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Posts Tagged ‘Faith’

The Law of Substitution

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »

            There are a few great laws that govern all thinking, just as there are a few fundamental laws in chemistry. We know that thought control is the key of destiny, and in order to learn thought control we have to know and understand these laws.

 
One of the great mental laws is the Law of substitution. This means that the only way to get rid of a certain thought is to substitute another one for it. You cannot dismiss a thought directly. You can do so only by substituting another one for it. If I say to you, “ Do not think of the Statue of Liberty,” of course, you immediately think of it. If you say, “I am not going to think of the Statue of Liberty,” that is thinking about it. But if you become interested in something else, you forget all about the Statue of Liberty—and this is a case of substitution.
 
When negative thoughts come to you, do not fight them, but think of something positive. Preferably think of God; but if that is difficult at the moment, turn your attention to something quite different.
 
But I say unto you, That ye resist no evil… (Matthew 5:39).
With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding (Job 12:13).

Controlling our thoughts is one of the most difficult disciplines we can strive to achieve. The good news is that when we accomplish it, we are in a position to control our entire reality. This ability depends upon its proper use if it is to produce a positive outcome. For instance, if we use the law of substitution to replace bad thoughts with good thoughts, it will yield positive results. Of course, the opposite is also true. This does not mean we should ignore a problem, but that we should think positively about it. Our job then is two-fold. First ,we must develop the mental discipline to control our thoughts, then we must use that discipline to engage in positive thoughts. Right thinking always leads to right living in the Eden God gave us. 

Thinking rightly,

Z gardener

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Sharing the Key

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

            In order to “Golden Key” a troublesome person or a difficult situation, think, “Now I am going to ‘Golden Key’ John, or Mary, or that threatened danger”; then lift John or Mary or the danger into the presence of God and think only of God.

 
Thereafter the person is certain to be in some degree a better, wiser, and more spiritual person. A pending lawsuit or other difficulty will probably fade out without coming to a crisis, justice being done to all parties concerned.
 
…O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant (2 Samuel 7:28).

Any time we replace trouble or fear with thoughts of God, we are “golden ke ying” it. In so doing we remove it as a problem and turn it into a the blessing. If we stop and think about it, that alone is no small miracle. Use the golden key today to turn a problem into a miracle by putting God in its place. Then use that golden key to enter the Eden God created for us. Welcome to the Garden.

Turning the key,

Stan

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If the Key Sticks

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on April 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

            We have said that the Golden Key is simple, and so it is, but, of course, it is not always easy to turn. If you are very frightened or worried it may be difficult, at first, to get your thoughts away from material things. But by constantly repeating some statement of absolute Truth that appeals to you, such as There is no power but God, or I am the child of God, filled and surrounded by the perfect peace of God, or God is Love, or God is guiding me now, or, perhaps best and simplest of all, just God is with me—you will soon find that your mind is clearing. Do not struggle, be quiet but insistent. Each time that you find your attention wandering, just switch it straight back to God.

 
Do not try to think out in advance what the solution of your difficulty will probably turn out to be. This is technically called outlining, and will only delay the demonstration. Leave the question of ways and means to God. You want to get out of your difficulty —that is sufficient. You do your half, and God will never fail to do His.
 
…whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered…(Joel 2:32).

It has been said that nothing good is easy. Sometimes it is very difficult. So it is with using the golden key. When life’s challenges appear as a tidal wave coming at us, it is hard to think about surfing. Yet, that is exactly what we must do to unlock the door to our respective Gardens.

If our thoughts are consumed with fear, doubt and anxiety, they can not be fixed on God’s promise of joy, hope and confidence. If we focus on the hundred foot wave coming at us, we will not be able to realize that God has placed a surfboard in our grasp. The wave, in our mind is a mortal threat, yet when we use the golden key and replace our fear with thoughts of God, we see that the wave can become the greatest ride of our lives.

So, when call on the name of God, in the midst of our troubles we are confidently shouting “surf’s up” instead of ducking and drowning in fear and doubt.

Riding the wave,

Z gardener

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Unlocking the Door

Posted in Good Morning, tagged on April 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

            Work by rehearsing everything that you know about God. God is Wisdom, Truth, inconceivable Love. God is present everywhere; has infinite power; knows everything. It matters not how well you may think you understand these things; go over them repeatedly.

 
The rule is to think about God, and if you are thinking about your difficulty you are not thinking about God. To be continually glancing over your shoulder in order to see how matters are progressing is fatal, because that is thinking of the trouble, and you must think of God, and of nothing else. Your object is to drive the thought of the difficulty right out of your consciousness, for a few moments at least, substituting for it the thought of God. If you can become so absorbed in this consideration of the spiritual world that you really forget for a while all about the trouble concerning which you began to pray, you will presently find that your trouble falls into new perspective, new relationships, so that it is no longer a difficulty.
 
…thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all
(Nehemiah 9:6).
 
Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? (Job 31:4).

The first word of today’s message sums it up…work! Once we have the golden key of understanding, then we must work to unlock the door to God’s infinite power, wisdom, love and truth. We have to do the work of thinking rightly if we are to pass through that door. Then we must also do the work of acting rightly if we are to live each day in the Garden. All this work is not a burden. In fact, it removes from us the burdens of guilt, doubt, fear and shame that blocks our communion with God and our entrance to Eden. Free of these burdens, we are able to live each day in joy and gladness.

At work,

Z gardener 

 

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God Is Principle

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

God Is Principle

            The seventh main aspect of God is Principle, and this is probably the one that is least understood. What does the word principle mean?

 
Consider a few generally accepted principles. “Water seeks its own level.” This is a principle. It is not only the course taken by a particular drop of water in a particular locality. It is true of all water everywhere. “The angles of any triangle always add up to 180 degrees.” It makes no matter what kind of triangle one may consider; as long as it is a triangle, this principle holds. These principles were true a billion years ago and they will be true a billion years hence.
 
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8).
 
Prayer is answered because God is principle, eternally manifest in the same way. When we pray rightly we bring ourselves into harmony with His Law of Being. Prayer does not ask God to change the laws for our temporary convenience, but it tunes us in, so to speak, with divine Principle; if God were to make exceptions because we were in great difficulties (which, because of His nature, He could never do) we should never know where we stood. If the law of gravity were occasionally suspended without notice, say, because a very important man had fallen off a roof, you know what would happen to the world.
 
Each of the seven main aspects is a distinct quality like the elements in chemistry. A chemical element, as you know, is just itself and nothing else. Oxygen is an element because there is nothing in it but oxygen. Water on the other hand is a compound, a combination of hydrogen and oxygen. There are many attributes of God, such as wisdom, beauty, joy, and so forth, but they are compounds made up of two or more of the seven main aspects. Wisdom, for example, is the perfect balance of Intelligence and Love.
 
Beauty is the perfect balance of Life, Truth, and Love. In any true work of art, you will find that these three aspects are balanced. There are many such relationships and interdependencies —“Thou canst not pluck a flower without the trembling of a star.”

This simply means that we can count on God to be the same every day. It also means the love of God never changes and that God’s promises are always kept. This is how we can know with total faith that our lives will be fulfilled when we follow God’s will. If God were not principle, chaos would rule. This is always true, anywhere and at any time. So in sunlight or shadow, mirth or misery, hope or fear, God is ever present and stands waiting in the Garden for us. It is God’s hope that we live together in that garden today.

Plucking flowers,

Z gardener

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God Is Soul

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

            The fifth main aspect of God is Soul. Soul is that aspect of God by virtue of which He is able to individualize Himself. The word individual means “undivided.” Most people seem to think it suggests separateness but actually individual means undivided, and God has the power of individualizing Himself without, so to speak, breaking Himself into parts.

 
You are really an individualization of God. Only God can individualize Himself in an infinite number of units of consciousness, and yet not be in any way separate because God is spirit. Matter cannot be individualized. It can only be divided. So your real self, the Christ within, the spiritual man, the I Am, or the divine spark, as it is variously called, is an individualization of God. You are the presence of God at the point where you are.
 
Man may very well be compared to an electric light bulb. The electric current is present in all parts of the circuit, but it shines forth, or one might say, figuratively, becomes self-conscious, in the bulb. So divine Mind becomes self-conscious in you.
 
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods? (John 10:34).
 
When you are called upon to perform some task or undertake some responsibility that seems too great for you, realize that you are one with God and the task will become “our business” instead of “my business.”


Yes, we are vessels of God’s consciousness in the physical realm. Our true nature is as an expression of God’s existence here. When we flip our spiritual switch to the “on” position, God’s will, character and consciousness flows through us. Then we become a light to the world and are filled with peace, joy and gladness. We also tap into the infinite power, love, intelligence and courage of God. It is then that all things become possible. It is then that we truly manifest God’s presence in the material world. It is when we understand that we are God’s consciousness, that we belong to God and that we are here to accomplish God’s will in the physical world, that we truly become Gods. At that moment of realization, we regain admittance into the Eden God created for his children.

Peace,

Z gardener

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God Is Intelligence

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

 

            The fourth main aspect of God is Intelligence. When you clearly realize that this is an intelligent universe it will make a major difference in you life. In an intelligent universe there cannot be disharmony because all ideas must work together for the common good. Neither can there be any lack. An engine that has been intelligently designed does not have any unnecessary parts and neither are any essential parts lacking.

 
It is especially important to realize that God is Intelligence because it sometimes happens that when people outgrow the childish idea that God is just a magnified man, they go to the opposite extreme and think of God as a blind force, like gravity or electricity. This means that they have lost all sense of the Love and Fatherhood of God, and such an idea is very little better than a subtle form of atheism.
 
God is not a person in the usual sense of the word, but God has every quality of personality except its limitation. The human mind cannot imagine personality that is not limited, but this difficulty arises from the limitation of the human mind itself, and of course this does not affect the nature of God. The Bible says, in effect, whatever you think I am, that will I be to you; this means that if we attribute to God every quality of an infinite, intelligent, loving personality, God will be just that to us. So we may say that we believe in a personal God.
 
Children and young people respond very readily indeed to a prayer for expression of Intelligence through them. If you are interested in a young person at college, pray several times a week that Intelligence will manifest through him and you will be surprised to find how his progress in his studies will increase. Remember also the wonderful fact that when you work for a person the result will be with him for the rest of his life.
 

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! …(Romans 11:33).

God is intelligence, and he gave us our intellect so that we would be empowered to create and to discern and understand the universe he created for us. When we use that intelligence to raise questions and ponder God’s mysteries, we are not turning from God but are in fact using a gift to seek fuller understanding, greater faith and closer communion. If we use that gift to deny or refuse God, then we are misusing the gift and will experience less understanding, an erosion of faith and alienation from God. Each gift given to us by God must be used wisely and for good purposes. Then we will find the answers and the peace and fulfillment we seek and that God wants us to have.

In discernment,

Z gardener

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God Is Love

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 24, 2009| 2 Comments »

The third main aspect of God is Love. God is not loving but Love itself, and it would probably be true to say that of all of the seven main aspects this is the most important one for us to practice. There is no condition that enough Love will not heal. The Bible deals with the nature of God, and as the Scripture develops, the idea of God becomes clearer until toward the end it says,

… God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him
1 (John 4:16).

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
(John 13:35).

Where there is fear there cannot be love. The best way to rid yourself of fear is to realize divine Love. If you love God more than you love your microbe, your sickness, your grievance, your lack, or your fear you will be healed. We have all heard many stories of exceptional people who were able to go among wild beasts in the jungle without being hurt, and there are many other histories on record of people who passed through extraordinary dangers of other kinds quite unscathed. To realize God as Love is the remedy for fear.

Divine Love never fails, but the important thing to realize is that divine Love must be in your own heart and cannot operate from outside, so to speak. When your prayers are not answered it must be bec ause you have not fulfilled the conditions of the law, and, ninety-nine times in a hundred, it is because you are lacking in a sense of love for all. Practice love every day and watch your thought, and watch your tongue, and watch your deed, that nothing contrary to love finds expression there.

The amount of love we have in our hearts will be demonstrated in our lives. Through God we have infinite power and capability. However, that power and capability will not flow into our life without love in our hearts. The love we experience in our hearts is the channel through which God’s power flows. The narrower the channel, the less God’s spirit runs through it. When we truly want some outcome in our lives, we must love enough to achieve that result. It is not our ability, looks, charm, discipline or intellect that answers prayers, but it is God’s love flowing through us. And while all the these attributes are desirable, they can all be turned into negativity without being guided by love. Love conquers all, sees all, overcomes all and knows all. When we grow love in our hearts and minds, sew love in our thoughts, words and deeds and show love to all we meet, we overcome fear, lack and loss. It is then that we truly express God’s power here in our Garden and claim the joy and gladness God intends for us.

Growing love’s garden

Z gardener

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God Is Truth

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The second main aspect of God is Truth. God is not truthful but Truth itself, and wherever there is Truth, there is God. There are many things that are relatively true at certain times and places only, but God is absolute Truth at all times and in all circumstances. As soon as we touch God, who is the Absolute, relative things disappear.

To know the truth about any condition heals it. Jesus said, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).

You should realize God as Truth when you want information on any subject, or if you suspect that you have to deal with deceit. If you believe that someone is trying to deceive you, claim that divine Truth dwells in the person concerned, and is expressed through him. If you realize this clearly enough he will then speak the truth. When you have to transact any important business such as signing a lease or a contract, spend a few minutes realizing divine Truth and if there is anything you should know it will come out. Of course people may have no desire to deceive you and yet for some reason you may not be given the whole story. I know of several cases where serious misunderstandings were prevented because somebody realized God as truth and so all the facts were brought out. I know also of cases where intentional dishonesty was frustrated in the same way.

We all strive to know the truth and follow it. When we put our selfish desires and limited understanding aside, and accept God’s truth and infinite understanding, then we can know the truth and follow it. It is through God’s spirit that we can fully comprehend and seek the truth. And, it through God’s love and grace, that the truth will make us free.

Living free,

Z gardener

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The Path of Love

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on March 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

All the old traditions tell us that there is more than one path to the great Goal. Just as there is more than one road up every great mountain, and yet all reads meet at the top, so in the spiritual quest there are several roads, all of which lead in due season to the one great End.

There is the path of knowledge. True knowledge of divine things is one of the appointed paths to attainment; but that path is by no means for everyone. And there is the pathway of action—of organized activity—and the world needs this too; but this again usually calls for a special gift, and special circumstances in which to apply it. And there are others.

The shortest and the easiest pathway of all is the pathway of Love. It is the one pathway that is open to all, irrespective of what their personal conditions or circumstances may be. For every man, everywhere, the true attainment awaits through the yoga of Love, for yoga means union and it is our union with God that makes the attainment possible.

There is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment…(1 John 4:18).

…God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16)

Sometimes popular culture reflects the wisdom of the Bible. Remember the words of John and Paul (the Beatles, not the disciples), “all you need is love”. In today’s scripture, John (the Apostle, not the Beatle) defines God as love and tells us perfect love eliminates fear. Thus, love is not only a state of being, it is God. And those who live in love also live in God and God lives in them. When we follow the path of love, we will inevitably attain oneness with God. Thus, all you need is love. So when we feel like shouting, “Help, I need someone”, turn to love and all our needs will be met.

One with love,

Z gardener

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