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From Within Out

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on February 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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.”
When we change our consciousness, our experiences and outer world changes as well. When we pray, our consciousness must be engaged or our prayers are mere words. Mindless repetition and empty gestures will not connect us to God. Only when we charge our prayers with feeling and consciousness will they accomplish communion with God.
 
So today, let us put our entire consciousness into our faith within, and we will witness the demonstration of God without.
 
Feeling God,
Z gardener

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How Do You Feel?

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on February 11, 2013| 1 Comment »

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).
The only question we must answer is “which one will we feed; love or fear”? When we dwell in God, we follow God’s will and feed love. When we dwell in ourselves, we follow our own will which often feeds fear.
    Today, let us open our hearts to God’s will and flood our lives with love, and all the joy, hope  and peace that accompanies it.
Feeding love,
Z gardener

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He Used To Demonstrate

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on February 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

           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). E
Each day we must expand our consciousness if we are to expand our demonstration. Motivation is the same way. That is why daily prayer and consistent communion with God are required if we are to continue to grow in faith, knowledge and demonstration.
Just as in every other aspect of life; yesterday is gone and tomorrow is yet to come. So, we must live in the present, and we must grow our consciousness in the present. When we know and follow this truth, our peace, joy and faith will grow each day.
Just today,
Z gardener

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Unload That Camel

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on February 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

           Jesus said, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God(Mark 10:25).
The simile used by Jesus was a graphic one for his listeners. In those days every important city was surrounded by a wall for defense. There would be a large gate in the wall and this would be closed at sunset and placed under an armed guard. There was usually, however, a low wicket gate known as the needle’s eye, set in the big door. When a laden camel arrived after sunset the only way it could get in was to be unloaded of all merchandise, whereupon it would squirm on its knees through the needle’s eye.
Unload your camel if you want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You do this, of course, not by getting rid of conditions in themselves, but by getting rid of your sense of dependency on them. Very often you will find yourself so glad to be without a lot of that merchandise that you will never put it back.
How much baggage do we carry that prevents us from entering God’s kingdom. Some of those bags are our possessions; some are negative thought patterns and some are habits and actions. Whatever is preventing us from living in joy, peace and hope needs to go. They are our enemies and are the impenetrable walls that keep us out of the that Eden God created for us.
So today, let us unload all the baggage that keeps us from the presence of God here below and forever in heaven. Then we can walk in love and light each moment of each day.
In light,
Z gardener

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Let Down Your Bucket

Posted in Good Morning, tagged on February 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

            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.
A party of shipwrecked sailors were drifting in an open boat on the Atlantic Ocean. They had no water, and were suffering agonies from thirst. Another small boat came within hailing distance, and when the shipwrecked mariners cried out for water, the newcomers said, “ let down your bucket.” This sounded like cruel mockery. But when the advice was repeated several times, one of the sailors dipped the bucket overboard—and drew up clean, fresh, sparkling water!
For several days they had been sailing through fresh water and did not know it. They were out of sight of land, but off the estuary of the Amazon, which carries fresh water many miles out to sea.
Closer is he than breathing; nearer than hands and feet. —Tennyson
How many times have we thirsted while floating on a sea of water? Whenever we sense a lack of anything in our lives, let us lower our bucket into God’s water that surrounds us at all times. Then we will fill what we are lacking to overflowing, or God will reveal to us that we really lack nothing that we need for our best good.
Overflowing,
Z gardener

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An Advanced Class

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on February 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Many people would like to attend what they call an advanced class in metaphysics; but what could an advanced course include that would not be in the ordinary lessons?
The usual metaphysical classes teach that God is the only power, and that evil is insubstantial; that we form our own destiny by our thoughts and our beliefs; that conditions do not matter when we pray; that time and space and matter are human illusions; that there is a solution to every problem; that man is the child of God, and God is perfect good; that Jesus Christ is the one who taught the full truth about God, and actually demonstrated it.
Once the student has obtained a correct intellectual comprehension of these facts, and digested them—at least partially—the only thing that remains for him is to develop his understanding by demonstrating them in practice.
So we see that the real advanced course is the one we give ourselves by demonstrating over the practical problems of everyday life.
Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).
Once we have heard and comprehended this truth; we have only to put it to work. “It” may be exceedingly difficult at times, but there is another truth that will help. Namely, that, any difficulty we encounter is working to our best good. Even more importantly, we must encounter it or we will fall short of our true destiny in Eden.
Remember the words of a wise one. “There is no try; there is only do!”
Doing faith,
Z gardener

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The Triumph of Love

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 31, 2013| 1 Comment »

            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 nearly all circumstances. It renders you virtually 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).
This, of course, does not deny us the right to self defense. It does mean we are to return negativity with love. While loving our enemies is a tall order. praying for them and helping them is even tougher.
The good news is that it always works, and it is the only thing that truly does work for our best good. It may feel better to our human nature to counter-attack, condemn or criticize those who hurt us. But all it accomplishes is to drag us into the negative state of lose/lose action/reaction.
For true peace within and for victory without, turn to love and away from hate. Then the enemy will not only be defeated and disarmed, they may be changed to the good forever.
Victory through love,
Z gardener

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Dissipating Evil

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If somebody comes into the room at home, or into the office or shop, looking as if he meant to make trouble, just try switching your attention straight to the Divine, instead of squaring up aggressively to meet the difficulty or shrinking away to avoid it, according to your temperament. You will be amused and gratified to see the anger fade from the subject’s face (which will mean that it has faded from his heart too) and quite a different expression take its place.
I have myself seen several cases where men, and on two occasions, children, were actually fighting, and upon a spectator’s “turning the cheek” the strife ceased like magic. Animals respond even more easily to this treatment than do human beings. I have seen two instances where dogs were fighting savagely and all efforts to separate them had failed, when the realization of the Presence of God’s love in all His creatures restored peace. In one case it took several minutes’ work; in the other it was practically instantaneous.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
Turning the other cheek, is totally contrary to our human nature. Our human spirit urges us to defend ourselves, attack potential threats and even the score when we are wronged or attacked. It is our spiritual nature that must overcome our human spirit.
As hard as this will be, when we succeed, our lives will be transformed. And we can expect to take some hits in the short term when we turn our cheeks. But in the long run, our lives will infinitely better and our peace and joy will be assured.
Outdoing evil,
Z gardener

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Resist Not Evil

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Read Matthew 5:38-42.
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil…(Matthew 5:39).
Jesus is a revolutionary teacher. He turns the world upside down for those who accept his teaching. When once you have accepted the Jesus Christ message, all values change radically.
The old law was that whatever man did to man, he should himself be made to suffer by way of punishment. If he put out another man’s eye, his own was put out by the officers of justice; if he killed, he was killed.
The desire to“get even,” to get one’s own back, to level things up somehow or other, when we have been hurt or have suffered injustice, or witnessed things of which we did not approve, will remain with us until the time when we definitely take ourselves in hand and destroy it. “Revenge,” said Bacon, “is a kind of wild justice.”
Now Jesus reverses this and says that when someone injures you, you are to forgive him. No matter what the provocation may be, and no matter how many times it is repeated, you are to loose him and let him go, for thus only can you be freed yourself.
Only when we are capable of obeying this truth will we fully realize the Kingdom of God here below. As hard as it is to forgive those who hurt us, it is the only way to live in the Eden God created for us.
The good news is that once we practice forgiveness, it becomes easier every time we must do it. Soon, it will reveal itself to us as the quickest path to peace and joy in our lives. Forgive all today; be free today; walk with god in Eden today. Its time.
Walking in joy,
Z gardener

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Disciplined Speech

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

   Read Matthew 5:33-37.
Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, Nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:33,37).
Swear not at all, is one of the cardinal points in the teaching of Jesus. It means, briefly, that you are not to mortgage your future conduct in advance; to seek to fix your conduct or your belief for tomorrow while it is yet today. Rather you are constantly to keep yourself an open channel for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit into manifestation through you.
Of course, Jesus does not mean that you are not to enter into ordinary business engagements. Nor does he mean that the ordinary oath administered in a court of law is inadmissible. These things are matters of legal convenience. The Sermon on the Mount is a treatise on the spiritual life, for the spiritual life controls all the rest.
When we swear to act in a certain way, we put ourselves outside of God’s influence. The world or an individual attitude could change tomorrow, so we should avoid precluding the possibility of different outcomes. This vainly elevates us to God’s status and locks the door to God’s revelation.
Let us be true to our faith and principles in every way, but let us remain open to God’s influence in every aspect of our lives. Miracles are the result of overturning what seemed to be, in favor of what what God intends to be. Be open to God changes in our lives and walk daily in the garden God created for us.
Forswearing swearing,
Z gardener

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