Sunday Quotes 2017

 
Quotations Used in the Sunday Message
 
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“Love…The True Gift Of The Season”   12.10.17  Advent: Love – Remembrance Tree

Core Statement:

“Sharing The Light Of Love Is The Greatest Gift We Give” sv

Scripture:

Colossians 3:14 (ESV) 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

             1 Corinthians 16:14 14 Let all that you do be done with love.

Matthew 22:39 (NKJV)    39  …You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

          Ephesians 4:32 (ESV) 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another…

Romans 8:39 (NIV)   39…neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God…    

       Colossians 3:12b-14a 12b…Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another… 14aAnd over all these virtues put on love…

1 John 2:9-11  9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.

              1 Corinthians 16:13-14 13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love.

Unity Readings:

When love harmonizes the consciousness we find that our outer affairs are put in order and that where once there seemed to be opposition and fear, co-operation and trust prevail(p30)…When we let the Truth of being into our hearts and pull down the walls of separation we shall feel the flow of infinite love that Jesus felt.   Keep A True Lent    Charles Fillmore

The Love of God must be felt in the heart. It cannot be described, and one who has not felt it can have no concept from the description of others. But the more we talk about love, the stronger it grows in the consciousness, and if we persist in thinking loving thoughts and speaking loving words, we are sure to bring into our experience the feeling of that great love that is beyond description - the very love of God.   Talks On Truth   Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is. Gary Zukav

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. ~Janice Maeditere

We achieve inner health only through forgiveness - the forgiveness not only of others but also of ourselves.  Joshua Loth Liebman

Peace within us starts when we learn to forgive and let go.  Mimi Novic

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.    Oscar Wilde

Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most. Ruth Carter Stapleton

Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love, a time when the love of God and the love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of God. George F. McDougall

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas." ~ W. C. Jones

Remembrance Tree…

"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose...

All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."

 

Helen Keller

 

 

 

 

 

“Hope…A Ray Of Light In All Circumstances”   Advent – Hope 12-03-17

Core Statement:

“Hope Is The Light Of Expectancy Guiding Us Toward Greater Good” sv

Scripture:

Hebrews 11:1,3 (ESV)

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…  By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

            Psalm 62:5 (NASB)     5 My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope [my expectation] is from Him.   

Psalm 39:7Amplified Bible (AMP)  “And now, Lord, for what do I expectantly wait? My hope [my confident expectation] is in You.

              Romans 15:13 Aramaic Bible in Plain English    But The God of hope shall fill you with all joy and peace by faith, that you shall superabound in hope by the power of The Spirit of Holiness.

Job 11:17-18a (ASV)    17 And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday; Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning. 18a And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope…

Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Unity Reading:

Expectation – Anticipation of Divine Good. Looking about for the wondrous benefits God has prepared for us. In every person is that which causes him always to hope for and to expect that which is good and true. This very expectation helps the good to become active.  Revealing Word  Charles Fillmore

Hope –Dictionary Definitions:   Merriam-Webster…

1)To cherish a desire with anticipation   2) To desire with expectation of obtainment 3) To expect with confidence: trust

Quotes:

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs… Robert Fulghum

Where there is no vision, there is no hope. George Washington Carver
                          Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. Robert H. Schuller
                                                                          Hope is patience with the lamp lit. Tertullian

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. Dalai Lama

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. Desmond Tutu

                                      However long the night, the dawn will break.      African Proverb - Hausa Tribe

Never give up. Expect only the best from life and take action to get it.     Catherine Pulsifer

 

 

 

 

 

“Thanks-Living…Our Key To Greater Abundance

Part 2: Grateful To Receive”  11.19.17

Core Statement:

“Gratitude Opens Our Heart, Enabling Us To Receive God’s Healing Love” sv

Scripture:

Ephesians 5:19-20 (NIV)   19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God…

           Psalm 51:2  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
Mark 6:31 NAS

31And He (Jesus) said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while."…

            Exodus 33:14 (NRSV)  14 He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

                        Psalm 131:2a   (NRSV)  …I have calmed and quieted my soul…

2 Corinthians 9:11  (ESV)

11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God

St. Matthew 26:26-27  Lamsa Bible (from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts)

26While they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 Then he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Take, drink of it, all of you.

Quotes:

A brain-scanning study published in NeuroImage has brought us closer to understanding why gratitude practices trigger positive effects. Even months after a simple gratitude writing task, the researchers found the participant’s brains were still wired to feel extra thankful. “The implication is that gratitude tasks work…because they have a self-perpetuating nature: The more you practice gratitude, the more attuned you are to it and the more you can enjoy its psychological benefits.”  Dr. Christian Jarrett in “How Expressing Gratitude Might Change Your Brain.”

Whatever you are waiting for–peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of Simple Abundance–it will surely come, but only when you are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.” ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. Lucille Ball

Self-care is never a selfish act - it is simply good stewardship… Anytime we can listen to true self and give the care it requires, we do it not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives we touch.” 
         ― Parker J. Palmer  Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. Native American Saying
 

 

 

 

 

“Thanks-Living…Our Key To Greater Abundance”    11-12-17

Part 1: Gratitude Is An Everyday Practice

Core Statement:

“Conscious Gratitude Unlocks A Treasure Chest Of Abundant Good” sv

Scripture:

Jeremiah 30:19 ESV  19Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving, and the voices of those who celebrate. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.

Isaiah 12:2-4 (ESV)   …I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God/Yah is my strength and my song… With joy you will draw water from the wells... And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name…

1 Thessalonians 5:18   (NIV)   18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 9:1   1I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart…

            Psalm 69:30   I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

Unity Reading:

We increase our vitality by blessing and giving thanks in spirit…It has been found by experience that a person increases his blessings by being grateful for what he has. Gratitude…is a great magnet, and when gratitude is expressed from the spiritual standpoint it is powerfully augmented.      Mysteries Of John  Charles Fillmore 

Special Readings:

The more practice you give your brain at feeling and expressing gratitude, the more it adapts to this mindset -- you could even think of your brain as having a sort of gratitude 'muscle' that can be exercised and strengthened. In short, practicing gratitude seems to kick off a healthful, self-perpetuating cycle in your brain -- counting your blessing now makes it easier to notice and count them later.  www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-amazing-way-gratitude-rewires-your-brain-for-happiness.html

If you want more happiness, joy, and energy, gratitude is clearly a crucial quality to cultivate. It is a fullness of heart that moves us from limitation and fear to expansion and love. When we’re appreciating something, our ego moves out of the way and we connect with our soul. Gratitude brings our attention into the present, which is the only place where miracles can unfold. The deeper our appreciation, the more we see with the eyes of the soul and the more our life flows in harmony with the creative power of the universe. www.Chopra.com

Quotes:

“Ultimately, your state of mind determines your circumstances. To realize the outcomes you want, it is critical to recognize and experience the transition from our present thoughts, habits, and actions to new thoughts, habits, and actions.” - Darren L. Johnson

I live in the space of thankfulness – and I have been rewarded a million times over for it. I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased. That’s because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.    ~ Oprah Winfrey

Experiencing and expressing gratitude is an important part of any spiritual practice.  It opens the heart and activates positive emotion centers in the brain.  Regular practice of gratitude can change the way our brain neurons fire into more positive automatic patterns. The positive emotions we evoke can soothe distress and broaden our thinking patterns so we develop a larger and more expansive view of our lives.   Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D.

Whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it’s important to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level. We need to literally “count our blessings,” give thanks for them, allow ourselves to enjoy them, and relish the experience of prosperity we already have.” ~Shakti Gawain

        Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ~Eckhart Tolle

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” ~William Arthur Ward

 

 

 

“Music Uplifts Our Soul…Connecting Us In Spirit”          11.05.17

Core Statement:

“Music Opens Our Hearts, Connecting Us To Spirit & One Another” sv

Scripture:

Colossians 3:16   16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

        Isaiah 35:10   10 …They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will

        overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Mark 4:9   (NKJV)    And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

     Ephesians 5:18b-19   (NIV)   18b… be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and

     songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord…

Psalm 98:4-7 (NIV)  4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; 5 make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, 6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the LORD…  Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

Unity Reading:

Pythagoras, the ancient philosopher wrote that God was singing the Universe into expression and that the suns and planets were the musical notes on a grand universal staff. Teach Us To Pray   Charles & Cora Fillmore 

I believe that we could cultivate the power of music in connection with the understanding of Truth and thus rend all the bonds of error (sin), sickness and death. The world needs a new hymnal, with words of Truth only and music so strong and powerful that it will penetrate to the very center of the soul. Jesus Christ Heals  Charles Fillmore

Special Readings:

For Thomas Merton (Trappist Monk early/mid 1900’s), spiritual practice is not seeking “to know about God”, but “to know God.” It is a desire for direct personal experience…or existential grasp of the heart of life. The longing that drives the resurgence of spiritual practice today is not a quest for more BELIEFS ABOUT God…it is the desire to be… intimately joined to the Sacred.…     As Merton says, spiritual practice is not about an idea or concept of God. It is about seeking the experience of presence.   The Rebirthing Of God   John Philip Newell

One of the gifts of the Taize community (an ecumenical monastic community in France during WWII) was the way it reclaimed ancient contemplative practice from early Christianity to make it accessible for today, particularly the use of chant based on a simple repetition of words from scripture.     The Rebirthing Of God   John Philip Newell

Special Reading:

Music has played an important part of every human culture, both past and present. People around the world experience universal responses to music. We’re all familiar with how certain pieces of music can change your mood, get you motivated, or help you concentrate. And now, advances in neuroscience enable researchers to quantitatively measure how music affects the brain. Their discoveries are exciting, and good news for music lovers. Music can make you smarter, happier and more productive at all stages of life.    https://bebrainfit.com/music-affects-brain/

Quotes:    

Anthony Storr, in his excellent book Music and the Mind, stresses that in all societies, a primary function of music is collective and communal, to bring and bind people together. People sing together, dance together, in every culture, and one can imagine them doing so, around the first fires, a hundred thousand years ago.

I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.   Billy Joel

                        Music is the universal language of mankind.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

                                                   Where words leave off, music begins.   Heinrich Heine

Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.    Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.   Kahlil Gibran

      Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.  Plato

Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.   Maria Augusta von Trapp

 

 

 

 

 

“Shedding Past Paradigms…A Fresh Look At Christianity & Spirituality” Part 2  10.15.17

Core Statement:

“Spirituality Is Focused Intention On Living From Inner Christ Consciousness” sv

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:22-24 (NRSV) 22a You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self… 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God…   Colossians 3:9b-11 (NIV)  9 …you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  

Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)  30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)  16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

        1 Corinthians 3:16   (NKJV)  16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Unity Reading:

When we speak of the gospel, it is understood that we refer to that system of religious beliefs that has centered about the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. But as to what that gospel is in detail, there are many opinions. Many believe it is the plan of salvation for men outlined in the dogmas and creeds of the churches. But those doctrines, creeds and dogmas were formulated three hundred years after Jesus taught and demonstrated. There is no authority from Him, or His immediate disciples attesting the genuineness of many of these later enunciations interpreting the original teachings. They are the work of men who had to sustain an industry known as church…  These had become an important part of the body politic, and it was thought best to organize them according to human ideas; hence, church creed and church government. These teachings are NOT the pure Christianity of Jesus Christ, and he did not authorize the ecclesiastical structure called the Christian Church.

It is safe to say no one can know the doctrine of Jesus Christ without going direct to Him for information. The writings of the New Testament known as the four Gospels are the most reliable external guide. When these are studied with unbiased mind, it is perceived that Jesus delegated NO ecclesiastical power to anybody; that he did not formulate His doctrine or authorize any other human being to do so. Jesus appointed ONE TEACHER: “The Comforter, The Holy Spirit…shall teach you all things…

The Holy Spirit is the only authorized interpreter of the Gospel (“Good Word/Story”) of Jesus Christ, and no man can know it unless he gets it direct… It is not to come secondhand, but each for himself must receive it… The Holy Spirit is the Whole Spirit of God…and can be known by man only through his spiritual nature.    
Talks On Truth Charles Fillmore

Special Reading: The rebirthing of God in our lives, individually and collectively, is to come back into relationship with the true heart of one another and all things…  At every moment in our lives and on every pathway in the world, do we know that we can access the gift of wisdom? It is deeper than our individual consciousness, deeper than our rationality, deeper than our ego.    The Rebirthing Of God   John Philip Newell

Quote:   As "remembered history," the four canonical gospels are said to be contemporaneous accounts of Jesus' life and ministry, the recollections of four of his apostles (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). But careful analysis of these texts suggests otherwise, since from a historian's perspective they seem to be responding to issues and events relating to life in the Holy Lands decades after Jesus' death. Moreover, given their different and sometimes conflicting accounts of his life, we have no choice but to conclude that some of them must contain some degree of "invented history." Worse yet, discoveries in the sands of Egypt have "recovered" evidence of diverse approaches to Christianity, especially in the very early stages of its evolution. These so-called Gnostic gospels paint a very different picture of Christ from the one which orthodox Christians in the day envisioned, and following in their wake, most Christians today do also.

The historical study of Christianity begins not with Christ but with his most important early follower, Paul. Saint Paul (ca. 3-67 CE) was the greatest of Christ's interpreters in the wake of his crucifixion. Often called the "second founder of the Christian church," he was a Jew who had Roman citizenship and initially oppressed Christians until he experienced an intense vision of Christ and converted to Christianity. Though never having met Jesus in person, at least not in a conventional sense, Paul became the most visible of the apostles after Christ's execution since he was the best educated and uniquely positioned to bridge the Jewish and Roman worlds, opening the new religion up to a much larger audience.

Addressed to budding communities of Christians in cities around the Roman world, Paul's letters are, as far as we know, the earliest Christian documents extant, predating by a decade or more the gospels themselves, at least in the form we have them. In Paul's writings are also found for the first time several features of Christian life central in later worship, for instance, the rituals of communion and mass, the doctrine of redemption through Christ's suffering and a growing sense of separation between Christians and Jews. In leaning toward the wider pagan world, Paul set a precedent for incorporating aspects of Roman and Greek culture into the burgeoning cult, "christianizing" several useful and admirable aspects of ancient life.     www.usu.edu/markdamen

Quotes:  It’s never too late to change the programming imprinted in childhood, carried in our genes or derived from previous lives; the solution is mindfulness in the present moment. Peter Shepherd

Spirituality is not making walls in the names of religions and prophets but to make more roads and bridges to reconnect with humanity.  Amit Ray

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. Seneca the Younger

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.    Buddha       

Pray within. Stay within. Seek, find the Within. For, there's no heaven or hell or god anywhere but herein.  Fakeer Ishavardas

You are one thing only. You are a Divine Being. An all-powerful Creator. You are a Deity in jeans and a t-shirt, and within you dwells the infinite wisdom of the ages and the sacred creative force of All that is, will be and ever was.  Anthon St. Maarten

 

 

 

“Shedding Past Paradigms…A Fresh Look At God” Part 1    10-08-17 

Core Statement:

“Willing To Perceive Differently We Break Free From Limiting Erroneous Beliefs” sv

Scripture:

Romans 12:2  (ASV)

And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Genesis 1:26-27  (NRSV)

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion… 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them… male and female he created them.

2 Chronicles 19:3  (NKJV)    3 Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.”

    Isaiah 42:6-7 (NIV)  “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

Unity Reading:

Language is the limitation of mind; therefore do not expect the unlimited to leap forth into full expression through the limited. Words never express that which God is… 

  Jesus and Paul say that God is Spirit. Spirit is not matter, and Spirit is not person. In order to perceive the essence of Being we must drop from mind the idea that God has any of the limitations usually ascribed to persons, things, or anything having form or shape.  Jesus Christ Heals  Charles Fillmore

Special Reading:

We are made of the Light that was in the beginning. We are made of the Wisdom that fashioned the universe in its glory of interrelatedness. We are made of the Love that longs for Oneness…  What would it look like for these true depths to fully come forth again?... A primary feature of such rebirthing is the desire to move back into relationship with everything else that is of God. It means choosing to move in harmony with the universe again, knowing the unnameable and untameable presence of the Divine in all things. It means growing in awareness of earth’s sacredness…

The Rebirthing Of God   John Philip Newell

Quotes:

God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things done.  ~Harry Emerson Fosdick

     “The Universe and Spirit do not understand limitations...PEOPLE invented limitations!” 
Jennifer O'Neill  Soul DNA: Your Spiritual Genetic Code Defines Your Purpose

When we surrender, we are releasing ourselves from held beliefs. We become open to the universal wisdom that has always been here, but clouded by the beliefs of the limited or personal self…  We have access to all that we could not see or imagine before…   The key to allowing is to stop struggling…   Divine Audacity   Linda Martell-Whitsett

Deep down within the heart there is a stillness which is healing, a trust in the universal laws which is unwavering, and a strength which is rock-like. But because it is so deep we need both patience and perseverance when digging for it.  

Paul Brunton

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. Alan Cohen
 

 

 

 

 

 

“Staying The Course…Gold At Rainbow’s End” Part 2     10-01-17

Core Statement:

“Continuing Forward With Faith & Confidence Naturally Attracts Abundant Results” sv

Scripture:

Matthew 14:30-32  (NIV)

30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

2 Chronicles 31:21   (ESV)

21And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law… seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered. 

    Deuteronomy 28:11-12  (ESV)  11And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity...12The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands…

           1 Kings 2:3-4  (ESV)  3and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways… that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 

 Deuteronomy 5:32-33 (ESV)

32You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Deuteronomy 8:7-10  (NRSV) 

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing… 10 You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.

Unity Reading:

The supply is a gift of God and is ours because it is a part of God's plan. We are to accept it in faith as such. Expect it to come, and it will. —Myrtle Fillmore, Healing Letters 

Quotes:

All of this abundance begins to shine through a mind that is aware of it's own infinite nature. There's enough for everyone. See it. Believe it. It will show up for you.
-"The Secret"

Above all else, know this:  Be prepared at all times for the gifts of God and be ready always for new ones.  For God is a thousand times more ready to give than we are to receive.   Meister Eckhart

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”– Dale Carnegie

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Edison

Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.”– Author Unknown

 

 

 

 

“Staying The Course…Gold At Rainbow’s End” Part 1   09.24.17

 

Core Statement:

“Staying The Course With Faith Manifests Extraordinary Results” sv

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NASB)  7 for we walk by faith, not by sight or appearance…

          Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)    1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

James 1:5-6    (ESV) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

         Lamentations 3:57  (NRSV)  57 You came near when I called on you; you said, “Do not fear!”

Isaiah 54: 2-3a ESV

 2"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. 3For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left…

2 Corinthians 8:11-12   (NIV)

11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has…

            Joshua 22:5b  (NASB)   5b… love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Quotes:

Dreamers and Achievers are very similar. Both work under the same logic and share the same visions, but only one will do whatever it takes.        Ash Sweeney

      Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.  William Newton Clark   

Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.     Wayne Dyer

     Doubts in your mind are a much greater roadblock to success than obstacles on the journey. Orrin Woodward

Every tomorrow has two handles.  We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith.  Unknown Author

                Every morning I spend fifteen minutes filling my mind full of God; and so there's no room left for worry thoughts.   Howard Chandler Christy

In times of hardship, you have to stop asking God, 'Why?' and ask, 'What next?'  Lela Cooper

Goals are my north star.  My compass.  The map that guides me along the road I wish to travel.  Goals are motivations with wind in their sails—they carry me forward despite the storms.”     Richelle E. Goodrich

 

 

 

 

“Making A Difference…Praying Together” Part 2     09-17-17

Core Statement: Pic ()

“United In Positive Intention, We Send Forth Prayers That Heal & Bless” sv

Scripture:

Matthew 18:20 (ASV)

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Acts 1:14 (NIV)    14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.   

                Acts 2:42   (NASB)    42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,

            to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Hebrews 10:24-25a (CEV)

24 We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. 25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other…

Acts 4:31

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Unity Readings: Pic ()

Prayer is dynamic and accentuates the spiritual ethers that interpenetrate all substance. Prayer is related directly to the creative laws of God, and when man adjusts his mind and body in harmony with those laws, his prayers will always be effective and far-reaching…                

                                            Jesus Christ Heals     Charles Fillmore

Christian metaphysicians find that words that express thanks, gratitude and praise, release energies of mind and spirit, and their use is usually followed by effects so pronounced that they are quickly identified with the originating words… Let your words of praise and blessing be to Spirit… The resources of Spirit are beyond our highest flights of imagination.   

                                            Teach Us To Pray     Charles & Cora Fillmore

Special Reading:

Jeffrey Small – Huffington Post

Instead of seeing prayer as a method of asking God for something we want (even if that something is good), maybe we can use prayer as a way of opening up ourselves to God. Prayer can become a means of connecting us with the divine ground that is the essence of existence.

1.    We can use prayer as a way of opening our hearts to God, not as a being living in an extra-dimensional heaven, but as the wellspring of creative energy within us and the universe.

2.    We can use prayer to center ourselves, to accept who we are, and to become more present and aware. Contemplative practices have been shown to have significant medical benefits to its practitioners.

3.    We can use prayer as a way of expressing thanks… and be thankful for the blessings we have.

4.    We can use prayer as a method of forgiveness for both the things we have done in our lives and for the wrongs we feel have been committed against us.

5.    We can use prayer to connect with others…This connection with others will be strengthened as we realize that God who is the spark of our being, is also the spark of theirs.

Quotes:

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts. Alan Cohen

                   If the only prayer you ever say is ‘Thank You’ …it will be enough.   Meister Eckhart

Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God.  ~Edwin Keith

Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble:  prayer is a life attitude. Walter A. Mueller

Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other's hearts in prayer."    Charles Finney                 

 

 

 

 

“Making A Difference…Praying Together”  09.10.17

“Fly-Up” Youth Sunday & World Day Of Prayer Sunday

Core Statement:

“United In Prayerful Intention, We Bless & Heal Our World” sv

Scripture:

Matthew 18:20 (ASV)

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Acts 1:14 (NIV)    14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

         Acts 2:42   (NASB)    42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,

       to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Acts 4:31

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Unity Reading:

Prayer is dynamic and accentuates the spiritual ethers that interpenetrate all substance. Prayer is related directly to the creative laws of God, and when man adjusts his mind and body in harmony with those laws, his prayers will always be effective and far-reaching…   Jesus Christ Heals Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life.  Jonathan Edwards

To pray is no small thing. It is nothing less than a sacred pilgrimage into the heart of the whole world.  Wayne Muller

Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other's hearts in prayer."    Charles Finney

There is a tremendous strength that is growing in the world through sharing together, praying together…and working together.   Mother Teresa

 

                              

 

 

PowerPoint Presentation-08.27.17

Rev. Sandie & Guest Speaker Dr. Saul Shaye

Bible Quote: Pic  ()

Psalm 30:2

2 LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.

Bible Quote: Pic  ()

Luke 10:9   (NIV)

Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

Unity Reading: Pic ()

…To be healthy is natural. It is a state of being sound or whole in mind, body & soul. To heal then is to bring forth the perfect Christ man that exists within each of us. (p9)  …The Spirit of health…is always right at hand awaiting an opportunity to enter in to make whole and harmonize all discords in the body (p170) 

                                                               Jesus Christ Heals   Charles Fillmore

Quote: Pic ()  

We live at the threshold of a universal recognition that the human being is not mere matter, but a potent, energetic field of consciousness. Modalities of the past millennium are quickly giving way to breakthrough technologies wherein we heal ourselves at the level of all true healing, which is spirit.     Michael Beckwith

 

 

 

 

 

You asked for it (Jeanean Replogle):

“Listening To Mind, Body, Spirit” 08.20.17

Core Statement: Pic ()

“Prayerful Connection With God Results Through Our Continuous Desire For Oneness” sv

Scripture:

Matthew 7:7-8Prayer and the Golden Rule

 7"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Acts 1:14 (NIV)

 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Deuteronomy 30:20a

20…Love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life…

         Psalm 78:1 (NASB)    1 Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

Proverbs 2:2-5 (NASB)

2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; 3 For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will discern the fear (awe) of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.

Unity Readings:

Prayer is man’s steady effort to know God. There is an intimate connecting spirit that logically unites man and his source…  God-Mind, composed of radiant ideas, vibrant life, glorious new inspiration, is ours to use.

Man builds spiritual character by consciously functioning in God-Mind, where, laying hold of spiritual ideas, through Christ he realizes the Truth they contain; and as he thus weaves them into his soul consciousness they become a part of his very nature.      Teach Us to Pray   Charles & Cora Fillmore

True prayer is communion with God…become…still enough to hear the God message, open enough to receive the God gifts.     Effectual  Prayer    Frances W. Foulkes

Quotes:

God speaks in the silence of the heart.  Listening is the beginning of prayer.  ~Mother Teresa

                           Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God.  ~Edwin Keith

Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already.   Pema Chödrön

Altogether, the idea of meditation is not to create states of ecstasy or absorption, but to experience being.

                                                  Chögyam Trungpa

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. --  

                                                           Brother Lawrence

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-courage-be-present/201001/how-practice-mindfulness-meditation

Remember that mindfulness meditation is about practicing being mindful of whatever happens. It is NOT about getting ourselves to stop thinking. It is easy to fall into believing that that is the goal. Many people have a mistaken idea that becoming blank is the goal of meditation…  If you find you are thinking (and you will), include it in what you notice. Don't try to get rid of your thoughts. It won't work and it's the opposite of the spirit of the practice. We are trying to be with ourselves as we already are, not trying to change ourselves into some preconceived notion of how we ought to be instead.

 

 

 

 

                              You asked for it: “Moments Of Light”   08-13-17

Core Statement:

“’Moments Of Light’ Are An Experience Of God’s Divine Presence Within.” sv

Scripture:

Job 32:8  (NIV)

But it is Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.

       James 1:5  (NASB)But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without

       reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:17  (NASB)

17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

2 Corinthians 3:18  (NIV)

18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate (reveal) the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Proverbs 2:2-5  (NASB)

2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; 3 For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will discern the fear (awe) of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.

Unity Reading:

People… ask why God does not reveal himself now as he did in Bible days. The fact is that God is talking to people everywhere, but they do not understand the message and brush it aside as an idle dream…  

Those who cultivate communion with the Father within become conscious of a guiding light…

“Great is the mystery of godliness,” and still greater is the capacity for godliness. When Spirit responds to the seeking mind and begins to reveal the magnitude of that undiscovered country within us, we long for a new language with words describing glories beyond all human comparison.     Atom Smashing Power of Mind     Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.   Meister Eckhart, Sermons of Meister Eckhart

    When you look into a mirror and realize that you are looking into the eyes of God, enjoy the goosebumps…
                                                                                                           Lonnie Lockett   Thoughts Across the Light Fence

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience. Emily Dickinson

               Be yourself! Fill yourself up with light and fly!   Jodi Livon

Praying without ceasing is not ritualized, nor are there even words. It is a constant state of awareness of oneness with God.    Peace Pilgrim

The Holy Spirit…wants to flow through us and realize all these wonderful possibilities in the world – if we only open ourselves and allow it to happen.      Br. David Steindl-Rast

Mystic: a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with Deity or the absolute…or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.

Mysticism: a doctrine of an immediate spiritual intuition of truths believed to transcend ordinary understanding  …or of a direct, intimate union of the soul with God...

 

 

 

 

 

“Everything’s A Gift”   08-06-17

Rev. Sandie Vanik & Lauren Lane Powell

 

Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18a(NASB)

17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks…

Psalm 20:7   (NIV)

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

        Psalm 33:20-21   20Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21For our heart rejoices in Him,  

        because we trust in His holy name.

Psalm 37:3-4   (NASB)

3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Quotes:

Every tomorrow has two handles.  We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of Faith.

                                                                                       ~Author Unknown

        Every morning I spend fifteen minutes filling my mind full of God; and so there's no room left for worry  thoughts.  ~Howard Chandler Christy

Experiencing gratitude is one of the most effective ways of getting in touch with your soul. When you’re in touch with your soul, you eavesdrop on the thoughts of the universe. You feel connected to everything in creation. You embrace the wisdom of uncertainty and you sense yourself as a field of infinite possibilities. Gratitude is a fullness of heart that moves you from limitation and fear to expansion and love. When you’re appreciating something, your ego moves out of the way…

Notice how gratitude brings your attention into the present time, which is the moment in which miracles can unfold. The deeper your appreciation, the more you see with the eyes of the soul and the more your life flows in harmony with the creative power of the universe.   spiritualityhealth.com

As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.  ~Emmanuel Teney

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Asked For It: "A Powerful Spiritual Movement…Unity Worldwide"

Linda Smith’s Question  07-23-17

Scripture:

Nehemiah 2:19  (NRSV)  Then they said, “Let us start building!” So they committed themselves to the common good.

        Nehemiah 4:6 (NASB) 6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the

        people had a heart/mind to work.

Exodus 25:8   8 "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.

Ephesians 4:11-13  (NIV)

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Unity Reading: Pic ()

When we speak of the Gospel it is understood that we refer to that system of religious beliefs that has centered about the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. But as to what that gospel is in detail, there are many opinions. Many believe that it is the plan of salvation outlined in the dogmas and creeds of the churches. But these doctrines, creeds and dogmas were formulated three hundred years after Jesus taught and demonstrated.

There is no authority from Him or His immediate disciples attesting the genuineness of many of these later enunciations interpreting the original teachings. They are the work of men who had to sustain an industry known as the church…and it was thought best to organize [the teachings] according to human ideas, hence church creed and church government.

These teachings are not the pure Christianity of Jesus Christ, and he did not authorize the ecclesiastical structure called the Christian church.

…Jesus delegated no ecclesiastical power to anybody…[he] appointed one teacher: “The comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.” (John 14:26)…it is not to come second hand, but each for himself must receive it from the Holy Spirit…  

                                                                               Talks On Truth   Charles Fillmore

Unity Worldwide Headquarters & Unity Village

Silent Unity - IYOU

Unity Worldwide Ministries

Quotes:

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong.”    John Lennon

We are at a crossroads in spiritual movement. We are desperately trying to make sense of the ever-changing world… We find that the desire to experience a positive shift in vibrational energy is on a rise these days. People are actually enriching their lives while being on a faithful quest with spiritual perception.

                                               www.powerofpositivity.com/vibrational-shift-things-people-do/

        I consider spirituality to be a state in which we are connected to God, Nature, each other, and the deepest part of

        ourselves.  Z. Hereford

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” 
                                                    Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

          The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece. The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning.   

                                                                                                                               M. Scott Peck

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Asked For It: "Kick Up Your Heels...Or Take a Nap?  Fun & Relaxation Are Renewing!"

07.16.17 Church Picnic & Outdoor Service

Core Statement:

“Having Fun Shifts Our Focus, Relaxation Renews Us & Laughter Heals!”

Scripture:

Exodus 23:12 (NRSV)  12 Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, 

       Mark 6:31 (NIV) 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance  to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

                   Luke 5:16 (NASB)  16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

Psalm 68:3-4 (CEV)  3But let your people be happy and celebrate because of you. 4Our God, you are the one who rides on the clouds, and we praise you…

      Psalm 96:11-12 (CEV)  11Tell the heavens & the earth to be glad & celebrate! Command the ocean to roar with all of its creatures 12and the fields to rejoice with all of their crops. Then every tree in the forest will sing joyful songs…

Proverbs 15:13  13A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.

       Proverbs 17:22  22 A merry heart does good, like medicine..
Psalm 126:2-3 (NRSV)   Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy…  The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.

           Psalm 9:2 (CEV )  2God Most High, I will rejoice; I will celebrate and sing because of you.

Special Reading:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93604&page=1

Not only are Americans working longer hours than at any time since statistics have been kept, but now they are also working longer than anyone else in the industrialized world. And while workers in other countries have been seeing their hours cut back by legislation focused on preventing work from infringing on private life, Americans have been going in the other direction.

Quotes:

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.     Chinese Proverb

You don’t stop laughing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop laughing.  Michael Pritchard

          Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.   Ovid

Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down the rainbow. 
Douglas Pagels

I have always felt that laughter in the face of reality is probably the finest sound there is… In this world, a good time to laugh is any time you can.  Linda Ellerbee

          At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.     Jean Houston

Learn to relax. Your body is precious, as it houses your mind and spirit. Inner peace begins with a relaxed body.  Norman Vincent Peale

        No matter how much pressure you feel at work, if you could find ways to relax for at least five minutes every hour,  you'd be more productive.     Dr. Joyce Brothers

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Asked For It: “Listening With Our Mind, Our Heart…or Both?”  07-09-17

Core Statement:

“Intuition & Inner Wisdom Guide Us In Positive & Insightful Ways” sv

Scripture:

James 1:5-6 (ESV)  5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

1 Kings 3:9, 11, 12 (NASB) (Solomon asks God…)   9 So give Your servant an understanding heart… to discern between good and evil…11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing…12 behold, I have done according to your words… I have given you a wise and discerning heart…

        1 Kings 4:29  (NIV) 29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as

        measureless as the sand on the seashore.

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NIV)   4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

      1 John 2:27   27… the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone

      should teach you.

Proverbs 2:1-5 (NASB) 1My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, 2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; 3 For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will discern the fear (Awe) of the Lord And discover the knowledge of God.

Unity Readings:

We have an intuitively correct idea of the truth on every question that comes to our minds, but we do not trust the idea. We impede its free currents by believing that some book, some person or some church organization has sifted the truth and somehow established it…  
Keep A True Lent  Charles Fillmore

Intellect and its plane of activity are not pure mind…    Wisdom is sadly lacking in the intellectual realm. Intellect has formulated its conclusions from the sense side of existence instead of from the spiritual side…  

                                                       Atom Smashing Power Of Mind   Charles Fillmore

We find there is in man a knowing capacity transcending intellectual knowledge…  One should give attention to this…whispering of Spirit in man. It is not of the intellect… It is the development in man of a greater capacity to know himself. The Bible gives many examples of the awakening of this brain of the heart in seers, in lawgivers, and in prophets. It is accredited as coming from the heart… head knowledge must decrease as heart understanding increases.

      (paraphrased)    The Twelve Powers of Man  Charles Fillmore

Jesus said we should quicken our discernment… This wisdom of Spirit is man’s through the all-knowing and all-discerning power of Spirit within him, and he need never fear going wrong if he listens to his divine intuition.

                             The Twelve Powers of Man  Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift…        Albert Einstein

If you concentrate on some matter of importance, the intuitive power will be set in operation and help will come in the nature of information which will lead to success. Intuition arrives at conclusions without the aid of experience or memory. Intuition often solves problems that are beyond the grasp of the reasoning power. Charles Haanel

The third eye chakra is an instrument to perceive the more subtle qualities of reality. It goes beyond the more physical senses… Sustaining awareness of third eye chakra energy might require focus and the ability to relax into a different way of seeing. When we focus our mind and consciousness, we can see beyond the distractions and illusions that stand before us and have more insight to live and create more deeply aligned with our highest good.   http://www.chakras.info/opening-third-eye/

Come from the heart, the true heart, not the head… This does not mean to deny your own experiences and that which you have empirically learned through the years. It means to trust yourself to integrate intuition and experience. There is a balance, a harmony to be nurtured, between the head and the heart.    ― Brian L. Weiss

Our bodies have five senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. But not to be overlooked are the senses of our souls: intuition, peace, foresight, trust, empathy. The differences between people lie in their use of these senses. C. JoyBell C.

     Don't try to comprehend with your mind. Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition. Madeleine L'Engle

 

 

 

 

 

“Living In Freedom…With Gratitude!”  07.02.17

Core Statement:

“True Freedom Requires Responsibility & Choice - Living With Compassion, Tolerance, Self-Awareness & Gratitude”

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV)   17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed…

   Psalm 119:45  (NIV)   45 I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. (teachings)

John 8:31-32   (ESV)    The Truth Will Set You Free

31 So Jesus said…  “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Psalm 146:7-8  (NRSV)

7b  …The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. (right-useness)

Luke 4:18-21 (NIV)

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me…  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…
Unity Reading:

An understanding of Truth comes only to those who abide faithfully in the teachings of Jesus. They alone are free who persist in holding to the true view of life, regardless of pre-accepted theories, and who obey only the voice of the higher self…   The quest of freedom is endless and is unfulfilled save in the Christ consciousness.

Mysteries of John  Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.   Thomas Jefferson

        We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls. ~Robert J. McCracken

To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom…  Eckhart Tolle

      Every human has four endowments – self-awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change. Stephen Covey
May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right. Peter Marshall

       For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.     Nelson Mandela
The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class - it is the cause of human kind, the very birthright of humanity.   Anna Julia Cooper

“For the power of freedom and the power of God are the same. Here and everywhere in the Universe. And here and everywhere in the Universe, freedom must be protected and nurtured and supported. For everywhere in life, it is challenged. It is a gift. And it is a gift that you as an individual and you as a member of a Spiritual Family must advocate for, preserve and protect.”  Resisting the Intervention       Marshall Vian Summers

 

 

 

 

                                   "Honoring Fatherhood"   06-18-17  Father’s Day

Core Statement: Pic ()

 “With Appreciation We Honor Dads & Men Who Role Model Wisdom & Integrity” SV

Scripture:

John 5:19-20 (NASB) 

 19Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing…

Genesis 18:19   (NRSV)  

19 …For I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice…

Proverbs 22:6  (ESV)   

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 4:1     (NKJV)  

1Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding…

             Proverbs 20:7 NKJV  The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.

Special Reading:

Today’s father is no longer always the traditional married breadwinner and disciplinarian in the family. He can be single or married; externally employed or stay-at home; gay or straight; an adoptive or step-parent; and a more than capable caregiver to children facing physical or psychological challenges. Psychological research across families from all ethnic backgrounds suggests that fathers' affection and increased family involvement help promote children's social and emotional development.    American Psychological Assoc.  http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/changing-father.aspx

Unity Readings:

It is well for us to remember that the creative activity of God is based in the two phases—Father-Mother, male-female, wisdom-love—because it is through the right use of these two powers that we are able to produce divinely inspired ideas, and from them, perfect results in our manifest world.   Fillmore explains: "Divine Mind blessed the union of wisdom and love and pronounced on them the increase of Spirit. When wisdom and love are unified in the individual consciousness, man is a master of ideas and brings forth under the original creative law" 

                    Rev. Winifred Wilkinson Hausmann – Article: Let There Be Love     http://www.unity.org/resources/articles/let-there-be-love

Divine judgment is ever proclaiming that Wisdom – symbolized by Jesus’ disciple James, and Love, symbolized by Jesus’ disciple John must work together…these faculties are paramount; they are closely related and work together… In the action and reaction between these two centers we get our greatest realizations and most wonderful Spiritual radiations.

                                                                                The Twelve Powers      Charles & Cora Fillmore

Quotes:

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.     Sigmund Freud

        Fathers, grandfathers, and other strong male role models have the powerful influence to shape us into who we are

        become as adults. Filling the roles of protectors, supporters and teachers, fathers have an indelible role in our lives.  

                                                                                                             Jeremy Goldman 

Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers - and fathering is a very important stage in their development.   

                                                                               David M. Gottesman

                                      Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad.      Anne Geddes

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.

                                                                              Charles Wadsworth

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.   Clarence Budington Kelland

A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.

                                                                            Billy Graham

   Your father gives you many things in a lifetime...most of which you will not appreciate until way after he is gone.

                                                                                                           Linda Poindexter

 

 

 

 

                           

                    “Faith-Filled Anticipation… Part 2: Manifesting Greater Good”   06-11-17

Core Statement:

“The Resonance Of Positive Anticipation Draws Greater Good Into Manifestation” SV 

Scripture:

2 Chronicles 15:2b (ESV) 2b…The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you…

Matthew 18:18   (NRSV)     18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

               Matthew 12:35a (NKJV)  35aA good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things…

James 2:22 (NIV)

22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.  

Psalm 84:11 (NASB) 11…The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk with integrity.     Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)   10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)     14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

           Deuteronomy 28:2 (NKJV)    2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:

Unity Readings:

Faith is the perceiving power of the mind, linked with a power to shape substance. It is spiritual assurance, the power to do the seemingly impossible. It is a force that draws to us our heart’s desire right out of the invisible spiritual substance. It is a deep inner knowing that that which is sought is already ours for the taking, the “assurance of things hoped for”.    

                                                                           Keep A True Lent   Charles Fillmore

Faith in its highest form is an exalted idea. And what is the most exalted idea that man can handle? That he is spiritual; that he is related directly to the one great spirit, & that through that spirit he can do mighty works by faith… If you get a good strong perception of something that your inter-mind tells you is true, act upon it, & you will find that it will come true.      Jesus Christ Heals C. Fillmore

Quotes:

And I will never again underestimate the power of anticipation. There is no better boost in the present than an invitation into the future.       Caroline Kepnes,  You

               Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.   Napoleon Hill

Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.  William Newton Clark 

             The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.     Eleanor Roosevelt
                                     Set your intention, and trust the universe to take care of the details.    Mike Fotheringham

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. Alan Cohen
               Make a success of living by seeing the goal and aiming for it unswervingly.  Cecil B. De Mille

You cannot score a goal when you are sitting on the bench. To do so, you have to dress up and enter the game.    Israelmore Ayivor

       It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes life worth living.    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

We need to cease allowing the past to define us. We are evolving as a human race… We are moving forward to a time when the heart will guide us…  Where our attention goes, energy flows. Do we continue to focus on opposition and give it our energy? Or do we begin to focus our energy on our own authentic freedom to shine and help to illuminate the world? The choice is ours.  Alaric Hutchinson, Living Peace

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Faith-Filled Anticipation…Part 1: Preparing To Receive”   06.04.17

Core Statement:

“Anticipation Is A State Of Expectancy That Calls Our Creative Intentions Into Being” SV 

Scriptures:

Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying…

                 Deuteronomy 4:29   29But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Romans 15:13 (NIV)   13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 11:1 (NRSV)  1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

          2 Corinthians 5:7 (NASB)     7 for we walk by faith, not by sight or appearance

2 Chronicles 19:3  (NKJV)  3 Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.

          Isaiah 42:6a, 7 (NIV)   6a “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand…   to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

Unity Readings:

It is quite possible to possess a reality that cannot be seen, touched, or comprehended by any of the outer senses…  Faith is that consciousness in us of the reality of the invisible substance and of the attributes of mind by which we lay hold of it. We must realize that the mind makes real things…thoughts and ideas are the eternal realities from which we build our life and our world…  Faith is the perceiving power of the mind linked with a power to shape substance.        Prosperity Charles Fillmore

Faith is the power to make the possible real. It is the power that realizes (that is, makes real) images held in mind…    Faith is our innate power to create our reality…  Expectancy is another aspect of faith. Faith is demonstrated by a general sense of joyous anticipation. I expect things to go well. I expect to know how to respond moment by moment… Living in a state of positive expectancy I become a powerful, positive force in the world.    Divine Audacity   Linda Martella-Whitsett

Quotes:

An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing. Samuel Smiles  Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles. Edwin Louis Cole

Hold positive expectancy in the front of your mind, and it will appear in the palm of your hand…  Live in your imagination, not in your past…      Linda Chandler (American Business woman) 

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every morning I spend fifteen minutes filling my mind full of God; and so there's no room left for worry thoughts.  

                                                                               ~Howard Chandler Christy

Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see and the strength to let go of our fear of uncertainty.  Brené Brown

Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.     Wayne Dyer

         The holy Spirit…wants to flow through us and realize all these wonderful possibilities in the world – if we only

         open ourselves and allow it to happen. Br. David Steindl-Rast

Doubts in your mind are a much greater roadblock to success than obstacles on the journey. Orrin Woodward, LIFE 

We need to cease allowing the past to define us. We are evolving as a human race… We are moving forward to a time when the heart will guide us…  Where our attention goes, energy flows. Do we continue to focus on opposition and give it our energy? Or do we begin to focus our energy on our own authentic freedom to shine and help to illuminate the world? The choice is ours.  Alaric Hutchinson, Living Peace

 

 

 

 

 

        “Remembering In Honor…Appreciating Our Freedom”   05.28.17   Memorial Day

Core Statement: Pic ()

“With Deep Gratitude We Acknowledge The Sacrifices Made To Uphold Freedom for All” SV 

Scripture:

Philippians 2:4-5 (NASB)

4 Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…

Galatians 5:13 (CEV) 

13 My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.

2 Corinthians 3:17English Standard Version (ESV)

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

           Psalm 119:44-45   (CEV)  44 I will keep obeying your Law forever and ever.45 I have gained perfect

          freedom by following your teachings…

Colossians 3:14-15 (NIV)

14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Unity Reading:

Through the quickening of the Spirit we are loosed from all limiting ideas and are set free in the Christ consciousness or realization of the Absolute. The consciousness of…the Christ is of limitless life, strength, power, wisdom, love and substance that are everywhere present…(p64)     Atom Smashing Power of Mind  Charles Fillmore 

Quotes:

Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!     Jeff Dixon

    When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

                                                       Gilbert K. Chesterton

Freedom does not come without a price. We may sometimes take for granted the many liberties we enjoy in America, but they have all been earned through the ultimate sacrifice paid by so many of the members of our armed forces.     

                                                                                    Charlie Dent

Freedom is not a gift received from a State or a leader, but a possession to be won every day by the effort of each, and the union of all.     Albert Camus

       In the truest sense freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.   Franklin D. Roosevelt

“…Here and everywhere in the Universe, freedom must be protected and nurtured and supported. For everywhere in life, it is challenged. It is a gift. And it is a gift that you as an individual and you as a member of a Spiritual Family must advocate for, preserve and protect.” — Resisting the Intervention

The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class - it is the cause of human kind…

                                                                          Anna Julia Cooper

Memorial Day

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, has become a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. It is about coming together to honor those who have given so much.

 

 

 

 

“Mother God…Mother Love…Honoring The Divine Feminine”   05-14-17

Core Statement:

Receptive & Responsive To Divine Feminine Love, We’re Nurtured, Comforted & Healed.” SV

Scripture:

Isaiah 66:13  (NRSV) 13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”   Deuteronomy 32:18 (NRSV)   God speaking… 18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.   Hosea 11:4 (NIV)  I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.

Jude 1:20-21   (ESV) 

20But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God…  Romans 5:5 (NIV)    5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit…

Proverbs 1:8b-9   (ESV)

8b …Forsake not your mother's teaching,for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

1 Peter 3:4 (ESV)

…Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

Special Reading:

For the past several thousand years…our feminine nature has been forgotten and repressed… How do we begin to reclaim [it]? …By consciously choosing to bring the Feminine Face of God back into remembrance.    In a talk Charles Fillmore gave on Jan. 27, 1929 he stated “The love of God is Holy Spirit…[it] is the Divine Feminine of God. We know that God is Wisdom, God is Love. Love is the Holy Spirit, or the Divine Feminine and that is the Holy Mother.    

Toni Boehm Ph.D      Embracing The Divine Feminine  

Unity Reading:

Jesus talked a great deal about the Holy Spirit (the whole spirit)… Holy Spirit is the love of Jehovah taking care of the human family, and love is always feminine. Love is the great harmonizer and healer, & whoever calls upon God as Holy Spirit for healing is calling upon the divine love. The Holy Spirit is sympathetic, comforting, loving, forgiving and instantly healing.   Jesus Christ Heals  Charles Fillmore        

Special Reading:

When we deny the divine mystery of the feminine we also deny something fundamental to life.  We separate life from its sacred core, from the matrix that nourishes all of creation.  We cut our world off from the source that alone can heal, nourish and transform it…   Part of the wisdom of the feminine is to wait, to listen, to be receptive…  We may have forsaken this simple feminine wisdom of listening, and in this information age awash with so many words it is easy to undervalue an instinctual knowledge that comes from within.  But the sacred principles of life have never been written down: they belong to the heartbeat, to the rhythm of the breath…  If we learn to listen we will discover that life, the Great Mother, is speaking to us, telling us what we need to know.   Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Quotes:

When the female voice is repressed and stifled, the entire community can easily find themselves cut off from the sacred feminine, depriving themselves of the full image of God.   Rob Bell

Mother energy is universal. It is the large expression of the sacred feminine that comes from spirit. It is embodied in all our biological mothers, but its not limited or confined to them.   Elaine Seiler

There’s no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one. Jill Churchill

"When I stopped seeing my mother with the eyes of a child, I saw the woman who helped me give birth to myself." ~ Nancy Friday

          We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.  ~Cynthia Ozick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Holding A Vision…Creating It Together”   05-07-17

Core Statement:

“Focused Confidently On A Desired Vision, We Manifest Divine Results” sv

Scripture:

Romans 8:28   28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.     Ephesians 4:11    11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Matthew 18:19-20 (NKJV)   19 “Again I assuredly I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done…  20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”     Matthew 21:22  (NKJV)   22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

                        Mark 10:27 (NASB)    27Looking at them, Jesus said, “ With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

Psalm 143:8-9 (NKJV)  8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. 

            Proverbs 1:5(NIV)     5Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance

Nehemiah 2:18b   (NRSV)

18b … Then they said, “Let us start building!” So they committed themselves to the common good.

        Nehemiah 4:6 (NASB)    6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a heart/mind to work.

Unity Reading:   

Faith working in spiritual substance accomplishes all things. This is the faith that co-operates with creative law. When faith is exercised deep in spiritual consciousness it finds its abode; & under divine law, without variation or disappointment, it brings results that are seeming miraculous. Revealing Word   Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn't as individuals. When we pool our strength and share the work and responsibility, we can welcome many people…  -Jean Vanier, Community And Growth

The building is a special place because of its architecture, ... But it's people who make it special by participating in it. -Charlie Chaplin

People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you've figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence. Jack Canfield

Within the seed of your desire is everything necessary for it to blossom to fulfillment. And Law of Attraction is the engine that does the work. Your work is just to give it a fertile growing place in order to expand --- Abraham Hicks

           Set your intention, and trust the universe to take care of the details.    Mike Fotheringham

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. —Helen Keller

       The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the  world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.     Babe Ruth

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.      Henry Ford

Powerful Dreams Inspire Powerful Action. When you can taste, smell, and touch your dream, you can enroll the world. -Jonathan Lockwood Huie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “Treading Gently On Planet Earth”  04-23-17

Core Statement:

“Recognizing Oneness With All Creation, Let’s Walk Reverently On Planet Earth” sv

Scripture:

Psalm 65:8-12     (NIV)

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy. You care for the land & water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.10 You drench its furrows & level its ridges; you soften it with showers & bless its crops.11 You crown the year with your bounty, & your carts overflow with abundance. 12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.

Genesis 1:26  (ESV)

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

1 Peter 4:10  (NASB)     9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint. 10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Philippians 1:27  You are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind.

         Philippians 2:2,4  2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind… 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Unity Reading:

People everywhere on earth are now realizing as never before that the well-being of this world rests with its inhabitants… The pessimist moans “I could make a better world than this.” The optimist sings, “Go to it; that’s what God put you here for.     Atom Smashing Power Of Mind  Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.    -- Cree Indian Proverb

  We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do. Barbara Ward

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet, and the winds long to play with your hair.   Kahlil Gibran

It is true that a false view of dominion has played a role in the mistreatment of creation, but a correct understanding of the concept can lead to service, responsibility, and stewardship.  Justin Holcomb

      There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge, that we are caretakers of this planet. 
~Brooke Medicine Eagle   

We did not weave the web of life; We are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the Web, We do to ourselves. All things are bound together.  All things connect.  ~Chief Seattle, 1855

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Jane Goodall

        Do something. Pay your rent for the privilege of living on this beautiful, blue-green, living Earth.  Dave Foreman

A handful of pine-seed will cover mountains with the green majesty of a forest.  I too will set my face to the wind and throw my handful of seed on high.  ~Fiona MacLeod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “Roll The Tombstone From Your Heart…An Easter Resurrection”  04.16.17

Core Statement:

 “Releasing Hurt, Anger & Resentment, We Roll The Tombstone From Our Heart” SV

Scripture:

Matthew 18:22  (NKJV)

Peter asked Jesus about forgiveness…  22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Luke 23:34 

34 And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do…

Luke 23:46a  46Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

         Isaiah 60:1  1 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 

Matthew 28:1-2,5-6   1Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 5But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here, for he has risen, as he said…

Unity Reading:

Eastertide…the resurrection of the mind from the darkness of its doubts and false beliefs into the light of understanding…  Resurrection is accomplished by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. Every time we rise to the realization of eternal, indwelling life, making union with Father-Mind, the resurrection of Jesus takes place within us….[It] is the raising up of the whole man – spirit, soul, and body – into the Christ consciousness of life and wholeness.  

      The word crucifixion means the crossing out in consciousness of certain errors that have become fixed states of mind…

Keep A True Lent  Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

God presented me with a choice. I could accept His offerings, His wisdom, His grace. Or I could choose to hold onto the pain, the anger and the resentment a little longer.  Sharon E. Rainey

       I eventually came to understand that in harboring the anger, the bitterness and resentment towards those that had

       hurt me, I was giving the reins of control over to them. Forgiving was not about accepting their words and deeds.

       Forgiving was about letting go & moving on with my life. In doing so, I had finally set myself free. Isabel Lopez  

The symbolic language of the crucifixion is the death of the old paradigm; resurrection is a leap into a whole new way of thinking. Deepak Chopra

             Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.      Charles M. Crowe

We live at the threshold of a universal recognition that the human being is not mere matter, but a potent, energetic field of consciousness. Modalities of the past millennium are quickly giving way to breakthrough technologies wherein we heal ourselves at the level of all true healing, which is Spirit.
Michael Beckwith

"The great gift of Easter is hope…which makes us have that confidence in God…in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake."   Basil C. Hume

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Pathway Of Palms…A Journey Of Humbleness”   04-09-17

Core Statement:

“True humbleness Is Living From Inner Christ Consciousness vs Ego” SV

Scripture:

Matt 21:6-9

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Psalm 25:8-10 (ESV)

8a Good and upright is the LORD… 9He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 10All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant…

Psalm 119:66-67  (NRSV) 

 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. 67 Before I was humbled I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Psalm 147:5-6 (NKJV)   Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifts up the humble…       Matthew 18:4  (NKJV)  4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Revealing Word: Jerusalem-- "Habitation of peace." In man it is the abiding consciousness of spiritual peace. When we go deep into the silent recesses of our beings, we realize a stillness and sweetness beyond expression.

Unity Readings:

It is safe to say no one can know the doctrine of Jesus Christ without going direct to Him for information. The writings of the New Testament known as the four Gospels are the most reliable external guide. When these are studied with unbiased mind, it is perceived that Jesus delegated NO ecclesiastical power to anybody; that he did not formulate His doctrine or authorize any other human being to do so. Jesus appointed ONE TEACHER: “The Comforter, The Holy Spirit…shall teach you all things…   The Holy Spirit is the Whole Spirit of God…and can be known by man only through his spiritual nature     
Talks On Truth Charles Fillmore

Spiritual consciousness puts all men and all things on a common level. In the sight of God there is no great, no small… Jesus taught & exemplified the willingness of divine love to serve in humble ways…     The Christ is knocking at the door of every heart, and He [God] will enter when He [God] is invited to come in.    Mysteries Of John    Charles Fillmore           

Special Reading:

 When you have compassion and surrender to your own heart, you are surrendering to the hidden power in your heart, God. You are surrendering to love, because God is Love, the cohesive force of the universe that connects us all. Surrender is not just a religious concept; it's a power tool for listening to the voice of your spirit and following its directions. When you surrender your head to your heart, you allow your heart to give you a wider, higher intelligence perspective. Sara Paddison, Hidden Power of the Heart            

Quotes:

The one characteristic of authentic power that most people overlook is humbleness… A humble person walks in a friendly world… His or her perception goes beyond the shell of appearance and into essence. Gary Zukav

The life of Christ was a life of humble simplicity, yet how infinitely exalted was his mission. Christ is our example in all things. Ellen G. White

An humble knowledge of thyself is a surer way to God than a deep search after learning.  Thomas Kempis

Some of you need a lesson in humility. While your arrogance may give you a sense of power, it may serve you better to put it aside. Those are the times you will be the light of the world.    J 'son M. Lee

Humility is never about being small, unseen and unnoticed. Humility is really about expressing all the wonder you are in a way that all people see is the awesomeness and greatness of GOD.       TemitOpe Ibrahim

                         Wherever you go, go with all your heart.    Confucius

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Prosperous Living – Abundant Results   Part 2: Tuning To A Different Channel”  4-02-17

Core Statement:

“Tuning Into God’s Ever-present Substance Opens The Flow Of Unfailing Abundance” sv

Scripture:

Job 22:21-22  

21"Know intimately and be at peace with God; Thereby good will come to you. 22"Please receive instruction from His mouth And establish His words in your heart.

Exodus 16:12-14  (NIV)  

12 “…Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” 13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.

Proverbs 11:24-25 (NASB) 

24 There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.  25 The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered. 
Psalm 36:7-8a    7How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. 8They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house…

Psalm 37:3-4   (NASB)  3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Proverbs 3:1-3  (NIV) (From last week) (Tune To God & Trust)   1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

           Psalm 20:7 (ESV)  7Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Unity Readings:

Faith is the perceiving power of the mind, linked with a power to shape substance. It is spiritual assurance, the power to do the seemingly impossible. It is a force that draws to us our heart’s desire right out of the invisible spiritual substance. It is a deep inner knowing that that which is sought is already ours for the taking, the “assurance of things hoped for” .  

Keep A True Lent   Charles Fillmore

One who knows God as his unfailing resource can be assured of his supply when it is needed… Under Divine Law (Principle)…there is an ever-increasing richness of consciousness coming from the certain knowledge that God is infinite and unfailing supply. Outer things conform to the inner pattern, and riches are attracted to the one who lives close to the unselfish heart of God.

Prosperity Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present -- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.   Sarah Ban Breathnach

The Law of Attraction states that whatever you focus on, think about, read about, and talk about intensely, you’re going to attract more of into your life. Jack Canfield

          You are, at this moment, standing right in the middle of your own 'acres of diamonds.'  ~ Earl Nightingale

The vast majority of people are born, grow up, struggle, and go through life in misery and failure, not realizing that it would be just as easy to switch over and get exactly what they want out of life, not recognizing that the mind attracts the thing it dwells upon.  Napoleon Hill

Hold positive expectancy in the front of your mind, and it will appear in the palm of your hand. Live in your imagination, not in your past…   
Linda Chandler

The world is full of abundance and opportunity, but far too many people come to the fountain of life with a sieve instead of a tank car…a teaspoon instead of a steam shovel. They expect little and as a result they get little.  Ben Sweetland

 

 

 

 

 

“Prosperous Living – Abundant Results   Part 1: Shifting Our Mindset”   03-26-17

Core Statement: Pic ()

 “Shifting Our Limited Mindset Opens Us To God’s Ever-Present Abundance” sv

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 28:11-12  (ESV)  11And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity... 12The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands…

        Ecclesiastes 3:12-13  (NKJV)   12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

1 Timothy 6:10  (NIV)

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith…

Romans 8:4-5   4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

Proverbs 3:1-3  (NIV)   1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

Psalm 36:7-8a  7How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. 8They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house…

       Psalm 37:3-4   (NASB)  3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Unity Reading:

A great help in realizing permanent prosperity is to come into the realization that we do not work to earn money to meet our expenses! This is a delusion of mortal mind. In reality, in earning money we are expressing the God-given faculties and powers to bless others, and to keep our part of the divine law of giving and receiving. The supply is a gift of God and is ours because it is a part of God's plan. We are to accept it in faith as such. Expect it to come, and it will. —Myrtle Fillmore, Healing Letters 

Quotes:

In an overly materialistic world, prosperity is unfortunately and invariably associated with hoards of money and countless possessions. Yet to the truly prosperous people of this world, prosperity is prosperity in its purest and original sense. Prosperity comes from the Latin word "spes", which means “hope and vigor.” To the truly prosperous person, being prosperous means being positive and happy in the moment. Ernie Zelinski

Your prosperity consciousness is not dependent on money; your flow of money is dependent upon your prosperity consciousness…  Begin to recognize prosperity everywhere, and rejoice in it.  ./ Louise L. Hay

        Your security is not your job, or your bank account, or your investments, or your spouse or your parents. Your security is your ability to connect with the cosmic power that creates all things.    — Louise L. Hay

Financial abundance, love, joy, bliss, and success in business are readily available to everyone… It is a matter of belief; if you truly believe that something is, it will be. You must be willing to shed the old patterns and beliefs of scarcity to make room for abundance. That’s the beauty of making this new prosperity work: all you have to do is be willing to allow a new direction or concept, to embrace something different. Lauri Cloud

Let a person radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.
– Napoleon Hill

       Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.     Earl Nightingale

All of this abundance begins to shine through a mind that is aware of it's own infinite nature. There's enough for everyone. See it. Believe it. It will show up for you. -"The Secret"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Luck, Blarney Stone Or Divine Principle?”    03-19-17

Core Statement:

“True ‘Luck’ Is Simply Divine Principle In Action” sv

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 30:8-9 (NASB)

8 And you shall again listen to the voice of the LORD, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand…

Matthew 7:7-8

 7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  8"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.   

Psalm 1:2-3 (ESV)

2 but his delight is in the instruction of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

2 Chronicles 31:21 (ESV)

21And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.

Unity Readings:

Man does not demonstrate according to the law but according to his knowledge of the law, and that is why we must seek to learn more of it. God is law, and God is changeless. If we would bring forth the perfect creation, we must conform to law and unfold in our mind, body and affairs as a flower unfolds by the principle of innate life, intelligence and substance…      With God’s law: if you follow the rules of action, you will demonstrate Truth. You will have all that God has prepared for you from the foundation of the world…  God is good and all His creations are good. When you get that firmly fixed in your mind, you are bound to demonstrate good and nothing but good can come into your world. Prosperity Charles Fillmore

The same law that sustains all, sustains you…Claim your identity under that law, your oneness with the all, and rest in the everlasting arms of Cause which knows nothing of lack…   Every time you send out a thought of wholehearted faith in the I AM part of yourself, you set in motion a chain of causes that must bring the results you seek… But when you have asked for something, be on the alert to receive it when it comes.  Prosperity Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

Luck – Definition: Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions.

The Blarney Stone is a block of limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle. Legend says kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab… clever, flattering, or coaxing talk

The Universe and Spirit do not understand limitations...PEOPLE invented limitations!   Jennifer O'Neill   

We become a Co-worker with God at every step of the spiritual path. This is a universal law. There is great hope here for those who are sincere in finding out who and what they are… The key lies within you. Harold Klemp

                                         Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.  ~ Wayne Dyer

You want to become aware of your thoughts, you want to choose your thoughts carefully and you want to have fun with this, because you are the masterpiece of your own life.” – Joe Vitale

Now think about the Universal Law. It reflects to you exactly and precisely what you put out. If your thought-forms say, "I haven't got a clue about what I want," the Universal Law is going to say, "Listen, mate, if you haven't got a clue, neither have I.   Stuart Wilde

Prosperity is a gift already given to you from the universe. It swirls around you like an eddy in a river. It is abundant and available for the asking. So the logical question would be, Why isn’t everyone prosperous? The answer is simple: the majority of us view prosperity as illusive, intangible and unattainable. Lauri Cloud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creativity…Big Magic    Part 3:  From Divine Ideas…To ‘Game-Changing’ Results”  03-12-17

Core Statement:

“Acting Upon Divine Inspiration, We Create ‘Balloonyful’ Lives!” sv

Scripture:

Matthew 12:34b-35a (NKJV)        

34bFor out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35aA good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things…     

       1 Chronicles 28:20  (NRSV)    20 …“Be strong and of good courage, and act. Do not be afraid or dismayed; for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you…   

Matthew 13:22-23 (ESV)        

22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields…

Mark 4:23-24   (Jesus speaking to Disciples)   23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; & to you who hear, more will be given.

Matthew 5:15-16 (NIV)

15Neither do people light a lamp & put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, & it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds…

Special Readings:

It begins when you declare your intent. Stand up tall and say it aloud, whatever it is… Hearing this announcement your soul will mobilize ecstatically…because this is what your soul was born for.    But you must be the one to start that conversation, and then you must feel entitled to stay in that conversation.    So…here’s a trick: Stop complaining…  you’re scaring away inspiration. Every time you express a complaint about how difficult and tiresome it is to be creative, inspiration takes another step away from you… 

Learning how to endure your disappointment and frustration is part of the job of a creative person. If you want to be an artist of any sort…then handling your frustration is a fundamental aspect of the work. Frustration is not an interruption of your process, frustration is the process…  How you manage yourself between those bright moments, when things aren’t going so great, is a measure of how devoted you are…     
Big Magic…Creative Living Beyond Fear   Elizabeth Gilbert

Unity Readings:

When an idea is fully formulated in our mind and we decide to carry it out, our thoughts change their character from contemplative to executive. We no longer plan, but proceed to execute what we have already planned. So God-Mind sends forth its Spirit to carry out in man the divine idea…    
Teach Us To Pray   Charles & Cora Fillmore

[Man’s] resource is the infinite, and he draws his substance from an inexhaustible store…  At the heart center of everyone is the “seed…the word of God”…  It is there as a door opening into the infinite. Man opens or closes this door at his will. Some open it just a little crack and others not at all. Some open the door wide, and they manifest such rare powers…    Let not this seed of God within you lie fallow for want of conscious recognition on your part. You want to express all the possibilities of being, which you can do if you will acknowledge the source through which they come forth…   
Atom Smashing Power of Mind  Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. Pamela Vaull Starr

       The blueprint for success is inside you. It will stay there unless you take it out and create it.  Larina Kase

The dreams I only thought about, the ones I took no action on, well they are still dreams. But the ones that I took action on, they are now a reality.    Catherine Pulsifer     

                You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough!  You must take action.  - Anthony Robbins

I think there is something, more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision.   - W. Clement Stone –

                             God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails.   St. Augustine

Every day is an opportunity to be creative – the canvas is your mind, the brushes and colours are your thoughts and feelings… the complete picture is a work of art called, ‘my life’.   Julia White

 

 

 

 

 

“Creativity…Big Magic     Part 2: Let Imagination Flow”  03-05-17

Core Statement:

“Big Magic Imagination Solves Every Day Problems & Circumstances” sv

Scripture:

Psalm 16:7-8 (NIV)  

7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I keep my eyes always on the LORD. 

    Psalm 25:4-5  (NKJV) 4 Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth &  teach me…

Proverbs 2:2-5  (NRSV)   

making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding; if you seek it like silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures - then you will …find the knowledge of God.

1 Kings 4:29  (NIV)     

29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.

       Job 33:15-16   15"In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, 16Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction…”

2 Chronicles 15:2b  (ESV) 

2b…The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

Special Readings:

Q: What is creativity?   A: The relationship between a human being and the mysteries of inspiration

I’ve spent my entire life in devotion to creativity, and along the way I’ve developed a set of beliefs about how it works – and how to work with it – that is entirely and unapologetically based upon magical thinking.    I am referring to the supernatural, the mystical, the inexplicable, the surreal, the divine, the transcendent, the otherworldly.

Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest… It is only through a human’s efforts that an idea can be escorted out of the ether and into the realm of the actual.

Sometimes…there comes a day when you’re open & relaxed enough to actually receive something (an idea). Your defenses might slacken & your anxieties might ease, and then magic can slip through… The idea will organize coincidences & portents to tumble across your path…you will start to notice all sorts of signs pointing you toward the idea.

Be ready. Keep your eyes open. Listen. Follow your curiosity. Remain open. Trust in the miraculous truth that new and marvelous ideas are looking for human collaborators every single day. Ideas of every kind are constantly galloping toward us, passing through us, constantly trying to get our attention.   Let them know you’re available.          

Big Magic…Creative Living Beyond Fear   Elizabeth Gilbert

Quotes:

Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.   Ralph Waldo Emerson

             Things are only impossible until they're not.  Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand…We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them… Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Albert Einstein

There is no use trying,” said Alice. “One can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” — Lewis Carroll

One of the virtues of being very young is that you don’t let the facts get in the way of your imagination. Sam Levenson

                                There are no rules of architecture for castles in the clouds.      G.K. Chesterton

 

 

 

                                

Creativity…Big Magic Part 1    02-26-17

Core Statement:

“Fear Is What Stands In Our Way Of Unlimited Creative Expression” sv

Scripture:

Gen 1:1-3 (NASB)    1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

John 14:1 (NRSV)     14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.

          Lamentations 3:57 (ESV)   You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’

Hebrews 11:8  (NRSV)

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out… and he set out, not knowing where he was going.

     Mark 10:27 (NASB)  Looking at them, Jesus *said, “ With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

1 Chronicles 28:20  (NRSV)    20 …“Be strong and of good courage, and act. Do not be afraid or dismayed; for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you…    2 Timothy 1:7   (NKJV)  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Special Readings:

Creative living is a path for the brave. We all know this. And we all know that when courage dies, creativity dies with it…   Your fear will always be triggered by your creativity, because creativity asks you to enter into realms of uncertain outcome, and fear hates uncertain outcome. This is all totally natural and human. It’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. It is however something that very much needs to be dealt with.

I made a decision a long time ago that if I want creativity in my life – and I do – then I will have to make space for fear too…   Creativity cannot take a single step forward without fear marching right alongside.    When people try to kill off their fear, they often end up inadvertently murdering their creativity in the process. So I don’t try to kill off my fear. I don’t go to war against it. Instead, I make space for it… It seems to me that the less I fight my fear, the less it fights back.    Big Magic…Creative Living Beyond Fear   Elizabeth Gilbert

Quotes:

The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” — Alan Alda

My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz.  It's the letter I use to spell yuzz-a-ma-tuzz.  You'll be sort of surprised what there is to be found once you go beyond 'Z' and start poking around!  ~Dr. Seuss

“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”  Vincent van Gogh     

    To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” — Joseph Chilton Pearce

Trust that little voice in your head that says "Wouldn't it be interesting if..."  And then do it.   Duane Michals,

Today is your day to dance lightly with life. Sing wild songs of adventure. Invite rainbows & butterflies out to play. Soar your spirit and unfurl your joy.  - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Speaking The Language Of Love  Part 2: Forgiveness is the Key”   02-19-17

Core Statement:

“Forgiveness Is Releasing Our Judgments Into The Healing Light Of Love” sv

Scripture:

Genesis 19:26 (NRSV)

26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Colossians 3:11-13 (NIV) 

11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have…  

                   Proverbs 10:12  12 Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

1 John:1:5   

5 Here is the message we have heard from Christ and now announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.

Romans 7:6   (ESV)   

6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

Unity Quote:

A change of mind effects a corresponding change in the body. If the thoughts are lifted up, the whole organism is raised to higher rates of vibration…But first there must be a renunciation or letting go of old thoughts before the new can find place in the consciousness.    Charles Fillmore   Twelve Powers of Man

Quotes:

Conventional forgiveness works at the human (mental) level, at which judgment and victim consciousness still hold sway. Radical Forgiveness, on the other hand, works at the spiritual level and involves not our mental intelligence or our emotional intelligence, but our spiritual intelligence. Colin Tipping Radical Self-Forgiveness

Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love?" - Leo Buscaglia

     Think about any attachments that are depleting your emotional reserves. Consider letting them go.  Oprah Winfrey

The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that that situation is over, you cannot move forward.   Steve Maraboli   Life, the Truth, and Being Free

   Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move

    forward.    C. S. Lewis

“When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free. Catherine Ponder

Forgiveness is the vehicle for letting go of our fears, condemning judgments, and grievances…  Through taking off the tinted glasses that superimpose the fearful past upon the present, we can begin to know that the Truth of Love is forever present and that by perceiving only Love we can experience happiness…  Gerald Jampolsky

 

 

 

 

 

 “Are We Speaking The Language Of Love?”   02.12.17

 

Core Statement:

“Expressing From Our Heart-Centered Being, We Speak Words Of Love” sv

Scripture:

Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God…

1 Corinthians 8:1b-3

1bWe know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God.

Psalm 19:14  (NKJV)

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

2 Timothy 1:6-7   (NKJV)  6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you… 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love… 

          2 John 1:6b   6b…As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

Unity Quotes:

The Love of God must be felt in the heart. It cannot be described… But the more we talk about love, the stronger it grows in the consciousness, and if we persist in thinking loving thoughts and speaking loving words, we are sure to bring into our experience the feeling of that great love that is beyond description - the very love of God

Power cannot be used successfully through intellect, because intellect lacks wisdom. Wisdom associates itself with love, and can be found in its purity only at the heart center, hence we speak of the “still small voice” within.             Talks On Truth  Charles Fillmore

We find there is in man a knowing capacity transcending intellectual knowledge … One should give attention to this…whispering of Spirit in man. It is not of the intellect…  It is the development, in man, of a greater capacity to know himself… The Bible gives many examples of the awakening of this brain of the heart in seers, in lawgivers, and in prophets. It is accredited as coming from the heart…The faculty of love is the greatest of all the powers of man, and head knowledge must decrease as heart understanding increases.            12 Powers Of Man    Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

We reduce God to our own dimensions, ascribing to him our own reactions and responses, especially our own conditional kind of love, and so end up believing in a God cast in our own image and likeness.     But the true God, the living God, is entirely "other"…  Precisely from this radical otherness derives the inscrutable and transcendent nature of divine love-- for which our limited human love is but a distant metaphor. God's love is much more than our human love simply multiplied and expanded. God's love for us will ever be mystery; unfathomable, awesome, entirely beyond human expectation.  Joseph Langford

The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand.         Robert Valett

        All that we need to know, all the wisdom of the cosmos, we will find in our own heart.  Mother Teresa

The heart has its reasons which reason knows not. Blaise Pascal

                         What the Heart knows today, the head will understand tomorrow.    James Stephens

When we make the choice to fill our heart space with unconditional love, our worlds blossom into a beauty far greater than we have known.  Rio Godfrey 

                                           True unconditional love starts from you to you.  Edmond Mbiaka

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”     Buddha

 

All you need is love… but a little chocolate now & then doesn’t hurt! Charles Schulz

 

 

 

 

Our Spiritual Community…Part Of A Greater Unity Vision Part 2    02-05-17

 

Core Statement:

“United In Prayer, We Move Forward Together In Manifesting Divine Possibilities” sv

Scripture:

Isaiah 60:1,5 (NASB)    

1"Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 5"Then you will see and be radiant, And your heart will thrill and rejoice; Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, The wealth of the nations will come to you.    Mark 11:24 (NRSV) 24 So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

1 Peter 2:1-2, 5a (ESV)

1So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow…   5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house…

Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)

 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.     

Philippians 2:1-4   1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Nehemiah 2:18    (NRSV)  

18 I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me, and also the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us start building!” So they committed themselves to the common good. 

Unity Quotes:

Jesus warned us not to be anxious about temporal needs but to pray, believing, and to bless and give thanks; then right in the face of seeming insufficiency we should be enabled to demonstrate plenty.  …A simple word of blessing poured out upon that which we have, or that which we can conceive as possible for us as sons of the all-providing God, will begin to release the superabundance of Spirit substance, and we shall have an inner confidence and faith in the providence of our Father (of Divine Source).      Atom Smashing Power Of Mind Charles Fillmore

Every experienced metaphysician knows that man’s mind molds from an omnipresent element whatever takes form, shape, and intelligence and becomes part of his thought world…  Knowing that our world is composed of what we have idealized should make us more watchful of the activities of our mind. Are we still harboring thought forms that are impeding our soul’s progress?   …There are always better things just ahead for those who build in mind the living thought entities that go before and open the way.    Teach Us To Pray Charles & Cora Fillmore

Quotes:

You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem.   Eldridge Cleaver

Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.     Stephen Covey       

                   Feed your faith and starve your doubts. – Kenneth E. Hagin Sr.

Coming together is a beginning.  Keeping together is progress.  Working together is success.  ~Henry Ford

No one can whistle a symphony.  It takes a whole orchestra to play it.  ~H.E. Luccock

Our goal while on this earth is to transcend our illusions and discover the innate power of our spirit.  We are responsible for what we create, and we must therefore learn to act and think with love and wisdom and live in service to others and all life.   Caroline Myss

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Spiritual Community…Part Of A Greater Unity Vision Part 1  01.29.17

Core Statement:

Living & Expressing Dynamic Truth Principles, Together We Create A Positive World” sv

Scripture:

Ephesians 4 (NIV) 1b-6

 1b …I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Isaiah 60:1,5 (NASB)   

1"Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 5"Then you will see and be radiant, And your heart will thrill and rejoice; Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, The wealth of the nations will come to you.

John 14:11-12 (NIV)

11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these…

      1 Corinthians 3:16   (NKJV)  16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

John 5:19

19Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.

Unity Quotes:

Many spiritual teachers have created a body of doctrine and presented it, orally or in writing, to sizable numbers of people. Few, however, have been successful in developing organizations for promulgating the teaching over time. The Fillmores, Charles and Myrtle, and their sons, Lowell, Rickert, and Royal, are among the few gifted spiritual innovators who created, over the course of the twentieth century, a successful worldwide spiritual movement - the Unity movement…  Its origin can be traced to prayer meetings held in I889 in the Kansas City living room of Charles and Myrtle Fillmore.
The Unity Movement Neal Vahle

We find there is in man a knowing capacity transcending intellectual knowledge …p.88  ….One should give attention to this…whispering of Spirit in man. It is not of the intellect and does not originate in the skull. It is the development, in man, of a greater capacity to know himself and the purpose of creation.
12 Powers   Charles Fillmore

God is discerned to be a mind principle that requires the co-operation of its creations, because they are formed of it and in it and are so like it that there is virtual action and reaction between Creator and creation…When we think and work in unity with the Father the results are universally good. When we work without reference to the inspiring Mind within, our work is usually unsatisfactory.
Jesus Christ Heals Charles Fillmore

One of the greatest strengths of the Unity movement, which Charles [Fillmore] himself heralded, if not pioneered, was the right of each individual to make up his or her own mind. Michael A. Maday

Quotes:

Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.  Ryunosuke Satoro

Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.  Henry Ford

The holy Spirit…wants to flow through us and realize all these wonderful possibilities in the world – if we only open ourselves and allow it to happen.
Br. David Steindl-Rast

Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.   Stephen Covey

 

 

 

 

 

     

“Letter To God/Higher-Self…Visioning Forward”   01.22.17

Core Statement:   

 “Listening To Inner Wisdom We Set Positive New Intentions” sv

Scripture:

Proverbs 2:2, 5, 10 (NRSV)

2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;… 5 then you will understand the fear (Awe) of the Lord and find the knowledge of God… 10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul…

Ephesians 4:22-24a (NIV)     22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self… 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God…

           Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)  10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Mark 11:24 (NRSV)

24 So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you are receiving it, and it will be yours.

Psalm 51:6-8  (NRSV)   6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness…

Unity Quotes:   

An understanding of the Logos reveals to us the law under which all things are brought forth, the law of mind action. Divine Mind creates by thought, through ideas. Charles Fillmore  Revealing Word

 …Observation shows that the purer the mind the greater it’s capacity to receive and interpret the ideas imparted to it by Spirit (pg20)…Those who cultivate communion with the Father within become conscious of a guiding light… (pg21)       

                                               Atom Smashing Power Of Mind   Charles Fillmore

God-Mind is…constantly seeking to release its perfection in you…when you ask for its guidance and place yourself, by prayer and affirmation, in mental touch with it, there is a great increase in its manifestation in your life. (pg23-24)           

                                                              Christian Healing   Charles Fillmore

Quotes:

Within the seed of your desire is everything necessary for it to blossom to fulfillment. And Law of Attraction is the engine that does the work. Your work is just to give it a fertile growing place in order to expand…

Your prayer causes you to focus, and the Law of Attraction causes everything in the Universe that's in vibrational harmony with your focus to come to you.          Abraham     (Hicks)  

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.

                                                         Rumi, Essential Rumi

Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.   

                                                                            Charles Haanel

Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.      

                                                Jiminy Cricket(Cartoon character-Walt Disney)

Faith talks in the language of God. Doubt talks in the language of man. – E.W. Kenyon

Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the Universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request and everything your heart desires must come to you.     Shakti Gawain

            Writing Letters: 

                               Letter To God & Higher Self…

 

 

 

 

“The White Stone Experience…A New Spiritual ‘Name’/Vision”   01-15-17

Core Statement:
Setting Spiritual Intention Powerfully Calls Us Into A Grander Expression” SV

Scripture:

Romans 7:6   (ESV)
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit...

Revelations 2:17  17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says... To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

2 Cor 3:17-18  17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory…

John 1:1-3 (CEV)   The Word of Life

1 In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God. 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3 And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word.

Deuteronomy 30:20a  20…Love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life…

        Job 32:8 8 But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.

Unity Quotes:

A change of mind effects a corresponding change in the body. If the thoughts are lifted up, the whole organism is raised to higher rates of vibration…But first there must be a renunciation or letting go of old thoughts before the new can find place in the consciousness.

Twelve Powers of Man Charles Fillmore

We find there is in man a knowing capacity transcending intellectual knowledge …  One should give attention to this…whispering of Spirit in man. It is not of the intellect and does not originate in the skull. It is the development, in man, of a greater capacity to know himself and the purpose of creation. Twelve Powers of Man Charles Fillmore

This is exactly what the Word is – the working power of God…Persistent meditation upon the Truth contained in the Word of God opens the mind to Spirit.    The Word of God is the revelation to man of the powers and possibilities of his own being…Man’s consciousness is lifted up by the wisdom of the Word, and he finds himself master of the powers and privileges of infinity.     Keep A True Lent  Charles Fillmore      

Quotes:

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.  Alan Cohen

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.      Carl Jung

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." - Lao Tzu

         Set your intention, and trust the universe to take care of the details.    Mike Fotheringham

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.”  ― Bob Marley

Honor your being, Release each and every struggle, Gather strength from life’s storms, Relax into the arms of spirit.  Jonathan Lockwood Huie