Category: SpiritFilledLiving

Faith and Wisdom Developed

Both wisdom and faith are developed, not given as gifts full-blown and complete with no effort put forth by the recipient.

Meditation Thought: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness have its full effect so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:2-7)

Both wisdom and faith are developed, not given as gifts full-blown and complete with no effort put forth by the recipient.

To develop a steadfast faith is the first step in being able to develop wisdom, for you must “ask in faith”in order to receive wisdom. That faith is developed through “testing” – as you meet challenges, pray, believe – and observe results, you develop a “steadfast” faith which enables you to ask in faith for wisdom. Your trials here bring to your attention your dire need for wisdom. When you combine steadfast faith in My desire to impart wisdom to you and your desire to receive it, then it is possible for wisdom to “make you perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” My Holy Spirit as motivator and guide of your thoughts, your words and your deeds imparts wisdom to you.

Stepping Stone or Roadblock?

You do not know where it is best for you to be in the future. But I know – and I will guide you

Meditation Thought: “You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you.” (Jeremiah 29:13-14)

“You are perceiving stepping stones as roadblocks – you are looking at the stones from the wrong perspective – you have not moved from the low place to the high place, where you can move on top of circumstances.

You are seeking guidance and I shall take you to the high place if you will heed my Word, heed my Spirit within you, and use your mind to think through whatever comes into your life.

You need not be confused about praying in faith possibly conflicting with My will. When your heart desires first that My will be done, it shall be done – even if you do not pray precisely that way I desire. Yet, if you are to pray at all, you must choose a way in which to pray.

I have done works in you as you have waited, as I have done works in others. You shall abide in Me wherever we abide physically. There are a number of places where we can do what we need to do for your development. Simply relax now, praying that My desires shall be your desires, and know that in the prayer itself is the power to bring about the reconciliation. You do not know where it is best for you to be in the future. But I know – and I will guide you to be content in the  place where you reside, because your spirit will reside with My Spirit there.”

 

 

Spiral Compass

The mistake often made is one of hesitation and confusion as to where to start in the search for Truth and when to start. But the time and place are always here and now.

Meditation Thought: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26)

The works of the body indicate the quality of the spirit. The works of the body also indicate the quality of faith. Faith enhances the spirit, and an enhanced spirit enhances the body. An enhanced body, in turn, enhances the faith and the spirit.

The progression of the soul, therefore, in reaching fulfillment in the awareness of oneness with God is not linear, but spiral.As the movement of a finger affects other parts of the body so the thought in the mind causes effect in the body and the spirit – even if one is not aware of this.

The mistake often made is one of hesitation and confusion as to where to start in the search for Truth and when to start. But the time and place are always here and now.

The works of God are done when the will of His child is pointed to His will – as a compass points, so can the will be pointed.

To learn to point the will toward God and God’s will we must:
1) Hear the Word
2) Understand the Word (through prayer, the Spirit within and a Christ attitude)
3) Do the Word through Christlike actions and behavior and works.

When our will is encased in God’s will, we are in harmony with Whole and Holy Truth. Our perception of ourselves and everything that is any way connected with us is thus changed – transformed, enhanced, beautified – all to God’s glory and to our joy.

Power Released

Do not thwart the power of the Spirit by blocking it with guilt, unbelief, laziness or apathy.

Meditation Thought: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.'” (Isaiah 56:1)

“As a baby must grow and mature in order to comprehend who he is as a person, and who his parents are as his nurturers, so must a believer grow and mature to know who he is as an offspring of My Spirit, and who I am as the nurturer of his being.

Babies are inclined to get into all kinds of predicaments as they search for knowledge of the world and of themselves. Only the devotion of the parent keeps them from harm – or rescues them from their position of danger.

As the child grows, the more he is able to comprehend the love and devotion of the parent, the more he can understand the parent’s actions – even the actions which are not to his liking, such as denial of some of the child’s desires and discipline for wrong-doing, then the more he can accept these with calmness and a lack of rebellion. In understanding and cooperating with the parent, the child creates a climate – a relationship – which enhances his maturity and furthers his growth into the character that is pleasing to both the parent and himself. With such a character, providing the parent is wise and knowledgeable, the child has what he needs to cope with all conditions he will meet in his life.

Be a perceptive believer – a perceptive child of Mine. I will teach you the wisdom and knowledge which will enable you to cope with all conditions you will meet. I will not do this all ahead of time, however. You must trust me to know what to reveal to you before you have need for it and what to reveal in the urgency of the moment.

You can remove fear and doubt from your life by trusting me, by believing in Me and believing the communications which I give you. If you will start to base all of your decisions on the premise that I am your loving Father, actively guiding you into maturity and growth which will move you closer and closer to developing character which is like My character, you will release the power of the Spirit in your life as I have intended, and as Jesus demonstrated.

Truly accept My forgiveness of all that you have done which was not perfect in your sight or Mine – as you forgive your children. Do not thwart the power of the Spirit by blocking it with guilt, unbelief, laziness or apathy.

Only as you believe in me, only as you trust me, only as you obey me, will you be free from fear and doubt, and find peace and fulfillment – wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, and whatever you are called upon to do.”

Words Matter

Do not trust your ‘feelings’. Although they are a part of you, and useful, they are not a barometer for revealing the climate of the kingdom.

Meditation Thought: “[my word] will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

“My Word is the means by which My Will is accomplished – My Word taking root in the heart of My children, and growing into the nourishment which provides the power to do My works.

What kind of works would I purpose? Works which engender love, sustain love and proliferate love. What is love – My kind of love? It is unselfish, kind, generous, enhancing of the recipient.

All this world-changing action takes place because of the hearing of My Word and the understanding of My Word, and the heading of My Word.

My Word is most perfectly interpreted by the Spirit, which accompanies the Word – yet must be acknowledged along with the Word if He is to be effective in interpretation.

Trust the Word; trust the Spirit; trust Christ who lives in you. Do not trust your ‘feelings’. Although they are a part of you, and useful, they are not a barometer for revealing the climate of the kingdom.”

Only You

I stand at the door of the heart and knock – but I will not break down the door. Each one must respond and open the door if I am to enter.

Meditation Thought: “no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)

“Do not strain so much in your walk. You are focusing too much on the stones and steep places in the path, and not looking to the grandeur of the view – and to the excitement of reaching higher and higher places which will have views even more breath-taking.

The devotion of Jesus’ followers cannot be ignored. It is the very knowledge of the opposition to them – the intensity of it – that leads credence to their witness. If what they had found was not true – if it was not superior to ordinary existence – why did they suffer so to hold on to it and refuse to deny it?

When you, as did Jesus in the flesh, catch the vision of the way things should be; the way they are in My perfect plan, and when you are so enthused about helping to bring that plan into an accomplished fact that you ignore all opposition, then you are in the process of being confirmed to My character.

Only you can have the faith in Me great enough to seek My will and do it.

Only you can decide to trust Me not to cause you harm.

Only you can believe that I truly do love you, and that I created you to be the object of My love, and the delight of My heart.

Only you can respond to such a love with a similar love.

Only you can decide whether to welcome My Spirit into your spirit.

I stand at the door of the heart and knock – but I will not break down the door. Each one must respond and open the door if I am to enter.”

Transforming Beauty

Yield your spirit to My grace, your sins to My forgiveness, your will to My guidance, your body to My service, your emotions to My love.

Meditation Thought: “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:4-5)

Thanksgiving consecrates – by the Word and by prayer.

“Take everything in your life, both physical and spiritual and by your will, run it through the glowing mist of My pure Spirit within you: it will be cleansed from all sin, ugliness, tarnish, evil and emerge glowing and beautiful with reflected light and internal light.

If you do not see beauty, then it is because you are looking through your own eyes and not the eyes of faith by the Spirit. Correct your vision at once: by immediate prayer and supplication, by yielding your spirit to My grace – your sins to My forgiveness, your will to My guidance, your body to My service, your emotions to My love.

My power is released, not through pious self-consciousness of seeking me, but through the un-self-consciousness of total absorption and fascination with the Personalities of the Trinity.”

Education for All

If you are conscious that at all times you are being taught, and that the school is tailored to your particular needs of the moment, you can have peace and confidence.

Meditation Thought: “I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me.” (John 8:28)

This moment is the classroom. This circumstance is the curriculum. The Word is the textbook. My Spirit is the Instructor.

You are in a school which is not limited, but teaches all subjects, and will keep you as a student that you may ever learn and grow in wisdom and knowledge in understanding and especially in the perception of the spiritual dimension and its relationship to all other dimensions.

Your faith is the tuition you pay, your will is the transportation to the school.

If you are conscious that at all times you are being taught, and that the school is tailored to your particular needs of the moment, you can have peace and confidence.

Think of your Teacher as using three methods of helping you:
– The Father-Method imparts knowledge by revelation,
– the Jesus-Method imparts knowledge by example,
– the Holy Spirit-Method imparts knowledge by taking you and guiding you personally – as a teacher might put a hand over a student’s hand to guide it in the task.

The Spiritual Sorter

If all parts, and the sum of the parts, are kept in place, there is no envy, confusion or irrelevancy. There is peace and purpose.

Meditation Thought: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

Take the jumbles of your life and pour them into the Sorter – the Spirit within you – that your life may reflect the glory of God: each part in its place – not trying to push another part out of the way; each part meshing and enhancing the other parts; the whole making a statement of God’s goodness and greatness and mercy and love.

If all parts, and the sum of the parts, are put in place and kept in place by the power of the Spirit in your life, there is no envy, confusion or irrelevancy. There is peace and purpose.

Life consists of infinite variety: not to compete nor conquer – but to enhance and delight and provide continual interest.

Only be being willing to give up the parts yourself and put them into the Sorter to re-arrange them properly can you find peace.

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Now: an Ongoing Unit of Time

Enable me to choose carefully the task for which You desire to be done by me at the moment that I may proceed in orderly fashion to clear away debris and to build anew.

Meditation Thought: “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

Prayer: “Lord, I’m feeling the pressure of all the ordinary work that needs doing. Enable me to know which good resolves and works of faith are to be dealt with now – ‘now’ being an ongoing unit of time.

Enable me to choose carefully the task for which You desire to be done by me at the moment that I may proceed in orderly fashion to clear away debris and to build anew.

Enable me to be efficient, but always surrounding efficiency with a loving, understanding, wise attitude. Let me, as did Jesus, help those along my path, and not be distracted by other areas.

I seek to take the path where You have prepared the most appropriate tasks for my talents, for my interests, and for the delight and fulfillment of my spirit. For if I correctly choose this path, then the benefits will be great for many, as Your power boosts my natural abilities.

I desire to adhere to Your will for my life: I pray that You reveal to me all I need to know, and give me the strength and courage to cling to Your will despite adversity.

I am weak, Lord – so weak. But I know that if my resolve to do Your will is strong, Your power will strengthen every other weakness. And so this day, this hour, I pray that I will move with renewed spirit and mind and body and emotions to meet the challenges and the discouragements that serve as either stumbling blocks or stepping stones. With Your power to life me up above my own resources, the stumbling blocks shall become stepping stones.

Put joy in my heart,
Wings on my feet
That I may soar and swoop
In ecstasy of movement
Changing all in my path
To be enlightened by Thy Power.