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Coming of Age

June 23, 2008 by zgardener

Coming of Age
            As you grow in spiritual power and understanding you will find that many outer regulations will become unnecessary; but this will be because you have really risen above them. This point in your development, where your understanding of Truth enables you to dispense with certain outer props and regulations, is the spiritual coming of age.

 
However, this spiritual coming of age cannot be hurried or forced, but must appear when the consciousness is ready, exactly as the flowering of a bulb can only be the result of natural growth. You have to demonstrate where you are. To seek to demonstrate beyond your understanding is not spiritual. Fix your attention upon spiritual things, and without consciously trying to make haste you will be amazed to discover the pace at which your soul has hastened.
 
To take a simple example: Suppose that in a street accident you find that a man has severed an artery and the blood is spurting out. The normal course is that unless this bleeding is stopped the victim will die. Now, what is the spiritual attitude to take in such a case? Claim the ability of God to heal. If your faith is strong enough the severed artery will immediately be healed. But if your faith fails, you must take the usual steps to save the man’s life by immediately improvising a tourniquet, or whatever the proper procedure may be, still claiming divine aid.
 
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised) …(Hebrews 10:23).

With great freedom comes great responsibility. As we mature spiritually we must be ever conscious that as our spiritual power grows, we must use it more to serve God every day. If we let it start serving ourselves, then we turn on to a very unsafe path that will deny us further spiritual growth.  If we proceed down that path, it will lead us to a loss of spiritual power and ultimately to our downfall. 

Staying on the path,
Z Gardener

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As A Man Thinketh

June 20, 2008 by zgardener

            Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

 
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18).
 
A “jot” or yod was the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, like the Greek “iota.” A “tittle” (really “little horn”) is one of those tiny spurs or projections that distinguish certain Hebrew letters.
 
The scribes and the Pharisees were for the most part worthy men leading strictly moral lives according to appearances. Their faults were the weaknesses of the religious formalist everywhere—spiritual pride and self-righteousness. Of these faults they were unconscious—that is the deadly malice of these diseases of the soul—but they did strive to fulfil the law, as they understood it. Jesus knew this, and he gave them credit for it. Here he warns his followers that unless their practical conduct is better than that of these people, they need not suppose that they are engaged on the spiritual path.

The most dangerous traps are the ones we can not see. This is especially true of spiritual pride more commonly referred to as the “holier than thou” syndrome. When we say in the Lord’s Prayer “lead us not into temptation” it is referring to this form of spiritual corruption. After we have been led to God, the unseen sin that traps many of us is self righteousness. When we are thinking “We are good, therefore we must be right or better than someone else” we are on truly dangerous ground. What we should be thinking is “God is good and it is only through his grace and mercy that we are redeemed from sin.” We are no better than the least among us. If we lose sight of that we are in more peril than the least among us.

Z Gardener

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Peace, the Miracle Worker

June 19, 2008 by zgardener

Regeneration means building a new mentality; that is, creating a new soul in place of your present one. It does not mean merely improving your present self—it means producing (through the power of God, of course), a new self.

 
If you do this, everything else in your life will rapidly change for the better. Other people will become much more friendly to you. Because your soul will be filled with peace, you will radiate peace, and other people will get it intuitively. Everybody likes peace and harmony and they are attracted to any source from which it comes.
 
Naturally you cannot radiate peace if you do not first possess it within yourself. You cannot radiate anything from the outside. To radiate any quality, that quality must be within yourself.
 
True peace of mind is the short cut to regeneration. The Master said,
 
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you (John 14:27).

Peace is being free from doubt, fear, worry, anxiety and all the other negative responses to our environment. It does not come from eliminating all the problems and troubles in our worlds. It does come from burying our human selves and being reborn as the spiritual selves that God created us to be. It is not achieved through exerting our will, but by accepting God’s will. Peace of mind flows from a godly spirit.

Peace be with you,

Z Gardener

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Exceeding Righteousness

June 18, 2008 by zgardener

             Read Matthew 5:17-20.

 
If anyone were so insane as to suppose that the knowledge of the Truth of Being could put him “above” the moral law, in the sense of authorizing him to break it, he would speedily discover that he had made a tragic mistake. The more spiritual knowledge that one possesses, the more severe is the punishment which one brings upon oneself by any infraction of the moral law. The Christian has to be very much more careful than other people. Indeed, all real spiritual understanding must necessarily be accompanied by definite moral improvement. A theoretical acceptance of the letter of Truth might go with moral carelessness (greatly to the peril of the delinquent), but it is impossible to make any real spiritual progress unless you are trying your very best to live the life. It is impossible to divorce true spiritual knowledge from right conduct.
 
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).

The truth shall set us free from everything except the requirement that our words, thoughts and deeds reflect God’s shining love in every way. True freedom comes from accepting God’s will freely and living it fully. The real yoke that fetters us to darkness is the denial of this truth.

Free to do right,

Z Gardener

 

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CITY OF LIGHT

June 17, 2008 by zgardener

CITY OF LIGHT
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32).

 
Never try to force other people to accept spiritual truth. Instead, see to it that they are so favorably impressed by your own life and conduct, and by the peace and joy that radiate from you, that they will come running to you of their own accord, begging you to give them the wonderful thing that you have. To do this is to make your soul truly the city upon a hill that cannot be hidden because it is the City of God. This is to let your light shine to the glorifying of your Father which is in Heaven.
The light we radiate is a reflection of  God’s light that we let into in our lives. The more of God’s light we let in, the more brightly we shine.  Its like we are God’s diamonds. Starting as a lump of coal enduring life’s heat and pressure we become spiritual diamonds in the rough (no heat + no pressure = no diamond). God, wielding the stone cutter’s chisel to our human nature, chips away the rough edges of self, ego, pride and vanity to create a brilliant and enduring gem. Today, let us reflect all the brilliance God shines on us.

Reflecting,

Z Gardener

 

Gardener’s note: Starting today, the order of these daily thoughts will change slightly. The thought will be first and the gardener’s observations will be at the end. Also, today, two new families begin to share this time with us. Both families radiate much light for those around them. Both are encountering some passing darkness in their lives today. Please take a moment today to claim God’s presence with them and shine some of your light in their directions. God will make sure it gets to the right place. Thank you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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June 16, 2008 by zgardener

THE SHINING LIGHT

            Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

 
The state of your soul is always expressed in your outer conditions and in the intangible influence that you radiate at large. There is a cosmic law that nothing can permanently deny its own nature. Emerson said: “what you are shouts so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” The soul that is built upon prayer cannot be hidden, it shines out brightly through the life that it lives. It speaks for itself, but in utter silence, and does much of its best work unconsciously. Its mere presence heals and blesses all around it.

When our lives are filled with darkness, our spirits drained and seemingly lifeless and our burdens crushing us beneath their weight, it seems impossible that our light could shine forth as a beacon to others. Yet, in precisely those times others are watching to see if our faith and relationship with God will lift us up on eagles wings. It is also in those times that we must turn to God for the strength and courage to persevere. Let us today use our challenges to draw closer to God and enlighten others to the hope and faith that come from being close to Him. As Robert Service said in his poem, The Quitter, “It’s dead easy to quit, it’s the keeping your chin up that’s hard”.  So let’s keep our chins up, and remember that someone in a dark place needs our light.

Shine on,

Z Gardener

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LIGHT OF THE WORLD

June 13, 2008 by zgardener

There is a way to conduct our lives as instructed by Jesus and as described in the Bible. But we can not find that way by ourselves, depending on our human intelligence and will. Simply put, we are incapable of overcoming the world around us by ourselves. To be the people and spirits God created us to be, we must follow his will and depend on his unlimited power to make it work. The good news is that we can be absolutely sure that will work. It does not mean that we will be perfect or that life will have no challenges or heartaches. It does mean that we will be empowered to overcome the challenges and live in joy and hope each day.

Passing the salt,

Z Gardener

SALT AND LIGHT

            Read Matthew 5:13-16.

 
In the fifth chapter of Matthew are recorded some of the most powerful pronouncements of Jesus.
 
Ye are the salt of the earth…Ye are the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14).
 
It is possible, and, in fact, only too easy, to accept these vital principles as being true; to love the beauty in them; and yet not to put them consistently into practice in one’s own life; but this is a perilous attitude, for in that case the salt has lost its savor, and is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden underfoot.
 
If you make every effort to practice the teachings of Jesus in every department of your own daily life; if you seek systematically to destroy in yourself selfishness, pride, vanity, sensuality, self-righteousness, jealousy, self-pity, resentment, condemnation, and so forth—not feeding or nourishing them by giving in to them; if you extend the right thought loyally to every person within your ken, then you are worthy to be called the salt of the earth.
 
If you truly live this life, then not only will you make your own demonstration, in the quickest possible time, but you will be, in a very positive sense, a healing and illumining influence on all around you. You will be a blessing to men and women in remote places and times, men and women of whom you have never heard, and who will never hear of you—a light of the world.

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SEEING CHRIST IN OTHERS

June 12, 2008 by zgardener

Looking through the faults and weaknesses of others to see the best (Christ) in them is not the same as “seeing them through rose colored glasses”. It is the exact opposite. It is seeing others through the equivalent of x-ray glasses. It penetrates through all the false and illusory physical appearance, human artifices, defenses and rationalizations to see the true person. That is, the spirit that God created and for which each of us was born to be the temple. What a great world it would be if we saw everyone in it as beautiful God-created spirits put here to bring joy and gladness. How great it would be to see ourselves that way also.

Seeing the real you,
Z Gardener

SEEING CHRIST IN OTHERS

            We often hear the expression “saluting the Christ in him,” or “seeing the Christ in him,” and we may well ask ourselves what that phrase really means. It is simply the practical application of the rule of Jesus Christ.

 
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment (John 7:24).
 
Each of us has a divine Self that is spiritual and perfect but that is never seen on this plane. That is the true man, God’s man, and is what we sometimes call “the Christ within.” Now whenever you dwell upon or realize the presence of the Christ within yourself or within anyone else, outer appearances begin at once to improve. If somebody displeases you, silently salute the Christ in him. If someone says something against John Smith’s character, salute the Christ in him, refuse to discuss the matter, and of course do not repeat it.
 
The more often you salute the Christ in others, the sooner you will find Him in yourself.

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TAKE STOCK OF YOUR RELIGION

June 11, 2008 by zgardener

What we put into our religion does not always happen at church or in prayer. It also happens in our thoughts, words and deeds and in every moment of our being. They way we treat a stranger or the one we love the most, the way we feel when someone hurts us and even how we think are all part of what we put into our religion. So, today let us be mindful of everything we do, think or say and ask ourselves, “is this bringing me closer to God?”  

Staying close,
Z Gardener

TAKE STOCK OF YOUR RELIGION

            What has your religion done for you? For years probably, you have been attending church, reading spiritual books, studying the Bible. Now I suggest that you have a spiritual stocktaking. Ask yourself what difference religion has made in your life, in your home, in your affairs. How much peace of mind has it given you? How much courage? How much understanding? How much opportunity for service? For, make no mistake, real religion does give all these things.

 
If your spiritual stocktaking does not turn out to be satisfactory, I believe that you will find the explanation to lie in the following law: What you put into your religion, that you get out of it.
 
If you put in 5 percent of yourself, you will receive a 5 percent dividend or demonstration. If you put in 20 percent of yourself, you will receive a 20 percent demonstration. Complete returns call for a 100 percent investment.
 
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might… (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

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CLAIM YOUR WINGS

June 10, 2008 by zgardener

The thing to remember about the caterpillar is that it has no clue about what is happening. It is not unlike our experience when God sends us a dramatic change in our lives. Suddenly we find ourselves tightly bound in a cocoon with no where to go and no way to get out. Trapped, it would seem, in a prison of our own making. Then, in a time frame unknown to us, we emerge as a totally different and beautiful new creature with amazing new capabilities. The other thing to remember about the caterpillar is it has no capability to doubt its circumstances, so it just does it without hesitation and everything works out in a miraculous way. It would work the same way for us if we doubt less and act on faith more.
 

CLAIM YOUR WINGS

            To me the butterfly teaches the most important lesson that we human beings ever have to learn. You all know his story. He lived what seemed to him a very long time as a worm—what we call the humble caterpillar. Now the life of a caterpillar could be taken as the very type and symbol of restriction. He lives on a green leaf in the forest, and that is about all he knows.

 
Then one day the little caterpillar finds certain strange stirrings going on within himself. The old green leaf, for some reason, no longer seems sufficient. He becomes moody and discontented, but—and this is the vital point—it is a divine discontent. He feels the need for a bigger, finer, and more interesting life. His instinct tells him that where there is true desire there must be fulfillment.
 
And so the wonderful thing happens: the butterfly emerges beautiful, graceful, now endowed with wings, and instead of crawling about on a restricted leaf, he soars above the trees, above the forest itself—free, unrestricted, his own True Self.
 
…Eye hath not seen, nor heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

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