Tag Archives: Abundance

Believe in Yourself

NO-FAULT RESOLUTIONS: THE RE-MIX

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I’m glad to be in 2017, meditating, dancing, creating, establishing, loving, laughing, eating, exercising, giving, and growing into 2018.
I feel blessed to have an opportunity to resolve yet again that I’m going to do something to make my life and the lives of others better.  I choose to use the energy of this season to recognize the infinite power in me to demonstrate the awesome presence, wisdom and grace of love.
This is my dance: one of absolute good, expressing itself as the most loving person I can be.  In this infinite light of love, I resolve to be worry-free, debt-free, guilt-free, shame-free, blame-free, doubt-free – living a life of moments rather than mere days, but moments that are mindful about breathing in nothing but the pure power of possibility.  Like Joseph in the ancient, sacred text (Genesis 50:20), I like that even what somebody else intends for evil, God simply blesses me with, without ceasing.  I, like Jesus Christ, can call it all good (John 7:24): the appearances bless me, bless us, restore us.
14Here and now, I am liberated to love the power of Spirit like nothing else: to love it morning, noon and night and in that well-spring of love to be the best that I am called to be.  I am liberated from any requirement as to what form or shape my “best” will take.  The blessing is in the divine idea of simply being.
How liberating it is to walk into the New Year unencumbered by mistakes or regret.  How great it is to know that the truth that sets us free is being one with now.  The truth is that we are one with absolute good right now – good that is always expressing in, as and through us.  The truth is that the pure consciousness of God radiates through every cell of our body, awareness of our mind and expansion of our soul.  The truth is that God really does do the work that we are appointed to do.  The truth is that Spirit opens new doors, creates new circumstances, and gives us what we need before we even ask.  In this consciousness of grace, we can release needing, wanting or desiring and instead accept the infinite blessings that the universe is breathing through each one of us.
I resolve to forgive myself for everything I started to do but didn’t, wanted to do but forgot, or did do but failed to appreciate.  If I can’t do it, I won’t.  If I must do it, I’ll try.  If I don’t do it – well, there’s always next time.  The good thing about forgiveness is that we can do it right now, and it’s done. I release all obligations, all debts and all concerns of myself and others.  Yes, I forgive seventy times seven, and in the energy of the seven of completion, I let go and move forward to do the greater things that I must do, can do, and will do.
I leap into the awareness that I am free in the fluid stream of absolute good and marvelous in the manifestation that my goals are accomplished the moment that I claim them: the rest of the time is merely the process that I must grow through to accept their completion.  Here is to perfect health, wholeness and mindful acceptance of beauty, movement, lifting, energy and grace.

I resolve to love, and this resolution to be the pure power of love everywhere present expresses itself right now.  This is a no-brainer: a simple truth that can be used to harmonize any situation.  I am love right now, and I love unconditionally.  The bible can be summed up in this one resolution: love.  As John said, God is love.  I allow the loving energy of God to express in, as and through me right now.
I resolve to laugh.  We can’t take ourselves too seriously.  Otherwise, we will stop the endless flow of God’s good due to our own rigidity.  When we take ourselves too seriously, we do not keep our consciousness open to receive the blessings that are always calling us.  We place boundaries before blessings.   But with laughter, we are blessed to not hold grudges, to wear the world as a lose garment, to refuse to worry about what others think of us.
I resolve to dream.  Dreaming of endless possibilities and inexhaustible supply is the gift of being alive.  This is another resolution that is not confined by 365 days; we can dream right now and be done with it.  Or we can continue to be anointed by the grace of God’s favor dreaming through us.  It’s our choice: to be given the gift of dreaming Spirit’s divine call whenever we desire.  I resolve to dream as often as I desire, stepping well beyond the conventionality of the box in which I thought I was limited.  Spirit gives shape to divine intention through our dreams.
I resolve to give.  This is the answer to the question that is always asked: what is my purpose in life?  The truth is that I am here to give.  When we are consciously aware that we are here to bless, we stop holding back our good and instead give.  Give smiles.  Give hellos.  Give thank yous and you’re welcomes.  Give encouragement, handwritten notes, high fives, subway fare, spare change.  Give secretly, for nothing in return – not even the right to say, “I gave.”  We don’t even have to keep track of when we have to give.  Giving feels so good that the universe will provide so many opportunities that we don’t even have to be aware of them.
I resolve to listen.  We are all one with the pure consciousness of God speaking everywhere present.  We just haven’t taken the time to listen.  Listening hears the whole being of God emanating as us. We listen every day to www.mindfulnessgroup.blog.  We listen to the eternal breath of Spirit move through us as the completion of all good.  This resolution can be accomplished right now, in a single breath.  Breathing in, I listen.  Breathing out, I hear.  Listening has no agenda: we just are.
I resolve to create.  The truth is the “I” that creates is the “I AM” of God energizing, igniting and enjoying life in endless shapes, forms and dimensions.  No need to worry about the old ideas; the universe is filled with new ones.  By resolving to create, we open our consciousness to allow Spirit to co-create through us.  No need to judge our creations.  Creativity is bigger than us.  Whether we witness it or not, God’s good is always using us to bless others.  In the power of this resolution, we allow ourselves – here and now – to be the conduit of change and transformation.
I resolve to heal.  This resolution only requires the acceptance of grace.  In grace, we are whole.  In grace, we are lifted from our mats of affliction and realize that there is no sickness, illness, frailty or infirmity in the kingdom of God.  Right here and now, we accomplish the wholeness of Spirit and know that we are well.  We can look in the mirror of Christ consciousness and see ourselves as we really are.
I resolve to grow.  The humility of not knowing is a constant blessing.   I study the truth that sets me free.  The teachers that I need reveal themselves to me.  The books that I must read fall from wisdom’s shelves and open without prodding.  My eyes fall on the perfect words.  The students who bless me with guidance appear.  The journeys that I must take provide new paths.  The questions that I must raise ask themselves.  The epiphany of realization always blesses us.
I resolve to harvest.  We take advantage of so much that we have not worked for.  This is the season – right where we are – to reap what we have not sown.  We are enjoying so much for little that we take it for granted.  This season, I will open my eyes and experience each blessing: the beautiful apples, the smell of butternut squash soup, the rising of the sun, the solitude of the darkness, the tapestry of autumn leaves, the sound of waves at the shore.   Every day of the year, we can celebrate the harvest of the kingdom in whatever form or shape it takes.
I resolve to praise.  In fact, I praise and give thanks right now.  I give praise and thanks for health of mind, body and soul.  I give praise and thanks for my family – my marital, biological, spiritual, and work family and friends.  I give praise and thanks for the daily manna that God gives me to take care of every need.  I give praise and thanks for this country and this world and for the ability to keep everyone in the universe raised in perfect success.
I resolve to enjoy.  This is not going to be a month where I look back with regret or criticism because I enjoyed life a little too much.  I saved a little less, spent a bit more or just chilled out.  I resolve here and now that I will enjoy life – every tree, every manger, every carol, every taste of pleasure created for our benefit.  This, too, will I resolve to do each month and at every opportunity.  I will visit, celebrate, cook, dance, sing, swim, hike, run, drive, write, draw, paint, participate, preach, lift, work, walk, shop, and play by enjoying life.
In 2015, I declared that no-fault resolutions can’t go wrong because we are relieved from the responsibility of doing any more than what we will.  This re-mix recognizes that nothing is required except to lift up the awareness of Spirit moving through our lives each and every moment except to be still, and know.  In this awareness: I resolve to be one with each moment, and I let go of everyone and everything.

In letting go, I welcome each moment as a new me.

Happy New You!!!

Center in Power

GOD ALONE

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Rev Loving listening to SpiritJoel Goldsmith wrote that the “answer, the solution to all problems, is the realized Christ . . . . Christ risen in our consciousness, Christ raised up from the tomb through meditation.”  He says that we should devote one meditation period alone each day to God: “God alone.”

In this period of God alone, we center ourselves in God and ask for We lovednothing.  This is the ultimate communion – to just be in God’s presence, to just sit in the kingdom, to just be a witness to the activity of Christ in our minds, light in our bodies, and grace in our souls.

Circle of PrayerIn the kingdom, we can trace our steps backward from the far country with the assurance that our deliverance is eternal and find ourselves, once again covered in the best robes of salvation.

In the kingdom, we return the garden that gives without ceasing.  We see the fruit that has always been hanging. We realize that it was never eaten, that even when it is plucked, its branches remain low for our reach.  Our fruit remains fresh in the awareness that there is neither good nor evil, only God alone.

Spiritmuv Prayer Circle 3God is a Brown Girl Too 2010 Retreat 073Here, in the heart of God, I see Moses.  He never died.  He simply became that which truth is and always will be.  He had no need to enter that which he already was.  This is the space of sacred breath and gentle silence.

I sit on the edge of nothingness into not one – but thousands, millions, infinite meditations that do nothing but listen.

Just one breath breathing into another is holier than a song.  This is where we find ourselves in the loving embrace of Jesus’ eyes as he carried our cross.  I will never leave you nor forsake you, he said.  I will send the Holy Spirit to be your teacher, counselor and guide.

The Holy Spirit is neither Christian, nor Muslim, nor Hindu, nor Jew but is that vast intersection of all faiths, struggling for expression when all they have to do is listen.

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100 Reasons Why You Should Celebrate God As Yourself

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GBGII CoverIn the book GOD IS A BROWN GIRL TOO, I explain why we should listen to the divine within. It’s the first time God speaks to us as ourselves and not someone who we can’t relate to. I’ve been over these reasons for uplifting the God in you before, but Spirit tells me that it’s time to share them again. It doesn’t matter who you are — or what your sexual orientation is — or your race and ethnicity: the divine is celebrating you. We will continue to lift up this consciousness on our 2013 HOPE OF GLORY CRUISE, leaving from NYC on July 29 to sail to Nova Scotia. I hope you can join us. To get more information, contact Robert at (800) 619-1694 OR (71 8) 673-9003.

1. We are created in the image and likeness of God.
2. We live and move and have our being in God.
3. We are temples of the living God.
4. It is written in our laws that we are Gods.
5. We are the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.
6. If we, whose mother is older as Lucy’s bones, have become disembodied from spiritual Oneness, then so has all of her creation.
7. The Kingdom of God is neither here nor there, it is within us.
8. God is in the Messiah and the Messiah is in us and we are in the Messiah.
9. We ask and receive.
10. We seek and find.
11. We knock and the door is opened.
move 712. Spirit lives in us and breathes in us.
13. God’s infinite possibility is expressing as us.
14. We have a conscious connection with Spirit that goes before us to do the work that we are appointed to do.
15. We manifest the right people, who show up to help us when we need help.
16. Even when we can’t see the finish line, the road rises up to meet us, and shows us the way.
17. We make a way out of no way.
18. We speak truth to power.
19. The Lord is our Shepherd, there is nothing that we want.
20. We are the pure potential of God expressing as us.
21. We are children of God.
22. We are heirs to the throne.
23. We are answers to prayers.
24. We are responsible for our lives, moving from where we stand now to experience the best possible moment.
move 1625. We walk by faith and not by sight.
26. We do not fear the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day.
27. We are creation constantly re-inventing itself.
28. We are beauty in the souls of every beholder.
29. We are vision moving past pain.
30. Angels guard us in all our ways.
31. Tables are prepared for us in the presence of our enemies.
32. Manna falls from our heavens.
33. New stories re-tell our lives from new pages.
34. There is nothing that we cannot do.
35. We are the light of the world, a city upon the hill that cannot be hidden.
36. We are the steps, moving into the greatness that we are.
37. We are endless potential pulling dreams through infinite possibilities.
beauty eleven38. Divine Mind is always guiding us in perfect harmony, always praying us in loving grace.
39. We dance in the dawn of magical ideas, listen to the call of unharnessed love, welcome the realm of inexhaustible source.
40. We fly with the wings of faith.
41. We know the way, and we walk in it.
42. We dance with the hips of deliverance, push past the poison of doubt, rise above the fray of appearances, and give with a love that never, ever holds back.
43. We leave old wineskins and pour ourselves beyond the bottles, boxes and bags that can no longer contain us.
44. We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, full of new hope
— finding its way beyond the whispers lost between clasped hands.
God is a Brown Girl Too 2010 Malesha's Dance45. We breathe the breath of God.
46. We are everywhere and always present.
47. We are the light of God radiating back as Herself.
48. We are the consciousness of Truth, speaking nothing but itself.
49. We are the fullness and completeness of all that our Mother-Father-God is.
50. We are daughters of all beginnings – always pure, always graceful, always dynamic, always blessed.
51. We are prophetic voices lifted from the dust of dreams deferred – culminating in divine love awakening.
52. We are not limited by flesh, but are glorified by Spirit.
53. We will do even greater works.
54. Who is God and what does She look like, if not us?
55. We are mountains high enough, rivers wide enough and valleys low enough; we are the center and the circumference.
56. We have not forgot the God who gave us birth.
57. We are as old as time and as young as those who have yet to born.
58. We are the pulse and the flavor — the talented and the wise: “How you doing?”
59. We are – our past, our present, our future, and our dreams.
60. They try to bury us, but our bones just keep rising up.
yoga 361. We are the greater wholeness — always seeking expression.
62. We are still.
63. We are endless motion, stretching forward, taking the limits off, and removing the boundaries.
64. We are the time before, the been has, the was then, the until now.
65. We are the breath-filled space, the light-filled hand, the love-filled heart, the joy-filled dance.
66. When everyone is busy looking for God, as something more extraordinary than themselves, they will miss us, even though we are here.
67. Just like “I AM that I AM,” we are that we are.
68. We are the healing balm, the burning bush, the living water.
69. We are the infinite flow of substance.
dream70. We are the wisdom of our highest self.
71. You live in our heart.
72. We do all things through the Spirit as us.
73. We run the race and don’t get weary.
74. We move mountains with our faith.
75. We can leap and the net appears.
76. We bring good tidings to the afflicted; we bind the broken-hearted; we proclaim liberty for the captives.
77. We are greater than what our humanness can even imagine.
78. We are the cup that never stops flowing.
79. We are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Moslem, Jew — all religions and none at all.
80. We are ancient wisdom and new thought.
81. We are all languages and none at all.
82. We are sanctified, saved, and serene — singing our own sweet song of freedom.
83. We envision past appearances, dream unlimited possibilities, and recreate ourselves.
84. We grow from the consciousness that we create.

85. We surrender all.
86. We stand at the edge of always, in a new season of victory,
a sacred truth that just keeps directing us back to the vortex of our own power.
a balck woman praying87. We are the sweetness in all fragrance.
88. We are the interpretation of all dreams.
89. We are the rhythm underlying all motion.
90. We are the glory in all hallelujahs.
91. We are the wave in every ocean.
92. We are the boldness in all courage.
93. Nothing and no one can contain us.
94. God’s face could be no more beautiful.
95. Our power is not the devil; it’s not Satan; our power is the God in us.
96. The God in us prays and moves her feet.
97. The God in us knows that all things come together for our greatest good.
98. The God in us knows that we are worthy.
99. The God in us allows us to leap — knowing that the net will appear.
100. The God in us is our constant victory — even before the race is ever won.

Rev Cecilia 7

 

Namaste, Reverend Cecilia Loving
Pastor, SPIRITMUV (www.spiritmuv.com )
(All of the materials in God is a Brown Girl Too® email messages are copyrighted by and may not be used without the written permission of Cecilia Loving. )
JOIN US FOR PART II OF OUR 10-PART PROSPERITY 2013 SERIES at the Unity Center of NYC at 2:30 PM, located at 213 West 58th Street in NYC.

Spirit

NOT AGAIN By Cecilia Loving

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Okay, I admit it.  Just before Christmas, I prayed for snow.  It wasn’t a long or involved prayer — just a mantra that I kept on the edge of my tongue, a vision that lingered at the forefront of my thoughts.  And perhaps just once, I actually said: “I wish it would snow.”  Or maybe I said it twice.  At this point, I can’t remember because now I just wish it would stop.  Yes, I am actually knee-deep in the answer to my prayers sighing — “not again.”

Prayer opens a spigot of God’s good that can’t be turned off at whim.  The Universe wants to give us what we want — especially if there is no harm to anyone else.  Why shouldn’t we want snow?  Agriculturalists tell us that it is an excellent insulator for gardens, protecting natural landscape and animal inhabitants against low temperatures. 

We may get tired of putting on our UGGS, but the wintery white stuff provides the necessary moisture to plants that would be at a risk of injury without it.

My favorite drink is water, which is also what I use in my showers and baths — not to mention for cleaning dishes and doing laundry.  While some may think that 10 inches of snow equals 1 inch of rain, it can actually contain as much as 5 inches, depending on the snowflake’s crystal structure.   Slow snow melts cause trickles that seep into the earth to purify water for drinking.

Calm winter snows wrap God’s grace around us, reminding us to go within.  Beneath the snow, we transform.  We wait.  We learn to ask for what we want and to be courageous enough to receive it.  We remember that we are no more than tiny specks in the cosmic flow of spiritual breath.  We slow down, like each unique crystal dancing from heaven to the ground, realizing that we need to enjoy the process before we melt in the crack of someone’s boot.  Our journey shows us the presence of God in everything: laughter at falls when we know we can get up again; releasing the past when we trust that we just move forward; brushing ourselves off when we discover patience with each step that we take.

Proverbs doesn’t say “not again”; it says “[s]he is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all in her household are doubly clothed.”  When we are clothed in the Spirit, we have all of the protection that we need.  I was outside yesterday when the first flake fell. I saw the Holy Ghost pull the good out of souls, saw them help each other push cars, balance over piles and navigate subway stairways.

Isaiah doesn’t say “not again”; he says “[m]y word . . . is like  . . . snow.  It will not come back to me without results, but it will accomplish whatever I want and achieve whatever I send it to do.”  When we speak God’s word, it always returns a blessing.  When we give of ourselves, God throws “open the floodgates of heaven and pour[s] out so much good that there is not room enough to receive it.”

How are you embracing this extraordinary manna of God?  Are you ready for living water to fall into your life?  Do you stop long enough to grin at the spectacular show of new life unfolding in the air around you?  Watch what you say and what you wish for: words always have a way of returning.  The universal ethers are full of your hopeful longings, just waiting for the right nudge into manifestation.

So when you see the snowflakes cover every shape and form, say with assurance “in God we live and move and have our being.”  When you feel the first flakes melt on your tongue, say “be still and know that I am God.”  When you realize that you are knee-deep in Absolute Good, refrain from mumbling “not again” — just spin an angel out of flapping arms, fashion white balls of cold slush, or step gracefully through the abundance of this season, and say “glory, glory, hallelujah.”

Namaste,

Reverend Cecilia Loving

About SPIRITMUV:  Spiritmuv® is a trans-denominational church, which means that it transcends the confines of religion and teaches unconditional love for one another regardless of race, creed, culture, or religion.   At the heart of its teachings is what Jesus taught — that we love one another, as well as the community that Mahatma Ghandi inspired when he said, “I am a Christian and a Muslim and a Hindu and a Jew.”  Reverend Cecilia Loving is the founder and creator of Spiritmuv, which was formed in 2007.  Services are held for an hour every Sunday, from 2:30 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. at the Unity Center of NYC, located at 213 West 58th Street.

Rev. Loving, author of Prayers for Those Standing in the Edge of Greatness, is the sole owner, creator and administrator of God is a Brown Girl Too®, which holds annual retreats and workshops.  The next God is a Brown Girl Too Retreat will be held April 1-3, 2011, at the Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center.

None of the content herein may be copied or otherwise used except with Reverend Loving’s written permission.

 

Join the Spiritmuv  Community at www.Spiritmuv.ning.com for special postings by Rev. Loving.

GOD IS A BROWN GIRL TOO®   “CREATING  BEYOND THE  BOX  OF CONVENTIONALITY ” RETREAT
will take place in the Spring of 2011
from April 1 at 5:00 P.M. through April 3 at 1:00 P.M. 

Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to enjoy the peace, serenity and creative consciousness of a like-minded group of women of color at the Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center, located at 299 North Highland Avenue, in Ossining, New York.   All rooms are single and surrounded by the loving prayers of the Dominican Sisters who own the facility.   

 The cost of the entire weekend, including rooms, workshops and three delicious meals per day, is only $450.00.  There is a $100 discount for senior citizens, so seniors pay $350.00. 

 Registration has already begun at http://www.godisabrowngirltoo.com/or you can mail payment directly to God is a Brown Girl Too, 376 President Street Unit 2H, Brooklyn, New York 11231.  But act fast because rooms are sellling and there are now only 13 rooms left.

Spiritual Fitness

Spiritual Fitness: Exercise Your “God” Muscle

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Recently, I asked someone, who had made astonishing progress in their physical fitness, for their secret.   Was it strict dieting?  Water intake?  Extra cardio?  How was she losing excess body fat at such an incredible speed?  To some, her response may be surprising.  Yes, she followed a clean diet.  (A “clean” diet means that she did not eat any processed food and limited her carbohydrates to low-glycemic foods like oatmeal and sweet potatoes; limited her protein to lean sources like chicken breast, turkey and fish; and limited her vegetables to those high in antioxidants, like spinach, broccoli and asparagus.)   Yes, she weight-lifted regularly to develop muscle mass and did cardio consistently each day.  Yes, she drank plenty of water, with her goal being a gallon a day.  But she didn’t attribute her success to any of those things, she attributed her success to putting God first.

We say that we put God first in our lives, but do we really do that?  Are we really starting our day by recognizing that the Kingdom of God is within us, and by seeking first the inexhaustible supply of the universe that is right in our very midst?  Or do we choose to worship the morning news, our cup of coffee, or the increasing demands of our jobs?  Jesus says “seek first the Kingdom of God”  —  which is not the physical, material world that we live in, but the spiritual power within us.  Putting God first is the foundation of all spiritual fitness, and spiritual fitness results in the attainment of all goals — spiritual and physical — with ease and success.

Spiritual fitness is so simple that we fail to practice it because we assume that it has to be difficult.  Whenever we do pray, which for most of us is only when we want something, we actually ignore God by speaking so loudly into our own clasped hands that we drown out the infinite channels of divine good trying to respond to us.  Why would life be as simple as Jesus said, giving us answers to prayers before we even ask?

We don’t even need a gym membership to get spiritually fit, but once we center in Spirit, we will receive the guidance that we need to attain all of our goals — not just those pertaining to the body temple.  Spiritual fitness does not require us to exercise our body, it requires us to be aware of the presence of God; to ask for God’s help in accomplishing our goals — no matter how mundane; to accept God’s gifts by being our best; and to acknowledge God’s absolute good by giving thanks.

Spiritual Fitness Rule One: Awareness

The first spiritual fitness rule is awareness.  You might say, “hey, I’m aware of the presence of God; I know that God exists.”  But are you really aware that God is in the very air that you breathe and the space that you take up?  God is not some place in the distance waiting to be called or solicited through prayer; God is every aspect of who we are.  When Paul says that we live and move and have our being in God, that means that there is no separation between all that we are and all that God is.  Jesus said keep your whole eye single, which means keep your consciousness stayed on God.

We exercise awareness when we tap into and turn on the presence of God that is always within us and around us.  How do we do that?  There are millions of ways, but here is one that is very simple and takes less than five minutes.  As soon as you wake up, sit up in your bed and immediately breathe in and breathe out, focusing on the breath of life as the infinite power of God.  Seek first the Kingdom within your own consciousness, the awareness that the Kingdom of God is the only power that there is, the only strength that there is, the only supply that there is, the only peace that there is, the only source that there is.  Exercise your spiritual muscle of awareness by centering in the truth that in God, every problem is already solved, every challenge is already won, every appearance of dis-ease is already healed.  God’s good is not something that is postponed until tomorrow, it is blessing you in this instant.

Spiritual Fitness Rule Two: Asking

If you’ve taken the time to center in a conscious awareness of God’s good, then you are exercising one of the strongest spiritual muscles that there is.  But the truth is that we all need help.  We’d like to do it alone, but sometimes we get completely overwhelmed by all of the decisions that we have to make, the priorities that we have to set, and the distractions we sometimes give our energy to.  But Jesus said, if you need help, just ask.  Ask, and it shall be given.  He said, I have come so that you may have life and may have it more abundantly, so just ask for what you need.

When we exercise our spiritual muscles by asking, we are not just receiving, we are simply becoming more receptive to giving our best.  We open our consciousness to  trust the universe and find perfect order and harmony in everything that we do because we have cleared the way for God’s gifts to manifest through a consciousness that receives an unlimited supply of God’s good.

How do we ask?  There are as many ways to do so as there are people.  So here’s one method that helps me ask God each day.  Create an affirmation that you can say daily, at least one to four times each morning — that not only asks but affirms that you have already received what you desire (e.g., I am fit.  I have a new job.  My body is healed.  My book is finished).  It can be as long as you want, asking the universe for the desires that God has given you — and if not those, then something better.

If you’re always on the go like me, tape it on your cell phone or blackberry, or create an MP3 and load it onto your iPod.  I listen to my affirmations as I walk down the street because they help me stay focused on what God calls me to do.  There is no dispute that words are powerful.  Asking helps us focus the energy of our thoughts through words into the realization of our goals.  The spiritual exercise of affirming words empowered with faith help us open our consciousness to order our steps by accomplishing the things that are necessary to do what God calls us to do.

Spiritual Fitness Rule Three: Acceptance

The third spiritual exercise requires us to open our hearts to accept God’s good.  Have you ever been in a situation where you asked for something and it came so quickly that you didn’t even want it — because there was this unconscious part of you that wanted to struggle?  Or perhaps something or someone came to you so quickly that you foolishly felt that their value was diminished by their eagerness?  Or perhaps you received your blessing but you believed deep in your heart that you just weren’t good enough?  I’ve come to believe that the reason that we don’t experience our good is our own sense of doubt and fear.  We want change, and yet we have to grow through a “process” in order to accept change because if it came too fast, it would just blow us away.

How do we exercise our spiritual muscles to move our stuff out of the way so that we can accept the good that God is trying to give us?  Once again, there are many ways, but here is an exercise that works for me.   It’s simple.  Start anew.  Right now, in this instant, start anew.  And each day that you wake up, know that you are at a new beginning.  Paul said, I die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31 NKJV).  Every day, every minute, every second, God gives us a clean slate.  There is no need to carry past mistakes into the new realm of endless opportunity.  There is no need to blame anyone.  There is no need to feel guilt.  We can choose to align our movement in this universe with the divine guidance of pure love and absolute good.  There is no need to suffer.  Wear the world as a lose garment.  Do not give your energy to gossip or confusion or despair.  Take care of God’s business in the now.  There is no question that God will take care of you.

Spiritual Fitness Rule Four: Acknowledge

Spiritual exercise lays the foundation for all of our goals.  When we are centered in God, our fitness will improve quicker than we’ve ever imagined.  The right people will show up to help us.  The perfect trainer will appear.  Work-out buddies will support us.  The right eating plan will be revealed.  And in this consciousness of love, we will find that discipline will come easy.  More importantly, we will have begun the most important fitness program imaginable: one that allows us to accept our place in the Kingdom of God and move forward in all of the blessings that God is giving us.  Therefore, we have to give thanks by acknowledging God’s good.

This exercise is also simple.  Just say thank you and be grateful for what you have, as well as for what you desire.  God knows what we have need of before we even ask, so we can be grateful for it before it even manifests.  We seldom appreciate what we have until it is taken away.  We don’t appreciate our muscles until one is injured.  We don’t appreciate our discipline until we falter.  We don’t appreciate our finances until we experience the appearance of lack.  We complain about everything and everyone.  But we have so much to be thankful for.

Gratitude has an energy that awakens even more good and more  thanks.  The more thanks we give, the more we receive.  So try this exercise everyday: give thanks for everything and everyone that you think about.  If it’s an injury, bless it.  If it’s a friend or even an enemy, bless them.  If it’s a goal, thank God for its stimulus in your life.  Just give thanks for whatever comes up for you.  Even as you ask for something — give thanks that God has already heard and begun the process of answering your prayer.

If you do these spiritual exercises, I can guarantee you that you will get stronger and leaner, but most importantly, you will be spiritually fit.  Even doing one of these exercises will bless you beyond measure.  Our life is a continuous process of unfoldment, and the only way to stay in perfect shape is to honor body, mind  and spirit!

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(All of the materials in SPIRITMUV email messages are copyrighted by and may not be used without the written permission of Cecilia Loving. )

Release the Old

ACTING UGLY

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When I was a little girl, my mother used to tell me repeatedly “don’t act ugly, it’s not becoming.”  That mandate might seem trite to some or even inhibiting, but ultimately it became part of my own moral compass — an internal warning that measured whenever I was steering off-course.  Like  that time when I slipped and fell onstage — at the age of four and decided that the best response would be to stick out my tongue at those who giggled.  There my mother was — in the audience, reminding me that grace and poise is the most effective response to even the most embarrassing predicament.  Life’s most vexing situations are lessons in how to be dignified enough to get up, dust off, and move forward.  No one empathizes with a sore loser or an indignant tripper — especially one who acts ugly.

Acting ugly isn’t just something that we do in the physical, it is a state of consciousness that is devoid of love and compassion for others, as well as for ourselves.  When people acted ugly during the recent healthcare reform protests — by taunting and humiliating a man sitting on the ground with a sign that says he has Parkinson’s disease, they either lost their connection to Spirit or never had one in the first place.   When protesters resorted to racial epithets, anti-gay slurs and spitting — not to mention brick-throwing and death threats, they resorted to violence that is not merely punishable by law but is indicative of inner turmoil and confusion. 

The Book of Revelation calls our inner turmoil and confusion “worshipping the beast.”  No one could enter the temple — attain true inner mastery and come into oneness with God — as long as they acted ugly. (15:8)  Inner mastery takes place when our minds and hearts are clean and in one accord with Love.  Without self-mastery, we suffer the ill effects of our own hatred.  Revelation says that an “angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image” (16:2).  When we are hateful, our negative energy contaminates our own mind, body and soul. 

Self-mastery is illustrated by the Congressmen who were assaulted because of their mission to provide better health care for millions of Americans.  They didn’t press charges nor did they spit back.  They simply said that they had suffered even more in the process of fighting for civil rights.  They realized that acting ugly is not a sign of strength but of weakness.  They knew that the real battle is staying focused on the legislative issues at hand.  Anything besides the passage of this important piece of legislation would be a distraction.  Acting ugly is simply beneath them.

What those who act ugly do is not merely as important as what we do in response.  If we act ugly, we worship the beast too.  Our actions reflect that we are out of alignment with the loving energy of Spirit.  This struggle, this decision whether to act ugly or to be centered in the power of a love that blesses everyone is a battle that is fought in the consciousness of everyone — every single day.

Sometimes we wage this battle within our hearts.  Sometimes we wage it in a public forum.  Sometimes it even ends up televised for millions of viewers to see.  Sometimes we are not even aware that we are battling against forces and principalities that are aspects of our own consciousness of greed, lack and limitation.  But the Comforter reminds us to be alert, less we end up on national television — spitting and hurling insults in a desperate attempt to deny people health care.  Revelation says, “Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!”  Blessed is he who takes a step back and looks at the big picture and remembers that we are our brothers’ keeper.  We owe our neighbor the same love, the same compassion and the same respect that we ourselves expect. 

God works through each and every one of us — regardless of politics, religion or race.  But if we are acting ugly, we miss the divine opportunity to do good and block the flow of the blessings that we will receive in doing it.  When we are bitter, hateful, and resentful, we are never productive.  Our ability to move forward with success is directly proportionate to the love that we have within. 

God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies, right in the midst of turmoil and strife.  It’s only when we are acting ugly that we fail to see the abundance and the infinite opportunity that the universe makes available to us.  God’s good is not exhaustible.  As the rap singer Common sings, “Common good is forever.  God’s memory is forever.”  Our good is forever, as long as we don’t block it — by acting ugly.  When we stand up with love, respect and decency for all humanity   — regardless of race, wealth or politics — we stand in the victory of God expressing through us.  It is only through this transcendent spirit of generosity that the mountains will move, the sun will stand still, the waters will part, and the walls — oh the walls, will come tumbling down.

Namaste, 

Reverend Cecilia Loving                                 

Pastor, SPIRITMUV  (www.spiritmuv.com )

 

(All of the materials in SPIRITMUV email messages are copyrighted by and may not be used without the written permission of Cecilia Loving. )

Spiritual Fitness

GET UP, PICK UP YOUR MAT AND WALK

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This morning, I got up from my mat and walked.  And God revealed a universe so remarkable, it was as though I had climbed through Alice’s looking glass.  Just like Jesus told the man who had been lying by the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, I got up from my mat and experienced the beauty of wholeness that was right in my midst.  It was as though I had put a foot in the healing water and then found myself wading knee-deep as the angels stirred in purpose, potential and endless possibility.  All I had to do was get up from my mat of anticipation, and open my heart to receive the absolute good that is always awaiting us.

I walked the streets uphill to Prospect Park, and the sweetness of the sun anointed my face.  I walked the wooden climb of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the symmetry of holy wings suspended me in a heavenly embrace.  I walked the upward path through the open arms of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and in the blink of an eye, I saw spring kissing winter good-bye.  In the Gardens, I went through opened arms to an oasis of beauty, serenity and squirrels on a spirit-filled mission of their own.  I walked uphill and downhill with anticipation of new life awakening with springtime, while summer lounged between moss-filled cracks, sleeping patiently.

I walked right outside of the box containing who I once was — magically opening to who I know I AM — weeding out fear and doubt, pulling beyond conventionality, pushing past the ordinary to the extraordinary energy of God.  I walked, baptized by fresh breezes; transformed by choirs of birds; sanctified by swaying trees.  It was as though I could hear Jesus saying, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”  Get up from your contentment.  Get up from your misery.  Get up from your resentment.  Get up from your jealousy.  Get up from your pain.  Be bold enough to step into the present moment.  Enjoy the now.  Release the past.  Celebrate the awakening of a new season in your life.

Walk away from who you used to be.  Walk away from your old stories, and sow a new one.  Walk away from what you wished, or ought, or should, or would have done — and reap the salvation of what you are doing.  Walk away from laziness and procrastination and seize the day to begin again.  Walk away from the boundaries of your self-imposed limitations, and renew your soul with the unlimited power of Spirit.

Walk and see the seeds of prayers wiggling through shoots of green.  Walk and see daffodils dancing praises of deliverance.  Walk and see God painting the landscape with new expectations of tulips and hyacinths and lavender, narcissus, honeysuckle, azaleas, and lilies — all awaiting their bloom.  Walk and see the spaces where the fragrance of roses will ride the air, bless loving kisses, and witness.

Walk between the gaps of time where the Holy Ghost goes before you and awakens the glory of success.  Walk before the hopes that ignite the wind and spread the ideas that create, and bless, and are never seen again.  Days gone by have no space to hold the breath of infinite promises.  We cannot find the future in the past.  The best that we can possibly do is be liberated by the truth that nothing stays the same.

Freedom is the air.  The Hybrid Oak knows it, and reaches its arms out in  hallelujahs.  The Cypress knows it, and bends its branches in humble prayer.  The Shingle Oak knows it, and stands above the others in high praise.  Again and again and again, they welcome us as though they have come to the altar for the first time.

Walking in springtime is a meditation, an anointing, a shout, and a clap.  Come.  There is deliverance in the healing pool.  The angels of nature will stir the waters of your salvation.  All you have to do is take the time to see — really see God’s glory.

Namaste, 

Reverend Cecilia Loving                                 

Pastor, SPIRITMUV  (www.spiritmuv.com )

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(All of the materials in SPIRITMUV email messages are copyrighted by and may not be used without the written permission of Cecilia Loving. )

Spirit

CREATING WEALTH, by Myreah Moore

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listeningCreating Abundance is about the good that we desire — regardless of how it takes shape. Good can be health, relationships, creativity, funds — whatever you need, when you need it. The most important thing about prosperity or abundance is that it is always available to us. Jesus said, ask and you shall receive. The only limit on our ability to receive is what we place on it. We should claim our good on a daily basis. This is demonstrated by the fact that there is not a particular class or race or culture that attracts wealth. Wealth is attracted by people who emanate the type of energy and focus and joy that empowers them to manifest prosperity. If there is a specific type of person who attracts wealth, it is someone who is confident, creative and connected with the Inexhaustible Supply of the Universe. You might be able to identify them by their buoyancy, synergy, clarity, or wisdom. You might be able to feel their serenity, grace, or compassion. You might be able to see their gifts and talents and accomplishments. They come in all shapes, sizes, ages, cultures, religions, and ethnic groups. But — unlike many people — they all know that they are blessed and highly favored.100 Even when everyone else is suffering from the appearance of a disastrous economy, those who are prosperous keep wearing the blessing of favor. How? Because they have transcended, looked beyond, lived above, lifted up their consciousness from what others are complaining about — and instead have connected with Infinite Source. Infinite Source is unlimited, flowing in the realm of spiritual ethers. It is our choice to see a cup half full or half empty. And like anything else that we can choose, we can choose to have a prosperity consciousness. We can choose to celebrate what we have and believe that we can always be supplied by Spirit. Our desires should not be the empty cup, but the full cup of our good seeking us. Our desires help us understand that we are more than merely human; we are divine. Through our divine nature, we can develop and maintain a consciousness without the limits or lack or doubt or fear that would keep us from demonstrating the abundance of God. There are millions of ways to demonstrate our good. Four simple steps, for example, can used to create a consciousness of wealth: 25The First Step is believing that you can create wealth. The Second Step is cleansing your mind to receive wealth. The Third Step is being clear about your wealth goals. The Fourth Step is invoking the magic number of increase. I will talk about how to implement all of these steps during my God is a Brown Girl Too Workshop: “Creating Abundance.” But in the interim, remember that you are a child of God, a child of a loving Mother-Father-God — always blessed and highly favored. You do not depend on people or conditions for your prosperity; they are merely channels. You bless those channels but at the same time acknowledge that Spirit is the sole source of your supply. Through Spirit, your good will flow to you effortlessly and easily. Through Spirit, you will always be guided and directed. The doors to your victory will open at just the right time that you need to enter them. The channels to your prize will bring forth the right people, circumstances and situations. The pathways to your success will lead you to the triumph of a resounding “Yes!” All you have to do is know that “Yes!” is the resounding Amen to all that you desire.