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Archive for the ‘Good Morning’ Category

The 13th Hour

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

           Some wonderful demonstrations come at the eleventh hour. Others come at the twelfth hour. And some of the deepest and most far-reaching demonstrations come at the thirteenth hour – if you maintain the right attitude. What, after all, is the right attitude? It is simply knowing the Truth of Being instead of accepting the error.
 
Many people are aware of this, and they work in the right way – for a while. If, however, the demonstration has not arrived a little before the eleventh hour, they give up in despair, and naturally their prayer is not answered. But, this can only mean that they do not really believe.
 
If your statements of Truth are true, they are true whether the victory comes at eleven or twelve or one o’clock. State the Truth of Being concerning the problem. Hold to it even after twelve o’clock has struck, and you will be surprised at the wonderful good that can come to you at the thirteenth hour.
 
The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that is cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear (Isaiah 59:1).

Our faith is truly tested when it appears that our prayer will not be answered. When the hands on the clock have passed the time we e assigned for the deliverance we seek, we often begin to doubt. This is when it is most important to believe and to refuse to accept anything but the truth that God can and will do all things for our best good. How many times have we faltered within sight of the finish line? If we do not quit, if we live in the truth that God is the only power and if we remain firm in our faith, God will fill us with peace=2 0and surround us with it. So, “Be strong and of a good courage.”  Put God first and all else will be accomplished in God’s time, even in the thirteenth hour.

To paraphrase a popular song, “We’re gonna wait till thirteenth hour”.

Faithfully,

Z gardener

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Brains or Excelsior?

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

 
           You all know the Great Law. One way of stating it is to say: Like produces like. What we sow in thought we reap in experience.
 
People know that these things are true, and yet in spite of this transcendent knowledge they constantly use the Great Law for their own destruction. They would not dream of pouring water in the gas tank of their car, or sand into their watch, or broken glass into their food; but they do something just as foolish every time they think, speak, or act negatively. One cannot help wondering what such people have inside their heads – brains or excelsior.
 

In the future, when you catch yourself thinking negatively, say to your self severely, “Brains or excelsior?” and immediately switch to what you know to be the Truth of Being.
 
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord… (Ephesians 6:8).

This is easier said than done but it works without fail.

Positively sure,
Z gardener

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The Good God

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

 
God knows everything, at all times. The Bible sometimes speaks of God as having changed His mind or being disappointed. God is supposed to have tested Abraham’s obedience in the matter of Isaac. God is supposed to have had His plans upset by the misconduct of Adam and Eve, by the general wickedness of humanity before the flood, and, in fact, He is frequently represented as being disappointed and even frustrated by the conduct of mankind. In orthodox theology, the devil was continually upsetting God’s arrangements and bringing his plans to naught. Indeed, to listen to some preachers, one would have supposed that the devil was a good deal more powerful than God.
 
Of course, all this is nonsense. Such things could not be really true of God. It was Abraham’s idea of God that led him to prepare to kill Isaac. It was the wickedness of mankind in the antediluvian world that brought on the flood as a natural consequence, just as the fears, hatreds, jealousies, and greed of mankind over many years have brought on war.
 
We make an idolatrous image of ourselves and call it God. Let us destroy this image today and worship the true God who is infinite and unchanging Good.
 
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent … (Number 23:19).

We always err when we try to limit God to human scale. Even when we attempt to describe God we are limited by human speech and understanding. When we attempt to saddle God with human weaknesses, we are reducing God to our scale. It is when we accept the fact that we lack the capacity to fully comprehend God that our true awareness begins. Then we can open ourselves to the truth as revealed to us by an all-knowing God. This truth is that God loves us, forgives us and showers us with grace when we believe in and follow God’s will in our lives. We will never have to worry if God gets angry at us as long as we follow the path God has laid down for us. Then, just as Adam and Eve, we can live freely and without shame or guilt in the garden created for us and in communion with a loving and caring God.
 
God is good,
z gardener

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Theoretical Centipede

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 19, 2009| 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).

This is not to say that we should avoid intellectual rigor and natural curiosity or that we should accept less than logical soundness. It is to say that too much of either is a channel for vanity, pride and ego to flow into our spirit and create rivers of doubt and lakes of rationalizations that will impede the passage to our Eden. It means, “trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall see glory”.

Entrusting,

Z gardener

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A Smile Is An Investment

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 16, 2009| 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).

A smile may appear to be an outward expression but it actually comes from the inside. A true smile is more than just having our lips turned up on the ends. It is the result of expressing (pressing outward) an inner joy, love, peace, understanding or other positive feelings or thoughts. Obviously, if these mental or spiritual states do not exist in us, we can not sincerely express them outwardly.

But even when we h ave none of these feelings inside we should still smile. Why? Because it is a great tonic and will help make us and others feel better. It is still a good investment. So, even when we don’t feel like smiling, we should do it anyway. Then we will find ourselves creating inward feelings that we can then show as a true smile. The smile becomes the pathway for positive feelings to come into our hearts. Remember, we are instructed by God that “this is the day the lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it”.

In joy and gladness,

Z Gardener

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The Consecrated Life

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 14, 2009| 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 consecrate ourselves to God being fully expressed through our thoughts, words and deeds, we must give up some things. Vanity, pride and ego must take a back seat to obedience, selflessness and outgoing love. We must release our desire to manage and control every action and every outcome in our lives. We have to be willing to allow God’s will to flow through us and to follow God’s will where it directs us. In short, we must become a servant. Giving up up this control is very difficult and the desire to exert our will over our world is a basic human instinct we must overcome. When we do these things we rise above all human limitation and weakness while becoming the conduit for God’s will in the world. Then we are capable of accomplishing anything and then we experience God’s peace and joy. All things are possible to those who love the Lord and obey God’s will.

Seeking servitude,
Z gardener

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Tail Wags Dog

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

          Man controls his own life. The Bible says that God has given him “dominion over all things,” and this is true when he understands the Truth; and the Truth is that our outer conditions – your environment – are not cause; they are effect. You are not happy because you are well. You are well because you are happy. You do not have faith because things are going well. They are going well because you have faith. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but trouble has come because your realization of the Truth had first fallen off.
 
The secret of life then is to control your mental states. To accept sickness, trouble, and failure as unavoidable, and perhaps inevitable, is folly, because it is this very acceptance by you that keeps these evils in existence. Man is not limited by his environment. He creates his environment by his beliefs and feelings. To suppose otherwise is like thinking that the tail can wag the dog.
 
If you have been thinking that outer conditions are stronger that you are, say to yourself: “Tail wags dog” and immediately reverse the belief.
 
… who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? (Galatians 5:7).

Understanding this truth is essential to exercising the dominion God gave us in the way intended. It is a tough one to accept for most people. To understand this truth, we have to accept personal responsibility for the condition of our lives. But as God told Joshua, “be strong and of a good courage..turn neither to the left nor to the right..and ye shall prosper”. When we dedicate ourselves to controlling our mental state, we are on the path to controlling our environment. Then we will be able to exercise dominion over all things for our best good and the good of the world around us.

Taking responsibility,

Stan

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Praying With A Feather

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 12, 2009| 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 difficult y 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).

The essence of prayer and in fact all communion with God is not physical. Think of it this way. If one grips a golf club too tightly it will lower your score, or if one presses too hard on a writing instrument it will make their handwriting worse. Also, both tend to indicate an insecurity or lack of  practice and confidence. So it is with spiritual matters. The harder we pray the more we grip the club. When our we practice our faith each day, do the spiritual exercises of prayer and communion and become comfortable with our spiritual selves, our faith is strong and prayer becomes effortless. It is when we lack faith or when we try to force God into our limited physical understanding that we tighten and grip and feel the need to swing harder. To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, “pray softly and carry a big faith, and you will go far”.

Touching him softly,

Z gardener

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Shack or Palace?

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 9, 2009| 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).

         Cheap optimism, besides not being spiritual, actually blocks us from understanding our true state of affairs. If we do not have a clear-eyed view of our reality, then what we seek from God will be wrong. We will be unable to ascertain the things for which we need help. We will not be able to confess and ask forgiveness for the real issues that cause our problems.  It is like the man with a blindfold touching an elephant’s tail and thinking it was a snake. 

         When we understand our true reality and face the facts of our lives with uncompromising clarity, then we are in a position to seek and get God’s help. So, let us look around ourselves and take an accurate accounting of our reality. Then, God will open a path for us to the “something better” he has planned. Then we can seek forgiveness, experience repentance and think rightly. Then God will deliver us to a better place of joy and peace.

In clarity,

Z gardener

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An Experiment

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 8, 2009| 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).

Believing that God is answering our prayers is easier when things are going well in our lives. Unfortunately, it is precisely when things are not going well that faith is most important. In such times, it is much harder to exhibit joy and gladness and to accept that he is working for our best good. The key to overcoming this problem is to count our blessings, thank God for them and adopt an “attitude of gratitude”. This creates in us a pathway to faith through the thickets of fear and doubt.

When we express our thankfulness and adopt a grateful spirit, we recognize and affirm all the blessings God has already given us. We also remind ourselves that we have a basis for faith. This also creates a mindset that under-girds and reinforces our faith. Even in the toughest of circumstances, if we lean of God for our strength and surrender to God’s will, the Almighty will give us peace and open our eyes to the joy and gladness in our lives. Then we can more easily believe and accept that God is answering our prayers.

Faithfully,

Z gardener

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