Star Light, Star Bright

Peace, peace, joy and hope – all found in the heavens: But never seen and never found if eyes are only earthward bound!

Meditation Thought: “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:21)

In the darkness of the night the stars shall begin to shine, one by one – and there shall come a Star so bright that night shall be as day, and all the world shall know God’s love.

He who looks for the first star – the other stars – the brightest star – shall not be dismayed at the dark, for he knows there will be light and beauty, peace and joy beyond description as the light of the stars transforms heaven and earth and all who dwell therein.

Teach me, Lord, to seek Thy Star,
Never giving up hope,
Never turning away in fear –
or impatience –
or lack of trust.

But focus my eyes, turn my head, let me find You. Enable me to see You – in the tiniest star, the galaxy of stars, the brightest Star.

Peace, peace, joy and hope – all found in the heavens: But never seen and never found if eyes are only earthward bound!

Where is God?

The key to experience abundant life – now and forever.

Meditation Thought: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27)

If you do love the Lord your God with every part of your being, you will love your neighbor as yourself – for God is love in every one of His creations, and when you love God you love Him everywhere He is located!

This statement of Jesus’ is not only the key to inherit eternal life – it is the key to experience abundant life – now and forever.

Change Agents

We be changed beautifully, effectively,

Meditation thought: “…we shall all be changed…” (1 Corinthians 15:51)

We shall be changed: by the power of our Father, by the power of our Savior, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by the power of the Body of the saints. By these shall we be changed beautifully, effectively, to reflect the Christ Who reflects the Father, Who is Perfection.

We shall not be perfect in our humanness – but we shall be perfect in the Spirit when the Spirit is in full control of every one of our faculties, including our spirit AND our will.

Proven Cleansing Agent

A firm foundation in a chaotic world.

Meditation Thought: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

The Word still becomes “flesh and dwells among us” – through the power of the Spirit in our flesh. When our will is yielded to the Spirit within us, then does the Word become flesh even now and “unto the end of the age”.

This is the glory and power of God: to mesh spirit and flesh, as needed to do His will – which is to reconcile the world to Himself – by inspiration not imposition. This is the majesty of the Father’s power: that He is able, in each heart, to provide opportunity after opportunity, patiently waiting for recognition of Truth do dawn – that He is a loving Father desiring His beloved child to see Him clearly for who He is, and who He is to be to them: the source of every good thing, the “firm foundation” in a chaotic world, “a very present help in times of trouble”.

It is this love that is the cleansing agent which removes the grime of sin and guilt which keeps the windows of the soul from seeing God and thus being freed from our prison of self.

New Beginning

A new beginning! Oh, how we rejoice!

Meditation Thought: “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ” (Luke 24:45-47)

A new beginning! Oh, how we rejoice whenever a new understanding has made us long to undo what our old understanding has wrought, and then the opportunity is presented to negate the old results, and start fresh with the new understanding!

Christ has brought us a new beginning. But we must first negate all of the wrong attitudes and actions and results that permeated our life before the revelation of Christ to us that we can start over. We rectify what we can, and ask forgiveness for the rest. And that is the end of it. We can accept the past as no longer being a millstone around our neck because Jesus removed it the moment we sincerely requested Him to do so.

We are as born again: we can have the innocence and enthusiasm and energy of children combined with the wisdom of our loving God working in our lives. The results should be miracles!

Why do we restrict God’s work by refusing to believe the good news? We hinder God by our stubborn clinging to the “oughts and shoulds” that other interpreters of the Word and the Spirit have either imposed upon us or we have sought out of laziness in learning for ourselves who God is, and what He wants to do in and through our life.

The only way to know who god is and what He wants to do in each person is to personally so search His Word and seek His Spirit that we receive His particular words and suggestions intended exclusively for us.

Fellowship is good and needed, shared information is good and needed – but the only way a child can have close companionship and understanding with his parent is to come to spend time and to converse honestly and deep from the heart with the parent. No matter what his brothers or sisters tell him about their parent, it is not going to bring them into intimate fellowship. It takes personal contact, with mutual communication to accomplish this.

Mysterious Hope

We glory in the works of Christ being done through our willing spirit, willing mind, willing emotions, willing heart (our self-will), and willing body.

Meditation Thought: “I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:25-27)

You think you know – until more knowledge is revealed, necessitating a re-evaluation of your depth and fullness of knowledge.

How gently are we brought down from our place of arrogance, if we are willing to learn. We are precipitated most unpleasantly if we are stubborn and insist “we know it all; we don’t need God.” But – always, always, are the opportunities presented to learn the “glory of the mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”.

Yes – only when we are so small, is there room for Christ to have the larger portion of our life. Only if we are willing to be “last”, to be humble, to serve, to listen, to heed, to give, to forgive, is our heart softened enough that Christ can shape it as needed to do the Father’s will, that the Father may be glorified, that Christ may be glorified, that the Holy Spirit may be filling us and pleased to do so – and so are we glorified by association. We have no glory of ourselves – but we do glory in the works of Christ being done through our willing spirit, willing mind, willing emotions, willing heart (our self-will), and willing body.

Kingdom at Hand

…unfettered love, understanding, compassion, wisdom, purity, righteousness, joy and hope.

Meditation Thought: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

The time of growing, of labor, and birth is over! That which was longed for is here: God upon earth!!! God in each one upon earth, but when recognized as being present, then does a new birth occur: a birth of unfettered love, understanding, compassion, wisdom, purity, righteousness, joy and hope.

To know that God is within us – a part of every part of us, is to transform our thinking, our actions, our emotions, and our reactions.

No longer do we believe when we are ‘attacked’ that the ‘best defense is a good offense’ – but that the best defense (the one that will benefit both ourselves and our ‘attacker’) is to love him who seeks to distress us: to love him in ways pleasing to him (fulfilling his needs, in pure, righteous manners. of course).

As long as we have in our minds a concept of ‘defense and offense’ we are continuing a battle and coping with an enemy. When we are thinking in terms of loving our attacker we have already won the battle – and so has he. Enemies no longer – but friends, seeking to use energies formerly to hurt each other now to help each other. The kingdom is at hand!

A Paradoxical Pattern

Safety lies in the words and indwelling Spirit – not safety from all physical harm – but safety from paralyzing fear, and safety from doubts.

Meditation Thought: “…when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Luke 21:31-33)

These words are true for each generation. The storms make the complacent fearful and thus cause them to think and to search for safety. Safety lies in the words and indwelling Spirit of the Son of man – not safety from all physical harm – but safety from paralyzing fear, and safety from doubts.

There comes a time in a person’s life where he must choose: Self or God. And he must not be deceived, but perceive the Truth: the last shall be first, and the first last. And he who cares for others assures the Father’s care for himself. The signs are clear for all to read. Woe to he who will not heed them. He brings destruction upon himself.

But to those who seek to know the Truth, shall the signs of the times be clear. To them shall be heaven on earth although they suffer from the hands of the unjust, joy shall be theirs; joy now and joy forever.

Praise be to God who can create and sustain a universe which combines freedom and obedience, order and variety, suffering and joy.

A Change-the-World-Person

To perceive the unexpected as it truly is – to explore it, and be open to it, puts us in the role of a possible change-the-world-person.

Meditation Thought: “And some of the Pharisees… said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:39,40)

Truth cannot be suppressed. And when it is discovered, there is an irresistible urge to share it – for we care for one another, we are dependent upon one another. We can do all kinds of things to ourselves to try to resist the truth – to suppress it from our conscious knowledge. But if we succeed, we only harm ourselves.

If we do not open our minds and our hearts to new possibilities, new ideas, new insights – then we restrict what we could be – we are resisting God’s overtures to us, and shall reap the consequences of our stubborn rebellion.

But to perceive the unexpected as it truly is – to explore it, and be open to it, puts us in the role of a possible disciple – a possible change-the-world-person.

The Pharisees could not perceive Jesus for who he was because they were blinded by staying within the old thought and traditions.

Authority Delegated and Received

In the very act of yielding authority to God, the paradox is that you shall have authority.

Meditation Thought: “Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority… (Luke 19:17)

Testing – testing – testing: The pattern is the same, in all of nature, in the realm of the spirit and in the realm of the physical. First, there is a little growth – then the testing of a storm or stress; if there is enough strength to weather it, then growth continues.

As small challenges are met and overcome, larger ones can be met and overcome.

And the kingdom needs “overcomers”. In fact, the very definition of a citizen of the kingdom could be one who overcomes, through the knowledge and power gained by humility based on the recognition of the inadequacy of self and the adequacy of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit within – and the willingness and act of yielding authority to Them. In the very act of yielding authority to God, the paradox is that you shall have authority, not only beyond that sought before the knowledge of God, but beyond your previous and present comprehension.

This authority is yours – but it is yours because, through your yielding, you have earned the right to have the power of your Creator delegated to you, to serve His purposes, which are at the same time, the desires of your heart. This is possible because you have yielded your heart to Christ, and His desires are always in accord with the will of the Father, and are executed with the power of the Holy Spirit.