Author: rkcdlitt

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit is Love, Kindness, and Faith. With these, we grow in understanding the true value of the fruit of the Spirit. We sing with joy when God assures us that He is our refuge and strength and present when help is sorely needed.

When we do God’s will, we are His disciples, always caring, always giving. It is all He asks of us. We practice our caring as Jesus did; He was not just concerned with the soul of a person; He was also very concerned with the health of the physical body. This is so evident in His healings. We care for the entire person.

Our days of searching through prayer are blessed when we  share our concerns and the concerns of others. As we have these conversation, many questions are raised and at times answered. We always await God’s response knowing that He does not work on our time; there is no time in God’s world; there is only eternity.

When we understand this, we stop demanding certain results, knowing that the clarity of God’s Love and caring is our security blanket. When we give ourselves fully to God’s wishes, we are rewarded with the knowledge that we have shared the blessings we receive with all people, and if we really care, with all of God’s creation. We are God’s church, bringing love and comfort to our neighbors in all of humanity.

God bonds us together in Love; let us respond in kind. Let us share the fruits of God’s Spirit.

By the end of each day, I feel that I am a lost sheep from the turmoil of our tumultuous days. It is like I have been set adrift on a sea of danger. I meditate to rediscover the anchor that secures me to God’s goodness. I long for quietude; letting go of my false assumptions, I turn to God and accept His guidance. I again find the exhilarating brightness of God’s Light and Truth, accepting the mystery of my relationship with my Lord.

God looks into my heart and the veil of doubts is removed by His Love. I retire to my bed comforted by this revelation that is open to me in His light. My nightly rest is free from dreams of misfortune and apprehension. When I awaken to the new day, I am refreshed and solidly on the path that Jesus walked, loving my known and unknow friends. I praise the Lord for His Love and Comfort.

Truth will come with the Holy Spirit and will guide me onto the path of righteousness. What will I do today for life is very complicated. Following Jesus, I know that I must keep my life simple, love God, love others and myself. In my meditation I search for the One who brings Truth. I search for the spiritual truth and when finding it, I know that my direction will be beneficial to all.

I recognize the differences in all of my brothers and sisters, but I know that they also are created in God’s image and offer me the chance to see the true source of Revelation. In the midst of the hard times in our society, I avoid the temptations that keep us separated from each other; I recognize God’s goodness and love in all whom I meet. I do not withhold the love I feel toward each of the different people I meet. When doing this, I gain a lifelong friend.

The goodness of all people shines within me; I am truly blessed. I may not fully understand all of the teachings of Jesus, but I know that by divining the true direction God wants me to follow through the blessings of Jesus, I am on the correct direction for my life. May the love of God and the Wisdom of Jesus shine in me for me to share with others.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Become a Messenger

God spoke to the Israelites through messengers, called prophets. It did not matter what the Israelites did, God sent them blessings and sometimes punishments. Looking back at that time, I sometimes feel that God was harsh towards his chosen people, but most of the time, I also yearn for that type of simplicity and dependence on God in our present society.

We also learn in John, that the Word was made flesh, and through Jesus, we are blessed to experience the full Grace and Truth that God offers us. Jesus remains a partner in our lives if we only remain quiet enough to hear His loving words. He is the Word.

I am blessed to have the time each day to scrub the current problematic thoughts from my head to have an open conversation with our Lord. During my daily faith readings and meditation, I can eliminate the distractions in my life and turn to God for his presence each morning. This allows me to avoid those overwhelming thoughts and feelings that permeate our moral lives.

Presently, I know that as a single human, I am weak, but with the faith of others around me, I am blessed with their presence and the added benefit of God within us all. Gracious God, I pray that Your light continues to brighten my life and allow me to continue to share this light with all whom I meet. Allow me to be Your messenger.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Jesus in Name

Whether we refer to our Lord as Jesus or Yeshua, the meanings are identical; Yeshua delivers and Jesus rescues, this according to Hebrew meanings. I prefer Yeshua, only because I think it brings me closer to what the early first and second century Christians prayed whether in cities or in exile in the deserts of Israel or Egypt.

We rejoice that God directed Mary to name her child what she did. It is a pronounceable and understandable name for God. Either name is easy to say and remember. When our lips form His name, we are taken to a place that is filled with wonder and salvation. This name glorifies us in God’s Love.

When we bring Yeshua into our hearts, we dwell in the glorious realm of Jesus’s home, a simple dwelling, lacking in any ornate trimmings. Although the room is bland, there are no walls; we enter and are amazed at the beauty of God’s creation within. We also notice that there are so many people that we cannot count them, nor can we miss that there is a variety of skin tones, and couples vary according to gender. It is an open and welcome place.

There is no darkness in this room; there is no strife in this room. When we enter this room, we are no longer in the desert of despair and want. We know we are welcome because everyone is happy and secure in their stations. We are led to this divine room by the eternal Love of Yeshua and His Father. We say His name in prayer and are transformed.

© Russell Kendall Carter

We make so many plans for our future that we sometimes forget that this fine-tuning often goes to naught. We forget to take our plans to the One who matters. We forget that God is always at hand and His message comes through our hearts before it surfaces in our mortal thoughts. This is the way He seems to hide from us always.

In our darkness when thinking of the future, God is there to pave the way. We are now contending with a vicious virus that dims the future for us and all humanity, but we are freshened when we feel God’s hands caressing our hearts, assuring us that all will be well. For most of us, we need the darkness to find the light of God.

Remember back when we were mere children; we did not have a care in the world. Our days were filled with small thoughts, a few chores, and lots of fun with other kids in the neighborhood. Our minds were at ease, because we had no thoughts of the future. I sometimes think that this is the way God wants us to be, even in our adult years. I recall the words of Jesus, “anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Does this have any meaning for us today? It should! Jesus asks us to put aside our daily mortal worries and live in the present. To achieve any degree of ease, we must think as a child. The universe is at our hands. The universe is eternal, therefore, we must live in the eternal, we must live and think in eternity, for eternity is the only real existence.

My challenge is to bring the eternity of God’s presence into my daily life to live and prosper in the only way it matters. My enemy is hunger, hunger for assurance that what I am matters, what I am is beneficial to others and not just a selfish existence. I am thirsty for God’s assurance, but if I think in terms of eternity, my enemy is small; it is God’s eternity that matters. I pray and fast each day for God’s comfort.

© Russell Kendall Carter

A Prayer for a New Year

God meets all my needs, bringing the richness of Jesus’s Glory to my doorstep. As God became the Father to Israel, like Israel, I am His son. He speaks to me through His daughter, Truth, and She gives me my holy reward. I trust my sole provider. My faith grows as the proverbial mustard seed. Therefore, God gives me Hope when hope is hiding.

When my life is empty, my soul calls out for God’s intent and purpose. I open my heart for the awareness of His bountiful provisions. I grow wrapped in the comfort and promise of His Love. He blesses me with Christ’s presence in my life. As Jesus forgives those who hung Him on that tree, I forgive those who harm me. In this, I obtain the inheritance of His word.

His manifestation brings all things His creation. There is remarkable Hope in my realization that all is not lost according to Christ. He brings all to me with His transforming Love. I feel deep internal change when I practice silence and stillness in my life. When I walk in Christ’s holy light, my awareness of the plight of those long forgotten by society scorches my very soul, knowing that I am a part of a society that denies the pluralism of God’s world.

I am refreshed, knowing that nothing is lost in God’s eyes, and all I must do is work to lift those oppressed by selfish egotism. God gives me Hope that what I do, and other champions of God’s word will help to help our brothers and sisters, who are also worthy of the best of God’s creation, rise from the oppression of the cruel despot, greed.

Abba, give me the strength to spread your light to the world.

© Russell Kendall Carter

What is God saying to me today? Am I growing in prayer for all humanity?

Where can I improve my relationships with others, with Jesus, with God?

These are questions I ask myself every day. My goal is to rename myself; The Lord is Here. I open my Bible, read whatever chapter falls open; this is always random. I then turn to my Bible in a Year App and Read the selections for the day. Then I look to the other inspirational sites I read each morning. I take my pen and my daily diary and jot notes from each of these.

Then I put all aside and begin my morning meditation which includes a prayer of thanksgiving for my life and those dear to me. I invite God into my heart and meditate on my relationship with God and God’s relationship with me. At times, worldly issues delay my immersion. All the while, I am deep in conversation with God, our eternal Abba.

Eventually, I know that you and I are marvelously made and fully known to God. I pray for assistance to practice this all day long. I keep it simple – I try to see the face of God in all whom I meet. My desire is to assure that my relations with all are wrapped in one simple word – Love. Love comes from God into my heart. It’s that easy. 

When this is complete, I open my word document and write in my blog. Something simple, such as this, will appear the next day. I also write a short poem on my topic for the morning:

Take your favorite pen;

find a blank page in your diary.

Hear the knock; open the door;

let God enter your heart,

and the marvelous city

of simplicity will enter.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Good living . . .

Our universal vision must change as to what the definition of charity is. When we withhold equality in all parts of life, we obfuscate the  meaning of charity. Jesus calls us to protect the most vulnerable in our society. We must stop the denial of our history of inequality, since the first of our ancestors stepped on the shores of Virginia and Massachusetts. What we can do is recognize the errors made and reverse them for all humanity, and by extension, all of God’s creation.

Equal rights, be them for people of color or by gender, are supposed to be guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, but lawmakers have passed laws limiting the rights of those who are on the fringe of society and will not allow their prejudices to be reversed. This is why religion and the churches in the United States must take a lead on this issue of equality.

Like it or not, we are all make in God’s image; nowhere in the words of Jesus does it say that we are to discriminate against a certain class of people. It is time for all people of faith help repair the virulent divisions created by duplicitous politicians. Jesus gives us certain instructions when it comes those left behind by society; “what you do to the least of these, you do to Me.” We cannot say we love Jesus and not love all people.

What Jesus asks is not easy; but, if we truly love Jesus and praise God for the gifts given to us, we cannot ignore the two greatest of the commandments. We are all poor in our humanity; the economic standards of the poor in Israel two thousand years ago may not be the same as they are today, but spiritually, we are just as bankrupt. We need to recognize God within us all. I pray that 2021 will bring us closer to Love.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Let us All Prosper

With the new year, we all make resolutions to improve ourselves. I say that we should only make one: reduce the greatest difficulties in our lives. The only way we can do this, I believe, is to take a greater interest in our fellow man (and woman), be kind, be patient, and accept each as a child of God who is just as damaged as we are and are looking for a way to survive this pandemic-threatened world.

Give charity to one another and not just in monetary form. Lift those we see and those we do not see up to God in prayer, asking for God to lift all of us from suffering, from envying, and from egotism. Jesus invites us to love one another; love is not a word; love is a deed, a function of our lives. The only way we can prosper is through love. It is all God asks.

We are now separated from our families, our friends, and our neighbors, all around the world. Our community is divided because of this virus. Some take precautions, some do not, but all are in our family. We must turn toward each other in love and compassion, share our stories of isolation and quarantine.

If we want to survive this pandemic, we cannot add to it by hate and opposition. We look upon the face of Jesus and see God. We must look upon the faces of others and see Jesus before us; see the ocean of Love pouring forth in a gentle torrent. It is there for all to see. None of us have seen the face of God until we recognize it in the faces of those we disagree with. Accept what we see; go, let us all prosper.

© Russell Kendall Carter