Category: Hope

Look! The Kingdom of God!

The Kingdom is here, in the midst of you – inside of you.

Meditation Thought: “…behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:21)

Behold: Look. Notice. Observe! The Kingdom is here, in the midst of you – inside of you. The Kingdom is not outside of you and outside of others and near all of you – it is within each, and it is as a magnetic force drawing all together. As the parts of the Body of Christ are more closely brought to one another, so are they able to more capably affect healing and superb performance in one another.

Never fear to draw near to anyone – for it is the Kingdom within each which seeks to bring you to a person. Even though this may not be recognized by the other – yet – you can know the Truth and it makes you free to move everywhere without fear, and in confidence and joy and anticipation and hope and sure knowledge, in wisdom, and with love. Is this state of being not a perfect description of “The Kingdom”?

Inherited Character Traits

Character is an expression of the attitude of the mind and the spirit – and that attitude exists for every aspect of life.

Meditation Thought: ““Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (Luke 16:10)

Your character is made of a solid piece: no matter what circumstances penetrate it, the consistency is the same. It is either love – or selfish, honest or dishonest, giving or taking, thoughtful or unkind, perceptive or obtuse. But the fact that it is of a consistency does not indicate that the consistency is unchangeable.

The enlightenment by the Spirit, the teaching by the Word, the response to the Father’s proffered love, all can totally change the character.

And this is the significance of Jesus’ walk upon the earth: the living Example of the perfect character. The perfect character is available to anyone who seeks it: who is willing to die to self and live in Christ. The two become homogeneous – the Christ character replaces the believer’s character, yet each spirit and personality remains unique in expressing Christ’s character.

As parents’ traits are reflected in their children in a common manner – and yet each child remains unique, so each believer reflects the Father’s traits through the inheritance passed from Father to Jesus to believer. The difference is that physical traits are passed along by genes, and spiritual traits are passed along by the spirit. Only when we recognize that we are both physical and spiritual, can we have the traits of the Spirit of God passed along into our spirit fully: it takes our cooperation to express the spiritual genes to any great degree, whereas physical traits are more evident without our consciousness of them.

Character is an expression of the attitude of the mind and the spirit – and that attitude exists for every aspect of life, whether it is of great influence or of little consequence.

Therefore, if we are to become fully expressive as children of God, we must seek to reflect the Father’s attitude toward all of life.

Only through the mind of Christ and the Spirit of Christ being infused into our mind and spirit is it possible to reflect the Father’s attitude, and thus express in our character His character.

Giving Poured Out

You can have the desires of your heart, which are peace and joy, by your own decision to do so.

Meditation Thought: “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:13-14)

Giving is a pouring out, taking pleasure in spreading joy. Thus you can have constant pleasure, for it is possible always to give, whereas you cannot control receiving. If you find pleasure only in receiving, you limit your pleasure greatly – and you limit the pleasure released in the world even more.

You can have the desires of your heart, which are peace and joy, by your own decision to do so: the price is to surrender pride to unselfish love, and sin to righteousness through the thinking of others and acting in their behalf.

The Best Gift Ever!

You need only ask…

Meditation Thought: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

You delight in giving your children what you can, but your heavenly Father is able to give a gift ranking above all other gifts: the gift of His love and power actually transferred to be implanted within His beloved children. You need only ask and you will receive.

Fear Banished

You cannot fully concentrate on two opposites at the same time: therefore, if you focus clearly on God and His revelations you cannot at the same time focus on fear.

Meditation Thought: ““Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” (Luke 8:50)

“Do not fear” – do not look to anything but God – then you shall observe nothing to fear! Believe in God, seek to know God and make Him intimately involved in your life.

You cannot fully concentrate on two opposites at the same time: therefore, if you focus clearly on God and His revelations you cannot at the same time focus on fear.

Your choice of focusing determines your present appraisal of your situation as well as determining future situations. For “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

The Paradox of Life & Joy

It is encased in the solid, protected container of love that we find courage to move into places we once feared.

Meditation Thought: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

The fullness of time brings the fullness of God: His Word fulfilled, His Will fulfilled, His Purposes fulfilled. The Creator must wait for the maturity of the created to fulfill the purposes of the creation – reflecting the meaning of life to both the creator and that created.

And so came the Word, the law, the grace, the truth all manifested in the flesh, that the meaning of life might be revealed fully to those who by choice and by faith, seek the light, seek the inner core as well as the outer surface, seek the unseen as well as the seen, seek the subtle as well as the obvious, seek to know with the heart as well as the mind, who seek God rather than be limited to being self-seeking.

For the paradox is true and to be understood: He who seeks to be last shall be first, he who gives of his life shall find his LIFE, and he whose purpose is to create happiness in the hearts of his fellow creatures, has happiness thrust into his own heart while his concentration is away from his heart.

JOY shall be his as he realizes the magnificence, the depth, the glory, the sweetness, the extent of the Father’s love for him – the lengths to which the Father will go to express that love with the show of the tiniest response to that love. The realization is awesome, fulfills the longing of the heart, bringing the ecstasy of long-awaited hopes and dreams being brought into reality; a confirmation of knowing what had only been sought.

It is encased in the solid, protected container of love that we find courage to move into places we once feared, where we once had no place, where we can now move effectively because we have the secret knowledge in our heart that whatever befalls us we are protected by love, insulated by it from undue hurt – we are equipped to do our task, and therefore confident as we move to do it: and this is the key to the task being brought to a successful conclusion (pleasing to the Father and the Son and the Spirit and the created).

Faith, hope and love responding to Love are the working of the Father’s will into all eternity; how can we refuse to be a part of that?!

Jackal, Ostrich or Chosen?

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

Meditation Thought: “Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.
 The wild beasts will honor me,
    the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
    rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
     the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.”

(Isaiah 43:19-21)

Jackals refers to deceitful people and ostriches to those who refuse to see the truth – but God’s righteousness and omnipotence will bring them to honor Him.

“Chosen people” – He would have all of His creation be His ‘chosen people’ – but some will not choose to be His chosen people and thus will forfeit that prerogative.

Joy in Constant Communication

Do you not see that it is the constant communicating that is My joy – and yours?

Meditation Thought: “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” (Luke 15:31)

“Talk to Me, let Me know how you feel, what you think, the desires of your heart. Do you not see that it is the constant communicating that is My joy – and yours?

Do not be so engrossed in your work – even when it s the work I have given to you – that you neglect to seek My companionship.

For I desire to give you the things that will make you happy – not as if I were a clerk dispensing items impersonally – but as a loving daddy provides things he knows will bring delight to his child.

Ask for what you desire, let us think together on the merits of it, and the timing of receiving it – let us make our daily lives together precious in each other’s sight by constant sharing in all areas.

Do not be confused by the variety of choices I offer you, but rejoice in them, quickly singling out what is especially meaningful to you, and then those are the areas in which we will work closely together to bring mutual joy.”

Gardening from Seed

The kingdom is available for the taking – and its very essence is to work good for many at one time.

Meditation Thought: “The kingdom of heaven… is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” (Luke 13: 18,19)

“A man took” – the man acted to take the seed given by God and place it where it would grow to his advantage and delight – fulfilling the purpose for which God had created the seed, fulfilling a need of the man, and fulfilling a need of the ‘birds’.

The kingdom is available for the taking – and its very essence is to work good for many at one time.

To live your life according to the laws of the kingdom is an assurance of growing good fruits for yourself and for others.

To the extent you know that a seed needs to be sown and cultivated to produce the best fruit, to the extent you make effort to provide what the seed needs, to the extent you thank your Father who provided the seed, your Brother who gave you the perfect instructions for its cultivation, and your Helper who enables you to carry out the instructions – to that extent will the tree thrive and provide the maximum for which it was created.

Seek knowledge, enjoy cultivation, anticipate the results, and the harvest shall be sure,  plentiful and pleasing.

Citizenship Without Partisanship

Look to the future, not the past – look to the One.

Meditation Thought: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

If you look back, you miss seeing clearly what lies ahead. You will stumble, misjudge and misunderstand.

Look to the future, not the past – look to the One to whom you committed all of the resources of your life, because He committed all of His resources – so much greater than yours – to Your life.

Have no misgivings, no doubts – but in total absorption of the possibilities that lie ahead with a firm commitment to the cause you have embraced, move ahead in confidence as you learn to become a citizen of the kingdom – step by step you learn to discharge your duties as a citizen, and also learn of your many privileges – more than you suspected, and of far greater value.