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Posts Tagged ‘Faith’

The Two Spirations

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 27, 2009| 3 Comments »

 
Have you ever heard the old story of the two spirations? They are essentially for every worthwhile achievement. If either is missing the enterprise is doomed to failure, and if you have not been making your life as successful as you would like, you must go to work and find which of them has been overlooked. I am sure it is hardly necessary to tell you that the two spirations in question are inspiration and perspiration.
 
First you need inspiration. Sheer hard work, blind plodding, or brutal hammering will not bring success. You must also have regular inspiration.
 
Second, perspiration. There is no success without persevering hard work in the direction of your goal. Recently I heard one of the greatest living musicians address a class of musical students. He said, “I know of no road to success except hard work. If there is such a road I have not heard of it.”
 
Contact God daily for inspiration; and then work hard.
 
Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain (Psalm 127:1).

When we seek inspiration as the source of all our endeavors, we ensure the success of all our perspiration. Even if our labor be in vain, if it is founded on God’s will in our lives, the outcome will be for our best good. Even if the outcome is other than that we desire, it will benefit us greater than achieving our original purpose. Sound foolproof? It is.

Spirating daily,

Z gardener

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The Secret of Successful Salesmanship

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

 
           True salesmanship means finding out what your customer really needs, and supplying him with it; or if you cannot furnish it yourself, advising him to go elsewhere. Such a policy will not mean loss of business. On the contrary, working in this way you may lose one order but you will get half a dozen in its place – and you will have peace of mind. Any one particular sale does not matter; it is the annual turnover that counts.
 
The policy, the Golden Rule, was taught by Jesus, the wisest and most practical teacher who ever lived. Salesman, treat your customer exactly as you would like him to treat you if the positions were reversed. Tell him exactly what you would like to be told about the merchandise, if you were the purchaser; and if you will do this the whole universe will cooperate to make your business career an outstanding success.
 
Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God: thy spirit is good… (Psalm 143:10)

This instruction can be very difficult to follow. It is hard to admit that we may nor be the best person to do a particular job. It is harder still to say to a potential client, “someone else may be able to help you more, call them”. This is also true in our personal life when we have to turn a challenge over to God for resolution. We ask ourselves, “Why can’t we do this on our own, shouldn’t we be able to handle our own affairs or are we too weak to care for ourselves?”  All of these questions take us away from the real question and the appropriate answer. The dialog we should be having is, ” what is the truth of the circumstances and how does God instruct us to respond?” If we approach each opportunity in this way, we will be successful in our business and personal lives. We will also be spiritually fortified and will know we are resolving all questions according to God’s will.
Seeking truth,

Z gardener

 

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The Kaffir Didn’t Know It

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

            About the middle of the last century, a traveler was journeying along through what was then a remote part of South Africa. One day while smoking his pipe outside the hut in a native village, he noticed a group of little naked children playing what was evidently a native version of the time honored game of marbles. He watched the game idly for a while, and then something about the rough stones caught his attention. They were quite small pebbles, dull, but – here his pulse began to steeplechase. He spoke to the children’s father, with studied carelessness, and the Kaffir said, “Oh yes, the children like these little stones. They have some more in the hut, “and he brought forth a small basket containing several more.
 
Repressing his excitement, t he traveler took out a large plug of tobacco, worth perhaps twenty or thirty cents in our money, and said, “I would like to take the stones home for my children. I will give you this tobacco for them. Are you willing?” The Kaffir laughed and said, “I am robbing you but if you insist, all right,” and the bargain was sealed – which not only enriched the stranger but led in time to the great discovery of the South African diamond fields.
 
The fate of the Kaffir is really the fate of most human beings. Man holds a fabulous treasure in his possession – the power of the Spoken Word – and yet, in most cases, he does not know it.
 
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure … to bless all the work of thine hand… (Deuteronomy 28:12).

How many diamonds could we give to our world today by speaking words of love, kindness and tolerance to those around us? And the amazing thing is we would be the ones who received the greatest treasure. One can not give away more than one receives in return from the giving.

Wealthy in love,

Z gardener

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The 13th Hour

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

           Some wonderful demonstrations come at the eleventh hour. Others come at the twelfth hour. And some of the deepest and most far-reaching demonstrations come at the thirteenth hour – if you maintain the right attitude. What, after all, is the right attitude? It is simply knowing the Truth of Being instead of accepting the error.
 
Many people are aware of this, and they work in the right way – for a while. If, however, the demonstration has not arrived a little before the eleventh hour, they give up in despair, and naturally their prayer is not answered. But, this can only mean that they do not really believe.
 
If your statements of Truth are true, they are true whether the victory comes at eleven or twelve or one o’clock. State the Truth of Being concerning the problem. Hold to it even after twelve o’clock has struck, and you will be surprised at the wonderful good that can come to you at the thirteenth hour.
 
The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that is cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear (Isaiah 59:1).

Our faith is truly tested when it appears that our prayer will not be answered. When the hands on the clock have passed the time we e assigned for the deliverance we seek, we often begin to doubt. This is when it is most important to believe and to refuse to accept anything but the truth that God can and will do all things for our best good. How many times have we faltered within sight of the finish line? If we do not quit, if we live in the truth that God is the only power and if we remain firm in our faith, God will fill us with peace=2 0and surround us with it. So, “Be strong and of a good courage.”  Put God first and all else will be accomplished in God’s time, even in the thirteenth hour.

To paraphrase a popular song, “We’re gonna wait till thirteenth hour”.

Faithfully,

Z gardener

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Brains or Excelsior?

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

 
           You all know the Great Law. One way of stating it is to say: Like produces like. What we sow in thought we reap in experience.
 
People know that these things are true, and yet in spite of this transcendent knowledge they constantly use the Great Law for their own destruction. They would not dream of pouring water in the gas tank of their car, or sand into their watch, or broken glass into their food; but they do something just as foolish every time they think, speak, or act negatively. One cannot help wondering what such people have inside their heads – brains or excelsior.
 

In the future, when you catch yourself thinking negatively, say to your self severely, “Brains or excelsior?” and immediately switch to what you know to be the Truth of Being.
 
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord… (Ephesians 6:8).

This is easier said than done but it works without fail.

Positively sure,
Z gardener

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The Good God

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

 
God knows everything, at all times. The Bible sometimes speaks of God as having changed His mind or being disappointed. God is supposed to have tested Abraham’s obedience in the matter of Isaac. God is supposed to have had His plans upset by the misconduct of Adam and Eve, by the general wickedness of humanity before the flood, and, in fact, He is frequently represented as being disappointed and even frustrated by the conduct of mankind. In orthodox theology, the devil was continually upsetting God’s arrangements and bringing his plans to naught. Indeed, to listen to some preachers, one would have supposed that the devil was a good deal more powerful than God.
 
Of course, all this is nonsense. Such things could not be really true of God. It was Abraham’s idea of God that led him to prepare to kill Isaac. It was the wickedness of mankind in the antediluvian world that brought on the flood as a natural consequence, just as the fears, hatreds, jealousies, and greed of mankind over many years have brought on war.
 
We make an idolatrous image of ourselves and call it God. Let us destroy this image today and worship the true God who is infinite and unchanging Good.
 
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent … (Number 23:19).

We always err when we try to limit God to human scale. Even when we attempt to describe God we are limited by human speech and understanding. When we attempt to saddle God with human weaknesses, we are reducing God to our scale. It is when we accept the fact that we lack the capacity to fully comprehend God that our true awareness begins. Then we can open ourselves to the truth as revealed to us by an all-knowing God. This truth is that God loves us, forgives us and showers us with grace when we believe in and follow God’s will in our lives. We will never have to worry if God gets angry at us as long as we follow the path God has laid down for us. Then, just as Adam and Eve, we can live freely and without shame or guilt in the garden created for us and in communion with a loving and caring God.
 
God is good,
z gardener

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Theoretical Centipede

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

 
           Do not dissect things too much. By the time you have dissected a living thing you have killed it, and you no longer have the thing that you began with. Take a rose out of the bowl, pull its petal apart, count them, weigh them, measure them, and then, while you will have certain interesting information, you no longer have a rose.
 
There is a place for analysis, but it is apt to be quite fatal in prayer and meditation. Do not dissect the love of God, but feel it. Do not dissect divine intelligence, but realize it. Do not wonder how God can possibly solve this problem, but just watch Him do it in His own way – and He will if you will give Him a chance.
 
You know that God is Love. So go ahead on that, and do not get theoretical about it.
 
Do you remember the old verse that says:
 
A centipede was happy quite,
Until a frog in fun
Said, “Pray, which leg comes after which?”
This raised her mind to such a pitch,
She lay distracted in the ditch,
Considering how to run.
 

The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him: and all the upright in heart shall glory (Psalm 64:10).

This is not to say that we should avoid intellectual rigor and natural curiosity or that we should accept less than logical soundness. It is to say that too much of either is a channel for vanity, pride and ego to flow into our spirit and create rivers of doubt and lakes of rationalizations that will impede the passage to our Eden. It means, “trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall see glory”.

Entrusting,

Z gardener

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A Smile Is An Investment

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »

           Most people feel intuitively that the simplest things in life are the most important, or, if you prefer, that the most important things in life are found to be the simplest. This is a very profound discovery. What is more important to us than breathing, for instance?
 
Another simple thing that is of great moment is a smile. A smile affects your whole body from the skin right in to the skeleton, including all blood vessels, nerves, and muscles. It affects the functioning of every organ. It influences every gland. Even one smile often relaxes a number of muscles, and when the thing becomes a habit you can easily see how the effect will mount up. Last year’s smiles are paying you dividends today.
 
           The effect of a smile on other people is no less remarkable. It disarms suspicion, melts away fear and anger, and brings forth the best in the other person – which best he immediately proceeds to give to you.
 
A smile is to personal contacts what oil is to machinery, and no intelligent engineer ever neglects lubrication.
 

Rejoice evermore (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

A smile may appear to be an outward expression but it actually comes from the inside. A true smile is more than just having our lips turned up on the ends. It is the result of expressing (pressing outward) an inner joy, love, peace, understanding or other positive feelings or thoughts. Obviously, if these mental or spiritual states do not exist in us, we can not sincerely express them outwardly.

But even when we h ave none of these feelings inside we should still smile. Why? Because it is a great tonic and will help make us and others feel better. It is still a good investment. So, even when we don’t feel like smiling, we should do it anyway. Then we will find ourselves creating inward feelings that we can then show as a true smile. The smile becomes the pathway for positive feelings to come into our hearts. Remember, we are instructed by God that “this is the day the lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it”.

In joy and gladness,

Z Gardener

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The Consecrated Life

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

           Of what does the consecrated life consist?

 
Your life is a consecrated one when you are ready at all times to do the will of God – when you are willing and anxious that God may be fully expressed through you, through your thoughts, words, and deeds, during every hour of the day.
 
You are not concerned with the question of results. Results belong to God.
 
Here am I; send me (Isaiah 6:8).

When we consecrate ourselves to God being fully expressed through our thoughts, words and deeds, we must give up some things. Vanity, pride and ego must take a back seat to obedience, selflessness and outgoing love. We must release our desire to manage and control every action and every outcome in our lives. We have to be willing to allow God’s will to flow through us and to follow God’s will where it directs us. In short, we must become a servant. Giving up up this control is very difficult and the desire to exert our will over our world is a basic human instinct we must overcome. When we do these things we rise above all human limitation and weakness while becoming the conduit for God’s will in the world. Then we are capable of accomplishing anything and then we experience God’s peace and joy. All things are possible to those who love the Lord and obey God’s will.

Seeking servitude,
Z gardener

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Tail Wags Dog

Posted in Good Morning, tagged , on January 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

          Man controls his own life. The Bible says that God has given him “dominion over all things,” and this is true when he understands the Truth; and the Truth is that our outer conditions – your environment – are not cause; they are effect. You are not happy because you are well. You are well because you are happy. You do not have faith because things are going well. They are going well because you have faith. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but trouble has come because your realization of the Truth had first fallen off.
 
The secret of life then is to control your mental states. To accept sickness, trouble, and failure as unavoidable, and perhaps inevitable, is folly, because it is this very acceptance by you that keeps these evils in existence. Man is not limited by his environment. He creates his environment by his beliefs and feelings. To suppose otherwise is like thinking that the tail can wag the dog.
 
If you have been thinking that outer conditions are stronger that you are, say to yourself: “Tail wags dog” and immediately reverse the belief.
 
… who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? (Galatians 5:7).

Understanding this truth is essential to exercising the dominion God gave us in the way intended. It is a tough one to accept for most people. To understand this truth, we have to accept personal responsibility for the condition of our lives. But as God told Joshua, “be strong and of a good courage..turn neither to the left nor to the right..and ye shall prosper”. When we dedicate ourselves to controlling our mental state, we are on the path to controlling our environment. Then we will be able to exercise dominion over all things for our best good and the good of the world around us.

Taking responsibility,

Stan

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