UP Church

JUNE 1     

I AM TRUE TO MY HIGHEST PRINCIPLES   

“Thou shalt not profess that which thou dost not believe.  Thou shalt not heed the voice of man when it agrees not with the voice of God in thine own soul.”  Emerson

To profess is easy, to practice is not easy.  All people proclaim their belief in God, but they rely on material help in every problem and pray as a last resort.  I now take my stand with myself.  I have no one other with whom to deal.  I am in my own world, and I now place God at the center and know that good appears at the circumference.  I refuse to declare my faith in God and still continue in my old material patterns of behavior. Today, the Lord becomes my physician, my lawyer, my counselor and my co-worker.  I lean not on my own understanding; I depend on Him who projected me as His own.  I shout from the housetops my own divinity.  I cry out to all, my dependence on the indwelling Spirit.

I am not a metaphysician in name only, I practice when I believe.  I pray my way out of every problem, and prove God in every experience.  The confines of my thinking extend to include the good of all.  I truly practice the Brotherhood of Man.  I see each soul as God sees him, and declare that his place in my life is one of blessing.  I am not under the material influence of nations, economic levels, nor world conditions.  I am an independent creation of a perfect Mind living in the atmosphere of my own consciousness.  What I decree in mind is my experience in the world.  I know but one Standard and one Principle – the Truth.  To these I dedicate my thought, my motives and my responses.

Within me is the true Mind of the Spirit.  It invites me to partake of Its ideas, and to prosper in all my ways.  It whispers thoughts that are contrary to human opinions and worldly wisdom.  But, I listen to the inner Wisdom and act in accordance with It.  No man can dissuade me, no group can alarm me.  I know the right, and I do the right.  I am true to my highest knowledge of God and to my greatest vision of Spiritual Man.  I am undaunted by others; I am true to my belief.   

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

MAY 31   

TODAY I ENTER INTO MY KINGDOM OF JOY, INTO MY INHERITANCE OF HAPPINESS

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy: at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.  Psalm 16:11

James Whitcomb Riley said: “As it’s give me to perceive, I most certainly believe, when a man’s glad plumb through, God’s pleased with him, same as you.”  Jesus said that he came that we might have more life, not less.  There is nothing in the thought of God that should produce sadness or depression; rather, it should be quite the reverse, because faith, conviction and love should give us such confidence and such a sense of security and faith in the good that our lives should run over with joy and we should indeed be able to sing: “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.”

Realizing that the Lord who is not far off but an inward, intimate Presence, closer to me than my very breath, I affirm that there is nothing in me that can doubt this Presence or limit the Power of Good.  There is nothing in me that can separate myself from the love of God, the joy of living, and the Law of Good.

I affirm that this Divine Presence is leading me on the pathway of peace.  It is directing my thoughts, my words and my actions into constructive channels of self-expression.  It is uniting me with others in love, in kindness and in consideration.  Therefore, today I accept the joy of life.  In gladness I recognize the Kingdom of God that is within me.  I know that today the Law of Good is bringing into my experience everything necessary to my happiness.  And knowing there can be no good to myself alone, for God is in all people, I affirm for others that which I accept for myself.

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

MAY 30  

NOTHING CAN GO FORTH FROM ME BUT GOODNESS, TRUTH, LOVE AND KINDNESS; THEREFORE NOTHING LESS THAN GOODNESS CAN COME BACK TO ME.

… If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 

I John 4:12

Every heart responds to the warmth of love.  Every mind yearns for its embrace and no life is complete without it.  Love really is the fulfillment of the Law of Good.  Love alone can heal the world and cause people to live together in unity and in peace.  Believing that love is the great lodestone of life and that love alone fulfills the Law of Good, quietly I say to myself:

I believe that God is Love.  I believe that Love is at the center of everything.  Therefore I accept Love as the healing power of life.  I permit Love to reach out from me to every person I meet.  I trust the guidance of Love because I believe It is the Power of Good in the universe.  I feel that Love is flowing through me to heal every situation I meet, to help every person I contact.  Love opens the way before me and makes it perfect, straight and glad.

Love forgives everything unlike itself; It purifies everything.  Love converts everything that seems commonplace into that which is wonderful.  Love converts weakness into strength, fear into faith.  Love is the all-conquering power of Spirit.  As a child walks in confidence with its parents, so I walk in confidence with Life.  As a child, through love, trusts its parents, so I put my whole trust in that Love which I feel to be everywhere present, within, around and through me – within, around and through all people.  

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

MAY 29   

TODAY I FEEL THE ACTIVE POWER OF GOD IN EVERYTHING

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 

Ephesians 4:6

The key thought for our meditation today is the idea that there is an active Presence of the creative Spirit in all our affairs – not something passive, but something that is moving in and through everything we do.  We should affirm that this Divine Presence is everywhere, that It is always active in, around and through us.

Believing that the Divine Spirit is at the center of everything and at the very center of my own physical being, I recognize this Presence harmoniously acting in every cell, every organ and every function of my physical body.  I praise It and bless It and recognize that It is doing Its work well and in harmony with Divine Love and Divine Life.  Recognizing this same Presence in everyone I meet, I salute the God in people and I know that as surely as I do this, the God in them will respond to the same Divine presence that is within me.  Therefore I love others and act in unison with them.

Recognizing the One Mind that governs everything, consciously I affirm that this same Intelligence is governing my affairs.  It is within me and around me at all times, directing, guiding, governing, controlling and leading me happily to the fulfillment of all good purposes.  Recognizing all nature as the handiwork of God, I see beauty in everything.  I am one with the wind and the wave, with sunshine and cloud, with everything that God has created.

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

MAY 28    

I USE DIVINE POWER IN PRACTICAL WAYS AND RIGHT ACTION PREVAILS IN MY AFFAIRS   

… What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.   

Mark 11:24

There could be no more explicit technique for effective prayer than this laid down by the Master himself.  We actually are to believe that we already possess the object of our desire when we ask for it.  We are to accept it even as we believe in the harvest which follows the spring planting.  Therefore, every spring should be one of hope and every harvest one of fulfillment.  We must learn to accept the good we desire and affirm its presence in our experience, here and now.

Realizing that there is a Law of good that governs my affairs, I loose every thought of doubt, fear or uncertainty and accept the good that I desire, here and now.  Realizing that this Law of Good not only knows how to create, but must contain within Itself all the details of Its own creation.  I let go of every thought of outlining and accept the perfect answer today.  Feeling a deep sense of gratitude and joy because of this, I live enthusiastically and with calm and happy anticipation of more yet to come.  

Because there is no sense of strain in this, I relax in quiet contentment while at the same time realizing that what the law of Good does for me It must do through me.  I declare that I not only know what to do but I am impelled to act, to move objectively.  For this is not a dream I am entering into, or an escape from any present condition which is unhappy or unwhole.  This is really the act of fulfillment, the moving into a greater sphere of action and life with complete certainty, calm confidence and limitless trust.  Today everything in my experience shall be reanimated, reborn and increased.  Gladly I accept my good and place no limit on the Divine givingness.

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

MAY 27   

EVERY PART OF MY BODY IS IN HARMONY WITH THE LIVING SPIRIT WITHIN ME   

… I am the Lord that healeth thee.    Exodus 15:26

Spiritual mind healing has long since passed the experimental stage.  We now know that we cannot tell where the body begins and the mind leaves off, and many of us believe that the actions, organs, and functions of the physical body really are activities of the Divine Intelligence within us.  To come to realize, then, that there is One Body, which is the Body of God, and which at the same time is our own body, is to indraw a greater spirit of Life. We should daily affirm that:

There is one Life, that Life is God, that Life is my life now.  Every organ, action and function of my physical body is in harmony with the Divine Life.  There is perfect circulation, perfect assimilation and perfect elimination.  If there is anything in me that does not belong, it is removed.  If there is anything that my physical being needs that it does not appear to have, it will be supplied.  My body is daily renewed after the image of perfection with which it must be held in the Mind of God.  “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which art in heaven is perfect.”

I affirm that my body is the Body of God; it is a body of right ideas all working in harmony with each other.  The Life of the Spirit does circulate through it, the Law of the Spirit does govern it, the Love of the Spirit does sustain it.  Therefore I sleep in peace and wake in joy and live in the continual acceptance that life is good.  My whole experience is God.  My whole life is God in action.  For I am one with all Life and all Power. 

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

MAY 26     

I LIFE UP MY CUP OF ACCEPTANCE, KNOWING THE DIVINE OUTPOURING FILLS IT TO THE BRIM

… God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. 

II Corinthians 9: 8  

We lift up our cup of acceptance to the Divine Bounty when we think affirmatively and with gratitude to the Giver of all life.  Daily we should practice affirming that our cup is filled and running over, always remembering that when we affirm for ourselves we must affirm for others.  Living and letting live, giving and receiving, loving and being loved, our cup of acceptance will be filled from the horn of God’s abundance.

I am living in the continual expectancy that every good thing in my experience shall be multiplied.  There is neither doubt nor uncertainty in my mind.  Every denial is transformed into an affirmation, every negative into an acceptance, every “no” into a “yes.”  I know that the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life. I have complete confidence in this Spirit.  I know that I am loved of It and needed by It.  I feel at home with It.

Today is filled with blessing for myself and others.  The past is gone and I gladly loose it and let it go.  The present is filled with peace and joy, and the future with hope.  Gratefully I accept the presence of Love and Divine Givingness, and gladly I extend this Love and Givingness to everyone I meet.  I am made whole with the wholeness of the Spirit. Gently, but with complete certainty, I am guided into right action and successful accomplishment of all good desires.  This I accept.  This I experience.    

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

MAY 25   

EVERY NEGATIVE THOUGHT OR CONDITION IS ERASED FROM MY EXPERIENCE AND I WALK IN THE JOY OF EVER INCREASING GOOD

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. 

Psalm 91: 15, 16

This passage contains a great promise.  Not one of something that is to transpire in the future, but rather, a good that should be transpiring in the present moment in which we live – right now and right here.  Therefore we should accept this promise and its fulfillment.

I now accept this promise in its fullness.  I do believe that every good thing necessary to my success already belongs to the Kingdom of God, which I know is at hand.  I am expecting good to happen.  I anticipate success.  I believe that Divine Intelligence guides me into happiness and wholeness, because I know that God is happy and whole; therefore, I know that I am living right now in the spirit of wholeness and happiness.  I am looking through the eyes of happiness at the presence of wholeness, and accepting it.

I accept that God is Love, and knowing that God is in all people, I meet this Love which is everywhere.  Therefore, I love and I am loved.  Knowing that God is the great Giver, I accept His gift and do myself become a giver to life.  All I have I give, and all that God has I receive.  The Kingdom of God is at hand today.  I enter into it with joy.  This Kingdom contains all that belongs to the life of good.  It contains all people and all things.  Forever the life of this Kingdom flows through me in happiness, in peace and in love.

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

MAY 24   

TODAY I LOOSE ALL CONDEMNATION; I JUDGE NOT AND I AM JUDGED ONLY BY THE LAW OF GOD   

… forgive us our debts; as we forgive our debtors.   Matthew 6:12

When Jesus said that we should not judge lest we be judged, he was stating the action of the law of cause and effect.  If we wish a complete clearance from any sense of condemnation about ourselves, we must first be certain that we have released all condemnation of others from our own minds.  When we do this we meet others in a new light and reaching back of all judgment and criticism, establish a relationship that is within us, for God is One in all people.

Realizing that love is the great motivating power of life, and knowing that God must be at the center of everything, today I am meeting this God in everyone and seeing the manifestation of His life in everything.  If there is any condemnation or animosity in me, I gladly loose it.  I loose it and let it go as I turn to that silent Presence within me which gives all and withholds nothing.

Giving and receiving, loving and being loved, I rejoice with all creation and find in field and flower and running brook, in the sunshine and in the stillness of the night, that One Presence which fills everything.  I enter into the harmony of eternal peace, into the joy of knowing that I am now in the Kingdom of God, from which no person is excluded.  My yesterdays are gone forever, my tomorrows stretch forth into an endless future of pure delight.  And from out the Invisible there come to me these words: Today thou art with Me in Paradise.

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