Good Morning Garden

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).

This sounds easy enough and is most certainly true. All we really have to overcome each day is our thoughts. Yet, in practice, this is probably the hardest discipline we will ever seek to master. So hard in fact that it would be impossible without the grace of God. The good news is that God’s grace is always available to us in limitless measure. It is only our ability to accept and live in that grace which limits it.

Z gardener

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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 to get 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).

Many times, the old ghosts that haunt us, use our past to drive our present. Our past experiences should be used to enlighten our present, not to dim it. It is only when we have learned our lesson and turned our backs on our hurts and failures that we escape them. That happens when we look to God and obey His will.

Seeking and finding God,
Z gardener

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What man is he that feareth the Lord?” Psalm 25:12

What are you haunted by? You will say – By nothing, but we are all haunted by something, generally by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our experience. The Psalmist says we are to be haunted by God.

The abiding consciousness of the life is to be God, not thinking about Him. The whole of our life inside and out is to be absolutely haunted by the presence of God. A child’s consciousness is so mother-haunted that although the child is not consciously thinking of its mother, yet when calamity arises, the relationship that abides is that of the mother.

So we are to live and move and have our being in God, to look at everything in relation to God, because the abiding consciousness of God pushes itself to the front all the time.

If we are haunted by God, nothing else can get in, no cares, no tribulation, no anxieties. We see now why Our Lord so emphasized the sin of worry. How can we dare be so utterly unbelieving when God is round about us? To be haunted by God is to have an effective barricade against all the onslaughts of the enemy.

“His soul shall dwell at ease.” In tribulation, misunderstanding, slander, in the midst of all these things, if our life is hid with Christ in God, He will keep us at ease. We rob ourselves of the marvelous revelation of this abiding companionship of God. “God is our Refuge” – nothing can come through that shelter.

When our spirits, thoughts, words and deeds are filled with the consciousness of God, all else fades to the background. All the syndromes, habits and hauntings from days past melt into obscurity as our lives focus on the presence of God each day.

In the spirit,
Z gardener

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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 said. 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).

How many of us hide resentment, anger and bitterness behind a false smile. How many times do we put a pretty face on our own meanness, judgement or condemnation of others. When we do this it is usually to hide it from ourselves and others. We secret away these traits because we don’t want to face them ourselves. Putting on a mask to pretend we are something other than we are is harmful, dangerous and ultimately fails; blocking us from ourselves, God and those around us.

De-masking,
Z gardener

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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).

Nothing can separate us from the love of God…except us. When we close ourselves to God’s indwelling spirit by putting ourselves before Him; when we don’t turn to Him in daily prayer; or when we fill ourselves with negative thoughts, words and deeds; we separate ourselves from the love of God. Then we cause ourselves to live in the world we created instead of the Eden God created for us.

Z gardener

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For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall or partition between us (Ephesians 2:14).

This is not only one of the most beautiful texts in the Bible, but one of the most important. Consider what it says. First, that God is our peace; next, that not only are we and God one (all spiritual teachers say that) but that it is He who has made us one. We are one because that is the nature of being since He has made us that way. Then the inspired writer uses a figure of speech. He reminds us that when we lost our sense of unity with God, it is exactly as though a wall was built between God and ourselves. When that happens communication is broken and we are no longer one in consciousness, until, of course, the wall is pulled down.

In any difficulty the one important thing is to have the temporary wall of partition pulled down, and to let God do it —for only He can.

This passage identifies one of the seminal foundations upon on which the Garden Morning Garden is built; and by which its soils are enriched. When we first separated ourselves from God, we fled the Eden God gave us, and the East Gate was closed to those living “East of Eden” or separated from God.

Z gardener

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When Nebuchadnezzar sent out his decree that everyone in his kingdom should bow down and worship the golden image that he had erected, there were three men who refused to obey. These were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, Hebrew officials in the province of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar called them before him, and they bluntly told the King that their God would deliver them from the fiery furnace to which they would be consigned, but even if God did not deliver them, they would still serve Him and Him alone.

Nebuchadnezzar had the three men thrust into the fiery furnace, and the heat was so intense that it slew the guards who threw them in. Then, as he looked in upon the three faithful Hebrews, Nebuchadnezzar was astonished to find a fourth man walking in the flames with the other three. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego walked out of the fiery furnace without blemish or scar.

So it is when we hold steadfastly to God, and give all power to Him. He sends his messenger to deliver us from our furnace of fear and frustration. Then do we know that nothing shall by any means harm us.

Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him. (Daniel 3:28).

How many of us would be willing to face a fiery death rather than yield our faith? Yet the Holy Bible tells us we are to do just that. This writer is not sure he could meet that standard. Yet, either the instructions in the God’s revealed word are true, or they are false.

In faith,
Z gardener

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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 spiritual 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)
We all face times when our path is seems so rocky that we will surely fall. And sometimes we can face such great odds, that it seems like God has abandoned us. We can even be angry at God, or feel so alienated spiritually that we can’t go to him in prayer.

Expecting joy,
Z gardener

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If you pray for yourself in the right way every day, you will find that the minor things of life will gradually fall correctly into place of their own accord without any trouble on your part. Contrast this with the usual method of trying to get everything right by separately organizing a thousand petty details, and you will appreciate how wonderfully the new spiritual basis sets you free.

If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light (Matthew 6:22).

The eye symbolizes spiritual perception. Whatever you give your attention to, is the thing that governs your life. Attention is the key. Your free will lies in the directing of your attention. Whatever you steadfastly direct your attention to, will come into your life and dominate it. If you do not direct your attention consistently to anything in particular, and many people do not, then nothing in particular will come into your life except uncertainty and suspense.

If the Glory of God comes first with you, and to express His Will becomes the rule of your life, then your eye is single and your whole body, or embodiment, will be full of light.

Many of us bemoan the crises that come into our lives and then wander around lost; questioning why life is so unfair. These broken and unfortunate souls then sink blinded into the mire of self-pity and resignation.

Seeing single,
Z gardener

Author’s Note: Today we welcome the 100th member to the Good Morning Garden. He demonstrates his faith professionally in the realm of public policy, advocating for education and many other good causes. In his personal life, he has dedicated himself to his wife, his family and their cause in way that inspires and humbles all who know him. His tireless advocacy and efforts to preserve their life together, lifts up not only his family, but many others who face the same challenge. A challenge that together, they overcome each day in strength, hope and perseverance. This writer is blessed to call him friend and to witness the light shed by his single eye. And, this Garden is remarkably brighter for his presence here with us each day. Welcome to the Garden, Brother.

Z

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Matthew 6:16-23
16 “A)”Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they a]”[a]neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. B)”Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 But you, when you fast, C)”anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your D)”Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
19 “E)”Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves F)”treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for G)”where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “H)”The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is b]”[b]clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if I)”your eye is c]”[c]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Footnotes:
Matthew 6:16 Lit distort their faces, i.e. discolor their faces with makeup
Matthew 6:22 Or healthy; or sincere
Matthew 6:23 Or evil

If your consciousness is right, that is, if you have a good understanding of God as the loving Source of your boundless supply, you will always be able to demonstrate whatever money or goods you may require. You cannot want for anything when once you truly realize that in divine Mind demand and supply are one. And, on the contrary, until you do realize this, you never will be really safe from want. In the long run, no one can retain what does not belong to him by right of consciousness, nor be deprived of that which is truly his by the same supreme title.

If you are looking to outer, passing, mutable things for either happiness or security, you are not putting God first. If you are putting God first in your life, you will not find yourself laboring under undue anxiety about anything, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

To eliminate those things in our lives we do not want, and to secure those things we do want and need; first we must create a consciousness that is in accordance with God’s will. All outer things are but a reflection of inner things. So to change our world, we must first change our hearts, minds, spirits and thoughts. Then the words and deeds that flow from the inner will achieve the desired effect on the outer.

Seeking God’s treasure,
Z gardener

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