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Never
let it be said of money that it is good or bad ... for to say
such things is nonsense ... it is neither, only thinking makes
it so. In scripture we are cautioned not to seek money but to
seek God ... and the reasoning is perfect ... God is more
abundant than any amount of money we can imagine.
Millions of people buy Lottery
tickets thinking that money is going to buy them all that they
want ... and this will make them happy ... until, of course,
they realize that money cannot buy you peace, love, health and
confidence ... it can only buy you things. And the truth is,
money can also diminish our peace, love, health, confidence and
happiness ... for many people who receive great amounts of money
live in fear that they will lose it or that the people around
them are there only because of their money. People can be very
clever when it comes to money and God ... most feel very
uncomfortable with praying for money. Now, I am not referring
to people who are struggling with debts or financial challenges
... their desire for money is of a totally different nature ...
it is not so much money that they are seeking, but a solution.
"Thine
own is seeking after thee, therefore cease thou from seeking
after it"
... this great statement of Truth applies to money just as much
as it does to any other thing. Money has only the power that we
give it ... and our seeking after it instills within us a
feeling of lack ... and this feeling of lack is the power that
keeps us in lack ... it is just that simple.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all things shall be added
unto you" ... this is Principle and
it works precisely for everyone who remains steadfast to It.
The kingdom of God is the kingdom of Good ... and "the kingdom
of heaven is within you" ... happiness, joy, peace, harmony,
love and confidence ... seek to "be" in tune with these things
and all things shall be added unto you. It is this seeking the
Good that attracts people and opportunities to us. When we are
happy we can think more clearly ... when we are at peace with
our life, we make decisions with clarity rather than from fear
or worry ... it is the seeking to embody these things that opens
our mind to ideas that prosper us so that we may gain greater
confidence as we see the evidence of things in our experience.
But ... for many of us ... we must temporarily look through
appearances that seem to be against us ... we must move through
debt and unemployment ... and for some of us, strong feelings of
helplessness and powerlessne ss. But ... look through them and
move through them we must ... else we may find ourselves walking
through the valley of death ... filled with self-pity. And I do
not mean a physical death ... but a death to hope, trust and
faith ... within ourselves ... and for many of us, this can
become a long-term experience.
Am I teaching a Pollyanna philosophy when
I state that we are to look through the appearances of the
conditions and circumstances in our lives to that which is
beyond only in faith? Absolutely not! Why? Because millions
of people have practiced this same method ... the practice of
the Love of God, or the Good ... rather than the love of money
... and have been prospered more abundantly than they ever could
have imagined possible. And what one man/woman can do ... every
man and woman can do ... and that is the Truth.
EVERYTHING in our experience is a reflection of our beliefs.
God is belief and belief is Law. The spiritual genius, Jesus,
was not the first to declare,
"it is done unto you as you believe
(Law) as it was written five centuries before Him in the
Bhagavad-Gita. It is a "change-less, Universal Law" ... we may
not always be conscious of it, just as we may not always be
conscious of the Presence of God ... but it is ever-present and
always working. Our beliefs affect our health, our career, our
relationships, our self-esteem and our money.
Our beliefs, being the Law
of our Life, determine the measure of happiness, joy, abundance,
love and success that we are to experience. The more money we
desire to have, the greater must be our "belief" in our ability
to choose and initiate ideas that will prosper us. God will
never do anything for us that It cannot do through us ... so, we
must first "choose" the measure of financial abundance that we
want to experience ... and then, we must "initiate" the "choice"
in our mind. We cannot demonstrate financial abundance, if we
believe that we will always struggle or have to deal with "money
challenges" in some form or another. I often have people tell
me that they have demonstrated prosperity and then "boom" ...
some financial demand is made on them that takes them by
surprise and they are back to struggling with finances again.
This is often the result when we do not "pay attention" to our
money. We would never consider not feeding our body every day
... but often, people will not feed their mind with ideas of
prosperity and plenty of money daily until their bank accounts
have wasted away.
Several years ago, a minister stood up in her church and
said, "we
don't need money all we need is God."
This can be a fatal mistake to our prosperity ... and it was to
this church. God is not separate from money ... money is as
much a part of God as health, happiness, love and joy ... and
lack of money can affect all these in a negative way. Our
beliefs about money can destroy our happiness, our relationships
and even our health ... "lack" is no "respecter of
specificity" ... our belief in "lack" may demonstrate lack
of money, lack of health, lack of relationships, lack of success
... and may do all of them at the same time if our belief in
lack is energized with deep conviction. By allowing ourselves
to remain in a struggle with money ... we may sabotage our
career, our relationships and even our health. The belief in
"lack" can be subtle in its movement throughout our life's
experiences.
How do we overcome a belief in lack? We do it by
following and mastering the greatest lesson given to the world
regarding prosperity ... by the Master Mind Jesus. He said,
"he who has little, will have even
less, and he who has much, will have even more still."
In other words, if we allow our mind to dwell on our
little or lack ... we will continue to experience lack and may
even lose the little that we have. Why? Because we are
thinking outside of the Law ... the Law is BELIEVE ... anyone
can believe in what they see ... but the Law of Belief makes the
demand on us to BELIEVE BEFORE WE SEE. This is why Jesus said,
"look up, not down"
... if we look up to infinity ... then we initiate an
action in "mind" that realizes there is more than the eye can
see ... in all things ... including money.
A few years back sometime in 2012, there were news stories
galore about Televangelists Paul and Jan Crouch (Both
Paul and Jan Crouch are now deceased)
were accused of misappropriating
its 'charitable assets' toward a $50 million jet, 13 mansions
and a $100,000-mobile home for Mrs. Crouch's dogs. Anyone who
ever watched the programs presented by Paul and Jan Crouch
should not have been surprised that they enjoyed “bling”
(for those not familiar with the word it refers to expensive,
ostentatious clothing and jewelry, or the wearing of them)
… and people kept donating money to them. Why? Because they
inspired people … yes, they did. People believed if Paul and
Jan could live such luxurious lifestyles then perhaps they could
too with enough faith. Was it faith in G-d or faith in Paul and
Jan? We don’t know and I would venture to say that most of the
people in their audience probably didn’t really know either.
And of course there were those who called them “evil” because of
their luxurious and sometimes hilarious presentations but the
“money is the root of all evil” silliness is a belief that is no
longer valid for most people. Most of us want money … more and
more money … an ever-increasing amount of money … because most
of us can find all manner of “good” things to do with money.
People who resent other people having money or think that other
people have it and they don’t will never truly enjoy the
happiness brought forth from a prosperity consciousness. It is
a great joy to give to others and to share our wealth with good
causes and good people. It is a great joy to leave the struggle
for money and the worry about debts behind us. Who doesn’t want
that which is better or of a higher quality? Who doesn’t want
the best of medical care if it is needed? Who doesn’t want to
invest in someone who is deserving of our help? Money opens up
our world and broadens our experience of life. If money is what
you want … then consciously choose it. If money is what you
want … then use your intelligence to deny any idea or belief
that you cannot have it. If money is what you want, then open
your mind to the ideas that will prosper you and act on them.
If money is what you want … put it in your mind that you have
it! No one can read your mind or your thoughts or your
imagination ... build your wealth to the level of prosperity
that you desire in your mind ... as within, so without.
Keep the Faith!
Henry Lee Bates
(Reverend Dr.)
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