Category : Positive Written Sermons

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry.

14Mar

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Expanding Our Faith

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Expanding Our Faith

Time Sensitivity: none

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

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We go to the doctor yearly for a checkup to see if we are still okay. There may be some adjustments we need to make. Spiritually, we must also get a yearly checkup. Zig Ziglar has said, some of us need to check up from the neck up. If we are willing, God can heal lukewarm faith, and cause a new fire to burn inside of us, with enthusiasm, and excitement for our spirituality.

According to an ancient story, there were once four people who were walking in the woods. They were all complaining about their lot in life. “Woe is me,” one said.

Another said, “Don’t tell me that, you don’t know my problems. My lot in life is terrible.”

All of a sudden, as they were walking in the woods, they came across a high wall. They were very curious because they could not see over the wall, so they built a ladder.

The first person climbed up and was amazed at the incredible beauty in this other world, on the other side of the wall. Then he climbed down and the second one climbed up and he was also amazed at the beauty.

Everything they had ever prayed for in their lives was on the other side of the wall. The third person climbed up and said the same thing.

The first, the second, and the third thought it was nice, and yet they climbed back down the ladder and returned to their usual lot in life, complaining all the way. The fourth climbed up the ladder, stood at the top, and said, “I want a better life and there is a better life; and I am going to go over the wall and accept it and make a commitment to it.” He did so and lived in the other world.

I am going to ask you a very serious question. Is your life working for you?

Halford Luccock, a noted scholar, noticed a significant correlation between physical and spiritual immunity. In medicine, a person can develop immunity against a disease by receiving a very mild dose of that disease.

The same thing can be experienced by the soul. If a person receives nothing more than a small dose of God, they may develop an immunity against a life-changing relationship that spirituality can provide.

Leslie Weatherhead affirmed this concern when he said, “The trouble with some of us is that we have been inoculated with small doses of Christianity which keep us from catching the real thing.”

Have you caught the real thing?

When you think about who you are, do you most often think about your human personality and characteristics? True, they are a part of you, but there is something much greater in you. Because you are a spiritual being, you are more than flesh and blood and human eyes. You are spiritual. When you truly see yourself, you will see yourself as an expression of God. You will allow your spiritual nature to show in everything you do.

One time, Paul was in Athens. He was very upset about what he saw there.

“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the market place every day with those who chanced to be there.

“So Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, `To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is God served by human hands, as though God needed anything, since God gives to all humans life and breath and everything. And God made from one every nation of humans to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after God and find God. Yet God is not far from each one of us, for `In God we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your poets have said, `For we are indeed God’s offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now God commands all people everywhere to repent … ” (Acts 17:16-17, 22-30)

God commands people everywhere to change, rise up, and start thinking about God.

Question 1: Can you put your belief into words? It is not difficult to profess faith in God, especially here in this laboratory of faith. But what kind of God do you believe in during the secret times? How would you explain your idea of God to someone else from a laboratory of another faith? Ask yourself whether you can put your profession of faith into words. Do you have a creed you can believe in? What spiritual principles do you live by, work by, and stand by?

Then there are questions regarding your belief about life after death. Do you believe in heaven? Do you believe you will be reunited with those you love, after death?

As a Christian, what do you believe about the person and mission of Christ? What about His miraculous birth and His miracles? His death? His resurrection?

It has not been proved that a vital religion must be articulate, and it is a well known fact that faith to some individuals is so precious they are reluctant to talk about it. But for your own personal test, I ask you to think about why. Why do you believe this particular way?

Question 2: Do you live as though what you believe is true? It is one thing to profess a faith and quite another to practice it. You need to ask yourself how much of your faith is just a mere verbalization of the use of terms out of which a lot of meaning has gone.

Tithing is a test of real belief. Either we believe, or we don’t.

If you read about Jesus Christ carefully, you will see, over and over again, He said to people, “Think.” He said this about the Lord’s Prayer. He said not to just talk about it, but to think about it. What does it mean to you?

William James once suggested that the average religious believer had a religion made for him by others, communicated to him by tradition, determined to fixed forms by imitation and retained by habit.

One congregation member was telling a story about when he was a boy on his grandfather’s farm. His grandfather had a herd of rams in a certain caged area. He called the boy over and he said, “I want you to watch what is going to happen now. This is a life’s lesson.”

He called the first ram over. The first ram jumped over the gate. Then the grandfather said to the boy, “Watch this.” He opened the gate so it was no longer in the way of the rams, but every ram followed the first ram and jumped over the gate that was not there. He said, “Son, throughout your whole life, I want you to think about what you are doing and why.”

That is so important. Your faith, to be alive, has to be alive in you. It has to be an individual, personal practice.

Finding God ourselves, in the depths of ourselves.

A high school principal, Max Keller, challenges his students to take initiative in opening doors to opportunities. He says, “You’ll never get anywhere if you stand around waiting for someone to hand you the remote control.” In the same way, we cannot live our faith by remote control.

Question 3: Does your faith meet your need in times of crisis? It is easy to be helpful and optimistic when we are riding the crest. The faith that matters is the kind that sees a person through bad breaks and guides the person through the valleys.

When you try to rate your faith, ask yourself whether it is a stabilizer in times of triumph and tragedy.

Just as steel is tempered by plunging it into cold water while it is red-hot, when we emerge from a dark night of the soul experience, we are immeasurably strengthened. A writer once put it this way: “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” With God, you can do things that you cannot even dream of in your human mind.

Question 4: Do you have special stated times for spiritual development? While faith cannot be put into boxes and while religion should not be restricted to certain areas or special hours, people of great faith have always set aside stated times for meditation, prayer, and spiritual exercise.

A priest was once asked for the secret of success of Fulton Sheen. He said, “His strength and influence are generated in silence.” Martin Luther had this famous saying, “If I have six hours of work to do, I spent two of the hours in prayer.” Why? So we as human beings can listen to the voice of our master.

A friend of mine has a golden retriever, Bentley. Bentley will only come if my friend calls him. You could go out into my friend’s yard and scream at the top of your lungs and Bentley would just turn around, get that stupid smile on his face, and go where he was planning to go in the beginning. But if my friend goes out and says, even in a low voice, “Come, front,” Bentley will come, even from a long distance. Why doesn’t Bentley come when others call?

Jesus gave us the answer. In His story, the sheep return because they know the voice of their Master. I discovered it is also true with Bentley. It seems to me that Bentley has some wisdom to offer. Do we listen to the voice of our Master, or do we heed other voices? Other voices of worry, fear, and disaster outside of us will never be God’s voice.

We cannot remake our lives the way we remodel our homes. We cannot call in an expert to draw up plans and then engage someone else to do the work for us. Nor can we move out while this process is going on and then come back when it is finished. We may get suggestions and advice, but we must do the job ourselves. To do it we must set aside special times for the doing by communing with God.

Question 5: Is your home life better because of your religious faith? Someone once said when a person gets religion, even his dog and cat ought to see the improvement. Religious profession should build a happier life. You can rate your faith by asking yourself: “Does my attitude in my home contribute to an atmosphere of affection, mutual respect, and cheerfulness? Do I properly reflect the deep convictions of the faith that is mine?”

Question 6: Does your faith give you a sense of companionship, even in times of solitude? A common criticism leveled at Americans is that as a group we are afraid to be alone. We are told we do not want to know ourselves or analyze ourselves. We are accused of looking for continual means of escape. How about spending time in the silence in solitude with God? True faith should provide a feeling of spiritual consciousness. That is to say, our religion should give us a sense of oneness with the universe, and our Creator. How do you rate in this respect? A person is never less alone than when he or she is with God.

Question 7: Does your faith give you a new outlook on your job and a new approach to your work? There is an old saying, “Work is worship.” It is a true corollary of faith. Of what use is your religion in the work-day world if it does not provide a usable philosophy for you when you are on the job?

You can get an appraisal of the vitality of your faith by the way in which you find your place in the world. How do you fit yourself in that place? How do you devote yourself to it?

This brings to mind a simple-hearted, hardworking nun. She was observed, many years ago, while on a retreat. As the many guests finished eating and piled up the dishes to be washed, the lone nun stood quietly with her arms elbow-deep in sudsy water and listened to a troubled woman pour out her woes. The sister listened intently while methodically washing plate after plate. I marveled at her patience and acceptance of such an unending, thankless chore. I asked her, “How do you do it, day after day, washing all those dishes alone, and still having the patience to listen?”

She looked at me and smiled. She said, “I just imagine that I am dipping my hands in the pool of Bethesda.” By focusing her attention on stirring up God’s healing waters, she did her daily chores with serenity, cultivated a listening ear, and offered restorative care to those she encountered.

Question 8: Does your faith give you a sense of security in meeting life? A well-known story about the early career of John Wesley tells of his fear during a storm. He was on board a ship and he was terrified with fright. As he shook, he heard a group of Christians singing. They were praising God.

Wesley asked them, “How in the world, in a storm like this where we might all perish, can you sing?”

They said to him, “If your faith cannot serve you during a storm, what is the good of it?”

To estimate whether your faith is just a fair-weather faith, ask yourself how you react to storms whipped up by worry, fear, finances, relationship problems, health challenges, and unexpected emergencies. Does your faith give you a sense of security in meeting life? Every person can kickstart, or increase, his or her faith – if they truly desire to.

Question 9: Has your faith ever inspired you to do a good deed? One of the most rewarding acts is to give without a thought of getting to help without wanting help in return.

A clerk in a supermarket tells this story. She glanced down the long line waiting at the cash register she was operating at the supermarket. She said, “Dear God, help me to be more like you.” She prayed and thought about the message at church and how she was told in every instance to ask herself, “How would Jesus handle this particular problem?”

She scanned a loaf of bread. She said, “That will be $3.09.” There was a small boy in front of her and he dumped a fistful of change onto the counter. As he did this, she heard the others in line say, “I thought this was an express line! Wouldn’t you know I always get in the wrong line? Wouldn’t you know there would be some kid who would ruin my day?”

Another said, “It will take her all day to count that kid’s money.” She counted every one of the pennies and he was short 28 cents. She gave him an uneasy look and his cheeks turned pink. Then she asked herself, “What would Jesus do?”

Quickly, she picked up the receipt and scribbled on it, “I owe this register 28 cents.” She slipped it into the register along with the boy’s coins. She pressed a paid sticker on the bread and handed it to him. His eyes brightened and he said, “Thank you, ma’am.”

The disgruntled complaints of the waiting customers no longer made her nervous because they noticed what she had done, and it had changed their day, also.

She said, “My heart felt light. It didn’t just last that minute; it lasted the whole day. I had a faith I took with me to work and I had been successful in emulating Jesus on one small occasion.” She was able to do it all that day.

The finger of God never leaves identical fingerprints. You are the finger of God in every situation.

Question 10: Does your faith command your deepest loyalties? In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous short story, “The Face of the Mountain,” a young boy stares at a face carved in granite and regularly asks tourists in town if they know the identity of the face on the mountain. No one does. Into manhood, midlife, and old age, he continues to gaze on the face at every opportunity, until one day, a tourist passing through exclaims to the once-young boy who is now a weather-beaten old man, “You are the face on the mountain!”

Meister Eckhart, said, “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which He sees me.” It means our highest loyalty should be our recognition of our oneness with God.

St. Francis de Sales said, “Remain either in God, or close to God, without trying to do anything, and without asking anything of God unless God urges it.” With which eye do we see ourselves? Which closeness do we wish to stay near? It is all very well to say that we want God to command our highest loyalties no matter where they lead, but how do we react when they do not lead us where we think we ought to go? How deep are our deepest loyalties?

Question 11: Is your world different because of your faith? How many cares one leaves behind when one decides not to be something, but to be someone. If religion does not change our world, it very likely has not changed us very much. When we walk through life with faith, when we have what is commonly called a consciousness of the presence of God, our outlook on all life is deepened and refined.

We need to look beyond and within things in a new way. If we profess faith in the creative power of God, we should see all life as God’s life, all scenes as God’s scenes. Even when unexplainable events confront us in our lives, such as war, terror, and death, we should seek God’s way of dealing with these circumstances in your yet-not-perfect world.

When we seek God’s way, we are going to deal with things in a much better way, with a strength and courage that we of ourselves would not have. There is no such thing as a complaining Christian. Those of us who hold to faith need to express an attitude of gratitude at all times, because of what we are aware.

I have spoken about testing our faith, about living our faith in a new FULL way every moment of the day and night. It is my prayer that we, in this laboratory of faith, never put down another’s faith, but join together to test our own personal faith. We join together to know God. Each person might see God slightly differently. We each have an experience and know why we believe and what we believe. It is the only way God will ever be truly real to you. It is my prayer that God is real to you, rediscovered by you, and your life is in close association with God, daily, for the rest of your life.

“For we are what God has made us.” Ephesians 2:10

Let us pray.

In this laboratory of faith, I pray there is a new reality in my world. I pray the ancient legend which says in the city of God, everyone will have spiritual room to live. I pray that everyone in this household of faith will have a new reason to worship in complete joy.

God shall be a God to each one, over all. I pray that your faith satisfies your core spiritual needs at every moment. I pray you make a commitment to your faith, that you live your religion. That is when your religion will have new life, and meaning.

I do my best, God, and I leave the rest to You.

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION____________________

I invite you to close your eyes and enter into the awareness of the presence of God and have a spiritual experience of wonder and awe.

This is a glorious inner-journey of prayer.

As you close your eyes, you prepare in prayer. You prepare to think less and receive more, to receive life and vitality, to listen to the small, still voice. The ever-real voice of God is with you at all times, and can be heard whenever you agree to be aware of its presence.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

I pray the life of God is released in me, right now. I pray that every cell in my physical body feels this life of God. May this be such a real spiritual experience that I know what I feel is real – in me now.

May the mind of God be fused to my mind. May my thoughts be the thoughts of God. May the words from my mouth be the words of God. May I proceed in my life, this week, with the wisdom of God guiding me and aiding me.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

I pray I have the power of God within my physical body. Every cell is in God’s power, every muscle is in God’s power; every joint is in God’s power, every bone of my skeletal system is in the power of God. When I move, I move with a strength, vitality, and energy of God.

(Silence)

When I go about my work, I do not work alone. I work with God. It is my personal prayer, this day that I have this awareness of who and what I am and what I have with God. May my objective, this day, be to know God and to increase my faith. May God be my inspiration, my way, and my strength.

I ask you to rest in the silence of prayer …

In God I live. In God I move and I have my being. In me, God lives and moves and has expression. My mind accepts the genius of God. In God’s world, my life is filled with joy and happiness. Everything troubling in my life turns out better than my human mind can conceive. I live in God’s world, and in God’s world, good is unending.

It is my personal prayer for you, individually, that your good is unending; that you experience more good of God than you have ever known before in your lifetime; that it begins this moment; that your life is no longer a roller coaster of up-and-down activity. May your life be filled with friendship, love, and unexpected good approaching you from every direction.

(Silence)

May we all live in God’s world of abundant life and endless good. Each of us, this day, I pray, “Yes, God, I will. I will do Your Will because Your Will is absolute good.”

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

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Christopher Ian Chenoweth

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07Mar

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Living Our Desires

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Living Our Desires

Time Sensitivity: none

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

_____________________________________

I’m going to take you, in your imagination to a scene in the country. The focus of the scene is an old, shabby barn that hasn’t been used for anything for a long time except housing the mangiest of animals. I want to tell you a story about the transformation of a man.

Innocent children discovered the hardened criminal sleeping in the hayloft of this barn. He had fled from the city where his crime was committed and had taken refuge in the barn. The children did not know of his misdeed.

“Who do you think he is?” the little girl asked her brother.

“I don’t know … Who do you think he looks like?”

“Well, he has long hair and a beard.”

“And he’s about as old as Daddy.”

“And he has sandals on”

“Maybe he’s Jesus!”

“Do you think he could be?”

“Well, that’s what the Sunday school teacher said Jesus looked like!”

“Yes! l bet it is him!”

“Oh, aren’t we lucky to have Jesus come to our very own town!” The criminal awakened at that point. He sat up, startled. He was about to flee when he heard the girl calling, “Jesus, gentle Jesus, will you stay and play with us for a little while?”

“We will take care of you!” promised the little boy.

“Yes!” echoed his sister. “We will bring you food and blankets and we won’t tell anyone you are here!”

“Oh please, gentle Jesus, will you stay with us?”

The criminal began to understand what was happening. He thought it over. It seemed like a safe bet, for a while at least. Yes, he would stay. Over the next days and weeks, the children brought him food and clothing and even wine for him to bless. And with these things, they brought their innocent love and their adoration for the sweet and kind savior. The criminal felt safe with them, and the weeks turned into months. The children came to him every day and asked him to tell them parables and to bless them and their families.

So he did. As the summer went on he actually began to enjoy playing the role of the Man of Love. It was, of course, only an act, but there was something that felt good about it, something that he had not felt in many years, perhaps since he was a child and his grandmother would tell him stories of Jesus and the children.

As the man basked in the warm love of these children, he learned to love them, too. He began to look forward to the times when they would come, when he would tell them parables about the wonders of heaven’s kingdom and the importance of loving our neighbors. One day he even found himself telling a parable that no one had ever heard, and this made the children so happy to hear a parable directly from their Gentle Jesus, one that was not even in the Bible.

The man’s feelings about people about the world, about life, began to soften, and he became gentle and kind. He read the Bible when he was alone, and something happened within him, something like a long-locked door opening to admit morning sunlight.

One evening he came upon the story of the prodigal son, and he began to weep. “Yes, this is the Truth, he thought to himself. In that moment he realized ever so clearly that it was he who was the prodigal son, and he became aware of how wrong his actions were. He knew, too, that his consciousness could not be cleansed until he made restitution for his crime. So he decided to return to the city and confess.

The next time his beloved children came, he took them in his arms and drew them close to his breast.

“My dear ones, he quietly began, ‘it is now time for me to leave you.” “But where are you going?” the little ones asked with tears streaming down their soft cheeks.

He gathered both of them closer to him and embraced them even more strongly.

“I must return to my Father,” he explained, fighting back his own tears.

“Then, will you give us something to remember you by, gentle Jesus?”

He looked into their faces and said, “I leave you with the gentleness that you have given to me. This is my peace that I give to you.” And the son arose, and went to his Father.

My story is from the hit Broadway play “Whistle down the Wind” by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman. It shows what can happen in any man or woman when surrounded and in filled with the love of God.

2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,

We are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

EACH MOMENT
Each moment of love,
Each moment of giving,
Each moment of joy,
Is a moment of living.
Each moment of anger,
Each moment of lying,
Each moment of resentment
Is a moment of dying.
All our moments add together,
Like the digits in a sum
And the answer tells us plainly
Whether life or death shall come.
Author Unknown

An artist once drew a picture of a snow scene in black and white. It was a cloudy day. There were no leaves on the trees. There were homes in the background, but it was all dark and gray and dreary. The clouds were in the sky. It was a typical winter scene.

Then with a stroke of his brush, the artist added a bit of yellow paint in one of the panes of the window, showing a light that was coming from inside one of the homes. The whole picture was miraculously transformed. It was no longer gray and bleak. It had hope. The birth of spirituality is such a light into a world that sometimes sees nothing but grays and blacks.

So often in adulthood our lives become clouded. So often our lives no longer see the magic and wonder that a child sees. So often we get too old, too wise to have that love for another human being in our life because we’ve been hurt. We are wise to the harmful ways of the world, and we too often withhold our love.

Yet, every day we let God’s love in, there is a transformation; there is a light that comes on. But in order for that love to come, we have to allow it to come through us. We have to accept the gift that God is giving to us.

If you have a closed door in your life, you can bet that God is on the other side of that door, knocking, and saying, “Open up. The wonder is still here. The love is still here. The peace is still here. All the good is still here.” If you have become blind to it, you have closed the door. If you will reopen it, you’re going to find that wonder of a child. We can learn a most important lesson from the faith of the child. Instead of trying to lessen the faith of the child in the unseen helper, it would be more vastly beneficial to us if we learned from him or her on how to ask, stretch forth the empty hand, and find it filled by God. But this is just seeing with your surface eyes. You have to look beyond to what this meant when your eyes are opened.

Have you ever received a gift in which you did not perceive its value? And it took many years until you truly appreciated the gift and used it? Perhaps this is such a gift in your life. This spiritual gift comes with something that will bring you a feeling of joy; something that will last in you long after your hurts and pains are forgotten and the past is put away.

I want to tell you about what this spiritual package contains. The first gift is the gift of Jesus Christ heritage. It’s a very big gift. God says to you, “You are my child. You are heir to all the good that I have, if you accept it. The gifts of God require action on our part in order for them to work in us. It’s like gasoline in an automobile engine. Gasoline of itself is nothing. It has to go into the engine and the engine has to use its potential.

John 13:13-17, ” You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. You have been given the gift of being alive. That is a gift of life. You are to use this gift to feel fully alive. You are to give the gift of life to others. How do you do that?

A woman was visiting a hospital. The man she was visiting was quite seriously ill. There was one person in the hospital room that was beginning to secretly make funeral arrangements for the man. It is important that we give the gift of faith, but the faith in want? Do not give the gift of death. Give the gift of life.” Hold in your mind the potential – of what God can do. This woman gave the gift of faith to both of the people in that hospital room. The man recovered and is home now, he said, “faith was the most valuable treatment I received in the hospital.”

Give the gift of life. Always hold the highest thoughts in your mind. Know what God can do. Know in your own life and in the lives of others. Speak the words of life and healing. Behold the healing life of God in the one for whom you pray.

So often in our prayer times we do not pray this way. We say, “Oh God, here is a man who is on his deathbed. Please give me faith, because I believe he is going to die. He looks so bad. Please give me the strength to stand here. I’m so afraid he’s going to pass while I’m standing here.” Instead, muster up everything inside of you and say, “God, I know that you are a God of miracles. I know what I see with my human eyes, but I know that my human eyes are limited. I know that there is much more going on than just what the doctors and nurses are doing. I know that YOU can bring about a healing that seems impossible to humankind. I’m here to stand up and behold life. I’m going to sit by this patient. I might not even say a word, but I’m going to think thoughts of life. I’m going to become life in this room. If it is YOUR will, I am here to bring about that life to this patient.”

God’s faith coming through you has the power to transform others. 2 Corinthians 11:1, ” Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” What about for yourself? How about when you are down or even depressed?

How about when things do not go well at work? Are you giving yourself the gift of life? Or are you downcast or feeling that life won’t ever get any better? God is with you. You are not alone. The message of Jesus Christ is alive in you today. Yes, life will get better every moment. That leads to the next spiritual gift – peace. Peace is a gift that was brought by Jesus Christ into a world that had a religion of an eye for an eye – “If you do something to me, I have to get back at you.” This was the religion that existed throughout the world. You can become a peacemaker, just like the hardened criminal did. You can take Jesus’ message inside of you and let it live; let it overtake your life.

What about situations in your job, or your home; where people are not very peaceful? You have a choice.

You can go down to the human level, put on your boxing gloves and try to be the last person standing. Or you can take off the gloves and radiate peace to the whole situation and become the living example of the love of Jesus Christ.

Peace in the world begins with you and me. We have God’s peace to take with us into those difficult situations. You will make a difference because of the teachings of Jesus Christ coming through you as you.

Ephesians 5:1, 2 – “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

The teachings of Jesus Christ brought another gift to you – joy. One of the most important gifts of any religion is that as a Christian you have the right to be joyful. You don’t have to be solemn. You don’t have to carry your burdens. You don’t have to feel like the world is an unjust place and that you must wear your heavy burden. You don’t have to suffer to be a good Christian.

This day holds a message for you that no matter what is going on in your life presently, God’s there. You can look beyond your present challenges and know that God is eternally there. You can have joy in your heart. You do not have to walk around depressed, half asleep, or half dead to your former happiness. You can have Christ awareness well up inside of you. The journey of Christianity is allowing that hope to rise in you.

This joy is from the core of your being.

It is your choice. Which do you choose to do today? You can choose to have the full joy of Christianity in you. It is the teachings of Jesus. Those teachings are the teachings of spirituality made alive in you! Spiritually, you are given a profound knowledge of wisdom because you know that your mind can be a receiver of God’s Divine inspiration.

Divine ideas enter your mind the same way they entered Jesus Christ’s mind. You can just become still in prayer and accept all that God has for you to receive. The ideas and guidance will come to you clearly. You’ll know the way to proceed. It is unfailing, and that gives you profound courage. to stand up in adverse situations. That may be in the hospital when the doctors have told you that you are not going to do so well. It may be when you need so much of the stuff of God inside of you that you have to call on that, and it comes to you and you get up again. You say, “Yes! I do have faith because I’m not alone.”

Maybe it is because you are experiencing what this outer world calls a downturn in your personal economy. Maybe you’re not getting the pay you used to get or possibly you have been laid off. Possibly you’re seeking work and haven’t been able to find it yet. I tell you that God is with you. You are not alone. This is the time to call on God. When you do, instantly that Divine help will be given to you. It’s never held back as long as we keep the door open with our faith and our belief. The message of Divine approval came from Jesus Christ. That is a huge message. You are a child of God – Jesus Christ tells you that you are a child of God, with the potential to do what he did. He says to you throughout His messages that you are accepted by God, you are an heir to God, and you have Divine approval.

You say, “What about the criminal in the barn? Did he have Divine approval?” Yes he did. Have you ever had a child nearby whom you loved with all your heart, but the child was causing havoc your home? You do not appreciate what the child is doing at the moment and you scold the child. You correct the child. But you still love the child. And inside you have an approval for the potential that child will become.

Using the power of God, the criminal went back and said, “I’m here a changed man. I’m here right now, knowing that I am going to have my punishment. I am here because I have been guided by God” How was he guided by God? The first way was through the love of God coming through people surrounding him. The second way: it was the love of God coming through his own reflections and prayers. The third way: God came through him – through his actions.

If you want spiritual realization, use the power of God through you. Take the attributes and the gifts of God and allow them to become you. You will know quickly about the action, the truth, and the activity of God.

The knowledge of Christ is a continuing gift. We have to make the message a part of our daily lives, allowing the message of the messenger in us to be reborn.

It is reborn into the animal consciousness of human thinking. It is reborn in hospital rooms where others are telling us that we can’t get well. It is reborn into a society that tells us we can’t get work. It is reborn into the lowest of limited human thought. But it is reborn. And like that picture, mentioned earlier, it is a light in our window of hope. We look toward that light and we find our answers. Nothing could be more marvelous – every gift of God has its invisible source in spiritual realms that are accessible to each one of us. Romans 8:29, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

You have a potential that is predestined, to put on the Christ, and wear it for all to see, feel, and comprehend.

I want to close with something that I think says it all. Garfield, the cartoon cat, often depicts the confusion and frustration that we humans experience. He is asked, “Garfield, what do you really want in life?” Garfield comes running and thinks, “What I REALLY want is. Oh, I guess it’s kind of hard to gift wrap: sleep and food, I get food all year round. And my friends … “Garfield snuggles up to his human friend and thinks, “What I really want is a second helping of everything.” You have already been given everything as well as a large second helping. The reason you are here today is because you want that second helping. And it is my prayer that you get it … along with third and fourth helpings.

God bless you.

PRAYER / MEDITATION_______________

Let us pray:

Whoever you are, wherever you are, God loves you. Never again will you need to feel alone. Never again will you feel unloved, misunderstood or unappreciated. You are now enfolded in God’s total love. You are lifted up. You are blessed through the love of God.

The great commandment of Jesus Christ is that we love God and that we love one another. At times this may seem difficult to do, or even impossibility. Though we may be unaware of it or unwilling to express it, within us – is the ability to love.

We consider now the words of the apostle John. We know and we believe the love God has for us. God is love and he or she who abides in love abides in God; and God abides in them.

Think about those words. Think about God abiding in you. And if God abides in you, God expresses through you. And now, in this moment, realize God can express through you as love.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

The human heart longs for love. It has been written that love is the principle of existence and its only end. You, dear friend, are blessed with a great capacity for love – for loving God and for loving God’s children. And you have the capacity to respond with warmth and affection to those who love you.

Jesus said, “The Father, Himself, loves you.’ Now, during this prayer time, you are able to open your heart as never before. You are able to open your entire life to the all-encompassing, boundless love of God. It flows into you and through you in a mighty, unending stream. You receive the love of God now. And you let it radiate from you in thought and feeling toward others – those near at hand and those far away.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

You pray for yourself and others that all abide in God’s love. Repeat aloud, “I ABIDE IN GOD’S LOVE.”

I feel God now. I feel love now. I am filled with God’s love. My body temple is a temple of the love of God. I feel the love of God in every cell of my being. I am a vessel for the love of God.

The love of God will radiate from me like a broadcasting station. Everyone who comes close to me will feel the love of God. And they will feel better for coming close to me. All those who come close will feel a change, even though they may not perceive what it is. I pray that I radiate God’s love to all like the sunshine radiates its warmth.

Rest in the silence of prayer and prayerfully affirm that this is true right now for you.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Divine love never fails you. Divine love fulfills your every need. Divine love harmonizes the situations of your life. Divine love manifests itself in you as light and wisdom. It guides you in the ways of peace and joy. Diving love works through you to enrich you and expand your life. You attract the blessings you seek.

The Christ Spirit instructs and guides you in developing a spiritual consciousness of Divine love. Love is quickened in your heart. You express it in thought, in word and in your every act. You are forever set free from loneliness and depression. You are joyous because the love inside of you is joyous, and perfect Love casts out your fears.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

You have an attitude of expecting this. You have an attitude that draws to you people and experiences that will contribute fully to your life’s enrichment and happiness. God loves you. You joyously express God’s love. Your life is filled with meaning, goodness and companionship. We have prayed, to become a sample of the Great Example – Jesus Christ: to follow Jesus Christ by living His teachings and becoming His teachings. Truly, spirituality is alive in us.

Thank You, God. . Amen.

For 23 years – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,600,000 every day. Welcoming all faiths, excluding no one. Reaching the ends of the earth with the positive message of God. Not connected to any church, Positive Christianity is a Prayer Ministry without walls, physical or denominational, that the world can instantly access and use without cost.

ARCHIVES of recent Positive Daily Inspiration is available on our homepage; use anything you wish.

FREE Encyclopedia of Prayers: http://www.positivechristianity.org/prayersearch.php

NEED PRAYER? Reply – if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will start praying with you, daily, for an entire month. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer.

DONATIONS Thank You for helping us with this great free work for ministers of every faith:
Instant online donation:
http://www.positivechristianity.org/donatepc.htm
By mail: Positive Christianity Box 7993 Woodlands, TX 77387

GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

Read More
01Mar

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – God – is the God of Just Outcomes

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - God – is the God of Just Outcomes

Time Sensitivity: none

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

_____________________________________

In Psalms 89:14, it states, “Righteousness and justice and the foundation of your throne … ” It is the foundation of God to have righteousness.

There is a story that takes place some time ago about the victorious Duke of Wellington. After his retirement, he used to invite the officers who served with him in the Battle of Waterloo to a yearly banquet, where they discussed the exciting experiences of other days.

At one of these annual events, the duke produced a lovely jewel box encrusted with diamonds. The box was passed around the table for the guests to admire. After some time, the duke asked for the return of the jewel box. Everyone wondered who had it. They looked around, they looked on the table, they looked on the floor, and no one could remember who had held the jewelry box last. A careful search revealed nothing. At this stage in the proceedings, someone suggested all the guests present should be searched. Two raised objections to this proposal – one who would not agree to being searched; the other the duke himself, who flatly refused to have his former officers searched or humiliated in any way.

The banquet ended with the box still missing. The guests departed, including the one who had refused to be searched, and consequently, was regarded with suspicion. Some days later, the Duke found his jeweled box in an inside pocket of his coat. It had been returned to him on the night of the banquet, and while engaged in conversation, he had picked up the box without thinking and slipped it into his inside pocket.

At once the duke set out to find the guest who had declined to be searched. He found the officer living in the poor section of the city, nursing his sick wife. After informing him that the missing box had been found, the Duke inquired, “Why did you object to being searched, thus drawing suspicion to you?”

The officer replied, “In my pocket that night was a large portion of my meal. I simply slipped it from my plate to a paper sack, so I might take food to my sick wife.”

There are so many times when, in human mind, we are quick to judge and quick to want to dispense justice but we may not know the whole story.

As spiritual people, we seek to be on an even keel with our beloved not judging God.

It is the foundation of God to have Divine justice higher than human justice. When we think of justice, it is natural to think in human terms of justice or rewards, and of punishment. The idea of justice is lifted to a higher meaning when we realize God has provided us with the best possible outcome for all.

God’s Divine justice is not a system of reward and punishment, but rather it is a law which will ensure God’s perfect order is being demonstrated.

When you align yourself, your mind, and your heart with this Divine law of God, you are shown the way how to live within God’s system of spiritual righteousness.

Many people feel they have been wronged in some way. Maybe something has happened to you and you feel you have been wronged and justice has not been served. When you turn to God in prayer and ask for understanding, you will find peace.

Do you feel in some way you are being falsely accused? Again, if you turn to God, a Divine love will be within you, no matter what people may say about you. It will sustain you through every moment of life.

Unfair circumstances may seem to disrupt the order and harmony in your life. Yet, we know that even the most carefully planned life has a road map with some detours along the way. Still, because of your faith, you hold tightly to the knowledge that God is actively at work in your life. You trust in God, even when everything is going against you. You trust in God and you relax and flow with the experiences instead of resisting them.

You do not struggle against apparent wrong. Rather, you know that good is always present and your positive approach will bring God to you and allow God to reveal the good to you.

Truth of God will keep you poised during those dark nights of your soul. It will keep you confident. This is the truth; God is in charge of your life and all is well. You hold to that in prayer and you know that no matter what human beings say about you, God – my God and your God – is the God of just outcomes.

I would like to share with you a story. This is the story of Paul and Silas in prison. (Acts 16:16-18) “One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.’ She kept doing this for many days.

But Paul, very much annoyed … “

Can you see this? Here is this woman following Paul and Silas shouting these things. After a couple of days, Paul is ready to take justice into his own hands. He turned to her and he also turned to God.

“He said, ” … I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.” (Acts 16:18)

She was calmed instantly; she was infilled with God. “But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone … ” (Acts 16:19)

This made her owners quite mad. They said, ‘Sure she was sick, but why did you change her?’ She was making us money. Now she is no good to us at all.

How dare you do this! They seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’ The crowd joined in attacking them … ” (Acts 16:19-22)

As humans, we can easily enter lowest areas of human mind, which is almost animal nature, and action. One or two people joined together in the mind of animal nature can become a lynch mob. Or, we can join one or two together in the mind of God, and we can create great things for us and for our world. It is always our choice.

“The crowd joined in attacking them and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely.

“Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.” (Acts 16:22-24)

Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever had a time when your family did not understand you? You knew what you were doing was right.

Sometimes it may have seemed your co-workers not only locked you in a prison cell of their beliefs about you, but in the innermost cell where you would never find a way out. Not only that, but they wanted to keep you in your place so they put your legs in leg irons. I know some here can relate to that because we are in human life, and we live with humans. There will be people who love us, people who don’t love us, and some people will want to put us in a place, in a category in their minds, where we don’t belong; and it is unfair.

What do we do about it? First choice – “I’m going to take revenge. When I get out of here, I am going to say this and that and I’m going to try to ruin their life in every way I possibly can. I’m going to make their life miserable.” Does that win? No, it never wins. There is only one person who we make miserable and that is ourselves. We have to go to God.

This is a story is about two human beings. They are in the innermost cell and they are in leg irons. You would think they would be complaining, shouting, and thinking, “How can God do this to us? How can these people do this to us? We are going to call all of our people and we are going to make sure they are hurt like they hurt us.”

“About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying … “(Acts 16:25)

That is significant. What happens at midnight? It is a new day. It is a new day in your life. Every time you pray, it is going to be a new day for you and for your world and for your life. “About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake … ” (Acts 16:25-26)

(An earthquake is something in the outer realm. It shifts, it changes, and it moves things.) ” … so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken … ” (Acts 16:26)

Every foundation in life can be shaken by God Almighty – NOT by human almighty, but by God.

” … And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.'” (Acts 16:26-28)

Divine justice is good for all, not just for you. It does not seek revenge; it seeks God’s good FOR EVERYONE.

“The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night, he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.” (Acts 16:29-34)

That is one part of the story and here is the next:

“But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, ‘Let those men go.'” (Acts 16:35)

Again, it was a new day with new thinking. Paul and Silas did not have any contact with the magistrates, yet they had a change of heart.

When you go to God in prayer, you are changing your entire world. The change in thinking and the other person may be immediate, and sometimes, it may take years. BUT there will be a change of human thinking.

The main thing is you have spiritually changed.

You are filled with the presence of God’s love and you are trusting by letting go and letting God. You are no longer in prison by what happened to you unfairly. You are released. You are no longer held captive by your hate.

“And the jailer reported the words to Paul, saying, ‘The magistrates have said to let you go; now therefore come out and go in peace.’ But Paul said to them, ‘They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now cast us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.’ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens; so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.” (Acts 16:36-39)

When a person holds fast to God’s Divine justice, people who hated you; who wanted to do great harm to you will come and say to you themselves, “I did wrong.” But you do not care; that is outside of you, because you have already been released inside of you. Once you were released from the prison in your own mind, no one else can put you in prison.

You are free with the freedom of the Christ. You wish nothing for that company, that situation, that family member, except love. You love them in a God-given way.

It happens in you as you give yourself to God in prayer and release your prison thinking about the situation and the person or persons involved. Just watch what happens. Pray for people who do not like you or perhaps have thought wrongly about you – not to change them, but to change you.

Let yourself out of prison.

Let us pray.

Dear God, I thank You for being with me at all times, even when I am in the valley of the shadow of death.

When I feel as if I am so alone, and I have no one standing with me.

Dear God, I pray for Divine justice.

I release others and in so doing, I release the leg irons and I release myself from the innermost cell.

Dear God, I see the doors opening wide, right now.

I see myself walking forth into a brand new day where the sun is shining on me and where I am feeling a sense of restored well-being.

I am the most I can be, because I have the most of You in me at all times, instead of the most of my lower human thought about situations and people.

I let go and I let God.

I let God’s Divine justice be the hallmark of my life.

I seek to be on an even keel with my beloved God.

In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION____________________

God, Your sweet peace, Your complete infilling peace fills my mind and my heart.

A sense of well-being grows within me as I become more aware of Your presence in every aspect of my life. I am safe in You, dear God. I totally give myself over to Your loving presence, now, as I rest gently; as I rest calmly in Your presence.

In the silence of prayer, I am wholly at peace …

Thank You, God, for the light of wisdom. Every moment of every day, I am guided by Your gentle loving presence into new levels of understanding, new dimensions of insight and compassion, new ways of being. Each new awareness and each new insight seem like a new awakening in me.

Through Your presence with me now, I feel the warm glow of spiritual light.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Thank You, God, for Your renewing life in the midst of the activities of my day; I am strengthened by Your presence. I live and move in the presence of Your life. Here in Your presence, I find true health – health of the Spirit.

I breathe deeply and I feel Your presence as life. My spirit, my mind, and my body are healed through Your living presence within me. I entrust those I care about to Your sacred presence within them. I see them as strong and vitally healthy; as one with Your living presence.

Rest in the silence of prayer for a full five minutes … (Have soft music playing)

Thank You, God, for being all I need and all I really want. Your presence feeds me, spiritually, and Your pure sweet love nourishes me, physically. My every need is met through your presence. You are what I need. You are what I want.

Gently, now we begin to return with our attention to this moment and this time.

Thank You God for Your active help and presence in my life.

We pray, today, in the nature of Jesus Christ. Amen.

For 23 years – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,600,000 every day. Welcoming all faiths, excluding no one. Reaching the ends of the earth with the positive message of God. Not connected to any church, Positive Christianity is a Prayer Ministry without walls, physical or denominational, that the world can instantly access and use without cost.

ARCHIVES of recent Positive Daily Inspiration is available on our homepage; use anything you wish.

FREE Encyclopedia of Prayers: http://www.positivechristianity.org/prayersearch.php

NEED PRAYER? Reply – if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will start praying with you, daily, for an entire month. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer.

DONATIONS Thank You for helping us with this great free work for ministers of every faith:
Instant online donation:
http://www.positivechristianity.org/donatepc.htm
By mail: Positive Christianity Box 7993 Woodlands, TX 77387

GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

Read More
21Feb

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Speak Only Truth

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Speak Only Truth

Time Sensitivity: none

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

_____________________________________

In a moment, I am going to introduce you to my best friend in all the world. I’m going to bring him out here on stage. In a moment, I am also going to bring someone else out on stage for you to meet–my worst enemy in all the world.

It is the power in words. It is a primary teaching of our Bible. It is a primary teaching of Christianity.

All cultures and all religions have taught that a human’s word has great power – more power than we think from human mind.

We take our words too lightly. We tell ourselves they don’t have power.

Many spiritual disciplines have realized the special power of the written word and the spoken word.

The Greeks long believed that words were filled with a sort of cosmic power: that one could do anything with words.

Jesus Christ speaking in Matthew 15:10 says, “Listen and understand; it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” When He said this, the disciples didn’t understand at all. They went through many verses of saying, “Now, please Jesus, tell us exactly what you mean.” He goes on to say [Matthew 15:16-20]: “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.

“These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

How can you murder with your mouth?

You can do a murdering with your mouth. There are many forms of verbal murder. You can talk about things that are not true about you; can commit murder on your potential. You can literally commit murder on the cells of your being, by continuing to talk down your health. You can talk about things that are untrue about family members and commit murder to their own self-worth. A child in school can bully.

There are two things that you and I can do with this tool of the word. We can build up or we can tear down.

I now want to introduce you to my best friend [point to own mouth]. This is my mouth, my tongue inside of my mouth, and my vocal cords. I now want to introduce you to my worst enemy [point to own mouth]. This is my mouth, my tongue inside of my mouth, and my vocal cords.

I can do more damage with my mouth than I can with my fist – to myself (mainly), to others, to my world, and to the situations in my life.

Over and over again, Jesus was saying to each of you, directly, that you have great power and great responsibility.

You are a Christian. You are not here by accident. You are here to live the teachings, and to verbally broadcast a positive light to your world.

You are the light to your world. But the light does not mean a light bulb. It means a vibratory power coming out from your lips. What do you shine on? What do you illuminate? You illuminate the people who are around you, and the very cells of your body temple.

Your words express who you are. The spoken word is the means by which unspoken thoughts, inside of you, take on dimension. Every word you use comes out of a thought that you cherish, and the thought you cherish rules your life.

You may be cherishing the wrong thing. You may be cherishing thoughts that could harm you or others. Sometimes we cherish knowledge about another that could cause the other person damage and we long to tell someone.

Hopefully we are going to reform those words. We need to look at that and realize that we are voicing power to what we cherish.

It is primarily through our words that the depth, height, and breadth of our faith, or the lack of faith, are revealed to others. Our words always betray our dominant state of mind.

I can come into your room, stand there, smile at you, and until I open my mouth, you might love me. But then I could open my mouth and say to you, “You know, let me tell you some things about (name). Let me tell you some gossip or slander. Let me bring up something negative. Let me tell you a bad secret about someone else.”

The minute I do this, I don’t speak about (name) or anything else. I speak about my level of consciousness. I broadcast it out, and I’m stripped defenseless in that moment because of what comes out of my mouth.

It can also be the reverse. You might not care at all about me until I open my mouth. Then, when I do, the sweetness that comes out of my mouth enfolds you and makes you feel good. We are then together as brother and sister. It is something you will cherish because of the vibratory power that comes forth.

Every time we open our mouths, we paint a living picture to others of our present state of consciousness. We need to paint the best kind of picture.

Human beings have a primary need. Do you know what that need is? To be loved. We all want to be loved. I want more love in my life, and so do you.

A major block that keeps us from that love, is our mouths.

I speak and may build a wall between us. You can’t get through that wall, nor would you want to.

Or I can speak, and tear down every wall that has existed between any human being. I speak with Christ consciousness. God speak!

When we do this, we have a power that will draw all people to us and will draw all the cells of our bodies to us in health.

When we speak, either aloud or silently in our minds, do we ever voice dislike of us?

Do we ever tell people, “Gee, this suit is awful. I’m ashamed of this tie. I’m just not feeling too well today?” We paint a beautiful mural of our disabilities to them. They have to get through our painting of words to like us. We have painted a verbal wall, a block, between us, and them.

People do this in job interviews. They come in and tell the future employer everything that is wrong, FIRST. People that are dating do this too. Even in trying to see the best in everyone, you have to climb over this hurdle to get to the other side. People only know you (really know you) by the picture YOU PAINT with your own words.

I have a question for you: If you were a new car, and you were the car salesperson, would you buy you? Would you buy you or would you run out of that dealership? Here’s another question: Would you marry you?

People are attracted to us by our words more than anything else. “I don’t like (Mary) because of the way she does her hair and her pretty clothes. I like (Mary) because of the words that come out of her mouth.” That’s what binds us together.

Do you talk yourself up, or do you talk yourself down?

Do your words give pleasure to other people?

After you have talked, and left a room, do people feel on fire with life or do they feel on fire?

Do you ever have conversations with yourself and to yourself where you crash and burn?

Do you find pleasure in your own words?

I’m asking you to speak words that are healthy. Speak words that are full of vitality, affirming God life.

Do your words ever promote fear where you bring up the worst thing that can happen.

Or do your words God speak, promoting a God protection and Divine guidance?

Do your words ever criticize, or even constructively criticize (which is a constructive tearing down)?

Use your mouth only as a builder.

I ask you to make a serious commitment to use the words that come out of your mouth as builder words, to build up everything you see and come in contact with, to praise, and give thanks to people.

In Proverbs 16:24, it says, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb.”

Think about this. With a honeycomb, we can go in and get a little honey from one of the areas. When that is totally empty, we can go and relive it by opening up another area.

This is what you do for people when you speak pleasant words. One of the most powerful times is when you go into an area where everybody is speaking something that is not so pleasant, you come in and bring the presence of God. You speak pleasant words.

When you hear someone tearing down someone else and you come in and say something good about that person, that is powerful and positive. Or when you talk to your son or daughter and constantly say good things to them (even when things don’t go well at school), that is building power. That is something they will take with them all of their lives.

We can never talk about another person; in truth we are only talking about ourselves, defining who we, are by the words we speak.

Moment-by-moment we choose what will add sweetness to life or not-so-sweet occasions, for people to remember. Words of praise, gratitude, and thanks expand, set free, and in every way, radiate energy.

I want you to imagine something for a moment. Imagine we’re all on a ship. Ships have something written across their back – the ship’s name. This ship is called “Relation.” We see it sailing and we realize that this is a very unusual ship because it is not powered by gasoline or the wind. It is powered by our words. We steer the ship by the words we speak, and we also empower the ship.

So this ship, Relation, is going along. With our mouth as the Captain, it is going across into wonderful, calm seas or against the rocks. So it is, with our relationships.

We have relationships with everyone who comes into our lives and with God, through the power of our words. Words are living things. The words we speak, do not die when spoken. They continue, speaking their content over and over again in the mind of the original listener. They go on acting and changing things according to their character – good or bad.

Commit to living your life speaking the positive words of God’s truth. Commit to God speak.

If God were to speak directly to your ear, this moment, the tone, the gentleness, the love, the unconditional belief in you, would be something that would feed you for the rest of your life.

God speak.

You dedicate your mouth to the same.

The word of truth doesn’t mean to carry the Bible around with you and to read scripture to people. It is talking about being a light, being a joy, being a positive influence with your words to everyone you meet.

What is your life? Your life is your working situation, your relationships, the people you meet wherever you go. How will your life change, this day, if you change the words that come out of your mouth and you dedicate yourself to saying God inspired good words all the time?

Job fairs around the country have been attracting thousands of people. Experts say there is only one way that a person can stand out. They say the positive person that speaks in an upbeat way about her or his past, present, and future potential stands miles above the crowd, and is easily noticed.

The question people ask is this: Can I really change the words that come out of my mouth? Do I have the power? Can I be in control?

You are God’s capable creation. If you choose to do this, you will do this. You are God empowered to do this and nothing can stop you. Your words will take on power and authority, because you decide, and you give them the chance to take on God’s power and authority. You can affirm God’s good in all of life. You know, with God, that your mouth is God’s follower.

In Isaiah 55:11, it says, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth: it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

We know that if we speak the truth, lives are going to brighten. If we speak the truth to ourselves, our own lives are going to pick up and become better. But there is also another aspect to this. When you speak, believe miracles are going to happen.

I want to explain to you how this works in your life.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” [John 1:1]

In the beginning, you have the Divine logos. This is the “word” of Divine thought. Inside of you, what are these logos? It is God-Mind that has the full possibilities and potential, at any moment, to come through your mind and mouth. As it comes into your human mind, it will speak the perfect Word of God. It speaks the Word of God. First there is thought, then there is word, and then (as that word dwells inside of you – the word of pure potential for your health, or career, or whatever you are searching for) that becomes the Christ in you, the spiritual human being.

Let me say this in another way. First of all, there is Divine thinking. This Divine thinking must be combined with our human feeling.

But there is a three-stage trinity to manifestation. First of all, there is Divine thinking. Human feeling (and I’m not talking about “I have an ache in my leg”) is taking on that thinking of God inside of us and spiritually feeling it. It is when I know that I know that I know, that I am going to succeed. I feel it in the core of my being – from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I feel it. There is no question inside of me.

But then I have to bring that about into a formative power. The first step is thinking, the second step is feeling, and third step is speaking. I have to form it to allow it to come out from me. I have to speak the truth, silently and audibly, for myself and for others.

I have to accept the thought of God, feel it inside of myself, and I have to allow it to go forth from me. I speak – God speak.

Let us pray.

Today, as a child of God, I accept the command of Jesus. The words I have spoken unto you are Spirit and life. I follow Jesus to allow that Spirit and life to flow forth from me. I dedicate my voice, my tongue, and my vocal cords to expressing the God highest in every situation.

I will be a participant of God speak. I will speak positively to others and to myself, silently and audibly. I will manifest a new world.

In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.

PRAYER / MEDITATION________________________

Let us pray:

How wonderful to know that God is here.

Now the natural human living in lower mind, receives not, the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto them, and they can’t know them because they are spiritually judged.

You now enter into a special house, NOT made with hands. You enter into a special house made with thoughts and words. This special house is your eternal inheritance. And by intuition, you become guided to the shining light of a stage inside of you that is well, happy, strong, and noble.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

The real mind in your human mind opens. Your true self, that philosophers have so long said could be free inside of you, shows itself in all its glory with purified wisdom, strength, and holiness.

You are about to see the glory of God’s good. You are about to lay a hold of God’s good with great words of welcome.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Today, there is a fusion of your human mind and Divine mind. Something is stirring inside of you. There is a welding, a binding together, of your human mind and Divine mind. There is a true fusion taking place. You have that Mind inside of you that was inside Christ Jesus.

Inside of your mind, you are able to see things on the great high point of the Divine. You are able to say, clearly, with your mouth and your tongue, truth as it comes to your mind. Your words are going to take on an added power. Your words are going to take on a God-given Divine power of God speak.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

In the Bible it states, “Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah.” There is a shining forth inside of you of truth. A still, silent voice that speaks loudly in the inner recesses of your mind empowers you with all power.

You have an inner knowing that God is with you this moment. You are attending a welcome into a new state of consciousness, a new way of thinking, and a new way of positive speaking.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

You are entering a new life, gladly and freely. With total consent of your human self, you are walking across the threshold and through the doorway into this new life.

There is a shining, God-given essence that comes forth from you. There is a light that is beaming across your world. The God light is the vibratory power of your spoken word. There is a new power behind your voice. There is a new power empowering you as you listen.

You know the Truth. You SPEAK the Truth. Only steady, shining Truth will accomplish all that you wish to accomplish. And it is coming forth. You agree, this moment, not to divide your mind with doubt. You agree, this moment, not to divide your thought with sense. You agree, at this moment, to be stable in all ways, in thinking and speaking. You will no longer use the mouth to gossip, ridicule or talk negatively. You make this commitment now to God to use your voice for uplifting God speak.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Through the power of Jesus Christ, I dedicate my mouth, my tongue, and my vocal cords to a higher standard of life in me, and in those around me, in the situations of my life. My voice, and the vibratory power, coming forth from it will be dedicated to the glory of God. Every word I utter will be for Truth and God.

In the joy of doing this, in Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.

For over 22 years – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,600,000 every day. Welcoming all faiths, excluding no one.

 

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GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

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14Feb

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Your Life Could Be A Lasting Gift to Our World

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Your Life Could Be A Lasting Gift to Our World

Your Life Could Be A Lasting Gift to Our World

Time Sensitivity: none

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

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This entire life experience is about influence. It is about what we can do with the power that has been given to us. This lesson shares in a positive way what God is doing in your lives. It is about motivating you to share the specialness that you are when you form a partnership with God and the power of your influence. It is about circles of influence and how we can change ourselves, each other, and in turn, change the world.

Anita Baker once said, “I say if it’s going to be done, let’s do it. Let’s not put it into the hands of fate. Let’s not put it into the hands of someone who doesn’t know me. I know me best. Then I take a breath and go ahead.”

Katherine Dunham said, “I used to want the words ‘She tried’ on my tombstone. Now I want ‘She did it.'”

I read a comic of “Cathy.” Cathy says, “It takes 21 days to embrace a new habit.” Then she thinks. Next, she says, “That is not very much at all! Just 21 days.” In the next frame, she says, “Just 21 days! In the grand scheme of life, what’s 21 days?” In the next frame she says, “It’s 20 days 23 hours, and 59 minutes longer than it takes to get comfortable with a bad habit.”

Perhaps, we do need to form some new habits.

Life is change BUT growth is optional.

We are here, this morning, because some do not want life the way it has been. We want life in higher, richer, and better ways for ourselves and those around us. That is why we are here. We choose growth. We choose to have the best life that we could ever possibly have. We know that, with God, we can do this. We are saying that, with God, we are not afraid of storms, because we are learning to sail our ships. We are saying that we are willing to go out of the harbor and do things that, of ourselves, we did not think we could do.

With God’s help, this morning, we are going to influence ourselves in positive ways, being proactive, and with God’s help, aspiring to leadership – not for power, but so we can spread the essence of God, wherever we go. We are going to talk about doing the extraordinary, which you know an ordinary person can do, working with God. We are going to talk about remembering those people who have been tremendous influences in our lives. That will help us and empower us to do things we did not think we could do.

I say a personal prayer, today, that these words I will say to you begin to make a real difference in your life. I pray that these words are like seeds that are implanted in your mind and begin to grow. I pray that they will have greater power a week from today than it does right now.

There is a rhythm of life. Each one of us has a rhythm inside us. It is a heartbeat, but it is also more. There is a flow of God-life happening, in and through each of you. There is a possibility in you. One life, your one life, has the potential to touch another life, and potentially, both lives are changed. One life touches another life, and potentially, the whole world is changed.

King Duncan, the professional speaker tells a story of an Englishman, John Howard. John Howard was born in 1899 and he was living in South Africa during the Boer wars.

At that time, in 1899, in South Africa, there was an English journalist who had escaped from a Boer POW camp. He had made his way to many houses and no one would let him in. They said, “Go back. We don’t want to get into any trouble. Go back to the POW camp. Even though you may not survive, go back, because we don’t want to get involved.” The exception to these people was John Howard. John Howard took in this English journalist and nursed him back to health. When the journalist was in the POW camp, rats had gnawed on his arms and his legs. John Howard nursed the journalist back to health, and it was not easy.

For two weeks, he protected the journalist and hid him in the basement of his home. Then, when the journalist had his health back, he was able to escape back to England. He wrote a news story that was so gripping, so captivating, that newspapers around the world carried the story. His newfound fame propelled the journalist to the center stage of world politics. His name was Winston Churchill.

Imagine, for a moment, that John Howard had not been there to rescue Winston Churchill. Imagine, for a moment, that Churchill had not been there to rally the British people during the Second World War. Imagine that Hitler had not been defeated. Imagine, therefore, that you and I are speaking German here, today. The point is this: One man changed the world. Yes, Winston Churchill – but really, John Howard, because without his acts of courage, the world would never have heard of Winston Churchill.

There was a letter in “Psychology Today” magazine by Dr. Robert Healy. Dr. Healy was writing about one of his patients that had come in for therapy after deciding not to commit suicide. It seems the man was driving, one day, to a bridge in his home town. He had the ultimate aim of committing suicide and ending his life. He stopped for a moment at a traffic light.

He glanced over to the sidewalk, and an elderly lady looked him, right in the eye and smiled at him. He found himself smiling back. He was driving along, after that, and he thought maybe the world was not such a bad place, after all. He thought maybe it was in him – maybe he needed to change. He decided to seek help and to seek life, because of that one elderly woman’s smile.

An old woman smiles at a passerby. She doesn’t even know the man, but the implications of that act are enormous. A man has decided to live, and he will go on to touch other people’s lives. Notice that the therapist wrote a letter to a national magazine, and now, you and I know it. I bet the letter and the woman’s actions changes the ways we will treat a passerby, sometime in our lifetime.

If the young man had passed me, would the outcome have been different? Would I have smiled? Would you have smiled? Would the young man be alive?

Perhaps this young man will choose to have a family now. One of his children, his grandchildren, or his great-grandchildren will perform some significant act that we do not even know about. Maybe there will be another Winston Churchill. How do we know? We do not know, but in this rhythm of life, one life touches another life, and the potential is there for both lives to change. One life touches another life, and the potential is there to change the world.

Thank God, we are not in the Cold War, anymore. I want to tell you a story that took place during the Cold War. This story shows the power of influence. During this time of the Cold War, Soviet agents wanted to track the American embassy personnel, so they invented a substance called NPPD.

It was an invisible powder, and the Soviets would spread it on items they were sure the Americans would touch, such as steering wheels and doorknobs. When the Americans touched these things, the NPPD was transferred to their hands. They, in turn, transmitted this NPPD to anything and everybody with whom they came in contact. The Soviets thought that if they found traces of NPPD in the apartments of their own agents, it would be good evidence that the agents had had contact with the Americans and that they might be double agents. NPPD was invisible to the naked eye, but it could be seen under ultraviolet light. NPPD will not come off with washing. Nobody knew how well NPPD would work.

Supposed one of our embassy personnel touched a doorknob or a steering wheel that had NPPD on it and then went to a reception that night. He or she shook hands with several hundred people. The Soviets would end up following all of them. What about the people they touched? The line of NPPD could go on, forever. This is what they discovered. Within a week or so, everybody in the town had NPPD on them and the experiment was not successful.

I want to share with you the law of 250. The average person in a week contacts 250 other people, mostly casual contact and some very intense contact.

Every one of those contacts is fraught with the possibility of a life-changing touch. That is just level one. What about the people they have contact with?

A few years ago, a minister gave a lesson that was similar to this one. There was a mathematics professor, in the audience, who challenged the minister, saying, “It was a good sermon, but there is no way I have contact with 250 people in one week. Of course, I see my students, every day.”

The minister said: “You are a mathematics professor. I am going to give you a counter that the ushers use at the door. For one week, I want you to put it into your pocket, and every time you come in contact with somebody, just push the counter. Don’t count your students or those people you see every day.”

The professor came back, astonished that he had not only 250 contacts, but 518 contacts in a normal week; 518 possibilities to smile at passersby and to make their lives better.

Some of you have seen the motion picture of a few years back, “Six Degrees of Separation.” It is based on the concept that we are separated from any other human being on earth by only five or six degrees of separation or circles of influence.

Stanley A. Milgram wrote an article in the magazine, He did a study called, “The Small World.” He studied networking. He studied all the networks of family, friends, and business associates that we have. He wanted to see, in an experiment, if he could get a letter passed from one randomly selected person in Nebraska to another randomly selected person in Boston. The letter would not be mailed. It would simply be passed from friend to friend. Milgram wanted to see if these kinds of contacts would allow the letter to get through.

He found that it is not only possible, but probable, every time. Usually, it has to go only five or six levels of friendship to get to its destination. Every time, it worked that way. As a matter of fact, it was 5.5 levels of communication.

Here is the bottom line of what this means in our lives. I hope, this morning, in this room, we will decide that we are going to change and to increase the positive influence in the world by one percent. Each of you has 50 friends. Each of those friends has 50 friends. That means, of the original group, you alone have 2500 contacts. They have 50 friends and that means you now have 125,000 contacts. In level four, each of them has 50 friends, and you now have over six million contacts. When you go to level five or six, you are touching every single person on the planet.

What a difference you can make by simply agreeing to allow God to come through you. You say there is going to be some overlap there. Remember, I am just starting with 50 people. Chances are that you are going to know a whole lot more. You can make a bigger difference in the beginning. Then with radio, TV, and the Internet, it would go a lot faster, today, with the technological revolution that we have. I’m mentioning just one generation. What about your children and other people’s children?

There is one place where we can track the influence of generations. That is with religion. Back in 1848, there was a man by the name of Kimball who took an interest in a shoe clerk. Every night, they met and prayed. The shoe clerk was having tremendous problems within his life. But Kimball did not just walk the other way and say, “Oh no, it is not my responsibility. I don’t have time for this. You go somewhere else.” Kimball decided to make a difference. He prayed with the shoe clerk, and the shoe clerk decided, over time, to become a minister.

His name was Dwight L. Moody, and he became the biggest evangelist of the day.

Moody held big rallies in cities around the country.

There was a man who came forward and said he wanted to become a minister and to give his life to God. That was Fredrick Meyer. Fredrick Meyer was holding a rally, one day, in a city, and J. Wilber Chatman came to the rally. Chatman went across the country holding rallies, and one day, he held a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. The entire town was on fire with the Spirit of God. Every single citizen was touched. They had weekly meetings in all the churches after that to keep the spirit of the rally alive. They decided to invite another evangelist to the town to hold another big meeting, and his name was Mordecai Ham. When he held the meeting, there was a young man who came forward and said, “In all sincerity inside my heart, I want to give my life to God.” That was Billy Graham.

Billy Graham talked to a worldwide audience, but he is simply the transmitter of the NPPD of the influence of Kimball, who, in 1848, had concern for a shoe clerk.

One life – and what a difference that one life can make. I am very aware that what Jesus said is true.

The real difference I will make in this world is through you and through your children. This will be where the magic comes. It probably is not going to be by a minister who stands up here behind this lectern. It is going to be by one of you. You are going to be the person who changes the world. Maybe it will be just helping a shoe clerk and the shoe clerk changes the world; but one of you is going to do something so big; and some of you will do something so big, you will have no idea. Kimball never knew. But who cares, as long as you can be a part of it; a part of something bigger than yourself.

First, with God’s help, I pray that you are a major influence upon yourself. We want to influence others, but first we have to influence ourselves. That is a big responsibility, and there are many choices to make in a given day. Casey Stengel once was helping Billy Martin, giving advice on managing a team. “On any team, there are 15 players who will run through a wall for you. But five will hate your guts. Five will be undecided, and five will love you. The secret is, when you are on the road, never room a good guy with a loser. The loser will blame the manager for everything, but it won’t spread if you keep them isolated.”

I ask you, are you isolating yourself from thoughts that are not true about your potential? Are you isolating yourself from people who are telling you things that are not true about your potential? What kinds of thoughts and people are you around? Are you around people who motivate you and get you excited about life? Or, are you around people who say, “Don’t work that hard. You won’t amount to anything, anyway. After all, you are just getting paid by the hour.” Or, are you around people who tell you that, with God, you can go all the way to provide humanity with lasting success?”

Second, with God’s help, be proactive. Decide to make a deliberate change in this world. It is as simple as deciding to make the change to be a positive influence every moment of every day. It begins with the smile of the old woman on the bridge, or your smile at the next person with whom you make eye contact.

Third, with God’s courage, aspire to leadership. Leaders can touch more people and have more influence, but do not do it for the power trip. We are talking about a God trip, here – what God can do through you. You are not doing it for you. You are doing it for God. You can do things you thought you could never do, if you think it is for God and it is God’s dream.

Fourth, as you work with God, know the truth about what the Bible tells about you. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Fifth, celebrate the people in your life who have influenced you. This will give you great courage and a foundation for all your actions. When you remember, you are more inclined to go the extra mile to influence others, and thank God for the lights of the past now lighting your path to the future.

Alex Haley once thought back on the influences in his life. He had an uncle who gave him a slice of a tree when he was 12 years old. The tree had been cut down, sliced, and varnished. That brought out all of the rings in the tree’s growth. But Alex Haley’s uncle put more than just varnish on it. He labeled the ring that happened in 1863, “The Emancipation Proclamation.” He put a mark by the ring when his grandmother was born, and then marks for all the rest of the family’s births. All of his life, Alex looked at this, above his desk. It motivated him to write the book, “Roots.” This book motivated many others to look at their own family histories. I hope it motivates you, today, to look back on those positive influences.

I have a question for you. Did one small black woman in the South bring down international communism? I say yes. Here is the proof. Boris Yeltsin was once asked what gave him the courage to stand on top of a tank in Red Square and overthrow Gorbachev. What was it, they asked, that gave you such tremendous willpower to do this when an ordinary human being could not do it? Yeltsin said it was reading about Lech Walesa, the ordinary electrician in Poland, who helped overthrow communism in that country.

Someone went to Lech Walesa and said, “What, exactly, was the pivotal event that caused you to do what you did?” He said it was reading about what Martin Luther King did in this country. Someone, years ago, went to Martin Luther King and asked him what gave him such courage to stand up against the entire world. Dr. King said that every time he gets afraid, he thinks about the one small black woman in the South by the name of Rosa Parks – the small black woman who refused to go to the back of the bus. Perhaps, by that action, this one woman changed the world.

Follow Jesus Christ by making a positive difference in this world, one person at a time.

I pray, this morning, that you do the same whether you realize it or not.

I pray you become a positive influence in your world.

Let us pray.

I, now, in this sanctuary, open my human mind to the perfection and goodness of God. I open my awareness to the riches of the kingdom within me, right now. May I feel the full impact of God’s ever-loving presence and power. May I become aware of what has already been prepared for me. I now view my innate potential and unlimited possibility in a new way. The kingdom of God is awaiting my recognition. I agree, this morning, to recognize it. I am ready to accept it.

I change my inner perception and the outer reveals a beauty that has so long been obstructed by my own attitude. I concentrate on my inner vision, and I find my outer view transformed. My outer actions are transmuted. I find myself attuned to the grandeur of life, and I inject myself into it.

I am determined to be a positive influence in my world. I work in unison with God. I recognize my oneness with God, and all things in the outer are suddenly made new. I am a positive God-filled influence, wherever I go, beginning right now.

This covenant, between you and God, and between me and God, is made this day. There will not be one person who passes by me that I do not at least think a good thought about and send that blessing forth, mind-to-mind.

Whenever possible, I will shine forth the reflection in my face. Whenever possible, I will touch with the touch of God. Whenever possible, I will take the extra time to devote my energy, which is God’s energy coming through me, to give it to another person who may change the world. Thank you, God, for the privilege and opportunity for doing this.

In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION____________________

Listen to the sound of your breath. You hear the breath of life, and you feel the breath of God’s Spirit. Sense the presence of God with you. The energy of God’s Spirit now nurtures and strengthens you.

Listen in the silence of prayer …

Feel the love of your heart, and know that you are in the heart of God and loved. Experience centeredness, and feel immersed in the activity and life of God. You live in the midst of God, and good appears in every desirable form.

You acknowledge the importance of God in your life. You acknowledge the importance of others in your life. You honor the truth that we have a spiritual heritage and a brotherhood and sisterhood with all people.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

We are spirits of integrity, expressing through form and action. We are learning to know ourselves and others. We are growing in wisdom and honor.

Dear God, now that I am in touch with everything good within myself, I am able to honor it in others. I rejoice in the unity of our common family of humankind. We are enriched by each other. Life experiences are small parts of a larger pattern. Like petals on a flower, they contribute to a greater design. Life is a many-petaled flower.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

God’s energy and God’s power nurture life. It moves beyond any barriers. It rises to new heights as it opens to the warmth of God’s sunlight. You declare that your life is now a partnership with God. I am a positive influence, a God-filled influence to everyone in my world.

As a flower draws upon the energy and light of God, you draw on the energy and light of God to do what is needful for you to do. A flower and your life have a common purpose. Your life is a many-petaled flower of experiences. Your life is a partnership with God. Your life is the way you worship. You reflect upon its unity, and you praise the empowerment to do what is needful for you to do.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

I decree, in Jesus Christ’s name, that you are a positive, God-filled influence in your world. I pray that everywhere you go, you go with the power of God. Every word you speak is the word of God, and every thought you have in your mind is the Divine idea of God’s action and movement within your human mind. You are a God-filled influence in your world, empowered by God to make a difference.

In this awareness, we say, “Thank You, God.”

Positive affirmation for today: Today I know that I am special and important to God. I am needed by God, and I walk forward with my spirit held high. God ministers through me, and all that I touch are touched by God.

In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.

For 23 years – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,600,000 every day. Welcoming all faiths, excluding no one. Reaching the ends of the earth with the positive message of God. Not connected to any church, Positive Christianity is a Prayer Ministry without walls, physical or denominational, that the world can instantly access and use without cost.

ARCHIVES of recent Positive Daily Inspiration is available on our homepage; use anything you wish.

FREE Encyclopedia of Prayers: http://www.positivechristianity.org/prayersearch.php

NEED PRAYER? Reply – if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will start praying with you, daily, for an entire month. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer.

DONATIONS Thank You for helping us with this great free work for ministers of every faith:
Instant online donation:
https://positivechristianity.net/donation-tithe/
By mail: Positive Christianity Box 7993 Woodlands, TX 77387

GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

Read More
07Feb

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – The River

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - The River

The River

Time Sensitivity: none

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

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“The people who believe in Me, as Scripture has said, out of their hearts will flow the rivers of living water.” John 7:38

“The river of God is full of water … “
Psalms 65:9

Many of our great cities were built near a river. This river gave life to its people and continues to do so. At a certain point in this river, there is a huge pipe. It draws forth the life in this river and brings it through the pipe for many miles. Then it is circulated to several other smaller, but still big, pipes. That pipe carries water great distance. And then there are hundreds and hundreds of smaller pipes branching off of each bigger pipe, finally ending up in people’s homes through thousands of small PVC pipes. On the end of each of these is a faucet. A person turns the faucet on and they have crystal clear water, flowing out of the faucet. Yet, it is not the pipe or the faucet, but what is within that creates the magic.

“For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river.”
Isaiah 66:12

I am a different size than you are. I might be a different gender than you are. I might be a different color than you are. But we are all THE SAME because we have the same Spirit of God inside of us, the Spirit that constantly tells us what we can become; the Spirit that tells us that we can be healthy when we are sick. The Spirit gives us the power inside of us to keep on driving ahead to know that we have inside of us what will help us to be a victor in every situation.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit an old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups … and then began eyeing each other’s cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”

God brews the coffee, not the cups.

“Christ in you, your hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27

What is this Christ? When you are aware of the Christ in you, it means you are connected to your source. It means you have more power waiting to come forth. It is to have the assurance, to have the knowledge in your human mind that you are not an island and not all alone. Truly, when you know that, you are not an ordinary pipe with river water in it. You are not an ordinary human being because we all – every human on the planet – has a connection to God and living water. But some just do not know it. It is our awareness that anoints us, that crowns us. That is what Jesus came to tell us.

“Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink, ‘you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10

I am going to read from the Bible in Revelations. Few understand Revelations. Let me read and then explain, exactly, what this means from Revelations 22:1-7: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month: and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night: they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.’ ‘See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.'”

First of all, we have an angel who is showing you the river of life, inside of you. Now, God flows in and through you, like a river.

Recently, I saw on television some workers here when they opened up a huge pipe that was clogged. The water had been stagnant in that pipe for some time. When they opened the pipe, the smell of the stagnant water filled the air. God is not stagnant in you. God is ever fresh, ever renewing. How much of a help that is when you are not feeling up to par, to know God is flowing through you, cleansing you, and making you new. God is flowing through your mind. You are not stagnant in your mind when you go to God.

God is continually bringing ideas to you, flowing through you, always new, always fresh, always a new vision.

How does the angel appear? It is not outside of you. Actually, in this passage, where it says “angel,” it means what is closer to a Divine idea flowing from the throne of God – flowing to your human mind – God into your conscious mind. It is telling you, making you aware of something great happening. Not in some imaginary city, but inside of you. The angel showed me a river of the water of life from the throne of God and of the lamb.

What is the lamb? They are referring to Jesus, here. They called Jesus a sacrificial lamb. In the days when the Bible was written, most religions of that day, in that part of the world, believed that if you were sick, or if you had sinned, or if you had a habit, you could not overcome, the priest would ask you to bring your finest animal – usually it was a lamb. Bring your finest lamb to the altar and through a ceremony, they would place your sin in the lamb. They would place your bad habit in the lamb. They would place your sickness in the lamb. Then, quickly, they would have slaughtered it. The lamb would have died for you. The lamb would have given its life so you could be cleansed. Later on, this is what they called Jesus for dying on the cross – the sacrificial lamb.

This river flows down the middle of the street, right in the center of your mind. It flows into the center of the city. Where is this city? It is your human mind. Think about your human mind – isn’t it like a city? There are huge apartment buildings; all filled with different ideas and concepts, in every apartment, there are different memories. Everyone is occupied. Throughout the city, there are small dwellings, big dwellings, clusters of ideas and concepts– big concepts, and small concepts. This is talking about how God should be the permanent tenant in the middle in every apartment, in every home inside of your mind. When God is in everything, everything changes.

On either side of this river of life inside of you, you have a tree of life, the manifestation of God inside of you. It produces fruit every month. It produces fruit, continually. There are twelve kinds of fruit, often called the gifts and talents of God-whatever you need when you have need of it.

The leaves of the tree are thoughts – thoughts of all the people who have turned to God and truly create healing for all the nations around the world. Nothing accursed will be in the city, then. There will not be anyone in any apartment of any high-rise apartment building in your city who is complaining, having a “woe is me” day, or a worry session. There is no need to worry, because, truly, the kingdom of heaven is within you, the kingdom of bliss, the kingdom of joy and power. How great this is!

You will, also, have God’s name written on your forehead. It is not going to be like a tattoo, GOD, so everybody looks at you and says, “Well, you ARE an ordained man. He has been anointed with the Christ.” Know that name and nature are interchangeable concepts throughout the Bible. You have the nature of God written on your forehead. In other words, you have the nature of God written in your mind, in every concept in your mind. There will be no more night in your life, no more darkness. Truly we live in our minds more than the world we see with our eyes. You will rely solely on the outer light of the lamp or the sun, because your inner light is going to be so strong and so special.

It says this must soon take place. This is saying that if you want your life to be better, do not wait a lifetime to make this happen. It is not giving up anything. It is gaining everything. Why not today?

Jesus says, “I am coming soon.” Jesus comes, continually, when you have the mind in you that Christ Jesus had in Him.

It says in this Bible verse that the spirit of the prophets, of the spirit of Jesus, of the spirit of every great religious holy woman and holy man, had this God-spirit in them. You, today, if you wish, if you choose, can be aware of that which is already in you. All you have to do is choose this river of life.

I now turn to Revelations 21:21-22: “And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”

Transparent as glass means that inside of you is pure. Inside of you are twelve developed gifts of God and each one is like a pearl to be held up with high worth and to be held onto. Truly, as you live life, you will find the ultimate church and the ultimate cathedral is not in these four walls – it is inside of us. Your body is the temple of the living God. That is where you hold religious services, and that is where you pray, continuously, by the way you live life.

Most religions teach this.

In the Tao, it says, “The way that can be told of is not an unvarying way. The way is like an empty vessel that may yet be drawn from without ever needing to be filled, it is bottomless.” This is another way of saying you are like a vessel. You may think you don’t have any power to go to work on Monday, and you don’t have any ideas to tell your boss about this project you are working on. You need to dip in further, and you will find that that which you dip into is inexhaustible. It can never be depleted, and you are connected with it right now.

In Psalms 46:4-5, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.”

I turn to Psalms 1:1-3, “Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers: but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.”

The “wicked” in this verse means the person who has been led astray, the person who is in error. Have you ever sat in the seat of a scoffer? It is not the high way to go.

I turn to Isaiah 66:12-13, “For thus says the Lord: ‘I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you … ‘”

The river of wholeness, of the Holy Spirit is in you. The Holy Spirit, the “whole spirit” of God, the completeness of God, the fullness of God is in you and it brings health, strength, joy, peace, order, harmony, and light to your mind and body. Consciously, you open yourself to this, to the river of life and allow it to flood your mind. Allow it to wash away any debris, any accumulated thoughts of sickness, lack, and limitation. The river of wholeness rejuvenates you. Every atom and cell in your mind and body will release new energy, setting free the Christ life within you, until your whole-body glows with health.

Have the religion of Jesus. God is accessible to every human being – to those that walk into the doors of our church, AND through the doors of any dwelling on the planet. God is accessible. We are one with God, even right now. To follow Jesus means to follow the example He taught. How great it is to have an example, so we can know what we can do and become. Otherwise, how would we ever know what we could become? It is not enough to sit at the feet of Jesus. We have to take His hand and be lifted up and stand by His side and realize what He taught was for us.

We, too, can have THIS mind inside of us.

There is a legend about a prince who had a crooked back. One day, he said to his most skillful sculptor, “Make a statue of me but with a straight back. I would like to see myself as I might have been.” When the statue was finished, the prince put it in a secret place where only he could see it; and every day, the prince would slip away to look, longingly and earnestly, at the statue.

Months passed and people began to notice that the prince’s back was not as crooked as it used to be. He continued to look at the perfect statue, and each time, the sight of it set his blood tingling and his heart throbbing, until one day, he realized that his back was straight. He had become the man of the statue.

Let me tell you another story before I close. There was a fellow walking down the street, one day. He spied a sign advertising a cat show in a large hotel. He went in and he was very impressed by the variety of the many felines. But what really captured his attention was the whispered worth of the animals. Someone said, “That Persian over there is worth $35,000. That exotic cat over there is worth $50,000. That calico male over there is worth $60,000.” The man immediately left. He went home and he got his old alley cat and brought him to the hotel. An official spotted him and said, “You can’t enter that common cat in this show.”

He replied, “I don’t want to enter him, I just want to take him through the show and inspire him.”

Never think of this Bible as totally as story of someone else. This is a story of YOU – a Human Owner’s Manual. Every page in the Bible is to inspire you. Otherwise, this book would have no worth to you. It is to tell you what you can be, what you can become. This closeness with God, this oneness with God is what we are to realize in this moment. There is never going to be a moment in your lives where you don’t have God with you, and within you, not stagnant, but flowing – ever bringing new life and ideas in and through you.

Let us pray: The spirit of God is active in me now. I partake of living water.

I am healthy, happy, and prosperous. How marvelous to realize that right within me is the Spirit of all power of God! I realize I can constantly draw upon this power and it is never depleted. It is mine to use and to express.

God is omnipresent, always with me. God is omnipotent and omniscient. God’s power and God’s wisdom infill me now. I have all the help I need in any situation. I open my mind to an awareness of the river of life.

I recognize the all-encompassing, all-powerful Spirit of God within me, which does Its perfect work through me.

I have the power, the strength, the intelligence to do whatever I long to do, to be whatever I want to be. The Spirit of God is active in me now. I relax and I let this all-powerful Spirit flow through me, work through me. I am healthy, happy, and prosperous.

In Jesus Christ’s name and nature. Amen.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION____________________

Thessalonians 5:17-18, “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

The river of life is within you. It is the river of God and it is flowing all the time. What goes on in God’s river? Divine love, Divine life, Divine order, Divine imagination, Divine power, Divine judgment, Divine understanding, zeal and faith; Divine wisdom, strength, and elimination of things you no longer wish to be a part of your life flowing within you, as you, all of the time. Thought always creates after its kind. With a startled awareness, you realize God’s river and your human thought stream are one. The ceaseless, endless flow of God thought is the ceaseless prayer stream of your being.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Day and night, asleep or awake, God is always working, moving, acting, and thinking. You are one with God. Each of us is one with God.

Hold this thought in the silence of prayer …

God, I realize through prayer that you neither slumber nor sleep. Deeply, humbly, you realize the basic reality of your being is always God. Never changing. With utmost devotion, you keep your human thought stream, your life-stream pure, clean, cleansed, just as it flows forth from the great love of God within you.

This is the purpose of prayer and meditation. You think with God, work with God, act with God, and know that your consciousness is completely infilled by God. You choose not to contaminate your thought stream with fear, rage, anger, limitation, or resentment. You know these are lower human habits and there is no place in it for images of misery and doubt, sickness or uncertainty. Time, space, greed, age, density, evaporate completely in the Divine realization you are all one in God and God is all one in you.

The pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God is within you. It is the permanency of your soul. The sovereign, all-creative one God is the tree of life. The leaves, the thoughts, the ideas are for the healing of all nations the world over, all conditions and all people. The fountain of God’s pure love flows through your soul and you are forever bathed in the stream of immortal life.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

We pray, this morning, knowing this is the truth about ourselves, about each other, about all of humanity.

In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.

For 23 years – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,600,000 every day. Welcoming all faiths, excluding no one. Reaching the ends of the earth with the positive message of God. Not connected to any church, Positive Christianity is a Prayer Ministry without walls, physical or denominational, that the world can instantly access and use without cost.

ARCHIVES of recent Positive Daily Inspiration is available on our homepage; use anything you wish.

FREE Encyclopedia of Prayers: http://www.positivechristianity.org/prayersearch.php

NEED PRAYER? Reply – if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will start praying with you, daily, for an entire month. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer.

DONATIONS Thank You for helping us with this great free work for ministers of every faith:
Instant online donation:
https://positivechristianity.net/donation-tithe/
By mail: Positive Christianity Box 7993 Woodlands, TX 77387

GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

Read More
31Jan

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Love Is The Way

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Love Is The Way

Time Sensitivity: Valentine’s Day February 14

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

Every week we have multiple requests from churches to share a Positive Daily Inspiration with their congregation. You never have to ask for permission – you have my permission.

Many churches forward Positive Daily Inspiration to their congregations and visitors. This has exploded during Covid closures, and yet it is still little known about. Many churches send a message of their choice once or twice a week to their congregations co-authoring the message. Churches report that it has helped them stay in business and increased their financial support during these hard times.

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Positive Daily Inspiration.

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1 John 4:8 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

Valentine, Nebraska is a small town with a population of 2,000. The whole town experiences love as they celebrate Valentine’s Day. Everyone becomes more loving, like what happens at Christmas time the world over. It is great when we become more loving to each other.

Churches teach the biblical teaching of keeping the Sabbath. If God is love, like our Bible says, then to keep the Sabbath, we must spend 24 hours out of our week, refreshing and cleansing our lives by becoming love.

24 hours every Sunday, not judging or criticizing, not jumping to conclusions, but giving everyone, including yourself a break. The Sabbath is – a spiritual cleansing of love.

On the main street in Gatlinburg, Tennessee is Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum. If you are a romantic person this could be a place to do research.

Robert Ripley reported that the longest and simplest love letter ever written was the work of a Parisian painter by the name of Marcel de Leclur in 1875. The addressee was Magdalene de Villalore. This love letter contained the phrase “I love you.” He had this written out 1,875,000 times (1,000 times the calendar year). De Leclure did not pen this letter with his own hand; he hired a scribe. He was so entranced with the sound of “I love you,” that he dictated it word for word and had the hired man repeat it verbatim. All-in-all, the phrase was uttered a total of 5,625,000 times before it reached its destination. How could that lady turn down that man?

Valentine’s Day dates back six centuries. It is a commonly accepted day that they believe birds chose their mates. This goes back even before we linked it with St. Valentine. It has been hearts and flowers ever since. ANY day of the year that we decide we are going to become more loving to humanity, to our spouse, our boyfriend or girlfriend, and to all the people in our lives it is a true godly act. Valentine’s Day cards are good because they help us express the Divine love that is inside of us and allows an avenue for that love to come forth.

The two great things to hold onto in this world are God and each other. Love is the power that links the lonely islands of different people’s souls, beaten by icy separation seas of ignorance, fear and circumstance.

Wouldn’t it be a glorious service to humanity, to begin THIS day, from this room, a chain of love throughout this entire city, and then throughout this entire nation? We can do this by allowing this chain of love to begin with who? WITH YOU. When you agree to do this, you are saying yes to God. Say, “Yes, this morning I’m going to allow Divine love to flow from me. During the Lenten period of 40 days that will begin with Ash Wednesday, March 2 I’m going to be loving to everyone I meet. For forty days I’m going to suspend my judgments on people – suspend anger, criticism and condemnation – and I agree to be loving for the next forty days. If, at the end of this experiment, I choose to take up anger, hate, and disagreements with others, I can do that. But for forty days I’m going to walk the high path and be a real light to the world. For forty days I’m going to truly follow Jesus Christ whose main teaching was love. I’m going to become a sample of God’s love.”

A chain letter was received that stated the person would be in dire circumstances if they didn’t pass it on to five people. It said they would have horrible things happen if they did not pass on this chain letter to five people.

Why not make your life a living love chain? Why not make your life the link in that chain that can make a difference in this town?

Wouldn’t it be great if just for this week we name this whole town “Valentine, __your town, or city name______,” and what if we become that manifestation and then begin a conscious realization of love for the next forty days? That means loving everybody in our lives – not just the select few who are easy to love – everybody, especially those few who are difficult to love, and keep that wonderful smile on your face to show to everybody.

Make it a beacon for everyone to enjoy, savor, and hold on to. One of the secrets of life is that it’s much easier to love everyone, than to hate some. It becomes like a poison to the soul, which the person holds onto dearly hoping the other person will die. But the effects are the reverse.

Love is the theme song of the universe. It is power of new life, not just in you but in those people who come to you on your path.

We make a great mistake of thinking that love must be returned. To truly be in loving action, love must free, not bind. It loves with open arms and open hands. We must love all who cross our path, and not expect anything in return. Now, some who are hearing this will say, “There the minister goes again talking about that Pollyanna philosophy.” But this is not Pollyanna in any way. Love is not a matter of escape from life. Rather it is a dedication to God.

So many have loved from the basis of lack. What happens when we live on the basis of lack-love?

1. If we are loving from lack, our credo is that we have the idea we lack something and we are incomplete.

2. We are searching in our life because we need something to compensate for that lack. Only by looking outside of ourself can we find a person who will fill that lack in completeness.

3. From the foundation of lack we become dependent on that relationship.

4. In time, they do not fill our needs. This results in resentment and hostility inside of us.

Many relationships are like this. We need to realize that we have God’s love with us and they do too. In God’s love we lack NOTHING.

If we are coming from the foundation of God’s love:

1. We know we lack nothing.

2. We know there is no necessity to search outside of ourselves for a special relationship.

3. Because we radiate love, we attract special relationships into our life from a higher level – not needy ones, but special relationships sharing that which is God’s love; sharing that which we each already have.

To go to a new level of awareness of sharing – not really wanting anything from anyone else – is what we see during the Olympics. We watch many differing people coming together in a celebration of love. Yes, we look at each other and realize we are different, but we don’t care. We don’t ask anything of someone else, we find joy in sharing. Holding hands in spirituality, and standing up for the very best, of what is best in humanity, as a people. We are many different races, and faiths becoming one people.

If we are unwilling to love the expression of life called human which we have seen with our eyes, how are we going to love the source – God – which we have not seen? Some people say, “I love God, but it’s people that I can’t stand.” How can we love music and not harmony? How can we love the morning and not the day? Every individual is an inlet and an outlet for the complete love of God.

We can’t possibly love anyone or anything unless we first love ourselves in a spiritual way. We have to know that if we are going to love, we have to pour that love through us (like a hose). As that love comes through us, what does that do to us (to the inside of the hose)?

It cleans us out to the core, too. We become infilled with love.

But, if I’m standing here and I realize that God’s love has to get through me to get to you and I say, “Oh, I’m no good today. My hair doesn’t look good today. I look tired. This isn’t my good suit. How can I effectively talk about love because I have the wrong tie on? What was I thinking about?”

I am the hose of God; it has to flow through me to you.

In the world community, love is the only safe emotion there is.

It is the only safe way in which we can live as a people with our fellow humans and with ourselves. Love gives all, but it also demands all. Love is the toughest taskmaster and hardest discipline in the universe. Why?

Because we also have the baggage, we carry right above our eyes in our human minds.

We, so easily, can slip back into saying, “Well, wait a minute. You did this to me last Valentine’s Day. I remember.” We have to rise above our past. Life, to be alive, has to consent to live above yesterday. It is not held down; it is freed today in a brand-new life in a brand-new awareness of God.

I want to quote a very famous African-American by the name of Booker T. Washington.

As I quote him, realize the time in which he lived, and realize he had the right to hate if anyone did. He said this: “I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.”

It has been said that as soon as you begin to condemn them, you become one of them.

Psalms 127:1 states: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Here it’s talking about more than a stick-built structure. It’s talking about the HOUSE OF YOUR LIFE. If God is building your house, what materials does God use? Divine love!

Joel Goldsmith has written: “Illumination dissolves all material ties and binds men and women together with golden chains of spiritual understanding. It acknowledges only the leadership of the Christ. It has no ritual or rule, but Divine love. No other worship than the inner flame that has ever been lit at the shrine of Spirit. This union is the free state of spiritual brotherhood, and sisterhood. The only restraint is the discipline of the soul. Therefore, as we know liberty without license, we are a united universe without physical limits, Divine service to God without ceremony or creed. The illumined walk without fear but by love and grace.”

Allow me to share a story with you. This is a story that takes place in England. It is the story of William Dixon. He was a widower who had lost his only son. One day he saw that the house of one of his neighbors was on fire. Although the aged owner was rescued, her orphaned grandson was trapped inside in the blaze. Dixon climbed an iron pipe on the side of the house and lowered the boy to safety. His hand that held onto the pipe was badly burned.

Shortly after the fire, the grandmother who lived with the boy died.

The townspeople wondered among themselves, “Who will care for the boy?”

Two volunteers appeared at the town council, wanting to care for the boy.

The first was a father who had lost his son and wanted to adopt the orphan as his own. Then there was William Dixon who was to speak next. Instead of speaking, instead of saying anything, he merely held up his scarred hand.

When the vote was taken, the boy was given to him.

Love cannot just stay inside of us. It has to be expressed. We have to go the extra mile. People are children of God, but orphans of society are waiting for our love.

I ask you, for the next forty days, to hold with me a cease fire – to anyone in your life who has harmed you, has spoken against you, or that you have harmed or spoken against. I ask you to replace it, for forty days, with love.

You say, “I’ve tried; I can’t do it. I just don’t have it in my mind to do this.” Ask for Divine love, God’s love, to come through you. Your mind is not alone. You are immersed in God and God is love.

I’d like to share with you a place in the Bible you are familiar with (John 3:16). You’ve heard it before, but let’s take it to a new depth today. “For God so loved the world … ” I like that. It doesn’t say God just loved or cared for or kind of liked the world. It says SO LOVED the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.

Let’s talk about the size and the scope of God for a moment. The breadth of God – for God so loved the world. The length of God – that he gave his only Son. The depth of God – so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish. The height of God – but may have eternal life.

I believe eternal life is not just a hereafter proposition. I want life today.

I want it so full, so dynamic, that there are no dips in it. And I want it tomorrow and the next day. I want joy and happiness overflowing, and more love than I’ve ever had in my life. That, to me, is eternal life.

I’ll talk about the after-death proposition later, but right now I do not want to perish into my moodiness or another person’s moodiness. I want eternal full life.

Don’t be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

Martin Luther called John 3:16 the heart of the Bible. He said it was the gospel in miniature. He said:

God – the greatest lover,
So loved – the greatest degree,
The world – the greatest number,
His only Son – the greatest gift,
That everyone who – the greatest invitation,
Believes – the greatest simplicity,
In Him – the greatest person,
May not perish – the greatest deliverance,
But – the greatest difference,
May have – the greatest certainty,
Eternal life – the greatest possession.

There is only one God. Love is the only God there is. All else must be dissolved and love, in reality, stands forth. The Biblical statement “God is love” is accurate in every way. God is not a superman dishing out love to you and expecting it in return. No, God is love and you are God’s instrument of expression. To love God is to experience the feeling of love and to let love flow through you.

God is love, and in that love, there is no condemnation, disapproval or fault-finding. Love always welcomes its children back into the fold.

Love always approves of its creation regardless of the stage of unfoldment it is in. Love, God, approves of you as its child or self-expression.

The approval of love never varies, unlike the sliding scale of human values.

Allow me to share one more story with you. This is a dynamic story of how God loves. God works through many situations and many peoples’ minds.

I’m taking you back to England for this story.

I’m telling you the story of William Cowper who, at age 32, passed through a great crisis in his life. At the end of this crisis, he tried to end his life by taking an overdose of drugs, but it failed. He thought he would outsmart the power of God. He thought, “God cannot take away my right to kill myself,” so he hired a horse-drawn carriage and ordered the driver to take him to the river. He was intending to throw himself from the bridge.

It was one of London’s foggiest nights. They drove around for an hour without reaching the chosen spot. Cowper was disgusted and decided he would get out and walk to the bridge. When he got out, to his surprise he found he had actually gone in a circle and he was back at his own doorstep.

The next morning he decided he would fall on a knife, but the blade broke and his life was spared. Then he decided to hang himself. He did lose consciousness, but he was still alive and well when he was brought down.

The next morning something strange happened that had not happened for a long time – he felt a strange cheerfulness. He opened up the Bible and read a verse in a letter to the Romans. In a moment he received the strength to believe and he rejoiced in the power of God’s love. Sometime later Cowper summed up his faith in God’s love dealing with him in a great hymn that has become a favorite to the church community. I wanted you to know the story behind this hymn.

God moves in mysterious ways,
His wonders to perform.
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in the unfathomable minds
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Heed, fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In the blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense
But trust Him for His love and grace.
Behind a frowning providence
Hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour.
The bud may have a bitter taste
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain.
God is His own interpreter
And He will make it plain.

The greatest conversion experience is the love of God flowing through us.

Where before we might not have liked ourselves at all, now we care and have respect for ourselves. Where before we might not have liked other people, now we’re seeing with new eyes. We see the good in them and we rejoice in it. We’re not separate any more. We’re not on an isolated island on an icy sea. We’re holding hands in consciousness and we’re standing as ONE HUMANITY together.

I ask you to join me in saying this affirmation of positive prayer for the next forty days of Lent. It is simply this: “Divine love, manifest Thyself in me.”

I’m sure you will have disagreeable people coming to you in the 40 day period before Easter, people who it would be easy to dislike. You just step back for a moment, step on the right foundation of God’s love, and say in prayer: “Divine love, manifest Thyself in me.”

Celebrate Valentine’s Day by using this time to make a commitment. Join me in this prayer practice. Join me in a cease-fire for Valentine’s Day and beyond. Join me in a chain of love with all humanity around you as an experiment. I don’t think you’ll ever leave it behind.

I love you. God bless you!

PRAYER/ MEDITATION________________________________

This prayer is a celebration of the love of God. Relax now into the presence of God.

On this week celebrating love, I consent to become the manifestation of Christ love as I rest into the loving nature of God.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Dear God, create in me this day a desire to mend a quarrel, to seek out a forgotten friend, to dismiss suspicion and replace it with loving trust.

Inspire in me this day to write a love letter or share some treasure or give a soft answer instead of a hard response.

Help me today to encourage youth to manifest loyalty in word and deed, and to keep promises. Help me to find the time to help another and give the gift of forgiving a grudge. Help me, dear God, to forgive an enemy and help me to listen.

Dear God, give me the words to apologize if I am wrong so I can try to understand others. Help me to scoff at envy, to examine my demands on others, and to think first of someone else.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Help me, dear God, to appreciate everything and everyone around me.

Help me to be kind, to be gentle, to laugh a little more. Help me to know that I deserve confidence, that I can take up arms against malice, that I can stop complacency and express our gratitude.

Help me to remember to go to You, dear God, in prayer every day so I can have Your Divine love and manifest Your Divine love out of the strength I receive during my prayer time.

“Divine love, manifest Thyself in me.”

Rest in the silence of prayer …

The true church of Christ is inside of me so that wherever I go I will be God’s love in manifestation. I will be kind to strangers, and I will gladden the hearts of others. I will gladden the heart of a child.

Help me, wherever I go, to show my love, to speak it, and to live it.

These are simple things, but as I meditate on them in prayer, I realize that their influence has never fully been measured. Love is a celebration of life. There is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning.

There is a sudden stirring in my heart. I extend myself now to the core of life, and I grasp the significance of Divine love. I hear the wild, sweet music of the angel choir. I pray as I realize what is going on inside of myself that I can take action to love my world and everyone in it.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Divine love, manifest Thyself in me.

I dedicate myself, all of myself – my emotions, my attitudes, my speech–to the Spirit of God’s love. I want to make a difference. I choose to make a difference in the world because of the life that I have lived. I know that my one life can make a difference in the lives of others. So, I dedicate myself to love this morning.

In the love of Jesus Christ I pray.

I am so thankful because I am in ACTIVE love with God and with humanity.

Thank You, God. I love You … Amen.

For 23 years – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,600,000 every day. Welcoming all faiths, excluding no one. Reaching the ends of the earth with the positive message of God. Not connected to any church, Positive Christianity is a Prayer Ministry without walls, physical or denominational, that the world can instantly access and use without cost.

ARCHIVES of recent Positive Daily Inspiration is available on our homepage; use anything you wish.

FREE Encyclopedia of Prayers: http://www.positivechristianity.org/prayersearch.php

NEED PRAYER? Reply – if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will start praying with you, daily, for an entire month. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer.

DONATIONS Thank You for helping us with this great free work for ministers of every faith:
Instant online donation:
https://positivechristianity.net/donation-tithe/
By mail: Positive Christianity Box 7993 Woodlands, TX 77387

GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

Read More
24Jan

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Doubt No Longer Has Power Over You

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Doubt No Longer Has Power Over You

Time Sensitivity: none

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

Every week we have multiple requests from churches to share a Positive Daily Inspiration with their congregation. You never have to ask for permission – you have my permission.

Many churches forward Positive Daily Inspiration to their congregations and visitors. This has exploded during Covid closures, and yet it is still little known about. Many churches send a message of their choice once or twice a week to their congregations co-authoring the message. Churches report that it has helped them stay in business and increased their financial support during these hard times.

Here is an example: First Street Methodist Church (address any town USA) presents a free gift Positive Daily Inspiration.

(And the message of their choice copied and pasted to their mailing list.) Churches can also utilize our Archives, and our Encyclopedia of Prayer to do the same with 1000’s of available messages.

Go to our homepage www.PositiveChristianity.org and sign-up for free. (Never a charge.)

We love people that reuse our material for the good of society. Our only copyright – is you have a right to copy.

_____________________________________

A surprised mother found her four-year-old son crying as he was tying his shoes. She looked at the little boy and said, “Why are you crying?” He said, “Because I have to tie my shoes.” The mother said, “But you’ve just learned how. It isn’t that hard, is it?” “Yes,” he wailed, “But I’m going to have to do it for the rest of my life.”

Have you ever felt that way? Sometimes if we look ahead in our imagination, life can be a bit overwhelming.

I know it can be for many of us.

There are things that are overwhelming to you when you really think about it from the aspect of “I have to do this. I have to meet the challenge. I have to be up to the task.” A lot of times there is a long road ahead of us, and we need the power to go down that road.

Today we’re going to talk about tearing down the walls of doubt.

A while back on a Sunday after the game on television, I called a friend and said, “Did you see that game? Did you see the last five minutes?” My friend said, “What happened?”

The friend went on to tell me how they turned off the game because they just knew we had lost. In the last five minutes we actually went on to a great victory.

When you are working inside of yourself to tear down a wall of doubt, you need two forms of help: human and Divine.

There are many times when my friends and I have gotten together simply to believe in each other. We have walked, and talked, and believed, and great things have happened. We need friends like that. We need human friends.

Let me talk about the human power first. Do you remember the old story of Androcles and the Lion. In this story, a thorn was pulled from the lion’s paw. You see, Androcles was a slave. He has escaped his taskmaster and had run to find freedom.

He hid in a cave. While in there, he heard a noise. He turned around and saw he was being approached by a lion. He thought, “This is worse than what I escaped from.” He just knew he was going to be eaten; that he had come to the end of the line.

He cowered back to the back part of the cave, and the lion growled. Then he noticed a tear coming out of the lion’s eye, and the lion stuck out his paw. His paw was all swollen. In the middle of his paw was a thorn. Androcles withdrew the thorn carefully from the lion’s paw, and the lion smiled. The lion licked his face and then retreated. Androcles said,

“Whew! I’m glad that’s over!”

Three years later in Rome, Androcles had become a Christian. Roman persecutors seized him and ordered Androcles to renounce his faith. He did not. They told Androcles they were going to throw him into the lions. Guess which lion he faced?

The lion he had helped three years earlier. When the lion saw Androcles, he came out and instead of eating Androcles, he licked his face. Androcles was not put to death but was released because the Romans thought he was a person of high magic.

He was . . . and so are we.

I have a few questions for you now. How many lions have you befriended on your pathway of life? How many thorns have you withdrawn from or plucked out of swollen paws? Are you aware that someday you are going to be thrown into the arena?

We all, at various times, are thrown into an arena. Do you know what saves us? Those times when we have helped others; the times they have been at their worst and we have been at our best; the times we have helped them, pulling the thorns from swollen paws.

We are saved in that moment. Possibly some time ago you have befriended somebody. They see you and your life changes because of it.

It is the power of the Bible; it is the power of Christianity; it is the power that shares your power of what you can do.

You are going to be saved each and every time.

It has been said that one seed makes a tree and many trees a forest. The addition of one drop of water at a time turns a stream into a river. The river flows to replenish the sea. One step at a time is the way we make our journey of life.

As we think of what lies ahead, we can find relief from tension as we realize we are not called upon to live a whole year in one day. Our highest aspirations are reached one step at a time, one person at a time helping us.

That is the human part of this story. You know that’s important. You are not in this to be an individual. We are in this life to be spiritually interdependent. You know this is true with us. I need you. I admit it. I love being

with you and I love sharing with you.

Now, let us talk about God, the Divine. To really produce something that has the power to tear down walls inside of you and outside of you, you need help beyond yourself. You need help beyond the other people who are standing with you.

You need Divine help.

God is constantly whispering something to you. Do you know what that whisper says? Right now, God is whispering to each of us. The silent whisper says, “Surprise yourself!” The human shout inside of us says, “I’m afraid,” but God constantly says, “Surprise yourself.”

When you went to realize your dreams, you might have said inside of yourself, “I’m afraid,” but a greater mind rose inside of you and whispered, “Surprise yourself!” That is the giant persuader, the catalyst of the mind, that gets you moving.

As I speak this morning to this group of such fine individuals, I know that many of you have a log to cross. Many of you are looking at a twenty-foot ravine that requires you to jump it. And many of you realize you cannot go back. There’s nowhere else to go. You can’t go up, you can’t go down . . .

You pause and the human shouts inside of you and says, “I’m afraid.” Then, you are surrounded by some good friends.

This is what a friend is – someone who believes in you. The friends are with you saying, “Yes, you can do this.” Then, even though you’re still afraid, you get quiet for a moment, and you hear God’s secret whisper saying, “Surprise yourself!”

At that moment you know that you can do it. Nothing in the world can stop you. I brings you wonderful joy.

I would like to share with you from the Bible. This is a story you know from Joshua [Joshua 6:1-17, 20]. It is a story about the tearing down of the walls at Jericho. It has great truth for you today, and it has a Biblical principle inside of it.

Remember, when I read the Bible to you, it’s important to know that you are the characters in the story, and this is a story about you. Great truth can come from this as you realize that right now this is a story about your life and mine.

I’m not preaching at you; I’m here talking to myself as much as I’m talking to you.

Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in.

Think about yourself when you are filled with fear. When we are afraid, we shut ourselves up. I put a wall around my mind.

At this point, someone could come up to us and say something very positive, but we couldn’t hear them. We would repel that thought. All of our thoughts are shut up inside of myself, and all we can do is think within myself of our worry, our sickness, or and we are closed inside the gates of my mind. We have to tear down that wall, and I need help doing that. This is what this story is really about.

The Lord said to Joshua . . .Joshua is your name too. It means “whom Jehovah makes triumphant.” When God comes through you and makes you triumphant, you know that something miraculous has happened.

The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldier.”

Jericho is a city just over the Jordan in the land of Canaan. It was the first city taken and destroyed by the Israelites after their entering the Promised Land.

Again, let’s think about our journey. Each of us is on a journey. Sometimes we are walking and sometimes we are running, but we going to the Promised Land. The Promised Land is consciousness. What it means spiritually is “spiritual realization.”

Think about that. When you come to that point inside of yourself, when you get past all of the stuff and get to that point of spiritual realization, all is well and there is a great joy inside of you.

Jericho means “moon reflecting.” This is a fascinating thing. What is the moon? If we look up tonight and see the moon, what is that?

As we look at the moon, it does not shine of its own light, but merely reflects the light of the sun.

People looked at the moon and thought, “Gee, there must be a great fire in the moon.” But we know now that is not true.

We know it is simply reflecting the light.

What does this have to do with you? It talks about our intellect inside of ourselves. The intellect seems to express the light of understanding, but spiritual understanding reveals that it shines by reflected light. Even as the moon is a part of our planetary system, so the intellect has a legitimate place in God.

It is when the intellect becomes egotistical, when it thinks, when it originates its own light, that there is a problem. I’m not talking about being egotistical like when a person says, “I’m so beautiful.” I’m talking about being egotistical by saying, “I’m right! Don’t confuse me with the facts.

I know what I think, and I act because I think. I am right!” All the time it’s like staring at the moon trying to get a suntan. It’s hard to do.

Our intellect is reflected light. From where? From the wisdom from on high – the Mind of God. When we stop thinking of ourselves as the end-all, and turn to God, then the walls are torn down inside of us. Then we have the power to do what we need to do with our lives.

You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus, you shall do for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the sevenths day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.” So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them,

“Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” To the people he said, “Go forward and march around the city; have the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

As Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets; the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. To the people Joshua gave this command: “You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” So, the ark of the Lord went around the city, circling it once; and they came into the camp, and spent the night in the camp.

Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns . . .

The reason I read so much at once is I wanted you to hear over and over again how they talk about the number seven.

It’s talked about throughout the Bible, and it has a real significance for you and for me – a Biblical principle of how to tear down walls inside of us.

Seven refers to the Divine law of perfection in the Divine natural human. In the spiritual, twelve is the spiritual number of completion.

But how do you fully manifest the man and woman while going on the journey to spiritual realization or the Promised Land?

Do you remember in the Bible where Elijah told Namun to bathe in the Jordan seven times? The Bible talks about the cleansing of us seven times over and over again.

If you go into a church today, you will find candlesticks that represent seven lamps, or the seven centers in the body.

You’ll see seven candles on the candelabras. It was that way in Biblical times also.

In times of old, the tabernacle represented the body of the human. The seven lamps were a symbol of the seven centers in the organism through which intelligence is expressed.

What are these seven centers inside of you?
1. Seeing
2. Hearing
3. Tasting
4. Smelling
5. Feeling

The other two centers are:
6. Intuition
7. Ability to connect with the wisdom from above – The Mind of God.

These are the areas to be developed inside the human. These are the ways to develop yourself as a divine human being.

We read about going around the city seven times. This is to enter every one of your abilities you have as a human, to pray so much that you see good, to pray so much that you hear good, to pray so much that you literally smell God around you, to pray so much that you taste God. It is talking about a spiritual completion inside of you, allowing a full day for each sense. It allows you to become so aware of the presence of God that you literally tear down any wall inside of you.

You will not use any physical force in doing this; neither did they. The walls will fall down on their own.

The walls you have inside of you now, will not be able to stand up when you totally surrender your own human senses to the mind of God and the power of God. It will occur.

Let me finish the story now. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord passed on, blowing the trumpets continually. The armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. On the second day they marched around the city once and then returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

On the seventh day they rose early, at dawn, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times.

It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city ..”

The “city” is a gathering together of thought people inside of yourself. Even your fears and your worries are starting to listen to God at that point. You have marched around your city so much that everyone is listening. All your senses come together and shout, and the walls inside of us are torn down.

” . . . The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord.” . . . So, the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.

That’s my story; it’s your story. Let’s do this.

God bless you 7 times, God bless you 70×7!

Prayer and Meditation__________________

In Genesis, the book of the beginning, it says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them,

“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth . . . And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good,” Genesis 1:27-28, 31

Let us, during this prayer time, cast off the feeling of limitation and frustration that keeps us from being what we were created to be. Our Creator believes in us. Every creator worthy of the name believes in his or her creation. God believes in you! Even in the midst of your sense of separation, when you have a mistaken identity, a false sense of self, your Creator believes in you. Even in the dark night of your soul, (which is a time when all seems lost), God believes in you. Even when you fail to hear or turn away from the call of greatness that urges you to return to your Source, God believes in you.

Accept this now as you rest in the silence of prayer…

God believes in you. God has faith in you. God believes in me.

Think about that for a moment and allow it to empower you: God believes in me . . . God has faith in you. Because God believes in you, you can believe in God’s handiwork in you.

You can have faith in God’s image in you. Take heart. Listen to the following words and allow me to speak that silent voice inside of you. God believes in me. God has faith in me.

God created me in God’s image and after God’s likeness. My Creator believes in me. God put the Divine spirit within me. God knows the stuff of which I am made, and God has faith in me. I will no longer judge with my eyes and my ears. If others lose their faith in me, and even if I lose my faith in myself, God, You never lose your faith in me.

You always believe in me. God always trusts the Divine handiwork in me.

Accept this now as you rest in the silence of prayer…

God, I thank You for believing in me!

I am God’s creation. I believe in God as my Creator. My heavenly God and I are one, one in faith, one in belief, one in trust. A life energy is released in you as you meditate on these truths about you. The words are the leading edge of a whole new state of faith believing in and trusting in God, and in the image of God that you are following.

Accept this now as you rest in the silence of prayer…

I am filled and fulfilled by the growing realization that God has faith in me, and I have faith in God. God believes in me. I believe in God. God trusts me. I trust God. What a glorious partnership, in faith, my Creator shares with me.

Accept this now as you rest in the silence of prayer…

God has never left you. God has never forsaken you. God has loved you with an everlasting love. With a loving kindness, God has drawn us and awakened us. This is the revelation of the One who believes in us.

It is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, not because we have worked hard to earn it or that we merit it, but because of the grace of our Creator who believes in us.

We are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, all our strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. This is the natural expectation of the Creator who believes in us, and who knows the stuff we are made of. God expects us to believe in the Divine, to believe in ourselves, and to believe in our neighbor as God does.

As we close this wonderful time with God, we are to let our light shine in such a way that all who see it will know that its source is the God of light inside us and in them. This is the radiant desire of our Creator who believes in us.

In the nature of Jesus Christ we pray . . . Amen.

For 23 years – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,600,000 every day. Welcoming all faiths, excluding no one. Reaching the ends of the earth with the positive message of God. Not connected to any church, Positive Christianity is a Prayer Ministry without walls, physical or denominational, that the world can instantly access and use without cost.

ARCHIVES of recent Positive Daily Inspiration is available on our homepage; use anything you wish.

FREE Encyclopedia of Prayers: http://www.positivechristianity.org/prayersearch.php

NEED PRAYER? Reply – if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will start praying with you, daily, for an entire month. There Is Never a Charge for Prayer.

DONATIONS Thank You for helping us with this great free work for ministers of every faith:
Instant online donation:
https://positivechristianity.net/donation-tithe/
By mail: Positive Christianity Box 7993 Woodlands, TX 77387

GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

Read More
17Jan

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Hold On To Faith

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Hold On To Faith

Time Sensitivity: none

A FREE GIFT FOR CLERGY

Positive Written Sermons is a FREE service of Positive Christianity to those ACTIVE IN CLERGY MINISTRY to ease your burdens in ministry. Each positive sermon is non-denominational; feel free to tailor to your denominational needs, or personal style. We consider our sermons to be 90% complete; they await your personal stories and anecdotes.

Every week we have multiple requests from churches to share a Positive Daily Inspiration with their congregation. You never have to ask for permission – you have my permission.

Many churches forward Positive Daily Inspiration to their congregations and visitors. This has exploded during Covid closures, and yet it is still little known about. Many churches send a message of their choice once or twice a week to their congregations co-authoring the message. Churches report that it has helped them stay in business and increased their financial support during these hard times.

Here is an example: First Street Methodist Church (address any town USA)
Positive Daily Inspiration.

(And the message of their choice copied and pasted to their mailing list.) Churches can also utilize our Archives, and our Encyclopedia of Prayer to do the same with 1000’s of available messages.

Go to our homepage www.PositiveChristianity.org and sign-up for free. (Never a charge.)

We love people that reuse our material for the good of society. Our only copyright – is you have a right to copy.

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The longest walk I pray you will never have to make is down a hospital corridor to visit someone you love who has been given a dire diagnosis. A lady was walking down the corridor one day. As she walked, she wondered, “What can I do? I’m not ready to lose my husband. How can I bring healing to him? What will it take?”

She confided that she felt so helpless. She wanted to spiritually know it all. She wanted to bring healing to the one she loved so very much.

As she walked along, she realized that it was not just going to be the surgeon’s knife, chemical agent, specialist, or doctor that would bring about a permanent healing – it was going to be God. As she walked toward the room and faced the door of where her husband was, she realized that as she opened that door she had to bring an awareness and remembrance of God into that room.

I am often asked, “How long will my healing take?”

And I answer, “About as long as it takes you to know, really know, that beyond the illness, there is an allness of God that is now.”

Imagine that you had a curtain in front of you, right now. With your human eyes, you could not see through it. You are standing on one side, while God and healing are on the other. It is so very close, like a mist that you could reach through, but you have to remember to reach through it.

Every day, prayer touches so many people who have experienced miracle healings, healings that have turned the word terminal into temporal.

The very foundation of Christianity is made up of cases of people who have been told there is no way they would be healed, but they were healed. When you walk down a hospital hallway to see a loved one, keep in mind that with God, ALL things are possible.

Have you ever heard the saying: “Time heals all wounds?” Bringing in God brings time and a half in, and time and a half heals faster. Healing with God’s speed! There is a time to medical science. If I go to a doctor and ask, “How long will it take me to be healed?” he/she will give me the exact answer learned from books. The good doctors will tell me about the process of cell renewal. The doctor will conform to set time schedules – skin cells are renewed every 3-5 days, stomach cells every four months, and so on. But spiritual healing deals with consciousness that transcends time’s limitations, and achieves a rapid acceleration of the renewal process, so that the result may appear to be instantaneous.

There is only one condition to be healed when you open that door – within yourself first, and then within the person you are praying with – this condition is misconception. When we open that door, let us know that no matter what awaits on the other side of that hospital door, with God all things are possible.

When you open that door, with faith, you carry a spiritual power with you. You are the carrier of the cure.

We do not stay within human mind and believe that the dire prediction will be permanent. We know that no matter what it looks like to our physical eyes, this is temporal, and in faith we know God has come to heal the situation.

Disease is simply “nothing” trying to act like “something.” It depends upon our belief in it to sustain it. Sometimes, the person lying in a hospital bed might be so weak that he or she does not have the power to believe. We have to bring that belief. When we visit that person, we have to live the truth of the winged soul. We have to rise above difficulty. We have to bring hope and a light into the room. Jesus said that you are the light of the world. That means when you are walking down a hospital corridor, open the door, and walk into that hospital room, may you be the light and the hope.

One thing you are not going to do is buy into the situation, shake your head, and think “Oh my, how awful this is.” You are going to bring a spiritual wellness and an awareness of healing.

The great revival of Divine healing is due to the application of the same law that Jesus used. Jesus demanded faith on the part of those whom He healed, and with that faith as the point of mental and spiritual contact Jesus released the latent energy in the Adam and cell structure of His patients and they were restored to life and health.

A change of mind will change the character of a germ, a cell, or an entire body. We can bring that change of mind to our loved one. We can facilitate that lasting spiritual touch.

I am talking to you, today, as Positive Christians. Positive Christians know that they can go beyond the physical. Positive Christians know that they stand on the foundation of God to go further than what they see with just their physical eyes, and know the truth of God.

In Acts 17:28, it says: “For ‘In him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.'” When you go into a hospital room, I ask you to recall that the person who is lying there with tubes and all the things humankind have put into his/her body to save him/her; this person is living this very moment, moving and having their being in God. And God, with and within this person, is perfection. God is doing God’s work.

What can you do of a constructive nature when someone is ill? Here are 6 practical suggestions:

1. Follow the advice of a prominent, medical school authority who said, “In sickness, send for your minister even as you send for your doctor.” In other words, as you are going down that corridor and turn into the hospital room of someone you love, know that God’s power is just as potent as the finest surgeon, specialist, or chemical agent in the world.

I ask you to make a call to ask for prayer help, and then make a call to your minister. Get all the strength of God with you when you walk down that corridor. When you make that journey with God, the walk becomes much easier. It will even become something you can tolerate. You’ll be surprised at the strength that comes to you step-by-step as you need it.

2. Pray for the doctor. This is something most people forget about doing. You are there, and you are going to pray for your loved one who is lying in that hospital bed. Always pray first for the doctor. I pray that God Mind will be in his or her mind, that the doctor will be guided by God to make an exact diagnosis and to see with higher vision and know more than just human mind in the way to proceed.

I believe it comes to pass. I believe there will be insight, guidance, and ways to heal that the doctor would have never found in any book. The doctor will have a feeling on a way to proceed and will proceed in that way. It produces marvelous, accelerated results in the one you love so very much.

3. Whatever you do, do not become panicky or filled with fear. I know this is easy to say and hard to do. Your faith will be tested the most when someone you love meets a challenge. You have to hold the highest thought in spiritual awareness, realizing you are a broadcasting station of consciousness. Whatever you hold in mind will broadcast out from you. If you hold the very worst in mind, it will send out a negative, destructive thought.

You are super-faith-filled people. Yet, when something like this occurs, you might find yourself falling into that area of feeling panicky, worried, and filled with fear. Instead, stop right where you are, generate up, and think about God, instead. Think about God’s power. Instead of sending forth a destructive thought, send forth a thought of healing and wholeness.

4. Completely surrender your loved one into the hands of God. By your faith, if you can place him or her in the flow of Divine power, there will be healing. This is very hard to do, also. We live in human mind, and we want to get in there and fix things. Yet, how much more does God fix things.

In that moment, before you open the door to the room, give your loved one over to God and know that the very highest and best is going to occur.

5. It is important that harmony prevail in the family. When I visit hospitals, I often see people who have been up all night long. I see disorder. I see people worrying out loud and thinking the worst out loud.

Imagine if I were to ask each of you to gather with me in a circle, to think and pray the absolute worst. You know that is absurd; we would never do that. Yet, families do it all the time, in their group imaginings of the worst.

What are you to do? You are the light in that situation. You bring people back to the positive energy of God. You are the carrier of the cure.

Disharmony and disease are akin. There has to be harmony in a situation like this, within the family unit. In other words, all people need to be working together, in a prayer consciousness for a common good.

Matthew 18:18-19: “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven … “

There you are, waiting and praying with your family. You are binding health to your loved one.

You are sewing it into the very fabric of prayer consciousness … “and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” With all the power of God, the Great Physician, you are losing what you no longer want to be in the physical body temple of the one you love so dearly.

“Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

There you are, sitting beside your loved one. You are trying so hard, but you may not completely form a picture of your loved one as whole. You mind keeps coming back to the disasters you see with your human eyes. As you to close your eyes while in the room, sit in the silence of prayer and visualize the person as he or she would be totally well smiling, laughing, running. Then, your faith attaches to this, and you bring a great power to the hospital room. You bring the power of God. You are the channel of God’s healing activity. You are like the light that radiates out. Believe me, at some level of mind, the patient is feeding off you more than he or she is feeding off the tubes going into him/her, because you are bringing the remembrance of all the possibilities of God.

6. Be perfectly natural in your prayers. When you talk to God, say something like, “Please God, heal my loved one who I care for so much.” Then you enter into another room; you go across the threshold with your faith. You are not begging or pleading a prayer. You are coming from the position that God has heard your prayer and God HAS answered. Then, with everything in your spiritual awareness you say, “Thank You, God. I know you have heard my prayers.” That is the Jesus Christ method of prayer. It works because you are working it. You know God is working in your loved one. You will see.

The doctors come in, shake their heads, and say: “I can’t believe how quickly you are healing. We thought you would have some serious problem, but now you don’t.” They will be amazed, and YOU WILL, TOO.

And that is right and good, because prayer should always be fresh, new and wondrous. Answered prayer never gets stale. It brings great joy to your life. You will find that as you walk out of that hospital, you have been changed as profoundly as your loved one.

In the last few moments, let me talk about “absent healing.” Let’s say that you can’t get to your loved one in person. You wish you could. You are willing to drop everything, but for some reason you can’t be there. The truth is, you can get to your loved one in prayer.

There is no boundary of time or space in prayer. If I pray with you, one-on-one, it has great power because we are joining in prayer, and we are making a connection. If I am not here, but I am sitting in another state in the silence praying with you, visualizing, and speaking the word in faith, it has the exact same power. There is no time or space in prayer.

When you sit down and think about the very best that is going to happen through the doctors, the nurses, the medicine and God, you are bringing it to pass in an accelerated way.

Now, I ask you to join me in prayer.

I ask you to think about someone in your circle of friends or family who needs a healing right now. We are going to concentrate on that healing, and believe the very finest and that with God all things are possible.

Dear God, I ask for Your healing to take place now. I pray for the doctors and the nurses that they can have Your mind working within their mind to guide them with great efficiency of healing.

Thank you God for hearing my prayer.

In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen

PRAYER / MEDITATION _________________________

Let us pray a prayer of healing:

With an understanding faith, we know that with God, from a tiny scratch to something perceived to be more serious, You, dear God, are already providing for all the healing that is needed. Through the gift of life, You gave within the person for whom we are praying, we claim, in faith, visualizing and believing without doubt, a perfection and wholeness of mind and body through the Christ.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

We boldly claim the gift of the Christ health in this person. As this person heals, may he or she realize the power of the Divine. May this person receive a manifestation in the outer of the perfection of the inner self. May this perfection reach through the mist and create a demonstration of perfect and complete health. We are decreeing, in total faith and in the spiritual battery of belief, the gift of life that continues to show forth perfection.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

We pray that our loved one works in Divine harmony and that the body works in perfect order. We pray our loved one is able to breathe easily and deeply, that the heart is beating in perfect rhythm, that the digestive system is strong and able to take nourishment. We are praying, together in a complete conviction, that through Christ, this loved one is whole and well now.

We praise and give thanks for the miracle of God making every disease temporal and bringing healing to all situations.

Allow yourself to rest in God. The greatness of God is here. The power of God is active in those for whom we pray.

Meditate on these words found in I Corinthians: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that is within you?”

You are created in the image and likeness of God. God’s life and health flow through every part of your being. God’s vital energy is in every cell of your body. God’s order blesses every function of your body.

God’s breath is your breath. You are whole and perfect. You give thanks that appearances are not the truth in God’s sight. You give thanks that all things are possible with God. You give thanks that you are created as a spiritual being first, and that your life is filled with Christ. In God you live, move, and have your being. This is so true.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

We feel a great surge of healing life through our entire being. We know that omnipresent God life is part of our lives, and that we are immersed in healing. In our minds we think health. Uppermost in mind is the thought of perfect health as our natural physical state. Our God-given heritage becomes the dominant thought of this hour.

We are thinking complete health and wholeness of God. We do not rehearse aches and pains; rather, we rehearse God. The healing essence of God within us is doing perfect work right now.

Our bodies are temples of the living God – living within every organ, tissue, and atom of our being.

In appreciation and thankfulness, we rest once more, in the silence of prayer …

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray … Amen.

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10Jan

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – God is Taking Care of You

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - God is Taking Care of You

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God IS taking care of you! And God IS taking care of me! I am excited about my life as it unfolds, oftentimes without any seeming responsibility on my part, other than to cooperate with God and let it happen. Isn’t it wonderful how when we get out of the way, we can change and grow? Oftentimes, we don’t like it at the time, but in retrospect, we see it was the best thing.

If God is your copilot – switch seats!

I have a prayer that I want to pray before we worship.

We ask God to take full charge of this experience.

Have Thy way in me, Lord. Have Thy way in me. Have Thy way in my thoughts, my actions, my feelings, and in my decisions. Have Thy way in me, Lord. Have Thy way in me.

Dear God, right now we are each open and receptive, knowing that this is a spiritual experience, in which we each are being lifted to a higher level of life. Have Your way in each of us.

And so it is. In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.

I want to share a Bible story with you. First, we are going to review it historically and literally, and then we are going to review it spiritually. There is a lot more meaning to this story than just the general surface level. It is found in John 8:1-11 [RSV].

“They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placing her in the midst they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?’ This they said to test him that they might have some charge to bring against him.

“Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus looked up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

“She said, ‘No one, Lord.’

“And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.’

As we review this story literally and historically, we notice that there are three groups of characters in it: the scribes and the Pharisees (the so-called leading citizens), the adulteress, and Jesus Christ. The scribes and the Pharisees are individuals who are accustomed to condemning others. They may be “enlightened” citizens and they may be very prosperous, but they condemn what they see outside of themselves. One other thing we notice about them is that they lack compassion. Also, they are very weak men who come together to deal with what appears to be a defenseless woman. They may be popular in the eyes of men because of their positions, but in the eyes of God, they are not very popular at all. And obviously, they have unforgiving hearts.

Then there is the adulteress. This is the woman who is about to be stoned. We know according to the story that she was caught in the act of adultery. There is no mention of the man she was involved with.

She felt that because of the law, she faced certain death. Jesus Christ was brought into her life because of this dilemma.

She learned that even in hopeless situations, there is hope through the activity and the love of Jesus Christ.

The other, in our story, is Jesus Christ. Jesus faced three dilemmas. The first one being the Mosaic Law: should He allow them to stone her? Second, should He tell them to let her go? Or third, should He ignore the situation and walk away, to save His own skin?

Remember, He knelt down and began writing on the ground with his finger. There are many points of view on this particular act. I feel that he was kneeling on the ground and writing because he was praying, trying to figure out what to do; he needed to take his attention away from the appearances, the dilemma. He knew that the woman should not be stoned, so He asked God for the solution that would bring about the greatest good in this challenge.

Jesus knew that He had to find a way to not negate, but yet to spiritualize and override the Mosaic teachings in those days.

Now, let’s look at this, spiritually. The word adultery spiritually means “mixed thoughts” or errors that have their existence in the unregenerated feelings or thoughts that have not come under the dominion of God. In its literal usage, adultery meant sexual relations outside of marriage. It refers to a physical experience only, but to adulterate also means to add something other that cheapens the quality or upsets the completeness of your life, your actions, or an experience.

As we relate to other people, ARE WE relating from our highest and best? Are we beholding the best, in ourselves and others, as we relate to people?

Back then many marriages were arranged, it had absolutely nothing to do with how the person felt about the other, because this is the way it is supposed to be.

“I don’t have to like you. I’m in a relationship with you, so this is what you have to do. You promised you would be with me, so this is what you have to do.” It really has nothing much to do with how I feel about you and myself.

That can be adultery. It is cheating on expressing the love of God. If we do not behold the love of God in ourselves and that individual in your relationship, that can be adultery.

What inspired this particular woman, in this situation, was not so much her physical act, but what thoughts and feelings she was holding in her mind. I think the men in this situation represent the intellect in you and me. When the intellect is working without the heart, we get into trouble. The heart is the woman in this situation. Have you ever noticed that about yourself? Have you ever noticed that when you don’t combine the wholeness of your mind AND heart that you tend to get yourself into trouble?

What is interesting about this is that the men were trying to condemn this particular person – which means, when the intellect of you is so full of information, acting so knowledgeable, and tries to make decisions, like condemning this woman, we really are condemning ourselves. That is why the first stone is never cast.

I love the way Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” In other words, He was saying that if you want to kill this person (yourself), admit that you never made a mistake.

You will notice that they all started leaving … the eldest ones first. Those thoughts that we have held onto the longest leave first. Why should I waste a moment condemning any part of me or someone else? Even though there seem to be three characters, each one of them is in all of us. The activity takes place; the healing is within us; and the problem is outside of us. As we behold the Christ love, we each become a whole, complete person. This is good.

The Christ asked, “Where are your accusers?” When we go within, in prayer and meditation, and ask God to make us clean and whole in every way, even those thoughts and points of views I have hidden from myself, the Christ will give us the solutions. In other words, you have made mistakes before … change. Open yourself to a new life within you. Change you. You use that energy, that power, that love of Christ in you, to change yourself.

When Jesus asked where the accusers were, they were all gone. Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.” The Christ never condemns. The Christ is always there with a win/win situation. If you want a win/win situation, always turn to God and you will find it.

We have all had some problems that could not have solved alone. Few have managed to get through life without going in prayer, and turning to the Christ? I have never seen anyone figure out the full good of God’s love, without turning to God. As you turn to God and allow yourself to have that experience, new things happen.

How do we go about changing our lives? We say that life changes at certain times in our lives. I tell you that we are daily changing. The greatest suffering or pain comes when we resist that change, because it is natural to change. Be renewed by the changing of your mind, the changing of your life, or the changing of your experiences.

Do not cheat on your God-given potential. The greatest sin is to live and die, and fail to really live, to cheat on our real God-given potential. Have you ever spent a moment looking back at some of the things you used to do and you realize you don’t do them anymore? Isn’t that wonderful! If you could also think back to when you made a change in direction, a change in consciousness, or a change in attitude, you would remember that you really didn’t like it, at first; it was not very comfortable. But you realized it was the best thing that could ever happen to you.

I have three steps to share with you about changing your life. We are motivated to change, not so much from what is happening outside of us (although we do describe it as such), but by something that happens inside of us. There is a Divine discontent, or an unrest. It does not have a whole lot to do with our station in life.

People from all walks of life have the same feelings. Some have PhD’s; some have businesses; some are schoolteachers. Yet, inside of each of them, they will tell you, at one time or another, there was a void, a discontent, something that was missing. And if their friends asked them why they were going to make a change, they answered, “I just have to do it.” It may not make logical sense, if it seems you have the decision made right now, but there is some type of discontent inside which says, “There is something higher, something different, something better.” You can’t deal with it with logic. You have to let go and let God.

The invitation to change takes place when there is some sort of inner unrest or incompleteness. This unrest or incompleteness could be a sign that we are adulterating our thoughts, which means that we are trying to rationalize this motivation that God has stimulated in us. We try to change the view or the prompting that God has given us.

So, the first step is that when there is a sense of unrest or discontent, generally, that is God telling you there is something better, something different, waiting for you.

The second step is rather than to fight your accusers, go within and ask for guidance. In other words, rather than acting on our first instinct which is usually to fight the feeling or the experience as the accusers were doing with this lady, be still and take time to ask for guidance. If you will notice, Jesus took time. He did not respond quickly. There are situations that take place in our lives that are so complex, that we need to be still, let go, be at peace, and not make a quick decision. Wait on the Lord for the Divine guidance and the Divine answer.

The third step, which is so powerful, do as Jesus said: “Go and sin no more.” Don’t make that mistake again. You will make mistakes in the future, but don’t make that one again. Once you are re-directed, you go forward, not backward. Sometimes we keep doing things over and over again. Sometimes we get stuck. We don’t have to get stuck.

If you experience Divine discontent, go within and ask for guidance. Once you get that guidance, go into action and go forward.

Life change is what is unfolding in us right now. I’m experiencing it, wonderfully. I am learning that if I am non-resistant to these changes and let them happen naturally, I enjoy the journey.

A young woman, 95 years of age who didn’t have much formal education, but instead had an abundance of Divine wisdom once said, “Don’t you know that if you accept it, it won’t hurt so bad?”

If we let go and let God, through the midst of change when we have this Divine discontent, this unrest, instead of labeling it, realize that you are God’s holy child and you are good. Ask for guidance and do those things you are guided to do, as quickly as possible. Don’t fight it. Then, go and sin no more. Don’t make that mistake again. Go forward and enjoy your new life. A new life is unfolding for each of us. A life of change is a certainty. Let us know that God goes ahead of us on our path of life and that we never walk alone.

Let’s relax and know that even this very second, in each of us, there is a newness of spirit that is consuming those thoughts we may adulterate by mixing something impure into them. We behold the Christ love in ourselves, and it is our mission to behold the Christ love in others. Not only are we experiencing a change in life, but others are also. We accept this and are non-resistant to this, because God is in charge of all us.

Let us pray:

Thank You, dear God, for life, for unfoldment of new life, and especially for giving us the courage and ability to accept and enthusiastically enjoy a changed life.

And so it is … In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION___________________________

During our time of prayer and meditation, we open ourselves entirely to this spiritual experience. Our experience this day is one of Divinely directed change, the opportunity to change our point of view, change experiences, change what we feel about ourselves and others, through the help of God.

“We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s Will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Colossians 1:9

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Change comes to all of us, for growth brings change. Change need never frighten us. Change can be whatever we make it – a blessing or a challenge. It is always made into a blessing through God’s power.

Is some change shaking the foundation of your world as you have known it? Are the circumstances of your life turning in a different direction, making you unsure of what lies ahead?

Listen to the words God put upon the mind of the prophet Isaiah [paraphrased]:

“Thus say the Lord, remember not the former things or consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing something new. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

God’s promise to you is that God will be with you through any change. Sometimes we expend great energy in resisting change simply because we feel unaccustomed to it and feel accustomed to the familiar, comfortable patterns are already established in our lives.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

It is during these times that a change in the pattern, whether small or major, can seem to throw us off balance and cause us to feel confused or upset. When such an event occurs, the best course we can take is to center ourselves in God and affirm our oneness with God.

As we center ourselves in God, let us realize that change is part of God’s Divine plan for us–a plan that will help us achieve what is highest and best for us.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Do you wish for some circumstance to be changed right now? It can be, with God’s help. It will be changed, for nothing remains forever the same. Do you wish that your life could be different? It can be with God’s help. Through God this very moment, things are changing for the better. Old limitations are falling away. New and inviting doors are opening before you.

Ask for God’s help in the silence of prayer …

Do you wish that you had more strength, more life, more vitality? You can with God’s help. You have this help right now, for you have the strengthening, sustaining, and revitalizing life of God, mighty in the midst of you. Right now you can be happy, free, strong, and well. Right now, this very moment, your life can change, and it is changing for the better.

Dear God, we are so grateful for life, as it is unfolding in our life and in our experiences. We are grateful for the courage, strength, vision and stability of mind we have to know that all things are actually working together for our highest good, even in the midst of change.

(Silence)

Not only do we welcome this truth for ourselves, but as we go beyond this sanctuary, we know that for all people everywhere, there is this energy of change and growth. This motivation is stimulating the minds and hearts of all Your creation, dear God. We are so grateful.

We know this for our world, and the leaders of the countries of our world. We know that this change is touching each of them, inviting them to study spiritual things and to look for peaceful ways to live together.

Change is taking place. We know this for ourselves and for our world.

In Jesus Christ’s nature, rest in the silence of prayer …

As we return to full awareness of this experience, this morning, opening ourselves as never before, allowing our fears to become still, our inhibitions and anxieties to quiet themselves, we are directed and we feel the influence of the change that our souls desire, with God’s full and active help.

We go forth now. And as we do, we remain excited for this Jesus Christ experience of change. For this we are so grateful.

And so it is … Amen.

For 23 years – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,600,000 every day. Welcoming all faiths, excluding no one. Reaching the ends of the earth with the positive message of God. Not connected to any church, Positive Christianity is a Prayer Ministry without walls, physical or denominational, that the world can instantly access and use without cost.

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GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

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