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February 9, 2014 – Receptivity to Abundance

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2/9/14 Rev. David McArthur
Receptivity to Abundance

Once we’ve entered into the receptivity of the heart, things happen to us because we are connected to the flow of the infinite through the heart. We can check that by asking, “Is there a flow of love and abundance in my life or are there limitations?”

Jesus’ feeding of the 4000 identifies the level of the spiritual consciousness present there, and is a picture of the spiritual potential within us now. Begin with compassion. The head can think compassion but it cannot feel it. It is an experience within the heart. We have this powerful spiritual potential. It is the Christ Self, the Atman, the Buddha Mind, the I Am. It is there within when we respond to compassion. Jesus had the crowd sit down (and shut up). So quiet the mind. In your heart move from compassion to appreciation (it is so powerful); Jesus gave thanks. They ate and were satisfied. This shows it is a spiritual experience, since the head is never satisfied. Satisfaction is an experience of spiritual fullness—in the flow of compassion and appreciation is the satisfaction of the spiritual self. In receptivity something changes and the experience then is “more than enough”.

Catherine Ponder, the prosperity teacher, says, “The experience of love draws our good to us.” A single mother, needing a car badly, brought the kids together and prayed, “divine love now brings the money to buy the perfect car for us and pay for it without strain.” Things began to move, a step at a time. A cousin was selling a car, but made arrangements with her instead. Then she got a bonus at work and then a pay raise. She got the car “without strain”. Within the experience of “not enough” is “I’m not worthy. I’m not good enough.” When you see “not enough” it is the presence of a block within you. What was within that blocked the mother’s good was healed by the love itself. It brings what is not in wholeness into wholeness. The blocks can be healed.

Catherine Ponder herself was trying to collect some money long owed her when she read, from Emma Curtis Hopkins, that everything is really full of love for you. Your good will come flying to you when you know that what you love is love. All is love. There is nothing in the universe but love. (Your brain will never agree, so tell it to “sit down”.) There is nothing—nothing–but love! Catherine Ponder says, “I felt something hard move in the area of my heart and I breathed more easily.” The money appeared shortly with apologies.

In our receptivity, our experience is always that the block we have held dissolves when a new state of consciousness is reached. The change in the outer—the abundance—is the affect; the real change is in the heart.

There is nothing in the universe but love. There is nothing in the universe but love. There is nothing in the universe but love.
There is nothing in my life but love. There is nothing in my life but love. There is nothing in my life but love.
There is nothing in that relationship but love. There is nothing in that relationship but love. There is nothing in that relationship but love.

You are in the universe; you are love!

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February 2, 2014 – The Fifth Step to the Heart: Receptivity

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2/2/14 Rev. David McArthur
The Fifth Step to the Heart: Receptivity

What an amazing journey we’re on—this amazing journey to the depth of the heart, which is infinite! I’m so joyful to be doing it with you. Step one, the awareness of how we’re feeling right now, is the beginning of the movement from the mechanism of the mind to that of the heart, to step two: connecting with the heart. Step three is entry into a beautiful spiritual connection, heart feelings. They are all love, and are experienced as joy, compassion, and so on. God is love—not that God loves, but God is love. When I love, I am one with that divine spiritual presence. When I love so does everyone in the world because they each have a heart no matter which religious club they are in. You find peace—peace within you—because it is connection to the divine presence.

Fourth is Heart Asking. We can now enter into creating with this spiritual power the world in which we live. It is the movement from saying God is good all the time to the feeling that God is good all the time, the movement into creating that experience in the world around us.
Fifth. The step today is something created by this journey: receptivity. Receptivity comes from this journey. Each time we take this journey we have an opportunity for an even deeper experience. It’s the request made of Divine Intelligence to respond to us. Divine Intelligence will not take away your ability to choose, nor impose Itself upon you, but respect you. When you ask for Its wisdom and power you get it. It’s always there. Although we see impossibility and loss, it is always there with wholeness and wisdom.
A beautiful gift! An amazing giver! These simple steps take us to a state of being where we are receptive. I am receptive. I am receptive. I am receptivity. It is the nature of who you are when you step into that spiritual self. There is something that lets us go step by step. See the reality of the love that is always there even though we can reject it. All the conditions that say otherwise are not true. You are loved with no conditions. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. I am loved. And I love you too!

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January 26, 2014 – The Fourth Step to the Heart: Heart Asking

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1/26/14 Rev. David McArthur
The Fourth Step to the Heart: Heart Asking

Step 1. is Self Awareness—that point of spiritual awakening which takes us to the capacity to choose. 2. Heart Focus—takes us to the heart, to the capacity to enter into the direct connection with the spiritual self. 3. Heart Feeling—is being at the door of the heart and diving in, feeling love, appreciation, etc. Today, it’s 4. Heart Asking. You don’t have to do this, by step 3 you are already in the place of peace. But Jesus’ teaching, “My peace I give unto you” was to find love in the midst of what’s going on, to effectively transform what’s around you. (If it’s around you it’s yours!) So you’ve gotta take care of what’s there. How? With Heart Asking—accessing the powerful divine intelligence that moves in us and through us.

You’ve heard “Ask, and it will be given to you…For everyone who asks receives.…” I explored this asking for many years. When we ask sincerely within ourselves for guidance it will be given. That’s a law and it works! Sincerity in asking takes you to the peace within and the divine guidance.

Emily Cady taught that God is not omnipotent, but omnipotence; not omnipresent, but omnipresence. All that is not a being having qualities. It is the very good itself—all power—all knowledge. We call on knowledge and power. All it is, is wholeness. We call on taking something not whole and go to wholeness.

God is the very intelligence itself. We come to the fullness of intelligence Itself. When we perceive the divine, the wholeness that is there, we are enlightened, illumined. We ask that it be brought into our experience. Self Awareness. Heart Focus. Heart Feeling. Now, Heart Asking, “How do I respond wisely?” The trick is it requires sincerity. Not asking that the heart agree with what the head has already decided, but sincerely ask with open heart, “How do I respond wisely?” When things aren’t working—we have rejection, anger, hurt—find the road to the greater through Heart Asking. The intelligence is there. It has to be. It is pure love and intelligence.

“How do I respond wisely?” “How do I respond wisely?” “How do I respond wisely?” This is a kick! It takes care of us. We are always invited into a world of wholeness and wisdom. Divine wisdom flows through my heart. Divine wisdom flows through my heart. Divine wisdom flows through my heart. It does. What a gift! Your wisdom is here, now! Bless You!

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January 19, 2014 – The Third Step to the Heart: Heart Feeling

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1/19/14 Rev. David McArthur
The Third Step to the Heart: Heart Feeling

Today we get to the good stuff, our third step—heart feeling. Our brain is so good at figuring things out we use it by default, but it can only get you to the heart. Entry into the heart, the connection to the infinite, is through heart feeling. The way there is love. But it is not the natural response when we are upset. In difficulty, or just uncomfortable moments, we give our comfort over to someone else. But there is so much love in the heart that we only need to touch a small part of it to get into it. An easy way is appreciation.

Feeling appreciation is what takes us into the power, peace, harmony, and abundance. I was downtown shopping recently and took too long to cross the street. The cars moved closer impatiently till I got to the sidewalk. A motorcycle officer pulled up and addressed me with anger that was far beyond anything that I had caused. Easily embarrassed and trained as a lawyer to point out the other person’s weaknesses, I so wanted to engage him. However, aware of my feelings, I put my hand on my heart and went to appreciation to get into my heart. Now, every grandparent knows that no matter what’s going on, they always feel love when they appreciate their grandchildren. So I refrained from adding to his anger. When he was through getting in my face he left and didn’t even give me a ticket.

Your heart does not give you power over others, but it does give you power over you, and that’s who you are responsible for. You do not need to appreciate the pain the other is in, nor participate in it and make his pain any greater. What you can do is find your freedom. Make that choice to enter into a spiritual connection.

You have the ability to walk this world in peace. You are an infinite being of magnificent power which is always there. When you begin to feel the other way, you have a tool. Enter into the feeling—appreciate God is good all the time! That goodness is in your heart and you have access to it all the time. It’s there! Even weeks after a difficult experience, it’s there!

Step one: self-awareness. Step two: heart focus. Now step three: Heart feeling. You have power. On this, Krishnamurti said, “You will discover that for you, the world transforms.” And an amazing thing happens: the more you find your peace, the easier it is for all others. For your heart being that way, I thank you!

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January 12, 2014 – The Second Step to the Heart: Heart Focus

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1/12/14 Rev. David McArthur
The Second Step to the Heart: Heart Focus

This is the Year of the Heart, both individually and also for a community of consciousness that touches the world. How do we get there? The first step is self awareness: stop, check, what do I feel—happiness? stress? unlimited anger? peace? Self awareness puts us at a moment of choice. Self awareness is in the brain, but this is the year of the heart. To experience San Francisco, you have to leave Walnut Creek. You can’t experience the heart in the head, you have to leave the head.

The next step is to shift from the head to the heart. Focus your attention on the area around your heart. Sense this part of your being—the energy there, the movement, the warmth. It is easier if you place your hand over your heart. One of the most powerful ways to focus attention on the area around your heart is to pretend to breathe through your heart.

So we got there. Our attention is now on our hearts. Why do we want this? The Koran says that whosoever believes, God guides from the heart. From the Hindu scripture, “I, the supreme Lord, the super-soul in every embodied being…you should meditate upon me within the heart and maketh me the God of life.” In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu says, “The great Tao flows everywhere…since it is merged with all things and hidden in their hearts.”

To find it we have to go find it in the heart. It’s the way we are designed. The brain interprets life. That’s wonderful, but it separates. The capacity to understand our oneness is in the heart. We have to choose to focus on the heart.

A nun who managed multiple half-way houses told David that this alone had changed everything. She asked everyone who came in suffering to place their hand over their heart and breath through the heart.

The first step is self awareness. The second step is heart focus. Keep checking in: self awareness—what am I feeling? Whatever, take a deep breath “through” your heart. It’s a beautiful feeling—breathe through your heart—our freeway. Breathe through the heart. “Whatever I am feeling, I take a deep breath through my heart.” Anchor there and bring the energy through the heart. In stress, pain, difficulty, or worry, put your hand on your heart. Take a deep breath through your heart. Watch the shift to the place where you connect with the divine, with greater balance, intelligence, peace. It is profound—it takes us to the heart, the place of connection. It’s gift is peace. Whatever I am feeling, I take a deep breath through my heart. Welcome to peace!

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December 29, 2013 – Vanquishing the Demons Within

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12/29/13 Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
Vanquishing the Demons Within

We spend a lot of time dealing with the demons within—our negative core beliefs. When demons show up, the power of our physical trinity—Spirit, Mind, Body—is required to vanquish them. Spirit is imminent and transcendent and flows to the mind and then the body.

Our self-defeating beliefs, our demons, are fear, doubt, feeling unworthy, not smart enough or powerful enough, and so forth. They wouldn’t show up if you didn’t have the power within to vanquish them. They reside in our subconscious and keep us from living a “charmed” life.

We have the characteristics of our spiritual parent and have its powers to overcome when we are aligned with our trinity! So we align with Spirit to allow guidance to come into mind, then bring it into our body of affairs. It’s important not to deal with demons at a physical level. Direct the three parts together so you don’t take all your issues into 2014.

The key is to be aware, mindful, of what those demons are. Look at the inner demons triggered by those things that we want to get rid of. What inner demon is a recurrence of the same thing from the past? What part of me have I dis-owned, denied, in order to be accepted? Shine the light on it and face that demon. Heal it and be free of it forever. Accept all of you and direct the power of love upon everything you believe is “uncool”, unlovable, unworthy about yourself. Love heals all wounds. When you are stopped from doing what you want by one of your demons, the good thing is that now you know what it is, and now you can do something about it!

You have the power! We are not victims! We are not weaklings! We are offspring of the most powerful thing in the universe! Nothing can diminish you! Who can diminish God? Stand in your power.

DENIAL: Fear, Anger, Doubt, Unworthiness and other negative self-defeating beliefs have no power over over me!
AFFIRMATION: I am powerful! I live and move and have my being as the Most Powerful Essence in the Universe. The Power of 3 has set me free!

And that’s the truth!

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December 22, 2013 – Christmas-Love Creates New Consciousness

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12/22/13 Rev. David McArthur
Christmas – Love Creates New Consciousness

Christmas is about a change of consciousness in the world that also happens in our own spiritual journeys. In the story of the Annunciation in the Gospel of Luke, Mary answers the angel, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be unto me as ye said.” What a state of receptivity! In the Christmas story, the presence of angels invites us to a higher consciousness. As the higher consciousness of peace is born in us, it is born more deeply into the world. Joseph stands for the capacity to discern that which is higher, which has more wisdom, in us. He saw what the young Mary, pregnant and unwed, could face in their severely repressive society. Joseph could see the higher and had the capacity to say “yes!”

This experience in the scripture is an experience of the heart. Mary and Joseph have in their hearts the love of God and can see the new level of consciousness. It comes from the love in their hearts. Love creates new consciousness. Say with me, Love creates new consciousness in me.

Little Perry’s mom, a single-mother who couldn’t work due to a heart condition, could not always provide even the bare necessities. But when the new neighbor on Christmas eve asked to borrow a cup of flour, she welcomed her in. The neighbor was also a single mom, and had two boys about Perry’s age. They were even more destitute, but, with Perry’s consent, his mom invited them to share what truly little there was. Christmas morning came and Perry was so excited he raced out of his bedroom to find the neighbor lady cooking in the kitchen and the two neighbor boys on the couch in the living room. There was one toy for each of them under the small tree. Perry had asked for a GI Joe. His mom had managed to find a charity that had some toys for boys. Perry tore open his package and it was a GI Joe. No ammo pack or rifle, but it was GI Joe. There was a present for each of the other boys. However, a new consciousness was born in Perry when he saw the excitement and joy on the neighbor boys’ faces as each unwrapped his present.

We don’t experience higher consciousness until we see the love and joy there. Love creates new consciousness. Until we see there is something new and beautiful and higher in it, until we see with the love. Love creates a higher consciousness in me. It does. See it everywhere this Christmas! Love creates a higher consciousness in me. And when it does, it creates a very merry Christmas!

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December 15, 2013 – God as Santa

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12/15/13 Rev. David McArthur
God As Santa

Christmas is a celebration of giving, when intention is set into motion. We create a time of giving and love in the Earth. Giving gifts is an experience of the Divine—because giving is the nature of God.

As opposed to religious teaching, spiritual teaching goes to all the children to let them know they are just as special as Jesus was. We use a grandfather figure with a flowing beard (God) who gives gifts and is dressed in red (for life and vitality). We don’t get to see him Christmas night (when we experience the Divine, most don’t recognize it), but he leaves the gifts (symbols of Divine love) in the home. The hearth (the heart of the home) spreads light and warmth throughout. The chimney is the vertical access to the higher consciousness. The North Pole (for Heaven) is real and the reindeer and sleigh that fly are the magic (the love) which makes it all work. There’s another part too, the asking—the list for Santa—to teach the children to open to receive.

The goodness of God is available to you no matter how naughty you have been because you are a child of God. The truth is, Divine love gives because you are.

When children grow they begin to understand they can give, and begin to know the truth and power of Santa: we are expressing the Divine. Generosity and abundance are as we express them and it is Divine.

It’s not about religion. As a Jewish boy, Jay Frankston yearned for a joyous Christmas celebration in his home, and promised himself that when he had a family, they’d have a Christmas tree with all the trimmings. He liked playing Santa for his children so much that he also played Santa in New York City for 12 years. He would go to the post office and read the children’ letters addressed to the North Pole. So moved by the children expressing real need, he’d visit them as Santa on Christmas Day giving toys from their list. At one home there was a girl that stood off to the side. He went to her and in a whisper asked why she wasn’t joining in. She answered she wasn’t from the family, she was Jewish. He whispered back, “So am I!”

Thanks Spirit, for involving the commercial world in it, too. However, it’s not a commercial experience, but a spiritual one. Isn’t it wonderful—a joyous expression of Divine love! There are no conditions—you are loved and are the expression of Divine love! Let it flow—forget budgets! Affirm, “Santa lives in me!” I’m so grateful Santa lives through you!

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December 8, 2013 – Light from the Darkness

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12/8/13 Rev. David McArthur
Light from the Darkness

What a wonderful thing the Christmastime experience is! There’s a glow about it. But there is another spiritual truth expressed. Out of the Roman times was to come enlightenment. “…mystery and manifestations arise from the same source. This source is called darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding. The Master observes the world but trusts his inner vision… His heart is open as the sky.” the Tao te Ching, (trans. Stephen Mitchell).

We do our own darkness about our health, finances, relationships, etc. But we know God Is Good All The Time, even in the darkness. There is a presence of the Divine in every thing we see. This past week we have watched the world celebrate the wonderful Nelson Mandela. Out of 27 years of imprisonment darkness came his freedom and his leading a truly new nation to overcome justifiable hate and that enlightened more than just South Africa, but the world.

Darkness has the potential to fill with light. Mandela’s imprisonment is a picture of our darkness, our un-illumined state. Within it is our potential to receive enlightenment. It is our choice to awaken to it. “Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light?” Step back from your own mind where we make judgments. Move to understanding, a spiritual experience of the heart. The result is it cleanses our inner seeing. I trust my inner vision. My heart is open as the sky.

Bill Clinton once commented to Nelson Mandela, “I appreciated your having your jailer at your installation as president. How did you get to that point?” Mandela answered, “It was a particular moment in prison. I realized that they had taken everything from me…everything except my mind and my heart. Those I will not give away…” It is an amazing story of the power he had as a spiritual being to choose. He could have given it away in anger and hate, the natural response. But then he’d be as they. He chose love instead. Light in the darkness. It’s always there. It’s who you are! I trust my inner vision. My heart is open as the sky.

Yes, we journey through darkness in which we lose our hope and knowledge of who we are. In that darkness is the potential of light. You have the ability to see your inner vision. For your marvelous open hearts, I give thanks!

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