Wherever You Are, God IS!!!

In this post, I want to talk a little about one of my very favorite subjects– God.

Ever since I was little, I’ve always loved God and Church. Even before I was old enough to got to school, I went to Sunday school. And then on Sunday afternoons, at home with my dad and grandmother, I would have Sunday school with them, teaching them the lessons I had at church.

And the God I learned about way back then was the one that created the world and everything in it. He was said to love the people he created.

This God was usually portrayed as a very old man, the Ancient of Days and he was white and had a great long white beard and hair. In fact, as I think about that image, he was just a really big jolly green giant sized version of my dad or Santa Claus.

As I grew up, this picture was enlarged to include the side of God that loved some people who followed all the rules and also judged sinners who broke the rules. The good people were promised heaven when they died and the sinners, well they just got to roast in hell for all eternity.

This version of the story just never really made a lot of sense to me but since this was what I was told the Bible said and meant, I believed that it was the truth.

Now I have come to the place where I question both that version of God and also the idea that just because the Bible says it does not necessarily make it true. (But I will tell you more about that journey another time.)

Charles Fillmore, the co-founder of Unity says

 The starting place of spiritual attainment is the right understanding of that one that we designate as the ‘Almighty.’

So let me share some of who God is for me today.

God Is Omnipresent

There is a wonderful verse in the Christian scriptures that says, “in whom (God) we live and move and have our being.”

Now I used to think this was just one of those nice saying put in there to fill up space or it was one of those “mysteries” that we just were not supposed to understand.

But now I believe that it’s a statement of truth and really just means what it says and says what it means. It shares with us the fact that God is all there is and that everything that exists, exists in God.

David, in the Psalms, says that if we go to the highest heights or to the lowest depths, that there is no place that we can go where God is not. (Now what does that say about hell?)

God is omnipresent — present everywhere.

God Is Love

Another wonderful truth about God is that God is love and love is God.

This love is unconditional and eternal. It’s not some on again, off again type of love. The “I love you when you love me and do what I want” type of love.

God is love.

And God’s love extend to and includes all of God’s children. No one is excluded.

You see, I let go of the old idea of a God that was just waiting for me to slip-up and do something wrong so he could just whack me good and punish me. I have some to realize that we are not punished for our mistakes in life but we are punished by our mistakes. What we sow, we reap.

God set in place the wonderful law of cause and effect. And we are offered every provision to correct anything that we deem a mistake so they can be changed from chains that bind and enslave us into steps that lead us higher and higher as we are transformed.

I guess one of the most important things I have learned on my journey of spiritual attainment is to trust my own heart and my own experience.

I have experiences the presence of God and I have felt my heart warmed and enlightened by this presence.

I have taken the time to look at my beliefs about God, to examine them and to see which ones ring true with what my heart says. And this has caused my love for god to grow and increase as endeavor to see and sense God’s presence everywhere I go and in each person I encounter.

Final Thoughts

As I close, I want to share with you something I came across recently in my reading. It is called The Golden Key written by Emmet Fox.. The basis of this key is to practice the presence of God. Fox says that too often we spend our time focusing on our problems and what is wrong with our lives and our world. He then says that the golden key to changing things in our life is to instead focus on the goodness of God.

Look for Good!

Look for love.

Look for beauty.

And as you do, you will find more Good, more love and more beauty. You will find more God.

For you see my friends, wherever you are, God is. A friend of mine told me once, there is only God or not paying attention.

Try paying more attention this week and see where you find God.

Available

Several years ago, I went to a White Stone service at church. I hadn’t ever been to one before and was excited to see what might happen. (This is based on the scripture in Revelations 2:17 where God gives to us a white stone with a new name written on it. )

Click here to read my post describing the service and here to read my blog post of my reaction after the service.)

After I received my stone, I heard the following word in my heart — available.
I’ve had this stone sitting by my computer ever since. But unfortunately that’s all it is — just a stone with a word written on it sitting by my computer.

But now, in this year 2017, I’m making an intention to allow the word I was given — available — to enter into my heart and life.

  • I intend to make myself available to God, Spirit, the Universe or whatever name we want to call it.
  • I intend to be available to gratitude and thanksgiving.I intend to be available to give and receive all the blessings that life has to offer both to and through me.
  • I intend to discover new ways to minister. I went to seminary and then began the Fort Worth Church Project. This means of ministry ended in 2012. Since then I’ve been floundering — but NOW I want to be available and open to new ways to reach out and share the message of my heart.

Available — I think it’s frightening to me to really be available. Afraid that it might have made me something I didn’t want to be. Or it might have taken away something I didn’t want to lose.

But now I believe that it’s going to take me and expand everything wonderful about myself and my life. Maybe things will leave, or be sifted out. But now I think I’m ready because if they can be sifted out then maybe they don’t need to be a part of my life anymore.

Maybe you’re ready now to make a new beginning in your life too.You don’t need a physical white stone to do this. Just hold out your hands and imagine Life placing a beautiful white stone in your hands with a wonderful new name or word written on it. Allow Spirit to whisper in your heart this wonderful word that’s to guide your life now. (If you want you can share this word with us and we can hold your intention with you.)

I’ll be sharing with you my intentions, my messages and my blessings this year through this blog. Feel free to share yours also.

A New Word Brings A New Beginning and A New Epiphany

In my last post I shared about Epiphany Sunday and a couple of incidents where I had an epiphany – an “ah-ha” moment. I also told you that in my next post I would share some about the story of Moses and his moment of awareness and also about the word I got for my white stone. If you did not read my last post, you might want to do so before reading the rest of this one.

Moses and the Bush

I always loved the story of Moses and the burning bush. There he was out in the desert and he goes round a boulder and right in front of him is a bush that is on fire. Now the story says that the bush, while being on fire, is not burned up.

Too often, I think, we see this as the most wonderful and miraculous part of the story but I am beginning to understand that the thing we really should see as wonderful and miraculous is what happens next.

Our of the bush, a voice speaks and tells Moses to take his shoes off because he is standing on holy ground. This causes Moses to ask a question we need to ask – “who are you?”

And the voice tells him, “I am that I am.”

You see, ‘I am’ is the most wonderful name for the divine, for God. And it is a name we use so often in our daily conversation without even realizing its significance.

But how do we used the divine name in vain?

We use it in vain when we follow those words with anything that is unlike the true nature of God, things like too old, not smart enough, too poor.

My New Word

I mentioned in my last post that we were given a white stone at church and told that Spirit would reveal to us a new word to place on the stone. This would be a word of encouragement and inspiration from Spirit that would guide our lives.

So what word was I given?

The new word I was given was “available.”

As I thought about this word – available – I realized that while I thought I was available to God, I was really caught up in my own plans and ideas about my life and my purpose. And because of this, I had closed myself off from anything NEW that God might be wanting me to be available to and for. This helped me to see that there were things in my life that needed to end as new things began.

I remember some wise words I was given, “you don’t need to see or understand the whole journey you are on, you only need to be willing and available to take the next step that is right in front of you.”

And the next step that I seem to see in front of me is to share my message and thoughts with people and at the present time, this will be through my blog. This was something I had neglected for too long but now I realize that a blog on the internet has the potential of reaching multitudes of people as they read it and then share it with others.

And so I am taking this step and as I continue to meditate, read, write and trust that God is really in control then I know that I will see the next right step for me and I believe that I will take it as I continue on this wonderful spiritual journey called life.

Share this post with people that need some encouragement. And take time and share your thoughts, comments or any epiphanies that you have had.

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Epiphany — A White Stone, A Piece Of Paper, A New Beginning

January 6 was the Sunday in the Christian calendar that is celebrated as Epiphany Sunday. This celebrates the visit of the Wise Ones to the baby Jesus.

While that is an interesting story and one I have loved since childhood, the question needs to be asked, “what does that have to do with us and our lives?”

To answer this question, I am going to ask a few more questions.

First, what is an epiphany?

Second, how do a piece of paper and a white stone relate to Epiphany or a visit from Wise Ones?

And last, how does all of this contribute to a new beginning?

So let’s answer these question and see what message and inspiration we can get for our lives today.

What is an epiphany?

The dictionary says that an epiphany is “an unveiling, a revealing or a manifestation.”

I was taught that the visit from the Wise Ones signified God’s revelation to those who were not Jews and was to indicate that God’s was available to and inclusive of all of humanity.

You know, many times we need an unveiling in our own lives. We allow the truth that we are a child of God and loved deeply by God to become covered over by thoughts and beliefs such as fear, worry and unworthiness. We forget who we really are and this causes all the things we see in life that we call problems.

So now you are wondering what does this forgetting and the unveiling and to do with a piece of paper and a white stone. I can only tell you how they relate in my life and hope that you can find an epiphany in your own life.

On Christmas Eve, we went to a candle light service at church. Each candle had wrapped around it a piece of paper with an affirmation. As I unwrapped my candle, I read the following affirmation, I rest in the knowledge that God is in control.”

This was the perfect affirmation for me as lots of things in my life had gotten out of my control and I needed to be reminded that even when I appear to be “out of control”, God never is. And maybe even more importantly, I need to remember that even the out of control areas are working together to create and be the good in my life.

Then the next epiphany happened on Sunday, January 6, which was Epiphany Sunday. This time instead of a candle, we were offered a white stone and the minister read Revelation 2: 17. “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I’ll give the sacred manna to every conqueror; I’ll also give a white, smooth stone inscribed with your new word, your secret new word.”

He then said that as we each listen to Spirit, we would be given a “new word” that would give us inspiration, direction and guidance for our lives.

So what word was I given? I am going to tell you in my next post where I will also share some about the story of Moses and the burning bush and the name of God that Moses was told. I will also tell you the step that I am taking at present to live my word.

Until then, begin looking for the epiphanies that are happening in your own life and feel free to share them with us. And also, check out Charles Fillmore’s Metaphysical Bible Dictionary for more information on the ‘white stone’. It is found under the article on Pergamus because this was the church in Asia Minor that spirit was speakingto in the verse from Revelations.

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