Category: Hope

Chosen Companion

The intricacies of life are too much for you to bear alone; it was not intended for you to carry such a load alone.

Meditation Thought: “And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” … And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken [the Lord going with His people so they are distinct] I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” (Exodus 33: 14,17)

Perceived answer:

“In my presence is rest for you, for your cares shall be removed from you and then can you rest. The intricacies of life are too much for you to bear alone; it was not intended for you to carry such a load alone.

When you are weighted down, feeling compelled to move on with your burden, but also feeling unable to do so – turn to Me, seek My help; for I am glad to lift your burden from you and carry it as we go together.

I will not pry your burden from you, however – you must willingly give it to me. That is fundamental to our relationship of Father and daughter rather than a tyrant over the weak.

Until you can see Me as loving Father, ever-caring, ever present when you desire Me to be present, patient and kind, and delighting in fellowship with you – not approving or disapproving of you being a condition of that fellowship, but only our mutual love and our relationship being a condition of fellowship, then I cannot do My fullest works in you and through you.

Give Me your burden of guilt for past errors and misjudgments and behavior.
Give Me your present concerns.
Give me your Family.
Give Me your willing heart, and your loyalty to Me along with your burdens, for it is your surrender of your burden and your own self-will that will make you distinct from all other people that are upon the face of the earth.

You shall be as sun dispersing the gloom of a gray sky, as water upon a parched desert, as the bud upon the bare limb, if you will seek Me to be your chosen companion, guide, and bearer-of-your-burden.

You need not stay where you are if it is not the place where you are content: choose to move in new directions which will satisfy your soul; I created you not for ill, but for good, not to harass, but to love, not to stagnate, but to bloom.

Believe this, sense this, commit yourself to this truth. Your life shall be enriched and sweet, and you shall bring joy and peace wherever you go when I am in your presence.”

Wise and Gracious: a Guide

Through my penetrating Spirit you shall bring delight, joy, hope, strength, determination of purpose.

Meditation Thought: “ Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5-6)

Conduct yourself according to My Word and you shall conduct yourself wisely. Speak My Word and you shall speak graciously. You cannot use My Word as your guide if you do not know My Word so thoroughly that you are able to understand it and to use it.

Saturate your mind and your heart with My Word, for as the Word penetrates into your very being, it transforms you through the power of the indwelling Spirit.

The truth of My Spirit – the power of My Spirit – the grace of My Spirit – the forgiving nature of My Spirit: the Love of My Spirit – shall be as the most delicate, enhancing flavoring to be savored by both you and those who know you.

Through my penetrating Spirit you shall bring delight, joy, hope, strength, determination of purpose.

Trough and Crest

This moment is yours – and this moment is Mine: weld our moments together.

Meditation Thought: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

Ebb and flow. You have a fascination for moving water. It is a symbol of life itself. Be content when you are in the trough or on the crest, for both places are necessary for life: for your life.

In the trough you learn to trust without proof: this is faith, you learn to be obedient – this is discipline to make you sturdy and steady to withstand the low places, and to keep you thankful and not prideful in the high places. On the crest you feel grace and blessings which open your heart to the fullness of joy of My love; it is easy for your expression of love to overflow onto those in the trough near to your crest.

This moment is yours – and this moment is Mine: weld our moments together that they may be expressions of both spirit and flesh which expand love, reconcile that which is separated, heal that which is hurt, bring order to chaos, bring relief to the suffering, bring peace to the broken-hearted, bring hope where there is despair, bring forth fruit where there was no sign of life in the branch.

The way is not easy – but the rewards are great, for joy, peace and hope along this way depend not upon circumstances, or others’ treatment of you – but upon our moments welded together as one moment spanning heaven and earth: the Holy Spirit reaching from Mind to mind, Love to love, Spirit to spirit.

You know the way – the way of the cross: obedient, humble, selfless, loving, grateful for all blessings and guidance wherever it leads, knowing who has the world beyond death, into resurrection.

With eyes of faith
And tongue of love
Hands to comfort
And feet to move
Where’re I bid you go
Not one place
Shall you abide
Away from Love and Hope.
This moment, be it trough or crest,
Is triumph over all.

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!”

Eternal Love

Expand your concept as love working in you, love turning everything touched by you into a more accurate image of God and His Kingdom.

Meditation Thought: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13

Love is at work in you, both to will and to work for the pleasure of all of creation; which is the pleasure of the Creator: For the created is the image of the Creator when the will of the Creator is followed.

Expand your concept as love working in you, love turning everything touched by you into a more accurate image of God and His Kingdom.

You see, you feel, you touch.
But what lies beneath,
Hidden – and yet revealed by all that is seen?
Is there love, light, delight?
Is there good, purity, truth?
Is there joy and hope and purpose too?
Then Eternal Love lies hidden within your spirit, mind and soul.
This power, not seen, not felt, not touched,
Transforms the world – for all to see, to feel, to touch,
With awakened sense of Right and Good and Peace forevermore.

 

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.

 

Kingdom Hope; Kingdom Joy

When we comprehend this, our whole perspective on life changes: we have hope even in the seemingly hopeless situations.

Meditation Thought: “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)

Although this sounds a bit strange, it does not take a great deal of thought to realize that Jesus is saying that those who do God’s will are bonded by being God’s children.

It is when we plod along, trying to perceive God’s will and attempting to do it, that we begin to perceive that some power beyond ourselves is truly at work!

When we comprehend this, our whole perspective on life changes: we have hope even in the seemingly hopeless situations.

When we have hope, we can more easily energize ourselves to take the effort to bring good results – and, frequently, with God’s guidance, we accomplish acts that actually astonish us.

If we know about some of these results, how many results are somewhere in the world we do not recognize? This is the reason we need to seek God’s will and to do it to the best of our ability! How else can the joys of the kingdom be spread across the world?

Hearing Aid

We need to be expecting to hear God at any moment – at every moment.

Meditation Thought: “The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” (Psalm 29:4)

Some kinds of waves can penetrate some materials, but not others – there are sound waves, light waves, infrared rays, etc. – but the only ‘wave’ that can penetrate any place at any time is God’s voice: of instruction, of help, of hope, of love, of power.

When we are expecting to hear a voice, we are more likely to hear it when it comes. We need to be expecting to hear God at any moment – at every moment. Then the “still, small voice” is amplified so that it becomes clear and incisive and penetrating, enabling us to know that God’s will is for us at that moment.

Big Brother

…my big brother Jesus would know what to do in this situation. Let me check with Him and I know then I’ll be taking the right action.

Meditation Thought: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:50)

“I’m a relative of Jesus” – what a statement to be able to make! Of all the name-dropping, that has to be the ultimate statement. And, yet it is true – as we, through faith in Jesus as Savior, accept our Father as our guide, our Creator, our loving, indulgent parent, and we obey Him as such, we are born into His Kingdom and His family just as surely as we are physically born into this world. And His Son is surely part of His family!

Maybe we should think more in terms of making decisions, going through a process such as saying to ourselves: “Well, now, my big brother Jesus would know what to do in this situation. Let me check with Him and I know then I’ll be taking the right action.”

The heavens rejoice at the expansion and maturing of the family of God. It is enough to know that this is so; we do not need to know why it is so. We rejoice because our Father rejoices as He delights in our obedience. Our delight and joy become contagious to one another; we want to continue this happy time, this happy relationship. There is only one way to do  it – we must do as our Father requests – in a manner of trust, pleasure, reliance and eagerness, as well as performing as competently as we are able.

Voice in the Din

There is so much joy and peace and pleasure and excitement and fulfillment to be distributed.

Meditation Thought: “What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops.” (Matthew 10:27)

“I would whisper to all if they could but hear me above the din of the world – but all cannot hear, for they do not yet know to listen for a voice apart from the din. I need you to work within the din, to get attention so that you can then attune others’ ears to my voice.

Be sure you listen carefully to My voice, heeding my instructions, before you call attention to yourself, that you might be using the most effective manner of both getting attention and then re-focusing that attention to Me. There is so much joy and peace and pleasure and excitement and fulfillment to be distributed – I want to blanket the world with it, but I cannot force it, or the pressure will smother instead of provide comfort.

People must reach out for the “comforter” – My Kingdom – but you can call their attention to the gift being available for their asking. Start to automatically work in each relationship, no matter how casual the encounter, to fulfill that aim. Relax, smile, enjoy the gift that you posses, and I will guide you each moment to speak and act appropriately to the heart of everyone you meet.”