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Archive for July, 2008

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall or partition between us (Ephesians 2:14).
 
This is not only one of the most beautiful texts in the Bible, but one of the most important. Consider what it says. First, that God is our peace; next, that not only are we and God one (all spiritual teachers say that) but that it is He who has made us one. We are one because that is the nature of being since He has made us that way. Then the inspired writer uses a figure of s peech. He reminds us that when we lost our sense of unity with God, it is exactly as though a wall was built between God and ourselves. When that happens communication is broken and we are no longer one in consciousness, until, of course, the wall is pulled down.
 
In any difficulty the one important thing is to have the temporary wall of partition pulled down, and to let God do it—for only He can.

It is primarily our false sense of self that separates us from God. When we see ourselves in terms of a small, self-contained individual, defined by our body and thoughts, we lose our communication with God. Then vanity, pride and ego take root in our consciousness and raise barriers to our true self-awareness as part of God. When we view ourselves truly as being one with God, then he will remove all partitions. Then we will live in peace within the Garden he gave us instead of struggling through the world we have created.

Peace,
Z Gardener

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    We live in the Presence of God. The Bible says, In him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28). This limitless Power, which is Intelligence and Love—God—can be contacted at any time by turning to Him in thought, and allowing Him to fill our hearts. Whenever we do this He at once begins to influence our lives for peace and harmony and freedom.

 
Closer is he than breathing; nearer than hands and feet. —Tennyson

If we knew that Superman was our best friend, and that he was on twenty four hour call, and that he was always watching us, and that he promised nothing would hurt us, it would be easy to live without fear and with confidence and hope that all is well.

That’s exactly what we have when we walk with God and follow his will. The creator, maintainer and director of the universe is our father, our friend and our protector. And, by the way, he is immune to kryptonite.

Walking with God,
Z Gardener

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 Read Matthew 6:16-23.

        If your consciousness is right, that is, if you have a good understanding of God as the loving Source of your boundless supply, you will always be able to demonstrate whatever money or goods you may require. You cannot want for anything when once you truly realize that in divine Mind demand and supply are one. And, on the contrary, until you do realize this, you never will be really safe from want. In the long run, no one can retain what does not belong to him by right of consciousness, nor be deprived of that which is truly his by the same supreme title.
 
        If you are looking to outer, passing, mutable things for either happiness or security, you are not putting God first. If you are putting God first in your life, you will not find yourself labouring under undue anxiety about anything, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21).

Our greatest treasures lie within us. When we properly express them in our outer selves, our world will be filled with them to overflowing. Press out your love and demonstrate your joy today so that the world will be filled with peace and gladness in all things. The world needs it and you deserve it.

Pressing on,
Z Gardener

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Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Psalm 29:2).
 
God is bigger than any problem.
God in you is greater than any difficulty that you have to meet.
God cares for you more than it is possible for any human being to realize.
God can help you in proportion to the degree in which you worship Him. You worship God by really putting your trust in Him instead of in outer conditions, or in fear, or in depression, or in seeming dangers, and so forth.
You worship God by recognizing His presence everywhere, in all people and conditions that you meet; and by praying regularly.
You pray well when you pray with joy.
 

Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord (Psalm 105:3).

When we truly worship God, joy and gladness rule our days while peace is sovereign of our nights. When we truly worship God, challenges become opportunities and difficulties become blessings. When we trust him, when we see him in all things, when we exist in his consciousness and when we pray we are truly worshipping him. When we praise and glorify him, when we trust him and put all our faith in him all good things become available to us.

In worship,
Z Gardener

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From Within Out

            But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

 
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking (Matthew 6:6-7).
 
The sixth chapter of Matthew presents the doctrine of the Secret Place and its importance as the controlling center of the “Kingdom.” It is the essential factor of the teaching of Jesus Christ. You are a king, Jesus says, the ruler of your own kingdom. When you know the truth of being, you are the absolute monarch of your own life.
 
It is very significant that Jesus should call your consciousness the Secret Place. It is obvious that nothing has any real significance but a change of policy in the Secret Place.
 
A distinguished Quaker some years ago said: “In my youth we discontinued the distinctive Quaker costume and certain other usages because we realized that people who were far from really caring for our Quaker ideas were joining us, nevertheless, for the sake of the educational facilities they could obtain so inexpensively for their children, as well as other advantages of our membership. It was so easy to style oneself a ‘Friend,’ to purchase and wear a coat without buttons or collar, and to interlard the conversation with a grammatical peculiarity, while leaving the character completely untouched. It is so easy to buy and wear ceremonial garments, to repeat set prayers by rote at certain times, to use stereotyped forms of devotion, to attend religious services at prescribed periods—and to leave the heart unchanged.”

Unless our hearts be changed, all is vain. It is not enough to simply talk and believe. We must also feel and act. The start is in the heart.

Heartfelt,
Z Gardener

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How Do You Feel?

           Really there are only two feelings that a human being can have, namely love and fear. It is generally supposed that the kinds of feeling we may have are legion, but this is an illusion. All other feelings, so-called, will turn out upon analysis to be either love or fear.

 
What about anger? Well, anger is really but fear in disguise. In chemistry we occasionally find the same substance occurring under completely different appearances. For example, black lead is exactly the same substance chemically as a diamond, different as they look. They are said to be allotropic forms of carbon. In the same way, anger, hatred, jealousy, criticism, egotism, are but allotropic forms of fear.
 
Joy, interest, the feeling of success and accomplishment, the appreciation of art, are allotropic forms of love. The great difference between the two feelings is that love is always creative, and fear is always destructive. It is for us to decide which of these two feelings shall hold sway in our lives.
 
God is love; and he that dwelleth in God, and God in Him (1 John 4:16).

R. Buckminster Fuller said that love is the metaphysical equivalent of gravity and that fear is the equivalent of radiant energy. Gravity organizes, brings order and creates, while radiant energy is chaotic, random and destructive. In love we are attuned to all the forces that nurture, build and live; while with fear we are attuned to the force that destroys, tears apart and dies. Which way do we want our lives to be? How do we want to feel?

Feeling love,
Z Gardener

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Nonresistance

            When you fight a thing you antagonize it and it hits back. The harder you fight it the harder it hits. When you give your attention to anything, you are building that thing into your consciousness, for good or evil.

 
When you are faced with some negative condition, withdraw your attention from it by building the opposite into your subconscious. Then the undesirable thing falls away like an overripe fruit.
 
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8).

Is it surprising that God instructs us to focus on the positive things and to eliminate undesirable thought from our minds. Even human wisdom is full of the same advice. “Keep on the sunny side…Chin up…look on the bright side…if you don’t have something good to say…” and a thousand other sayings all reflect this universal truth. Listen to the wise advice of God and man. It’s this simple. Do not dwell on evil, but replace it with good. Then you will be free from it.

Sunny side up,
Z Gardener

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The Triumph of Love

 

            Read Matthew 5:43-47.

 
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven…(Matthew 5:44-45).
 
Right reaction is the supreme art of life, and Jesus compressed the secret of that art into a sentence when he said: Resist not evil. A correct understanding of this commandment will regenerate your body, liberate your soul, and remake your life.
 
Love is God and is therefore absolutely all-powerful. Meeting hatred with Love is the perfect method of self-defense in all circumstances. It renders you absolutely invulnerable to any kind of attack.
 
If you receive bad news, if you are unhappy in your work, or in your home, feel out mentally for the Presence of divine Spirit, all around you; affirm its actuality; and claim that God has dominion over all conditions, and you will soon be free.
 
And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God loves his brother also (1 John 4:21).

The old sports truism says the best defense is a good offense. That also applies in our spiritual life but in a totally different meaning. If we surround ourselves with outflowing love, we become invulnerable to negativity. If we build our consciousness around God’s dominion over everything we experienece, we become masters of all around us. If we live according to God’s will, we become liberated from all fear, doubt and anxiety. Let’s go on the offense today by innoculating ourselves with love.

Vaccinated for life,
Z Gardener

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Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).
How wonderful to know that, through God, perfection is available to us here below. How, we may ask, do we ever hope to achieve that perfection while living in the “real world”? The answer is to first believe it and then start today to seek it. You see, the “real world” is not real or fixed in its nature. It is a function of our perception and actions. “It” meaning the outer world will not magically be changed one morning when we awake and find all “its” temptations, woes and hurts have suddenly disappeared. “It” will be changed as we act daily on the firmly held belief that that God intends for us to live in perfect harmony and peace. It will change second by second, day by day, year by year as we live into this reality. So, let us now – at this very moment – rise up and declare that we will live this day in the Eden God created for us instead of the “real world” that we have created for ourselves.

Welcome to the Garden,
Z Gardener

 

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            People often say that when they first came to the knowledge of truth it seemed that miracles happened almost every day. Negative conditions of long standing disappeared. Then, they say, sort of slump seemed to set in, since which they have never been able to do so well.

 
Now why should this be the case? The explanation is that what demonstrates is an expansion of consciousness. With an expansion of consciousness our conditions must improve. When people first learn of the omnipresence of God, they experience such an expansion. Then the tendency is to rest upon the first knowledge acquired, and to make their early realization serve over and over again. This will not do. It is only today’s realization that will demonstrate, never yesterday’s or last year’s.
 
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32).

This day let us expand our consciousness and live afresh in a new world that exists only for today. Then expect a miracle.

In expectation,
Z Gardener

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