Transforming the World as We Grow: Practical Inner Transformation for Daily Living

Joyous Life

Through the practice and development of our spiritual faculties, we work our way along our spiritual path. With each day and each step, we move closer to remembering our oneness with God. We are already one, but in our human consciousness, it can sometimes seem challenging to remember this.

It is through this oneness that we come to know the joys of life. We cannot really know all of the joys of life until we reach a fuller understanding of our true communion and relationship with God. In the quietness of our relaxation, the commitment of our concentration, the meekness of our meditations, and the peacefulness of our silence, we gently find our way to God.

It is through the realization of this relationship that we can come to know all the joys of life. This joy—spiritual joy—lifts us up and pushes and pulls and propels us forward to our true spiritual accomplishments. This is the joy that sparks our sense of life within. It spins us higher and higher until we are fairly filled with the thrill of anticipation. God is a joyful God. Let us always remember this. As we move forward in our spiritual growth, do not ignore the joy of life along the way.

I affirm with you:

I release and let go of all judgment and negativity. I am filled with the thrill of the joy of life. I am uplifted, motivated, supported, and propelled onward. I am joyous in my relationship with God.

Change

Beginning a new year brings about the idea of changing things. Often we focus on the outcome of change, and on what we wish for or desire. Most of the time, we don’t welcome or choose change. It seems to occur in difficult and sometimes painful ways.

This is only an appearance. The nature of life is change. To live is to constantly change. To grow is to change. Changes—even those that appear to be undesirable—always bring a measure of good. It is up to us to choose to look for the good in each and every situation that we experience.

Change can be more harmoniously navigated when we know the truth of it. Letting go of negative perceptions and allowing for the good and growth to be the larger part of what we see creates more harmony than conflict.

I affirm with you:

I lovingly let go of unchanging attitudes. I am a beloved child of God, and I embrace the wonder of God’s kingdom through my ever-unfolding process of growth and change.

The Poor in Spirit

In the Beatitudes, we are told, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In our modern way of speaking and thinking, this might seem to be a strange concept. When we think of the word poor, it often brings with it the idea of lacking something, usually the absence of things that we desire or feel we need.

In our spiritual understanding, we know that this is not a tenet of truth. We often misinterpret spiritual ideas by trying to understand them with our human minds. Even prosperity is misinterpreted at times. We think of prosperity as physical possessions, money, property, or riches. A more spiritual interpretation would be success in prayer.

When we are successful in prayer, does it not follow that we shall have all the material things that we need? To be poor in spirit relates to being free from our personal will. When we let go of old opinions, ideas, beliefs, and habits, and really anything that stands in the way of our coming to God, we are no longer poor in spirit.

Many times, because we have riches in the way of personal attachments and ideas, sentimentality, pride, and judgment, we become more focused on these things. It is the focus of our attention on these things that allows us to turn away from God in our lives. Sometimes the most cherished thoughts, beliefs, and ideas are really mistaken ones. Often, they are based on beliefs that are not in line with our spiritual truth.

Let us examine these qualities in ourselves and lovingly let go of those that keep us at a distance from our good. It is our willingness to relinquish the riches of the world that bring us closer to prosperity. This is the spiritual poverty through which we become ready to begin again and live a new life in the kingdom of God.

I affirm with you:

As I relinquish my need to strive, struggle, accomplish, and hold on to all past ideas of personal power and attachments. I am willing to be poor in spirit. Freedom from my personal will moves me closer to my divine inheritance. I am successful in prayer, my every desire is fulfilled, and I am blessed on every hand.

Meekness

In the Beatitudes, it is written, Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. The ideas of mourning, sadness, and sorrow are usually associated with uncomfortable feelings. We mostly think of them as being unpleasant experiences.

We know, however, that it is from difficulty and challenges that we are often driven to learn and grow. Each of us has choice to seek God first. It is through the process of seeking other things and other people before we seek God that we create difficulty in our lives.

Knowing and living the truth is not without responsibility. When we seek a way other than knowing our direct connection with God, we create those experiences that are sad, challenging, and painful. But come they must; the mourning and the pain are meant to push and pull and propel us onward. We can never grow if we do not master the challenges in the present. We must do so in order to take our next step into eternity.

So these feelings of discontent are a blessing. In their own way, they move us closer to God. Comfort is one expression of the presence of God. In His presence there is only peace.

I affirm with you:

There are no such things as bad experiences. I now acknowledge all experiences as a blessing for my good. As I look first to God in all things, I am comforted and experience the peace and fulfillment of divine law.

Mercy

As stated in our Beatitudes,Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Again this principle is applied in our thoughts. Let us be merciful in our thoughts. Do we express caring actions while thinking uncaring thoughts? This is a conflict. Conflict creates disharmony, adversity, and unhappiness.

There must be agreement between our thoughts and our actions. If not, neither the giver nor the receiver is blessed. Instead, it is an expression of harmony. When we hold truthful thoughts about each other, we extend blessings also to ourselves. Remember, we are all one. If someone seems to express great challenge, the need is that much greater for a blessing.

Because we know spiritual law, and have an understanding of universal truth, we have a responsibility to act on it. It is God calling to us through the universe, through each other to become the truth we are—so be merciful.

I affirm with you:

I release all in harmony from my thoughts and my actions. I am a blessing to every person and within every experience in my life. I radiate the loving truth of God beyond every appearance that I encounter.

Purity

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God. What a wonderful promise—to see God. Here in the spiritual sense, to see God refers to having a spiritual perception. This is really the degree of awareness that allows us to see the spiritual truth of all things. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, but without the ability to know its presence or recognize it, we do not see it, and do not see God.

Heaven really is the presence of God. It is the substance of spirit. It is harmonious, everlasting, and eternally good. When we see with our human consciousness, our vision is distorted. We are then blind to the spiritual nature of all things. Until we can see things as they really are in spirit, we will not see God face to face.

What is purity? Spiritually, this is acknowledging that God is the only source or cause of all things, and the only real presence and power in the universe. We must keep our eye focused to God’s presence. In this way, the Beatitude tells us, blessed are those who know God as the true cause of all things for they shall see beyond the human perception of limitation, strife and discord and know God face to face living the experience of heaven [God’s presence].

We are told not just the idea of purity, but to be pure in heart. The heart is the seat of the subconscious mind. It is important that we know truth not just as information in our heads, but as truth in our hearts, in the complete fullness of how we express out into the world. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. When knowledge becomes a part of our subconscious mind, we are changed. This is not so with just our human, mental capacity. Thinking alone changes nothing. A change to the subconscious, in our hearts, changes our very being.

I affirm with you:

Free from the limitation of my sense thinking, my eye is single to God as the only cause in my life. As this truth rests in the heart of my being, I am peaceful, prosperous, and present in the kingdom of heaven.

Persecution

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

In truth, it is God’s will for us to live in peace and harmony. So why then does this beatitude appear to say blessed are those who are persecuted? We know that in truth, each experience is a direct visualization of our own thoughts and beliefs. Therefore, any persecution that we might experience is a result of our own error thoughts.

When we begin to raise our consciousness and align our thoughts with God’s thoughts, it is often not a change that happens all at once. There might be times when we are tempted to go back to our old way of thinking. Be assured that in these moments, when we are seemingly in struggle and conflict, that we are actually taking steps of growth. This is a blessing.

Nothing can come into our experience unless it is already a part of our consciousness. These experiences—if not pleasant and harmonious—are only an indication that we must work at clearing up our thinking, which, in turn, clears, up our experiences. Each time that we face these things that appears to be conflicts in our consciousness and in our experiences as children of God, we come closer to the perfect truth of our nature. It is one step closer to letting go of the old and embracing the newness of our life with God.

I affirm with you:

I no longer avoid or judge things that seem difficult. I know that these are my blessings and my opportunity to step closer to my loving Father and realize the truth of my son ship in the kingdom of heaven. I am blessed beyond comparison!

Divine Love

When we think of love, we often think of the heart. It has become the symbol for love in so many of our thoughts and actions. The heart itself is simply a physical manifestation of the invisible consciousness of love, which we carry within us.

With our physical senses, we know the physical heart. With our spiritual understanding, we know the consciousness of love. The disciple John represents our faculty of love. It is said that he leaned his head on the bosom of Jesus. This is a wonderful expression of tenderness and dependency.

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