Category: SpiritFilledLiving

Basis for Decisions

I can use my resources to help the poor, to create jobs, to bring beauty, to inspire generosity.

Meditation Thought: “…render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Luke 20:25)

As a matter of practical living in the realm of the physical, I “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”. But my decisions of how to do this are best based on my “rendering to God the things that are God’s” – namely, devoting time in prayer and meditation, to perceive His will as to the decisions concerning practical physical things which will most reflect the best of “spiritual living” – the decisions which will be most effective in promoting kingdom-characteristics on earth.

I can choose to “bribe Caesar” to do my bidding and to satisfy my selfish, uncaring whims – or I can use my resources to help the poor, to create jobs, to bring beauty, to inspire generosity.

Only by “rendering to God the things that are God’s” am I able to render to Caesar only the things that are Caesar’s. If I choose by myself what I render to Caesar, I give Caesar God’s rightful due. And that causes all kinds of disruptions and harm.

It would be far better to err in the other direction – to give God Caesar’s portion – for God is loving, generous, kind, righteous, and fair – He would give Caesar his due – but Caesar would not give what he has wrongfully received to God, and therefore God would be left with less return than He desires from my “talent” which He has given me to use and protect – and eventually return, that He may judge how many talents I am trustworthy to use for Him.

Response: “My Father, Who is generous beyond my understanding, help me to be wise, prudent and alert to the opportunities presented to me to render to you and to Caesar. I desire to never ‘short-change’ You, and I seek your help in making all in my life a proper balance of rendering to You and rendering to Caesar all that is entrusted to me. According to Your will. Amen.”

Construct vs. Repair

My power surges into you, and the burden you dreaded and feared becomes light indeed – and transformed, faithful act, by faithful act, into a crown.

Meditation Thought: “And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (Luke 14:27-28)

Perceived as a message from the Father:

“My will is your will also – though at times you do not realize that, though your will desires fulfillment, purpose, and joy in your expression of your life, the way to succeed in appropriating them is to seek My will and to do My will.

There is a better Way to be effective in finding and performing My will than is often comprehended. You, as well as many, have adopted a mind-set upon ‘sin’, and because sin does short-circuit holy power it is necessary to consider it and correct it. However, you are taking undue time in discovering and repairing short-circuits in ‘feeder’ lines.

You should be constructing super-power-carrying transmission lines on a grand scale. This is possible when you realize that you are concentrating too much on your person and your thoughts and actions, and whether they are ‘sinful’.

You need to adopt a more positive approach to learning the secrets of the spiritual realm: focus on Jesus’ words, actions and attitudes – the concentration He had upon the Word, upon communion in prayer, upon expressions of love, upon faith in My love, My power, and My desire to work all things together for good for my beloved children.

Jesus did not sin – but He was tempted, as you are tempted. How did He resist temptation? He resisted it be using His knowledge of My principles and My potential power, and He knew about these through His concentration upon My Word and our relationship through study and through prayer.

It is concentrating upon My Word by study, and our relationship through prayer that builds transmission lines of power: this is the work I intend My children to be doing – not for your time and energy to be underutilized in minor repairs only. Repairs must be made when needed – but not many ‘breaks’ will occur when the construction is proper and strong from the beginning.

I have provided the Way do to all the repairing necessary, through repentance and commitment to become a disciple of Christ, which is to be promoted to construction worker from a repairer of minor problem spots. You are freed from your old job because Jesus Christ instantly repairs the troubles for you when you request Him to and believe that He discharges that responsibility. Then with a clear conscience and with confidence that all is well, you can rejoice in promotion realizing that you will be taught all you need to know to discharge your new responsibilities – so long as you are in an attitude of your self-will being immobilized under the constraint of the cross. The miracle is that the pain of self-will crucified is brief, and soon My will is brought to life through your resurrected self-will taking on a new form as a part – an integral, beautifully functioning part – of My eternal will.

If you would come after Christ along the Way to Truth and to Life, you must bear your cross – but not alone do you suffer it. My power surges into you, and the burden you dreaded and feared becomes light indeed – and transformed, faithful act, by faithful act, into a crown. The crown is your joy – but it is My glory.”

Unlimited Power – Hope

My power changes situations as surely as physical power changes physical environments.

Meditation Thought: “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)

You were given the ability to choose that you might have joy – you are to choose wisely and well if you desire eternal pleasures.

Take time and effort to seek out every facet and phase of whatever touches your life, looking for the deeper hidden significance in each situation. Cultivate habits which are consistent with all that is extolled in the Word and in the Life.

When you are aware of more than the temporary, the immediate, and the selfish, then you also know that I will seek to shelter you when danger appears – and your choice to come to Me as I call is your road to joy and peace – no matter what you perceive surrounding you. When you desire to take shelter with Me, nothing shall come between us. This is your hope as well as your salvation.

To know that I long to give you aid – and that I have unlimited power to do so – is to engender such hope and confidence that your faith is the “substance of things hoped for”. “Substance” is real. Your knowledge of My loving desires and intentions is the power-generating part of releasing My aid specifically to wherever it is need in your life – and My power changes situations as surely as physical power changes physical environments. When you act out this knowledge with total abandon, unbridled enthusiasm, and extreme confidence, then you will do “greater works”.

“Miracle Formula”

The formula Jesus revealed is the intent and will of the Father for a fulfilled life.

Meditation Thought: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:24-25)

“BELIEVE, PRAY, FORGIVE” The formula Jesus revealed is the intent and will of the Father for a fulfilled life. Fulfilled for whom? Fulfilled for the child and the Father of the child. How? By the power of God’s Holy Spirit pouring out into the channel the child opens in himself as he is exposed to the truth of the formula, believes in the power of it, and acts accordingly.

What are miracles? They are correct applications of the formula – the natural consequences of cooperating with the order of the universe created by God.

Over and over the New Testament reiterates the necessity of belief (faith), of prayer, of forgiveness – and of the integrity of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

When I believe, when I pray, when I forgive, then I too have integrity – I am being true to nature – to the nature and character of my Source of being. I am functioning correctly, effectively – almost effortlessly, because the process is natural, and the power is not of my own labor, but flows in to move me.

I know only in part the end result of my functioning – God is the Master Planner. But to know in part is so awesome, so exciting, so fulfilling, as to change completely the volume and quality of my output.

There is abundant evidence that when the formula is used, it produces magnificent results.

I pray that I may be inspired, upheld, strengthened, enriched, and live my moments, my days, my years, in such complete adherence to the “miracle formula” that I shall be in truth, an enlarger of the spiritual area of life wherever the opportunity presents itself to me.

Learning by Experience

Only by taking time to reflect upon what has taken place can we assess the results and decide which actions were wise .

Meditation Thought: “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:3)

There is an order to life that exists commonly to every area. First comes the light of the dawn, then the opportunity to do the day’s work, then comes the evening – the time of reflection upon the results, and preparation of mind for the next day of activity.

Only by taking time to reflect upon what has taken place can we assess the results and decide which actions were wise and which should be altered to produce better results.

As in every area, we learn by experience, so it is in spiritual matters. We begin by becoming familiar with His commandments and seeking to direct our thoughts and actions to be of a similar nature. This is our part – but we do not control all that is involved. We must realize this, and acknowledge that we must be enveloped in the Father’s will so completely that there is no longer a visible “our will” and the “Father’s will”, but there is only one will – homogeneous, composed of two wills, but so thoroughly blended together as to function and appear as one will. It is this exhibition of a “one-will” life that is “keeping His commandments”, and that is our assurance that “we know Him”.

There is a vast difference in the knowledge that a certain person is our father – and the experience of our father’s love being poured out into our life, touching us and changing us, delighting us, fulfilling us, protecting us and teaching us.

The knowledge is moved into experience when we accept what our father longs for us to receive, and offers hopefully: His love, devotion, wisdom, and constant laboring for our well-being.

Only when we realize that these are the basis for His “commandments” do we come into enough understanding to change our attitude into one of joyful obedience. We have come to know that our father’s will is not for his benefit, but for ours. How could we but desire what he desires when we are the recipients of good?

Dual Perception

The person need not copy carry a label “made in the image of God” to identify the quality of workmanship: their thoughts, words, deeds and prayers will all reveal the Source of the quality – the high quality of their life.

Meditation Thought: “But if we walk in the light, as he [the Father] is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

We “walk in the light” when we commit ourselves to seeking God – to loving Him – to becoming like Him. This is the invisible, spiritual aspect of “walking in the light”. But we are also physical creatures in a physical world. It is in the physical realm that Jesus, through His own physical being and actions that He took while in the body, that we can realize the miracle of cleansing our past, as we desire to do so, having become aware of God and committing ourselves to His way.

It is the dual aspect of our very beings – spiritual and physical – that requires dual perception, dedication and behavior in order to become creatures walking in the light. Our spirits can long to walk in the light, yet the actions of our body keep us from that light. And strange as it may seem, our body taking right actions does not insure our walking in the light: good deeds are helpful, and appreciated by the recipients – but unless the powerful love of the Holy Spirit is involved, they are limited in quantity and quality, and are not the beautiful, whole miracles of the light-enlightened and light-filled child of God.

Only when both one’s spirit and body are dedicated to walking in the light does the evidence shine forth that this person truly is fulfilling the promise declared in the Word. The person need not copy carry a label “made in the image of God” to identify the quality of workmanship: their thoughts, words, deeds and prayers will all reveal the Source of the quality – the high quality of their life.

From Manipulation to Transformation

When this takes place there is the brilliant radiance, comforting warmth, and assurance of power…

Meditation Thought: “So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” (1 Corinthians 3:20-23)

The circle of Christ’s light, and warmth of His love, and power of His being is within reach. But I must move, by my desire to be there, to that place. Perhaps I see another that has moved into this ‘magic’ circle – and I can observe the change. This makes me desire to change also – enough to take courage and move from my familiar habitat to the new area.

At first I see only the ‘greener grass’; I do not realize fully the requirements of living in this place… and by the time I do, I am willing to forgo my own ego-centered desires for the continuing pleasure of the revealing Light, the comforting Love, the moving Power.

And then the miracle: what I have willingly given up is returned to me, but transformed by this Holy Power we call God, Creator of all. I find that though desires are still a part of my life, they are not of their former character – they seem more unselfish, more flexible, more of a spiritual nature than of a material nature. And they do not seem to be at variance with God’s Word, nor His will as I perceive His Word and His will.

And thus my transformed desires are able to be fulfilled. No longer am I trying to manipulate God into fulfilling my self-conceived desires. I am desiring those things that God seeks to fulfill my life. When this takes place there is the brilliant radiance, comforting warmth, assurance of power that Jesus’ life demonstrated.

To what extent it is possible for me to live this life – or perhaps since the total possibility exists from this moment on – I should state more accurately: though I do not know to what degree I will be able to embrace this concept and this life, I am grateful to have come this far in the perception of such a life. I desire to live it. I will try to live it. I pray to God that I will be given the wisdom, knowledge and strength to live it. So help me, God! Please!

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O my Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer!

Supercharged Superhuman

Jesus – as man – could not say “yes” to agony. But Jesus – as man filled with God’s Spirit could sacrifice Himself for the love of the brethren – for the love of even His persecuting enemies.

Meditation Thought: “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12)

The crisis – the battle – was coming shortly. Jesus had lived his life to this time as a commitment to the doing of the Father’s will. Perhaps many moments were not easy – but now the time was approaching, and Jesus could recognize it, when it was going to be a choice of “all or nothing”. Either He would go 100% with the Father’s will or, in the evidence of attitude and events taking place, retreat in fear for his life. There was only one way possible to overcome the fear of the Jesus who was totally human – and that was to, through communication with the Father, become convinced that the strength, power, courage and divinity of the Father would overcome all the world could do to harm him. Jesus – as man – could not say “yes” to agony. But Jesus – as man filled with God’s Spirit could sacrifice Himself for the love of the brethren – for the love of even His persecuting enemies.

And it is this way to which He says “follow me”. Why? Only by the recognition that we are something more than human prompts us to seek that “something”. And only the sure conviction that we are endowed with “superhuman” strength gives us courage to face the crises which will arise as we commit ourselves to living in the realm of the kingdom while still hampered by the inadequacies of the limitations of our humanness.

Only prayer can infuse us with enough divinity to “charge” us with power to behave as beings of a society other than the society that is visible and obvious to all.

As prayer gives us “a charge”, we are able to move effectively, not dependent upon human resources, but upon the Creator: the more completely we “know that we do not know” – the more surely the Father can guide us into doing His marvelous works. We learn in prayer who our Father is, and why we can trust Him with our very lives, with our desires yielded to Him that He may transform them into mutual desires.

We may not be eager to do what is required of us to fulfill the mutual desire, but when we, despite our misgivings or feelings, do what is necessary to fulfill the Father’s will as we perceive it after intense consultation with Him (prayer!) – then we become vindicated, not only in the Father’s viewpoint, but in the perception of all who know of us down through eternity.

Prayer: “Oh, Lord – I am so nothing compared to You, and yet – I am all to You because I am Yours. Help me to be teachable – to learn not only the significance of these facts, but how to live my life as a balance of them, pleasing to You. Amen.”

Forego the Junk Food

Let not your whim of the moment
Rob you of the glory of the future.

Meditation Thought: “So get rid of your feelings of hatred. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with dishonesty and jealousy and talking about others behind their backs. Now that you realize how kind the Lord has been to you, put away all evil, deception, envy, and fraud. Long to grow up into the fullness of your salvation; cry for this as a baby cries for its milk.” (1 Peter 2:1-3)

If you are to have the capacity to hold the nutritious spiritual milk, you must not fill up on the “junk food” of dishonesty, jealousy, gossip, deception, envy and fraud. You can discipline yourself to forego the junk food by concentrating on something better. Focus your mind and your energies on something more grand that your selfish indulgences!

The Way is easy – once you commit yourself totally to it – because then you are not ‘double-minded’. Decisions are easier, the Lord’s strength supplants your strength, the Lord’s wisdom envelops your wisdom – The Lord’s love enhances and expands your love.

Do not focus upon results of either your efforts or circumstances. You are to be true to the immediate task of seeking the Father’s will in every decision and action, performing His will as perfectly as you can, and trusting that the results will therefore conform to His will, no matter how they appear to you. This attitude is the procurer of peace and contentment in all circumstances!

Remember that your Creator is not a boss with a bullwhip, but a loving Father holding you in his arms, ready to help you when you have difficulty in fitting the pieces of the puzzle of life together into a meaningful pattern. It is the joy of accomplishment, the confidence of doing the task together, and the love experienced in the proximity to each other that transforms your nature, that renews your mind, that is evidence of the ingestion of spiritual milk instead of junk food.

Let not your whim of the moment
Rob you of the glory of the future.
Keep the joy of the race well-run
At the forefront of your mind,
Envision the reaching of the goal
Feel in your imagination the emotion of pride –
Yes, pride felt by the Father and by you
When you accomplish the completion of the race
Winning the goal of performing His will.

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.