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I
have a firm conviction that only the Spirit heals, not just our bodies,
but also our body of affairs. But, we must have faith, not only in
G-d's ability to heal our issues, but also faith in ourselves so that
G-d may work through us to bring forth that which we desire to increase.
In one of Joel Osteen's recent messages he wrote: "I believe
your best days are ahead. That's why I teach so much about favor.
God's plan is bigger than just what He wants to do for you - it grows
into what God wants to do through you. ... The power of God's increase
is so great that there are no challenges too big and no circumstances
too difficult to be radically transformed."
Joel Osteen is right, G-d can only do for us,
what G-d can do through us. This is the truth for everyone but it
has nothing to do with "favor" but has everything to do with
where our faith is directed. G-d is no respecter of persons and we
are all very fortunate that this is so otherwise we would all be found
lacking. We must remind ourselves of these words from the Master
Mind Jesus from Matthew 6:6 ... "But thou, when thou prayest, enter
into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly." This is a universal principle that works for
everyone and has nothing to do with any particular religion. The
radical Jesus is telling us that we have "direct
communication" with G-d ... he didn't say that we should take him
into the closet with us, or Buddha, or Krishna or our favorite rabbi or
priest. The "closet" he is referring to is our
"inner mind" ... if our mind is filled with images and
thoughts of poverty, illness and failures, then we have little for G-d
to work with. The same is true if our mind is filled with
arrogance and superiority, then there is little for G-d to work through
that is good. This is why the Master Mind Jesus stated,
"blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven." (Matthew 5:3) In other words, when our human will
surrenders to G-d ... when we know that G-d is our only option, our only
hope ... in this awareness, G-d can work through us to renew our mind
and build within us the capacity to accept our good ... the first step
on our path to increase our good is to put G-d first.
The Radical Rabbi went on to say:
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
We must know that it is G-d working through us according to our faith
and our awareness of G-d's ability to bring forth the images and
thoughts of good in our mind to their natural conclusion as results in
our physical experiences. We must get in our mind the thing that
we want to do, to be, or to have and persistently give it life in our
mind so that G-d has something to work with. G-d has no plan for
us ... nor does G-d will anything for us ... we must have a plan in our
mind and we must have the will to do that which we are to do as G-d
works with that which we choose. If we lived only to a god's plan
for us ... we would be robots ... devoid of feeling, of enthusiasm, of
love, and joy. We are in G-d's image and likeness ... we get to
choose what is being created for us and we get to celebrate G-d's good
work for all to see.
The path of increase is in
our mind; increased health, wealth and all things good. The only
power we will ever know will be the Power of G-d that we take into our
mind through faith. This testimonial is about a health issue, but
it could be about any issue that concerns us: "Jane Withers
was one of the great child stars of motion pictures. At two year
of age she was on stage singing and dancing. At age three she
starred in her own radio program! At five, Jane and her mother
went to Hollywood where she filled a role opposite Shirley Temple.
And she was signed to a seven-year contract. ... Jane did not stop
working until ten days before her marriage. She was twenty-one at
the time and gave up her career for a home and family. ... Then this
vigorous, creative, dynamic woman suffered a severe attack of rheumatoid
arthritis. Paralyzed, she asked the doctor when she would walk
again. "Maybe in a year or two you'll be able to get
around," he replied, "if things go well." But would
that tide ever come back? Could she ever again get on top of
things? ... Jane expressed faith in her doctors, "But," she
said, "I also told them that God was my partner and all my life I
had put myself in His hands. And I really believed I would
walk.!" ... Daily Jane reaffirmed that she would walk. She
held constantly in mind an image of herself, not as incapacitated, but
as strong and vigorous. She pictured herself as when she was a
child, whole in joints and muscles. She held that picture
resolutely in her conscious mind. Says Jane, "With this deep
faith in God as the Source of my strength, I was walking and assuming
all of the responsibilities for my children within nine months, and
there has not been any recurrence." - taken from, "You Can If
You Think You Can" pgs. 302-303, by Norman Vincent Peale.
We can all see from this testimonial that Jane
Withers was not concerned about her diagnosis ... she exercised faith in
order to transcend it. And let's not concern ourselves with
"favor" either but establish within our mind a
"faith" that can move all things from the ends of the universe
through the Power of G-d to manifest the good that is ours. And
let's remember, respectfully, that one person's trash is another
person's treasure ... there is enough for everyone to share and to spare
... no greater and no smaller ... there just is.
From The Science of Mind by Ernest
Holmes: "The only God man knows is the God of his own Inner
Life; he can know no other." The path to increase our good is
in our own mind ... it is our faith ... faith in that which we see
within that is greater than the faith we have in what we see in the
world. This is what the Master Mind Jesus meant when he stated
"my kingdom is not of this world" ... all comes from G-d
through us ... through that which we hold as true in our Inner Life.
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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Bates on the Radio
