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.

 

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.

Over. Come.

The evil says “come”  the Lord says “come”. We must decide where to go.

Meditation Thought: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)

Overcome: Over. Come: “over” implies a movement upward – we move “up” to God’s higher methods, more effective methods, when we consult Him. “Come” – implies the invitation to movement. The evil says “come”  the Lord says “come”. We must decide where to go.

We have our “manual” – all we need to do is to consult it, to determine which destination we must choose. Good is always concerned with love, with peace, with joy, with giving – evil is always concerned with malice, with conflict, with envy, with taking.

 

Turning From, Turning Towards

Your task is to learn of My methods, of My attitudes, of My will in general and My will in particular – and then in prayer, in yielding to the Spirit, speak and act. 

Meditation Thought: “For it is God’s will that by doing right, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” (1 Peter 2:15)

“Take your cue from Me – I only invite, suggest, touch lightly, lovingly. The response is left to the one touched. But it is when you are behaving in imitation of My ways that the response is likely to be positive – a response which will turn one from selfishness, from foolishness, from sin – toward love, consideration, wisdom, respect, righteousness.

Your task is to learn of My methods, of My attitudes, of My will in general and My will in particular – and then in prayer, in yielding to the Spirit, speak and act.

When you are in this state, you are doing My work, and when you are doing My works, it will not be in vain.”

Rejoice

If I carry God-inspired thoughts in my head, have God-inspired love in my heart, do God-inspired acts with my body, and have God’s Spirit enveloping my spirit by my faith that this is so – then nothing shall be impossible to me, because nothing is impossible to God.

Meditation Thought: “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live…May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.” (Psalm 104:33-34)

I rejoice in the Lord, for the Lord first rejoiced in me: He conceived me in love, brought me into existence in love, sustains me in love; He shows me the way to live: by love.

I do not always perceive his works as a loving ministry to me. Nevertheless, His thoughts, His actions (even inaction in allowing me to learn by ‘logical consequences’) and His words are all based on love. Words which seem harsh to me are to turn me away from harmful pursuits – they are not intended to wound me.

So long as I sing to the Lord and rejoice in Him, I am recognizing Him as loving; I am grateful to Him for His care; I am following the path which is best for me in every way.

If I seek to meditate to please Him, then I am thinking thoughts which are life-enhancing; I am in an attitude of listening to His whispered ‘secrets for success’.

If I carry God-inspired thoughts in my head, have God-inspired love in my heart, do God-inspired acts with my body, and have God’s Spirit enveloping my spirit by my faith that this is so – then nothing shall be impossible to me, because nothing is impossible to God and He is in control of my mind, my heart, my body and my spirit. When God controls all of these, then my emotions will fall into line with the other areas of my life, sooner or later. That completes the ‘new creature in Christ’ – the baby grown into maturity: no longer demanding, rebellious, arrogant, brash – but reflecting the character of the Father: loving, giving, righteous, forgiving, wise and adhering to the principles of the highest order of the best that life, spiritual and physical, can offer.

The rains may come
And winds may blow.
I tremble not, nor fear.
I am sheltered,
Secure inside
My Father’s house.
To be here,
Where peace, and light, and love
Bring joy unto my soul
Is the birthing of a grateful heart,
And life transformed.
I look upon the chaos
Beyond my safe abode,
And give thanks
To Him who brought me here.
Praising my Father for sending One to rescue,
That I may dwell in ‘the shadow of the Most High’ –
For His shadow
Tells me He is here with me;
I am safe; I am happy, and at peace.
For I am home,
The place where love gladdens me,
Where the rains and winds cannot reach;
Where I am nourished, rested, and become content.
I put the restless striving behind,
Knowing that the world beyond this home
Seeks to use me, abuse me,
Though it beckoned me by promises
of my independence – freedom from the confines of my home.
The world became my prison,
And I a slave,
To forces evil,
And dwelling in dark places.
Then He came, opening the door to the prison,
Bringing light and freedom to return home.
It is not the home I left –
Not the stifling, cramped place I’d seen –
But glowing now with the light of truth,
the beauty of wisdom,
the graciousness of love perceived:
As spacious as I could desire,
For I need only space enough
To do my Father’s will,
Living in His shadow,
And knowing his love.

Words Create

I create love – or hate.
I create peace – or strife.
I create joy – or despair.
I create beauty – or ugliness.

Meditation Thought: “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this is what defiles a man.” (Matthew 15:11)

The word is creative: The Word of God created, and I being made in God’s image, create by my words.

I create love – or hate.
I create peace – or strife.
I create joy – or despair.
I create beauty – or ugliness.

Not only must inhabit the world which I create – but every word to another forces them to have my words influence their world. They have more influence on their world than I, for they control their reactions to my words – but nevertheless, they are affected by my words.

Prayer of Response: Oh Lord, enable me to speak words reflecting Your Words, bringing Your world (kingdom) into the physical world to further love, peace, joy and beauty in it – to Your glory, to the joy of many and to my own fulfillment.

Rescued and Restored

What are stumbling blocks but stepping stones when one is transformed by the nurturing Light?

Meditation Thought: “There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.” (Job 24:13) “I am the light of the world: whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

All who stumble in the dark, and who rebel against the dark, thus seeking the light, despite all obstacles, despite all errors in the direction of movement, shall find the light.

The light is difficult to be found only for a little while – only for the time necessary to: soften a hardened heart, tame a rebellious will, open up a closed mind, teach a foolish one wisdom, cleanse a sin-stained past, and to make real the promise within the conception of the one who seeks light. That is, to make the vision of light so intense that there is no doubt that the light exists and that the one who seeks it will find it.

And when the light dawns, when it is seen in reality, just as it was seen in the vision, then is a totally new life possible.

Consider the contrast of living in a totally dark prison – and of living on the mountaintop, where vistas are seen in every direction: where light enables abundant growth, and nourishes all living things – where light reveals the truth of all which is under it.

This contrast is the comparison of life in the flesh without the Light of the Spirit within and living with the Spirit within.

The one living in the dark confines of prison may, by the description of the vistas coming from the mountaintop, be able to conceive somewhat of the life lived on a mountaintop – but cannot truly understand nor feel the reality of that life.

Only as the prisoner is brave enough to grope for the key offered, and to grope for the lock, and to make effort to fit the key in the lock, to turn it, and to walk out of that confining place to blink in the light, and to adjust to it, can he begin to know experientially the total ‘new creature’ life in a ‘new’ environment (the mountaintop kingdom). The joy of realization of what he has left and what he is experiencing is almost unbearably sweet, almost unbelievably exciting, almost impossible to comprehend.

But the ‘almost’ is not the same as ‘definitely’. This is our cause for leaping in the ecstasy of thanksgiving! This is our power to live a new mountaintop life! This is the knowledge that the words which described the mountaintop life, and thus led us to find the key to release us to this life, were not exaggerated words, but even those words were not adequate to describe the truth, to describe the quality of the light, or the quality of life lived within that revealing light.

When we allow our minds, our emotions, our bodies, our spirits, to flow freely, to go freely over all this wonderful new terrain, we dance with delight of constant new discoveries of beauty, wisdom, truth – of love encountered along the way! Of Love accompanying us along the way.

What are stumbling blocks but stepping stones when the tiny emaciated prisoner is transformed by the nurturing Light into the grand, ‘filled-out’ figure: a strong, wise, willing, and eager new creature which is the reflection of the Creator of all he surveys and encounters, which is the container of the inherited wealth of the Creator, and which is the authority of the Creator expressed into the world covered by Light.

This ‘new creature’ did not evolve by chance, or by self – but by being transferred from prison to freedom.

One came to offer release – and the prisoner chose to seek a new place when the opportunity “knocked at the prison door”.

The ‘Rescuer’ comes in many forms – at many times – trying, always trying, to convince the prisoner that the escape from prison will lead to a better place.

There is no law which is broken when the prisoner ‘escapes’, no punishment for his leaving prison: the ‘law’ that sentenced him to prison was the confining of his spirit in a body which gives expression to his freedom of choice.

But the ‘law’ is his law: the ‘law’ is subject to his interpretation of that law: thus it cannot be ‘broken’ by him, thus causing him harm. It can only be perceived by him, and acted upon by him.

The moment he realizes that he has authority over the law, and he tells the Rescuer of the moment to give him the key to the prison door, and he takes authority over all who would try to tell him that their interpretation of the law is more authoritative than his, thus keeping him in prison – then not only is the prisoner rescued, he is restored to his rightful prominence as being one in authority.

He is not the highest authority on the mountaintop nor over the prison, but he is privileged, he is endowed with wisdom, he is endowed with authority, he is endowed with power, he is given knowledge. The key words are ‘endowed with ‘ and ‘given’: so long as he recognizes to whom he owes allegiance and all that is given to him, he is in a great position and leads a fulfilled, exciting and abundant life.

The Key

Truth, trust, hope, perseverance: four words that can be the key to the life God surely intends for each of us.

Meditation Thought: “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:6-8)

Truth, trust, hope, perseverance: four words that can be the key to the life God surely intends for each of us.

Truth. Without truth, we cannot deal with reality of a situation. How much trouble we get into and cause for others when we believe something to be true – and it isn’t!

Trust. Without trust we fear to move ahead, and perhaps miss out on the wonderful works God would like us to do in us and through us.

Hope. Without hope we get stuck in the mire of the situation that distresses us instead of lifting our feet to get out of the sticky ground.

Perseverance. Without perseverance we not only stay in the miry mud, but we miss out on the great events that can take place on the solid ground when we step on it.

Lord, help me to look ahead and eagerly lift my feet – even if slowly and with difficulty – to get out of the mire!

My Heart Trusts in Him

Meditation Thought: “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.” (Psalm 28:7)

“I am your loving creator; I delight in you, for you are a part of me as your children are a part of you. As you love them, so I love you. As you help them, so I help you.

Do not fear – I am here!”

 

Transforming Power

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:8)
“Sow love wherever you find ground to sow it, cultivate it even if the ground is not perfect for growing. Just as you can grow plants by using the physical parts – the earth and seed, so you can ‘sow’ love and joy and peace and reap of harvest of more love and joy and peace. This is My will for you. This is My will for the world.”

Meditation Thought: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:8)

“Love, love, love – concentrate on the meaning of the word, and how to express that word as transformed into action, and thus results.

It is loving, transforming power that brings peace, joy, love, contentment and satisfaction. All people desire these, but many seek them by the wrong methods. Through the ages I have sought to reveal the truth about Myself, and many have perceived much of the truth. Those who know must share that knowledge as much as they are able – they are My family who realizes I am their creator – that the world was not created by ‘nothing’.

What you have learned through your science classes, through your Bible study, through your experiences and your belief that there is much more to creation than can be perceived through physical proofs is the Way the Truth and the Life that I desire for My beloved.

Sow love wherever you find ground to sow it, cultivate it even if the ground is not perfect for growing. Just as you can grow plants by using the physical parts – the earth and seed, so you can ‘sow’ love and joy and peace and reap of harvest of more love and joy and peace. This is My will for you. This is My will for the world.”

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