HAPPINESS

Posted on December 17, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

Happiness is the natural and the normal.

Let us know that the best things are ours in proportion as we order our lives in accordance with the higher laws of our being.

It cannot be otherwise than well that we find the Kingdom while here; that we realise the reign of the Spirit, which is the reign of God in the mind and heart and life. … With life thus under Divine rule we are able better to preserve the true proportions of life.

There will be problems–there will always be problems. As desire, however, leads us to subordinate all things to this Kingdom of the Divine rule, and as will keeps us true to that desire, there come continually clearer perceptions through the leadings of the Spirit–the Holy Spirit of which the Master spoke through which new insights and powers are awakened within; and there comes a fortitude of the soul that enables us to meet with calmness, and effectively to deal with each problem, as it comes.

There is a help in connection with the way that the Master has shown us … It is the method or the practice that he made use of so frequently himself, whereby he was enabled to sense and to find the way, which, when he found, he revealed to us. So many times, we are told, he went alone into the mountain to pray to commune with the Father. It is these quiet times alone, in communion with our Source, the Reality of our being, in communion with the Father–my Father and your Father–as Jesus taught us, which constitute effective and valuable prayer. Surely this is what he meant when he said:

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,
and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret;
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
(Matthew 6:6)

It is thus that the deeper perceptions of the mind and spirit are awakened and developed. It is the greatest privilege or gift that we humans have.

A great secret of life, therefore, is to go daily into the mountain to pray, and then to go down to do each day a man’s or a woman’s work in the world. As is revealed to us, so we can reveal. As we receive, we can give, and we must give–thus we serve. It is in this way that life flows along in a satisfactory and a useful manner here, and we are ready in a natural and a normal way for whatever lies beyond. Thus do all things work together for good for those who love the Good–and the way of the Christ is the highest that we know.

 – Ralph Waldo Trine, In the Hollow of His Hand, 1919

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MASTER LIGHT

Posted on December 6, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

God is the master light of all our seeing.

That is, the light by which we see God and spiritual things is a light which comes from God, just as the light by which we see the star comes from the star. In God’s light we see light.

(Jesus, from the Beatitudes in the Bible:) “The pure in heart see God.” … These words of the Master carry us directly away from a religion of externals to a religion which is inward and vital, and which deals at once with life and character. … The religious teacher must be a spiritual oculist whose business is not to furnish light, but to tell men how to remove their cataracts and to adjust their sight; for, behold, God is always visible the moment the inward eye is clear!

 – Rufus Jones, A Dynamic Faith, 1901

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!

Psalm 36: 7-10
Bible, New Revised Standard Version

==========
Jesus:
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.”

Matthew 5:8
Bible, New Revised Standard Version

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MINE

Posted on November 27, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

Our preciousness, uniqueness and individuality are not given to us in clock-time–our brief chronological existence–but by the One who has chosen us with an everlasting love, a love that existed from all eternity and will last through all eternity.

– Henri J. M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved

I [the Lord] have called you by your name,
you are Mine.
(“Mine” is the “name.” – mjd)

Isaiah 43:1b

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THANKSGIVING

Posted on November 3, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

Let us prepare to meet God, not by dying, but by living.

Continue to praise and glorify God, and to cultivate the giving of thanks to the Father at all times, until it becomes a habit, and thus you will find that your body is the temple of the living God, and He will speak in you, walk in you, and act in you, and ‘the Spirit of God dwell in you.’

 – Wentworth Byron Winslow
Let God Do It, 1937.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also
through his Spirit which dwells in you.

Romans 8:11
The Bible, Revised Standard Version

But the Spirit produces
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
humility,
and self-control.
There is no law against such things as these.

Galatians 5:22-23
The Bible: The Good News translation

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EVERYTHING

Posted on October 27, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

God is at the core of all that is. He is the origin, the energy, the infinite center around and from which all Life and Truth have their being. God is Love. – mjd

You will know that to God you are everything
when He has become everything to you.

What if a decision surrendered to the divine was a decision surrendered to the highest level of intelligence, wisdom and love?

 – Marianne Williamson
from Everyday Grace, 2004.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure;
courteous,
willing to yield to reason,
full of compassion and good fruits;
it is wholehearted and straightforward,
impartial and unfeigned–free from doubts, wavering and insincerity.
And the harvest of righteousness is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace
–in themselves and in others,
peace which means concord between individuals,
with undisturbedness,
in a peaceful mind
free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts.

James 3:17-18
The Amplified Bible, 1965.

The Lord will give strength to His people;
the Lord will bless His people with peace.
Psalm 29:11

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LIVING STILLNESS

Posted on October 19, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

There is a perfect passivity which is not indolence. It is a living stillness born of trust.

In this effort of ours to bring into manifestation the good which we know belongs to every child of God, it is when we get beyond the point where we try to do it all ourselves, and let God do His part, that we get the desires of our heart.

After we have done our part faithfully, earnestly, we are told to “stand still, and see the salvation of God which He will work for you.” [Exodus 14:13]

God delivers when fully trusted–perfectly, fully, even beyond anything we have asked or thought; adding good which we have never dreamed of, as though to give double assurance of His favor and love to any who will trust Him.

We must learn that the time of help coming to us is not our part, but God’s. We do know that in all the accounts in Scripture of those who realized God’s special deliverance from their troubles–from Abraham going forth to sacrifice his son, down to when Jesus put out His hand to save the sinking and faithless Peter, and even after this in the experience of the Apostles–this invisible Power came to hand just at the right time always–never a moment too late.

The promise is, “The Lord shall help her, and that right early;” [Psalm 46:5] or as the Hebrew reads, “at the turning of the morning,” which means just the darkest moment before dawn. So if, in whatever matter you are trying to exercise trust in your Father, the way keeps growing darker and darker, and apparently the help goes further and further away instead of coming into sight, you just grow more peaceful and still than ever, and you may know that the moment of deliverance is growing nearer for you with every breath.

 – H. Emilie Cady
excerpts from “Trusting and Resting,”
Miscellaneous Writings, 1915.

It is good that a man should both hope
and quietly wait
for the salvation of the Lord
Lamentations 3:26

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on Thee,
because he trusteth in Thee.
Isaiah 26:3

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BEYOND WORDS

Posted on October 14, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

God is who He is, whether we have words for Him or not.

I don’t want words to hold me back from complete knowledge and life in God. They are a tool–a help–a reminder (“re-mind-er”), but are incomplete references to the Essence of the Creator.

Nevertheless, words must be used to build concepts, understanding, inspiration beyond themselves. One of the most powerful words in the Bible is “light.” – mjd

The power that causes light to shine within the electric light bulb is part of the electric light. In fact, although that force itself [electricity] cannot be seen, it is just as really a part of the electric light as the wire and the glass that made its framework. The spiritual force that flows through us is the “breath of God” breathed into the “dust of the earth” of which our frames are made. It is the Eternal Being dwelling for a moment in a house of flesh.

“Ye are the light of the world,” said that amazing Carpenter whose light still shines down through the centuries. This is literally true. We are the electric light bulbs through whom the light of God reaches the world. Thus we are “part God.” This does not belittle God, any more than it belittles the sun to know that a square of sunlight on the floor is part of its infinite and eternal shining.

Knowing then that we are part of God, that His life within us is an active energy and that He works through the laws of our bodies, let us study to adjust and conform ourselves to those laws. When we do this with understanding and common-sense, we can speed up the natural healing forces of the body.

 – Agnes Sanford, The Healing Light, 1947.

[Jesus said] While you have the Light, believe in the Light
–have faith in it, hold to it, rely on it–
that you may become sons of the Light and be filled with light.

Whoever sees Me sees Him Who sent me.
I have come a light into the world,
so that whoever believes on Me may not continue to live in darkness.

… I have not come to judge
and to condemn
and to pass sentence
and to inflict penalty on the world,
but to save the world.

Amplified Bible: John 12: 36a, 45, 46, 47b

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SABBATH

Posted on October 4, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

As we meet with problems of every nature–conflicts, enemies, hatred, persecution, injustice–we no longer try to reach out to remove them either physically or mentally, but we rest in His word. We rest from all power, and God works the miracle.

When we have rested, when we have become still, and when we have permitted the Spirit to permeate mind and body, a Something greater than ourselves goes before us and prepares the way for us: The enmity and and opposition dissolve… In a complete Silence, with no attempt to use God, use Truth, or use a power over anybody or for anybody, something takes place within us that dissolves the problems of life and makes the way one of joy and fulfillment.

The only effective and potent weapon against the powers that would destroy the world both physically and mentally is the Silence which comes of the conviction that there is a Something that created this universe and is responsible for maintaining it unto eternity–it is the ability to relax in Silence and let that Something perform Its function.

In that quietness and confidence, we find our strength and peace.
That is our Sabbath.

 – Joel S. Goldsmith, “The Still Small Voice”
The Thunder of Silence, 1961

How precious Your thoughts are to me!
How powerful, God, their results!
Psalm 139:17

The Bible in Modern English. Fourth Edition
Translated by Ferrar Fenton, 1906

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INFINITE SOURCE

Posted on September 22, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

In understanding God as the Source, there is nothing that we are spending–not strength, years, wisdom, substance, or life-force–because it is not ours to begin with. It is all pouring through us as we call upon it from an infinite Source.

Had we been taught from the beginning the lesson that the Master has so plainly given us of our true relationship to God–that it is not our life that is being lived but God’s life; it is not our strength that is being used, but His strength; it is not our understanding or supply that is infinite but His; and that we are but the instruments through which God pours His life forth to glorify Himself–we would long ago have realized that it is our function to live, not as ailing, aging human beings, but as the image and likeness of God, drawing upon God for our daily wisdom, strength, and supply.

So, whatever we show forth in the way of spiritual harmony, let us take no credit for it, but realize that through us God is showing forth His handiwork, God is glorifying Himself as our form, as our wisdom, and as our grace.

 – Joel S. Goldsmith, “I Say Unto You”
(chapter on the Sermon on the Mount)
The Thunder of Silence, 1961

You will know them by their fruits.
Matthew 7:20
The Bible, Revised Standard Version

The father replied, ‘My dear son, you have been with me all the time and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and show our joy. For this is your brother; I thought he was dead—and he’s alive. I thought he was lost—and he is found!’

Luke 15: 31-32
From the parable of the prodigal son.
– J. B. Phillips, translator
The New Testament in Modern English
Revised Student Edition, 1972

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REVELATION

Posted on September 15, 2018 by thoughtsmjdisler

The search for God is not easy for anyone, and when the revelation of God does come, it is something so entirely different from what was expected that if a person is honest he will have to confess that it is beyond his understanding. Only after finding corroboration for what he himself has discovered as it is presented in a thousand different ways through the spoken and written word and then living it for years and years, does it ultimately register.

 – Joel S. Goldsmith, The Thunder of Silence, 1961

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