Today's Thought Gem—September

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 16 September is “Prayer does not change the divine attitude towards man but it does change man’s attitude towards the changeless Father” a suggested match would be:

The motive of the prayer

gives it right of way to the divine ear,

not the social, economic, or outward

religious status of the one who prays

 

^{[Paper 146:2.8, page 1639:3]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 17 September is “Prayer is not designed as a technique for aggrandizing self or for gaining unfair advantage over one’s fellows” a suggested match would be:

 A thoroughly selfish soul

cannot pray in the

true sense of the word

 

^{[Paper 146:2.9, page 1639:4]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 18 September is “When you pray for the sick and afflicted do not expect that your petitions will take the place of loving and intelligent ministry to the necessities of these afflicted ones” a suggested match would be:

Pray for the welfare of your

families, friends, and fellows,

but especially pray for

those who curse you,

and make loving petitions

for those who persecute you

 

^{[Paper 146:2.11, page 1639:6]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 19 September is “Prayers of thanksgiving are appropriate for groups of worshippers but the prayer of the soul is a personal matter” a suggested match would be:

There is but one form of prayer

which is appropriate for

all God’s children,

and that is: “Nevertheless,

your will be done”

 

^{[Paper 146:2.12, page 1640:1]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 20 September is “You should never forget that intolerance is the mask covering up the entertainment of secret doubts as to the trueness of one’s belief” a suggested match would be:

True and genuine inward certainty

does not in the least fear outward analysis,

nor does truth resent honest criticism

 

^{[Paper 146:3.2, page 1641:4]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 21 September is “No man is at any time disturbed by his neighbour’s attitude when he has perfect confidence in the truth of that which he wholeheartedly believes” a suggested match would be:

…there is a practical method

of discovering the degree

to which you have yielded the control of

your soul powers to the teaching and guidance

of this indwelling spirit

of the heavenly Father, and that is

the degree of your love for your fellow men

 

^{[Paper 146:3.6, page 1642:2]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 22 September is “Courage is the confidence of thoroughgoing honesty about those things which one professes to believe” a suggested match would be:

Let your supreme delight be

in the character of God,

and he shall surely give you

the sincere desires of your heart

 

^{[Paper 146:2.9, page 1639:4]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 23 September is “Sincere men are unafraid of the critical examination of their true convictions and noble ideals” a suggested match would be:

Intellectual strivings

may reveal the facts of life,

but the gospel of the kingdom

unfolds the truths of being

 

^{[Paper 146:3.1, page 1641:3]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 24 September is “Man should not blame God for those afflictions which are the natural result of the life which he chooses to live” a suggested match would be:

The Father does not send affliction

as an arbitrary punishment for wrongdoing.

The imperfections and handicaps

of evil are inherent; the penalties of sin are inevitable;

the destroying consequences of iniquity are inexorable

 

^{[Paper 148:5.3, page 1661:5]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 25 September is “It is the Father’s will that mortal man work persistently and consistently toward the betterment of his estate on earth” a suggested match would be:

The Father is not personally responsible

for all you may fail to comprehend.

Do not doubt the love of the Father

just because some just and wise law

of his ordaining chances to afflict you

because you have innocently or

deliberately transgressed such a divine ordinance

 

^{[Paper 148:5.5, page 1662:1]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 26 September is “The animal nature and the lower forms of will creatures do not progress favourably in environmental ease” a suggested match would be:

Problematic situations, coupled with

exertion stimuli, conspire to produce

those activities of mind, soul, and spirit

which contribute mightily to

the achievement of worthy goals

of mortal progression and

to the attainment of higher levels of spirit destiny

 

^{[Paper 154:2.5, page 1719:1]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 27 September is “The religion of the spirit requires only uniformity of insight, not uniformity of viewpoint or outlook” a suggested match would be:

The religion of the spirit

does not demand uniformity

of intellectual views,

only unity of spirit feeling

 

^{[Paper 155:6.9, page 1732:2]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 28 September is “Never forget there is one adventure which is more satisfying and thrilling than the attempt to discover the will of the living God, and that is the supreme experience of honestly trying to do that divine will” a suggested match would be:

Some callings are not holy

and others secular. All things are sacred

in the lives of those who are spirit led;

that is, subordinated to truth,

ennobled by love, dominated by mercy,

and restrained by fairness — justice

 

^{[Paper 155:6.11, page 1732:4]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 29 September is “When you once begin to find God in your soul, presently you will begin to discover him in other men’s souls and eventually in all the creatures and creations of a mighty universe” a suggested match would be:

But what chance does

the Father have to appear as a God

of supreme loyalties and divine ideals

in the souls of men who

give little or no time to

the thoughtful contemplation

of such eternal realities?

 

^{[Paper 155:6.13, page 1733:1]}

[Vern]

Vern wrote:  Today, 30 September is “While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto” a suggested match would be:

But do not make the mistake of

trying to prove to other men

that you have found God;

you cannot consciously produce

such valid proof, albeit there are

two positive and powerful demonstrations

of the fact that you are God-knowing, and they are:

1.

The fruits of the spirit of God

showing forth in your daily routine life.

2.

The fact that your entire life plan furnishes

positive proof that you have unreservedly

risked everything you are and have on

the adventure of survival after death in the pursuit

of the hope of finding the God of eternity,

whose presence you have foretasted in time

 

^{[Paper 155:6.14–16, page 1733:2–4]}

[Auteur]

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