Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
With simplicity, the Savior states what has become better known and understood with time. Everything that manifests in the world starts within us or within someone, every action was a thought first, every structure was an idea first, every destruction was an impulse first, and so it is with the Kingdom which they surrounding him sought.
The power of an idea has never been more profound than when the Savior spoke of his Kingdom being one that must first take root in the heart before it can ever become a reality. All around us in the world we can see the power of ideas manifesting reality in ever increasing diversity and profundity. We see thoughts combined in new and creative ways resulting in innovations the world could never have imagined in bygone centuries. This then, is one way that we can see that once an idea takes root in the heart, it cannot help but become manifest in reality.
This is a law of heaven and one spoken of in the Secret as the Law of Attraction, we truly can manifest what we focus our attention on, but most ideas don't take hold because there is not always any degree of heartfelt emotion behind them. Mind you this can be strong good or bad emotion, but either way, emotion can and usually does become the driving force of an idea becoming a manifest reality.
Proverbs 23: 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
This goes doubly for the person we are becoming each day. Our thoughts guide our actions and our actions develop into habits; our habits form our character, and our character forges our destiny. All this from the power of thought. We must become more conscious of our thoughts and which ones we allow to become emotionally charged, for it is certainly a fact that we do have a high degree of control over which thoughts develop into actions and ultimately forge our character.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Gratitude as Faith in Action
While pondering the principle of Gratitude and how it can affect every aspect of our lives, I happened upon the following scripture in Phillipians 4:6
6a Be b careful for nothing; but in every thing by c prayer and supplication with d thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
The greek words starting this off are "meden merimnate" meaning Be not anxious, as it is also used in Matt 6:25. The next combination however is even more instructive, "in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving," so it is saying even though we are to not worry about our needs being met, for they certainly will be, we are to pray and even supplicate, which is a bit stronger word, implying an awareness of lack or need, with an attitude of thanksgiving.
In The Secret, and in many of Bob Proctor's works, though they do not always endeavor to acknowledge God as such but many times speak only of the Universe or of some higher power, they are constantly talking about understanding the power of gratitude as a way and a means of submitting our desires to God.
In this point they are in strict agreement, whether by some cosmic accident or because it is apparent enough that gratitude is an eternal principle, and as Michael Beckwith at one point says "Gratitiude is Faith in action" quoting Larry James.
Gratitude in other words, is not separate from Faith, but is a way that we manifest our Faith in God, and to Him. Gratitude as a means of praying or putting our supplication to God for things we have need of, helps us to take the focus off of our lack of those things, as the first point makes clear, "Be careful for nothing" and allows us to see through our gratitude that we are putting our supplication up to a Father in Heaven who cares about each sparrow, and the lillies of the field.
With our focus on gratitude, our supplication becomes a faith-filled acknowledgment of the goodness of God and a grateful acknowledgment of his promises to us.
6
The greek words starting this off are "meden merimnate" meaning Be not anxious, as it is also used in Matt 6:25. The next combination however is even more instructive, "in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving," so it is saying even though we are to not worry about our needs being met, for they certainly will be, we are to pray and even supplicate, which is a bit stronger word, implying an awareness of lack or need, with an attitude of thanksgiving.
In The Secret, and in many of Bob Proctor's works, though they do not always endeavor to acknowledge God as such but many times speak only of the Universe or of some higher power, they are constantly talking about understanding the power of gratitude as a way and a means of submitting our desires to God.
In this point they are in strict agreement, whether by some cosmic accident or because it is apparent enough that gratitude is an eternal principle, and as Michael Beckwith at one point says "Gratitiude is Faith in action" quoting Larry James.
Gratitude in other words, is not separate from Faith, but is a way that we manifest our Faith in God, and to Him. Gratitude as a means of praying or putting our supplication to God for things we have need of, helps us to take the focus off of our lack of those things, as the first point makes clear, "Be careful for nothing" and allows us to see through our gratitude that we are putting our supplication up to a Father in Heaven who cares about each sparrow, and the lillies of the field.
With our focus on gratitude, our supplication becomes a faith-filled acknowledgment of the goodness of God and a grateful acknowledgment of his promises to us.
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