Category: wisdom

Nourishment to Thrive

Prepare yourself for peak perfection.

Meditation Thought: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)

As a plant thrives and blooms in response to the nourishment provided, so you will thrive and bloom on the nourishment of the knowledge of your Lord. His strength will flow into you, being absorbed and used in whatever way is best for you to become at the peak of perfection in being a child of God.

Prepare yourself to absorb this knowledge, and drink it thirstily, knowing that this nourishment will change you for the better, both for your sake and for the sake of others to enjoy you more fully.

The Golden Rule Demonstrated

A bit of envy is exchanged for a bit of understanding, a bit of selfishness is exchanged for a bit of outreach, a bit of hate for…

Meditation Thought: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31)

If you are, through Christ, doing good to everyone in your life, you are a tree producing good fruit. Subtly, little by little:
a bit of envy is exchanged for a bit of understanding,
a bit of selfishness is exchanged for a bit of outreach,
a bit of hate for a bit of love,
a bit of despair for a bit of hope,
a bit of judgment for a bit of forgiveness,
a bit of rebellion for a bit of righteousness,
a bit of ignorance for the revelation of Truth.

The miracle is that, through Christ, the exchange for the more desirable condition takes place simultaneously in you and in the person upon whom your attitude, concentration and resources are working.

Christ said “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” – but He said it only after He had become an example, only after He had embraced this concept to the point of sacrificing himself to the total commitment of His life to this principle.

Ineptness to Effectiveness

To heed the advice of the word given to us by trusting in faith instead of relying on previous experience which has failed us is to change the pattern of our lives from…

Meditation Thought: ” ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ …For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken … and they left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5: 5,9,11)

The difference between an empty net and a full net is ‘going it alone’ or doing it with Christ, which is automatically doing it according to the will of the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

To heed the advice of the word given to us by trusting in faith instead of relying on previous experience which has failed us is to change the pattern of our lives from:
emptiness to fullness
weakness to strength
fear to courage
ineptness to effectiveness
dullness to excitement
joy in receiving to joy in giving
from our accomplishments being measured mathematically to geometrically.

Willingly

Do you believe that you are commanded to worship Me because I seek to honored as men seek to be honored – for vain glory? Oh, no – I seek to be first in your life because as your father, I place your welfare first in My heart. I love you!

Meditation Thought: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4:8, quoting Deuteronomy 6:13)

“First things first. ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’ Do you believe that you are commanded to worship Me because I seek to honored as men seek to be honored – for vain glory? Oh, no – I seek to be first in your life because as your father, I place your welfare first in My heart. I love you! I love you, spirit of My Spirit! And I seek your love that you may trust Me, heed Me and reap the benefits therefrom.

Who knows you better than I?
And who knows every child better than I?
Who knows what is Truth better than I?
Who knows the condition and circumstances of the world better than I?
And who knows how to bring all into peace, harmony, fulfillment better than I?

You know – but to hear Me you must tune out the clamor of other voices: Hear Me first, then can you judge which pleas to heed, and which to refute. You will be able to discern which will serve Me – and which will serve another.

Be strong in the strength of My might: by My Word shall My Spirit give you strength, wisdom, courage, and power.
To move mountains.
To feed the hungry.
To heal the sick.
To clothe the naked.
To take the good news to the poor.
To open the eyes of the blind.
To bring sinners to repentance.

Expressed in only one way: Love. Not with disappointment, judgment, condemnation, lectures. But with sharing love, sharing all that is good within you. Giving what is precious to you – that it may be multiplied back to you. Hoard no treasure; give it away that it may be enhanced and returned to you – to be given away again to be enhanced – ad infinitum.

The flowing river is the pure water, not the stagnant pool of collection. Build the temple of your life upon the Word of Truth, that it shall stand against the storms of strife. That the light from within shall dispel the darkness without. That all who come near may rejoice and be glad they took the path that brought them near to you, for in being near to you, can they find Me if you have built your temple to be My dwelling place.

I seek to dwell in hearts of unselfish love, of minds thinking upon the Word, of spirits seeking My Spirit.”

Suggested prayer: Father, please accept
my yielding of my will to you,
my yielding of my mind to you,
my yielding of my spirit to you,
my yielding of my body to you,
my yielding of my emotions to you,
my yielding of all I ‘posses’ to you:

I give them willingly, trustingly, joyfully, knowing that they shall but be enhanced by your possession of them. And as you return them to me, then shall I become the image of You. You place your mark upon them, that I may know, and others know, that I recognize You as having first place in my life.

I pray in Jesus’ name that I may understand precisely what this commitment means at every moment of my life. Amen.

Gathering Witnesses

If we are gathered together as witnesses for Jesus, and if we pray in God’s will, we are assured that what we pray for will come about.

Meditation Thought: “…if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)

Traditionally two witnesses are needed for confirmation. If we have the two (or more) witnesses agreeing, and we are gathered together as witnesses for Jesus, confirming His salvation and released power, we have within us the Holy Spirit which He promised us. If we are led by the Spirit, we are also led to pray in God’s will, and if we pray in God’s will, we are assured that what we pray for will come about.

Blessings Bestowed

He loves us enough to encourage us to seek the blessings He can bestow in response to our request.

Meditation Thought: “And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.” (Mark 6:56)

“As many as touched it.” They touched it. They activated their faith by reaching out. Although Jesus attempted to instill a desire for healing, apparently He never healed anyone except as a response to the expressed desire for healing – either by the one needing it, or someone asking Jesus on their behalf.

Our God is not a tyrant; He seeks to let us be free. But He loves us enough to encourage us to seek the blessings He can bestow in response to our request.

Suggested Prayer:
“Father, I thank you that your love for me prompted You to send Jesus to my rescue from sin and from all evil, and also to give a clear indication of just Who You are in character and in relationship to me.
Jesus, thank you for loving me enough to take on all the limitations of life in human form, and the sufferings involved in that act of obedience, so that I could reap the benefit of your sacrifice.
Holy Spirit, thank you for never intruding by force, but hearing and responding to the slighted whisper that I make when I need You to help me. Usually I think to request Your help after I have botched the job without it! But You never refuse to come, even if I’ve slighted You.

I don’t understand much about any of you – but You know all about me – and You obviously have my interests at heart, so I hereby request each of You to be my close friend – my mentor, teacher, guide, companion, guard, defender, and most of all, the transforming influence in every area of my life. Help me to move back into the pure image of the Father, unadulterated by sin, or willfulness, or selfishness, or pride, or obtuseness, or unbelief, or a sense of inadequacy, or an unforgiving spirit. Help me to so focus on all the characteristics of my inheritance from the good Father that any other factors will be nullified and simply neither desired nor appropriated into my life.

Only by the power of the Holy Spirit is this possible – and I seek this power to be the power above all others in my life. I know now that this was the intent of both Father and Son from the beginning.

As the power of the Holy Spirit moves in every area of my life, each area is transformed, changed so as to be more recognizable as a characteristic of the Father. “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.” (John 14:7)

Through the power of the inheritance of the Spirit, through the power of the example of the Son who was the Father’s pure image, through the child’s desire to imitate their Father and the perfect Son – in fact, their determination to do so – does it become apparent to everyone that this child is the image of His Father. (The world says “spittin’ image” when a child looks as his earthly father loos. What is desired is that our spirit becomes the “spittin’ image” of the Father’s Spirit).”

Basis for Action

Trust the knowledge revealed to you enough to base your actions upon that knowledge – not upon any other knowledge.

Meditation Thought: “There you will see him, just as he told you.” (Mark 16:7)

“Go – see – confirm”. The Word has been given to you. You have been told where He is. Will you go to see Him? You go by faith and see by belief. You confirm by acting upon that faith and belief. You go from the world to the realm of the spirit; you believe by the revelation of the Spirit of Truth, you confirm by trusting the knowledge revealed to you enough to base your actions upon that knowledge – not upon any other knowledge.

Strength for the Battle

You cannot order the world to obey your command, but you can order your own will to obey God’s command.

Meditation Thought: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)

You must grow strong in the spirit so that the spirit can pour strength into the weak body. You have the perspective of history to enable your mind and your spirit to be strengthened by faith and by example. You know the reality of the resurrection.

To foreknow victory is to give strength for the battle. Focus your mind on the results you desire through the revelation of your spirit as to the best possible outcome. The outcome must encompass a furthering of love, harmony, peace and blessings for all concerned, for these are the promises – if one believes the word of God and acts in accordance with this belief.

You cannot order the world to obey your command, but you can order your own will to obey God’s command, and the results will please you far more than being abele to exert your own will upon everyone else; God’s love is greater, God’s mercy greater, God’s design greater than these qualities in yourself. Therefore if you attach your own desires to God’s desires, you assure yourself of glorious victory: not only do you sense satisfaction of your own life ordered and at peace, but you have been the instrument by which God has accomplished this in the lives of others whom you have touched.

It is true that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” but it is also true that Jesus has released the power of the Holy Spirit within you to strengthen your own spirit to the point that your spirit overcomes the weakness of the flesh by moving the flesh in a new direction – causing the flesh to reach out in loving ministry rather that tightening within itself. The merging of your spirit with the Holy Spirit in obedience to His soft guidance enables the flesh to overcome self-consciousness, fear, awkwardness, selfishness and all negative aspects of live.

Infallible GPS

Jesus came to show the way back to the light which is the Father, and the knowledge which can be found within that light.

Meditation Thought: “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

The love of God expressed through Jesus Christ brought light into darkness: mankind had wandered into the darkness of alienation with their Father and His purposes for them were no longer clear. Jesus came to show the way back to the light which is the Father, and the knowledge which can be found within that light.

It’s not too Late to Learn

If you enter into the wonder of it, are willing to commit yourself to learning the nature of it, and cooperating with it, you will be changed inside and out.

Meditation Thought: “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24)

If you understand the meaning of a word it is far different than the technicality of reading a word. The scriptures must be understood if they are to be alive and active as a force in your life. They can be understood only through:

  • becoming familiar with the words
  • learning the meaning of the words
  • incorporating these words into your vocabulary, enriching it by their frequent use
  • seeking all the uses for the words; they have various meanings for various placement in the context of other words, other situations.

To a child the word ‘truth’ may connotate only ‘not telling a lie’, but to an adult, ‘truth’ can be many things, and cover a wide area. Learn to understand scriptures as an adult, not a child. Study.

The power of God is not hidden from anyone but frequently it is never discerned. The only way to recognize it is to look for it, believe the evidence of it, and accept it as fact. Once you recognize it, it becomes easier to perceive other manifestations of it.

If you enter into the wonder of it, are willing to commit yourself to learning the nature of it, and cooperating with it, you will be changed inside and out.

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