Good Morning Garden

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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)

We often think we know what we need and ask God for it. Sometimes we are praying for that which will result in our best good. Sometimes we are not. God will not grant to us that which will harm us unless there is a greater good to come from it. We should always pray for what we think we need, but we should also submit it to God by asking that God’s will be done. And we should ask that God help us understand the answer.   God knows what we need before we ask and and even knows what we need when we don’t know. So we should always expect that our prayers will be answered, and understand that sometimes the answer is no. When we are at ease with God’s answers, we will be glad in the Lord while our prayers, those answered in the affirmative and negative, will lead to the peace that surpasses all understanding. It is then that our gardens will be places where our hats fit and so do our prayers.  

Wearing the hat,

Z gardener

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The only part of our religion that is real is the part we express in our daily lives. Ideals that we do not act out in practice are mere abstract theories. Actually, such pretended ideals are a serious detriment, because they drug the soul.

If you want to receive any benefit from your religion you must practice it; and the place to practice it is right here, where you are; and the time to do it is now.

A writer on prayer has said: “Knead love into the bread you bake; wrap strength and courage in the parcel you tie for the woman with the weary face; hand trust and candor with your coin you pay to the man with the suspicious eyes.” This sums up the Practice of the Presence of God.

Give to him that asketh thee…(Matthew 5:42).

How do we practice our faith in our daily actions? Do we let the driver in to a busy lane of traffic ahead of us or do we look away, too rushed to let them in? Do we find a way to help those who call on us or do we find an excuse to turn away? Do we return love to those who serve us anger? Do we seek to understand those who frighten us, or do we give them scorn and judgement? Do we forgive those who hurt us or do we resent and punish them? The answer to these and similar questions determine whether we are truly practicing the presence of God or mouthing platitudes to make ourselves feel better for awhile.

Practicing,
Z gardener

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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).

Be assured that when we do adopt a change of thought and turn to God in prayer that many things will happen to discourage us. in fact, things will likely appear to get worse before they get better. Just as a first time jogger or weight lifter has to tear down some muscle tissue, we will experience spiritual soreness and even setbacks. This is not accidental. I

Fleeing fear,
Z gardener

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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 lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Gates and doors symbolize understanding and it is only be 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.

So we must open our hearts and our minds to God’s will. It is when we give them both to God that our understanding and desire mature to the point that God fully manifests Himself in out thoughts, words, deeds and life. Then God will be fighting for us and helping us with the heavy lifting that accompanies spiritual enlightenment. Then our gardens become a joy instead of a labor.

Reaching for joy,
Z gardener

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Read Psalm 24.
The Twenty-fourth Psalm is the great summing up of the Bible teaching on letting God come into your life.

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof…
The key to the true meaning of this first stanza is found in the two pivotal words Lord and earth. In the Bible the word Lord means the I AM. The earth is a general term covering all expression or manifestation under the jurisdiction of the I AM. Now all trouble of every land really arises from the belief that the earth is subject to the dominion of some outer power or law that is able to govern it independently of the I AM. But the Law of Being is, that man is the image and likeness of God, and has full dominion over all his conditions, and this psalm emphasizes this wonderful fact by adding the world, and they that dwell therein.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
The hill of the Lord, or His holy place, means the realization of God. It is that vivid, real sense of the Presence. When one attains to this he has a marvelous power of helping and healing others. To reach this state is the real object of all our prayers.

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart…
But who are the pure in heart? Fundamentally, purity means complete loyalty to the belief in one single, all-embracing, omnipotent God, Our Father which art in heaven. Hold unswervingly to God – this is purity.
To keep one’s mentality consciously loyal to the One Power is only half the battle. The other half is to purify and re-educate the soul, not merely from the grosser sins that everybody recognizes, but from the thousand-and-one concessions to limitation belief that fill the everyday life of humanity. This is to have “ clean hands,” and to be able to ascend that wondrous “hill of the Lord.”

Father, this day free us from the concessions to limitation that keep us from thy path, so that we may abide in your garden and experience the fullness of your presence and purity.

Ascending,
Stan

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God’s time for your demonstration in now. The time God wants you to be healed is now. The time God wants you to be in your true place is now. The Bible says that the day of salvation is now.

God is ready the moment you are. There is nothing to wait for except the changing of your own consciousness. People often make the mistake of saying, “I know my demonstration will come at the right time.” But the only time to be harmonious and satisfied is now. The time to be happy is now and the place is here. Did not Jesus say, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, and by this he meant close by.

Do not keep yourself out of the Kingdom of Heaven by inventing postponements, but change your consciousness now, for it can all happen in a moment.

…that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed (Romans 13:11).

Whatever is keeping us from salvation, healing and happiness originates within us. It is not the external world that is blocking us from our gardens. The good news is that our deliverance is in our own hands. When we make the commitment, do the work and follow God’s will, our gardens will produce all the joy, peace, wholeness and happiness we can imagine. The only thing blocking our path is us.

In joy now,
Z gardener

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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 people 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).

The author is taking this good advice and recharging. Have a great day in the garden.

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In mining country one comes, across a valueless substance that is so like gold ore that inexperienced people cannot always tell the difference. This is called Fool’s Gold, and many a young prospector has wasted much time and hard work before discovering that he has been deceived by the spurious article. Old timers used to say to the tenderfoot: “When you think you have found gold you probably have not; but when you do find it, you will know it for certain.”

So it is with the prospectors on the mountain range that we call life. There are many kinds of fools’ gold to be found, but when you meet the genuine article you will have no doubt in your mind. The true gold will give you a sense of peace and poise, a sense of freedom and power because you will no longer be in bondage to passing material things. It will set you free from much of the tyranny of time and space beliefs. The True gold is that sense of the Presence of God with us, to obtain which is the object of this life.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights… (James1: 17).

In all that we seek, peace is the true object for which we search. Peace will not be found in that new car, dress or gadget. It will not be found in status, wealth or power. And it will not be found in selfishness, pride, ego or vanity. We may find many forms of fool’s gold in such pursuits, but the true object of our search will elude us in these exercises.

Mining for peace,
Z gardener

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