Within you is an inexhaustible source of power, if you can but contact it. That power can heal you, and it can inspire you by telling you what to do and how to do it. It can give you peace of mind, and , above all, it can give you direct knowledge of God. That power is scientific prayer. There is no problem that prayer cannot overcome and no good thing that it cannot bring into your life.
This is the message of the whole Bible. It was summed up by Jesus when he said,

…the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21).

This truth was dramatically illustrated by an incident in real life. The body of a tramp, clad in rags, was discovered near a lime kiln where he had evidently crept for warmth. After the autopsy his clothes were torn up to be put into the incinerator, and sewn into the lining of the trousers was a bank note for a large amount. Unquestionably the original owner of the suit had had it sewn in there for safety, and for some unknown reason lost track of it.
Consider the situation! This poor hobo had sat down many a time to lukewarm coffee – and all the time he was sitting on a thousand dollars. People may have plenty of money and yet be hoboes for health or happiness or spiritual experience. Riches do not become wealth until they are realized. Cash your bill at the Bank of Heaven and make it productive.

But my God shall supply all your need… (Philippians 4:19)

How many treasures do we hold hidden within, unused, unnoticed or unknown to us? The answer is all the treasures that exist. We are not poor, destitute beggars trying to squeak through a life devoid of value, resources or joy. Instead, God has freely given us everything the universe can offer for our happiness, fulfillment, peace and joy.

Seeking,
Z gardener

Volumes have been written on the secret of happiness, but I like the simple old story that has been told so often.

In the old days, there was a king who was so miserable and unhappy that he called together all of his soothsayers, magicians, and other court advisers to find a remedy. They tried all sorts of methods to rouse the king out of his deep despair— but alas, to no avail. Finally, one of them suggested that a search be made for the happiest man in the kingdom, for it was thought that if the king could put on the man’s undershirt, he would become happy too. In due course, the happiest man in the kingdom was found. But, of course, he had never even owned an undershirt. His happiness sprang from within.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

Our search for happiness begins and ends within us. God created us with everything we need to be happy, fulfilled and at peace. God did not fill creation with our sources of joy, instead God filled us with them. Things, places, position or status will never make anyone happy. Freedom from want or fear won’t do the trick either. The world is full of wealthy, successful and powerful people who are unhappy, empty and unfulfilled.

Z gardener

People sometimes say, “ I believe firmly in the spiritual teaching, and I have done so for years, but I have never been able to make it work—isn’t that strange?” And sometimes they say this with quite an air of triumph.

Such people remind me of a man who used to boast that he had an ailment that no one could heal. He had successfully defied every school of healing and had emerged triumphantly still in possession of his affliction. As it happens, his wife did heal him later on by prayer alone, but she was a patient and persevering woman. That man’s wife probably points the way to the overcoming of such illogicality. The key to success lies in just the qualities that she obviously had; patience combined with a gentle and unhurried expectation of success.

The patient whom she healed is not a rare specimen, nor is he unknown to any one of us. We are all likely to encounter him under our own hat at any moment!

I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works…(Revelation 2:19).

Patience and a gentle and unhurried expectation of success are lacking in most of us. The world pushes for instant gratification, aggressive action, immediate results and the assumption that success only results from our direct action. However, true success is only assured when we turn to God in patience and confidence. It is when we drain out the self and its aggressive assumptions that patience and expectation replace hurried-ness and doubt. Even those who believe in God will have problems demonstrating if they do not expect success and are patient enough for it to happen in God’s way and according to God’s timetable. The wise old gardener plants a seed and then waits expectantly until its time has come to sprout. The impetuous youngster plants the same and watches impatiently each day for the sprout. The child may lose their expectation and even their confidence in the sprout long before it is due. The old gardener goes about his business with confidence until the time is right and then welcomes the new sprout with a smile. If we cultivate our gardens as wise gardeners, we will live in a state of quiet, patient and confident expectation of God’s grace and our gardens will flourish.

In expectation,
Z gardener

If you have explored some of the back waters within a few miles of the ocean you will know how much difference tidal water makes. Here you come upon a stagnant pool, partly covered with weeds and slime, an unpleasant place to be near. Not far away is another pool but this is filled with clean, salt-smelling sea water, and the growing things around it are pleasant and wholesome. The difference is that in one case the living ocean water pours in twice a day charged with vitality, and then flows out again carrying away anything stale or lifeless. It is this circulation of life that makes the difference between the two pools.

When the tide is out, we sometimes see a boat stranded, unable to move, but we know that this condition is only temporary because the tide always comes back and refloats the boat. As long as you keep up your daily visit with God, your soul is open to tidal water, and even if you should seemingly be left high and dry for a period, it is only a question of time before the living ocean will float you off once more.

Keep your soul flooded with the tidal water of eternal life and …nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

Just as we must nourish our bodies each day with food and water, we must nourish our souls and spirits. What is it with which we feed our spirits.

Spiritually full,
Z gardener

No matter what problem you may have to face today, there is a solution, because you have nothing to deal with but your own thoughts. As you know, you have the power to select and control your thoughts, difficult though it may be at times to do so. As long as you think that your destiny is in the hands of other people, the situation is hopeless.

Remind yourself constantly that you have nothing to deal with but your own thoughts. Write it down where you will see it often. Have it on your desk. Hang it in your bedroom. Write it in your pocketbook. Write it on your soul. It will transform your life. It will lead you out of the land of Egypt and out of the House of Bondage. It will bring you to God.

I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies (Psalm 119:59).

Yes, there are a multitude of problems in each of our lives that may appear to have no solution. These problems could be seen as rational reasons to feel hopeless and that hopelessness would bind us to fear, anxiety or despair. But God has told us not to feel this way, and that if we turn to God, we can overcome the problems we face. When we control our thoughts and turn them to God, we are not alone alone, and no longer dependent on our limited human ability. When we have true faith in God, we are empowered to break the yoke of fear and rise above our problems. We then receive the strength and mental discipline we need to control our thoughts.

Think God,
Z gardener

People are very apt to find what they seek. You have noticed that people who go about looking for trouble, practically always find it. The popular proverb, “Listeners seldom hear good of themselves,” is an example. We also know people who love to say that they never have any luck. When things seem to go against them, they exclaim triumphantly, “Wouldn’t you know it?—that is what always happens to me!”

Now, such a mistaken person needs only to alter this habit and he will automatically alter his life. It is often difficult to get such people to make this alteration, but if they do the result is never in doubt. Spiritual law says that it is never too late to mend, and that when we seek God’s help we find it.

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth;for I am God, and there is none else (Isaiah 45:22).

We see what we expect. Two people in separate cars sitting in morning traffic can see two totally different worlds. One driver sees a beautiful blue sky and rolls down the window to feel the cool breeze and smell the moist morning air. The other sees a traffic jam and lays on their horn while cursing the other drivers, the sun in their eyes and the cold winter blast that chills their bones.

Sunny side up,
Z gardener

People are to be judged by their actions. We sometimes hear it said, “His conduct is bad but at heart he means well”; but this is nonsense. In the old-fashioned phrase, “handsome is as handsome does.”

The bad-tempered person cannot possibly have a “heart of gold” as is sometimes charitably said. A bad-tempered person has a mean, selfish heart and should get busy and change it without delay.

One who loves does not seek his own advantage. Love acts the part, and anything else is hypocrisy.

…be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).

This not only applies to the mean-hearted person, who seeks their own advantage, but also to those who lash out in anger, judgement or condemnation when wronged, hurt or mistreated. Those negative reactions have the same effect on the soul, spirit and mind whether we feel justified in them or when we are just being hateful.

Seeking the pasture,
Z gardener

We all know that it is God alone who is our peace—although nearly all of us tend to forget it from time to time. We forget it when we begin to neglect our daily visit with God.

Now, when you think that you are too busy for your daily visit, let me ask you frankly, what wonderful thing are you doing that is more important? There is nothing that you could possibly do with that time that would bring you greater benefit than perfect peace. As a matter of fact, if you have something very important and urgent to do, your visit will make that very important thing go through much more easily and successfully.

Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace… (Job 22:21).

When we start our day with God, we have marked our begriming location and can know where we are throughout the day regardless of our course. Just as a sailor must know his beginning location to know his position at any time, we too must know where our daily journey begins. It is through prayer that God will reveal our true position and help us chart our course through the day to the proper destination. If we finish the day with God, our anchorage will be secure and we will know where we are when we sleep. If we jump into the day without God, we might as well be sailing blind and we can be sure that the seas will be rougher and our destination unknown. By starting and finishing each day in prayer, we will have the peace of knowing where we are, where we are going and that our course is sure. Whether sailing or living, this is the recipe for peace, hope and faith that assures we will arrive at the destination God intends for us.

There is a bumper sticker that sums this up completely. It says’ Know God, know peace…No God, no peace.”

With God as our guide,
Stan

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall or partition between us (Ephesians 2:14).

This is not only one of the most beautiful texts in the Bible, but one of the most important. Consider what it says. First, that God is our peace; next, that not only are we and God one (all spiritual teachers say that) but that it is He who has made us one. We are one because that is the nature of being since He has made us that way. Then the inspired writer uses a figure of speech. He reminds us that when we lost our sense of unity with God, it is exactly as though a wall was built between God and ourselves. When that happens communication is broken and we are no longer one in consciousness, until, of course, the wall is pulled down.

In any difficulty the one important thing is to have the temporary wall of partition pulled down, and to let God do it—for only He can.

When mankind chose to determine for itself right from wrong, we disobeyed God in Eden. This separated us from God and we had to leave the garden God created for us. Then we had to face the world surviving by our knowledge and instincts instead of living in harmony with, under the protection of and by the will of God.

Peace,
Z gardener

When Nebuchadnezzar sent out his decree that everyone in his kingdom should bow down and worship the golden image that he had erected, there were three men who refused to obey. These were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, Hebrew officials in the province of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar called them before him, and they bluntly told the King that their God would deliver them from the fiery furnace to which they would be consigned, but even if God did not deliver them, they would still serve Him and Him alone.

Nebuchadnezzar had the three men thrust into the fiery furnace, and the heat was so intense that it slew the guards who threw them in. Then, as he looked in upon the three faithful Hebrews, Nebuchadnezzar was astonished to find a fourth man walking in the flames with the other three. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego walked out of the fiery furnace without blemish or scar.

So it is when we hold steadfastly to God, and give all power to Him. He sends his messenger to deliver us from our furnace of fear and frustration. Then do we know that nothing shall by any means harm us.

Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him… (Daniel 3:28).

Does this mean Christians are invulnerable? Not in the common understanding of the word. It does mean that we can be saved by God’s intervention and our faith in him. But beyond the miraculous intercession, it has an everyday meaning. It means that nothing can take away our God’s blessings and protection, and the promise that everything happening to us will be for our best good. It also means that life’s most treasured benefits of peace, hope and joy can not be consumed by spiritual or physical means if we love and follow God’s will.

A delivered servant,
Z gardener