JULY 31  

TODAY I WAIT UPON THE LORD WITHIN ME

The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. 

Psalm 145:15

Knowing that the Divine Spirit is everywhere, and realizing that everyone who asks receives, today I ask of my spiritual Self that It shall come forth afresh; that It shall direct every decision with intelligence and that It shall make perfect my way before me.

Realizing that the Lord of Life is my true inner self, the incarnation of God in me, I learn to lean upon this divine Shepherd; to accept every desired good as though it were already an accomplished fact; to let nothing enter my thought that would contradict the allness and the goodness of the Spirit.  The divine Shepherd is ever with me, guiding, counseling and leading me into pathways of peace and security.

Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.  And I knew that thou hearest me always.”  This assures me that Divine Power can do anything and that Divine Love will not refuse any good gift.  Since the Divine Gift and the Divine Giver are one, and since God is both peace and joy, I know that everything which transpires in my experience today will bring peace and joy.  I know that everything will bring happiness and success.  I rest in calm expectation, in enthusiastic anticipation of every event that is to transpire, because I wait upon the Lord within me.   

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

JULY 30      

I HAVE JOY

Sorrow is turned into joy before Him … Thou hast put gladness in my heart … Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou hast put off my sack cloth, and girded me with gladness. 

Job 41:22; Psalms 4:7; 30:11

We cannot conceive of the Spirit as sad or depressed.  There is ever a song at the center of everything.  This song is reflected in all nature, turning “mourning into dancing.”  To put off my sackcloth means turning to a complete reliance on the Divine.  To be girded with gladness means to cover ourselves with the threefold nature of good.  This is a symbol of Divine protection.  Turning the mind to God and recognizing the omnipresence of Love, causes us to rejoice, as we recognize that in Him (pure Spirit) we live, move and have our being.

I know that happiness is God’s will for me and for everyone.  I also know that I cannot gain happiness without giving it; therefore I do not expect to be happy unless I make others glad.  I radiate happiness to everyone.  There is a sense of joy at the center of my being which everyone will feel.  There is no insecurity in this happiness, no sense of impoverishment or fear, no feeling of doubt.

Today I turn from everything that depresses, and sing a song of praise, of gratitude and of joy.  I am going forth to meet joy, singing the song of the triumph of Spirit over all apparent negation.

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

JULY 29

I HAVE HEALTH

The Lord will take away from thee all sickness … I am the Lord that healeth thee. 

Deuteronomy 7:15; Exodus 15:26

Health is a state of wholeness in mind and in body.  The body is the servant of the mind, and the mind is the offspring of pure Spirit.  Thus the Bible tells us that we are spirit, soul (or mind) and body.  These three really are one, and are supposed to work in perfect unison with each other.  They do this when the mind lifts its countenance to the Spirit, permitting Its flow of harmony, unity and beauty a clear passageway.  The body will always reflect this inner poise.

Realizing that the Source of all being is within and at the center of my own being, I consciously unite myself with this center and with this Source.  I expect to be made whole.  I expect to radiate health and vitality wherever I go.  It is my will, my desire and my acceptance that I be made whole.

Today I know that my health, my physical well-being, as well as my mental poise and peace are drawn from an infinite Source of perfection.  Today I know that the Lord, the Law of Good, is the healing Presence of life forever restoring my mind and my physical being.  I pray to, or commune with, this Spirit within me.  Thus I am made whole.

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

JULY 28

I GIVE THANKS

O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

Isaiah 25:1

Praise and thanksgiving are salutary.  They not only lighten the consciousness, lifting it out of sadness and depression; they elevate consciousness to a point of acceptance.  Praise and thanksgiving are really attitudes of recognition.. They are affirmations of the Divine Presence, the Divine abundance and the Divine givingness.  It is only when we live affirmatively that we are happy.  It is only when we recognize that the universe is built on affirmation that we can become happy.

I give thanks for my happiness.  It cannot be taken away from me; rather, it increases daily in my experience.  It is always more and never less.  I experience the joy in which Jesus proclaimed when he said, “I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.” I bless everything I contact.  I praise God in all things.

Today, through praise and thanksgiving, I recognize the Divine Presence in everything.  In the midst of darkness I shall sing a song to the dawn, for I know that the eternal Light dissipates all darkness.  Today I shall recognize the beautiful and the perfect in everything.  I shall call it forth with praise and thanksgiving, blessing the Spiritual Reality back of all things.

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

JULY 27

I RECEIVE MY GOD

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  Matthew 7:7

How can we receive what the mind refuses to entertain?  Should we not, then, consciously develop the ability to receive more?  We make life little and mean and limit our own possibilities when we refuse to accept the whole gift of God.  We should open our consciousness to a receptivity of the Divine.  There will never be any point of saturation because God is infinite.  We cannot contract the Infinite, but we can expand the finite.

“The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart.”  Realizing that God has placed the power of life in my own mind, today I am resolved to use this power in accord with the nature of the Divine Mind.  I shall no longer look for God in some distant place, but shall find Him directly at the center of my own being.

Today I ask and know that I shall receive.  Today I seek and know that I shall find. Today I knock and know that shall be opened unto me.  But what is it that I ask for?  What is it that I really seek?  It is to discover God in everything, to see the Divine manifest in everyone, to come into close and conscious communion with Life.  Today, then, I receive the gift of God in its fullness, unstinted, complete.

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

JULY 26   

I AM INTUITIVE

Before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear. 

Isaiah 65:24

Intuition is not a product of the intellect nor is it something which developed in the process of our evolution.  It is a thing itself.  That which is instinct in the animal, blindly, unerringly leading it to food, water and shelter, becomes intuition in man, consciously perceived.  Instinct is intuition acting unconsciously; intuition is instinct elevated to the point of self-awareness.  They are identical.  Intuition is Omniscience acting omnipresently; therefore, whether or not we believe it, it is ever present with us.

Today I know that the presence of Divine Mind in me will guide me aright.  It will set me on the path of right action.  It will direct my footsteps.  It will counsel my mind.  Today I am aware that there is a light which dispels ignorance, fear, superstition and doubt, and sets me, safe and sane, on the pathway of Truth.

I feel that my being is so close to the Divine that there is no separation whatsoever.  “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  Knowing that I abide in the Spirit of truth and that the Spirit of Truth abides in me, today I open my whole consciousness to Divine Guidance.  I realize that my entire being is in the hands of a higher Power, that my thought is molded by the Divine Will, that my mind responds completely to the indwelling Presence which is God.  

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

JULY 25

I HAVE POWER

So God created man in his own image … And God blessed them and God said unto them … replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.  Genesis 1:27 – 28

It is because the Spirit of God is incarnated in us that we have dominion over the world of effects.  This dominion is excised in such degree as we sense its true meaning. It is written that we have dominion over evil, not that we have dominion in or through evil.  Spiritual dominion is exercised only as we rise above that which denies the Divine Goodness.

Today I exercise my spiritual dominion through the recognition that good alone is real, that God is the only presence and Love and the only power.  Today I rise above the sense of separation into a consciousness of my union with Good.  Today I understand the power of God flows through me to everything I contact.

I declare that my God-given dominion is exercised over everything I do, say or think.  I am guided by Divine Intelligence which goes before me and makes perfect my way.  I exercise dominion over my environment, over every circumstance and condition that I contact.  I know that the Divine Mind, operating through me, will arrange all my affairs in harmony and in prosperity.  Divine Power flows into my thought and work. Peace and harmony attend everything I do.  Love and protection are ever present.  I am guided, guarded and sustained by an everlasting strength, power and wisdom.

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

JULY 24 

I HAVE COMPANIONSHIP

I am a companion of them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. 

Psalm 119:63

We all long for intimate relationships; we wish to feel that we are one with people.  This yearning, which every normal person has, emanates from an unconscious but spiritual perception that we all are one in Life itself. Where there is no sense of rejection there will be no loneliness.

I no longer reject myself.  Knowing that I am one with all people in the Spirit, I receive everyone as a friend.  I establish a close and intimate relationship with everyone I meet – something goes out from me and becomes unified with them.  I include all and exclude none.  Higher than all differences, is that union of the soul with its Source; beyond all differentiation, the Infinite Person is enshrined in the sanctuary of my own consciousness.  One with all people, I enjoy this Divine companionship.  I embrace the Infinite in everyone and in turn am embraced by It.

I know that my presence upholds and blesses everyone whom I contact, and that a healing power goes forth from me.  I know that today I shall be able to help everyone whom I meet.  There is a song at the center of my being which everyone hears, a joy which everyone feels, a strength which is imparted to all.  I place upon everyone I meet the seamless robe of Christ, the garment of truth which is the unity of God and man.  All people are my friends.

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