UP Church

MAY 15    

I KNOW THAT THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT IS MY DAILY LIFE   

The Lord is my shepherd … He restoreth my soul …

Psalm 23: 1, 2

As we take this thought for our meditation today: “The Lord is my shepherd … He restoreth my soul,” let us feel that we are one with the Divine Presence; and enter into conscious communion with It.  This is affirmative prayer and spiritual meditation.  It is through spiritual meditation that we reach out, or in, to that Divine Presence which fills all space and also finds its dwelling place in the sanctuary of our own hearts.

“The Lord is my shepherd … He restoreth my soul.” Believing that God is everywhere, and knowing that the Divine Life can and does restore my soul, I now affirm and deeply accept Divine Guidance. I believe that I am sustained by an infinite Power, guided by an infinite Intelligence and guarded by an infinite Love.  I feel this Presence in, around and through me, and through all people.  There is a Power greater than I am upon which I may rely.  I am relying on this Power and I am letting Its Intelligence govern and guide me.  I am fully aware of Divine Love and Protection.

I lay aside every doubt or fear and gladly enter into a newness of life.  I do believe that the Lord is my Shepherd.  I do believe that He restoreth my soul.  I am lovingly aware that the Divine Presence is not only close to me, It is not only right where I am; It is also within me and what I am.  It is this inner “I am,” this Spirit of God within me and what I am.  It is this inner “I Am,” this Spirit of God within me that is my Shepherd.  I not only shall not want – my cup shall run over.  A table is prepared before me.  This is the table that God has spread and I gratefully acknowledge this Divine Bounty, this Feast of Life.  For God’s abundance is my abundance, His good is my good, and His Life is my life now.

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

MAY 14        

I PLACE MY AFFAIRS IN THE HANDS OF DIVINE GOODNESS AND ENTER INTO THE FULLNESS OF LIFE   

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   

Matthew 6:10

When Jesus said, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,” he was affirming that there is a Perfection at the center of everything.  He was telling us that when we reach this inward Perfection it will be revealed to ourselves and others, and that it must finally establish the Kingdom of God on earth, as it most certainly will.

Realizing that the Kingdom of God is a kingdom of joy and that the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind, I place my affairs in the keeping of Divine Love and I permit my thoughts to be directed by Divine Wisdom.  The Spirit within me guides and directs my path, guides me into peace, prosperity and happiness.

God’s perfect Kingdom is established in me today.  The Fatherhood of God is revealed through me as the brotherhood of man.  This brotherhood I help to establish on earth today, for I know that it is within all people.  This Kingdom of oneness and love and peace draws me close to everyone I meet, in joy and in friendship.  Therefore, my prayer for the Kingdom of God on earth is a communion of my own soul with that one universal Soul which overshadows and indwells everything.  This is the Kingdom I am recognizing as I affirm:  “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

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

MAY 13   

TODAY I ACKNOWLEDGE THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT EVERYWHERE   

God so loved the world, that he gave …   

John 3:16

How could we better explain this than to use the words of Browning where he said:  “Tis Thou, God, who giveth, ‘tis I who receive”?  Or Emerson who said that we are “beneficiaries of the Divine fact”?  The thoughts of both Emerson and Browning were thoughts of acceptance and recognition.  Like all men of great spiritual insight, they knew that the gift of Life is an eternal reality, that it is our office to accept it.

“God so loved the world that he gave …” Today I accept this gift of Divine Love which God has eternally given to me and to everyone.  With deep gratitude and a childlike simplicity I enter into the joy and the peace which come from the realization of Divine guidance.  I know that Love guides my thoughts even as It guards my life and action.  I know that the Eternal Presence is really embracing everything.  In this Presence I serenely and confidently rest, placing all my hope and aspiration in Its loving care. In this Love I embrace the world and affirm that peace shall come on earth and good will among men.

I also realize that I belong to the universe in which I live, and it belongs to me.  It is the gift of God.  I am one with everyone I shall ever meet, and they are one with me.  For we all are manifestations of the one Divine Presence.

Gratefully acknowledging and gladly receiving this benediction from heaven, I live and love and accept Life in its fullness.  “God so loved … that he gave …” I accept the gift.

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

MAY 12   

TODAY I RECEIVE THE INHERITANCE WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN ME   

… thou shalt rejoice … in all that thou puttest thine hands unto:   

Deuteronomy 12:18

Affirmative prayer means that we clear the mind of all doubt and fear and turn in faith to the great Giver of life.  It means that we become aware of the Presence of God within and around us, here and now.  It means that we affirm this Presence and accept It, quietly, calmly and peacefully, in all its fullness.

 I now let go of every anxious thought.  I now surrender any doubt or fear into the great heart of Love.  I look out upon the world and say:  “This is my world because it is God’s world.”  I think of all people: “These are my friends because they live and more and have their being in the Father of us all.” I now receive confidence and inspiration from the Source of all life.  I believe that Love is guiding me.  I believe there is a Divine Power that goes before me and makes perfect my ways in joy and happiness.  I believe this Power is flowing through me to the joy and happiness of those around me.

I have a faith, a conviction, and assurance at the center of my being.  I have a Friend within me who knows all my needs.  I accept the Kingdom which God has given.  I accept the life which He has implanted in me, and this life reaches out to everything around me, in joy and gladness, with the blessed assurance that all is well.  Believing that God is Love, I affirm that there is nothing in me that could hurt or harm or hinder those around me from entering into the fullness of their own joy, into the completeness of their own self-expression, into the perfection of their own being.

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

MAY 11   

I CLEANSE THE WINDOW OF MY MIND THAT IT MAY BECOME A MIRROR REFLECTING INSPIRATION FROM THE MOST HIGH   

… and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.    Malachi 3:10

We should believe that God is the invisible Partner in our lives and affirm that Divine Love goes before us and prepares the way.  We should permit ourselves to be guided for there is something within us, deep at the center of our being, which knows what we ought to do and how we ought to do it.

I am listening to the Divine Presence and permitting It to direct my path.  Thoughts and ideas will come to me and I shall be led to follow them out in my everyday life.  I shall be impelled into right action.  I know how to meet every situation in calm trust and with the complete conviction that Divine Intelligence is guiding me.  I wish to do only that which is constructive and life-giving; therefore I know that everything I do is prospered.  Everything I touch shall be quickened into a newness of life and action.  Every constructive purpose in my life will be fulfilled.

I have a deep sense of inner calm, a complete assurance that all is well.  The same Intelligence that governs the planets in their course is now acting as a law of Good in my personal experience and in the experiences of everyone around me. I do thank God for this increase that is mine.  I do accept Divine guidance.  I do believe that I am in silent partnership with all the Power, all the Presence and all the Love there is.  I place my life entirely and completely under the protection and guidance of this Power, and I rest in complete assurance that everything I do is prospered.

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

MAY 10   

GOOD IS FOREVER EXPRESSING ITSELF TO ME AS I SEEK AND FIND THE BEST IN LIFE   

… thou art ever with me; and all that I have is thine.  

  Luke 15:18

Realizing that we are in the midst of an ever-present Good, and believing that there is a Law that brings everything good into our lives, we should learn to think and act as though every wrong condition of yesterday were converted into something new and better today.

I believe that all the mistakes I have ever made are swallowed up in a Love, in a Peace and a Life greater than I am.  Therefore, I surrender all past mistakes into the keeping of this ever-present, divine, and perfect Life.  I affirm that Love is guiding me into a real and deep co-operation with Life and into a sincere affection for everyone.

Today is a fresh beginning, a new start, a joyous adventure on the pathway of eternal progress.  Today is bright with hope and happy with fulfillment.  Therefore, I affirm that this is the day that God has made, that it is good, and that I find fulfillment in it.  There is something that is making everything in my life simple, effective and whole.

There is something that is arranging every circumstance so that success and happiness will come from it.  There is something in me that goes out in love and confidence to everyone I meet, something that blesses everything I touch, something that brings peace and comfort and joy to my world.  In every thought, in every deed, in every act, I am sustained by an infinite Power and guided gently into an increasing good, for myself and for others.

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

MAY 9        

TODAY I AM FILLED WITH CONFIDENCE AND A SENSE OF SECURITY BECAUSE I AM ACTIVELY AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF SPIRIT WITHIN ME   

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.   

Psalm 91:11

Deep within each of us there is a place of calm, of peace and security, where trouble and accident do not occur, where Truth and Love reign supreme and good is the only power.  It is to this place that daily we go in the silence of our own minds to commune with the Spirit that is both around us and within us.  Truly this is our Father within, our heaven immediately available and always responsive to our approach.  In our meditation we seek to make the presence of this Spirit more real to us, more immediate and more personal.  And as we do this an inward sense of calm comes over the mind, a feeling of security and safety which every human being needs.

I know that all the power there is and all the presence there is, is Love, the living Spirit Almighty.  I know that Love is divine protection and I know that I am governed, guided and guarded into the pathways of peace and joy, and security.  I know that this is true of all people.  This is what I believe about everyone.  This is what exists for the whole world.  This is my prayer of acceptance today, and every day.  I feel myself safe in the keeping of Divine Love and Infinite Power.  I feel the soft enveloping presence of the living Spirit.

I know there is no confusion or doubt in the Mind of God, God’s Mind is the only mind there is.  This mind is my mind now, directing everything I do, guarding every movement I make.  For all my ways are ways of blessedness, and all my paths are peace.  I trust, I rest, I live and move and have my being in that which is complete, perfect, divine, whole and happy.    

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

MAY 8   

A GREAT PEACE OF MIND, A DEEP SENSE OF BELONGING, A COMPLETE REALIZATION THAT GOD IS RIGHT WHERE I AM, FILLS MY MIND TODAY

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.   

Proverbs 3:17

When we meditate on spiritual thoughts we are affirming the Presence of God in, around and through us. It is this close and immediate feeling of the Divine Presence, actively stated, that gives power to our words.  The words of themselves would have no power without this deep feeling back of them.  It is because we do believe in a Power greater that we are that we can have this feeling, this inner conviction, this sense of certainty which all spiritual teachers have told us is necessary to effective prayer.  Effective prayer is an acknowledgment of the Presence and the Power of Good.  It is an acknowledgment of this Presence as close to us and this Power as acting on our acceptance.

I know that there is a Power greater than I am.  I know that there is a Love that casts out all fear.  I know that there is a faith which overcomes all obstructions.  I am now entering into this love.  I am now using this faith.  I now have complete confidence in God, the living, loving Spirit.

I believe that the Spirit within me, which is God, makes perfect and happy the way before me.  I enter into conscious union with everything that lives.  I commune with the Spirit in all people and in all things.  I feel an intimate relationship to the Presence and the Power which controls everything.  I put my whole trust in God.  I know that the Spirit will gently lead me, wisely counsel me.  I know that the Love which envelopes everything flows through me to everyone, and with It there goes a confidence, a sense of joy and freedom, a buoyant enthusiasm for living, a zest for life.  And there comes back to me today everything that makes life worthwhile – everything that is good, beautiful and true.     

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

MAY 7           

TODAY I FEEL THE CERTAINTY OF FAITH COMING INTO ACTION IN EVERYTHING I DO, SAY OR THINK   

Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee …   

Job 22:28   

Faith acts like a law because it is a law.  It is the law of spiritual Mind in action.  When we realize this we no longer feel that we must have faith in ourselves, as isolated human beings, but rather, as human beings included in the great Law of life.  Then we can rest in complete confidence that our words are the presence and the power and the activity of the Spirit in us.  All sense of making things happen, holding thoughts or concentration of the mind are put aside, and with quiet, childlike acceptance we make known our requests with thanksgiving.

God and I are one.  Nothing can separate me from the Father.  All that I am, and all that I do, is the Divine Presence expressing Itself through me.  The thoughts I think and the words I speak are life and truth.  They are life and truth because God speaks them through me.  Of myself I give no authority to my prayer, but the child of God in me knows that the authority of the Father brings the words that I speak to pass.

I speak the word of health for my body, my feelings and my thoughts, knowing that the Father within is the Power which brings this wholeness into complete being.  I speak the word of Divine guidance and the wisdom of the universe wells up as a beacon to lead me into paths of right-use-ness, to make straight and clear my everyday paths.  I speak the word of joy and the Father within frees me from loneliness and sadness.  I speak the word of peace to the world and know that the Peace of God reaches into the hearts and minds of the people of all nations.

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

MAY 6   

I AM AWARE THAT GOD RECOGNIZES ME AS THE DIVINE PERSON HE INTENDED ME TO BE AND I ACCEPT MY INHERITANCE OF WHOLENESS TODAY   

Ye shall have a song, as in the night … and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe … into the mountain of the Lord …   

Isaiah 30:29

Let us see if we cannot take the pipe of faith and go into the mountain of the Lord, which is the secret place of the Most High within us, and let the whole pipeline of our lives flow from that perfect Spirit which is at the center of everything.

I am one with the infinite and perfect Spirit, the Giver of all good and perfect gifts.  I open my mind and my heart, and, indeed, my whole body, to the inflow of this Divine Presence.  I know that this living Presence is in every cell of my body and every function of my being.  I now accept this Divine Presence as the health of my body, here and now.  I accept It as that which looses from me all that is unlike the perfect expression of Life.  There is no doubt or fear in my mind that rejects in any way all that God is, right here and right now.

My conscious – acceptance of the fullness of the Presence of God, through joy and love, flows out to bless those whom I would help, those with whom I would share this inner joy.  I decree that whomsoever I would bring into the scope of my thought is now blessed and healed through the Presence of Good which is within.  The radiance of joy in my own heart brings happiness into the lives of those about me.  The abundance which prospers me supplies everyone around me with the good things of life. The light which warms the center of my own being so shines forth that all may find guidance and warmth and comfort in its rays.  This is the fount from which spring the living waters.  I drink, and shall not thirst again.  And even as I drank, I hand the chalice of my faith to all.    

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