Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Good Morning’ Category

Theoretical Centipede

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 
Do not dissect things too much. By the time you have dissected a living thing you have killed it, and you no longer have the thing that you began with. Take a rose out of the bowl, pull its petal apart, count them, weigh them, measure them, and then, while you will have certain interesting information, you no longer have a rose.
 
There is a place for analysis, but it is apt to be quite fatal in prayer and meditation. Do not dissect the love of God, but feel it. Do not dissect divine intelligence, but realize it. Do not wonder how God can possibly solve this problem, but just watch Him do it in His own way – and He will if you will give Him a chance.
 
You know that God is Love. So go ahead on that, and do not get theoretical about it.
 
Do you remember the old verse that says:
 
A centipede was happy quite,
Until a frog in fun
Said, “Pray, which leg comes after which?”
This raised her mind to such a pitch,
She lay distracted in the ditch,
Considering how to run.
 
The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him: and all the upright in heart shall glory (Psalm 64:10).
 
We have all heard the phrase “thinking something to death”. While our reasoning ability is God given and is to be used for our best good, it can interfere with our spiritual progress if we let it. This happens when we let our rational side override our spiritual side with doubt, fear or resignation. Then it becomes a foothold for anxiety, cynicism and resistance to God’s will and capability.
 
Remember the Bible says, “their wisdom will make them foolish and our foolishness will make us wise”. This means our intellect can blind us to the truth that our spirit and faith reveal. This will not happen if we listen to our spirit, trust God and follow his will regardless of our intellectual resistance.
 
Keeping the rose,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

A Smile Is An Investment

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 
 
Most people feel intuitively that the simplest things in life are the most important, or, if you prefer, that the most important things in life are found to be the simplest. This is a very profound discovery. What is more important to us than breathing, for instance?
 
Another simple thing that is of great moment is a smile. A smile affects your whole body from the skin right in to the skeleton, including all blood vessels, nerves, and muscles. It affects the functioning of every organ. It influences every gland. Even one smile often relaxes a number of muscles, and when the thing becomes a habit you can easily see how the effect will mount up. Last year’s smiles are paying you dividends today.
 
The effect of a smile on other people is no less remarkable. It disarms suspicion, melts away fear and anger, and brings forth the best in the other person – which best he immediately proceeds to give to you.
 
A smile is to personal contacts what oil is to machinery, and no intelligent engineer ever neglects lubrication.
 
Rejoice evermore (1 Thessalonians 5:16).
 
This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! The best way to share gladness and radiate joy is through smiling. So today, let us share our joy with ourselves and others by manifesting our love through our smiles.
 
Smile on,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

Foresight and Hindsight

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

When you have to make a decision or take a certain action, all that you can do is to do the best you know at that time, and if you do that you will have done your duty. In the light of after events it may turn out that you made a mistake, but that will not be your fault because you could not possibly do better that the best you know at the time.
Claim that the Christ is guiding you; and believe it, and the ultimate outcome will be favorable even if things seem to go wrong for a time.
And the Lord shall guide thee continually (Isaiah 58:11).
While the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, God’s plans never do. They may seem at times that they have gone very wrong. If we trust God fully and keep to his commandments, all things will work for our best good.
In this week of Easter, please remember that the light of the world appeared to be extinguished by the shame of the cross. How wrong that appearance was!
So, trust God, love freely and give joyfully. It is God’s plan for us.
In God I trust,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

The Consecrated Life

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 
 
Of what does the consecrated life consist?
 
Your life is a consecrated one when you are ready at all times to do the will of God – when you are willing and anxious that God may be fully expressed through you, through your thoughts, words, and deeds, during every hour of the day.
 
You are not concerned with the question of results. Results belong to God.
 
Here am I; send me (Isaiah 6:8).
 
When we release the self, we open ourselves to God’s will manifesting itself through us. Our lives become sacred when God is at its center.
 
Being here to be sent,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

GOD’S WORK OF ART

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)           We are God’s masterpiece.
 
Over a hundred years ago, a group of fishermen were relaxing in a Scottish seaside inn. One of the men gestured widely and his arm struck the serving maid’s tea tray, sending the teapot flying into the whitewashed wall. The innkeeper surveyed the damage and sighed, “The whole wall will have to be replaced.” “Perhaps not,” offered a stranger. “Let me work with it”.
 
Having nothing to lose, the proprietor consented. The man pulled pencils, brushes, and pigment out of an art box. . . . In time an image began to emerge: a stag with a great rack of antlers. the man inscribed his signature at the bottom, paid for his meal, and left. His name: Sir Edwin Landseer, famous painter of wildlife.
 
In his hands, a mistake became a masterpiece. God’s hands do the same, over and over. He draws together the disjointed blotches in our life and renders them an expression of His love.
 

Each day Lord, give us the faith to truly believe that the mistakes we make can become miracles if we let you render them.

 

Render me,

Z gardener

 

Read Full Post »

Praying With A Feather

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 
 
Years ago many devoted preachers and Sunday School teachers were fond of telling people to “pray hard.” Well-meaning as this advice was, it was mistaken. I often tell people to pray “soft,” which of course, means gently.
 
I do this because I know that the more quietly and gently we pray, the better results we get. In prayer, as in many other activities, effort defeats itself. More than once I have said to my congregation, “Pray with a feather – not with a pickax.”
 
Always pray gently, and especially if you have a good deal of fear, or if your difficulty seems to be a very important one.
 
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (Psalm 86:5).
 
A gentle prayer is a sign of strong faith. It is like the calm confidence of a child who quietly asks their Father for help with a project, knowing that help will come as surely as the sunrise. Granted, there are times we pray when we are not calm ourselves. In such times it is very hard to say a calm prayer. But what one will find is that when we do exert the confidence of calmness, even a chaotic environment can become peaceful when our faith conquers our fear or hurt.
 
Praying with gentleness,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

Shack or Palace?

Posted in Good Morning on April 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 There is no use in merely saying that everything will be all right. Thinking rightly, of course, means putting God into all your affairs and expecting him to change them. For example, if you are living in a shack it is not any good pretending that it is a palace. Cheap optimism is never spiritual. Realize that you are living in a shack, but claim the Presence of God to guide you to something better.
 
Teach me the way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path … (Psalm 27:11).
 
The first step to changing our reality is to face the truth about the good and the bad. Until we have excavated the truth from under our rationalizations and fears we are doomed to repeat those things that limit and hurt us.
 
There is no better time than Holy week to dig deep, survey our reality and visualize our best future. Then, whether we see a shack or a palace, we will see clearly and can then navigate to that abode built by God for us. The first step is to say, Teach me the way, Lord and show me the plain truth.
 
Seeing clearly,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

An Experiment

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Try this experiment today. Select one particular thing in your life that is not going well and you wish to make right. Next consider the matter in the light of your knowledge of God and of prayer. Realize that this thing cannot remain inharmonious or negative once you know the Truth about it. Realize that you are now knowing the Truth and claim that the divine Power in you is now healing the condition completely and permanently.
Then give thanks. Remember that praise and thanksgiving are the most powerful prayers of all.
The next day, repeat your thanksgiving, until the answer comes.
In between prayers you must keep your thought right concerning the problem. This is vital. All-day-long guiding of your thought cannot fail to bring your demonstration.
My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord (Psalm 104:34).
One who trains and controls their thoughts will control their universe. Our thoughts are where the existence of God and mankind intersect. Let us be sure that those thoughts are glad and joyful in recognition of a relationship with God,
Sweetly thinking,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

When –

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 
 
            When your knees are knocking together, and you do not know which way to turn – think of God and His goodness.
 
When prosperity seems out of the question – give thanks for God’s abundance.
 
When you want peace of mind – dwell upon the Presence of God.
 
When your health is under par – speak the healing Word.
 
When you need inspiration – browse through the Bible.
 
When the situation seems to need a miracle – remember that nothing is too difficult for God, and the He is performing miracles every day.
 
I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee (Joshua 1:5).
 
Brothers and sisters when everything in the world fails you – Remember that God never will.
 
Faithfully,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

How Much Can God Do?

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 
The Bible tells us that God can heal us, that He can deliver us from our destructions, that He lifts up the weak, that He leads and guides us. But just how much can God do? Well, God can do almost anything. That may sound strange to those who have been taught that with God all things are possible. But there are some things that God cannot do, and it is fortunate for us that this is true.
 
God is a God of love and rules by principle, and because this is so, He cannot change His nature. He cannot break divine law. He cannot bring disease, or suffering, or lack.
 
He is always the loving Father, ready to hear and answer prayer.
 
How much can God do? He can bring heaven here and now – not by breaking the law, which is impossible to God – but by fulfilling it.
 
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (Psalm 119:18).
 
At some point in time each of us will be disappointed by someone we love and trust. Something we depend on will change and leave us struggling to cope. Someone will break the rules and our hearts at the same time. Even those we love and trust the most are human and will, at some time, act against our best good. That will never happen with God.
 
God is the one upon whom we can always depend, always trust and always, always acts for our best good. So, when the world has let us down, we have lost a loved one, our friends or family have cast us out or those upon whom we depend act undependably; there is One who is eternally faithful, trustworthy and who always puts us first. This One has created a garden for us and waits hopefully, lovingly and dependably there for us. His only desire for us is our best good, and this One will never waiver from that or leave us hurt and without hope. All we must do is turn to God and say, “Lord, I am here”.
 
Lord, I am here,
Z gardener

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »