Tag : POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON

21Jul

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – A Celebration of America

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - A Celebration of America

Time Sensitivity: Sunday On Or Before July 4th (America)

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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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As a human being, you have a body, a mind, and a soul. This great country has the same, many bodies, great intelligence, and inventiveness, and a combined soul destined to continual greatness.

I would like you to look upon our flag. A lot is represented in this great American symbol. We have thirteen stripes, representing the beginning of our country on July 4th with the 13 original colonies. Then there are fifty stars. That says something more. It shows the American spirit.

There have been great obstacles for us to overcome as a people. Right after July 4th, this country was in chaos. The soul of our country contains the heritage and history of our people. The soul is what has gone on before, what is going on today, and what will go on in the future. The mind of this great country is within you today. You have been given the key to this great land for it is the land of opportunity.

After July 4th, 1776, chaos broke out in this country. In 1787, our country was in such chaos that the thirteen colonies thought they were going to go down. Many around the world believed that this was the end of the great experiment called the United States of America. A constitutional convention was formed. When these thirteen colonies came together, they were so disjointed that there was only one thing that could save them – God’s Spirit.

Benjamin Franklin knew this. He was 81. He rose and spoke to the convention. He said, “I am convinced that scripture is right when it says in Psalms 127:1: ‘Accept the Lord. Build the house. They labor in vain that build it.’ Gentlemen, I have lived a long time. I am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men. If the sparrow can’t fall to the ground without God’s notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without God’s aid? I move, gentlemen, that prayer imploring the assistance of heaven be held every morning before we proceed with business.”

Prayer is what this whole country was based on. It began with a dream – a dream to come to a country and be able to worship as you want to worship, to pray as you want to pray. It began with a dream to become whatever you wanted to become. After July 4, 1776, what happened to that dream? What is happening with it today?

I heard a commentator say recently that our economic challenges are the greatest that we’ve ever faced.

We have been in greater difficulties, and we have pulled out of those difficulties because of our greatness as a people and as a nation, and we will again.

Every time we look at the flag, we see the dream manifested. We see what has happened between the time that there were thirteen dis-united states until the manifestation of our fifty United States.

By September of 1786, the United States were – the plural applies – as unstrung as a junkyard guitar. The economy barely moved. Inflation was high triple digit. Jails bulged with debtors, criminals in those pre-credit card days. States waged vicious trade wars against each other. The total federal income in 1785 was less than a third of just the interest on the national debt. Printing presses flowed rivers of worthless paper money. It was so out of control that James Madison owed his barber $1,020 for one haircut.

The British, having lost the Revolution, determined to win the peace by strangling American commerce. The redcoats refused to leave frontier forts. Spain closed the Mississippi to American flatboats. Lacking a navy, America was humbled into paying the ruler of Morocco $10,000 to keep his hands off Yankee vessels.

Congress, sitting in New York, was hopeless and hapless. From October 1785 through the following April, a quorum showed up for only three days. Not three years before, Congress fled Philadelphia rather than be killed by the bayonets of mutinous, unpaid soldiers from the Revolution.

The law of the land was a deservedly forgotten political Edsel called the Articles of Confederation by which the thirteen states were as free as preschoolers in a sandbox to do as they pleased. No one was in charge. Had there been, most likely it would have been George Washington, but he was retired to Mount Vernon, dangerously low on money and filled with dismay.

In August 1786 he wrote: “I do not conceive we can exist long as a nation without having lodged somewhere a power which will pervade the whole Union.” The Americans ad-libbed victory in the Revolution, a war fought on a shoestring and often without shoe leather. What they were against was clear. What they were for was not. The Articles reflected this indecision.

John Dickinson of Pennsylvania drafted the Articles in 1776, right after the Continental Congress declared independence. Having thrown off one despotism, the thirteen colonies were not about to hurl themselves back into the fire by creating another. So, there was no national executive under the Articles. Congress could ask for funds from the states but could not compel payment. Memories of stamp taxes were not easily forgotten. Nor were Crown judges. So, the Confederation had no national court system.

As the war wound down, states became deafer to appeals from Congress for cash. Congress asked for $8 million in 1782 to run the government at war’s end and $2 million in 1783 when peace came. The states responded with $1.5 million in each year. So, Congress asked for an amendment to the Articles to permit it to levy a 5% tax for 25 years to pay off the war debt. An amendment required the approval of all thirteen states. Four said no.

Under the Articles, any major legislation required approval of nine states. So, states opposed to anything could combine and exercise a veto by staying home until the legislation blew over. This sat well anyhow because delegates had trouble paying their landladies as Congress wandered all but penniless from Philadelphia to Princeton to Annapolis to Trenton to New York.

The Articles did not even provide for the common defense once peace broke out. So, most states had their own navy or army or both. Without judges to appeal to, this meant the quickest solution to most interstate squabbles was to tax the neighboring state with higher import and export taxes. The winners were the states that had major ports and established merchant marines such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. The losers were the New Jerseys, Connecticut and Carolinas who had little or none of the above. They were taxed through the nose by those maritime states and resented it, deeply.

New Jersey paid 40,000 pounds a year in hard money to send and receive goods through New York and Philadelphia. In retaliation, it charged New York 30 pounds a month rental on the lighthouse at Sandy Hook. Maryland closed the Potomac to Virginians, and Virginia retaliated by charging Maryland tolls at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Massachusetts and Rhode Island wanted to retaliate against British shipping after the war, but Connecticut hoped to garner the trade from the mother country and wouldn’t go along.

Americans were Americans in name, not fact. A New Yorker said he wouldn’t send his son to school in Connecticut lest he pick up “the low craft and cunning so incident to the people of that country.” Note the world “country.”

The British delighted at the infighting among what London called the “disunited States.” Geography in the form of innumerable rivers and coastal bays divided the states. A letter to England from Boston could reach there faster than one mailed to Charleston. “Good roads,” said one American, “are like angels’ visits: few and far between.”

The British well recognized the potential of a vast nation that already contained 3.5 million people. English strategy was to divide and conquer, to foster divisions and perhaps see the confederation split into three manageable (to London) nations divided by economics and interest into South, Middle and North. Britain contemplated sending ambassadors to each state instead of one to the country as a while.

Well, money was out of hand. The dream was out of hand. Most people were on the very rim of bankruptcy. Marylanders, for instance, owed British creditors the staggering sum of 1.6 million pounds; this when the total federal income was $400,000.

By 1786, seven states were printing paper money backed mostly by wishful thinking and rarely accepted by the states next door. New York speculators crammed saddlebags with printed money and headed for the hinterlands hoping to fool the uninformed people before they learned the money was worthless. Rhode Island, a paper money state, passed a law that creditors had to accept payment at face value regardless of the worth of the money. Rhode Island’s creditors departed Rhode Island, which was okay with the debtors but meant there was no one left to get credit from.

Here we have a nation after July 4, 1776–disbanded, going down. America was looked at by other countries as buzzards fly over a dead animal who is no longer working. When you look at our flag, you see that. You see the thirteen original countries that were not united. How did it become united? How did we get to the blue part of the flag where we see the fifty stars?

Today when people throw up their arms and say, “This will never work. Our country will never succeed now,” realize that God’s Spirit is in the mind of every person in this great land. God’s grace shines on this land. As hopeless as things have seemed in the past, when God’s working, the miracles come.

The miracles came through a piece of paper that united thirteen stripes on our flag. It got them to work together as one nation under God. That piece of paper is called the Constitution. It embodies the American spirit.

Let me share with you a few words from author Emmett Fox about that piece of paper. He said:

“The United States is not merely one more nation added to the list of nationalities. It stands for certain special ideas and special principles which have never been definitely expressed in concrete form in the world before. These ideas may be summed up in the conception of personal freedom and unlimited opportunity.”

What may be called the American Spirit is an intangible though very real thing in itself, but as far as it can be put into words, it has been expressed in the two great official documents of the American Republic, namely, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

These two documents are among the most remarkable ever written, and their effect upon the history of the world has probably never been surpassed. They are both quite short, not more than a few thousand words in length, but every thoughtful person anywhere, and certainly every American, should make themselves acquainted with them.

The Constitution contains no direct preaching at all. It makes no direct statements about the nature of humans or their destiny, or of a human’s relations with other people, or with God. It is, seemingly, just a dry legal document. Never does it say in so many words that a human should be free, that human beings should live together in brother and sisterhood, or that a human is the child of God. All these things are expressed or implied in the Declaration of Independence; and the Declaration is, I suppose, one of the most vivid and colorful documents that has ever been written. It thrills with hope and faith and enthusiasm. The Constitution, on the other hand, is formal, technical, precise, and not, at first sight, of any interest to the layman. Indeed, the Constitution and the Declaration might be described, in a sense, as the anatomy and physiology of government–the one concerned with the hard dry bones of the supporting skeleton, and the other the warm living organs and tissues of life.

To understand the American Constitution, one must realize that it aims at bringing about a definitely selected condition of things. It aims at a special way of life–a way of life that up to the present has only been found in completeness in the United States. It aims at personal freedom for the individual. It aims at the idea of substantial equality, and above all, at equality of opportunity. No civilization had ever before aimed at that.

The great Roman Empire had certain magnificent aims, but equality of opportunity was not one of them; they were always based on a foundation of slavery. The Middle Ages definitely rejected the idea of personal freedom and equality of opportunity and aimed rather at discipline and uniformity.

We tend to take these things – this freedom of opportunity – too much for granted. The people of the generation which produced it, the people of the Revolution, had to think it out. They had to work for it. They had to make sacrifices for it. They had to fight for it, and in many cases, they had to lay down their lives for it. It did not come easily. The inspiration was there, but, as with every inspiration, it had to be brought out into practical expression, and that is always difficult. It’s always easy to copy another thing with slight alterations, but very difficult to do something really new and better. In this case, the inspiration came to the leader, to the Fathers of the Constitution, as we call them, but they could have done nothing alone if the people had not responded, and worked, and fought, to make it secure.

The power of this nation says that you have equality of opportunity. You have an opportunity as an American to dream. You have an opportunity as an American to go to God the way you choose to go to God. You have, as an American, the right to go into any state and know that it is part of your land because you are a part of the United States.

There are people who got together when all dismay was breaking loose. Between those thirteen stripes and the blue that represents the fifty states, there was prayer.

There was a piece of paper that was written by prayer-directed people who consented to the Mind of God. When they consented to that Mind that is within each one of us, the chaos became a haven. The chaos became a glory–the glory of Old Glory.

If your life is in dismay, if your parts don’t feel connected in any way, if your body is in dismay, if you feel like there are thirteen separate areas of your body and they are all shouting, perhaps you need to do what Benjamin Franklin did – pray.

As you pray, know that in your body and mind and soul, like the body and mind and soul of this great country, there is power beyond human seeing. There is a power beyond human dismay. That power is God.

It wasn’t our forefathers and foremothers who created this nation. It was the power of God working through our ancestors. If our ancestors had been left alone to work with their own wits, we would just have the thirteen stripes and it would only be a memory. We would not be here today in this land called America. Because of the Mind of God, we have what we celebrate on the weekend of July 4th.

God Bless You!

PRAYER / MEDITATION__________________________

Prayer is the language of Spirit. It does not know time or space.

As you pray, you pray for more than just yourself. You pray for those who are looking to us for prayer. We become active in the ways of prayer that go out from where we are and cover people with an umbrella of God’s help.

The spirit of God expresses itself through you. In this prayer time, you are able to relax. You are able to release any thought or feeling that interferes with your awareness of the spirit of God.

As you do, remember what it says within the Holy Bible: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you.” The spirit of God fills your hearts and minds, making you a vessel–a wonderful, unique vessel fulfilling a sacred purpose. As a vessel, you open yourself to the inpouring and outpouring of the spirit of God.

You are open to wisdom, to life, and to abundance in this silent time of prayer …

There is a peace that is with you. It is the peace of God. It is a pure, unconditional peace that cleanses away fear and unforgiveness.

We are serene … still … as you hear the world

“Peace … peace … peace … Peace, be still.”

Rest in the silence of prayer, in the peace of God …

The Spirit of God establishes peace within you and in all areas of your life.

You think now about wisdom and guidance. You allow wisdom to fill your mind. God is wisdom. In daily choices or in major life decisions, Divine ideas come forth from the Spirit of God. These ideas, the quiet hand of God playing the instruments of our minds and hearts, guide us in the path of right thinking. We accept these wonderful ideas and give them full expression in our thoughts, words, and actions. No matter what the need, God’s almighty wisdom has the answer for us. We attune ourselves to the wisdom of God and are guided in perfect ways. You pray now for wisdom and understanding for yourself and for others.

In the silence of prayer …

The Spirit of God fills you with wisdom and understanding. You make right choices.

Having affirmed guidance for us and others, we now gently shift our attention to healing. We know that life abides within our body temples, for God is life.

In the Holy Bible it states: “Do you now know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

This mighty healing power fills every atom, every cell, every organ and tissue, and directs every function and activity. It knows exactly what to do and how to do it. This mighty healing power is at work right now. You are strengthened, nourished, and sustained by the Spirit of God. You are restored to wholeness and health according to the Divine plan.

Know this now, in the silence of prayer …

This Truth of God permeates every cell of your body. It is the absolute Truth of you. The Spirit of God is mighty within you and fortifies your body temple.

Now we gently move our thoughts to ideas of prosperity. Abundance fills our lives. God is supply. The spirit of God within us is the source of abundance. As we pray, we give thanks for every expression of God’s loving, providing spirit–for friends and family, for flowers and birds, for sunshine and rain, for the busyness of each day and the quiet of each night.

We pray now for a greater awareness of the bountiful goodness of God for ourselves and for others as we take this Truth into our hearts: The Spirit of God urges me to succeed. All that I need is provided.

In prayer, we are open to the Mind of God. We are open to the fulfillment of every need–peace, joy, health, prosperity, guidance, freedom. We accept all that is ours through the precious spirit of God within us. With hearts overflowing, we say, “Thank You, God!” From this place and this time of stillness, we have a new power to go forth, knowing that we are bountifully cared for because the spirit of God abides within us.

The light of God surrounds you;
The love of God enfolds you;
The power of God protects you;
The presence of God watches over you.
Wherever you are, God is!

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray … Amen.

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19Jul

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Divine Ideas and Guidance

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Divine Ideas and Guidance

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.

Also, great lesson material available free daily – get Positive Daily Inspiration direct in your email inbox every morning. Text POSITIVEMINISTRY to 22828 to easy, free subscribe.

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We are here in this place to ask questions because we have a spiritual stirring inside of us. We have a longing to know. We have a loving God that longs for us to know the truth.

I have a newspaper article from a decade ago, I wish to share with you this morning. This is from the Associated Press – Manilla. It’s about flat tire worship. Listen to these words.

“Religious cultists, who believe that flat tires are the key to salvation, deflated tires on scores of busses and cars Monday, paralyzing traffic throughout the city. Police arrested 32 people. Terrified motorists abandoned their vehicles and fled for cover as armed police chased the cultists who had swarmed through the stalled traffic, deflating more than 1,000 tires. Other cultists would flag down busses and let the air out before the drivers could stop them.

“The mass deflating, which appeared to have been well planned, began during the evening rush hour and created massive traffic jams. Hours later, the traffic remained at a standstill on major thoroughfares. It was unclear what purpose the cultists thought was served by this bizarre strategy. When pressed for an explanation, they said only that the cult leader said it was God’s will that they go around and deflate the tires of the country. He said, ‘Air is from God, and this is the solution to the crises in our country.’ Handbills were distributed that said deflating tires was God’s way of stopping bad deeds.”

I’m sure that this leader received some kind of inspiration. I believe that he received an idea in prayer, and the idea said something like this: “Let the air out.” And the leader said, “Ah. I have an idea.

Surely this doesn’t pertain to me, or my mind, so I’m going to get everyone to follow me, and we are going to go out and stop traffic in this entire city.” So often, leader, somewhere in time, received some real Truth for him or herself. They decided instead of taking it on themselves, that they would place it on everyone else as an outer observance.

Spiritual insight in prayer comes to the individual and more often than not pertains to that individual.

Our Holy Bible has many levels of Truth. The level of Truth for us today is the level, of spirituality.

What is happening in your mind? I want to read you a little bit of Matthew 19:17-26. This is about the rich young man. Let’s imagine you were this rich young man, and you came to Jesus and said, “I really want eternal life. I want it so badly. What do I have to do to get it?” Jesus begins to speak, but you interrupt because you want to ask more. You say, “What do I have to do? What basic thing do I have to do, to have eternal life?” Jesus says this:

“‘You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘All this I have observed; what do I still lack’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; come and follow me.’ When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this they were greatly astounded, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'”

Now, let’s take this to the spiritual level – not to the letter of the law, but to the spirit and to your own individual mind. If your human mind has lots of possessions, it’s full of itself.

If you are full of yourself, you can’t be full of God, and that’s what you are here to have – a fullness of God. You are here to have an experience with the Almighty.

It’s not teaching that your possessions are wrong. It’s teaching that possessions – that possess you – are wrong. It’s also teaching that possessions in mind take up space. You have to allow space in your mind. You have to consent to the ideas of God coming through, and possess those instead.

What do you possess? Do you possess ideas and follow that along the path of the third-dimensional mind? Or do you choose to possess all the possibilities of your mind AND God mind. Can you have all that God can give you? Possessions take up space. What could your possessions be? Possessions could be worry, doubts, fear, jealously, or anger. Anger takes up a lot of space in our minds. We need to be willing to let the air out and to be infilled with the activity of God.

The most exciting thing in life should be coming to church. Sunday mornings and all services, should be the most tremendous parts of your week, because you are reconnecting with something that is very personal. You are not coming here to hear a story about the minister. You are coming here to hear about yourself and God, facing your life as a team, with all the assurances and possibilities of God’s help.

But church is not like watching TV. You have to experience it with everything in your soul, or you haven’t really attended church. You have to take the ideas on, inside of yourself, and wear them like you’d wear a fine suit of clothes. Wear it around every cell in your body temple, and every belief system within your mind. It does little good to go to church just out of duty. For years, humankind has accepted that it is your duty to go to church or mass, or you have to go to the temple and you have to pray because that is what the law says to do.

You are going to church to look for a spiritual opportunity.

Today, in this place, you have connected with your opportunity. This is a house of God-given opportunity for your own individual life. What a joy it is to be here and to experience something moving in you! You are not just here to learn something. You are here to make God’s teachings real inside of you.

Information is here. But if it doesn’t excite you, and move inside of you, it is useless.

We are filled with information. Often we share it with other people who have no desire to hear it at all. We need to let go of some of our human information, from our reasoning mind, and take on the information that is true about us from God. We need to rise above the informational level of reasoning mind to a new level of thinking from Divine ideas working on the inside of us.

The true definition of repent, means to change your thinking. But let me go beyond that now.

It is from the Greek word metanoia. It means more than just to change your thinking. It means to think beyond your thinking. It means that there is a knowing beyond your knowing. Yet, it’s not beyond you, because it is with you, and in you, right now. The Bible calls it, the wisdom from above.

We can have that revelation time and time again. We are not separate from all that is being talked about, these are not just stories of other people long ago. But we must be do something.

This is a participatory environment. You must do something, and you must do it now. We must conform. We must conform with our human mind to the Mind of God. We must be disciplined. We must discipline ourselves to the activity that is so active in ourselves right now. We must feel it. We must consent to that activity.

If we had the biggest telescope in all the world on this platform right now, and we were to look out into the universe, do you know what we would see? We would see perfect order everywhere. Then, if we had a microscope on this side of the lecturn, and we were to look through it into the very depth of things, we would see perfect order. The only place that you might find disorder is in the mind of the person looking into the telescope or the microscope.

We have something that no other animal has, and that is reflective thought. We can think about what we are thinking about. That can lead us into a world of problems, or it can lead us into a heaven like we have never known before. In this same mind, that is in disorder, lies the most fantastic possibilities that humankind has ever known. You are here today to tap into those God-given possibilities.

You are the operator of your mind. Many times the way we have operated our minds was so in error that if we had operated our automobile the same way, we would have never arrived anywhere.

But we are here today because we are consenting, to a higher level of mind from God.

Matthew 18:18. It says, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”

Here we are talking about the power of prayer that you, individually, have this morning. You are here to bind up, to unite, to have unity with, an earth and a heaven. Earth is human thought. It is three-dimensional thought. You are here this morning to bind that human thought to the fourth-dimension – heaven.

Now, you do not go to heaven and expect it to give you something that you have not bound in your earthly consciousness. We must make a unity with demonstration and manifestation. You have to link your human mind and your God Mind, and bind it together. Creative fusion of thought higher than your own. What do you desire in your life? Bring it through your human mind into manifestation and demonstration. Bind it up.

One definition of Heaven is a realm of Divine Mind, Christ consciousness. It is present everywhere. It is conscious mind [that’s three-dimensional mind] in harmony with the thoughts of God. Near the end of this quote our Bible says, “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.” One spiritual meaning of this “Two” – You are binding it in human thought, and you are bringing it down into human manifestation from God Mind.

When you came in here this morning, I hope you said to yourself, “I dare not leave this building the way I came in. I’m going to get a new higher faith while I’m here today. I’m going to get a new expectancy, a new awakening.” Now, you go beyond that. You not only expect that to happen, you not only believe that, but your BIND YOURSELF to it. Now, if you’re bound to something, you are connected with it body, mind, and soul. Whatever it is you want in your life, you are binding yourself to it right now. You are believing in the power of God to help it to come to pass.

There is something about you. Your potential is showing. You have a tremendous potential, but there is not any of us here that has done any more than touch the hem of the garment of the Jesus Christ teachings.

I share with you a quote in James, “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy.” Now I want to turn to the beatitudes, because these are promises for you today. It says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” If you came in here today, and you are so knocked down and drained and worn out because of recent events – you can have joy again because God is with you.

It is my prayer, more than anything else, that you connect with this today, that you feel this positive movement in you. You are never going to change your life by listening just to me. You have to change your life through something dramatic that happens inside of you in between the words that I say from up here. My words have no power to you. It is consenting inside of yourself to the ideas of God that will make the powerful change you seek.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Many have had losses in their lives recently. It’s hard to deal with when we have had a loss, especially when the one we lost was a close relative or a spouse. I heard of a funeral recently where the couple had been married sixty-plus years. Can you imagine? You mourn, and you hurt, and you feel like part of you has been cut away. You wonder how you’ll ever feel peace or happiness again.

There is only one way, and that is directly from God. And God will give it to you in such a miraculous, wondrous way.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” If you are meek, it doesn’t mean you crawl around on the floor and say, “I’m not good. I’m a worm of the dust. Don’t even look at me. I’m not important.” What it is talking about is being meek in mind, going to God and saying, “God, I have tried this so many times, and I have sure botched it up. I realize that I am not alone. I ask for Your help. I consent to it right now.” That is when you inherit everything. You are already a child of God. You are an offspring and connected with that God Mind. You can inherit all that is in God.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” This is a real hunger for a better life inside of you. You thirst for a better life inside of you. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Are you merciful in mind? Do you ever look at somebody when he or she cuts in front of you in traffic and you say, “Oh boy … if I could just have a couple minutes of your time … “? Instead say, “Hey, you must be having a bad day.

I bless you. I send you my love.” You say it like a prayer. It has great power!

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Have you ever been persecuted?

Most have, sometime in life. But most of the time, it has never taken outer manifestation. Most of the time it is in the minds of others. I saw a T-shirt on a lady one time that said, “Don’t tread in my mind with dirty feet.” They may say, “Well, you are something else. If I were you I would do this or that … ” They get in your business, in your mind. The Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Where do we trespass? You don’t come over to my house and trespass inside of it. We may trespass in the mind and the thoughts of another. And they – have done it to you.

We sit back and say that we are following Jesus Christ, but we may judge. Jesus said to judge not. We cannot judge, each soul is on her or his own path. We have to say, “I bless you and I love you. I promise not to trespass into your thoughts. I won’t make you accept my opinion. I’m going to really love you right where you are.”

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, again have joy, for your reward is great in heaven.” Does that mean that you have to die, you have to step out of this physical body, and then you will have your reward? No. You can have it this second when you get out of the limited human thinking, and allow the heaven realm, the kingdom of heaven, to come through you from God Mind. Jesus says, The kingdom of heaven is within you. Spirituality always rises above the physical, and the appearances of temporal life.

It goes on with some of the most important teachings in all of our Bible. It expresses the Truth about you. It says, “You are the light of the world.” Let me give you a new interpretation of that today. It does not mean luminosity, which is outward evidence of light, the light you see by. It means illumined consciousness. It also means to give everything the light touch.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Give it the light touch”? A counselor often ends a counseling session with a person that is absorbed in the seriousness of something build up in their mind, without saying to the person, “Give it the light touch.” Every word spoken, silently or audibly, causes an increase in darkness or light inside of you. The choice is up to us. In other words, try doing something inside of you that will increase the light.

In Genesis we read that the first act of God was the creation of light. God can create light inside of you.

“Let there be light where there was darkness inside of me, God.” Think about the way you perceive things, the way you react to things inside of your mind. Are you taking things immediately into light or into darkness? Ask yourself the question, “Somebody just said something to me that has pulled a trigger inside of me. How should I take this? How should I react to this?” Do you want the answer from the Bible?

Give it the light touch.

It’s not our fingers that touch in life. It’s our minds. We touch life with our thoughts and feelings and attitudes and reactions. We touch very few people with our fingers. We touch with our minds. The fashionable way is to touch often through negative thinking. Most people touch problems and carry them very heavily and are always willing to share. It is the way of human kind to have problems, to brood over them, to give them the heavy touch. But this goes against God’s law. Let there be light.

When we give something the heavy touch inside of us, we are telling ourselves a lie and we believe it.

We are increasing and expanding the very darkness that we are unhappy about in the first place. The alternative is that we can speak the light of God into our existence. We are not teaching not to take things seriously, we are saying to handle serious things with an illumined consciousness.

The more serious the problem, the more light that is needed. God will always reveal to you the perfect way for you to proceed.

You have heard it said that God helps those who help themselves. So today, help yourself to God.

Stop believing the false things that you may have accepted so often. Instead, ask for a second opinion, from God. God will never lie to you, always be loving to all, and will always promise and deliver possibilities and opportunities.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION_________________________

 

In all of your human history, this is YOUR moment. This is your lifetime to feel the activity of God.

Each of us are traveling a journey. We are not traveling alone. We are with God. But to feel God, we have to quiet our human mind down, and this is what we are here to experience now. Go quietly now.

Leave aside all worry, and have confidence. Relax and trust. So quietly, sure of God, safely, and easily, you flow into a relaxation. God is in complete control of every aspect of your life, your mind, and your body.

God is with you now. What a joyous realization this is. You listen to the still, small voice, and it says to you, “Peace, be still and know that I am God.” It says to you, “Don’t worry. I am in charge. Everything is all right. Go quietly now, and I will direct your path,

for I know the way.”

Rest in the silence of prayer …

You listen to the silence of prayer, and you trust in the joyous fulfillment of your journey to God. Listen to these words from Psalms: “Then they were glad because they had quiet. And he brought them to their desired haven.” You are with God. You have a constant companion which is Christ, your very own Lord.

You seek to realize that this Christ knows the way that lies before you. Christ is familiar with every turn in the road of your life. Christ is ever ready to point the way to lead you to your desired haven of peace, wholeness, harmony, abundance, and self-fulfillment. You are walking with God. God is working through you, empowering your physical body, thinking through your mind. You will reach your destination of this heaven, safely, quickly, and joyously.

Rest in the quiet place now, in the silence of prayer …

You are alert to the still, small voice. The still, small voice within us is telling us the way to go. As we meet the many turns, the many points of change in our life’s journey, we travel in peace with a clear-run-through to our destination, a journey where there are no stops, no delay in obstacles, or detours.

This day, whether you are starting out on a journey, whether you’re writing a letter, seeking employment, seeking to heal a relationship, or seeking the fulfillment of any other legitimate desire, you are granted, by the activity of God, a clear-run-through to joyous satisfaction, a quiet, easy way in record time.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Go quietly now. Know that you are not alone. Trust Christ. God will get you through to your destination in the best possible way. You are in an experience of a clear-run-through to each desired heaven.

Through the power of the spoken word in prayer, I decree for you: THE CHRIST PRESENCE GUIDES YOU IN THE WAY OF PEACE AND SAFETY. YOU ARE DIVINELY PROTECTED. We thank God for always being here with us, along the road of life that never ends.

In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.

Since 1999 – 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? Click here – 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
12Jul

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – THE Connection with THEE Connection

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - THE Connection with THEE Connection

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.

Also, great lesson material available free daily – get Positive Daily Inspiration direct in your email inbox every morning. Text POSITIVEMINISTRY to 22828 to easy, free subscribe.

_____________________________________

How many times have you felt truly prepared for a situation? Many times, we are only ½ prepared or less. Become pre-prayed for every situation.

It that is actually a kind of a secret mystery, but the message is simple and yet profound at the same time.

The secret is that you and I are wondrously made in the image and likeness of God; we are one with God. We have known this for a long time, and yet honestly, do we really know it, and live our lives as if we really knew it?

The message, knowing our oneness, and being pre-prayed every single day.

Prayer is a very wondrous thing. Prayer is a mysterious process. If anything, done correctly, it strips away from us our ignorance, takes away our arrogance, and reveals what is already there – something wondrously made.

The great world-class skeptic, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “Lots of people pray for me, and I have never been the worse for it.” He went on to say, “The only valid argument against the practice of prayer is that God knows his own business without my prompting.”

The traditional way we hold prayer is that we are going to somehow convince God to do things better … particularly better for us. In exchange for some kind of promise we make, we expect a miracle. “God, if you will help me win this golf tournament, I will pray every day and night for the rest of my life,” as if such a statement could in any way move or influence God.

That is not the kind of prayer I am talking about, the kind of prayer I am talking about this morning is the kind of prayer that is a prayer of understanding, of deeper principle and knowledge. The kind of prayer I am speaking about is prayer that moves God power in us, in the way electricity moves when a connection is made. If we allow the connection to be made and the electricity to flow, the lamp will light up, and we will have light.

True prayer makes the connection – ourselves – with God – so Divine electricity can flow and there is greater light in our lives. This is the true purpose of prayer: to make THE connection with THEE connection.

This is not the traditional way we have of understanding prayer. You may have heard the old story about the ship out at sea that was in trouble.

The winds were blowing, the sea was flying high, and the ship was being tossed about. A woman found the captain and said to him, “Sir, are we in serious trouble?”

He looked at her and said, “Ma’am, I must tell you the truth. Now would be a good time for us to all think of God and to pray.”

She looked straight at him and said, “Oh my God, has it come to that?”

Prayer, as a last resort is a traditional idea. We MUST think of prayer FIRST not last. We must think of prayer ahead of the need.

We may have ideas of prayer as beseeching or begging, and we also have a kind of prayer that bargains with God; it is actually manipulative. “I will do something for God, and God will do something for me.”

What about the kind of prayer that moves God power through us? What about the kind of prayer that gives us the power to live our lives better, happier, more fully, with all the Divine resources within us directly in our lives?

Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have told the story of chopping down a tree with an ax. He said: “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first six hours sharpening my ax.” He went on to say that most people would spend the entire eight hours hacking with a dull ax, but he would rather have a sharp ax.

Prayer is very much like sharpening our ax. It is spending the time (typically in the morning before the day begins) to sharpen the ax; to raise our consciousness and have a connection with God so that no matter what happens throughout that day, we are better equipped to handle it.

When most of us get up in the morning, our minds fill with all the things we have to do during the day. We do not feel we have time to pray or meditate. We are filled with the need to get on with chopping all that wood. Don’t you feel called to chop at the wood of your life? We do not take the time to sharpen our ax.

There is something about being in this life that causes this to happen to us. But sharpening our ax, taking the opportunity to pray, actually lends a focus and a concentration to our lives. A Divine connection is made, and a great power begins to flow through us. Our minds get clearer, and we are able to function better, just like a sharp ax functions better than a dull one. As we are pre-prayed anxiety lowers and stress decreases. We are able to function at a much higher rate than the human body and human mind working alone.

When things happen in our lives that bring a certain degree of stress or strain, the experience of prayer can lend a degree of peace and serenity to our experiences.

Martin Luther put it this way: “I have so much to do today; I will need to spend another hour on my knees.” Basically, that is the point we are speaking of here.

Author Eric Butterworth uses the image of a radio frequency to describe prayer. It is a particularly good and useful image.

A simple example to show how God is everywhere present is as follows. God is like a radio frequency. In other words, Divine energy is filling this room just as do our radio frequencies. We cannot really hear the radio waves, but they are in there, permeating the air. In order to hear them, we need a receiver. We are the receivers of God’s Divine energy when we sit down to meditate and to pray.

To hear a particular frequency, we have to tune to a frequency. Seven hundred and fifty kilocycles cannot be heard unless you tune your frequency to 750 kilocycles. Then the voice or music is loud and clear. If you move over to 748 or 749 and you will get static. You have to tune yourself. Author Eric Butterworth said, “We have to be in tune with the Infinite. We have to tune ourselves to be receptive and to hear. We can do it. And when we do it, we are empowered with an experience of our own connectedness to God.”

A Holy man was once asked: “How do you maintain your serenity and peace in the face of all the pressures of your life?” He replied, “I never leave my place of meditation.” He did not mean he sat in his meditation hut all day long, because he had a busy monastery to run. He was terribly busy. What he meant was that his inner experience of meditation, which he found in his time of going within in prayer, was carried within him throughout his day.

If the truth be told, the real purpose of prayer and meditation is not the peace, serenity, or contact we make while we are sitting there with our eyes closed. The real purpose begins when we get up, open our eyes, and go out into our day. That is when we express the fruits of our meditation.

Our prayer becomes a living thing that fills our lives and enriches other’s lives because we are pre-prayed first. This is when prayer begins to be true prayer.

Dr. Alexis Carroll said: “Prayer is not only worship. It is an invisible emanation of a human’s spirit – the most powerful form of energy that can be generated. The influence of prayer on the human mind and body is as demonstrable as that of secreting glands. As a physician, I have seen men and women, after all other therapy has failed, lifted out of disease and melancholy by the supreme effort of prayer. It is the only power of nature. Prayer is the source of luminous and self-generating energy.”

Prayer gives us the ability to counteract the natural flow of our senses. Do you know what I mean? Our bodily senses (our five senses) naturally pull us toward this world – to what Jesus called “the appearances.” This is why when we wake up in the mornings our minds leap to all the things, we have to do that day. We are called to begin to do them. This is why it is so easy to judge in ways like: When it rains, it must be a bad day.

Or when things do not turn out the way we think they should, we get depressed. It is because our senses are so called into the natural world. Then we judge by the appearances.

Prayer is the power to counteract that pull. Prayer gives us the capacity to go within and stay within the truth of our being.

Fortunately, we can give ourselves this experience any time we wish to.

We can give ourselves the opportunity to pray. It is the great gift, and we can open it at any time. Maybe that is why as humans we do not do it more often – because it is so easy, because it is always there, because it is obvious. It is always with us and perhaps we take it for granted.

Maybe it is hidden like the trees with the forest. We do not see it, because it is right in front of our faces. That power to be ourselves, the power to liberate the energy within us, the power to make that Divine connection with God is always with us. Yet, we somehow overlook it, time and time again.

A man tells this story, “When I was a teenager, I was given a watch that had to be wound by hand. It was a high-quality watch, but one day it actually did break down. I decided I would try to get it fixed, so I took it to a jeweler I knew. He looked at it and he was extremely impressed. He told me that this was a very good watch. He said he would fix it, but that I needed to take better care of it. I said, “What do you mean?”

He said, “Always wind this watch early in the morning because it will help the watch deal with the stresses of the day. It will last longer, and it will be a better watch.”

Naturally, he said, “I had gleaned another meaning from this statement, and I have never forgotten what he told me – not just about the watch, but also about the inner-winding of ourselves.”

When we spend time in prayer and meditation, we are better able to withstand the stresses of the day. We are fundamentally better people for doing that.

There is another powerful meaning to prayer, which is illustrated by this story.

The lover knocked on the door of his beloved. “Who knocks?” said the beloved from within.

“It is I,” said the lover.

His beloved replied, “Go away. This home will not hold you and me.”

The rejected lover went away into the desert. There he meditated for months on end, pondering the words of his beloved. Finally, he returned to the door again. “Who knocks?”

“It is you.” And the door was immediately opened.

You see, it is not really God and you, or God and me. It is just God. That is the secret to opening that inner door; it is just God. God is manifested surrounding you, and through you. There really is no separation between God and you. You are with God this VERY MOMENT.

“God HAS MADE KNOWN TO US in all wisdom and insight the mystery of God’s will.” Ephesians 1:9

God is our life. God is our intelligence. God is our substance. God is our health. Nothing can be added unto us. Everything is already within us, expressing outward. Prayer is simply the recognition of this truth.

How important is prayer? Simply to recognize the truth about who we are is pretty important to me. It is important to have a conscious awareness of our being.

One of the highest levels of prayer is understood by the word from which our word for prayer came. It is a Sanskrit word “Palal,” which means literally “Judging oneself as wondrously made.” What a beautiful and powerful understanding! There is that recognition, a conscious awareness, of which we really are, that comes from prayer.

Does not this change everything? When we are tempted to focus on our lack, to come from a position of powerlessness, and to beg this imagined being in the sky for something, we can stop. Instead, we can truly pray. We can turn to God and do it until we begin to feel the stirring of Spirit within us and we begin to understand who we are. We are not pitiful creatures begging some supreme being for some pittance.

We are children of God.

The Difference

I got up early one morning
And rushed right into my day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I did not have time to pray.

Problems tumbled about me
And heavier came each task.
“Why doesn’t God help me?” I wondered.
And God answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I wanted to see joy and beauty
But the day toiled gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn’t show me
But God said, “You didn’t seek.”

I tried to come into God’s presence.
I used all the keys in my lock.
God gently and lovingly chided me,
“My child, you didn’t knock.”

So, I woke up early this morning
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.

The end of a simple message, commit to praying FIRST everyday.

Wind your inner watch FIRST – Be Pre-Prayed!

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION________________

The harmony of the beloved hymn that we all recall, resounds the truth –

Holy, holy, holy … Lord God Almighty.

We now go to God in prayer.

Feel the chair supporting you. Feel your body sink deeply into the soft cushions. Feel your feet inside your shoes as they touch the floor. Sit up as straight as it is comfortable for you. Raise your head up high. Feel your spine lengthen and straighten as you do so.

Feel God is supporting you in the same way uplifting you, and your life.

Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Take another. Breathe it in, deeply and let it out, slowly. Follow your breath, in and out. Peace, be still. Peace, be still.

As you breathe in, deeply and let it out, slowly, know your connectedness with God.

Say silently to yourself in prayer: God is with me.

With the in-breath say, “God goes ahead of me preparing my way of good.”

With the out-breath say “God is with me.”

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Let the Presence and experience of God’s holiness permeate you from this moment on throughout the day. May the holiness of God come together and touch you, completely, missing nothing.

In the silence of prayer you become still and realize that the love of God is flowing throughout your being. You recognize Divine love as the one true source of all that you will ever need. You know that as Divine love works through you, it will bring harmony to every circumstance in your life.

Let us sit now in the silence of prayer and meditate in this way, breathing in, deeply, breathing out, slowly, and repeating silently: God is with me. With the in-breath say, “God goes ahead of me preparing my way of good,” and with the out-breath say, “God is with me.”

Do this now in the silence of prayer …

We are filled with the whole, complete Spirit of God’s help.

We give thanks to God for Divine guidance; we are grateful that it is available to us at all times. Wisdom and good judgment are ours to be experienced when we follow the inspiration we’ve received from God.

We know that we are being Divinely directed path that will lead us to the greatest happiness and success.

For this experience and for the presence of the Presence, we are grateful.

In Jesus Christ’s name

And so it is … Amen.

Since 1999 – 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? Click here – 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
12Jul

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – THE Connection with THEE Connection

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - THE Connection with THEE Connection

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.

Also, great lesson material available free daily – get Positive Daily Inspiration direct in your email inbox every morning. Text POSITIVEMINISTRY to 22828 to easy, free subscribe.

_____________________________________

How many times have you felt truly prepared for a situation? Many times, we are only ½ prepared or less. Become pre-prayed for every situation.

It that is actually a kind of a secret mystery, but the message is simple and yet profound at the same time.

The secret is that you and I are wondrously made in the image and likeness of God; we are one with God. We have known this for a long time, and yet honestly, do we really know it, and live our lives as if we really knew it?

The message, knowing our oneness, and being pre-prayed every single day.

Prayer is a very wondrous thing. Prayer is a mysterious process. If anything, done correctly, it strips away from us our ignorance, takes away our arrogance, and reveals what is already there – something wondrously made.

The great world-class skeptic, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “Lots of people pray for me, and I have never been the worse for it.” He went on to say, “The only valid argument against the practice of prayer is that God knows his own business without my prompting.”

The traditional way we hold prayer is that we are going to somehow convince God to do things better … particularly better for us. In exchange for some kind of promise we make, we expect a miracle. “God, if you will help me win this golf tournament, I will pray every day and night for the rest of my life,” as if such a statement could in any way move or influence God.

That is not the kind of prayer I am talking about, the kind of prayer I am talking about this morning is the kind of prayer that is a prayer of understanding, of deeper principle and knowledge. The kind of prayer I am speaking about is prayer that moves God power in us, in the way electricity moves when a connection is made. If we allow the connection to be made and the electricity to flow, the lamp will light up, and we will have light.

True prayer makes the connection – ourselves – with God – so Divine electricity can flow and there is greater light in our lives. This is the true purpose of prayer: to make THE connection with THEE connection.

This is not the traditional way we have of understanding prayer. You may have heard the old story about the ship out at sea that was in trouble.

The winds were blowing, the sea was flying high, and the ship was being tossed about. A woman found the captain and said to him, “Sir, are we in serious trouble?”

He looked at her and said, “Ma’am, I must tell you the truth. Now would be a good time for us to all think of God and to pray.”

She looked straight at him and said, “Oh my God, has it come to that?”

Prayer, as a last resort is a traditional idea. We MUST think of prayer FIRST not last. We must think of prayer ahead of the need.

We may have ideas of prayer as beseeching or begging, and we also have a kind of prayer that bargains with God; it is actually manipulative. “I will do something for God, and God will do something for me.”

What about the kind of prayer that moves God power through us? What about the kind of prayer that gives us the power to live our lives better, happier, more fully, with all the Divine resources within us directly in our lives?

Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have told the story of chopping down a tree with an ax. He said: “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first six hours sharpening my ax.” He went on to say that most people would spend the entire eight hours hacking with a dull ax, but he would rather have a sharp ax.

Prayer is very much like sharpening our ax. It is spending the time (typically in the morning before the day begins) to sharpen the ax; to raise our consciousness and have a connection with God so that no matter what happens throughout that day, we are better equipped to handle it.

When most of us get up in the morning, our minds fill with all the things we have to do during the day. We do not feel we have time to pray or meditate. We are filled with the need to get on with chopping all that wood. Don’t you feel called to chop at the wood of your life? We do not take the time to sharpen our ax.

There is something about being in this life that causes this to happen to us. But sharpening our ax, taking the opportunity to pray, actually lends a focus and a concentration to our lives. A Divine connection is made, and a great power begins to flow through us. Our minds get clearer, and we are able to function better, just like a sharp ax functions better than a dull one. As we are pre-prayed anxiety lowers and stress decreases. We are able to function at a much higher rate than the human body and human mind working alone.

When things happen in our lives that bring a certain degree of stress or strain, the experience of prayer can lend a degree of peace and serenity to our experiences.

Martin Luther put it this way: “I have so much to do today; I will need to spend another hour on my knees.” Basically, that is the point we are speaking of here.

Author Eric Butterworth uses the image of a radio frequency to describe prayer. It is a particularly good and useful image.

A simple example to show how God is everywhere present is as follows. God is like a radio frequency. In other words, Divine energy is filling this room just as do our radio frequencies. We cannot really hear the radio waves, but they are in there, permeating the air. In order to hear them, we need a receiver. We are the receivers of God’s Divine energy when we sit down to meditate and to pray.

To hear a particular frequency, we have to tune to a frequency. Seven hundred and fifty kilocycles cannot be heard unless you tune your frequency to 750 kilocycles. Then the voice or music is loud and clear. If you move over to 748 or 749 and you will get static. You have to tune yourself. Author Eric Butterworth said, “We have to be in tune with the Infinite. We have to tune ourselves to be receptive and to hear. We can do it. And when we do it, we are empowered with an experience of our own connectedness to God.”

A Holy man was once asked: “How do you maintain your serenity and peace in the face of all the pressures of your life?” He replied, “I never leave my place of meditation.” He did not mean he sat in his meditation hut all day long, because he had a busy monastery to run. He was terribly busy. What he meant was that his inner experience of meditation, which he found in his time of going within in prayer, was carried within him throughout his day.

If the truth be told, the real purpose of prayer and meditation is not the peace, serenity, or contact we make while we are sitting there with our eyes closed. The real purpose begins when we get up, open our eyes, and go out into our day. That is when we express the fruits of our meditation.

Our prayer becomes a living thing that fills our lives and enriches other’s lives because we are pre-prayed first. This is when prayer begins to be true prayer.

Dr. Alexis Carroll said: “Prayer is not only worship. It is an invisible emanation of a human’s spirit – the most powerful form of energy that can be generated. The influence of prayer on the human mind and body is as demonstrable as that of secreting glands. As a physician, I have seen men and women, after all other therapy has failed, lifted out of disease and melancholy by the supreme effort of prayer. It is the only power of nature. Prayer is the source of luminous and self-generating energy.”

Prayer gives us the ability to counteract the natural flow of our senses. Do you know what I mean? Our bodily senses (our five senses) naturally pull us toward this world – to what Jesus called “the appearances.” This is why when we wake up in the mornings our minds leap to all the things, we have to do that day. We are called to begin to do them. This is why it is so easy to judge in ways like: When it rains, it must be a bad day.

Or when things do not turn out the way we think they should, we get depressed. It is because our senses are so called into the natural world. Then we judge by the appearances.

Prayer is the power to counteract that pull. Prayer gives us the capacity to go within and stay within the truth of our being.

Fortunately, we can give ourselves this experience any time we wish to.

We can give ourselves the opportunity to pray. It is the great gift, and we can open it at any time. Maybe that is why as humans we do not do it more often – because it is so easy, because it is always there, because it is obvious. It is always with us and perhaps we take it for granted.

Maybe it is hidden like the trees with the forest. We do not see it, because it is right in front of our faces. That power to be ourselves, the power to liberate the energy within us, the power to make that Divine connection with God is always with us. Yet, we somehow overlook it, time and time again.

A man tells this story, “When I was a teenager, I was given a watch that had to be wound by hand. It was a high-quality watch, but one day it actually did break down. I decided I would try to get it fixed, so I took it to a jeweler I knew. He looked at it and he was extremely impressed. He told me that this was a very good watch. He said he would fix it, but that I needed to take better care of it. I said, “What do you mean?”

He said, “Always wind this watch early in the morning because it will help the watch deal with the stresses of the day. It will last longer, and it will be a better watch.”

Naturally, he said, “I had gleaned another meaning from this statement, and I have never forgotten what he told me – not just about the watch, but also about the inner-winding of ourselves.”

When we spend time in prayer and meditation, we are better able to withstand the stresses of the day. We are fundamentally better people for doing that.

There is another powerful meaning to prayer, which is illustrated by this story.

The lover knocked on the door of his beloved. “Who knocks?” said the beloved from within.

“It is I,” said the lover.

His beloved replied, “Go away. This home will not hold you and me.”

The rejected lover went away into the desert. There he meditated for months on end, pondering the words of his beloved. Finally, he returned to the door again. “Who knocks?”

“It is you.” And the door was immediately opened.

You see, it is not really God and you, or God and me. It is just God. That is the secret to opening that inner door; it is just God. God is manifested surrounding you, and through you. There really is no separation between God and you. You are with God this VERY MOMENT.

“God HAS MADE KNOWN TO US in all wisdom and insight the mystery of God’s will.” Ephesians 1:9

God is our life. God is our intelligence. God is our substance. God is our health. Nothing can be added unto us. Everything is already within us, expressing outward. Prayer is simply the recognition of this truth.

How important is prayer? Simply to recognize the truth about who we are is pretty important to me. It is important to have a conscious awareness of our being.

One of the highest levels of prayer is understood by the word from which our word for prayer came. It is a Sanskrit word “Palal,” which means literally “Judging oneself as wondrously made.” What a beautiful and powerful understanding! There is that recognition, a conscious awareness, of which we really are, that comes from prayer.

Does not this change everything?

When we are tempted to focus on our lack, to come from a position of powerlessness, and to beg this imagined being in the sky for something, we can stop. Instead, we can truly pray. We can turn to God and do it until we begin to feel the stirring of Spirit within us and we begin to understand who we are. We are not pitiful creatures begging some supreme being for some pittance.

We are children of God.

The Difference

I got up early one morning
And rushed right into my day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I did not have time to pray.

Problems tumbled about me
And heavier came each task.
“Why doesn’t God help me?” I wondered.
And God answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I wanted to see joy and beauty
But the day toiled gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn’t show me
But God said, “You didn’t seek.”

I tried to come into God’s presence.
I used all the keys in my lock.
God gently and lovingly chided me,
“My child, you didn’t knock.”

So, I woke up early this morning
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.

The end of a simple message, commit to praying FIRST everyday.

Wind your inner watch FIRST – Be Pre-Prayed!

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION________________

The harmony of the beloved hymn that we all recall, resounds the truth –

Holy, holy, holy … Lord God Almighty.

We now go to God in prayer.

Feel the chair supporting you. Feel your body sink deeply into the soft cushions. Feel your feet inside your shoes as they touch the floor. Sit up as straight as it is comfortable for you. Raise your head up high. Feel your spine lengthen and straighten as you do so.

Feel God is supporting you in the same way uplifting you, and your life.

Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Take another. Breathe it in, deeply and let it out, slowly. Follow your breath, in and out. Peace, be still. Peace, be still.

As you breathe in, deeply and let it out, slowly, know your connectedness with God.

Say silently to yourself in prayer: God is with me.

With the in-breath say, “God goes ahead of me preparing my way of good.”

With the out-breath say “God is with me.”

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Let the Presence and experience of God’s holiness permeate you from this moment on throughout the day. May the holiness of God come together and touch you, completely, missing nothing.

In the silence of prayer you become still and realize that the love of God is flowing throughout your being. You recognize Divine love as the one true source of all that you will ever need. You know that as Divine love works through you, it will bring harmony to every circumstance in your life.

Let us sit now in the silence of prayer and meditate in this way, breathing in, deeply, breathing out, slowly, and repeating silently: God is with me. With the in-breath say, “God goes ahead of me preparing my way of good,” and with the out-breath say, “God is with me.”

Do this now in the silence of prayer …

We are filled with the whole, complete Spirit of God’s help.

We give thanks to God for Divine guidance; we are grateful that it is available to us at all times. Wisdom and good judgment are ours to be experienced when we follow the inspiration we’ve received from God.

We know that we are being Divinely directed path that will lead us to the greatest happiness and success.

For this experience and for the presence of the Presence, we are grateful.

In Jesus Christ’s name

And so it is … Amen.

Since 1999 – 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? Click here – 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
05Jul

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – God’s Serendipity

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - God's Serendipity

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.

Also, great lesson material available free daily – get Positive Daily Inspiration direct in your email inbox every morning. Text POSITIVEMINISTRY to 22828 to easy, free subscribe.

_____________________________________

The signs they have in Alaska are often special. They have unusual signs that you do not see in other areas. They are signs for people who drive along the roads. They must watch for something very unusual. When it is warmer in Alaska and you’re driving down the wet dirt roads, the wheels make ruts.

Then, it gets colder. There is a sign along the highway that says: Choose Your Rut Very Carefully Because You’ll Be In It For The Next 50 Miles. This is what this talk is about – how we choose our rut, and how we decide to be in that rut and not go anywhere else.

There are so many people you know who get one particular idea in their minds and they buy that idea. Even if something better comes along somewhere, sometime, they can’t make a change because they’ve already bought that idea and they have to work toward it.

There are so many side trips that will come to you on your road of life that will make your life. I venture to say that if I were to talk to each one of you this morning, you would say that some of the greatest things that ever happened to you, (if not all the great things that have ever happened to you), have been side trips or things you didn’t expect.

You were on your way somewhere else, and something happened. When it happened it was a shock to you because you had a certain place you wanted to go and you were sure of it.

Then someone came up to you and made you an offer, or someone came up and gave you something (perhaps an idea) and you found a whole new higher life.

You found out that it was not the original trip you were on that was important, but it was something else. You found serendipity in your life.

I would like to share a story with you from the Bible. This is the story of Saul (from I Samuel, chapters 9 and 10). When I read this, I ask you to keep one thing in mind: even though I am reading about characters in the Bible, every one of them are really characters inside of you. As I read, try to think of yourself and your own situation, and how you dealt with it, and perhaps how you will deal with it in the future.

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel … a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. He had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had strayed. So, Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the boys with you; go and look for the donkeys.”

You’ve been asked to do things like that before, and so have I. Here is a mundane task. “What an exciting day this is. I have been asked to go and look for donkeys … ” Think about yourself and all those ordinary monotonous things of life. You have one particular journey and how boring that journey is.

He passed through the hill country of Ephraim … [and he passed through many other lands, including the land of Benjamin; that was a long way] but they did not find them [the donkeys]. When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the boy who was with him, “Let us turn back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and worry about us.”

This is an interesting point. In our journey, (and we’re all on a journey), we all have the option to turn back, to give up, to decide we really don’t like the trip and not go this particular direction.

Listen to what the boy said:

But he said to him, “There is a man of God in this town; he is a man held in honor. Whatever he says always comes true. Let us go there now; perhaps he will tell us about the journey on which we have set out.”

Then Saul replied to the boy, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What have we?” The boy answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God, to tell us our way.” … Saul said to the boy, “Good; come, let us go.”

So, they went to the town where the man of God was.

They were willing to pay the price. There is always a price to life on our journey, and it’s not really monetary. Are we willing to pay the price in consciousness? Are we willing, if we want our life to be better, to pay the price to do whatever needs to be done? If we are, we’ll have a wonderful, wonderful life.

As they went up the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?” They answered, “Yes, there he is just ahead of you. Hurry: he has come just now to the town because the people have a sacrifice today at the shrine. As soon as you enter the town, you will find him, before he goes up to the shrine to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward, those eat who are invited. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” So, they went up to the town. As they were entering the town, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way to the shrine.

Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the suffering of my people, because their outcry has come to me.”

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall rule over my people.” Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate, and said, “Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?” Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer; go up before me to the shrine … “

There are many places in the Bible where you will read about going up. This means going up in your consciousness and in his consciousness.

” … For today you shall eat with me, and in the morning, I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, give no further thought to them, for they have been found. And on whom is all Israel’s desire fixed, if not on you and on all your ancestral house?”

Let’s say right there Saul said, (as we have said many times in our lives), “Oh, I cannot go to the temple and eat with you. See, I’m looking for donkeys. I have my mind fixed on that. I’m in a program. Even though you appear to be giving me good right now, I just cannot accept it because I have my original goal and I cannot accept this good coming to me.

“I’m like a horse with blinders on, and I cannot look to the side even though I might see good or might see God’s will for me. I have my own human will, and I am going to continue on because I have picked my rut. I’m going to walk in it even though it is muddy, boring, and mundane and I don’t like it. What you are offering me seems exciting, but after all, it is change. I would better not do this right now. I’d better stick to my agenda.”

“Saul answered, “I am only a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the humblest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”

Then Samuel took Saul and his servant boy and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, of whom there were about thirty. And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, the one I asked you to put aside.” The cook took up the thigh and what went with it and set them before Saul. Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat; for it is set before you at the appointed time, so that you might eat with the guests.”

So Saul ate with Samuel that day. When they came down from the shrine into the town, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof, and he lay down to sleep. Then at the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul upon the roof, “Get up, so that I may send you on your way.” Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.”

Remember, Saul became the first king of Israel. In spiritual interpretation, Saul means the action of the will in attaining what it desires. Samuel was the last prophet and judge before Israel had a king. Samuel means a high level of consciousness in constant contact with God.

What is this inside of you? It is where you are taking the action step. True action for a divine life is not necessarily empowering yourself to get the donkeys. So often we think we we’re alone and we have to do everything; we have the weight of the world on our backs and we trudge along even though life is hellish. We feel we have to think only about getting the donkeys back.

If I will listen to my guidance from God, if I will be open, I might have a wonderful message come to me that says, “Hey, (((your name))), get off of it. Do not worry about the donkeys. There is something else here that is much higher than just your lower human nature, animal nature. There is a mission. It’s been around you all along. If you only open your eyes to the serendipity of it, you will find it and it will be a joy for you. But you have to be open to the side trips that will come in your journey.

As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the boy to go on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.” Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he said, “The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the Lord, and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around.”

Then he told him of the wonderful things that would occur on their way during their journey home. Remember, when you’re going with God, not only is the journey fun, but the journey home is fun also.

There are always new experiences for you.

Samuel told Saul that two men would be by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin who will tell you that the donkeys are okay, and you don’t have to worry about them. You still have that human mind in you, and you still cannot have a totally good time because you are consumed with worry about your donkeys. Do not worry about it; God will provided.

Samuel continued: then, by the oak of Tabor, you will see three men carrying three loaves of bread. They are going to give you two loaves of bread. Remember, they were out of bread before. Now they have bread that will sustain them much longer than they need for the short journey they have to travel.

Samuel also told him: you will also meet a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre playing in front of them. They will be in a prophetic frenzy. Then the spirit of the Lord will possess you, and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along with them, and you will be turned into a different person.

The journey within the journey. We are all on a journey. If we’re really listening to God, if we’re really believing that God can come in the moment, we’re going to have a prophetic frenzy come into our lives.

It is joy and euphoria. We are going to give our life the light touch. We are going to know that we can hop out of the rut we have been in for so long, and we’re going to feel good. In that moment, we will be turned into a different person. You are turned into a different person when you accept God’s light burdens instead of your human heavy ones.

We rarely experience life if we are in bed with the covers pulled over us, or if we are sitting around watching television. We have to act. We have to move, not just in a straight line, but from side-to-side, and sometimes backward, and sometimes we have to look up and down to see all the wonders God has for us.

Instead of buying into the ideas that are all-consuming in our lives (like the donkeys), let’s see what else is on the journey, and see what good God has. Whenever we have our decisions made, our minds made up, our direction plotted, let us also keep our eyes OPEN to something else.

There’s a old book on which I am basing this talk, in part, by Marcus Bach called The World of Serendipity.

It tells the story about legendary princes–the Princes of Serendip–who encountered experiences that seemed “chancy” and strange. In them they found amazing wonders of the world where the unexpected was more rewarding than the things they had hoped to find. The book says that the same thing is happening to us.

Serendipity! Here is a wonderful explanation of it from Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardoso: Like many of the finest things in life, like happiness and tranquility and fame, the gain that is most precious is not the thing sought but one that comes of itself in search for something else.

Going to look for donkeys may be mundane, but it’s not necessarily bad. Let’s say that something bad happens to you, and you have to face that unwanted journey. I want to share a true story with you about a young man who was nineteen years old. He worked in a place that required hard, manual labor. From early morning until late at night he worked picking up heavy scrap pieces of iron.

One day this nineteen-year-old boy was working. To his dismay, a piece of heavy iron fell on his kneecap.

He was in great pain. His company immediately told him he needed to have his knee x-rayed because the kneecap may be broken. He went to the doctor and had the x-ray taken. At the bottom of the x-ray the doctor wrote: “Kneecap okay; not broken.” The boy went back to work in a few days.

Listen to the rest of this story; listen to God’s power and what happened in this true story.

Another doctor at this same hospital was on his break one day. He got a cup of coffee and sat down at his desk and looked around for something to read. He couldn’t find a magazine, so he decided to test himself by reading x-rays.

So, he looked at the pile of x-rays on his desk that were ready to be filed away. As he moved the pile, one of the x-rays fell out of the pile. He looked at it and he immediately saw that this x-ray definitely showed cancer of the bone. He looked at the bottom of the x-ray and saw what was written: “Kneecap okay; not broken.”

He found this nineteen-year-old boys name and phone number and called him. He said, “I have bad news for you.

You have cancer of the bone. Unless we operate immediately, you will lose your leg. This is serious. Unless we take immediate action, you could lose your life.” So, the boy went in and had the operation which prolonged his life. He had a rich, full life.

AS IF by chance – these things occur to us? He would never have found that cancer if that piece of iron hadn’t fell on his kneecap. And then, by chance, the doctor happens to read an x-ray that is ready to be filed and discovers the problem …

We think that the things that come to us are not related at all. When something happens to us that is change (or chance) we think it interrupts us in our life journey. But perhaps there is God’s special help bringing us the highest message for our life that we could possibly have, if we will listen.

There is a word discussed in this book that I love. It is an ancient word from the old Persian fairy tale called “apocatastasis.” Do you know what that means? It means that if something occurs in your life today that looks like absolute disaster, good is going to come out of it. Look back on your own life.

I’ve looked back on mine. Many of the things that have happened to me that I considered disastrous in the moment turned out to the be greatest blessings that have ever happened in my life – Apocatastasis!

Thank God that it occurred. I would have stayed in my rut and would have never turned to into a different direction had that not occurred.

Only God good comes to our lives when we’re fully aware of God’s ever-abiding help. After today, I pray we will try to see beyond the immediate experience and know that every event is connected with something higher. I pray we will view events in a way that will create a personal destiny for ourselves that is as wonderful as anything we have ever read about.

Does life have any tricks up its sleeve? Yes, it does – in your favor. There are wonderful things that will occur if we are willing to see and catch God’s blessing in it. If we are willing to extract these secrets from our lives, our lives will become higher and better than anything we have ever experienced.

I have one last point. There have been many times in my life when I have stayed in my rut and, with everything inside of me, I have plodded forward to get my goal. Do you know what?

After I got it, it became the worst nightmare of my life. I immediately had another goal – to get rid of what I got. Yet, if I am truly open in the examination of me, I am also aware of the many opportunities I had to get out of my rut. If I would have, I would have had the most blissful, most incredible experience of my life. But I was blind to it. I made the choice not to go in that way.

So, instead of becoming the king of Israel, Saul could have said, “No, I don’t have time right now, but thanks anyway. I do not have time to go to your feast. I don’t have time to be anointed.

I do not have time because I am on a journey for my father, and I love my father. I am going to find his donkeys.”

When you’re looking for your “donkeys” and someone offers you something really fantastic, step back for a minute from your human mind and say, “Wait a minute, is something wonderful occurring in my life?

Maybe I want to think about this. Maybe I want to choose to go in this way.” When you do, life becomes incredible.

Remember, my friends, we tend to resist learning about what we do not already know. We need to expect the unexpected and become an explorer in our own lives.

There are three qualifications you need for your journey:

1. Great Expectations. You know you are probably going to meet most of your goals. Some of you will probably find another goal hidden within your original goal that is better.

2. Great Sublimation. This is the ability to change, to modify, to transform – to turn lemons into lemonade.

3. Great Observations. Be aware. See the majesty and wonder of God coming into your life in the moment.

If you do, (and you will), life will be great.

May God bless you!

Prayer and Meditation______________________

The power of God is here. What a joy we have to experience God in this place. We are poised today as we enter prayer. We are patient and positive. We are here at this time to remind ourselves of God’s power that we can accept.

“All things are working together for good” Romans 8:28. We know that in everything God works for good for those who love God. Sometimes it takes great poise to recall this, especially when things seem so out of order, or when confusion seems to reign.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Even when everyone seems upset and unhappy, you refuse to become negative. You affirm silently with me:

I am poised because I know that God is leading me to my highest good. I know that God is here bringing about that which is for the highest good of all.

Poise is balance – a combination of peace and power. We are poised. We feel the power of God within us, at work in us and through us.

Spiritually know for yourself: I am patient. I am patient because I know that God is leading me to my highest good. I am patient because I know that God is leading others to their highest good also. I am patient because I know that God is at work and God cannot fail.

I am positive. I know that God is leading me to my highest good. I align myself with the constructive side of things now during my prayer.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Let us think about poise and healing. True healing is balance in the body, balance in the mind, and balance in the emotions. I affirm silently: I am poised. I know that God’s healing work is being done in me. Perfect balance is something I’m feeling right now.

Perfect balance and patience keep me peaceful in my mind and heart and help to free me from any worry or tension I might have carried into this room this morning. I am positive. I know that God’s healing work is being done in me right now.

We are poised. We come from a position of strength in God. Therefore we are not fearful. We are patient. We never doubt because we know in partnership with God our good is on its way.

We remain positive. We place our faith in the one true source of all – God.

We know that God provides for our every need.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

We have a spiritual outlook now. It is in our mind; it is in our body; it is in our thought.

Good gravitates toward us. In the face of limitation, we are positive that supply is available.

In the face of delays, we are patient and trusting. In the face of change, we are poised and serene.

We know that all things coming into our lives are working together for good.

Poised, patient, positive. Our lives are blessed. We meet each day more convinced than ever that God is with us and with those for whom we pray to guide, heal, and prosper.

Through the power of the spoken word decree: God is bringing only good into my life and circumstances. I am poised, patient, and positive.

Rest for a moment in the silence of prayer …

God is bringing good into my life and the circumstances of my life.

I welcome God. I am poised. I am patient. I am positive.

In Jesus Christ’s name I so affirm. This is the truth now about me … Amen.

Since 1999 – 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? Click here – 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
28Jun

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – God’s Shelter Found Through Prayer

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - God's Shelter Found Through Prayer

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.

Also, great lesson material available free daily – get Positive Daily Inspiration direct in your email inbox every morning. Text POSITIVEMINISTRY to 22828 to easy, free subscribe.

_____________________________________

“Let me … Find refuge under the shelter of your wings.” Psalm 61:4

There is spiritual power in stillness and peace of mind, through which you can find, and then express, the joy of the Lord. In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, there is a familiar passage that begins with the words “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” The writer goes on to enumerate a number of things saying that there is a time for this and a time for that. In verse seven of chapter 3, it says, ” … a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”

I guess this moment now – is my time to speak.

Whenever we are going to speak, it is always well if we have something to say. Sometimes, we cannot outdo silence. Very often in life we are so conditioned to keep the noise going. We get so outer-oriented and so busy that we forget to take time for quiet; take time apart, as Jesus did in His ministry. This is depicted in several places in the Gospel – where Jesus needs to draw away from the crowds and take a time apart.

This is not a new idea, but are we really practicing it in our lives? In other words, maybe, sometimes, we are talking too much when we need to be silent, and just spiritually listen for the voice of God.

This reminds me of the story of the tourist who came to a country town. That evening, he went down to the General Store and found a number of men who were gathered around, sitting there in silence. This particular gentleman happened to be a person who liked to talk a lot, so he kept trying to strike up a conversation. Nobody would reply. These good old boys were just sitting around the General Store in silence. Nobody said a word. Finally, the tourist said, “Well, really, is there a law against speaking in this town?”

One of the men spoke up and said, “No, there’s no law against speaking, but we sort of have a general understanding around here that unless one is sure he can improve upon the silence, he does not speak out.”

The idea of improving upon silence is so important if we are considering we have something to say.

Another story that tells us that if we do speak out, we had better know what we have to say and what we’re going to say, and that it is of importance at least to us and possibly, to other people.

There was a gentleman who was buying a horse. The seller of the horse told the man, “This was a deeply religious horse. There are a couple of key words this horse will tune in to. Any time you want the horse to stop, just say the word ‘Amen,’ because that’s what he stops on. Then, when you want the horse to go forward, say ‘Praise the Lord.’ You got it?”

The buyer said, “Yes, I understand that, and I’m willing to go with it.”

So he bought the horse, remembering that it was a deeply religious horse.

One day, he took the horse out for a ride. While they were galloping along in this field, the horse began galloping a little too fast. The gentleman forgot the key word to stop the horse (which was ‘Amen’). He was hollering out just about every word you could imagine, but the horse just kept galloping. The gentleman looked up and noticed he was heading toward a steep cliff. The horse kept on going, and the gentleman began to panic. All of a sudden, he remembered the key word that would stop the horse, and he cried out “Amen!” The horse stopped right on the edge of the cliff. The man looks down and sees the big drop, looks up to heaven and says, “Praise the Lord.”

This story keys into one thing, in particular. That is, if we have something to say, we hope it is the right thing to say, and that it will be helpful to ourselves and to other people.

The idea of silence is a particularly important idea because it brings with it peace of mind. And peace of mind is the one thing we all strive to achieve. Of all the blessings you will receive in prayer, there is one that stands out among all the others, and that is peace of mind. I do not think we can accomplish very much in life without peace of mind.

We do not have to look far around the world to see that there are plenty of places in the world that are still in need of peace. But if we are going to have peace out there, we must first establish peace within ourselves.

One of the greatest ways to learn to establish peace within ourselves is to practice the silence, to give ourselves those opportunities to have times of real quiet, prayer, and meditation, and to be in the silence where there is just ourselves, and God. These periods of silence will lead to a greater degree of peace of mind, without which nothing of lasting value has ever been accomplished.

The Bible brings this idea out in many different ways. One particular section in the Bible is full of a lot of racket and noise, and that is the book of Revelation. The sixth chapter in the book of Revelation is where the seven seals are broken and opened. When the first six seals are opened, there are all kinds of noises that take place; things that the writer describes as the upset of the universe that he says must happen before God will reveal God’s self to you, and wipe out all the evil, and establish the kingdom of God.

Remember, that does not literally have to happen. What can happen is that we can establish peace, right here and now, as we let God have God’s perfect way in and through us. There is always a hard way to learn spirituality and an easy way.

In the first four chapters, the four horsemen appear. Then, when the fifth is broken, you have a picture of the martyrs who are slain. They are under the altar crying out, “Oh, Lord, how long before you will avenge us.” It is a hugely different concept of God than we often have. It depicts a vengeful God who is going to carry out retribution upon his people. This is the JUST writer’s point of view.

Then, when the sixth seal is broken, there are all kinds of cosmic disorders. There are earthquakes and upsets all over the place. Finally, in the next chapter, there is a nice interlude, a time of quiet. Then, in chapter eight, the first verse, the seventh and final seal is broken.

Do you know what it says then? There is NO more noise and no more racket. It just says simply that there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Can you feel that? Then the noise starts again, according to the writer.

What a relief that must have been. What a relief it is, also, in our lives when we let the racket and the noise of the world intrude on our consciousness and peace of mind, TO KNOW that because God is with us, we always have a direct access to inner peace, that we can turn to God. We can take comfort in that spiritual thought.

Probably one of the greatest stories is in the New Testament – the idea of the stilling of the storm. Jesus was out on the waters on the Sea of Galilee with His disciples, and a storm comes up.

Jesus is asleep in the boat. A little lesson here is to remember that God never sleeps. We may sleep, but God, with us NOW, never sleeps. Anyway, the way it is shown in the scripture is that Jesus is asleep in the boat and the disciples wake Him. They ask Him something like, “Don’t you care about us?” All Jesus does is speak the word, “Peace, be still, peace, be still,” and the waters are calmed.

You and I have that same power to still the storms in our lives. How? By simply speaking the word of peace in prayer, we can take command of our consciousness, and of our lives. We are in charge of our world. We have the God-given power. All power is found in the silence.

The Bible says that we have been given dominion. In that power, we find whatever it is we need to accomplish in life, and we find the power to do it.

It is really in the quiet that things are accomplished. We know there is great power in the silence and the peace of mind that it brings. It was the same idea the poets address, in that you, could hear the silence.

The sound of the silence can be almost deafening. But what a beautiful sound it is, because you feel the spiritual power it also brings.

I remind you of Psalm 23 which says, “The Lord is my shepherd … He leads me besides still waters; he restores my soul.”

So, whatever it takes to enter into a moment of silence, let us do that. Let us take it. Let us create a practice in the silence which provides certain steps to entering the time of silence which leads to that blessed peace of mind. This then becomes the foundation from which we can go forth and accomplish things in life.

Most of you here, today, are probably working at a job in the world. That is wonderful. But there is a lot of worldly racket out there. Very often you come to church to services, on Sunday morning, to experience a time of quiet and hopefully, to gain some insight into practical, helpful daily living, and what everybody really wants – to still the racket of the world, once again. It always serves that purpose and gives a peace beyond (human) understanding.

This practice in the silence is a little technique to help us become quiet and to attain that peace of mind, from which we can then go forth and really do wonderful things in life.

1) The first step is relaxation.

Take command of your mind and body; speak the words Jesus spoke to the storm, “Peace, be still.” It does not take exceedingly long to find that your mind and body will respond to that, and there will be a sense of peace.

Once you have achieved that state of relaxation, then comes –

2) The concentration.

You begin to concentrate on a certain idea, a Divine idea. You do not worry about something or stew about some problem you have, but maybe just concentrate on the words “solution” or “answer;” whatever it might be, without effort or strain. Concentrate on a particular idea. You will know what that idea is because it will be revealed to you, through you, at exactly the right moment and in the right way.

After the concentration comes –

3) A time of meditation.

We just let the free flow of thought take place; we are one with the presence and power of God.

After meditation –

4) Realization.

The answer comes; an idea is born in our consciousness which is the solution we have been seeking.

I have found that sometimes the realization, or the answer, just does not come right at that moment. It may be after I have left that time of silence and gone out into the world; but at the right time and in the right way, there is the answer. It comes exactly at the right time and in the right way.

The fifth step in this whole process of the practice in the silence –

5) Simply an act of gratitude or thanksgiving.

We give thanks to God for the process which we have just entered and participated in, and for the answer we know is forthcoming, (if it has not already come at the time of silence). Thanksgiving is not just a wonderful way to end any activity, but to begin the activity as well. So maybe before we begin the practice in the silence, we should begin with a note of thanksgiving, because you know, in God, the answer is already there. All we have to do is let it unfold in our lives at the right time and in the right way.

Sometimes, people get the idea that when we enter a time of quiet or stillness that it is a “cop-out” from the world; that we are trying to avoid responsibility.

We can become still and quiet BEFORE we do anything. The moment of stillness is not really idleness, but a real period of intensified focused activity. There is always time in the creative process for you and me to become still, and that is the time when God takes over and brings an increase in our future efforts, in both Divine inspiration and strength.

The first chapter of Genesis is the creation story. Author Emmett Fox says that the six days of creation, before the Sabbath, are not the days that God works, spiritually, but are the days we work, when we put forth our effort and do our part. Then, we always come to the Sabbath, which is a time of rest for ourselves. It is the time when we have to let go and let God.

In everything we do, we come to that point where we have completed our efforts, and we have to let go and let God. Then we rest. The seventh day is our Sabbath. It is the day God goes to work and brings to completion all of our efforts.

The simple illustration I have always used is one of baking a cake. If you are going to bake a cake, you have to do your part in the process.

That part is your six days of creative activity, where you put all the ingredients of the cake together. Then what do you do? You let go and let God; you let go and let the oven do its work. While you are resting from your effort, the oven, or God, if you will, will go to work and bring to completion your efforts.

When you have understanding faith, (and that means an awareness that God always completes God’s part, and that God is a God of good), then you know you cannot fail. This creative process works, each and every time. We do our part. We put the ingredients of the cake together and put it in the oven, and then we let go and let God.

Of course, what do we often do while that cake is in the oven? We open up the oven door and see how God is doing; we make sure the Divine activity IS really taking place. Then we close the door. We don’t have to do all that when you understand that you really are involved in a creative process with God. I remember when I came into that awareness. Then the idea came that there really is a system by which I can live. I can really do something about this mess that I have called my life. I can change it.

Before then, there was no real system. It was, “Maybe God will act on your behalf, and maybe God won’t.”

Understanding faith is faith based on knowing – knowing that the activity of God is always at work on our behalf. All we have to do is LET IT to work with it. Do your part, and then – let go and let God. Very often the question arises, “How do I know I have done my part? How do I know there isn’t more for me to do?” When it keeps persisting, and you find that your continuing efforts are bringing more disharmony than harmony, then maybe it might be the time to let go and let God. Stop doing whatever it is you are doing, and let the Divine activity truly take over and bring to completion your efforts.

The words of Paul in his letter to the Philippians (chapter 1, verse 6): “I am sure He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” For us, the day of Jesus Christ can be right now. It is the day of completion. Jesus Christ has already come when you and I realize that God is with us NOW; that God is with us as the essence of our being, the fullness of being, the fullness of life, love, peace, wisdom, and any spiritual quality you can think of. When you have that realization, then for all practical purposes, Jesus Christ has come a second time into your present, daily life. Paul gives us that assurance.

You can count on God to do God’s part in this whole creative process. In the Old Testament, there are several wonderful stories that bear this out – the idea of letting go and letting God at the right time, doing your part and then letting go and letting God step into the picture, and as

Paul said, bring to completion all of our efforts.

One of those stories is the story of the Red Sea. The story simply is that Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and got them right up to the edge of the Red Sea. This is your story and mine. The Red Sea, spiritually, represents the big obstacle that seems to loom up on our path of unfoldment. What are we going to do? Try to crash our way through it?

Run away from it? What are we going to do? As Moses led these people right up to the Red Sea, these are the words he was instructed to speak to the people: “Fear not.” Why? Because the presence and the power and the activity of God is with you, in this situation.

Friends, if we didn’t have that realization that a God of good was with us all the way, then how could we possibly face these experiences of life?

Moses said, “Fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which God will work for you today.” He said the Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still. In other words, where is it we find our solution? In the stillness. You don’t find the solution in continued struggle in the outer aspect. There are outer things for us to do. The six days of creative activity are ours to do, but then there is always the Sabbath day, the seventh day.

What did the people do? They became still, right in front of this big obstacle. Do you know what the very next line is in the scripture? As soon as the people became still, the Lord said, “Go forward.” In other words, the water parted. In some way, that obstacle dissolved itself and the people were able to move through.

It is the same thing with you and me. Have you ever walked right up to a problem and then stopped, relaxed, and became still, in prayer, and then walk right on through the challenge?

Why? Because the Spirit of the Lord has paved the way for you, making it straight, safe, smooth, successful, and helpful. So, the Red Sea story tells us that in the stillness, not struggling in the outer aspect, do our miracles take place.

How about the story of Elijah and the still, small voice? He found God, not in the earthquake, not in the wind, not in the fire, not in the outer distractions of the world, but in the still, small voice within himself.

What an experience that was! When you read that account in the nineteenth chapter of First Kings, you will see it builds up to a climax of the still, small voice. You can just sense a time of quiet and peace, a time of stillness, that great peace of mind that we all aspire to. After that, what happens? The Lord tells Elijah to go to work and gives him three things to do. That is the same way it is with you and me. These periods of coming apart in the quietness and stillness are simply times of preparation for outer activity in the world, for another six days of creative activity. Then you come to the same point of letting go and letting God, enter the Sabbath rest, and be with the still, small voice within you. Sometimes, we get so caught up in all of this that we want to continue struggling and striving in the outer aspect to bring about our miracle.

Another great story in the scripture is the story of Jehoshaphat in Second Chronicles. He was the king of the southern kingdom of Judea. At one point, three invading armies came in to attack Judea. Jehoshaphat did not know what to do, so he went to a prophet. Do you know what the prophet told him? The prophet told him almost the same words you would have heard at the Red Sea with Moses. They begin with, “Fear not.” The prophet tells Jehoshaphat that “the battle is not yours, but God’s. You will not need to fight in this battle. Take your position. Stand still and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf.”

In other words, the prophet told Jehoshaphat, “Don’t do anything.” “You mean, I’m not supposed to do anything?” How are most of us conditioned? “I’ve got to get out there and do something.” But he had done all he could, up to this point. And when the three invading armies came in, two of the armies mistook the third for Jehoshaphat and fought with them. Then those other two invading armies turned on each other and fought each other. Who was standing there not having to lift a finger throughout the whole experience? Jehoshaphat.

Friends, IF he would have entered into battle, he would have been fighting a battle that he had already won. Does that sound familiar? How often we keep struggling and striving when the battle has already been won? In God, there is no battle to be fought. If you need to think in terms of fighting a battle, know in God, the battle has already been won! This whole scenario we find involved in God with us, in the perfect spiritual pattern with us, is something that simply needs to be played out on earth.

That is what you and I are attempting to do.

One more story comes out of the Old Testament that tells us about being still and experiencing salvation. It has to do with a king named Hezekiah. (In II Kings 18-20.) The Syrians had come down (a conquering nation) and had invaded the southern kingdom of Judea. They were surrounding Jerusalem, and the chief representative of the Assyrian King was outside the walls, threatening the people, and telling them, “Don’t listen to your King Hezekiah. Come out and surrender to us because you cannot resist the great King of Assyria.”

This is like what happens in us, in that city within us that we call peace of mind, when all the negative thoughts seem to be beseeching our peace of mind and quiet and shouting out at us, “Worry about this; worry about that.” Do you know what King Hezekiah does? He tells the people, “Do not answer him.” In other words, be quiet. Do you know what happens? The Assyrians withdraw. Something happens in the outer aspect.

Haven’t you noticed that when you let go and let God, something happens, and very often it is unexpected. It is always better than you expected. But something happens, and that which you fear, does NOT come about. What does come about is the perfect solution to your problem.

It is interesting, because many Biblical scholars think that at that time at the siege of Jerusalem by the King of Assyria, at about 700 B.C., that a certain psalm was written (Psalm 46). Psalm 46 begins by stating, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Do you know what verse 10 of Psalm 46 says? “Be still and know that I am God.” Do you see how that statement ties into what Hezekiah told the people in chapter 18 of II Kings when he said, “Do not answer him”? We can take a cue from that. “Be still and know that I am God.” When you have done your part, simply let go and let God.

This morning, I began this talk by quoting Ecclesiastes in saying, “For everything is a season; there is a time for every matter under heaven.” I said there was a time to keep silent and a time to speak, but we can also reverse that: there is a time to speak and a time to keep silent. I think my time of speaking is over, and now it is time for me to keep silent. I have done my part.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION______________________________

(Softly sing The Lord’s Prayer)

Follow with silence

As we continue in this prayer time, established by the singing of The Lord’s Prayer and listening to the beautiful sounds of the silence, we begin to relax and let go. We begin to let our thought flow to the deep and quiet within us. Within us and all about us is a deep abiding silence that is beyond the clamor, beyond the busyness, beyond all those things that are taking place in the outer world. We relax, let go, and attune our thoughts, right here and now, to the deep abiding silence within us.

As we move our thought spiritually inward, we tap that deep silence, wherein know we are one with the one Presence and one Power, God; the source of all good, the source of all life, the source of all light, the source of all love. The source of everything we may desire is within us in the silence of our being.

In the silence of prayer …

How wonderful, how marvelous to know that we do not have to seek outside of ourselves, but only tap into that reservoir of all we may desire.

Whatever we desire to create in the outer is to be found in abundance within us. We have all the power we will ever need to create our world according to a perfect law.

As we hold those thoughts in mind that produce good in our lives, we tap into the power and the presence of God. We are renewed, uplifted, and healed by that Presence and that Power. We feel the goodness of God filling our minds and hearts. No matter what the desire of our heart is to create in mind, body, and life experience, we find that Source of renewal, of healing, of all good with God.

In the silence of prayer …

God is life; the very life of life. That life flows through us when we tap into the pure source of life. We allow that life to renew, rebuild and uplift our body temples. Every cell responds to the movement of life.

As we seek it in the silence of prayer, new life is ours …

The silence is the source of all light. The light of the illumination of God guides and directs our ways and leads us into those paths that are for our highest good and for the highest good of all people concerned.

Surely, God is a lamp unto our feet. That light within us illumines our minds and fills our minds with wisdom. We know what to do and how to do it. We rejoice that the God of light is deep within us and all around us, working through us to bring about new good in our lives.

In the silence of prayer …

God is love. God is the source of all love. As we let that love, which is God, fill our mind and heart to overflowing, we are established in love. Love renews; love reaches out and touches all in our circle of life. Love harmonizes and brings peace. So, we let that love, which is God, express through us, as us.

God is peace, the peace that passes all understanding. As we fill our mind and heart with that peace, which is God, we let it flow out to all of the communities in our area, to all of the states of these United States, to all areas of the world. We see perfect peace being established in the mind and heart of every person, everywhere. We NOW have peace of mind.

We rejoice and give thanks that peace is now established in the silence of prayer …

Whatever good we desire, God is the answer. And in the silence of prayer, we seek to know God more completely and clearly.

We seek it now in the silence, in the silence of prayer …

We feel the wonder of God’s presence within us. We feel the joy of God’s presence with us. And we feel the goodness of God all about us. Knowing we have established a greater awareness of that God-presence which renews us always, we now bring our time of prayer and meditation to a close. As in heaven, so in earth, the heaven of our mind is surely filled with the goodness of God, and likewise, shall be the earth of our experience.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

This we do in the name and through the power of the living, loving presence of God, and Jesus Christ … Amen.

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21Jun

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – A Celebration of America

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - A Celebration of America

Time Sensitivity: Sunday On Or Before July 4th, (America)

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As a human being, you have a body, a mind, and a soul. This great country has the same, many bodies, great intelligence, and inventiveness, and a combined soul destined to continual greatness.

I would like you to look upon our flag. A lot is represented in this great American symbol. We have thirteen stripes, representing the beginning of our country on July 4th with the 13 original colonies. Then there are fifty stars. That says something more. It shows the American spirit.

There have been great obstacles for us to overcome as a people. Right after July 4th, this country was in chaos. The soul of our country contains the heritage and history of our people. The soul is what has gone on before, what is going on today, and what will go on in the future. The mind of this great country is within you today. You have been given the key to this great land for it is the land of opportunity.

After July 4th, 1776, chaos broke out in this country. In 1787, our country was in such chaos that the thirteen colonies thought they were going to go down. Many around the world believed that this was the end of the great experiment called the United States of America. A constitutional convention was formed. When these thirteen colonies came together, they were so disjointed that there was only one thing that could save them – God’s Spirit.

Benjamin Franklin knew this. He was 81. He rose and spoke to the convention. He said, “I am convinced that scripture is right when it says in Psalms 127:1: ‘Accept the Lord. Build the house. They labor in vain that build it.’ Gentlemen, I have lived a long time. I am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men. If the sparrow can’t fall to the ground without God’s notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without God’s aid? I move, gentlemen, that prayer imploring the assistance of heaven be held every morning before we proceed with business.”

Prayer is what this whole country was based on. It began with a dream – a dream to come to a country and be able to worship as you want to worship, to pray as you want to pray. It began with a dream to become whatever you wanted to become. After July 4, 1776, what happened to that dream? What is happening with it today?

I heard a commentator say recently that our economic challenges are the greatest that we’ve ever faced.

We have been in greater difficulties, and we have pulled out of those difficulties because of our greatness as a people and as a nation, and we will again.

Every time we look at the flag, we see the dream manifested. We see what has happened between the time that there were thirteen dis-united states until the manifestation of our fifty United States.

By September of 1786, the United States were – the plural applies – as unstrung as a junkyard guitar. The economy barely moved. Inflation was high triple digit. Jails bulged with debtors, criminals in those pre-credit card days. States waged vicious trade wars against each other. The total federal income in 1785 was less than a third of just the interest on the national debt. Printing presses flowed rivers of worthless paper money. It was so out of control that James Madison owed his barber $1,020 for one haircut.

The British, having lost the Revolution, determined to win the peace by strangling American commerce. The redcoats refused to leave frontier forts. Spain closed the Mississippi to American flatboats. Lacking a navy, America was humbled into paying the ruler of Morocco $10,000 to keep his hands off Yankee vessels.

Congress, sitting in New York, was hopeless and hapless. From October 1785 through the following April, a quorum showed up for only three days. Not three years before, Congress fled Philadelphia rather than be killed by the bayonets of mutinous, unpaid soldiers from the Revolution.

The law of the land was a deservedly forgotten political Edsel called the Articles of Confederation by which the thirteen states were as free as preschoolers in a sandbox to do as they pleased. No one was in charge. Had there been, most likely it would have been George Washington, but he was retired to Mount Vernon, dangerously low on money and filled with dismay.

In August 1786 he wrote: “I do not conceive we can exist long as a nation without having lodged somewhere a power which will pervade the whole Union.” The Americans adlibbed victory in the Revolution, a war fought on a shoestring and often without shoe leather. What they were against was clear. What they were for was not. The Articles reflected this indecision.

John Dickinson of Pennsylvania drafted the Articles in 1776, right after the Continental Congress declared independence. Having thrown off one despotism, the thirteen colonies were not about to hurl themselves back into the fire by creating another. So, there was no national executive under the Articles. Congress could ask for funds from the states but could not compel payment. Memories of stamp taxes were not easily forgotten. Nor were Crown judges. So, the Confederation had no national court system.

As the war wound down, states became deafer to appeals from Congress for cash. Congress asked for $8 million in 1782 to run the government at war’s end and $2 million in 1783 when peace came. The states responded with $1.5 million in each year. So, Congress asked for an amendment to the Articles to permit it to levy a 5% tax for 25 years to pay off the war debt. An amendment required the approval of all thirteen states. Four said no.

Under the Articles, any major legislation required approval of nine states. So, states opposed to anything could combine and exercise a veto by staying home until the legislation blew over. This sat well anyhow because delegates had trouble paying their landladies as Congress wandered all but penniless from Philadelphia to Princeton to Annapolis to Trenton to New York.

The Articles did not even provide for the common defense once peace broke out. So, most states had their own navy or army or both. Without judges to appeal to, this meant the quickest solution to most interstate squabbles was to tax the neighboring state with higher import and export taxes. The winners were the states that had major ports and established merchant marines such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. The losers were the New Jerseys, Connecticut and Carolinas who had little or none of the above. They were taxed through the nose by those maritime states and resented it, deeply.

New Jersey paid 40,000 pounds a year in hard money to send and receive goods through New York and Philadelphia. In retaliation, it charged New York 30 pounds a month rental on the lighthouse at Sandy Hook. Maryland closed the Potomac to Virginians, and Virginia retaliated by charging Maryland tolls at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Massachusetts and Rhode Island wanted to retaliate against British shipping after the war, but Connecticut hoped to garner the trade from the mother country and wouldn’t go along.

Americans were Americans in name, not fact. A New Yorker said he wouldn’t send his son to school in Connecticut lest he pick up “the low craft and cunning so incident to the people of that country.” Note the world “country.”

The British delighted at the infighting among what London called the “disunited States.” Geography in the form of innumerable rivers and coastal bays divided the states. A letter to England from Boston could reach there faster than one mailed to Charleston. “Good roads,” said one American, “are like angels’ visits: few and far between.”

The British well recognized the potential of a vast nation that already contained 3.5 million people. English strategy was to divide and conquer, to foster divisions and perhaps see the confederation split into three manageable (to London) nations divided by economics and interest into South, Middle and North. Britain contemplated sending ambassadors to each state instead of one to the country as a while.

Well, money was out of hand. The dream was out of hand. Most people were on the very rim of bankruptcy. Marylanders, for instance, owed British creditors the staggering sum of 1.6 million pounds; this when the total federal income was $400,000.

By 1786, seven states were printing paper money backed mostly by wishful thinking and rarely accepted by the states next door. New York speculators crammed saddlebags with printed money and headed for the hinterlands hoping to fool the uninformed people before they learned the money was worthless. Rhode Island, a paper money state, passed a law that creditors had to accept payment at face value regardless of the worth of the money. Rhode Island’s creditors departed Rhode Island, which was okay with the debtors but meant there was no one left to get credit from.

Here we have a nation after July 4, 1776–disbanded, going down. America was looked at by other countries as buzzards fly over a dead animal who is no longer working. When you look at our flag, you see that. You see the thirteen original countries that were not united. How did it become united? How did we get to the blue part of the flag where we see the fifty stars?

Today when people throw up their arms and say, “This will never work. Our country will never succeed now,” realize that God’s Spirit is in the mind of every person in this great land. God’s grace shines on this land. As hopeless as things have seemed in the past, when God’s working, the miracles come.

The miracles came through a piece of paper that united thirteen stripes on our flag. It got them to work together as one nation under God. That piece of paper is called the Constitution. It embodies the American spirit.

Let me share with you a few words from author Emmett Fox about that piece of paper. He said:

“The United States is not merely one more nation added to the list of nationalities. It stands for certain special ideas and special principles which have never been definitely expressed in concrete form in the world before. These ideas may be summed up in the conception of personal freedom and unlimited opportunity.”

What may be called the American Spirit is an intangible though very real thing in itself, but as far as it can be put into words, it has been expressed in the two great official documents of the American Republic, namely, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

These two documents are among the most remarkable ever written, and their effect upon the history of the world has probably never been surpassed. They are both quite short, not more than a few thousand words in length, but every thoughtful person anywhere, and certainly every American, should make themselves acquainted with them.

The Constitution contains no direct preaching at all. It makes no direct statements about the nature of humans or their destiny, or of a human’s relations with other people, or with God. It is, seemingly, just a dry legal document. Never does it say in so many words that a human should be free, that human beings should live together in brother and sisterhood, or that a human is the child of God. All these things are expressed or implied in the Declaration of Independence; and the Declaration is, I suppose, one of the most vivid and colorful documents that has ever been written. It thrills with hope and faith and enthusiasm. The Constitution, on the other hand, is formal, technical, precise, and not, at first sight, of any interest to the layman. Indeed, the Constitution and the Declaration might be described, in a sense, as the anatomy and physiology of government–the one concerned with the hard dry bones of the supporting skeleton, and the other the warm living organs and tissues of life.

To understand the American Constitution, one must realize that it aims at bringing about a definitely selected condition of things. It aims at a special way of life–a way of life that up to the present has only been found in completeness in the United States. It aims at personal freedom for the individual. It aims at the idea of substantial equality, and above all, at equality of opportunity. No civilization had ever before aimed at that.

The great Roman Empire had certain magnificent aims, but equality of opportunity was not one of them; they were always based on a foundation of slavery. The Middle Ages definitely rejected the idea of personal freedom and equality of opportunity and aimed rather at discipline and uniformity.

We tend to take these things – this freedom of opportunity – too much for granted. The people of the generation which produced it, the people of the Revolution, had to think it out. They had to work for it. They had to make sacrifices for it. They had to fight for it, and in many cases, they had to lay down their lives for it. It did not come easily. The inspiration was there, but, as with every inspiration, it had to be brought out into practical expression, and that is always difficult. It’s always easy to copy another thing with slight alterations, but very difficult to do something really new and better. In this case, the inspiration came to the leader, to the Fathers of the Constitution, as we call them, but they could have done nothing alone if the people had not responded, and worked, and fought, to make it secure.

The power of this nation says that you have equality of opportunity. You have an opportunity as an American to dream. You have an opportunity as an American to go to God the way you choose to go to God. You have, as an American, the right to go into any state and know that it is part of your land because you are a part of the United States.

There are people who got together when all dismay was breaking loose. Between those thirteen stripes and the blue that represents the fifty states, there was prayer.

There was a piece of paper that was written by prayer-directed people who consented to the Mind of God. When they consented to that Mind that is within each one of us, the chaos became a haven. The chaos became a glory–the glory of Old Glory.

If your life is in dismay, if your parts don’t feel connected in any way, if your body is in dismay, if you feel like there are thirteen separate areas of your body and they are all shouting, perhaps you need to do what Benjamin Franklin did – pray.

As you pray, know that in your body and mind and soul, like the body and mind and soul of this great country, there is power beyond human seeing. There is a power beyond human dismay. That power is God.

It wasn’t our forefathers and foremothers who created this nation. It was the power of God working through our ancestors. If our ancestors had been left alone to work with their own wits, we would just have the thirteen stripes and it would only be a memory. We would not be here today in this land called America. Because of the Mind of God, we have what we celebrate on the weekend of July 4th.

God Bless You!

PRAYER / MEDITATION__________________________

Prayer is the language of Spirit. It does not know time or space.

As you pray, you pray for more than just yourself. You pray for those who are looking to us for prayer. We become active in the ways of prayer that go out from where we are and cover people with an umbrella of God’s help.

The spirit of God expresses itself through you. In this prayer time, you are able to relax. You are able to release any thought or feeling that interferes with your awareness of the spirit of God.

As you do, remember what it says within the Holy Bible: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you.” The spirit of God fills your hearts and minds, making you a vessel–a wonderful, unique vessel fulfilling a sacred purpose. As a vessel, you open yourself to the inpouring and outpouring of the spirit of God.

You are open to wisdom, to life, and to abundance in this silent time of prayer …

There is a peace that is with you. It is the peace of God. It is a pure, unconditional peace that cleanses away fear and unforgiveness.

We are serene … still … as you hear the world

“Peace … peace … peace … Peace, be still.”

Rest in the silence of prayer, in the peace of God …

The Spirit of God establishes peace within you and in all areas of your life.

You think now about wisdom and guidance. You allow wisdom to fill your mind. God is wisdom. In daily choices or in major life decisions, Divine ideas come forth from the Spirit of God. These ideas, the quiet hand of God playing the instruments of our minds and hearts, guide us in the path of right thinking. We accept these wonderful ideas and give them full expression in our thoughts, words, and actions. No matter what the need, God’s almighty wisdom has the answer for us. We attune ourselves to the wisdom of God and are guided in perfect ways. You pray now for wisdom and understanding for yourself and for others.

In the silence of prayer …

The Spirit of God fills you with wisdom and understanding. You make right choices.

Having affirmed guidance for us and others, we now gently shift our attention to healing. We know that life abides within our body temples, for God is life.

In the Holy Bible it states: “Do you now know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

This mighty healing power fills every atom, every cell, every organ and tissue, and directs every function and activity. It knows exactly what to do and how to do it. This mighty healing power is at work right now. You are strengthened, nourished, and sustained by the Spirit of God. You are restored to wholeness and health according to the Divine plan.

Know this now, in the silence of prayer …

This Truth of God permeates every cell of your body. It is the absolute Truth of you. The Spirit of God is mighty within you and fortifies your body temple.

Now we gently move our thoughts to ideas of prosperity. Abundance fills our lives. God is supply. The spirit of God within us is the source of abundance. As we pray, we give thanks for every expression of God’s loving, providing spirit–for friends and family, for flowers and birds, for sunshine and rain, for the busyness of each day and the quiet of each night.

We pray now for a greater awareness of the bountiful goodness of God for ourselves and for others as we take this Truth into our hearts: The Spirit of God urges me to succeed. All that I need is provided.

In prayer, we are open to the Mind of God. We are open to the fulfillment of every need–peace, joy, health, prosperity, guidance, freedom. We accept all that is ours through the precious spirit of God within us. With hearts overflowing, we say, “Thank You, God!” From this place and this time of stillness, we have a new power to go forth, knowing that we are bountifully cared for because the spirit of God abides within us.

The light of God surrounds you;
The love of God enfolds you;
The power of God protects you;
The presence of God watches over you.
Wherever you are, God is!

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray … Amen.

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GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

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05Apr

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Finding the Shelter Through Prayer

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Finding the Shelter Through Prayer

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“Let me … Find refuge under the shelter of your wings.” Psalm 61:4

There is spiritual power in stillness and peace of mind, through which you can find, and then express, the joy of the Lord.

In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, there is a familiar passage that begins with the words “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” The writer goes on to enumerate a number of things saying that there is a time for this and a time for that. In verse seven of chapter 3, it says, ” … a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”

I guess this moment now – is my time to speak.

Whenever we are going to speak, it is always well if we have something to say. Sometimes, we cannot outdo silence. Very often in life we are so conditioned to keep the noise going. We get so outer-oriented and so busy that we forget to take time for quiet; take time apart, as Jesus did in His ministry. This is depicted in several places in the Gospel – where Jesus needs to draw away from the crowds and take a time apart.

This is not a new idea, but are we really practicing it in our lives? In other words, maybe, sometimes, we are talking too much when we need to be silent, and just spiritually listen for the voice of God.

This reminds me of the story of the tourist who came to a country town.

That evening, he went down to the General Store and found a number of men who were gathered around, sitting there in silence. This particular gentleman happened to be a person who liked to talk a lot, so he kept trying to strike up a conversation. Nobody would reply. These good old boys were just sitting around the General Store in silence. Nobody said a word. Finally, the tourist said, “Well, really, is there a law against speaking in this town?”

One of the men spoke up and said, “No, there’s no law against speaking, but we sort of have a general understanding around here that unless one is sure he can improve upon the silence, he does not speak out.”

The idea of improving upon silence is so important if we are considering we have something to say.

Another story that tells us that if we do speak out, we had better know what we have to say and what we’re going to say, and that it is of importance at least to us and possibly, to other people.

There was a gentleman who was buying a horse. The seller of the horse told the man, “This was a very religious horse. There are a couple of key words this horse will tune in to. Any time you want the horse to stop, just say the word ‘Amen,’ because that’s what he stops on. Then, when you want the horse to go forward, say ‘Praise the Lord.’ You got it?”

The buyer said, “Yes, I understand that, and I’m willing to go with it.” So he bought the horse, remembering that it was a very religious horse.

One day, he took the horse out for a ride. While they were galloping along in this field, the horse began galloping a little too fast. The gentleman forgot the key word to stop the horse (which was ‘Amen’). He was hollering out just about every word you could imagine, but the horse just kept galloping. The gentleman looked up and noticed he was heading toward a steep cliff. The horse kept on going, and the gentleman began to panic. All of a sudden, he remembered the key word that would stop the horse, and he cried out “Amen!” The horse stopped right on the edge of the cliff. The man looks down and sees the big drop, looks up to heaven and says, “Praise the Lord.”

This story keys into one thing, in particular. That is, if we have something to say, we hope it is the right thing to say, and that it will be helpful to ourselves and to other people.

The idea of silence is a particularly important idea because it brings with it peace of mind. And peace of mind is the one thing we all strive to achieve. Of all the blessings you will receive in prayer, there is one that stands out among all the others, and that is peace of mind. I do not think we can accomplish very much in life without peace of mind.

We do not have to look far around the world to see that there are plenty of places in the world that are still in need of peace. But if we are going to have peace out there, we must first establish peace within ourselves.

One of the greatest ways to learn to establish peace within ourselves is to practice the silence, to give ourselves those opportunities to have times of real quiet, prayer, and meditation, and to be in the silence where there is just ourselves, and God. These periods of silence will lead to a greater degree of peace of mind, without which nothing of lasting value has ever been accomplished.

The Bible brings this idea out in many different ways. One particular section in the Bible is full of a lot of racket and noise, and that is the book of Revelation. The sixth chapter in the book of Revelation is where the seven seals are broken and opened. When the first six seals are opened, there are all kinds of noises that take place; things that the writer describes as the upset of the universe that he says must happen before God will reveal God’s self to you, and wipe out all the evil, and establish the kingdom of God.

Remember, that does not literally have to happen. What can happen is that we can establish peace, right here and now, as we let God have God’s perfect way in and through us. There is always a hard way to learn spirituality and an easy way.

In the first four chapters, the four horsemen appear. Then, when the fifth is broken, you have a picture of the martyrs who are slain. They are under the altar crying out, “Oh, Lord, how long before you will avenge us.” It is a hugely different concept of God than we often have. It depicts a vengeful God who is going to carry out retribution upon his people. This is JUST the writer’s point of view.

Then, when the sixth seal is broken, there are all kinds of cosmic disorders. There are earthquakes and upsets all over the place.

Finally, in the next chapter, there is a nice interlude, a time of quiet. Then, in chapter eight, the first verse, the seventh and final seal is broken.

Do you know what it says then? There is NO more noise and no more racket. It just says simply that there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Can you feel that? Then the noise starts again, according to the writer.

What a relief that must have been. What a relief it is, also, in our lives when we let the racket and the noise of the world intrude on our consciousness and peace of mind, TO KNOW that because God is with us, we always have a direct access to inner peace, that we can turn to God. We can take comfort in that spiritual thought.

Probably one of the greatest stories is in the New Testament – the idea of the stilling of the storm. Jesus was out on the waters on the Sea of Galilee with His disciples, and a storm comes up.

Jesus is asleep in the boat. A little lesson here is to remember that God never sleeps. We may sleep, but God, with us NOW, never sleeps. Anyway, the way it is shown in the scripture is that Jesus is asleep in the boat and the disciples wake Him. They ask Him something like, “Don’t you care about us?” All Jesus does is speak the word, “Peace, be still, peace, be still,” and the waters are calmed.

You and I have that same power to still the storms in our lives. How? By simply speaking the word of peace in prayer, we can take command of our consciousness, and of our lives. We are in charge of our world. We have the God-given power. All power is found in the silence. The Bible says that we have been given dominion. In that power, we find whatever it is we need to accomplish in life, and we find the power to do it.

It is really in the quiet that things are accomplished. We know there is great power in the silence and the peace of mind that it brings. It was the same idea the poets address, in that you, could hear the silence. The sound of the silence can be almost deafening. But what a beautiful sound it is, because you feel the spiritual power it also brings.

I remind you of Psalm 23 which says, “The Lord is my shepherd … He leads me besides still waters; he restores my soul.”

So, whatever it takes to enter into a moment of silence, let us do that.

Let us take it. Let us create a practice in the silence which provides certain steps to entering the time of silence which leads to that blessed peace of mind. This then becomes the foundation from which we can go forth and accomplish things in life.

Most of you here, today, are probably working at a job in the world. That is wonderful. But there is a lot of worldly racket out there. Very often you come to church to services, on Sunday morning, to experience a time of quiet and hopefully, to gain some insight into practical, helpful daily living, and what everybody really wants – to still the racket of the world, once again. It always serves that purpose and gives a peace beyond (human) understanding.

This practice in the silence is a little technique to help us become quiet and to attain that peace of mind, from which we can then go forth and really do wonderful things in life.

1) The first step is relaxation.

Take command of your mind and body; speak the words Jesus spoke to the storm, “Peace, be still.” It does not take exceedingly long to find that your mind and body will respond to that, and there will be a sense of peace.

Once you have achieved that state of relaxation, then comes –

2) The concentration.

You begin to concentrate on a certain idea, a Divine idea. You do not worry about something or stew about some problem you have, but maybe just concentrate on the words “solution” or “answer;” whatever it might be, without effort or strain. Concentrate on a particular idea. You will know what that idea is because it will be revealed to you, through you, at exactly the right moment and in the right way.

After the concentration comes –

3) A time of meditation.

We just let the free flow of thought take place; we are one with the presence and power of God.

After meditation –

4) Realization.

The answer comes; an idea is born in our consciousness which is the solution we have been seeking.

I have found that sometimes the realization, or the answer, just does not come right at that moment. It may be after I have left that time of silence and gone out into the world; but at the right time and in the right way, there is the answer. It comes exactly at the right time and in the right way.

The fifth step in this whole process of the practice in the silence –

5) Simply an act of gratitude or thanksgiving.

We give thanks to God for the process which we have just entered and participated in, and for the answer we know is forthcoming, (if it has not already come at the time of silence). Thanksgiving is not just a wonderful way to end any activity, but to begin the activity as well. So maybe before we begin the practice in the silence, we should begin with a note of thanksgiving, because you know, in God, the answer is already there. All we have to do is let it unfold in our lives at the right time and in the right way.

Sometimes, people get the idea that when we enter a time of quiet or stillness that it is a “cop-out” from the world; that we are trying to avoid responsibility.

We can become still and quiet BEFORE we do anything. The moment of stillness is not really idleness, but a real period of intensified focused activity. There is always time in the creative process for you and me to become still, and that is the time when God takes over and brings an increase in our future efforts, in both Divine inspiration and strength.

The first chapter of Genesis is the creation story. Author Emmett Fox says that the six days of creation, before the Sabbath, are not the days that God works, spiritually, but are the days we work, when we put forth our effort and do our part. Then, we always come to the Sabbath, which is a time of rest for ourselves. It is the time when we have to let go and let God.

In everything we do, we come to that point where we have completed our efforts, and we have to let go and let God. Then we rest. The seventh day is our Sabbath. It is the day God goes to work and brings to completion all of our efforts.

The simple illustration I have always used is one of baking a cake. If you are going to bake a cake, you have to do your part in the process. That part is your six days of creative activity, where you put all the ingredients of the cake together. Then what do you do? You let go and let God; you let go and let the oven do its work. While you are resting from your effort, the oven, or God, if you will, will go to work and bring to completion your efforts.

When you have understanding faith, (and that means an awareness that God always completes God’s part, and that God is a God of good), then you know you cannot fail. This creative process works, each and every time. We do our part. We put the ingredients of the cake together and put it in the oven, and then we let go and let God.

Of course, what do we often do while that cake is in the oven? We open up the oven door and see how God is doing; we make sure the Divine activity IS really taking place. Then we close the door. We don’t have to do all that when you understand that you really are involved in a creative process with God. I remember when I came into that awareness. Then the idea came that there really is a system by which I can live. I can really do something about this mess that I have called my life. I can change it. Before then, there was no real system. It was, “Maybe God will act on your behalf, and maybe God won’t.”

Understanding faith is faith based on knowing – knowing that the activity of God is always at work on our behalf. All we have to do is LET IT to work with it. Do your part, and then – let go and let God. Very often the question arises, “How do I know I have done my part? How do I know there isn’t more for me to do?” When it keeps persisting, and you find that your continuing efforts are bringing more disharmony than harmony, then maybe it might be the time to let go and let God. Stop doing whatever it is you are doing, and let the Divine activity truly take over and bring to completion your efforts.

The words of Paul in his letter to the Philippians (chapter 1, verse 6): “I am sure He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” For us, the day of Jesus Christ can be right now. It is the day of completion. Jesus Christ has already come when you and I realize that God is with us NOW; that God is with us as the essence of our being, the fullness of being, the fullness of life, love, peace, wisdom, and any spiritual quality you can think of. When you have that realization, then for all practical purposes, Jesus Christ has come a second time into your present, daily life. Paul gives us that assurance.

You can count on God to do God’s part in this whole creative process. In the Old Testament, there are several wonderful stories that bear this out – the idea of letting go and letting God at the right time, doing your part and then letting go and letting God step into the picture, and as Paul said, bring to completion all of our efforts.

One of those stories is the story of the Red Sea. The story simply is that Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and got them right up to the edge of the Red Sea. This is your story and mine. The Red Sea, spiritually, represents the big obstacle that seems to loom up on our path of unfoldment. What are we going to do? Try to crash our way through it? Run away from it? What are we going to do? As Moses led these people right up to the Red Sea, these are the words he was instructed to speak to the people: “Fear not.” Why? Because the presence and the power and the activity of God is with you, in this situation.

Friends, if we didn’t have that realization that a God of good was with us all the way, then how could we possibly face these experiences of life?

Moses said, “Fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which God will work for you today.” He said the Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still. In other words, where is it we find our solution? In the stillness. You don’t find the solution in continued struggle in the outer aspect. There are outer things for us to do. The six days of creative activity are ours to do, but then there is always the Sabbath day, the seventh day.

What did the people do? They became still, right in front of this big obstacle. Do you know what the very next line is in the scripture? As soon as the people became still, the Lord said, “Go forward.” In other words, the water parted. In some way, that obstacle dissolved itself and the people were able to move through.

It is the same thing with you and me. Have you ever walked right up to a problem and then stopped, relaxed, and became still, in prayer, and then walk right on through the challenge?

Why? Because the Spirit of the Lord has paved the way for you, making it straight, safe, smooth, successful, and helpful. So, the Red Sea story tells us that in the stillness, not struggling in the outer aspect, do our miracles take place.

How about the story of Elijah and the still, small voice? He found God, not in the earthquake, not in the wind, not in the fire, not in the outer distractions of the world, but in the still, small voice within himself. What an experience that was! When you read that account in the nineteenth chapter of First Kings, you will see it builds up to a climax of the still, small voice. You can just sense a time of quiet and peace, a time of stillness, that great peace of mind that we all aspire to. After that, what happens? The Lord tells Elijah to go to work and gives him three things to do. That is the same way it is with you and me. These periods of coming apart in the quietness and stillness are simply times of preparation for outer activity in the world, for another six days of creative activity. Then you come to the same point of letting go and letting God, enter the Sabbath rest, and be with the still, small voice within you. Sometimes, we get so caught up in all of this that we want to continue struggling and striving in the outer aspect to bring about our miracle.

Another great story in the scripture is the story of Jehoshaphat in Second Chronicles. He was the king of the southern kingdom of Judea. At one point, three invading armies came in to attack Judea. Jehoshaphat did not know what to do, so he went to a prophet. Do you know what the prophet told him? The prophet told him almost the same words you would have heard at the Red Sea with Moses. They begin with, “Fear not.” The prophet tells Jehoshaphat that “the battle is not yours, but God’s. You will not need to fight in this battle. Take your position. Stand still and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf.”

In other words, the prophet told Jehoshaphat, “Don’t do anything.” “You mean, I’m not supposed to do anything?” How are most of us conditioned? “I’ve got to get out there and do something.” But he had done all he could, up to this point. And when the three invading armies came in, two of the armies mistook the third for Jehoshaphat and fought with them. Then those other two invading armies turned on each other and fought each other. Who was standing there not having to lift a finger throughout the whole experience?
Jehoshaphat.

Friends, IF he would have entered into battle, he would have been fighting a battle that he had already won. Does that sound familiar? How often we keep struggling and striving when the battle has already been won? In God, there is no battle to be fought. If you need to think in terms of fighting a battle, know in God, the battle has already been won! This whole scenario we find involved in God with us, in the perfect spiritual pattern with us, is something that simply needs to be played out on earth. That is what you and I are attempting to do.

One more story comes out of the Old Testament that tells us about being still and experiencing salvation. It has to do with a king named Hezekiah. (In II Kings 18-20.) The Syrians had come down (a conquering nation) and had invaded the southern kingdom of Judea. They were surrounding Jerusalem, and the chief representative of the Assyrian King was outside the walls, threatening the people, and telling them, “Don’t listen to your King Hezekiah. Come out and surrender to us because you cannot resist the great King of Assyria.”

This is like what happens in us, in that city within us that we call peace of mind, when all the negative thoughts seem to be beseeching our peace of mind and quiet and shouting out at us, “Worry about this; worry about that.” Do you know what King Hezekiah does? He tells the people, “Do not answer him.” In other words, be quiet. Do you know what happens? The Assyrians withdraw. Something happens in the outer aspect.

Haven’t you noticed that when you let go and let God, something happens, and very often it is unexpected. It is always better than you expected. But something happens, and that which you fear, does NOT come about. What does come about is the perfect solution to your problem.

It is interesting, because many Biblical scholars think that at that time at the siege of Jerusalem by the King of Assyria, at about 700 B.C., that a certain psalm was written (Psalm 46). Psalm 46 begins by stating, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Do you know what verse 10 of Psalm 46 says? “Be still and know that I am God.” Do you see how that statement ties into what Hezekiah told the people in chapter 18 of II Kings when he said, “Do not answer him”? We can take a cue from that. “Be still and know that I am God.” When you have done your part, simply let go and let God.

This morning, I began this talk by quoting Ecclesiastes in saying, “For everything is a season; there is a time for every matter under heaven.” I said there was a time to keep silent and a time to speak, but we can also reverse that: there is a time to speak and a time to keep silent. I think my time of speaking is over, and now it is time for me to keep silent. I have done my part.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION______________________________

Softly listen to The Lord’s Prayer {Google music of Lord’s prayer)

Follow with silence

As we continue in this prayer time, established by the singing of The Lord’s Prayer and listening to the beautiful sounds of the silence, we begin to relax and let go. We begin to let our thought flow to the deep and quiet within us. Within us and all about us is a deep abiding silence that is beyond the clamor, beyond the busyness, beyond all those things that are taking place in the outer world. We relax, let go, and attune our thoughts, right here and now, to the deep abiding silence within us.

As we move our thought spiritually inward, we tap that deep silence, wherein know we are one with the one Presence and one Power, God; the source of all good, the source of all life, the source of all light, the source of all love. The source of everything we may desire is within us in the silence of our being.

In the silence of prayer …

How wonderful, how marvelous to know that we do not have to seek outside of ourselves, but only tap into that reservoir of all we may desire. Whatever we desire to create in the outer is to be found in abundance within us. We have all the power we will ever need to create our world according to a perfect law.

As we hold those thoughts in mind that produce good in our lives, we tap into the power and the presence of God. We are renewed, uplifted, and healed by that Presence and that Power. We feel the goodness of God filling our minds and hearts. No matter what the desire of our heart is to create in mind, body, and life experience, we find that Source of renewal, of healing, of all good with God.

In the silence of prayer …

God is life; the very life of life. That life flows through us when we tap into the pure source of life. We allow that life to renew, rebuild and uplift our body temples. Every cell responds to the movement of life.

As we seek it in the silence of prayer, new life is ours …

The silence is the source of all light. The light of the illumination of God guides and directs our ways and leads us into those paths that are for our highest good and for the highest good of all people concerned. Surely, God is a lamp unto our feet. That light within us illumines our minds and fills our minds with wisdom. We know what to do and how to do it. We rejoice that the God of light is deep within us and all around us, working through us to bring about new good in our lives.

In the silence of prayer …

God is love. God is the source of all love. As we let that love, which is God, fill our mind and heart to overflowing, we are established in love. Love renews; love reaches out and touches all in our circle of life. Love harmonizes and brings peace. So, we let that love, which is God, express through us, as us.

God is peace, the peace that passes all understanding. As we fill our mind and heart with that peace, which is God, we let it flow out to all of the communities in our area, to all of the states of these United States, to all areas of the world. We see perfect peace being established in the mind and heart of every person, everywhere. We NOW have peace of mind.

We rejoice and give thanks that peace is now established in the silence of prayer …

Whatever good we desire, God is the answer. And in the silence of prayer, we seek to know God more completely and clearly.

We seek it now in the silence, in the silence of prayer …

We feel the wonder of God’s presence within us. We feel the joy of God’s presence with us. And we feel the goodness of God all about us. Knowing we have established a greater awareness of that God-presence which renews us always, we now bring our time of prayer and meditation to a close. As in heaven, so in earth, the heaven of our mind is surely filled with the goodness of God, and likewise, shall be the earth of our experience.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

This we do in the name and through the power of the living, loving presence of God, and Jesus Christ … Amen.

Since 1999 – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,000,000 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? Click here – 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.

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Christopher Ian Chenoweth

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29Mar

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – The Power of Positive Thinking

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - The Power of Positive Thinking

Time Sensitivity: A Sunday before Easter

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.

Also, great lesson material available free daily – get Positive Daily Inspiration direct in your email inbox every morning. Text POSITIVEMINISTRY to 22828 to easy, free subscribe.

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Positive thinking has great power. Let us talk about the power of making deposits in your own mind that reap rich rewards. It can only return to you what you deposit within it.

Let me share a story with you. There was once a university professor who went searching for the meaning of life. After several years, he came to a holy man and asked to be enlightened. The holy man invited his visitor into his humble dwelling and began to serve him tea. He filled the man’s cup and then kept on pouring so that tea was soon dripping onto the floor. The professor watched the overflow until he could no longer restrain himself. “Stop! It is full. No more will go in.” The holy man said, “Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions, preconceptions, and ideas. How can I teach you unless you first empty your cup?”

In Greek mythology, there was a goddess of memory. She was the mother of nine sister goddesses who presided over poetry, the arts, and the sciences.

What if your safety deposit box at your bank was so filled with debris that you could no longer make good deposits, what if there was no room.

What happens when you are praying for healing, you’ve said your positive prayers, and then, in the middle of the night, those old thoughts about the last time you were sick bubble up? You say, “Oh, Lord, I pray this doesn’t happen again.” But the memory is so vivid. It is coming from your memory.

Let us say you are experiencing prosperity. It feels so wonderful; it is so good. Then, you remember so clearly about the last time you experienced lack. You remember what that felt like and how it was to deal with it. Suddenly, you are afraid because the memory is so vivid. It seems so much more powerful than your prayers of faith.

Or, you saw something with your eyes that hurt you a great deal. It was so vivid that you captured it forever like a photograph, and it keeps coming up to haunt you.

The inner mind is like a photographic plate, and yet most of us are carrying around images of lack of some kind.

Let us say you wanted to do something, but you couldn’t at the time. You felt helpless. That is so vivid in you, and it keeps bubbling up. You want it to bubble up once and for all, and come out, so this memory of this perceived failure will have no effect on you any longer.

Imagine, if you would for a moment, a God filled memory bank in your mind. Every time something unexpectedly bubbled up in you, it was beautiful; it fed you, gave you courage, and inspired you.

What is a memory bank? It is an investment place where many individual thoughts should work together for the good of the whole.

A bank is a place that gives loans and pays interest. It is a place you invest in for a bigger return later. A bank is a place you should be able to go to when you’re having a down day, and have it flood you with unbelievable good, joy, and exhilaration.

But many times, our personal bank has gone bust.

Many times, it works in the reverse way – negative memories come up and rob us of our present-moment peace of mind.

The memory mind is a “great gulfs fixed” between your present and the attainment of your highest desire, your good. The memory mind is your sensitive photographic plate of mind. Its true office is to receive impressions from God and to reproduce them upon the canvas of your conscious mind.

Right now, your conscious mind is looking out and taking in the world around you. You are filtering those things back into the realm of your memory bank. Sadly, this is especially true if something happens to you, real, or imagined, that is displeasing. It is almost like you make such an impression of that, that you just chisel a permanent statute to it in your memory bank.

In the Holy person, the memory bank exists to be flooded from God mind, and the daily perceptions of what God gives in life. Therefore, as a positive person, when you are facing something that is displeasing, your memory is filled to the brim with investments of God Mind for your well being.

The memory bank is pivotal. It is designed by our Creator to take images on its sensitive plate of God – to be filled with God’s good, and power. You can cleanse bad memories you have, by continually investing good memories, awareness, and gratitude of God’s good. Your life will take on spiritual power. A person is who he/she thinks, or eats, or reads, but more so a person is what he/she remembers within their own memory bank.

In the classic play “Macbeth,” Shakespeare said: “Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased? Pluck from the memory of a rooted sorrow.”

I’m going to ask you a question this morning: Do you have any rooted sorrows in your mind? If you do, you don’t want them there anymore. You do not need them. As a matter of fact, not only do you not need the rooted sorrows, but they are blocking you from God’s good. You have this rooted sorrow between your conscious-awareness mind and God mind.

In our Bible, James 1:7, 8, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

You must go back to your Source, your original depositor, and let God’s clear light flood your whole being with Divine Truth. Your body CAN BE the Temple of the living God. You must lay aside, forever, the idea of serving two masters and must look to the one Master, Christ. Jesus said that He came not to destroy the law, but that the law might be fulfilled through Him. It is the mission of every person born into the world to fulfill the law of Being, to allow God to come through in all phases of her or his mind, perfectly.

The Bible says, “Be subject, therefore, unto God. Draw nigh to God and God will draw nigh to you.”

God thinks. God responds. God is omni-responsive. God never gets to the point where God does not respond to you individually. If you turn to God and ask God to do something, God is going to hear you. Don’t look to appearances of all the debris in there. Ask God to flood your entire memory bank with light. You ask God and God is omni-responsive. God responds and cleansing happens.

Do you remember the story of the prodigal son? Go a little way, and God will come the rest of the way to greet you. You do not have to figure out, in conscious-awareness mind, the formula, the magic words, the keys to open this up. God knows how to cleanse you from inside out.

In Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass,” the queen says: “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.” Memory bank is supposed to work forward by letting your being with positive thoughts and feelings, to bless you, to comfort and strengthen you, to guide you around pitfalls in life, by helping you to remember your connectedness to the Source.

God is ever ready to pour forth a Divine blessing, quick to respond to the call of the conscious awareness. God is omnipresent, but humans have hedged themselves about by a world of illusion of their own creating, and through its mists, they cannot see God, or catch the light from God. Jesus came to give us conscious control of the intelligence and the power necessary to dispel these mists, where we think we are alone and that we have to do it all alone. Jesus gave us the ability to dispel the fog, just like an early morning fog lifts with the light of the sun. When it lifts we can see, feel, and perceive that God IS WITH US.

There is not one person who is not equipped in this way. Each person has God’s help ready and willing to help at any time. God will lift you up, regenerate your memory bank, and transform the memory bank into the true image and likeness of God. It will happen by your saying you want it, in prayer.

There is an old saying: “Don’t be a single-stringed harp.” Can you imagine if a harp had only one string? You would get tired of that one note pretty quickly. Imagine that conscious mind is only looking in one direction, and yet, worry and fear in the human being do just that.

Imagine memory that only looks in one direction and turns its back on God. We don’t have to. We can find God right where we are.

As the old, bad memories come up, those things that hurt you in the past, what do you do? You don’t buy oats for a dead horse.

It’s just a mist. If you look closely through it, you will see God’s help. And as you see God through the fog and the mist of the old memory that is rising, you have taken away its power once and for all. It will never again have power to disturb you.

In the Bible it says, “A new heart also will I give you.” In this section of the Bible, the heart refers to your memory bank. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” The whole mind will be raised to a new consciousness. This is what I pray happens now.

I pray, like the Bible says, that you have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.

Let us pray:

Through the action of God, I ask and call forth a whole new spirituality in and through me.

I decree in Jesus Christ’s name that, in every level of my mind, I am being cleansed. I pray my memory bank is being cleansed by God. It is being cleansed through and through with the true light that lighteth every human. It lights the darkness in me now.

God’s light that does not allow any darkness to remain in me.

In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen

PRAYER / MEDITATION___________________

As you rest, think within yourself about your positive faith. You have faith in God. God is your instant, constant, abundant help in every need.

You have faith in God to open ways where to human sense there is no way. You have faith in God to guide, govern, and direct you in Divine directed service.

Rising up in you now is a faith in God to raise your human understanding to Divine higher understanding. You have faith in God. And because God is with you, you have faith in yourself as a child of God, eager to do God’s bidding.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Dear God, I expect a miracle. Understanding that my help comes from You, I will not limit You with preconceived opinions of human mind. I am open and receptive to Your unlimited reservoir of good.

The abundance of God’s good is mine to use, share and enjoy. I am dwelling in the midst of infinite abundance of good. The abundance of God is my infinite source. The river of life is flowing through me, from God, through my memory, to, and through, my entire body. The river of life never stops flowing. It flows through me into lavish expression of God’s good.

Good comes to me through unexpected avenues. There is always a higher outworking of God’s law. It demonstrates in my life this day. God works in so many ways with so many wonders that I cannot even perceive of them in human mind this moment. Nothing is too good to be true because I dwell in the midst of all good and all love of God. Nothing is too wonderful to happen. With God as my source, nothing amazes me.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

I now give myself, freely and fearlessly, into this amazing, happy life that I am living today. Life gives back to me with fabulous increase. Blessings come in expected and unexpected ways from God.

God provides for me in wondrous ways this very day.

I am in grateful gratitude for what God is now doing for me, right now.

The river of God life flows through me now. The unlimited reservoir of good and love is outpouring on me, right now.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

May God’s good uplift you and fuel you in your daily life. Nothing else will exist but thoughts of God’s good. We turn to God now with our whole mind. We call forth the total, complete cleansing of God, as you rest it occurs. We ask that all negative thoughts dissipate like a mist. Like a fog, it will dissipate, under the heat of God’s light, and be no more.

We call forth the thoughts of God. We call forth a new reservoir and an investment of God power within us. Today, this moment, the action is taking place inside of each of us. We are created anew in God.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

If an old negative memory should ever coming up, dear God, with Your help, I will receive the blessing of light. I will have better dreams at night.
I will have a wonderful power during the day that gives me a foundation for my faith filled life to rest on. My positive thoughts 1,000 times more power. Every thought in me is a thought of God.

May my mind be a reservoir of God’s Divine ideas that hold to the truth about me.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Thank You God, for Your ever abiding presence in my life.

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray … Amen.

Since 1999 – The worldwide PRAYER PLACE inside the Internet, serving well over 1,000,000 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? Click here – 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.

Easter offering:
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GOD BLESS YOU, Happy Easter!
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

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22Mar

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Easter

POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Easter

Time Sensitivity: Easter Sunday

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.

Also, great lesson material available free daily – get Positive Daily Inspiration direct in your email inbox every morning. Text POSITIVEMINISTRY to 22828 to easy, free subscribe.

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For hundreds of years, Hebrew seers had believed that a man was to come, who would fulfill the noblest ideals of humanity. This ideal man, they foretold, would be the Messiah, the anointed One, the beloved of God, the Savior. They prophesied that He would lead His people out of darkness and distress, into the light and joy that was to come. From the days of Moses, who declared, Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken [Duet. 18:15, KJV].

Throughout the period of the great literary prophets, there had been these predictions. How and when this Messiah was to come the prophets did not know; nevertheless, they had a definite conception of what He would be like. Of all the prophets, Isaiah had the clearest vision. He said that a maiden would bear a son whose name would be Immanuel (which means God with us). He would be a redeemer, a king to whose sovereignty there would be no end.

Allow me to share with you Isaiah 9:2-5. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined … For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace [KJV].

Isaiah gave a clear description of the nature of the anointed One. The Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the [respect] of Jehovah … and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his words; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, an decide with equity for the needy of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins [Isaiah 11:2-5, KJV].

The prophet declared that the kingdom of the Messiah would be universal, not only for humans, but for all creation. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them … They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea [Isaiah 11:6-9].

Truly this was a remarkable person. Allow me to share with you the most remarkable story of all–the Easter story, what we are here to celebrate this morning.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

There is an important fact here. There were two disciples, who ran to the tomb, and there are two disciples who run to your tomb–whatever you have entombed in your life; and whatever you are hoping on this Easter morning will rise again.

The two disciples were Peter and John. They spiritually represent faith and love.

But love gets there first. Mary Magdalene, the soul that has found faith and love, is not afraid once they come.

With love and faith, we, too, can face anything. Allow your love to go forward and your faith will follow. The two have a great, united strength where you can do anything; where you can face your fears if you allow these two powers, which are with you (Christ powers), to go ahead.

You remember, the two disciples ran on their way to their homes, but Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?

You can just hear Jesus saying this. My Jesus, and, I hope, your Jesus, is a smiling Jesus, a Jesus with joy and a great sense of humor. I can just see Him. It is one of the peak moments of His life, filled with joy. And here is Mary in sorrow. He looks at Mary and says, “Mary, why are you weeping? Here I am. I am right here.”

But she supposed Him to be the gardener. She had tears in her eyes; she was in great sorrow. She looked up, but could not see clearly. She was still crying uncontrollably. She said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, [probably in total disbelief] “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

There were five appearances of Jesus on the day of the Resurrection (Easter Sunday). Appearance #1 was when Mary was standing at the tomb weeping. Mary’s weeping was the human reaction of grief over the death of a loved one. And added to her grief was the fear that someone had stolen Jesus’ body.

The two angels represent the positive words of life that bring spiritual power to bear; that lift the body out of matter into spirit. These two bright and shining powers are possessed of animated intelligence.

Jesus was standing nearby, but Mary’s eyes were filled with tears and at first, she did not recognize Him. When He asked why she wept, she thought He was the gardener. However, when He called her by name, she turned and knew Him in that moment. Jesus said to her, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father.”

Why did Jesus not want Mary to touch Him? Later, in the same afternoon, He appeared to other women and did not object if they touched Him. It would seem that Mary was closer to Him than the others; for she had served Him continually from the time He had healed her, early in His ministry. Her grief, therefore, was heavier to carry than theirs.

In order to rise into the realm of God purity, the Christ must not be attached to the clinging affections of the soul. Jesus did not want the sorrowing thought of Mary to touch Him. The spiritual mind does not grieve; it does not look to matter and the limitations of the flesh for life eternal, and it dissipates the thoughts of sorrow by a denial of their reality or their power to affect the mind of the Son of God

The second appearance of Jesus was to the other women, who had come with Mary Magdalene to anoint His body. It probably took place in the garden of Joseph of Arimathaea. It is recorded only in the Gospel of Matthew.

And behold, Jesus met them, saying, “All hail.” And they came and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then saith Jesus unto them, “Fear not: go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me [Matthew 28:9, 10].

The third appearance of Jesus Christ was to Peter. The details of it are unknown, though the visit is referred to by Luke and also by Paul in I Corinthians 15:5. “The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:34).

The fourth appearance of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday was toward evening. Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This is a beautiful instance of Jesus’ desire to open the eyes of those who believe. The two disciples, with sad and anxious hearts, were discussing the incidents of the past two days, when a stranger joined them and asked about their distress.

I love Jesus and I love the way He smiles through all these events. He just joins them and walks with them for a while. I can just see Him doing this.

The stranger said, “Tell me why you are so sorrowful?” They were surprised that anyone who lived in Jerusalem had not heard of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people [Luke 24:19]. It had been their hope that He was the long-awaited Messiah. True, the report was abroad that He had risen from the dead, but no one had seen Him. These two had not heard of His appearances to Mary Magdalene and the other women.

After He reproached the two disciples for their lack of understanding and faith, the Master explained the Old Testament prophecies concerning suffering and glory that were to be experienced by Jesus Christ. When the three arrived at Emmaus, the disciples invited Him to share their food.

When he had sat down with them to meat, he took the bread and blessed; and breaking it he gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said to one another, “Was not our heart burning within us while he spoke to us on the way, while he opened to us the scripture? [Luke 24:30-32, KJV].

With all speed, the two disciples returned to Jerusalem to tell the great news to the apostles. They found them and others with them, but before the two could relay their news, they were greeted with the joyous tidings, “the Lord is risen indeed.” Then the men from Emmaus told of their experience with the risen Jesus Christ.

The fifth appearance of Jesus was in the evening. Ten of the apostles were together in a room. The door was closed. Suddenly, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, “Peace be unto you.” And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit: whosoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained [John 20:19-23].

John the Baptist had baptized with water unto repentance, but he said of Jesus, “He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire” [Matthew 3:11].

When we have received a concept of the relation that we, as spiritual beings, have to God, the old state of thought is easily dissolved and washed away by that of which water baptism is symbolical–denial. Then, there come into our mind ideas directly from God, and we see everything in a new light. This baptism of the Holy Spirit quickens the whole human. When the mind has received words of God, the way is open for the healing power, which is called the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of wholeness, to descend further into the body consciousness. This outpouring or inpouring of the Holy Spirit is the second baptism.

This second baptism may be considered as the taking on of Divine ideas by affirmation of total faith.

The ten apostles gladly accepted the news, but Thomas thought the news was just too good to be true. He said, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” [John 20:25]. A week after the Resurrection, Thomas was given the proof he required.

Through His Divinity, we understand our own connection to God. What is the secret of Jesus’ enduring influence? One basic reason is that man is a spiritual being, made in the image and likeness of God. Everyone may not be aware of this, but we, instinctively, respond to the One whose every word and act was evidence of His divinity.

The voice of our spiritual self may be faint; we may even deliberately close our ears to it, yet it continues to sound and ever urges a climb to higher ground. Jesus made this ascent, and by our spiritual kinship with Him we are drawn to Him.

In mind, we are all related to a great creative Spirit of God that infuses its very life into our mind and body, when we turn our attention to it. We have, mentally, wandered away from this creative Spirit of God and lost contact with its life-giving currents. Jesus made connection for us, and through Him, we again begin to draw vitality from the great fountainhead.

This higher state of consciousness is what we are here to celebrate this morning that can overcome anything, that can overcome any tomb, anything that is dead in our lives. This higher state of consciousness is possible to all who follow Jesus by claiming their Divine heritage of choice to know they, too, are connected with God.

His promise is I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you may be also. Through His great overcoming, Jesus released the Christ consciousness into the universal ethers. Those who keep His word may enter into it.

The Easter story! And it is true–every last word of it is true. It is the enduring influence we have of His message and the possibility of attainment we have by following that message that we are here on this Easter morning to celebrate.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION_________________________________

What a joy it is to again pray. As you close your eyes, realize you are not only praying with your family, but also with people around the world. I ask you to join me in this time of prayer.

At this sacred time, we come together for a single purpose. That single purpose is united prayer. The prayers we share reach out to touch people in every corner of our city, at all churches, for prayer is universal.

We join our hearts and minds in stillness. God surrounds us as we move into this time of tranquility. We relax our minds and bodies, and we turn our thoughts toward God’s Presence. A calming peace washes over you and you feel at one with the Christ.

As you dwell in the silence of prayer, you remember these comforting words of Jesus Christ: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Take this thought with you, this Easter morning, into the silence of prayer. ..

Our prayer for inner peace is: The Christ is risen as peace. Hold that in your thinking. You are centered in peace.

You now focus your thought on Divine direction. You know that you are never alone as you travel the path of life. The Christ is always with you, to guide and direct you. In every situation, Christ is the ray of light that shines brightly, illuminating our way.

We walk through life serene and secure. We know our paths are bright and our way is clear. How grateful we are, dear God, for guidance. How certain we are that the way to the perfect plan lies before us.

Make me to know Thy ways, oh Lord. Teach me Thy paths. Our prayer for guidance is: The Christ is risen as light. My path is clear. Accept that, now, in the silence of prayer …

Centered in the Christ presence, we gently turn our thoughts to healing. Begin to sense that irrepressible desire for perfect health and wholeness. Our nature is to be strong and well. As we pray and believe, we feel the healing work taking place within us.

We know that even the smallest cell reacts to the Christ presence. Each atom of our bodies attracts the healing love of God. We are bathed in perfect health, which becomes more and more evident.

“For I will restore health to you; and your wounds I will heal,” says the Lord. Our prayer for healing is: The Christ is risen as life. I am healed. We totally accept that thought, now, in the silence of prayer. As we do so, it moves into our body-consciousness; the atoms and cells of our physical body temple accept that thought at the same time …

And now we, consciously, open ourselves to the good that awaits us. Our world is filled with abundance of every kind, and it is ours to enjoy. We have faith that Christ is providing for all of our needs. As we realize this, any impression of lack disappears.

As we bask in the light of prosperity, we remember that as children of a loving Provider, we are always cared for in generous ways. As we learn to graciously receive, we also learn to give; and we are twice blessed.

And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity. Our prayer for prosperity is: The Christ is risen as love. I give and receive bountifully. Accept that right now in the silence of prayer …
We now return our attention to the present moment, bringing with us, on this Easter Sunday morning a new perspective, of the activity of Christ within us. We are filled with thoughts of peace, guidance, health, and prosperity. We go forward from this place to rediscover our God-given good.

The light of God surrounds us;
The love of God enfolds us;
The power of God protects us;
The presence of God watches over us.
Wherever we are, God is!

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray … Amen.

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GOD BLESS YOU,
Christopher Ian Chenoweth

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