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Archive for December, 2008

Don’t Hurry the Chicken

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

            A city child was spending his vacation on a farm. They showed him a hen sitting on a nest of eggs, and told him that some day a little chicken would come out of each egg. Their child was delighted at this dramatic idea, and every morning he went around expecting to see the miracle.

 
            Days passed and nothing happened. The eggs still looked exactly the same. Not the slightest change occurred in the appearance of things, and gradually his faith waned. At last one day he told himself bitterly that he had been deceived.
 
Next day, however, from habit he went around to the nest as usual, but without any hope; and behold, what was his joy to see a flock of little chickens running about.
 
Of course wonderful changes had been taking place all the time behind the shells, but there was nothing to show for it until the very last moment. Some of our greatest demonstrations come to us like this. In this story it was the spectator who lost faith, and so it did not matter. If the mother hen had lost her faith – well, there would have been no chickens. Give your demonstration time to hatch.
 
And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Galatians 6:9).

Time crowds in on us every day and creates many pressures on us to perform based on a schedule. That is a part of life and good in many ways. However, when we are seeking God’s will, his omniscient character is aware of present and future need and always returns to us that which suits our best good, known and unknown. So, we must be patient in our supplications, resting firm in t he knowledge that the all knowing God is answering our prayers on his schedule.

Punched in on God’s clock,
Z gardener

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Give It Time

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

People sometimes accept the idea that a change of thought, plus turning to God in prayer, will transform their lives into harmony and freedom. The logic of this principle appeals to them, and they set to work upon it in earnest. Then, after a few days, they say, “Nothing has happened after all,” and they drop back into their old negative thinking.

 
That is extremely foolish. The results of many years of general negative thinking are seldom corrected in a few days. No one who goes upon a new physical diet or medical regimen expects to reap the advantages in so short a time. You must keep up the new way of thinking and refuse to be discouraged by seeming failures at first.
 
The right20motive for adopting right thinking is that it is right, and that wrong thinking is wrong; and we should do right whether it seems to pay dividends or not. Of course, it does pay dividends – fabulous dividends – but it usually takes a little perseverance in the face of preliminary slowness.
 
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13).

One often overlooked and undervalued benefit of right thinking and right doing is that it feels good immediately. How many things can we do that makes us feel good which are also good for us? Usually what we turn to is some sort of self-indulgence and that is usually not so good for us.

So, when we are not seeing immediate results from our righteousness, we should recognize that it has already begun to work by elevating our state of mind and our self respect. And when we do right and get taken advantage of in the short term, we should remember the tortoise and the hare. Right thinking and doing in the short term ensures that we will prevail in the end. In the meantime, it sure feels good. In this case, “if it feels good, do it”, is the right formula.

Feeling good,
Z gardener

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Your Own Brand

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

You cannot claim too much for yourself provided you claim the same thing for all other human beings. In fact, it is our duty to claim all good things and to continue claiming them until they demonstrate in our outer experience. Of course, this law works both ways and therefore you must be very careful not to claim the negative things that you do not want.
 
On the western ranches the owner of a steer brands it with his name, “Bar A Ranch” or some such cipher. Then if it should wander into strange territory, it will always be returned to him. On the other hand, when an animal without his brand wanders into his corral, he says, “Than is not my steer,” and out it goes.
 
Many a foolish person puts his mental brand on a steer that he does not want in the least, and is surprised when the animal stays obstinately at home. People say my rheumatism, my forgetfulness, may poverty, et cetera, branding the steers they do not want instead of turning them out of the corral.
 
When you really want something, brand it deeply with your own name and it will be yours.
 
… but every one … shall keep himself to his own inheritance (Numbers 36:9).

Ever since mankind chose for itself in Eden to partake in the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, we have often made the negative choice. The power to chose is awesome and powerful. It resides, less in the physical but more in the spiritual and mental realm. So we must chose out thoughts and feelings carefully. When we indulge negative thoughts and adopt and downcast spirit, we allow those things in our lives and make them our own. Then they invariably manifest themselves in our lives.

So today, let each of us chose and claim the light God wants for us, and let us also release and reject the darkness which we have indulged and nurtured around and within us. The choice is ours.

Choosing light,
Z gardener

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Tackling That Bugbear

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on December 9, 2008| Leave a Comment »

            When what seems an especially difficult problem or a great emergency presents itself, many students of the Truth start by thinking, “This is very serious,” and then proceed to brace themselves mentally for a supreme effort; and plan to pray exceedingly “hard” in order to meet the difficulty.

 
All this is quite wrong. It simply builds up the problem into something far bigger that it was originally. The right attitude, the one that brings Victory, is to think “God can and will solve this problem.”
 
Instead of speaking the Word from the low altitude of fear and limitation, and trusting to effort to magnify the Lord, stop thinking of the problem altogether, and rise in consciousness. Having now attained a higher level – speak t he Word gently from that level, and your problem will be solved.
 
For the word of God is quick, and powerful … (Hebrews 4:12).

How often we resist resist the mindset that God can and will solve the challenges we face! Its like we have an obligation to think we must do it by ourselves. This self elevation is simply ego, pride and vanity masquerading as self sufficiency. Not that we don’t have to work hard and carry our share of the load. We do. But the real answer to any of our emergencies or obstacles is the faith that God can and will present the solutions we need.

The other trick employed by the deceiver is to use fear and false perceptions of limitation to make us believe we are incapable or unworthy of a solution. This self devaluation is merely false separation from God blocking our connection to His power.

When we truly know that faith and fear can not occupy the same space and that limitation always yields to the infinite in us, then we are ready to accept God’s solution to that which concerns us. And, we have already overcome the beast.

In faith,
Z gardener

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Bulb and Flower

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on December 8, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Who has not at some time or other planted a bulb and enjoyed the pleasure of waiting for the plant to appear and develop, and ultimately produce the glorious flower itself? Notice here that you naturally plant the bulb and expect the flower – the hyacinth or the crocus – to follow. No sane person would dream of planting the flower and expecting a bulb to come up; yet in our general life many of us do just that! We expect to begin with the flower. We think that we shall have desirable states of mind or body – happiness, freedom, health – if only we can change outer conditions in some way. Yet this is really trying to plant a flower, because we are trying to put effect before cause.

The law of the universe is thought first, and then expression; and never can this law be reversed.

Let all things be done decently and in order (Corinthians 14:40).

If every thought was as intentional as the planting of a flower, we would never have weeds growing in our hearts, minds and lives. Let us today plant every thought so that we live each day in the Garden God created for us.

Planning the planting,
Z gardener

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Be Specific!

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on December 3, 2008| Leave a Comment »

            Man has dominion over all things when he knows the Law of Being and obeys it. Do not put off your study of the law any longer. Take stock of your life this very day. Write down the things you really wish for. Be specific, not vague. Then write down underneath the conditions that you wish to remove from your life. If you do this candidly, you now have an extremely valuable analysis of your own mentality. In course of time this will tell you a great many things about your self that you do not at present suspect, and as your knowledge of spiritual Truth increases, you will be able to handle the new knowledge about your self in a surprising way.

 
Having forgotten your main points in front of you, work on each one separately with all the spiritual knowledge you possess. Remember, it is not really very important how much of this knowledge you have so long as you make use of all that you do have. Repeat this treatment every day for a month, and by the end of that time it will be very unusual if a change for the better has not manifested itself in your conditions.
 
For those unfamiliar with spiritual treatment, an effective method of working is this: Claim gently but definitely that the great creative Life Force of the universe is bringing each of the needed changes into your life in its own way, in it own time, and in its own form. Do not try to dictate the exact form in which the new conditions shall come about. Do not be tense or vehement. Do not let anyone else know that you are doing this. Do not look impatiently every day for results.
 
Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do (Deuteronomy 29:9).

In this season of preparation and anticipation of day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we could make no better use of our spiritual time than to conduct a review of that for which we wish. Both the things we wish to achieve and those we wish to abandon. Then, if we apply our spiritual knowledge to them, we “will prosper in all we do”.

In application,
Z gardener

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Making Your Dreams Come True

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on December 2, 2008| 1 Comment »

           Most people indulge in some form of daydreaming. There is no harm in this so long as such daydreams are positive and constructive in character. You are always thinking, when you are not asleep, and you know that it is in the selection of your thought that your destiny lies.
 
Do not let your daydreams take the form of an escape from actuality. A daydream is an evasion when it consists in fantasying something pleasant that nevertheless you believe could never happen. Such a daydream debilitates the whole mentality.
 
Some people daydream about all sorts of unpleasant things. They rehearse imaginary quarrels, imaginary injustices, accidents, and misfortunes, and because they do believe that such things could happen, and because thought is creative, they actually bring them upon themselves.
 
See to it that your daydreams are concerned with such happenings as you would really like to find in your life. Know that anything good is possible; remember the creative power of thought; and your daydreams will come true.
 
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8).

While we can’t daydream ourselves to success, we must visualize the future we desire. We must also back those visualizations with the reality of faith, righteousness and hard work. God has seen and planned our best future for us. It is our job to make it so in our dreams, thoughts, words and deeds.

Sweet dreams,
Z gardener

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No Buts

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on December 1, 2008| 1 Comment »

When the devil has been unmasked a number of times, his final refuge seems to be the harmless-looking word but. Students of the teaching of Jesus Christ who would not be deceived by any of the familiar devices, constantly surrender their principles, and therefore their demonstration, to the little word but.
 
“Of course I know that God in the only power – but—.”
“Of course I know that God in omnipresent – but.”
“Of course I know that God is love – but.”
“Of course I know that there is no hurry because I am in eternity – but.”
“Of course I know that John or Mary must be the living expression of God, just as I am – but.”
If truth is true, there are no buts.
 
And they all with one consent began to make excuse (Luke 14:18).

The world pushes us to make excuse every day for straying from God’s word and will. To the degree that we can realize God in all we do , we will experience his peace, freedom and joy. To the degree that we make excuses for exceptions to those realizations, we will wear the yoke of  anxiety, doubt and fear.

Free today,
Z gardener

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