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Archive for May, 2008

Silver

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 30, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Isn’t it ironic that seeking riches, honor and other forms of ego gratification to achieve happiness becomes an insurmountable barrier to the source of true joy and instead becomes the source of our sorrows? If we accepted that up front the devil could not use it to block our spiritual path. That is why the Bible says, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God”.

Seeking the Kingdom,

Z Gardener

 

SILVER

Next comes the silver. This stands for greed of money or money’s worth, for material objects that can be bought, and even for riches themselves. Or it may be that the offender is not interested in riches themselves but in their ability to give him a position of honor in the eyes of the world. He wants to be considered important and to have adulation or applause. Often he wants to be a “leader,” not because he has a message to give but to be important. He is the victim of egotism. Now this is a base and ignoble sin; an insurmountable barrier across the spiritual path.
 
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:10).

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The Temple of Solomon

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 29, 2008| Leave a Comment »

As we seek to build our spiritual consciousness, let us be ever mindful that each of us must choose their own path to God. Every soul must seek its own way and build their own unique relationship with God. It is the prayer of this writer that these morning thoughts, might in some way assist us all to that end. So Godspeed to each of us on our journeys. May our paths be filled with blessings and may God’s grace and mercy protect us from the challenges along the way and use them for our best good.

Building a path,
Z Gardener

The Temple of Solomon

 

GOLD
 
We know that the spiritual consciousness which we are all engaged in building is spoken of in the Bible as the Temple of Solomon. The name Solomon means peaceful, and symbolizes wisdom. This is logical, for peace of mind is the foundation of all spiritual building, the hallmark of understanding.
 
The Bible states that five things were to be found around the temple—For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks (1 Kings 10:22).
 
This is the Scriptural manner of telling us that there are five principal temptations that may come to the soul that is striving to build the spiritual temple. The particular form that each temptation takes will vary according to the temperament and circumstances of the subject, but in principle will be the same.
 
First comes the gold, and this stands for desire for personal power over other people, the desire to regulate their lives, to make them toe the line—our line, naturally—and even to make use of them. Many people on the spiritual path have given way to this temptation. They must dominate other people’souls. They tell themselves that it is done for the good of the victims, of course, but it is really a craving for personal power and glorification. It is not an ignoble sin like that connected with the silver, but for that very reason it is far more dangerous, far-reaching, and enduring.
 
The thing that gold symbolizes when rightly understood is the omnipresence of God; and of course religious tyranny is a denial of this. You should do all you can to help, to enlighten, and to inspire others, as far as your own understanding will permit, but you must never try to dictate their convictions; or to hold to your own opinions. Religious tyranny is poisonous to the victims; but it is absolutely mortal to the tyrant.

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Insufficiency of Knowledge

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 28, 2008| Leave a Comment »

All the knowledge and wisdom that mankind possesses today will be dwarfed by what we will know in the future. This is good, but it brings into perspective why we can’t depend on our knowledge alone. God possesses all knowledge and wisdom and even when we come to know all we are able to discern, his knowledge will still be infinitely greater. So, upon whose knowledge are we going to depend..who will we trust? Let us all place our heart and mind on God each day and become an open vessel for his wisdom, love and knowledge and we will become pure in heart.

Trusting Him,
Z Gardener

Insufficiency of Knowledge

            Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).

 
Most people, and learned people especially, have all kinds of knowledge that does not in the least affect or improve their practical lives. Doctors know all about hygiene, but often live in an unhealthy way, notwithstanding; and philosophers, who are acquainted with the accumulated wisdom of the ages, and assent to most of it, continue to do foolish and stupid things in their own personal lives. Now, knowledge such as this is only opinion, or head knowledge, as some people call it. It has to become heart knowledge, or to be incorporated into the subconscious, before it can really change one. The modern psychologists in their efforts to “re-educate the subconscious” have the right idea, though they have not yet discovered the true method of doing so, which is by single-minded prayer, or the Practice of the Presence of God.
 
Jesus, of course, thoroughly understood all this, and that is why he stresses the fact that we have to be pure in heart.

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Great Possessions

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 27, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Each day we must weigh our actions and priorities in light of their impact on our relationship with God and our communion with him. We should ask ourselves, “Is all we value worth the peace and joy that comes with obeying God’s will in our lives”? Which of our our possessions or habits separate us from God? Are they so important that we would sacrifice our greatest treasure for them? When viewed in this light, the answer seems obvious and and the path is clear. Joy is the reward that God offers in lieu of our human possessions.

Divesting the baggage,
Z Gardener

Great Possessions

 This is really the story of mankind in general. We reject the salvation that Jesus offers us—our chance of finding God—because we “have great possessions,”; not so much that we are very rich in terms of money, for indeed most people are not, but because we have great possessions in the way of preconceived ideas—confidence in our own judgment, and in the ideas with which we happen to be familiar. We have pride, born of academic distinction; sentimental or material attachment to institutions and organizations; habits of life that we have no desire to renounce; concern for human respect; or perhaps fear of public ridicule. And these possessions keep us chained to the rock of suffering that is our exile from God. One of the saddest passages in all literature is the story of the Rich Young Man who missed one of the great opportunities of history, and


…he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions (Matthew 19:22).

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Truth Demonstrated

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 26, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Once we accept the truth, how can we demonstrate it in our lives when our senses and the entire environment seems to contradict it? We must have enough faith in what we know to act it out in our daily lives. We must act as though it is true, take the leap of faith and practice it regardless of the apparent circumstances or perceived limitations. That does mean jump off a building expecting not to fall. It means to accept God’s leadership, follow Jesus’ teachings and apply them to your every thought, word and deed. Judge not, return love for hate, put others first and the list goes on. None of these things are easy things to do. In fact, they are only possible because the ultimate power of the universe makes them possible. Not good enough to do this? Neither is anyone else without turning to God and putting him first. Then the spirit of truth will demonstrate all things.

In the spirit,
Z Gardener

Truth Demonstrated

          Truth never changes, but what we have to deal with on this plane is man’s apprehension of the Truth, and throughout historical time, this has been steadily and continuously becoming more plain to us.

 
Jesus Christ summed up this Truth, taught it completely and thoroughly, and, above all, demonstrated it in his own person. Most of us now can glimpse intellectually the idea of what it must mean in its fullness. To accept the Truth is the great first step, but not until we have proved it in doing is it ours. Jesus proved everything that he taught, even to the overcoming of death in what we call the resurrection. By surmounting every sort of limitation to which mankind is subject, he performed a work of unique and incalculable value to the race, and is therefore justly entitled the Savior of the world.
 
…when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…(John 16:13).

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The Purpose of the Bible

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 23, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The creator of the universe has given us, in the bible, the instruction manual for achieving everlasting life with him and Eden in this earthly life. He has also given us the responsibility to follow the manual. When we follow it faithfully to the best of our understanding, we become agents of the ultimate authority and thereby may exercise dominion over all things here below. That is awesome power and it comes with great responsibility.

Humbly,
Z Gardener

The Purpose of the Bible

          Externally, the Bible is a collection of inspired documents written by men of all kinds, in all sorts of circumstances, and over hundreds of years of time. The documents are seldom originals, but redactions and compilations of older fragments; and the names of the actual writers are seldom known for certain. This, however, does not affect the spiritual purpose of the Bible. The book, as we have it, is inexhaustible reservoir of spiritual Truth, compiled under divine inspiration, and the actual route by which it reached its present form does not matter.

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A Basic Miracle

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 22, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Belief or faith is a key that unlocks the door to effective prayer. Effective prayer is the door through which we can enter a change of consciousness. The change of consciousness is the garden or “secret place” in which we abide with God. It is in this garden that God makes his infinite power available to us for the miracles we need. When we leave that garden, the world from which we entered it has changed. It is our decision to use our key, unlock our door and enter our garden. God is there waiting to change the world, to ensure our needs are met and to provide all the blessings and miracles we need. Let us all visit our garden each day and unlock all the power, joy and blessings therein.

Using the key,
Z Gardener

A Basic Miracle

Let us suppose, for the sake of example, that on a certain Monday, your affairs are in such a condition that, humanly speaking, certain consequences are sure to follow before the end of the week. These may be legal consequences, perhaps of a very unpleasant nature following upon some decision of the courts; or a physician may decide that a perilous operation will be necessary. Now, if someone can raise the consciousness of the harassed individual above the limitations of the physical plane then the conditions on that plane will change, and, in some unforeseen and normally impossible manner, the legal tragedy will melt away, and to the advantage, be it noted, of all parties to the case; or the patient will be healed instead of having to undergo the operation.

 
In other words, miracles, in the popular sense of the word, can and do happen as the result of a change of consciousness, and a change of consciousness is usually accomplished through prayer. Thus prayer does change things.
 
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).

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Miracles

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 21, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Many times our rational intellect and senses create barriers to believing in miracles or even God himself. That would be OK if our senses experienced all things, our minds knew all things and we could perceive all things. We can’t. There is much more we don’t understand and can’t perceive in the universe than that which we can grasp. If we accept this simple fact of our own limitation, it may open the door to our ability to believe in things we can not see, taste , touch and smell. Then, we can truly understand and accept miracles are possible and God does exist.

In awe,

Z Gardener

Miracles

        Jesus taught through miracles.

 
If the miracles did not happen, the rest of the Gospel story loses all real significance. If Jesus did not believe them to be possible, and  undertake to perform them, then the Gospel message is chaotic, contradictory, and devoid of significance.
 
But the deeds related to Jesus in the Four Gospels did happen, and many others too, “the which, if they should be written, every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.” Jesus himself justified what people thought to be a strange teaching by the works he was able to do; and he went further and said,
 
…the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works… (John 14:12).
 
Now what, after all, is a miracle? Those who deny the possibility of miracles on the ground that the universe is a perfect system of law and order, to the operation of which there can be no exceptions, are perfectly right. But the explanation is that the world of which we are normally aware, and with whose law alone most people are acquainted, is only a fragment of the whole universe as it really is; and that there is such a thing as appealing from a lower to a higher law—from a lesser to a greater expression. In the sense of a real breach of law, miracles are impossible. Yet, in the sense that all ordinary rules and limitations of the physical plane can be set aside or overridden by an understanding that has risen above them, miracles can and do happen.

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Letter or Spirit?

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 20, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Jesus’ teaching on this subject endows us with tremendous freedom and undeniable responsibility. While lifting the tradition of outer behavior, he lays on us the requirement of right thinking and feeling. So we must not only do the right thing, we must do it with the right heart and for the right reason. It is when we turn to God  that we can successfully search our hearts, minds and soul for the true spirit in all we do.

Still searching,

Z Gardener

Letter or Spirit?

Jesus made a special point of discouraging the laying of emphasis upon outer observances; and, indeed, upon hard-and-fast rules and regulations of every kind. What he insisted upon was a certain spirit in one’s conduct, knowing that when the spirit is right, details will take care of themselves. Yet, in spite of this, the history of orthodox Christianity is largely made up of attempts to enforce all sorts of external observances upon the people.

 
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life (2 Corinthians 3:6).

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Jesus’ Teaching

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on May 19, 2008| Leave a Comment »

If all those who find themselves unable to accept the existence of God would study Jesus’ teachings and apply his lessons and wisdom to their lives for even one week, I believe they would be unable to remain in their unbelief. Seeing is believing.

In Belief,
Z Gardener

Jesus’ Teaching

            Jesus explains what the nature of God is, and what our own nature is; tells us the meaning of life and of death; shows us why we make mistakes; why we yield to temptation; why we become sick,and impoverished, and old; and most important of all, he tells us how all these evils may be overcome, and how we may bring fulfillment into our lives, and into the lives of others.

 
            Jesus warns us, not once but often, that obstinacy in sin can bring very severe punishment, and that a man who parts with the integrity of his soul—even though he gain the whole world—is a tragic fool. But he teaches that we are only punished for—and actually punished by—our own mistakes; and he teaches that every man or woman, no matter how steeped in evil and uncleanness, has always direct access to an all-loving, all-powerful Father-God, who will forgive him, and supply His own strength to him to enable him to find himself again.
 
If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him (1 John 2:29).

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