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"Today
I let ALL men see God’s Presence in me. Today I let
this Christ-Self speak through me. I let Its Love
manifest through every relationship. God asks no more
of me than I shall reveal His indwelling Spirit. This
day, I bear witness to the Light within that Lighteth every individual.
" - Dr. O. C. Smith, April 1987
Through spiritual realization we can know that
there is something greater in us than what we can see and something
greater going on in the circumstances and conditions in our lives than
the physical evidence may imply. It is in this realization that
God is within that makes all the difference in how we think about
ourselves and our place in the Universe. In this realization we
can accept that our Good comes to us in the right and perfect time and
that everything is working for our Good.
Most of us have had times when we feel
overwhelmed by the conditions we find ourselves in. And for some
of us, that is why we became spiritual seekers, because we believed that
there is a way to experience more of life than what we have previously
experienced. And then, for some of us, we find ourselves not
making much progress ... even though we are diligent in our spiritual
practices and study. And so we continue with our work, but with a
lingering measure of uncertainty and doubt. And I can state that a
person who never quits is never defeated ... but, that will only
motivate us for a moment because we must have spiritual conviction and
this only comes with successful spiritual demonstration. And
successful spiritual demonstration only comes with spiritual conviction.
So, we must develop conviction and conviction
requires that we have faith in God; Principle ... and that also we keep
faith with ourselves. From Dr. Joseph Murphy: "Every
man and woman must have a sense of self-esteem. We must approve of
the Self within us and give honor to the qualities, attributes, and
potencies of God. God dwells in all of us, and the Self of each of
us, is the presence and power of God. Each of us must feel that we
are wanted and loved - that we are adequate to every task, that we are
needed in the scheme of life, and that we are fulfilling our role in the
universe. We are here to express ourselves fully and feel a sense
of worth-while-ness and security in our oneness with God. Inasmuch
as we live with our self all the time, we must learn to like who we are.
Unless we exalt the God-Self within us, we may find ourselves feeling
inferior, inadequate, insecure, and will perhaps even consider ourselves
to be sinners! No one can be happy who considers themselves to be
a sinner. There is a deep psychological and spiritual necessity
for self-esteem in the hearts of all of us throughout the world."
Too often, we let the conditions and
circumstances of our lives dictate who we are. We let our lack of
prosperity make us "poor in spirit" ... and we can even resent
our circumstances as if they have power over us. The old adage, "the
rich get richer and the poor get poorer" ... comes from a
consciousness of low-self-esteem and personalization of conditions.
A healthy consciousness might declare, "the rich get richer and
so do I"!
As we keep faith with ourselves we realize that
conditions change, we do not ... circumstances change, we do not ... we
are always Infinite Spirit having a human experience ... and we can be
nothing else. Keeping faith with ourselves is realizing that
Spirit is expressing through us as intelligence, beauty, understanding,
strength and love ... it is up to us how we choose to express these
attributes of Spirit. Through the power of awareness, we can
re-direct every thought and eliminate every negative pattern in our
consciousness. As we do, we strengthen our conviction and in turn
begin to fulfill our heart's desires.
"You are Life expressed. Life became
you, and you are an instrument for Life's expression. You are very
important to Life, and you must recognize the fact that Life is
intensely interested in your welfare, development, and unfoldment.
You have a special work to do here; moreover, you are different from any
other person in the world. You look different; your thoughts,
feelings, and beliefs are different. You have a special natural
endowment, unique capabilities, and special inherent gifts. You
are equipped to express Life in a way that no one else in all the world
can." - Dr. Joseph Murphy
What a marvelous
and glorious thing to realize ... that we are expressing God, right
where we are! The Master Mind Jesus understood this when he
stated, "these things I do, and greater things still shall you
do" ... imagine how amazing this is. Let us commit to "release
our imprisoned splendor" out into our world of effects.
And we can, by keeping faith with God and keeping faith with our selves!
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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