Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: all the happiness you need can be achieved through meditation.

Lesson of the day

Lesson if the day: the more you live out of love, peace and trust, the easier it gets to continue doing it.

Why You Should Believe in a Good Future

Image: Fresco by Fra Angelico. Source: wikipedia.

When you think about your future, do you see things working out in your favour? Do you see yourself happy, successful and your dreams being fulfilled? Or do you automatically expect that life will be tough, you will struggle, and maybe - just maybe - if you are lucky you might have something good happen to you?
If you are the second type (or maybe you're just curious), read on to see why I believe you should always expect a good future.

The Christian Teaching

  
I was visiting Cleveland, Ohio last month, and attended the Easter service at the Church of the Saviour. The sermon was given by Dr. Charles D. Yoost. Even though he has a fearful preaching style, I was able to get something very positive out of his sermon.

He was saying that, in Easter morning the 2 Marys decided go to the tomb (where Jesus had been taken after his death on the cross) to perform some customary rituals on His dead body. And as they walked, they wondered "who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they got there, they found that the stone had already been rolled out (Mark 16:1-4). Dr. Yoost used that passage to demonstrate the principle that God is always one step ahead of us.

He said: if you lost someone you love, God has already placed loving friends amongst you to comfort you. If you lost your job, God has already prepared something better for you and you will find it soon.

I believe Dr. Yoost's point was that you must trust God because He has already found a solution to your problems, He has already prepared your healing, He has already provided the comfort you need, etc.

That reminded me of Andrew Wommack's teaching about "A Place Called 'There'". Andrew talks about 1 Kings 17:2-4, where God tells Elijah to go to the Cherith brook, because He has commanded some ravens to bring food to Elijah over there. Andrew emphasizes that God had commanded the ravens to bring food there (at the brook), not here (where Elijah was at the moment). The point Andrew makes is that if we would just trust God and obey His direction (ie, follow our Intuition) there will be good things waiting for us in the future.

I would go one step further and also look at the verb tense in that passage (verse 4): God says "I have commanded the ravens to feed you there". He didn't say "go there and then I will command the ravens". That means God had already orchestrated the provision of food in Elija's future. 
Therefore, I interpret that passage as saying: trust in God, because He has already prepared something good for you in the future.

Andrew mentions another passage (1 Kings 17:8-9), where God again tells Elijah to go to a specific place, because there will be something good waiting for him there: “And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee”. Once again, notice the verb tense: I have commanded. God had already commanded the woman to help Elijah. The provision was already there.

Back to the passage mentioned in Dr Yoost's sermon, I see it in a similar light: God commanded the 2 Marys (via the Holy Spirit/Intuition) to go take care of Jesus' body. And before they even got there, He had already used an earthquake and an Angel (Matthew 28:2) to open the tomb. I interpret that as another example of God having already prepared something good in our future.

I'm going to guess that there are at least a few other passages in the Bible that also have a similar message (I don't know the Bible well enough yet to make a firmer, more detailed statement).

What is that teaching telling us?

In non-Christian words, that teaching is saying that we should trust that the future will be good, and it will be.

We see that principle being taught by believers of The Secret/Law of Attraction as well. They advise you to believe and expect that your desires will come true, because whatever you expect is what becomes true.

I am willing to bet that many other religions and spiritual belief systems also teach the same principle: trust that your future will be good, and it will be. 

Why is that teaching important? 

I see 2 reasons:  
1) It gives you peace.
2) You get into a virtuous cycle of positive thinking.

Getting some Peace
If you trust that the future will be good, you will consequently let go of your fears and worries, which will bring you inner peace. When you have inner peace, you are able to cope better with whatever comes your way (whether it is actually good or not).

The Virtuous Cycle of Positive Thinking

When you have inner peace, it's easier to get into a positive mindset and consequently to keep on trusting that the future will be good.

Once you break the inertia of fear/negativity/not expecting a good future, it becomes a virtuous cycle: you trust that your future will be good; that gives you inner peace; your inner peace helps you stay positive and keep trusting that the future will be good.

Of course that trust requires constant feeding/practice, but in my experience, the more you do it, the easier it gets (that's what psychology calls Learned Optimism).

Recommendation

It might be hard for you to believe in this principle just for the sake of believing (even when it is backed up by Scripture or pseudoscience). I think that's why so many people shy away from religion nowadays.

But it makes sense to believe in that principle, from the standpoint of mental health: your emotional life will be better if you believe in it. You will be happier if you believe in a good future. 

Therefore, I recommend following that principle, not because "it's what the Bible says", but because it is a healthy frame of mind to be in.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: it is worth investing in yourself.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: even if you feel like you are not succeeding at keeping your Inner Peace, keep trying. It is better than not trying at all.

Lesson of the Day

Lesson of the Day: when you have Inner Peace, Love flows easily through you to others, and back.

Thought of the Day

Thought of the Day: When we become too busy to seek and keep our Inner Peace, we're actually losing sight of who we are meant to become.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: a relaxing day can easily be had by setting very few goals for the day and leaving lots of time for spontaneous activities.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: God will show himself to you when He thinks it is time, not when you ask him to.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: you have the power to create inner peace in your heart. Don't wait for it to just come to you, use your power to create it for you.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: the less you worry about getting things done, the more you find time to do them.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: when you remove anger and resentment from your heart, it is much easier to act in kindness and selflessness.

Quote of the day

Quote of the day: [about allowing yourself to feel feelings of sadness] Feel them. Feel them all. These feelings are not going to kill you. - Panache Desai

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: if you are in the moment, you can get more things done than if all you are thinking is "I'm in a hurry".

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: When you have a heart full of love and forgiveness, it is much easier to focus on the positive and live in joy and peace.

Living in Trust

Image: openclipart

Today I want to talk about a revelation I had a while ago: live in trust, in all aspects of your life.


Before I talk about living in trust, however, I want to talk about 2 ways we don't live in trust.


Trust vs. Control


The first one is to live trying to control your fate.

For the past 4 years I had been living trying desperately to control my fate:

• trying to control my professional fate by looking desperately for a job - sending 100s of resumes to all the job postings I could find
• trying to control my financial fate by accepting a low-paying job - because I was desperate for any income.
• continuing to try to control my financial fate by working tirelessly on side projects - hoping they would become more profitable than my current low-paying job.
• trying to control the fate of a relationship by trying to get a person close to me at any cost - I even tried bribing them by promising to pay for their tuition if they came to study where I live.
• continuing to try to control my financial fate by looking desperately for cheaper places to live - looking at real estate listings every single day, calculating how much I would pay for taxes, transportation, etc.

When you live in control, you are not living in trust. You don't trust that that your future will be positive unless you take control.

Trust vs. Fear

The second way that we don't live in trust is when we live in fear.
Fear is related to control.
I see fear as an attempt to control the future.

A few months ago, I used to live in fear:

• fear that the person who had drifted away from me would never come back - so I kept trying to control them and bring them back.
• fear that I would not be worthy of love (from myself and others) if I didn't keep my house sparkling clean 100% of the time - so I spent all my free time cleaning and doing other house chores.
• fear of getting some deadly disease - so I would freak out at any strange symptom I would have and run to the doctor.

Getting out of the pit

The stress from all that fear and need to control snowballed into anxiety and panic attacks. I brought myself out of that horrible emotional state with a lot of hard work - and no medication.

One of the main pillars of my healing was focusing on myself. Instead of trying to control my exterior circumstances, I shifted my attention to understanding what was happening in my mind.

After I understood the fears behind my need to control, I then worked on changing my negative thoughts and behaviours.

That boosted my self-esteem, and I had more consistent faith. I felt confident that whatever happened in my life, I would be ok. I would survive.

And that's when everything started changing:

• When I stopped trying to get a person to love me (and instead focused on loving myself) they started showing me love. 
• When I stopped trying to get love from performing chores (and loved myself for who I am regardless of performance) I suddenly had free time to enjoy life.
• When I stopped running to the doctor to get a sense of security (and kept challenging my catastrophic thinking), I felt as healthy as a horse.

Living in Trust

Then, a while ago, I realised the connection between all the changes listed above: I was living in trust. And when, I did that, I finally got what I wanted. I didn't get it by trying to control my circumstances, but rather by trusting [God] that things would work out in my favour. I focused on love, inner peace and personal growth, and the rest took care of itself [or, God took care of the rest].

Following that, I had a revelation: I should trust God in every aspect of my life. Instead of trying to control my circumstances and trusting that my efforts will bring me what I want, it's better to live in Love and trust that God will bring me what I want.

• If I want a better job, I should meet people in my network and talk to them about what I want. Then trust that God will use the people in my life to bring me a better job.
• If I want to improve my financial situation, I should talk to people about what I would like my life to be like. Then let God work through them to give me suggestions or even put me in touch with someone who wants to help me financially. 
• If I want to get someone close to me, I should focus on defining what kind of relationship I want. Then trust that God will put the right person (possibly not the one I originally asked for) in my life.
• If I want to give myself love, I should do what makes me happy. Then trust that I will be in such a good mood that chores won't feel as stressful or time consuming.
• If I want to believe that I'm healthy, I should focus on all the times the doctor said I was fine. Then trust that I am really ok.

The key is focusing on love and peace, and trusting that God/the Universe will work things out in your favour. When you live in fear of losing something, it is much harder to get what you want. When you live in peace and trust that things will work out, they usually do.

So next time you are afraid, just focus on love and inner peace, and trust that things will work out.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: when you are worried about other people, just focus on yourself and let God take care of them.

Feed Your Soul

Image: wikipedia

I hear Joyce Meyer and Andrew Wommack say things like "you have to fill yourself with the word" and "you need to study the bible every day". And I'm sure other Christin preachers and equivalent authorities of other religions say something similar. Their argument is that you need to read the Bible by yourself (and not just listen to their teachings), because when you read it by yourself, you will have your own revelations.

At first that advice bothered me. I would think "are you saying that I will only grow spiritually if I read the bible? That is wrong! What about people from other religions? Plus, I've grown so much without reading it. I've had many revelations on my own".

But then I read Pastor Chris' devotional of July 25. He said "what they [people who are facing difficulties] need is a Word-diet. They have to listen to God's Word (...) until the Word gets rid of their wrong mindset and reprograms them aright for success".

And I realised how much time I spend listening and reading religious teachings, and how I depend on them, how much I yearn for those moments in my daily routine and how much they help me.

So I have concluded that when they say "you should read the Bible", what they mean is that you should take time to study/meditate on religious teachings. Listen to and read people who talk about religion/spirituality, and think about what they are saying and how it applies to you. What can you learn from that? How does that help you?

The basic principle is simple: when you flood your mind with positive ideas and thoughts, you can't help but have faith that God/the Universe is taking care of you and everything will be ok. It is a great way to ward off anger, depression or anxiety.

At some point I also heard Andrew say "you have to saturate yourself with the Word". And he made that exact same point I have just made: when you fill yourself with positive thoughts and words, there is no room for negative and destructive thoughts.

And then as I had a conversation about this with my dad, he mentioned that all those activities (reading and listening to religious teachings) are feeding the soul. Just like we need to feed our body, we also need to feed our soul. When we feed our soul, we find peace. And when we have inner peace, it is easier to receive revelations (which is what Andrew and Joyce want us to have). 

Therefore, when they say "read the Bible" I now hear "feed your soul with positive words".

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: inspiration comes when your mind is relaxed.

Lesson of the day

Lesson of the day: when you are in peace and secure of your self-worth it is easier to forgive others.