A Morning Revelation

This very morning, as I awoke
From a generous, refreshing sleep;
A wondrous and rich stream
Of golden.......warm sunlight
From the lofty Throne of Divine Majesty
Sliced clean through to my inner soul;
A signal pledge of the presence of God.
For He inhabits the commonplace of earth,
And His vision can be seen in all things.
In the early stillness,
I know that He is near;
As I reverently, deliberately, and quietly,
Breathe-in His Countenance,
The unseen becomes visible;
And the Eternal, real.
Surely, as I abide, secure in His alcove,
In the heat of His pure, holy Fire,
I shall be kept pure, glowing, and intense.


Heavenly Father, let me dwell
In unbroken contact with Thee,
Let Thy tides of divine Energy
Flow freely into and through
My humble yet eager spirit,
Awaken my slumbering soul,
And pierce my willing heart.
Amen.

The Riches Of Patience

Oh Lord, let Thy patience arise in me
As a spring of fresh water in a briney sea.

All who walk this chosen path soon realize,
That life can often be less than accommodating:
The unwashed grind down and vex us,
Seemingly, beyond endurance;
Circumstances strain, degrade, and deracinate,
Until the very chords of the heart threaten to snap;
Day after day we are overwhelmed
By the rush and competition of our times.
Indeed, for the walk of faith in a fallen world,
Patience is an absolute essential:

"In your patience, possess ye your souls."

"For ye have need of patience,
That, after ye have done the will of God,
Ye might receive the promise."


To freely suffer the aches and pains,
The privations and trials of life;
Sweetly, submissively, and trustfully;
To, each day, drink the bitter cup,
With the eye soley fixed on the Father's Face,
Without murmer, or complaint;
This needs the righteous patience
That only the Risen Savior can provide.
We can in no way live such a life,
Until we have learned to avail ourselves
Of the Riches of the Indwelling Christ.
So that we too may be filled,
With that calm, unreviling patience,
That enabled the Lamb of God
To stand silent before His shearers.

"And we desire that every one of you
Do show the same diligence
To the full assurance of hope unto the end:
That ye be not slothful,
but followers of them who
Through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Sorrow Is The Refiner's Cricible

Sorrow is the Refiner's crucible;
It may be caused by the neglect,
Or cruelty of another;
By circumstances over which
The sufferer has no control,
Or as the result of some dark hour
In the long distant past.
But in as much as the Lord
Has permitted it to come upon you;
It must be accepted as His appointment,
And reckoned as the furnace,
By which He is searching.....testing.....probing;
And purging the soul:
Suffering sanctifies the whole,
As fire searches and purifies metal.
We believe we are to the full for God;
Until we are exposed to the cleansing fire of pain:
Then shall we discover, as did Job,
The dross that abides and the impurities within,
That restrict and hamper our walk with Him.
For nothing so detaches us from the clutter of life:
The love of sense; or the adhesion of earthly affections,
As the infliction of anguish.
Yet He will always keep the discipline of sorrow
In His hands.......as the Lord proclaims,
"My Father is the Husbandman,"
His hand holds the pruning knife,
His eye is fixed upon the cauldron.
His gentle touch is lightly on the pulse,
Caressing; comforting as the darkness clears.
The moments of agony are carefully allotted:
The rigor of the test is prescribed
By the reserves of grace and strength,
Lying unrecognized within.
In tribulation, the Comforter draws near,
Seated alongside the crucible
As the Refiner of pure silver,
Regulating the heat, marking every change;
Waiting ever patiently for the alluvium to sort,
And His image be mirrored in clear, translucent metal.

Love and The Word

The Laws and Precepts of God are the commentaries of His Works;
Show Them to be yours: for They teach you to love God
With all your soul, with all your heart, and with all your will.
For if you love Him with all the endless powers of your being,
You will love Him for Whom and What He is in Himself:
In His attributes; in His counsels, in His works, and in all His ways;
In all things, the great and the simple, wherein He appears,
You will prize Him, honor Him, and delight in Him;
You will forever desire and long to be with Him;
For to love Him wholly, admits to all of this.
You will feed and revel on all that He Is,
So that all His of creation shall be a grand jewel of enrapture:
A window into eternity; the Temple of God; the abode of Heaven;
Indeed, the beautiful palace created for His children.
The Words of God attain that all that is therein,
To have been created by Him, for you.
They command you to love All that is Him;
They provoke the endless powers of the Spirit to all things,
And by ten thousand methods, make everything serve you.
When you truly love Them, They are your guide; your treasure:
When They truly come to love you.......you are Theirs.
All things serve you for serving Him whom you love;
And of whom you are greatly beloved.

Song And Dance Men

There is a disquiet amidst the congregation:
A slow and heavy rumble of fear and vexation
Eructs a veil of languer across the assemblage;
As the wolf immobilizes prey with a stare.

The tunester and the hoofer flash across the dais:
Thesbian mannerists in the theater of the cozen;
Sowing delusion and misgiving throughout the fold,
Doltishly preferring shadow and smoke to almighty God.

Such have forgotten the God of their salvation;
And have not been mindful of the Rock of their strength:
A deceived heart hath turned them aside,
With fraud on their lips and doom on their soul.

Second Letter: The Difference Between Himself and Others.

Difference between himself and others. * Faith alone consistently and persistently. * Deprecates this state being considered a delusion.

NOT finding my manner of life in books, although I have no difficulty about it, yet, for greater security, I shall be glad to know your thoughts concerning it.

In a conversation some days since with a person of piety, he told me the spiritual life was a life of grace, which begins with servile fear, which is increased by hope of eternal life, and which is consummated by pure love; that each of these states had its different stages, by which one arrives at last at that blessed consummation.

I have not followed all these methods. On the contrary, from I know not what instincts, I found they discouraged me. This was the reason why, at my entrance into religion, I took a resolution to give myself up to GOD, as the best satisfaction I could make for my sins; and, for the love of Him, to renounce all besides.

For the first years, I commonly employed myself during the time set apart for devotion, with the thoughts of death, judgement, hell, heaven, and my sins. Thus I continued some years applying my mind carefully the rest of the day, and even in the midst of my business, to the presence of GOD, whom I considered always as with me, often as in me.

At length I came insensibly to do the same thing during my set time of prayer, which caused in me great delight and consolation. This practice produced in me so high an esteem for GOD, that faith alone was capable to satisfy me in that point. [I suppose he means that all distinct notions he could form of GOD were unsatisfactory, because he perceived them to be unworthy of GOD, and therefore his mind was not to be satisfied but by the views of faith, which apprehends GOD as infinite and incomprehensible, as He is in Himself, and not as He can be conceived by human ideas.]

Such was my beginning; and yet I must tell you, that for the first ten years I suffered much: the apprehension that I was not devoted to GOD, as I wished to be, my past sins always present to my mind, and the great unmerited favours which GOD did me, were the matter and source of my sufferings. During this time I fell often, and rose again presently. It seemed to me that the creatures, reason, and GOD Himself were against me; And faith alone for me. I was troubled sometimes with thoughts, that to believe I had received such favours was an effect of my presumption, which pretended to be at once where others arrive with difficulty; at other times that it was a wilful delusion, and that there was no salvation for me.

When I thought of nothing but to end my days in these troubles (which did not at all diminish the trust I had in GOD, and which served only to increase my faith), I found myself changed all at once; and my soul, which till that time was in trouble, felt a profound inward peace, as if she were in her centre and place of rest.

Ever since that time I walk before GOD simply, in faith, with humility and with love; and I apply myself diligently to do nothing and think nothing which may displease Him. I hope that when I have done what I can, He will do with me what He pleases.

As for what passes in me at present, I cannot express it. I have no pain or difficulty about my state, because I have no will but that of GOD, which I endeavour to accomplish in all things, and to which I am so resigned, that I would not take up a straw from the ground against His order, or from any other motive but purely that of love to Him.

I have quitted all forms of devotion and set prayers but those to which my state obliges me. And I make it my business only to persevere in His holy presence, wherein I keep myself by a simple attention, and a general fond regard to GOD, which I may call an actual presence of GOD; or, to speak better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation of the soul with GOD, which often causes in me joys and raptures inwardly, and sometimes also outwardly, so great that I am forced to use means to moderate them, and prevent their appearance to others.

In short, I am assured beyond all doubt, that my soul has been with GOD above these thirty years. I pass over many things, that I may not be tedious to you, yet I think it proper to inform you after what manner I consider myself before GOD, whom I behold as my King.

I consider myself as the most wretched of men, full of sores and corruption, and who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King; touched with a sensible regret I confess to Him all my wickedness, I ask His forgiveness, I abandon myself in His hands, that He may do what He pleases with me. This King, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the key of His treasures; He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways, and treats me in all respects as His favourite. It is thus I consider myself from time to time in His holy presence.

My most usual method is this simple attention, and such a general passionate regard to GOD; to whom I find myself often attached with greater sweetness and delight than that of an infant at the mother’s breast: so that if I dare use the expression, I should choose to call this state the bosom of GOD, for the inexpressible sweetness which I taste and experience there. If sometimes my thoughts wander from it by necessity or infirmity, I am presently recalled by inward motions, so charming and delicious that I am ashamed to mention them.

I desire your reverence to reflect rather upon my great wretchedness, of which you are fully informed, than upon the great favours which GOD does me, all unworthy and ungrateful as I am.

As for my set hours of prayer, they are only a continuation of the same exercise. Sometimes I consider myself there, as a stone before a carver, whereof he is to make a statue: presenting myself thus before GOD, I desire Him to make His perfect image in my soul, and render me entirely like Himself.

At other times, when I apply myself to prayer, I feel all my spirit and all my soul lift itself up without any care or effort of mine; and it continues as it were suspended and firmly fixed in GOD, as in its centre and place of rest.

I know that some charge this state with inactivity, delusion, and self-love: I confess that it is a holy inactivity, and would be a happy self-love, if the soul in that state were capable of it; because in effect, while she is in this repose, she cannot be disturbed by such acts as she was formerly accustomed to, and which were then her support, but would now rather hinder than assist her.

Yet I cannot bear that this should be called delusion; because the soul which thus enjoys GOD desires herein nothing but Him. If this be delusion in me, it belongs to GOD to remedy it. Let Him do what He pleases with me: I desire only Him, and to be wholly devoted to Him.

You will, however, oblige me in sending me your opinion, to which I always pay a great deference, for I have a singular esteem for your reverence, and am yours in our Lord.

From The Practice Of The Presence Of God, by Brother Lawrence; Second Letter

The Fellowship Of The Mystery

The fellowship of the Mystery,

That hath been hid in God

Since before the creation,

Is not only the contemplation

Of the work of His love in redemption,

But the end for which we are redeemed:

An eternal communion with Him in all Glory,

For the God of All Grace

Hath called us unto His presence

Through the blood offering

Of His Paschal Lamb:

Making His divine Wisdom ours,

And our fruition of It,

The end for which our Savior suffered.

The Habitual Sense of God's Presence

How the habitual sense of God's Presence was found

SINCE you desire so earnestly that I should communicate to you the method by which I
arrived at that habitual sense of GOD's Presence, which our LORD, of His mercy, has
been pleased to vouchsafe to me; I must tell you, that it is with great difficulty that I am
prevailed on by your importunities; and now I do it only upon the terms, that you show
my letter to nobody. If I knew that you would let it be seen, all the desire that I have for
your advancement would not be able to determine me to it. The account I can give you
is:
Having found in many books different methods of going to GOD, and divers practices
of the spiritual life, I thought this would serve rather to puzzle me, than facilitate what I
sought after, which was nothing but how to become wholly GOD's.
This made me resolve to give the all for the All: so after having given myself wholly to
GOD, to make all the satisfaction I could for my sins, I renounced, for the love of Him,
everything that was not He; and I began to live as if there was none but He and I in the
world. Sometimes I considered myself before Him as a poor criminal at the feet of his
judge; at other times I beheld Him in my heart as my FATHER, as my GOD: I
worshipped Him the oftenest that I could, keeping my mind in His holy Presence, and
recalling it as often as I found it wandered from Him. I found no small pain in this
exercise, and yet I continued it, notwithstanding all the difficulties that occurred,
without troubling or disquieting myself when my mind had wandered involuntarily. I
made this my business, as much all the day long as at the appointed times of prayer; for
at all times, every hour, every minute, even in the height of my business, I drove away
from my mind everything that was capable of interrupting my thought of GOD.
Such has been my common practice ever since I entered into religion; and though I have
done it very imperfectly, yet I have found great advantages by it. These, I well know,
are to be imputed to the mere mercy and goodness of GOD, because we can do nothing
without Him; and I still less than any. But when we are faithful to keep ourselves in His
holy Presence, and set Him always before us, this not only hinders our offending Him,
and doing anything that may displease Him, at least willfully, but it also begets in us a
holy freedom, and if I may so speak, a familiarity with GOD, wherewith we ask, and
that successfully, the graces we stand in need of. In fine, by often repeating these acts,
they become habitual, and the presence of GOD is rendered as it were natural to us.
Give Him thanks, if you please, with me, for His great goodness towards me, which I
can never sufficiently admire, for the many favors He has done to so miserable a sinner
as I am. May all things praise Him. Amen.

**from Brother Lawrence; The Practice of The Presence of God; First Letter

A First Glimpse At The Coming Nightmare

My Friends This Typeset is Different to Grab Your Attention!!!

Read the following article and just let your mind wander a bit. Scarry isn't it?
The conclusions are obvious here - no more need be said; please; just read and think.

Thankyou
Cunneda

(NaturalNews) Proposed changes to the U.S. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) could include reclassifying childhood temper tantrums, teenage angst, and binge eating as psychiatric disorders. If accepted, the proposals could equal billions of dollars in new revenue for pharmaceutical companies.

The DSM is often referred to as the "bible" of the psychiatric profession. The handbook exerts significant influence on the American healthcare system, affecting everything from insurance companies and medical providers to universities and prisons. Even the legal system lends credence to its provisions.

It is precisely because of its wide scope of influence that many condemn the DSM. The manual is known for categorizing character traits and emotions as mental conditions for which medical treatment, typically drugs with highly dangerous side effects, is advised.

According to Christopher Lane, author of a 2007 critique of DSM called Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness and professor at Northwestern University, responded to the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) proposal by saying, "The organization is clearly opening another Pandora's box here, as well as paving the way for the medication of even greater numbers of children and teenagers cycling through emotional stages as part of normal development."

He is right, considering the fact that if binge eating is reclassified as a psychiatric disorder, millions of Americans could instantly be declared as mentally ill. Though provisions would be included to exclude those who merely overeat, the ramifications of associating eating disorders with mental illness at all would likely include a massive increase in the number of people taking psychotropic drugs.

The APA panel is also suggesting adding a new condition category to DSM called "risk syndromes". People who are suspected to potentially be at risk for developing a mental disorder but do not yet have one would be deemed as having "psychosis risk syndrome". This category would include teenagers who exhibit "excessive suspicion, delusions and disorganized speech or behavior," for example.

The APA made it clear that its goal with the revisions is to diagnose people as early as possible with mental disorders, even before they actually have them, in order to get them on treatment.

"Given the severity of psychotic disorders, and evidence that early treatment may mitigate its long-term consequences, we believed that it was important to begin to recognize these conditions as early as possible," explained Dr. William Carpenter of the APA's psychotic disorders work group. 

The Rose Of Sharon

I am the flower,
Even the Rose of Sharon,
Clothed in fragrant grace.

In the wilderness,
I shall blossom in the dew,
Sweet fragrance for all.

East in the desert,
You shall find Me among thorns,
Calling you softly.

Beloved, come to Me
Stroll and play, learn more of Me,
I am Life to you.

To the abscised soul,
I am the balm of Gilead,
To soothe and refresh.

To the downtrodden,
The Liley of the valley,
Adorned in Glory.

Come ye unto Me,
That I may take root in you,
And Blossom within.

My yoke is easy,
Just a small burden I bring,
In exchange for life.

Bend low with thine ear,
Hear the whisper of My heart;
Come to Me my love.

The Infinity Of God

The Infinity of God is our place of abode:
It is the region and the extent of Him,
And it is undefinably fulfilling;
Because it is the room and place of our treasure;
Our repository for hope and grace:
Even the Seat and Throne of Glory;
And the Kingdom of our soul's desire.

It is through the Light therein that we live and see;
And the Life thereof that inspires us:
The violence of His love and the passion of His Word.
It is the field where our supplications expatiate;
The ground and foundation of all satisfactions;
It envelopes us; majestically filling.......stimulating:
Awesomely wholly within, yet still, wholly without.

We survey the heavens with our eyes,
And know the world through our senses,
But His Infinity is experienced only in the soul.
The immensity of God is an Eternal Tabernacle,
More clearly seen in the eye of the redeemed soul
Than are castles and palaces to the eye of the body;
There; for the ransomed to feel, to admire, and to rest within.

Were it not for this: His Infinity;
God's bounty would of necessity be limited;
His goodness would want of a receptacle for its effusions;
His gifts would be fixed and confined;
His wisdom, understanding, and counsel would evaporate,
And the light of His creation would imperceptibly ebb;
Being inevitably fatal to every being.

Nay! He, even He alone spreadeth out and masters the heavens:
"Lift up your eyes on high,
And behold who hath created these things,
That bringeth out there host by number:
He calleth them all by name,
By the greatness of His might,
For that He is strong in power; not one faileth."

He is of old: the Ancient of Days;
The Uncreated Spirit: being, before time,
So not to be bound within it;
Before space or place were created; He was,
So not to be limited to it, or by it.
He is the unbounded, sovereign First Being:
From whom, and in whom all others have their being.

Blessed Fillip

Gorge thyself on the fruits of faith;
And let truth be thy food:
For the Lord is our inheritance;
Accrued and kept in a pleasing place.
Forfend thee thy chafing at the wicked;
Flee the invidia that attends at envy's hand:
Jubilate and exult only in the Lord,
And He shall give thee the desires of thy heart,
For He is the begetter of all good things.
Trust ye also in His goodness,
And you shall dwell securely in the land;
In a sure and constant peace.
Devolve thy ways upon the Father;
Cast thy full burden upon Him,
And He will preserve thee in tranquility,
Amidst anxiety, danger, and the floods of trouble;
He will show forth thy righteousness
As the wings of the morning.

Happy Mother's Day

Every man knows There's No One Like Mom;

                             


                                                        HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY LADIES

The Artful Pretender

The artful pretender,
Seems unto himself to be,
Of all men, the most perfect.
He feigns attendance unto the Lord,
Wearrying Him with many words;
Yet the law of Truth
Is not found in his lips.
He covers the altar with tears,
With weeping and much crying out;
Yet he knoweth not, nor regardeth
The Offering and the Sacrifice;
Neither does he receive It
With any good will.
He walks mournfully before God:
The path of all who resist.
Devoid of the Truth:
Turning exemption into servitude,
"Supposing that gain is godliness:
From such withdraw thyself,
And turn away."

Trust also In Him

They that Know Thy name, Oh Lord;
Will put their trust in Thee.
Blessed is the man who offers
Himself freely and decisively:
As an open sacrifice of righteousness,
Unto the Father of Lights;
An aromatic aroma before the Throne,
Relished in the ways of heaven
He will place a new song on their lips,
And cause them to hear
His loving kindness in the morning.
They shall prosper as the tree,
Fondly planted alongside the waters,
Spreading its roots deep and wide.
Commit thy way unto the Lord,
Trust also in Him;
And He shall surely bring it to pass:
For the Lord will not forsake
Them that truly search for Him.

Pslam 139:13 - 16

Thou hast possessed my reins;
There is none on earth
That I desire, save Thee.
Thou hast enshrouded me,
As the twin golden cherubim
That outspread their wings,
To cover Thy Holy Ark;
And with the ambrosia of secundine,
Thou cradlest me in the womb.
Forever will I praise Thee,
For I was majestically and reverently formed:
An astonishing and wondrous conception;
The overt expression of every part,
The almost magical harmony of all,
Devoted solely to one.......
A sublime mirror image to Thy plan.
My vigor and strength were known unto You
From Before I was yet entwined;
Hidden from the eyes of man.
My pith, and my essence
Are determined in Thy book,
From the beginning of all:
Before the days were named.
And all save Thee lay static.

The Mouse And The Cookie Jar

 Jeremiah 12:2 ---

Thou hast planted them,
Yea, they have taken root,
They bring forth fruit:
Thou art near in their mouth,
And far from their reins:


Commentary:

A mouse can live in the cookie jar;
That does NOT make him a cookie!

Psalm 139:7 - 12

Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
Can I hide myself in a secret place,
So as to be out of Thy sight;
When in Thee do I live, move, and have my being?
Should I fly into the heavens,
Or lurk in the lowest abyss;
From above and from below; within and without,
All is naked and manifest before Thee.
Should I soar to the farthest isles
On the flaring rays of the dawn sky:
Even on the wings of the morning;
There be no recess from Thy presence;
Thy hand, even there, shall hold me still.
Per chance, the darkness will veil and obscure;
Yet, there too, Thy piercing Light
Will make manifest all my works.
For darkness and light are alike to Thee:
The day gives no more light than the night,
And the night no more darkness than the day;
Thou seest as clearly in one as in the other.
Always, Thine eyes are on the ways of man:
Watching all his comings and goings.

Psalm 139:1 - 6

Oh Lord Thou hast explored and quarried me;
Thy Spirit burrowest into my inner reins,
Dredging up and winnowing exquisitely,
To discover and open every hidden secret;
Nay, is there anything that can escape thy notice,
For every thought conceived in my heart
Is already known unto Thee.
Thou knowest all my doings beyond measure,
As if I were begirt by Thee on every side;
That I should not escape Thy Hand.
Thy knowledge is sublime.......too wondrous;
For the words of a man can not express
The truth of the absoluteness with which
All things stand patent to the Eye of God:
A knowledge having neither bound nor measure,
And only contemplated with conscious imbecility.

The Quest

The knowledge of God,
Is the fruit of His pursuit:
 A judge searches for truth,
A physician, the nature of disease,
And a philosopher, the reason of things;
They search them out and find them,
For they can distinguish where to look.
So must a man quest after God;
If He is to be found.

The Vision Of Brother Thomas

Behold, it was not a dream.......but yet it was:
An ever crescendoing cloud, I saw;
A malevolent, creeping midnight,
Fencing up the ways of men, that they cannot pass;
And setting a darkness in the pathways
Of princes, men of reason and war,
And voices famous in the congregation:
Such as dwell in the nighttide,
Amid the shadow of death;
Being bound in affliction and iron;
Consumed by a fire not blown.

They shall look unto the earth,
Beholding trouble.......a dimness of anguish.
Amidst foundations out of course;
And they are driven to a union of casuistry.
Therefore do they beckon the euphuistic one
To mollify and conjoin, in a subtle dance of death.
He cometh in with vanity and flowery words,
Though his name be covered in darkness,
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy
Against God and all that dwell in heaven;
Declaring war upon the saints and all that is fair in His eyes.

Straightaway speaketh the Lord unto His elect:
Discretion shall preserve thee.......
And understanding shall keep thee;
To deliver thee away from the evil that seekest thee.
For My candle will I shine upon thee,
And in My light shall you pass this darkness.
Yet now the ravens sing; for they will come upon you;
Grim and growling as the gray wolf.
Stand and prevail, that thy heart may be found faithful;
For thou art My battle axe and weapon of war,
And with thee I will break the darkness asunder.

They shall hold the bow and the lance;
They are cruel, and will not show mercy:
Their voice shall roar like the sea,
And they shall ride upon mighty horses;
Every one in array, as a man off to war.
The sound of battle carries over the lands;
The noise of a multitude; the tumultuous blaring
Of the kingdoms of nations gathered together.
Then shall the Lord muster His host,
To fight as when He fought in the day of battle;
And He shall smite with the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.