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Blessed Prayer

May God’s blessing flow upon all those whom I love, upon those whom I do not love, and upon those for whom I pray even though I do not know them.

Meditation Thought: “The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)

Holy Spirit, dwell with me, that the words and wisdom of my precious Lord will be enshrined in my heart and mind, pouring from my mouth according to His will, that His purposes might be accomplished through me. Forgive me, Lord, for my sins of omission and commission, and direct my thoughts and deeds, my attitudes and emotions, that the joy of Your Presence might shine as a beacon in the dark.

May Your blessed Presence fill all my days with praise, and my nights with peace. may You be my understanding and my overseeing, that my life is consistently doing Your will – all of Your will, and only Your will.

May my body and mind be truly a temple for my beloved Yaweh, Jesus and Holy Spirit – a place of worship, peace and joy dedicated to each personality, sensitive to each personality, open to responding to each personality that it might be made more beautiful and more useful and more fulfilling to God and to man.

May Jesus’ name be praised, He who was obedient even unto death, He who loved even unto death, He who rejoiced even with the knowledge of the cross. Jesus, I thank you for the bearing of my sins, so that truly, my burden is light and Your yoke is easy, that your yoke is not to enslave me, but to guide me to the places which will make me ecstatically happy, rejoicing in You placing the yoke on me as I asked You to do – trusting that being yoked by You was better than being free, floundering in all directions, but never finding fulfillment of the purpose of my life.

May God’s blessing flow upon all those whom I love, upon those whom I do not love, and upon those for whom I pray even though I do not know them.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that we should not perish but have everlasting life.” “My cup runneth over, and surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

Today’s Value

The world will not last; the Kingdom will. Your body will not last; your Spirit will.

Meditation Thought: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23)

Serve the Lord with joy! For in joy did the Lord create you – and serves you: through teaching you the precepts of life in the Spirit.

Each moment has meaning, has value, has influence on every other moment of your life. For each moment serves to move you into greater, more willing service to the Kingdom, or into more estrangement from it and greater conformity to the world. The world will not last; the Kingdom will. Your body will not last; your Spirit will.

Take heed that this moment, which is always now – present, not past, not future – is dedicated to the service of your Lord, for in serving your Lord, you serve yourself – you serve all of humankind.

Do not fear to be bold in the expression of your faith: if you will cling with all of your might to the wisdom of the Word and the truth of the Spirit, you shall serve your Lord and serve man as the natural consequences of serving your Lord: thus is the gospel spread and the Kingdom expanded and joy increased.

Influencers

How can we improve? Surely the first step is to recognize that we simply are not capable in ourselves of being so brilliant – so perfect – that we can make the proper decision. This is the point where we are willing to call “Help!”.

Meditation Thought: “He who influences the thought of his time influences the thought of all the times that follow.” (A quote from a book, An Apple a Day)

Why do we forget that every thought engenders an action (or a rejection of action)?

We are focused on ourselves, our physical or mental feelings at the moment, our mood, our preoccupation with thinking what we will do later – and we may miss the turn off of the road that we should follow.

How can we improve? Surely the first step is to recognize that we simply are not capable in ourselves of being so brilliant – so perfect – that we can make the proper decision. This is the point where we are willing to call “Help!”. And we know from where that help can come – Lord, you are the helper, the enabler, the guide, the protector, the lover. We cannot see you; we cannot feel you; we cannot hear your audible voice.

So, how do we meet together? Oh – to seek You in prayer, to listen to that soft, but real “voice” of thought in our minds, to be alert and aware of what situations surround us – and then to cope with them – through prayer, through the advice of the scriptures, through the knowledge that our loving Guide is competent, willing and available. You, of whom there is evidence through the ages.

Kingdom Hope; Kingdom Joy

When we comprehend this, our whole perspective on life changes: we have hope even in the seemingly hopeless situations.

Meditation Thought: “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)

Although this sounds a bit strange, it does not take a great deal of thought to realize that Jesus is saying that those who do God’s will are bonded by being God’s children.

It is when we plod along, trying to perceive God’s will and attempting to do it, that we begin to perceive that some power beyond ourselves is truly at work!

When we comprehend this, our whole perspective on life changes: we have hope even in the seemingly hopeless situations.

When we have hope, we can more easily energize ourselves to take the effort to bring good results – and, frequently, with God’s guidance, we accomplish acts that actually astonish us.

If we know about some of these results, how many results are somewhere in the world we do not recognize? This is the reason we need to seek God’s will and to do it to the best of our ability! How else can the joys of the kingdom be spread across the world?

Harvest Time

First the giving, then the receiving.

Meditation Thought: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

The harvest is not usable until it is gathered – it has been long in reaching the harvesting state – but all the time and effort is wasted if it is left in the field to rot. There must be laborers to go at the proper time to bring it into the storehouses. The laborers must be knowledgeable, willing and strong to complete their task – they must give much of themselves before they can enjoy the fruits of the harvest. First the giving, then the receiving.

Flying Lessons

Do you know that I created you to love you, to interact with you, to have adventures with you?

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, the will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31)

“I am here. Do you believe Me? Do you realize that you could not exist if I had not created you? Do you know that I created you to love you, to interact with you, to have adventures with you? You do? Then base your thoughts and your actions on these promises. This is the key to the kingdom.”

 

Turning From, Turning Towards

Your task is to learn of My methods, of My attitudes, of My will in general and My will in particular – and then in prayer, in yielding to the Spirit, speak and act. 

Meditation Thought: “For it is God’s will that by doing right, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” (1 Peter 2:15)

“Take your cue from Me – I only invite, suggest, touch lightly, lovingly. The response is left to the one touched. But it is when you are behaving in imitation of My ways that the response is likely to be positive – a response which will turn one from selfishness, from foolishness, from sin – toward love, consideration, wisdom, respect, righteousness.

Your task is to learn of My methods, of My attitudes, of My will in general and My will in particular – and then in prayer, in yielding to the Spirit, speak and act.

When you are in this state, you are doing My work, and when you are doing My works, it will not be in vain.”

Unexpected Transformation

…our loving Father… will never shortchange us! 

Meditation Thought: “Honor the Lord with the thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.” (Proverbs 3:9)

“Honor” – a way of giving respect, of indicating how special someone is to us. It’s easy to say words – they don’t call for sacrifice – but when we give of our substance, we are denying ourselves in order to bless someone else. This takes more thought; do we sacrifice our pleasure for the pleasure of someone else?

When we “sacrifice” we find that our “sacrifice” is transformed into a “blessing” – it may take a number of forms, but nevertheless, there is an exchange. We give a gift, only to learn that the transaction was actually an interchanging of gifts, and when we are having transactions with our loving Father, He will never shortchange us!

 

Go; be it done for you as you have believed.

I respond because I love you as the Father has loved Me. I respond to give glory to the Father. I respond to liberate you from your prison of self-incarceration.

“Jesus said, ‘Go; be it done for you as you have believed.'” (Matthew 8:13)

You believe in My integrity, in My power, in My desire to heal, to do good for you, to you, and for all who believe that I have the power to do these things. And I shall heal, I shall do good, I shall respond to your faith.

Do I respond to impress you with My power? Do I respond to receive your applause? No – I respond because I love you as the Father has loved Me. I respond to give glory to the Father. I respond to liberate you from your prison of self-incarceration. Self incarceration: It is the concentration on self which holds you bound within yourself –  and within yourself alone is very little wisdom or power or knowledge or generosity or mercy or kindness or righteousness. There is however, within yourself a longing to obtain these things: and so you shall obtain them – by trusting me enough to follow me out of the prison door when I open it for you in response to your cry for help. It is at the moment your recognize that your self is insufficient to fulfill your needs that I come to release you.

What an exciting, beautiful joy-giving world awaits you when you follow Me! I must teach you a new Way to live outside of prison: here must you discipline yourself, must you give of yourself, must you humble yourself – this is the pattern necessary to cut out the fabric of faith. And when you have been clothed in your new garment of faith, you shall be seen by yourself, by your God and by all who know you as a different person than the one who was in prison and clothed in unbelief. You have exchanged the convicted’s garment for the garment of a princess: but not due to your power. You have been freed, and given authority because you have humbled yourself and exalted your God through recognizing Him as Lord of your life gladly, with a profound sense of relief.

There is provision for all good things: for choice, for variety, for initiative, for response, for unity, for fulfillment.

You, my beloved,
I seek for my own:
When you see me
as I am – (not with you in your prison)-
But freely moving
With you by my side
In the wide, wide world, –
If you believe your eyes,
If you hear My Word,
If you imitate My acts,
You shall hear,
As do all who believe in me:
“Go, be it done for you as you have believed.”

 

A Humble Posture

Meditation Thought: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble… humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” (James 4:6 & 10)

Do not be a rebellious child, opposing the will of your Father, who has your best interest at heart, and who has infinitely greater wisdom and knowledge than do you.

Do you understand that for you to be proud is for you to rebel against your Father, and to distort the personality that is to be true to His image?

When you approach life – spirit life or physical life – with an attitude of humility – which is an attitude of being open to learn, of accepting the rights of others as equal to your own – and then choose to give them more rights than your own out of love, because you are the child of Love and you have come to know that if you give in love, you receive in love plus interest.

At first it appears a sacrifice to be humble – that you are giving up position, or are putting yourself down, not giving credit for your assets.

But these are not the attributes of true humility: true humility is the recognition of the fact that you are the child, and the Father is the Father, that He loves His other children as He loves you, and He desires good for all of you. He desires you love each other as He loves you, and He desires that you seek to encourage and uplift each other as He does His transforming works, bringing all to maturity under His teaching.

It is right to be proud of being the child of God; that is having true position. But humility is expressed when you recognize that this position is not of your own doing, but an act of loving grace from your Father.

To seek to be the very best you can be, as a unique child of the most powerful Force in the universe is to realize that, though the Father grants you many privileges, they are gifts to you, and not the results of your won creating, your own power.

So long as you seek to receive the gifts your Father delights in giving you in an attitude of gratitude and an eagerness to use the gifts as He intends them to be used for good, then you remain in an humble posture, and a flexible posture in which the Father is able to teach you and guide you effectively.

If you begin to delude yourself that the privileges are yours because you are so great within yourself that they are your “due” – and you take them for granted, and give no thanks for them – then you have become proud, and your Father needs to withhold the privileges in order for you to once again come into the proper attitude which is pleasing to Him and which is for your own good.

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