Category: Hope

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.)

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.

Choose Your Storehouse Carefully

And the conscious decisions bring into your life the contents of the storehouse so that the unconscious decisions draw upon the stock within you, thus reinforcing either sickness of Satan’s stock or health of God’s stock.

Meditation Thought: “ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.” (Romans 6:13)

All manner of things are in the storehouse – you must choose what you will take from it and bring into your life. It is easy to walk into Satan’s area – for it is downhill, easy to just let the inertia of sin and self-will to almost propel you down the hill to his area.

God’s area is higher – more difficult to reach because you must take effort to remove sin and self-will by energy, time, and commitment before you can make the walk up the path to reach God’s storehouse. But for those who try – what blessings! The fruits and gifts of the Spirit are there: the storehouse is pleasant, commanding a beautiful view. (See Galatians 5:22-23)

Life is a series of trips to the storehouse: each conscious decision takes the path to either the storehouse area of Satan or of God. And the conscious decisions bring into your life the contents of the storehouse so that the unconscious decisions draw upon the stock within you, thus reinforcing either sickness of Satan’s stock or health of God’s stock.

Seek ye first the Kingdom – God’s area – and the joys of the Kingdom’s stores shall accumulate in your life. (See Matthew 6:33)

Deserts Bloom

Not every life will be recorded in history as world-changing, but every life is recorded in My heart.

Meditation Thought: “ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God” (Romans 4:20)

“Take courage – and step out in faith. Though you do not see where your step will take you, I have prepared the path: it leads where the desires of your heart are fulfilled. But you cannot see this is so – you can only trust in Me. Do I not merit your trust? I created the universe. I did not remove Myself from My creations, but I nurture My creations, My beloved, and delight in an awakened response.

Not every life will be recorded in history as world-changing, but every life is recorded in My heart; I rejoice and commiserate with My loved ones, each is precious to Me. How I long for each spirit to respond to Me, to be an Abraham in faith and obedience, that I may rejoice in the blessing passed on from generation to generation, from parent to child by example that through faith in My grace, My love and My power, the enemy is overcome, and My responsive children shall inherit My Kingdom.

My Kingdom is the land of milk and honey – not the wilderness;
My Kingdom is beauty – not gloom and ugliness;
My Kingdom is love – not hate;
My Kingdom is nurturing – not repressing;
My Kingdom is light – not darkness;
My Kingdom is the sound of a great symphony – not the sound of discord nor the lack of any sound;
My Kingdom is the vast vista from a mountaintop – not the smallness of a cave.

Seek ye the Kingdom – it is within you – within the yielding of your will to My will;
the yielding of your tongue to words of love;
the yielding of your heart to compassion;
the yielding of your body to sacrifice for others;
the yielding of pain to trust in My purpose of the new life it will produce.

My Spirit shall bring the desert to bloom;
the storm to give way to the sun;
the winter to yield to spring;
and the world to be transformed into the Kingdom – wherever it is allowed to flow.”