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.

Righteous & Wise

If all of this is true, then there is no cause for fear or regret or worry.

Meditation Thought: “But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God…. Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. (Ecclesiastes 9:1,7)

To be righteous and wise is to be within God’s will, and to be within His care, His ministry, His guidance, His help, and to have His approval of one’s deeds.

If all of this is true, then there is no cause for fear or regret or worry, and one can enjoy the pleasures of life without any nagging doubts to spoil them. There may be times when the circumstances are such that the meal cannot be a happy celebration, but these times will not be often. And no meal is a happy celebration when the conscience is uneasy: to be righteous and wise is to ensure that there will be some meals of happy celebration – to be remembered, to be enjoyed in the present, to be anticipated.

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.

Mountains Really Can Be Moved

You believe. You do the works to the best of your human ability, and when your little efforts start a little dirt to move, then I will start an earthquake to help you move that mountain.

Meditation Thought: “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:21-22)

“‘If you have faith and never doubt:’ how do you have that much faith, that much confidence in what you ask? You have that much faith and confidence when you know your request is within My will.

The first step is to determine My will: pray, think, seek inner guidance – be alert in your spirit, your mind, your emotions, your physical condition, to circumstances: observe, inside and outside of yourself.

Study the life of Jesus. Whatever He said and whatever He did became a witness to Me in some way. The fig tree incident was proof of our relationship: of the power which I released through Him to make decisions and then to have circumstances confirm the decisions as wise, as helpful, as a means of teaching further revelation of truth.

This is the pattern I desire for all of My children: to seek to know Me so intimately that you can know My way of thinking and acting and can learn to think and to act in similar manner.

Many more incidents involving spoken desires would result in confirming action if My children would first seek to know me intimately and then think and act.

I give you great leeway in the way you live your life: I desire you to express yourself uniquely, according to your talents – and according to your tastes. Your desire to be surrounded by beauty is not evil: it is consistent with your Father’s taste also. The crux of the matter is to put it in perspective. The fig tree incident was a minor ‘miracle’ in the life of Jesus – a passing ‘flash in the pan’ show of power compared to His miracles which totally changed men’s hearts and brought them to know Me and seek My will. Nevertheless it was a witness to My power and to the love I have for My own – for I care about you enough to allow you to seek to express our relationship in manners of your own choosing.

Nothing is too small to be a witness to My power, My love and My attempts at bringing My beloved family into intimacy with me and with one another.

Have confidence in your own intelligence to make choices. Have confidence in our relationship that these choices will be life-enhancing and therefore I seek to demonstrate My power through them, that you and others may be moved from your lethargy and seek new life in Christ with an enthusiasm that will make His life what it was intended to be: the releasing of My expression into the world in an explosion of love and truth that shatters the complacency and ignorance and selfishness which had taken a hold of My beloved, and to build instead a mantle of praise, a contrite heart -and an abiding and enduring faith in Me such as Jesus had demonstrated while He was in the flesh.

Do not fear; I am love. I made you to love, and I desire you to express your love for Me. What better way can you do this then to rejoice in My care, trust My tolerance of your imperfections and misconceptions, and to do creative thinking and creative acting?

Stop fretting. Stop doubting. MOVE MOUNTAINS:

Not just because you can – but because I need the moved in order to reconcile the world to Me and convert it into the kingdom.

Do not be concerned that you may err – I can guide you into corrections that will produce better results than if the errors did not occur.

You believe. You do the works to the best of your human ability, and when your little efforts start a little dirt to move, then I will start an earthquake to help you move that mountain.”

Revelation & Loyalty

If we trust in a God who is loving, powerful and creative, how can we be betrayed?

Meditation Thought: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! (Psalm 84:11-12)

To trust in God is to make life more acceptable, more understandable, and more joyful.

Who is God as He has revealed Himself?
– Loving. Loving to the point of doing anything to have a closer relationship with His beloved creations.
– Powerful. He at times suspends even nature to “break through” to us, communicating in a way that leaves no doubt of a power beyond that of human power.
– Creative. The vast variety, and the order within that variety, is evidence of unfathomable creativity.

If we trust in a God who is loving, powerful and creative, how can we be betrayed? We will not be betrayed: if we are not content, it is due to our inadequate understanding of who our God is – and who we are as being made in His image.

Harmony is Created

There are many similarities among us, and even what appear to be differences are frequently various outward expressions of the same inner thought or feelings.

Meditation Thought: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6)

When anyone lives in accord with Jesus Christ he is living in accord with others – for Jesus promotes accord with one another. As all seek to know the Father and to glorify Him, all come to realize the close bond that all of God’s creatures have with one another. There are many similarities among us, and even what appear to be differences are frequently various outward expressions of the same inner thought or feelings.

When we desire more than anything to know God and to love Him and to heed His suggestions, then we become so in tune with one another that we edify one another – realizing that this is the way to bring peace to our hearts. We lose our selfishness as we become more and more aware of the joy of glorifying the Father. Once we are free of selfishness God can use us for mighty works of ministry to one another through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Key to Peace, Joy and Love

In this type of love, “enemies” are converted to friends, strife is dissolved into harmony, war is stopped and peace reigns.

Meditation Thought: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them… Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you – live in harmony with one another.” (Romans 12:6,12,14,16)

There is an attitude which is the proper one for all who seek to be the loving, obedient, willing children of God; it is a reflection of our Father’s attitude: TOTAL LOVE. Love which allows the beloved to choose, love which does not condemn, but teaches a better way – mostly by example. Love which recognizes the desirability and the reality of each member being unique – and not only accepting the uniqueness, but enhancing the qualities of it which will bring glory to the Father.

In this type of love, “enemies” are converted to friends, strife is dissolved into harmony, war is stopped and peace reigns. The kingdom is superimposed upon the earth: the tawdry places are made shining clean, selfish motives give way to commitment to the common good, the wealthy eagerly aid the poor – and the poor accept the aid as a “talent” – to be used to increase the wealth for all, not accepting it as a gift for self only; as Paul states it, all of these behavioral patterns shall result in: “loving one another with brotherly affection.”

Is this not the purpose for which Jesus came? Is it not the purpose for which life takes on meaning for us, and richness, and joy?

It is in the knowing that this is the key to our heart’s desire that we are able to use our gifts gladly: giving joyfully and generously. For in loving one another in brotherly affection, we fulfill God’s will for us – we cannot love our fellow creatures without loving Him who created all. To love and to be loved is the central theme of Christianity. It is also the will of the Father, the joy of the Father and the sons, and the one way which leads to peace and fulfillment.

I wanted peace,
I wanted joy,
I wanted love.
I said “Give”,
Give me peace,
Give me joy,
Give me love.”

The answer came:
“When you change
‘You give me peace,
You give me joy,
You give me love,’

To

‘I give you peace,
I give you joy,
I give you love,’

You shall possess
please and joy, and love.”

In the Midst

God uses any possible means to reach you and you should use any means to reach God.

Meditation Thought: “…the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:21)

The kingdom is not a place; it is not something you wait for, to be brought to you: it is your perception of life. When your perception of all that enters your life is the perception that God has of these things, then the kingdom has come for you. It is easy to have the perception of God when all is going right. It becomes difficult when your own desires are thwarted rather than fulfilled.

The way the kingdom comes is by aligning your desires with God’s desires for you. This can be done only be listening to your deeply hidden voice within you – you must encourage it to emerge by prayer and meditation. God uses any possible means to reach your spirit, your mind, your emotions, your body. And you should use any means to reach God. To pray, to meditate, to seek Christian companionship and counsel, to do good works – all help you come closer to God. He will reveal Himself, not necessarily as you expect – but you will be aware that He has revealed Himself, and that knowing He is real, you base every thought, word and deed upon that knowledge. This is the kingdom come: knowing that God is in you, surrounding you, moving before you – an impossibility with man but possible for God. The kingdom is the Presence of God living in you by your desire that this be so and your proof of that desire by your righteous and loving behavior.