Category: Encourage

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.

All. Yes, All.

All must have the opportunity of knowing that the way back is known and I desire that they come.

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

“Take the direction and power of My Spirit and embrace it, absorb it, allow it to permeate every part of your being – spiritual, mental, emotional – yield to My Spirit, for by being pliable you will be conformed to My Image by My Spirit. As you are conformed to My Image, you expand My love to the world, you minister to My children, you radiate peace and joy and understanding. And so it is with everyone who seeks My will, who desires to move forward in the journey of faith, in the fellowship of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and the Body.

My Spirit is manifested in infinite ways, through infinite creatures, in infinite circumstances – but all for one purpose: to reconcile every one of My beloved children to Me. Be My helper – seek out My lost lambs, and bring them back to Me. For until each is sought, and each is found, I am not content. All may not choose to follow you back to Me – but all must have the opportunity of knowing that the way back is known and I desire that they come.”

Am I Willing?

You can trust Him to re-make you more beautifully and completely in His image.

Meditation Thought: “…let each person lead the life (or walk in the way) that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” (1 Corinthians 7:17)

If you do not lead the life needed to complete the Plan of God, the Plan will not reach the perfection of God’s image. This is the crux: will you be willing to subject your total self to His total Plan? For you will feel the pinch of others being crowded against you as movement takes place to do cleansing, and building, and rearranging in order to undo the mischief done by self-will and Satan’s exploitation of that self-will.

If you can be soft, pliable, yielding – then God can re-shape you, move you and energize you to conform to whatever He needs you to be. If you can trust Him to re-work you – not only from what you were some time ago – but what you are at any given moment, you will have peace and joy in any circumstances, you will know the delight of being a light in the darkness, leaven in the bread, salt of the earth, the Father’s child not only made – but more beautifully and completely re-made in His image.

As a child can grow to look like, think like, and act like his father as time goes by, so you, by the willingness of your heart and the power of the Spirit released fully by Jesus’ obedience unto death, will bit by bit become more like your Father.

Do not tarry, but keep the conscious thought at all times to yield, to seek through diligence in pursuit of Word and Spirit – that the life-saving surgery, the surgery needed for improved health, and the cosmetic surgery all may be performed and completed to God’s glory and your joy.

Let Me Not Despair

No circumstance shall thwart God’s love, God’s grace, God’s will.

Meditation Thought: ““And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him from all his afflictions. He granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who put him in charge of Egypt and [of] his entire household.” (Acts 7:9-10)

“sold him… but God… rescued him, gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh… who made him governor… and over all his household.”

No circumstance shall thwart God’s love, God’s grace, God’s will.

No person shall rule over God.

If we know this, if we set our trust, and our obedience on the course of God’s will, we shall not only be at peace in all places, in all circumstances, at all times, but we shall see harm transformed to good, hate transformed to love, ignorance of God transformed to knowledge of God, and famine yield to plenty. For nothing is impossible with God. (See Luke 1:37)

My prayer: “Lord, take my spirit, my mind, my body, my emotions, and all resources, both material and unseen, and conform them to your will this day. Let me not despair if it appears that I have been ‘sold to Egypt’. If I trust You wherever I am, whatever I do, You will work good for me that I might work good for many to Your glory and my joy.” Amen.

Which Way

Through faith we are one with God – not equal with God, but enmeshed with God.

Meditation Thought: “ The one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building…. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:8-9, 16)

Through faith we are one with God – not equal with God, but enmeshed with God.

What we think, what we say, what we do, cannot be separated from God: it represents Him to the world, it does His work – or hinders it – it spreads His love – or represses it – it reveals His nature – or conceals it – it changes directions of people – toward seeking God – or toward fleeing from Him.

The following was perceived as a personal message but I believe it is also meant for any of us that seek to follow Jesus: “Oh, My child, sense My love, receive My mercy, heed My admonitions and I will bless you and all who know you. Be sensitive to your greater knowledge of Me when ministering, and aware of how little you know of Me when ministering. The Spirit indwelling shall guide you surely if you provide the joyful atmosphere of love, obedience, service and seeking of Truth. ‘Fear not, for lo I am with you always.’ “

Graceful Yielding

‘There’ in the palm of His hand, close to His heart

Meditation Thought: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14)

Nothing is too hard for the Lord – but He has created in love creatures who can facilitate His works, or obstruct them and slow down His perfect timing if He chooses to allow them to do so as a means of teaching. And this seems to be Standard Operating Procedure.

“Seek first the kingdom and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33) is not only a wonderful promise to us – but a graceful yielding on God’s side to let us choose to seek the kingdom.

Nothing is too hard for the Lord – sometimes we just think it is because what we desire to happen when we desire it to happen doesn’t occur. But God knows our hearts, and all of the facets of the situation – including where He wants us to be, and what He needs to do to get us there – ‘There’ in the palm of His hand, close to His heart – willingly staying close and enjoying it and desiring it above all else.

Whether we perceive it early or late, or not at all, that is His aim – He states it in His Word, He works it in His will, He empowers it through His Spirit, and He implants it in our heart.

Caring for Others as Self-care

The most gracious, loving ministering, sacrificing welcome possible.

Meditation Thought: “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” (Romans 15:7)

‘As Christ has welcomed you’ – the most gracious, loving ministering, sacrificing welcome possible.

Put aside your desires, your feelings, your works, your preoccupations, and your unkind tongue. Minister in empathy and with a joy of helping another. If you totally forget to minister to yourself, then Jesus ministers to you far, far more effectively than you can minister to yourself.

Footnote: These blog posts come from my Mom’s journals. For me, I’m going to try this post another way:

If I put aside my desires, my feelings, my works, my preoccupations, and my unkind tongue in order to minister in empathy and with a joy of helping another and I totally forget to minister to myself, then Jesus will minister to me far, far more effectively than I can minister to myself. (Note, this calls for intentionally putting aside, not denying, not ignoring. Just set aside. Like I might do with something that is in my way when I’m working on something.)

Yield to a Better Way

I could not do this in my own sinful, rebellious, ego-centered nature no matter how long or how hard I tried. I must allow it to happen, but I cannot cause it to happen.

Meditation Thought: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1)

In view of the mercies of God present myself as a living sacrifice. I do not have to present myself by my own effort. Instead, if I humble myself and yield myself to God, then He will do the preparation needed for me to be presented holy and acceptable. I could not do this in my own sinful, rebellious, ego-centered nature no matter how long or how hard I tried. I must allow it to happen, but I cannot cause it to happen.

It is my job to give the loaves and fishes; it is God’s job to feed the 5,000. (See Matthew 14:13-21)

A Twist on Stem Cells

This is the reason that thoughts are critical to life – or death; to peace – or agony; to fulfillment – or discontent; to health – or to sickness; to richness of lifestyle – or poverty of lifestyle.

Meditation Thought: “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

A thought is the tiny first cell of the growing expression which will take form in many mediums and influence many others. This original cell-thought has within it all the genetic features needed to multiply it into a huge far-reaching form.

This is the reason that thoughts are critical to life – or death; to peace – or agony; to fulfillment – or discontent; to health – or to sickness; to richness of lifestyle – or poverty of lifestyle.

God seeks to illuminate our understanding that we may recognize that thoughts seeking relationship with Him are the key to the fulfillment of our creation both spiritually and humanly.

To come to the realization that God- almighty, all powerful, all loving, all creating, all righteous, all beautiful, all orderly, all reconciling, all accepting, all encouraging, all giving of freedom to choose His offer of companionship, of fellowship, of fatherhood is our Father, is to be completely awed, completely, happy, completely obedient.

We do not expect to do as well as our Hero (Jesus) in expressing our life in our humanity, nevertheless, the determination to do our best to adopt the same thoughts, the same attitudes, the same type of language, the same type of actions, and the sure conviction that our Hero was and is real and is able, by our belief in His realty, to empower us to become more like Him.

Weight Lifted; Chains Loosed

He made the lifting of the burden and the breaking of the chains possible – not easy, not quick, but His example of the method is there for all who seek it.

Meditation Thought: “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” (Romans 7:18)

I feel the weight of sin, but my own power is insufficient to move it. I know that if only this weight could be removed, I could move places where I cannot go now. I am bound in guilt, in inadequacies, in the past. I cannot raise the energy to fulfil my dreams, but am frustrated by weight, by chains.

Only one man succeeded in avoiding the crushing weight and binding chains: by total obedience to the Father’s will; by willingly foregoing the pleasures anyway – He made the lifting of the burden and the breaking of the chains possible – not easy, not quick, but His example of the method is there for all who seek it.

My prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for being willing to forgo the using of Your power for Yourself, that Your power might be used for my benefit. Enable me to, in my gratitude, in my desire to give you joy that your sacrifice was not in vain, but released me from much pain, to accomplish the very purpose for which You came. (See Matthew 18:18)

Enable me to become an expression of Your joy, and not an extension of Your pain. In Your Precious Name I pray. Amen.