December 29, 2013 – Vanquishing the Demons Within


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!

December 22, 2013 – Christmas – Love Creates New Consciousness


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!

December 15, 2013 – God as Santa


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!

December 8, 2013 – Light from the Darkness


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!

November 17, 2013 – Ignite Your Life


11/17/13 Rev. Jim Lee
Ignite Your Life

The kingdom of Heaven is right here, right now! The truth of our reality is abundance and prosperity and we need to manifest it. If you know and experience and demonstrate the complete experience of God Almighty as our source, you will create wealth and health. Charles Fillmore said that this is not a theory, but a demonstrated fact. Now is the time to open your mind and see. It’s like air—you need to breath it in to get it. Your prosperity is yours alone and you alone must get it. It’s not about money, but God, about being in the presence of divine flow, including financial prosperity. Some don’t want money because of some things in the Bible, as “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” But this is a misrepresentation. Jesus was pointing out that the rich man wasn’t into God as much as he was into money.

Yes, God Is Good All The Time. Do you trust in it—like when you are cut off in traffic? Do you pause and say to yourself, “God has got this, really!” Trust the process! Focus in on the truth: the magnificence of God. Keep you eye on God more than the condition or situation. I put a bowl of my dog’s favorite food on the floor but told him to wait. His eyes stayed focused on mine and he never broke his gaze until I told him it was ok to eat. We have to stay focused on God, not the manifestation of our fears that we project into our world. Will Smith, in “Beyond Earth”, tells his son that danger is real, but fear is optional. He told his son that in the midst of danger, get grounded and take yourself out of the moment and focus on truth. You can choose not to fear by staying focused.

We have mis-programmed our subconscious, which is where the power is. The ‘chemicalization” in the subconscious is then projected into our world. When we introduce a positive thought into a sea of mis-belief and negative programming, it seems all Hell breaks loose. This is called the 2nd force. The bubbling up of the 2nd force shows what needs to be healed. It is actually a good thing because it reveals the stuff we need to heal! So say “Oh goodie! Make my day!” It’s an opportunity to grow! On the other side is healing, prosperity. Life like never before! Tap into your divine birthright. You can have Heaven on Earth right now. Say, “Oh goodie! Make my day!”

November 10, 2013 – A Step Towards Wholeness


11/10/13 Rev. David McArthur
A Step Toward Wholeness

When a question comes up one, two, three times, it’s Spirit saying, “Okay, I’ve got something for you to look at.” Here’s one: there’s something going on in your life, but “God is good all the time”—except this time? When facing a serious challenge, you have a choice: where do you place your attention?

A four year old girl is diagnosed with polio. “She’ll never walk again.” Her mother says, “YES SHE WILL!” This was not easy—rural Tennessee, deep poverty, big family, many children. With her mother’s support, the family kept focused and took what steps they could. At six the girl got metal braces; she stood and took her first step. 10 years later, at 16, she ran to a bronze medal in the Olympics! 4 years after that she won 3 gold medals. Fastest woman in the world! Her name is Wilma Rudolph.

The nature of God’s presence is wholeness. But when it isn’t there, it doesn’t mean God isn’t there. Divine goodness is there—as the potential within the experience. Take a step towards the wholeness. Every time the divine IS there. This is the force that we are one with, that is within us. It is what we create with. When it looks the worst is the time to remember “God is good all the time.” Because it is there—it is always there.

Gandhi, so insecure he could not talk to people, ran into a system of brutal subjugation. People wanted to deal with it using violence, but to him that wasn’t wholeness. Knowing he would likely be beaten, imprisoned, or killed, he took his step. He had no idea that it would eventually lead an entire nation of millions to freedom without violence. He just knew that was his next step. And it came from the step before. And that came from the step before. Those things in our world where we don’t express wholeness (relationships, health challenge, “not enough”—money, support, acceptance, whatever)—one step towards wholeness is all it takes.

God IS good all the time. At any time it is potential. What makes the difference between potential and manifestation? We’re what makes the difference. Commit: I am going to do that which I can do—a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness. I will take a step toward wholeness.

When you do you will discover that God Is Good All The Time!

November 3, 2013 – Creating Spiritual Partnerships


11/3/13 Mike & Michelle Robbins
Creating Spiritual Relationships

AUTHENTICITY is the first tool for developing spiritual relationships which deepen our own spirituality. It can’t be rehearsed. It’s a phenomenon; it’s right now. It’s not authentic to be afraid to ask for what we need or want and expect others to know. Gay Hendricks, Conscious Loving: most conflict is 2 people or groups arguing for the victim position. In any argument or conflict it only takes one person to say something that is undeniably vulnerable, and it is always something emotional and authentic, like what they feel right now or why. So most conflict can be resolved with only one ten minute “sweaty palms conversation”, when you use your Emotional Intelligence—how do I feel, what do I need? —and your Relationship Intelligence, which is learning how state what you need, and ask what you need to do. It’s like you were learning to dance with a partner.

The second tool is APPRECIATION. Ask “How can I support you?” “What do you need?” “Is there something I missed?” It’s also about the spiritual relationship we have with ourselves. Would you appreciate a little more appreciation? Ask for more. “I would like to be acknowledged.” Sometimes it’s, “I need some space.” And when someone expresses appreciation for you, say, “Thank you.” Really receive it. It’s a gift. Any other reply, even countering with another compliment, does not allow appreciation, nor is it authentic.

In the moment, things often don’t look the way we thought. It isn’t so easy. But to never have conflict means someone is lying. That’s the challenge. However. the more authenticity and appreciation in spiritual relationships with others, the deeper is our own spirituality. Mike was explaining to his young daughter about when, as a young man, he had started a very promising professional baseball career but lost it when he broke his arm. Answering her innocent question as honestly as he could, he said that now he wasn’t sad about it, because then he would never have met her mom and they wouldn’t have her. He said he was actually grateful for it. Realizing it all had led him to his beautiful wife and daughters, he was overwhelmed and moved to tears of deep appreciation. Truth, honesty, vulnerability. Authenticity. Appreciation. Trust that there is a greater intelligence and that things work out the way they should!

October 27, 2013 – God Touches


10/27/13 Rev. David McArthur
God Touches

I remember hearing something that at once I knew was true, yet I did not understand. It was from Emily Cady. “God is the name we give to that unchangeable, inexorable principle… the creative underlying cause of all things… In each individual, He becomes…a personal, loving, all-forgiving Mother-Father…[but] God is not a being having qualities, it is the very good itself…All love in the universe is God. [When you love, that’s God.] All the wisdom and intelligence…is God.” From Charles Fillmore, “I am now in the presence of pure Being and immersed in the Holy Spirit of life, love, and wisdom.” Like experiencing the night sky full of an infinite number of stars, we sense we are part of something greater that moves through us all, as a wave is but a part of the whole ocean. We don’t get to live there, but we touch it and we know it is real.

Having fled a raging forest fire which swept down upon her home, Sandra McFall asked her friend Paul to go back with her that first time. Her greatest fears were realized as she saw the total ruin of her home. She was a professional artist, and had not only lost her home, but her workplace and much of her work as well. Paul did find in the ashes a picture of Sandra’s father that had survived relatively intact. She remembered how she and her parents, as missionaries in Africa, had lost that home too to fire when soldiers swept through destroying everything. She remembered how her father had told her then that everything she needed was inside her. Back at the diner, Paul produced a book he had retrieved from the ruins. It was her mother’s Bible. It was still full of the many notes her mother had made whenever she had seen the touch of God in their recovery from that earlier loss. Sandra resolved that from then on she would count her “God touches” every day.

So everyday I count 5 “God touches”. #1 is that I open my eyes each morning. My thoughts go right to #2—coffee! How it’s so carefully grown and processed and delivered to me. What about that first smile of the day? All that love—that is God. And then stepping out into the fall breeze and sunshine! And when I turn the key and the car starts right up, that’s God—all those parts put together and delivered to me at my fingertips. Emilie Cady said, “It’s not that God has power; God IS power.”

Are you willing to do five a day? It can be the smile you see, the food you eat. The more you are aware of, the deeper is your experience. “Divine love touches me right now!” “Divine love touches me right now!”