Mar. 19, 2024 – I AM GOVERNED BY THE LAW OF GOD  

MARCH 19   

I AM GOVERNED BY THE LAW OF GOD   

For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man: 

Romans 7: 22

This scriptural passage tells us of all that we should have delight in living.  All creation is a manifestation of the delight of God – God seeing Himself in form, God experiencing Himself in His own actions, and God knowing Himself in us as us.  For the highest God and the innermost God is one God, and not two.  But the passage also suggests that in addition to delight, the enjoyment of realizing that we are alive and awake and aware, we are also subject to the exact law that must govern everything – the Law of the Lord that is perfect.  We are, then, to combine our idea of delight with the concept of law, for Love and Law are the two great realities of life – Love as the outpouring of the Spirit; Law as Divine Government.  Let us, then, find delight in the Law of the Lord which is perfect, as we say daily to ourselves:

I am one with the Infinite Spirit of Love, one with the outpouring of the Divine Life.  I am governed by the perfect Law of the inward man, made in the image and likeness of That which is pure, whole and perfect.  My whole life finds its impulsion in Love and all my actions are governed by the Law of Good.  As I meditate upon this perfect Law of God, I realize that it is operating in my affairs, in my body, in my mind and in my spirit.  I know that the Law of Good is absolute; it is complete; it is operating in and through me now, bringing about everything that is good, everything that is right, everything that is happy.  And since this Law must be perfect as well as exact, and since it must know how to bring everything about that is necessary to my good, I place my whole trust in it.  And so I say today, and every day: The perfect Law of Good is governing everything I think or do and all my relationships with others.  I delight in this Law and I delight in the Divinity within myself and all people.

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

Mar. 18, 2024 – I AM WARMED BY THE LOVE OF GOD 

MARCH 18   

I AM WARMED BY THE LOVE OF GOD   

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God… I John 3:1

It has been truly said that love is the loadstone of life, the treasure of earth and the highest gift of heaven.  We all wish to feel that we are kept in the arms of love, protected by its shelter and warmed by its feeling.  But someone might ask, “How do we really know that ‘the universe rests on the shoulders of love?’” The answer is more simple that it might appear.  For instance, no one is ever harmed by love.  The more love there is in one’s life, the better off he is; while the opposite to love, which is hate and dislike, can actually consume a person mentally and destroy his health physically. If, then, love tends to build up while the opposite tends to destroy, we may be certain that there is a universal Reality to it; that we actually are immersed in an Infinite Love as well as a Divine Wisdom.  And we must learn to feel the presence of this Love and rely on it.  Therefore, let each say to themselves, daily:

I am one with the Love of God.  I am one in the Love of God with all people.  My love goes out to everyone and I know that it is returned from everyone.  Overlooking everything that might seem to deny this Divine beneficence, I trust that Infinite Love will guide and protect me in everything.  And I counsel my own soul to show forth this love in such a manner that it shall embrace and warm the heart of humanity, bringing confidence and trust and faith and hope to everyone it touches.  Daily I affirm that love governs all of humanity into pathways of peace and joy.  Daily I affirm that love goes before and makes the way plain and happy.  And daily I affirm that my own love is renewed and rekindled by that great and vast Love in which I am immersed, that Love which is God.

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

Mar. 17, 2024 – I SEE WITH THE EYES OF GOD   

MARCH 17         

I SEE WITH THE EYES OF GOD   

…one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.  John 9:25  

The ancients said that there is an “all-seeing eye” and that if we could cause our physical eyes to see with its vision we should be looking at things as they really are.  But is it not true that too often we see with a blurred vision because we are so confused mentally?  The all-seeing eye of God, by its very nature, being one and only, must forever see things as they really are.  This is why Jesus said to judge not according to appearances but to judge righteously.  We cannot expect to draw a pattern of this right seeing from the objective world of confusion or our inner thoughts of doubt and fear.  Therefore we are told to see and act according to “the pattern shewed to thee in the mount,” that is, we are to look and think independently of the confusion around us.  We are to view everything as we feel the Divine, Infinite and Perfect Being must know and understand Its own creation to be.  This is seeing with the eyes of God.

Today I am seeing with the eyes of the Divine.  I am looking at things in a perfect and direct way.  I am seeing through confusion to peace, through doubt to certainty, through fear to faith.  Quietly, then, I review myself, those around me, and  everything that occupies my attention, bringing to them all a broader vision, a deeper insight, a more complete perspective of the Infinite harmony which I know is back of, in and through everything that God has made.  I am keeping my eye single to this one truth – what God has done is good, therefore my experiences are good.  What God has created is wonderful; therefore I am surrounded with good.  In calm judgment, then, I sit quietly within myself and in my imagination look around and see everything according to the Divine Pattern.  As I do this everything I look upon shall become transformed and reborn.

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

Mar. 16, 2024 – I AM ENDOWED WITH THE PERFECTION OF GOD  

MARCH 16   

I AM ENDOWED WITH THE PERFECTION OF GOD   

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.  Matthew 5: 48

When Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven (within you) is perfect,” he was telling us that there is a Perfection at the center of all things, which, recognized, will spring into being.  We must learn to identify ourselves with this Perfection, to so accept it that it is real to us, and to so live that it may be expressed through us. Every organ, action and function of our physical body is rooted in spiritual Perfection, from which it draws its life.  If this were not true we could not be here.  No matter how imperfect the appearance may be, or painful or discordant, there is still an underlying Perfection, an inner Wholeness, a complete and perfect Life, which is God.

Therefore I say to my physical body: “Be ye therefore perfect because you already are perfect in the Divine sight.  There is One Life, that Life is God, that Life is my life now.  This Life circulates through me.  It animates my whole being.  I am one with its peace and wholeness.  There is no inaction in this Divine Life.  There is no stoppage nor hindrance nor obstruction to it.  And whatever may seem to be to the contrary is false, for I am identifying my physical body with the body of pure Spirit.  I am opening my mind as a channel for the realization of the Divine Presence.  I affirm it and accept it.  There is nothing in me that can deny or reject it.  Because God is perfect, I am perfect.”  Quietly I affirm and reaffirm these simple statements until they sink into my consciousness and become a habit pattern of thought which is no longer rejected.  With complete conviction I accept the wholeness of the Spirit and as I do so I identify myself and everything that I am with the harmony and the perfection and the wholeness of the Life of God. 

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

Mar. 15, 2024 – I AM SUPPLIED FROM THE SUBSTANCE OF GOD

MARCH 15   

I AM SUPPLIED FROM THE SUBSTANCE OF GOD

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.  John 3:35

We all have need of many things.  We cannot believe that the Divine Spirit wishes to withhold any good from us.  It is the nature of God to give, and it is our nature to receive.  Back of every idea of supply, every need in our human lives, there is something which forever more gives of itself and takes the form of our experiences when we permit it to.  Whether it be a house to live in, money that we have need of, or employment that furnishes the gratification of adequate self-expression – always there is the Giver flowing into these things.  But the Divine has already given Its entire being to us.  God has not failed humanity.  But humanity has failed to accept the gift.  It has failed to enter into the spirit and the nature of the Giver.  It has even refused to believe that there is such a gift or such a Giver. How, then, can even God really give us what we refuse to accept?  This is why Jesus told us we must believe that we have really received the gift before we see its evidence.  This is an active faith but it should be a faith built on the sure knowledge, the certain foundation, the positive conviction, that there is something that responds to us, gladly, readily, willingly, joyously and without limit.

Today I am living in the quiet and joyous expectation of good.  God is not only my life; He is substance taking form in everything I do.  God is not only the Actor; He is acting through me now.  God is not only the Giver, He is also the gift.  This gift I receive in joy, with gratitude, and with a complete sense of security.  I expect everything I do to prosper.  I expect new and wonderful experiences to come to me.  I am living in complete confidence that the Kingdom of heaven is here and now that I am prospered in everything I do.

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

Mar. 14, 2024 – I ENJOY THE COMPANIONSHIP OF GOD   

MARCH 14   

I ENJOY THE COMPANIONSHIP OF GOD   

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.  John 14;16

Communion with the Spirit is one of the greatest privileges of life.  By communion with God we do not mean telling the Infinite what to do or how to do it, for that is talking at God rather than communing with Him. By communion we mean silently entering into Divine harmony and beauty until we feel that harmony and beauty in our own souls, in our own minds.  For instance, if one finds himself distraught and mentally upset, and he follows the simple practice of communing with peace, he will find that peace enters into him.  He does this by dropping all confusion from his mind and thinking about peace; he dwells on its meaning and feels that he is breathing it into himself until it floods his whole being with harmony.  This is real communion – not telling peace what it ought to do or be, but entering into its spirit, silently, quietly and alone.  And so it is with love or joy or any other attribute of the Divine – we must commune by listening and feeling this Presence until the Presence is real to us.  This is the very essence of communion.

God is my companion.  It is impossible for me to be lonely or alone, for wherever I go the One Presence will accompany me.  I have an Infinite Companion who goes with me wherever I go.  I have partnership with the Infinite which is steady and strong and certain.  This same Presence I feel in everyone else – the One Companion of all. I guided by this Presence, I am guarded by it; I am kept in the shadow of Its strength.  I am fed by the bounty of Its love.  I am guided by Its wisdom.  This Presence is closer to me than my breath, nearer to me than my hands and feet. Therefore, I have no sense of aloneness, no feeling of isolation, because all the Presence there is, is my companion.  In this companionship there is love and beauty, there is peace and joy, there is happiness and success, today and forever more.

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

Mar. 13, 2024 – I JUDGE, AND AM JUDGED, WITH THE JUSTICE OF GOD   

MARCH 13   

I JUDGE, AND AM JUDGED, WITH THE JUSTICE OF GOD   

… my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.  John 5:30  

Jesus, the greatest of all the illumined, said, “Judge not that ye be not judged,” by which he meant that we cannot judge others harshly without receiving back into our own consciousness and experience the very things we claim for others.  While Jesus was the most compassionate of all men, he was also the most just, for he knew that our lives are governed by an exact and immutable law of cause and effect.  He knew, and we all must learn, that it is impossible to wish something for someone else without at the same time willing it for ourselves.  If we all were to follow this rule we should become kinder, if only for the purpose of self-preservation and personal happiness, for no one wishes to injure himself.  Always, then, we are placed in this position – we dare not wish anything for anyone that we would be unwilling to accept for ourselves.  If everyone were to live by this rule there would be no injustice in the world.

Infinite Spirit within me, which is God, cause me to think and act kindly; constrain my mind to gentleness and peace; guide my thoughts into loving kindness and eternal forgiveness, and cause me in all my ways to follow the path of truth and justice.  I judge no man and am judged by none.  It is my sincere desire that everything I do or say or think shall come into harmony with universal truth and peace, with love and joy.  Consciously I let go of everything that is unkind and seek to so enter into communion with the Eternal Spirit that I shall reflect to my environment and manifest in all that I do, the spirit of kindness, of justice and compassion. 

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

Mar.12, 2024 – I EXPRESS THE GLORY OF GOD   

MARCH 12   

I EXPRESS THE GLORY OF GOD   

Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.  If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself… John 13:31–32

Perhaps this is one of the most profound thoughts Jesus ever gave to the world, for it really tells us that when man is glorified in God, then God is glorified in man.  And it means exactly this:  Life is a mirror to each one of us, and as we see the glory of God in this mirror, so shall this mirror reflect back to us that same glory.  For Jesus says that if God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in Himself.  So shall the image and its reflection become one even as the Father and the Son are one, in glory, in honor and in majesty and might.  No more exalted concept of Divine union could possibly be given than this. 

Today, then, I glorify myself in God and I glorify God in me.  For I am in Him and He is in me.  And as He is glorified in me, so am I glorified in Him. I do give thanks for this intimate and complete union of my soul with its Center and its Source.  And I do recognize in myself and in others the glory of the incarnated God.  Realizing the One Life without and within, consciously uniting with It, I proclaim Its presence in everything.  Knowing that there is no great and no small, I proclaim Its presence in the smallest as well as the greatest.  All my affairs shall reflect the glory and the power and the majesty and the might of the Infinite Spirit.  And all that I do shall proclaim His love, His life, and His light.  “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”  I am that Son, and God is glorified in me today.   

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

Mar. 11, 2024 – I AM RADIANT WITH THE HEALTH OF GOD   

MARCH 11   

I AM RADIANT WITH THE HEALTH OF GOD   

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily… Isaiah 58:8

Whatever we identify ourselves with we tend to become.  Whatever we think about gradually becomes a subconscious pattern, always tending to manifest itself in our experience.  Therefore we should endeavor to identify our physical bodies with the spiritual Reality which is the very substance and essence of the physical being.  We do not deny the physical body, but rather, affirm that every organ and action and function of the body is radiant with the perfection of God.  There is an inner life of complete perfection which exists at the center of everything; otherwise, nothing could be.  We should identify ourselves with this perfect pattern of our being, claiming its reality in our experience, and continuously knowing that we are animated by the Living Spirit.

Today I identify my body with the action of God, the radiant Life of the Divine Being.  Today I identify my physical body with my spiritual body, claiming that they are one and the same.  Therefore I see that every organ, every action and every function of my body belongs to the rhythm of Life, and is a part of the radiant Presence of the Living Spirit.  There is one Divine Circulation flowing through everything – flowing through me right now.  There is one infinite Rhythm at the center of everything.  I am a part of this perfect Whole.  There is perfect circulation, perfect assimilation and perfect elimination.  There is perfection in every part of my being, and wholeness and completeness.  This physical body is a temple of the Living Spirit which animates it, sustains it, rebuilds it, after the image of its own perfection, and keeps it in perfect health, in perfect harmony, in perfect wholeness.

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

Mar. 10, 2024 – I GIVE THANKS FOR THE BLESSINGS OF GOD  

MARCH 10  

I GIVE THANKS FOR THE BLESSINGS OF GOD   

And he … took the five loaves, and two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.  Matthew 14:19

Have you and I had the faith to bless that which perhaps seemed so very small – a loaf of bread and a fish – and to expect it to become multiplied in our experience to such an extent that it would not only bless us but also bless everyone around us?  We cannot help but believe that as Jesus broke the bread and blessed it, in his own mind he saw it multiplied and growing and flowing out to those around him.  This is an example we should follow – to bless what we have, recognizing that it flows from a limitless source; we are merely using it and distributing it.  There is always more.  The limitless resources of the Spirit are at our command. The power of the Infinite is at our disposal.  We have as much to use as we know how to take.  But the taking is a thing of the thought, the will, the imagination. It is a thing of an inward feeling or interior awareness in that place where the mind has unified itself with the Living Spirit.

Today I bless everything I have.  I bless everyone around me; I bless the events that transpire in my life, the conditions and situations with which I am surrounded.  I bless everything that goes out and everything that comes in. I acknowledge an increase of right action in everything I do, say or think.  I bless myself and others, for we are all partakers of the same Divine Nature, all living in the One Mind, all animated by the same Presence, all sustained by the One Power.  “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”  In joy and in love my blessing rests on everything.  In confidence and in peace the blessing of God rests upon me.

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