The Principle of Giving

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Keys to the Kingdom, Part 12

“Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke 6:38).

Emma Curtis Hopkins wrote, “You have but one thing to give, namely, your attention.” If you apply her observation to the statement attributed to Jesus, you begin to see why giving is an important key to the kingdom.

Your life flows where your attention goes, so the key is to begin giving your attention to the area you want to see “running over.” You may be saying you want more prosperity but you are experiencing lack. If you use the guideline that the measure you give is the measure you are getting back, you will quickly see that you are giving more of your attention to lack than to prosperity. Otherwise you would be experiencing prosperity.

Perhaps you have not grasped the truth that you are a limitless expression of the Infinite, so you are hanging on to the idea that you only have limited resources. You can begin to give your attention to what it means to be a limitless expression of the Infinite. As such, how would you think? How would you behave? How would you feel when life suddenly nudges your self-defined parameters?

You and I are not only products of evolution, we are processes of evolution. A successful process of evolution is one that contributes to and builds up the environment it inhabits. A process that takes more from its environment than it gives destroys its habitation and sets itself on an inevitable course of extinction.

We all know people that drain us, and we all know people that leave us feeling better than when they found us. These latter are the givers, the ones who are enjoying great returns on their gifts.

In all you do, strive to be a giver, one that leaves people and circumstances in a better condition than you found them.

 

 

 

Living Your Truth

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A man went out to plant, and some of his seed fell along the path and was quickly eaten by birds. Other seed fell among rocks where there wasn’t much soil. The seed sprang up quickly, but because there was a lack of soil, it did not root properly and the young plants were quickly scorched to death by the sun. Other seed fell among weeds, and the weeds robbed it of nutrients so it yielded no grain. Still other seed fell in good soil, and it grew well, yielding great abundance. (Paraphrase of Mark 4:3-9).

This is a parable of spiritual ideas and their reaction to various types of consciousness. Let’s say that someone makes the statement, “You are an expression of the Infinite and you can do whatever you want with your life.” One person will hear this, like what they hear, but then go about their life, business as usual. This is the first condition of consciousness, where the seed is snatched up quickly by birds.  The second condition of consciousness is one that hears the statement but their mind is so full of preconditioned ideas of lack and self-doubt (rocky soil) that this idea seems too radical to be true, so it takes no root in their thinking. The third condition of consciousness hears the statement, but their mind is so consumed with the chores of daily living (weeds) that this new idea receives none of their energy and has no influence in their thinking. The last example in the parable represents a state of consciousness that takes the idea seriously, and begins the process of measuring everything it believes against this new benchmark of Truth.

This is an excellent explanation of why there can be such varied levels of experience in the human species. The range between poverty and opulence is wide. The interesting point to observe, however, is that this vast range of discrepancy does not exist in any other species but the human, and this parable explains why. We possess a creative mind and we alone can decide how we will use this mind.

James suggested that we become more than “hearers of the word.” He said we must become “doers,” to seek to live the Truth we know.

Yes and No

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“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Matthew 5:33-37).

If I were to reduce this piece of advice to a couple of lines, I would say it like this: Do not bind your future actions by things you have no control over. Stay in the moment and either accept or let go of each issue as it arises in your mind.

For example, you set a goal for yourself and you say, “I swear to God I’m going to achieve this thing.” It will only take a little time, a couple of rattles, and one good blow to get you to break that promise and admit that the thing was too high a goal, or that you didn’t deserve it, or it wasn’t God’s will. If, on the other hand, you set your goal, and each moment you examine your thoughts, feelings, and actions in light of whether they add to or take away from your objective, you have a very different situation. Say ‘yes’ to the things that add to the completion of your goal and ‘no’ to the things that do not, and you will eventually accomplish your goal.

Say you want to lose weight. You say ‘no’ to cake and ice cream and ‘yes’ to celery. You say ‘no’ to sitting in front of the television for hours and ‘yes’ to long, vigorous walks. You say ‘no’ to affirmations of being fat, and ‘yes’ to affirmations that associate you with your perfect weight. And this is true in everything.

If you are not succeeding in the achievement of your desires, it is because you are saying ‘yes’ to things that defeat your vision, and ‘no’ to things that would advance you.

Become conscious of how you employ this very powerful activity, and every step you take will be the right one.

 

Fill Your Life

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“For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29).

These words are a summary of the parable of the talents that Jesus gave. In the parable, a homeowner went on a trip and entrusted three servants with various sums of money. Two of the three invested the money and were commended by the homeowner. The third buried his portion because he feared the consequences of losing it.

The key to the kingdom illustrated in the above parable is this: begin giving now from what you have and from where you are. Wallace D. Wattles, author of the classic, The Science of Getting Rich, wrote these simple words of wisdom: “Put your whole mind into present action.”

Where do you want to go in life? Invest all of your being in your vision doing everything you know right now to bring it about. Do not bury your “talent” wishing, worrying, regretting or discussing how bad things are. Pull out all the stops and start pouring your imagination, faith, and ability to act into the thing you desire. Are you in need of healing? Commit absolutely to it now. Make every mental image, every emotion conform to what you want and settle for nothing less. Do you need more supply? Then at this very moment, be done with your lacking image of yourself and start investing all your energy into the condition of plenty.

Do not be afraid to give from where you are. You have access to unlimited energy (talent) that can be translated into any condition you desire. Invest all your energy into what you desire and more energy will be given you in the form of new ideas, new enthusiasm, and new opportunities. Don’t wear yourself out looking for results. Fill your life right where you are with an absolute commitment to your desire, and it will be yours.

 

How To Ask God for Help

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“Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:9

This key to the kingdom could be stated like this: God doesn’t give us things we do not ask for. So why is it that we sometimes pray for one thing and get its apparent opposite? Is God playing games, testing us like Job to see how we hold up under pressure? Or, is there something to the observation of James who suggests that prayers are not answered because the one praying is praying amiss?

A standard guitar has six strings. When all six strings are in tune, a strummed chord will produce a pleasant sound. If even one string is out of tune, you can hold the right chord and strum correctly, but the sound will be unpleasant. The sound you get is based on a predictable set of principles that will always give you the same result when you comply with the governing rules.

If we assume that Jesus is articulating a spiritual principle, then we also have to assume that our mixed results stem from our mixed asking. If you pray for a solution then rack your brain trying to come up with the answer, you have a string out of tune. If you pray for a solution expecting it to unfold in perfect order, all your strings are tuned and you synchronize yourself with the creative manifestation process.

The whole state of mind from which you ask, like the six strings of a guitar, produces a vibration that is either in tune or out of tune with the manifestation process. If you pray from a consciousness of doubt and fear, you will tend to create material conditions that support your doubts and fears. This is why Jesus said we must believe in our heart when we pray.

God does not give us things we do not ask for. Tune your whole being to the solution you seek, and it will come forth.

 

Where is Your Heart?

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“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

An important key to understanding the kingdom that Jesus spoke of is that it is spiritual in nature, not material. The material is the effect of an underlying spiritual cause. “ … what is seen was made out of things which do not appear” (Heb. 11:3).

To “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” is an instruction to build a consciousness of God as your invisible, ever-abundant source of all good, knowing this consciousness draws to us a material counterpart in the form of conditions and things.

When you pray for healing, for example, seek to envision the reality of your present spiritual wholeness. Affirm that your wholeness is your reality, that it is now interacting with the atoms and cells of your physical body in ways that demonstrate wholeness. If you feel stuck in your life, quietly open your mind to the borderless reality of spirit within you, that inner energy that is even now building and sustaining worlds that have not entered your mind. Focus on putting your being in motion in new directions. Open the floodgates of new inspiration. Don’t struggle toward a new external condition. Affirm a new inner condition by seeing and feeling where you want to go emotionally.

Scriptures like this one have caused people to denounce the material realm as an interference to their spiritual life. This scripture does not denounce materiality, it simply puts it in perspective. According to the gospels Jesus manifested loaves and fishes and initiated many physical healings. He was a master of the material domain because his heart was in the all-encompassing reality of his unfailing spiritual resource.

 

Focus Your Energy

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“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44)

The greatest treasure that you and I will ever discover is our innate ability to create the world of our choice. Doing so is a multi-level process. We first acknowledge our oneness with God’s limitless energy. We form that energy into a mental and emotional image of what we want, and we hold that image while creating and executing a plan of action.

In this creative process it is important to stay focused on our objective, which is what the above parable points out. In the parable, the man sells his many possessions and buys one thing. His entire focus can then be on that one thing—the field—and extracting the treasure it contains. When we commit to a heartfelt direction in life, we must be willing to “sell” or release everything in us that goes counter to that direction. Fear, self-doubt, lethargy, or ever-shifting goals are a few of the things we will release.

Think of yourself as a magnifying glass focusing sunlight to a pinpoint so powerful it can ignite a flame. Bring all the forces of your being to bear on the direction you want your life to take. If one plan seems to fail, shake the dust off your shoes and start another. Do not allow failure to become one of your possessions. Do not allow any thought of, “this wasn’t supposed to be” enter your mind for long. Keep letting go of any images or feelings that run counter to what you desire, and keep moving forward. If you come to a place where you don’t know what to do next, affirm, “I am open to the next step. I know what to do and I do it.”

Remember the earlier lesson that once you put your hand to the plough, then don’t look back. This is another way of saying, focus your energy. You have what it takes to get wherever you want to go. Embrace your ability to focus and go all the way!

 

Letting Go of the Old

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Part 5

“No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved” (Matthew 9:16-17).

In these two parables, Jesus furnishes us with a graphic illustration of a very important, freeing dynamic: the action of letting go. It is one thing to retain information for present and future use. It would be cumbersome if we had to relearn to drive our car every time we sat down in it. However, if we dredged up the memory of a past auto accident every time we sat in our car, our paranoia may hinder our present driving performance.

If you carry old wounds into a new day, you will prevent yourself from seeing and experiencing the potential for new avenues of creative opportunity. Jesus said to let the dead bury the dead and let the challenges of this day be the ones we give our full attention. How much of our creative energy is drained away replaying old hurts and dredging up old things we should or should not have done?

The full action of God is present in each new moment. Created in the image and after the likeness of God, each one of us is intended to bring the full force of our creative energy to bear on the things we have to do each day. We say we do not have enough time or energy to do what we would really like to do? How does God attend the minutest detail of this vast universe? By being fully present in each new moment.

Fortunately, you and I do not have the responsibility of running the universe. All we are expected to do is live our lives successfully. We can learn from God by being fully present in this now moment, by giving our attention to the tasks at hand, and to let go of the problems of the past we can do nothing about. New wine, new wineskins is a thought worth holding each time we are tempted to pick up the old.

Choosing Your Vision

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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad” (Matthew 13:47-48).

What is a “good” fish, and what is a “bad” fish? In the realm of the Divine, there is no such distinction. God is equally invested in the carp and the tuna. Determining the difference between a good fish and a bad fish depends on who is doing the determining. If you want fish you intend to sell through a pet store, you use one standard of judgment. If you are supplying a restaurant, you use another standard.

Your mind is a net that is constantly being cast into the sea of infinite possibilities of ideas. The ideas you bring in and hang onto culminate as the conditions of your life.  When you set a goal for yourself, your choice of the mental pictures and of the thoughts and feelings you hold about that goal become relevant. Excitement toward your objective becomes a good fish. Doubts in your abilities become bad fish. You want all the creative energy of your being to support your vision so you make an effort to dismiss your doubts and reaffirm your excitement.

This principle holds true at all levels of action, not just mental and emotional. The activities you engage in, the conversations you conduct, the types of television shows you watch, the material you read all have their impact on the vision you desire to express. If you engage only in actions that support your vision, your vision will become a manifest entity. If you engage in actions that diminish your vision, you will get only a partial and inadequate demonstration.

The message of this parable is simple: Hold on to the ideas and actions that support your vision and let go of the ideas and actions that do not.