Where two or three are gathered together

“I’ve got a garden with flowers so rare
But somehow it’s empty with no one else there
And you have got treasures so precious and fair
But what are they worth with no one to share?”

– From the song “Stay Awhile” by Alex Colvin

 

Something wonderful happens when two or three people are able to communicate openly and honestly with one another in a spirit of mutual love and respect.

Inspiration flows. The mind is quickened and thoughts are stimulated. Deep feeling is awakened and the heart is enriched. Communicants discover that they are tapping into a common mind and heart.

Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Mat 18:19-20)

Private prayer is the foundation of personal faith. Individual study is a fundamental step toward gaining knowledge. But when two or three are gathered together in a spirit of love and humility, God blesses us.

Knowledge blossoms into understanding. Hearts open in the experience of love and oneness. God can lead us into the truth and reveal his heart and healing power to us, in us, and through us. We experience a holy state of communion in spirit, truth and love.

To once again quote Jesus in Mat 18:18-20, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Therefore, let us gather together as friends in groups of two of three to study and discuss, to encourage one another, and to pray for God’s Will to be done.

Private Prayer

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
” Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Mat 6:5-13)

Jesus reveals to us that we have direct access to the Most High God, the essence and the source of all being. Moreover, he reveals that this Most High God is Our Father. Our relationship with God is a parent/child relationship.

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4)

Think on this. Childlike humility before God is important because before God you are a child. Ask yourself, “What does it mean to be like a child before God?”

Jesus then gives advice on how to pray in the Lord’s Prayer. He doesn’t say you have pray exactly like this. He give the prayer as a model and says, “Pray then, like this.”

His example is a starting point for people who are grateful to have been a new start through Divine Grace; who want to be delivered from the power of evil, forgiven for past sins, and cared for; and who want to do God’s Will and help to bring his Kingdom on Earth.

Private prayer springs from a deep heart of gratitude. It is a confidential, honest, sincere, introspective, reflective, conversation between you and your Divine Parent, who also happens to be the source and essence of all love, consciousness, and existence.

This wonderful opportunity is available to all of us all the time. Begin with a childlike attitude using he model that Jesus provided and ask God to help deepen your faith and lead you into the truth. The possibilities and potentialities are infinite.

Satisfaction guaranteed!

The Solution to the World’s Problems

Advice to students graduating from high school in 2018

Living and breathing in God

When our heart/mind experiences the love of God through the Holy Spirit, the natural spontaneous response is to offer thanks and praise. The natural response when one is experiencing the loving kindness of God is to love God in return. The more we love God in gratitude, praise, surrender and commitment, the more we are capable of experiencing God’s love to a greater degree. The more we experience God’s love and forgiveness, the more we desire to show that love by loving, serving and forgiving others. The more we express God’s love in service and the more we forgive others, the more we experience God’s love.

We live in a reciprocal relationship of love between God and ourselves and also amongst ourselves and others. When we live this way we are living, moving, and breathing in God.

Our physical bodies live and breathe air. When we live in the Spirit in loving relationship with the source of all Being and others, our souls live and breathe in God.

Thank you God for your loving kindness.
I praise you for your awesome wonder.
Thank you God for your forgiveness. Thank you for helping us to wash our robes.
I surrender to your love.
I forgive others their sins, their debts, and their trespasses just as you have forgiven me.
Help me to discover your kingdom within.

Thank you God for your loving kindness.
We praise you for your awesome wonder.
We thank you God for your forgiveness.
With the help of your Holy Spirit we will sin no more.
We will forgive each other and seek reconciliation.
We surrender to your love.
Guide in those situations where we can be of service to you and to others.
Please give us wisdom and help us to know, experience, and understand the truth as much as we are able.
Let your Kingdom come in the midst of us on earth as it is in heaven.
We are your offspring. You are our loving parent.
Let us live and breathe in God.

Amen

Praise, gratitude, supplication, and commitment

I added in another verse so this worship song would include Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I was moved when I heard Johnny Cash sing Depeche Mode’s song, “Everybody needs their own personal Jesus, Someone who cares, someone who’s there.” It was a valuable reminder and counsel for me. If you want to open the door to the Father and receive the love and guidance of the Holy Spirit, then humble yourself to Jesus, read his words, and do what he says.

A Song of Praise and Offering

Father

Heavenly Father
El Shalom
Teach us the way of peace

Heavenly Father
El Shaddai
We offer praise to you

We want to be your true sons and daughters
Building your Kingdom on Earth

We want to feel your Holy Spirit
Giving our hearts new birth

Son

Thank you Jesus
Holy Messiah
For showing us the Way

Thank you Jesus
Son of God
In your Holy Name we pray

Teach us to live as brothers and sisters
Sharing the Kingdom within

We want to be your true disciples
Living our lives freed from sin

Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit
Heavenly Dove
Fill our hearts with your love

Holy Spirit
Wonderful Counselor
Send us wisdom from above

We want to be your true sons and daughters
Bringing your Kingdom on Earth

We want to see your bright shining presence
Filling the world with new birth

Refrain

We praise you
We give you thanks
For all your wonder
For all of your power
For all of your glory
For all of your mercy
We offer our lives to you

Conclusion

Heavenly Father
Lord of Love
We give our hearts to you

A Song of Worship

Heavenly Father
El Shalom
Teach us the way of peace

Heavenly Father
El Shaddai
We offer praise to you

We want to be your true sons and daughters
Building your Kingdom on Earth

We want to feel your Holy Spirit
Giving our hearts new birth

Holy Spirit
Heavenly Dove
Fill our hearts with your love

Holy Spirit
Wonderful Counselor
Send us wisdom from above

We want to be your true sons and daughters
Bringing your Kingdom on Earth

We want to see your bright shining presence
Filling the world with new birth

We praise you
We give you thanks
For all your wonder
For all of your power
For all of your glory
For all of your mercy
We offer our lives to you

Heavenly Father
Holy Spirit
We give our lives to you

The Holy Spirit as Counselor

What is the Holy Spirit?

I am not going to try to answer that question because I do not want to try to confine the Holy Spirit in a definition or limit the Holy Spirit to a concept.

For thousand of years, people of faith have discussed and debated the nature and role of the Holy Spirit. According to a search for “Holy Spirit” in blueletterbible.org, “‘Holy and Spirit’ occurs 216 times in 103 verses in the RSV (Revised Standard Version), including 93 exact phrases…” This includes references to verses in both the Old and New Testaments.

In general, throughout the Bible, there is testimony from many books that the Holy Spirit is real and that God works through and reveals truth through the power of the Holy Spirit. Many Jewish, Christian and Islamic scholars have discussed and debated the nature. identity, and even gender of the Holy Spirit down through the centuries.

In the New Testament, all four gospels, the book of Acts, and numerous epistles mention the Holy Spirit. Every one of these references and testimonies to the Holy Spirit will provide valuable insight enriching the life of faith of those who read them and pray or meditate about them.

In combination, Matthew, Mark, Luke (in his gospel and Acts), Paul, Peter, and Jude provide access to an inexhaustible spiritual treasure house of wisdom and experience regarding the understanding and experience of the Holy Spirit.

Obviously, what is of utmost importance for a person is to experience the Holy Spirit in one’s own life. Jesus promised that those who love God and keep his commandments will indeed experience the Holy Spirit for themselves.

Rather than trying to explore the whole treasure house, I want to look only at one small teaching in John 14 where the Holy Spirit is presented as the παράκλητος (paraklētos). The word means “helper” and is translated in the RSV as “counselor.”

John 14: 16  “And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.”

John 14:26 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

These are indeed powerful verses of practical import in our lives of faith.

Jesus here describes the Holy Spirit as the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth, who

1. dwells with us,
2. will be in us,
3. will teach us all things and
4. will bring to our remembrance all that He has taught.

Amen! Hallelujah!

Once, during a period of time when I had not been reading the Bible much, I was sitting at a picnic table drinking a latte. It was a period of time when I was worried about the future and worried about money.

Suddenly a still small voice said, “Do not be anxious about the morrow for the morrow will  take care of itself. Sufficient unto the day are the troubles thereof.”

I recognized this as teachings of Jesus I had read before. I was astounded at how revolutionary the words were. I accepted them in prayer and thanksgiving and I felt reassurance and peace.

Very simple, the Holy Spirit counseled me by bringing to remembrance what Jesus had taught.

A guide or a counselor does not usually teach us everything all at once. He teaches us what we need to know according to where we are on the path.

It is wise to ask a teacher to teach us what we need to know at any given instance in time. It is wise for a seeker of Truth to ask the Spirit of Truth to teach us as much as we are capable of understanding. It is wise to ask a Counselor what He thinks we should do each day. Then it is wise to do it.

Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.

Amen! Hallelujah!

Happy Easter 2018

Heart of Gratitude

Once, sitting on my back patio I looked into my self, into my heart. I wanted to know who I was in my essence. What I discovered was an infinitely deep well of love. Then a silent voice said, “Your gift is your presence, and your purpose is enlightenment.”

It is from the deep well of love within the heart that gratitude springs. It is from this deep well that compassion flows.

The well within the heart is fed by the springs of Divine Love.

Just as looking into myself, I discovered a well of love, so also, if we contemplate absolute reality, we will discover that at the core of the cosmos there is a living and giving heart of endless and everlasting love.

The river of love flows from our Father the creator and fills the hearts of all who trust in Him.

The prophet Jeremiah said:

“… blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.” Jer, 17:7-8

A heart filled with love naturally feels gratitude towards the one who fills the cup.

All existence is quickened by giving and receiving. Gratitude is an acknowledgement and affirmation of the gifts of love expressed in the desire to give back and to give to others.

The divine river of love flows to us and through us. It flows into our hearts and then amongst us, one to another.

Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Gratitude itself is potent. It completes the circle of love. In so doing it magnifies and multiplies the power of goodness.

Those who are truly grateful do not betray the one they love. Therefore gratitude gives us strength to overcome the power of the evil one.

Once, as I sat in a hot spring looking down at the Pit River, a silent voice said, “Let love flow through you so that your heart may be pure.”

Let us be grateful. Let us cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Let us express our gratitude in thought, word, and deed.