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God is Love #Unity

I like this quote from Emmet Fox today:

"Practice love everyday and watch your thoughts and watch your tongue, and watch your deeds, that nothing contrary to love finds expression there."

Fear, and its many derivatives, is the absence of love. Where there is fear there cannot be love. Fear can show us as many other different emotions such as envy, regret, impatience, depression, jealousy, anger and resentment (just to name a few). So how can we cure fear? According to Scripture, the idea of God as Love develops into our answer. As it says in 1 John 4:16… God is Love, whoever lives in Love, lives in God. So to abolish fear we must turn our attention to Love. 

If you love God more than anything else, love will be your experience. However once any one thing gains more love than God, that becomes your experience. Have you ever heard of the phrase "Death by 1,000 cuts"? I have struggled in my life with allowing thoughts that are based in fear to pick away at the surface of my consciousness. I would let little thoughts gain more and more power over me and my state of mind. I used to be very afraid to fly. I know that sounds funny, as many of you know I fly quite a bit these days. But this fear was crippling. I would try to escape from it by having a few drinks before flight, but regardless of my preparations, I would be terrified the entire time. One day, I realized how much time and energy I was wasting being afraid. I realized that all the time on the plane that I would spend a nervous wreck, I could be spending in prayer or writing or praying. 

Once I turned my attention from what I was fearing (death) and towards God (Life), my fear began to dissipate. I even created a little song that I would sing to myself to remind me to focus on Love when fear tried to settle in. I now teach this song to my children as I put them to bed, letting them know that they are safe and protected.

Jesus' message was very simple. It was to love. To love God, to love each other and to love ourselves. How will people see this message in action? People will see this love as we demonstrate it to ourselves and to each other. As we go out and love the world, those thoughts, words and actions will cause a shift in consciousness, a little boost. People will know we are loving only by our actions. So go out there and love somebody :) 

God as Truth #Unity #Fast

The second main characteristic of God is Truth. I find that it is easy to get lost in the details of this statement. God is not truthful, like a human is truthful, God is Truth itself. If you have Truth, that is God. I think many people have experienced Truth, even if they don't label it God. God is absolute Truth at all times.  When we focus on God as Absolute Truth, all relative things begin to fade. In the reading today, Emmet Fox states "To know the Truth about any condition heals it. Jesus said, And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32)… Did you get that? To know the Truth about ANY situation HEALS it. That is powerful!

It is important to take time to turn our attention to Divine Truth. When we are dealing with our friends, family and business colleagues, it is important that we see them in the light of Truth. When we see everyone we come in contact with as an expression of God as Truth, speaking and acting from Truth becomes easier and more easily seen. The challenge is to simply focus on the Truth of a situation before engaging in discussions or interrelations. See that Truth dwells within the person you are communicating with and know that they will be acting from Divine Truth.

Let me give you an example. I have to sign a contract with one of my clients. Before my meeting, I close my eyes and mediate on God As Truth and on my client having that Truth within them and knowing that they will act from it. If I truly believe that this is true, the person I am talking to will act from Truth.  Usually someone is not trying to lie to me or withhold information, but often when I do this meditative exercise prior to a meeting information is shared more easily and freely. I have even had clients say "Oh, I almost forgot" near the end of a meeting that provided critical information for the success of the project. I also can sense a little clearer when someone is not telling the truth.

This reminds me of something from a new show that I am enjoying called " Once Upon a Time". The Heroine says that she has a magic power which is that she can tell if someone is lying. I think everyone has this power if they connect with that part of themselves that knows Divine Truth. When we focus on God, we can more easily discern what is right and true, and this is true freedom. When we connect to God, connect to Truth, we are set free.

My thoughts dictate my experience, and if I believe the Truth, God's Truth in a situation, then I believe I will be guided into the right situations and business dealings. I am set free from the fear of being lied to, being in the wrong situation at the wrong time. The Truth will set me free and my heart can be at ease.

 

God's Qualities, Our Demonstration

One of the lessons I have learned from my biblical studies is when anything seems wrong, upsets or angers me that I should simply turn my attention to God. In doing this I focus not on the problem or situation but on the inifite possibilities of God. In my studies I have found that there are certain characteristics that many of the world's religions attribute to the Divine and over the next several days I am going to focus on them.

In a class I took at Metro Life Church, I read a book called "Knowledge of the Holy" by AW Tozer. It was a very impactful book on my spiritual life. 

One of my favorite quotes from the book is this:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” 
― A.W. Tozer

So what do we think about God? What should we focus on when we turn our attention away from our problems and to God. Over the next few days I am going to look at this questions and examine the qualities of God. I know that as I focus on things, whatever they are, my experience begins to mold to those thoughts. I know this from personal demonstration. So it is with excitement that I turn my thoughts towards these characteristics of the Divine, so that my life may become more of a reflection of those qualities.

 

The first main aspect of God is LIfe. As Emmet Fox said "Joy is one of the highest expressions of God as Life. Which is actually a mixture of Life and Love". Anyone who knows me know that this is exactly how I live. My mantra during yoga is very simply "love". We need to recognize that when we act in depression, sadness, or discouragement, we are not fully alive. Thoughts of lack, depression, anger and fear contract and destroy. It is only the opposite thoughts of love, abundance, peace and joy that can bring a full expression of life in our mind and our bodies. It is then that we can be truly joyful.

 

I see this most in the minds of people around me when I hear things like, "I can't" or "That won't work" or "that'll never happen". These thoughts are then expressed through action and create experience. Why don't we try to think a different way? See how those thoughts become our actions and how our experiences get transformed. Through God we have Wisdom, Knowledge and Happiness, I would think if we begin to turn our minds to these qualities in times of trouble, they will transform and renew our experience. Not easily done, I know.

 

 

 

 

 

Persistence Brings Results

Today I begin the first day of a 21 day fast. I do this fast every year and I look forward to the changes that I experience in my mind, body and soul. Most years I choose to use a devotional of some kind to help me focus my prayer activity during this time of fasting and this year I am choosing to learn from and read a devotional written by Emmet Fox. I enjoy his Unity based teachings and focus on Biblical Principle. Check it out.

Today's reading is about persistence. January is always a time of renewed resolutions and commiting to plans for the year. Right about now we are still going strong with whatever we have started, a new exercise routine, quiet time with God, or eating better. The gyms are all more crowded and my Zumba and Bikram classes are all packed... but within a few months that will change. People will get caught up in life and priorities will shift. Only the truely persistent ones will keep up the practice and see the results. I think this is especially true for our spiritual lives. 

We often get impatient, whether it is with our bodies not changing as fast as we want them to or our prayers not being answered as quickly or in the way we want them to. Our first inclination is to quit, to think "this isn't working". We plant seeds in our lives, only to "dig them up" just to check to see why its taking so long. In doing this, we fail to see the results we desire. We inadvertantly destroy the harvest.

So today I focus on persistence. Being persistent in the practice of those things I desire, whether it is Bikram or Zumba for a healthier body, or Spiritual Enrichment Education classes for my mind and soul. I need to be persistent and not give up. Prayer is the one thing that can change your life. Prayer changes the patterns of thought in your mind and what you think, you beome. With that, if i choose to be persistent in anything, I choose to be persistent in prayer.

I am excited about this Fast and look forward to the new thoughts, and new insights that are part of spending time in the Presence of God.