Trust

Trust is defined as firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing. As we begin a new year it is always time for reflection. Do we really trust God? Do we rely on God's integrity? "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."(Romans 8:28) Do we rely on God's ability? "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."(Philippians 4:13) Do we rely on God's character? "But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love."(I John 4:8)
As we begin this new year, this time of reflection on the past and what to do with our future, I want to encourage all of us to do just one thing - trust. Trust that God displayed a true nature in Jesus Christ. Trust that Jesus came fully as God and man to show us how to live a life of purpose and how to treat others. Trust that Jesus came to love us. Trust that God has always loved us and always will. Trust that God will finish the work that was started. Trust.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6

Namaste'

Belief

Today take God and believe. Believe that you are taken care of and that there is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. Believe that the Creator does all to take care of His children. Believe that God is never gone away from you no matter the circumstances of your life. I like to call it a "knowing." To know is more than just believe. To know is to be absolutely confident, to never doubt - to regard as true beyond doubt. Know that you are already accepted by your Creator. Know that Christ came to redeem all things to himself and if you believe and know this there is nothing for you to doubt.

God's readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation's available for everyone! We're being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness. Titus 2:13-14

When you can begin to know this - no never doubt it again - your life becomes God's and there is nothing that is out of your reach! Remember Jesus told us:

"If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it." John 14:11

You have what you need to fulfill the dream that God has placed in you. That dream and inspiration that you have come to you every day, that voice that says "you were made for more than this" is God's voice letting you know that you have a purpose. God is there to fulfill it in you because your life is no longer yours, it is God's. Know this!

Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Galatians 2:19-21

You do not have to strive, you only need to know and trust. Your ego is not important and you no longer need to impress anyone, even God. It is finished. Go and live your life confidently. Henry David Thoreau wrote this:

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours."

Advance confidently and live the life God has purposed you for! Know that God is there and will bring to pass what you need when you need it and not before or after you need it. Stop relying on others to tell you that you are good or ok. God has already said it, finished the work for you. Live your life knowing that it is all perfect and as it should be. This is faith and belief. Then we can do as the writer of Hebrews wrote:

So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into "the Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into God's presence is his body.
So let's do it—full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. Hebrews 10:19-25

Namaste'

Problems

I am in need of forgiveness. I forgot that I was connected to God. I forgot the statement from a Course in Miracles that says "you do not have any problems, you only think you do." I became worried, forgot to be thankful, took my ego back on and told myself I was what I have. I began to tell myself I must accumilate and that I did not have enough. In this moment I began to get scared, began to worry, began to blame, took my revenge and became angry. I did not know what I was doing in that moment. I am in need of forgiveness. It happen so quickly, and I was able to recognize it just as quickly. I am no better than anyone who reads the pages here. I could learn just as much from anyone who reads these pages if they were to talk to me as they can learn here. I am just trying to be better than I used to be. Dr. Wayne Dyer has said that "true nobility is not about being better than anyone, it is about being better than I used to be." I know today that I am better than I used to be.

I learned in that moment how I can hurt others because I lose my connection to God. I know that I still worry and get scared and it turns to anger. I learned that it is all in my mind. This morning as I wake up nothing has changed in the physical world, but my thoughts have changed and I am no longer worried, scared or angry. I have solved the problem. I re-establish my connection God's spirit and the problem is solved. I hope that today I can live with this verse in mind:

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Philippians 4:8-9

Today I will look for ways to be an instrument of peace today. I can choose peace rather than this today. I need to sow love rather than my anger. This can only be done be living in connection to my God and God's spirit. I have been making the wrong kind of choices in my mind and telling myself what the world ought and should be, rather than focusing on what I have thankful for and allowing God to work. The way of Jesus is just that - a way, a path - I got off the path. I do everyday. I am a human being in need of forgiveness. I forgive myself. I learned so much from the experience and it is why I needed to go through it. It is all between me and God anyway.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Colossians 3:15-17

Namaste'

Rest

Jesus offers us real rest. We all find our lives, both the physical and the spiritual, hard and tiresome at times. We all work so hard to keep up, do the right things and somehow make God and others love us. However, Jesus reminded us of this:

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

What does Jesus mean when he asking up to take his yoke upon us? We have to remember that Jesus was taught and trained as a Jewish Rabbi. When children were brought up in the Jewish faith they where taught to memorize the entire Old Testament. If they could do this and prove that they were worthy enough to keep studying they would be chosen by a Rabbi to come and study under them. If they were not "worthy" enough to be chosen by a rabbi, they returned to the family and worked in the family business. If you took on this task of learning under a certain teacher or rabbi, you were said to be taking on his yoke. You would learn that teacher's teaching about the scriptures and you would pass on his teachings, his yoke, to the future generations. Jesus is telling us here that his teaching is easy and that the burden of learning it is light. I love the Message translation of the above verses:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

I love the phrase "Learn the unforced rhythmns of grace." Jesus' teachings are unforced, his love has a rhythm that is easy to catch onto. We need to keep company with Christ and learn how easy living in conncection to God can be. It is not a life of religion and rule keeping to make God love us. It is not a life of striving, trying, and motivation. It is a life of love, ease, and inspiration. Motivation being that I know that if I do not do something good things will not happen. Inspiration being that I know that if I do certain things good thins will happen. Are you getting inspired from your connection to God or are you being motivated? Motivation is a tiring process. I must figure why I must do something and make sure that I do it to avoid negative things from happening. Inspiration is a restful, freeing process. I do what comes naturally, what God has placed in my heart and I act on it and find joy, peace, and rest.

Walk with Christ today. Allow God's love to do it's work of unforced rhythms. Try not to get in the way or swim against the current of the unforced rhythms of grace. When we swim up stream, against the current, we are tired and worn out. Go with God's rhythms. Allow. It is peaceful and easy to float with the current down the stream. Realize God is right here right now. Recognize that you are a spiritual being and God is working all things for your good. Take on the Christ's yoke and simply love God, yourself and others. (Matthew 26:36-40) The rest of what you need to do will fall into place if you rest there and allow.

Namaste'

Warmth

This word is calling me today. At times we all need to feel the warmth of something. The warmth I am talking about today can be defined as affectionateness: a quality proceeding from feelings of affection or love. This is what we get from God. We get a love that is warm that totally surrounds us like that blanket on a cold winter night. The world is around us with the cold air, the ice, the cold rain - the anger, the hate, the sadness - and we all are looking for somewhere to get warm. God offers that to everyone. He came as the light and light creates heat. He came with his love and loved us despite our being of no use to Him. When we are cold God is love. When we feel in darkness God is light.

God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome! The morning sun's a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape. That's how God's Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith. The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road. The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes. God's reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree. Psalm 19:4-9

We live in a spiritual world that God has created. We live in God's superdome. We have warmth of light and love. We have clear directions that give us joy. We can trust in God and the decisions that are made completely. We all to often opt out of this spiritual world and being spiritual beings for the cold world of ego and the physical world that we can see, touch, taste and we leave the superdome. We rely on others to show us the way, on others to tell us how to feel, and on other things to help us find warmth. We are left disapppointed, cold and depressed.

Remember today that you are a spiritual being having a temporary human experience and that warmth is available to you. The world may be cold, but God is light and love - God is warmth. Accept this warmth from God, wrap up in God's spirit. You are loved. You are in the light. Then turn around and be this warmth to someone who needs it. You are love. You are light. They will be warm, but so will you. Jesus said:

"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it." John 14:11-13

Namaste'

Beauty

Jesus once again addressed them: "I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in." John 8:12

"When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. John 12:45-47

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in an essay on beauty, "There is no object so foul that intense light will not make beautiful." Jesus is our intense light. Jesus tells us that he came into this world and gave it light. He comes and God makes us beautiful! We no longer have to trip and stumble in the darkness of our own thoughts, our own worries, or our own lives! We take on the light of Christ and everything becomes beautiful. Do we allow Christ to illuminate our thoughts which will then effect our view of the world and those around us? We no longer have to worry about being foul or ugly. God came to give us light and make us beautiful.

If we have that light in us then we need to give this light to others. We cannot hide this light and God has placed us on a hill, on a stand to be seen by eveyone else who thinks they are ugly or foul. We can let them know that God thinks they are beautiful, we get to bring out the "God colors in the world." What is this light? I think it is our love, it is "because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Romans 5:5 Do we love? I think that they way we show that we love God is not by building bigger buildings or having some huge ministry, but by loving each other - no matter who they are. Jesus reminds us that he came to the world, not to judge it, but that they world may be saved through Him, through the love that He shows. God loves us. God is love. We need to love. This is the light of God. This is our light.

Love others today. Bring out the God-colors in this world today. Be light to those around you who only see darkness. Prompt them to open up to God and His light by your love. Let them know that they are beautiful and that no matter how foul they feel they are, there is no amount of "foul" they can feel that intense love will not make beautiful.

Namaste'

Be

Let's not act lets be. What do I mean by this? I think that many times we spend time in our life acting the part of Christian, never really being Christian. We act kind, loving, nice, and caring but never really are that way. When we are alone we are angry at the driver that is not driving the way we think that they should, the waiter that does not serve us the way we think they should, or we get angry with our family. We try to live these virtues by living out rules and not breaking them. Really we should be living and being these virtues. There are no rules to make us, or anyone else live them out. We must be willing to change our thoughts and lives so that we actually become kind, loving, nice, and caring. This is a much deeper issue than just acting and trying, this is about becoming and being.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Colossians 3:13-15

We need to dress in what God has given us. This is more than just acting and following rules, this implies a way of being. We are to be as Christ is, we are to think and act like God as much as we can. Christ came to show us how to bring heaven to earth. How do we do that? Christ came to teach us how to be like him, not through rules, but through a changed heart. Imagine a place where there are no rules to keep people in check, but that people live out of who are are, out of a way of being that requires them to not worry about rules. You can live in this freedom. When you come to be loving, kind and caring there is freedom.

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. 2 Corinthians 3:16-17

Be free today. Learn to be love and kindness to others. Begin to do things because your have changed your thoughts and your heart, not because following the rules will change your heart. Connect to the God who came in flesh and become love.

Namaste'

Choice

Everyone has the choice - everyone. Christ came to redeem and reconcile all things to back to God. Everyone is forgiven. Heaven is full of people who are loved and forgiven. Hell is full of people who are loved and forgiven. The world is full of people who are loved and forgiven. It is a REALITY that Christ work on the cross has allowed everyone to be forgiven and loved.

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
18-20He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
21-23You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.

Colossians 1:15-23

The question is not that some people get forgiven and some people do not, the question is which reality do you choose to believe? God has forgiven us, there is nothing else for us to do. However, most of us walk around thinking that we must still make a payment of some kind to have God love us and forgive us. We do not realize that the bill is already paid. We must accept this reality and live in it. It is a choice we make each day. Will we live in the reality of the grace of God or in the world's reality that says we must earn love by hard work, making others like us, and gaining stuff?

Pick God's reality today and everyday. Live in the knowing that God loves and forgives you. Act on that reality and become aware of how to serve others. Give your life away because if you accept the reality of God's love there is nothing for you to earn anymore.

Namaste'

Embraced

We are loved. God has embraced us. Sit for a moment and just read those lines again. Let them sink in. Imagined being embraced by God. I am not talking about being hugged or held close in someone arms. I am talking about being totally surrounded and enclosed by God's spirit. Close your eyes and imagine God's spirit embracing you as you think about how much you are loved. You are loved - embraced - so much so that nothing can seperate you from God!

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. Romans 8:31-39

I am overwhelmed at the last line of this passage! Absolutely nothing can get between me and God's love because of the way that Jesus has EMBRACED us! I am totally surrounded by Jesus and his love. If the Creator is embracing me, what could possibly harm me? I may feel hurt, harmed, or suffering but when I realize that I am embraced by God's spirit, God's love, God's very presence what is there to worry about? We need to remember that we are always embraced and loved. We are always connected to God. God is right here right now. Nothing seperated me from God's love except my own thoughts and beliefs that I am.

Remember today that you are loved, embraced, and totally surrounded by God. Remember today that when you feel disconnected that God is no further from you than a thought, a quick awareness that God is surrounding you.

Namaste'

Realize

Do we realize that God is everywhere? Do we feel alone and that God has left us? Do we feel like God is so far away and that we will never be able to connect? Can we begin to know that God's spirit is everywhere?

They were calling out to each other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

Isaiah 6:3

Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go underground, you're there! If I flew on morning's wings to the far western horizon, You'd find me in a minute—you're already there waiting! Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I'm immersed in the light!" It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you. Psalm 139:7-12

These are two examples of how the writers of the Bible knew that God's spirit was everywhere! When we feel disconnected from God who moved? I would say no one has moved. God is right there and so are you. We do not realize that God is right there. We see God as this person who sits somewhere far away, watches us, judges us, extends His hands when he his ready, and comes only when we envoke his presence. However, God is right here, right now. God's spirit is with you as you read this, in your house, your office, in those around you, and with your thoughts. God's spirit is in me, in, in nature, the whole earth is full of God! We can attempt to escape God, but we cannot. We really just choose to make a decision to notice be aware of God' spirit. As David writes in the Psalm above God is everywhere and are we going to realize this and allow God's spirit to change us? I challange you to read all of Psalm 139 today. God knows you. God is as close as your breath. God is as close as your thoughts. God is everywhere you go everyday. The earth is God's and God lives here! Can you realize this today? Connect with God and worship today in each and every place and moment you have.

God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." John 4:24

Namaste'

Confidence

What does your confidence lie in today? There is something that you are depending on, relying on, to feel confident and good. What is that? Is it your job? Your friends? Your family? Other people's opinions of you? The money you are making? The giving of a gift to someone? We all believe in something. We all look outside of ourselves to find confidence and strength. However, where do we really find this kind of confidence and strength? I think that it really comes from within and remembering that God's spirit resides in us and that spirit is not one that wants us to define our confidence by what is outside us.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.
That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.
Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

2 Timothy 1:7-14

Jesus came into this world so that we no longer had to find confidence outside of ourselves. God has given us a spirit of power, love and self discipline. Are we connecting to that or are we living with a spirit of fear, anger, and confusion because each day we are relying on the stuff outside ourselves to feel good? You see, when we begin to understand that before the beginning of time God planned for us to be connected to spirit, to show us grace, we did nothing to make God love us, and that it is up to the Creator of the universe to guard our lives, we begin to have confidence in who we are! We are God's children, protected by this all powerful spirit. How could anything else make us confident? God will care for us now and for all eternity! We must realize that we are spiritual beings and this life is but a brief appearance for us that is guarded by a loving, caring God (spirit), who came in human form to show us how to live our lives in confidence. We love. We forgive. We trust. We become patiently relentless. We know that when we live our lives in complete abandon to God we can be confident because it is not our life to guard - it is God's.

Let God guard your life today. Let your confidence be found in living each moment knowing that you are connect to God through spirit. Notice when you become disconnected and begin to experience anger, fear, or frustration. Where did you put your trust in those moments? What were you confident in, hoping in? Notice that your ego probably took over and tried to tell you that what others said was more important, or if something did not happen the way you thought it should "everything" was bad. Reconnect then. Remember who you are and who is really responsible for you. Feel the real power and freedom of love and self discipline rather than being a prisoner to your ego and the world.

Namaste'

Patiently Relentless

This is how our life should be - patiently relentless. We should pursue after our goals, hope for the best, want to teach our children about life and how it works, and desire joy, peace, and happiness. We can be relentless in those pursuits. We can work on them daily, take action on them daily, and plan for the future. When we do this we must also be patience. We must realized that these pursuits will not happen on our time schedule. We must accept that it is much like growing a garden. We plant the seeds. We tend to the garden daily, doing what is necessary - providing water when there is no rain, fertilizing the plants, pulling the weeds that can choke out the grow of the plants, keep bugs away that could eat the leaves and destroy the growth that has taken place - then we must sit back and be patient. If we attempt to give too much water, too much fertilizer, pull on the plants to make them grow faster, too much pesticide to keep the bugs away, dig around the plants too much - we end up destroying the plants and the end result of fruit because we are just relentless - impatiently relentless.

When we are impatiently relentless we are trying to make life and growth happen at a different pace other than God's. We are attempting to speed things up, make others in our lives learn things before they are ready, make things happen before their appointed time. We have a hard time sitting back and allowing God to do what God does - create, love, and nuture. We become angry then, want to assert our rights, push people along, and live in frustration and depression. However, when we can be patiently relentless we tend to others and step back and allow them to figure things out, we help others along their path without pushing them in the direction we think they should go, we do not interfere with God working in their life. We do the things that are placed in front of us each day to do so we can reach a goal, but we must patiently wait for the fruit of that labor to show up and trust that God will make it show up - but only on time - the time appointed.

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us. Colossians 1:9-12

We do not need to "grit our teeth" in inpatience. Rather we need to allow things to happen patiently "knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:3-4

Be like Jesus in you daily life. Jesus never ran anywhere. He took his time getting to a man that he loved.

"Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea." John 11:5-7

Jesus raised him from the dead - he was relentless - but he sure was patient. Can we allow things to happen as they need to? Can we enjoy the moments that we are in? Can we just enjoy the act of being a "gardener?" Be patiently relentless as you tend to your lives and others.

Namaste'

Flexibility

Flexibility is one of the characteristics needed to have a happy and fulfilling life. Flexibility is the ability to adapt to different circumstances. If we are unable to adapt to the ever changing circumstances of our life, it is easy for us to find ourselves coming to the "breaking point." The world is full of troubled circumstances at times. We all need to be able to adapt and change with where God may take us. We often may miss where God is working in our lives because of our own refusal to be flexible in our thoughts and in the circumstances that are presented to us on the path of life. We may so hold to old patterns of thinking, old ways of doing things, stay where we feel safe rather than risk a new change and miss out on opportunities that God has placed in our path. We all have "rules" in our head that we just cannot "break" and we are going to stand firm on this way of thinking.
Imagine a tree that is inflexible being blown by very strong winds. If it does not have the flexibility to bend and give as the winds are blowing it is snapped off and broken. It is why bridges are built with space in mind for the give and take of the weather and the weight of vehicles. If it was not flexible it would collapse. This does not mean that we are totally like jello, because if that were the case, bridges would collapse also, trees would just fall over. No I mean that we can take the circumstances of life and move with them. We adjust our thinking, our ways of living, our relationships, and our behaviors as it is necessary to stay connected to God. If we stick so hard to rules in our head and rules in our heart with no flexibilty we may be broken when a life storm comes along.

One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them. Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: "Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!"
Jesus said, "Really? Didn't you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn't you ever read in God's Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it's not held against them?
"There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—'I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual'—you wouldn't be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he's in charge."

Matthew 12:1-7

Allow your heart to be flexible and molded by the Spirit of the living God, not the rules of men or your ego. Today be able to take time and think when something comes your way that may make you angry or upset. Challange your thinking and see if it is flexible or rigid. Be mindful - are there any other explanations, is there another way to think and act about this rather than the way I do it everyday? Then you may be like a tree that is blown and gives enough not to break and continues to stand and live on. Remember that clay if flexible in the hand of its creator.

Still, God, you are our Father. We're the clay and you're our potter. Isaish 64:8

Namaste'

Purpose

We are encouraged to give up ourselves, our will, to God. Most of us will have reservations about this process. I believe that finding God’s will is a much different process than most of us imaging that it is. Most us think it is about finding what God wants us to do for a living, the mate that is perfect for us, or the “right” place to live or go to church. This is not what it means to live in harmony with God’s will. We could actually find all those things and tell ourselves that we “are in God’s will” but still harbor anger, hate, worry, bitterness, judgment, unkind actions towards others, etc. We tell ourselves, “Why is this happening to me, I am doing God’s will.” We have very little peace. This is because obtaining peace has nothing to do with the circumstances of our lives or being in the right place doing the right things.
Being in God’s will has everything to do with having the “mind of Christ.” Peace has everything to do with our mindset and alignment with our Creator. Do we tell ourselves that we are not in God’s will and therefore lack peace because of things or circumstances are not working out? Is it really because things are not working out and we are not in God’s will, or because we do not have the mind of God and we are not thinking like our Creator. For example, if I do not like my job is it because I am not in God’s will? If I was I would love my job. However, could it be that because I am not in God’s will that I do not love my job? This means that because I do not view life with a God mindset and eyes it does not matter what I do or where I go - I will never find happiness, peace, or God’s will.
So can I look at what makes me unhappy about my job and look at it differently, with the mind of Christ? Can I serve my job instead of expecting it to serve me, love my boss instead of look at them with contempt, and see every opportunity to show kindness versus the need to be right? This would place me in God’s will and God’s purpose. We can apply this to any circumstance in our life. This can be done by confessing and realizing our faults. Confession is not about letting God know how we have wronged God, but really about opening our own minds up to the need for change ourselves. We must begin to see when we are out of alignment with God when we attempt to “swim up stream” against the flow of what God is doing in our lives. We will find purpose in our lives if we:

Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

Remember that your purpose in life is not connected to what you do for a living, the mate you have, or having the right place to live. Your purpose is really about are you living and thinking like Christ. Are you showing kindness and caring to those around. No matter what you are "doing" you are giving your life away.

Namaste'

Inner Sweetness

The thoughts you have from moment to moment can give your soul rivers of living water or dry your soul out as parched as a desert.
The problem is very simple. Peace and inner sweetness can be destroyed by a restless mind. God can only come to the quiet mind. In 1 Kings 19:12 (The Message) it says

Then he was told, "Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by." A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn't to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn't in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn't in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.

This verses talks about that God was not in the loud, raging things that we would think. God was actually in the whisper. I have heard it described that the Hebrew word for whisper actually means silence. That God’s voice is actually silence! Can God speak in the midst of such inner confusion as you permit by that endless, hurrying parade of thoughts going through your mind? Be quiet and God will soon be heard. So if the problem is very simple so is the solution.

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10)

Peace can be cultivated, but only by being still and not restless. It is only by simple acts of obedience, or willingness and discipline, that we can find this place of peace. Peace is not a gift given to those who happen to be the most holy of us. Peace is the end result of the process of giving ourselves, through simple obedience, to the process of looking at our thoughts moment by moment, finding time to be still and quiet each day, and allowing ourselves to die to our ego. We all will not receive a thing if we continue to focus on and listen to our own restless thoughts. We can have the faith to listen to God and the thoughts of peace given. We can slow down each day and sit in meditation and first begin to notice how busy our mind is and learn how to slow it down. We can become aware of the thoughts that flood our mind about ourselves and what we think we should have or need. We can become aware of the lies that are in each of our thoughts we have that things are “never” or “always.” We can sit quietly with our thoughts and begin to turn off the ego and turn on to God thoughts. We can do this by practicing obedience daily with a “quiet time.”
This is much different that the quiet time that most Christian’s have grown up thinking about. This is not a time to fill my mind with my own restless thoughts of how my day will go and how I can evoke God into my day with prayers of please and help. Rather, it is a time to sit and be still before God, in a quiet place, to meditate on your thoughts and examine them one, by one. As I Corinthians 10:5 says,

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

This is the practice of our spiritual life. We look at every thought in the silence voice that is God and allow the Creator to examine us and cultivate thoughts that will lead to peace no matter the circumstances in our lives. This type of meditation will also allow us to find out how to treat ourselves and others with love, which is the real way to cultivate peace. God is love.

Namaste'

Forgiveness

This is a very difficult subject for most all of us. However, I believe that to live in connection to God and to have the mind of Christ we must practice forgiveness. There are three things that we must do in order to completely practice forgiveness. First we must not blame. When we are unable to forgive someone who we percieve as having wronged us we need to look at our decision to blame them for our unhappiness. The idea that we must assign responsibility to someone else for our life circumstances is the product of an attitude of blame. We must be completely honest with ourselves and take total responsibility for everything that we are in our life right now to rid ourselves of blame. I think Jesus said it like this:

Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. Matthew 7:1-3

The second thing that we need to do is rid ourselves of revenge. We live in a world that endorses anger and revenge. Revenge is the acting out of the thoughts of blame. Blame is how we think, revenge is how we act. Blaming fuels our anger and revenge is the explosion of that fuel. We need to be gentle with ourselves and with others who may decide to not be so gentle. Scripture says it like this:

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:31-32

Finally, we must reduce our judgements as much as we can. Judgement means to view the world as YOU are, rather than how it really is. This may be impossible to avoid completely, because almost every thought has a judgement attached. For instance, even if I say "It is a beautiful day," that is my thought about the day. However, we can reduce our negative judgements. We must remember that when we judge someone or some event in our lives, we do not alter anyone or anything. Just because I do not like someone does not mean that they will change. When I judge I do not define another person, I just define myself. Our judgements just describe our likes and dislikes. Again Jesus tells us:

I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity." Luke 6:36-38

When we can do these three forgiveness can happen. The ideal is this for me. Think about Jesus hanging on that cross - spit on, made fun of, his clothes being gambled over, given vinegar to drink, a spear thrust in his side - and what does he say?

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34

Jesus knew the soldiers were just following orders, the mob was being a mob, and people really did not understand what was going on here. That is how we need to see others in our life. Don't blame, seek revenge or judge them for their actions. Remember that they are just doing their best and really do not know how or what they are doing is hurting others. We want this variance from others - are we willing to give it? Jesus had every right to be angry, blame, judge and seek revenge. However, God picked kindness and gave his life away. Pick something different today, give your life away and see if you don't have a changed life when forgiveness enters your spirit.

Namaste'

Balance

We have the tendency to take things to extremes. We have the tendency to see our lives as either "all good" or "all bad." We say things to ourselves and outloud to others like - "I will never get things right," "It always happens this way," " They are always so selfish," and "Nothing ever goes right." When we do this to ourselves we cause ourselves more pain than what is really happening. When you really look at life, your life, how many things can you truly classify in those types of extremes - always, never, nothing - most of life is really one of balance between extremes. There are people, places, and events in our lives that are not the way we would like them at times and just the way we would like them at times. However, we use those times (good or bad) to define our whole life, who we are as a person, and what will happen in the future.

We all want things to be good all the time. We want people around us to be good always. We never want to hurt. We never want to be without nothing. This leaves us dissapointed - a lot!
Life is really lived and lived well in balance. Realizing that things are what they are - sometimes good, sometimes bad. We do it well sometimes and other times we make mistakes. Things that happen to us are left up to expereince and perceive. We make our own expereince of life and it can be one of pain and anger or one of hopefulness and joy. If we do not have a thought life that is in balance and rather focuses on extremes our life will be one that will see more pain, anger and hoplessness. If our thought life is in balance we can see more hopefulness, joy, and happiness. Albert Einstein is credited with saying that everyone has to make the choice to decide if they live in a hotile or a friendly universe.

I personally choose to believe that I live in a friendly universe ruled by a loving Creator. Are there things that happen to me that I do not like, do not understand - of course. Can I overcome them - transcend them - by living in connection to God through my thoughts and live a life that is in the middle of God's will - most definitely!

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Philippians 4:6-8

I think that Socrates said that the unexamined life is not a life worth living. Examine your life today. Do you live in extremes? Does your thought life have more always and nevers than you would like? Examine your thought life, catch yourself feeling a way that you do not like and aske yourself, "What was I just thinking." I guarantee that you will find some extreme. Get silent with God and let the Creator diplace your worry by changing your thoughts. Live a life of balance.

Namaste'

Mindfulness

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34

How often do we spend the day we have, the moment we have right now, thinking about tomorrow? How many times I have missed the wonderful moment I am in because my mind is in the future that I have absolutely no control over. The reality is that we are promised only one thing and that is the moment that you are currently living in. I love the statement Jesus gives us at the beginning of this verse, "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now." God is always at work, the spirit of the Creator everywhere. In each moment there are no accidents or coincidences, only God at work in the present moment.

We are so scared of missing out on something that we do miss out on the current moment. We are so worried and concerned about what may or may not happen that we attempt to control it through our thoughts about the future. This is really only worry because there is absolutely nothing that can be done about this afternoon, until this afternoon get here. We are so scared that we may miss something if we do not think ahead, that we do miss something. We miss God working right now! Mindfulness is a psychological practice, and I believe a spiritual one also, that says I must be aware of this present moment. When I eat, I know that I am eating. When I am sitting I know that I am sitting. When I am walking I know that I am walking. How aware are each of us of the activity that we are currently doing at this moment? How many of us are reading this, but thinking about what we have to do next, rather than just being in the moment aware that we are reading?

I know of no other way to be connected to God except in this moment. To know that God is within me, around me, and everywhere. When I am mindful I see God in everything and everyone. I take time to actually "be" where I am, rather than be physically present, but my mind somewhere else. This helps us to become aware of how we are actually acting, thinking, and feeling in each moment. This actually gives us the opportunity to change. If I am not aware that my tire is flat on my car and drive on it because I am just concerned about getting to the next place I need to be - so I miss out on a moment to be mindful and aware of now - I drive on a flat tire. What happens? If I drive on it long enough the tire will shred, tearing up the wheel and fender, allowing the metal to contact the ground and do more damage to the entire car. At some point I will have to notice what is happening, it can't be avoided.

Isn't this how we live our lives at times? We have an issue, we have something we need to be aware of at this moment. It could be something to enjoy or something to attend to, but we miss it because we are so concerned about missing something that may happen later. We are left wanting and waiting with things becoming worse or with us telling ourselves that we will never gain happiness, but it just passed us in that moment. There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.

What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. Luke 12:29-32

Practice being mindful today. Take each moment in. When you eat lunch be aware of each bite, know you are eating. When you walk be aware that you are walking. When you are talking to your friend or family member, give them your full attention and really hear what they are saying. Imitate Christ and be in each moment with each person, each event and see if the worries of this life fade and get taken care of despite your "letting go."

Namaste'

Protection

On Sunday I had the wonderful experience of raking leaves in my yard. Yes I am being sarcastic! I love my yard in the spring and summer. It is full of blooming trees and flowers. The trees cover the house in shade and keep us cool and the air conditioning bill to a minimum. However, when fall and winter come around I really start to dislike my yard and all the trees. I even said to my wife a few times on Sunday, "I hate leaves." I thought to myself what is the point of having all these leaves fall off every year just to grow back and have it happen again?

Deciduous trees drop their leaves in order to survive the harsh conditions of winter. Stems, twigs, and buds are equipped to survive extreme cold. Tender leaf tissues however, would freeze in winter, so plants must either protect their leaves or shed them. The evergreens — pines, spruces, and hemlocks – are able to survive winter because they have developed a way to protect their foliage. Their needle-like or scale-like foliage is covered with a heavy wax coating and the fluid inside their cells contains substances that resist freezing. Fallen leaves are not wasted, they decompose and restock the soil with nutrients. The rich layer of decomposing leaves protects the roots of other plants on the forest floor and absorbs and holds rainfall.

There is actually a reason for the falling leaves, not just so I can be punished by cleaning them up every fall. It is a way for the trees to protect themselves, nourish the ground around themselves, and keep water close to them. Many times we view our lives this way don't we - "why is this happening", "this is a lot of trouble," " what did I do to derserve this." We have a tendency to look back on our life and look at our current situations and tell ourselves that things should not be happening like this. When really whatever has shown up in our lives is supposed to be there, it has a reason or a purpose. When there are times in our lives when we are alone or feel alone maybe we are learning how to take care of ourselves. If we are divorced our ex-spouse showed up at the right time to give us the beautiful children we have. If we lost a job it is because we needed to find something better and just did not know how to get out of the job we were in. Whatever comes into our lives is like falling leaves - there to nourish us, protect us, and help us to grow.

There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: A right time for birth and another for death, A right time to plant and another to reap, A right time to kill and another to heal, A right time to destroy and another to construct, A right time to cry and another to laugh, A right time to lament and another to cheer, A right time to make love and another to abstain, A right time to embrace and another to part, A right time to search and another to count your losses, A right time to hold on and another to let go, A right time to rip out and another to mend, A right time to shut up and another to speak up, A right time to love and another to hate, A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

When you look back at your life see all the events of your life as having shown up when and how they were supposed to. See them as the opportunities that you had to go through to grow. And the evidence for this is that you went through it. It cannot be changed except in how you think about it. It is like the blessing of the falling leaves in my yard. If they do not shed their leaves I would not have the beautiful yard I have in the spring and summer and my house would not receive the protection it does then. See those times as a times of protection and perfection.

"I've also concluded that whatever God does, that's the way it's going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God's done it and that's it. That's so we'll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear. Whatever was, is. Whatever will be, is. That's how it always is with God."

Ecclesiastes 3:14-15

Namaste'

Power

Power is the ability to make choices or influence outcomes. We think that we only have power when circumstances and people turn out and make decisions the way that we would like them. We all do this in various ways. We use our anger to get others attention or to assert some kind of control over people to get them to act differently. We use guilt and manipulation to make others decide something that we know they would normally refuse. We also do anything for anybody to get what we want and control the outcome. Most of these come out of the need to make sure our EGO is getting stroked and to gain approval from others. We all live our lives based on the opinions of others from time to time and use some form of unhealthy power to control people and outcomes so that approval is guarenteed.
Abraham Maslow, one of the fathers of modern psychology, was asked once what it took to get to the top of his Hierarchy of Needs. He replied saying that if people could live their lives independent of the good opinions of others they could reach the pinnacle of his hierarchy - self actualization. Can you imagine living your life not concerned about what other people are going to think about it? I do not mean that you never care for people, meet the needs of others, or consider how something that you may do or say will effect others. Rather I mean using power - the ability to make decisions and influence outcome - without considering what someone's opinion may be. This is how Jesus lived his life. Consider the following passages that talk about how Jesus may have made decisions:

Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
Jesus said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you."
The man asked, "What in particular?"
Jesus said, "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself."
The young man said, "I've done all that. What's left?"
"If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me."
That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go.
As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom? Let me tell you, it's easier to gallop a camel through a needle's eye than for the rich to enter God's kingdom." Matthew 19:16-24

As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.

Matthew 14:22-23

The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"
"No one, Master."
"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

John 8:6-11

In each of these incidents Jesus had the chance to make sure certian people would be happy with him and the outcome. He could have purused the rich young man and tried to convince him that he was making a mistake and explain to him the whole process again, but Jesus did not he let him go and decide himself. Jesus could have continued to take care of the thousands he just fed, but he made them and the disciples leave so he could be alone. I am sure someone was saying, "how dare he make us leave, I need something." Finally, Jesus had the chance to make sure the religious leaders where happy and refused to. I find it hard to think that Jesus lived to please others and made decisions based on others opinion of him. He most definitely helped others and was God in flesh showing the world how to live, but he did not seem to worry to much about what others thought of him personally. He made decisions based on love and from a very different position of power.

he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father

Philippians 2:8-11

Where will we gain power from today? Will we get it from our anger, our manipulation, our need to say yes to everything? Or will we get it from a position of humility, not worrying about the good opinions of others imitating the life of Christ? When we live a life independent of the good opinion of others we find real power. We can make effective decisions and influence outcomes in a way that is not seen as selfish, angry, or needy.

Namaste'

Hope

In this season of Christmas what are you hoping for? We all hope for something. We all want things to work together for a positive outcome. This is what hope is - belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope implies a certain amount of perseverance, believing that a positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary. Hope is often the result of faith in that while hope is an emotion, faith carries a divinely inspired and informed form of positive belief - a knowing. To hope we must have the faith (we must know) that God can see the bigger picture. We must persevere through circumstances in our life which seem to be working against, as actually working for us. We must believe in a postive outcome! This may mean that we will not actually see that postive outcome ourselves, but trust that there is a positive outcome there that God is making happen.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:1-8

You see we have been given this great gift to be a host to God through what could be seen as such a tradegy. At the time that we were the most worthless and powerless to God, Jesus entered the world. Jesus died a horrible death to that God's love could be demonstrated. We have a hard time understanding this because it is hard for us to understand dying for someone who is a good or righteous man, how could someone die for someone who is not use to them at all. God did it so we could live with the very source that created us.

We do the same with people and circumstances in our lives. We want to toss them aside, ignore them, and beg God to take them away because they are not as we wish. "How could we possibly learn from that," we tell ourselves. We miss that circumstances and people in our lives that we see as causing suffering are actually there to produce something in us. It is there to produce perseverance - instruction and discipline. Once we change our thinking and accept this, trusting that the Creator actually knows how to make things work, we gain character - wisdom. Once we gain character to act in Christ minded ways, we gain hope - unconditional love. We have a knowing, not just a belief, but a knowing that a positive outcome is coming. We realize that a positive outcome may not be in this physical life, but in the spiritual, eternal life. What a hope!

Hope today for a positive outcome. Give up that ego that so strongly desires to make things work for pleasure right now and leaves us wanting and disappointed. Hope for and know that there is a Creator who cares for birds and grass and loves you even more! Accept that love, be a child and allow yourself to be taken care of rather than pushing away the safety of this love for the dangerous world of ego.

Your choice this week is to be a hostage to ego or a host to God!

Namaste'

Serenity

Serenity refers to an absence of agitation. How often am I serene? I believe that we can use this as a measure of our connection to God. I specifically say that we can use it, because others really do not know if we have an absence of agitation or not because most of the time our fears, our worries, our frustrations, and our resentments live in our head and we never let anyone know about them. If we are absent of agitiation, then we are at peace. This seems like such a hard place to actually be internally in our lives, especially at this time of the year. We worry about the financial problems we may be facing with Christmas coming. We are faced with our grief and loss all over again as family and friends begin to gather to celebrate the holiday season. We get frustrated with being busy and not really being able to enjoy the season. We make numerous trips to the mall and the stores waiting in traffic and long lines to purchase things. We are far from peace at the time of the year that we are to be celebrating the God of peace coming to us. Jesus said to us:

"I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world." John 16:33

We need to remember that in the world, in the physical body we have, we will expereince "problems." There is always something to be concerned about, think about, and plan for. However, I know that if we realize that we are truly spiritual beings with God's spirit in us, problems can be transformed into reminders. They are reminders that we are a child of God and this father will always care for children. They are reminders that we are dead and our life is God's to live. They are reminders that God works everything out to perfection, whether I understand it or not. They are reminders to be careless in the care of God. They are reminders for me to look and see if I am taking on God's discipline and instruction. They are reminders to act wisely, love unconditionally, and surrender to the Creator of the universe. Problems are opportunities to connect to God, rather than events that lead us to agitation.

So how will you choose today and through the season to see your problems? Will you choose and plug into the peace the world attempts to give through worry about things and others opinions? Will you choose and plug into God's spirit realizing and recognizing who you really are? I know that when I realize who I am, really am, serenity and peace are my companions. Connect to God today, practice peace, give love.

"But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid."

John 14:26-27

Namaste'

Surrender

The final stage of our growth and the highest level to live at in live, ironically, is Surrender. Once we can follow discipline, act wisely, and love unconditionally we can surrender to God completely. It is by this path that we give up our EGO's that so strongly want to keep up connected to this world through the approval of others, the gaining of things, and the attachment to making sure things work like we think they should. Once we accept instruction, practice it continously, choose right actions and thoughts, live like Christ in unconditional love and humbly, we can truly truly surrender and give our EGO up for complete trust in God our Creator. We can then be a believer completely gives up his own will and subjects his thoughts, ideas, and deeds to the will and teachings of Christ. I believe that James 4:6-10 speaks about this process:

You're cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn't care? The proverb has it that "he's a fiercely jealous lover." And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find. It's common knowledge that "God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble."
So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.

You see we all have to learn to be humble, be willing to learn, will to be teachable. If we would like to think that we can get what we want and define ourselves by connecting to the things of this world - others opinions, our status in life, our job title - we are actually working against God. We must be disciplined and allow God to work in us, so that we can stop returning to our own worries and fears. We must purify our inner life first, allow instruction to change our thoughts and perspective of life. It is only then we can be wise and act on it because then we believe it. Once we truly believe it we will act on it. Once we truly act on it and experience the fullness of God's love to us and through us we become more than willing to surrender. We want to throw ourselves at God's feet. We go through a process of losing our ego and gaining God's perspective on the world. This is how we stand on our feet. Jesus said it this way:

"If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it."

Matthew 10:39

Remember today that your life is dead, it is hid with Christ. This is God's life to live. Practice taking on the mind of Christ and recieve God's discipline and instruction. Act wisely on this instruction and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Surrender completely to God as much as you surrender to sleep when you lay your head down at night. Rest in God and find the "peace that passes all understanding."

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

I Peter 5:6-7

Namaste'

Unconditional Love

Once we have been disciplined and instructed enough we reach a place of wisdom and we are able to take action on that instruction. Next we get to a place of unconditional love. We are able to love without conditions attached. We begin to understand that we all are connected, we all have pain and suffering, we all are created in God's image, and that we all are searching for the same things - peace, acceptance, love. We actually have taken on the mind of Christ and begin to see the world around us as God does. This is why Jesus came into this world. Yes to save us from our sin and redeem us, but also to teach how life is to be lived. God in the flesh showing us how to love, how to be humble, and how to regonized that God is everywhere. Jesus came to help us have life and have it more abundantly, this means now in this life. Jesus came not only to make things right with us and God, but to make things right between each other. What could be more abundant that a place where people have that kind of love one for another? Love is the highest calling, the holy calling. I know no better place that talks about this process than I Corinthians 13.

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Love today. End any conflict you have with anyone with love. If you do there is nothing to fight about anymore. Jesus was on the cross after being beaten, people making fun of him, a spear thrust in his side, given vinegar to drink, people gambling over his clothes, and spitting on him. He had every reason to be "right" and show them he was God. Rather he ended this conflict with love and said "Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." Remember that we all do our best and sometimes we just need forgiveness and love to stop fighting.

Namaste'

Wisdom

What is wisdom? I believe that wisdom is the actual application of our discipline or instruction that we read about yesterday. Most of us think about these two concepts as just the opposite - that wisdom is the gaining of knowledge and discipline is the acting on that knowledge. Wisdom can be defined as " A wise attitude, belief, or course of action." It is a course of action that makes good sense and using the principles that have been learned through practice or discipline to govern all action and decisions. The scriptures remind us:

When I was a boy at my father's knee, the pride and joy of my mother, He would sit me down and drill me: "Take this to heart. Do what I tell you—live! Sell everything and buy Wisdom! Forage for Understanding! Don't forget one word! Don't deviate an inch! Never walk away from Wisdom—she guards your life; love her—she keeps her eye on you.Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! Throw your arms around her—believe me, you won't regret it; never let her go—she'll make your life glorious.She'll garland your life with grace, she'll festoon your days with beauty."

Proverbs 4:3-9

We make the mistake of not being willing to establish habits in our lives that allow us to gain instruction or discipline. We look for the fast and quick fix and are not willing to sacrifce our time, our televison, our sleep for the instruction to gain wisdom. We do not take the time to read, to be quiet before God, to examine our thoughts, or to practice being kind. We like to think that we can hear someone else talk about it - the pastor on Sunday morning, the counselor, the television preacher, the self-help book - and we will somehow receive "wisdom" from this one experience without having to receive any further instruction or discipline. Then we think that we can be "disciplined" and act like we have been encouarged to through some form of self-will or trying. We have it backwards! We must first live in discipline to understand the instructions and practice. Once this is done we begin to have wisdom and we act out the instructions.

We must first begin with really understanding the mind of Christ and really knowing God. We must cultivate this relationship and allow things to grow in God's timing not ours. (I call it faith and you can see previous post on this.) When this discipline (instruction) is practiced, we find wisdom (an effective course of action). Then we are told:

Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God.It's through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens, and the years of your life ripen.Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life; mock life and life will mock you.

Proverbs 9:9-11

Bring instruction to your life today. Give up something that you think is so precious to pursue instruction/discipline to gain wisdom. You are not a failure, you are practicing how to be holy. Practice it daily in and outside the game of life. Allow life to grow and go at God's pace, do not try to speed it up because when you do you kill life. Wisdom is found in learning and practicing the instructions.

Namaste'

Discipline

What exactly is discipline? We seem to use the word many times in our lives and especially when it comes to our religious experience. We see discipline as being able to resist temptation of some form, like not eating that extra piece of cake at the party this month or being able to have a devotional time everyday. We also think of this word as ourselves, or our children, receiving some kind of punishment for some wrong doing. However, I would like to challenge our notion of what exactly this word means to us and how we actually make this word real in our day to day lives.
Discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a disciple. This definition also preserves the origin of the word, which is Latin disciplina, "instruction." So really it means to instruct someone to follow a particular code of conduct. So we learn that we need to accept instruction as it says in Hebrews 12:10:

"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness."

So we need to see that discipline is not punishment as much as it is instruction in our lives on how to live. So someone, our parents or God, gives us instructions to live our life in an effective and joyful way. I wonder how many of us say to ourselves, "I have not learned that instruction very well." If you do say that to yourself, this gets me to the other way to think about discipline - self discipline. We often think that if we have recieved instruction then we should be able to put it to use right away. We equate discipline with action. If we are disciplined we would not act like that. I know that I am rarely, if ever, able to make that happen. If I really want to put the instruction into action I must have great discipline and keep trying or in my terms - keep practicing. Too many people think that if they understand something they should be able to make it happen right now! Really it takes great discipline to get to the place that we put instruction into action. It takes great practice.

"Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God's people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they're not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul."

2 Timothy 2:14-16

This verse reminds us that we to continually repeat the basic essentials of our spiritual life over and over to each other and to ourselves. The point of recieving discipline and being disciplined is not to get it all right - right now, but to work on it day in and day out - moment by moment. We do not have time in quiet meditation daily because it is "just the right thing to do," and we need to ask God to give us what we want today. We have a "daily devotional," quiet meditation and prayer before God to examine ourselves and our thoughts to take them captive, to practice before the game begins, and prepare our hearts to act on the instruction we have been given. This is why there is a week between football games because the teams need time to prepare for the next game. They need to get the instructions from the coaches and practice them so they can do them in the game. So what are the instructions given to us as Christ followers?

Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them." Matthew 22:37-40

Spend some time each day practicing and being "disciplined" and recieving God's discipline. Spend time getting your instructions and practicing before you enter the game. Fully receive instruction for your Creator and receive God's grace (love), take captive your thoughts, and understand how to show love to others and be holy. Once we can be disciplined we can then have wisdom. More on this in the morning!

Namaste'

Compassion

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Mark 6:34

We are reminded many times that Jesus was filled with compassion. However, exactly what does it mean to have compassion or to be "filled with" compassion. Compassion is more than just an understanding of someone else's suffering or pain, it involves action. Compassion is best described as an understanding of the emotional state of another; not to be confused with empathy. Compassion is often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce the suffering of another; to show special kindness to those who suffer. Compassion may lead one to feel empathy with another person. Compassion is often characterized through actions, wherein a person acting with compassion will seek to aid those they feel compassionate for. Compassion is defined as the type of behavior which seeks to benefit others by reducing their suffering.

What keeps us from being filled with or having compassion for others then? Most of the time it is because we are so filled with our own pain and suffering that there is no way to notice the pain of others. This is what is so important about Grace! Can we allow God to love us and relieve our suffering? Can we acknowledge our own pain and allow God to wrap us in love and comfort?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Do we really understand that Christ came to show compassion, to display an act of kindness so great that it would alleviate our pain. Do we accept the reality of grace, because when we do then we are equipped to help others and become filled with compassion ourselves. I cannot be filled with compassion unless I deal with my own suffering and pain. How can I be "filled with" compassion if I cannot treat myself with kindness by accepting that I am loved by the Creator? It is like if I have an orange and I cut a hole in the top of it, turn it over and squeeze it. What do I get? Yes I get juice, but what kind? Do I get apple juice or prune juice? No, I get what is already inside - orange juice. There is no way for me to put some other juice in the orange, it has to be what it is. So it is with us. When we are "squeezed" by life and it's stressors what will come out? If we have been able to acknowledge that we are full of pain and allow God to transform us through the practice of accepting grace, disciplines of stillness, prayer and mediation to examine our thoughts, and act on this change daily, we will show compassion. We will understand how to be kind towards others and really show love.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

Today practice accepting God's love in your own life and realizing that you are created in the image of God. You have the spirit of God living in you and God has nothing but compassion for you. Recognize it in yourself, practice silence and taking your thoughts captive, and begin to 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22:39. There is no way to have compassion for others until you can for yourself. This is not selfish, but the whole reason that Christ came! "I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." John 10:10 We must have it so that it can be given to others through us. Practice compassion today, attempt to relieve someone elses pain today because Christ has done this for you.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for. You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." Matthew 5:7-8

Namaste'