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Is It Selfish?

March 12, 2012 by zgardener

 
Is it selfish to pray for yourself? Some people think that it is, and say that you should pray only for others, but this, of course, is a foolish idea.
 
You must pray for yourself constantly. How could it be otherwise? We worship God by believing in Him, trusting Him, and loving Him wholeheartedly – and we can attain to that only through prayer. The sole object of our being here is that we may grow like him – and we can do that only through prayer.
 
The more we pray for ourselves the more power will our prayers have for any other purpose whatever; so praying for ourselves is the reverse of selfishness – it is truly glorifying God.
 
Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy … Rejoice the soul of thy servant; for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul (Psalm 86:1, 4).
 
Not only should we pray for ourselves, we should also pray for all humans. We are all children of God and not one, especially ourselves, should ever be exempted form our prayer life. Prayer is more than just asking God for what we want. It is a visitation with God, being in God’s presence and God in ours. Prayer should be as much a part of our mentality as is our comfort or our destination at the time. Prayer is as essential to our spiritual life as breath is to our physical life. We ignore either at our great peril.
 
So today, let us pray for ourselves and all those other children of God. And being the Lenten season, our prayers for ourselves should always include awareness of our shortcomings and repentance of them. Lastly, be sure to include the willingness to bury the old self and rise anew with the risen Christ at Easter.
 
Lord, have mercy on us all,
Z  gardener

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What Is Seeking The Kingdom?

March 9, 2012 by zgardener

 
  Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).
 
The principle that Jesus expressed in these words is the basic law that underlies all answer to prayer. Many people know this in theory but are confused about putting it into practice. They think, “I will ignore this problem and think about God instead.” Here there is a subtle mistake, because they are really thinking of their problem as existing in one place, of God as existing in another, and of themselves as going in thought from the first place to the second place. This, of course, is by implication to reaffirm the existence of the problem in its own place, and such a belief will not heal.
 
What we have to do is to seek the Kingdom in the very place where the trouble seems to be. We have to know that in Truth and reality it is not there, because God is there. When we succeed in doing this, the difficulty disappears.
This may sound like a distinction without a difference, but that is not so. By seeking the Kingdom of God where the trouble is, we affirm that God is king over all and not subject to being separated into a different place. The reason is simple; God is not limited by time or space. In the same way our secular lives are indivisible from our spiritual lives. So when we experience a problem in the secular world we should look for God’s presence in the midst of this problem wherein it is overcome.
 
Seeking God in all things,
Z gardener

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A Treatment Is An Operation

March 8, 2012 by zgardener

The word treatment is usually applied to a prayer that is made for some specific purpose, as distinct from a general prayer, which is really a visit with God. You must remember that a treatment is a definite practical action, having a definite object and a definite beginning and end. It is in fact a surgical operation on the soul.

 

             Let us suppose that you decide to heal a certain difficulty by prayer. You know that your difficulty must be caused by some negative thought charged with fear and located in the subconscious mind. You therefore turn to God, and remind yourself of His goodness, His limitless power, and His care for you. As you work the fear will begin to dissolve, and the awareness of the Truth corrects the erroneous beliefs themselves.

 

 Thank God for the healing that you believe will come – and then keep your thought off the matter until you feel led, after an interval, to treat again.

 

 He sent his word, and healed them … (Psalm 107:20).

 

 In common vernacular this is called curing the disease rather than treating the symptoms. The focus of our prayer needs to be on the cause; which is the subconscious thought charged with fear, not the manifestation, not the actual difficulty itself. This is the exact opposite of how we normally react. We tend to focus on the headache instead of its cause. If instead, we focus our thoughts on God’s goodness, power and love for us, then we begin to remove the cancerous fear that is causing our subconscious difficulty. Then, the manifestation of the problem begins to disappear or may even become to be seen as a blessing.

 

 When we follow this method of prayer, the path to joy is reopened in our minds and spirits, wherein our physical selves will always follow. Then we will be healed and fear of free.

 

Fearlessly,

 

Stan

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God Works With Joy

March 7, 2012 by zgardener

 
            Don’t pray or meditate as a duty. Realize that prayer is a visit with God and should be joyous.
 
Neither must you pursue your secular activities as necessary duties to be gotten over, that you may return to your prayer. In the light of Truth, there are no secular activities.
 
You must have regular recreation or you will become stale. Recreation, also, is to be enjoyed – as an expression of God – and not as a task to prepare yourself to pray better. An understanding joy in living is the highest prayer of all.
 
…in thy presence is fullness of joy… (Psalm 16:11).
 
Just think about that; joy is the highest form of prayer and communion with God. Anything that separates us from joy therefore blocks our communion with God. Yes, we get hurt, get sick and ultimately die. Yes, we get thrown bad deals and unbearable pain from senseless tragedies. And, yes, we get down, grumpy, frustrated, angry and can feel alienated, ashamed or unworthy. Yet through all the travails of human existence, we are consistently instructed by our faith to be glad and joyful in life.
 
One gateway to that joyful life  is through gratitude. We are to “be grateful in all things”. That is a tall order. But a grateful heart combined with daily forgiveness for those who hurt us, provides us a compass to find our path to joy, regardless. So, when we pray, recreate, work and live, let us be ever-mindful of our blessings and forgiving of others so that we may walk in the fullness of joy, surrounded by the garden created just for us.
 
Gratefully,
Stan

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Don’t Hurry The Chicken

March 5, 2012 by zgardener

A city child was spending his vacation on a farm. They showed him a hen sitting on a nest of eggs, and told him that some day a little chicken would come out of each egg. Their child was delighted at this dramatic idea, and every morning he went around expecting to see the miracle.
 
            Days passed and nothing happened. The eggs still looked exactly the same. Not the slightest change occurred in the appearance of things, and gradually his faith waned. At last one day he told himself bitterly that he had been deceived.
 
Next day, however, from habit he went around to the nest as usual, but without any hope; and behold, what was his joy to see a flock of little chickens running about.
 
Of course wonderful changes had been taking place all the time behind the shells, but there was nothing to show for it until the very last moment. Some of our greatest demonstrations come to us like this. In this story it was the spectator who lost faith, and so it did not matter. If the mother hen had lost her faith – well, there would have been no chickens. Give your demonstration time to hatch.
 
And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Galatians 6:9).
 
And, let us remember God’s words to Joshua before he was allowed to enter the promised land. “Be ye strong, and of a good courage. Turn neither to the left, or to the right. But be ye strong and of a good courage, and you will prosper whithersoevr thou goest”. If we do this, we will enter our promised land that was created as a garden for us by our loving Father.
 
By God’s strength,
Z gardener

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Your Own Brand

March 1, 2012 by zgardener

You cannot claim too much for yourself provided you claim the same thing for all other human beings. In fact, it is our duty to claim all good things and to continue claiming them until they demonstrate in our outer experience. Of course, this law works both ways and therefore you must be very careful not to claim the negative things that you do not want.

 

 On the western ranches the owner of a steer brands it with his name, “Bar A Ranch” or some such cipher. Then if it should wander into strange territory, it will always be returned to him. On the other hand, when an animal without his brand wanders into his corral, he says, “Than is not my steer,” and out it goes.

 

 Many a foolish person puts his mental brand on a steer that he does not want in the least, and is surprised when the animal stays obstinately at home. People say my rheumatism, my forgetfulness, my poverty, et cetera, branding the steers they do not want instead of turning them out of the corral.

 

 When you really want something, brand it deeply with your own name and it will be yours.

 

 … but every one … shall keep himself to his own inheritance (Numbers 36:9).

 

What we brand as ours is important. Yet, how we brand ourselves is even more critical to our welfare and drives what we brand as ours. It also determines our ultimate success. If we don’t really believe we deserve happiness and joy, it will escape us. Whether due to some past or current mistake or weakness; insecurity about our motives or goodness; or lack of self respect foisted on us by others; our negative opinion of ourselves is the foundation of our negative outlook and actions toward life and others. 

 

 That is why we must accept the truth that God loves us unconditionally. That is not to say that we should ignore, gloss over or rationalize our faults. In fact, the exact opposite is true. That is what the season of Lent gives us the opportunity to do. To look inside and identify those traits we need to bury. Yet even with these faults, God loves us and desires the best good for us. It is that unconditional love that gives us the ability and the obligation to claim the best for ourselves and those we love. So, when we claim something, let us be sure that it fulfills God’s wish that we rejoice and be glad in all things.

 

Staking a claim to joy and health,

 

Z gardener

 

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Tackling That Bugabear

February 29, 2012 by zgardener

    When what seems an especially difficult problem or a great emergency presents itself, many students of the Truth start by thinking, “This is very serious,” and then proceed to brace themselves mentally for a supreme effort; and plan to pray exceedingly “hard” in order to meet the difficulty.

 
All this is quite wrong. It simply builds up the problem into something far bigger that it was originally. The right attitude, the one that brings Victory, is to think “God can and will solve this problem.”
 
Instead of speaking the Word from the low altitude of fear and limitation, and trusting to effort to magnify the Lord, stop thinking of the problem altogether, and rise in consciousness. Having now attained a higher level – speak the Word gently from that level, and your problem will be solved.
 
For the word of God is quick, and powerful … (Hebrews 4:12).
 
The real question is “do we really believe God can and will solve this problem for our best good?” A flood of other questions may reveal our true feelings and/or can obscure the truth about God solving our problems and turning them to blessings. Questions like; “But how can this awful mess turn out well,” or “how can this be good when I don’t want it to happen,” or  “I messed this up so bad, how can it possibly turn out for my best good”. These type questions are rational, but they belie a lack of faith in God’s promise.
 
The better questions to ask are ones like, “how would I feel if I knew this was going to be for my best good,” or “Where is the blessing hidden in this pain,” or even, “What lesson am I supposed to learn from this to become better.”. Such questions as these assume God’s best good and anticipate the benefits flowing from our current problem or challenge. It is when we know that God has our best interest at heart that we can say quietly and confidently that “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
 
Looking for the blessing,
 
Z gardener

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February 28, 2012 by zgardener

 Who has not at some time or other planted a bulb and enjoyed the pleasure of waiting for the plant to appear and develop, and ultimately produce the glorious flower itself? Notice here that you naturally plant the bulb and expect the flower – the hyacinth or the crocus – to follow. No sane person would dream of planting the flower and expecting a bulb to come up; yet in our general life many of us do just that! We expect to begin with the flower. We think that we shall have desirable states of mind or body – happiness, freedom, health – if only we can change outer conditions in some way. Yet this is really trying to plant a flower, because we are trying to put effect before cause.

 
 
The law of the universe is thought first, and then expression; and never can this law be reversed.
 
 
Let all thing s be done decently and in order (Corinthians 14:40).
For all things there is a season. If we plant the right seeds in our thoughts, minds and feelings, they will inexorably bloom and multiply into our actions and into the creation around us. The more right thoughts we plant, the more luxurious, peaceful and productive will be our gardens.
 
Planting right,
 
Z gardener

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Be Specific!

February 27, 2012 by zgardener

 
Man has dominion over all things when he knows the Law of Being and obeys it. Do not put off your study of the law any longer. Take stock of your life this very day. Write down the things you really wish for. Be specific, not vague. Then write down underneath the conditions that you wish to remove from your life. If you do this candidly, you now have an extremely valuable analysis of your own mentality. In course of time this will tell you a great many things about your self that you do not at present suspect, and as your knowledge of spiritual Truth increases, you will be able to handle the new knowledge about your self in a surprising way.
 
Having forgotten your main points in front of you, work on each one separately with all the spiritual knowledge you possess. Remember, it is not really very important how much of this knowledge you have so long as you make use of all that you do have. Repeat this treatment every day for a month, and by the end of that time it will be very unusual if a change for the better has not manifested itself in your conditions.
 
For those unfamiliar with spiritual treatment, an effective method of working is this: Claim gently but definitely that the great creative Life Force of the universe is bringing each of the needed changes into your life in its own way, in it own time, and in its own form. Do not try to dictate the exact form in which the new conditions shall come about. Do not be tense or vehement. Do not let anyone else know that you are doing this. Do not look impatiently every day for results.
 


Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do (Deuteronomy 29:9).

The process described above is in essence the same process that Lent presents to us. In this period, we are to identify those traits that separate us from God, so we can bury them. We are also to identify those traits that will bring us closer to God and incorporate those traits into the new being that arises with Christ as we remember and relive his resurrection.

 
By identifying and focusing on burying our ungodly traits and raising up our godly traits, we are then in a position to participate in the other activities prescribed in Lent. Those traits are self-sacrifice and charitable acts to others. As we fulfill this treatment, we will find ourselves changed into children of God who put God and others first. Then, as our new person arises with the risen Christ, we too are transformed into our real nature as true children of God.
 
Then we can live, think and act as garden dwellers in communion with God and the Eden he gave us.
 
Burying the old and raising the new self,
 Z gardener

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Making Your Dreams Come True

February 24, 2012 by zgardener

 
Most people indulge in some form of daydreaming. There is no harm in this so long as such daydreams are positive and constructive in character. You are always thinking, when you are not asleep, and you know that it is in the selection of your thought that your destiny lies.
 
Do not let your daydreams take the form of an escape from actuality. A daydream is an evasion when it consists in fantasying something pleasant that nevertheless you believe could never happen. Such a daydream debilitates the whole mentality.
 
Some people daydream about all sorts of unpleasant things. They rehearse imaginary quarrels, imaginary injustices, accidents, and misfortunes, and because they do believe that such things could happen, and because thought is creative, they actually bring them upon themselves.
 
See to it that your daydreams are concerned with such happenings as you would really like to find in your life. Know that anything good is possible; remember the creative power of thought; and your daydreams will come true.
 
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8).
 
Daydreams are thoughts, and thoughts are powerful things. Ever thing essential that a person becomes, they become because of their thoughts. That is why it is so important to control one’s thoughts so that they guide us to our best potential. How we think of ourselves and our future is among the most essential of our thoughts. When we think badly of ourselves, we tend to manifest the worst. God loves us unconditionally and does not condemn us for our shortcomings so long as we admit them, seek forgiveness and turn away from them. So we do not have the right to condemn ourselves for our failures. But continuing to repeat them, relive them and claim them will inevitably bring them back into our lives in a vicious cycle.
 
So, let us today affirm that we will face our weaknesses, admit them and turn away from then. Then God will forgive us and expects us to forgive ourselves. Then we break the cycle that has afflicted us and will be able to receive and give unconditional love. Then we can and will rise above the obstacles that prevent our living in joy and gladness as God wishes. Then we can dreams the dreams that will ensure our joy and the future that guarantees our best good. That is living in the Eden God created for us.
 
Dream on,
Z gardener
Author’s Note: Today, a new sister joins us in the Good Morning Garden. She is a devout believer who brings her faith to bear serving the people with grace and joy. She inspires those around her each day with her smile and kindness. Welcome to the Garden sister! We are blessed by your presence with us.

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