Category: SpiritFilledLiving

Contemplative Rest

Look for my guidance, and you will find it.

Meditation Thought: “O Lord… chart the path ahead of me, and tell me where to stop and rest.” (Psalm 139: 1,3 The Living Bible translation)

“Sometimes you have the impression that because you are aware of many needs to be met, that I want you to constantly be working at them. This is not so, I designed you for rest – not only physically, but you need the contemplative time, the relaxation time to understand the who, how, why, where of new activities.

‘Look’ for my guidance, and you will find it. The proper balance of activity and contemplation will allow my Spirit to work more effectively in prompting your spirit to be so attractive to others that they will seek me through seeing the balance which makes your attitude attractive to them. When you are so completely aware of my Spirit working that you are unaware of your own spirit or thoughts or activities, then you are doing My will for you at that moment. Practice makes perfect, and as you exercise listening to me and obeying me, then your spirit will become more accustomed to yielding to My Spirit, and harmony will result.”

 

Atmospheric Conditions

…as we move into the atmosphere of God rather than the atmosphere of the world. 

Meditation Thought: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

The closer we are to the sun, the more we receive of its light and its warmth. It is always there, but if we have clouds between us, or our situation isn’t right (our side of the earth turned from the sun), or the season is one where there is more distance between us and the sun, then we receive less light and less warmth than we do under ideal conditions.

God wants us to be in the ideal conditions to receive the most of His light and His warmth – and unlike the sun, He influences conditions to provide improvement – if we are perceptive enough to see the truth of the conditions and to act in a way that will bring us His light and His warmth to the fullest extent.

We can think, we can act, and we can change our position relative to God. As we move more closely to God, we move more closely to the desires of our heart, for the desires of our heart originated from God. Sometimes we have some desires which are counterfeit and get between our God-given desires and us, but they do not thrive well in the atmosphere of the Spirit of God, and will die out and disappear as we move into the atmosphere of God rather than the atmosphere of the world.

 

Great Upheaval

My movements and promptings are gentle, for your free will must be honored – but, gentle as they are, they have great power…

Meditation Thought: “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him…” 1 John 3:21-22

As we learn of His commandments, and as we keep them, we come to know Him more intimately – as we learn to “live by His rules”, we also learn to think and to be more like Him. If we are like Him, then we ask in harmony with His will for us, which is the key to receiving what we ask.

” ‘Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only’ – that is the action that starts the chain reaction – as one person’s needs are met, the action is multiplied so that more needs are met, and a little movement can start a great upheaval – I do not ask you to go out to minister to hundreds of people – but I do ask you to minister to some, so that the little ministering can be multiplied into many large ministerings. My movements and promptings are gentle, for your free will must be honored – but, gentle as they are, they have great power which I am eager to release to bring my dear children into my loving care and protection.”

Reap in Season

No matter how tempting it is to pluck the fruit before it is completely right (ripe), it is best to have patience and wait for complete maturity. Only through My Word given in various forms can you know when the fruit is ripe.

Meditation Thought: “…in due season we will reap…” (Galations 6:9)

” ‘In due season’ – not in your season. Many things are made better through the passage of time – more mature, even changing completely sometimes. They can be properly used in the right situation only when they are allowed to come to their maturity before use. No matter how tempting it is to pluck the fruit before it is completely right (ripe), it is best to have patience and wait for complete maturity. Only through My Word given in various forms can you know when the fruit is ripe. You need to be observant, to have patience, and be willing to check time and time again as to the state of the fruit. It is there for you, but you must make your own effort to bring it to your benefit.”

Unlimited Possibilities

We have the Power of God within us – think of that, unlimited power within our own bodies, minds, spirits. We need only use the key He gave us…

Meditation Thought: “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” 1 John 3:23

“Commandment” – command is not a statement, it is not a request: it is an order. We believe in Jesus: believing implies we accept Him for what He says He is: we do not doubt that He is the Son of God, we do not doubt his statements are true. If we accept that they are true – then because of His obedience to the Father, we have claims to unlimited possibilities.

We have the Power of God within us – think of that, unlimited power within our own bodies, minds, spirits. We need only use the key He gave us to unlock all that Power: Believe, act on that belief and stand in awe at the results!

For God’s promises come true only when they are perceived and accepted with praise and thanksgiving. God’s promises: we get excited at some promises of men, think what we feel when we start to realize that we can have everything we want – it has been promised to us! Oh, no – we weren’t promised it would be in the form we picture – it will be in the form of our omnipotent God’s best as He responds to our actions. We have free will, so He cannot pre-package the wonderful gifts He has to offer; He must wait to hear from his believer to know what gift to send, then note the response to the gift, to know what other gifts to send. He wants us to have the desires He has created in us fulfilled but only as wonderful gifts for which we have asked, not as arbitrary imposition on us of whatever He decides to send. He wants the joy of two-way communication and a relationship of love and trust and interaction.

Key to Change

We must recognize the importance of our reaching to Him – it is the key to completing the circuit. That’s a lot of responsibility – but it is also the means to change the world, let alone change ourselves!

Just as there is no flow of electricity (no power) unless there is a “return” flow, our relationship with God must be one of a reaching out by Him and a reaching back by us or there is not a true “relationship”, at least one with true power, or complete power. Therefore, we must recognize the importance of our reaching to Him – it is the key to completing the circuit. That’s a lot of responsibility – but it is also the means to change the world, let alone change ourselves!

 

Holiday-Happy

Treat each day as if it is one you have long been anticipating – a special day of a particularly happy occasion. Adopt a Holiday-Happy attitude no matter what activities you are doing.

 

 

(This was mom’s entire posting for one day and it was in quotes – but it appears to be her perception as a message from the Holy Spirit rather than a quote from someone else. If it’s a quote that should be attributed, I apologize for not having done so.)

Abundant Fruit

Each stitch is the moment you are living in now. If you make that moment effective by doing My will for that moment, all the moment-stitches will blend together in a pattern pleasing to me and to you.

Meditation Thought: Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24: 6, 11)

“Remember the concept I gave you of the needle-point, and just work on each stitch as it is due, not worrying about any other stitches. Each stitch is the moment you are living in now. If you make that moment effective by doing My will for that moment, all the moment-stitches will blend together in a pattern pleasing to me and to you. Try to cultivate a state of ‘relaxed awareness’, so that you will be open to My Spirit and able to move in any direction quickly. Cultivate a state of good humor, for that will oil the machinery of your gears meshing with the gears of others’ lives, making the relationships work at their best. It is easier for me to get through to you when you are relaxed and content and happy rather than when you are tense. I want you to truly have the fruits of the Spirit in abundance not just little samples.”

Bear Fruit: Thirty-fold, Sixty-fold, a Hundred-fold

If you will keep a picture in your mind of  a tiny seed bursting into a plant which produces abundantly, it will enable you to do what you ought to do even when your emotions rebel.

“To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables… the sower sows the word… and… the [seeds] that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:11,14,20)

The Word has fallen on good ground in your will, your mind and your heart, yet it needs more than good ground. It needs that ground to be tilled (disturbed so it will not form a restrictive hardened crust of self-will to bind the seed of the Word); it needs the nutrients to be released into its nature (the thoughts of your mind concentrated on the Truth, your determination to find the Way, your life based upon the examples of Jesus’ Life).

It needs the water of the Holy Spirit released through your spirit believing that He dwells within you and does direct you, and your acting upon the prompting.

It needs the sunshine of the Son’s life once again manifested upon the earth through all of your faculties.

Yes – all of these are required for the accomplishment of the seed producing thirty-fold, sixty-fold and a hundred-fold.

If you will keep a picture in your mind of  a tiny seed bursting into a plant which produces abundantly, it will enable you to do what you ought to do even when your emotions rebel. It will facilitate your mind to think clearly, remember accurately and produce creatively. It will prompt you to speak words of love – even if words not loving intrude your mind for a brief moment, for they will be ignored and replaced by words which will heal and encourage growth of the word in another.

The Word is a symbol
Representing Truth.
To base your life –
And your growth –
Upon the Word
Is to release
The harvest which
Is inherent within you
As the seed of Word
Unites with the ground
of your life.

 

Diligent Moments

There is no way to ‘skip grades’ in the perception of heavenly principles.

Meditation Thought:  “… with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.” (Mark 4:24)

Do not try to go at a faster pace than you can comfortably handle; this causes you to stumble. A steady pace where you do not have to correct a stumble will be more pleasant as well as move you along rapidly.

Take your moments and deal with them diligently; there are to be moments of prayerful planning, but do not let your mind wander to daydreams or planning while you should be concentrating on the task at hand.

You must perceive, receive and embrace the truth of the moment before you are equipped to receive and retain the truth which is beyond that one. You need to get one perception firmly fixed before grasping at another – otherwise you will drop the first, and in attempting to ‘rescue’ it, you will drop the half-grasped one also, leaving you with neither. There is no way to ‘skip grades’ in the perception of heavenly principles.