Psalm 148 The Rejuvenating Activity of Praise

Prayer and praise change people, not God.  To praise God essentially requires us to willingly put God at the center of our lives. We must surrender all of ourselves to the Spirit.

Psalm 127 Our Foundation

Frequently, we encounter people who believe that they are the masters of their own successes. They will not acknowledge a higher presence at work in their lives. They toil away at their lives attempting to reach greater heights. These are inevitably the same people who find themselves in a great mess in their lives at some point, because instead of identifying with their spiritual nature, they have identified themselves with some worldly thing (money, job title, familial role, etc.). Once the world as they know it has been taken away from them, they struggle to find meaning in their lives.

The only thing that we can be sure of in this world is change. To build a foundation for our life that is so transient is asking for trouble. The way to find peace and security is in a relationship with the Divine. God is the unchangeable Presence that brings the gift of peace of mind (sleep). 

The fruit of trusting in God is the multitude of Divine ideas with which we are entrusted (sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord). These are the inklings and glimpses that we receive when we take the time to listen to the Christ within us. God constantly provides us the opportunity to participate in the activity of Spirit, but in order to hear we must be actively, and intentionally receptive. Even the most casual Divine idea has great potency (like arrows in the hand of a warrior). These are the ideas that transform our lives and the world for the better.

For all of the effort we put into life, if we redirect that effort to reconnecting to our spiritual Source, the rest of the pieces of life will fall into place with ease. From this grounding we “find our place in the world.” We experience a sense that we are where we are supposed to be, doing what we are supposed to be doing. We find great meaning and purpose in our lives. We have our quivers full.

And so it is! Amen!

Psalm 89 The Covenant of Love

No matter how far we veer from our spiritual path, God is true to God’s promises. Even when we are in the depths of despair, we should know that all experiences in our lives have one purpose: to lead us to God. We need only recognize that fact and step forward in faith and love to claim our divine inheritance.

Psalm 23 Green Pastures

Green is term we use to describe those who are inexperienced and childlike in understanding. But “green-ness” is critical to a fresh perspective and new understanding. Although many of us desperately cling to the “same-ness” and stability in our lives, living is about change and transformation. If we fight to stay the same, we find everything continues changing around us. It is in the new that we are best able to embody those childlike qualities, we desire. When we can drop the facade of expertise and knowledge, we allow ourselves to just experience what is. The excitement and anticipation in facing the unknown is palpable.

Psalm 46 Permanent Sanctuary

God is a creative force. Underlying these words is a great truth. There is nothing in the world that is consistent but change. If we attempt to maintain the status quo or prevent things from changing, we ensure our own unhappiness. It is out of harmony with nature and God to attempt to hold on to anything. That includes love, money, and joy. By allowing all things to course through our lives rather than stagnate, we clear room for more good. When we understand that life is change, we can begin to relax and go with the flow.

Psalm 4 Changing Your Thinking

The process of transformation is always marked by upheaval. This is the challenge of the intermediate seeker, one who has successfully begun to re-orient their life towards God. Just as the death of the seed precedes the growth of the sprout; there must be a death of the old ways of being, so that the new can emerge. We often do not understand the changes taking place, so that the appearance is that there is chaos in our lives. None of the things that we used to rely on work anymore. When we try to help we end up making things worse. Even our valiant attempts to pray more faithfully seem fruitless.

Psalm 25 Grace

One of the most profoundly liberating aspects of the divine/human relationship is the nature of the grace of God. We do not have to be perfect before we receive grace. It does not require us to make amends for our past mistakes (do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions). There is no scorecard. We merely have to change our minds and make God the center of our lives. Although God’s grace is constantly in our midst, our ability to experience that mercy is limited by our ability to give it expectant attention. Without our willingness to look for and anticipate God’s care, divine miracles can happen all around us without us experiencing the wonder of the direct knowledge of grace.

Psalm 96 All Things Old Are Made New

God is our refuge in a world of chaos. Our planet is undergoing dramatic change the likes of which has never been seen before. There is no sign of an ebbing of the rapid pace of transformation. In the midst of all of this turmoil, there is a source of stability and permanence in our lives should we choose to embrace it.

In the spiritual realm there is the reliability of Principle. We have the Law and the guidelines with which we can most effortlessly navigate our lives. On a macro level we know the basics:

As you believe, you shall receive.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
As within, so without.

Psalm 89 The Covenant of Love

No matter how far we veer from our spiritual path, God is true to God’s promises. Even when we are in the depths of despair, we should know that all experiences in our lives have one purpose: to lead us to God. We need only recognize that fact and step forward in faith and love to claim our divine inheritance.

Psalm 133 Oneness

Image by huntz via FlickrWhen we begin to understand our spiritual heritage, our perspective is changed forever. We are "born again."  We see the world through "new eyes." The commonwealth of God is only experienced from the perspective of unity. It is godly (good) to recognize and embrace the oneness of all things (live together in unity). Because we are all of God, we are all one. Spiritual consciousness is the recognition and experience of unity, the oneness of everything and everybody in God. From the unified perspective nothing but love exists, for we are all God and we are all one.

Psalm 150 Joyous Celebration

Praise does not change God but it most definitely changes us!

Psalm 150 eloquently describes the natural rhythm, harmony and joy (music) established throughout the consciousness, when the soul radiates the power and presence of God.

Psalm 71 Spiritual Maturity

As the years pass our bodies go through changes, along with our minds and spirits. Human race consciousness teaches that as our stay on this planet is prolonged, we must experience deterioration in our bodies and minds. We have been taught that these changes that take place are negative and that we should fight them to the extent that we can with medical and scientific intervention. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, we must inevitably experience change in our bodies and minds, but none of this should be viewed as negative or as deterioration. It is just different.

Psalm 148 The Rejuvenating Action of Praise

It has been said, “prayer and praise change people, not God.” What happens to us when we offer praise to God?

To praise God essentially requires us to willingly put God at the center of our lives. We must surrender all of ourselves to the Spirit.