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Life Is Like That

June 21, 2012 by zgardener

You form certain beliefs, for one reason or another—and then you have to live with them. When you were growing up, well-meaning people told you many negative things by way of warning, thereby implanting fears; and these fears are with you today, consciously or subconsciously.
You meet your fears dramatized. The things that we fear in our hearts have a way of coming to us in the guise of other people’s acts; of business conditions; of a breakdown in some part of the body.
Thank God it is not necessary as a rule to delve into the recesses of the subconscious and dredge for these things. In the spiritual teaching, as given in the Bible, we learn that by beating the symptoms spiritually (not, of course, covering up symptoms, but beating them) the fear or false suggestion that caused the symptom disappears too, and the patient is free.
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace… (Job 22:21).
This does not mean that every bad thing that happens to us is the result of our own fears. It does mean that our thoughts, conscious and subconscious, drive many of our problems and our perception of and reaction to challenges that arise. It also means that the fears we harbor do manifest themselves in our lives.
To overcome this spiritually we must constantly remind ourselves that feelings of fear and our own limitations are the result  of separation from God’s truth. When we depend on ourselves for solutions, we cut God out of the formula by replacing our faith in God with faith in ourselves. We believe more in our own perception and senses than in God’s promise.
The remedy is to be ever aware that we alone are incapable of knowing real truth, and that we must lean on God’s word and believe in our hearts that all we receive can be for our best good. Even that which hurts us and challenges us. Remember, we are not alone and we do not depend on our puny human capabilities. We are children of God and can walk in joy and peace through all seasons and all tribulations.
In peace,
Z gardener

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The Devil’s Last Ditch

June 19, 2012 by zgardener

When you have driven the devil out of every other corner of you heart, his last refuge is to take shelter in negative analysis. He will say, “You prayed before and nothing happened,” or, “You have been praying so long for that…” Or perhaps he will say, “There is no way that it can come about.”
When this kind of thing comes into your thought, do not be discouraged but rather rejoice, for this means that satan is positively in his very last ditch, and now is the time to clear him out; and if you will be loyal to God it will not be difficult. Now is the time to know the Truth quietly, and to hold to it in spite of false appearances. Now is the time to witness to the faith that is in you. No finer opportunity for a great step forward spiritually can ever come to you than this one. So take advantage of it and rejoice in your good fortune. It is not when things are going well that we make our progress. It is not even when things are going wrong and yet we feel sure that we can handle them with prayer that we advance.
It is when, smitten by the temptation to discouragement or even despair, we yet stand for what we know is the Truth, and say with Job, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him (Job 13:15
When we believe truly in God, we will search for the blessings hidden in our pain. We will know that the darkest night will result in the brightest dawn. And, we will know discouragement and despair for what they are; the adversary’s last ditch effort to keep us from our blessings.
Its like the loan shark who never wants their victim to get out of debt so they must keep paying. Our adversary wants us crippled by doubt and beaten down with despair so we are blinded to the good that comes from our challenges. Refuse to despair or be discouraged under any circumstances, and thereby kick the adversary out for good. Remember, its the last ditch from which we will have to cast out our prosecutor.
Kicking out doubt,
Z gardener

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Losing Interest in Outer Things

June 18, 2012 by zgardener

It happens to some students of prayer who are especially zealous, giving much time to study and meditation, and making more than average progress, that a time comes when their ordinary daily work begins to seem dull, tiresome, and really not worthwhile. Such a person may actually have a very important and interesting position, which most people would consider ideal; but now he is no longer content or happy. He would like to throw off business life altogether and devote all his time to his spiritual development.
The healing of this problem is first to know that a great many people have to meet it. It is not at all uncommon or peculiar to one person; and those who have it always come through it and find themselves happier than ever before because this particular difficulty only happens to wholehearted and zealous people. Such people usually spend too much time in prayer and meditation, and become waterlogged.
Having come through that stage they always find themselves more interested in their business than ever before; they do much better work, and at the same time they progress much faster in their spiritual lives, and have a great deal more power in prayer than they ever had before.
I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. (Job 42:2).
Our daily work is as much a part of our ministry and response to God as any other part of our lives. While it may also be necessary to support oneself, it is clearly an opportunity to apply our faith, and practice God’s charge that we “do the good things for which we are created”.
By understanding our work is part of our spiritual life, we can elevate that work and our attitudes about it to higher levels of joy, satisfaction and ministry. Then we will find true joy in our work, and our work will produce joy in the world. Have a joyful day at work today.
Working in faith,
Z gardener

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And Mean It

June 15, 2012 by zgardener

Think of God. Review some of the things that you know to be true about Him – His perfect goodness, infinite intelligence, all presence, limitless power, unbound love, and so forth. Claim that God, who is all those things, is with you – and believe it.
Read a few verses of Scripture or any spiritual book that helps you.
Say silently that you forgive everyone who may seem to need it; without exception or mental reservation – and mean it.
Claim that God is now inspiring you, teaching you, and healing you. Claim that He is giving you the greatest of all gifts – HIMSELF – because having Him you will have everything else too.
Give thanks in advance for the peace of mind, the harmony, and the spiritual growth that is yours – and mean it.
Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High (Psalm50: 14)
The real questions for we of faith is “do we really believe it…do we really mean it”? How do we know the answers to these questions? We will know them by the fruits of our faith. If our faith brings us love, comfort, peace, joy, forgiveness, power, goodness, etc, then we truly mean it and believe what we say about our faith.
If, on the other hand, our faith is not producing such fruits, then we need to put the advice above into practice daily. Each day we must think of God, claim God and thank God…and mean it.
Then, we will bear the fruits of faith in such abundance that neither we nor anyone else will have any doubt that we walk in the garden God gave us.
Meaning and believing,
Z gardener

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Make It Work

June 14, 2012 by zgardener

Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom and instruction, and understanding (Proverbs 23:23).
All you have of Truth is what you understand of it – and what you understand you always demonstrate. It naturally follows from this that the only way to improve yourself and your conditions is to gain an increase in understanding. And the only way to gain an increase in understanding is to make practical use of the Truth you already know. Knowledge that you do not actually use is only intellectual knowledge and is barren, and even that fades out in time through lack of use.
You will never demonstrate or progress on mere theories that you have not put to the test. You will never demonstrate or grow spiritually on what is in a textbook or a lecture until you have begun to put such knowledge into practice. It is far better to have a thimbleful of spiritual knowledge and use it than to have a whole mountain of correct spiritual doctrine most of which you have never made work.
Spiritual knowledge and truth are like our muscles. We must use them or lose them. Just like our muscles, the more we use them in different situations, the stronger and more flexible they become. That is one of the reasons that we face challenges and obstacles in our lives. So we can build up our spiritual strength in overcoming them.
Let us today exercise our spiritual selves so that we may have the faith and understanding that transforms our lives. Then we can walk in the garden.
Spiritually working out,
Z gardener

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You Cannot Have Both

June 11, 2012 by zgardener

You cannot have peace of mind, and have your ailment too.
You cannot have a sense of divine Love, and have your jittery nervousness too.
You cannot have a feeling of toleration and kindliness and faith, and have your digestive troubles too.
You cannot have harmony continually unfolding in your life, and enjoy gossip and criticism too.
You cannot have power in prayer, and the luxury of resentment and condemnation too.
You cannot build a new consciousness and a new body, and live mentally in the dead past too.
…Choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15).
It is our choice whether to experience all the good offered by our faith, or to reject that good in lieu of our negative habits. The choice is ours and the results of that choice will determine to what degree we will live in Grace. However, we may not choose both because they are mutually exclusive. We may keep our weaknesses or trade them in for God’s promise. The choice is ours.
Choosing Grace,
Z gardener

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Answered Prayers

June 5, 2012 by zgardener

 
 
Why has not your prayer been answered? Perhaps it has. Strangely enough, it often happens that we receive an answer to our prayer and do not recognize it. Some of us have had demonstrations in our possession for weeks or months and have not known it. This mistake is caused by outlining. We have unconsciously decided that the demonstration must take a particular form, and because that form does not appear, we think we have failed. Actually we probably have an even better demonstration than we expected, but for the moment we are blind to it.
 
 
If a boy prayed for a man’s hat (because he thought it would look well on him or make him grown up) he would not get it; since divine Wisdom knows that he could not wear it. He would get a good hat of the sort that would be useful to him. We often pray for things for which we are not really prepared; but if we pray scientifically this will not matter, since Creative Intelligence will send us the thing that we really need.
 
 
Seek God for his own sake, for the joy of being with Him and demonstrations will take care of themselves.
 
 
I will be glad in the Lord (Psalm 104:34)
 
How many answered prayers have we turned away because we did not accept God’s answer to those prayers? Know this, when we pray to God in faith, we should be prepared to follow the answer whether we like it or not. You see, God gives us what we need even when we ask for the wrong thing. The prayer will be answered; be prepared for it. It is like asking God for a train ride; when it arrives you must board it regardless if it is going to the destination you chose. We must have faith that God’s destination is the one we need.
 
It’s like the wise old man who told the doubting young whippersnapper; “Son, if I tell you a train is coming down this dirt road, you better get on it or jump in the ditch”. So it is with prayer. If we pray sincerely, we ought to expect the train. The only question is whether we will board it when it arrives at our station or jump in the ditch..
 
Waiting on the train,
 
Z gardener

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The Unforgivable Sin

June 1, 2012 by zgardener

The Bible mentions the existence of an unforgivable sin, and this has greatly frightened innumerable Christians.
Let us be absolutely clear upon one point. There is no sin that a human being can commit that God will not forgive but there is one sin that he cannot forgive until we make it possible. This sin consists in shutting ourselves off from fresh inspiration or guidance from God. If your mind is already made up about everything appertaining to God; if you decide that you now know all the truth, and that you could not be mistaken; then it will not be possible for the Holy Ghost to open your eyes to error and lead you into higher truth. Naturally, as long as this is your state of mind, no help or improvement can come to you; and in that sense only is your sin unforgivable – unforgivable while it lasts. When you do change your attitude, enlightenment will come, and the sin will be destroyed.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me (Revelation 3:20).
Know that God loves us so much that God would never deny us forgiveness. Only we can block that by refusing to accept that we need forgiveness. No one can be forgiven for a wrong unless they accept that it was wrong.
Open our hearts and minds today Lord, so that we might recognize that which is wrong, commit to change it and ask forgiveness for it. Then we will be freed from it and can live and love in freedom and joy going forward.
Open to forgiveness,
Z gardener

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Give It Time

May 31, 2012 by zgardener

People sometimes accept the idea that a change of thought, plus turning to God in prayer, will transform their lives into harmony and freedom. The logic of this principle appeals to them, and they set to work upon it in earnest. Then, after a few days, they say, “Nothing has happened after all,” and they drop back into their old negative thinking.
That is extremely foolish. The results of many years of general negative thinking are seldom corrected in a few days. No one who goes upon a new physical diet or medical regimen expects to reap the advantages in so short a time. You must keep up the new way of thinking and refuse to be discouraged by seeming failures at first.
The right motive for adopting right thinking is that it is right, and that wrong thinking is wrong; and we should do right whether it seems to pay dividends or not. Of course, it does pay dividends – fabulous dividends – but it usually takes a little perseverance in the face of preliminary slowness.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13).
Two things we should remember. One is that turning to God does not eliminate negativity in our lives; either in the short term or the long term. What it does do is gives us the ability to live our lives in a positive, harmonious, hopeful and peaceful way with God’s help.
The second thing to remember is that the setbacks and heartaches we experience in our quest for a spiritual life are not failures, nor do they disprove a loving God. Many times we must endure hardships and hard truths if we are to become one with God in our thoughts, words and deeds. Many blessings arrive through pain, and we must have enough faith to carry us through those painful times. If we do, then God will reveal to us those things we must know in order to become that which God created us to be.
Seeking God in all things,
Z gardener

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The Pure In Heart

May 30, 2012 by zgardener

Read Psalm 24.
He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face…
To many it may seem that the purification of the heart will be a long and wearisome task, but we have to remember that when we pray it is God who works and not we. If you will use the power of the Word, old habits of thinking will fall away and new ones come in; and this is because you will receive your righteousness, or right thinking, from God. You have sought his face, and you must begin to express something of His nature, for we always grow unto that which we contemplate.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Gates and doors symbolize understanding and it is only by the attainment of a higher degree of understanding that the King of glory – the vivid realization of God which we are seeking – can come to our souls. We are then told to ask ourselves who the King of glory is, and for what He stands. He is nothing less than the Lord; strong and mighty in battle, and the battle he fights, of course, is our battle.
The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.
To become pure in heart, we must turn our hearts, thoughts and words toward God. God will increase our understanding and that will open our gates to purity of heart. Then we will grow into right thinking and that will guide us to the garden God created for us.
 
Seeking God first,
Z gardener

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