Peace with the Creator

You say there is NO God, but..."I say unto you..."

The Greatest Sacrifice!

Your life can soon be filled with REAL purpose and Joy

Is there a Pay-off in Life?

A very old book once said, 'There is a way which seems right for a man, but the end of it is the way of death.' Can there really be a 'pay-off' if we do not accept the Way of a Creator God? When man lives without any God-reference, he lives by what seems right to his own unaided intelligence, the end of that way, the finished product of that way, says the writer, is 'death'.
What does it mean 'death'? What happens before a person dies 'from natural' causes? There is a breaking down of the human frame, parts of the body cease to function because they are old, worn-out, decayed. Then comes a 'ceasing of electrical life in the physical frame'. The movie called 'ER' would say that that person has 'flat-lined' - the body has stopped its electrical charge, nothing is there to keep the heart beating, to keep the mind thinking, to tell the throat to swallow food, to stimulate the lungs to breathe in and out - the end of that physical life has come.

But what of the spiritual person? is there a point at which there is a similar decay, a similar lacking of 'power' to live a disciplined life, a fruitful life, Life with a capital 'L'? So the spiritual life also must come to a finish here on earth. But what if that person had no spiritual life, or claimed to have no spiritual life when they were alive, physically? What then?

Let's go back to this life. When Jesus, known as the Messiah in the scriptures, speaks of a road that 'leads to life' and another one that 'leads to destruction', we see that he was talking about life - here and now. Some of our ways, our roads lead us to destruction - things all about us 'fall apart'. Friendships we thought were 'real', have disappeared; families fall apart under the stress of 'no discipline', and, then, last but not least, our bodies betray us and begin to fall apart! The way to destruction is a dead end! in this life - an end without friends, without family, without any sense of self-worth. You see these folk on the streets at night in Toronto. You see them looking for food at the missions. You hear of them 'dying in the cold' because they refuse to come inside when a warm place was offered to them.

But you say, you will never be like that. You will never be without friends, (how do you know you can depend on that person you slept with last night that wasn't your wife?), How do you know you'll have a job next week? (maybe your company is about to down-size and you just haven't hear!) How do you know that your drinking, partying buddies won't turn on you when they have run out of money and you refuse to give them your last $10 bucks? How sure are you that those things and people you think you can count on, will be there for you if you end up with a serious illness, or in a bad accident and in a wheel chair? How do you know?

There are very few things in life that we can be truly sure off - taxes, and death!! both are inevidable! But do you know how you are going to meet both of them?

One road leads to 'life' - life is the pay-off. All other roads lead to 'destruction' - destruction is the pay-off.

You see the outcome of a good life, lived with Jesus, can only, by the very nature of it, be good. The outcome of the life with 'no fixed address for eternity' can, by its very nature, not be good.

I stumbled on some pornographic material on the net yesterday. Yes I looked at some of it. But what I saw were people with NO JOY, NO peace, No future in what they were doing as they took a few moments of so-called 'exstacy' for 'a moment in time' known as sexual pleasure. That pleasure only lasts briefly, maybe for the filming session, then what? a hollow life until the next filming session? or party? or whatever. Those young girls will some day grow old, they won't be wanted then, old will be about 22!!! and then what will they have left - their self-esteem will be gone! There will be nothing left for them from the so-called work that they are now doing! no pension plan! no medical plan! (many get very serious illnessess), many commit suicide because they cannot live with themselves, with their 'sin'.

An ancient writing says 'the way of the ungodly will perish.' Yes the fruit of the self-centered, sex-centered, illegal drugs centered, adultery centered, self-interest centered, money centered, bitterness, anger, rage at life, the fruit of all these is 'death' - decay, rote, no life, just blank starring eyes with no person behind the eyes - death - alone.

Is the pay-off worth fighting the Way of the God creator?

Meditation: I see that I cannot escape your judgements of what I call 'life' God. Help me to turn my eyes toward you, toward your ways, toward Life with a capital "L".

Affirmation for the day: When I break with My ways, and go God's way, I know there will be true Life, true freedom, true peace of mind, for I sense that these are the fruit, the pay-off, of the good Life.

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Some Things are Bitter to Digest!!

I would like to discuss another emphasis in the theme of 'not-the-way! A writer once said,"The fruit for which your soul longs has gone from you" Just as your soul is about to grab the ripe fruit of its desire, it vanishes. This is what happens when you try to follow ways which are not God's ways. You never quite get to that fruit, that realization, that peace within yourself, that compatible relationship, that trusted friendship, when it vanishes. Someone has said that 'all the fruit of sin is either green or rotten' - it is never just right! It never brings you deep satisfaction - just a hunger for more of the same, but no fulfillment. Have you been there? The same writer said,

'It tasted sweet like honey, but when I had eaten it, it was bitter to digest!!'

AS I have watched my children going their own way in the world, not thinking of the consequences, I see them 'try things'! that they know their parents would not approve of. Later they come back to us with the observation 'How foolish I was! I'm just a loser! I feel so alone, so lonely!'

The world's ways DO NOT SATISFY!!

They are 'bitter to digest', they cannot be assimilated, cannot be related to a peace-filled life.
You see, life as we know it in the western hemisphere is not made for sin or evil, or disobedience to the Natural Law that is printed into our genetic structure. Sin or evil is alien - it is not food; therefore our system, the system of life, cannot digest it.
The inner structure of our being is not made for hate; for resentments, for self-indulgence, for fears, for guilts, for partying all the time with no thought for to-morrow, etc; therefore the attempt to digest these ways, to make them a part of our being, ends in INDIGESTION! And this indigestion is not only moral and spiritual; it is also mental and physical. As Dr. E. Stanley Jones says, " In the inner structure of our life, we are made for God-centeredness, for love, for faith, for reconciliation, for selflessness, for purpose. Evil (sin), then is trying to live on that for which we are not made.'
Could we say that our own will, our own way, lived contrary to the Way of God, is poison, bitter to digest? What evidence do we have to prove this point? It lowers your self esteem, your sense of well-being, it depletes you, starves you, poisons you.
Why? Because in truth, we are allergic to evil. I am physically allergic to dairy products. I try to eat them, but when I have them too often, my stomach hurts, I get tired and have other physical reactions to them. So, too, should human beings be allergic to sin! we can't assimilate it, live with it,be at peace with it. It disrupts the soul and the body.

Meditation: Creator God, for I am not sure I can understand you as Father, I see that my ways are often not Your Way for my ways are hard to digest, they leave me feeling dull, unsatisfied and often in deep trouble in my soul, my spirit. I thank you that I am now seeing how I was made for Your Ways, but it is so hard, Lord. I'm in a rut like an old wagon wheel, and find it so hard to get out. Help me.

Affirmation for to-day! The Creator's will is and has always been for my highest good. Help me to see this as I walk through this day

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Life, Stupid and Dull?

We look further at ways of life that are not The Way. A New Testament writer says 'They look after nothing but themselves - useless like rainless clouds.'

Do you look after only yourself? Are you a 'rainless cloud"? Are you a 'noncontributing person', useless to yourself and others?

Again, the same verse describes the self-centered person as 'trees in autumn WITHOUT fruit.' When you come down to the autumn of your life when you should have peace, calm and memories of a life well spent, will you have 'nothing!' to show for your years of existence? How sad if you come into your 'old age' with nothing to show except a decaying self - no love, no shared experiences with others, nothing!

This writer goes on to suggest that that kind of a person is a murmurer and a grumbler about their lot in life. - a constant complainer about what life has done to them. Seldom will they say what they have done for life!! If this is you and you have no Key to life, you will constantly be blaming others for your failed life. But a person who has a self-centered attitude will always be grumpy and dissatisfied with themselves, their life and anyone they touch. The most unhappy people in life are not the 'down-and-almost-out', but the ones who wallow in self-pity for their position in life.

They talk about their aches and pains, they constantly put down others for the way they are living, they have no goals in life, they only talk and think the negative things and most of their problems are produced by their own self-centered spirits

Another writer says that 'an unclen spirit...roams thru dry places.' Is it a fact that when you are 'unclean' with self-centeredness and other wrong ways of life, your whole existence is dried up, fruitless, wasted? Is life insipid, dull, stupid? Do you find yourself trying to invent more and more ways to make life tolerable? The stupidity and dullness of evil (that's 'live' spelled backwards) makes people want to invent more and more extremes to try to make life interesting. Is this not an observation of late 20th century humanity?

Meditation: God, for I am sure that you do exist - that your Way gives sparkle to life, help me to see that all the ways that are not THE WAY, lead to dullness, sadness, emptiness and death. Show me the Way to Light, Joy, a fulfilled Life and Life Everlasting.

Affirmation for to-day: When I am out of sorts with others and find myself constandly complaining, it is a symptom of my being our of sorts with myself and my creator. I give myself to the One who creates Light out of darkness, Joy out of sadness, Fulfillment out of emptiness and Eternal Life out of death.

If you are new to this page, you might wish to go to the beginning and read each day's readings as they progress from NO God to a Creator God

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Chaos or Cosmos

Last week we found that for some reason the Universe in which we live seems to fight back at you - your actions, your words, your lifestyle, all create situations that become unbearable,. Certain ways of life are supported, others are not. When you do or say something against the natural law of the Universe, you create CHAOS in your life and the lives you touch. But if you do or say something that is in line with the natural law of the Universe, you create COSMOS - harmony - in your life and the lives you touch.
These results from actions and words cannot be decide upon, but are automatically created. "The thing itself by its own nature will produce the results." says Dr. E. Stanley Jones.

Thus we can only conclude that where there is LOVE in action, Creator Love, there will be LIGHT. But where there is HATE, ANGER, DISHARMONY, JEALOUSY, ENVY, LUST... sins of the flesh ... there will be DARKNESS.
An ancient manuscript says:"The person who loves his brother/sister remains in the light-and in that light there is no darkness, but the person who hates his brother/sister is in darkness.
This is how that statement can be interpreted:

(i)Anyone who hates ... is in darkness - their general atmosphere is polluted.
(ii)Every thing they do - is done in darkness.
(iii)It isn't so awful to be in darkness if you know where you are going, but this person doesn't - 'he does not know where he is going.'
(iv)The worst result is inside him/herself: for 'the darkness has blinded their eyes - i.e. the punishment is a condition called blindness - not necessarily physical, but emotional, spiritual and psychological blindness.

LOVE brings cosmos; HATE brings chaos.

When we think of the problem that LUST causes i.e. DESIRE WRONGLY PLACED, the scriptures say this action whether physical or mental produces corruption, decay, death.

RIGHT DESIRE produces health, well-being, Life.

There may be no obvious results from this kind of a lifestyle, but the person practicing this kind of lifestyle will Know that what they are doing is wrong - their conscience will tell them, there bodies may reap the harvest of their wrong doing, e.g. HIV and AIDS, their attitude towards others will show what is in their innermost beings - they cannot hide their SIN! their defying of the natural laws of the universe.
Meditation: I see that you, Creator Spirit, have put into your creation all the laws for my good. You will redeem, make new, the chaos of my life, turning it into cosmos - harmony. Thank you. Amen

Affirmation for this day: As I make God's law, the law by which I live to-day, I will set in motion those things that are good, are positive, are redemptive in my life. Open my spiritual eyes to see the Creator god, in these activities to-day.
The light has come on ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! *

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Does the Universe fight back?

Last week we ended on the note that when you break the natural laws of the universe, you will break yourself ON THEM!! This is a very astounding observation. Those who do not believe in the ten Commandments, will no doubt, refuse to accept this premise. But let us think further about these things.

From Jeremiah, an ancient prophet, we read:

Thus says the Lord:

"Stand by the roads and look,
and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is; and walk in it and FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS
But they said, 'We will NOT walk in it." As we read down through Jeremiah 6, the people kept saying, 'WE WILL NOT!, WE WILL NOT!', The prophet continues with the word from the Lord, "Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing destruction on this people, it is the fruit of their actions, because they have NOT given heed to my words; and as for my law, THEY HAVE REJECTED IT."
Further in ch. 12 he continues "They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns, they have tired themselves out, but there is no profit or gain for their actions. But they shall be ashamed of the out-come of their actions because the Creator's natural Law will win in the end."

Is the tradition that you have received in this 21st century that says it is O.K.to break the moral law, really O.K.? - you may get away with it?

Is the tradition that says it's O.K. to be self-centered to the point of hurting the ones around you that you profess to love, really O.K.? even though your personal life is in shambles?

Is the modern day idea that drugs, alcohol, fast cars, free sex, climbing the corporate ladder while we walk on those around us to get to the top, that these evils can actually do anything but bring bad results, destructive behaviour, personality changes?

Do we truly think when we hurt others, that we, ourselves, will not be hurt?

One man who made it to the top, owned limosines, had a wife and children, drank himself into oblivion regularily, lost it all and found himself at the grand old age of 36 living in one-room with a light bulb hanging from the ceiling and no one, but NO ONE, there to care for him in his self-destroyed condition.
What did he do? HE called on the name of the Lord God of the Universe to help him up out of the deep hole into which he had dug himself!!

He found that a God-centered person goes from strength to strength, even in the midst of tragedy! That person has survival value; he stands up UNDER lifes's blows. He found that his earthly walk was stabilized, he had inward peace.

Meditation:You are a gentle but firm Ruler, O Lord. I begin to see that you are putting up road blocks in my life to save me from myself. Turn me toward You for where else can I go? Amen

Affirmation for the Day: Where else and to whom else can I turn? The Lord God has the words of peace, prosperity, possibilities, to put me on the plain path to peace!

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Your Life Works...or Does it?

Edison tried eleven hundred experiments, and they all turned out failures. Someone remarked, "Then you must have wasted your time." "Oh, no,": Edison replied, "I found out eleven hundred ways
HOW NOT TO DO THINGS!"
That is about where you are right now! You are finding out that
there are some ways that life will NOT approve, and some ways that life WILL APPROVE.
You cannot evade it, nor twist it to your ends, make it approve what cannot be approved.
Some things are 'just there' - built into the nature of the universe. Whoever has the first word, or the inbetween word, this moral order always, ALWAYS has the last word, and that last word is the FINAL word.

We have just been following the death of Princess Diana of the United Kingdom. Her life has been a mix of good and bad, service and possibly personal selfishness, helping the 'down-and-out' but living the fast life of the 'up-and-possibly-out'. A drunken chauffeur, a speeding limo, a tunnel, a slight dip in the road, and her good works are history!!!

The moral law of the universe won out!

If a person leaps from the tenth-story window, they will not break the law of gravity, but they will end up being an illustration of it.

There are natural barriers put up at the edge of precipices in life, to keep you from going over! The natural laws are not put there to bind your freedom; they are put there to save you from using your freedom to destroy yourself.
Remember the rats in the cage and the electric shocks; those shocks on their noses kept them from going into ways that led into confusion and away from the food. The God of the universe often has to 'shock us' away from folly to keep our bodies alive and well on planet earth, away from confusion to the WAY.

Unfortunately humanity is finding out how to live by the hard way. God offers us a better way, the WAY in Christ. You may think you know better, take other ways of your own choosing, but you will constantly be receiving shocks. Those shocks are of various kinds - neuroses, inner conflicts, illnesses, guilts, inferiorities, fears, family break-down, unhappy children, lonely men, hardened women, the list goes on!!.

Our modern age has put the meaning of the word 'hell' out of the door, but it has come back via a very large, wall-size, plate-glass window. Painfully we are finding out how NOT to live.

Meditation: O God, I begin to see, that I am not God - You are. Your will, not mine, must be my starting point. Help me to start this day WITH YOU. Amen.

Affirmation for the Day: God is shocking me in order that I might be saved from myself. I will watch my actions and activities this day to see which are 'shocking' and which are 'showing' me a better way, THE WAY.
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Finding Out How NOT to live!

Does all life sift down to just two things: the Way and not-the-way?
Is this fact inherent in every situation and in everything?
Does all life become a choice between the Way and not-the-way?
Could that choice confront us in every thought, every act, every feeling - in fact, every time we do Anything?
Could the Christian Way ALWAYS be the right way, and the unchristian way always be the wrong way?
In every conceivable circumstance on earth, above the earth and beneath the earth, could there just be two things; THE WAY and not-the-way???
A Hindu chairman said at the close of one of Dr. E. Stanley Jones' addresses,

"If what the speaker has said isn't true, it doesn't matter; but if it is true, then nothing else matters."

Humans are, in large measure, trying the experiment of how NOT to live. Rats, under scientific experiment, learn their way to the cheese amid a maze of ways by finding out that when they put their heads into the WRONG way their noses get an electric shock. Only the right way is shockless!
Human beings are in the process of finding out how not to live. We are sticking our noses into ways that are not-the-way, and we are consistently getting hurt. Maybe someday, we will try the Way.

Meditation:God, I know you exist! and that You have a specific plan for my life. Now I am finding out how NOT to live this life in order to find out HOW TO LIVE IT in the WAY. Show me that Way so that I might find You who is the author of the WAY. Amen.

Affirmation for this day: I have been learning for years the bitter lesson of how not to live. Now I am learning the better lesson of how to live. I will watch for You in incidents and in the lives of people I encounter this day.
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Set Apart to be a Christian?

Is the Christian way, The Way? If the Way is imposed upon life, then it is a way;BUT if it is a REVELATION of life itself, then it is The Way.
If it is written only in the scriptures, then it is a way.
BUT if it is written into the very nature of our REALITY and the SCRIPTURES, then it is
THE WAY.

The scriptures say "it was by Him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen...; all things have been created BY Him and FOR Him."(Col.l1:16,Moff.)
The question could then be asked
"Do all things have the stamp of Christ upon them?
Has His will been put into our very structure?
Do things work in His way and NO OTHER WAY?
Is there, in fact, a Christ-touch and a Christ- purpose in creation - this creation that is made for Him - His will is life and any other will is death?
If it does not work 'for Him', then does it declare its own ruin by working against Him?
We see that something seems to be woven into the very texture of life - a way, a purpose, a plan. Could that way, be the Way - the Christian Way?
Could there be a destiny written into the nature of reality, written into our blood, nerves, tissues, relationships - into everything?
Are we actually 'by the very nature of things' to be Christian? Can we see that destiny not only in the Bible, but also written right into our beings, written right into the cellular structure of our physical body as well as into the nature of our phsycological nature?
Could there be an answer here for you?

Meditation:
God, I begin to see that you have made me in my innermost and outermost parts for Your will. There is something here that I did not create, but must accept - or I will get hurt by it. Teach me, for I want to learn. Amen.

Affirmation: There IS a destiny written in me. Am I destined to be a Christian?, Yes! for the Holy Writ and the Holy One has said it is so!

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Is The Way written within us?

1. Could there be a God back of, in and thru the universe?
A skeptic once wrote, "If there isn't a God, we would have to invent one to keep people sane". Life wouldn't add up! It would be, to quote Shakespeare "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!" The words spoken by the Man, Jesus, would be the words of a lunatic!
All life says that there must be a God of some kind!

2. Presuming there is a God, if he is to be a good God and trustable, He would have to be like the man, Jesus. There is no one else who 'fits the image!' As a Hindu put it: There is no one else seriously bidding for the heart of the world except Jesus Christ." The God must be Christlike, humble, wise, forgiving his enemies, including the poor, the down-and-out as well as the up-and-out.

3. If you agree that the very nature of God is Christlike, then you would expect that God has acted and still acts in a Christlike way, not only in the God revealed in the Holy Scriptures, but also in the creation he made in the beginning.
In other words, when he made all things, he made them to work in a certain way, and that way would be according to Christ, for Jesus, the Christ, is the revelation of God's nature. Could the Christian way, then, be The Way? And is this Way written both in Scripture as well as in the nature of reality itself?
If the Way is written only in the Holy Scriptures, then a battle is created around the authority of the Scriptures - their authorship, their authenticity, their worth. The foundation of authority is limited - limited to the Scriptures.
But suppose the Way is written in the nature of reality as well as in the Scriptures; then
THE WAY IS INESCAPABLE FOR EVERYBODY.
If Jesus is a moralist imposing a code on humanity, then you can question that code and His authority.
But suppose Jesus is the revealer of the nature of reality, then that makes Him DIFFERENT
He is not only revealing the nature of God - He is revealing the nature of Life with a capital 'L'.
Life, then must work in His way and only in His way., The Christian Way becomes not a side issue but
the central issue of life - the one issue of life.

Meditation: God, I have started something that grows on me. I am touching, cautiously, the Something, the Someone, that will fill my horizon, perhaps even fill me. Help me, for I am weak and needy, and I will need your help. Amen

Affirmation for this Day: The Way exists; the Way is written in me. I cannot escape myself; therefore I cannot escape the Way.

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Can 'GOD' be Proved?

Well! In our last sharing, we came to the conclusion that GOD exists, that in character He is like Jesus, the Christ and this is the highest, noblest, THE Ultimate concept of God. If you cannot think of God in these terms, you cannot think of Him on any terms.

But Can this be proven to you? NO! But better, it can prove itself to you. As we share these times together I trust you will come to a faith which will hold you. It will be a faith that will hold not only Your mind, but also your emotions and your will.. IT WILL HOLD THE TOTAL YOU. This search is not only intellectual, but emotional, volitional and indeed, a LIFE QUEST. Your whole person is involved - you and all your relationships.

The person who want this proved is like a person who stands with their back to the sunset. I describe its breath-taking beauty. The person says, "I don't believe it. Prove it to me.". I reply, "I cannot prove it to you. But TURN AROUND AND LOOK AT IT; IT WILL PROVE ITSELF TO YOU." Their reply is "I won't. Prove it to me." Is this person fair?
I hold a rose in my hand and describe the sweetness of its fragrance and its incredible beauty. This person closes their nostrils and refuses to look at it, saying, "I don't believe it. Prove it to me." "I can't," I reply. "but open your nostrils and your eyes and it will prove itself to you." The reply, "I won't. Prove it to me."
Are they fair? No! They are unfair both to the sunset and the rose and to themselves.

If you are serious about this search, then you must be fair to God, to life and to yourself. You are going to let down all your barriers
of prejudice,
self-defense,
of fear, and
make this a LIFE adventure, a Life (capital 'L') quest.

You are going to find God,
You are going to find Life.
You are going to find Yourself.
But first, you must put your feet on the Way. The moment you do, something within you will whisper,
This is it. You've struck it - at last."And the whisper will be more certain than certainty; more real than reality. It will be warm, tender, and satisfying to the depth of Your being. It will satisfy your mind, it will appeal to your emotion, and it will help you commit your will. Why? Because our Creator, Father God made YOU for this adventure and you, personally will 'fit it to perfection'.
Then it will have YOU!
My Father - for I begin to see You as just that - I will need you to take me by the hand as I begin this journey, for I shall be pulled in many directions as I break with my old way and begin the new Way. I want to do this, but I'm not sure. Please help me. Amen.

Affirmation for the Day: I cannot prove God. I'm letting God prove Himself to me. My barriers of unbelief are finally down. Return to MENU

Can you manipulate life?

It has been said that "We must not try to manipulate life; rather we must try
to find out what life demands of us.
It can be a long, humbling experience!!!
Is this what you are trying to do? -
to make life do what you think you want it to do?
This would suggest that YOU and not Life is at the center of your existence - you are trying to make life work your way.

You are demanding things of life instead of listening to what life demands of you. The results of this kind of thinking and acting is often frustration, unhappiness and break-down - wreakage!

If you refuse to be humble - a learner, then you will be humbled - a defeated person!

First step - is humility i.e. to be teachable, to cease struggling against Life, to stop fighting the God of the universe who made you and to listen. There is a Higher Power out there trying to speak to you, to show You the Way.

But what is this 'higher power', what is this 'Life' with a capital 'L'?
- life seems so impersonal. You want to relate to something that is both definite and personal, something that can answer you, speak to you! something with whom you can commune or speak!
Behind 'life' is there 'Life", is there a 'higher power', a person, a Person with a capital 'P'?

Can this Person be 'God', 'the Father God', spoken of in Holy Writ - the Bible?
Could this be the Person who created You, loves you inspite of yourself, who forgives you inspite of your weaknesses, who has created a way to make your life NEW, so that you can begin again?

Can this be the God whose character can be seen perfectly in the 'Jesus' of the New Testament, the 'man-god' or the 'God-man' who has made the Creator understandable?

It's up to you! You have a choice, to acknowledge that Jesus is the Creator-God, that He is the human life of God! That God through Jesus has stooped to your way of life; He has walked in your shoes, He has tasted your temptations, He knows exactly where you are right now?

When you choose to accept this Jesus as God in the flesh, then and only then, are you beginning to be 'ON THE WAY' - then you will have a sense of Peace - You can say, 'I can see'!
Meditation: God, for I now accept that you exist, I am gratefull that as I reach up to you, that you are reaching down to me as loving, forgiving, making new, bringing peace!

Scripture: 'You are most blessed when your sin is forgiven...when you refused to acknowledge your sin, your body wasted away...day and night God's hand was heavy on you, your strength was dried up like heat in summer...When you acknowledged your sin to God...He forgave you!'(paraphrase Ps. 32:1-5)

Affirmation for the day: God is; God came in Christ Jesus, I am; I can become like Jesus! I am on the Way!

Return to MENUor Christian Ashram Pages for a retreat movement to help you on the Way!

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Results or CONSEQUENCES??

It has been said that some people 'get results, others get consequences'. Some people know how to live, instinctively or by education, - they seem to work with the grain of the universe; REALITY works with them - they get results in harmonious, happy, effective living!

Others are NOT harmonious, NOT happy, NOT effective; they seem to live AGAINST reality - they are working against the 'grain of the universe' - they reap CONSEQUENCES!!

Could there be something here that ALWAYS HAS THE LAST WORD, no matter what we do.

A woman once said to Dr. Jones, "It's all right to do these things (meaning sexual freedom?) provided you can get away with it." His reply was, "That is a big 'provided' for

NOBODY GETS AWAY WITH IT.

THE RESULTS REGISTER IN YOURSELF,
THE INNER YOU, YOUR PSYCHE.
YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH YOURSELF 24 hours a day

It has been said, "Be sure your sin will find you out. I thought that meant 'be sure your sin will be found out". That's not what that statement means at all!

It does say "Your sin WILL find you out." -

It will register within you,
it will cause deterioration,
it will cause decay,
you will receive the consequences within and often without.

Your attempt to manipulate the universe, trying to make it do what YOU want it to do, ends in CONSEQUENCES! within yourself! your circumstances! your life (small 'l').Some folk suggest that they just want toget a 'kick' out of life; however there is another alternative to this lifestyle; that is the 'kick-back'. This response in life is just a little behind the 'kicks'! You must be ready for the CONSEQUENCES!! for they will come!

When you strip off the first three letters of 'thrills', you end up with 'ills'. It's not the beginning that counts, its the end results that you have to live with.

A man at retirement thumbs his nose at God, and begins chain smoking, and drinking from sun-up to sun-down! Five years later, he has emphysema and 'no life'- just existence! Who wants to listen to or live with a drunk every day?

He has just spent several days in intensive care where he has learned to STOP SMOKING!! -'the consequences' and curb his drinking habits - his body almost 'cashed him out!' but he isn't ready to go!!

What does this say about our existence here on planet earth -

WE ARE FREE TO CHOOSE, BUT WE ARE NOT FREE TO CHOOSE THE RESULTS OF OUR CHOOSING!- those results seem to be in hands not our own. There is something here, something with which we must come to terms - or get hurt!

Meditation Thought: Hidden Creator, hidden God, I am seeking You. I want to come to terms with You because I know You will always have the last word so I would like to give you the first word. Speak to me for I am listening. Amen

AFFIRMATION: There is a God and I must come to terms with Him.

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'LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET YOU GO'

Do You have to lift yourself up by your bootstraps?
The cry for Life (with a capital "L") says you desire a 'better' way, a better life and you begin TO SET STANDARDS; when you set standards, you have begun a Religion.
When a person cries for Life, is there an answer from God's side?
Yes! It has been said "I am come that they might have Life, and that they might have it more abundantly". When the upward cry for Life meets the downward offer of Life, then true religion sets in, begins. or
When the lower life (small 'l') lays hold of the resources of the higher Life (capitol 'L'), then

Transformation

sets in.
But does God "do" anything in order to transform us? Does this God become like us in order to make us like Him? When this God and YOU meet, you are on The Way!
How can this be? -the Creator God transformed into our image that we might be transformed into His!
One translation of Holy writ says: "of Christ Jesus, who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to hang on to, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human form. And being found in appearnace as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient to death- even death on a cross!"

Meditation:

God, if you truly exist, show me your way for I see that my way is only leading me to unhappiness, a life without hope either here or in the hereafter. Amen

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INNER CONFUSION

Your outer life (small 'l')is awry because your inner life (small 'l') is in confusion. You cannot get along with others because you cannot get along with yourself, and others cannot get along with you, because you cannot get along with the Creator of the universe, God, when you refuse to acknowledge His existence.

You cannot advance in life with any joy unless you are sure you are on the WAY, that is God's WAY.
One person has observed "why are we so faded?" People are 'faded' because they haven't the red blood of an inner certainty coursing through them. In the downpour of calamity and the stress of human living, the colors of life have faded to a sickly gray.

If you are to have a sparkle, a joy filled life, then you can get it, when you are sure that you are on the WAY, God's WAY, the Christian WAY. Then, you can go singing through life. Till then? Life simply will not sing for you!!

I once had a canary that wouldn't sing till after it had its bath!! Our souls, our inner person if you like, are like that: until you get a 'bath' that cleanses away ALL fears, ALL uncertainties, ALL guilts - ALL sense of not being on the WAY, the soul cannot sing.

Meditation: O God, if you are there, then there must be a Way (capital 'W'). My ways don't lead me anywhere except to dead ends. I am starting the quest for Your WAY. If You truly exist, then help me to find the Way. Amen.

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