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.

Freedom from Fear; Joy Released

You are free of that you feared.

Meditation Thought: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” (Colossians 1:21-23)

Little child, do you tremble because you have done wrong and you fear the consequences? You would undo what you did – but you cannot… you shrink from the future, knowing the past makes it unattractive.

And then, One comes before you, taking the consequences, intervening on your behalf, deflecting the pain you were sure would come. You are free of that you feared.

The relief! A chance to start anew! Will you thank the One who rescued you? Will you share the good news that there is an Intermediary who will arrange pardon for your sentence?

Will you have faith, believe that your Friend is true to you, and desires above all else to help you discover life’s purpose and joy?

Will you come into intimate fellowship with this Person who reveals to you your Father and His love, who brings light to remove the fears and the stumbling that exist in darkness?

If you choose, by faith in His Word, by pleasing to do His will – He who is the Image of the Father, for He is One with the Father – to conform yourself to His personality and teachings, then are you the expression of the Father on earth, with the dross of self-will and evil removed from you by the sacrifice of your Friend’s pain substituted for your pain: your appreciation of His stepping in to take the consequences of your unwise choices is the healing of His pain, the releasing of joy in His heart!

Trough and Crest

This moment is yours – and this moment is Mine: weld our moments together.

Meditation Thought: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

Ebb and flow. You have a fascination for moving water. It is a symbol of life itself. Be content when you are in the trough or on the crest, for both places are necessary for life: for your life.

In the trough you learn to trust without proof: this is faith, you learn to be obedient – this is discipline to make you sturdy and steady to withstand the low places, and to keep you thankful and not prideful in the high places. On the crest you feel grace and blessings which open your heart to the fullness of joy of My love; it is easy for your expression of love to overflow onto those in the trough near to your crest.

This moment is yours – and this moment is Mine: weld our moments together that they may be expressions of both spirit and flesh which expand love, reconcile that which is separated, heal that which is hurt, bring order to chaos, bring relief to the suffering, bring peace to the broken-hearted, bring hope where there is despair, bring forth fruit where there was no sign of life in the branch.

The way is not easy – but the rewards are great, for joy, peace and hope along this way depend not upon circumstances, or others’ treatment of you – but upon our moments welded together as one moment spanning heaven and earth: the Holy Spirit reaching from Mind to mind, Love to love, Spirit to spirit.

You know the way – the way of the cross: obedient, humble, selfless, loving, grateful for all blessings and guidance wherever it leads, knowing who has the world beyond death, into resurrection.

With eyes of faith
And tongue of love
Hands to comfort
And feet to move
Where’re I bid you go
Not one place
Shall you abide
Away from Love and Hope.
This moment, be it trough or crest,
Is triumph over all.

No Anxiety

…the key to releasing faith that works, converting it from passive faith of possibility into active faith of moving mountains. 

Meditation Thought: “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

If you already have everything you desire, how can you need to seek? To ask? To question? To move on? Life is movement; death is still.

It is good to need to request, for in the process the relationship is strengthened. Always – in heaven and on earth – appreciation is heart-warming, and creates an atmosphere of acceptance on both sides.

When we can turn in prayer for everything in our lives, confident that our prayers are heard and answered, then we are not anxious, but thankful. We are able to be thankful before our petition is granted.

The appreciation for what we already have, and the confidence that our Father desires good to continue and increase in our lives by His power and grace, is the key to releasing faith that works, converting it from passive faith of possibility into active faith of moving mountains.

Delightful Freedom

Oh, the excitement of knowing we are loved and cherished.

Meditation Thought: “Rejoice in the Lord.” (Philippians 3:1)

To rejoice in the Lord is to think about the Lord, thank the Lord for blessings, trust the Lord to protect, guide and be with us. The concentration of our joy on the relationship with our Lord is to release joy in every other area: for ourselves, for all whose lives we touch, for the Lord also.

Oh, the excitement of knowing we are loved, we are cherished, not for our position or what we do, but because we are spirit of God’s Spirit.

We must move from the position under the law of forcing ourselves to do right out of fear, to the position under grace of accepting our freely-given love and forgiveness and then in delightful freedom from sin’s burden and recognition of love’s beauty, rush in eager anticipation to do right. Thus doing right moves from a resented, “poor me but I’d better do it anyway” attitude to “I’m so lucky to have the privilege of doing right because it’s such fun and the results are fantastic – for me, and for others too!”

Eternal Love

Expand your concept as love working in you, love turning everything touched by you into a more accurate image of God and His Kingdom.

Meditation Thought: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13

Love is at work in you, both to will and to work for the pleasure of all of creation; which is the pleasure of the Creator: For the created is the image of the Creator when the will of the Creator is followed.

Expand your concept as love working in you, love turning everything touched by you into a more accurate image of God and His Kingdom.

You see, you feel, you touch.
But what lies beneath,
Hidden – and yet revealed by all that is seen?
Is there love, light, delight?
Is there good, purity, truth?
Is there joy and hope and purpose too?
Then Eternal Love lies hidden within your spirit, mind and soul.
This power, not seen, not felt, not touched,
Transforms the world – for all to see, to feel, to touch,
With awakened sense of Right and Good and Peace forevermore.

 

A Compelling Mystery

No longer must we plod along, confused, not knowing where to turn  – discouraged by set-backs, lacking hope of better things to come.

Meditation Thought: “… a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 2:16)

We are not justified by mechanical acts – but by the inspiration of the awareness of our spirit to the revelations of the Spirit, and an appreciation of what these revelations mean to us: totally new life. No longer must we plod along, confused, not knowing where to turn  – discouraged by set-backs, lacking hope of better things to come.

For Jesus came from the Father to teach us the meaning of our existence – and the extent of it: not just our physical self and environment, but the glories and joys of the spiritual self and spiritual environment.

No more that the surgeon’s observation of the physical parts of the brain can discern the thoughts and memories contained therein, can our pursuit of the physical aspect of life reveal the meaning of life – the purpose toward which it leads.

To be touched – however lightly – by the significance of Jesus’ sojourn on earth – is the beginning of the possibility of life in a totally new dimension. If we have the energy and the courage to respond to this touch, we are started on a compelling mystery, a constant challenge, and a revelation of knowledge and feelings and actions previously uncomprehended.

Our hope is in Him, our strength is in Him, our knowledge is in Him, our love is in Him: The Father gave Him to us, and He came, sacrificing willingly all His power, glory, will, that we might be saved from sin and reconciled with the Father. He came to show us the way back to the Father and of the Father: we cannot deny our inheritance: we are born of the Father.

 

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.

Float Trip

Living with Jesus is like floating on water – we let Him support us. We can only succeed in floating by being completely relaxed, letting the water do the supporting – and our arms need to be outstretched – we cannot just hug ourselves.

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?