, till, and observe constantly until the moment to harvest arrives, and you receive your reward with joy.

All of the times you read the Word, spend time in thinking of Me, or praying, or meditating or ministering to my Creations, you are tilling seeds that are growing into harvests of joy.

Even when the ground is dry, you must do your part to prepare it properly – for I shall not allow the seeds to wither when you are attending them. The water of My Spirit shall refresh and spurt growth. Your efforts are never in vain when they are devoted to pleasing Me by attending to My garden – My garden, yet you are the one who will enjoy the harvest, and it is your enjoyment of the harvest that gives Me pleasure.”

Give and Receive: Compassion and Mercy

Do not dwell on your faults and your failures. Concentrate on giving and doing.

Meditation Thought: Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11)

“You cannot receive something for nothing, as much as you would like that. Neither heaven nor earth is structured in that manner.

If you think, you will realize that your greatest joys are to give to someone and have the response reveal their delight, and to work to accomplish a goal, and then succeed in reaching it.

Concentrate more on these 2 areas: Giving pleasure and accomplishing goals. As you persevere (being steadfast), you also will be reaping compassion and mercy – partly from a heavenly response to your attempt to have faith and righteousness, and partly from an earthly response as reaping what you sow.

Do not dwell on your faults and your failures. Concentrate on giving and doing. You will not eliminate faults and failures in this way, but you will minimize them while maximizing accomplishments that are pleasing to you, to others, and to Me.”

Power Released

Do not thwart the power of the Spirit by blocking it with guilt, unbelief, laziness or apathy.

Meditation Thought: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.'” (Isaiah 56:1)

“As a baby must grow and mature in order to comprehend who he is as a person, and who his parents are as his nurturers, so must a believer grow and mature to know who he is as an offspring of My Spirit, and who I am as the nurturer of his being.

Babies are inclined to get into all kinds of predicaments as they search for knowledge of the world and of themselves. Only the devotion of the parent keeps them from harm – or rescues them from their position of danger.

As the child grows, the more he is able to comprehend the love and devotion of the parent, the more he can understand the parent’s actions – even the actions which are not to his liking, such as denial of some of the child’s desires and discipline for wrong-doing, then the more he can accept these with calmness and a lack of rebellion. In understanding and cooperating with the parent, the child creates a climate – a relationship – which enhances his maturity and furthers his growth into the character that is pleasing to both the parent and himself. With such a character, providing the parent is wise and knowledgeable, the child has what he needs to cope with all conditions he will meet in his life.

Be a perceptive believer – a perceptive child of Mine. I will teach you the wisdom and knowledge which will enable you to cope with all conditions you will meet. I will not do this all ahead of time, however. You must trust me to know what to reveal to you before you have need for it and what to reveal in the urgency of the moment.

You can remove fear and doubt from your life by trusting me, by believing in Me and believing the communications which I give you. If you will start to base all of your decisions on the premise that I am your loving Father, actively guiding you into maturity and growth which will move you closer and closer to developing character which is like My character, you will release the power of the Spirit in your life as I have intended, and as Jesus demonstrated.

Truly accept My forgiveness of all that you have done which was not perfect in your sight or Mine – as you forgive your children. Do not thwart the power of the Spirit by blocking it with guilt, unbelief, laziness or apathy.

Only as you believe in me, only as you trust me, only as you obey me, will you be free from fear and doubt, and find peace and fulfillment – wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, and whatever you are called upon to do.”

Only You

I stand at the door of the heart and knock – but I will not break down the door. Each one must respond and open the door if I am to enter.

Meditation Thought: “no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)

“Do not strain so much in your walk. You are focusing too much on the stones and steep places in the path, and not looking to the grandeur of the view – and to the excitement of reaching higher and higher places which will have views even more breath-taking.

The devotion of Jesus’ followers cannot be ignored. It is the very knowledge of the opposition to them – the intensity of it – that leads credence to their witness. If what they had found was not true – if it was not superior to ordinary existence – why did they suffer so to hold on to it and refuse to deny it?

When you, as did Jesus in the flesh, catch the vision of the way things should be; the way they are in My perfect plan, and when you are so enthused about helping to bring that plan into an accomplished fact that you ignore all opposition, then you are in the process of being confirmed to My character.

Only you can have the faith in Me great enough to seek My will and do it.

Only you can decide to trust Me not to cause you harm.

Only you can believe that I truly do love you, and that I created you to be the object of My love, and the delight of My heart.

Only you can respond to such a love with a similar love.

Only you can decide whether to welcome My Spirit into your spirit.

I stand at the door of the heart and knock – but I will not break down the door. Each one must respond and open the door if I am to enter.”

Education for All

If you are conscious that at all times you are being taught, and that the school is tailored to your particular needs of the moment, you can have peace and confidence.

Meditation Thought: “I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me.” (John 8:28)

This moment is the classroom. This circumstance is the curriculum. The Word is the textbook. My Spirit is the Instructor.

You are in a school which is not limited, but teaches all subjects, and will keep you as a student that you may ever learn and grow in wisdom and knowledge in understanding and especially in the perception of the spiritual dimension and its relationship to all other dimensions.

Your faith is the tuition you pay, your will is the transportation to the school.

If you are conscious that at all times you are being taught, and that the school is tailored to your particular needs of the moment, you can have peace and confidence.

Think of your Teacher as using three methods of helping you:
– The Father-Method imparts knowledge by revelation,
– the Jesus-Method imparts knowledge by example,
– the Holy Spirit-Method imparts knowledge by taking you and guiding you personally – as a teacher might put a hand over a student’s hand to guide it in the task.

The Counter-intuitive Key to Abundance

You carry within you joy, peace and hope, for you carry within you the Holy Spirit of God who is joy, peace and hope.

Meditation Thought: “Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.” (2 Thessalonians 3:13)

Joy! Peace! Hope! These are the gifts you carry and the gifts you will find will give meaning to your life when you distribute them.

Remember, there is such a thing as a “second wind”. If you will force yourself to keep moving even when you are exhausted, you will reach a point when your “second wind” – the movement of the Spirit – will relieve you. Your will to keep moving is your faith and your faith is the mover of the power of the Spirit.

Look not at the road, or at your feet – but at your goal.

Inspire your mind with the vision of the goal before you, renew your strength with trust in the Word, lift up your emotions by receiving the gentle Spirit into your heart and cherishing Him, delighting in His company.

Seek the example of Jesus as to how to most effectively pursue your goal.

You carry within you joy, peace and hope, for you carry within you the Holy Spirit of God who is joy, peace and hope. No one can take this priceless gift from you. Only you can choose to throw it away – by rebellion, by laziness, by ignorance.

You can also generate more of this gift by giving it away to others. This is the key to the kingdom: sharing, caring enough to share all that is pure and good and true; not hoarding the treasure you find, but giving it away in joyful abandon, knowing that the more freely you give, the more abundantly you will receive.

Do you understand that as a pruned tree actually produces more fruit, so your removing all the gifts that are given to you from your own storehouse into the service of others causes an increase in the production of the gifts into your own storehouse?

If you understand this principle, and apply it in every area of your life, then you are not only perceiving the goal – total communion with and commitment to your Father – but you are rightly following the example of Jesus, who promised abundant life to those who would follow Him.

You see, the whole New Testament is but this story in many forms: although to the world it appears the way to a large harvest is to keep all you have, to the Kingdom the knowledge is given that in taking away, the opportunity is then provided for a multiplying of the branches and fruit.

All are given the opportunity to try this method, but only those who have courage to actually allow the trimming are produces of the abundant harvest.

Set your will on trust in the Lord and not trust in yourself only.

I would cultivate an orchard fair,
With blossoms blooming everywhere
Not sparsely scattered from nature wild,
But multiplied by the Spirit’s care:
Welcome, welcome, lonely tree,
The One who Ministers love to thee.

Think Lovely

To think on that which is lovely is to produce that which is lovely.

Meditation Thought: “Whatsoever things are lovely… think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

The seen reflects the unseen. The body reflects the mind. Actions reflect the will. You can control your will: will to reflect the image of God to the best of your ability at any given moment. The most effective way of perceiving God’s images in order that you may reflect them is to observe the evidence of Himself in the world: that which is lovely – ‘love-ly’, pertaining to love; not just beautiful in an aesthetic way, but reflecting the qualities of love: willing to think of others before self, considerate, orderly and not chaotic, effective in adapting to other’s personalities and needs.

To think on that which is lovely is to produce that which is lovely: both in that which is observed and in the observer.

Do not concentrate on a flaw in either another person, an object, or yourself – concentrate on all that is pleasing according to God’s definition of pleasing; this definition is clear as revealed by Christ. Delight in the Lord and all created by Him, and the qualities of His nature revealed in the Word and in the Man! This is to ‘think on lovely things’!

No Anxiety

…the key to releasing faith that works, converting it from passive faith of possibility into active faith of moving mountains. 

Meditation Thought: “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

If you already have everything you desire, how can you need to seek? To ask? To question? To move on? Life is movement; death is still.

It is good to need to request, for in the process the relationship is strengthened. Always – in heaven and on earth – appreciation is heart-warming, and creates an atmosphere of acceptance on both sides.

When we can turn in prayer for everything in our lives, confident that our prayers are heard and answered, then we are not anxious, but thankful. We are able to be thankful before our petition is granted.

The appreciation for what we already have, and the confidence that our Father desires good to continue and increase in our lives by His power and grace, is the key to releasing faith that works, converting it from passive faith of possibility into active faith of moving mountains.

Delightful Freedom

Oh, the excitement of knowing we are loved and cherished.

Meditation Thought: “Rejoice in the Lord.” (Philippians 3:1)

To rejoice in the Lord is to think about the Lord, thank the Lord for blessings, trust the Lord to protect, guide and be with us. The concentration of our joy on the relationship with our Lord is to release joy in every other area: for ourselves, for all whose lives we touch, for the Lord also.

Oh, the excitement of knowing we are loved, we are cherished, not for our position or what we do, but because we are spirit of God’s Spirit.

We must move from the position under the law of forcing ourselves to do right out of fear, to the position under grace of accepting our freely-given love and forgiveness and then in delightful freedom from sin’s burden and recognition of love’s beauty, rush in eager anticipation to do right. Thus doing right moves from a resented, “poor me but I’d better do it anyway” attitude to “I’m so lucky to have the privilege of doing right because it’s such fun and the results are fantastic – for me, and for others too!”

A Compelling Mystery

No longer must we plod along, confused, not knowing where to turn  – discouraged by set-backs, lacking hope of better things to come.

Meditation Thought: “… a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 2:16)

We are not justified by mechanical acts – but by the inspiration of the awareness of our spirit to the revelations of the Spirit, and an appreciation of what these revelations mean to us: totally new life. No longer must we plod along, confused, not knowing where to turn  – discouraged by set-backs, lacking hope of better things to come.

For Jesus came from the Father to teach us the meaning of our existence – and the extent of it: not just our physical self and environment, but the glories and joys of the spiritual self and spiritual environment.

No more that the surgeon’s observation of the physical parts of the brain can discern the thoughts and memories contained therein, can our pursuit of the physical aspect of life reveal the meaning of life – the purpose toward which it leads.

To be touched – however lightly – by the significance of Jesus’ sojourn on earth – is the beginning of the possibility of life in a totally new dimension. If we have the energy and the courage to respond to this touch, we are started on a compelling mystery, a constant challenge, and a revelation of knowledge and feelings and actions previously uncomprehended.

Our hope is in Him, our strength is in Him, our knowledge is in Him, our love is in Him: The Father gave Him to us, and He came, sacrificing willingly all His power, glory, will, that we might be saved from sin and reconciled with the Father. He came to show us the way back to the Father and of the Father: we cannot deny our inheritance: we are born of the Father.