Rich in God

This will bring Him more pleasure than anything else: my grateful heart, and responding love, are all that He is seeking.

Meditation Thought; “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:19-21)

You are to be rich in God. The Bible refers constantly to King and Kingdom. God is wealthy, is in authority, is all that an earthly king is, and infinitely more, has all the earthly king has, and infinitely more. I am His child, and thus am an heiress to the kingdom. It is fine for me to recognize this and to rejoice in this. What I must not do is to believe that I am worthy to be in this position because of my own doing. I am in this position because of God’s doing. I need to be grateful – and to live out this life that has been given to me in the way most responsible and pleasing to my Father – and to be glad to do so, to enjoy doing so. This will bring Him more pleasure than anything else: my grateful heart, and responding love, are all that He is seeking. He isn’t trying to beat and badger and coerce me into being a child that resembles Himself – He’s trying to love and encourage and empower me into that child! When I realize this fact, then I am released from the prison of my own making. If God – who is so great – is satisfied with me as I am in Christ – even though I’m not perfect as the Father is perfect – why should I be so critical of myself?

Yes, Christ in the flesh did understand the Father completely and did obey perfectly. And I have not. But that does not mean that I cannot – for my will yielded to Christ who lives in me through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit does understand the will of the Father, and my personality yielded to Christ in the form of the Holy Spirit does obey perfectly.

The key to having my heart be with the treasure of the kingdom is unwavering faith that prompts me to search in every possible way for the knowledge that the Father seeks to give me.

Authority Within

You do not know, as the Spirit knows, what is in their minds and their hearts.

Meditation Thought: “…do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12: 11,12)

Prepare your mind and your heart attitude through diligent study of the Word, and worship and prayer that the way is open for the Holy Spirit to flow freely and unceasingly throughout every part of you: spirit, mind, body. In this way can the Spirit direct you how or what you are to answer.

The authorities of the world, though they know it not, have no authority over one who is filled with the Spirit. And you do not know, as the Spirit knows, what is in their minds and their hearts. Therefore, the Spirit must have full control of you in order that the Father’s will may be done to the glory of the Father, for working good for you and for giving opportunity to the authorities to come to the Father.

Falter not in hours or days, when life seems hard and stale,
But ingest the glory of the Word,
Transforming mind, and giving hope:
When the peaks and valleys come,
Then the Spirit follows each contour, great and small,
Aiding you, guiding you, protecting you.
For the Word in your mind has released the Spirit in your heart,
And the Spirit reveals to you the mystery, the glory –
And the unfailing sweetness of the Father’s love.

The Best Gift Ever!

You need only ask…

Meditation Thought: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

You delight in giving your children what you can, but your heavenly Father is able to give a gift ranking above all other gifts: the gift of His love and power actually transferred to be implanted within His beloved children. You need only ask and you will receive.

Voice in the Din

There is so much joy and peace and pleasure and excitement and fulfillment to be distributed.

Meditation Thought: “What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops.” (Matthew 10:27)

“I would whisper to all if they could but hear me above the din of the world – but all cannot hear, for they do not yet know to listen for a voice apart from the din. I need you to work within the din, to get attention so that you can then attune others’ ears to my voice.

Be sure you listen carefully to My voice, heeding my instructions, before you call attention to yourself, that you might be using the most effective manner of both getting attention and then re-focusing that attention to Me. There is so much joy and peace and pleasure and excitement and fulfillment to be distributed – I want to blanket the world with it, but I cannot force it, or the pressure will smother instead of provide comfort.

People must reach out for the “comforter” – My Kingdom – but you can call their attention to the gift being available for their asking. Start to automatically work in each relationship, no matter how casual the encounter, to fulfill that aim. Relax, smile, enjoy the gift that you posses, and I will guide you each moment to speak and act appropriately to the heart of everyone you meet.”

Key to Change

We must recognize the importance of our reaching to Him – it is the key to completing the circuit. That’s a lot of responsibility – but it is also the means to change the world, let alone change ourselves!

Just as there is no flow of electricity (no power) unless there is a “return” flow, our relationship with God must be one of a reaching out by Him and a reaching back by us or there is not a true “relationship”, at least one with true power, or complete power. Therefore, we must recognize the importance of our reaching to Him – it is the key to completing the circuit. That’s a lot of responsibility – but it is also the means to change the world, let alone change ourselves!

 

Bear Fruit: Thirty-fold, Sixty-fold, a Hundred-fold

If you will keep a picture in your mind of  a tiny seed bursting into a plant which produces abundantly, it will enable you to do what you ought to do even when your emotions rebel.

“To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables… the sower sows the word… and… the [seeds] that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:11,14,20)

The Word has fallen on good ground in your will, your mind and your heart, yet it needs more than good ground. It needs that ground to be tilled (disturbed so it will not form a restrictive hardened crust of self-will to bind the seed of the Word); it needs the nutrients to be released into its nature (the thoughts of your mind concentrated on the Truth, your determination to find the Way, your life based upon the examples of Jesus’ Life).

It needs the water of the Holy Spirit released through your spirit believing that He dwells within you and does direct you, and your acting upon the prompting.

It needs the sunshine of the Son’s life once again manifested upon the earth through all of your faculties.

Yes – all of these are required for the accomplishment of the seed producing thirty-fold, sixty-fold and a hundred-fold.

If you will keep a picture in your mind of  a tiny seed bursting into a plant which produces abundantly, it will enable you to do what you ought to do even when your emotions rebel. It will facilitate your mind to think clearly, remember accurately and produce creatively. It will prompt you to speak words of love – even if words not loving intrude your mind for a brief moment, for they will be ignored and replaced by words which will heal and encourage growth of the word in another.

The Word is a symbol
Representing Truth.
To base your life –
And your growth –
Upon the Word
Is to release
The harvest which
Is inherent within you
As the seed of Word
Unites with the ground
of your life.

 

Create Ultimate Good

The process continues to this day: wherever Jesus finds a yielded heart, an open mind, willing hands and an unselfish attitude He is able to create ultimate good.

Meditation Thought: “And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)

Jesus prepared for every minute of the day’s activities by: 1) seeking God’s wisdom and knowledge and will 2) committing himself to doing God’s works 3) expressing His love to the Father and being reassured of the Father’s love for Him. 4) receiving energy by attaching His spirit to the power of the Holy Spirit.

No wonder Jesus performed miracles! He was filled with all He needed to meet every contingency, and to make every circumstance be a process which created ultimate good. He understood the nature of His Father; He sought to be living as a copy of that nature, and he devoted every part of Himself to enabling all whom He met to also be conformed to that nature.

The process continues to this day: wherever Jesus finds a yielded heart, an open mind, willing hands and an unselfish attitude He is able to create ultimate good.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I desire to be the person You need: today, tomorrow – and every day of my life. Please help me to change my impulses from selfish to transforming love: to develop insight so great as to automatically think the generous thought, say the kind word, do the loving action – and recognize all the while that this moment is precious and unique, never will it be repeated. Therefore I need to be as pleased with it as possible. The only way to ensure that it is truly pleasing – and will result somewhere in time in another pleasing moment – is to, as had You, have prepared myself for this moment by having spent time in prayer.

Help me, through the Spirit You so lovingly express in me to pray and to live being conformed to the Father’s nature. In your precious Name I pray. Amen,

The Presence of Jesus

When we realize that our thought today shapes our circumstances tomorrow, and our act today will come back to us in kind, we are far more careful about what we think and what we do.

Meditation Thought: “And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:62-64)

Though relatively few would see Jesus in the flesh after this trial and His crucifixion, many would perceive His place as being in authority by His proximity to God the Father, and would perceive Jesus’ coming by the means of the Holy Spirit – not a visible body manifestation of Jesus, but an inner knowledge of His Presence.

And it would transform them, for the truth of Jesus’ teachings concerning eternal life would be demonstrated. To perceive that what we are – and what we do – is not limited to our physical existence, but, both here in the time span of our physical manifestation, and later, in another manifestation, is to accept a new standard of thinking and behavior.

When we realize that our thought today shapes our circumstances tomorrow, and our act today will come back to us in kind, we are far more careful about what we think and what we do. This can be a great burden – if we resent this truth. Or it can be a great joy – if we “see” Jesus with our “mind’s eye” coming int our lives “on clouds of glory” – bringing the atmosphere of heaven into the physical realm, while bringing us His Presence to abide with us – and His Presence makes all the difference for us as we cope with life in the flesh, learning how to better cope with life in other realms.

We have all we need to go undefeated by any circumstance; we are protected from ultimate harm; we have an awareness of beauty, harmony and order; we have strength and joy and appreciation of all of life: external, internal and eternal.

The Presence of Jesus gives us courage, hope, and confidence far beyond that which we have without His Presence. Others may not see Him as our constant companion – nevertheless, they will see the results of His companionship. They will respond to the results. In this manner, do we have a transformed life: we are “new creatures” in Christ.

Listen to Him

But I cannot be as Jesus with the mere desire, nor with my own determination, nor my own strength. I need the Holy Spirit to be the added dimension:

Meditation Thought: “…a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5)

And so today, the soft voice of the Spirit says to our spirit: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

I must seek to know Jesus that I may know my Father, and thus know who I am as his child.

I would be as Jesus: seeking the will of the father, doing good – and being alert and energetic and helpful and joyful while expressing myself through the flesh.

But I cannot be as Jesus with the mere desire, nor with my own determination, nor my own strength. I need the Holy Spirit to be the added dimension: it is the Holy Spirit which made Jesus more than a man, more than a prophet or a doer of good. And so Jesus passed to me the inheritance of the Spirit, if I but receive it.

The power and energy of the kingdom is released when I allow the Spirit to control my human desires and human activities.

And then the results are as effective and as visible in the world as if a voice proclaimed to all who know me: “It is not she, but Christ whom you have seen doing these works. ‘In Him I am well pleased; listen to him.'”

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