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Comment on “That Illogical Fellow”

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 14, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes it is just hard to expect success on something that has plagued us and seemed immutable to all we do to make it go away. Whether a personal weakness, a relationship gone bad, or an external circumstance that causes us problems. These are things which try our souls and test our faith. Why, we ask, have our prayers gone unanswered? There are as many answers to the why question as there are people asking them. Perhaps they have been answered and we do not recognize it, maybe we aren’t ready for them to be answered or there is something we still must learn. Whatever the why, the key is to accept this truth. God can and will resolve any issue if we steadfastly follow his will and abide in his spirit  That is our part of the equation. Yes it is hard to continue in patient expectation of success when it does not seem to appear. But that is the definition of faith.

In faith,
Z Gardener

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That Illogical Fellow

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 14, 2008| Leave a Comment »

 
People sometimes say, “ I believe firmly in the spiritual teaching, and I have done so for years, but I have never been able to make it work—isn’t that strange?” And sometimes they say this with quite an air of triumph.
 
Such people remind me of a man who used to boast that he had an ailment that no one could heal. He had successfully defied every school of healing and had emerged triumphantly still in possession of his affliction. As it happens, his wife did heal him later on by prayer alone, but she was a patient and persevering woman. That man’s wife probably points the way to the overcoming of such illogicality. The key to success lies in just the qualities that she obviously had; patience combined with a gentle and unhurried expectation of success.
 
The patient whom she healed is not a rare specimen, nor is he unknown to any one of us. We are all likely to encounter him under our own hat at any moment!
 
I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works…

(Revelation 2:19).

 

 

 

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Tidal Water Heals

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »

If you have explored some of the back waters within a few miles of the ocean you will know how much difference tidal water makes. Here you come upon a stagnant pool, partly covered with weeds and slime, an unpleasant place to be near. Not far away is another pool but this is filled with clean, salt-smelling sea water, and the growing things around it are pleasant and wholesome. The difference is that in one case the living ocean water pours in twice a day charged with vitality, and then flows out again carrying away anything stale or lifeless. It is this circulation of life that makes the difference between the two pools.
 
When the tide is out, we sometimes see a boat stranded, unable to move, but we know that this condition is only temporary because the tide always comes back and re floats the boat. As long as you keep up your daily visit with God, your soul is open to tidal water, and even if you should seemingly be left high and dry for a period, it is only a question of time before the living ocean will float you off once more.
 
Keep your soul flooded with the tidal water of eternal life and …nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

The health of our spiritual lives in determined by our closeness to God. Communion with God is a lot like eating and drinking water. We must consume enough healthy food and drink every day with if we are to grow and remain strong. That communion is enabled through prayer. And just as we would starve and become weak if we tried to eat and drink through a tiny straw, we must have a full and balanced diet of prayer to develop fully. Also, we must not feed our spirits unwholesome products or overindulge in good th ings lest we poison souls or bloat them in spiritual excess (self-righteousness). Let our lives each day be filled and flushed with a tide of healthy prayer and clean thoughts, words and deeds.

From the tidal pool,
Z Gardener

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You Can’t, But God Can

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

 
The spiritual forces that created and sustain the whole universe are available to help you at any time—provided you call upon them intelligently. The way to call upon this Power is to become quiet both mentally and physically, and then to call upon it quietly to do what it knows to be necessary. Do not dictate ways and means.
 
Have you ever seen a huge hoist in action at the docks? You know what happens. The operator would not dream of trying to pull up that load with his muscles. He would damage himself seriously and make no impression on the task in hand.=2 0What he does is to gently throw a small switch—and leave it in. Then the electric power raises the load to any height required.
 
When you work spiritually you are applying Infinite Power to your problem,and there can be but one outcome—victory.
 
Great in counsel and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men (Jeremiah 32:19).

As humans we tend to be all about the ways and means of things. In essence this is really about our will and desires being manifested in our lives. In reality, we must seek God’s will in our lives and trust Him with the ways and means of things. That is not to say that we should not have goals or desires, but that they should comport with those of God. It is then that all the power in the universe becomes available to us.

Letting God,
Z Gardener

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Great Is Diana

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

 Read Acts 19:1-41.
 
This is an extremely colorful and dramatic chapter even for the Bible, which is so full of color and drama. Every problem has a solution. Some problems last a long time, some a short time, but always there is a solution, and always the solution is to turn from the outer to the inner. When you admire some outer, passing thing too much, and thus give power to the manifestation, you are saying, “Great is Diana.” When you fear some outer thing or condition or person, then you are also saying, “Great is Diana.” And when you sa y, “Great is Diana,” then your troubles really begin.
 
The First Commandment is, “I am the Lord thy God”—God, spirit, nothing outside. There is not a single trouble or heartache that has ever come to us, that has not come directly through saying, “Great is Diana,” and forgetting God.
 
Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (Psalm 147:5).

Whether worshipping the moon goddess or fearing the tax man, mankind fails to put God first when we act in ways that leaves him out of the picture. This is the source of all our woes.
 
In our greatest triumphs or our deepest sorrows, it is the inner self, from and of God, that holds the key to Eden. When we live in His consciousness, obey His will and express His holy spirit in all we think, say and do, we are putting Him first. Therein lies the solution to all problems and the path to limitless joy.
 
In His spirit,
Z Gardener

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Only Your Own Thoughts

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 8, 2008| Leave a Comment »

No matter what problem you may have to face today, there is a solution, because you have nothing to deal with but your own thoughts. As you know, you have the power to select and control your thoughts, difficult though it may be at times to do so. As long as you think that your destiny is in the hands of other people, the situation is hopeless.

Remind yourself constantly that you have nothing to deal with but your own thoughts. Write it down where you will see it often. Have it on your desk. Hang it in your bedroom. Write it in your pocketbook. Write it on your soul. It will transform your life. It will lead you out of the land of Egypt and out of the House of Bondage. It will bring you to God.
 
I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies (Psalm 119:59).

The only thing we can truly control in this universe is our own thoughts. The good news is that the entire universe will yield to those same thoughts. In fact, our universe is our thoughts. As upside down as that seems, think of this. Two people are sitting side by side in their cars going to work. Both see exactly the same thing. One thinks what a beautiful day it is and how blessed he is to be alive and riding in the sunshine. The other thinks its a rotten day and what a drag it is to be stuck in traffic staring into the blaring sun. One’s universe is heavenly, while the other’s is hellish. Well, one may say that’ s just their attitude, not the universe. The fact is they are one and the same. We are what we think, and our world is what we think about it.

One more point to consider. Two guys are admiring a fine sports car one sees and blue car, the other sees a green one. There are not two cars. One of the gentlemen is simply color blind. What are we being blind about in how we see the world around us?

Choosing my thoughts,
Z Gardener

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Seeking and Finding

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 7, 2008| Leave a Comment »

People are very apt to find what they seek. You have noticed that people who go about looking for trouble, practically always find it. The popular proverb, “Listeners seldom hear good of themselves,” is an example. We also know people who love to say that they never have any luck. When things seem to go against them, they exclaim triumphantly, “Wouldn’t you know it?—that is what always happens to me!”

 
Now, such a mistaken person needs only to alter this habit and he will automatically alter his life. It is often difficult to20get such people to make this alteration, but if they do the result is never in doubt. Spiritual law says that it is never too late to mend, and that when we seek God’s help we find it.
 
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth;for I am God, and there is none else (Isaiah 45:22).

While I have no idea what this proverb means, I do know that when we expect trouble we draw it to ourselves. God instructs us to live with hope and confidence that he will provide everything we need if we live according to his will. This philosophy of negative expectation supplants our will for his and defies his instruction. Fatalism and defeatism are often used to rationalize or cloak the fear of taking a risk, self doubt, the unwillingness to accept God’s will or simple laziness. Expect and seek good in all things and it will be found.

In hope, confidence and expectation,
Z Gardener

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What Is Your Act?

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 6, 2008| Leave a Comment »

People are to be judged by their actions. We sometimes hear it said, “His conduct is bad but at heart he means well”; but this is nonsense. In the old-fashioned phrase, “handsome is as handsome does.”

 
The bad-tempered person cannot possibly have a “heart of gold” as is sometimes charitably sa id. A bad-tempered person has a mean, selfish heart and should get busy and change it without delay.
 
One who loves does not seek his own advantage. Love acts the part, and anything else is hypocrisy.
 
…be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).

While we are not to judge and condemn others, we do have to make judgements daily about others motives. We are instructed not to cast our pearls before the swine and not to give that which is holy unto to dogs. That does not relieve us of the responsibility to love and forgive even the most mean-spirited or selfish among us. It is simply to help inform our decisions in order to shape our actio ns. If we are to surround ourselves with holy, loving and selfless people that lift us up and to avoid those which bring us down, we must first know the difference.
 
Choosing holiness,
Z Gardener

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Your Daily Visit With God

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 5, 2008| Leave a Comment »

We all know that it is God alone who is our peace—although nearly all of us tend to forget it from time to time. We forget it when we begin to neglect our daily visit with God.

Now, when you think that you are too busy for your daily visit, let me ask you frankly, what wonderful thing are you doing that is more important? There is nothing that you could possibly do with that time that would bring you greater benefit than perfect peace. As a matter of fact, if you have something very important and urgent to do, your visit will make that very important thing go through much more easily and successfully.
 
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace… (Job 22:21).
 
There is nothing we can do for ourselves that will be better for us than to start each day in communion with God. There is nothing we can do for others that will be better for them than to start our day in prayer. Each day we do this, it will create in us a grateful spirit, which a wise man once said is the perfect prism through which to view our lives. Through that prism we correctly see life in a joyful and peaceful way, full of blessings and filled with opportunity. Without that prism, we dimly see and faintly experience a false reality as though peering through a veil.

In prism vision,
Z Gardener

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Rough Road

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on August 4, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Everyone on the spiritual path has found that it happens occasionally in the early years—and not often then—that he suddenly finds himself almost or quite unable to pray. Often it seems that he cannot get any sense of contact with God. This naturally depresses him and sometimes leads to greater fear and almost to despair.
 
Now, these severe reactions are not necessary, once you know that everyone goes through them.
 
This trouble is caused by overdoing. You have been praying too long or too hard, or you have been giving too much time to spiritua l work exclusively, instead of having other interests in your life too. It is really a condition of staleness and psychological congestion. The medieval mystics called these times “seasons of dryness” and suffered severely because they believed them to be sinful.
 
The remedy is not to struggle, but to know that this dryness will surely pass, and your spiritual joy return. If you cannot pray, do not try, but think, “God is so good that I need not pray; he will take care of me anyway.” (Of course, this itself is a wonderful prayer.) On a long motor tour, it sometimes happens that you come upon a piece of rough, bad road. For hundreds of miles the going has been perfect, but now you are shaken and bumped badly, but you do not worry, because you know for certain that it will only last for a few miles. Indeed, there is probably a notice saying “Pavement ahead.”
 
…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalms 30:5)

To every day there is a season. In our striving to be faithful and righteous, let us each day make time to express and enjoy the fruits of God’s love. Just as we must spend time each day preparing our soil and seeking God’s will, we must also spend time each day enjoying God’s bounty and demonstrating gladness. It is when we have achieved a balance in these things that are prayers are rich, our soil is well prepared and our Garden is blooming.

In gladness,

Z Gardener

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