Category: SpiritFilledLiving

In the Face of Adversity

Remember the goal of dealing with each situation in a way which will bring the Father’s approval.

Meditation Thought: “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Think on this: look to this thought and goal – when trials come, when temptations come, when irritations come – remember the goal of dealing with each situation in a way which will bring the Father’s approval, as He gave His approval to His Son who obeyed and was righteous.

Prayer: Father, enable me to accomplish what I seek: the overcoming of pride, of laziness, of fear, of selfishness in the face of adversity, so that I may allow Your Spirit to direct me in thinking, saying and doing what Jesus Christ would do if placed where I am. In His Precious Name, Amen.

Fortify the Breached Wall

Seek and proclaim in love, in humble service, in empathetic understanding, with a discerning ear.

Meditation Thought: “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30)

“I desire my people to turn to my face, listen to Me speak, and to heed My words. They cannot hear Me when they are tuned to their own interests. I seek their attention: I do not move unannounced. Time and time again I seek My own – century after century will some rebel, and some will heed. Seek to reconcile My people to Me: You know of My love. You know of My power; you experience My grace. Stand strong and firm in the strength of My might – fill the breach, and fill the place where My wrath would destroy, for I am righteous, and cannot allow sin to come to Me through the breach in the wall which divides sin and righteousness.

If I am to move among My people, I must have righteousness: Seek righteousness, proclaim righteousness – but seek and proclaim in love, in humble service, in empathetic understanding, with a discerning ear to both Me and Mine, with your tongue bound in the grace of My Spirit, and moved by loving concern. Let your mind be suffused with My Word (My promises and My plans) and your arms and hands open to receive all who seek shelter there.

Prepare your spirit, your mind, your emotions, your body, to be whoever or whatever I need of you at any given time. Walk in My Spirit, and you walk with Me. Walk with Me, and you walk in the joys and the glories of My Kingdom, superimposed over the physical realm. Be not afraid of the condition where you walk, as long as you walk in My Spirit, for then My protection, and My love, My grace, and My works are all released: changing ugly to lovely, sin to righteousness, shame to forgiven, hate to love.

Opening a Bud in Life

If My promises are within you, then My works shall be surrounding you!

Meditation Thought: “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

“Take hold of My Word, clutching it tightly with your mind – for attached to My Word in your mind is a connecting link called ‘faith’ which has at the other end the power of My Spirit to move upon that Word in your mind.

  1. Place the Word (promise) in your mind.
  2. Place the connecting rod of faith (the action on your part which announces to Me that you do believe My Word).
  3. Envision the promise having come into reality in the realm of the physical – clinging to that image, despite all evidence.

Embrace Romans 8:28 and Mark 11:24, first as words, then as images in your mind. If My promises are within you, then My works shall be surrounding you! Peace; reap peace from the sowing of My Word in your mind and the sowing of righteousness in your heart. And joy! Reap joy as My Words unfold as the opening of a bud in your life; the fragrance is released more fully as My works expand the petals of your life, moving them away from your ego and self-will as the center of your bloom.”

Kingdom Tour

Allow Me to take you on a tour of My Kingdom, within and without, and all about.

Meditation Thought: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)

“Let me clasp you in My arms of gentle love, and take you where I will – for My love for you will bring you joy untold. Relax, and allow yourself to move with ease along the paths I take. My delight is to gently show you, teach you, enjoy you as you discover the Truth and allow that knowledge to change you into a more pure image of the Father – a closer image to Me: an image inspired by the Spirit as more fitting as His dwelling place.

Conceive the most beautiful, awe-inspiring pictures and thoughts of your mind, for through these can the Spirit work in every part of your being, using emotions and actions to do the Father’s will. You have asked – and I have come to abide with you as long as you desire Me – not as a guest, but as your beloved.”

“My beauty and My works know no bounds: Shown in the depths of the Grand Canyon, to the heights of Pikes’ Peak, across the ocean’s expanse – if these expressions of My works are visible in the world, cannot you trust that the far more beautiful and expansive Spiritual expressions of My works are as real?

Allow Me to take you on a tour of My Kingdom, within and without, and all about – only follow Me, follow Me: the price you pay shall bring you more value than you have ever received for any purchase. You pay by yielding your will to Mine, and you receive eternal joy and peace.”

Remodel Inside and Out

Become the architect and the builder of My Kingdom.

Meditation Thought: “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

“Power have I given to you – to use as you will. If you choose to give up the privilege of using it alone for the privilege of using it according to My directing of it through you, the tiny spark of your power will be ignited into the flame of My Spirit – burning away the slums of sins and replacing them with a city of gold – pure, refined by the fire of My Spirit.

Help Me – help Me by heeding My Word and My call – become the architect and the builder of My Kingdom in both the realm of the spirit and the realm of the flesh. The world is the expression of the exterior of the buildings in My Kingdom, the spirit is the interior designing.

The joy you will have in seeing the old slums replaced by glorious new buildings will be contagious and speed up the process of our slum-clearance.

Work, work – rejoice in our work, praising My Name, moving in My Spirit.

I shall make all things new – through the labors of My Body!”

Still, Small, Powerful

Help me to sow and reap – and rejoice, not in the harvest, but in the love of the One who provided the seed.

Meditation Thought: “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4-6)

The constancy of the Word is to be your basis of desire and motivation and energy to sow the seed – the good seed of loving kindnesses, righteous deeds, helpful ministry, honesty, integrity, devotion to doing your work well.

Do not be preoccupied with your own thoughts and concerns or you will be so distracted that you will not realize that the harvest is ready, and needs only for your effort to gather it in.

Become alert to each moment – not only the happenings, but all subtle nuances. Learn to understand other’s viewpoints. Learn to appreciate and understand nature and natural laws. And – most of all – cultivate the art of listening to the still, small voice within you, and heeding it.

Though you do not know the work of God, you do know God: you know God is Love; God is creative; God is righteous; God is orderly and acts in orderly ways. God is powerful and God has shared with you, His child, His secrets that are hidden from those who ignore the still, small voice. God does not want His ways to be secrets – He does all He can to reveal His ways – but until the children seek to learn what the Father is doing – and have confidence enough to sow the seeds and look for the harvest, the Father is frustrated and the child is frustrated. Once the first breakthrough comes, however – once the still small voice is recognized, both as existing, and as to the knowledge that the voice imparts – then, as long as the child sows and reaps, the Father’s ways are revealed more and more clearly. And since Father is the head of the household, and the King of the Kingdom, to follow His ways is surely the way to peace, contentment, fulfillment and joy. Even when the harvest is disappointing, trust in the advice of the still, small voice will give creative thought and energy which will turn that harvest into a blessing: perhaps a new discovery will be made in how to use the particular species, or the need for this particular species will not be as great as was supposed. God is not defeated by any problem; therefore we need not be defeated either, for He is eager to tell us of His solution to the problem if we will only be alert and listen and heed.

Lord, help me to sow and reap – and rejoice, not in the harvest, but in the love of the One who provided the seed. Amen.

The Search is Over

It is in these ways that we become more aware that God’s Spirit and our spirit are united.

Meditation Thought: “He who is united with the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun immorality… your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit…. you are not your own, you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:17,19,20)

It is essential to take time to learn the Word, to contemplate the meaning of the Word, to pray – and to be aware in every area of what is taking place – especially in the working of the mind and in relationships with others. It is in these ways that we become more aware that God’s Spirit and our spirit are united. When we realize that God is united with us – not merely directing, or asking something of us, but is part of us, then this mass which was one small, weak, insignificant human is recognized as something grown beyond that description. God’s active influence – transforming, reconstruction, nurturing, enhancing the whole of this united entity.

The greater the extent that we know this Truth, the greater effect does the Presence of God have upon us – particularly if we actively seek to learn the total significance of this phenomenon.

I sought far and wide
And could not find
My heart’s desire.
I rested in defeat,
hopeless, restless, tired.
The quiet, settled creature
then heard the still, soft voice within –
The search was over,
And never would the heart, the mind, the spirit
Be as before that Word was heard.
For the heart’s desire was found:
By simply slowing down,
Looking within,
Learning that peace, and love and joy
Waited to be allowed
To enter into the spirit
Which is united
To the Lord.

Truth in Mindfulness

Our mind does not leave us to make room for the mind of Christ, but it does take on a new shape.

Meditation Thought: “God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God… Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God… For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:10,12,16)

We have the mind of Christ through the yielding of our mind to the power of the Holy Spirit. When we are willing to be humble – to become as only a container of the Spirit, then the Spirit reveals the mind of Christ in the place where our mind was in control.

We do not become ‘mindless’ creatures, but we put Christ’s mind in control of our mind – our mind does not leave us to make room for the mind of Christ, but it does take on a new shape, and is made more perfect as it is in proximity with the mind of Christ.

The spirit ‘searches everything’ – in other words, the Spirit knows the whole Truth and the Spirit enables us to understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.

Thus, the Spirit combines the two through the mind of Christ and our mind: by revealing Truth and by enabling us to understand God’s gifts to us, the Spirit is able to also help us perceive God’s plan and God’s will for us, as well as to teach us how we can participate in bringing His plan into fruition.

Will you do your part?

Whenever you have an opportunity to express love, to right a wrong, to make the dirty clean, to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, comfort the sick and the dying, share the knowledge of My love and power and desire to be a good Father, there is your task. Delight in it!

Meditation Thought: “O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! (Psalm 83:1)

Dear God, if you do not “speak” to me in some manner – communicate with me – then I cannot know You. If I do not know You, I cannot understand You; I cannot please You. Therefore, Lord, make Yourself known to me!

If You do not act, then how can Your children evolve into what they should become? We are too weak to do what needs to be done to make the world the place it should be – the place where all have abundance, and peace and joy.

The Father’s Response:
“I have spoken clearly. The words are vibrating – they will be clear when ears are tuned to the vibrations.

Fret not that you do not always hear clearly or accurately. Try your best, and you will hear enough to make you shout for joy, live in peace, live an abundant life, and be a blessing to many.

I do not stand over you with a whip, ready to flail out at you for each error; I stand by you, with My hand outstretched, ready to steady you and set you on the right course. Knowing this – take heart, and energetically go to your tasks; very seldom do you not know what task is to be done. Whenever you have an opportunity to express love, to right a wrong, to make the dirty clean, to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, comfort the sick and the dying, share the knowledge of My love and power and desire to be a good Father, there is your task. Delight in it! Whatever you are doing, when you do it with a willing heart, as expressing your love to Me, it is right for you in every way. For that task is enhancing your spirit, keeping your mind alert, exercising your body to promote good health, and is the lesson of the moment, the method by which I can lead you gently along the path to fuller understanding of all of life.

Cast off your petulant attitude of resenting, or at least not enjoying, your tasks. They should be your delight, and you should eagerly look for all that can be observed concerning them. In this way you will learn much about Me, about you, about the world and about the kingdom. The more you know, the happier you will be – and the more pleased I will be with My beloved child.

Go now, thinking with the mind of Christ, living with the emotion of the Father, and moving with the power of the Spirit. The Way shall be prepared for you. Your help shall be available to you. Only choose to follow Jesus, who did the will of the Father, and thus transformed much of the world. My other children are needed to complete he transformation. Will you do your part?

Higher Education

Recall how much I love you…

Meditation Thought: “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.” (Psalm 25:4)

The key to My teaching you is your willingness – your eagerness to learn. I am with you, constantly encouraging you to learn My ways and to know the paths which will be our delight to walk together.

You are aware of the places where you can best learn: in My Word, in yielding to the Holy Spirit within you. So long as you stay in these places, not straying to worldly places where thoughts, activities and attitudes block the learning of My ways and My paths, you will learn.

With each bit of information, each time there is revelation, and whenever there is inspiration, you will become more of a companion who is taking on My ways and is walking closely beside Me on My chosen path.

When you waver, not sure that you can – or even desire to – forego the satisfying of your ego’s clamor, recall how much I love you – how diligently I have tried to help you find a better way and a lighted path, the depths to which I go in order to save you from that willful ego which could destroy you if you allow it free reign.