Good Morning Garden

This simple statement fixes clearly the nature and character of God. It tells all that man needs to know about God, and about himself, and about his neighbor. Oliver Wendell Holmes said: “My religion is summed up in the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer.”

“Our Father.” In this clause Jesus lays down once and for all that relationship between God and man is that of father and child. This eliminates any possibility that the Deity could be the relentless and cruel tyrant. The majority of men and women are at their best in dealing with their children. Speaking of the same truth elsewhere, Jesus said:

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 7:11).

It is hard to conceive of anything that would give us greater hope, faith and comfort, than to know that the creator of the universe is our Father and loves us as a Father loves their child. Beyond that, to know that we are created in God’s image and are the child of God means that we too are spirit beings that will exist forever. Even more astounding is the realization that, as God’s children, we are capable of manifesting his will here in the physical plane.

Yes, we are capable of miracles and and great power. However, this power does not come from us and can not be accessed by us except through submission to God’s will. Just as our earthly Father’s would not help us do something against their will that would hurt us, our heavenly Father will not grant his power for any use contrary to our best good. For instance, a good Father would not let a baby drive a car. Obedience and seeking to do God’s will, opens the channel through which God’s love, power and majesty flow into our lives. Just as on earth, when we listen to, understand and obey our heavenly Father, we will receive the power, protection, safety and blessings that are waiting for us.

In obedience, reverence and awe,

Z gardener

Author’s note – The web site below is a great one page instant reference to the Bible. The author hopes it is helpful to all.
http://www.jrsbible.info/bible.htm

Z

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The Lord’s Prayer is the most important of all the Christian documents. Everyone who is seeking to follow along the Way that Jesus led, should pray the Lord’s Prayer intelligently every day.

The Great Prayer is a compact formula for the development of the soul. It is designed with the utmost care for that specific purpose, so that those who use it regularly, with understanding, will experience a real change of soul. It is the change of soul that matters. The mere acquisition of knowledge received intellectually makes no change in the soul.

The first thing that we notice is that the prayer naturally falls into seven clauses. This is very characteristic of the Oriental tradition. Seven symbolizes individual completeness, the perfection of the individual soul, just as the number twelve in the same convention stands for corporate completeness. The seven clauses are put together in perfect order and sequence, and they contain everything that is necessary for the nourishment of the soul. The more one analyzes the Lord’s Prayer, the more wonderful its construction is seen to be.

After this manner therefore pray ye…. (Matthew 6:9).

Jesus himself gave us the words of this prayer. He, who created us, died and was resurrected to save us and who left the Holy Spirit in us said pray in this manner. Like most truth conveyed by our Lord, its meaning goes several layers deep. When understood and accepted, this prayer will unlock the door of truth, feed the soul and guide us down the path toward fulfillment of God’s will in our lives.

Father, as we in the Good Morning Garden contemplate this prayer over the next few days, let every mind be opened and every heart be filled with the truth and joy that its understanding brings. Then, by your grace, may we all live this prayer each day, thereby securing our faith and our place in the Eden God gave us here, and in heaven forever with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Prayerfully,

Z gardener

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Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise
From outward things, whate’er you may believe.
There is an inmost center in us all,
Where truth abides in fullness; and around,
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh it in,
This perfect, clear perception—which is truth.

A baffling and perverting carnal mesh
Binds it, and makes all error; and to know,
Rather consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendour may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light
Supposed to be without.

—Robert Browning, “Paracelsus.” Part I

…Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).

This poem is a beautiful and artful way of saying that all we seek is already within us trying to get out. Or as we say in the Good Morning Garden “As within, so without”. When we express God’s truth, our light shines forth affecting everything around us. It is when we commune with God and obey God’s will through our faith and the Holy Spirit that we allow this light to show forth. Nothing we seek comes from without. All that we seek comes from within through God’s will and through God’s love for us. In essence, we must overcome this “baffling and perverting carnal mesh” that we call ourselves if we are to be the temple we were created to be. Then, we will radiate the love, hope and faith that God placed in the “inmost center in us all”.