Category: grace

Up, up and away!

Transforming the thinking, the attitudes and thus the actions of the world into kind, loving, unselfish, freely expressed.

Meditation Thought: “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment… For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:13, 26)

When we, through heeding His wise Word, allow our mercy to triumph over judgment, and our faith to be demonstrated by our works, we are transforming the thinking, the attitudes and thus the actions of the world from selfish, cruel, law-bound into kind, loving, unselfish, freely expressed.

No longer bound by sin and shame,
But free:
Up, up and away!
To mountain tops
and cleansing streams.
Pure air, sunshine bright.
No longer oppressed by shadows dark
And fog of unbelief
Our hope, our joy,
Our strength of faith,
Raise our hands to His!
And once He sees us reaching up –
Pure ecstasy abounds
As His arms enfold
Us, drawing us close,
And the warmth of
His embrace –
The mutual love released,
These are the “keys to the kingdom”.
And the possession,
The use of them
Opens vistas glorious,
And possible to explore.
Halleluiah! The journey is so entrancing
That the replacement
Of judgment with mercy,
and the doing of works in faith
Simply fall into place –
Naturally, easily:
Feeling His embrace,
Knowing His love,
Trusting Him to
Move us surely
Across the years,
The obstacles,
To the glories
glimpsed and beckoning,
We are so caught up
In following Him,
Mercy and good works
Become our new nature.
Not through our effort,
But through His Grace.

Soothing Harmony

Leave your fears and your doubts behind.

Meditation Thought: “He went up into the hills to pray.” (Mark 6:46)

“Come to a quiet place where you can hear My voice more clearly. Seek My counsel, and I will guide you surely. Leave your fears and your doubts behind you, and bring your faith to Me. Trust Me, my beloved child. Put your trust in Me, and I will give you peace, joy and direction.

Seek My will in My Word,
Seek My will in service,
Seek My will in prayer.

Let Me blend all of the elements in your life into harmony and beauty of the Spirit-filled life. It is in prayer that the blending takes place: only through blending the elements to Me to blend can you achieve a harmonizing of them. Instead of their being a bombardment of your senses, they will soothe and please you and aid you. Do all as unto Me. This is the binding, all-pervasive base which will unite separate elements into a beautiful whole.”

Lit Up Open Doors

The gloom of the world shall give way to the joy of the Kingdom.

Meditation Thought: “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” (Daniel 2:47) and “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29)

“I am… the light of the world. Open the doors that have been shut to My light: By your words and actions given in an attitude of loving service, encourage everyone whom you meet to open the door of their heart to My healing, revealing Light. The gloom of the world shall give way to the joy of the Kingdom. Light, light, light the Way, the Truth, the Life: Reveal the reality of the Personality by helping the dark places to be lit by the Word, so that the Spirit is perceived and received in the heart.”

Steadfast Love

In His image, we are blessed.

Meditation Thought: “O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.” (Psalm 130:7)
 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Combined: “The Lord is steadfast love and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

It is the Lord’s steadfast love that redeems us – if only we recognize and acknowledge that we need redemption! Then – Oh Joy! – He cleanses us from all unrighteousness: a definition of being in His image! In His image, we are blessed with His power and resources; His love and grace; His will worked in us and through us. His redemptive love changing every person it touches through us!

Choose Now; Choose Wisely

You can choose now; you can choose at other ‘nows’ – but a time will come when you recognize that the time of choosing is in the past.

Meditation Thought: ““Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (Matthew 24:42)

Your Lord is here. Believe this, be conscious of this, act according to this. Your Lord is with you at every moment your faith believes He is with you. One day the Lord will be seen by means other than faith, and all will know that He is Lord and He is with them.

The Presence of the Lord is instantaneous as your will and your mind desire His presence. It is similar to your call to a loved one in another room – you call, they come. They were not far away, but were waiting to come to you until you called. They did not intrude, but came when our desire for them was made known.

The righteous rejoice in the Presence of the Lord, but the foolish and unrighteous fear His Presence. Nevertheless, at some time, at some place, all see the glory of the Lord and rejoice or tremble. You can choose now; you can choose at other ‘nows’ – but a time will come when you recognize that the time of choosing is in the past, and the present is your time of judgment. You do not know at what moment choosing has yielded to judgment: prepare for this eventuality by presuming that this moment is the “judgment moment”.

(See also Hope)

The Definition of Peace

Many are willing to do some things My way – but few are willing to do all things My way.

Meditation Thought: ““For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)

“Do it My way! If you seek to have Me be your sure guide, your loving host, your caring companion, your power in the journey of your life in human form – do it My way! Not the world’s way or your way – but My way: the way of the Word, the way of righteousness, the way of love, the way of forgiveness, the way of giving, giving, giving – and then giving more.

So few are chosen because so few choose My way totally. Many are willing to do some things My way – but few are willing to do all things My way. Only one tiny flaw in the whole can ruin the whole: this is why you must not pick and choose areas to do it My way or your way, but in every area do it My way.

My peace I give to you when you yield your will to mine.

My love I give to you freely.

My grace I give to you freely.

My blessing I give to you freely.

But My peace I give to you only as you yield your will to Mine, as you seek My forgiveness for the unyielded parts. For My Spirit within you must be at one with your spirit to bring harmony with Me – and harmony with Me is the definition of pease.”

Your Purpose

My kingdom is not based on waste, but on harvest.

Meditation Thought: “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” (Matthew 21:43)

“‘Use it or lose it’: My kingdom is not based on waste, but on harvest. It is given, that it may be added to, passed on, shared. What you receive, you are to appreciate, cultivate and share. If you do not appreciate your gift enough to seek the purpose of it, it will be taken from you and given to one who will appreciate it and fulfill its purpose.

Heed My Word! I speak to you as a citizen of My kingdom and as a citizen of the United States. My creative and supportive powers are available to you and to all who believe in Me. Come, be loyal to Me, as I am loyal to you. Be gracious to Me, as I am gracious to you. Give me your power, as I give you My power. Give Me your love as I give you My love.

We shall weave ourselves together, making a tapestry to beautify the world, to give warmth where it is cold, to inspire and to teach truth. Trust Me, obey Me, and you shall rejoice with Me.”

Mercy’s Boomerang

Mercy is the reflection of My grace; how you need My grace! How others need your mercy!

Meditation Thought: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

“Boomerang”: As you think, as you act, remember the boomerang you are sending will return to you! All of My Word reinforces this concept: many words are used to teach this one truth, for it is the key to the laws of the Kingdom. Be merciful – despite your feelings of: hurt, chagrin, anger, betrayal, withdrawal. Every time you overcome your feelings which would decry mercy, you move along the path deeper into My Kingdom. The closer you are within the center of My Kingdom, the more protection you have from all that would harm you in the world.

Mercy is the reflection of My grace; how you need My grace! How others need your mercy! Overcome evil with good through mercy. Reflect upon the vast quantity of words devoted to the results of mercy – or the results of withholding mercy – in My Word which is to be your guide through life.

Mercy is the concrete evidence of My will worked in the world: Mercy is the opposite of devotion to self. “Mercy is the sign of devotion to Me.”

Patterns Changed

To be treated kindly when one has not been kind is to prick the conscience, rethink the situation, and change the pattern of behavior.

Meditation Thought: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,” (Proverbs 25:21)

To be treated kindly when one has not been kind is to prick the conscience, rethink the situation, and change the pattern of behavior. Thus it is wiser and more productive to be kind to enemies – and since this behavior is also pleasing to God, it reaps additional reward from heaven. Thus to not give in to ill feelings is to receive far more satisfaction than venting anger. But the character must be built to have strength to do this – the mind must rule the emotions, and the Spirit of God must rule the mind if this type of behavior is to be exhibited, for it is human nature to cause harm to our enemies and to attempt to defeat them. Jesus was a master at living out the examples of feeding and giving drinks to enemies – and His consistency in doing so won over many – even some of those who had caused his death were won over after his resurrection, as the became converted through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

We may not be as successful as Jesus in consistently feeding and giving drinks to our enemies – but if we really try to do this, we will have some success – and that is enough to change at least some peoples and some situations for the better. If we can each have even moderate success in this God-character being revealed instead of human-character, the world will be far more pleasing – to God and to us.

New Beginning

A new beginning! Oh, how we rejoice!

Meditation Thought: “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ” (Luke 24:45-47)

A new beginning! Oh, how we rejoice whenever a new understanding has made us long to undo what our old understanding has wrought, and then the opportunity is presented to negate the old results, and start fresh with the new understanding!

Christ has brought us a new beginning. But we must first negate all of the wrong attitudes and actions and results that permeated our life before the revelation of Christ to us that we can start over. We rectify what we can, and ask forgiveness for the rest. And that is the end of it. We can accept the past as no longer being a millstone around our neck because Jesus removed it the moment we sincerely requested Him to do so.

We are as born again: we can have the innocence and enthusiasm and energy of children combined with the wisdom of our loving God working in our lives. The results should be miracles!

Why do we restrict God’s work by refusing to believe the good news? We hinder God by our stubborn clinging to the “oughts and shoulds” that other interpreters of the Word and the Spirit have either imposed upon us or we have sought out of laziness in learning for ourselves who God is, and what He wants to do in and through our life.

The only way to know who god is and what He wants to do in each person is to personally so search His Word and seek His Spirit that we receive His particular words and suggestions intended exclusively for us.

Fellowship is good and needed, shared information is good and needed – but the only way a child can have close companionship and understanding with his parent is to come to spend time and to converse honestly and deep from the heart with the parent. No matter what his brothers or sisters tell him about their parent, it is not going to bring them into intimate fellowship. It takes personal contact, with mutual communication to accomplish this.