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Archive for November, 2008

The Goodness of God

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

Read Psalm 18.
 
In verse 29 the Psalmist, thinking of some of the times in the past when he has been given power to overcome difficulties and to advance on the path, says, For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. Everyone has found himself at some time confronted with a difficulty that seemed like a high and insurmountable wall, but faith in God enables one to clear the obstacle notwithstanding.
 
Next the Psalmist reminds us that the way of God is perfect. God will put you upon your high place. In other words, he will raise you consciousness so that you will automatically demonstrate. Then the author praises God and thanks Him for His goodness. Thanksgiving, as you know, is one of he most powerful forms of prayer.
 
Finally he says that God gives great deliverance to his King; and that He sheweth mercy to His anointed, to David and to his seed forevermore. God intends us all to be kings through the exercise of spiritual power, and our power to go on increasing – like the seed of David – through all eternity.

In this week of thanksgiving it is important to count all your blessings and gifts from God. We should also realize that all our blessings flow from Him and that our deliverance from problems also comes from him. The power to overcome obstacles and to prevail against things that would harm us comes from God. Neither our intelligence, perseverance or strength will be enough. Faith in God will open to us infinite power, grace and protection. First put your trust in him, then do as He commanded to ensure your best good. And in all things be thankful.

With gratitude,
Z gardener

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Living to His Glory

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

            If you seem to yourself to be lacking in certain necessary qualities, seek that aspect of God which will meet your lack. If you seem to lack strength, ask God to give you what you need. Remember you can build any quality into your mentality by meditating upon that quality every day. You have created your limited self by thinking and you can destroy it at any moment by thinking a new pattern.

 
Why do we not change from day to day, and week to week, from glory to glory, until our friends can scarcely recognize us for the same man or woman? Why should we not march around the world looking like gods, and feeling it; healing instantaneously all who come to us; reforming the sinner; setting captives free?
 
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound (Isaiah 61:1).

We are captive only to our self-imposed limitations. God has granted to each of us infinite love, power and capability. Yet we continually accept all this world’s false limits. “Be strong and of a good courage. Turn neither to the left nor to the right, and you will prosper wherever you go”. When we live this truth we will be able “to do all things through Christ who strengthens” us.

With strength and courage,
Z gardener

 

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Successful Concentration

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

 I do not give exercises to develop concentration. Concentrate on what you are doing at any time, that is the best exercise I know.
 
I remember when I was a boy about twelve years old somebody gave me a perfect peach of a jackknife. It probably weighed a quarter of a pound and there was a little saw in it, a little screwdriver, a corkscrew, a thing for getting stones out of horses’ hoofs, and several blades. I carried it for about a year thinking how handy it would be for certain cases that never came up, but it never lost its interest. I could always find, when I was bored, new interest when I took out the jackknife. If you make your search for God your jackknife in that sense, you will get you concentration and you will get your success.
 
Thus will I bless the e while I live … and meditate on thee in the night watches
(Psalm 63: 4, 6).

Our relationship with God is the ultimate utility tool. There is a blade or device in that relationship for every conceivable problem. When we are struggling with boredom, hurt, fear, anger, weakness, sadness, disappointment or any negative mental or physical condition all we have to do is turn to Him and look for the right tool. It will be there, and we will find the device we need to fix our problem or meet our need.
 
Using God’s tools,

Z gardener

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After Your Healing

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

 

Healing is only the beginning. When you are completely healed of everything wrong in your life, your body, your business, difficulties in personal relationships, obvious faults in your own character, you will not have finished your work. Your real work will only be commencing. Your real work is to show and experience the glory of God, to build that spiritual consciousness, “ the house Magnifico.” Conscious fears will have gone, and your whole world will be different. The physical world will be different because it will be clothed in a new glory. “The light that never was on sea or land.” People will be different because you will be beginning to know their real self instead of merely the outer shell, and, of course, everyone else will notice that you are different, too.
 
This is not to say that healing is unimportant. It has to precede the building. Let us endeavor to get our own healing completed as soon as possible in order to help the world that is needing it so much.
 
Bless the Lord … who healeth all thy diseases … who crowneth thee with loving kindness… (Psalm 103:2-4)

Once we have overcome fear and repented of our wrongdoing we receive forgiveness, healing and redemption. Then we can live in the Eden God created for us. Then we will see the “real world” that was hidden by our sin and fear induced blindness. Then we can live in the garden that God gave us as the beings of light he created us to be.

Seeing the garden, being the light
Z gardener

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Repentance

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on November 18, 2008| Leave a Comment »

            To repent means, really, to change one’s mind concerning something. When a person realizes that a particular action, or a certain line of conduct, or perhaps the whole direction of his life, has been wrong, and honestly resolves to change his conduct, he has repented. The Bible makes true repentance an essential condition for any spiritual progress, and for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus said, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3).
 
Repentance does not mean grieving for past mistakes, because this is dwelling in the past, and our duty is to dwell in the present and make this moment right. Worrying over past mistakes is remorse, and remorse is a sin, for it is a refusal to accept God’s forgiveness.
 
John the Baptist said, Repent ye: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2). This means that you should change your thought and know that the Presence of God is where you are.

The key to repentance and also for forgiveness is the admission that our thoughts, words or deeds have been wrong. The failure to accept that we have been wrong is the insurmountable obstacle to changing such wrongdoing. Further, forgiveness will not be sought by someone who stubbornly continues wrong behavior. The unforgivable sin is the one for which we will not repent and for which we will not ask forgiveness.

On the other hand, once we have repented and committed to change such behavior, we must turn our backs on it and not go back, lest we deny our repentance and forgiveness. The wonder of this truth is that we are not chained to our mistakes nor condemned to repeat them forever. Today, let us admit that which we are doing wrong, repent of those things and ask forgiveness for them. Then we will be as newborn people, and will experience the joy of innocence and the freedom from guilt and remorse which God has taken from us.

Free at last,
Z gardener

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Key Words In the Bible – Fear

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on November 17, 2008| Leave a Comment »

           The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the beginning of knowledge. This has misled many people, because the truth is that fear is entirely evil and is indeed the only enemy we have. You can heal any condition if you can get rid of the fear attaching to it. Trouble or sickness is nothing but subconscious fear out-pictured in our surroundings. It is true at all times that “we have nothing to fear but fear.”
           
How then do we account for the texts quoted? The answer is that in the Bible the fear of God means reverence for God, not fear in the usual sense of the word. Reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom. How do we show reverence for God? By seeing God everywhere, refusing to recognize anything unlike Him, and by living the Christ life.
 
Confidence is worship. You worship whatever you trust. Are you trusting more in fear or in God? What are you worshipping? That is the test.
 
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace. (Job 22:21). 
That which we revere, trust, focus upon, prioritize and seek is what we worship. Take an inventory today of the ten top things which occupy your thoughts and time. Does your relationship with God and your spiritual health get to the top ten? If we really trust and revere God it will. If not, then we should reorder those priorities so that it does. When we do, we will find peace and harmony with all the other earthly things that are crowding God out of our daily lives. “Fear” of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom. It is the end of fear.

Unafraid today,
Z gardener

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The Captain is on the Bridge

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on November 14, 2008| Leave a Comment »

            The world is not going to the dogs. The human race is not doomed. Civilization is not going to crash. The captain is on the bridge. Humanity is going through a difficult time, but humanity has gone through difficulties many times before in its long history and has always come through, strengthened and purified.
 
Do not worry yourself about the universe collapsing. It is not going to collapse, and anyway that question is none of your business. The captain is on the bridge. If the survival of humanity depended upon you or me, it would be a poor lookout for the Great Enterprise, would it not?
 
The captain is on the bridge. God is still in business. All that you have to do is to realize the Presence of God where the trouble seems to be, to do your nearest duty to the very best of your ability; and to keep an even mind until the storm is over.
 
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. (Psalm 119:165).

What a liberating thing it is to know that God is in control. Our acceptance of God’s dominion frees us from the burdens that shackle the unbelievers to fear, doubt, anxiety and worry. But wait! Believers experience these emotions also, right? The difference is, believers have a choice about those experiences. When we truly accept our faith, we can give those feelings to God if we will do so. The unbeliever has no one or no thing to whom they can give these feelings. That heavy yoke is on their shoulders alone. Today, choose the peace which surpasses all understanding, do your nearest duty to the best of your ability and sleep tonight in the peace of those who love the law and follow it.

Peace be with you,
Z gardener

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What Does God Expect?

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on November 12, 2008| Leave a Comment »

As children of the Most High we have a divine heritage and therefore a right to expect that God will take care of us in every way. The Bible is full of promises as to what God will do for His children, but perhaps Jesus put it the most plainly when he said,
 
What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matthew 7:9-11).
 
So you have a divine right to expect all these good things from God. But what does God expect of us? Well, God has a right to expect that we will put Him first in our hearts. Then God expects us to have a lively faith. Faith in itself is a reliance upon the goodness of God.
 
And lastly, God expects us to go to Him in prayer — as a son who knows that even before he has asked, the loving Father has answered.

That which God expects of us is no small thing. If we truly put him first, then we must put ourselves last. We must sublimate our will, our desires and our priorities to His. We must also believe and strive to follow His instructions for how we live our lives. That means refusing to judge, condemn, be afraid, doubt, worry, hate and the list goes on. We must forgive, love, rejoice, be grateful, be humble and that list goes on. Finally, we must commune with God a speak to him with our hearts and prayers. The good news is that God will love and protect us even when we fall short of these aspirations. But we must believe and we must try. That is what God expects.

Putting Him first,
Z gardener

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Accept No Second-Bests

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on November 11, 2008| Leave a Comment »

In the depths of his being man always feels intuitively that there is a way out of his difficulties if only he can find it. The infant, as yet uncontaminated by the defeatism of his elders, simply refuses to tolerate inharmony on any terms, and therefore he demonstrates over it. When he is hungry he tells the world while many a sophisticated adult goes without. Does he find a pin sticking in some part of his anatomy? Not for him a sigh of resignation to the supposed “will of God,” or a whine about never having any luck, or a sigh that what cannot be cured must be endured. His instincts tell him that life and harmony are inseparable.
Refuse to tolerate anything less than harmony. You can have a happy and joyous life. But to do so you must seize the rudder of your own destiny and steer boldly for the port that you intend to make. What are you doing about your future?
 
For not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified (Romans 2:13).

If we knew today was our last day, would we spend it fretting over our problems or cramming in every ounce of joy and harmony we could find? Would we grouse about our mate’s shortcomings or look into their eyes and profess our eternal love? Would we fuss about our children’s weaknesses or take them in our arms with tenderness and thanksgiving? Would we complain about getting up early for work or joyously breathe in the cool morning air with gratefulness and peace? Would we walk with our heads down filled with self-pity or with our head erect witnessing all the joy and blessings with which God has surrounded us? We all know the answer to these questions. The only question left is, will we live today as if it is our last while preparing to live each each additional day we have in harmony and appreciation for all God’s gifts?

Seizing the rudder,
Z gardener

 

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Alter Your Life

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on November 10, 2008| Leave a Comment »

There is no need to be unhappy. There is no need to be disappointed, or oppressed, or aggrieved. There is no need for illness or failure or discouragement. There is no necessity for anything but an abounding interest and joy in life.
As long as you accept a negative condition at its own valuation, so long will you remain in bondage to it; but you have only to assert your birthright as a free man or woman and you will be free.
Success and happiness are the natural conditions of mankind. It is actually easier to demonstrate these things than the reverse. Bad habits of thinking and acting may obscure this fact for a time, just as a wrong way of walking or sitting, or holding a pen, or musical instrument may seem to be easier than the proper way, because we have accustomed ourselves to it; but the proper way is the easier nevertheless.
Unhappiness, frustration, poverty, loneliness are really bad habits that their victims have become accustomed to bear, believing that there is no way out, whereas there is a way; and that way is simply to acquire good habits of working with the Law instead of against it.
 
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law (Psalm 119:18).
 
It is our own perceptions and ways of thinking that block us from God’s infinite bounty and joy. These blessings bloom all around us but our eyes are blinded by the sense of self. The Garden God gave us is filled with the aroma of flowers and the warmth of the sun, yet our vanity, pride and ego dulls the senses and focuses us on the finite and mundane activities of the day. That is when fear and doubt enter our minds, clouding our judgement and concealing the truth that God wants us to be happy and joyful. Open our eyes this day Father and make us aware of your divine law of love and fullness.

Eyes wide open,
Z gardener

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