Increasing Your Life - Thoughts from Michael Beckwith

       I am sure that by now you have heard of “The Secret”. Michael Bernard Beckwith was one of the featured teachers in The Secret movie and the bestselling book by the same name that followed the movie. Dr. Beckwith is the originator of the Life Visioning Process, which he teaches throughout the country along with meditation, scientific prayer, and the spiritual benefits of selfless service. His books include: “Inspirations of the Heart”, “Forty Day Mind Fast Soul Feast”, and “A Manifesto of Peace”.

      Dr. Beckwith beliefs and teaching hit home with me. He believes that each of us is full of the gifts from God and that by not accepting who God wants us to be, you cannot continue to grow. You will not develop into the person that God has created. Without your gifts, you cannot increase your life.

       Much of the acceptance issue is fear. Do you agree? In many churches where we grew up, fear was taught as a means of following God. Many wars are fought using the name of God. He did not ask us to fight for him. God wants us to bring the people to Him. You cannot do that using fear or fight.

       God really wants only a few things from us. 1) To be known and 2) to be manifested and revealed to others through us, as us. God is not war and fear. God is beauty, abundance, health and wealth and so much more. By knowing God in you, you will be able to glorify God. And with that you will bring yourself abundance, prosperity, joy, happiness, harmony, wealth.

      Embrace your gifts and become who you are meant to be and God will thrive in you, through you, and around you. Even those gifts you feel may not be of God, are exactly that ones you need to develop in order to fulfill your life's potential.  Poverty and lack is a limitation that we put on ourselves. God wants us to be wealthy, in every meaning of the word, so we can give and take care of others and bring them to Him. God’s field is rich and if you accept it, you will be amazed at what God can do in you and what He has in store for you.

       So, what can you do to look inside yourself and find your gifts that God has given? How can you embrace these gifts to improve your situation and turn that business around? Prayer is a mighty sword. Use it affirmatively and you will find that you are truly increasing your life.

 Note: Dr. Beckwith's books are available for purchase in my "recommended reading" section at the bottom right on this blog page. :)

12 Steps of Spiritual Freedom

From the February 2011 Issue of Horizons Magazine

12 Steps of Spiritual Freedom by Rev. Tom Sannar

One Heart One Mind Center for Spiritual Living

1. Recognition - God is First. I recognize that there is an Infinite Power and Presence greater than I am. This Presence is on purpose and knows the answers to all of my questions and has the ability and the willingness to fulfill all of my desires.
2. Unification - I unify my consciousness with the consciousness of God. I am willing in total faith and trust to allow Spirit to guide me and direct me in my daily affairs.
3. Willingness To Change - I am willing to assess my life, to honestly look at and face all my fears.
4. Dominion - I take dominion and responsibility for my life. I give up blame and judgment. I accept myself and all others.
5. I Live On Principle - I know that I am a Spiritual Being. I live my life with honesty and integrity.
6. I Live On Purpose - I am willing to commit to the process of purposeful living. As I discover my purpose and live it with courage, I am transformed.
7. Forgiveness - I forgive myself for any past mistakes and I forgive all others who I think have harmed me.
8. Positively Present - I maintain a positive attitude, regardless of what is occurring in my life. I know that behind every seeming crisis, there is opportunity for good.
9. Persistence - I persist through faith. I maintain focus and discipline.
10. Service - I know that the floodgates of opportunity open wide by my giving myself in unconditional service to others.
11. Gratitude - I am grateful for my life and all aspects of my life. I see all people as the goodness of Spirit in form.
12. Tithing - I come to understand and embody the principle of tithing, so that I freely and unconditionally give one tenth of my time, my treasure, and my talent to my spiritual source. 

"Expect a Miracle. You are divinely guided in all that you do."

GodSpeak . . . Are you Listening?

This is somewhat of a follow up to my post yesterday, ManSpeak.

 For many women, the language of men, is another language indeed. They may as well be speaking Klignon mixed with Kryptonese. At times, I feel like no matter how much I study the male mind, listen in on barbershop conversations, and read Steve Harvey books, my female mind, as divine as it is, just will never fully grasps the simplicities of ManSpeak.  Likewise, understanding GodSpeak, can prove to be difficult, however, I've found that it is far easier to decipher once one dedicates themselves to listening in the right way and for the right response.

For example, meditation, intuition, sudden thoughts, these are all ways that God, Spirit, Divine, whatever you want to call or not call it, speaks to us. The main key though, that many of us fail to add into the equation, is that you have to know the subject of the conversation. There's no point in sitting in silence, expecting to "hear" something if you don't even know what you are listening for. That's like getting ready to run a track race, or a swim race, and not knowing that the gunshot starts the race...or being in a nascar race and not knowing that the checkered flag means last lap. If you don't know that the checkered flag means last lap, you will keep driving, or in this case, you'll totally miss your guidance, your answer, because you just didn't know what to listen or look for so you could recognize it when it showed up.

I'm using all this metaphorical analogies to say this, First you have to ASK. Yes, God knows the intentions and desires of your heart, but you still have to come out with it and ASK.Then, when you ask God, Spirit, Divine, whatever, a question, or  ask to receive something, EXPECT a reply that directly correlates to exactly what you asked. Just like if you went online and ordered a product, you expect it to show up at your door, when you ask something of God, expect it to come, be on the lookout for it, or it just may pass you by without you even noticing.