Midweek Faith Lift
September18, 2019
Infinite Presence; Unlimited Possibilites =
ABUNDANCE
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
There is more than enough in a Universe that God created, there is more than enough on a planet of sacred design, there is more than enough…..why would I worry, why would I doubt, why would I ever think I’d go without? Infinite love made me, made everything I see, so there will always be more than enough!
Let my soul know the truth, there is more than enough! THANK YOU DANIEL NAHMOD for that affirmation, “There is more than enough, no need to worry, no need to doubt!” When you hear stories of immediate answered prayer for financial blessings that seem like miracles that cannot be explained and you pray and pray and pray and that doesn’t seem to happen for you, then it can seem like there is not more than enough because you did not get your share.
But here’s the deal: it is more complex than that because we are encountering the Infinite Presence of God and we are realizing the Unlimited Possibilities in our human experience and expression. We live at the intersection of the Infinite and what we experience as the finite, our human experience. What we lose track of is the Unlimited Possibilities that the Infinite offers us as we live in our human expression. There is no limit in God, but we can put on the consciousness of lack and thereby see only what our human limited perspective can show us. There is an infinite flow of ideas, of creative energy, of plenty in the Universe. When we decide that it has to come from ONE place, from ONE person, from ONE singular circumstance, then we have made a demand on the Universe that cannot be guaranteed, and we are bound to be disappointed.
Why is that? Because we are not asking, we are making a demand and telling the Universe or God, exactly how we want to receive our good. Jesus tells us over and over in Scripture that it is “The Father’s great pleasure to give you the Kindgom,” with the emphasis on the word give. The spiritual law of Abundance is the law of giving and receiving, without attachment on either end. We cannot take from the Universe; it doesn’t work like that. There is a great flow of energy, of ideas of love, and when we step into that flow, we will always have what we need when we need it, always!
So what about the notion that “some people have all the luck?” That if you are one of the lucky ones, good things just keep falling into your hands! Well that may be, because the Universe is both random as well as predictable. When I start feeling like that, then I am losing touch with my Infinite Presence; Unlimited Possibilities consciousness. When I start feeling that things are unfair and not as they are supposed to be, then I am heading down a dead end, because life is not fair. Jesus never promised that if you believed and followed him, everything would be just great and things would always work out just right and be fair. That only happens in musicals! Right??
What Jesus said to us was to believe in him, follow him, and our consciousness would open to what is of Infinite value; awareness of our true Divine nature that no one can ever take away from us. Realization of God as Source is our true realization of Abundance. When we awaken to that Truth, then there is Infinite Presence and Unlimited Possibilities. What does it take to awaken to that awareness? It takes faith, a walk of faith. So what is that?
What we are describing is the availability of Substance, which is the very energy of God, of the Universe. And as Butterworth says, “The miracle is in the availability of Substance, not particularly in the way that it manifests.” That is a powerful statement that tells us to let go of trying to control how our good shows up! When we do that, we shift from making a demand to making a request. Jesus our Way Shower said it this way:
Matthew 7:7-12
Ask, Search, Knock
7 “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? 10 Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (NRSV)
The promise is that when we ask, search and knock, we will receive. But there is a proviso, and it is in the last part of the passage. If you who are immature (evil) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you receive if you are in a ‘heavenly consciousness’ of asking, “your Father in heaven. That heavenly consciousness is the key to abundance because it is when we embrace the Infinite Presence of spirit within us that we have the consciousness to actually realize and step into Unlimited Possibilities. We do have to have that consciousness for our abundance to manifest. There is no other way.
There are two keys to realizing the richness of God’s Kingdom or a heavenly consciousness: Faith and Gratitude. Let’s take faith first, which is defined in the book of Hebrews:
Hebrews 11:1
The Meaning of Faith
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (NRSV)
Charles Fillmore takes it one step further and says faith is the “Conviction of things not yet seen linked to the ability to shape Substance.” It is in the linking of our conviction of things not seen – Infinite Presence, linked to our capacity to discern Unlimited Possibilities for shaping Substance that results in our ability to manifest abundance. We are endowed with the gift of agency; the ability to act on our Divine Ideas to demonstrate the Unlimited Possibilities of Spirit.
Spiritual Truth is we have to act, but we do so in conjunction with Spirit, not just our human ego. We link our human needs and desires of the heart with Spirit, and we act out of that higher “Kingdom of God” consciousness. We manifest according to our consciousness, as Butterworth says on p.183;
God can do no more for you than God can do through you. The miracle of abundance works through your consciousness, in accordance with your experience, your attitudes, your self-evaluation.
How does this look in real time? Well I have a story about that from my dad. When he was a young man, in his 20’s, he worked at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis operating the lights for all the shows that were in the Rainbow Room. There were a lot of great acts back then: Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Danny Thomas among other notables. One was Liberace, who his parents, my grandparents, just loved. My dad arranged for free tickets for them to see the show, and also was going to pay for their dinner. Only they didn’t show up. They missed the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance for a very special memory with their son because they didn’t believe they were worthy, that they deserved it. They didn’t “belong” at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, watching Liberace, so they just stayed home. Talk about limited consciousness! No miracle of enjoyment could happen in that lack consciousness. WOW! I can still hear the disappointment in my dad’s voice as he told me that story. He was speechless when it happened!
What was missing in my Grandparents that resulted in this missed opportunity? It is the other key to realizing abundance and that is Gratitude. How do we express gratitude in order to manifest our good? We do what Jesus did in the story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. This story is frequently told in order to demonstrate the miracle of abundance. And it goes like this. There were some 5000 people gathered to listen to Jesus teach and preach and at some point it was meal time and they were all hungry and there was no food. And then a young boy showed up with his lunch, 5 loaves and 2 fish. The disciples were disbelieving that it could feed the multitude –oh ye of little faith! But Jesus accepted the gift from the boy, blessed it, broke the bread and gave thanks and all were fed, with 12 baskets of leftovers.
The keys to understanding this story are to accept that you are not lacking in anything; you have everything you need right where you are, despite all appearances of lack. Your faith is in the evidence of what is there, not what is missing. And so you bless whatever is there, no matter how meager or deficient it seems to be. And then you break it open meaning you break open your heart, your mind, your consciousness to a greater reality and you give thanks for the abundant supply. When you can do that, then in the fullness of time, all you need will be provided, whether it is money, people, ideas, resources, energy, guidance, a path forward….it is all there! You just have to cultivate the consciousness to see it and receive it= Infinite Presence; Unlimited Possibilities.
We frequently get tripped up by seeing ALL that we may need, ALL that we may have to do for our dreams to manifest abundantly. But we are truly just like the young boy who showed up with his lunch and gladly gave it to Spirit to be multiplied. We don’t have to know all the right steps, just the next right step, just the next right step. It is a journey of faith as we trust that each and every next right step, next right idea, next powerful intuition will be there when we need it. Our task is to connect with the Infinite Presence of Spirit and open to the Unlimited Possibilities to manifest our Good. That is true Abundance!
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb