Category: Humility

Jolted

We do not understand His willingness to forgive and His desire to express mercy.

Meditation Thought: “and wen he saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you’ …and he rose… and went home glorifying God.” (Luke 5:20,25)

Believe – demonstrate your belief – and He whose word is true cannot deny or resist you, for He is true to His promises and true in His love.

We miss out on much healing and many blessings due to our inability to truly comprehend the depth of God’s love and the power of His Word and His Spirit. We do not understand His willingness to forgive and His desire to express mercy.

We make the mistake of attributing to God our own thoughts and feelings and manner of behavior.

Instead of seeking to become totally familiar with all that God is and patterning ourselves according to what we find, we lazily presume that the way we are must be an approximation of the way He is.

Only when we are jolted out of our long-held misconceptions can we have the revelation of the possibilities of a miracle taking place. Only when we believe enough in the possibility do we decide to seek to bring it about by requesting it in so much faith that it will take place that our Lord is so delighted with our confidence in His ability and desire to perform the miracle, can He match up our faith and His power to grant the request.

Ineptness to Effectiveness

To heed the advice of the word given to us by trusting in faith instead of relying on previous experience which has failed us is to change the pattern of our lives from…

Meditation Thought: ” ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ …For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken … and they left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5: 5,9,11)

The difference between an empty net and a full net is ‘going it alone’ or doing it with Christ, which is automatically doing it according to the will of the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

To heed the advice of the word given to us by trusting in faith instead of relying on previous experience which has failed us is to change the pattern of our lives from:
emptiness to fullness
weakness to strength
fear to courage
ineptness to effectiveness
dullness to excitement
joy in receiving to joy in giving
from our accomplishments being measured mathematically to geometrically.

Willingly

Do you believe that you are commanded to worship Me because I seek to honored as men seek to be honored – for vain glory? Oh, no – I seek to be first in your life because as your father, I place your welfare first in My heart. I love you!

Meditation Thought: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4:8, quoting Deuteronomy 6:13)

“First things first. ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’ Do you believe that you are commanded to worship Me because I seek to honored as men seek to be honored – for vain glory? Oh, no – I seek to be first in your life because as your father, I place your welfare first in My heart. I love you! I love you, spirit of My Spirit! And I seek your love that you may trust Me, heed Me and reap the benefits therefrom.

Who knows you better than I?
And who knows every child better than I?
Who knows what is Truth better than I?
Who knows the condition and circumstances of the world better than I?
And who knows how to bring all into peace, harmony, fulfillment better than I?

You know – but to hear Me you must tune out the clamor of other voices: Hear Me first, then can you judge which pleas to heed, and which to refute. You will be able to discern which will serve Me – and which will serve another.

Be strong in the strength of My might: by My Word shall My Spirit give you strength, wisdom, courage, and power.
To move mountains.
To feed the hungry.
To heal the sick.
To clothe the naked.
To take the good news to the poor.
To open the eyes of the blind.
To bring sinners to repentance.

Expressed in only one way: Love. Not with disappointment, judgment, condemnation, lectures. But with sharing love, sharing all that is good within you. Giving what is precious to you – that it may be multiplied back to you. Hoard no treasure; give it away that it may be enhanced and returned to you – to be given away again to be enhanced – ad infinitum.

The flowing river is the pure water, not the stagnant pool of collection. Build the temple of your life upon the Word of Truth, that it shall stand against the storms of strife. That the light from within shall dispel the darkness without. That all who come near may rejoice and be glad they took the path that brought them near to you, for in being near to you, can they find Me if you have built your temple to be My dwelling place.

I seek to dwell in hearts of unselfish love, of minds thinking upon the Word, of spirits seeking My Spirit.”

Suggested prayer: Father, please accept
my yielding of my will to you,
my yielding of my mind to you,
my yielding of my spirit to you,
my yielding of my body to you,
my yielding of my emotions to you,
my yielding of all I ‘posses’ to you:

I give them willingly, trustingly, joyfully, knowing that they shall but be enhanced by your possession of them. And as you return them to me, then shall I become the image of You. You place your mark upon them, that I may know, and others know, that I recognize You as having first place in my life.

I pray in Jesus’ name that I may understand precisely what this commitment means at every moment of my life. Amen.

Gathering Witnesses

If we are gathered together as witnesses for Jesus, and if we pray in God’s will, we are assured that what we pray for will come about.

Meditation Thought: “…if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)

Traditionally two witnesses are needed for confirmation. If we have the two (or more) witnesses agreeing, and we are gathered together as witnesses for Jesus, confirming His salvation and released power, we have within us the Holy Spirit which He promised us. If we are led by the Spirit, we are also led to pray in God’s will, and if we pray in God’s will, we are assured that what we pray for will come about.

Strength Building

Is the struggle from caterpillar to butterfly worthwhile?

Meditation Thought: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

You cannot be strengthened unless you are willing to hold on to – and be held by one other than yourself.

You need to admit that you cannot perform miracles, you cannot even function well by yourself. And you need to then be glad that this is so, for it makes you willing to hold to and be held by the Father, the Son and the Spirit – each teaching, ministering, comforting and empowering all in harmony with each other that the will of the Father – the glory of the Father’s love made real – might be accomplished.
Time it takes.
Effort it takes.
Faith it takes.
Belief it takes.
Action it takes.
Perseverance it takes.
Is it worthwhile? Is the struggle from caterpillar to butterfly worthwhile? Is the movement of bodies in the heavens to produce a sunrise worthwhile? Is the joy of a response of love worth the effort which gave birth to it?

Never doubt. Never fear. Never drift.

Stake your life on the promise of the Word: do this by the quality of your choices moment by moment, day by day. A personal touch of love, of understanding, of comfort, may change a life more dramatically than any demonstration of faith which is deliberate and self-conscious – but impersonal.

To be loved – and to know it – gives courage to a fainting heart, hope to a feeling of despair, wisdom to a panicked mind. Moves the immobilized to action.

The warmth of love
melts the coldest,
most resistant life
That it may be
Re-shaped, re-worked, re-newed
To become a source of love,
Multiplying the love poured in,
And pouring out a stream of love –
of warm, purifying,
exhilarating flow
which fathers force
And moves the negative,
the sordid, the ugly,
Into an arrangement of
Positive, lovely, beautiful expression,
the kingdom moved upon the world.

Strength for the Battle

You cannot order the world to obey your command, but you can order your own will to obey God’s command.

Meditation Thought: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)

You must grow strong in the spirit so that the spirit can pour strength into the weak body. You have the perspective of history to enable your mind and your spirit to be strengthened by faith and by example. You know the reality of the resurrection.

To foreknow victory is to give strength for the battle. Focus your mind on the results you desire through the revelation of your spirit as to the best possible outcome. The outcome must encompass a furthering of love, harmony, peace and blessings for all concerned, for these are the promises – if one believes the word of God and acts in accordance with this belief.

You cannot order the world to obey your command, but you can order your own will to obey God’s command, and the results will please you far more than being abele to exert your own will upon everyone else; God’s love is greater, God’s mercy greater, God’s design greater than these qualities in yourself. Therefore if you attach your own desires to God’s desires, you assure yourself of glorious victory: not only do you sense satisfaction of your own life ordered and at peace, but you have been the instrument by which God has accomplished this in the lives of others whom you have touched.

It is true that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” but it is also true that Jesus has released the power of the Holy Spirit within you to strengthen your own spirit to the point that your spirit overcomes the weakness of the flesh by moving the flesh in a new direction – causing the flesh to reach out in loving ministry rather that tightening within itself. The merging of your spirit with the Holy Spirit in obedience to His soft guidance enables the flesh to overcome self-consciousness, fear, awkwardness, selfishness and all negative aspects of live.

Humanly Possible vs. Divinely Possible

If we assume we already know what we need to – if our pride and our own will keep us turned to our own self instead of God, we limit what is possible in our lives to what is humanly possible.

Meditation Thought: “…all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)

The only source of all knowledge is God. Only through coming to God with a willing attitude to learn from Him can we have all that we need to know revealed to us. If we assume we already know what we need to – if our pride and our own will keep us turned to our own self instead of God, we limit what is possible in our lives to what is humanly possible.

But, if in our faith in our Father – rather than ourselves, we seek to learn from Him, we release what is divinely possible in our lives. This difference places our lives on a new plane, a new dimension, living according to “new rules”.

If we do not adapt to behaving in ways appropriate to the new knowledge, we do not realize nor release the power of that knowledge. If we continue to think in old habitual ways, act as if we are only human, and the only controlling force in our lives, then we are not heeding the Word, learning the lesson, giving God permission to reveal, to guide, to influence the course of our lives. We remain chained to the limitations of the world, rather than availing ourselves of the miracles of the Kingdom.

Perspective for Unity

You can unite opposing forces, if you will see from the Father’s perspective.

Meditation Thought: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” (Mark 3:24)

Learn to move yourself into a different perspective when you realize you are opposing anything.

Focus on the Word, the Spirit, and move in accordance with these who work all things together for good

You can unite opposing forces, if you will see from the Father’s perspective. The Father’s kingdom is united by love; deflect any weapon wielded against you by the power of love. Wield no weapon, but carry the soothing ointment of love.

Love in the Silence

Realize how much more effective a demonstration is if it is not detracted from by too many words describing it.

Meditation Thought: “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” (Mark 1:44, italics added)

Do not dilute the effectiveness of the healing miracle within you by loose talk about it. Be aware: express the reality of it appropriately – in manners which bring the good news to others as an awakening of their perception to the Father’s call to them.

Give an ‘offering’ of yourself in thanksgiving, in prayer, in service to others, in sharing of your worldly goods.

Realize how much more effective a demonstration is if it is not detracted from by too many words describing it. You want to respect those watching by allowing them to discover knowledge concerning it. This will bring the point to them more effectively, and also more palliatively. They are far less likely to reject the demonstration as applicable to themselves if you do not try to force the issue.

And the process of allowing each to discover the meaning for themselves brings an order to the ministry of the Spirit which will be lacking if you press everyone by words to jump immediately into attempting to duplicate your demonstration.

Let your love speak for itself.
Let your joy speak for itself.
Let your faith speak for itself.
Let your peace speak for itself.

The Evolution of a Fish

That which you concentrate upon, you become similar to.

Meditation Thought: “And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)

Perceived as a message from Jesus:

“Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. I follow the Father only – and if you follow Me, you follow the Father. That which you concentrate upon, you become similar to: this is the method by which you shall become an image of Me, an image of the Father. And this is the method by which those who follow you (caught in the net of your love and concern for them) will come to know the Son and the Father and the Spirit and the Truth.

By My Words I shall inspire you and instruct you, by My Presence I shall empower you, and by My Spirit I shall lead you. We have the net of love, we go the where the fish are, and we shall gather them into the net – yes, they shall die to themselves as fish – but their re-birth into the Kingdom is of a higher form: the form of the image of the Father as developed by the aid of the Son.

If I am the Head, and you are part of My Body, and I sit at the right hand of the Father, are you not also with the Father? Do you understand now that you have followed Me directly to the Father? Is it not better to be caught in the net than to escape the net? The net appears to cause the fish to lose freedom to go where it will, and so it does, but what appears to the fish – at first frightened by what is happening to it, (a change of environment, a change of form) – to be a disaster, becomes the life-changing experience that elevates it as a form so removed from a fish-form as to be totally transformed, re-formed, according the the preformed Pattern of the Father which is duplicated by the Son and the Son’s followers through the power of the Spirit uniting the Son and the followers.”

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