On God, Love and Life in Ease and Flow

I'm thrilled to share my journey of spirituality with my daughter. What a journey of expansion and awakening this has been - and continues to be. I am grateful for all that I am learning, in this time and space, this lifetime.

On each leg of my journey, I learn the love of God/Goddess/Source/Universe in new and unshakable ways.

I rarely endorse books because I feel that we often relinquish our power to discern, when we read, but I've recommended a few here that truly resonate with me. I invite you to read within a state of loving awareness - see if it sits well with you. Stop and ponder as often as you need to.

From God Directly

My journey began before the age of six (6), with a God who spoke to me all the time. Sure, we attended the Anglican church, but I seem to have blocked anything I might had heard of Christ from there. When I was scared, he (male at that time) spoke through thunder in the skies or a soothing voice in and around me, comforting me and reminding me of his omnipotence and unconditional love for me.

When those who should love me became dangerous, he revealed the root of their hurts and I learned compassion where those around me at the time only had judgment. He saved me from becoming a monster to protect myself from monsters. At eight (8) years old, I promised to never let this world steal my innocence - that I would honour his love for me by becoming love, myself.

Today, I believe this to have been God, yes, but through my inner being and, perhaps, my guide as well.

From God in Christ

At eight (8), I'd left private school to enter the (for me) tyrannical Roman Catholic primary school system. It was at that time that I finally started hearing, or noticing, Christ in the teaching of the Anglican (English Catholic) church we still attended.

Clear that no one was choosing my God for me - not after all he'd done for me - at school, I got quite a few spankings for refusing to say the sorrowful mysteries of Mary, mother of God and the intercessor on our behalf with Christ (to Roman Catholics). It didn't feel quite right, but alright, I began calling God "Christ".

I learned about fear (no, not respect; fear) - there were things that could keep me from God for eternity - I learned about guilt, shame, turning the other cheek, doormat politeness, the sin of sex, the evils of money and the rich, and being born a sinner. My God never said any of these things to me, nor did Christ, but suddenly, "what if I wasn't hearing him right? These people seemed pretty sure." Enter doubting my own ability to hear God.

THIS, I believe, is the most dangerous teaching of religions (and heirarchy-focused or authoritarian organizations, in general) - "as a flawed human, you're likely wrong. Leave it to us leaders to discern, and be sure to get 'confirmation' from at least two (2) leaders before you believe what you think you've heard yourself". In essence, "give up your relationship with God and with your intuition, and trust ours instead".

Today, I understand that as a direct creation of God, I (and each aspect of creation) hears God correctly. We may interpret based on our level of maturity, but even that has been stunted by our perceived inability to trust ourselves to discern God and to self-govern - something we did just fine in egalitarian societies.

There was no devil or serpent or sin that separated us from knowing and hearing God - there were only human beings driven by fear who presented the illusion of separation from God so that we would turn to them to connect with God again.

Money and / or the love of it is not the root of all evil. It's a convenient notion to instill a fear of it, so that it's left to the few fear-filled wealthy global citizens, as far back as ~2000 BCE periods and even further back. Still, when you shed light on money, you'll see that as long as you manage it, and aren't a slave to it (which ironically only the non-rich are, exchanging our best lives for money), it works with God for your good and the good of all you encounter. It's energy.

If you're interested, Wallace Wattles frames it well (for me) in "The Science of Getting Rich". "The Alphabet versus The Goddess" by Leonard Shlain (not at all a religious book) mentions that in egalitarian societies, money didn't exist! Egalitarian societies were feminine-based, designed around self-governance not central government.

Self governance, personal sovereignty and free will, all aspects of being human that we allow religion and hierarchy-focused or authoritarian organizations to take from us. I'm healing in those areas now, and taking my power back.

From God in Christ beyond Catholicism

Here, I learned more of the goodness of God. I learned a lot about how judgmental and controlling I had become, and began the journey of releasing that. Always introspective, this part of my journey took on greater maturity in viewing myself, not just looking at God. Enter "self" the sinner, but so much love too... a self capable of connecting with God myself, but that that must be seconded by wise counsel, of course.

I also learned, here, the evil of the mysterious arts, that women are the channel of sin and worse than men. Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, exposed to multiple religions, I hadn't learned of one that clearly said something different. Coming to Canada to learn this - or to have it register on my radar - was a whole other smack in the face. Submit to your husband, be silent in Church... still, I stayed. I said, "because you are a God of Love, show me what this really means".

I'd accepted it - after all, the word of God is infallible, right? It was when the leadership began to silence my comments in bible study and in general, that I decided to leave. God in full love, of course, would not let me leave until I could fully release and forgive.

I had to accept that they were trapped and couldn't see Christ's real message of freedom in Love, for ALL of us as children of God. The politics of the Grecco-Roman era that decided the bible was infallible sealed their fate in fear. Loving them for all the good I had learned in the Church (this one and all at large), I finally left. This was when I left the Church for good.

Knowing God Today

You know how you keep living the same lessons over and over until you learn them - running into the same kind of boss, boyfriend/girlfriend, friends, fears, etcetera? That was my lesson with the Church - "release fear completely, follow me (God) in Love, and you will find the full truth of me everywhere", and my God, how true that has been.

Today, I know that the mysterious spiritual elements are feminine (or right brain) strengths shut down by modern religion. Intuition, psychic or clairvoyant gifts, the healing arts, must today all be explained to be valid. The masculine (or left brain) need things to be physical, tangible, explainable, and entire societies labelled their women witches and killed almost all of their women under the guise of a witch hunt. (How come no one has apologized for this?)

Did you know that the word "witch" is derived from the words 'wit' or 'wisdom' in the Greek BCE? Do your own Google search, of course, but this is also found in "Women Who Run With the Wolves" and a few other books that reveal the sources of our scary myths today. "The Alphabet versus The Goddess" by Leonard Shlain is another eye opener on the root of the witch hunt. Yikes.

Today, I know that we ALL, all of creation, return to God/Goddess/Source/Universe when we die, to be healed after our time on earth. We get to see clearly what we have learned while here, to remember all that was of Love and lovely about our time here. We also get to have a clearer lens (without fear) on what life is like when we avoid our light, God's light - what we call 'bad' or 'evil' is an absence of light. I know that God shows up to us as what we are comfortable with, as our current beliefs in this life. Books on this:

• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25953787-the-unlimited-sparks-of-a-bonfire

• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104979.Journey_of_Souls

What freedom. I have never breathed more deeply, or relaxed and seen God in Love so clearly, as I do now. That keeps expanding.

Today, I know that we are born with no purpose except to learn and experience life fully and abundantly as we desire. I know that we have absolute free will, so we may choose a purpose or we may simply live to enjoy life or whatever we choose. We're free to change course, believe something else or hold firmly to our beliefs, to change lenses for a while or not. We're free.

I'm still learning, of course, so who knows what's next. I hope, whatever your journey, daughter of mine, that you remain free, overflowing in love and light, with a light heart that lets you soar and love being feminine. ❤

Love, Light and Abundance in all good things.

Crystal-Marie

What I Believe Today

What I Believe, Today

The one thing I've learned on my journey of love with God is that expansion never ceases. The Creator and Lover of our souls has created us all for the continued expansion of love and creation and that that Love includes everyone. That means that what I learn today can shift my understanding in major or minor ways, affecting what (and how) I believe tomorrow.

Be Still And Know That I Am God

As I observe my newborn baby girl, I cannot help but go even deeper in my knowledge of God, of my spirituality, as I consider the legacy of unconditional love, choice and free will that I leave for her. All I've ever felt from God was Love. All fear, doom & gloom, shame, judgement, perfectionism, etcetera, all came from people - never in my quiet moments with God. When I am still, I know that I am loved completely, endlessly, unconditionally - and that everyone else is too.

What I Know Today

What I know, believe, today is that:

Unconditional love, self governance and absolute free will are the basic gifts God gave all of us - no exceptions. We are all, each of us, direct children of our Creator, and that we thus create and further expand our world by our words.

Whatever we focus on expands. If we speak things into being, and thoughts become words and action, then if we are wise, we will choose words of Love, not of fear/worry.

No one - no one- can govern your connection with God but you. Beware of anyone who tells you

"how to hear and interpret God"

. I believe that boundary is as important to your health as being able to govern your own mind and body. In the same vein, know that these are my beliefs and that to discover truth, you must honour your Own beliefs. Of course, you must first find out what those are.

Babies, as souls, choose our parents based on what we hope to learn in our life on earth at this time and in this space. I believe we choose to be born in the particular place, space and time, to experience life on earth, as it can only be in this space and time.  As a parent, I believe that means I am to create the environment of security, sanctuary and free will, in Love, that will allow her to truly flourish during her time on earth.

We (may) choose to incarnate on earth (or elsewhere) multiple times during the life of our souls and that the Universe expands with our every thought, word and deed, here. We have the wisdom of intentional amnesia as souls to allow each incarnation to be lived without influence from the last, but that that life experience is still accessible.

One God, one Source, loves and covers everyone and all beings that exist, that we all return to that Creator upon death, to be healed, incorporate our life lessons and decide whether or not we want to return to grow more, as souls created by God.

Jesus Christ was indeed real, and really the son of God, but that he came not to make us stamps of him, but to let us know that we too are already also equally powerful sons and daughters of God.

The word "witch" comes from the word for "wit" and "wisdom" in Greek, and that if delve beyond the fear and control of "witchcraft" and religion, we will find a suppressed knowledge of a huge part of our natural abilities and knowledge as humans (

"Women Who Run With the Wolves"

, E. Pinkola). That no religion or spiritual practice has it all right or all wrong.

Bless You 

There's so much more to share. I hope I've inspired you to start truly assessing what you really believe (if you step out in Love and release fear), leaving behind what you should believe to discover your own truth- what God, the Universe, your inner being, is saying to only you. I dare say it makes for a more complete you, which the world really needs. ❤

In Love, Light and Abundance,

Crystal-Marie

An Expanded View of God

Hi My Loves.

I haven't written about my journey on this expanded knowledge of God for a while, so wanted to write an update, if only for journaling reasons. My knowledge of God now certainly goes well beyond Christianity, or mere religion, for that matter. I don't believe all that's out there, but it is so absolutely true that we each hear God directly. I do hope you know and trust that this is true of you, as well - whether or not those around you agree.

This excerpt says a lot of what I currently believe - there's no one group that God loves or connects with above all...

"This spirituality sees that everything in nature has consciousness, and is therefore sacred. That the proper attitude of a human towards the Creator is gratitude. That all creatures are part of the family of life. And that no matter a person’s age or skin color or national origin, and whether living on Earth or resident out among the stars, the ancient Lakota [Sioux] saying handed down over the ages was entirely true: “Mitakuye oyasin!” Everyone is my relative."

Source: 

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_alien/starkids/starkids05.htm

What a journey of love and well-being this is!

Love, Light and Abundance in all good things.

Crystal-Marie

My Journey to Love & God - Part 1

Hello Beloved! I hope you feel loved regardless of your current circumstances.

I've been on an incredible journey with God since I've last written you. This is a quick update on my Journey to the Truth, from the

Knowledge of Christ to the Knowledge of All of God.

I thought it was important to share so that you could make a conscious decision about whether or not you'd like to keep reading/following

Love covers All . God is Love

(Facebook).

Yours in Love.

In Love with Christ

Fear versus Love.

In my last post on

the Trees in the garden of Eden

, you'd have started to see a shift in my belief. I believe Jesus Christ is truly my reason for being so aware, so awake, and aware of how loved I am by God, who created us all.

A New View of Jesus

The shift you'd have started to see is that I currently believe Jesus Christ came to let us know that we are

already

Sons and Daughters of God with the same gifts and abilities he had; that we never lost dominion over the earth. He came to let us know that we don't have to

"wait for Him to return"

to walk in that power, but that we

"will do greater things than these"

right now. Sadly, we've run amok

devaluing emotions, intellect and the physical

, so we're not

"free"

in religion to explore the beauty of how these all fit into our spirituality and our relationship with God.

Further, I no longer believe the Bible to be infallible. I do believe that it was God-inspired in many ways, but not that it is flawless. I now believe that authors of the Bible were much like us. Just as we have inspired God-breathed moments, at no time are we completely perfect and representative of the entire body, spirit or soul of God.

Daughter of God Revisited

Feminine energy and the

"male and female"

that God created - and deeply Loves. We often allude, in Church, to the fact that Jesus never shunned women like others did. In fact, that He spent a lot of time with them. Where God is taking me now is opening up a whole new realm of knowledge around the very different, yet equal, importance of the voice of both men and women in getting to know God fully. There's far too much to even begin to scratch the service here. Just a sniff - we have

totally

misunderstood the

"mystery"

of women and have completely reversed (and damaged) our women by enforcing the stereotype that they are 

"givers"

instead of

"receivers"

. That this is how we actually walk as

ezer kenegdo

 (paragraph 6: Genesis 2:18 be translated as

"I will make a power [or strength] corresponding to man."

 & paragraph 7: 1 Corinthians 11:10,

"For this reason, a woman must have power [or authority] on her head [that is to say, invested in her]."

) to our male companions.

More to Learn

I do not profess to have the full picture at all. In fact, I'm sure as I step into a fuller relationship with God, He'll re-frame a lot of what I believe I've learned here. What I will say is, regardless of how you view this, I hope you walk away not worried or sad, but full of joy that you know that God is greater than any error, misinterpretation or anything else we can dream up.

And You? 

Again, this is MY journey. I want to give you the opportunity to follow/not follow this blog/

Facebook page

based on your beliefs. Comments will likely be deleted. If you agree, I'm excited to have you on this journey! If you don't, I'm truly grateful for the part of my journey that we've shared. Thank you!

If you're still on board, you might enjoy reading the application of these lessons in my life, and in the lives of those I'm privileged to walk with, at

protectyourdreams.blogspot.com

Have a great week!

Yours in Love. Crystal-Marie S.

The Trees in the Garden of Eden (Part 2)

In part 1,

I went through

the root fear

we all face and

how we conquer that fear.

We delve into the role of love and fear and

our role as sons and daughters of God.

Why it's so important that we find

our true individual identities

in relationship with God, so that we can be

a stronger community.

If you haven't,

you might want to read it

before getting into the actual trees, but

part 2 will still make sense if you don't.

The Trees in the Garden of Eden

The two trees we hear of in the garden of Eden were the

Tree of Life (#1)

and the

Tree of the Knowledge

of Good and Evil (#2)

.

 Note,

it's not just "the Tree of Knowledge". I'm sure growing up you, too, were taught that when the Word said

"their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked"

, it meant they

suddenly knew too much; things they didn't know before.

Recently, however, God took me on another very visual, very vivid journey, to reveal

this new perspective.

(It is so true that no one knows the whole mind of Christ. It is beautiful that He gave us a lifetime of mystery and relationship with Him to learn it! So amazing, our God!)

All the knowledge we had was shrunk to knowledge of just good and evil.

 In short, I've learned that the Knowledge of Good and Evil shrank the Knowledge of Life in it's Fullness to just black and white, good and evil, perpetual judgement. Get it?

Tree of Life, Tree #1,

revealed to us the

full range of colours,

the role of good and evil in the midst of the rest of life, and

the role of Love

in keeping everything else in place, in the 'right' roles. Perhaps this will help:

Tree #1 (Life)                                                                    / Tree #2 (Knowledge of Good & Evil)

• All colours (which make up white, coincidentally) / Black and white only (oh, and grey *sigh*)

• All: good, evil, beauty, Love, growth, learning       / Good and evil (and constant fear of falling)

• Love keeping perfect balance, harmony                  / Perpetual judgement (fear of falling)

Source:

lovecoversall-godislove.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-trees-in-garden-of-eden-part-2.html

You see, Adam and Eve didn't not recognize evil because it was in it's place, when they had only seen Life to the Fullest.

They enjoyed what was good because by contrast evil shows us that good is good - that way good is never boring or 'status quo'. Remember, the enemy fell before they came - they always knew he was always there - but they (and he) always knew his place, until they submitted to him. That is why it's called the Fall. They, we (we would have done the same thing),

fell from the

Full Knowledge of Life

to the mere

knowledge of Good and Evil.

Good news!

This is why

Jesus Christ's

coming, our LORD and Saviour, is just that - salvation - because

He restored to us the capacity to see that, again.

Our gospel is that!

Hence, Love is His message!

 God is His message! God is Love! We utter words and don't hear our selves. Try this: Say it out loud and sit with it -

God is Love!

Are you free now to walk in that?

The Fullness of Life

A huge part of knowing the Fullness of Life, in Christ,

is knowing the place of Good and Evil in that Fullness. It is, then, that we begin living from a place of

restoring our Knowledge of the Fullness of Life.

That means dropping all that baggage - perfection, appearances, joggling balls, fears - and

choosing to walk (doing it, afraid or not) exactly as you truly are,

skeletons and all, right now. You will literally feel it physically: you breath more deeply, more slowly, your shoulders relax (or you finally realize they hurt! Lol), you stand straighter.

You simply are. No pressure.

No burden. You see,

we were not designed to carry all that weight.

That baggage is what came with the Knowledge of (only) Good and Evil.

That baggage is why death entered the equation. All that stress destroys us, and the enemy continues to deceive us into thinking

"oh, that's just the way it goes".

It doesn't have to be. It's why Christ revealed that it is this very body that will be transfigured. Why not start now? First, we have to accept and love our current selves, good, bad and other, before we can go any further. As long as you're holding on to all that baggage, your hands will be too full to walk out of that prison -

the prison you created after Christ died to free us from it.

This is what Christ died to give us.

That is

reconciliation with God

and

walking in Life Abundantly.

I know and honour the fact that this is not likely a perspective you've heard before. I just want you to know that. If you can see it, however, if this has awakened something in you or if it's put together all the pieces of a puzzle for you,

I'm honoured to have been a part of that.

Be & Love the True You

If you truly lived this, being true to who you are,

where you are, at all times, then light will always shine on what needs to change or a new opportunity for growth.

Your truth will illuminate your next level of learning and growth.

As you explore that new area of growth

in freedom, love and faith

(instead of the bondage of doubt, fear of doing wrong and guilt/shame),

you will enjoy it!

You will enjoy learning

"wow! all the time I thought X, and God's revealed Y to be true."

You'll want to learn more, no? Making mistakes is a part of the growth process! Learning from experience rather than the words of others is a part of the growth process.

Being a part of your own growth process is relationship with God!

Your pastor, priest, mentor, counselor cannot have that relationship on your behalf.

You have to live it.

You need to love it, however, in order to keep wanting to do it!

Look back on your life.

We make mistakes and then we see all the "negative consequences" of our action and we think

"I'm paying for..."

Isn't that, technically, blasphemy, if Christ was supposed to have paid? Aren't we supposed to truly repent,

and know that it's been paid for?

Take a look at one mistake you made

that you can see the trail of "consequences" for. I'd like to invite you, now, to 

look at that same mistake, and see what you've learned from it,

what good things came out of what you learned, what good things you've learned about yourself, and how you can use all of that to empower, encourage, others who perhaps have made the same or similar mistakes.

Can you?

I'll ask the questions from the image in

Part 1

, again:

Source: 

lovecoversall-godislove.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-trees-in-garden-of-eden-part-1.html

Write me or comment and let me know your thoughts?

I truly believe that as we discover our purpose in Christ, through relationship with Him, our lives will be the examples that empower others to do the same.

The Trees in the Garden of Eden (Part 1)

To those of you who've been following me consistently for some time, I'd like to say thank you for reading. You know that before 2014 the tone of my posts has been to

ask why, to encourage

and, at times, to

admonish us for hurting each other.

2014, however, was

life-changing for me

.

God broke through so much fear, that now I see so much of it where I never saw it before in our Church. I'll get into that in today's post, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on my new direction.

[P.S.

Part 2

actually gets to the trees. ;)]

The Deepest Fear

This fear that God broke in me was

not the surface fears

- fear of man, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of unforgivable sin, fear of not being righteous, fear of not trusting God, fear of unbelief - the list is long.

Those are not the worst fears.

The fear that God dealt with in me is invisible until He shines His light on it.

It is fear of the unknown.

The surface fears above are somewhat knowable, but fear of the unknown is a greater obstacle, as the unknown can lead to ALL others!

Once God broke me free of it, it was all I could see in the Church (the body) around me.

Our sermons are so full of

"no", "the law"

and living within

a very small, but widely approved, box,

that none of us feel safe enough to

find out who we

individually are in Christ,

so that we can be

a stronger community.

The body of Christ is us. If we each have a purpose in Him, we will not all look alike. We cannot. Your stomach, baby toenail and lymph nodes do not, cannot, be the same if you are going to live. Why can't we understand that in the Church? It's time to stop holding hands with the enemy and singing,

"you're right, accuser, we'll just stay under this bushel and never shine, because you're right, accuser, it's vein, prideful, and will lead us astray"

! We're not 'wusses' in Christ!

We're sons and daughters of God in Christ!

Source:

lovecoversall-godislove.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-trees-in-garden-of-eden-part-1.html

Conquering Fear

I kept saying above that God broke me free of it, but the truth is

I broke free of fear in God's strength.

We can do nothing without Christ, but

He does nothing until we take that step in faith.

As soon as I said,

"enough! I don't know what this block is, but I'm over it!"

, He literally said

"Finally"

in a fit of immeasurable joy,

and opened my eyes to a host of amazing wonders!

It's like He could finally hold my hand and run with me!

I can keep up because I'm no longer heavy with fear! Don't you want that? Don't you want to know Your God on every level? Are you willing to take the risk and step out in faith to find out?

Do you trust Him to take care of you wherever you go?

You and I both know there's something holding you back.

If you're not shining, if you can't say the words "I love, love, love myself" and

ooze nothing but joy to overflow,

if you can't walk by different religions without feeling sad, then something IS holding you back and, perhaps, you don't know the power of Your God! Perhaps.

Fear is only conquered when we truly trust God,

when we love ourselves as He loves us,

so much so that we can't help but

share that love with others,

and teach them to do the same.

Darkness cannot exist when light is present. Fullstop.

Fighting darkness and fear is a waste of time and energy. Light! Be light, be love, focus on the good, and that will overflow to cast out the negatives.

Food for thought:

all those people we judge - 'backslidden' brothers and sisters, other religions, cult groups, sociopaths, criminals, other Christians with different perspectives -

can only be changed by personal encounter with God. Not a word you utter means anything without that.

Plus, you don't know enough to know that you're absolutely right about everything you believe, so stop worrying about it and stop fighting it.

Love them instead, but first, love yourself!

If it was not God's will that any should perish, why do we focus so on who will perish? Why don't we become, as individuals, a safe space for all to come and be, and be loved? Why don't we do that, our part in Love, and let God do His work? Let us focus on love and light. The details will be worked out by God. You'd be surprised to see true Serendipity, which is His.

Your Powerful Mind

Let me tell you what I've learned about Love - I'm still learning.

Love, not courage, is the opposite of fear.

That is why it is the gift that is above all others.

Love frees us so we can see more clearly.

We are not anxious, worried, distracted juggling multiple "what if" thoughts. We see clearly what is in front of us, even in some small part the way God sees, when we see in Love.

The battlefield is truly in the mind.

It is why the New Testament is so focused on

renewing your mind!

All the gifts in Corinthians - love, tongues, understanding, faith, knowledge, interpretation of tongues - are there!

It is the battlefield because

it is what we, in God's image, create with!

The

heart, mind

and

tongue

are what we're cautioned about, because they are the most powerful aspects of our being. The heart and mind both feed thoughts and feelings.

Our hearts and minds,

produce emotions (love and fear) and feelings (joy, sorrow, hope, anger).

Our tongues,

the words we speak, form the declarations and contracts we seal (with God or the accuser) to create what we see. We may want to, but we can't avoid the responsibility of being creators if we are made in the image and likeness of God.

If you don't wield your mind and heart, regardless of how much you say you surrender to God, the enemy will.

Surrendering to God is empowering, not oppressing.

The scripture

"I become less that You (God) might become more"

does not mean that you disappear. In the Holy Spirit, you'll learn that

'the old you becomes less, that the new you - in the true image of God in Christ - becomes more'

.

The manifestation of the part of God that only You can carry,

because of what He created You to be. So surrendering to God means freedom for You to wield your mind!

God has empowered you.

Fear or Love?

If you can't hold every thought captive,

use your feelings as an indicator

of whether or not your thoughts are positive. If you've surrendered to God, you have nothing to worry about. Good feelings - joy, peace, calm, contentment - come when we remember that we are righteous (even if not always right) in Christ. When you're angry, afraid, resentful, jealous,

what are your thoughts?

Now, beware that bad feelings were created by God (just as physical pain was)

to let us know when something is wrong. Don't ignore them,

 but put them in their right place, deal with the cause, place your burden at God's feet and then turn your thoughts back to what is good.

Spend most of your time on the good.

Energy invested in negatives is energy positives don't have access to. Let it go, for your sake.

You see, you can't do any of this if you don't love yourself.

This is why I ask you to

choose - fear or love?

What you choose for yourself is what you will choose for, and impart to, others. You can choose. In terms of complexity, thoughts are the most difficult to manage. Feelings are easier, but still fairly complex if you're at work or in the midst of a task. Emotions, which actually chart the direction of our thoughts, love or fear, are easier to detect. If you can detect your feelings, do so. If your heart starts racing, you're not breathing deeply and it's not accompanied by a smile, perhaps your thoughts are infused by fear.

Turn it around. Infuse your thoughts with love.

You can choose to stop, make yourself breath - envision inhaling love and exhaling fear

- and choose to think, and put your energy into, good thoughts. "Nothing is too big for God, who has entrusted me to be right where I am right now, in Him", "things always work for good, for those who love God", "if there is power in my words, I declare that all is well starting now".

Think about the good thoughts that empower you, and think those.

That's why the Word is our sword.

Write your good thoughts for a week, and see what you learn about yourself!

You might empower others!

Try It

I think there's a lot to chew on here.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

After you try this, listening to your feelings,

click here to read part 2,

where I finally get to the

Trees in the Garden of Eden.

What Do Your Words Create

We've been taught 

"

Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a destiny

"

. I suspect that this proverb is found in teachings across cultures globally. The point is, like it or not, 

we're not on autopilot.

 If we want change, 

we have to change our minds.

Renew Your Mind.

Thoughts & Feelings

Medicine, science and your own experience (even if you've ignored it) have all made it clear that 

your thoughts can heal or harm your physical body.

 Thinking about things that 

we fear will happen,

 for example, creates feelings of 

anxiety, anger, despair, self-doubt, depression and negative stress.

 These cause heart failure, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and more debilitating unmentionables, which over time become chronic ailments. "The power of life and death lie in the tongue..." (

Proverbs 18:21 ESV

). If we already know all of this, 

why have we done nothing to change it?

Thinking about positive things, things that 

we want to happen,

 our past miracles or good things that are happening at the moment, literally bring healing. The bible says that testimony builds faith. Faith brings joy. Your own testimony enhances the faith of others, yes, but it builds your faith as well. On a 'practical' level, if you will, when you feel joy, 

you breathe deeper, your muscles relax, you have an involuntary smile and your heartbeat is less erratic.

 All of this sends more oxygen to your brain, fosters cell repair, releases endorphins (that creates a 'happy loop') and reduces the stress on your heart, respectively. In miraculous terms, have you met a cancer survivor or someone whose tumor just disappeared? I have - 

it rocked my world.

What do you want?

 Restored health? Love? Financial freedom? More consistent inner peace? More supportive community? Why not 

start thinking about what you want,

 instead of what you don't want? I'd never thought of it that way, but I heard this guy, Greg Braden, say 

"Who taught us to think about what we don't want instead of what we want?!"

 It was suddenly so obvious what needed to change. Perhaps we won't track all our thoughts, but we can all stop to acknowledge how we feel, how we're breathing. Feelings tell you where your thoughts (conscious or subconscious) might be. 

Let's start there.

Emotions versus Feelings

Let's make this a bit easier.

 At any given moment, we're dealing with a myriad of feelings. It's no wonder so many of us ignore our feelings! At the base of it all, however, our feelings are fed by one of 

two emotions - 

Love or Fear.

 Fear is the opposite of Love.

 Courage is merely a manifestation of love - ask most parents. Every feeling we have is rooted in fear or love. Now, it won't always be obvious what you're afraid of, or what you love, that's driving the feeling. You know, however, that negative feelings are driven by 

fear, which holds you back,

 and that positive feelings are driven by 

love, which empowers you.

 If you can believe that, which would you choose?

Positive feelings create positive outcomes because 

we attract what we think about.

 It may be draining to 

"hold every thought captive"

(

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 ESV

) for examination, but 

you are almost always aware of how you feel

 - good or bad - even if you can't place a finger on how or why. If the cause of your 'bad' feeling is coming from within, then assess what thought(s) contributed to that, make it a positive thought. Look at "I hope I'm not late" as "everything is running smoothly so I'll be on time".

Note:

this does not advise that you are governed by your feelings, merely that you use it as it was designed to be used - as an indicator that something is amiss, or that all is well.

Food for thought:

 Wars are borne of fear. Courage, as an element of Love, seeks to protect, defend. Love in all its elements (generosity, kindness, hope) finds a place for all.

[

Side bar:

 I believe in intuition, so if you're feeling 'bad', look around first to make sure there are no threats. The threat doesn't have to be obvious. If your gut says move, then move. Regardless of how rude it may seem. Move.]

Decisions & Commitment

Globally, spiritual movements teach 

"be specific when you ask"

; "no one who is double-minded receives from the Lord...ask and you shall receive"; "believe and then receive (stay open to) what you've asked for"

 and 

"if you can imagine it, you can have it";

 believe and you can receive 

"immeasurably more than you can imagine".

The point is, if you are to ask, believe and receive (

Matthew 7:7-8 ESV

), you have to first 

decide on what you're asking for

 before you can see it (

James 1:6-8 ESV

). Trust that God orders your steps, particularly as you trust Him, in stepping out in faith, rather than fearing what can go wrong if you get what you want. If you make your decision from a place of love, true love, then you've automatically infused that decision with self-care while being considerate of those impacted by that decision. 

Ask, commit to that specific "ask",

 expect to receive it, then release it to God and go on living.

"No", "Don't" and Your Ask Words

"Ask" essentially means praying.

 The challenge is for us, as Christians, to get to the stage where we understand what God means when Jesus says "ask boldly". We must stop 'begging' in prayer, and walk as empowered sons and daughters in Christ. Once you decide to ask boldly, focus on positive words. Truly,

ask for what you want;

not for what you don't want. Asking for what you don't want brings to mind... what you don't want... and all the feelings that come with thoughts of what you don't want. It takes energy (brain space) away from thoughts of what you do want and the feelings that those thoughts come with. 

Mother Teresa said she will not attend an "anti-war" rally, but she'd love to attend a "peace" rally.

 Are you getting the picture? 

"No"

 and 

"don't"

 have no weight in our brains other that to 

produce negative feelings.

 Those words do not eliminate what follows, they merely attach a feeling to them. 

What are your "ask" words?

 Instead of "I don't want debt" or "I'm not in debt", perhaps say "I have a lot of money" or "I'm always in the black".

Note:

It is not a sin to want wealth to overflow when it is overflowing for God's glory. Money is only a problem if it replaces God in your life.

The present tense

 also helps when you're asking. 

"I will"

 often, keeps us in the 

"one day in the future"

 frame of mind. That perspective doesn't drive us to get up and get, because 

it's not a priority.

Speaking as though it already is,

 puts us in a place to 

expect, act, believe and receive, now.

 We start preparing to receive it. 

What will you do with it? Where will you put it? When will you have time to enjoy it?

 We are conditioned to think that doing that means we're lying to ourselves; we're not. You want it and you're going to make it happen. Full-stop. Infuse it with love, and see what happens. (P.S. It helps to be persistent.)

In Closing

Once I committed to changing my thinking,

 all of 2014 was, to me, evidence that this is true. Essentially:

1. Stop! Stop the rat race, the "oh no" conversation and the "I really don't want" thoughts.

2. Breathe deeply. Choose not to rush and do just that for 2 minutes (the whole 2 minutes).

3. Dream. If 'reality' wasn't a ceiling, if no one could 'laugh'... What would you want? Expect it.

4. Feel. What would it feel like to have your dream life? What would you be able to do? See it.

5. Gratitude. Smile in gratitude for what you have now. Really feel it. Thank instead of Begging.

6. Plan. In that grateful mindset, what steps do you need to take to get to your dream? Write it.

7. Act. What steps can you take today? Take at least one step. Even if it's just to think positively. Start.

In all of this, 

start with your mind.

 Start everyday focused on 

1-3 good things

 in your life, 

1 dream

 and 

what those things make you feel.

 Hold on to that all day. 

What do your words create?

[Adapted from:

"Your Thoughts, Your Future."

at

protectyourdreams.blogspot.ca

]