Good Morning Garden

Perhaps the second best prayer ever written is the Scotsman’s Prayer – “Lord give us a good conceit of ourselves.” You cannot have too much respect for yourself. You cannot have too much confidence in yourself. You cannot claim too much for yourself. But remember that you must realize these things as being the expression of God in you and not independent qualities of your own. You must also accept them as being true for every other human being.

Nothing but failure can come of self-depreciation. Of course, it is true that stupid people can get the malady called “swelled head” – and this ends in a fall – but the realization of one’s divine selfhood never gives swelled head. It gives wisdom, balance, poise, and steady progress. Think, talk, live your divine, glorious selfhood, and it will demonstrate itself in your life.

I have said, Ye are Gods; and all of you are children of the most High (Psalm 82:6).

Yes, brother and sisters, you heard that right. You are a God! Within each of us is the spark or seed of the divine. And just as our children have the seed or spark we planted in them, so do we all have God’s spark within us.

Still plowing,
Z gardener

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God has no office hours. There is never a time when God is unavailable. Day or night, summer or winter, God is always present; always ready to heal, to comfort, to inspire. It is not possible that you could turn to God in prayer without receiving help.

The one thing required of you is that you shall turn to Him wholeheartedly, and that you shall expect Him to act. The greater the emergency, the easier will it be to demonstrate. The most powerful of all prayers is simply “Be still, and know that I am God.”

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose hearts is perfect toward him. (2 Chronicles 16:9).

No matter how alone we feel or how impossible our predicament seems, it is within God’s power to meet our needs. The difficulty arises when we can’t turn to God with our whole heart. In those circumstances we must ask for God’s help to turn our hearts to him. God is there to heal our hearts whether they are filled with fear, hurt, disappointment or even anger at God. What is required of us is that we “turn” to God. Because while God is always available, we hold the key that opens the door to God. That key is our heart.

With all my heart,
Z gardener

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It would probably be safe to say that more than half of the evil in the world is due to well-meaning busybodies who just cannot refrain from interfering. Needless to say, such people never have harmony or success in their own lives, for it is an invariable rule that he who minds his neighbor’s business, neglects his own.

To interfere mentally in any situation involves you in the consequences just as much as would a physical interference. Of course, where it is your duty to concern yourself in any matter, you must do so – constructively and spiritually – and then the consequences to you can only be good.

For every man shall bear his own burden (Galatians 6:5).

This does mean that we should neglect those around us who we can help. Interference is not help, it is injecting oneself into another’s affairs that are none of that person’s business. The obligation to help those around us, to counsel those who depend on us and to share our concerns with those we love always exist. But when we are not asked for help, or when we have no obligation to counsel, then the appropriate action is to be available, respond when asked and to direct love toward those about which we have concerns. When we inject ourselves into the affairs of those to which we have no duty or from which we have no invitation, then we have “gone from preaching to meddling”.

Bearing up,
Stan

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When you make a cake, you know that whatever you put into your mixing bowl will appear in the cake itself, and, on the other hand, that unless a particular substance does go into the mixing bowl, it cannot appear in the finished article.

The thoughts and beliefs that fill our minds ultimately appear in the cake of experience, and to realize this is to save oneself a lot of trouble. No one puts kerosene in the mixing bowl because no one wants it in the cake, for everyone knows that, if it does enter the bowl, in the cake it will be.

…They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same (Job 4:8).

We have all heard the computer phrase “junk in/junk out”. The same applies to our lives. If the thoughts, words and deeds we inject into our lives are loving, affirming and uplifting, then our lives will be joyful, hopeful and rewarding. If, on the other hand we fill our minds, mouths and lives with fear, negativity and condemnation, then our lives will be dreadful, fearful and depressing. There is no other way. That which we put in our lives will determine the output of our lives.

Sowing joy,
Z gardener

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It is your duty to God to run your life on intelligent lines. God gives us all as much intelligence as we can possibly need, but, unfortunately, in most cases we use very little of it.

Ask yourself today if you are really conducting your life intelligently. Are you eating and drinking intelligently? Do you select your reading intelligently? Do you spend your money intelligently? Do you consider intelligently the things that you hear, or do you just accept them uncritically? Do you exercise intelligence in carrying out your daily work? Do you seek to approach each new problem with intelligence instead or mere emotions?

Have you intelligent plans for the future? Do you know what you would really like to do or to be, and if not wouldn’t it be only intelligent to go to work and find out and then draw up an intelligent plan for gaining your desire?

The world needs more intelligence. There is plenty of will, but because people will not use enough intelligence, mankind everywhere is in difficulties. Your intelligence is the light of God in your soul.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5)

God gave human’s dominion over everything on the earth, ordered us to to be good stewards of the creation and gave us the intelligence to accomplish it. This intelligence is bestowed on us so that we may discern how to do God’s will in all ways. Intelligence was not given to us so we would blindly accept or reject what we are told. Whether in matters of the spirit or the physical world, we are endowed with intellect to investigate, quantify and and qualify that which we experience, or that which we are told. Whether it derives from a priest, politician or a pamphlet, God expects us to use our minds to make rational judgements about that which we experience, feel or think.

Think God,
Z gardener

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People often say, “I try to do so-and-so, but I fail.” The explanation for their failure is contained within the words themselves. You should never “try”; you should “let” – let God. When you “try” to do things, you are working from the outside. When you let God do them through you, you are working from the inside and success must come.

If you will reread the creation chapter in the Bible you will notice that God creates by “letting.” God said “let,” at every act of creation, and it was done. Now God creates by means of you if you will let him, but you must let. Someone said, “Let go and Let God,” and this is a wonderful recipe for overcoming fear or getting out of a tight place. In any case, the rule for creation is always to let.

Is any thing too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18: 14).

One of the hardest parts of living a godly life is the “letting go” part. Adam and Eve faced that situation and failed. We humans have been having trouble with it ever since. Our genes, our culture and our ego all scream that we must be in charge of our lives and are responsible for ourselves. Yet, it is when we turn our lives over to God and let God run the show , all our needs are met for our best good. Of course, we must do our part in living according to God’s will and caring for the garden God gave us. When we do this, there is nothing that we can’t accomplish if God is in command.

Letting go,
Z gardener

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Someone said that living life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning to play the instrument as we go along. This saying describes the experience very well, but no one should worry about that. We are in this world for exactly that purpose – to learn.

While we are learning we do not expect to produce a perfect work. On this plane we are all students, and what matters is that each year we shall find the quality of our workmanship definitely better. People are sometimes depressed because their lives do not present a simple, logical, harmonious unfoldment, because their histories seem to be full of inconsistencies, repetitions, dead-ends. This, however, is only to be expected during the learning period.

Your life has not been rehearsed. It is an adventure, and a discovery, and a training, and it is the final goal that matters.

And let us not be weary in welldoing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9).

If, when we awake each day, we view that day as a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, never to return and never to repeat itself, then we would not be surprised or deterred if that day had unexpected twists and turns. In fact, we would anticipate and look forward to those surprises as part of the adventure. It would seem perfectly natural to hit a few dead ends, make a few wrong turns and encounter challenges. That is why we go on adventures, right? The goal is to push ourselves, to learn, to experience the new and to overcome, so that we experience our lives as a series of mountaintops.

Climbing mountains,
Z gardener

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In the spiritual teaching we are told not to dwell upon our troubles, but instead, to realize the Presence of God where the troubles seems to be. Critics have suggested that this policy is “running away from life.” Is it?

Suppose you found yourself in a house that was on fire; what would you do? You would leave the burning building as rapidly as possible. Would this be running away from life? Would it not rather be seeking life?

Sickness, sin, fear, and limitation – these things are not life – they are partial death; and they are to be overcome by turning toward life, which is divine harmony.

To turn away from evil and realize God instead is to liberate yourself, to help the world, and to glorify God.

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth … (Isaiah 45:22).

Dwelling upon the presence of God in the midst of our troubles is the exact opposite of “running away from life”! We are running toward life when we embrace God and look to God for our help and solace. The “illusion” most of us live in is that we can run from God’s truth by “facing reality” and living in the world we create instead of the garden God created for us.

In reality,
Z gardener

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Have you ever heard the old story of the two spirations? They are essential 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).

Inspiration is required so that we know we are working for the right and best thing. Would a loving God allow us to succeed at something that is bad for us or others. For if we do succeed in doing bad, it will be bad for others as well as ourselves. So each day we should seek God’s will through inspiration, so that our success will be assured, or if we fail, that too will be for our best good and that of others.

Working and praying,
Z gardener

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