"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32; New King James Bible Version (NKJV). "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper."(Psalm 1:1-3; NKJV).
When we open up the channels of God in our minds, their flow of health, abundance, safety and harmony are allowed to take physical form in our individual, human experience. This is so because, while we seem to be finite, material creatures separated from our God-Source (the realm of Spirit) we are nothing of the kind. We are spiritual beings, first, last, and always. Yet, since spiritual reality is invisible to our limited, physical senses, we do not perceive the ever-present, invisible realm of Spirit, God, in which we actually exist. Rather, due to this lack of spiritual perception, we accept and live with the trials and destructions, believing that we have no other choice. Yet, so-called 'miracles' are happening, every day, to someone who has acknowledged the invisible realm of God, and all the harmonies of existence that go along with it. These people do not ascend out of the physical 'condition' all at once, but the threats of material evils to their health, finances, peace and security lessen and harmonize as they mentally rise above the material scene into a spiritual perception of reality as a child of God, who is infinite Spirit. In other words, things might look bad 'out there' in the universe of physical form, but things are still secure in the invisible realm of Spirit, and our own place in it. To illustrate: In the Old Testament of the Bible, there is an account of when Elisha the Prophet showed that the invisible kingdom of God is still present, and active, even while the physical senses do not perceive such a thing: "And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, "Strike this people, I pray, with blindness." And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha." (2 Kings 6:15-18; NKJV). It was with spiritual perception that Elisha the Prophet perceived the invisible truth of God's protection, ever at hand. Only after Elisha's prayer, did the young man also 'see' or perceive the ever-presence of the invisible kingdom of God with us, showing that the protection was there, all along. The young man simply hadn't perceived it, and therefore would not have relied upon it, or called it forth into the human scene. It was Elisha who called forth the spiritual reality for both of them to perceive, and as a result, they were protected by the blindness of their would-be destroyers. God is Spirit—not a finite, physical form. Spirit is invisible to the five, limited senses of perception; but first, last and always, this fact is the one thing to mentally see, before what we perceive is translated into physical forms that fill our human, material needs. Spiritual prophets are those individuals who have a higher sense of reality and what constitutes 'truth'. When Christ Jesus told us, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom," (See quote at top of article) he was stating a spiritual fact, which is not visible to our material perception. He was showing us our heavenly home in Spirit (God) that has never left us, and which we have never left, despite all physical perceptions to the contrary. Jesus was showing us our true identities in God, Spirit. He was always pointing us within, to our own spiritual consciousness, and the channels of divine Truth hidden therein. These channels take our vision into a higher and deeper perception of reality. Christ Jesus came into this humanistic, dualistic experience to show us the channels of God that are invisibly present at all times. Our way out of the trials and tribulations are not by death in the flesh, but by the spiritual awakening of who we really are—God's own spiritual, everlasting children, born not of the flesh, but of divine Spirit. Material existence is a state of self-deception. As God's own children, our birthright is from above and beyond anything we perceive 'out there' in the material world of form. To perceive our birthright from God, with all its forever abundance, health, purpose and place in God's Harmony, we must realize what Jesus was trying so hard to teach us…that we are, and ever shall be, spiritual beings, never of the flesh, but of our Mother/Father God, who is infinite Spirit. To find (and call into our human experience) all that truly belongs to each of us, we must open the channels of our consciousness to allow all the good of our Godly inheritance to flow. Ignorance of God's love for us blocks the flow. What we don't expect, we don't watch for, or recognize when it starts to flow. This is why we must acknowledge the abundance of all good that is waiting to flow into our daily lives. This is why we must remember to turn to God in our thoughts, and trust the bigger, higher, and better picture of what is really true, just waiting for us to perceive. We don't benefit God by turning spirit-ward; we benefit ourselves. God is always being God and continues to love, supply and maintain creation throughout eternity. God is awake to our safety and harmonious life in Spirit…it is we who are asleep to spiritual reality. Remember: if our own children turn and walk away from us, when we are holding out our hands to help them, we cannot benefit them. Thus it is with God; we must accept our divine inheritance of all good, or it will not activate in our human experience. Thus it is. We can accept God's blessings, or refuse them. It is always our choice. Our problem is that our collective sense of material reality hides our true reality in Spirit; so, if we don't see something we want or need already manifested materially, we believe it isn't there. For this reason, we must begin to open these spiritually mental channels of perception, so that we are not swayed by the world 'out there'. God's invisible presence and kingdom is with us always, and nothing can hold back the blessings that God has ordained for Its spiritual children…you and me. Then, when we open these spiritual channels of perception, the good we seem to be missing in our daily, human life experiences begin to take the forms and circumstances we need, in order to enjoy a more abundant life in this temporary, finite sense of existence. When we begin to understand what God's grace is, we also begin to comprehend that God's invisible good is flowing to us, without any conditions or effort on our part. God loves and cares for each one of us, and all creation, for eternity. When, in trying times, we turn to God, in faith and trust, the 'word' of God's presence and ultimate power over all material tribulations is 'made flesh' and healing then takes place in whatever material form is needed. In other words, the Truth of our spiritually, harmonious life in God, (Spirit) transforms our temporary, material sense of life. For, as this new perception of God's spiritual Truth begins to flow through our consciousness, this change in our thinking causes God's harmony to break forth, into the materially visible scene, in some way we may not even predict. In what seems to be only a materialistic reality, we often cling, quite frantically, to any sense of material inheritance that might be coming our way. We are grateful for any financial birthrights, (which seem to be a very good thing) but not so eager to 'inherit' physical diseases (which can be a very bad thing). But human inheritances can't hold a candle to our real inheritance—our spiritual birthright from Infinite Spirit (God) which is only good. Our true Parent, our true Source of all good, doesn't leave us to meager, or even opulent, physical inheritances; nor does the Almighty leave any of Its spiritual children with inherited diseases and troubles, taught though we are to accept such genetic defects. The fallacy of being 'taught' to inherit diseases is highlighted in the Bible by the prophet Ezekiel, who said: "The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, "What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge'? "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine;" (Ezekiel 18:1-4; NKJV). Our birthright from God is a spiritual birthright. It is everlasting abundance, security, health and life, all of which can be found, not only after leaving this physical level of thought (through the physical death process) but also by acknowledging God's present, loving care for us, right now. As we turn to our spiritual channels of God within, we find that all of our God-ordained good is available to bless us, while we are still in this temporary, earthly experience. As long as we don't fall under the spell of material law, (which boasts of both good and evil powers over God's spiritual Law) we can experience our true inheritance of good only. God's power is the only real power. It is everlasting. It is always good in both cause and effect. All material claims of power are temporary fixes that may last for a brief time, before something worse comes along. Only a change in consciousness can bring about the goodness that divine Spirit has prepared for all Its children. To realize the invisible presence of God's kingdom with us activates our spiritual inheritance of all good—be it health, abundance, peace or safety. So, here is something else that is important to realize: No one has ever left the kingdom of God. There is no other creation, so there is no other place to be. Our heavenly home, or life in God's eternal presence, is a permanent reality. It is the false, material perception of reality that is the culprit; for what we deep-down believe to be true of reality, are the events and circumstances we call into our daily lives. When preaching to the masses, Christ Jesus pressed the point of believing in God's ever-present help and loving care. But notice that he didn't say, 'beg, plead, or try to make deals with God'. He said, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." (Matthew 8:13; NKJV). Now, that's a pretty amazing claim to make, if you think about it. Who wouldn't like to simply believe that God will grant our needs and desires for any and all good things? Yet, that is exactly what Jesus meant; for, he knew the importance of mental activity in this temporary, physical-seeming sense of reality, and the great role that our individual beliefs play in our daily lives, here, in this temporary life experience. Our spiritual Master also knew that both good and bad beliefs will take human, finite forms. For example, when a person feels hatred toward someone, this hatred might take all kinds of material forms, such as hitting, slandering, or even killing the one being hated. So, we are not to pray for destruction to come upon those whom we have determined to be our human enemies. Instead, we are to "…love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;" (Matthew 5:44; NKJV). Thus, prayers of destruction to others, (or even ourselves), are not granted by God, whose universal love and protection reign supreme over all creation, maintaining eternal harmony for all. Now, thought always precedes action. The hand of a hating person doesn't act by itself. Before a hand can strike, one's mind must tell it to do so; for our physical-form body is our servant, not our master. Our own consciousness is the master of everything we say and do. Therefore, what we believe is all-important because it is what we will act out in our daily lives. Destructive beliefs can even act against one's own self. If we are nurturing a deep-down belief that we are unlucky, weak or inferior to others, we will act out these beliefs, thinking that we can't help it. Yet, we can help it. For, all our beliefs tend to play out, one way or another, and we are the only ones who can change our negative, destructive ways into the positive, constructive ways that naturally bring harmony into our daily lives. This is what is meant by 'self-fulfilling prophecies'. No one 'out there' really controls our own thoughts and actions, however much we try to blame others for our destructions. To begin experiencing the presence of our spiritual reality, we must lose our perception of ourselves as finite, fleshly creatures and come into our true identities as spiritual, everlasting beings…as Sons and Daughters of God. We must realize that God is the Source of all our good and puts no limits on this good. We must begin, in our thinking, to give up our dualistic sense of being (someone born of both the flesh and the spirit) and awaken to our spiritual Self, alone—each one's identity as one of God's own, beloved children. We must wrap our thinking around the fact that we are not spiritual souls trapped in a finite, physical form. Nor do we have any real connection (except in belief) to the fleshly identity we seem to be. The children of everlasting Spirit are like their divine Parent only. Like produces like. The mythology of materiality must begin to fade in our thoughts, as our connections to a fleshly inheritance fade from our still-earthly experience. Will we stay immortal in the flesh? Of course not. The fleshly form isn't immortal. It has no elements of God. Spirit, alone, is the substance of our being. But the spiritual substance of our being cannot be entombed either in or out of a fleshly, finite form. We do not die out of mortality. It is only our belief in mortality that must die; for, the children of infinite Spirit are everlasting, whether or not they perceive this truth, while still in the human experience. So, the channels of our ordained good, such as being led to our right supply, or work places, or our acceptance of wholeness and health in Spirit's substance, all manifest into material form whenever we remember them, always flowing within our deeper, spiritual consciousness. Let the God thoughts come forth. Meditate on them. These are the angel-thoughts of Spirit, trying to get our attention. Our good is so often just hiding beneath the material scene. Our full inheritance of all good that belongs to each of us forever may be hidden to the physical eye, but not to our spiritual sense, sleeping within. Awaken to this sense within. Belief in the love that God has for all Its creation is a starting point in opening the channels that supply us with all good from God. These channels of truth show us the way to go, in everything we do. Christ Jesus preached of this love, and the kingdom of God at hand, throughout his ministry (See Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible). He told us was that: "The kingdom of God is within you." (See Luke 17:21; NKJV). It is within our spiritual perception of reality. It is within our own, conscious remembrance of it. Throughout the ages, in many religions around the world, the prophets have spoken; and all of the enlightened ones have pointed to that same, invisible presence of God-with-us who is our everlasting Source of all we shall ever need, for eternity. When we turn within, and let God's channels of love and truth fill our thoughts, all things, really do, become new.
|
