Spiritual Solutions

THE GRACE OF GOD

21st Day, Friday. Read Matthew 5:17-20, 38-48. “As far as the east is from the west,

So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

Grace means good will, favor, disposition to show mercy. Therefore, we do not hold ourselves as bond servants of the law, but as recipients of the grace of God, as sons of the Most High.

The grace of God extends to all people, not alone to one sect or creed. All men and women are equal in favor with God.

The grace of God is greater than the laws of humankind. We may make certain laws and restrictions for ourselves and “his servants ye are whom ye obey.” If we are servants of the law, our obedience is unto death; if we are servants of righteousness, our obedience is unto life. To become recipients of that which the Father would bestow, we should take the element of grace into consideration; that even beyond what we ask, seek, earn, or deserve under the law, God is more than willing to give.

God, as the great creative principle of the universe, will always meet us more than half way. By becoming receptive to the “grace of God,” we receive the measure of God’s provision, which exceeds any of our imaginings.

I realize that “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”; that is, the real saving, redeeming, transforming power comes to me through the work that Jesus did in establishing for the race a new and higher consciousness in the earth. I enter into that consciousness by faith in Him and by means of the inner spirit of the law that He taught and practiced.

I affirm: “Through the grace of God I am forgiven and healed.”

Questions:

1. Define “grace.”

2. How far does the grace of God extend?

3. How may we become recipients of that which the Father would bestow?

4. How does the redeeming, transforming power come to us?

Through the grace of God I forgive, and I am forgiven.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

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 Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

 If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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LOVE

9th Day, Friday. Read I John 4:7-21.

Love, in Divine Mind, is the idea of universal unity. In expression, it is the power that joins and binds together the universe and everything in it. Love is a harmonizing, constructive power. When it is made active in consciousness, it conserves substance and reconstructs, rebuilds, and restores man and his world.

As I make a perfect union between my mind and the loving mind of the Father, I realize a goodness everlasting and joy beyond expression. The point of contact is a willingness and a seeking on my part. “Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Love is that mighty power, that divine quality of God that is expressing through all mankind, and cannot be suppressed by any outside force. I now firmly declare that it is expressing through me, and that no environment or external condition can hinder it. Any unloving condition of the world is no bar to my exercise of love; in fact, it is an incentive.

I am not afraid to pour out my love on all the so-called evil of the world. I deny the appearance of evil, and affirm the omnipotence of love and goodness.

The word love overcomes hate, resistance, opposition, obstinacy, anger, jealousy, and all other error states where there is mental or physical friction. As divine love enters into the thought process, every cell of my body is poised and balanced in space, in right mathematical order as to weight and relative distance.

In quietness and confidence, I affirm: “God, in His love, fills me with new life. In His name I am cleansed, strengthened, and healed.”

Questions:

1. Define “love.”

2. What happens when love is made active in consciousness?

3. What is necessary to make a perfect union between our mind and the loving mind of the Father?

4. Is there any bar to our exercise of love?

I express love to all, love that is balanced with wisdom. My prayer is: “Lord, make me a channel for the expression of Your love, day by day.”

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

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 Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

 If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. (Song of Solomon 2:4)

Through the activity of divine love, infinite blessings are available to you right now. If there seems to be lack or insufficiency, know that it is only an appearance. There is no place where God is not; therefore, there is no place where God’s loving provision does not exist.

God’s eternal, unconditional love is a powerful force that provides bountiful good in your life. There is nothing you have to do to earn this love. As God’s beloved child, the individual expression of God that you already are, you can accept the prosperity, joy, and other blessings that are available for you here and now.

Wake up each morning ready to receive your good. With an expectancy of good, you open yourself and your life to the blessings that are flowing to you. Do not predict what and how you will be blessed. Just let it all unfold naturally and in divine order. Expect and accept every good, for God continues to bless you every day and each blessing from God enriches you and your life. 

Take a moment right now to joyously give thanks for God’s abundant provision of good. Feel a deep sense of being accepted and nourished, for God enfolds you in unconditional love right where you are. Then, from the depths of your heart, simply say, ”Thank you, God, for your loving provision of good that enriches my life in every moment.”

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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It was Ann Landers who said, “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.”

Yes, we have to know when to let go. And more than that, we have to be willing to let go and then allow ourselves to do it. In Unity, we often say that we need to “Let Go and Let God.” So after being willing to let go and allowing ourselves to let go, it’s important to realize that we are letting it go – whatever it might be – so that God can bring about the right outcome through us. Or, as Meister Eckhart famously said, “Let God be God in you.”

In this article I’d like to expand on that idea with excerpts from an article by the late Mary L. Kupferle, Unity minister and author, titled Let Go! Let God’s Love Do the Work!, printed in the February 1988 issue of Daily Word magazine. I hope you will find it inspiring and helpful to you in the letting go process:

Let go, dear friend, and let God’s love do the work. Give up all striving and struggling to accomplish. Whatever has been difficult for you to handle, hard for you to release, or impossible for you to solve can be given to the loving Father. God’s love will do the work and bring about the healing, the answer, the blessing you cannot accomplish of yourself. Let love – God’s love – do the work!

God has created this beautiful universe and knows how to help you surmount any doubt or disbelief. God’s love has fashioned you and has given you wisdom that you can call on, unlimited peace that you can accept, and unceasing goodness that you can experience.

If you have been discouraged about a delay in receiving a physical healing, turn this specific challenge over to the love of the Father. Tell yourself, “I let go and let God’s love do the work.” Accept the help of that love. Let it think through you. Give up the belief that you must struggle and fight your Way through any challenge. Let the Father take over. Put all in the light of love. Again and again, let go and let God’s love do the work!

To help yourself begin the process of letting go and letting God’s love do the work, take a few minutes now and daily – as often as needed – to consciously assume a quiet, receptive state of being. You are physically quiet as you turn your thoughts to the Mater’s words, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow . . .” (Matt. 6:28), and relax every muscle of your body in readiness to receive.

Patiently wait upon the Father’s love as a growing plant waits upon the light of the morning sun. “Consider” how the rays of light and warmth enfold a plant and move down through the leaves and stalk into the roots within the soil. Think about the invisible working of the sunlight, reaching to the depths of the plant and encouraging its growth, strength, and unfoldment.

Realize that somehow, in some wonderful and miraculous way, the love of God is continuously flowing into your mind, emotions, and body, touching all with life-giving power and renewal.

Let go! Let God’s love do the work! Give that love an opportunity to work through you and your life and affairs. Take the time needed to “consider” again and again the miracle-working love of your Father. Continue until you find yourself accepting it more and more naturally. Results will speak for themselves. You will be encouraged to find new awareness of God’s presence and new comprehension of God’s spirit moving within you.

Do not try to understand how this is happening or the means by which the answers will follow. Just – for this time – be willing to accept being loved. Take no thought – just “consider” the presence and power of God’s love. Letting go, you will let divine love harmonize the feelings within your heart, the thoughts within your mind, the functions within your body, and the activities and relationships within your life.

Jesus gave his days and nights, words and actions, thoughts and feelings, prayers and teachings to the Father, knowing that the Father through miracle-working love could do the work freely. He gave himself mentally, emotionally, and physically to that same wonderful love and became the visible example of love in action that overcame every limitation of humankind. He came to demonstrate that this is what happens when we turn away from burdensome thinking and struggling to the quietness of letting go and letting God and His love do the work.

This same love is available to you now. Let this love supply strength and healing for your physical being. Let it satisfy your longings for inner peace and greater faith. Let God’s love dissolve your feelings of unsureness or need to grasp for wisdom. Let His love handle every challenge, every undesirable thought, every unwanted emotion, and every binding habit. Let go of believing that you must continue to struggle with yourself and by yourself. Instead, accept the great love of your Father. Let go, dear friend. Again and again, practice letting go and letting God’s love do the work.

The love of God is greater than any opposition, any appearance of evil, and any claim of limitation. The love of God is your safety, your security, your guide, your comfort, your assurance, your clear vision, your accomplishment, your peace, and your light for every path of life.

Take hold of this love, dear friend, in total assurance that God’s love will do the work. Let go! Let go! Let go! Let God’s love do the work! All you feel you have been unable to do, God shall accomplish. God’s love will do all that your willingness will let it do. Let God’s love reach into the very roots of your being. Let God’s miracles of love begin now. Let go! Let God’s love do the work!

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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My wife and fellow Unity minister, Kathryn, counseling a woman who was upset, frustrated and unhappy with her partner, told her gently, “Just be kind!” And truly, this is the key to happiness.

Moment by moment, as we go about our daily tasks, the answer comes. “Just be kind!” life whispers. Be kind. We do not understand. It is too simple. Yet life, considering that every individual in the world is unique, repeats again and again, “Just be kind!” There is a great hunger in the world today for simple kindness, as there has been for many years. It is brought home to us in so many ways.

Some time ago, a sensitive and highly gifted woman in this country found herself suddenly thrown amid circumstances where she had almost no privacy. As a result, she began to dislike people; she shrank from contact with them, wishing she might never have to see them. Her dominant desire was to escape to some desert solitude, where she could feel the freedom of space and the healing balm of silence.

That being impossible, she decided she would play a game with life. She would pretend that she was “Mother of the Universe,” and that all beings in it were her children. If they misbehaved, it was because they had not been brought up properly. She would have to tolerate their short-comings, and see what she could do to re-educate them.

Sometimes she knew the people well enough to make some constructive suggestions. If a person was cruel or critical or unkind to some other person in her home, she would tactfully try to awaken in him or her a truer sense of values, either through speech or through example. If someone was greedy, she would be generous. If someone was afraid, she would be calm and serene, and either explain to him or show her that there was nothing to fear.

If she was among strangers, as on a bus for example, and people eager for seats trampled over others to get them, she would imagine that they were her own errant children whom she loved in spite of their waywardness, misbehaving in surroundings where she could not easily correct them. Then she would visualize them as considerate, instead.

In any event, her game of pretending that she was “Mother of the Universe” promoted understanding, sympathy and tolerance, and she found herself loving people again instead of hating them, welcoming people instead of avoiding them, performing acts of kindness instead of being critical, enjoying harmony instead of feeling discord.

Friends, life is made up of simple situations; if we can learn to handle little tasks with love, they will become great, and so will we. Kindness is more than a virtue; it is a power in the up building and restoration of prosperity. It is the antidote for unkindness, the only cure for the aftereffects of unkindness.

Kindness may be administered by the least as well as the greatest. It will restore confidence, spread good will, enrich the consciousness as well as the coffers of the individual, business firm, and government.

Yes, the eternal cry of life is “Just be kind!” Be kind in little things. Handle little things with love, and you will be happy, unworried, even more prosperous and healthy.

Practice the spirit of mothering, of loving, of being kind and understanding, patient and tolerant. Not only will your individual world become harmonious and peaceful and happy, but the world in general will have just that more weight on the constructive side.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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Today I choose to be a peacemaker. If I am experiencing disharmony within myself or with another, I affirm this simple, yet powerful. statement. Let us then consider this statement in light of four roads to peace that have been suggested by the Bible.

First, The Damascus Road. Paul was traveling this road with the intention to completely destroy the Christian movement. He was on his way to Damascus on this militant mission when he was struck blind in a spiritual experience, and when several days later the “scales fell from his eyes,” he began to see for the first time in the light of Truth.

It was not just a changing of sides or a switch from one persuasion to another. It was an awakening to a new level of consciousness on which he began to perceive things from an entirely new frame of reference. Paul had been sure of his rightness in his devotion to the destruction of the Christian movement which was to him the road to peace. But the true road to peace for him was an awakening, a change, a conversion. This was symbolized in the change of names, from Saul to Paul; there had likewise to be a change of nature.

We must understand this, that we cannot find peace in a fast-changing world by the methods and concepts applied in the past. As Jesus said, “Except you be born anew, you shall not see the Kingdom.” There must be an awakening, a new birth, a new view, an enlargement of the concept. Paul thus revealed a spiritual inroad to peace, the Truth with a capital “T” which urges us to follow the divinity within ourselves. He knew that only by doing so could the new heaven and the new earth come into manifestation.

Second, The Emmaus Road. Two of the disciples were on the road to Emmaus after the crucifixion, and along the way the resurrected Christ appeared to them. On the Emmaus Road a new concept was born: “Immanuel,” God with us, for here was the demonstration of the ever-living Christ, the Christ of every road.

The Emmaus Road is the revelation of the Christ within, the rediscovery of what Jesus had in mind, the divinity of humankind, the realization that worship is not a performance but an inner experience. This leads to a road to peace that is a road of love and understanding, of believing in the inherent divinity in all persons, of seeing the Truth of the Christ in ourselves and working to deal with people everywhere on the level of the Christ in them. The Road to Emmaus leads us to a new level of consciousness on which we can be honest with ourselves and others as we recognize the Truth of being and sense the non-material “peace that passes understanding.”

Third, The Road to Jericho. We are all familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan who helped the man who had been injured and robbed by thieves then left to die by the side of the road. The Samaritan treated his wounds and took him to the inn and cared for him. The priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side were religious and had the means to help, but they did not do so. They represent ignorance and indifference to the spiritual dimension of life. The Samaritan had the courage and the strength and the power to help, but he had one thing more – he had the compassion to act.

The story points up an important realization, not that I am my brother’s keeper, but that I am my brother’s brother. Even more, as Emerson puts it, “The heart and soul of all men being one, this bitterness of his and mine ceases; he is mine – I am my brother and my brother is me.” There is thus the compassion to act.

The Jericho Road to peace starts with the compassion to act with one person, in the recognition that we are all one; it begins with a commitment to do what we can with what we have for whom we are able.

Finally, The Road to Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Road is that of commitment to goals higher than personal. It is the victory of the divine over the human. Jesus knew what was ahead, but to be lifted up he had to go to Jerusalem, to “lose his life so that he could find it.”

So it is with us; we must be willing to let go much of what we hold on to in consciousness in order that we may find the peace and freedom so deeply desired by us. As has been said, everyone wants peace but not many are willing to do that which makes for peace. Are we willing to walk the Jerusalem Road, the road to true peace? Are we willing to renounce our warlike nature and everything based on fighting and violence? For there will be no peace until we have peaceful hearts and a loving consciousness. Peace begins with you. This is the Jerusalem Road to peace. Are you ready to be a peacemaker?

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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It was Lao-tzu who said that one lives in proportion to the number of points with which he or she contacts life and the world, inferring that the flow of life must go outward to form a harmonious interaction with people. To love God and your neighbor, as Jesus instructs us, is to “establish points” with which you contact life and the world. It is to get into the flow of love. You will invariably find it easier to get along with people when you go along with the movement of the flow of love.

There is a flow of love and harmony everywhere, whether you are aware of it or not, and whether you are consciously moving in it or not. This is what the omnipresence of God means. You are never out of the Presence of God even though you may be out of the consciousness of the Presence. You are never out of the flow of love and life. The important thing is to be in conscious awareness of this flow.

If you could realize the importance of keeping consciously in the flow of life and the danger of getting out of this flow even for one instant, you might see any episode of confrontation in the light of what it reveals about you rather than the other person. Then take a moment to “be still and know” and use it as a reminder to get back in the flow.

The key to staying in the flow of love is conscious awareness. I remember a significant moment for me from many years ago, when my children were acting up and I was yelling at them to behave. I suddenly became aware that I was acting out my own father, who sometimes yelled at us kids like that when he was frustrated with us. I realized that I didn’t need to do that, I didn’t need to yell at my kids and it didn’t do any good anyway, in fact it made matters worse. It was a moment of conscious awareness for which I am very grateful. Since that time so long ago, I have noticed that being consciously aware is an integral part of my spiritual growth. 

Well, what can you do when you think a person is being mean and nasty toward you? When Jesus says, “Pray for those who despitefully use you,” he indicates the need to elevate your thoughts about them, for they are your thoughts that are obstructing the flow in your mind. In other words, stop resisting and start loving. Get yourself back in the flow. The Truth is, if you could really know this person and vice-versa, there would only be love between you. For that is the reality of life which human experiences and one’s reactions to them tend to obscure.

Then what can you do when you seem to be surrounded by people with whom you have so little in common, people who may appear to be beneath you, and people who resist your efforts even to get along with them? You can turn on more light. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” (Matt. 5:14) You may wonder why you are there. You are there to let your light shine. The important thing is that, at the moment you are there. And wherever you are, God is. Wherever you are, there is a flow of light and love. Get in the consciousness of it.

Former Unity minister and author, Eric Butterworth, in his book In the Flow of Life, suggests that every morning, before setting out into the world, or before making the initial contact with the world through watching or reading the morning news, it is the better part of wisdom to prepare yourself by a prayer or meditation to get consciously in the flow of life. He says, “It is a simple matter of getting your lights turned on before you face any darkness in the world or in human behavior. In the flow of love you will tend to see and respond to the divinity in all persons, and so you will establish yourself in the kind of consciousness that you desire to experience, letting it flow through you and go from you.”

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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This morning, when I went outside to pick up the newspaper at 5:30, the night sky was clear and filled with stars. I was reminded of when I served in the British Royal Navy many years ago and I was on night watch while we sailed the Indian Ocean; the night sky was filled with stars that looked like huge jewels in the far reaches of space.

It must have been on such a night when the psalmist looked up in the sky and spoke the words recorded in Psalms 8: “When I look at thy heavens the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor. Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.” (Ps. 8:3-6)

As I read those words again, my heart is filled with inspiration, gratitude and wonder at the Divine Order in which we live, move and have our being. In this month of November, the month of giving thanks, there is perhaps no better time to recognize and give thanks for the divine order that permeates every area of our lives.

Even when we are not aware of it, order is here, because God is here. Divine order is the very essence of God which brings to us the experiences that help us learn and grow. Its presence in our lives assures us that all is well, that everything will work out for the best.

Divine order is not something we earn or achieve. We do not have to search for order, because it was there all along. To know this is true, we need only perceive it with the faith of spiritual vision and spiritual understanding.

The former Unity minister and author Eric Butterworth once told of being involved in an experience of square dancing. He said that he was never very good at it, but he remembered the caller giving instructions. Eric was having a difficult time, running into people and generally disrupting the entire group. The caller finally came over and said quietly to him, “You gotta keep in step or you’ll bump into the person next to you. In dancing you either cooperate or collide.” Cooperate or collide . . . Eric said he always remembered that.

Certainly we must keep in step with divine order, the divine plan within ourselves, or we shall find ourselves bumping into people and things all about us. When we fail to operate in accord with the laws of God, we are sure to collide with people or situations or things sooner or later.

And what is cooperation? It is love. It is the attitude of mind wherein we do not work alone. We do not operate, we cooperate. We work with God. We work with people. The same law that guides the planets in their courses is in control right here on earth for those who accept the law. In the scriptures we are told, “Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.” Cooperate or collide is a good law of life.

Our success, our well-being and indirectly our prosperity are very much dependent upon how well we get along with other people. We are told in Romans 13:10 that “love is the fulfilling of the law.” Love is the expression of the natural law of divine order in the universe as the strongest single force in existence. No other human force is so thoroughly impregnated by the power of God.

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (I John 3:1) There is no element of trying to change or make or shape things into a new pattern. Open your eyes and see; recognize something that actually exists. For example, a man in a dark room feeling his way about suddenly touches the light switch. He doesn’t alter anything in the room, he doesn’t make anything, and he doesn’t add anything or take anything away. Yet, suddenly, everything is changed. The things that acted as stumbling blocks in the darkness are found to be the most useful and beautiful. Everything is in harmony which seemed before to be naught but evil to his darkened vision.

The electric switch that transforms and transmutes the miracle before our eyes in the relationships of life is our right use of divine love. It changes our whole perspective. Think of yourself not as a worker, but as a co-worker with God, with the divine law, and a partner with those who work with you. The spirit of love will lead you into the ways of cooperation, and into giving from the abundance and benevolence of divine order. For, as Amy Carmichael said, “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”

Begin right where you are to turn on the light of love. Love will make you non-resistant, cooperative, and helpful. Love will lead you to a greater spirit of service and a keener sense of fair-play. Love will enable you to have greater drive and more enthusiasm. Love will make you creative and successful.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev.  Alan A.  Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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Trust and Surrender are such important elements in a unified consciousness. We tend to think of trust as something we give in response to something we get but, as spiritual teacher Jeddah Mali reminds us: “In the spiritual world it works exactly the other way around. First we extend trust and then we experience the fruits of safety.”

Many people feel that it is naïve to extend trust without a good reason or a good history to back up such a decision, that with so many violent and disturbing events on our planet, fear is a valid response. But is it? What does fear do for us? It produces an environment where we see different circumstances as a threat. If we are fearful we are putting out a strong message, and thoughts held in mind tend to produce after their kind. We draw our fears toward us and we can say with Job, “That which I feared has come upon me.” Then when we experience the very circumstances we were afraid of we often use it as a justification for being afraid in the first place. Little do we realize that we are creating it over and over again.

How often do we question the validity of our fears? When you come to think about it, you can see that all fear stems from something imagined that may happen to us in the future. We seldom have fears about anything in the past, and we rarely fear what may happen today.

Check up on your fears, find out their origin, and doubtless you will find that every one of them has some reference to the future. And therefore it is based upon an unreality, because the future is unreal; it doesn’t exist. Only the present is really important. So stop thinking so much about the future or living in it, and you will no longer be tortured with thoughts about what tomorrow might bring. If you learn to do this, you will experience a richness of life that you could never have dreamed possible. The anxieties and petty fears that now keep you upset about the future will be gone.

The future as we think about it cannot be lived ahead of time. We are in the midst of life now, so let’s live in the present knowing that those things that do not really exist, such as things in the future, cannot harm us or hurt us. As we learn to live today, we shall discover more resources in our lives than we ever thought existed.

To live a completely happy life, all of life must be lived in the present, not in the future and not in the past, which is, of course, impossible except for the mind. When we try to live in the past, our lives are often lives of regret and remorse. If we live in the future, it is usually a life of fear and worry. Only the present is truly important and if it is lived happily, joyfully, filled with peace and comfort both in mind and body, then the future is bound to be more of the same.

From the activity of the Divine Presence time comes to you one moment at a time, and it is your joyous privilege to live each moment as it comes. Into each moment comes the power that is God, poised in influence and action. Therefore, there is never a moment when you are really lacking in strength, wisdom, harmonizing love, and creative power to do all the things that need to be done by you.

There’s only one thing you cannot do – you cannot stop that central light of God shining in you. You can completely surrender to that understanding, for you have no presence outside the Divine Presence; you live in it, move in it, and have your being in it. And surrender is not giving up what we love; it’s giving up engaging in what’s holding us back, our doubts and fears and limiting thoughts. Profound trust surrenders us to our good.

There is never one moment when you are farther from the all-sufficiency of the Infinite than one prayerful thought. Remember this when you are tempted to worry about the future. I love the thought expressed by one man in his realization of the Divine flow in and through his life: “I am spiritually drenched with divinity.” Can you imagine anything that could bring you more happiness and peace of mind? Once you begin to feel the presence of the eternal in every fiber of your being, you will give up worry and dread in regard in regard to the future. You will give up trying to live in a world that is yet to come.

You have only the present at your command. Let the past remain past, and let the future come to you as it will. Possess life now and live each day as it comes, serenely, joyously, comfortably and with a deep active trust and faith in the presence and power and love of God expressed in and through and as you.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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Whenever you feel bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness, it is a time for-giving. If you truly forgive from your heart, in that moment letting go of whatever situation prompted the bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness you will find it is also a time for-getting. It is a time for getting a sense of peace, for getting in touch with the love in your heart, for getting an opportunity to express your true self, and for getting into the flow of love and harmony.

We hear it said, “Well, I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget.” Forgiveness is not an obligation or a “have to.” If you continue to feel the emotions and sensations around the situation, forget about forgetting; just focus on the forgiveness. However many times it comes to mind, forgive. Remember the response of Jesus when Peter asked whether he should forgive even seven times: “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” In other words, keep forgiving as long as it takes.

You see, for-giving is a form of giving which brings an appropriate return according to the sincerity of our actions. We must give in order to receive. And, of course, as in all our giving, our motivation must not be to get something in return, but for-giving simply out of the awareness that forgiveness is a choice and a necessary action for our own spiritual health. For forgiveness to be authentic, it has to be a choice and not a chore. Let it be a spontaneous flow of love and forgiveness toward the other person.

Forgiveness and understanding go hand in hand. Remember this, just like you, the other person is doing the best that he or she can at any given point in time. Forgiveness of yourself starts with self-acceptance, and forgiveness of others is the acceptance of others just as they are. Forgiveness is recognition that, in essence, we are all the same.

At all times, there is a wellspring of Infinite life, substance, and intelligence within you, and you can give way to its flow into your experience. Sometimes we block that flow, and the most effective remedy is to give and forgive. There’s an old saying that when things get tight, something’s got to give. And that means you. You must give, by giving way to the flow of infinite and eternal energy from which all things proceed.

One of the most effective ways of getting back into the flow is through giving. You may have been thinking lack, thinking “get” or the need to “get.” Now you need to “think give.” It’s the “give” in it that makes all the difference! The need is to think “give,” to give way to the inner flow. Jesus says, “The Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Couple this with the promise that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom, and we realize that the answer is always within.

When we think “give” and “for-give” not only will our thoughts be in the flow of spiritual power, which will invest our own words with creative power, but also we will become ready and willing channels for giving in life’s relationships, which in turn will draw even greater good to us. It is a continuing cycle that is always in evidence with the spiritual healthy-minded person.

Life is a flowing experience and, as Emerson says, ”Within every person is an inlet that may become an outlet to all there is in God.” All that is required is that we “give way,” let it be, or as Meister Eckhart said, “let God be God in us.” Think “give,” for life is lived from within-out.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

————————————————————
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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