UP Church

FEBRUARY 28   

LIFE MOVES ME INTO EVER-INCREASING GOOD TODAY

For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.  Psalm 36:9

The universe is pushing us forward.  It does this because it must.  There is no retrogression in God.  Mind is forever evolving new ideas and these ideas are forever urging us on to greater good. Only those who look backward grow feeble.  Their disintegration touches our sympathy, but wisdom tells us to release them to their own stagnation, and catch up with those in the vanguard of advancing souls, who let God work through them.  To the alert, God speaks.  Mind reveals Its ideas and good appears everywhere. The Law of Life is the Law of growth, expansion and increase.  We must accept this, for It has been given unto us freely, and all that It asks is that we follow Its instructions.  As we look ahead and behold the ideas of God unfolding within us and projecting themselves into form through us, we see our increased good.

I move forward in the divine design of my life, and find the future pregnant with good.  The Christ Mind is within me, and I follow Its urges toward a richer and fuller life.  There is no bondage to the past, for today I am free in God to express all His ideas fully.  I see ahead on my pathway with faith, vision and love.  I accept the great and true experience which my God has prepared for me because I love Him, His Mind and His Truth.  The Life of the Spirit within me compels me to move on from the past, do my best in the present, and envision good in the future.  No evil can stop me; no wrong thinking can hold me back, for I know that His plan for me is undefeatable.  I give thanks that Life moves me forward into greater good today.  

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

FEBRUARY 27

THERE IS NO DEATH, AND I WILL NEVER DIE, FOR I AM SPIRIT

How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.  Psalm 36:7

One of the greatest, if not the greatest delusions that pursue the human mind is the idea of death.  Yet, this idea is contrary to all nature and to all reason and logic.  It is inconceivable that a just God would create a temporary man to flourish and then wither.  If God is an eternal, Creative Presence and Mind, the His creation must be equally eternal.  We should constantly deny the possibility of extinction or of a supernatural heaven and hell. God is the life of man, and His idea of life can only include progression, unfoldment and evolution.  If the universe is evolving, then we must be evolving also.  We are consciousness living in Mind, and our bodies are secondary.  At the right time we release our bodies and move on into larger realms of mental experience.  All mourning is self-pity, and all belief in death is contrary to God and God’s idea of man.

Mind is an eternal function of the One Mind, God.  It never started and it will never stop.  I am a spiritual being, born of the Spirit, living as the Spirit, and moving on to larger activities of the Spirit.  There is no belief of death in my consciousness.  I know that I shall always be an individualized expression of God, forever expanding in wisdom and love.  I give thanks for my present world and its vital activities, but I know that I shall always have a similar world with equally similar activities.  I have no fear of change, I trust in God, the Good, to move me forward at the right time and in the right way.  I greet the future with confidence, and I work this day with joy and freedom.   

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

FEBRUARY 26         

WHAT I GIVE TO MY WORLD, I RECEIVE FROM MY WORLD   

Depart from evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it.  Psalm 34:14

The universe is not to blame for our success or our failure.  Too often, we use it as our alibi for failing to attain our goals.  The wise have always known that they alone determined their good or their evil.  The universe is a plastic, impersonal substance forever taking form according to the patterns which we give it.  Each of us is what he is because of what he conceives himself to be.  Each of us is where he is because of his general state of consciousness.  Metaphysics without teaching a Law would not be a science.  We are constantly thinking something, and the sum-total of our thinking comprises our mental attitude, our consciousness.  This is what we give to the world and on the basis of what we give, the world responds in return.  Its sole purpose is to respond to us and create forms for us.  Knowing this, we stop our stupidities and hold fast to our right thinking.

I stop blaming the conditions of my world and the people around me for my failure to demonstrate Truth.  I look squarely and frankly at myself, and see that which no other man can ever know about me, my real inner thinking.  To every negative in my consciousness I say “begone.”  You have no part of me.  You never did have and you never will have.  I am a spiritual expression of Life, and I am now determined to offer to my world only that which is true of God and of God’s man.  All else is dissolved and gone.  The Lord is with me, His Mind indwells me, and His Plan for me is now in full action establishing me in peace, success and permanent health.  I co-operate fully with God today.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

FEBRUARY 25   

I FORGIVE MYSELF FOR ALL MY MISTAKES   

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.  Psalm 34:8

The Bible stresses the necessity of forgiveness.  This key idea is necessary to a fully developed and well-balanced viewpoint. We cannot go ahead while looking backward.  Those who have offended us are merely the symbols of our own inner mistakes.  They bear witness to the times wherein we have failed to remember God in our fellowman.  The truly spiritual person is never hurt by others, so there is no forgiveness necessary for him.  Only those who are still on the pathway from matter to Mind need to learn how to forgive. The true metaphysician has erased the possibility of seeing evil in his fellowman, and has gone beyond forgiveness into complete spiritual understanding.  We can do this today.  It may not be easy, and it may not be quick, but it can be done if we see God and His Christ in every man we see.  This is the forward look; this is the upward reach.  It lifts us to the very hills of the Lord.

My consciousness is governed and controlled by a Law of Mind.  Through this Law I am able to destroy evil and establish all good.  I now think deeply of all who have hurt, annoyed or confused me. To them I say that I am sorry that I failed to see God in them and around them.  I release freely from my mind all thought against any man.  I behold each one in my world as the son of God, expressing the Truth of Life.  I am forgiven, for I have forgiven my neighbor, and I have found God where I formerly believe error to exist.  I praise and bless the good of all whom I know.  Divine Love in me reaches out and enfolds them in understanding and peace.  I now am at peace with God and man.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

FEBRUARY 24   

I AM MAKING GOD VISIBLE ON EARTH   

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.  Psalm 34:1

Man is the image and likeness of God.  Man is the means which Infinite Mind has of self-expression.  If we know this, then we shall act in accordance with it, and cease from that which is foolish and negative.  Through us the action of God is taking place; through us God is making Himself visible.  Truly we are blessed and a blessing, as we so live that all who contact us find God.  Our only means of blessing the Lord is by releasing His thoughts through our minds and His Love through our hearts.  Our friends and co-workers are seeking to find God expressing in us and through us.  We are advised to let our light shine, to heal the sick, prosper the poor and bring peace to the unhappy.  Only as we see ourselves as the activity of Spirit is this possible.  To all is given the opportunity to be the radiant expressions of God, and the wise accept it, the others take the harder pathway. 

May I so live in the Christ Spirit, that all who contact me this day shall be healed; that all who contact my thought shall be blessed.  Wherever I go, I spread abroad the good news that God is in man and is the true Self of man.  I release only that which is true of God and His perfect Mind.  My lips are dedicated to speaking Truth, and my heart is dedicated to loving all whom I meet on my pathway.  God is my mind, my life, my all.  I am the visible representative of God on earth and I walk my way in dignity, poise and peace. Beauty surrounds me, peace is within me, for God is all there really is in my world.  This is the Truth if this day, and I bear witness of it.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

FEBRUARY 23    

I HAVE FAITH IN THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN, AND MY ACTIONS SHOW THIS TO BE TRUE   

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.  Psalm 33:12

Those whom the earth has labeled great have been people who extended their thinking to include all nations and all races.  Only people with petty minds indulge in racial hatreds and distinctions.  God’s perfect idea of man is the basis for every living soul, and we must believe this and act as though it were so.  When we dislike people and groups, we are bearing witness to our small and limited viewpoints.   The people in whom we fail to find good are born of the same Mind, operate under the same Law, and express the same Life as we do.  Our inability to see their divine origin is our self-created stumbling block.  Often, we are held back by our petty dislikes of other people.  Jesus could include the whole world in his thought because he believed in a God who was in all and acting through all.  The “chosen people” are those who have chosen to love their fellowman and find good in him.

I believe in the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.  No one is better than myself; no one is less good than myself.  I live in God’s universe filled with God’s beloved people and I co-operate with them in love.  I hate no man, and dislike no man.  I love the Truth that expresses in every nationality, every race and every creed.  I extend my thinking to include them all in universal blessing. I know that every person is unfolding in spiritual understanding and growing in wisdom.  Every person I meet today brings more of God to my remembrance.  They bless me in interesting and loving ways.  They enrich me with ideas of value.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

FEBRUARY 22   

I RECEIVE DIVINE INSPIRATION AND KNOW JUST WHAT TO DO

The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 

Psalms 33:11

True prayer is the correction of a belief in separation.  We forget that man and God are one, and in our confusions troubles are born out of duality.  All demonstrations are the result of unity.  Our method of accepting these ideas is to believe that we are receiving them and then to act upon their guidance.  As we affirm that we are divinely inspired to right action, we receive the idea that is born of the Spirit to meet the need of the moment. We must constantly remind ourselves that God is no respector of persons, that to all is given the divine possibility, but only those who know that they are one with His Mind shall receive it.  We pray to erase duality and to realize unity.  We are one with Mind and Its ideas.  All indecision is erased and the decisions of Truth and Love are made.  The way is easy and the burden is light for the inspired and illumined who have found their oneness with God. 

Today is the day of the Lord.  Today is the day of salvation.  Each hour is alive with inspiration, guidance and vision.  God’s pure ideas are now functioning in my consciousness.  They lead me into pleasant ways, and I work in peace and joy.  I know exactly what to do, how to do it, and I follow through with accomplishment.  All indecision is forever dissipated, and divine inspiration is mine now and forevermore.  God and I are one, not two.  God’s Mind and my mind are one, not two.  There is only this one Source delivering to me what I need to know at the time I need to know it.  I act with authority, exactness and love, for God is my inspiration now.  

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker                               

FEBRUARY 21   

GOD IS NEVER LATE, MIND IS ALWAYS ON TIME AND SO I AM

I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.  Psalm 32:8

The accuracy of nature is apparent to all.  The universe is an orderly system of intelligence, and we exist in it as orderly spiritual beings.  Procrastination and delay are unknown to the divine Presence, and should be unknown to us.  Time, spiritually understood, is an orderly method of living easily.  Its sole value is measurement.  Many people develop an unconscious resistance to time, and are habitually late for appointments. These same people usually find their demonstrations delayed, because they are in a consciousness of delay.  If we are often late in our daily schedules, we can hardly expect the Law of Mind to deliver our demonstrations at the instant we think they should appear, because the Law can only deal with our own thought.  Students of this teaching would do well to think deeply on this idea.  Ideas appear on time.  Nature is orderly and accurate.  We can easily discipline ourselves to new habits of time which agree with God’s.

I live in the presence of God, where all is accurate, orderly and right.  There is no delay in God’s response to me, as I now clear my thought of every belief of delay.  I do whatever needs to be done on time and in order.  I refuse to believe that I am under any pressures of time and space.  Every idea I need appears in my consciousness on time and in right sequence.  I see my watch as a friendly means of being prompt in every engagement this day.  I arrive on time with ease and peace of mind.  I am accurate, prompt and orderly in everything I do.  As the Father in me doeth the work, it is easy and light.  God is never late, Mind is always on time, and so am I.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

FEBRUARY 20   

NOTHING CAN PREVENT INCREASED ABUNDANCE FROM APPEARING IN MY LIFE TODAY   

And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.  Psalm 30:6

Prosperity is the Presence of God as ease.  It is the ability to do whatever needs to be done at the instant of time that it needs to be done.  We must realize that prosperity is a larger term that just money.  Money is the symbol of the exchange of ideas in mind, and as such it is good and necessary.  Numberless people demonstrate prosperity without using much money.  They always have what they need and want at the time they need it and want it.  Most families have a “poor relation” somewhere who has never worked in his life, but has always managed to get along comfortably.  Such people are clear in their thought regarding prosperity, but are not clear in their thought regarding money.  So, they demonstrate ease and freedom without actual money in their hands.  We want to make a complete demonstration, and have both money and freedom, and this can be accomplished by scientific prayer, which is the disciplining of consciousness.

There is only one power, the power of God.  This power is the only power at work in my affairs, and it is always working for increase.  I am now under the law of addition and multiplication.  Never again will the law of subtraction and division operate in me.  I fill my mind with God’s ideas of abundance, and nothing can prevent their full demonstration in my affairs.  There is no evil to stop this from taking place, as God is all there is in my world.  I praise prosperity.  I talk prosperity.   I love prosperity, for God is my prosperity.  I accept it with joy, use it with wisdom and release it again into my world with love.  My world is easy, and increased good is appearing.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker