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Our Fortress

October 28, 2008 by zgardener

Our Fortress

Read Psalm 91.
 
          He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.Observe that the poem opens by announcing the irresistible power of prayer. Then in order to bring home the fact that this law applies to us, and that by no possibility could we be an exception, it now changes over to the first person and makes us say “I.” It compels us to voice the I AM.
 
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress:  The Lord means God. How can this knowledge become a presence and refuge? Secular knowledge, which is intellectual, cannot; but the true knowledge of God is an actual experience – not a thing of the head, but of the heart – and this is indeed a Presence and a place. As a general rule, people contact this Real Self only vaguely and occasionally. Then, if they pray regularly, the gleams of intuition gradually strengthen into a definite sense of the Presence of God.
 
My God; in Him will I trust. However worried or depressed you may be, however full of doubts and misgivings, still the fact that you are praying means that you have at least enough faith for that. The faith to go on praying in the midst of doubts about results is the tiny grain of mustard seed that Jesus says is sufficient for practical purposes. Declaring in Him will I trust means that you have now determined to trust by ceasing to worry and fear. This is the legitimate and spiritual use of the will.

When we turn to God for our safety and protection, we are empowered to release our anxiety and earthly concerns about problems we face. It does not allow us to ignore the things we must do to address those issues. It simply frees us from the negative emotions which plague our spirits and our minds and replaces them with hope and confidence that “we will be delivered”.

From the fortress,

Z gardener

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The Shadow of the Almighty

October 27, 2008 by zgardener

To abide under the shadow of the Almighty means to live under the protection of God Himself. Eastern people, and especially those with a desert background, such as the people of Palestine, look upon the sun as a danger, even an enemy, from which they need to be safeguarded. Shade is sanctuary, or safety – “the shadow of a mighty rock in a weary land.” The exhausted traveler sinks down in the shade for his long-sought rest.
 
God is called “The Almighty” in order to impress us with the fact that He really is All-mighty, and can therefore overcome our present difficulty, no matter how big it may seem.
 
…for with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27).
 
Consider, however, that the promise is made to “him that dwelleth.” If we only run into the Secret Place now and again, we can scarcely be said to dwell there. God will come to our rescue whenever we pray, but if we seldom think of Him, we may experience difficulty in making our contact in an emergency. By means of daily meditation we dwell in the Secret Place.

Where we “dwell” is not the physical address where we live. It is where our thoughts, feelings and priorities reside. When out thoughts are focused on spiritual reality, our feelings are shaped by our love of God and his creation and our priorities are driven by God’s will, we dwell in the “shadow of the almighty”. It is there that we find refuge,rest and safety. It is there that “all things are possible”. May each of us reside there this day.

Made in the shade,

Z gardener

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Take God As Your Partner

October 23, 2008 by zgardener

Why not organize the business of living in a big way? Why creep along, as some people do, from one tiny stepping stone to another, instead of striding out boldly? Why be content with poor health, uninteresting work, or restricted conditions, when many other people have already risen above these things?
 
There is a way out of limitation that never fails. It is this, take God for your partner. If you will really make God your business partner in every department of your life, you will be amazed at the quick and striking results that you will obtain. Of course, if you want God to be your partner, you will have to include Him in every corner and every phase of your life.
 
Most people would be thrilled to be able to go into partnership with some great industrial or financial magnate; they would feel that their future was assured. But here is a partnership with Infinite Wisdom and Infinite Power awaiting you.
 
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5).

Including God in all our decisions really means subordinating our will and our desires to allow another to assume significant influence and ownership. When we are willing to do this with God, we have closed a deal with He who has unlimited spiritual and material capital. Sort of like going into to business with the spiritual equivalent of Warren Buffett. 

Spiritually capitalized,
Z gardener

 

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Easy Does It

October 22, 2008 by zgardener

What you concentrate upon you bring into your life. Many people fail to concentrate successfully because they think that concentration means will power. They suppose that the harder they press the faster they get through. But that is quite wrong.
 
Think of the photographic process. The secret of a clear picture lies in focus. You focus your camera lens steadily for the necessary length of time. Suppose I want to photograph a vase of flowers. I place them in front of the camera and keep them there. But suppose that after a few moments I snatch away the vase and hold a book in front of the camera, and then snatch that away, and hold up a chair, and then put the flowers back for a few moments. You know what will happen to my photograph. It will be a crazy blur. Is not that what p eople do to their minds when they cannot keep their thoughts concentrated for any length of time? They think health for a few minutes and then they think sickness or fear. They think prosperity and then they think depression. Is it any wonder that man is so apt to demonstrate the “marred image”?
 
It is always good to make a practical experiment, so I advise you to take a single problem in your life—and just change your mind concerning your problem and keep it changed for a month, and you will be astonished at the results. If you really do keep your thought changed you will not have to wait a month for results.
 
…He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Matthew 24:13).

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stay focused on the goal. Life rushes by so fact and we are bombarded by so much activity, that we seem to barely keep up. That is why daily prayer is so20important. It is the time we STOP, FOCUS and RECHARGE. When we do this, it creates the opportunity to change our minds and renew our spirits. When we do this, we will see the changes in our lives that we seek.

 
In focus,
Z gardener

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I Am That I Am

October 21, 2008 by zgardener

And… there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud…(Exodus 19:16).
 
These are dramatic expressions of the change of consciousness as we move away from the common things of life to the higher things.
 
In these days of the Exodus, the conditions of the outer world answered very quickly to man’s thoughts because people believed it was possible. Moses took his people across the Red Sea by the power of thought, and he was able to do that because in those days people believed in the power of thought. They believed that God could take them across the Red Sea dry shod, and He did.
 
Moses had the true knowledge of God from his father’s people, the Hebrews. It was the historical mission of the Hebrews to teach that God is not a limited, corporeal being, but incorporeal, infinite, divine mind.
 
Moses saw clearly the unity of God and man, and the unity of man and man. He got more than a flash of what we call the cosmic consciousness. That was his illumination. Then he realized that he must give this to humanity.

If, as we believe, that God is infinite, omniscient and omni-present, how would he manifest himself in the physical plane? Wouldn’t it be through those he created with his divine spirit and unlimited consciousness. If that is so, th en shouldn’t we be able to demonstrate His unlimited capabilities in the limited physical plane? The answer is yes, but only when we are manifesting his consciousness and will. When we remove the self from our consciousness, accept our true nature as part of God and become one with Him, we become his vehicle here below and can truly say, “I Am”. Then all things are possible.

I Am that I Am,

Z gardener

 

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Clarity and Interest

October 20, 2008 by zgardener

The key to life is to build in the mental equivalents of what you want, and to expunge the equivalents of what you do not want. You build in the mental equivalents by thinking with clearness or definiteness, and interest. Remember clarity and interest; those are the two poles. If you want to be healthy, happy, prosperous, doing a constructive work, having a continuous understanding of God, you think, feel, and get interested in these ends. What we call “feeling” in connection with thought is really interest. Ninety-nine times in a hundred the reason why Christians do not demonstrate is that they lack feeling in their desires or prayers.
 
How are you going to expunge the wrong mental equivalents? Suppose you have a mental equivalent of resentment, or of unemployment, or of criticism, o r of not understanding God. The only way to expunge a wrong mental equivalent is to supply the opposite. The right thought automatically expunges the wrong thought. If you say: “I am not going to think resentment any more,” what are you thinking about except resentment? The key to the management of your thinking, and therefore, the key to the management of your destiny, is to substitute an affirmative thought for a negative thought.
 
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me….(Psalm 138:8).

This sounds so easy, but in many cases is very hard. It is most difficult when we don’t want to let go of a resentment. or negative thought/action. The other difficulty is to think about the solution instead of the problem.
 
Thinking the solution,
 Z gardener

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God’s Abundance for Your Need

October 14, 2008 by zgardener

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT

 
Thou shalt not covet…any thing that is thy neighbour’s (Exodus 20:17).
 
There are several phrases concerning coveting. You are not to covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his. Much of the evil in the world is caused by wanting something to which one is not entitled. Moses knew what covetousness does to us in what we call today the unconscious or the subconscious.

0D

 
Coveting affects the soul of man. Even if your coveting never leads you to take anything that does not belong to you, it undermines and ultimately rots your soul. It shuts you off from God. Why? Because to covet something means that you do not understand the Law of Being. You do not understand that whatever you are getting or lacking is the outpicturing and expression of your consciousness. Until you understand that you cannot be saved.
 
There is not anything in the world that you ever conceived of that God has not got in abundance. God’s supply is infinite, and to envy someone else because he seems to have more is to deny your own contact with God.

 
When we are grateful for all the blessings we have, their is no room for covetousness. When we truly express our bounty in our own consciousness, we will not lack for anything. When we are happy for the blessings of others, we will not be unhappy if we do not have those blessings. When we truly understand that God wants for us all the things that are good for us, we will be at peace with the blessings we have. When we have true faith in God  we will look with hope and confidence to a future that is filled with all those things for which we pray. When we believe, all good things become available to us.

In gratitude,
Z gardener

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The True Witness

October 13, 2008 by zgardener

THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor (Exodus 20:16).
 
First, the obvious meaning is very important although it is only the beginning—do not tell lies about people
 
We have to apply this principle of not bearing false witness right throughout our lives. It is very important to practice because whatever you say about another person will happen to you, yourself. If you lie about another person— that is an unpleasant word but I am using it because is the right word—someone will lie about you. Jesus says so in the seventh chapter of Matthew, verses one and two:
 
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
 
However, the fundamental meaning of this commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” Is that you always express what you are. You cannot be one thing and express another. Emerson says, “What you are shouts so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” We are always witnessing to what we are. So again, “Thou shalt not” really means “You cannot”—you cannot permanentl y bear false witness.
 
The true witness is the full expression of God’s man. You will be bearing true witness to your neighbor when you are regenerated in soul. What does regeneration mean? It means the building of a new soul, not correcting the old one. When you change the soul, automatically the flesh changes, the skin changes, the blood vessels and the nerves and the bones change. But regeneration must begin with a change in the soul, not with anything in the outer world.
 
When we really know these things, we shall be bearing true witness.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a fully regenerated soul today? It is possible to go to sleep tonight with a brand new soul. Try this. Just for today, think and act in accordance with the ten commandments. Accept that God can, and is, sending you all you need to be happy and joyful. Release all your doubt and fear just for today. (You can come back fo r them later if you still want them). Finally, face the truth about yourself, ask for forgiveness, let go of all your guilt and self-recrimination because God does not want you to have them. Now this can be done in one day, or you can take a life time to do it or you can never do it. Which sounds best to you? 

Living new,
 Z gardener

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By Right of Consciousness

October 10, 2008 by zgardener

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

 
Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15).
 
Many people will say, “We always knew that we must not steal. If  we do we shall have trouble and probably wind up in prison.” All through the ages it is only the smallest percentage of human beings who have stolen. Respect for other people’s property was learned early in the history of civilization. However, this most fundamental law of life means that actually we cannot steal. You may say you know someone who broke into your house and took your silver. The burgl ar who took your silver actually transferred some silver from your house to someone else’s house, but did he get away with it? If that silver belonged to you by right of conciousness, all the burglars in the world could not have taken it away. In fact, if you had this understanding, you could take a ten dollar bill, put it on the sidewalk in Times Square, and return the next day and it would still be there. Your consciousness of the presence of God in other people would have been so strong that no one could have taken from you what belonged to you by right of that consciousness.
 
These ten laws of life are things that cannot be done, and so, says the great prophet in effect, do not waste yourself or your life trying to do these things. They cannot be done. They conflict with the fundamental Law of Being.
 
When we give up trying to steal, then we shall begin to have our own. We shall come into our own rights, and when20we get that, liberation will not be very far off.

This says we cannot take anything that does not belong to us. In fact, one can take something but we cannot get away with it. Just as we receive more than we give, we lose more than we take of that which belongs to someone else. Tithing is a perfect example of taking what is not ours. Failing to give away that which is not ours is a way of stealing. If someone needs our attention, love, concern or sympathy, we are stealing when we deny them. It is our duty as children of God to give to Him that which is his and to respect that which belongs to another and to give and share freely that which is ours.
 
Giving today,
Z gardener

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A Time To Rest

October 9, 2008 by zgardener

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
 
Read Exodus 20:8-11.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8).
 
This commandment about the Sabbath Day was given to the people at the time of their leaving Egypt and going into the desert, and on the surface it meant what it said for that age. It was a wonderful thing in Moses’day to insist that everyone set aside one day a week to think about God or at least to oblige him to stop his20secular activities. No rule can make a man religious, or give him faith, but it can help.
 
Like all the other commandments, this one is instruction in seeking the presence of God everywhere, particularly where the trouble seems to be. Where there is fear and doubt He brings faith, where there is lack He brings abundance.
 
But here in this commandment about the Sabbath Day there is a still deeper meaning. When you are praying every day and recognizing that God is working in you and in all your affairs, there will be a sense in which every day will be a Sabbath, because for you every day will be a holy day. One of the most wonderful things about the Bible teaching is that we get rid of the distinction between the sacred and the secular. That is one of the most important steps in the whole history of the soul.
 
God is present everywhere. For those who understand Jesus’ teaching, it is always the Sabbath Day, and the place whereon they stand is holy ground.

There is a great benefit to setting aside time to rest, reflect and remove ourselves from our daily duties. Just as morning prayers set the tone for the day and remind us of the true nature of our existence, the Sabbath Day does the same for our week. God himself set aside a day after creation to reflect on his work and determine it was “very good”. When we charge through life without taking time to enjoy our accomplishments and analyze our shortcomings, we lose perspective and where we are in life. In short, we can lose our way. Let us start each day with Sabbath time and then take one day a week to revel in God’s love and our relationship with him. Then we will understand fully this commandment.

Keeping the day,
Z gardener

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